by Derek Gunn
He would have to find Adam Wilkins and see if anything could be salvaged, though he doubted it. He looked at the torn mess of metal and exposed wires on the ground around him and shuddered.
What were they going to do?
Epilogue
The helicopter lay on its side deep in a gully about two miles from the main highway. The rain pinged loudly on the metal shell and sounded like golf balls in the enclosed space. Harris lifted his head and immediately placed it on the cool metal floor as nausea threatened to sweep him away back into unconsciousness. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but, if there had been a fire, the rain had already put it out.
How far had they travelled, he suddenly wondered? Had the plant blown or had the core melted and resulted in a steam explosion? Was he already dying of radiation or could it travel this far in the rain? Questions flooded his mind but he could not answer any of them. He tried to lift his head again and the nausea returned, though not as badly as before. He fought off the nausea long enough to look around.
He could see two other bodies in the cab with him, though they were both still and unmoving. He tried to call out but his voice cracked and the sound was drowned out by the relentless downpour. He moved his hands and fingers first, and then began the long, laborious task of trying to free himself.
It took a while, but eventually he managed to pull himself from the cab of the wrecked helicopter. The rain was painful as he came out from the protection of the metal, but he savoured the feel of each pinprick. He was alive, though for how long had yet to be seen. It was only a matter of time before the thralls came looking for their commander. Would they stay away from the radiation or would they risk a search party?
He looked up into the sky and opened his mouth to sooth his parched throat. If it was poisoned he was already dead anyway. He heard a noise from inside the helicopter and he pulled himself reluctantly away from the rain as he went back inside to see if any of the others had survived.
The pilot was dead, the helicopter had crashed nose first and there hadn’t been a lot left of the unfortunate thrall. Warkowski was alive, though his ribs were either broken or badly bruised. He had lost his index finger on his left hand and his earlobe had been torn off on the left side of his face. Not bad, considering. It was only after Harris had pulled the big man from the wreckage into the rain that he woke up at all. Harris had thought that he had seen the big man in worse condition but there could be internal injuries he couldn’t see. Only time would tell. If they had the time, that was.
“What part of ‘stay put’ didn’t you understand?” Harris grinned as he wiped the blood away form the big man’s face.
Warkowski was groggy but he managed a small smile. “You are far too impetuous to be allowed to go off on your own.” He paused and then grunted as pain creased his face. Harris could see the worry in the man’s eyes and he patted his shoulder reassuringly.
“You have a few knocks; ribs could be broken, but nothing major. You’ll have a nice scar to show your son, though.”
“We will be brothers, then,” Warkowski laughed and then grimaced and drifted off. Harris pulled himself to his feet and wondered at Warkowski’s comments. He brought his hand to his own face tentatively. He was sore but the rain had washed away any blood so he had not thought himself injured. His fingers were numb from the cold so it was hard to be sure whether he had been cut or not. He shrugged, it would keep.
The horizon was already brightening when he started to pull Carter from the wreckage. He had been tempted to put the thrall commander out of his misery. His stomach had been torn badly by jagged metal and Harris could see the dirty grey of the thrall’s intestines poking from the wound. He would heal, of course. As long as they breathed they were able to heal from almost anything. Not quite as quickly as the vampires, and probably not as completely, but he would heal. Would he survive radiation poisoning? Harris wondered as he pulled the thrall from the wreckage with a little more force than was really necessary. He might not be able to bring himself to callously kill the thrall, but he was damned if he’d waste any more time than he had to.
Although the rain had doused any fires that might have resulted from the crash, it was still possible that the fuel could ignite with the heat of the engine. He would get the thrall to safety and then they would leave him.
He doubted that the thrall would return the favour if their situation had been reversed, but he at least still retained his humanity. Besides, Warkowski wasn’t up to walking yet and he was far too heavy to carry. By the time he had finished, Warkowski was beginning to struggle to his feet.
He wondered briefly what this new development would mean for them and for the growing community. He would have to talk to Ricks and see what they should do. If they had to move, then that was something that they would all have to work together for. Would the committee believe him? Would they let him help? Questions, questions, questions. He looked up at the sky as the light chased away the last vestiges of darkness.
The rain was beginning to soften to a heavy drizzle rather than a torrent and he wondered if that was a good thing. It would make travelling more dangerous as visibility improved and would make it easier for search parties to find them. It would also allow any radiation to travel further on the winds. Or had it already been driven into the ground by the rains from before? He shrugged. He felt the first prickling of warmth from the sun as it announced itself across the land.
“I will find you, you know,” he turned to the thrall captain and shrugged.
He wondered if he should tell the thrall about the serum. Would it do any good or would the thrall use it as a weapon against the vampires? One thing was certain, though, people would start dying in the next few months if he did nothing. He sighed and dropped to his haunches as he studied Carter.
“I need to tell you something,” he began as the rain began to ease. He knew that he was taking a chance hanging around wreckage that would act as a beacon to any searching thralls, but he had no choice. “I don’t know if you will do anything about it or whether there is any scrap of humanity left in you, but I leave that to you and your conscience.” Carter looked at him through the haze of pain as his body slowly knitted itself back together.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Peter Harris.”
It took an hour before Harris was happy that he had done everything he could to try and impress upon the thrall the importance of acting upon the information he gave him. He could do no more. By the time he moved over to Warkowski, the big man was waiting.
“Do you think he will stop the serum?”
Harris shrugged as they began to walk away from the thrall. “I don’t know. The logistics of looking after prisoners not doped on the serum would be a nightmare. On the other hand, if all the humans are dead then the vampires will have no choice but to use the thralls for food. It’s a tough call, but he’s not stupid.”
“Then it was worth it?”
“Who knows if any of it is, my friend? We can but do what we think is best. The rest is out of our control.”
The rain had stopped by the time they pulled themselves from the gulley. The sun swept over them, warming their frozen limbs.
“Do you think we’ll make it?” Warkowski asked in a rare flash of concern.
Harris looked at his friend and shrugged. “Radiation, pneumonia or the thralls finding us, take your pick.”
“I’ll take the thralls, my friend, though I miss my rifle.”
“I’ll get you a new one. The thralls have a nice new complex just west of here. We can drop by on our way home.”
“You are mad, my friend. Mad.”
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapte
r 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue