by Brandon Hale
“No,” Lily said. “Start your hike to the cave. It’s a long walk. We’re okay here. Take care, Ash. Lily out.”
“Alright,” Grung said. “Vampire burners, let’s burn some vampires.”
“I wish this was a zombie apocalypse,” Carl said. “I think I’d have done better in a zombie apocalypse. Stupid vampires.”
“Well, it wasn’t a zombie apocalypse,” Lily said. “Get over it. I swear, I think Wallace put you on this team to punish me.”
“I’m not that bad,” Carl mumbled.
“You really are,” Grung said. “But we’ll continue this verbal bashing later. Right now, we have a bigger question to answer.”
“What question?” Lily asked.
Grung pointed toward something behind her. “Who the hell are those guys?”
The team turned around. “That,” Carl said, “is a question I can’t answer.”
Five figures stood in the center of the street. To Lily, they looked like men, but she couldn’t be sure because they were at least fifty yards away. They were also covered – head to toe – in black clothes. Even their heads were covered by what looked like ski masks and their eyes were hidden behind black goggles. Lily couldn’t be sure because of the distance, but each one seemed to be carrying a pistol.
The figures weren’t walking toward them. They simply stood in the center of the street, apparently watching the soldiers.
“Guys,” Lily said, “I think we need get inside my house.”
“Why?” Carl asked. “It’s daylight. They’re clearly not vampires. Maybe they’re here to help.”
“That’s an order,” Lily said. “We know my house is clean. Let’s get inside. If they want to talk to us, they can do it through the door. I don’t like this.”
“They could be another group of Day Soldiers—”
“Get in the damn house, Carl!” Lily snapped. “Why is it so hard for you to understand those five simple words?”
“Okay,” Carl said as they all jogged to Lily’s house and stepped inside the front door.
As soon as all nine soldiers were inside, Grung closed the door behind them. Lily immediately activated her communicator.
“Scott, are you there? Commander Wallace?”
“Nothing?” Grung asked.
Lily shook her head. “Maybe they went back to the cave. We lost signal to the cave about half way here. Or maybe they found the river facility and went inside.”
Carl looked out the window and said, “They’re coming toward the house.”
“I say we retreat,” Grung said. “They didn’t identify themselves. They didn’t wave or say hello. They just stood there holding what I’m pretty sure were guns.”
“They could be zealots,” another soldier – a young woman with brown hair that came to her shoulders – said. “Like the ones that attacked us in Maryland.”
“They’re vampires,” Lily said.
“How do you know?” Carl asked.
“Those guys are wrapped up like mummies,” Lily said. “They’re vamps. They were waiting for us and I don’t think the ones that live here even knew about em. I bet the only reason we got the two in the kitchen is because we slipped in before daylight. Grung’s right. We’re retreating. Where are they now?”
Carl peeked out the window and said, “Crap.” He turned back to the others and added, “They’re directly in front of the house, standing in the street. If they’re enemies, why aren’t they attacking?”
“Good question,” Lily said. She activated her mic again. “Ash, are you guys safe?”
Nothing.
“Ashley, are you there?”
“You should not have gone into the house.”
It was a man’s voice.
“Who is this?” Lily demanded.
The voice didn’t answer.
“They’re still on the street,” Carl said. “And I don’t think they’re vampires.”
“Why?” Lily said.
“Because Grung was right,” Carl said. “They’re holding guns. Vampires don’t use guns. They fought a war for ten years without pulling a single trigger. Why would they start now?”
“These aren’t the same vamps we fought in the war,” Grung said.
“Right,” Lily said. “Those things were killed in the purges. These guys are different. Besides, the wolves called the shots in the war. Now that they’re gone, all bets are off.”
Carl turned around. “Why aren’t we just killing them? I mean, you two have killed thousands of vampires and werewolves. You’re kind of famous for it, you know. Why are we hiding from these five mystery men?”
“Because they want us to attack,” Lily said. “Obviously, there are more of them out there. The guy on Ashley’s headset proves that. If we try to fight them without having some idea of what we’re up against, we’re dead, kid.”
Carl looked outside again. The men were still standing in the street, calmly watching the house. “If there are more of them, why aren’t they attacking? We’re easy targets in here. They could just set the place on fire.”
Lily looked at Grung. “The declaration video, Grung.”
“Ah, shit,” Grung said.
“They want you alive,” another soldier said.
Lily nodded.
“We’re idiots,” Grung said. “After that video last year, you’re the face of the Day Soldiers.”
“They mapped our attacks,” Lily said.
“And predicted you’d end up here,” Carl finished. “They want you alive because you’re a symbol. A public execution would be their way of saying the old world is officially dead.”
Lily smiled. “Exactly. Finally, we have some good news.”
Carl’s expression shifted from understanding to confusion. “Good news? How is this good news?”
“We know what we’re up against,” Grung said.
“At least we have a good guess,” Lily added. “And that means the advantage just shifted to us. First, they don’t want to kill me. I’m sure they will if they have to, but they’ll try to avoid it.”
