Blood Apocalypse - 04

by Heath Stallcup

  Roberts shook his head slowly. “I don’t know yet.” He turned to watch all of the activity on the monitors. “But we’re recording everything that these bastards are doing.” He pointed to the screen. “This isn’t just some standard run-of-the-mill change of command here.”

  “Then what is it?” James asked, studying the screens.

  “I don’t know.” Roberts leaned in, studying the screen. “It’s more like…an invasion.” He tapped the monitor at the top. “Look at all this shit they’re moving into the underground bunker. Who needs that much crap? And who are all these new fucking people? We don’t have any of their files, their security clearances, their service jackets, health records…nothing. It’s like they just blew into town and the new sheriff tells me to mind my own fucking business and guard the gates!” He glanced at James again. “Fuck him. I’m going to get to the bottom of all this and when I do, I’m going to throw a monkey wrench into their works that will make the Titanic look like a dinghy sprung a leak!”

  James laughed and clapped his captain on the back. “That’s what I wanted to fucking hear.” He sat up straight and squared his shoulders. “Finally…somebody with some balls around here.”

  *****

  Laura Youngblood, Executive Officer for the Monster Squad, hurriedly gathered the certified duty officers together and delegated different duties to them, assigning them each different sections to get set up. The armory was being set up as she spoke; and the more important areas at the moment were communications, logistics and machinery areas. Each had their own subsections and Colonel Mitchell had put as much of their operation as he thought would fit into the concrete bunker that Dr. Peter’s lab would be set up in. The bunker had three levels, two of which were deep underground, with Evan’s lab in the middle. Laura set the officers off on their respective duties and hurried to Evan’s lab to unpack him and check on him. She had an uneasy feeling ever since the plane landed and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to rest easy until she saw that he was okay.

  She hurried to the bunker and worked her way past the different crews, moving crates and boxes and setting up the various areas. She paused long enough to announce, “This may not be as temporary as we originally thought, fellas, so let’s do it right the first time.”

  This earned her a lot of quizzical looks, but rather than explain now, she turned and found the stairwell that took her down to the next level. She continued on until she found the new area designated to be Evan’s lab and opened the door. Crates were lining the walls and she smiled when she saw why it was chosen. The room looked like a high school chemistry lab, with two long workspaces in the middle, thick counters with sinks built in, beakers and Bunsen burners along the middle of each, a shelf running down the middle of each workspace. Storage lockers lined one wall with stickers indicating that hazardous or toxic materials were within their closed doors. She shook her head as she took in the room.

  “He’s going to be thrilled,” she muttered to herself.

  “Like a kid in a candy store,” Evan quipped as he slipped in beside her, causing her to jump slightly and catch her breath.

  “You startled me,” she said as she caught herself.

  “Sorry. I heard you coming and had to…take care of a few things first.” He looked away sheepishly.

  “What?” Laura searched his face.

  “I was…having a snack.” He replied self-consciously.

  Laura reached for him and pulled him to her. “You don’t have to hide to feed, Evan. You know that.”

  He stiffened slightly when she said ‘feed’. To him, he was simply eating, but to her, he was ‘feeding’ like an animal. He tried hard to put it out of his mind, knowing it was just a slip of the tongue, but he also pondered whether it was a Freudian slip. “Yes, well, I find it somewhat embarrassing.” He pulled away slightly and looked at her. “Why are you here so soon? I haven’t even unpacked.”

  She smiled and lowered her eyes. “I came to unpack you.” She shook her head. “Matt said you had crated yourself and I thought you would need help to…I don’t know.” She laid her head against his chest and laughed at herself. “I was just worried when the plane landed and they opened the doors and I thought you were simply riding in the back. The sun was out and I feared the worst.” Her eyes began to mist as her emotions rose up on her again and she fought to hold them in check.

  He pulled her closer and rubbed at her back. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For caring so much.”

  She said nothing as she rested a moment in his arms enjoying the knowledge that he was safe and unharmed. She squeezed him tighter in her arms and held him desperately for a moment longer. “I hate to do it, but I have to go.”

