by Brandon Hale
“I think that’s crap, too. We’re in enemy territory and we have a six hour drive ahead of us. We should be able to leave earlier than seven.”
“Regulations, my friend.”
“Sometimes, regulations are stupid.”
“You just want a cigarette,” the second soldier said as he looked down the road. He leaned forward just a bit. “And you might get one very soon,” he said as he pulled out his binoculars.
“What is it?”
The soldier looked through the binoculars for several seconds, then said, “It’s them. And they’re not alone.”
“Who’s with them?”
“People.”
“How many?”
The soldier pulled down the binoculars and looked at his friend. “It’s going to be a very uncomfortable ride home.”
***
The team walked with purpose and confidence… and twenty-three former prisoners of the Legion. They knew there would be a fallout because they had completely disregarded their orders. They knew the punishment could range from an official warning to outright dismissal from the Day Soldiers.
They really didn’t give a damn.
There were twenty-three people alive because they decided to disobey those orders. They would get the information back to the base. Whatever consequence awaited them was worth it.
As soon as they were within speaking distance, Lily smiled and said, “Hi, guys. Sorry we’re late. We better get moving. We didn’t run into any werewolves on the way back, but I suspect they’re looking for us by now.”
The soldiers apparently didn’t know how to respond. Eventually, one of them said, “Who are these people?”
“These people,” Scott said, “are proof that we’re the most badass team in Day Soldier history.”
Lily gave Scott a sideways glance and said, “Wow.”
Scott grinned. “Screw it. If we’re going to lose our jobs over this, I say we leave a legend.”
Lily looked back at the soldiers and said, “We’re the B-Team and we just burned Gettysburg to the ground.”
The soldiers just stared.
Chapter 16
Revelations
Wallace leaned back in his chair and stared at nothing in particular. Abbie stood behind him with a look of deep worry on her face.
Lily, Scott, Grung, and Ellie stood on the other side of the desk, waiting patiently for either Wallace or Abbie to speak.
It was Wallace who finally broke the silence. “We were really hoping you’d bring different information. A full scale invasion is bad.”
“Yes, sir,” Scott said. “It is. But I can’t think of another reason they’d have turned every human there. They were intentionally starving themselves. I think they’re building an invasion force full of very hungry vampires.”
Wallace closed his eyes and nodded in agreement.
“Of course,” Scott added, “like I said in the report, the city was being run by a preacher. It could have just been some weird religious thing. You’ll know for sure when you get more reports from the other sneakers.”
“Don’t alter reality because you’re afraid of it,” Abbie said. “You know it’s an invasion. Besides, you’re the fourth team to report this, but the only one that involved a preacher.”
“Thanks for the report,” Wallace said. “I’ve got a trip to the Pentagon to prepare for. You’re dismissed.”
The team looked at each other, confused. At no point during the meeting had Wallace or Abbie mentioned the fact that the team had disobeyed a direct order.
“Sir?” Lily said. “Are we in trouble?”
“Of course not,” Wallace said with a dismissive wave. “Now go get some rest.”
“Let it go,” Scott whispered.
“But sir,” Lily said, “did you read the report?”
Wallace sighed. “Baxter, I have important things to do here, so I’ll get through this as quickly as I can. Yes, I read the report. You disobeyed orders, which you should not have done. You knew there could be consequences, but you did it anyway. If you had the chance to do it over again, you’d do the exact same thing. You already know how important it is to follow orders, so any speech from me would be pointless. You obviously felt this was more important, and the truth is, I’d have done the exact same thing. I’m not going to pretend like I’m considering your punishment because we both know there won’t be one. You’re heroes on this base, now. Does that cover it?”
“I guess it does,” Lily said. “Thank you, sir.”
“Although,” Wallace added, “I do admit I probably wouldn’t have burned the city to the ground. That was a bit of overkill, don’t you think? I mean, after we win this war, we’ll have to rebuild the city.”
Lily felt her face flush. “Technically,” she explained, “I didn’t burn the city to the ground. During my fight in the church, the candles were knocked over. I was leaving as the church burned, but then I noticed that nobody was coming to put out the fire. That’s when I realized it meant Gettysburg was purely a vampire town. The werewolves we killed were obviously just there to drop off the prisoners.
“So I took a piece of burning wood from the church and threw it into a nearby house. It just kind of grew from there. To be honest, I have no idea how many buildings actually burned down. I left after I started that second fire.”
“I see,” Wallace said. “Well, consider yourself yelled at. Next time, follow orders, blah blah blah. Now get the hell out of here. I told you I have important things to do.”
Lily looked at her team and said, “Guys, you go ahead. I’ll catch up.”
Scott cocked an eyebrow. “What’s up, chief?”
“I just have something I need to ask Wallace and Abbie about. It’s personal.”
“We can wait outside,” Scott said.
“Yeah,” Grung said. “The last time you told us to go on, you burned down a city.”
Lily laughed. “I appreciate it, guys, but you go on. Have a good night. I plan on doing a lot of nothing.”
“Alright,” Scott said, “but I’ll keep my radio on me in case you change your mind.”
