And that meant we really needed to double-down on our defenses.
When I didn’t see any other signs of movement from the river, I stood up and started back toward the truck to tell the girls what I’d seen. Since I hadn’t seen any lookouts posted by the river, I figured that I could take over driving again and speed things up, so we could get back to Red House as quickly as possible.
I knocked on the truck door when I got there and almost scared the shit out of both girls, but once I was back in the driver’s seat, I let the truck roll forward and then slowly picked up speed again.
“Sam, is everything okay?” Brianna whispered when I didn’t say anything.
“I don’t know,” I said and then took a deep breath.
Even though I wanted to keep the image of what I had seen out of their heads, I knew that I would have to tell all the girls eventually, if I wanted them to be fully prepared for whatever came next. I also knew that Catherine would never leave her uncle so unprotected, especially not while he was injured, and since the girls and I had given the townspeople our word that we would stay and help them, it wasn’t like we could just pile back into Rhino and head out of town with a little wave goodbye.
So at the very least, I could make sure that we had all the facts and were as prepared as possible.
After I told Neko and Brianna what I had seen, they didn’t say anything at first. I just kept driving in silence along the narrow road, and even though I could see just fine in the darkness without my headlights, it was still eerie as fuck to see all of the trees right up against the road.
Their branches whipped back and forth in some of the leftover wind from the storm, but I only had to swerve around a fallen limb twice on the two-lane road. Once, I had to take the truck onto the non-existent shoulder to get around a big branch in the road, but other than a couple scratches from other trees along the side of the highway, we made it to the other side unharmed.
When I finally saw the bridge up ahead that would take us back across the river and toward Red House, Brianna cleared her throat, sighed, cleared her throat again, and then spoke.
“So what does all that mean, other than the fact that those bloodsuckers are horrible human beings?” the blonde demanded.
“You mean horrible beings,” Neko said. “They’re not human anymore, remember?”
“Oh, you know that’s what I meant,” Brianna huffed. “I just want to know what we’re supposed to do with that information.”
“Other than make sure that we don’t get captured by the Black Betsy vamps?” Neko asked. “Not unless we want to be snacked on and then tossed into the river when they’ve drained us.”
“You have such a way with words,” Brianna said with a roll of her eyes.
“I wouldn’t let that happen,” I growled. “You know I’d never let them take you.”
“I know,” the petite Japanese girl said as she laid her hand on my leg. “We just want to do whatever we can to help, that’s all.”
“Why don’t we wait and talk about it with the rest of the girls?” I asked and then turned onto the bridge across the river. “After all, what I saw doesn’t really change anything. We already knew that they had humans, and apparently, there are enough of them that they can afford to kill a few from time to time.”
“Whatever you think is best, Sam,” Brianna said.
Still, even though I had just told the girls that it wasn’t a huge deal, at least not compared to what we already knew about the situation in Black Betsy, I couldn’t help but feel worried.
Sure, maybe the deaths of those humans had been accidental, or maybe they’d been on purpose because the humans had pissed off the wrong bloodsucker. At the end of the day, the real fact of the matter was that those fuckers had enough humans that they could afford to kill some of them and still not be worried about the numbers in their blood pool.
Based on what I had heard and seen in Black Betsy earlier that day, I had already figured that was the case, but it was another thing to actually see it in action. The vamps clearly weren’t worried about their ability to get more human captives, and their leader Thaddeus clearly didn’t give a shit about any of the humans in his little fiefdom. So it certainly looked like the only way we would be able to stop him would be to kill him and every last one of his minions.
The only question now was how a town full of humans would be able to go up against a town full of vampires and come out of it alive.
When we reached the northern end of Red House, I was pleased to see that the townspeople had finished the barrier across the road. I flipped my truck lights on so I wouldn’t scare the shit out of the guards they had posted, and then I gradually slowed down and came to a stop right beside the three armed humans beside the barrier.
“It’s just us,” I called out after I rolled down the window.
“Oh, hey, Sam!” one of the men said with a wave. “Let us get this barrier out of your way right quick.”
“I can help with that,” I said and started to put the truck into park.
“Nonsense!” the man said. “You stay right where you are. This’ll only take a second, and it’s the least we can do for you.”
“Is James still…” Brianna trailed off before she finished her question.
“Oh, James is still hanging in there, yeah,” the man replied. “I checked in over the radio about a quarter of an hour ago, and they said he’s in and out of consciousness.”
“That’s good,” Neko muttered. “Otherwise, all the supplies we got would feel like a waste.”
“Someone can always use medical supplies,” I said with a shrug, “but I’m glad he’s still okay, that’s for sure.”
After the humans moved the barrier out of the way, I waved and drove through, but I paused on the other side just long enough to make sure that they pushed the barricade back into place across the road. As soon as it looked secure, I pulled forward again and drove as quickly as I could down the winding roads back toward the downtown area.
