The Savage World Box Set: A Post-Apocalyptic Adventure Series: The Vampire World Saga Books 1-3

by P. T. Hylton

  Alex assumed that cellblock eight just happened to be more lightly populated then the first few buildings. But when they moved on to cellblock nine, they found it even more sparse. They moved down the long corridor and stopped at the edge of the open room where they’d shot the vampires in the other cellblocks. This time, there wasn’t a vampire in sight.

  Alex raised her pistol and squeezed the trigger, firing into the open room. As the echo from the gunshot faded, she heard shuffling sounds from deeper in the cellblock, but no vampires showed themselves.

  “We need to get out of here,” she ordered. “Move.”

  Chuck immediately turned toward the door, but Hope hesitated.

  “I heard them in there. Shouldn’t we flush them out?”

  “You have your order,” Alex growled. “We’ll talk in the safety of the sunlight.”

  Hope hesitated a moment longer, then headed for the door.

  Alex stifled a chuckle as she followed. Hope was too much like Alex for her own good. Alex would have to ask CB for some tips on dealing with recruits who questioned orders during the mission.

  When they were back outside, she gathered the team around her. “The vampires are learning.”

  Patrick laughed. “You’re kidding, right? Those things are animals. They can’t learn.”

  “Animals learn all the time,” Owl pointed out.

  “Fine,” Patrick allowed. “But we’ve killed every vampire we’ve encountered. How would the ones in this building know what we were doing?”

  “I don’t know,” Alex answered. “But I’ve seen them make decisions as a group before.”

  “As have I,” Owl added.

  “We’re not taking any chances. There’s no reason we need to clear out every building today. The electrical system should be the same in each of them. Owl, get Ron and Yoko.”

  A few minutes later, the team entered cell block four once again. They’d just passed over the threshold, stepping past the bullet-ridden corpses of the first few vampires, when Ron spoke in a shaky voice.

  “I’m sorry, Captain Goddard, I can’t do this.”

  Alex frowned, but one look at the engineer’s face confirmed he was barely holding it together. He was nearly as pale as a corpse, and he rested one hand on the wall to steady himself.

  She nodded. “Understood. Owl, take him back to the ship.” She turned to Yoko. “How about you?”

  The female engineer didn’t look much better, but she met Alex’s gaze. “I’m fine. Let’s keep moving.”

  “That’s what I like to hear.”

  Alex shot Patrick a look, intending to convey for him to keep a close eye on the engineer. To her relief, he responded with a quick nod.

  It was impressive how quickly this team was learning to communicate effectively in the field.

  She looked at her team. “We can’t assume the vampires all ran to the doorway and followed their friend to the slaughter. Some of the deep sleepers might still be snoozing in the shadows. Stay frosty.”

  The team made a quick but thorough sweep of the cells and found nothing. As time inside the cell block passed, Yoko seemed more on edge, but she was managing to keep it under control so far.

  Before they headed to the utility area in the basement, Alex put a hand on Yoko’s shoulder. “This is your time to shine. You ready?”

  “I’m ready.” Her voice was even, though the wild look in her eyes betrayed her fear.

  “Good. If something does happen, if one of those undead freaks shows up, I want you to freeze. Don’t move. We will protect you, but if you start running around, you’re likely to get shot or bit. Understand?”

  Yoko laughed softly. “Freeze? That I can do.”

  They moved down the stairwell, the team in formation.

  “Solitary cells first,” Alex told her team.

  They crept toward the part of the basement with the cells, weapons at the ready, Yoko wedged between Chuck and Patrick.

  They reached the four cells, and Hope stepped forward, shining the light from her headlamp into the first cell.

  As her beam hit the cell, a howl came from inside so loudly, Alex could feel it rattling in her chest. The moment the sound stopped, four vampires leapt through the doors, one from each cell.

  The team was ready, and Hope, Patrick, Ed, and Chuck all sprang into action.

