Original Blood

by Greene, Steve

  “ROK headquarters.” Chris answered. “Maggie Stone, welcome to the ROK Revolution.”

  “The wha?..” She was about to ask when a voice piped up from behind them.

  “Chris! So good to see you!”

  They all turned to see a short, spectacled man wearing a brown vest over a plaid shirt and baggy slacks that made him look abnormally bow-legged. In short, he was exactly what Maggie pictured when she first heard his name.

  “Milo! Good to see you, too. How are things?” Chris struck up an immediate conversation.

  “Well,” Milo paused. “As good as they can be under the circumstances.” Milo walked them over to a map on the wall and pointed at several colored tacks stuck in seemingly random points on the map. “The last few days we’ve had large scale assaults here, here, here, here, and here.” He said, tapping one last tack on the board.

  “Driving the humans out?” Gabby asked. Gabby had been so quiet for so long that it startled Maggie to hear her talking again.

  Milo shook his head solemnly. “Not driving us out, I’m afraid. Herding us in.”

  “Okay, someone tell me what the hell is going on, right now.” Maggie said with an angry stomp of her foot. “Where am I?”

  “I do apologize, Miss Stone, is it?” She nodded as Milo continued to speak. “Are you familiar with Mr. Ronald Orville Kinder? From ROK Radio?”

  The name was vaguely familiar but she had to think to place it. Suddenly, the light came on in her mind. “You mean, Ron Kinder? The wacko late-night radio talk show host? The one that’s always talking about conspiracy theories and UFOs and stuff?”

  A heavy voice boomed from out of the shadows. “One and the same, young lady. Although I generally refer to myself as eccentric, not wacko.” A tall, husky man in a dark brown suit stepped out of the shadows. His short cropped white hair and beard perfectly framed his weathered face. His eyes were an icy blue, so pale that his irises seemed almost nonexistent. He walked with a cane that seemed more for show than function. The shape of a large animal walked next to him.

  “Tank!” She yelled as the old man dropped the dog’s leash to the floor and let him trot over to her.

  “I thought you might like to see him.” The old man’s lips curled into a smooth grin that lightly touched his eyes. “I’m happy to see you made it here safely, Miss Stone.”

  “How does everyone here know my name?” She asked looking up at the man with her arms wrapped around Tank’s big neck. Tank’s tongue drooped from his mouth as he panted happily.

  “You are a very popular person these days, Miss Stone. Your friend is of vital interest to the government.”

  “Charlie?” She asked. “Why?”

  “That is what we hope to find out. They are scouring the city, looking for him. One of my men was able to retrieve the dog from your apartment, but only just barely. Your apartment was raided shortly after my spy left and you surely would have been taken into custody had you been there. Luckily for us, my agents were able to coax you into going out for a drink this afternoon. Excellent work, Gabrielle.” He nodded at Gabby and she nodded back.

  “Your friend has quite the resume, Miss Stone. Did he tell you about it?”

  “A little.” She answered with slight trepidation.

  This time Milo spoke from the control panel of a desktop computer a few feet away from them. He read from the screen in front of him. “Entered the Army at nineteen as a forward observer for artillery. Graduated from Airborne, Air Assault, and Ranger schools within two years and went straight to the Green Berets after that. He worked Special Ops for two years before he ceased to exist for four more. He suddenly reemerged as a civilian three years ago when his father fell ill.”

  “What do you mean he ceased to exist?” She asked.

  “Don’t know, but that’s what usually happens when the State Department calls your number for classified Black Ops work. Could’ve been Delta Force, maybe the CIA. Who knows?”

  “So, you think the government wants him for his military record?”

  This time Kinder spoke. “We’re not sure. But we’re hoping that with your help, we might be able to find him. If the government wants him that badly, there must be an explanation why. Tell me, did he ever mention to you, someone named, The Golem?”

  “No, why?”

  Kinder let out a sigh and paused for a moment. “The Golem is a very old, very powerful vampire. And one of those, we believe, that is largely responsible for this assault on humankind. We believe he had contact of some kind with Mr. Cutter before the large-scale assaults began. We were hoping you could shed some light on the subject but it seems we were wrong about that.” He frowned and stroked his beard, staring at the ground in thought.

