The Adrift Trilogy: The Black River

by K. R. Griffiths

  “Too risky.”

  He hoisted Dan on his shoulders again, redistributing his weight. Despite how light the guy was, carrying him for an extended period of time was beginning to sap Herb’s energy alarmingly.

  Mancini scowled. “They’re catching us, Rennick. We’ve still got more than twenty floors to go, and it doesn’t sound like hiding is an option. Got any bright ideas?”

  Herb shook his head grimly, and kept pushing forward, increasing his pace as much as he dared, wishing that the office levels were furnished with the same deep, soft carpet as the residential levels had been.

  His mind ran back to the Oceanus; to carrying another man up, trying to flee the raging inferno spreading throughout the ship. He had carried that man until his muscles shrieked in agony, never realising that he was already dead. And now, here he was, trying to save someone else, and seeing failure looming before him.

  He felt a scream of frustration gathering in his throat.

  Didn’t let it out.

  They were moving through the offices of what looked like a finance company. Judging by some party hats and half-finished glasses of wine, the people working there had been busy celebrating something when the world began to fall apart.

  He snatched up a glass of white wine with his free hand, draining it in a single gulp, never breaking stride, and placed the glass quietly on the edge of a desk, blinking at the warm sensation spreading through his chest.

  That, he thought, could well be my last drink.

  Above, the still air in the skyscraper erupted to the sound of screaming. Human screaming. It sounded like there had been somebody hiding somewhere in the offices, and Herb had led the vampires right to them. He flushed guiltily as it occurred to him that whoever was dying up there might just slow the vampires down a little.

  The scream ended abruptly.

  Or maybe not.

  He hurried toward the next set of stairs, and a sign which read 23rd floor.

  And stopped.

  To the right of the stairs, there was a large glass-walled boardroom, home to an enormous table. That room looked to have been the central point of the party the workers at the finance company had been having. A huge tablecloth was draped across the table, topped with plates of sandwiches and canapés.

  He grabbed Mancini’s arm, halting the big man as he made for the stairs.

  Mancini flinched, looking at him with wide eyes.

  “The elevators,” Herb whispered. “We won’t make it on foot. We need to get down fast.”

  Mancini frowned, casting a glance back along the offices. By the sound of it, the vampires were a couple of minutes behind them, maybe less.

  “The elevators? The elevators are out of order, Renni—”

  “But the elevator cables aren’t.” Herb pointed at the huge tablecloth draped over the boardroom table. “You know how to improvise a harness?”

  “A harness?” Mancini’s eyes widened. “You can’t be serious.”

  Herb just stared at him.

  “It’s more than twenty floors, Rennick. And you’re carrying an unconscious man on your fucking back.”

  “Exactly why we need to take the direct route,” Herb whispered, and made for the boardroom without waiting for a response. After a second, Mancini followed, as Herb knew he would. Herb’s idea was beyond risky, and might well end up killing them all, but it was the only idea either of the men had.

  At least it will be a quick death.

  He shrugged Dan off his shoulders and placed him on the floor before quickly scooping up the plates of snacks from the table and whipping off the huge white cloth. The material was thin, but if he tore it into strips and platted it, he thought it would take his weight—even with Dan on his back.

  He began to rip the cloth, wincing at the noise of the fabric tearing, and nodded when he saw Mancini move to help him.

  “We’ll tie Dan’s arms around my neck,” Herb whispered, “I’m gonna need both hands for this.”

  Mancini shook his head.

  “You really are crazy. Even if we can climb down the cable, we’ll be leaving the elevator doors wide open. As soon as they reach this level, they’ll know exactly where we went. I don’t think they’ll have any problems following us down.”

  “We’re not going to climb,” Herb replied with an easy grin, “we’re going to slide.”

  *

  It took around thirty seconds for Mancini to secure Dan on Herb’s back, and probably another thirty for the two men to loop the improvised harnesses around their wrists. With each passing second, the noise of the vampires above increased in volume. They were almost certainly on the next floor now, Herb thought, tearing the offices apart.

