Extinction

by M. D. Massey

  Without reservation, I was happy to sacrifice myself to make that happen. The plan after that didn’t rely on me at all, so even if I died at Calypso’s hands it wouldn’t matter. Kara knew the rest of the plan, and she’d help the group finish matters in my absence.

  Planning for a worst-case scenario was typical bright-side Army Ranger thinking. I’d thought it all through, and calculated the risks. Dying was an acceptable risk, to ensure the future of this group… and potentially the rest of the human race.

  But I really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

  I got the rabbi back to the Facility and introduced him to the group. He apparently knew Samson from way back, so he and the alpha did some catching up in the mess hall, sharing hilarious war stories with the rest of the group. I was glad to hear some laughter inside the place for a change. My people would need it to face what we were about to do. Many of them wouldn’t return, and they all knew it.

  I could see it written on their faces, human and ’thrope alike.

  My job was to make sure that as many of them as possible made it back from the assault. So, while the rabbi and Samson regaled the group with their tall tales, I got to work. The first step was to ensure that we had an advantage over the vamps. Most were baby vamps and easy enough to kill, but Calypso still had a few mature vamps working for her, and they had me worried. I spent a few hours in the armory working on a surprise for those assholes, then prepped my gear.

  After I was ready to roll, I had a quick powwow with the leaders from every group. Gabby and Bobby were there, along with the Doc, Colin, Anna, Mickey, Samson, Sledge, Trina, and the rabbi. I looked across the small gathering and revealed the rest of my plan, as well as Kara’s part in it… without mentioning Donnie the Wendigo, of course.

  Colin was the first to speak up. “You’re fucking crazy, Scratch. Absolutely bugshit nuts. You get within fifty feet of her, and she’ll tear you to pieces.”

  Out of habit, I rubbed my bite scar as I listened to his criticism of my plan. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve got it covered. I’m fairly certain she won’t harm me unless she knows that Kara is present. She wants to destroy us both, and make us watch each other die, slowly. She told me as much back at the Reserve Center in Austin.”

  Bobby cleared his throat to get my attention. “Just how certain is ‘fairly certain,’ Scratch?”

  I shrugged. “Ninety-five percent? Hell, I don’t know. I just have a feeling that she wants to make me suffer, and Kara to watch.”

  Samson tsked softly from the corner of the room. “Yeah, but what happens when she gets wind of Kara?”

  I knew that question was coming. “Kara knows how to stay downwind. And besides, she’ll be too busy with the battle to notice.” I hope.

  Gabby was twirling and flipping her knife, something she always did when she was nervous. She slammed the butt of the Kabar onto a table, and it was shockingly loud in the small room.

  “Just don’t get yourself killed, pendejo. Or else I’ll have my tia bring you back to life just so I can kick your ass.”

  She stormed out of the room. Bobby stood up to follow her, but Samson laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “Let her go, son. She just needs some time alone.” He looked at me with hooded eyes. “Don’t you worry, Scratch. My Pack will do what needs to be done.”

  I shot the old ’thrope a grim smile. “I appreciate that, Samson. I know y’all could cut and run if you wanted to.”

  Samson tousled Bobby’s hair, and the kid’s face split into a sour smile. “Not so long as this knucklehead insists on hanging around with you people. Besides, I’m tired of just surviving. It’s time we took our shit back from these bloodsuckers, and made them pay for what they’ve done.” The alpha looked at me. “Speaking of which, you do have a plan for when Calypso’s master comes looking for her, don’t you?”

  I nodded, my face a mask. “Again, I have that covered. But one thing at a time, right? Let’s work on taking the witch out, and then we can deal with the rest of the Dallas coven.”

  Anna looked around the room, then at me. “I’m just not sure I want to lose any more of our boys, Scratch. Can you ensure that you’ll keep them safe during the attack?”

  I raised both hands in submission. “I make no promises, but we’ll keep your Wild Boys and our people outside and in well-lit rooms during the attack. They’ll be on fire support duty, helping take out the vamps as Samson and his people lure them out. Since we’re attacking during the day, most of her brood should be sound asleep. So, we’ll just be contending with her deader dogs and the older vamps.”