  “I know. Duty calls and all that.”

  She stared at him, his rugged handsomeness, his caring eyes, the slight curl of his hair and she wondered how anybody who laid eyes on him couldn’t love him. It helped for her that he was so damned tall and didn’t make her feel like a freak. When he held her, she felt normal and she fit against his body. Laura rarely dated in high school or college because she was the same height or even taller than most of the guys that were in her circle of friends. But Evan was so tall that, when they were seen together, she seemed normal compared to him.

  She ran her hand along the side of his face and a smile tugged at the ends of her mouth. He smiled back at her. “What?” he asked.

  “I just love you so damned much.”

  Evan was somewhat shocked by her deep emotional admission and wondered at the source of it, yet he knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. He simply smiled back at her and replied, “Not nearly as much as I love you.” He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her for all that he was worth. Their tongues danced and darted, hers hot and wet, his cold and coppery from his ‘snack’. Laura felt his fangs slowly descend and knew the effect she was having on him. She smiled inwardly and allowed one hand to wander, to stroke his…ego, for a moment. He growled in her mouth as she tempted and teased him.

  She traced his fangs with her tongue and thought of Nadia’s words on the plane, how a vampire’s bite can bring one to levels of ecstasy akin to orgasm in a matter of seconds. She pulled away from Evan and breathed in his ear, “Bite me.”

  Evan froze solid in her arms while Laura continued to writhe and stroke him. “Bite me,” she pleaded at him. He pulled away from her and stared at her, hard.

  “What is wrong with you?” His face reflected his fears.

  Her eyes fluttered open and she tried to catch her breath, not realizing that Evan’s level of worry went beyond a simple question. “What do you mean?”

  “Do you know what you’re asking?” He pushed her away. “I’d never turn you, Laura. I couldn’t…kill you!” he cried, his eyes wide with shock. His face reflected one who had been betrayed by the person he trusted most and Laura couldn’t quite understand, her emotions still riding the high of endorphins in her blood.

  “What are you talking about?” Her confusion was muddled by her lust.

  “My bite!” he said as he paced the room. “I’d kill you if I bit you. I can’t just bite you…I can’t control myself, my fangs would descend, I KNOW it. I’d end up infecting you and—”

  “No!” She interrupted. “Evan, you don’t understand.” She tried to explain, but Evan was on the verge of a breakdown. The one and only person who had shown any emotional interest in him since his death and resurrection now wanted him to risk her life for something as simple as a bite. The insanity of it befuddled and frightened him. “Evan, Nadia explained it to me on the plane!” she yelled, trying to get his attention.

  He stopped his rant and turned to her. “What would Nadia know of a vampire bite?” he asked slowly.

  “She has lived with them her entire life, sweetheart. They have told her everything about themselves,” she explained. “Before they fed on animals, they used to feed on humans. And the bite itself doesn’t change you. Yes, there
is a virus in the mouth, but it acts like a drug. It makes you not care that you are being bitten, it deadens the pain and it gives you a sexual high that is better than an orgasm.”

  Evan’s eyes rounded as she spoke. “Why would you want more than what we already have?” he asked, unsure if he wanted the answer.

  She smiled at him and approached slowly, taking his hand and pressing it to her chest. “I want to share everything with you. I want to share my blood with you while we make love. I want to please you with every part of me. I want to be pleased as well. I want to be marked by you as well…by your bite.” She moved his hand to allow it to cup her breast and he swallowed hard.

  Evan stood there a moment, a mix of emotions flowing through him as he weighed the possibilities. His hand began to shake and she pressed it harder to herself. He pulled his eyes away from her breast and to her eyes. “I want to. I’ve wanted to for so very long, but I fear the OTHER possibilities, as well.”

  “But Nadia says it’s safe—” she began to argue.

