The lead truck stopped as Major Flemings held her hand up and she climbed the steps to speak with the driver. She pointed to the area where they would be headed and explained the rough terrain. The driver nodded when she told him that she would lead him out there along the least bumpy path and that they would open the door and the trucks could back in once they turned on the lights.
Flemings took to her golf cart with two of Third Squad’s members while the rest followed in a quad cab pickup. The semis geared down and followed along the bumpy path that had been smoothed as best as possible over the last two days in preparation for their arrival.
With the doors open and the lights on, the trucks began lining up to back in one by one. Flemings stood by the doors as each truck slipped through the doors like a knife through warm butter and lining themselves up next to each other with military precision. Row after row of diesel powered semis slipping into position until the warehouse was nearly a third full. Flemings hadn’t noticed, but Third Squad had taken up security positions around the loading zone, their barrels pointed away from the trucks, their eyes scanning the entire area as each truck backed into place, covering the arrival of the semis until each one was safely in the underground area.
From a distance, a blacked out SUV approached from the campus of the base, following the same path the trucks had taken. She held the doors open until the SUV drove through, then pulled the doors shut and latched them, herself and Third Squad inside with the SUV and the semis.
Drivers from each truck had already shut off their engines and were opening the cargo doors to allow their ‘loads’ to disembark. As Major Flemings and Third Squad stood near the main doors of the old warehouse, scores of vampires slowly made their way forward from the rear of the large area. Finally, the rear doors of the SUV opened and Rufus Thorn stepped out followed by Viktor. Rufus stood as still as a statue, dressed in a white suit and white patent leather shoes, Viktor contrasted him by being dressed all in black, his dark hair brushed back and his goatee neatly trimmed. It gave him a very menacing appearance.
From the rear of the new arrivals Paul Foster stepped forward to greet Rufus. “Brother! So good to see you again.” He smiled at Rufus, but even Diane, who had never met the man felt a shiver run up her spine. She didn’t trust him any further than she could throw him and fought the overwhelming urge to break for the door.
“I trust your journey was uneventful,” Rufus said coldly.
“For the most part, yes.” Paul nodded. “Hard to know for sure, being trapped in the back of a trailer.”
“I’m sure.” Rufus looked over the group that Foster had brought with him. “Where are the rest of your people?”
“On their way. We sent word as soon as you sent the coordinates.” Foster smiled, reminding Diane of a used car salesman. “Some are traveling from overseas so it may take them a bit longer to get here.”
“Very well.” Rufus turned to leave.
“Hey! Wait a minute.” Paul reached for him. “Where are we supposed to stay?”
Rufus looked around the warehouse then turned back to Paul. “This will be sufficient.”
Paul feigned shock. “This?” The distaste in his voice was palpable. “It was bad enough we had to hole up in those ratty warehouses on the wharf while we worked out the alliance, but now this?”
Rufus allowed a pulse of power to emanate from him that brought most of the vampires to a knee, their eyes to the floor. Foster merely bowed, his eyes averted. “Forgive me, Master,” he whispered.
“You are free to find your own shelter if you wish. The door is right there.” Rufus motioned quietly.
“No, Master, this will be more than sufficient. Thank you for supplying it.” Paul kept his eyes to the floor.
Rufus closed the space between them and lifted Paul’s face so that his eyes met his own. “Do not forget, brother. We are about to wage war.” He kept his voice low. “Acquiring world class accommodations are the least of our worries at the moment. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Of course, Master. Forgive me.” Paul’s voice finally found its humility.
Rufus stared at him a moment longer then looked about. “Your people are ready for what awaits us, oui?”
“Yes, they are ready and eager,” Paul replied.
Rufus withdrew the ebb of power he had sent flowing out into the room and the many vampires slowly rose to their feet. “Excellent. We will need each of them to their purpose.” He caught Paul’s eye. “As each of your people are about to arrive, contact me so that we can make arrangements to allow them access and get them safely to your group, oui?”
“Of course, brother.”
“Very good.” Rufus patted Paul’s cheek. “We will speak again soon, Paul. Until then, rest. Try to be comfortable here and remember that this is only temporary.”
“As you will.” He lowered his eyes.
Rufus turned and gave Viktor a slight nod. Viktor held the door open for him and the driver started the SUV’s engine and turned it back toward the doors of the old warehouse. As the doors shut behind the truck, Major Flemings stepped forward and introduced herself to Paul Foster. Paul looked at her as if she were a snack to be had, but kept his comments in check, probably due to the hunters at her side, weapons in hand.
Diane gave him a card with a list of phone numbers on it and told him that facilities were installed in the underground hideout and ready for use. She explained that many of the side stairwells may not be safe and that he should keep his people out of them for their own safety. The other side of the facility had rooms that were deemed safe and were at his disposal.
She then asked if Paul’s people needed bagged blood and Paul did a double take. “We don’t do ‘take-out’ thank you,” he replied rather snobbishly.
Diane paused and felt the hair on her neck bristle. “The people on this base are not to be used as food.”
Paul eyed her a moment before raising an eyebrow and smiling. “No worries, Major. We brought our own sustenance.”