  Hope fired a moment before the rest of the team, and her shot was true. Her shotgun removed everything from above the nose of the vampire. Ed and Patrick acted almost as one, putting three rounds each into the chests of their respective vamps with their automatic weapons.

  Alex walked the line of cells, checking each one and putting an extra bullet in the heart of each vampire.

  “That was damn nice work, team,” she told them. She looked at Yoko. “Time to do your thing, girl.”

  They headed for the utility area, and Yoko went to work.

  After only a few minutes, Yoko stood up and smiled. “This is better than I’d expected. They had a backup generator hooked up. It’s one of the old-fashioned ones that uses gasoline, so we’ll have to replace it with one that uses biodiesel. But once we do that, we’ll have power.”

  Alex clapped her on the back and forced a smile onto her face. Once they had power, Fleming would be one step closer to making Resettlement a reality. “That’s excellent. What do you say we head back to New Haven and give them the good news?”

  Yoko’s smile widened. “Now, that’s an idea I can get behind.”

  9

  Firefly stood in front of the gathered recruits, watching as they ran through hand-to-hand combat drills. There were one hundred and fifty of them lined in front of him, all former badges. They’d taken nearly half the badges to make this happen. Colonel Kurtz hadn’t been pleased, but Fleming had insisted. Getting a group that already had some training was the only way that they were going to have any chance of meeting Fleming’s insane timeline.

  This would only be half the Resettlers. The rest of them would come from other departments and would each bring specialized skills needed for survival. They’d have engineers, farmers, electricians, and more. Firefly had a lot of work left ahead of him before they’d be ready.

  Still, he was pleased that they had forward momentum. And apparently, that was what the people of New Haven wanted to see. Sure, there were some who hated Fleming for what he’d done to the Council. But, to Firefly’s surprise, many believed that the explosion had been an accident. And plenty who didn’t seemed willing to look past that as long as Fleming continued to deliver results. Never mind how he’d gotten power, at least he was getting them one step closer to the surface.

  A wave of nausea rolled through Firefly at the thought of what had happened to the Council and his own role in it. Not that he’d known what would happen. Granted, he’d have been a fool to believe Fleming had a happy plan for the explosives Firefly had provided. But he’d never imagined they’d be used to orchestrate an actual coup.

  But what was he going to do about it now? He couldn’t change the past; he could only do his best to make sure it was all worth it.

  Most of the time, he believed that, but sometimes, he had the sneaking suspicion that nothing he could do would make up for helping to kill twelve people.

  As if conjured by his thoughts, a familiar voice came from behind him.

  “They look good,” Fleming said.

  Firefly nodded. “They’ve got a long way to go, sir, but they’re an impressive group already.”

  Fleming clapped him on the shoulder. “Did you ever think you’d been leading so many?”

  Firefly considered that a moment. The week or so since his return to New Haven had been a whirlwind, one in which his life had changed in countless ways. Ten days ago, he’d been a member of the GMT, and that team had been his world. True, he’d believed in Fleming and in Resettlement, but there had been something academic about the whole politics thing. It had been a hobby; the GMT was his life.

  Then he’d returned from Agart
ha and found Fleming in charge of the whole damn city. The politician had been quick to show Firefly his appreciation for providing the explosives that had finished off the Council. He’d offered Firefly his choice of a number of positions in his administration, and Firefly had selected this one.

  Firefly had always known that CB didn’t respect his leadership abilities. And now look at him. He was on the vanguard of humanity’s future.

  “I always knew I’d lead someday,” Firefly answered. “I just didn’t know it would be so many. Or so soon.”

  Fleming grinned at him. “I appreciate you stepping up.” He nodded toward the recruits. “They doing all right?”

  Firefly nodded. “As well as can be expected. Honestly, sir, it’s not the people I’m worried about. It’s the supplies.”

  “I understand. But I’m going to need a little trust on that one. Brian McElroy and his team are working around the clock on the daylights. They’re a little behind schedule, but we’ll make sure they are ready when we are.”

  “It’s not just the lights.”

