by P. T. Hylton
As the power of the fans increased, so did the speed of the GMT members whooshing toward CB and his friends. One by one, they slipped past CB, Brian, and Jessica. As the fifth and last member slid past, he desperately grabbed at them, and CB felt a sudden jolt. Looking back, he saw the black-clad soldier had grabbed Brian’s leg and was hanging on for dear life.
CB clutched the belt with all his strength. The added weight of the extra man made a huge difference. CB was having trouble holding on, and he knew if he was struggling, Brian had to be too. He felt the hands around his waist slip.
Brian lost his grip, and he slid free of CB and toward the vent at the end of the duct and the thirty-thousand-foot drop outside the vent.
CB spun, his reflexes responding before his mind could, and threw out an arm, desperately grabbing for Brian. His fingers closed around Brian’s outstretched wrist.
The sudden jolt was almost enough to make CB lose his one-hand grip on the belt, but he managed to hold fast.
The fans had to be blowing full-blast now. CB, Jessica, and Brian were all parallel to the floor.
CB held on with all his strength, all his willpower. But still he knew he couldn’t last long like this. He shouted to Brian, straining to be heard over the rushing wind. “Kick him off! I can’t hold you both!”
Brian peered down at the masked man still clutching his leg. Then he drew back his other foot and brought it down hard. The foot connected with the man’s face, and the soldier lost his grip and careened down the corridor, carried like a loose piece of paper in a strong breeze.
The jolt of Brian’s kick almost caused CB to lose his grip again, but he dug his fingers into each other as he gripped the belt, and he managed to hold on. Veins stood out on his forehead as he used every ounce of strength to keep him and Brian from flying out the vent after the GMT members.
Then he felt a hand on his arm, taking off a bit of the pressure and making it possible to maintain his grip. It was Jessica. Her face was contorted in pain, and he saw the arm the belt was wrapped around was white. CB silently cursed his own stupidity. In trying to save her, he’d wrapped her arm in a tourniquet, and now the blood flow to her lower arm and hand was cut off. The belt dug deep enough into her flesh to break the skin, and drops of blood flecked into the wind from the contusions above the belt. Despite her pain, she held on to CB’s arm.
With a grunt of effort, Brian reached up and grasped CB with his other hand.
Still, CB knew they wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long. He’d been an overconfident fool to think they’d be able to survive this torrent of wind with a single knife wedged into the wall.
He felt Brian beginning to slip again, and he didn’t know if he had the strength to save him again.
Then he heard the most beautiful sound in the world: the hydraulics moving. The vents were closing.
A moment later, the fans slowed, and Brian, Jessica, and CB collapsed to the floor, gasping in exhaustion, pain, and relief.
17
Firefly woke with a start, his body already beginning to stand. It was as if he was being physically pulled to his feet. There was only one thing that could do that, he knew. An order from his masters. Somehow, even from a distance, they were calling him, and his body was responding even before his mind was fully awake.
He felt like utter shit.
The world looked strange, blurry. It seemed to swim before his eyes each time he blinked. And that was far from the worst of it. A feeling akin to nausea threatened to overwhelm him. But this nausea wasn’t only in his stomach; it was a sickness that sang from every cell of his body. He could even feel it in his teeth.
He’d had his share of rough mornings after a night of drinking at Tankards, but this felt like every hangover he’d ever had all rolled into one. His body throbbed with pain.
The worst part was that he knew there was a very simple cure to the sickness: sleep.
For the first time in his life as a vampire, he was experiencing daysickness. All his body wanted was to rest until the sun went down. If he lay down in this storm drain and closed his eyes, he’d be asleep in an instant and the pain would be gone. But his masters compelled him to come, so that was what he must do.
It was no wonder all the vampires he’d encountered during the day in his time with the GMT had been so pissed off. The way he was currently feeling, he’d probably rip out the throat of anyone who came into his immediate vicinity.
