by P. T. Hylton
“It’s not locked,” Firefly said, “but it’s not moving either.”
“Could be jammed. A lot of these doors warp over time. Might have to force it open.”
Firefly nodded. “That I can do.” He took a big step back and drew a deep breath, then kicked the door hard.
The door flew open and slammed against the wall. It sounded like a gunshot. The crash echoed down the stairway.
CB and Firefly froze, listening.
A hideous, unnatural roar came from somewhere far down the staircase.
“Shit,” Firefly said.
CB grabbed his radio. “Folks, change of plans. We have confirmation of an active vampire in Reactor 1.”
Chapter 23
At CB’s command, Simmons and Owl joined him and Firefly in Reactor 1. He told Drew and Alex to continue their above-ground search in Reactor 2. After they’d checked to ensure the control panel wasn’t above ground, the team would reconvene. In the meantime, the crew in Reactor 1 would carefully begin working their way downward.
“Owl, my gut tells me we’re going to find the control panel underground,” CB said.
“Same,” Simmons echoed. “Why build ten stories underground if you’re not going to put the most vital equipment down there?”
“Lovely,” Owl said. “So I’m gonna be driving the rover down this dark staircase where we know there are vampires awake? Sounds safe.”
“That’s why I called you in here,” CB said. “We’re going to do something about that. We’ve got six Daylights, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“We need you to set up five of them, one on each landing down to the fifth floor. Cover as much of the darkness as you can. If we get down to five and still haven’t found the control panel, we’ll start spacing them out, one every other floor.”
“What about the sixth light?” Owl asked.
“That we’ll mount on the rover itself. It won’t be perfect, but it’ll give us some coverage. If shit goes south, we’ll have some light to cover us on our retreat.”
“I like that idea,” Owl said. “The rover will make it upstairs, but it ain’t exactly speedy.”
“Simmons, you stay with Owl. Cover her while she’s working just in case something happens. I agree with your sentiment that it’s more likely on one of the lowest levels, but so was that vampire we heard. In the interest of safety, we’re going to start at G1 and work our way down rather than starting at the bottom. I’m not sending the team down to risk their lives on G10 only to find out the control panel was on G2. Firefly and I are going to search those floors as quickly and quietly as possible. Quiet is the operative word, hear me, Firefly?”
Firefly nodded.
“Good. Let’s make it happen.”
Owl got to work. No one mentioned that the Daylights hadn’t been field-tested. They were counting on the hypothesis that real living vampires reacted the same way to the lights as the samples had in Brian’s lab.
Once Owl had the Daylight set up on the first underground floor, CB decided it was time for him and Firefly to head into G1 and search for the control panel. They made their way past the Daylight Owl had set up. This door was jammed too, and since it swung inward, they didn’t have the luxury of kicking it in. After futilely tugging on it a few times, they took the door off its hinges.
As soon as they pulled down the door, the powerful odor of death and decay wafted out.
CB took one last breath of the relatively fresh air in the stairwell and stepped through the doorway.
***
Alex and Drew’s search of the first floor of Reactor 2 was uneventful, but more time-consuming than they would have liked. The place was a labyrinthine collection of corridors. Each was marked with a different color, apparently a system to make it easier to navigate the facility. But it wasn’t entirely helpful, since Alex and Drew had no idea what the colors meant, and they had to double back a few times to make sure they hadn’t missed any areas of the floor.
It took them nearly thirty minutes to check the first level. As they covered more and more ground without incident, they had to resist the natural inclination to relax, to drop their guard. There could be a vampire around any corner, and it wouldn’t stop and give Alex and Drew time to collect themselves before attacking.
If Alex were being honest, she’d have to admit she was a little jealous of the crew in the other reactor. While Alex and Drew searched empty offices, they were plunging down into the unknown depths of the facility. They would likely find both vampires and the control panel while she and Drew would find nothing at all.
Still, she fought the urge to rush through these floors. Not only would that open up the possibility of being attacked, but it would also increase the chances of them missing the very piece of equipment they were here to find.
Alex finally figured out the color-coding system just as they finished their search of the first level. There was a central hub in the middle of the building that contained what seemed to be the most important offices, and each wing off the hub was marked with a different color.
As they made their way back to the staircase, Alex spoke into her microphone. “First floor’s clear, Captain. Moving on to the second floor.”
“Roger that.” The response was given in a whisper. He and Firefly must have begun their search of G1.
Alex deactivated her microphone and said, “Oh, sure, we have to tell him when we’re progressing to a new area, but he doesn’t tell us?”
Drew sighed. “Don’t start. The last thing we need today is you going off on one of your—”
“Relax, big guy. I’m kidding.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. I get it. Things have been a little weird lately. But I just want to put it behind me and get back to good old-fashioned ass kicking. Cool with you?”
He chuckled. “Very.”
They went up the stairs to level two, moving carefully, sweeping the light from their headlamps across each area and making sure it was clear before progressing.
The second floor was laid out exactly like the first. Since they now had a grasp on the color-coding system and the layout, they were able to move much more quickly. After ten minutes, they’d covered nearly half the floor.
