by Dale Mayer
With his help, she could. "Absolutely, but which side?" She turned to look at the far wall. She hadn't seen any more doors down the hallway, but there'd been a corner and that meant there could be another room on the other side here or at the back. But they knew there was a room on the other side. Only it was a room full of volunteers. Were they faking being unconscious? Because she didn't want to go from a bad situation to a worse one.
For a quick moment, she contemplated the door. It was reinforced with a decent locking mechanism. The builders expected the captives to try and fight their way out of here. And what about the ceiling? She tilted her head and looked up. Was it open space up there? She remembered the cavernous room where the vamps were hiding. And she couldn't help but wonder if this wasn't a similar thing. She walked back a few steps to try and understand the type of ceiling that was over their head. "Bart, have you seen a ceiling like this?"
"Like what? It's all over the place. So...?"
"It looks like tiles again." She couldn't reach up and touch it, but she could certainly jump up there and push against them. "What is with these guys, do they own a tile factory or something?"
"Wouldn't surprise me." He glanced over at her. "You aren't thinking to jump through that, are you?"
"It's either up or through," she motioned to the wall that connected to the other room full of vamps. "They have a similar door, I imagine."
"Or if they are volunteers, maybe not."
"And what if they are awake? They are the enemy." She walked over to the closest corner and pulled a bed under it so she could stand on the bed and push. The tile lifted slightly. She glanced at Bart, but he wasn't any taller than she was. She jumped slightly and pushed the tile out of its hanger. Darkness glowed above. Typical. She jumped and grabbed the cross beam holding the tiles up and hung there. Bart came over, grabbed her boot, and boosted her up. She disappeared through the space and found herself in a tunnel slightly bigger than the building, but not as big as the cave. She could also see signs of construction of a second floor going on down at the far end. Interesting. More expansion. If they had access to the outside from this part of the mine, they could shut the rest of it down, blast it closed, and keep the operations moving forward. She was very happy to know that.
She was going to shut them down.
All of them.
Permanently.
"Hey, what's up there?" Bart called to her from below. "There's no way I'm going to fit through the opening."
So true. She leaned over and said, "Not much. We're inside a large tunnel and this building is being extended. I'm on the surface of the tiles, not too much to stand on up here, just a few cross beams, but I expect I can get into the hallway and open the door from the other side."
"Hurry up. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to be," he grumbled. He nudged his chin in a different direction. "Some of the guys appear to be waking up."
"Good. I'll be there in a minute." She turned to study the tiles in front of her, oriented herself to where she needed to be, and carefully lifted a tile that should be on the hallway side of the room Bart was in. She peered from side to side. There was no sign of her father. Considering that he was an ancient, chances were the creepy doctor wanted his DNA – donated or not.
And given that he'd likely have been taken out at the same time or soon after she'd been locked in, she'd bet he was in the next room.
Sliding the tile back to rest on the others was fairly easy. Taking the plunge to the hallway – not so much. But she landed softly, turned, and turned the door handle. Yes, it opened!
Bart raced out. "You did it!"
"Yeah, duh." She examined the knob in her hand. "There has to be some way to stop this from locking. I don't want to get caught in here again. And we need the vamps who are waking up to be able to get out."
The door was jerked out of her hand and in front of her stunned eyes, the knob was ripped off. "Is that acceptable?" Motre, swaying slightly, stood in front of her, his face hard and his gaze lethal.
"Yeah, that works." She grinned. "Glad to see you are still alive."
"Is that what you call it?" His fist slammed against the doorjamb then grabbed a hold. His fingers turned white as he tried to hold himself upright. "I feel like shit."
"Drugs will do that to you," she said cheerfully. "Got caught by surprise, didn't you?"
His glare deepened.
"Whatever," she smirked. "Did you find your boss?"
Motre's eyes widened. He spun around, stumbled, righted himself, then took a step back into the room. His shoulders sagged. He pointed to the back of the room on the left. "Councilman Bushman is there. Trondjent is beside him, and..." he stared off to the right, "and I think the other two councilmen are on the right." He nodded. "It looks like they are all here."
She stepped forward slightly and peered inside. "Good. Let's get them on their feet. We need to get moving."
"What about the others?" Bart asked. "In the volunteers' room?"
Tessa stared at the second door. "My father is likely in there. But there are dozens of hostile vamps in the room – in various conditions. Volunteers. And most likely ones that are going to be happy to kick our ass."
Motre straightened. "How many?"
Tessa studied the interior of the room Motre had been in. "Same size room, about the same number of beds, but stuffed with vamps."
"So we need the men back to full strength." He turned to the room of slowly waking vamps. "Everyone on your feet. We're heading into another major fight."
A few snapped awake, several groaned, and a couple that were ahead of the others stood up and walked closer.
"What's up?" asked the first one to reach them. He was rubbing his head as if he'd taken a major blow.
Quickly, Tessa explained.
"You think your father is in there?" Motre asked. "What about the others?"