  Mickey shook his head. “I still don’t like it.”

  I shrugged. “It’s either this or wait here until they break through Colin’s… whatever the hell Colin did to keep them out. Then, we’ll be fighting them at night—and you saw how that turned out the last time.”

  “I could just keep reinforcing my wards,” Colin said.

  I scratched my head and sighed. “And what if something happens to you? Uh-uh, no way I’m resting our entire defense on one person. Nope. The only solution is to take them out, and the Dallas coven too.” I scanned the room, trying to make eye contact with as many of them as I could. “Now, you all know what you have to do. Brief your people, and be ready to roll at oh-six-hundred. Any more questions?”

  Bobby raised his hand. “If you die, can I have your room?”

  The next morning, we had a crew of some thirty individuals ready to roll out at the designated time. We were leaving a few folks behind, including the Doc because she was too valuable to risk, and all the humans who had refused the serum or tried it with mixed or no results.

  Trina was also staying behind, and man, was she pissed about it. But Samson pointed out that she was one of only two trained medical personnel, and that meant we needed to keep her here to run triage and help the Doc treat the wounded after the battle. After a lot of yelling and growling, she finally accepted Samson’s orders—although I didn’t think she’d ever forgive him for it.

  On the plus side, we had two handfuls of ’thropes, an equal number of juiced Wild Boys, and another half-dozen settlers who’d taken to the serum. That was in addition to myself, Bobby, Gabby, Colin, and Anna, who insisted on having the opportunity to die with her people. She was one of the humans who hadn’t gotten juiced, so I had mixed emotions about that. But it was ultimately her life and her call, so I let it go.

  Besides, Colin said she was a crack shot. Honestly, I didn’t mind having someone on overwatch who could shoot the balls off a gnat at a hundred paces. Besides Kara, of course.

  Kara wasn’t just my ace in the hole; she was the whole plan, period. I assumed that she and Donnie had secreted themselves inside the hospital while the vamps were out attacking us the night previous. I simply had to trust that she’d be in position when the time came.

  We pulled up on the hospital at around zero-seven-hundred. While the serum hadn’t fully exerted its effects on our humans, the group still moved at a decent clip. Anna hitched a ride on Bobby’s back, so we made damned good time. The only thing that slowed us down was killing the sentries we came across on the way. Damned deader dogs were sneaky as all hell. We could’ve ignored them, since Calypso would know we were coming anyway, but it was the principle of the thing that mattered.

  By zero-seven-fifteen we were ready to breach the hospital. All our snipers were in place in key positions around the building, with three-hundred-sixty-degree coverage all around. They’d take out any deaders who were drawn in by the commotion, and if any vamps popped up behind a window on ground level, they were toast.

  I prayed that Kara was inside and in position, then signaled to the ’thropes to move out. Gabby was about to follow us in, and I stopped her with a look. “Uh-uh, kiddo, no way in hell. I won’t last two seconds in there if I’m worried about looking after you.”

  She shoved me hard with both hands. “You know what, Scratch? Fuck you! You don’t get to decide if I live or die. Tony
split, and Lorena is more interested in her Peter dishes than in me, so you’re all I have left.”

  Bobby raised a hand, his brow furrowed in deep thought. “That’s ‘petri dishes,’ I think.”

  She turned on him and pointed a finger in his face. “You stay out of this, perro.”

  He backed off, hands raised in the air. “Geez, I was just trying to help,” he mumbled.

  Gabby spun back on me. “So, you’re the closest thing to family I have, and there is no way in hell I’m letting you go in there without me. Understood?”

  I exhaled heavily, frustrated at the delay. “Nope, no can do. You’re not furry enough, and it’ll be too easy for one of our snipers to mistake you for a vamp. Besides, I can’t do my job while I’m worried about whether or not you’re safe.” I looked at Bobby. “Keep her outside the building, kid. Or it’s your ass when I get back.”

