by P. T. Hylton
The Twisted group was silent as Maryana led them through the city. None of them wanted to take in a breath unless they had to. They climbed over the husks of cars that jammed the streets. Concrete barricades and tanks still blocked some of the roads.
Maryana instructed her followers to spread throughout the city, gathering any vampires they found alive. While they went to work, she waited with Stephen in Central Park.
“I really liked this city. Do you remember how easy it was to feed here?” Maryana sat down in the tall grass as she spoke.
“It was great. We could just throw the bodies in a bag and toss them in a dumpster. Most of the time, they just went out with the trash. It’s a little sad that we won’t be able to do that again.” Stephen sat down next to her.
“Eh, easy come easy go. It was worth it to watch this city fall. I’ll never forget the horror and chaos of those few days. No one knew what was happening or what to do. Millions of people panicking, soldiers flooding the city, explosions, fires,” She closed her eyes, savoring the memories.
“Will we destroy the last humans when we find them?” There was a hint of concern in Stephen’s voice.
“Relax. Eternal starvation doesn’t sound good, even to me. No, I have great plans for this new world. We will be gods. Once we get rid of Jaden and his vampires, we can teach these new people to follow us. They might resist at first, but within a generation or two, ours will be the only religion. We’ll let them kill each other for the honor of dying at my hands.” She stood up suddenly. “Hey, let’s see if my statue is still here.”
They ran to the southern tip of Manhattan and looked across the bay toward Liberty Island. The base of the monument was still intact, but the statue had been removed. Several steel beams stuck out of the base. They were welded together to fashion a rough spike. The Statue of Liberty’s head sat impaled on top of it.
“It’s still there. Oh, that makes me so happy!” She swatted Stephen’s ass. “You did such a good job of making it.”
“I know your style. I’m glad that it is still here.”
A few hours later, the vampires reconvened at Central Park. The new arrivals bowed before Maryana and proclaimed their devotion. She drank it in and placed a hand on each of their heads, one by one. She made sure that every one of them understood that she was the reason they’d broken free from their Feral forms and ascended to a higher state of being.
She raised a hand and the crowd fell silent. “You were all with me at the end of the old world. Now you are with me for the beginning of a new one. First, we must find more of my children. You will go in pairs to the cities that Stephen assigns you. Search out all of my followers and look for weapons in any military bases or bunkers that you find. There is a war coming and we must be prepared. Find my followers, bring them to Chicago, and then we will continue across the country. Now, pair up and see Stephen for the details of your assignments.”
The vampires took their assignments and left for their cities. Maryana, Stephen, and four other vampires—an electrician, an IT worker, and two military veterans—returned to the spot where she’d hidden the away ship outside the city.
The electricians got to work recharging the ship’s batteries, while Maryana took Walter, the IT tech, to the cockpit.
“As you can see, we have access to the flight controls,” Maryana said as they reached the cockpit. “We can fly the ship, and Stephen even figured out how to recharge the batteries, but we can’t get into the computer system. It asks for a user name and password.”
Walter sat down in front of the control panel. He touched the screen and the login prompt appeared. He sat there for a moment and then looked up at Maryana. “Do you know anything about the people who used this ship?”
“They were human, and they didn’t die very easily. One was called Alex. I think another was Ed. That’s about all I’ve got at the moment. I assume you can figure out the rest.”
Walter turned back to the screen and stared for another minute. His hand trembled as he typed Alex into the username field and 1234 into the password field. The screen displayed the message ‘Incorrect Username or Password’.
Maryana gripped her hand tight on Walter’s shoulder. The sharp nails of her misshapen fingers dug through the fabric of his shirt. Blood began to flow from his shoulder as the fingers sank into his flesh. He winced in pain, but he didn’t make a sound. “Walter, I’m going to need you to do a little better than that.”
“Yes, of course. This system will be hard to get into without any knowledge of the users or protocols. It might take some time, but I’ll get us in.”
