The Savage Dawn

by P. T. Hylton

  Fleming gazed out the window in his office, frozen and staring exactly as he’d been doing for the last ten minutes. Outside, a crowd was gathering.

  Sarah stole a quick glance out the window, hoping Fleming wouldn’t notice. She winced at what she saw. Every time she thought the crowd of discontents was at its peak, more showed up. The crowd was slipping out of the small square in the front of the council building where they’d initially gathered and into the street. There simply wasn’t room for all of them in the square.

  These were the people loyal to Colonel Brickman and the GMT, she knew. Their signs made their loyalty clear. “CB was framed!” read one. “The council was an inside job!” said another. And then there was Sarah’s least favorite, the one that made her stomach turn. The one that felt like a time bomb waiting to go off. “Where are the Resettlers?”

  Fleming hadn’t publicly said anything about Resettlement, which in and of itself was a pretty clear indication to those people paying attention that there was a major problem. How long would it be before the truth was revealed and even those loyal to Fleming turned on him?

  But that wasn’t the sign that bothered Fleming most. The one he was fixating on read: “Fleming lies!” A vein stood out on his head as he stared at that one.

  “Can you believe that?” Fleming asked them for the third time. By this point, Sarah and Colonel Kurtz knew better than to answer. “Have I stretched the truth from time to time? Of course. Lying is part of politics. Why is this news that needs to be scrawled on a sign and paraded through the Hub?”

  Kurtz cleared his throat. “Sir, maybe you should step back from the window. Just in case.”

  Fleming didn’t seem to hear. “What these ungrateful bastards don’t understand is that every time I lied, every single time, it was to make their lives easier. The truth is a heavy burden, and the average person shouldn’t have to bear it. That’s what they elect us for.”

  Sarah had spent the last few minutes considering why that sign bothered him so much, and she thought she finally understood the answer. Politicians often lied, it was true. But when the people refused to believe the lies, that was the beginning of the end for any politician. That was when they lost their power. And power was the one thing Fleming most cherished.

  “Sir,” Kurtz said again. “The window. Would you please step back?”

  This time Fleming turned toward him and blinked hard as he took in the man’s words. “I’m sorry, are you implying that my people, the people I have given so much to serve, would take a shot at me, Colonel?”

  “It’s just a precaution, sir.”

  Fleming turned back to the window. “We are in a crisis, and this type of protest isn’t acceptable at a time like this. I want you and the badges to go down there and tell those people to go home, Colonel Kurtz. Anyone who disobeys is to be considered a traitor and must be shot.”

  Kurtz and Sarah exchanged a glance. Sarah saw the same panic she felt reflected in Kurtz’s eyes. Fleming was really losing it, and they both knew it. Killing citizens for protesting would be his last move. If that happened, the city would revolt. It would be civil war.

  “They still love you,” Sarah said quickly, “they’ve just forgotten it. If you use too much stick right now, you could lose them forever. You need to remind them you are their best hope for the future.”

  Fleming turned toward her, and she saw his eyes were bloodshot. He hadn’t slept since the attempt on CB’s life two days ago, she realized. He wasn’t taking care of himself. Maybe that was why he was losing control.

  “When was the last time that you ate, sir?” she asked.

  Fleming tilted his head in surprise. He hadn’t expected that question. “Why does that matter?”

  “I know that every moment counts right now, but if you aren’t at the top of your game, everything could fall apart. I’m going to get you some food and Kurtz and his badges will get rid of the crowd. Peacefully. You need to get some sleep, or you will start making mistakes.”

  Fleming stepped close and glared at her. But she couldn’t back down now.

  “Sir, you are a great man, but you are still a man. Your body has needs. Don’t push yourself over the edge.”

  Fleming said nothing for a long moment. Then he turned back to the window.

  Sarah gritted her teeth. She’d tried, but she’d failed. If she couldn’t get through to Fleming, no one could. As much as she hated to think about it, she needed to start planning an exit strategy that would allow her to survive when the people took Fleming down once and for all.

