So he played with the compad, knowing Sami would be able to break in with ease. Well, why not him? He was pretty good with computers. Maybe not as good as her but he’d been known to reprogram the odd decom unit in one of the less used sections. That had caused a good laugh when one of the other squads came out smelling of skunk.
He turned it screen side up and hit the power on. The Council logo flashed on, the stylized blue C over an expanse of white. Before the password request could come up, Josh keyed in a generalized password that one of the computer boys had told him. Several tech heads liked to hand around the squad bars, listening to the stories and buying the occasional round when the squads let them. Raj had had several connections with them, always looking for anything that might help with the hunt. Along the way, Josh had picked up a few tricks of his own. Time to see if his effort would yield some good results.
The screen went black, leaving Josh to nibbled on a hangnail on his thumb until the familiar cream color flowed over the screen. Black letters welcomed Captain Hansen.
I always wanted a promotion, Josh thought. Time to explore.
He found the usual family folders, nothing of interest there. Nothing to tell Josh what Captain Hansen had been doing in the middle of the desert. Josh scrolled away from the photo of a blond boy, through some other personal correspondence before he came to a work folder. A minor lock blocked his way but with a few minutes of hacking, Josh was through. Maintenance lists, records of various flights but nothing sooner than last month. Three weeks ago, all records stopped.
Now isn’t that interesting, Josh thought. He did more digging, searching by date and coming up blank. Wait, not quite blank. Some kind of ghost in the data. It reminded him of something. Yes, he had it now, one of the tech heads talking about secret folders stashed under layers in the datastreams. They’d been daring each other how to break it, playing a drinking game with every wrong guess.
Josh shifted on the chair. The children stepped forward but he didn’t look up. Katey took Marc’s hand and they watched him, waiting.
Josh’s shoulders hunched as he concentrated. Flowing back through the upper layers of data, he had to find the exact spot to access the appearance of hidden files. He chewed on thumb nail, biting down to the cuticle. A spot of blood bubbled up, a perfect round circle on his thumb. Katey squeezed Marc’s hand as she stared at it. Marc swallowed.
Josh didn’t notice them. He focused on the compad. Coding flowed over the screen and he was starting to recognize it. Yes, there. He punched in the commands he remembered the tech heads cheering over. The screen flashed once, then the cream color disappeared.
Oh shit, Josh thought as the screen blanked. I screwed it up. Sami would be pissed.
Then the screen flashed again, this time reflecting crimson and an entirely new directory flowed across the screen. Everything else had been fake, Josh realized. Here was the real data.
And real data it was, including the orders for the last flight dated three days ago. Josh scrolled through the check list to the message recorded for transfer. Encoded, of course. Bugger, he thought. More hacking required.
He could leave it for Sami but he’d come this far and he wanted to see what the captain had been carrying. Maybe there was a clue as to how he ended up decaying in the desert with no one looking for him. It was damned strange. Helicopters weren’t sent out alone, such hardware was too precious to risk losing that way. There had to be a good reason.
More nibbling on his thumb and he tasted the iron of blood on his lips. Without noticing, he licked it up, ignoring the children’s wide-eyed gaze. He didn’t even remember them being in the room.
More coding, more thinking back to those tech heads, and other times trying to glean out information between shots. The screen flashed and settled down. Still gibberish.
Dammit! He was going to get it if it killed him. He hunched closer to the screen as if sheer proximity would coax the nonsense into regular words. He tried a few other tricks then hit the enter button, and chewed on his thumb.
The screen flashed once more. The words shifted and suddenly he was reading them. All normal! Josh let out a whoop. The children started, stepping back. Marc hid behind Katey, peering out around her arm.
Josh didn’t look up. He saved his smile for the screen as he started to read. Then his smile faded.
Negotiations continue with IH in sector grid 3-A. Researchers here are in agreement with the sample supplied. New proto serum shows less instability from original virus strain…
What the fuck, Josh thought. Negotiations? With IH?
Infected hostiles.
He pushed himself out of the seat and away from the table as if the compad could infect him. What the fuck was that? He didn’t understand what he’d just read. It couldn’t have said what he thought it said.
Negotiations…
No, it couldn’t. No, he wouldn’t accept it. He started pacing around the room. Katey and Marc turned in a circle to follow his progress. Josh mumbled under his breath, still not aware of them. Marc pulled his face back behind Katey’s arm.
“No!” Josh said. The children jumped. The movement caught Josh’s eye and he noticed them again. These children, two strange children, infected like vampires, like…
Like his brother, Peter.
The thought brought a hiss of breath through his lips. They hadn’t stopped tinkering, not Lucy and now there her brother. Where would it stop? With all of them dead? Maybe they would all end up infected, acting strange and creeping around like these two. Some variation of the virus, just like it said in the message. Maybe they carried that same variation and they could spread it to others.
Josh crossed to the table and bent down. When he rose, his fingers clenched a stake. Marc whimpered as Josh stepped around the end of the table. Nothing between them now.
Katey looked up at him as he closed the space. Marc shrank away behind her but Katey stood her ground. Only her tiny hands balled into fists gave any indication of tension.
