by P. T. Hylton
Alex nodded toward the backpack. “You miss it, Firefly?”
“It’s Garrett,” he said, almost under his breath. “Getting to blow stuff up? Hell yeah, I do.”
Alex turned to the recruits. “You should have seen this guy in action. There was this one time we were trapped in this tiny control room in a nuclear reactor building, surrounded by vampires on every side. Your captain pulls out the cutter and goes to work, cutting a hole in the damn floor. We dropped down to the next level and ran right out from under the bastards.”
Firefly laughed. “Cutting the hole in the floor was your idea, if I remember correctly.”
“Team effort. That’s how we worked best.”
Firefly nodded. He glanced at the recruits, and the smile slipped from his face. “Anyway, that’s enough war stories for now. Got that charge ready, Lieutenant?”
Alex chuckled. At least she’d gotten Firefly to drop his bigwig routine for a second. That was a step in the right direction.
“Ready,” Chuck said. “Stand clear.”
He pressed a button and the charge exploded with a loud pop, knocking the door off its hinges.
They waited for a tense moment for the familiar angry howl of a woken vampire, but none came.
Patrick said, “Not a lot of room in there, Captain. Unless you want us all standing shoulder to shoulder—”
“I got you.” Alex started toward the door, intending to check the small building with one of the others, but then she stopped. It was time to start trusting her team. “Patrick, Ed, clear the building.”
Ed grinned. “The Barton brothers are on it.”
She stopped herself again just as she was about to remind them to check the dark areas for vampires. They knew their jobs. It was time to let them do them.
Patrick awkwardly clutched his shotgun. After Hope’s death, he’d asked Alex if he could start carrying her favorite weapon instead of his usual carbine. She’d quickly agreed. Having a shotgun on the team came in handy, and it was a great way for him to honor Hope’s memory.
The brothers entered the building and gave it a quick sweep.
“There’s nothing here, Captain,” Patrick called. “Total waste of ti—”
His words were cut off and a clanging sound split the air, like something heavy had been dropped onto a metal surface.
“What happened?” Alex paced toward the building.
“He fell through the floor,” Ed answered. “Patrick, you okay?”
Alex walked through the door just in time to hear an echoey response.
“Yeah, I’m good. But I think I found something. There’s a big steel door. Like a vault, maybe.”
That sounded promising. Maybe this mission wasn’t going to be a bust after all.
“It’s locked up tight!” Patrick called. “We’re going to need the cutter.”
Alex turned back to the group waiting outside. “Chuck?”
Once again, Chuck turned crimson. “Yes, ma’am. The thing is, I didn’t think we’d need the cutter. I haven’t learned how… you know.”
Alex took a step toward him. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You don’t know how to use it? I told you to spend time with Brian’s team learning the gear.”
“I did, Captain. It’s just, after learning all about the explosives, my brain was fried. I asked if we could wait until—”
“I don’t want to hear it.” She turned to Firefly. “Remember that teamwork we were talking about?”
Firefly smiled, and for a moment she saw a glimpse of her old teammate. “On it.” He walked to Chuck’s backpack and picked it up, slinging it over his shoulder. “Lower me down, rookie.”
Ten minutes later, he was through the door and the team followed him into what lay beyond.
“Now this is more like it,” Ed said.
The vault was a forty-by-forty-foot room with ten-foot-high ceilings. The walls and floor were made of steel. Much like the prison, it looked pristine. More importantly, the room was lined with large shelving units filled with crates.
“Sweep the room before we dig in,” Alex reminded them.
It didn’t take long to ensure there were no vampires, and then Ed cracked open one of the crates.
“This…this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Alex looked over his shoulder and saw the crate was full of rifles.
Firefly grinned. “This is a huge find. What else do we have?”
The Barton brothers ran through the vault, prying open crate after crate, cheering each time they uncovered a new type of weapon. They discovered a massive variety of rifles and pistols. They found grenades and landmines. One crate even had missile launchers.
As each crate opened, Alex felt like a weight was pressing harder against her chest. They’d accomplished their mission, but what would the consequences be? Each weapon here would make Fleming a little more confident. Each gun brought them one step closer to Resettlement.
She felt like screaming. Her every success was bringing her enemy one step closer to victory.
There was only one way forward. Firefly. She needed to win him over, and she needed to do it soon.
He grinned at her. “Looks like we’re going to need that pretty new rover they built you.”
“One problem,” Chuck interjected. “Owl can’t land. How are we going to get it down here?”
Alex nodded toward the backpack Firefly was still wearing. “You got enough explosives in that thing to clear a landing site?”
“I sure do,” Firefly answered.
Ed and Patrick both stopped what they were doing and looked up.
“Um, can we help?” Patrick asked.
It took four hours to clear a landing zone and load the ship. In the end, they only had room to take a small portion of crates. It would take four or five more trips down here to get the rest of the weapons.
As the away ship took off, Firefly nudged Alex. “Hey, that was a great mission. We should celebrate. Want to have dinner with me tonight?”
She blinked hard, taken aback. “Um, are you...”
“No! I mean, not like that. Not a date or anything.” His expression grew more serious. “But we need to talk.”