  Then Fleming spoke. “Fine. I’ll eat. Kurtz, I don’t care about this crowd. Let them wear themselves out shouting and protesting. They’re just another distraction from the real goal. We need to keep our focus on getting rid of CB.”

  Kurtz nodded briskly, and the relief was clear in his voice when he answered, “Of course, sir. I think that’s a good call.”

  “I’m going to eat and then rest like Sarah suggested. I’ll sleep for an hour, and when I wake up, I expect to you to tell me that CB is dead.”

  Sarah hurried out of the room to get Fleming his food. She felt a twinge of guilt that the thought of turning on Fleming had even entered her mind, but she was relieved that he had come to his senses. Things were back on track. Soon CB would be dead and they could start deciding what to do about Resettlement.

  Brian stared down at his echolocation device.

  “How we looking?” CB asking impatiently.

  “Hard to say.”

  CB frowned. “You have a device that can see around corners and down every passageway on this level, and it’s still hard to say?”

  “Yep.”

  Ever since their rest, the three of them had been making much better time. After turning off the defense turrets and hacking the necessary systems in the control tower, they were making their way to the GMT hangar. It was a desperate move, since Fleming’s men would almost certainly be looking for them there, but they needed a few more people on their side to pull this off. CB figured if anyone remained loyal to him, it had to be the support staff he’d worked hand-in-hand with for twenty years.

  Besides, the road to Frank the vampire started at the GMT hangar.

  Brian was still struggling to keep up, but he made up for his lack of speed with the fact that his invention had saved their asses multiple times already.

  CB didn’t know what was going on in the rest of the city, but whatever it was must have had Fleming spooked. The tunnels were crawling with badges and faceless GMT soldiers. They’d had some close calls, but so far, they’d managed to stay out of any more entanglements.

  Brian made an adjustment on his device. “There we go. I got it now. The tunnel’s clear ahead. Let’s move.”

  The three hurried down an empty passageway. CB knew that going to the GMT hangar was potentially dangerous. If Fleming didn’t have troops stationed there, he surely had someone watching the place. If they were spotted, they could end up cornered in the hangar. CB just hoped there were enough staff people loyal to him that they could fight their way out if need be. Besides, no one knew the GMT headquarters better than him, and he knew of a few passages that weren’t common knowledge. They just need to get there.

  A clanging noise coming from behind them caused CB to turn. An access hatch in the ceiling hung open above the spot they’d just passed.

  “Oh, shit,” CB muttered.

  A pair of legs dropped through the access panel, and a moment later the rest of the man became visible and he dropped to the ground.

  “Run!” CB shouted. He turned and took off, hoping his two companions would be able to keep up. If he set a fast pace, they’d have no choice but to do their best to match him.

  He heard the loud thumps of three more bodies dropping from the access hatch to the ground, but he didn’t bother looking back. It would only slow him down.

  How had the badges found them? The only explanation CB could think of was that they’d been waiting up there wa
tching for anyone to pass below. That must have been why the echolocation device hadn’t spotted them.

  Was Fleming really so desperate that he was stationing groups of badges to peek through random access panels in the off chance the fugitives might wander by? Sadly, CB believed the answer to that question was yes.

  From behind him, he heard the crackle of a radio, and one of the badges said, “We got them! Sector Twelve!”

  That meant reinforcements would be on the way. Not good.

  CB risked a glance back and saw Jessica was only a few steps behind him. Miraculously, Brian was keeping up as well, though his face was beet red and it didn’t look like he’d be able to keep it up much longer. Even though he hated to do it, CB slowed his pace half a step to make sure Brian stayed with the group.

  A shot rang out, echoing through the tunnel. CB looked back again, making sure his friends hadn’t been hit. They were both uninjured, but Jessica wore an expression of absolute fury. For a moment, CB thought that look must be because someone was shooting at them, but he quickly realized he was wrong. He knew her well enough to realize she was pissed they were discharging a firearm in these tunnels, where a stray round could easily damage a vital system.