He ran through the maze of storm drains, instinctively knowing which way to turn at each junction. Once, he made a wrong turn, but he only made it a few steps before his instincts recognized the mistake and forced him to turn around.
The tunnels were crowded with sleeping Ferals, a fact that made Firefly nervous when he thought about it too hard. But they didn’t rouse when he ran by, or even when he leaped over them. He understood why. He was a vampire. It wasn’t worth the daysickness to go after someone who couldn’t even feed their hunger. If he still smelled human, the experience of running through this tunnel would have been far different, he knew.
His leg brushed against a Feral as he ran by, and he shuddered. The world had turned upside down. He would give anything to go back just a few days, to refuse to lead the Resettlers to their first night on the surface. If he could somehow get up to New Haven, he’d pay Fleming a visit. He’d slice the councilman throat to balls and he’d pull out the man’s insides. Then he’d sink his teeth into Fleming’s soft neck and drink deep. He could almost feel the hot blood flowing across his teeth and down his throat—
He shook his head, pushing away the fantasy and the hunger it had stoked. Truth was, if he were on New Haven right now, he’d be on fire, scorched by the sunlight that filled the ship at all hours.
Not that a fire sounded too terrible right now. Compared with the daysickness, fiery death would almost be a relief.
He found Mark and Aaron waiting in a large open area where several tunnels came together. About twenty Resettlers stood around them, all looking about as good as Firefly felt.
Mark nodded toward Firefly when he saw them. “There he is. Our brilliant field commander.”
Firefly wanted nothing more than to rip the vampire’s face off, but he just came to a stop and stood silently before his two masters. Where had these two been during the battle last night? They’d given Firefly a couple orders and then disappeared.
Some leaders.
Aaron crossed his arms and scowled at Firefly. “It seems we underestimated our opponents last night. And that we overestimated you.”
“It wasn’t a great outcome,” Firefly started, “but if we—”
“Shut up,” Mark ordered.
Firefly’s jaw snapped shut.
“We were overconfident in our numbers,” Mark continued. “We lost fifty in that damn explosion alone.” He turned to the gathered vampires, watching their faces contort in the discomfort of their daysickness. “I know you all feel like shit right now. That’s to be expected. And, to be honest, you deserve to feel like shit after last night. Now we’re going to stand here in silence until the rest of your pathetic brothers and sisters get here.”
The wait couldn’t have been more than five minutes, but it was the longest five minutes Firefly had ever experienced. There were two warring needs inside him, both equally powerful. His vampire body was designed to sleep during the day, and every nerve was screaming out to do so. But the need to obey his masters was even stronger. And waiting in silence with nothing to distract his mind made it even worse.
Finally, mercifully, after nearly two hundred vampires had gathered, Aaron spoke. “All right, this looks like everybody that’s left. First, I want to apologize for last night.”
Firefly tilted his head in surprise. Apologies didn’t seem like Aaron’s MO.
“I want to apologize for trusting you idiots so much. Let me assure you that will not happen again.”
Mark nodded along with his partner’s words. “That said, we have a rare opportunity here, and
we’re not going to let it sail by without taking a swing. Jaden and his disciples are hiding in the shadows, just like us. And I’d bet my ass they’re not sleeping. They’ll be hunting us. That’s why your primary order is to protect Mark and I at all costs.”
Firefly swallowed hard, understanding the implications of that order. He knew he’d jump in front of a bullet or murder his best friend to protect his masters now. There was nothing he’d be able to do to stop himself.
Mark continued, “Most of you will stay here with us in case those Agartha vampires do show up. Firefly, you’re going to take a team of twenty and go looking for Jaden’s crew. If you find them before they find us, you give a shout and hold tight. We’ll send our army, and once they get there, it’s on. Nothing fancy this time. Just a good old-fashioned fight where we outnumber the enemy twenty to one.”
Firefly nodded, then turned to gather twenty of the soldiers.