She hesitated only a moment before answering. “You’re right. We do need to talk, Garrett. Dinner it is.”
15
Alex drew in a deep breath and stepped through the dim doorway. It took her about three seconds to realize she was wildly underdressed.
She’d come straight from the debriefing room, and she wore an old flak jacket over a ratty T-shirt and pants that hadn’t seen a washing machine in a week. And the people around her…the only times she’d seen people dressed this nicely were weddings and city council meetings.
But what could she do about it now? She was committed.
She spotted a man waving to her from a table across the room, and it took her a moment to recognize him. When she did, she had to stifle a laugh. The sharply dressed man with slicked-back hair didn’t looked much like her old GMT friend. No wonder he’d left the debriefing early.
She walked to the table and sat down across from him.
“Welcome,” Firefly said. “You ever been here?”
“I’ve never even heard of this place. I don’t make it to the Hub often. Except for meetings.” She took another look around, hoping she didn’t look as uncomfortable as she felt. “Is this really necessary? We could have met at Tankards.”
Firefly raised an eyebrow at the mention of their old favorite dive bar. “Why would we do that? Alex, you deserve to reward yourself. We both do. That was quite the haul we brought back today.”
“Maybe your idea of reward is different than mine. Besides, we didn’t even run into any hostiles.”
“Yeah, but we got results. That’s what matters. You should try the wine. The waiter said it’s from one of their best barrels. It’s been aging longer than we’ve been alive.”
Alex took a long drink to humor him, hop
ing it would make her feel less out of place. She needed to focus. She needed to talk to Firefly, and this was the prime opportunity to do so. “I can’t believe all those weapons. It’s tough to imagine anyone would ever need that many.”
“Yeah, I hear you. A few months ago, I would have said the same thing. But we sure as hell need them now. Nights are going to get cold on the surface, and I’ll feel a lot better if every one of my people has a warm rifle in their hands.”
She resisted the urge to launch into a diatribe against Resettlement right then. She had to be smarter than that. She needed to play this like Fleming would.
“Anyway,” he continued, “all I’m saying is you’re kind of an important person in New Haven now. Enjoy it. God knows you’ve earned it.”
“Is that what you’re doing? Enjoying it?”
The skin tightened around his eyes as he frowned. “What I’m doing is working my ass off. In my few hours of free time, yeah, I’m trying to enjoy a few of the perks. Is there something wrong with that?”
“Of course not, Garrett.” She almost tripped over the name as it fell heavily past her lips, but she needed to be nice. “Listen, there’s something I need to talk to you about. Something that could change the plans for Resettlement.”
She went on to tell him about the conversation with Jaden and the things she’d learned. About how masters controlled turned vampires. About how Ferals who drank from humans returned to their intelligent forms. About how vampires could communicate simple ideas psychically.
She spoke in hushed tones, leaning in close so only he could hear her. As she spoke, the color slowly drained from his face.
“You understand what I’m telling you, right?” she said when she’d finished. “I’m not saying Resettlement should never happen, but we need to learn more about the Ferals first. Doing it now will be suicide. The Ferals will learn over time. Individually, they’re dumb animals, but each failure will make the survivors smarter. Eventually, they’ll launch a coordinated attack like they did to us in Texas. And if even one Feral gets into your settlement and turns someone without your knowledge, it's over. They’ll have a slave on the inside.”
“Damn.” He was quiet a moment, staring into his wine glass. “There’s only one thing we can do. We’ve got to tell Fleming. Now.”
He started to stand, but Alex put a hand on his arm.
“We already did,” she said.
He stared back at her in disbelief. “You did?”
“Do you think I’m an idiot, Firefly? The first thing I did when I got back to New Haven was tell CB. He walked directly over to Fleming’s office to tell him. Judging by your reaction, Fleming didn’t exactly rush out to tell his favorite captain.”
Firefly’s lips tightened in a thin line.
“Listen to me,” she said, speaking even more softly. Her voice cracked with emotion when she continued. “Fleming does not understand. You and I have been on the surface. We’ve fought them in the day and in the night. We watched as they tore our friends to shreds. You remember what they did to Drew? What they did to Simmons?”
He broke eye contact, looking down at the table. “Of course I remember.”
“Now imagine that happening to every man and woman who settles in that damn prison. How many people is it going to be? Two hundred?”
“Try three.”
Alex cursed under her breath. “Fleming trusts you. He respects you. You have to convince him to put this thing on pause. He’s so blinded by his confidence that he isn’t seeing the obvious. The people he sends down there? They won’t last a week in that prison.”
“Fort Sterns,” Firefly said softly.
“Excuse me?”
“He wants to name it Fort Sterns. In honor of the former head of the council. He says it’ll be a nice gesture. After the accident and all.”
“The accident?” Alex said. Her voice sounded distant in her own ears as the anger boiled up in her. Firefly suddenly couldn’t meet her gaze.
He raised his glass with a shaky hand and took a big swallow of red wine. When he set it down, he looked her in the eye. “The accident, whatever it was, I’m sure every person involved wishes it hadn’t happened. But it did. We gotta find a way to move on from it.”
