Day Soldiers (Book 4): Evolution

by Brandon Hale

  “Do you think we need an escort?” Carl asked.

  Ellie grinned. “Oh, hell no.” She pulled a small handgun from the holster on her hip. “I’m eager to test out the newest John Grung exclusive.”

  “You’re going to shoot them with guns?” Susan asked.

  “You bet,” Ellie said. After a pause, she added, “I winked, by the way. You just couldn’t see it because of the eye patch.”

  “So you’re not going to shoot them with guns?” Susan asked. “I’m confused by the wink.”

  “Sorry,” Ellie said. “The wink was supposed to demonstrate that I’m confident and cool. We’re totally gonna shoot them with guns.”

  “Oh,” Susan said. “Bullets kill vampires?”

  “Wooden bullets do,” Ellie said as she pulled the magazine from the gun, examined its contents, then snapped it back into the gun’s grip.

  “More specifically,” Carl added, “they’re wooden bullets coated by a thin layer of silver. The silver absorbs just enough heat to keep the wood intact as it exits the barrel and the heat from the shot melts the silver. By the time the bullet reaches a vamp, it’s all wood.”

  “My dad has a talent for boring people with details,” Ellie said.

  “The details are never boring,” Carl said.

  “The details are always boring,” Ellie’s said.

  “Alright, Patch,” Carl said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  ***

  Ellie stepped onto the street, gun in hand. Her adoptive father stood behind her. Susan stood behind Carl.

  With her free hand, Ellie pulled a small canteen from her belt and opened the lid. She turned the canteen upside down, pouring a dark red liquid onto the ground.

  “Wouldn’t it be easier to just try and make it to the car?” Carl asked.

  “No,” Ellie said. “It’ll be easier to get to the car when we know all the vamps in the area are dead.”

  “Okay,” Carl said. “It’s your show.”

  “Then lock and load, Pop,” Ellie said. “Now, we just wait for them to come to us.”

  Susan was impressed by the way these two interacted. There was no competition. There was very little debate. Carl was in charge of the greater strategic decisions, but Ellie was the leader in the field. It seemed to work well for them.

  “If you guys are from Virginia,” Susan asked, “what are you doing in Colorado?”

  You’re asking too many questions. Stop it. You’re supposed to be grieving for the loss of your husband.

  “It’s really just luck that we were in the area when the call came in,” Carl explained.

  It’s not luck, by the way. I originally planned to contact you months ago, but I found out they were coming here, so I waited.

  “I’m transferring to Colorado for a while,” Ellie said. “These mountains are full of escaped vamps from the war. We’ve been getting reports of them for years. We suspect there’s a large nest here somewhere. I’m leading a team that’s gonna hunt them down. We were here scouting for locations for our new base when your husband called in the emergency.”

  “When we heard the report,” Carl added, “we decided to tag along with the local unit. We had five other Day Soldiers with us, so we figured they could use the help. Which is lucky for us as well. If there’s a pretty vamp commanding these guys, things just got a helluva lot more serious.”

  “Drop,” Ellie said.

  Without hesitation, Carl dropped to one knee as Ellie popped off a quick shot. The bullet flew over Carl’s head and hit a charging vampire in the heart. The creature immediately fell to the ground.

  The assault was fast. Vampires poured from the shadows, charging the trio in the street. Not one made it to them. Every shot fired pierced the heart of a different vampire. Carl stayed on one knee while Ellie stood beside him, legs spread just enough to give her stability.

  Susan was stunned by the accuracy of each shot. These two were trained well. Seeing their skill, she found herself worrying that she might not be able to take them down when the moment came.

  You’ll do fine. Don’t worry.

  Within a minute, the mini-battle was over. All the vamps were dead.

  “Okay,” Ellie said. “I like Grung’s guns.”

  “Me too,” Carl said with a grin.

  “Now, don’t you feel better about the trip to the car?”

  “Don’t get cocky,” Carl said.

  As they jogged toward the end of the small town, Susan said, “The one thing I don’t get is why the blood drew them out like that. If they find blood that irresistible, how do humans and vampires live together in Topia?”

