by P. T. Hylton
Brian was the exact same way, though he’d never put it into words. “I get it. I’ll lay off. If you decide you want to talk about it, or if you have questions…”
“Yeah. For now, how about we stick to talking about work.”
“Okay.” Brian tried hard not to feel deflated, but it seemed like a door between them had just closed. It felt so stupid, being worried about something like that now, when all of New Haven was under the control of a tyrant. There were far more important things on which he should be focusing. But he couldn’t help it. He’d dated dozens of women over the past couple of years, but he’d never clicked with someone as naturally as he had with Stephanie. He just hoped that she could look past the part he’d played in the annihilation of a species. “So, let’s talk about work.”
She stared at him for a long moment, wanting to say something. Then she looked away, toward her monitor. “The downside of working in a city where vampires have kept everything running smoothing for a century and a half is that sometimes, you have to do a little digging to figure out what problems need solving.”
“I might have one.” Brian felt himself relaxing a bit as he spoke. He was far more comfortable talking about work than his own feelings. “I wonder if there’s a way to extend how far our radio communications reach. If the GMT starts going out on missions from here, it would be nice to stay in touch when they’re farther away. We’d likely need to set up a physical relay to boost the signal.”
Stephanie thought for a long moment before answering. Then she looked up, a sparkle in her eyes. “There are copper connects to all the defense turrets outside the city. Theoretically, we could use each one of them as receivers. It would take some doing, but…”
Brian’s face broke out in a wide smile. “What are we waiting for? Let’s give it a try!”
18
Screws and small parts littered the desk in Billy’s office. The small wires inside of the radio handsets made Jessica feel comfortable. She knew how the components would respond to her adjustments. She needed something predictable after so much time dealing with people. The last meeting had not gone as she’d planned. Most of the people wanted to hunker down and wait for the GMT to come in and save them. Some thought leaving was a good idea, but they wanted to gather supplies and make plans. She could tell that those people were really just afraid to act. There were some that were willing to risk their lives to draw Twisted away from the city.
The radios did exactly what Jessica wanted. She removed the processor that connected them to New Haven’s network. She didn’t have a soldering iron, but without power, it would not have worked, anyway. Instead, she used copper wires taken from a clock in the office and glued them in place. She hoped that the connection would hold. Once the fried components were bypassed, she reassembled the handsets. She held her breath as she pressed down the button and said the word testing. An echo of her voice came from the three other sets. She couldn’t help but smile. Thanks to the EMP, she was probably the only person in New Haven with working radios. Finally, they had a small leg up on Maryana.
“You sure are handy to have around.” Billy said.
“Thanks. This is a rush job, so these may break if you drop them or shake them too hard. They’re also stuck on one channel, so if we are compromised, we’ll have to stop using them.”
“I’d say that is still pretty good, for a quick job in a dark office.” He grabbed three of the radios. “I’ll get these to the other guys.”
“Good. Tell them not to use the radio until they have their group ready. I don’t want to risk the Twisted picking up our signal or realizing that we have working radios.”
“Got it.”
Jessica grabbed her radio and opened the vent to the duct.
“You are all business,” Billy said. He crossed the room and gave Jessica a quick hug. “Be safe out there.”
The physical contact caught her off guard. She stopped planning for a moment and looked at him. She could tell that he was afraid. She didn’t know whether it was for her safety or his own, but his eyes looked like those of a lost child trying not to panic. “You stay safe, too. This is dangerous, but I’m going to give every breath I have to make sure the people of this city survive. I know you have a big heart; I need you to use it. Help me get as many people out of the city as you can.” With that, she climbed into the duct.
As she crawled down to the level below the street, she thought about how much simpler mechanical systems were than people. Then she thought about the little hug Billy gave her, and the deep embraces she’d had with CB, and the time she’d spent with Alex and the GMT. Maybe the messy, complex people that made her life harder were also what made it worth living.
The housing complex that Jessica called home held over one thousand people. After rushing through the hallways knocking on doors, she had gathered forty people who were willing to leave the city. She’d instructed them to gather any food they had and fill the rest of their packs with extra clothes. She knew that they would not be able to survive long on the surface. None of them had any idea how to live outside of the city they had known their entire lives. She just wanted to distract Maryana’s forces long enough to give the GMT a fighting chance.
The group gathered on the lowest level of the building. Jessica looked them over. They were all young men and women, mostly people in their twenties, who still had a sense of immortality that older people lacked. Jessica was glad that there were no families with children in the group. It would slow them down, and she didn’t like the idea of risking the life of a child.
The group stood in nervous silence. They had makeshift weapons that ranged from wrenches to kitchen knives. Jessica knew that none of that would matter if the Twisted caught up to them, but it gave the group a sense of security.
She spoke into her radio. “Group one, ready.”
The replies came a few moments apart.
“Group two, ready.”
“Group three, ready.”
“Group four, ready.”
“Move quickly and quietly. Stay safe.” Jessica clipped the radio to her belt and grabbed a flashlight that was attached to her pack.