  He tied off the makeshift harness on his right wrist, leaving the other side loose.

  “We’ll have to jump for the cable. Once you get a hold of it, loop the harness around your other hand,” Herb said. “Don’t tie it. I don’t think you’ll have time to untie it when we reach the bottom.”

  “And pray,” Mancini muttered bitterly.

  “Sure, if it helps. Come on, we have to move.”

  Herb ran for the nearest elevator, keeping his steps as light as possible, choking a little as Dan’s weight settled around his throat.

  It was all so familiar.

  Except that this time, I won’t let him die.

  He grabbed the left elevator door, and nodded as Mancini grabbed the right. The two men heaved, muscles straining, and the doors opened a crack.

  “That will do,” Herb whispered, almost screaming when he heard a crash that sounded almost loud enough to come from the same level that they were standing on. “If we’re lucky, they won’t fit.”

  “They’ll just open the doors themselves,” Mancini whispered softly. “All this will do is slow them down for a second or two.”

  Herb nodded.

  “It might be enough.”

  He leaned into the elevator shaft, peering down, and immediately wished he hadn’t. It was too dark—and probably too far—for him to see the bottom of the shaft, but he could see enough. Looking at the drop made him feel dizzy, but there was no time to dwell on it. The decision had been made. The vampires were almost certainly just a matter of seconds away from reaching the twenty-third floor.

  The cable was thick steel, and it would require a long jump just to reach it.

  It would be so easy to miss.

  The image of his fingers grazing the cable but failing to find purchase popped into Herb’s mind, and a wave of nausea rolled through him as he imagined the fall that would inevitably follow. He would have several seconds to contemplate the ground as it rushed up to meet him. Time enough to contemplate his death, and all the terrible decisions which had led to it.

  He grimaced, and shook the thought away, taking a few steps back to give himself a run-up, and checking that the bonds holding Dan on his back were secure.

  Mancini watched him, a stunned expression on his face, as though he couldn’t quite believe that matters had reached such a desperate climax.

  “Geronimo,” Herb whispered, and he ran, throwing himself into the shaft.

  Fingers stretching.

  Grasping.

  Closing around thick, cool steel.

  Herb gripped the cable tightly in both hands as gravity began to drag him down, burning the flesh of his palms until he felt like screaming. He fell a couple of floors before he managed to slow his descent enough to loop the tablecloth harness around the cable, and then around his left wrist.

  The cable lurched as Mancini latched onto it above him.

  Herb didn’t look up.

  He could only look down as he pulled the harness as tight as possible, desperately trying to slow the descent to a manageable speed.

  It sort of worked.

  When he saw the ground floor rushing up to meet him, he couldn’t help but scream.

  So fast.

  He pulled on the harness with all his might, his muscles straining until it felt like the
y were tearing apart.

  And the bottom of the elevator shaft gave him a brutal welcome, snapping his legs back, sending bright bursts of white light shooting across his vision. For a moment, the entire world was pain, and he thought he would surely pass out.

  A fraction of a second after he reached the bottom, Mancini barrelled into him, knocking the air from his lungs before he had even had a chance to fully draw it in.

  Far above, echoing against the metallic walls of the shaft, he heard screeching, and the sound of moving metal.

  The vampires forcing open the elevator doors.

  Clickclickclickclickclick—

  The noise of their approach was thunderous. No need for them to worry about cables or harnesses. The monsters were sprinting down the metallic walls, eating up the distance.

  Herb groaned, lifting himself up onto legs which felt like they were made of fire, and grabbed at the doors, hauling them open with a strength borne of sheer terror, and bursting out onto the ground floor of the Shard.

  He heard Mancini crying out in pain behind him, but it sounded like the American had also survived the fall mostly intact. He crashed after Herb, running wildly.