  “The vampires in Topia are a different sub-species,” Carl explained. “They have far more control. These guys are literally monsters. They’re slaves to their desire for blood. They don’t reason. They don’t make compromises. If they smell blood, they go for it. It’s what made them such effective foot soldiers in the war.”

  “Where’d you get the blood?” Susan asked.

  “Each team donates it,” Ellie said. “We all donate enough for one container. The team leader keeps the blood for situations like this.”

  They got to the edge of town and ran up to the armored vehicle parked in the center of the road. Two soldiers stood by the vehicle.

  “Crank up, Mark!” Ellie yelled, “We gotta get to the airport ASAP!”

  The two soldiers jumped in the front seats while Ellie, Carl, and Susan climbed into the back. “You gotta understand,” Ellie said, “this isn’t the same war my dad fought. We’re not fighting battles. We’re hunting down leftovers, and most of them are the bald ugly bastards. A Day Soldier’s life isn’t the same as it was twenty years ago. The rules have changed.”

  “Okay,” Carl said, “we’re safely on our way to the airport. I think I’d like to hear more about this vampire looking for Lily Baxter.”

  Chapter 2

  The Propaganda Video

  We are not evil. We are not monsters. We are not your enemies. You have nothing to fear from us.

  We have jobs. We have families. We love, we laugh, we care about the world. We have absolutely no desire to hurt you.

  Ever.

  Why would we want to hurt you? We need you. We need your kindness. We need your sympathy. We need your generosity.

  We literally can’t live without you.

  For centuries, vampires stalked humanity. I’m the first to admit these creatures were monsters. We do not hide from that uncomfortable truth. We have faced the mistakes of the past and we have learned from those mistakes. We have found a better way. We have grown. We have evolved.

  We are not vampires.

  We are something new.

  We are Topians.

  People of New America, consider this video your invitation to Topia. We want you to meet us. We want you to get to know us.

  Come to any Topian city. Meet the people living in the human divisions. Stay for a day, a week, a year. The only thing you need to bring is an open mind. You’re welcome to take pictures or record videos. We don’t care. We have nothing to hide.

  We’ve built a good world. Topians are happy, but many of the human residents argue that Topians are the second-happiest people in Topia. No human is required to donate blood, yet almost every human does. Why? Because we’ve earned their respect and their trust.

  The war between the Legion and the Day Soldiers was long and bloody, but the war is over. It has been for sixteen years now. It’s time to move on. It’s time to end the prejudices.

  If you’d like to visit, contact your local government official. If they have any interest in developing a permanent peace, I’m sure they’ll take your request seriously and contact us.

  Thank you for watching this video. We look forward to earning the respect and friendship of every person in New America.

  ***

  Lily Baxter stopped the video and leaned back in her chair. “Oh, this is bullshit.”

  “Yeah,” Scott Vellin said from the ot
her side of the desk.

  Lily looked at the frozen image of the man on the monitor. He had short red hair and a neatly trimmed mustache and beard. “Who is this guy?”

  “Oliver Morrison,” Scott said. “Topia’s new president and apparently Cassius’s new stooge. This video started surfacing on various websites about a week ago.”

  “How?” Lily asked. “Our Internet is completely self-contained. We have no connection to the cities of Topia.”

  “It wouldn’t be hard for them to get a video uploaded to our network,” Scott said. “Hell, we still catch Topian scouts inside our borders on a fairly regular basis. Cassius denies any knowledge, of course, but we know better. I’m sure they just got to a computer and uploaded it. Either that or they just hacked in from Topia. It’s not hard.”

  Scott’s small office had a total of four occupants. Scott sat behind his desk. Lily Baxter sat in the chair on the other side. Grung and Cooper stood behind Lily, both of them looking at the face on the paused video. The office itself was in a hidden Day Soldiers facility beneath the town of Iveyton, Virginia. While the official Day Soldiers HQ was in Arlington – the capital of New America – the Iveyton facility was where the real leaders met.