  “Forgive me if I don’t take the word of a werewolf we’ve only just met,” he interrupted. He pulled her close to him and stared deeply into her eyes. “I love you more than anything in this world. If you’ll give me just a little time.” She looked away from him and he pulled her eyes back to him. “Just a little, please, to ensure that it’s safe. A few tests to know that you won’t turn into…this.” He said as he indicated himself. “I’ll hurry and I’ll do my best to be thorough.”

  She nodded and laid her forehead against his chest. “I love you, Evan.”

  “I love you more,” he breathed as he stroked her hair.

  *****

  Apollo Creed Williams, Team Leader for Second Squad searched the new training area and found Darren Spalding, the Team Leader for Third Squad as he was just exiting. “Hey, man. You seen Jack?” Apollo asked.

  “Nope. I was looking for him, though.” Spalding shrugged. “You looking for him, too?”

  “Yeah, I’m hoping he can tell me what the fuck that was that dragged us all over the base and had us waking up at Max’s feet.”

  Spalding shook his head. “Yeah, I’d like to ask him about that as well.”

  “Any idea where he might be?” Apollo fell into step as Spalding turned and headed back across the open terrain between the buildings.

  “Not really, but I’m hoping maybe Colonel Mitchell either knows something or maybe he can find out. That shit was just too weird,” Spalding said. “I was halfway back to where I was before I even realized what had happened.”

  “Yeah, man, me too! That was some voo-doo shit right there. Almost like a dream or something.” The two men continued walking across the common areas until they reached a quartet of crewmen working on the grounds. Apollo approached them. “Hey, where can we find the head honcho’s office?”

  The work crew stopped what they were doing and eyed the two commandos suspiciously. “Where’s your base badge?” one asked.

  “What base badge?” Spalding asked.

  The crewman flipped at a plastic ID that was clipped to his shirt. “This.”

  Apollo and Spanky both looked at each other and shrugged. “We haven’t gotten ours yet. We just arrived on those planes a little while ago. Nobody’s processed us.” The four men looked at each other blankly and then back at the two oversized men in black BDUs.

  Finally, one of them pointed to a building with a flagpole in front of it. “That’s the HQ. If you’re looking for the ‘head honcho’s office’ it’s in there. But good luck getting in without one of these.”

  “Thanks, bro. Appreciate it.” Apollo tipped his hat and the two turned toward the building. “What’s the deal with the base badge, I wonder?”

  “Beats me,” Spalding said as they approached the building. They took the steps two at a time and encountered one of the base security personnel at the front door.

  “Badge,” was all he said as he moved to block the door.

  Spalding and Apollo stopped just short of running into him and turned at each other. “Uh, we don’t have one yet. We just got here on the planes and—”

  The guard moved swiftly in drawing his sidearm and bringing it to bear on Spalding as he tried to explain, but Apollo was quicker, moving with blinding speed he grasped the man’s wrist, twisting it as he lifted it up and away from Spalding’s head. The movement cracked the guard’s wrist, causing him to discharge the weapon just prior to dropping it. Apollo kept moving the guard’s arm, swinging it up and over, causing the man to flip in midair and land hard on the concrete steps. The man lay prone at his feet, knocked unconscious when his head struck the concrete, his weapon several feet away.

  “What the fuck is wrong with these guys?” Spalding asked.

  “I dunno, man, but he was about to ventilate your head.” He looked questioningly at Spalding. “Over a fucking plastic ID badge, man.”

  As the two stood there over the guard, people began pouring through the doors of the HQ building. A beautiful young woman wearing a Major’s oak cluster ran to the fallen man’s side and checked him. “What did you just do?”

  “He drew on us and we disarmed him,” Apollo offered in defense.

  “Then he...uh…fell and hit his head,” Spalding added a little too quickly. He glanced at Apollo who only shook his head, his eyes cast away.

  “What the hell happened out here?” Mitchell barked.

  Spalding and Apollo snapped to attention. “Altercation, sir.” Spalding stated. Mitchell looked at the security officer on the ground and groaned. “Is he hurt bad, Major?”