  Gabby started to say something, then stopped herself and stormed off. Bobby shrugged and went after her, and I watched them go. Samson chuckled and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “I told the boy stay outside as well.”

  I shook my head. “Has he ever listened to you? They’re going to follow us in, just you watch. Let’s get in and get out before those two have a chance to get in any real trouble.”

  I checked my rifle to make sure I had one in the chamber, and switched the selector to full auto. “Now, let’s go ruin that bitch’s day.”

  We took off at a sprint toward the hospital. As soon as we hit the parking lot, a wave of undead hounds came flowing out of the hospital straight at us.

  We’d prepared for this, and our snipers were already firing by the time we made contact with the hounds. The plan was simple. The snipers would down the deader dogs, and the ’thropes would finish as many of them as possible while I went in with Samson and two more ’thropes. My primary goal was to get to the elevator shaft, where I intended to spring my surprise on Calypso’s lieutenants.

  And after that? I fully intended to be captured by their master.

  The crack-crack-crack of rifle fire sounded from all directions as hounds began dropping ahead of us. While the ’thropes couldn’t move as fast as vamps, they were still incredibly agile and quick in their full werewolf forms, and they made short work of any hounds that were down. Samson led a spear formation with Sledge and two more wolves with me in the center, and they threw hounds right and left, slashing and tearing as we made our way to the front doors of the hospital.

  Finally, we made it inside. Samson posted two ’thropes at the door to keep the deader dogs off our backs, and we entered the interior of the building.

  There was plenty of daylight for the first thirty yards or so, but after that I knew it’d be on. My reflexes were a hell of a lot faster now that the deader venom was under control, but if an older vamp showed up I’d still be screwed. I was counting on Calypso ordering them to leave me alone, and it was one hell of a gamble.

  I looked at Samson and nodded. “You know what to do. Keep the vamps contained, and keep the kids from heading down the shaft.” I shouldered my small ruck and palmed the trigger device in my pocket.

  Samson clasped hands with me, his huge werewolf hand enveloping mine. “Good luck, hunter. See you on the other side.”

  I nodded and sprinted down the hall into the darkness. Shadows were already flitting back and forth in the gloom, and as my eyes adjusted I saw them for what they were: vamps. There were at least three older vamps dashing here and there in the darkness, staying just at the edge of my vision.

  And they were so freaking fast. Despite how quick the ’thropes were, and I had no doubt that one of these older vamps would tear the average ’thrope apart in an even fight.

  It was my job to give Samson’s Pack a fighting chance.

  I loosened the straps on my ruck and yelled at the darkness. “Alright, you fuckers, I’m done playing games. Take me to Calypso, now! I’ve got a deal for her that she can’t refuse.”

  I listened carefully, every sense on high alert. This would all come down to timing, and it was a one-shot deal so I had to make it count. I dropped my rifle to the ground, then took off my katana and laid it next to the rifle. Finally, I unbuckled my belt and let it fall to the floor with my sidearms.

  I kicked everything out of reach, then waited to ensure that I knew which direction they were coming from. As I suspected, they approached from behind. Laughter echoed in the darkness, along with the sounds of footsteps that were way to fast and close together, and the whoosh of bodies splitting the air at highway speeds.

  “Look, I’m unarmed,” I said, dropping the backpack to the ground. I raised my hands in the air and took a step forward, waiting for the right moment. Three sets of footsteps—checkmate.

  A male voice whispered from the darkness behind me. “Whatever you think you have to offer, your fate is still sealed, human.”

  “Oh, I’m counting on it,” I said as I jumped toward a nearby open doorway, clicking the button on the detonation switch in my pocket as I did.

  The explosion in the confined spaces of the hospital hallway was deafening. Inside the pack was a short, pot-shaped steel cylinder, packed with explosives at the base and capped with a concave silver “lid” that I’d had a bitch of a time soldering to the steel casing. This effectively created an explosively-formed penetrator, a type of improvised explosive device that insurgents had used in Iraq and Afghanistan to take out armored vehicles.

