Vampire Outbreak (The Josh Thorne Trilogy Book 2)

by Joe Fowler

  The werewolf held cities provided us with evidence to show the President tomorrow night. In some cities there had been no human deaths from vampires because of the werewolf population. There were a growing number of vampire fighting vampire cities as well. The more intelligent vampires could see that this rampage would only lead to their destruction. The only chance left was to stop the deaths and hope that there would be some leniency.

  The one city that had absolutely nothing to report was Chattanooga. The vampire population had been decimated by their failed attack on Josh’s house and our attack on their warehouse. Any remaining vampires in the area were still abiding by the no kill policy or they were scared the wolves would take to the streets to defend the humans. Either way, the local news happily reported quiet streets.

  Memphis was very quiet as well. The vampires were behaving themselves. They were some of the ones who wanted to go public in the first place. At least they were showing some of the discipline they talked about. The wolves who travelled to Memphis to attack the toy store, had gone home.

  Seth was in and out of the room as he was on the phone with other packs from across the country. He had brought a list of the packs he was familiar with. He also phoned others that he learned of as he made his calls. The wolves were doing what they could in most cities. Some of the larger cities were too much for one or two local packs to handle. Seth wanted to get a feel for what was happening in all areas so we could make our plans accordingly. All the werewolves he talked to readily said that Seth would be the one to speak for all wolves.

  In truth, I felt useless sitting there watching the screen. I knew I couldn’t be in all places but the sight of so many dying was hard to stomach. I was aware that if Josh and Rosalyn had been in Brazil, the death total would be less than a thousand. The same could be said for cities all over the world. There weren’t enough true badasses like them and Seth to go around.

  Rosalyn and I went to bed early. We needed to get away from the horror. Part of me was getting nervous about meeting the President, but if we could do anything to help stop the killing then it would be worth it.

  “What are you thinking about?” Rosalyn asked.

  “I am wondering if the President will do what is needed. With all the destruction and death that happened today, we aren’t needing to convince him as much as we need to advise him. I don’t have a mind for strategy so that will mostly be up to others. I mainly just want to do my part and not be stuck in front of a tv feeling helpless again.” I gave my honest answer.

  “Seth can handle the strategy pretty well. Besides, once the government gets involved the military can help with planning.”

  “That is kind of scary too. The government trying to control vampire problems. I never was much for politicians. Let’s hope the President can get this right so he doesn’t run out of voters.” I laughed a little. Rosalyn slapped my chest playfully.

  “That was a horrible thing to say. We will find a way.” Rosalyn sounded tired.

  The sun started to rise a little while later. Some of my thoughts weren’t too pleasant so I was happy to lose them in the sleep I could already feel creeping in. Tomorrow night would be huge. My last thought was how good Rosalyn smelled.

  Chapter 12

  I woke to a frisky Rosalyn. We spent a little extra time having fun before we went upstairs for a shower. Everyone was acting very serious. They filled us in on the highlights of the day, which amounted to more of the same from the day before. More werewolf involvement was the most prevalent trend. Cities all around the world were now openly embracing the werewolves as their protectors. At least that was good news. China and India were being hit hard by the vampires. Berlin was almost a total loss.

  “How is Mobile? You guys still have pack members there.” I asked. I was worried about them even though I didn’t know them. I knew it was because of how much I liked these people. I didn’t want them to lose anyone.

  “Mobile is good. There wasn’t much of a vampire population there anyway because of us. My pack is on alert if they become needed.” Seth informed me. “You guys ready for this? It isn’t every day you meet the President of the United States.”

  “As ready as we can be. Do you really think they will let us go when the meeting is over?” Rosalyn asked.

  “I think they have seen enough to show how much they need us. I was worried when they first announced it but I believe we will be okay. They will see us as the good guys now.” Seth sounded sure.

  “That makes me feel better.” Rosalyn sighed with hopeful relief.

  We sat and watched the news until it was time to leave. As we were walking out the door, the pack members were patting us on the back and wishing us luck. Josh handed Seth his keys and we got into the car. I was in the passenger side and Rosalyn sat in the back. The Challenger’s engine was the only sound for most of the trip. We knew this might be our last night but we would face it head on. We were doing the right thing.

  The closer we got to Lindsay Street, the more people there were. Barricades were set up along the approach to Lindsay Street to keep people back. A blockade had been set up with military standing guard to block the road. All of them wore sunglasses. One of the soldiers walked to the car and looked inside. He saw me and compared my face to a photo taken from the video we had sent to the news station. He made a motion to the soldiers by the blockade to let us through. We were stopped in front of the building by more soldiers. As I got out of the car, I saw the rifles that were aimed at us from the rooftop across the street. We were escorted by a dozen soldiers, each of them with a gun aimed at us.

  We were led into a large meeting room. There was a big semicircle raised from the floor where, I would guess, council members usually sat. We were brought to one of two tables set up facing each other on the floor area a noticeable distance from the council seats. Those seats were currently occupied by three men in military uniform and four men wearing suits. Between our table and the council seats were dozens of soldiers with guns raised at us. Cameras had been set up in three different places. Under normal circumstances I would appreciate the room’s mixture of gold and wood colors.