  Herb heard the first of the vampires erupting from the elevator as he reached the revolving doors and barrelled through them, out into the night air.

  He almost screamed in joy when he saw the SUV waiting for them, its rear doors open. He threw himself into the vehicle with Dan still on his back, the pair of them landing heavily on Burnley’s lap, and a moment later, he felt Mancini land on top of him once more.

  Outside, the night filled with the sound of screeching.

  Vampires.

  All of them.

  Coming fast.

  The engine roared as Conny stamped on the accelerator.

  The SUV lurched forward, the rear door still open, Mancini’s legs still dangling in the night air. Herb reached out a hand, pulling the American inside, just as something heavy charged into the side of the car.

  In the driver’s seat, Conny let out a horrified shriek and spun the wheel as the vehicle lifted up onto two wheels, threatening to tip…

  …before crashing back down onto the tarmac, tires squealing, rocketing forward.

  “Don’t look back,” Conny screamed, swerving as Herb tried to haul himself upright, dumping him back onto Burnley’s lap once more. He heard the car door shut behind him. Mancini had made it.

  The engine howled as Conny kept the accelerator pressed to the floor, the heavy vehicle picking up speed slowly…slowly.

  The rear window imploded, and suddenly Herb’s face was covered in blood. He blinked it away, glancing up in shock. Burnley was still sitting in the back seat, but her head was gone, torn away by the vampire racing along right behind the car.

  Herb ducked down, waiting to feel the talons rending his own flesh.

  Waiting.

  “We’re clear,” Conny yelled, “they’re falling behind.”

  The car speared through streets lined with bodies, past burning buildings, swerving wildly.

  “Take it easy!” Herb yelled, “they won’t catch us now.”

  “No time!” Conny roared back. “They’re bombing the city.”

  She continued to increase speed, until the SUV was comfortably topping a hundred miles per hour. Outside the windows, the narrow London streets rocketed by in a terrifying blur.

  “When?” Herb gasped.

  Conny didn’t answer. There was no need. Somewhere far above, the night air was split by manmade thunder as aircraft speared across the sky, and a shattering explosion boomed on the north bank of the Thames.

  And suddenly, the whole world was fire.

  43

  I believe you can get through it. You know I do.

  Dan smiled, reaching out for his beautiful wife, but his fingers closed only on a memory.

  His eyes flared open, and he found that he was sitting on an aircraft, with his hands tied in front of him. Awakening in yet another unfamiliar place. It was becoming a habit.

  He looked to his left.

  Across the aisle, he saw the face he expected to see, split by a broad grin.

  Dan smiled wearily.

  “Hi, Herb. Why do my legs hurt?”

  Herb flushed.

  “You…uh…sorta fell twenty storeys.”

  Dan just laughed.

  “And my hands?”

  He lifted his hands, tied together with plastic cord. The bonds weren’t tight or uncomfortable.

  “Mancini,” Herb explained. “He thinks Jennifer Craven might be more amenable to…er…not killing us if it looks like we’re his prisoners.”

  Herb lifted his own wrists. Identically tied.

  Dan nodded.

  “Where are we?”

  “We took off a few minutes ago.”

  “The others?”

  “Conny, Remy and Logan are a few rows ahead. Mancini tried to put a leash on Remy.” Herb chuckled. “It’s a shame you missed that.”

  “What else did I miss?”

  “Take a look out the window.”

  Dan turned his head to the right, peering through the thick glass. Far below, the land was a dark ocean surrounding an island of fire.

  He turned back to Herb, alarmed.

  “The military dropped napalm on the city,” Herb explained. “Last resort.”

  “But…I thought you said vampires don’t burn.”

  “They don’t. All they’ve done is hand London over to the vampires. Probably killing millions in the process.”

  “Doing the vampires’ job for them,” Dan said absently.

  Herb nodded.

  “Yeah,” he said. “That’s just how they like it.”