“Sure thing,” Lily said. She waited until the team left, then turned back to Wallace and Abbie.
“I wasn’t kidding when I said I have a lot to do, Baxter,” Wallace said.
“What’s a channeler?” Lily’s voice was flat and serious.
“I think you know,” Abbie said.
“It’s people with the touch,” Lily said.
Abbie nodded. “Yes. Vampires call them channelers, which, to be honest, is really more accurate. Something happened in that church, didn’t it.”
“I melted a vampire’s face,” Lily said, “with my fist.”
Wallace laughed. “The preacher, I hope. I hate those guys.”
“No,” Lily said, “but he lost his swagger when he saw me do it.”
Wallace and Abbie exchanged glances, then Abbie looked at her and said, “You definitely killed every vampire in that church?”
“Yes,” Lily said.
“You’re sure?” Wallace said. “Absolutely sure.”
“Yes,” Lily repeated. “Why?”
“Because,” Abbie explained, “we do not want them to know what you are.”
“What the hell am I?” Lily said.
“You,” Wallace said, “are the chosen one.”
Lily felt her heart leap into her throat.
“Stop it!” Abbie said as she smacked Wallace on the shoulder. She looked at Lily and said, “He says that to every channeler we get. He thinks it’s funny.”
“Oh, I know it’s funny,” Wallace said.
“To be clear,” Abbie said, “there’s no such thing as a chosen one. There are many others like you. As a matter of fact, we suspect it’s an ability anybody can learn, but we’ve had no luck in teaching it yet.”
“You still haven’t
explained to me what a channeler is,” Lily said.
“I did,” Abbie argued. “I covered it many times during your training, but you refused to accept it.”
“A channeler,” Wallace said, “is just someone who can use their own body as a power object. Simply put, you don’t need a cross to channel the good that lives inside you.”
“Where does this power come from?” Lily asked.
“It’s not a power, exactly,” Abbie said. “It’s more about focus. Every human can do it, but most need something to channel it through. I demonstrated this with a rock during training.”
“When I met you in Iveyton,” Wallace said, “I was pretty sure you were a channeler. It was the only explanation for what happened there.”
“It could’ve been Leo,” Lily said.
Wallace shook his head. “No. It was obvious he was the sidekick. I knew it had to be you.”
“Lily,” Abbie said, “it’s very important that you don’t advertise this ability. When you can, use a cross.”
“Why?”
Abbie looked at Wallace as if she were waiting for permission to continue. After Wallace nodded, she turned back to Lily and said, “This is confidential information. You can’t share it with anybody, even your team.”
“Okay,” Lily said.
“The Legion,” Abbie explained, “has no idea how many Day Soldiers are channelers. While they’re indeed very rare, we’ve done everything we can to make them seem even more so.”
“How many do you have?”
“As of your induction,” Wallace said, “a hundred and twenty-three.”
“As far as the Legion knows,” Abbie added, “I’m the only one. That’s why I’m kept on this base and never sent to the field. It’s a deflection technique. They think I’m here because the Day Soldiers are protecting the only channeler. They seek out and destroy every channeler they can find, for obvious reasons.”
“Which is why,” Wallace said, “we were so emphatic about whether or not you killed them all.”
“I killed them all, sir,” Lily said. “I’m one-hundred percent sure of that.”
“Still,” Abbie said, “this introduces a new danger. If one of those vampires communicated this information telepathically…”
“They can do that?”
“Some can,” Wallace said. “It’s doubtful in this case, though, because you were facing the leader in that area.”
“True,” Abbie conceded, “but if they do know there’s a new channeler, it could expedite their plans for attack.”
“You’re right,” Wallace said. “I’m leaving tonight.” He looked at Lily. “Remember, Baxter, this is very confidential. Those channelers are our most powerful hidden weapons.”
“I got it, sir,” Lily said.
“Now, seriously,” Wallace said. “Get the hell out of my office.”
Lily gave him a smiling nod. “Yes, sir.”
***
When Lily stepped into her small apartment, she was still thinking about the various implications of being a channeler. On the one hand, it was an immeasurably powerful ability. She didn’t have to carry crosses. Vampires were pretty much no threat to her at all. On the other hand, if they did somehow know she was a channeler, she’d be a target for the rest of her life. She found herself wishing she’d let Abbie use live vampires during training. It would have given her much needed practice and time to perfect this ability.
Her communicator beeped again. She pulled it from her belt and saw that Scott was trying to call her. Again. She didn’t answer.
I don’t feel like partying tonight, Scott.
She walked to the bathroom, undressed, and got in the shower. Her mind was a whirlwind of fear and excitement. An invasion was coming. The invasion to end all invasions. Literally. And now she knew she was going to play an important role in this invasion, considering the fact that most of the invasion force comprised of vampires.
Intellectually, Lily understood that she was supposed to be scared, but she wasn’t. Instead, she felt hopeful that this would be a victory over the darkness that had swept the world. A battle was about to happen that would be in the history books. Two-hundred years from now, school kids would read about this battle. And she was going to be part of it.
She was ashamed to admit it, but a little piece of her was excited.