Diane shivered at the thought of humans being transported for these monsters to feed on and she could almost feel the hunters at her side stiffen. Spalding was about to raise his weapon when she outstretched her hand and held him down. “We’ll deal with this later,” she whispered to him. She turned back to Foster and stated simply, “If you need anything, call those numbers.” She turned on her heel, the hunters covering their backs as they exited the building.
Once outside, Sanchez turned to Major Flemings, “Did he mean they brought people to feed on, Major?”
“I don’t know, but I’m hoping that Thorn can find out for us.”
“I thought Thorn said that his people only fed on animals,” Hank tried to offer up an explanation.
“I’m hoping that is what this Foster character meant,” she replied. “I really hope he was just trying to give me the heebie-jeebies.”
“If he was, he did a helluva job,” TD remarked as they loaded back into their vehicles.
*****
Dominic stood at attention in front of Colonel Mitchell’s desk as Matt looked over his medical report. Laura sat in the corner going over her copies as well. She found herself returning to and thumbing through Dom’s report of the soil he had found while escaping. For some reason, it intrigued her, but she couldn’t quite figure out why.
Matt closed the file and sat back with a sigh. “Do you know what the docs are saying?”
Dom shook his head. “No, sir.”
“They say you aren’t ready for duty,” he replied quietly. He saw Dom’s eyes grow wide and he prepared for a battle, but Matt threw a hand up. “Ultimately, it’s up to us.” He pointed at Laura and himself.
“I’m ready sir,” Dom stated, trying not to be too forceful.
“I know you think you are, but I wonder about your mental health, son.” Matt looked to Laura but she was still flipping through her copies. “I’m not trying to bust your balls either, I am genuinely concerned.”
Dom bl
ew out his breath and shook his head. “Colonel, with all the crap he shot into my head, I don’t know how anybody could ever be prepared for something like that. But I’m dealing with it.”
Matt nodded. “Well, I don’t think you’re going to grab a weapon and start shooting at monsters that aren’t there or anything like that.” He gauged his reaction to the comment, “But I do worry about the stress of the situations we throw you boys into and I don’t know if you’re ready yet or not.”
Dom sighed and looked the colonel in the eyes. “What do I have to do to prove myself?”
“I don’t know.” He sat back and looked at Laura. “What are your thoughts, XO?”
Laura continued to study the reports and tapped at the side of her head. She looked up and saw Dom’s inquiring eyes on her. She glanced at Matt and tried to disconnect herself from her own emotions. She knew the right thing to do was to ground him for further psychological evaluation, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. “I think,” she began, “we should throw him into intensive training with Tufo and the other squads.” She turned her eyes on Dom to watch his reaction. “Give him the most stressful environment we can and see how well he does. At the same time, I think he should continue to see the shrink.” She heard Dom groan.
“I don’t need a head shrinker, sir.”
“He asked for my honest opinion.” Laura set Dom’s report down on the desk and squared her shoulders. “You want back onto the grinder? This is how. You get back onto the teams, but you go through intense training so we can see how you deal with the mental and physical stresses. You also go and see the doc for another round of psych eval,” she stated firmly. “Otherwise, it’s cartoons and three square meals a day while you sit around and get fat and watch the other boys and girls play with all the cool toys and blow shit up.” She shot him an evil smile.
Dom shook his head and shot her a smirk. “I always knew you had a badass side to you,” he quipped. “If it’s a take-it or leave-it offer, then I guess I’ll take it.”
Matt slapped the table. “Good. Get your ass over to the doc for another round of tests so we can get it over with and as soon as Tufo gets back, help him set up the new training area.”
“Roger that, sir.” Dom stood and turned to leave then paused at the door. He looked down at Laura in her chair and whispered, “Thank you” to her before leaving. Laura blushed slightly and tried to hide her face in the medical file as she continued to browse the reports.
After Dom left Matt leaned back in his chair and studied her. “What did you really think?”
Laura glanced up and barely met his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean.” The corners of his mouth began to form a smile.
Laura closed the folder and sighed. “I couldn’t do it to him, Matt. His getting abducted was my fault…”
“Bullshit, Laura!” he exclaimed. “We’ve been through this already.” Matt grabbed his bottle of scotch and a glass.
“Don’t.” Laura stood and took the scotch from him.
“What?” Matt asked. “You know it has no real effect on me. I just like the taste and the burn.”
“Then stop.” She stood over him, her eyes penetrating.
Matt looked at her as if he had just been chastised by his mother. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked, truly meaning it.
Laura sighed again and sat down. “I’m just so tired of it all. Matt, I’m burned out.” Her eyes threatened to betray her as she stared at him.
“It’s going to be okay, ya know? We have this attack to deal with, but we’re ready for it. We have monsters coming in to deal with the flood of monsters and we have weapons specially made just for this…”
“That’s not it, Matt. Not...entirely,” she said. “I’m just burned out. I’m tired of it all.” Laura stood up and walked to his window. She zoned out as she stared out at the campus. “All of it. I’m tired of watching the people I care about get hurt. I’m tired of feeling responsible for everything, even if I’m not. I’m tired of feeling…scared. I’m tired of…hell! I’m just TIRED.”