  About five minutes after we were seated, Jonas and two more vampires entered the room under the same armed escort we had experienced. Rosalyn let out a huge gasp as they walked to the other table. I looked to see what was wrong. She was staring at the vampires across from us with more fear than I had ever seen in anyone’s eyes. Seth was looking at her with the same confused look that I knew was on my face.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked in as low a voice as I could.

  “The vampire on the left is Cyranos.” She managed to say.

  At the mention of his name Cyranos looked our way and immediately recognized Rosalyn. He smiled at her like he was happy to see her. He was tall with black hair and perfect features. I could see a little of why Rosalyn feared him. He had a presence that made you shiver. It was like darkness itself in the shape of a man. You could feel the evil. He was beautiful to look at, and believe me I never thought to describe a man as being beautiful. We didn’t have much time to think what his being here meant. We were ordered to stand. That’s when the President entered the room.

  “Be seated.” The President said as he took his seat in the middle of the semicircle. He looked at our table briefly and then leveled a look full of anger at the other table. “Can you understand the extent of the damage you have caused this world? Your small group may have been sincere in wanting to live peacefully but it seems the majority of your kind do not agree. Can you give me one good reason why I shouldn’t order the death of every vampire?”

  “Mr. President, with all due respect, we could not have foreseen what would happen elsewhere. Some of our race are not as ready to join society. I apologize for our part in the tragedy that has taken place, but please do not judge us all by the actions of some. We are peaceful and only sought equal rights.” Jonas spoke his cause even though he knew it was already lost.

  “Why
couldn’t you see this outcome? The savagery we have witnessed from vampires all over the world seems to be the norm for your race. What made you think they would join with their food and play nice?” The President’s words eased any doubt about how he felt.

  “Our plan was not ready yet. We were still months away. We hoped to communicate to our brethren how good it would be to not have to hide anymore. To be a part of society where we didn’t have to fight. We hoped to put an end to the savagery you speak of.” Jonas wasn’t giving up.

  “If you were months away from being ready, then why did you announce yourself when you did?”

  “Mr. President, that is entirely because of them.” Jonas pointed his finger at us. “They wiped out our friends in Jackson. They destroyed one of our warehouses here killing over a hundred of us in the process. We had no choice but to go public when we did. Our plan would have worked and could still work with time.”

  “Austin, I would like to hear your side now. How did you learn of their plan and what made you act against them? The President asked.

  “This is Rosalyn. She is my maker. We were driving through Jackson when we smelled a large concentration of vampires at a warehouse. We stopped to see what was going on. The leader of the vampires there sat us down thinking he was welcoming new vampires to his area. He told us how many vampires they had gathered, about the other two cities, and of the plan to go public. I was shocked but Rosalyn was furious. She killed him and made sure I understood how bad this plan was. We were attacked by the rest of the vampires there, admittedly they had reason at the time. We managed to kill them and we burned the building to hide the corpses.

  “We stayed in Jackson another night to see if the rest of the local vampires would gather. We found them at a park. We honestly tried to talk some sense into them. They wouldn’t listen. After we killed them we drove to Memphis. We saw the toy company building and knew we couldn’t attack it with only the two of us. That was when we came to Chattanooga. This is where the werewolves come in.

  “We were searching for a vampire so we could find out where they were gathered here. We ran into the local wolf pack instead. Once we had told them what the vampires were planning, they worked with us. This is Seth.” I motioned to Seth as I introduced him. “Rosalyn and I met him in Biloxi. It would take too long to relate all the details, but Seth was the maker of the Chattanooga pack leader. We called Seth in to help us.

  “We were in the planning stages ourselves when the vampires arranged a meeting with us. They asked to meet in peace so they could explain what they were trying to do. You saw the results of that meeting on the news. The local pack leader and I were the ones who killed the vampires at the furniture warehouse.”

  “He even admits that we wanted to meet in peace and yet they killed our kind with no mercy.” Jonas played the outrage card.

  “I assure you, Mr. President, they did not want a peaceful meeting. They were moving in for their attack before the discussion ended.” I gave a snort. “If they really wanted peace, then why did they send hundreds of vampires to the werewolves’ house while we were having that meeting?”

  “Is this true? Did you attack their house as he said?” The President was turning red in his anger.

  “I knew nothing about that. I was still in Memphis at the time.” If vampires could sweat then Jonas would be standing in a puddle.

  “If you were in Memphis, how did you know of the fighting at the furniture warehouse?”

  The President asked incredulously.

  “We were linked into the security feed. When we saw what happened we made the second video that was sent to the news. We thought humans would have sympathy for our lost brothers. We did not expect the violence that erupted. For that we are sorry.” Jonas tried to explain even though he knew he was in trouble.

  “Now we know what happened. The question is, what do we do to stop this?” The President wasn’t happy. “Do you have any ideas about what our next move is?”

