“Do you have everything you need?” I asked.
“I do,” she replied. “But I’ll assess it first before taking my things out there. Zax got some of his equipment we’ll take with us. It won’t do anything, but it will act as a ruse while I connect to the shield should someone come too close.”
“I asked Hanley to lose the guards on the south-west point of the force field.”
“Good.” She looked relieved. “I’ll head out there.”
“I’ll join you, Mayra,” Zax said, putting down the final box. “Let me grab my gear.”
“How are you doing with all this?” I asked her.
She put a hand on my arm. “How are you doing with all this?”
“Like we’ve fallen down a rabbit hole out of the weird into the normal. Is it crazy to think that’s weird?”
She laughed. “I’d love to spend a day in your mind. But no. It’s not crazy. Some days I crave to be back home, staring out the window of my magic shop. But then I remind myself of what we’re doing here. We’re not only saving one world, Terra, but two. Two worlds. We’re saving innocent people from maniacs determined to destroy them. I can’t go back until we’re done. And I know you can’t, either. So we’ll smash this, just like we’ve smashed the rest.”
“Yeah.” My eyes flickered over to Kaleb. “I hope so.”
She took a step closer and lowered her voice. “Is he okay?”
“No,” I whispered back. “He’s struggling to keep his wolf at bay as the full moon approaches. You don’t have a potion in your bag that will put his wolf to sleep, do you?”
“Anything I had would also put Kaleb to sleep.” She frowned. “Why would the moon affect him so? He’s not a werewolf?”
“His wolf is desperate to claim me since we, you know, slept together. It’s getting worse with the draw of the moon when wolf shifters often claim their mate.”
“Ah,” she said in understanding. “He must be in extreme pain.”
“What should I do, Mayra?”
“Why won’t he claim you?”
“I’m not doing that!” Kaleb bellowed from across the tent.
I scowled. “Will you stop eavesdropping on our conversation with your big wolf ears? It’s rude!”
“It’s rude talking about someone when they’re in the same vicinity,” he retorted. The word ‘vicinity,’ erupted as a howl. He clamped his mouth shut.
“See?” I thumbed in his direction. “And he claims he’s fine.”
“I am fine,” he bit out. “I will be fine.”
“Sure,” I snorted.
“How about you come with me to take some photos of the rear grounds of the mall, Kaleb?” Bernard suggested.
Throwing me a look of an apology, Kaleb nodded, following him out of the tent.
Not long after, Grady and Libby entered.
“What you got?” I asked.
“Not much,” Grady replied, falling into a summary. “A citizen called in the attack at nine hundred hours this morning. Other calls flooded in after that, people screaming zombies were loose. The two who died include a cemetery care worker who fell into a grave trying to escape those who’d climbed out of the ground. He snapped his neck. And an elderly woman. She died from a heart attack on scene. Other than that, there are reports of people with decaying skin, soulless eyes, rotten teeth, attacking citizens as they made their way toward the mall. Some were more volatile than others. When a unit of law enforcement got there to gain control of the situation, they witnessed something instantly changing with the perpetrators. In the sense they stood still, to attention, then walked away in a line.”
“They called in the state police, the FBI,” Libby said, shuffling closer to Grady. She stroked his arm. “Members of the law enforcement are handling damage control. Their lines are off the hook and they have orders to keep the scenes cleared and the press out of the way. They haven’t investigated beyond that because of it falling into our jurisdiction. They’re more than happy to give us this one.”
“I bet they are,” I replied. “Both work together. Set up a timeline. Zax can tap into the different databases once he’s finished helping Mayra. But I need you to call around the morgues, funeral homes, cemeteries or wherever else they hold dead bodies or the recently deceased.”
Grady frowned. “Can I have a private word with you, Agent Vane?”
“So it’s Agent Vane now it is?” I raised my eyebrows. He took my arm, tugged me outside, and I found myself a few feet away from the tent behind a huge generator.
“What?”
He looked uncomfortable, trying to find the right words. “Libby is all over me. I can’t get anything done with her close by. You need to team her up with someone else.”
“You telling me you can’t handle, Libby?”
“If a guy was all over you like a rash, are you telling me you’d be comfortable?”
He had me there.
“All right. I’ll swap her with Zax.”
His shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank you.”
“She’s not your type?”
“I’ve just come out of a relationship with a woman I intended to marry. I’ve started a new job. One where I’m trying hard to stop my brain combusting. And I work with her. I don’t want to start anything with a co-worker.”
“I never said you had to,” I told him. “I was just curious. But I’m wondering how much information the local authorities parted with because you turned up or because Libby used her gift on them.”
His lips formed a thin line. “She used it twice.”
“And there you go. Libby may be a pain in the ass, but she’s a damn good agent.” I frowned. “Please don’t tell her I said that.”
His lip curved. “I won’t.” But then he resigned himself. “And I’ll tell her myself to back off. That I’m not interested. I shouldn’t expect you to fight my battles. How did your dealings with Hanley go?”
“He wants a briefing soon. Kaleb and me checked out things with the CDC, and I’ll wait for Mayra’s assessment before briefing him.”