They were sweeping through a cluster of offices in the blue section when Drew suddenly froze. “Alex, check this out.”
He was looking through an open door into an interior office that seemed indistinguishable from any of the others. She leaned in for a closer look and quickly saw what he’d been referring to.
A body was slumped in the corner of the room. For a moment, Alex considered that it might be a human, one of the people who’d worked and died here. Maybe his body hadn’t been found, or he’d been one of the last to die. But she quickly realized that didn’t make any sense. If it were human, the vampires would have devoured it years ago along with all the other casualties here.
“You think it’s sleeping?” Drew whispered.
She considered that. It wasn’t attacking them, so that was a mark in the sleeping column. On the other hand, who ever heard of a vampire sleeping exposed like this? They were supposed to sleep covered in dirt, like the vamps they’d found in Buenos Aires.
“Not sleeping,” Alex said.
Drew gripped his shotgun tightly. “Maybe we should—”
The vampire sprang up and lunged at them, letting out an ear-splitting hiss as it came.
This time, Drew was ready. He brought up his shotgun and fired. The vampire fell backward as if hit by a truck. It landed on its back and didn’t get up again. The gaping hole in its chest told the tale; Drew had hit it in the heart with one of his silver slugs.
Alex blinked hard, momentarily stunned by the shotgun firing in such close quarters. She drew her sword and pressed her back to Drew’s. He was probably as stunned as she was, and she wanted to make sure the could at least see in case something came at them from either direction.
After a moment, the r
oar in her ears turned into an annoying ringing.
She stood perfectly still, listening, then she drew a sharp breath at what she heard.
There was movement in the halls. In both directions. She also heard a distant, angry grunt. Apparently they weren’t the only ones who’d been affected by the sound of the shotgun blast. Something else—multiple something elses—had been made aware of their presence.
Just then, CB’s voice came through her earpiece. “Team, I’ve found something. Let’s reconvene at the ship.”
“Thank Haven,” Drew whispered.
They made their way quickly to the nearest staircase and headed down.
Chapter 24
Fifteen minutes later, the team gathered outside the ship. Alex and Drew told the others about their vampire encounter.
“Maybe that’ll be our excitement for the day,” Drew said.
CB frowned. “Somehow, I doubt it.”
“How’d it go for you?” Alex asked.
“We made it all the way down to the fifth underground level. We didn’t encounter any vampires, other than the one we heard when we banged the door open. They’d definitely been there recently, though. We could smell them.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Alex said. “They gotta be sleeping.”
“Perhaps,” CB said. “But we didn’t find any sleeping, either.”
Alex had to admit that was a bit troubling.
“These are dumb animals we’re dealing with,” Firefly said. “They operate on instinct. Maybe they burrow as far below the Earth as they can. Maybe they’re all sleeping on G10.”
“Could be,” CB allowed. “If so, we’re going to be bumping right up against them.”
He then showed the team what he and Firefly had found. It was a blueprint of the facility that showed the layout of each floor, as well as what was on each of them. It showed the reactor control room was in the center of G9.
“Guess we’re going almost all the way down,” Alex said.
“Yes,” CB said. “I’d like us to concentrate our efforts. Everyone together in Reactor 1 now. Once we get the control panel out, we’ll head back to Reactor 2 if there’s time.” He glanced at his watch. “We have five and a half hours before sunset. Should be plenty of time to get them out, but if worse comes to worst, we can always make a return trip for the second control panel if Director Bowen thinks she needs it.”
The team studied the blueprint in silence for a moment, then Owl said, “The doors are gonna be a problem. The rover is six feet wide. It’ll fit through the double doors on the ground floor, but the doors to each underground floor are much smaller. No way it’s squeezing through those.”
“I can widen those doors for you.”
“Those walls are solid concrete,” Simmons said, “and the frames are steel.”
Firefly grinned. “Not a problem. I can blow a hole in the wall wide enough for two rovers to pass side by side.”
“Maybe so, but it would make one hell of a racket,” CB said. “Besides, an explosion that big could compromise the stairs. We can’t risk it. We’ll have to dismantle the control panel and bring it out to the rover piece by piece.”
Firefly didn’t look happy, but he didn’t voice a complaint either.
“We’re going to do this safely,” CB said. “Firefly and I have already swept floors G1 through G5. We’re going to sweep G6, 7, and 8 before we get to work on 9.”
“You sure we have time for that, Captain?” Drew asked.
“We’re making time for it. The last thing we want is to find out we have vampires between us and our exit.”
“We’ve got the Daylights covering our escape path, too,” Alex said.
“Yes,” CB said. “But, remember, they only have a twenty-minute battery life. We have to leave them turned off until we need them. That’s Owl’s job.”
Owl nodded. “I’ve got them all rigged up on a remote. I can click them all on at once from the rover if shit goes sideways.”
CB folded up the blueprint and stuck it in his vest. “Drew, Firefly, Alex, and I will go on ahead to sweep floors G6 through G8. Simmons, you stay with Owl and watch her back. The two of you work on getting the rover down the stairs. You got any questions, now’s the time, because once we’re in there, we’ll need to be as quiet as possible.”