Josh held the stake at his side. His body felt coiled, ready to strike. The slightest movement from her and he would be on her. He would finish her. But the girl stood frozen, waiting.
Stray pieces of hair hung across her forehead. A smudge of dirt showed on her chin, just to the left. Her nose was the tiniest bit crooked and her brown eyes stared up wide at him. Just brown eyes, watching carefully with a touch of fear. Fear of him.
What the hell was he doing? Josh looked at the stake in his hand. He’d wanted to drive this into those kids’ chests. What had they done? Maybe they were infected but they hadn’t attacked him, hadn’t come near him. He was the one… he’d been ready to kill them.
He tossed the stake away and backed away from the children. Marc peeked out from around Katey. This time she turned to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, squeezing him into her side. Two kids, just two kids…
The proximity alarm sounded.
Josh jumped. So did the kids. He swiped up the stake and ran past them, heading for the security center. He didn’t bother to see if they were following. The alarm screeched, drowning out his pounding feet. Down the next hallway, he skidded into the security center. Behind the counter, the cameras showed a dark grey van sporting two large canisters on either side parked outside, a familiar cage perched on the top with a nozzle hanging down… The image twigged in his mind. The Scourge of Heaven! He’d know their van anywhere. He slapped the alarm off. A minute of hunting found the positioning lights. He flicked them on. Off to the right of the van, tiny points of lights appeared on the ground, marking the entrance to the lab. Josh watched as the van doors slid open.
Ted Whethers jumped out, followed by Sister Theresa. They both brandished shotguns, checking the perimeter around the van before returning to the back. Josh smiled. Perfect regulation move. Damn right.
The door opened again and this time Rick Collins climbed out. Josh whooped out loud. The Sister had done it. Now things would be all right again.
&
nbsp; Triggering his throat mic, he accessed the Sister’s signal. “Bring the van around to quadrant 931. There’s a entrance for vehicles there.”
“Josh, that you?” the Sister’s voice sounded in his ears.
“Yes, ma’m!”
“Good to here your voice, son. Quadrant 931, roger.”
He set the controls for automatic entrance to the vehicle retrieval and storage area then left the security room and hurried to the main entrance. The children followed in his wake like tiny boats caught in a huge wave. When he reached the ladder to the surface, he finally realized they were behind him. He held out a hand to stop them.
“You wait here,” he said. “I’ll be right back. Those are friends of mine.”
“Not all friends,” the girl said.
Her intense expression made Josh want to shudder but he shrugged it off and started climbing. Forget about them. Reinforcements were here and he wouldn’t have to deal with it all alone.
Dirt trickled in as the door slid open and he climbed out into the darkness. Being outside like this made his skin crawl. Even the familiar comfort of a stake in his hand didn’t help much. But by the dim light of the positioning lights he saw Ted, Rick and the Sister moving toward him. As they drew closer, Josh saw Rick was limping.
“Good to see you,” Josh said. “Pull a muscle relaxing?”
“Not quite,” Rick said. “Let’s discuss it under ground.”
“Right. We’ve got a lot to discuss. Some major shit happening.”
Rick nodded. “You can say that again, my friend.”
Josh shook all their hands and led them down into the tunnel. The children still waited, standing by a wall, holding hands.
“Who are these little ones?” the Sister said.
“Infected,” Josh said. “Lucy’s brother has been messing with the virus.”
The old woman reared back. “Messing?”
“One of the things we need to discuss. Let’s head to the lab.” Josh shooed the children ahead. “Go on, show the way.”
Katey tugged on Marc’s hand and they scurried down the corridor in the direction of the lab. Josh led the others after them.
“Who’s Lucy?” Ted said.
“The woman who lives here,” the Sister said. “Her father was one of the originators of the virus.”
“Shit,” Ted said.
“Who’s Lucy’s brother?” Rick said.
“Elliott, he’s a vampire. He’s created some variation to the virus. Peter said he’s been kidnapping kids from the settlements outside the domes and infecting them.”
“Where is Peter?” Rick said.
Josh took a breath. “He went after Lucy. She took off, locked him and the kids in. Sami and I found them and let them out. He went after her. And Rick, Sami went too.”
Rick stiffened. “When?”
“Couple hours ago.”
“In the dark? You let them go at night?”
“It wasn’t my choice. They went.”
“Where’s Michael?” Sister Theresa asked.
Josh shook his head. “We were too late.”
She bowed her head. He didn’t need to explain any more.
Josh led them into the lab. The children stood behind the table, peering over it at them. Josh could see the awareness of their strangeness reflected in his friends’s eyes.
“Who else is in the van?” Josh said.
“General Mitchell,” Rick said. “And Lieutenant Marjorane Wilson from the USC in Albavaille.”
“Mitchell?” Josh said.
“The Council has declared martial law,” Sister Theresa said.
Josh grunted. “Well, that’s no real surprise considering what Sami and I found in the desert.” He crossed to the table and picked up the compad. He handed it to Rick. Sister Theresa and Ted gathered around to read.
The tips of Rick’s fingers turned white as he gripped the compad. The Sister’s mouth dropped open. Ted shook his head, swearing softly.
“Kinda trumps everything, doesn’t it,” Josh said.
