Day Soldiers (Book 4): Evolution

by Brandon Hale

  The water beneath the boat began to rise.

  ***

  “What the hell?”

  Cooper watched as the approaching bank dropped lower. Eventually, he couldn’t see the ground from the deck of the boat. He only saw the wall of the castle.

  “We’re rising,” Carl said.

  Cooper looked at him. “You don’t say.”

  “Shut up.”

  Jesse ran up from the cabin. “What the hell is going on, guys?”

  “The water’s rising,” Cooper said. “I think we’re on a wave. A big one.”

  “That’s not possible,” Jesse said.

  “The giant wave under our boat disagrees,” Cooper said.

  “Let me put it this way,” Jesse said. “That’s not natural.”

  “Are you saying…?”

  Jesse nodded. “Somebody’s controlling the water. Or maybe the weather. The point is, somebody else is moving us toward that castle. And they want us to hit near the top.”

  “Travis,” Carl said.

  “Shit!” Cooper said as he tapped his communicator. “Scott! Anybody!”

  ***

  Grung dropped Isaac at Lily’s feet then shifted to his human form. Both Grung and Isaac were covered with bullet wounds. “He’s hurt,” Grung said.

  Isaac slowly sat up. “I’m okay,” he said. “It didn’t hit my heart. I just think the loss of blood got to me.” He looked at Grung. “You saved me. They would’ve killed me if I stayed out there.”

  “Yeah,” Grung said. “That makes me extra special since you’re kind of the one who started all this.”

  “No argument from me,” Isaac said.

  “Scott! Anybody!”

  The voice came through Lily’s borrowed communicator.

  “Cooper?” Lily said. “Is that you? What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Oh yeah,” Grung said. “We forgot to tell you. Cooper and Carl are on that boat. That Jesse guy is with them. That’s why Scott said to be patient. We knew they were on the way.”

  “Dad?” Ellie said. “Dad’s here?”

  Grung nodded.

  “That would’ve been great information to have an hour ago,” Lily snapped. “Jerk.”

  “Lily, is that you?”

  “It’s me, Coop,” Lily said. “Good to hear your voice. I see you succeeded in your mission.”

  “Not really,” Cooper said, “but that’s not important right now. You guys need to find cover. We’re coming in and we’re coming in hot!”

  Lily stepped out from behind the wall. “Oh my God.”

  ***

  Oliver watched as the giant wave carried the boat toward the castle. Just before he turned to run, he saw the name painted on the side of the boat.

  He laughed and for the second time that night, he thought of Vlad.

  Two words were painted on the side of the boat:

  Demeter’s Revenge

  As the water and the boat rose above the roof of the castle, Oliver leapt toward the mainland.

  ***

  Riding the supernatural wave, the yacht rose above the roof of the castle, then crashed down like a missile. It smashed into the roof, nose first, teetered for a moment, then fell to its side. Pieces of roof, pieces of boat, and dozens of vampires were thrown in multiple directions. The entire castle shook, its foundations coming apart in several places.

  Lily, Grung, Ellie, and Isaac huddled behind the small stairwell structure. Luckily, the boat had crashed several yards away.

  “Cooper,” Lily said into her communicator. “You still alive, buddy?”

  “Yeah,” Cooper replied. “Jesse grabbed me and leapt to the roof before we crashed. He’s with me now. We’re hiding behind the boat.”

  “What about my dad?” Ellie asked.

  “What about Carl?” Lily asked.

  “I haven’t seen him since the crash,” Cooper said, “but he jumped when we did. I’m sure he’s fine.”

  “What about Scott?”

  “I don’t see him,” Cooper said. “The only thing I see is a shitload of wreckage and a bunch of very confused vampires.”

  “Okay,” Lily said. “We’re coming to get you.”

  “Get to safety,” Cooper said. “We’re fine.”

  Lily looked at Ellie. “What do you think we should do?”

  “Really?” Ellie said. “We’re doing the training thing now?”

  “This is your call, kid,” Lily said.

  “We can’t leave,” Ellie said. “Those aren’t Topians out there. They’re vampires. If we leave them alive, they won’t stop killing, and that boat gave us exactly what we need to stop them.”