“I’ll keep assessing the bodies taken from the surrounding area and try to get a rough number of what we’re dealing with. Including the type of people he’s taken.”
“The CDC had a teenager in there.” I sighed. “It shook me more than I thought it would.”
“And he may have raised younger bodies from the grave.”
A coldness settled within me at that. But he was right. And we had to be prepared.
“Hey, Terra!” Karl shouted from me, and I shrieked, digging my nails into Grady’s arm, returning the earlier favor.
“Ow!” Grady drew his arm away. I spun on my heel to see nothing but space behind me.
“Karl!” I reprimanded. “I’m so close to exorcizing your damn self!”
His laughter boomed. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. I can’t stay long. But there’s enough light shining to keep the spirits hovering by Grady at bay for a short while. Thought I’d check in.”
“Spirits?”
“I’m next to Grady,” he told me, my eyes glancing every which way.
“I need to get a cardboard cut out done of you. Staring at nothing is distracting.”
“I don’t mind you putting my sexy face all over the place. Give you something to drool over.”
“Draw over, you mean. I might add a mustache. Maybe a forked tail. Some horns?”
“Hey. I’m like an angel. Not the devil. Although in the bedroom…”
“Cut it out, Karl,” Grady rolled his eyes. “How many spirits?”
“You spoil all the fun. Twenty on my last count. One I’m not liking. He keeps trying to get close to you, demanding that you let him in. But I don’t think he only means through the guard I’m creating.”
“He wants to possess me?”
“They’re getting stronger the more you’re opening up to all this. By being around Terra and the gang, you’re losing all the conformity that’s locked it down before now. And you’re
not only attracting those who want to send messages to their loved ones.”
“What do you mean?”
“The nasty prick who wants to take you over. There are darker spirits begging for you to bring them to this side. I don’t know, man. This is all new to me, too. But I’ll keep them at bay. No one will get near you, brother. I vow it.”
Grady, gazing at the space next to him, nodded, his eyes filled with gratitude and respect. “Thanks, brother.”
My tears blossomed at such a sight. Grady, the man with his guard up most of the time, looking upon his deceased friend with affection. Karl, adamant to look after his former colleague with no resentment as Grady lived while he had died. I sniffled.
Grady glared at the space beside me. “Now look what you’ve done.”
“I’m not crying,” I told them.
“Liar,” Karl chuckled.
“You might be able to help us,” Grady said to Karl. “You okay to stick around for five?”
“Sure. How can I help?”
I took my cell out of my pocket. “Why don’t you give him the heads up while I try Dan again?”
I made the call while he updated Karl on all we’d discovered so far.
Dan’s mobile rang out, but I got his voicemail. Frustrated, I ended the call, not bothering to leave a message. What would I say? ‘Hey Dan, any idea on how to take in human soldiers to fight against the walking dead? How about a mage? Any tricks on how to not only defeat him, but to hide both Dreven and our abilities from the humans?’
All he’d say in reply is, ‘You’ve got this, kid. You can do it.’
Yeah. And he had way too much faith in me.
“Daaaamn,” Karl whistled, “Zombies?”
“Yes. And a dangerous mage,” I replied, turning to them both. “How do we create a strategy that operates within the realms of the human when dealing with the supernatural? Our aim is to take Dreven down, and we believe him to be in there, drawing the dead people to him. It’s an assumption, but one we need to investigate further as we provide damage control on the zombies waiting for our next move.”
“So you’re worried taking Hanley’s men into a situation where you have no confirmed target?” asked Karl.
“And risking discovery of what they’re fighting against. Not only will the IET need to temper down their talents in front of them, but we believe the zombies will attack once we lower the shield. If magic is using their shell, then that means they’ll keep on coming no matter if you chop off a limb, stab them in the gut, burn them. How the hell do I explain that to Hanley?”
“Shit me sideways,” he replied. “I don’t envy you, Terra. And I’m dead.”
“Yeah. Cheers for that.”
“So, this guy isn’t calling souls back into the bodies,” he said, ignoring my sarcasm. “A ghost like me, for instance. He’s just using magic to keep the dead moving?”
“Yes.”
“And he’s controlling hundreds of these?”
“Yep.”
Grady thought on it. “Let’s review this from the human angle for a minute and take the supernatural part off the table. If a virus was the culprit, how would you handle the situation?”
“Run the other way?” I suggested.
“Vane…”
“Fine. First off, I’d assess the enemy. I’ve never fought a magic-wielded zombie before. Have you?”
He looked at me like an unruly child. “No.”
“I dunno,” said Karl, “we’ve fought some monsters in our time.”
“Don’t encourage her.” Grady rolled his hand for me to get on with it.
“We’re not aware of what zombies we’re facing,” I continued. “Are they fast, or the slow and groaning kind? When we visited those in isolation they did nothing, just stood there, staring into space similar to our boys outside. But the CDC detective told us when they were first brought in they were aggressive. The police reports confirm this. But they didn’t continue their attack on the people. They snapped out of it before walking here like… well, like zombies.”
“So why don’t you find out?” Karl asked.