  “Engineering is stripping everything they can from the ship to make generators. People are going to have to do without some things for a while.”

  Firefly cast a nervous glance at Fleming. “Are they going to be okay with that?”

  “They won’t be thrilled about it. But as long as we keep our forward momentum, they’ll accept it.” He turned and looked at Firefly, his eyes alive with passion. “That’s the key to this whole thing. It’s dangerous, it’s costly, and it requires every person on this ship to make sacrifices. If we keep running at our goal, the people will go along with us. But if we blink, even for a second, so will they.”

  Firefly nodded slowly. “I’ll leave the politics stuff to you, and I’ll stick to the guns. By the way, what’s going on with General Craig?”

  “The trial’s been set for next month. It’ll be nice to finally have all that behind us.”

  “Yeah.” Firefly hoped his voice conveyed more confidence than he felt. In truth, he still didn’t understand what grounds they even had to put Craig on trial. He’d tried to stop a coup. Yes, someone had gotten hurt, but hadn’t Fleming hurt people, as well?

  And if Craig were found guilty, how would CB and his team react? Firefly had to believe they wouldn’t watch their leader’s execution without reacting. Any vehemence they felt toward Fleming would only be increased once their general was gone for good.

  Fleming clapped Firefly on the shoulder again. “You need to trust me, Firefly. Focus on getting these folks ready to defend our new home. I’ll take care of everything else.”

  “Of course, sir.” He hesitated. There was something else he’d been wanting to discuss with Fleming, but the moment hadn’t felt right yet.

  Fleming tilted his head. “What is it? Something you want to say?”

  Firefly cleared his throat. “Yes, sir. It’s just…I’m a captain now. Firefly was a lieutenant for the GMT. I’m not that man anymore.”

  It took Fleming a moment to get it. Then realization dawned. “You want to go by your real name.”

  “Yes, sir, I do. It’s Gar—”

  “I know your name.” He smiled and nodded toward the recruits. “All right then. Captain Garrett Eldred, I’ll be back to check on your progress later in the week.”

  Garrett smiled. “Thank you, sir. I’ll have them ready when you need them.”

  “Good. Because we are heading down to the surface at the end of the month.”

  Alex scanned the basement with her eyes as Yoko loaded her equipment into her pack. “You’re sure we got what we need?”

  The engineer shrugged. “As sure as I can be without checking the other buildings. Everything in this one seems in order.” She paused a moment, shooting Alex a look. “That was not a suggestion that we clear out the other buildings, by the way. This was more than enough excitement for one day.”

  As Yoko finished packing, Alex turned to the rest of the team. “Form up around our engineer friend, same as on the way down here. Chuck, you still good to take point?”

  He nodded briskly.

  “Good. Who wants the anchor position?”

  “I got it,” Hope said.

  “Fine,” Alex said. “The rest of you form up around Yoko. Don’t assume there aren’t any more of our Feral friends in here.”

  “Feral?” Ed asked.

  Alex hadn’t realized she’d used the term. “Yeah. It’s, uh, something the people of Agartha call the wild vampires.”

  “Heh,” Ed laughed. “Wild vampires. Are there any other kind?”

  Alex didn’t have time for this discussion now. She’d explained Agartha to the team at a high level: that another city existed in the Colorado mountains, and that the GMT had been saved by the people of the city. She’d left out the part about their saviors being of the non-breathing variety.

  Patrick frowned as Hope took up her position at the rear of the team. “You just wanted anchor so you could get a shot at another vampire if one comes up behind us.”

  Hope didn’t bother denying it. “If we’re not counting the ones we shot in the doorway, the score’s tied up. One kill each.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Patrick grumbled.

  Yoko slipped her arms through the straps of the pack and hoisted it to her back.

  “Let’s move out,” Alex said.

  They made their way through the basement and reached the staircase. Chuck led them up the stairs, Alex close behind.

  She was about six stairs up when she heard a growl from below. She turned just in time to see a vampire leap from the darkness beneath the stairs.