She led the group out of the building through the mechanical room in the basement. They went through the corridors under the streets of the city, following the beam of Jessica’s flashlight, and holding their breath as they rounded every corner. Jessica knew that if they ran into Twisted in the small spaces of the mechanical corridors, they stood no chance.
After they’d been walking for ten minutes, they found the door they were looking for. A large warning sign read—Pressure lock will not release if outer door is not engaged. Jessica took a deep breath and grabbed the large lever on the door. She tried to push it down, but it didn’t budge. Finally, with the help of three of the larger men, she pushed the level down, and the latch released with a hiss.
The room beyond the first door was just large enough for all forty people to squeeze inside. Benches lined the walls along with oxygen tanks, masks, and emergency parachutes hanging above them. Once everyone was inside the room, they shut the interior door and turned to the airlock’s exterior door.
The door had a small window just above the warning sign. Jessica peered through and saw that they were about thirty feet above the ground. An image flashed through her mind of someone trying to use a parachute at this height and a small smile creased her lips. She enlisted some help again, and a moment later the door to the outside world swung open.
A soft wind blew into the silent room. The air was different than anything the people in the room had ever experienced. It was not the clean and sterile air of a filtered duct system. It was sweet and soft, carrying the dust and pollen of the Wyoming plains. The temperature outside was warmer than it had been in the city, and soft sunlight painted the room.
Jessica opened a compartment next to the door and pulled out a rolled up, fifty-foot rope ladder. She inserted the red eyelets on the end into red clips on the floor. Then she tos
sed the ladder through the door and watched it unroll. The ladder hit the ground, sending a small cloud of dust into the air.
“Here we go,” Jessica muttered. She took hold of the ladder and began to climb. Each step down felt like a dream. When she finally touched her foot to the dirt, she felt the world change.
Jessica knew that they needed to move fast, but it was hard not to be overcome by the moment. As the final member of the group climbed off the ladder, she turned to face them. “We are the first settlers of a new world.”
There were a few murmurs as people tried to express their disbelief at what was happening. Jessica had been on the surface before, but for everyone else, this was uncharted territory.
“We need to focus,” she continued. “We are going to head east and keep moving until the sun goes down. Let’s get as many miles as we can between us and the Twisted. Stay low until we get over that ridge.” She pointed to a hill in the distance and started to move.
They had gone about a half mile when one of the women in the middle of the pack screamed. Jessica turned, pulling a knife from her belt. She expected to see a group of Twisted; instead, she spotted a prairie dog sticking its head out from a hole in the ground. Several of the men raised their weapons, ready to fight the small beast.
Jessica couldn’t help but chuckle. “The animals that live on the surface are not dangerous, for the most part. If you see a creature smaller than you, don’t worry about it. And stay quiet.” She turned and continued toward the hill.
They stayed low and moved quickly, but there was little cover on the plain. Small shrubs and grass came up to their knees, but there were few trees. Jessica hoped that they would find better cover once they made it over the ridge. As they reached the top of the hill, she looked back at New Haven. The shiny, metal city seemed so out of place on the Earth. She saw a person jump from the side of the ship. She stared for a moment and another person dropped to the ground. No, not people, she realized. Twisted. She counted five of them. Once their feet hit the ground, they started sprinting toward the group.
“Run!” Jessica yelled.
The group immediately took off, running as fast as they could. They started to fan out, hoping that their numbers would keep some of them safe. They never stood a chance. The Twisted were on them before they crested the hill. A few of the humans used their weapons. A woman stabbed a Twisted in the shoulder, but the Twisted barely seemed to notice. He pulled out the blade and grabbed the woman.
One of the Twisted shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. “Stop running, or we will kill you! Surrender, and you live!”
Jessica stopped and turned toward the Twisted. She held her knife out, ready to fight. The rest of the group followed her lead.
“Our orders from Maryana are clear. We are to bring back anyone who tries to escape. But if anyone resists, we are to remove every one of your heads. Please don’t make us do that. None of us wants to hurt you, but we can’t disobey.” The Twisted grabbed the nearest woman and wrapped an arm around her throat. “Please, I don’t want to take her head off.”
The veins in the woman’s face pulsed. Her head would be torn from her body in a moment. Jessica’s heart sank. She’d thought that they would make it farther. She thought that the Twisted would spend days searching for them. She’d even secretly hoped that they would never be found. Instead, they’d made it just over a mile from the ship.
She slowly bent down and placed her knife in the dirt.
19
Alex watched the terrain roll by outside her window. It was odd. In her time with the GMT, she’d seen so much of the world. Jungles. Mountains. Oceans. Deserts. And now, she was stuck in this one area. Was this her existence now? A few hundred miles in any direction, and that was it? Were her days of exploring the strange corners of far-flung continents passed? She hoped they weren’t, but she couldn’t see how she’d be able to travel again any time soon. They’d just blown up one of the last two ships in a successful attempt to ground the other. It made her wish she’d paid more attention to the facts Owl had shared on every mission. Alex had visited so many places, and she couldn’t even remember most of their names.
