by P. T. Hylton
“Look at me. I’m not human. I’m not even a normal vampire. I’m just a twisted freak with blue hair. Even if we win this fight, what kind of life do I have to look forward to? Where can I go?”
CB touched her arm. “You’re GMT. You’ll always have a place.” He paused and tapped the diagnostic screen. “Would it make you feel better if I messed around with the engine a little so this thing’s not so perfect?”
“Very much so,” Owl said. “But I guess I’ll settle for taking things as they are.”
The GMT’s usual table at Tankards had only three occupants that evening, and all three of them were hunched over, focused on what was about to happen.
Chuck glanced at Felix, a look of desperation in his eyes. “Any last minute tips?”
“It’s all about leverage,” Felix said. “Power, yes. But you need to apply it at the correct angle.”
Chuck frowned. “That doesn’t help me at all.”
“Enough stalling,” Ed said. “Let’s do this.” He placed his elbow on the table and reached out his hand.
Chuck sighed, put his own elbow on the table, and gripped Ed’s hand.
Felix put his hand over both of theirs. “And…begin.” He pulled his hand back, and the arm-wrestling match began.
For a moment, neither hand moved. The strain was clear on both men’s faces as they silently attempted to gain the advantage. After a second, Ed’s hand began to slowly and steadily move toward the table.
Ed slammed Chuck’s hand down, then he let go and pumped his fist. “Yeah! Still GMT champ. You know the rules, buddy. Pay up.”
Chuck scowled, but he knew he had to pay the price. “All right. So, this happened before I knew either of you. The first time I tried out for the GMT.”
“The first time?” Felix asked.
“Yeah. This was back when Drew and Simmons were on the team. I looked up to those guys. So, I was psyched to see them standing next to the mat when I showed up for my tryout. I knew I was going to be sparring with someone, and I was hoping it would be one of them. So, I’m standing by the mat, waiting for the tryout to start, and this woman walks up next to me. She just stands there, looking at me expectantly. So, I told her I’d like a glass of water, please.”
Ed’s eyes narrowed. “You thought she was a waitress? Like, you thought the GMT workout facility had catering?”
Chuck threw his hands up. “I don’t know what I thought. I was nervous! And the way she was looking me… Yeah, so I panicked and ordered a drink.”
“I take it, she wasn’t a waitress,” Felix ventured.
“Nope. It was Alex.”
Felix and Ed burst out in uproarious laughter.
Chuck’s face reddened, and he began to laugh as well. “She was new on the team. I had no idea who she was. How was I supposed to know she was my sparring opponent?”
“Did you get your water?” Ed asked.
“No. In fact, she thoroughly kicked my ass that day. At least she had the courtesy to never bring it up again.”
Ed turned to Felix, still chuckling. “How about you, new guy? Want to try your hand against the champ?”
Felix thought for a moment. “Sure, why not?”
Ed’s eyes widened in surprise. “All right, that’s what I like to hear. Let’s see you put all this big talk about leverage into action.”
Felix put his elbow on the table and paused. “It just struck me that tomorrow we’re going to be going up against the vampire who caused the downfall of civilization. Is it possible that there's a better use for our time than drinking and arm wrestling?”
Chuck grinned. “If there is, I can’t think of it. Now, man up, and take Ed’s hand.”
The two men gripped hands and prepared to begin.
“Same stakes as last time,” Ed said. “Loser has to tell the story of their most embarrassing professional moment.”
“Agreed.” Felix’s eyes held a look of steely determination.
Chuck rested his hand over the other two, then pulled it back. “Begin!”
Felix immediately went to work, pressing hard at just the right angle. To both Ed’s and Chuck’s surprise, Ed’s hand began to move.
Ed gritted his teeth, pressing so hard that a vein popped out on his forehead. He slowly recovered, making up the ground he’d lost. He let out a grunt as he gave one last push and forced Felix’s hand against the table.
“Ha! Still the champ!”
Chuck clapped Felix on the back. “Wow, that was much closer than I’d anticipated. Well done, man. But it’s time to pay your debt. Let’s hear it.”
Felix took a long pull on his beer and then set it down on the table. “All right, fine. This is the story of the time I accidently hit Fleming in the balls with a badge’s baton.”
Chuck’s and Ed’s mouths fell open, and they leaned forward in rapt attention.
Alex looked out through the glass at the world stretched below. She knew it wouldn’t be long now before the battle began. Maryana was in position and her army was ready. Alex wondered if the same could be said about Agartha.
She was standing in the room with Frank’s old steel box. She’d come hoping to continue her conversation with Owl, but she wasn’t entirely displeased to find it empty. It was a place that few knew existed and to which even fewer had access, so she was almost guaranteed some time alone.
Almost.
The door slid open and Jaden entered. “It won’t be long now.”
She couldn’t help but smile. Every time she wanted to be alone, Jaden seemed to show up. “Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Of course, you were,” Jaden said as he stepped beside her. “You’re a leader. And a good one. Our troops might have the luxury of putting their minds elsewhere and enjoying their evening, but our thoughts are always on the next battle and what we can do to win it.”