  He settled back into his seat with a sigh, closing his eyes. After a moment, he was snoring softly.

  Dan stared out of the window for a long time, his face expressionless.

  Watching the world burn.

  Epilogue

  The Gulfstream touched down on a wide, flat strip of dirt in the middle of nowhere, and when Herb stepped out of the plane, he walked into a wall of heat that almost knocked him backwards, making him feel suddenly dizzy. He blinked at the blinding sun washing over him. It was morning in America.

  Another morning, he thought. He hadn’t been sure he would ever see another dawn; certainly, he hadn’t expected to see the sun rising over the United States.

  In the distance, he saw a large group of people waiting, watching the passengers disembark. Standing at the front of the group, he noticed an attractive blonde woman, dressed like a high-powered business executive. Her features were statuesque, but the beauty the woman’s face projected was cold; undone by her hard expression.

  She made her way toward the dirt runway, apparently in no rush.

  “Well, here goes,” Herb muttered, nudging Dan with his elbow. “This was your call, Dan. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  Dan barked a bitter laugh.

  “You wanted to fight the vampires, right? Well, that wasn’t going so well in Britain. We’ll see how it goes over here, I guess.”

  “Yeah,” Herb replied. “Except that vampires aren’t rising over here.”

  Dan just shrugged.

  “More likely,” Herb continued, “that woman is going to put you in some laboratory and test you until she understands who…or what you are.”

  Dan set his mouth in a firm line, and said nothing.

  Conny, Logan and Remy were the last to disembark the plane, and the dog charged around the dusty ground, barking excitedly, sniffing at every unfamiliar stone. Even Logan’s perma-scowl had been replaced by an intrigued expression.

  “So, this is safety,” Conny said quietly, catching Herb’s attention, “though they don’t exactly look friendly.”

  She nodded at the group of people approaching the runway. There looked to be more than twenty in total, and several of those marching behind the blonde woman were clearly carrying powerful firearms.

  “Yeah, I
’m not exactly expecting a warm welcome myself,” Herb replied. Now that she was closer, he could see a cold, calculating look in Jennifer Craven’s eyes and he wished, not for the first time, that Dan hadn’t insisted that he give Mancini his weapon back.

  Mancini marched past Herb, heading to the front of the group, waving a greeting at Craven. She didn’t acknowledge the gesture.

  “The rest of the team?” Craven asked evenly, when she finally came to a stop, just a few yards from the plane.

  “It’s just me,” Mancini said grimly.

  “Hmm. Well, at least you brought back what I sent you for. And not just that. Who are all these people?”

  Mancini gestured around the group.

  “Herbert Rennick,” he said, and Craven’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “This is Cornelia Stokes, her son Logan, and her dog.”

  Craven nodded, but her disinterest was obvious.

  “Which must make you Dan Bellamy,” she said, turning to the only person that Mancini hadn’t introduced. “The Hermetic.”

  “I don’t know what that is,” Dan said quietly, and Craven laughed. A harsh, bitter sound.

  “Nor, exactly, do I,” she said with a chilling smile, “but I will, soon enough.”

  She returned her gaze to Mancini.

  “You were only supposed to bring the Hermetic, Mr Mancini. I’m not sure what use you think I have for the rest of them, though I suppose the boy could be trained as an initiate. He is the right age.”

  “The boy’s name is Logan,” Conny said hotly, “and if you want to train him, you’re going to have to go through me to do it.”

  She fixed Craven with a penetrating gaze.

  The American woman laughed, nodding pointedly at Conny’s bound wrists.

  “I have two dozen armed men behind me, sweetheart. And fifteen hundred more back at the ranch, all of them devout servants of the Order. You? Well, you have a dog. Trust me: your threats are worse than useless here.”

  Conny stared at her mutinously, but made no effort to respond.

  “Fifteen hundred,” Dan said absently, and all eyes turned to him. “Sounds like an army.”