  “What are we gonna do about this?” Grung asked.

  Lily shook her head. “I have absolutely no idea.”

  “We’re gonna let people go,” Scott said. “I don’t see another choice.”

  “No way,” Grung argued. “This is a trap of some kind.”

  “Of course it’s a trap,” Scott said, “but I don’t think it’s a trap for the people visiting. I think it’s for us. We’re still at war, Grung, but the battleground has changed. He’s fighting a public relations war. He’s trying to turn the people against us.”

  “There’s something about this new guy,” Lily said, still looking at the video. “I don’t know what it is, but he seems… different. Strong. I don’t think he’s a lackey for Cassius.”

  “What makes you think that?” Cooper asked from behind her.

  Lily shrugged. “I don’t know, Coop. Gut feeling.”

  “If you’re dead set on letting people go,” Grung said, “you should send some soldiers to go with them. They could scope the place out and report back.”

  “That’s not bad,” Scott said.

  “We could send Ellie,” Lily said. “She’s the best we got, and she’s not known to the world at large.”

  “Carl won’t like it,” Cooper said.

  “Carl will have to get over it,” Lily said. “Grung’s right. We need people over there. This is the best chance we’ve ever had. The civilians might not notice danger-signs, but Ellie will. We need to figure out what their next move is. This means something, Coop. They’ve been more or less quiet for sixteen years. I’m sure this is the beginning of some kind of initiative.”

  “Maybe,” Cooper said.

  “There’s no ‘maybe’ about it,” Lily argued. “They’ve been preparing for something, and they’re finally ready to launch.”

  “It’s been sixteen years, Lily,” Cooper said. “Do you think it’s possible they actually want peace? I mean, sixteen years is a very long time.”

  “No,” Scott said. “Sixteen years is nothing. It’s a blink. You’re thinking in terms of a human lifespan. For an eternal creature, sixteen years is just a short break. Lily’s right. Something’s about to happen. We might not see it right away, but they’ve started a plan of some kind.”

  “Thanks for reminding me I’m the only mortal in the room, jerk,” Cooper said.

  Lily chuckled. “Maybe you can talk Grung into eating your heart and turning you into a wolf.”

  “No thanks,” Cooper said. “I’m perfectly fine with the idea that I have an expiration date.”

  “You’re probably the wisest person in this room,” Scott said.

  “I doubt that,” Cooper said, “but whatever.”

  “Maybe we could send an operative to go to the forests over there,” Lily offered. “She could find the werewolves. I’m sure they know things.”

  “No,” Grung said. “Out of the question.”

  “Look,” Lily said, “I know you talk about how they’ve gone all hippie, but—”

  “They haven’t gone all hippie,” Scott said. “They’ve gone feral, Lily.”

  “What about the ones who fought with us during the war,” Lily argued. “Surely, they would recognize us.”

  “They don’t care,” Grung said. “These guys aren’t our allies. They never were. We agreed to give them the forests when the war ended. We have to honor that agreement. If a human steps into a forest designated as a werewolf habitat, that human will be killed. There’s no middle ground here.”

  “Keep in mind,” Scott added, “they’re not really shapeshifters anymore. When they took to the woods, they let go of their humanity. Most of them haven’t shifted to a human shape in over a decade. They’ve changed. They’re no longer humans. They’re not even wolves. They’re werewolves. It’s the life they want, and they’re being completely honorable by never leaving their forests. If a human goes into their territory, they’ll hunt that human. We agreed to this arrangement. In Topia, the vampires made the same deal.”

  “Forget the werewolves,” Grung said. “Humanity’s relationship with them is over.”

  “I’m glad a few werewolves decided to stay,” Lily said. “You two, for example.”

  “I make a good Day Soldier,” Scott said, “but I’m a really terrible werewolf.”

  “I gotta admit,” Grung said, “I considered going with them. They have a good life. No societal bullshit. They sleep, they love, they hunt. The simplicity is appealing.”

  “Why’d you stay?” Cooper asked.