“Great, do what you have to. I just need to find the location of the city that this ship came from.” She released his shoulder and wiped the blood off her hand and onto the back of his shirt. “Don’t let me down.”
The crew rested in the passenger hold while Walter frantically looked through all the flight control systems to which he had access. The system that he found the most helpful was the flight planner. After a few hours of checking menus and learning the functions, he called Maryana up to the cockpit.
“I hope that you have good news for me. You know I don’t tolerate failure.”
“Look. I think this is it.” Walter scrolled down to a screen filled with numbers. “Do you see it?”
“I’m sure that I will if I look long enough, but just get to the point.”
“There is one location that keeps coming up over and over for the past few months. This one right here.” He tapped a set of coordinates.
“Where is that location?”
“I checked the map. It’s in Colorado.”
“Excellent work.” She wrapped an arm around Walter from behind his chair and gave him a hug.
“Stephen, grab a blood pack for Walter, and pack your snow gear. We are headed to the mountains.”
28
Alex found Jaden in the GMT training area. He stood on the sparring mat, a sword in each hand, his eyes closed as he moved the swords in neat, exact lines. She watched him for a moment, wondering how many times over the years he’d practiced these forms. It was a testament to his dedication that he still worked on his swordsmanship.
He moved his left foot, sliding it behind his right, and the tip of his foot hit the back of his right leg. He almost stumbled, but he caught himself. Letting out a soft curse, he opened his eyes and frowned at Alex. “I can smell you, you know.”
“You must be fun at surprise parties.” She nodded down at his feet. “Those new feet tripping you up?”
He moved back to his starting position and raised his swords. “This entire Twisted body is tripping me up. The dimensions, the weight, the center of gravity, it’s all different. I’m having trouble adjusting.”
That was understandable. After a thousand years of having the exact same body, even a tiny change would seem large, and becoming Twisted was not a tiny change. Alex walked to the wall and grabbed two training swords. “Want to train with me?”
He looked at her for a long moment. Was she serious? Then he nodded and set his swords down on a chair near the mat. Alex tossed him a training sword, and he snatched it out of the air. He gracefully moved into a fencer’s starting position. Alex lined up across from him, her front foot facing forward, and her back foot turned ninety degrees, her legs bent and ready to carry her in any direction.
There was no bell, no call to begin. The two of them just locked eyes and saw each other’s readiness. Alex lunged forward in a high-outside attack, aiming for the space between Jaden’s shoulder and his blade. He parried with the flick of a wrist and reposed, attacking her low inside. She managed to parry, but just barely.
The sparring session went on for nearly two minutes, each opponent pushing the other, testing each other. Alex knew Jaden wasn’t going full-tilt, or there was no way she would have been fast enough to deflect his blade. But every once in a while, she saw the spark of surprise in his eyes as she made an unexpected attack or parried a thrust that he thought
would strike home. Sparring like this was a nice change of pace for Alex. It sure beat the no-holds-barred, to-the-death fights that she usually found herself in with the GMT. And, in all her years of fencing, she’d never sparred against an opponent like Jaden.
Finally, Jaden raise a hand, signaling an end to the match. He spun the training sword around and handed it to her, hilt first. “You’re very good. When did you begin your studies?”
Alex’s breath was a bit short when she answered, and beads of sweat stood on her forehead. “I was twelve. A retired GMT member named Jax was friends with my dad. He taught me, as a favor to my parents to keep me out of trouble, I think.”
“Do you still train with him?”
“No.” Alex’s voice was distant. “He’s been dead a long time.”
Jaden gave her a long, considering look. “You have potential. I could teach you, if you’d like.”
Alex placed the training swords back on the wall. Jaden’s offer caught her off guard, and she needed a moment. On the one hand, she’d be a fool to turn down training from a thousand-year-old master. On the other hand, there were more pressing concerns, including the one she’d come to discuss with him today. “Thanks for the offer. It means a lot, especially after all we’ve been through. Tell you what, we’ll do it after we finish off Maryana.”