  The way they worked was simple. When the explosives went off, they super-heated the concave “cap,” melting it and forming it into a shaped projectile of molten metal traveling at over a mile a second. Back in the ’Stan I’d seen EFPs penetrate tank armor, so I figured that making one out of molten silver would do a hell of a job on a few vamps. I don’t care how scary fast you are; you’re still not going to dodge a pound of molten silver flying at 3,600 miles an hour.

  As an extra surprise, I’d filled a few waterproof bags with the rest of the scrap silver I had laying around, and packed the ruck with it in front of and around the charge. So, even if the projectile missed one of them, they’d still get a face full of silver for their troubles.

  The overpressure from the blast bounced me off a nearby wall, hard enough to leave a large indent in the drywall. Thank God for cheap modern construction and weak walls, I thought. I was covered in drywall dust and my ears were ringing like mad, but I was still alive and no vamps were chomping on my face. I counted that as a win.

  I rolled over and peeked around the corner. The air was still filled with dust and haze, but it was clear that at least one of the damned things had been hit. It was lying on the ground, rolling back and forth and moaning as thick dark blood flowed from the stumps where its legs had once been.

  As the haze cleared, it revealed another injured vamp farther down the hall. Its flesh sizzled and bubbled in numerous places where dozens of makeshift silver projectiles had hit it. I stumbled into the hall and found my sword, drawing it and letting the scabbard fall to the floor. I staggered to the nearest vamp, the one with no legs, and sliced its head off. I did the same to the other one while it was still stunned, and watched its head roll away with disinterest.

  But where is the third vamp? My question was answered when a pale white blur knocked my sword from my hands. The vamp grabbed me by the throat with one hand, lifting me off the ground just as Calypso herself had done recently. I struggled against its grip, but my neck may as well have been caught in a bear trap. No matter how much I squirmed, I was not getting free.

  “To hell with my mistress’ wishes, hunter. I’m going to bleed you dry, here and now, and tell her I had to do it.”

  I choked out my reply as I felt myself fading out. “Might… want… to rethink that,” I said, just as Samson’s clawed hand emerged from the vamp’s chest. Shock and disbelief registered on the vamp’s face as he released me, and I fell to the floor. I looked up just in time to see the old ’thrope pull his arm free, right before he took the vamp’s head off with on
e swipe.

  Samson grinned and offered me a hand. “Thing about us ’thropes… we’re pretty damned stealthy when we need to be.”

  “Thanks for the assist,” I wheezed, grabbing the furry hand that dripped with thick black blood. I allowed the alpha to pull me to my feet, and leaned against the wall for support.

  “Don’t mention it. Can you do what needs to be done?”

  I struggled to my feet and nodded. “Pretty sure she’s waiting for me down that shaft. You’d best be going.”

  “Don’t have to tell me twice. I like you, but not enough to die for you. I didn’t get this old by being stupid.” The alpha turned and loped toward the exit. “Good luck, hunter,” he said over his shoulder as he sprinted off down the hall.

  “Thanks,” I muttered. “I’m going to need it.”

  DREAMING

  I was banged up pretty good, my balance and hearing were shot from the blast, and after getting choked by that vamp I damned sure wouldn’t be singing any showtunes for the next several days, but I was alive.

  Yeah, but for how long? I wondered. I put that thought aside, because the only thing that mattered was ensuring the survival of the group. Gabby, Bobby, the Doc, the settlers, the LARPers… hell, taking out the Dallas coven might even secure a future for an untold number of human survivors. And that started here, by ending Calypso.

  I gathered what was left of my gear, which included my sword and my pistol belt. Strapping them on, I staggered toward the elevator shaft.

  Climbing down was a pain in the ass, what with the equilibrium issues I was having. My ears weren’t leaking fluid, but being in close proximity to the IED had really done a number on me. I made it down the elevator shaft by hooking my arms over each step, hanging on for dear life as I slowly lowered myself down. When I got to the bottom, I looked up at the dim light coming in from the open elevator doors above, and everything started to spin. I fell to my knees and wretched up what little I’d had for breakfast, all over a deader dog corpse.