  Even a rookie badge knew not to fire a weapon anywhere near a vital system. They were on an airship, after all. A very unlucky shot could potentially bring the whole city down. But these badges didn’t seem to care. It looked like all bets were off when it came to killing the three fugitives.

  CB rounded a corner and slowed to a walk. He grabbed Brian as he passed and pulled the echolocation device out of his pack, shoving it into his hands. “We need a way out of here.”

  They walked fast as Brian frantically tapped at the screen. “No clear exits, and more badges are closing in fast.” He tilted the screen so CB could see the groups of people heading down every hallway.

  He turned to Jessica. “Where’s the nearest hatch to get us back up top?”

  Jessica thought for a moment. “If we go left at the next turn, there should be a ladder that leads up into the sanitation building in Sparrow’s Ridge.”

  “Good enough.”

  Brian pointed to the screen, which showed a team moving toward them fast from that direction. “That’s going to be a problem.”

  CB looked at the locator. He thought that if he timed this just right he may be able to power through. “Hang tight until I say otherwise,” he said in a low voice.

  He watched the soldiers on the screen rushing towards them. Just as they were about to round the corner, he sprinted at them.

  The first badge appeared, and CB hit him full force, his shoulder lowered as he plowed into him. The badge careened back into the man behind him and both tumbled to the floor.

  CB kept charging forward. He hit the biggest man in the group square in the chest, smashing him against the wall. His head ricocheted off the concrete behind him and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

  One down. But the two he’d plowed over were already trying to get up.

  The fourth and final badge raised his weapon, but CB was already entangled with the other two, making it impossible for the man to get a clear shot without hitting his fellow badges. He tried to track CB with his gun, but the fight was too chaotic.

  He was so focused on CB that he didn’t see Jessica creeping up to him, a baton taken from one of the fallen badges clutched in her hand. She swung it hard, connecting with the back of his head and taking him out of the fight.

  Brian was trying his best to help, too. After CB scored a monster blow on one of the badges’ knee, Brian kicked him as he fell. His foot only delivered a glancing blow to the man’s side, but CB appreciated the effort.

  The badge managed to struggle to a standing position, and he threw a hard punch, hitting Brian in the stomach. Brian doubled over and fell to his knees, gasping for air. The guard snatched the baton off his belt and raised it, ready to bring it down on the back of Brian’s head.

  CB made a move toward the badge, but Jessica struck before he could get there, bringing her baton down on the badge’s wrist. There was a loud crack, and his arm bent at an odd angle. His baton clattered to the ground.

  Jessica struck again, hitting him in the side of the head, and he went down.

  Brian stared up at her in wide-eyed surprise, still struggling to regain the wind that had been knocked out of him.

  “Come on, we have to go.” She grabbed Brian’s hand and assisted him as he got to his feet.

  CB quickly followed them as they raced down the passageway toward the access hatch.

  Brian checked the echolocation device as he ran. “They’re not… far… behind us,” he choked out between gasps.

  A moment later, his point was proven as the badges who’d first spotted them through the access panel rounded the corner behind them.

  One of them had a radio to his mouth. “Looks like they took out Phil’s team. They’re right under Sparrow’s Ridge.”

  CB, Brian, and Jessica kept running, focusing on the ladder that would take them up to street level and trying to ignore the men chasing them. They didn’t have much farther to go. They just had to push a little longer.

  CB reached the ladder that led up to the hatch first. “Get up there, I’ll be right behind you.”

  The other two didn’t bother arguing. It would have been a waste of the precious time they couldn’t afford. Brian went up the ladder, and Jessica quickly followed.

  The badges approached at a dead run, and one of them fired. The shot was wild, as CB would have expected a shot fired by a running man to be. CB raised his own weapon, leveling it at them. He aimed at the oldest man in the group, thinking he’d likely be the team leader.

  He fired, and his aim was true. The shot hit the badge in the knee, and the man dropped to the ground, screaming.

  The other badges ducked back behind the corner, trying to avoid taking a bullet in the leg or worse.