  “Mr. President, I have been a vampire for less than a month. Rosalyn is twenty-four hundred years old. Seth is over four hundred years old. These two will be much more help with strategy than I could ever be.” I sat back hoping my part was mostly over.

  “Mr. President, I will be more than happy to help in any way I can, but first you may want to have them leave the room.” Seth motioned at Jonas, Cyranos and the other vampire.

  “I agree. I promised you a safe meeting and I will live up to my word. I will tell you plainly that I now see your group as the enemy.” He motioned to the soldiers to get Jonas and friends out of the room.

  As he rose from his chair, Cyranos gave Rosalyn a long look. Even as he was leaving the room he turned one last time to stare at her. Rosalyn refused to look at him. She kept her eyes on the table in front of her. I sincerely hoped to never, ever, see him again.

  “Seth, is there any way to turn this around and end the killing quickly?” The President got right to the point.

  “Not quickly, but we can limit how many humans die. I have already called packs all across the country and they are moving into position to help the cities they live near. The problem is that there aren’t nearly enough wolves.”

  “What can we do to help?”

  “If you can place soldiers in the cities, it would help. During the day they can search out the sleeping quarters of the vampires. Vampires are defenseless during daylight hours. At night they will need infrared night vision to see heat signatures. Vampires have no body heat so your men can easily distinguish the good guys from the bad. Bullets won’t kill a vampire, but you can incapacitate them and use a knife or machete to decapitate them. You need to make sure your men do not fight them hand to hand. Vampires will win every time against a human.” Seth stopped to take a breath.

  “Are vampires really that tough? Austin, you and the one with you were killing them easily enough.” One of the military men asked this.

  “Yes sir, but Josh and I aren’t the average of our species. Normally when a vampire is turned, he becomes three to four times stronger than he was before. His speed increases by about the same amount. That strength and speed increases with age. I am one of the rare ones who is reborn much stronger than that. My strength is about equal to a thousand year old vampire even though I am only a few weeks into this new life. Josh is a much different story that I am not really qualified to tell.” I didn’t want to say any more than I should about Josh. I would let Seth be the one to do that.

  “By some strange coincidences, you gentlemen were in the presence of three of the toughest of all vampires and werewolves known. One of the members of the group that was here is named Cyranos. He was the one on the left. He is around forty-five hundred years old. He is one to be feared, and is as evil as they come. He is the only active vampire I know of that is stronger than Rosalyn. Josh, the one you saw fighting alongside Austin, will one day be the toughest of all of us.” Seth took a deep breath and looked like he was trying to decide something. “At the moment I hold that honor. I only tell you these things so you understand that you cannot base what you see one of us do, with what a human could do.”

  “Two questions. What do you mean by ‘active’ vampire? And. Who is stronger between vampires and werewolves?” The President asked.

  “Ancient vampire’s sometimes sleep for decades at a time. They only awaken to feed and then they go back to sleep for decades more. For the second question. When werewolves are in human form, vampires hold a slight edge. When turned, a werewolf is much stronger. The problem is that vampires outnumber werewolves by a large margin. That is the problem we face with the larger cities. Our packs would be too outnumbered to safely control the vampires.” Seth explained.

  “Why not make more werewolves? That seems the obvious answer.” One of the Generals joined the talks.

  “The full moon was last week. It would be three weeks before a new wolf could turn.” Seth leaned forward and tried to emphasize this next point. “I would think twice about making a l
ot more wolves. Giving this much power to people who may or may not do the right thing when they turn is dangerous. I have seen some good men go bad when they finally had the strength to make people fear them. I know that you military types would love to have whole units of werewolf super soldiers. I can’t stress enough how dangerous that would be.”

  “These are desperate times. We may not have the option to play it safe. Can you think of a way to minimize the danger of turning our soldiers?” The President asked.

  “Small groups of handpicked men and women. I would suggest psychological exams before they can be eligible. You would want to shy away from anyone with anger management problems, control issues, or emotional instability. Even then they would need to be watched through the beginning of their time as a wolf. I have always been very careful of who I turned Mr. President.”

  “If we could have this group of soldiers tested as you say, when would be the latest you would be able to turn them?” The President asked.

  “They would need at least three days before the full moon, sir. I don’t have a calendar to see the exact date. I just want to stress again to choose carefully. I have had to put wolves down from time to time because they had a bad reaction to being turned.” Seth’s worry was evident in his voice. “There are a lot of questions I will have to work through before then anyway. One of which is where would we find alpha’s to lead them.”

  “We need immediate help in St. Louis and Miami. Is there anything we can do to stop them more quickly? It may take a few days to prepare our soldiers to enter these cities. The vampires are killing too many for us to wait that long.” The President asked.

  “Josh, Rosalyn, Austin, and I can help. If you would provide the transportation, then Josh and I will travel to the worst of the cities. Rosalyn and Austin, if they are willing, can help the other. Each one of us is capable of killing hundreds of vampires per night. We can move through a city disposing of any vampires we see.” Seth surprised us with that statement.