“I can’t believe it,” the Sister said. “They wouldn’t be so stupid.”
“Of course, they’re that stupid,” Rick said. “It’s makes a weird kind of sense now. Pulling back the squads, restricting them, and then placing them under direct Council control. It’s the only way they could curtail squad activity and that has to be one of the conditions for these negotiations.”
“What negotiations?” Mitchell said from the doorway. Marjorane peered around from behind him.
Rick held out the compad. Mitchell moved forward to take it and he and Marjorane read it. Marjorane sucked in a breath.
“Those idiots,” Mitchell said.
“I’d choose stronger words,” Ted said. “We can’t let this happen. People have got to know what’s going on.”
“Lieutenant, can you get a signal to Colonel Telson? Let him know what we’ve found,” Mitchell said. “Ask him to relay it to the other contacts.”
“Aye, sir. Can you show me the communications room?” Marjorane said to Josh.
“Sure, this way.”
He led her out. As they walked, he recognized the shell shocked look that came from a bad night fighting vampires. Distraction was the best thing.
“So you work with Telson? Albavaille, right?”
She nodded. “Lieutenant Marjorane Wilson.”
“Josh Masterton. Rick’s second and basically his mentor, messiah and all around ass kicker.”
A worn smile curved her lips. It did reach her eyes though and that was enough for Josh.
As he showed her into the communications room, running footsteps sounded behind them. Katey and Marc rounded the corner and slowed to a stop when they saw him.
“You didn’t have to follow,” Josh said. “You could have waited with the others.”
Katey shook her head. “Didn’t want to.” Marc looked at her and then shook his head as well.
“Uh, okay, come on.” He waved them into the room. The children scurried in and then stood by the wall.
Marjorane already sat by the communications board. From the out of focus look in her eyes, Josh knew she was already on a high speed call. Her throat moved as she subvocalized. The wire from the panel snaked up to her ear bud. Josh turned away from her and back to the children.
They still made him uneasy but now they looked uncomfortable. Probably all these strange people and everything happening so fast. So how did he make them feel better? He had no idea.
“There’s a message coming through,” Marjorane said. “Someone named Sami.”
“I’ll take it.” Josh hurried over and grabbed the connector from her. He tapped it into his ear bud.
“Sami! You there?”
“Josh, I’m a few minutes away. Trailing vampires. I need help! Roger.”
“Got you covered. We’ll head up to help. Out.”
He unplugged. “Call the others, have them meet me in the garage. We have to help Sami. She’s coming in, trailing vamps.”
“Okay,” Marjorane called as he ran out. The halls seemed almost familiar now as he ran through, counting off doorways before turning right for the garage. He got there a minute before Rick, the Sister and Ted hurried in.
“We’ll take the Scourge van,” Rick said. “If that’s okay with you, Ted.”
“Absolutely,” Ted said. “She loves to see action. Canisters are a little low though.”
“We won’t have time to fill up,” Rick said.
Josh handed out weapons and boxes of shells. A large case full of stakes sat on the floor. He grabbed one end and the Sister moved to get the other end. Josh lifted without comment. He knew better than to question the Sister’s commitment. She hoisted, her face twisting the effort. The box lifted and they shuffled it over to the back of the van. Josh lifted his end up, then helped the Sister push it inside. They climbed in the back as Rick gunned the engine. Josh felt the van move then stop. A shudder started and he felt movement again. Upward, to the surface.
He grabbed several stakes and shoved them into his belt. He loaded his gun. Ready and eager. After all of this waiting around he would finally get a chance to take out some vampires.
The van lunged forward as it reached the ground. The Sister peered out the left side peep hole.
“Here it comes!”
Josh came up behind and looked. Out of the darkness, he saw the white van, now smudged and smeared with dirt and yes, blood. Along the sides and behind, vampires clung on or ran, lunging forward. Several missed and fell back only to get back up to give chase. The ones that clung worked their way forward, inch by inch, aiming for the front windshield that was already splintered into a spiderweb of cracks.
Josh felt his adrenaline begin to pump. This was a problem he could deal with, one he knew how to stop. No behind the scenes machinations, no political considerations, only taking down the vampires with gun and stake. Clean if not necessarily easy.
The van cut across the path of the Scourge of Heaven van. Rick hit the brakes and the Scourge of Heaven van spun in a controlled spin to the left. When it stopped, Josh kicked open the back.
“Let’s get them!” the Sister yelled.
They leapt out and the night blazed orange as Ted aimed the flame thrower across the top of Sami’s van. Vampire howls called like hideous gulls. Almost as good as the gurgles when they died, Josh thought. He lifted his gun and blasted a male vampire that had reached the passenger’s door on Sami’s van. Its arms flung out and it lost its grip, falling into the sand.
Two females came out from behind the van, snarling as they headed for Josh. He didn’t have time to reload. Instead he flipped the gun and held it like a bat. The first female, blond and thin, took a flying leap at him. Josh pulled back the gun and swung.
He hit her on the thigh. The wood of the gun cracked and Josh felt the impact reverberate up his arms and into his shoulders. Before he could recover, the second female was on him.
The Night Killers Page 28