To my surprise, the townspeople of Red House had managed to make a lot of progress not just on the road barriers, but also on the fortifications around downtown. The fence wasn’t complete by any means, but they had planted tall stakes in the ground all across the entrance to the huge gravel parking lot, and they had strung barbed wire between about half of the stakes.
When I pulled off the main road, two men with guns waved at me from beside the makeshift fence, so I drove toward the bigger gap that they’d left between two of the stakes. It would be a great fence since when it was finished, there would be only one way in and out of downtown, so we would at least be able to control vehicle access here.
They would need to build it a little higher to keep the vamps from jumping over the barbed wire, and I’d like to add something else to the fence that would really scare the bloodsuckers off, but for now, it was a solid start.
And it was sure as hell better than what they had before we got here.
I parked the truck in front of the church, but before the three of us could even hop out, Celia came out of the church and hurried toward us across the gravel. I let the girls greet her first, while I grabbed our huge bag of shit out from the back of the truck, and then Brianna and Neko came back to help grab the crutches, too.
“I’m so relieved to see you, Sam,” the silver-haired woman said. “We got so worried with the storm and all, and then when you--”
“We’re here now,” I said. “How’s James?”
“Weaker, but still with us,” Celia replied. “Val says that even with how fast you acted to stop the bleeding, he probably still needs a blood transfusion.”
“I stopped the worst of it, but I think it ruptured an artery, so he would have lost a lot of blood even just in the few seconds before I got to him,” I said. “But don’t worry, we got the equipment for a transfusion.”
“Oh, you are just the best!” the middle-aged woman gushed. “Here, let me take some of those crutches.”
The
four of us hurried back into the church, but it was quieter than I had anticipated. James was still on the couch on one side of the sanctuary, the farm vet was dozing in a chair beside the couch, and Catherine and Lily were curled up onto cots on the floor, so it didn’t look like they had left his side. I didn’t see Natalie or Erika right away, but since I had told everyone to stay downtown and stay together tonight, a number of other townspeople had curled up on the pews with blankets and had fallen asleep.
“There’s more people asleep in some of the other rooms,” Celia whispered, “and there’s also people asleep in the general store and the post office and some of the shops. People took what you said real seriously, Sam.”
“Good,” I said. “It just might save their lives.”
It wasn’t an exaggeration. The Black Betsy vamps might not risk another trip all the way into Red House for some extra humans, at least not until they knew more about who had killed their last raiding party, but I doubted it would stop them from peeking into a house or two at the southern outskirts of town, just to see if there were any sleeping humans who were just ripe for the picking.
“Where are Nat and Erika?” I asked.
“They took two of our guys and went to do a patrol around the perimeter of downtown,” Celia said, “just to make sure they don’t see anything that shouldn’t be there.”
“Good, then I’m sure they’ll be back soon,” I said. “In the meantime, let’s try to get some blood into James. Do you know his blood type?”
“No, but mine’s O negative,” Celia said, “so I’m a universal donor.”
“You feel up for it?” I asked.
“If it’s to help James?” the silver-haired woman asked as she glanced over at Catherine’s uncle. “Hell, yes, I’m up for it.”
“Then let’s just hope that between Lily’s little bit of nursing school and Val’s experience, they can figure out how to actually use this equipment,” I said as I patted the bag on my back.
We moved through the church quietly, so we wouldn’t wake up anybody else, but when we reached James, Catherine instantly sprung into a sitting position with her hand on her gun. As soon as she saw us, she relaxed, and for a second, she looked like she might even cry, but she took a deep breath and recovered herself.
“I’m so glad to see you three,” the auburn-haired girl sighed and then reached over to shake Lily awake, followed by Valerie in the chair beside the couch.
“I’m trying to fucking sleep here,” Val muttered, but then she cracked one eye open and saw us. “Oh, shit! I had started to think that the storm left you stranded somewhere.”
“Almost,” Brianna said, “but we found a different route back.”
“Feel up for a blood transfusion?” I asked the pretty farm vet.
“I’ll do my best,” Valerie said as she pushed her dark-blonde bangs out of her eyes, “but I can’t make any promises.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Catherine said.
We dug around inside the medical supply bag until we pulled out all the necessary equipment, a leg splint, and some antibiotics, and then I handed them all over to Valerie and Lily. It looked complicated, but not really any more complicated that it probably had been to shove James’ broken leg bone back into place.
“Alright,” Val sighed as she pulled her chair a little closer to James and then offered the seat to Celia. “Here the fuck we go.”
“We got some IV fluids, too,” Brianna said, “since that might be as helpful for him as the blood.”
“That’s good,” Lily said with a nod that made her dark curls bounce wildly back and forth. “He’s made it this long, so I think he’s gonna be just fine.”
“I appreciate your optimism,” Catherine said as she looked down at her uncle.
“Do you need me to help?” I asked. “I’m happy to stay if you need me to, but I thought I might go check in with Nat and Erika while you all get this set up, since there’s not a whole lot I can do here.”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Lily said. “This’ll take a minute, but I don’t think we’ll need more hands on deck than just Val and me. And Celia, obviously.”