Jaden’s face was unreadable but there was a hint of sadness in his voice when he answered. “Perhaps.”
Alex hoped she hadn’t hurt his feelings by turning him down. Or worse, pissed him off. He was finally working well with the GMT, and she didn’t want to wreck that. Better to change the subject. “Listen, there was something I wanted to talk to you about. I’m still concerned about Owl.”
Jaden raised an eyebrow. “Because of what happened in London?”
“Yeah. She looked almost…”
“Feral,” Jaden answered. He sank down into one of the chairs next to the mat.
“Well, she did rip a dude’s throat out with her teeth.”
Jaden scratched at his chin. “I share your concerns. Every new vampire struggles with control, even those who didn’t go from being human to being Twisted in the course of a few minutes.” He paused a moment, his eyes on the floor. “Being Twisted is different than being a true vampire. The animalistic urges are closer to the surface. I feel it, too. For me, it’s a distant thing, noticeable but not difficult to overcome. For a new vampire, with no practice overcoming those urges? It might be impossible to fully control.”
Alex sank into the seat next to him. “Can you help her?”
Jaden thought a moment, then nodded. “There are techniques I can show her. And meditation can help. But even with all that… There will be moments in the heat of battle when she will lose herself.” He turned and looked at Alex, his eyes hard. “I don’t mean to be callous, but with everything we’re facing, Owl’s feral-like instincts may prove beneficial. We should teach her to control them, yes. But we should also use them when we need to.”
Alex looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise. She had no idea how to respond.
Before she could, CB jogged into the room. “Oh good, there you are. Jessica and Brian need to see us. Now.”
“Oh? What’s up?” Alex asked.
“Jessica says she’s found Maryana.
The four of them gathered in CB’s office five minutes later. The space was tight, but they were all crowded over CB’s desk, staring at the radar display in Jessica’s hands.
“Since Maryana disabled the tracker in the away ship, our only viable means of tracking her is radar,” Jessica began. “The issue is that our radar will only pick her up if she’s flying, and it only has a range of about two-hundred-fifty miles. So, in order to find her, we have to—”
“Get really lucky,” CB finished.
“Exactly.” Jessica’s lips parted in a coy smile. “And we just got really lucky.”
Alex leaned forward. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not. We’ve been keeping New Haven in North America for as long as possible each day, slowing a bit over the continent to give us more time to search. We picked her up near Columbus, Ohio, ten minutes ago. She was just at the edge of our range, so we only caught the ship for a minute, but it was long enough to see that she’s heading south.”
“This is amazing,” Alex said, grabbing Jessica’s arm. She turned to CB. “What are we waiting for? Let’s roll.”
“Not so fast, Captain,” CB said, with a growl. “Check your time zones. The sun is setting in Columbus as we speak.”
Alex collapsed back into her chair. “Damn it.”
“Perhaps she’s taunting us,” Jaden said. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
Alex sighed in frustration. But then she thought for a moment. “Hang on, we’ve been looking for almost a week. Assuming she’s been in North America that whole time, then the virus has, too.”
Jaden locked eyes with Alex, realizing what she was saying.
CB held up a hand. “That’s a pretty big assumption, Alex.”
“Is it really? I mean, even if the virus hasn’t killed all the Ferals in the area yet, it’s probably at least infected them. They’ll be weak.”
“You don’t know that,” CB said.
Jessica looked back and forth between the two of them. “Hang on, Alex. Are you suggesting you run this mission? Now? At night?”
Jaden crossed his arms. “Actually, I agree with her.”
CB frowned at him. “You’re not helping.”
“It’s a risk, of course. But we may not get another shot at Maryana. We can’t let this opportunity slip by.”