She sighed and pushed the thoughts away. She wasn’t annoyed at her inability to travel. Not really. It was Maryana who was bringing her down. The evil vampire was on the ground, practically within striking distance, and they were driving away from her. And why? To go back to Agartha? To huddle and hide, trying to come up with some perfect plan, while Maryana launched an assault of her own?
The GMT was oddly quiet as they drove, except for the occasional groan of pain from Felix. Alex wondered if they were all experiencing thoughts similar to her own, or if they were all battling unique demons.
The grassy plains continued to roll by for another fifteen minutes before the scenery started to change. The gaps between man-made structures lessened, until she saw the tell-tale signs of a city up ahead. She remembered remains of a sign they’d seen when passing through here the first time. There’d been just enough of it left to make out a single word printed in large letters—Cheyenne.
Alex sat up a bit straighter. She remembered a spot near the downtown of Cheyenne. An overpass with a ten-story building next to it. She’d thought at the time it would be the perfect place to defend, assuming you had control of the building and the high ground.
She waited until they’d reached the spot she’d been thinking of, then she tapped Chuck on the arm. “Stop the truck.”
Chuck shot her a surprised look, but he did as she ordered. The passengers in the back of the transport heard the order, too, and they quickly moved to the windows, weapons in hand, looking for the source of the danger.
“Relax,” she told them. “We’re not under attack. We’re going to be the ones doing the attacking.” She climbed out the passenger door, walked to the back of the transport, and pulled the doors open. “Come on. Everybody out.”
The GMT quickly loaded out, but Jaden stayed in the transport, a frown on his face. “What are you talking about? Who are we supposed to be attacking?”
Alex set her pack on the ground and began digging through it. “Maryana. Or at least her Twisted. I’m not positive she’ll come, herself. Hey Chuck, let’s catalog the explosives you have on hand. We’re going to need a lot of them.”
Jaden grimaced, displeased to have been dismissed so quickly. He jumped out of the transport and marched toward Alex. “Do you still not get it? If you think you can predict what Maryana is going to do, you’ve already lost. She’s not like other opponents.”
Alex closed her pack and stood up, her hands on her hips. She gave Jaden a long, appraising look. “You keep saying that, and maybe it’s partly true. But you want to know what I think? I think Maryana has gotten into your head. She’s psyched you out.”
Jaden’s eyes widened and he took a small step back. “Are you kidding me right now? This woman brought down civilization, and you’re saying I’m overestimating her?”
“No, that’s not what I mean.” She paused, choosing her words carefully before speaking again. She knew that Jaden prided himself on his mental toughness, and rightly so. But he seemed to have a blind spot when it came to Maryana. “Look, I get that she’s crazy. I’ve seen her handiwork myself, not to mention the stories you told me. But I’ve also seen something else. When she has a goal, she goes after it hard. If we know what she wants, we can predict at least some of her moves.”
“Like we did during the fight in Agartha?” Jaden countered. “We fought and nearly died, and it was just a big distraction.”
“That’s exactly what I mean. Attacking Agartha to keep us busy while she took New Haven wasn’t an insane move. It was a brilliant one. She wanted to enslave humanity, right? And in taking New Haven, she enslaved the vast majority of them.”
Jaden glared at her, nonplussed, but not disagreeing.
“All we have to do,” Alex continued, “is figure out what she wants now. She has one more goal. One mountain left to c
limb.”
“Agartha,” Jaden said, with a growl. “She wants to take Agartha.”
Alex shook her head slowly. “As far as she’s concerned, Agartha is easy pickings. She can take it anytime she wants, and she will, eventually. But it’s not urgent.”
“Then what’s her goal?”
“You.”
He stared at her for a long moment, his eyes filled with doubt.
Alex took a step toward him. “Think about it. You said she was obsessed with you. She chased you around the globe for a decade, trying to get you to change her into a vampire. And I’ve heard the way she talks about you. She’s still just as obsessed. You’re her last real enemy left. Taking you out would be like finishing what she started so many years ago.”
He scratched at his chin. “Okay, say you’re right. That doesn’t mean she’s going to attack us now. New Haven just went down. She has bigger things to worry about.”
“There is nothing bigger. Not to her. You’re isolated, with just a few soldiers on an abandoned road. How could she possibly resist taking a shot at you now, rather than letting you go back to your well-fortified city under the mountain?” She paused, gauging his reaction. “Jaden, I’m right on this. Trust me.”
“And what about Felix?”
“I’m good,” Felix groaned.
Owl rolled her eyes. “He’s not exactly good. He needs medical attention. But the bleeding has slowed. I think he’s out of danger, for the moment.
“What do you say, Jaden?” Alex asked.
Jaden looked into her eyes, taking her measure. He nodded. “What’s the plan?”
They went to work immediately. Felix and Frank drove the transport and parked it out of sight, a block away. Far enough that the enemy wouldn’t see it immediately, but close enough that they could make a hasty retreat, if needed. They’d decided that Frank would stay with Felix, to defend him if needed. Chuck, Alex, and Ed went to work planting explosives. They rigged the pillars holding up the overpass first, carefully placing the explosives at stress points. Then they headed for the nearby ten-story building, planting enough explosives to collapse the structure.