  “Well then, tell me this,” she asked, “how is it that you know so much about vampires?”

  He chuckled. “Well, my dear,” he let a huge grin creep across his face exposing his beautifully white, perfectly arranged, razor sharp teeth. “Let’s just say that I’ve been around a while.”

  Chapter 26

  “Are you sure this is where we’re supposed to be?” Avery asked her. He was pacing back and forth now, clearly agitated.

  “Yes, positive.” Julia replied without looking up from the binoculars.

  “Because dawn is getting closer and I have no intention of being trapped in this little house during daylight hours this close to all those humans. All it would take is one patrol to break down that door and we’re all done for.”

  “Don’t worry, Avery.” Sylvia said in her quiet, cool voice. “A couple more minutes and we’ll pull back if it hasn’t happened, yet.”

  Julia watched the workers outside the fence. They were mowing down houses with huge construction vehicles. Her last dream had shown her this place. Something was going to happen here that would help her find Charlie Cutter. She didn’t know what, but she knew where.

  “How do you know this is the right place?” Avery’s voice had mellowed slightly, but was still full of tension.

  “I told you already. I get the message in my dream. It’s like a feeling that pushes me in one direction or another. And when I get there, even if I’ve never been there before, I remember things, small things about the area as though I had spent my whole life walking down that street, or living in that house. Trust me, this is the place.” Avery blew out a sigh and Julia almost cried out when a dark shape crossed in front of her vision only a few feet from the window she was watching from. She had to slap a hand over her mouth to stifle the yell. Sylvia saw it, too and motioned behind her to make sure the other two kept quiet. Avery and Ledge came up behind their perches at the window to watch what was happening.

  A pack of what the vampires called hell dogs were scurrying about, hiding behind trees and houses. They were inching closer and closer to the human workers. She had to fight the urge to warn the workers. Yelling to them would only bring the hell dogs in her direction.

  Then she noticed something alarmingly sinister. Two hell dogs were working their way around the workers while the rest lie in wait. “Oh my God. Are they doing what I think they’re doing? I thought they had no intelligence.”

  “Intelligence is a relative term.” Ledge whispered from over her shoulder. “Hell dogs are quite unintelligent when compared to humans, but hunger drives them to learn. Well fed packs will flourish, and I daresay, they will eventually learn to breed as well.”

  A shiver ran down Julia’s back. “Breed? Oh God. How long will that take? Do we even stand a chance?”

  Ledge shrugged. “They may be breeding already for all we know. And they’ll only get stronger. The virus is very unstable and will create many mutations. If some mutations aid in survival, they too will breed. Think of the virus as a match to a powder keg. Hell dogs will mutate and evolve over and over again. What would take nature centuries will only take the virus years. Right now, they are still somewhat human, but a year from now?.. Ten years from now?.. Who knows? The virus might even start mutating them now. W
e just don’t know. This is a grand experiment indeed.”

  Julia could almost hear the smile in his voice. She swallowed. The air was heavy in the room. Years? My God! She thought.

  As if reading her mind, Ledge added, “It would seem that the world has become a very dangerous place for humans and vampires alike.”

  At that note, the two hell dogs that had been able to sneak behind the workers burst into the open with an inhuman wail. The humans were so startled they dropped everything they had in their hands and ran… right into the waiting jaws of the rest of the pack of hell dogs. It was a slaughter. Julia felt the sick in her stomach rise to the back of her throat as scenes from the bus ride from hell flashed back into her mind. She wretched and looked away to try and get her bearings. She could hear the gunfire as the soldiers began to fight back, a few arrant rounds impacting the house they were hiding in. Screams of rage and pain filled the air. Sometimes it was impossible to tell the two apart. Spotlights flashed around the killing scene and further disoriented everyone. Suddenly, a humvee shot out the front gate and rumbled away from the site, running down hell dogs and swerving to miss the occasional worker or soldier.