  CB knew he wouldn’t have long until they recovered their courage. He quickly climbed the ladder and came up through the hatch. Brian and Jessica were waiting for him.

  “We heard the shots,” Jessica said. “You all right?”

  CB nodded. “I was one of the people doing the shooting this time.” He paused a moment, then quickly added, “Don’t worry, I was careful.”

  “You’d better have been,” Jessica muttered.

  CB looked around, taking in their surroundings. They were on the first level of the sanitation building in a large, open room. They were near the wall, and thankfully the room appeared to be empty.

  His eyes settled on a locker full of gear, and he ran to it. Then he dragged it back and placed it over the hatch. “There. That’ll make it difficult for the badges to follow us.”

  “We should keep moving,” Brian said. “They’ve probably already radioed in our location.”

  CB couldn’t argue with that.

  They ran to the nearest door.

  “This way,” Jessica said, pointing to a door to their right. “If I remember correctly, we can get to an exit through here.”

  CB was the first to reach the door. “Hopefully we can blend in on the streets of the Ridge without attracting too much attention. If we’re lucky, we might be able to make it all the way to the hangar without the wrong people spotting us.”

  He pulled open the door and froze.

  Standing on the other side of it, a raised gun in his hand, was Colonel Kurtz.

  21

  CB and Kurtz froze in surprise as they stared at each other.

  Jessica didn’t. She wrapped her arms around CB’s midsection and pushed her shoulder into him, shoving him out of the path of Kurtz’s weapon. Kurtz gritted his teeth and fired.

  The round echoed like thunder off the walls around them, and CB waited, expecting to feel the impact of the bullet. But the pain never came. Instead, Jessica cried out, and a different kind of pain filled CB.

  The bullet hole in Jessica’s forearm seeped dark blood. She s
tumbled backwards, clutching her arm.

  The rage erupted from CB in a wordless shout. He grabbed Kurtz’s wrist, twisting it up and away. The gun went off, but the shot was wide and it ricocheted off the wall behind them.

  Kurtz tried to pull his arm out of CB’s grip, but CB was simply too powerful. He twisted the wrist again, much harder this time, until there was a pop.

  Kurtz yelped in pain and his hand went slack, letting the gun fall to the ground. CB drew his left arm back and slammed his elbow into Kurtz’s face, breaking his jaw.

  Kurtz staggered backward, blinking hard in a futile attempt to clear the tears from his eyes. To Kurtz’s credit, he didn’t go down easily, which made CB happy. He wasn’t done with Kurtz yet.

  As CB stalked toward him, Kurtz pulled his baton from his belt with his uninjured hand and shifted to a defensive stance. CB glanced at the baton. It was the same type the faceless GMT used.

  Kurtz swung the baton, but CB surged forward, catching the other colonel’s wrist and bringing the arm down hard even as he swung his knee upward. He slammed the wrist into his knee and heard it snap.

  With two broken wrists, Kurtz collapsed to his knees, clutching both wrists to his chest. CB threw a hard right hook that connected with his temple, knocking him unconscious.

  With the colonel down, CB frantically turned back to Jessica. He was relieved to see Brian was already tending to her.

  “The bullet went straight through,” Brian said. “If we can stop the bleeding, she’ll be okay. Hand me some of those shop towels.” He gestured to a folded stack of towels on a counter just inside the door.

  CB quickly grabbed a few and dashed back to Brian.

  “I’m fine,” Jessica said. She looked pale and her voice sounded weak. “We need to keep moving.”

  “Not until we get this arm wrapped,” Brian said firmly.

  CB stood silently watching, feeling helpless as a sick sense of worry crept up inside him. He’d seen plenty of injuries in his time with the GMT and more death than he cared to remember, but this felt different somehow. Jessica wasn’t a soldier who’d volunteered for a mission to the surface to fight vampires. She was an engineer who was just trying to do the right thing by her city. The fact that Fleming had brought so much pain and destruction to New Haven made CB furious. And the mere thought of Jessica paying the ultimate price in the fight to stop him made him sick with dread.