“Are you good to stay?” I asked Catherine as I reached out to squeeze her hand. “You can take a break if you need to.”
“I’m okay,” the auburn-haired girl said, but she squeezed my hand back like it was a lifeline. “I’d rather stay here and make sure my uncle is okay.”
“Once we get the blood and fluids in him, he should be alright,” Valerie said. “Then we can splint him up, and as long as he gets plenty of fucking sleep, he should be A o-fucking-kay.”
“Did anybody ever tell you that you swear a lot?” Neko smirked.
“Eh, I’m with animals all day,” the dark-blonde vet said with a shrug, “and they sure as hell don’t seem to mind.”
“Oh, neither do I,” Neko laughed. “I just like your bedside manner, that’s all.”
“Well, there’s fucking plenty more where that came from,” Valerie snickered. “Now, anybody who isn’t about to help, go ahead and get out of here. I don’t want any distractions while we try to find these people’s veins.”
We left all the medical supplies inside the church before Neko, Brianna, and I headed back outside. We had done all we could, so it was out of our hands now. But even though we couldn’t do much to assist with James at this point, we could still inspect the fortifications around downtown and check in with Nat and Erika, so right now, that seemed like the best option.
As soon as we were outside the church, I scanned the area for any signs of the girls. The generators were still running in all these buildings, but they only used a minimal amount of electricity to make everything last as long as possible, so it wasn’t like there were floodlights all over downtown. Instead, there was just enough light to distinguish one building from another, plus a little extra that fell across the gravel outside.
I spotted my girlfriend in the darkness beside the post office, along with Erika and two of the townspeople who had gone on patrol with them. The three of us started toward them, but when we were about halfway there, I paused just long enough to let them know we were coming.
“Nat!” I called out so the two townspeople wouldn’t suddenly get a little too trigger-happy when we appeared from out of the darkness.
My gorgeous girlfriend whirled toward me, smiled, and then raced toward me across the gravel. Erika followed right behind her, but the two men from the town hesitated, as if they weren’t sure whether or not they should continue the patrol on their own.
“Go ahead and keep patrolling,” I called over to them, “and in just a few minutes, I’ll send out some replacements, so you two can take a break and go inside.”
They both gave a little salute and disappeared behind the post office to continue their scan of the perimeter. At the same time, Natalie and Erika reached us and pulled us all into a tight embrace.
“I saw the barrier at the north edge of town,” I said when my girlfriend released me. “It looks good, and so does the fence you all got started here.”
“I’m pretty pleased with it,” Natalie said. “I wanted to keep working on it after the sun went down, but I know you said that we should get inside, except for people on patrol.”
“Just to be safe, yeah,” I replied, “but we should be able to finish the fence up in the morning.”
“How are the rest of the fortifications?” Neko asked.
“The barricade south of town is finished, too,” Erika said, “and we don’t have guards posted at the river or the railroad tracks yet, but we did set up a couple trip wires all the way across the rail tracks and up to the river.”
“Like with grenades?” Brianna gasped.
“No, just with bells,” Natalie said. “It was too dangerous to use grenades, since someone in town might accidentally set one off.”
“But it is a good idea,” I said, “so we should keep that in mind.”
“Then what’s the point of the trip wi
res if they don’t make something blow up?” Neko asked.
“The bells will jingle, and we’ll know that someone’s out there,” Natalie said. “It was the best we could do on short notice.”
“I’ll take it,” I said. “And has there been any progress on blocking off people who might try to come over the mountain and through the woods?”
“I found out there’s a couple of tree stands already up in the woods that people use for hunting,” Natalie said. “I thought it would be good to post some guards there, but I also figured we should probably wait until morning to actually send them there.”
“So they can see on their way out there,” Erika said, “just so there are no surprises.”
“Good call,” I said. “We can send people out first thing in the morning, but I’ll still want them to work at least in teams of two, if not three.”
“We can make that happen,” Natalie said with a nod.
“You’ve done an amazing job while we were gone,” I told my girlfriend.
“Thanks,” Natalie said with a little blush. “I’m sure there’s still a lot of work to do, but it’s a start, right?”
“A hell of a start,” I said and kissed her on the forehead.
“So what do we do next?” Erika asked.
“Other than get some sleep?” Neko smiled.
“Let’s go check on James and see if they’ve managed to give him a blood transfusion yet,” I said, “but then Neko’s right. We’ll need some rest before tomorrow, and I’d like to talk to you all together before then.”
“Sure thing, Sam,” Natalie said. “Let me just stop by the general store and send out the next shift of guards.”
“We’ve set the general store up as the base for the guards and weapons,” Erika explained. “The church and post office are both for rest and sleeping, and that’s about all we have set up in the buildings so far.”
“That’s great,” I said. “It’ll help to have clearly defined areas since everyone will basically have to live downtown until we get rid of the assholes downriver.”
“The church can also be the kitchen and eating area during the day,” Brianna said.
Vampire Lord | Book 5 | Vampire Lord 5: Conquering A Bloodthirsty Earth Page 26