  “What’d the boat give us?” Isaac asked. “Cover?”

  Ellie shook her head. “No. It gave us chaos.”

  Lily tapped her communicator. “Cooper, you and Jesse try to find Scott and Carl. Before we leave, we’ve got some cleanup to do.”

  “Copy that.”

  Lily looked at Grung and Isaac. “You two seem pretty beat up. If you want to go on, we’ll catch up.”

  “No way,” Isaac said. “I got you into this. I’m going to see it through.”

  Lily looked at the bullet holes covering Grung’s body. “What about you, big guy? You’ve got a lot of silver in you.”

  “Nowhere deadly,” Grung said.

  “Okay,” Lily said. “Let’s finish this.”

  Grung smiled. “Vampire killers… let’s—”

  “Let’s kill some vampires!”

  They all looked up to see Travis standing on the roof of the stairwell.

  “Dammit, Travis!” Grung yelled. “That’s my line!”

  “Well, stay there and pout,” Travis said. “I’ve got some killing to do.”

  With a snarl, Isaac drew his gun.

  Lily gently pushed the gun toward the ground. “Now’s not the time. He’d disappear before you finished pulling the trigger.”

  “He’s killed too many Topians,” Isaac said. “I will not stand with this monster.”

  “Sometimes,” Lily said, “the only way to deal with a monster is to unleash it on other monsters.”

  “I’m glad to hear you say that,” Cassius said as he stepped from around the corner. He was drenched. “I’m willing to pick up our feud tomorrow, but right now I’d really like to see those vampires die.”

  Lily looked at Cassius, then Travis, then back at Cassius. “I should kill you both.”

  “You couldn’t kill me if you wanted to,” Travis said with a grin. “And we both know you don’t want to.”

  “I saved your life tonight, Baxter,” Cassius said. “You can kill me and take your chances with those vampires, or you can take my help so we can get back to fighting for control of the world.”

  “Are we gonna have an interview or are we gonna kill those vampires?” Travis said.

  Lily looked at the others. “You ready?”

  “Vampire killers,” Grung said, “let’s kill—”

  “Let’s kill some vampires!”

  “Dammit, Travis!”

  Chapter 26

  Cleanup

  “You okay?” Scott said as he helped Carl to his feet. The yacht was between them and most of the vampires on the roof. “I saw you flying from the boat, figured you could use a hand.”

  “I’m fine,” Carl said. “Thanks to my new super powers. I think our bigger problem is gonna be getting off this roof.”

  Scott looked around the wreckage. The other vampires were climbing to their feet, looking thoroughly disoriented. “I think they’ll be distracted enough for us to make it to the edge.”

  “We have to find the others first,” Carl said. “Have you seen Ellie? Is she okay?”

  “They were behind a little stairwell earlier,” Scott said. “You can’t see it from here because of the boat, but it was on the far end of the roof. I think it’s still intact. I’m sure they’re fine.”

  “Scott!” It was Cooper’s voice. Scott turned around to see Cooper and Jess
e jogging toward him.

  “Thanks for dropping by,” Scott said with a grin.

  “Come on,” Cooper said. “You gotta see this.”

  “Have you seen Lily and the others?” Scott asked.

  Cooper grinned. “You could say that, yeah.”

  Scott and Carl followed Cooper and Jesse until they could see the roof on the other side of the boat.

  “Okay,” Scott said, “that’s a helluva sight.”

  He laughed as he watched six people tear through the crowd of confused vampires.

  Lily was in the lead, dropping vamp after vamp with her touch. Ellie followed closely behind, shooting any vampires who managed to dodge Lily’s first assault. Grung, who was in full wolf form, bounced from vampire to vampire, driving a stake into each bloodsucker’s heart. Isaac shot vampires from one side while Cassius took out the ones coming in from the other side.

  Travis zipped all over the roof, leaving bodies wherever he went.

  Scott tore a piece of wood from the crashed yacht then looked at his companions. “Don’t just stand there,” he said. “We can’t let them have all the fun!”