“And secondly,” Grung said, “there’s nothing special about them. They’re probably just vamps. Which means all we really have to do is expose their skin to the sun and they’ll freak.”
“Okay,” Carl admitted, “that is good news.”
“Stick with us,” Grung said, “and we’ll turn you into a real Day Soldier.”
“God, no,” Lily said. “The preacher in Gettysburg was less annoying.”
Grung laughed.
“You guys are jerks,” Carl said.
“You have no idea,” Grung said, then turned to Lily and added, “So, what’s the plan for our buddies outside?”
Still smiling, Lily said, “Let’s find out what we’re up against. Then we can worry about a plan.”
The masked figures in the street watched calmly as the front door opened. Lily stood in the doorway, crossbow in hand.
One of the figures stepped forward and spoke. “If you come alone, the others can go.”
Lily shot him in the heart and quickly closed the door.
“Carl?” Lily asked.
“He’s lying in the street,” Carl said. “He’s dead.”
“Okay,” Lily said with a quick nod. “They’re nothing special.”
“Except that they have guns,” Grung said.
“Guns,” Lily said, “we can deal with—”
Her headset beeped.
Lily’s eyes flashed with anger as she spoke into her mic. “I don’t know who you are, but if you don’t put Ashley on right now, you’ll regret it. That’s a promise, and if you know anything about me, you know I keep my promises.”
“Lily, it’s Scott.”
“Oh, thank God,” Lily said.
“What’s going on?” Scott asked. “We just found out Iveyton has been very active lately, even during the day.”
“We know, Scott,” Lily said. “It was a setup. They were waiting for us to get to Iveyton. We think they w
ant to make an example of me because of that damn video we made last year.”
“I think we can have folks there in an hour and a half,” Scott said. “Can you hold them off that long?”
“Maybe,” Lily said. “I’m pretty sure I just pissed them off. We might have a fight on our hands soon, but I wouldn’t say no to some backup.”
“I can be there in thirty minutes,” Scott said. “The rest of the team will just have to catch up.”
“You’re gonna wolf out?” Lily asked. “You must really love us.”
“I guess,” Scott said. “Stay safe. We’ll be there soon.”
“We’re finally gonna see what he looks like as a wolf?” Grung said. “Neat.”
“What did he say?” Carl asked.
“He wanted us to offer you as a sacrifice,” Lily said. “I told him maybe, but don’t worry. I won’t do it unless we’re completely out of options.”
“You’re hilarious,” Carl said.
Lily looked around the room. “Okay. Everybody, come with me. We’re heading to the basement.”
“You’ve clearly never watched Night of the Living Dead,” Carl said.
Lily looked at him for a moment, then turned to Grung. “There are no windows down there, but there is a reinforced door that goes outside. We can watch both exits without worrying about them shooting us through a window. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best choice we have, I think.”
“See,” Grung said, “this is what happens when Wallace splits up the B-Team.”
“I seriously doubt,” Carl said, “things would have been different if Scott and Ellie were here.”’
“You weren’t in New York,” Grung said.
“Get over yourselves,” Carl said. “I was in New York. I was one of the snipers on the roof, and from where I stood, you guys would have been dead if it weren’t for us. You’re not super heroes, you know. You’re just some soldiers that got lucky.”
“That’s it.” Lily said. “Let me demonstrate the difference between action and luck.” She walked to the front door. “If they attack and we manage to kill a few of them, that will be largely due to good luck.” She pulled the door open, shot another bolt from her crossbow, then slammed the door shut. “Two down.”
“What are you doing?” Carl asked.
Lily reloaded the weapon, opened the door, fired again, then shut it again. “Three.”
“Are you insane?” Carl groaned. “You don’t know how many are out there! You’ll draw them in on us for sure.”
“Those dead vampires are not the result of bad luck,” Lily said. “They’re dead because I took action and they didn’t.”
Grung peeked out the window. “The last two are gone.” He turned to Carl. “She hates when you say her accomplishments were just luck.”
“And when they retaliate,” Carl said, ignoring Grung, “it will be because you had to show off. It will be because you can’t handle the fact that not everybody worships you like a god.”
The other soldiers remained silent. After a year of travels, they learned long ago to just stay quiet when Lily and Carl played their arguing game.
“You’ve gone on at least thirty missions with us,” Lily argued. “Every time, the mission was successful. Every damn time. Maybe you should learn to trust my judgment.”
“You’re a terrible leader,” Carl snapped. “Everybody here knows it. You want proof? You know full well the vamps outside can hear everything we’re saying, yet you continue to bicker, distracting every member of the team. You don’t even care that any distraction could get us killed! You only care about showing us how badass you are. I’m surprised they haven’t already attacked—”
“Now!” Grung yelled as he pressed himself against the wall beside the living room window.
The window exploded as several masked men burst through it. The front door flew open and a few more of the mystery attackers ran inside. All of them had weapons drawn, but paused when they saw nobody to shoot. The room appeared to be empty.
“Seven,” Grung said.
The men turned around to see him against the wall, between the front door and the window. He immediately fired a crossbow into the nearest one’s heart.