  Grung smiled. “Women,” he said. “I just don’t find canines attractive in that way.”

  “Okay,” Lily said, “let’s move on before this conversation gets really uncomfortable. We can’t send a soldier to the werewolves. Fair enough. But I do like the idea of sending someone to scope out the Topian cities.”

  “Do we all agree Ellie’s the best choice?” Scott asked.

  Everybody nodded in agreement.

  “She makes the most sense,” Grung said. “She’s spent her life training to be a Day Soldier. And she’s the only soldier who received one-on-one training from all of us.”

  “Devil’s advocate here,” Cooper said. “Do we really want to send our very best into the lion’s den? I hate to sound like a prick here, but she’s a very valuable asset to our organization.”

  “She’s valuable,” Lily said, “because we need her for missions exactly like this. Keeping her in Colorado is a complete waste of her abilities. We sent her there because there was nothing better. Now we have something better.”

  “Works for me,” Cooper said. “When is she due back?”

  “Her and Carl were supposed to stay in Colorado for a week,” Scott said. He looked at Cooper. “Contact them and tell em to cut the trip short. We need them to come home.”

  “On it,” Cooper said. He quickly spun around and left the room.

  “You heading out?” Grung asked Scott.

  “I am,” Scott said. “This video will gain steam fast. I have to address it to the public. I’ll come up with something.”

  “I’m glad you’re our PR guy,” Lily said. “I’m terrible at that crap. I do smartass well, but anything else is just beyond my ability.”

  “Well, you’re dead anyway,” Scott said. “It’s not like you can talk to them from beyond the grave.”

  “I’ll go look over the files,” Grung said. “We probably have some other good candidates to go with Ellie.” He paused for a moment, then added, “Do you guys ever feel weird calling her Ellie?”

  “Every time,” Lily said.

  “Yeah,” Scott agreed. “I just remind myself that it’s our way of keeping our old friend close to us.”

  “I think she’d approve,” Lily said. “And I say that as the person Carl name
d his second kid after.”

  Grung smiled. “I’ll go check the files.”

  After Grung left the room, Lily turned back to the paused video. “Do you think it’s possible?” she asked.

  “Not sure what you’re asking, chief,” Scott said.

  Lily flashed a smile. “You’re the president of humanity. I think we’re past you calling me chief.”

  “You’ll always be my chief, chief.”

  “I mean him,” Lily said, getting back to the original question. “Do you think it’s possible he’s sincere?”

  “Possible?” Scott asked. “Absolutely. Do I think it’s likely? Absolutely not.”

  “I worry,” Lily said.

  “Me too,” Scott agreed. “We’re surrounded by Topians. I think the only reason Cassius hasn’t finished us is because he needs his own people to believe the bullshit he’s feeding them. For order. If he attacked us, the humans and the Topians would know he’s full of shit. The illusion of peace is the only thing that keeps him in power. And it’s the only thing that keeps us safe. That’s why this new development scares me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If he’s planning to dismantle the Day Soldiers with a PR campaign,” Scott said, “I’m not sure how we’re going to fight it. If the people in New America decide it’s time to disband us, there’s not much we can do to stop it.”

  “Bullshit,” Lily said. “We can keep going. We just won’t tell them. They don’t know about half the facilities in the country anyway.”

  “Yeah, but it’s not like we can really protect them if we’re in hiding,” Scott said. “We have to figure out a way to make them want to keep us, even in peace time. Because that’s the real danger, you know.”

  “Peace?” Lily asked.

  Scott nodded. “And time. Cassius has an infinite amount of time, but humans die. Most of the Day Soldiers currently serving didn’t even fight in the war. They were too young. A few years from now, every human who lived during the war will die of old age. Nobody will remember the war. Not really. They won’t remember the horrors that went on. They won’t remember towns like Iveyton, where every person was turned. They won’t remember the billions that were slaughtered during the assault before the battle of New York. Hell, they won’t even remember the battle of New York, or any other battle. They’ll read about it in the history books, but they won’t remember it.”