That explanation took a little longer and by the time she was done, most of the men were on their feet.
"Goran? Councilman Goran and Councilman Serus?" Several men asked, their voices climbing over each other.
She lifted her hands, palms up. "Yes. They are both here somewhere."
"That means a third of the council is here." Motre frowned. "And we've taken out several more. So half the council is accounted for."
He nodded. "We have to wonder about the ones not here, which side they are on."
"Probably both," she said, suddenly remembering the small computer GPS unit. She searched her pocket, smiling as her fingers closed over it. Pulling it out, she said, "This will give us a lead on some more members. The email list is big. The doctor has a smaller unit that’s faster."
Motre took it from her and handed it to the vamp they'd been speaking with. "Chad, you go through this. See who we know and might be able to take down. We'll have to coordinate efforts with the outside world for that."
"As there is an army crawling all over the place already, that might be a bit hard," Bart suggested. "For the humans to be here, someone is coordinating something.”
"Sure. But who with?" she asked. Realizing there were a dozen men standing and listening, she pointed to the door beside them. "Shall we?"
Motre motioned to several males. They stepped in front of Tessa and surrounded the door. Motre backed up several feet then ran several steps, jumped, pivoted, and kicked the door beside the lock. He landed lightly as wood splintered in all direction.
Popping the door open, the group he'd assembled rushed forward.
Expecting sounds of a fight, Tessa ventured forward when she didn't hear anything. She peered around to find piles of ash as Motre's men systematically cleaned up. The smell was almost as horrific as the sight.
"Is my dad in here?"
Motre shook his head. "No. Doesn't look like it."
"Shit. That means they took him somewhere else."
*.*.*
Serus was barely conscious. He didn't know what the doct
or hit him with, but feeling was slowly returning to his jaw. At least it hadn't been drugs. He welcomed the pain as it sliced through the fog clouding his mind. Hearing voices, he kept his eyes closed and tried to understand what was going on.
The same asshole doctor was speaking, "Hurry before he wakes up. We need his DNA."
Like hell they were going to get that.
Footsteps raced to the far side of the room. "Faster. He could come around any moment."
"If I had the right drugs, we could knock him out and keep him here." Drawers were opened and closed. "Shit. Where is everything?" More banging around gave Serus hope that they were all out drugs. The footsteps approached. "This is the last one. We need to go to the supply room and get more."
"I'm not sure there is more. With this place crawling with unfriendlies, it's a crapshoot as to who you're going to meet in the hallways." He coughed several times. "I want to take time up top. The air down here is getting bad."
"Unfriendlies?" the tech asked. "Do you mean humans?"
"Both. I got a message saying there's a human army down here somewhere and they are covering all the entrances. At least the ones they know about. And then I came upon this ancient. He had a girl with him. She's locked up but we need his DNA."
"Shit. What do we do now?"
"Nothing. They'll never find this place." More sounds of glass doors banging. "Besides, if they are in the main blood farm, they won't survive the next blast. It should close that part of the mine down for good."
"Can't say I like the idea of more blasts. Surely there is another way?"
"If there was, it's too late now." There was a heavy pause. Serus risked a look. The second male was prepping something on a nearby table and the first man was studying a bottle of something. Shit. It was now or never.
"Found the restraints. They won't hold him for long. Hopefully we can keep him out until we find the right drugs." Someone approached. "Give me a hand. We'll get the sample now – just in case."
"Like hell." And Serus lunged.
*.*.*
David hated the fatigue that ate away at him. He should be stronger than this. More capable. His mother strode ahead carrying Jewel and Ian effortlessly. It made him feel like an infant. A weakling.
"Keep up, David. Let's stay together."
Yeah, now he definitely felt like a kid again.
Until he heard Jared's snigger beside him. David glared at the human. "You're no faster."
Jared grinned. "Yeah, but I'm a weak human and you're supposed to be a strong kickass vamp." He motioned to the unconscious vamps being carried. "Apparently the rumors were blown out of proportion."
David's stomach twisted. He couldn't blame Jared for stating the obvious, but he wanted to.
No young male, human or vamp, wanted to be thought of as anything less than macho. And as he was the only male vamp still on his feet...he should be good. Then there was his mother. She looked invincible. And he admired her.
And envied her.
Right now he wanted to puke until his stomach emptied. Damn drugs.
"Anyone know what time it is? Are we heading into daylight or moonlight?" Having spent so much time underground, he'd lost track of the days.
"It should be night time when we exit the mine."
"Hopefully. It would be nice to have something go in our favor."
"I prefer daylight myself." Jared walked by his side, looking way too energized for David's flagging strength. He'd like to punch him out for that alone.
Which was small of him.
Tough. As he stared at Jewel's slack body hanging over his mother's shoulder, her dangling arms swaying with every step, he had to wonder how badly affected by the drugs she'd been to turn and attack like Ian had. Would she throw off the drugs, or did some kind of mind control kick in after a certain time?