But Aaron spoke again. “One more thing before you go. You think you’re in pain now. We understand. We feel it too. But this is nothing. Wait and see how it feels when we order you not to sleep for a week. Then you’ll know real pain. And if you mess this up again, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.” A tiny smile touched the corner of his lips. “Move out.”
Firefly wished he could punch Aaron in the face. Just one solid hit would make him feel so much better. Instead, he gathered his twenty scouts, including Sharon and Hector.
He led them out of the area where the vampire army was gathered and down one of the tunnels.
When he was far enough away to be out of vampires’ earshot, he stopped walking. “Everybody hold up for a second.”
They stopped and turned to him, their eyes simmering with pain and fury. But as they looked at him, Firefly thought maybe he saw a tiny bit of hope there too.
“Look, this is bad,” he began.
“You think?” Hector asked. “Thanks for letting us know. I thought Resettlement was going pretty well until you said something.”
Sharon looked up at him, her eyes wide. “What are we going to do, Captain?”
He desperately wished he could tell her he had a plan, some way to get them out of this hellish situation, but he wasn’t going to lie. He owed them more than that. “I don’t know. But I promise you this. I will work like hell to find a way out.”
“A way out?” Hector said, skepticism clear in his voice. “What’s the best-case scenario? We get free of Mark and Aaron, we’ll still be freaking vampires, right? And with no blood to drink, we’ll eventually turn into those Feral creatures. That’s what happens to vampires who don’t feed, right?”
Firefly grimaced. “One step at a time. We have to figure out a way to get free of Mark and Aaron, then we’ll worry about the rest. But for now…” He trailed off, not sure how to continue.
“For now, we obey our masters,” Sharon said, her voice hollow.
“Yeah,” Firefly confirmed. “Let’s split up and spread out. It’s time to find Jaden and his vampires.”
Ed lifted the manhole cover and climbed out onto the street. The others quickly followed, scurrying out of the hole and into the safety of the sunlight.
Wesley stretched, an easy smiled on his face as he stood up on the road. “Ah. I never thought I’d be so relieved to be on a city street on the surface.”
Alex got to her feet, her eyes scanning the windows of the surrounding buildings. “Don’t get too relaxed. They’ve still got the vampire snipers.”
“Heh, I’m not worried,” Ed said. “If these vamps are Resettlers, that means they’re probably former badges. Those guys can’t shoot for shit.”
Patrick nodded. “You should know. You were the worst of them.”
“Maybe until I got to the GMT and Alex gave me a few lessons.”
“Yeah, now you’re just the worst shooter on this squad. You could probably even beat a few of the worst badges these days.”
No one laughed at the joke, and a heavy silence hung in the air. Though none of them said it, they all knew what was causing their melancholy. Ed had just pointed out that the vamps were former badges. Which meant every member of the GMT knew just about every one of them. There were friends and former coworkers among the enemy now.
Chuck turned to Alex. “Do you think there’s any chance of saving them?”
Patrick scowled. “You mean the assholes who tried to help Fleming settle his dumb city? They’re vampires now. There’s no coming back from that.”
“It’s not that simple,” Alex said. “They’re citizens of New Haven. Also, remember that Fleming staffed Resettlement with the people who opposed him. Hell, if you hadn’t made it onto the GMT, you’d likely be among them.”
Ed’s face darkened at that, but he couldn’t deny the truth of it.
“Honestly, I don’t know if there’s anything we can do to save them,” Alex continued. “If there’s any chance, we’ll try our damnedest.” She looked around at her team, meeting each one of their eyes. “That said, every one of them is a vampire and we have to consider them our enemies if we’re going to live through this. That means no hesitation if and when the time comes. Things could get ugly fast, and I want every one of you ready to take out any vamp who moves against us, even if they look exactly like somebody you used to know. Like Jaden told us, they’re not in control of their own bodies right now.”
Wesley frowned. “Do you really think they’d kill us? They haven’t been vampires long. Maybe there’s enough humanity left in them that they’d—”
“Stop,” Alex ordered. “We can’t afford that kind of thinking, Wesley.”