“What about justice?” Her voice was cold, her initial plan to remain friendly forgotten.
“It’s time to grow up, Alex. If Fleming knows about what Jaden told you, we have our answer. Resettlement is moving forward. Get onboard. I’m telling you this as a friend. You have a good position here, but Fleming has powerful supporters. People who go up against Fleming don’t keep their jobs too long. Ask General Craig.”
Alex took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but her very surroundings made her even more angry. “The people in this restaurant, the ones you’re enjoying the good life with, they won’t be the people he sends to ‘Fort Sterns.’ It’ll be the badges. The worker bees. The people from the Ridge. The ones Fleming claimed to be fighting for when he rose to power. These people here in the Hub will be the last ones to soil their fancy shoes with the dust of the Earth.”
“Alex, please.”
The panic in his eyes made Alex realize how loudly she’d been speaking. She looked around and saw the people at the surrounding tables were staring at her. Some were even whispering. All of which served to make her even angrier.
Firefly leaned close and spoke softly. “Listen, I understand your concerns. I swear to God, I do. You think I haven’t considered this stuff? There are huge risks to Resettlement. But staying up here isn’t any better. We’re one major system failure away from this ship crashing and every person aboard dying. There is no safe option. But in Fort Sterns we’ll have the walls.”
“You know as well as I do that a vampire at night could hop that wall.”
“And it’ll get burned by the daylights if it tries. Or lit up by our armed guards.”
“What about silvermail? How are they going to make enough for three hundred people in less than a month?”
“We won’t need it. Not with our other defenses.”
“You’re delusional.” She pushed back her chair and stood up.
“We haven’t even ordered yet,” he said, the shock clear on his face. “You’re not going to eat?”
“No. I’m not hungry. I’m going to grab a beer in the Ridge. Enjoy your wine, Firefly.”
Aaron vividly remembered his first thought after he’d become a vampire during the third wave of the great infestation.
He remembered the feelings, too: the hunger, the irresistible compulsion to follow his master’s commands, the electric feeling of power racing through his veins where blood had once flowed.
But mostly he remembered the thought: now anything is possible.
In that imagined glimpse of his limitless future, he’d never imagined that he’d spend every night in a musky storeroom moving boxes and filling out spreadsheets. And yet, here he was, hunched over a computer at a little after two in the morning, entering the updated grain inventory into a color-coded cell on a spreadsheet. The color was Orange, Accent 2. He knew because he’d used it approximately eighteen hundred times over the past four nights.
To make matters worse, not only was he forced to do mindless labor, they didn’t even trust him to do it correctly. Toby, their trainer/chaperone, watched over his shoulder as Aaron keyed in the information. Aaron idly wondered how long it would take him to rip out Toby’s throat. Would Toby even have a chance to put up a fight? Aaron guessed he wouldn’t. He speculated he could kill Toby before the other vampire even knew what was happening.
Of course, Aaron’s own throat would probably be ripped out by Jaden and his vampire disciples shortly thereafter. If they were feeling generous. If not, they’d throw him back out in the snow to starve.
So Aaron kept a forced smile on his face even while working on his meaningless tasks.
He saved his spreadsheet and called, “Yo, Mark! You got those gears stocked?”
Mark ra
ced up a ladder, a box under one arm. He moved at a pace that would have been shocking if he’d been a human. He quickly reached the top and placed the box on a shelf.
“Done,” he said.
“Excellent.” Aaron turned in his chair to look at their chaperone. “What else you got for us, Toby?”
Toby laughed and shook his head. “You guys are like kids running around, always in a hurry. In time you’ll learn to pace yourselves.”
“Kids?” Mark asked, climbing down the ladder. “We’re nearly two hundred years old. How old are you?”
“Four hundred thirteen.”
Aaron didn’t know how to respond to that. Toby looked to be in his forties. Did age mean anything in a world where your looks never changed? “There’s got to be some more work we can do. We’ve got four hours until dawn.”
Toby shook his head again, then pulled the radio off his belt. “Griffin, you there?”
“Yeah, buddy,” the reply came. “What do you got for me?”
Toby glanced at Aaron. “Two eager vampire cubs looking for work. You need a couple pairs of hands?”
Aaron and Mark spent the rest of the night helping five other vampires install new piping for the water system. They were still away from the humans, and the crew boss, Griffin, kept a wary eye on them throughout the night, but it was nice to get a change of scenery.
They learned quite a bit by simply keeping their mouths shut and listening. They learned about how Jaden often left with a team to get supplies for Agartha. Maybe just as importantly, they learned there was another human city, one that was built on an airship. Apparently, the people on the airship were trying to resettle onto the surface.
A half hour before sunrise, Toby showed up to take them back to their quarters. He had a surprise for them: two blood packs.
“Reward for a hard night’s work,” he told them.
Back in their quarters, Aaron and Mark drank from the packs as they lounged on their beds. Normally, they each got one packet a day, delivered just after they woke, so this was a rare treat.
Aaron set down the empty packet and lay his head on his pillow. The combination of a full belly and the approaching dawn had left him tired and happy. “We did well tonight, Mark. Toby is starting to like us. I’ll bet they give us access to more parts of the city soon.”