He waited a moment and heard no questions.
“Good. Let’s move out.”
***
Before heading back down, the team checked the three above-ground levels. Unlike in Reactor 2, no vampires were lurking up there. They did, however, find a massive hole in the ceiling of level 3. It looked like a cannon had shot through the domed roof. The gap had to be fifteen feet wide.
“Okay,” CB said. “Looks like we’re clear up here. Let’s head down where the darkness lives.”
Levels G6, G7, and G8 were much like the other levels CB and Firefly had described: empty and smelling of death. Since there were four of them working together now, they were able to search all three floors thoroughly in less than an hour. Owl drove the eight-wheeled rover down the stairs, waiting one landing behind the team until CB had declared the next level safe and given her the all-clear to proceed. Simmons waited with her, his rifle at the ready in case trouble came from below.
They reached level G9 and headed in. With the blueprint, they knew the exact location of the control room, but once again CB wanted to err on the side of caution and swept the rest of the floor before proceeding to their destination. Alex kept her sword in hand; if they did encounter a stray vampire as they had in Reactor 2, she’d try to take it out quietly.
Alex was starting to think perhaps they were being overly cautious. Maybe there weren’t that many vampires in this facility to begin with, and any that were here were sleeping. But she forced herself to be like CB, to put caution ahead of all else. Besides, CB and Firefly had heard a vampire roar, so there was at least one awake and unaccounted for in this reactor.
After clearing the rest of the level, CB, Alex, Drew, and Firefly prepared to enter the control room. Alex stood in front of the double doors, sword in hand. CB hunched next to her, pistols at the ready. He counted them down with his fingers, and on three Firefly and Drew threw the doors wide.
Two vampires crouched on the floor near the massive control panel ten feet from the door. They whipped their heads in the direction of the door and trained their inhuman eyes on the team.
Alex leaped forward, sword raised. She heard three gunshots ring out as she reached the vampire. She swung her sword hard, and it hit the target, slicing into the vampire’s neck and cleanly removing its head.
She spun toward the other vampire, but it was already prone, a trio of closely grouped bullet holes in the center of its chest.
CB stood at the door, his pistol still trained on the downed creature.
Firefly and Drew dashed inside, one going left and the other going right, and cleared the room. There were no other vampires.
“Nice work, Alex,” CB said.
“You too, Captain.”
“Let’s just hope the gunfire didn’t wake up any of their friends.”
“Holy hell,” Drew said.
Alex turned and saw he was looking at the control panel. She whistled, echoing Drew’s sentiment.
The control panel ran all the way to the ceiling, along the entire back wall of the room. Alex guessed it was twelve feet high and fifteen feet wide. Three feet above the floor, the panel angled out at forty-five degrees, presumably so the operator could sit in a chair while monitoring it. The entire surface was covered in tightly grouped rows of knobs and dials, with the occasional monitor mounted in seemingly random spots across the panel.
“You sure this is all Director Bowen needs, Captain?” Drew asked. “She doesn’t want us to bring back anything else? Like maybe the Statue of Liberty?”
CB didn’t reply, but it was clear from the look on his face he was as overwhelmed as the rest of them. The control panel on New Haven was one third th
e size of this beast.
“Okay,” CB said. “Same rules apply here. Caution above all else. We dismantle this thing methodically. I’d rather have to come back for another day down here than do it wrong. Last thing we want is to get back to the ship and find out we broke this damn thing. First thing—”
A flash of movement in the doorway caught everyone’s eyes. Alex spun toward the door. A vampire was sprinting toward them, its fangs bared. Alex raised her sword, ready to meet the creature, but Firefly was already on it. He shot the vampire five times in the chest before it reached the door.
“Nice shooting,” Alex said.
Firefly holstered his weapon. “And you guys thought I could only blow things up.”
“Damn,” Drew said. “Where’d he come from? We swept the floor.”
“Must have come from G10,” CB said. “Looks like Firefly’s theory of them wanting to be as far beneath the Earth as possible is proving true.”
Alex took a deep breath to calm her jangled nerves. Owl and Firefly were holding fast in the main stairwell, and she hadn’t heard any gunfire from their direction. The vampire must have come through one of the other three stairwells they’d seen.
“We’ll keep one person at the door at all times,” CB said. “The rest of us will work on dismantling this thing. We’ll rotate who’s on guard duty every thirty minutes. Let’s get to work.”
***
The next three hours were filled with the difficult and mentally grueling task of dismantling the control panel while watching their backs for vampires.
Director Bowen had given them detailed written instructions, but translating her notes to this much larger unit was an arduous process. They’d check the instructions, begin to remove a component, encounter something unexpected, and then have to check the instructions again to see if they even had the correct component.
At one point, Drew grumbled, “If we have to come down here again, we’re bringing Bowen with us. She can dismantle the thing her own damn self.”
It was mentally exhausting work. Combine that with carrying the components out to the rover, and they were all starting to get tired.