  “There! That’s him! I’m sure of it!” She yelled, pointing at the humvee.

  “Alright, then let’s not waste any time.” Avery was moving away from the window when a dark shape smashed through the window and into the room. The hell dog landed on Avery’s back, knocking him down to the ground, but before it was able to bite, two powerful shots rang out from the large caliber revolver that Ledge kept in his jacket and sent it sprawling to the floor.

  Julia had turned and placed her back against the wall under the window when another hell dog stuck its head in through the window. She saw the glint of silver and heard the hiss of cutting steel as Sylvia slid her knife in under its chin up to the hilt. She grabbed Julia by the wrist and hauled her up. “Let’s go!” She yelled.

  They ran for the garage where they had hidden the SUV. More windows exploded as they ran to the truck. She couldn’t tell how many hell dogs were in the house now, but they seemed to be everywhere. Ledge and Avery were clearing a path while Sylvia orchestrated her dance of death with a large knife in each hand, gliding and slicing like raptors on the wind. Julia drew the sidearm they had given her from under her coat and flicked the safety off with her thumb. A hell dog came at her from the side. The vampires had taught her how to use the gun, but panic made her shots less accurate. She tried to conserve ammo, but it still took four shots to take down the vampire. She wasn’t even sure she hit it with all four rounds.

  There was a succession of heavy kicks at the front door of the house. Luckily, the door frame chose to give way only after they had gotten past it. The frame splintered and the door slammed open behind them. They were still moving towards the garage when a flood of hell dogs billowed into the house. Sylvia slid her knives back into place and drew a small sub machine gun from somewhere under her jacket. Hot brass ejected from the weapon in a constant stream and clinked on the hardwood floor as the group of hell dogs became a splattering pink mist. They made it to the garage just as the flow of hell dogs was reaching critical mass.

  They all climbed into the truck and locked the doors. Ledge had specifically remarked that he was thankful this house lacked a heavy-duty garage door. As the truck engine roared to life, Julia suddenly understood why.

  “Hold on!” Ledge yelled as he dumped the transmission into drive and the big truck lurched forward through the garage door like it was made of paper. A number of hell dogs caught underneath the tires and caused the truck to bounce and sway, but they were soon on the street in front of the house and in pursuit of the humvee.

  Charlie had a huge lead on them and Ledge kept the truck’s gas pedal as close to the floor as he dared. A few hell dogs followed for a while, then quickly relented and resumed the search for slower prey. As they caught up to the humvee, she could see a handsome man in the driver’s seat. He was older than Julia, but not by a lot. Someone was sitting in the passenger seat. Julia couldn’t see their face.

  Avery rolled down his window as they pulled up along side the humvee. “Charlie Cutter!” He yelled. The man looked up quickly, startled to hear his name. “We mean you know harm! Please pull over! We need to talk!”

  Charlie wrenched hard on the steering wheel and sent the humvee into the side of their SUV, sending them up onto the curb and rumbling down the sidewalk. “I don’t think he believes that we just want to talk.” Avery said smugly.

  Ledge got the truck back onto the road just as Charlie’s passenger emerged from the turret in the roof of the humvee. She was a beautiful young woman with long, flowing white hair and the deepest bluish-purple eyes. She was something to behold. Julia had never seen someone with eyes like hers before, but there was something in them, something familiar that she couldn’t place. The woman swung the barrel of the fifty-caliber machine gun towards them and then her jaw dropped when she locked eyes with Julia. She stopped for a moment as time seemed to stand still. “Pull over!” She yelled at them. And for a moment, Julia thought she saw a tear shake free from one of her enchanting eyes. Charlie yelled something unintelligible to her and she yelled something back before her attention returned to the SUV. “I said, pull over! Now!” She yelled at them again.