  Hope stood at the bottom of the stairs. She pointed her shotgun at the creature, but it was on her in the blink of an eye, grabbing the barrel, ripping the weapon from her grasp before she could fire.

  The vampire lunged, crashing into Hope. The momentum sent both of them careening to the floor.

  “Holy shit!” Ed yelled.

  The entire team had their weapons pointed at the vampire, but the way it was tangled up with Hope, there was no way to get a clear shot.

  Light from a headlamp flashed off of fangs a moment before they sank into the upper, unprotected part of Hope’s neck. She shouted in pain, thrashing, trying to get out of the creature’s grasp.

  Alex tried to push her way down the stairs to help her friend, but the narrow staircase was too crowded. She couldn’t get past her teammates and the engineer.

  The vampire stood, holding Hope in its arms. Its teeth were still buried in her neck, and the slurping sounds made it clear that it was still feasting on her blood. Smoke rose from its lower jaw, the part in contact with the silver mail that Hope wore, but it didn’t seem to notice.

  As it drank, it began to change. The color of its skin shifted, changing from dead gray to white, then to tan. Its ears shrank and grew round, appearing more human by the moment. The wing-like flaps of skin between its arms and body shriveled and fell away.

  Alex barely noticed. The only thing she was focused on was that she had a clear shot. She squeezed off two quick rounds, and the back of the vampire’s head disappeared in a cloud of mist.

  Hope fell from the vampire’s limp arms, and the creature collapsed.

  Alex fired again, putting a round through the creature’s chest. Though she was silent, inside she was screaming. Her worst nightmare was coming true.

  She should have seen that vampire under the stairs. Had it been there all along? Had they even checked when they first came down? Or had it snuck down the steps while they worked on the electrical equipment?

  It didn’t matter now. All that mattered was Hope. Maybe it wasn’t too late for her.

  “Chuck, Ed, you two get Yoko to safety. Patrick, help me get Hope. Everyone stay alert.”

  She squeezed her way to the foot of the stairs and shone her headlamp at Hope. The woman was unconscious, and her neck was torn up pretty good. But there wasn’t as much blood as Alex would have expected coming from the
wound. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as she’d thought.

  With Patrick’s help, she managed to drag Hope up the stairs and through the building. They made it to the exit and burst into the sunlight.

  A wave of relief washed through Alex. They’d made it out.

  Owl ran to meet them, medical kit in her hand. She didn’t ask what had happened; one look at Hope and she didn’t have to.

  Alex and Patrick laid Hope down, then Alex looked around, checking her teammates. “Everyone else okay?”

  They let her know that they were.

  Owl crouched next to Hope and began checking her over. She looked up at Alex. “No pulse.”

  Ed’s eyes grew wide as he stared down at his injured teammate. “What the hell is that?”

  Alex followed his gaze. The exposed skin on Hope’s face and neck were changing color before their eyes. It turned an angry red, then blisters formed. Thin tendrils of smoke rose from her face.

  No, Alex silently pleaded. Not this. Anything but this.

  Hope’s eyes shot open, and she gasped. Springing to her feet, she stumbled forward, her hands clawing at her face as she let out a guttural scream.

  Owl stumbled backward, quickly getting away from her teammate.

  “Hope!” Alex shouted. “It’s okay. You’re hurt, but we’re going to—”

  Hope screamed again, cutting Alex off.

  Her wild eyes settled on the entrance to cellblock four, and she dashed toward it, moving with uncanny speed.

  When she reached the protective shadows of the entrance, she began frantically tearing at her clothes. Smoke was pouring from her entire body now.

  “The silver mail,” Chuck whispered, his voice heavy with shock. “If she’s…one of them now—”

  “I know,” Alex said. Time seemed to slow as she strode toward the entrance of the building, pistol in hand.

  Hope fell to her knees, and flames burst from her body. The silver mail had set her aflame. Still, her screaming continued.

  Alex raised her pistol and fired three rounds.