Before the others could retaliate, wooden bolts blasted toward them from several directions. Two seconds later, they were all dead.
Lily and Carl were standing behind the couch. A few soldiers stepped in from the kitchen doorway while the rest stepped in from the hallway leading to the stairs. During the argument, each soldier had inched toward a good hiding place.
“I can’t believe that worked,” Carl said.
Grung laughed. “We picked that little trick up in training.” He pointed to his own ear. “Super hearing can be a weapon for us as much as them.”
“So what now?” Carl asked.
His question was answered by the flaming bottle that flew in through the broken window.
Lily quickly picked it up and threw it back out the window. As the bottle left the house, five more flaming bottles flew in and landed in the living room floor.
“Come on!” Lily yelled as she ran toward the kitchen. The team followed.
“What’s the plan?” Grung asked.
“The back door isn’t far from the woods,” Lily said. “We’ll have to make a run for it and hope the trees protect us. I’m not worried about the vampires as much as I’m worried about the bullets.”
“We’ll never make it to those woods,” Carl said. “They’re obviously waiting for us to step outside so they can pick us off.”
Lily looked back toward the living room. Smoke floated in through the doorway. The soft orange light behind it made her heart beat just a little faster.
My house is burning down.
Shaking off the thought, she looked at Carl and said, “For once, I agree with you. But I honestly can’t think of anything better.”
Carl was quiet for a moment, then said, “Me either.”
“How long has it been since you talked to Scott?” Grung asked.
“Not sure,” Lily said. “About twenty minutes, you think?” She looked back toward the living room. The smoke was thicker and the light was brighter. “I guess we could hang here in the kitchen as long as possible and hope the others arrive before the fire pushes us out the door.”
“Won’t be long,” Carl said as he looked toward the living room. He had his shirt pulled up to cover his nose and mouth. “I think the fire is working its way up the stairs.”
Smoke had already filled the kitchen, which had its advantages as far as Lily was concerned. Since everyone’s eyes were watering because of the smoke, nobody questioned the tears pouring down her cheeks. She had said her goodbyes to Iveyton a long time ago, but that didn’t lessen the pain she felt as she watched her childhood home burn.
Grung placed a hand on her shoulder. “You okay, chief?”
She looked at him and nodded. “We all lost everything in this war. I’m nothing special.”
“Most of us,” Grung said, “didn’t actually see our old lives die… twice.”
Lily’s eyes began to burn from the smoke. “I think it’s time to go. We can’t make that run with lungs full of smoke.”
Grung nodded and turned to the other soldiers. “When we start the run, stay low and don’t look around. Just sprint. If a teammate falls in front of you, jump over them and keep running. If you can get a clear shot of one of these guys, take it. But don’t go looking for them. Your goal is the woods.”
“And when you get to the woods,” Lily added, “keep running. The deeper you get in those woods, the less likely it will be that they’ll follow. Keep your radio on, but maintain silence until you hear from Grung or me.”
“Okay, field runners,” Grung said, “let’s run across that field.”
“That sounded kinda dumb,” Carl said.
“Shut your face,” Grung said as he jerked the kitchen door open, ran outside… and stopped as soon as he was in the yard.
Lily a
lmost ran into Grung’s back. “What the hell, man?” After she looked up, she quickly added, “Oh.”
Several of the masked men stood in front of them. Lily quickly counted.
Eleven.
“They weren’t here ten seconds ago,” Carl said.
Four more seemed to drop from the sky and land in front of them.
“What the hell?” Carl looked up, apparently expecting a helicopter.
“They’re jumping from the roof,” Lily explained.
“Oh.”
Five more dropped and the masked figures spread out until they formed a full circle around the soldiers. This group seemed to be a mix of males and females, but they were still completely covered in black.
Each one pointed a gun at the humans.
One of them – a male – stepped to the front. “I have no desire to see more of my people die,” he said. “Because of this, I offer you a compromise. Come with us, and your friends can leave. The four humans we captured in the woods are unharmed. If you come with us, they will be set free as well. We only want you.”
“I’m sorry,” Lily said, “but with the mask and goggles, I really can’t tell who you’re talking to. If you’re asking Carl to go with you, sure. You have a deal.”
“Hey!” Carl said.
The figure pointed at Lily. “You,” he said. “You have thirty seconds to decide and prevent the inevitable bloodbath we both want to avoid.”
Lily gave Grung a sideways glance and said, “What do you think? You could come rescue me after they let you go.”
“No,” Grung said flatly, still staring at the lead figure. “These guys are lying. As soon as they have you, they’ll kill us all.”
“Yeah,” Lily said. She looked back at the leader and asked, “What kind of guarantee can you give me that you’ll keep your word?”
The figure chuckled. “I offer no guarantee,” he said. “And frankly, you’re in no position to refuse my—”
The leader was silenced by something large and brown. At first, Lily was completely confused. One second the leader was speaking, the next, he was tackled by a brown blur. Lily grinned when she realized what was on top of him.
A werewolf.