  Carl stared at the carnage. “Is that Cassius and Travis?”

  “I do believe it is,” Jesse said.

  “Come on, folks!” Scott yelled. “Those vampires aren’t going to kill themselves!”

  Carl picked up a piece of wood from the ground. “What the hell happened while I was gone?”

  “Beats the hell out of me,” Cooper said. “We leave for a little while and the world goes crazy. Cassius fighting alongside Day Soldiers? Chaos, man! Total chaos!”

  Carl laughed as he joined the battle.

  ***

  The battle didn’t last an hour. By the time the predawn light began to filter across the sky, the roof was covered with dead vampires. A few had probably managed to escape, but most were dead.

  Lily leaned against the crashed yacht. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to just… go home. She looked at the others.

  Isaac stood beside Lily. He was leaning against the yacht as well. Grung and Scott had finally put on some clothes. Ellie stood by Carl. Lily noticed they were holding hands. Cooper and Jesse stood on the other side of Carl. Cassius and Travis stood behind the others, clearly staying as far from Lily as possible.

  She smiled to herself. Probably a good idea, she thought. I’m still not sure I wouldn’t kill them if I had the chance.

  “That was about the most one-sided battle I’ve ever seen,” Cooper said as he looked at the dead vampires.

  “That wasn’t a battle,” Ellie said. “It was a damn slaughter. They were totally unprepared for us.”

  “Let’s be honest here,” Travis said. “They were unprepared for me. I killed ten times as many vampires as all of you put together.”

  Scott looked up. “Sun’ll be coming up soon. Who needs to hide?”

  “Sun schmun,” Travis said.

  “It’s painful to a Topian’s eyes,” Isaac said, “but it doesn’t kill us.”

  “I’m afraid,” Cassius said, “it’s time for me to take my leave.”

  Lily pointed at him. “This isn’t over. You owe me answers.”

  “You’ll have them,” Cassius said. “We need each other, Baxter. You’re right that this isn’t over. We’ll see Oliver and Elizabeth again.”

  Ellie looked at Travis and Cassius. “So which one of you told Isaac to get to the roof? That felt like a setup to me.”

  “I didn’t,” Cassius said.

  “Me either,” Travis said.

  “Somebody did,” Isaac said. “I didn’t imagine it.”

  “We heard it too,” Cassius said. “I assumed it was Travis. Seems like a Travis move to me.”

  “The only communicating I did,” Travis said to Cassius, “was when I told you I was planning to turn on Elizabeth.”

  “That’s just weird,” Ellie said. “Who the hell told us to get to the roof?”

  Carl raised his hand.

  Lily slapped him on the shoulder. “What the hell were you thinking?”

  “My guess,” Cooper said, “is that he was thinking, ‘Get to the roof.’”

  Grung laughed.

  Cooper gave him a wink. “Nice to be appreciated, big guy.”

  “I sent it to every vampire in the area,” Carl explained. “I was trying to clear a path for you guys. I didn’t know you’d have a vampire working with you.”

  “Well,” Lily said, “I suggest you master your telepathic abilities before you start using them in a battle. Cool?”

  “Okay, okay,” Carl said. “I was just trying to help.”

  “So what now?” Ellie asked.

  “I’m still not sure what I’m going to do,” Isaac said. “If Oliver manages to retain his presidency, I’m certain he’ll say I’m an accomplice to your killing spree.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” Lily said. “We won’t hang you out to dry, Isaac. I promise.”

  “Alright, people,” Grung said. “Let’s save the group hugs for later. I’m ready to get the hell out—”

  The entire roof shook.

  “What the hell?” Cooper said.

  “The boat,” Jesse said. “It’s falling through! Everybody, run!”

  With a thunderous crash, the boat fell through the roof. Lily didn’t have time to see who jumped to safety. She fell and began to slide toward the giant hole.

  After a few feet, she managed to grab hold of a small pipe sticking out of the now slanted roof.

  “Lily!”

  It was Isaac’s voice. She looked down to see him hanging from the edge of the hole. “Just drop!” she yelled. “You’re a Topian. You’ll be fine.”