“So, any new thoughts on how we win against Maryana?”
Jaden paused before he spoke again. “You know what my biggest mistake was when I fought you on the island?”
Alex tilted her head, surprised at the non-sequitur. “What?”
“I didn’t take you seriously enough, at first. I held back in our first battle in that bunker. The one where you spit blood on me.” He glanced at her. “That was a nice move, by the way.”
“Yeah, it was,” she said, with a smile.
“If I’d really wanted to stop you from getting the virus, I should have torn you to shreds that day.”
“Well, thanks for not doing that.”
“My point is, tomorrow there can be no holding back. We go all out, and we end Maryana’s existence. No matter the cost. Are we agreed?”
Alex stared out the window. Though she couldn’t see much, other than clouds below them, she knew there was a whole world down there, waiting to be reclaimed. “We’re agreed.”
“Good. Retreating to Agartha after the third wave was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Living there for so long was even harder. But I grew to love that city. I hope we can find a way to keep it from being destroyed.”
“You and me both.” Alex thought for a moment. “You’re wrong, you know. About your mistake. It wasn’t holding back.”
Jaden crossed his arms, amused she was disagreeing with him. “What was it, then?”
“It was selecting Puerto Rico for Resettlement. If you’d picked anywhere else in the world, we probably wouldn’t have even known to look for the virus.”
Jaden’s smile faded. “Perhaps. But I knew the information about the virus had to be destroyed. I couldn’t allow it to exist in the world.”
“Ah, and that’s the real problem.” Alex raised a finger. “You need to control things. But you can’t. The virus proved that. You wanted it gone so badly that you accidentally caused it to be found.”
Jaden considered that for a moment. “What’s the alternative? Stop trying?”
“No. You try your best with the information you have. But there’s a certain power in accepting
that you can’t control everything that happens.”
Jaden nodded slowly. “I’m starting to think you’re wiser than your years, Captain Goddard.”
She grinned. “And you’re dumber than yours. What are you, eight hundred?”
The radio on Alex’s belt crackled to life before Jaden could answer, and CB’s voice came through.
“Alex, you there?”
She grabbed the radio and held it to her mouth. “I am. What’s up, CB?”
“We got into radio range and spoke to George. Maryana launched her attack on Agartha.”
Alex and Jaden locked eyes.
“This is it,” Jaden said. “The war has begun.”
34
The evergreen trees in front of Agartha formed a nearly straight line, as if they stood in formation to defend the city. One tree stood taller than the others, and George stared at it on the monitor, his heart pounding in his chest while he waited for the battle to begin. He tore his gaze away from the tree and scanned the other monitors, gaining a picture of the exterior landscape around the city. So far, everything was quiet.
He stood up and began pacing, and Cynthia shot him a look. While he’d been alternating between sitting and standing, almost constantly in motion, she’d been the picture of stillness, sitting as she observed the monitors. George didn’t know how she did it. How was it possible to stay so still, with the anticipation of attack looming so large?
George caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye and spun toward the monitor where he’d seen it. He pressed the intercom button, ready to let Natalie know it was beginning. Before he spoke, he realized that what he’d seen was a bobcat scurrying through the forest. He let go of the button and saw that his hand was shaking.
Cynthia glanced at him. “Did you double-check all of the defensive systems?”
George looked at her like she’d just insulted his mother. “No, I triple-checked them. Everything is in perfect order.”
“Then sit down and relax while you can. There is nothing more we can do.”
“It’s just that most of the systems have never actually been used. What if they malfunction during the attack? We should get Jaden on the radio and see if he has any other strategies for us. We may not have thought of everything.”
For the first time in an hour, Cynthia stood up. She put a hand on his arm. “I need you to take a breath and calm down. We have to stay sharp and be ready to adapt to whatever happens. This city has never been breached, and it’s not going to happen tonight. We just need to keep our heads in the game, and we will be okay.”
George took a deep breath. He forced himself to calm down a little. “You’re right. For all we know, she won’t even attack tonight.”
As if on cue, something flashed on one of the monitors and a red light under it began blinking. George rushed over to the monitor. “Auto-turret 19 just went down. It is on the east side.”
“Bring up the east cameras,” Cynthia said. A bank of screens switched their views. There was a small flash of light from the corner of one of the screens. Another turret went down, and the report of a rifle echoed from the speaker.
One of the techs in the room asked, “Should we bring up the other guns?”
“No!” Adrenaline filled George’s body, and his mind focused. No more waiting. The danger was real now. “Wait for my command before you bring up any systems.”
A voice came through the radio. “Sorry to say it, but the easy option is gone. Time to have some fun.” There was ice in Maryana’s voice as she spoke. “I can’t wait to see you face to face.”
George flipped his radio to a different channel. “New Haven, it has begun.”
On one of the monitors, a wave of Twisted appear on the screen. They moved in, spread out with ten yards between each of them. The lines were staggered, as well. George counted about fifty of them total. They moved in slowly. It looked like they were armed, but most only had pistols.
“Get ready.” George watched the creatures slowly approach through the forest. He glanced from the monitors to a map spread on the desk in front of him. As the vampires passed the destroyed turrets, he called out, “Now!”