A knock at her front door pulled her from her thoughts. Lily quickly got out of the shower, dried off, and slipped on a robe. “Dammit, Scott,” she said as she opened the door, “I want to stay home tonight.”
As soon as she saw the look on Scott’s face, she knew he wasn’t asking her to go celebrate anything. “What’s wrong?”
“Where’s your computer,” Scott said as he walked inside.
“The bedroom,” Lily said. “This way, and don’t comment on the mess.”
Scott walked to the bedroom, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings, and sat down at her computer. He logged her out of the Day Soldiers database and logged himself in.
“Scott,” Lily said, “what’s wrong?”
Scott looked up at her with very worried eyes. “When I got to my apartment, I decided to do some research about the invasion. I wanted to see what the other teams found.”
“You have access to that?”
“Yeah,” Scott said. “All members of Intelligence have heightened access. Not unlimited, but heightened. So I was doing the research and I discovered something, Lily. I’ve been agonizing over whether or not to tell you.”
“Well,” Lily said, “now you have to.”
“While I was doing my research,” Scott continued, “I came across the original transmission sent from the soldier in Indiana. I found it odd that Abbie and Wallace specifically said he was from Indiana because Indiana is mostly Legion territory. The border between Indiana and Ohio is a warzone, but most of Indiana belongs to the Legion. Which means the soldier was most likely from Ohio.”
Lily suddenly had trouble breathing. “Leo,” she whispered.
“The report doesn’t give the soldier’s name,” Scott said. “So I listened to it, just out of curiosity.”
“Play it,” Lily said, even though she already knew what she was about to hear. There was no other reason Scott would have been this upset.
Scott pulled up the file and hit the play button.
Lily’s world collapsed when she heard Leo’s voice.
“This is Leo Rosenberg, lead sniper for the Celina, Ohio infantry division. Our squad was spotted on the outskirts of New Castle, Indiana. They must have smelled us despite our scent inhibitors. The entire squad is captured. For some reason, they wanted us alive. New Castle was full of—”
After a noise that might have been a growl, Leo’s voice said, “Shit!” then the transmission ended.
Lily stared at the screen, not speaking.
“You’re my field commander,” Scott said, “but more importantly, you’re my friend. I know why Abbie and Wallace didn’t tell you, but I felt like you deserved to know.”
“When was this sent?” Lily said, still staring at the screen.
“Fourteen days ago,” Scott said. “Apparently, he loaded a flare transmitter and shot it into the air. It sent the message to his base in Ohio. It really shows his heroism that he thought to do that.”
“He said they were taking them alive.”
“Lily,” Scott said, “that was fourteen days ago. We both saw how fast they dealt with the prisoners in Gettysburg.”
“Actually,” Lily said, “we didn’t. Those people are still alive.”
“Because we rescued them,” Scott said. Lily could hear the fear in his voice. The regret that he’d said anything. “The preacher explicitly said he was turning them the next morning.”
“We don’t know if he meant it,” Lily said. “Could’ve been torture. He was sadistic. Besides, we don’t know if they’re doing that everywhere.”
“Lily, he’s—”
“We don’t know, Scott! We don’t know!” She looked around the room and started gathering up her clothes. As she slipped her pants on under the robe, she said, “How the hell did you expect me to react to this?”
“I don’t know,” Scott said. “I didn’t think about it beyond the fact that you deserve to know.”
“Thanks for that,” Lily said as she dropped her robe and pulled her shirt over her head. She then put on her jacket. “I mean that, Scott. You’ve been a friend to me since we met in that bar.” She left the room and headed toward the apartment door.
Scott followed. “Where are you going?”
“To Wallace,” Lily said. “You know that.”
“We just discovered a full-scale invasion,” Scott said. “I doubt you’ll get in to see him now. And even if you do, what could you possibly hope to accomplish?”
“A transfer,” Lily said, “to Ohio.”
“Lily,” Scott said as he followed her down the hall toward the elevator, “sleep on this. We’ll go to him together, tomorrow.”
“No.”
“Shit.” Scott stopped chasing her and just watched her get in the elevator. Once the elevator door closed and Lily was gone, he reached down and pulled his communicator from his belt.
***
The werewolf bounded through the streets of New Castle, Indiana, ignoring the dozens of vampires lining the streets. It leapt onto the front steps of a local post office and quickly transformed back to its human form. As soon as she was human again, Tina strolled into the post office.
“This had better be worth the trip, Gus,” she said.
Two other werewolves – both in human form – stood in the lobby of the post office. Several human prisoners were in the next room, separated from the werewolves by locked glass doors.
“I thought Dennis was coming,” Gus said.
“Dennis,” Tina said, “is busy planning the end of this war. Now, what was so important that you had to show us in person?”
Gus pointed at the humans. “We captured these soldiers about twenty miles east of town.”
“I don’t care,” Tina said.
“You will,” Gus assured her. He turned to the other werewolf and said, “Bring him.”
“Bring who?” Tina asked.
Gus smiled. “When we captured these prisoners, one of them looked very familiar to me, but I just couldn’t place him. Then it hit me. Do you remember the last time you and I met?”