“You need a vacation.”
“I need a change of life,” Laura said with a chuckle.
Matt nodded. “You do tend to throw yourself into your work.”
“And sometimes my work throws me into a brick wall.”
Matt reached for the scotch anyway and poured two glasses. “Here’s to you, Laura.”
She turned and looked at him holding up a glass to her. “What are you doing?”
“Toasting the best damned Executive Officer I could ever have hoped to have.”
She shook her head as she reached for the glass. She held it in her hand and stared out the window again. “Mark will make a good XO for you.”
“Mark’s a good man. He can be a tough son of a bitch, too. A little rough around the edges…”
She snorted and shot him a dirty look. “And you’re not?” she asked mockingly.
“Well, yeah, but you’re so smooth and polished that together we seem…I don’t know…normal somehow. With two rough edged SOBs, it’s going to be tough around here.”
“Now, that I can drink to!”
They tossed back the drinks and she winced. “Wow. I can’t get used to that.”
Matt smiled. “You don’t have to anymore.” He rose and patted her shoulder. “Go sign that silly letter of yours and pack your bags,” he said sadly. “I’m sure somewhere is a beach that could be vastly improved by your being on it in a bikini or something.”
She stared at him open-mouthed. “What?” Matt shrugged. “I didn’t mean that in a sexual harassment sort of way, you know.”
“I know that, you big goofball!” She slugged him in the arm. “I just…you mean…I thought you wanted me to wait until the whole attack thing was over?”
Matt shrugged again. “Why wait? You’re toasted. You need out. So go.” He hooked his thumb out the window. “Mark can step up and do what needs done.” She saw his eyes get misty and he turned away from her.
She couldn’t help herself. She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him. “I’m going to miss you.”
Matt wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. “I know.” He sniffed. “I’m going to miss you, too.” He fought back an emotion that was foreign to him. The only way he could describe it was that he was losing a daughter. He fought like hell not to think about it or he might do something totally un-macho and cry. “You got my addresses, so you better write,” he whispered in her ear before she let go of him.
She gave a choking laugh as she wiped her eyes. “You know I will.” She laughed nervously, unsure if this was really happening. She turned to leave his office and stopped at the door. “Thank you, Matt.”
“For what? I should be thanking you for all you’ve done.”
“For not holding me to my promise.”
“Forget about it. You need this more than we need you staying here acting all mopey and shit.” He waved her off. “But, what are you going to do about Evan?”
Laura shook her head. “I don’t know yet,” she admitted. “I’ll definitely tell him that I’m going, but I may have to come back from to time to visit, if that’s okay?”
“You’re welcome back anytime you want. We’d be glad to see you.”
“Thanks, Matt.”
“Now get your skinny little butt out of here and get packed,” he barked. “Otherwise, people might think that you really want to stay.”
“Roger that, sir.” Laura gave him a salute.
Matt smiled as she walked away and fought hard not to cry as the realization sunk in that she was the closest thing to family that he’d had in nearly a decade. He sat back at his desk and reached for the bottle of scotch. There was just enough left for one last glass. He stared at the amber liquid and heard her voice in his head when she said, ‘then stop’. He poured his last drink into his glass and placed it on his desk. Matt stared at it for a very long time, slowly spinning the glass bet
ween his fingers, still hearing her voice in his head.
11
Damien crept along the shadows as quietly as he could, his eyes darting back toward the sentries that were always on guard for any humans who might escape their confines and try to make their way out of the underground facility they were in. The dull thrum of the giant ventilation fans could be felt along the wall as he made his way along toward the stairwell that the vampires had been warned were off-limits. Apparently the stairs and the walls supporting them were of questionable condition, so the humans had declared them condemned. The vampires found rooms above and below the main floor they were on and felt that the dark lower floor would be a good place to store the bodies of the dead they drained, their bodies ripped asunder to prevent reanimation.
Damien had watched many humans dumped down below while still alive…so wasteful. Some with plenty of healthy, young, tender flesh clinging to their delicate bones, and the thought was driving him mad with desire. The others had fed ravenously when they arrived, feasting on the humans that were brought with them as if they would be their last meal and Damien watched in horror as the warm quivering meat was dragged to the lower levels to be tossed away.
Paul told him he needed to regain his strength, so he had drained a young illegal immigrant and wanted so badly to render her throat—to chew his way all the way to the bone—but he dared not or Foster might get wind of his actions and lock him up again, or worse. So he was left scavenging from the wrecked detritus that was tossed away like so much garbage, left to rot and stink and putrefy down below their collective feet.
As he made his way along the back wall, he slipped from trailer to trailer, always hiding, sneaking his way to the stairwell. He followed the scent of blood, now congealed along the stairs where it had dripped or fallen from the dead they had carried to be hidden away like yesterday’s trash. When he was sure the coast was clear, he slipped under the chain and made a straight shot down the stairs into the darkness below. Almost instantly his eyes adjusted to the nearly pitch black of the huge open expanse where the bodies had been scattered. He found the remains of the young Mexican girl he had just fed from and went directly to her. He wanted so dearly to finish what he started.
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