“The shield’s not broken yet.”
“But you said there are three of them in isolation.”
“They won’t let us access them.”
“You’re in charge, aren’t you?” he replied. “The General may try to stop you. He will want to follow protocol. But the CDC will bow down if it means a workable solution. You’ve only had sanction from your boss, but so far, no one has contradicted that, so do it without asking for permission. Order them to be released. You can fight them in a controlled environment, test their skills, their abilities.”
“It was a middle-aged man and a woman and a kid, about eighteen, dressed in their burial clothes. You want us to use them as examples? Chop off their arms in front of the soldiers?”
“Isn’t it better to prepare them before they go in? You send them in unprepared and even though you’re sending in trained people, seasoned people, they’re still humans. You need to remove the shock factor. The hesitation. You should show them what to expect.”
“It’s a risk,” I said, thinking on it. “But it’s a good idea. What about the mage?”
“Take them only part way in,” Karl suggested. “Enough for them to kill the zombies while you go deeper. If I could float away from Grady, I’d monitor it for you. But I’m never able to go far. I go where he goes, even in stasis. Also, I’ve gotta stay there in case too many souls come running.”
“Karl’s right,” Grady added. “We can go in part way. Assess and eliminate the threat. You can’t take different entry points, which I’d prefer. But we don’t have an idea on Dreven’s location. And you’re limited with the number of people you’re taking in. Any way of finding out his general direction or is it necessary to cover the whole mall?”
“Mayra could manage a tracking spell when we get so far in,” I thought out loud. “We haven’t been able to do that with the prisoners before now because they wore the amulets with Dreven’s magic. But she could track for stronger magic.”
“There are several access points. But aim for the main entrance. It’s the closest. If we get her to the center of the mall, she can do what she does from there.”
I nodded. “If we can get a lead on Dreven, we leave everyone else behind to man the fort as we move in. They can keep back any more coming in to attack.”
“It will need refining. I’ll assess the layouts and a review the strategy if you like?”
“Yeah. That’s a good idea.”
“You must keep others on the perimeter in case this goes to shit,” said Karl. “They can hold him back as best they can while calling in the further cavalry.”
“Is there any further cavalry?”
“There’s the bomb kind.”
My eyebrows raised in surprise. “They wouldn’t?”
“They’ll do what’s necessary to end the threat,” Grady replied.
“But he’s a mage!” I said aghast. “He’d probably catch a nuke and throw it back at them just for the sake of it.”
“They don’t know that. Human side, remember? But we do. What happens when the shield’s down and the zombies attack?”
“Not thought on that yet. Or the strategy we’ll need when we get inside.”
“Leave the inside with us. I’ll make sure there’s a plan in place that allows us to assess each area of the mall. We can split up at different points to cover more ground, and I’ll arrange meet points for us to regroup.”
Relief filled me at someone having a clue. “Okay. Thanks, both. When Bernard and Kaleb return, I’ll go into the CDC and get what we need for the demonstration. Arrange somewhere to do it.” I sighed. “How the hell am I going to explain zombies?”
“The CDC won’t be able to confirm anything.”
“So?”
“They can’t refute it either.”
“I’m not a scientist, Grady. I can’t conjure something from thin air to counteract t
he opinion of a dedicated team.”
“So don’t,” said Karl. “Use your imagination.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Nope. But if you use the words classified, drip-feed them the information, act confident, they’ll buy it. Trust me.”
“They condition the soldiers to fight upon orders,” Grady said. “So convince Hanley, and the rest won’t be a problem.”
“And how do I convince Hanley?”
Karl laughed. “I think I may have an idea.”
Staring at nothing once more, I said, “I’ll hate this, won’t I?”
“I dunno. I believe you might like it.”
Karl told me his notion, and I laughed. But I soon stopped laughing when I realized he was serious. After that, I considered it. Then thought myself close to the edge of sanity when I did. But what other choice did I have?
“I’ll do it,” I said before I could stop myself. “But if the others give me hell on this, the two of you need to back me up.”
“I’ll will,” Karl replied. “Even if they can’t see or hear me.”
“Good point.”
“It’s enough to offer Hanley,” said Grady. “And it’s viable enough for their human minds to grasp it. Side step questions. Get to the demonstration. And let them see it for themselves.”
“I’d give anything to be back in Portiside,” I murmured, hating dealing with the humans with every fiber of my being. And Dan. If Dan were here…
But he wasn’t. And it was all on my shoulders as the lead agent to make the final decision. A case of national security was up to me to decide upon while the President and his people remained unaware of what was going down. I rubbed my face enough to snap me out of my downward spiral.
Grady put a hand on my shoulder. “You’ve got this.”
“Yeah? Sure you don’t want to babysit me for Dan?”
He smirked. “I’ve seen how you’ve handled yourself. And I won’t repeat my past mistakes by selling you short. You’ll take risks where many won’t. You listen to your team. You fight where many would talk until the threat consumed. I’m here to have your back. Not second guess it.” He noticed my expression change and his face fell. “Don’t cry again, okay?”
Death Be Rising (The Terra Vane Series Book 7) Page 6