“She’s right,” Chuck said. “I’ve done a lot of reading on the infestation. People who’d been turned attacked their friends, their communities, and even their families. If there was a way for humanity to override the control of a vampire master, I’m pretty sure the world wouldn’t be the way it is today.”
Patrick stifled a yawn. “Good point. I’m convinced. Let’s kill every vampire that’s not firmly on the good-guy team. Now can we stop talking about it and start doing it?”
Alex nodded. “I’m going to check in on Owl, and then we’ll get to work.”
She contacted Owl on the radio, and the pilot sounded in good spirits.
“How are the repairs going?” Alex asked her.
“We’re cranking through them,” Owl answered. “George is one hell of a worker. Can I keep him?”
“I think Jaden might have something to say about that,” Alex said with a laugh. “Listen, we’re trying to contact two of Jaden’s vampires on the radio, but we’re not sure our signal’s reaching them.”
“Get somewhere high,” Owl said. “The signal will carry better.”
“Roger that. We’ll be in touch.”
“Good, because we’ll have this ship ready to go in a couple hours, and I’m really itching to go punch Fleming in the face.”
“That’s a relatable sentiment. Talk to you soon.” She lowered the radio and thought a moment. “We’re going to need a way to transport the two vampires to Jaden. Patrick and Ed, you two get the truck we drove from Agartha.”
“On it, Captain,” Ed said. “I’m driving, though.”
“Like hell you are!” Patrick replied.
“Work it out.” Alex turned to Chuck and Wesley. “You two, follow me.”
She climbed the nearest fire escape, carefully avoiding getting too close to any windows on the way up. Chuck and Wesley followed, serving as her backup as she climbed.
When she reached the rooftop, she turned her radio to the channel Jaden had given her and tried to hail the vampires.
It wasn’t long before a male voice answered. “Who is this?”
“It’s Alex Goddard from the GMT.”
There was a long pause. “Alex? This is Igor. What the hell are you doing in Denver?”
“Long story, but I just spoke with your boy Jaden, and he’d very much like to see you.”
Igor chuckled. “The feeling’s mutual.
Natalie and I are stuck in this damn building and feeling a little isolated at the moment.”
“Well, give me your location and find something to cover up with. We’re coming to get you.”
18
Jaden cleared his mind and concentrated on his breathing. The tunnel around him seemed to fade as he went deeper into his meditative state. He’d found that meditation was the most effective treatment against daysickness other than actually sleeping. It didn’t make the symptoms go away, but it did make him less aware of them.
Then Robert spoke, bringing him back to reality. “What’s the plan for taking out Aaron and Mark?”
Jaden took a few more breaths before answering. “Removing their heads should do the trick.”
“I’m not in the mood for jokes, Jaden. We need to find them, get past a small army, and take them out. That’s going to require a plan, which is sort of your department.”
“I’m aware.” Jaden still hadn’t opened his eyes. He hoped that if he kept them closed, a bit of the peace he’d felt while meditating would remain, pushing out the anger and aggression that always threatened to spill out when he was awake during the day.
“I’m not trying to push, but we suffered greater losses last night than we have in centuries. I can’t bear to think about it now. I just want to get the rest of us home safely.”
Jaden thought a moment before answering. When his mind was clouded with daysickness, it always took a bit longer to see the obvious. “We need to take one of their soldiers captive. Once we do that, we can use them to locate Aaron and Mark.”
A sound like a small growl escaped Robert’s throat, revealing his disagreement. “They won’t betray their masters. Even if they want to, they won’t be able to.”
“We don’t need them to betray their masters. In fact, we’ll use that forced loyalty against them. If we take them through the tunnels, they should feel more discomfort as we near Mark and Aaron, since they’ll feel some sense that they are betraying them. We can use their pain as a homing beacon. Then we break through their defenses and kill them.”