  She looked up from the officer and shook her head. “He’s unconscious, but I think he’s just knocked out, Colonel.”

  “Get him to the infirmary. Report back to me on his condition after he’s checked out.” Matt shot his two operators a stony look. “You two. In my office. NOW!” he barked.

  Apollo and Spalding double timed it up the steps then stood in the lobby, no idea where to go. Mitchell stormed past them and into his office, the two operators hot on his heels. Matt went behind his desk and reached for his scotch. “Shut the damned door.”

  Apollo used his heel to catch the door and swing it shut, both men feeling like they were sitting in the principal’s office. Matt threw the burning amber liquid to the back of his throat and swallowed quickly. “Fuck me with a red hot poker,” he swore. He sat forward and stared at the two men who were standing at attention in front of his desk. “Oh, for the love of Pete, at ease!” He poured another shot of scotch and sat back in his chair. “Sit down and tell me what just happened.”

  The two men sat, Apollo having to wedge himself into the undersized chair. Matt almost chuckled and made a mental note to get a couch or loveseat in here as soon as he could. He pointed to Spalding, “You. Talk.”

  Spalding inhaled deeply and began. “Colonel, we were looking for Jack to see if he could explain the whole thing about Max, and then thought…I dunno, that maybe you might know something. So we asked these four guys working the grounds and they said that we needed these badges.”

  Apollo interjected at this point, “And we was like, ‘we don’t need no stinkin’ badges’ but…” he shot Mitchell a cheesy grin that flopped.

  Spalding groaned and held up a hand to stop him. “So we get directions to here, and when we get close, this rent-a-cop steps in front of us and asks us for a badge. We tried to tell him that we just got here and didn’t have one and the son-of-a-bitch pulled his gun!”

  “That’s when I…stepped in.” Apollo averted his eyes. “May have broke his wrist doing it.”

  Matt glared at the two of them. “And given him a concussion as well.” He had tossed back his second drink during the last two minutes. Probably his tenth since getting here and he noted that the bottle was getting dangerously low. He reached for the bottle again and paused. “This is not good. Not good at all.”

  “What’s the deal, boss?” Spalding asked. “I mean, this guy was way out of line pulling his
gun over a stupid ID badge.”

  “I know, and I agree. But these contracted rent-a-cops take their shit very seriously. Obviously.” He sat back in his chair and tried not to reach for his glass. “And we’ve already had one altercation with them…before we even got here. Jack and his team showed up a few hours before we did and the Wackenhut people…”

  “Who?” Apollo snickered. “What the hell did you call them?”

  “Wackenhut,” Mitchell restated. “They’re actually a top notch security contractor. Don’t underestimate them.”

  Apollo stifled his laugh and simply nodded. “If you say so, sir.”

  “I do.” His eyes indicated his seriousness and Apollo straightened up, though he still thought the name sounded like something little boys did behind closed doors with dirty magazines. “And as I was saying, Jack and his team had an altercation with them already. I spent nearly an hour trying to put out that fire and their people are NOT happy about it.” Matt stood up and stole a glance out of his window. “And now this?”

  “Jesus, Colonel, what were we supposed to do? The guy pulled a gun and pointed it at my head!” Spalding was tempted to stand to make his argument but remained in his chair.

  Matt turned around and looked him straight in the eye. “I probably would have killed him with his own fucking weapon.” His voice was low and gritty. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s lucky to still be alive.” He sat back down and ran his hand across his face. “Just spread the word amongst the team members. Give these dumb fucks a wide berth. They have big egos and they don’t take kindly to bigger fish swimming in their little pond. The idea that real operators are on their turf? I’m sure it’s driving them nuts.”

  Apollo shook his head. “This is fucked up, Colonel. We shouldn’t have to worry about hurting the feelings of a bunch of pansy-assed security guards.”

  “You’re right, you shouldn’t. But the fact of the matter is, we may very well NEED those pansies, and I want to know that when the time comes, we can count on them.”