He studied Ian's equally limp body. He'd had a bad time in this mine. Wendy walked beside Rhia on Ian's side. David shook his head. He hadn't realized the two were a couple. It had taken his sister to point it out. He had to wonder at how much difference a week had made for all of them.
Lost in his musings, he didn't notice anything around him.
Until Jared whispered, "Oh shit. We've got trouble."
*.*.*
Cody pushed through the stairway to jump out behind his father. Into yet another empty room. Older, as this had stonework and not tiles. "What. This is much older than a lot of the mine."
"Yeah, I think it leads to the outside." Goran turned in a slow circle. "Like an escape hatch to the outside world in case of a collapse.”
"Makes sense. Maybe we can find the others and leave this way." Cody crossed the empty room and pushed open another door. More stairs. "It must lead up and out."
He left his father at the base of the stairs and walked to the far wall. He tilted his head and studied the odd stonework. "Is this another door?"
"Not likely. I don't think this section of the mine is part of the vamp building."
Cody wanted to do a more thorough search, but he had to admit after a first and second glance that there didn't appear to be anything here and nowhere else to go but up. He glared at the small room. He hated to leave it. He couldn't help but feel like Tessa was likely on the other side of the wall. Somewhere.
He turned to follow his father. Goran started up the stairs.
A weird grating filled the room.
Cody turned to see a door open quietly beside him.
Tessa fretted as Motre insisted everyone be up and mobile before leaving as a group. Tessa agreed in principle. Only it was taking too long. She paced the hallway, swearing under her breath at the cloud of ash and smoke that seeped from under the door of the other room.
"We're ready, Tessa."
She spun around, relief making her giddy, to see Motre standing in the doorway, a large group of vamps assembled behind him. "Finally. Let's go."
"Which way?"
"This way." She raced down the hallway. It had been no problem to find the energy trail, but it was already dissipating. They were more than a half hour ahead. And these assholes could do a lot of damage in a half hour.
Footsteps pounded behind her as the vamps followed. Several corners and damn near a quarter mile later, she came to a screeching halt. She glanced over at Motre.
He stepped up and motioned to four other men to frame the two doors.
They looked to have it handled. She stepped back safely out of the way and watched as they broke the doors down. Screams erupted from both rooms. She stayed back out of the way as more men poured into the rooms. These vamps were all looking for payback. She was just looking for her father.
The sounds of fighting and chaos were equally noisy from both rooms. She looked from one room to the other as she leaned back against the wall and waited. Bart appeared to be of the same mind. Him and several of the less healthy looking vamps had slumped to the floor. Two she recognized as councilmen. Only Bart appeared to be asleep.
Then the left room went quiet.
Followed by the room on the right.
She took a deep breath and stepped forward to take a look.
From where she stood, she could see into both rooms and the devastation within. The beds were intact and so were the many patients tucked under sheets and attached to tubes. Ash filled the space between the beds. She walked into the right room first and saw the patients were human.
She slowly worked her way down the beds. She wasn't sure but some of their faces were familiar. Several she'd seen standing with Jared when he'd come back to show the humans the way into the blood farm. Had they all come to the rescue after her panicked call from the blood farm? After finding no sign of Catherine or Jill, she left everyone unplugging the humans from their drug source and walked into the second room.
Tears came to her eyes. Catherine was in the second bed on the left. Jill was another dozen beds past her. She'd finally found them. Now she needed to get them ou
t of here safely and find someone who could help to rid their bodies of these drugs.
The mountain rumbled.
That made it an easy decision. She started with Catherine and unplugged the tubes in her arm, then moved on to the others. The vamps helped and by the time she'd made it about five beds down, the others had all been unplugged.
"Are they likely to wake up anytime soon?" she asked the group in general.
"They are humans, so who knows?" said Chad, one of Motre's group.
"Let's hope it's fast. We can't get them out in this condition. There are too many of them."
"We are many now," Chad said. "We could carry one each."
"And we may have to."
Just then the mountain rumbled again. A slow rumble rippled through the mine, causing several of the men to cry out.
"Why don't we just grab them and go?" one vamp in the back asked.
"The GPS unit shows an exit not far from here." Motre said, not looking up from the small machine.
The mountain rumbled again. This time, she swayed as the ground rippled underneath her. "I don't think they were expecting to have this area affected by the blasts."
"If they were setting charges in an old place riddled by these mine shafts, they are asking for trouble." Motre studied the dust filling the air. "The whole place is likely to come down."
"Yeah. But I can't leave without my father."
"What are you going to do?" Chad asked.
"I'm thinking of sending you and the men out with a human or two apiece – whatever number you guys can handle – and get them to the closest exit fast." She stared into the rooms full of beds. "How many humans are there? Maybe someone can do a head count."
"On it." A couple of men disappeared behind Chad. Motre stayed with her. He said, "I'm not leaving. You might need help finding your father."
"And Goran and Cody are still here. Not to mention a group of soldiers somewhere close."
"More humans?"
"Yes, they came to secure the area for the medical personnel to return, but..."