“We’ll be careful,” Alex quickly added. “We’ll fly back to Columbus and see if we pick her up on the ship’s radar. If not, we’ll come home. And if things go badly, we’ve got Owl and Jaden on the team now. That’s a whole lot of muscle.”
Jessica looked at CB. “I’m not trying to pressure you, either way, but if they’re going, they’d better go now. The longer they wait, the less likely they’ll find her again.”
CB was silent for a long moment. Then he picked up a radio off of his desk and held it to his mouth. “GMT, report to the hangar immediately. I expect to see you in ten minutes or less.” He set the radio down and slowly shook his head. “The GMT running a night mission. I never thought I’d live to see the day.”
Alex grinned. “You’re just jealous you’re not going.”
Jessica laughed. “He totally is.”
“Guess I’d better get my swords,” Jaden said as he stood up. “There’s someone I’m really looking forward to stabbing.”
29
Owl almost turned the ship in the wrong direction after it left the hangar. From her perspective, the sun was on the wrong side of the ship. The team almost always left New Haven when it was in a dawn position, just coming up over the eastern horizon, which gave them as much daylight as they could get for a mission. For the first time, the sun was in the west as they left home, and it took Owl a moment to orient herself.
The team watched out of the window as Owl turned the ship toward the black nothingness on the horizon. Chuck gripped his rifle tightly in his hands and a bead of sweat formed on his forehead. Felix glanced from teammate to teammate, waiting for one of them to tell him that this made sense. Alex sat next to Owl in the cockpit, watching the radar screens. Jaden looked as calm as he always did when he left the hanger. Ed was out of his seat, staring through the window into the darkness.
“I wish Patrick were here. He’d probably be pissing his pants, but he would love to be on the first GMT night mission.” Ed paused, the corners of his mouth turning down. Before the emotions could take hold, he slapped Felix hard on the back, “At least you're here in his place. Your pants are probably wet already”
“Ed, get your ass strapped in,” Owl said, as she glanced back. The design of the transport ship allowed her a clear view of the passenger hold. “I’m going to see what this piece of junk can do, and I don’t want you bouncing around
my ship.”
“This ship was mostly built to New Haven’s specifications,” Jaden answered. “If it’s junk, Agartha is not to blame. Any issues will probably be pilot error.” Jaden gave the slightest of smiles as he spoke.
“Holy shit, did you just razz Owl?” Alex said. “Looks like you might really be part of the team, after all.” She glanced back and saw that Ed was still standing. “Ed, get in that seat, double time.”
As soon as Ed sat down, Owl hit the thrusters, and the ship accelerated toward the horizon. “I’m going to keep it under Mach 1. High speed acceleration drains the batteries quickly. We will be over Ohio in twenty minutes.”
“Just make sure that we have enough juice left to get back to New Haven.” Alex didn’t look up from the radar screen. All she needed was one small blip to allow them to bring the fight to Maryana.
The ship flew in silence as the team watched the dark clouds below them. Finally, Jaden spoke. “Do you have a plan to bring her ship down once we find it?”
After a long pause Alex responded. “I’m working on that. We could wait until she lands to take her out or try to force her to land. I didn’t exactly have time to make a strategy before we took off.”
“There is a lot of risk in waiting for her to land. The Ferals may still be strong, wherever she lands. She could also fly around until her ship needs to charge. We may not be able to get back to New Haven until we charge our ship.” Jaden looked around at the gear in the hold as he spoke.
“I don’t suppose you put any weapons on this bird?” Alex asked.
“No, it is built for speed and transport, only. Agartha’s working on another ship, one with a few offensive capabilities, but it’s not ready yet.” He paused. “I think I have an idea. Owl knows the workings of the other ship well?”
“The away ship is my baby,” Owl said. “I know every bolt and wire of that craft. I’m really hoping that we can kill Maryana and fly it back to New Haven where it belongs. I’ve been missing my baby ever since we released the virus.” She turned and looked back at Jaden. “What’s your plan?”