  Avery made a calming gesture and Ledge slowed the truck to a crawl and finally stopped under a dimly lit streetlight. Charlie had pulled the humvee away a bit so as to give them some distance between each other. The woman still had the big machine gun trained on the SUV. Charlie hopped out of the humvee and brought an M-16 up to his shoulder. “Get out of the truck! Slowly!” He yelled, the barrel of his gun carefully bouncing back and forth between Avery and Ledge. “Keep your hands where I can see them!” There was no question Charlie had done this before. His movements were quick and precise. His tone was commanding and direct. Without taking his aim off of Ledge and Avery, he removed his left hand from the barrel of the rifle and motioned for her and Sylvia to exit the vehicle. “You, too, ladies.” He said before his hand returned to the rifle. He waited patiently while they all exited the vehicle and walked to the side facing him. Avery and Ledge leaned nonchalantly against the front quarter panel while Julia hid slightly behind Sylvia.

  “Julia.” Julia’s mouth dropped open. How did they know her name? Only, it wasn’t Charlie speaking. It was the woman! And she spoke with a voice that was all too familiar to Julia. “Julia, come here. Step away from them!” Sylvia took a step forward and the woman shook the big machine gun. “No! You stay there! Let her go!”

  Julia set her hand reassuringly on Sylvia’s shoulder. Sylvia looked at her, her eyes pleading. “It’s okay.” She said to Sylvia. Julia stepped out from behind Sylvia. “How do you know my name?” She was pretty sure she knew, after all, she had seen much stranger things in the last couple weeks.

  “Julia, honey. It’s me. I know I look different, but I swear, it’s me.” The woman wasn’t aiming the machine gun anymore. She had looked up from the sights and let the barrel drop down towards the ground. Tears were forming in her eyes. It was her. Julia was sure of it. She ran towards the humvee. Her mother hopped out through the roof with surprising athleticism and they embraced. Julia was crying now, too. “Oh, Jules. I thought I lost you.”

  “You’re one of them, aren’t you? How?” She asked.

  “It’s a long story, Hon. I’ll tell you as soon as we’re out of here. C’mon, get in.”

  “Wait. These are my friends! I’d be dead if it wasn’t for them. I don’t want to leave them.”

  Her mom paused. “Charlie?”

  Charlie sighed. “Well,” he lowered his rifle slightly, “we need to ditch this humvee, anyway. They’ll be able to track it by GPS and you can bet they’ll be looking for it come daylight. We need to find shelter for you soon. And I’m not the greatest at spotting bloodsuckers, but if I’m not mistaken, they’ll be needing shelter, too.” Sylvia inclined her head in slow assent. “Aw, hell
. Fine. Let’s go with them. But if they eat us, it’s your fault.” He threw the rifle sling over his shoulder and walked to the back of the humvee to rummage inside and came out with a large box. “There isn’t much worth salvaging. Just grab the other M-16 and any ammo you have on your side.” He walked to the SUV but kept a cool eye on the vampires. They all watched him as he broke down the fifty-caliber machine gun and loaded it into the back of the SUV along with a tripod and some ammo cases. “What?” He asked as they all stared. “You know how much lead this thing can sling? You can never be too prepared.” He closed the back doors and crawled into the third-row seat of the SUV, Julia presumed, so he could keep an eye on his new chaperones.

  Julia’s mom sat in back with him and Julia had to turn around to talk to her. She couldn’t stop staring. Her mother had always been pretty but she wondered if her mother had looked like this when she was young. She shook that thought from her mind. Of course, she hadn’t looked like this. Her hair hadn’t always been white and her eyes were definitely never that deep, dark blue. And the agelessness, the smooth pale skin, was distinctly inhuman. No, her mother’s new look was without a doubt, the work of the virus. Julia couldn’t help but wonder what she would look like if she were infected. But she wasn’t infected, she had been gifted. Not the same thing. But wasn’t being gifted better? After all, her mother could never look at the sun again. Ever. She shuddered at the thought of never again feeling the comfort and warmth of the sun.

  She and Sylvia listened as her mother explained all the chilling details of her last few weeks. The attack in the parking lot of the university, her exposure to sunlight, the night that she returned to a house that had been blown to pieces, and the terrible reality that her father and sister were dead. Julia cried and hugged her mother and told her how glad she was that they were together again no matter how much things had changed. They vowed not to be split apart again.