A tech flipped a switch and five turrets sprang up from under the surface of the forest floor. Their targeting systems went to work, and the silence was broken by the thunder of fifty caliber rounds. George watched as one of the Twisted charged a turret. The machine did its job efficiently, firing before he reached it. The force of the bullets at close range tore him in half. The top portion of his torso flew through the air and met one more round before it hit the ground.
Some of the Twisted leapt into the tree branches above and scattered into the forest. Three of them rushed a turret; one Twisted was shredded, but the other two managed to reach it. One of them, a female, grabbed the turret’s barrel and yanked it with all her strength. The force bent the barrel almost ninety degrees. As soon as a round fired, the barrel exploded. Shards of metal tore into both of the Twisted standing near the gun. One was knocked back, blood gushing from his face, and the other smashed the turret a second time, to be sure that it would no longer function.
The turrets spun and changed angles, trying to track their targets. Rounds tore through trees, and rocks exploded on the side of the mountain. A few Twisted fell, but many more leapt for cover.
“Watch the monitors closely.” George said. “I want a count of how many we’ve taken out.”
The remaining turrets sprayed bullets while the vampires weaved in and out of the trees. A turret fired, and a male Twisted dropped to the ground, his left leg torn from his body at the knee. While it was still firing, another warrior dropped from the trees and destroyed the turret. Within a minute, Twisted snipers had finished off the remaining turrets.
Through the monitor, George could see the Twisted assembling in the forest. Of the original fifty, less than twenty remained, and some were injured. Just as George allowed himself a sigh of relief, thirty more Twisted crested an embankment to the east, joining the battle.
“We need to find a way to get rid of those snipers.” Cynthia said.
George didn’t disagree, but he also didn’t see a way to take them out at the moment. He just hoped they’d have a shot of them as the troops moved closer.
As the next wave of Twisted moved in, one vampire took the lead, running twenty yards ahead of the rest.
“Turn off the auto turrets,” George ordered. “Wait until the main line gets close before you turn them back on.”
The lead Twisted moved through the forest. The next line of turrets sat dormant as he came into range. As he approached, he slowed down, training his rifle on the turret.
“Damn it. Turn them on,” George shouted.
The turret sprang to life, firing on the lead Twisted, but he moved quicker than the gun could turn. It finally began to track him, but another Twisted raced forward and shot it, disabling the weapon. The lead Twisted paused, only to be shot in the head by another turret. His brains sprayed across the ground behind him as he fell.
The remainder of the Twisted charged, heading for the turret that had taken out their comrade. Two more went down before they could destroy the gun. The soldiers regrouped, and one spoke into a radio. A few moments later, three more Twisted joined the group, replacing the fallen. A single solider went out in the lead again, and once he was twenty yards out, the rest followed.
“They’re playing with us,” George muttered. “Testing our defenses.”
Maryana’s voice came through the radio, sounding almost cheerful. “Those are neat guns, but we are getting closer. I’m going to take an eye for an eye when we get inside. I’ll make sure to pull out one eye at a time, so you can look at yourself.”
The lead Twisted walked slowly, searching for more guns or mounds of dirt where others might pop up, the rest of the line following behind him, their weapons ready. He spotted something sticking out of the ground, and he raised his rifle, pressing up against a tree to steady his aim.
The rest of the line stopped when he did.
“Set them off,” George commanded.
A blast exploded behind the lead Twisted, obliterating the rest of the line. The charges had been hidden in the trees, embedded in containers of ball bearings. The metal flew through the air, tearing through Twisted and trees alike. On the surface, the small metal balls were much less dramatic than the fifty caliber rounds. The balls simply passed through the vampires. But the sheer number of projectiles overwhelmed the group. Metal pierced heads and hearts as well as limbs and torsos.
On the monitors, the explosion caused a momentary white out. The image reappeared, and, like a choreographed dance, the Twisted fell in unison to the forest floor.
It was only a moment before fifty more Twisted took the place of the fallen. The new lead Twisted focused on the turret sticking out of the dirt, and he fired until he was sure the weapon was no longer functional, then he began moving forward once again. The soldiers behind him shifted into a V formation, farther apart than before.
“They are getting close,” one of the techs said, his voice trembling. “By my count, we’ve killed eighty so far.”
“It’s not enough.” George watched as the Twisted cleared the distance beyond the turrets, approaching the outer blast door.
The lead Twisted crept slowly, moving from one tree to the next for cover. He reached the road that led to Agartha’s entrance and crouched behind another tree.
George watched the monitors. “Target that tree.”
A tech took manual control of the closest turret and took aim. The gunfire erupted and bullets tore the tree in half, along with the vampire crouched behind it.
Ten Twisted sprinted towards the two turrets on either side of the blast door, spread out with plenty of space between them. The guns moved fast enough to take four vampires out, but the rest of them reached their targets, quickly tearing the turrets apart.
A group of twenty Twisted ran out of the forest, charging the outer blast doors. Two vampires carried cutters, and they moved to the front, the remaining soldiers forming a perimeter around them as they went to work.