  “There are like a thousand pieces of upturned wood down there,” Isaac yelled. “If I fall, there’s a good chance I’m a goner.”

  “Shit,” Lily said. She looked around for someone to help. “Travis! Scott! Jesse!”

  No answer.

  She looked back toward Isaac and saw another pipe closer to the hole’s edge. She let go of her own and slid toward the second pipe. As soon as she was close enough, she caught the pipe with both hands. She pulled herself up and hooked her left arm around the pipe. She reached her right arm to Isaac. “Can you reach my hand?”

  Isaac’s fingers dug into the castle’s roof. “I think so,” he said. “I could probably climb out, but the hole is expanding. I think any movement would cause me to drop.”

  “You just need one free hand,” Lily said.

  Isaac carefully lifted his right hand and reached toward Lily. She was about an inch too far.

  “Just spring toward me!” Lily yelled.

  “If I do, the roof under me will collapse,” Isaac said. “The force would probably take us both down.”

  “I have a good grip up here,” Lily said. “I can keep us up.”

  Isaac shook his head. “I’ll take my chances with the wood. Lily, if this doesn’t work out for me, I want you to know I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put you in danger. I honestly believed in the pres—”

  “Shut your stupid mouth and take my hand!” Lily yelled.

  With his left hand, Isaac pulled himself up enough to grab Lily’s hand. Just as she wrapped her fingers around his, the hole expanded. Isaac hung over the broken wood below, held only by Lily’s grip.

  “Just let go,” Isaac said. “I’ll be okay.”

  “Not chancing it,” Lily said.

  “If I fall, I might survive,” Isaac argued. “If we both fall, you’ll die.”

  “Scott!” Lily yelled, ignoring Isaac. “Get the hell over here!”

  More sections of the roof crumbled and Isaac dropped a little further. Lily’s left arm began to slip from the pipe. “Oh, damn,” she whispered.

  “Lily, let go!” Isaac screamed.

  “You’re one of us now,” Lily said, “and we don’t leave our people behind.”

  A very large hand wrapped its fingers around Lily left arm.

  “It’
s about damn time!” Lily said as she looked back and saw Scott, in full wolf form, pulling her and Isaac away from the hole.

  He pulled them to safety and shifted back to his human form. “And I’m naked again,” he said with a sigh.

  “You know,” Ellie said as she walked up to them, “the Day Soldiers has one of the most advanced Research and Development departments in the world. Why haven’t we developed a pair of pants that stretch to fit you when you turn into a werewolf?”

  “You ask too many questions,” Scott said.

  Lily and Isaac sat on the newly slanted roof, covered in dust. “Is everybody okay?” Lily asked.

  “Yeah,” Scott said. “Cassius and Travis are MIA, but everybody else is accounted for.”

  Isaac coughed as he waved away the dust in front of his face. “You guys love to live dangerously, huh.”

  Lily quickly looked at Scott. The look on his face confirmed he was as startled as Lily.

  Isaac had coughed.

  A non-breathing Topian… coughed.

  Grung interrupted her thoughts. “Scott,” he said. “Do you hear that?”

  “What?” Scott said. He seemed startled.

  “Below us,” Grung said.

  Scott was quiet for a moment, then said, “Yeah. Damn.”

  “What is it?” Lily asked.

  “Voices,” Grung said. “Down in the castle. I think there are humans trapped down there.”

  Chapter 27

  The Price of Freedom

  The descent into the castle was relatively easy thanks to Scott, Grung, and Jesse. Once in the main room, Lily looked at the wreckage from the fallen boat and said, “Isaac, I’m glad I held onto you up there. I’m pretty sure you’d have ended up with a heart full of wood if you’d fallen.”

  “Yeah,” Isaac conceded. “I owe you one.”

  Grung looked up. “What’s left of the roof won’t last long. Let’s get these people out of here.”

  “Where are they?” Lily asked.

  Grung sniffed the air for a moment then pointed toward a door behind the large staircase. “Back there.”

  They climbed over the debris and opened the door. Several humans were inside, all chained to the walls.