Nothing crazy happened during the flight. There was some slight turbulence, but we stayed in the air. When it came time to land, I was just as freaked out as when we took off. The worst part of all of it was during the landing, when the wheels of the plane connected with the runway. Finally, I was able to look out the window and enjoy the sight of solid ground.
The soldiers who had ridden with us stood up, weapons still in hand. All of them except one exited the plane immediately. The guy who hung back was one burly dude. His hair was buzzed and he had dark brown eyes that were unreadable. The name tag above the right pocket of his uniform said that his last name was Daniels.
“All right!” Daniels hollered at us as he pulled his patrol cap onto his head and slid his sunglasses over his eyes. “We are going to exit the plane and head straight to the cars on the tarmac. Got it?”
We all nodded, but the security involved in this trip rubbed me wrong. It couldn’t be vampires they were worried about, it was broad daylight out there, so that led me to believe that they were having problems with the people who had pledged themselves to the Vampire Council.
These days, anyone who was found bearing the dragon tattoo was imprisoned and given a trial where they would receive their punishment for treason against the United States of America. Many of these people who had pledged themselves had done so simply out of fear, but the government wasn’t giving any leeway for them. You have the tat, you pay the price.
There were those, however, who didn’t join the vampires out of fear, they did it because they wanted to. And even though there were a lot less vampires out there than before, some of those who pledged themselves were still loyal to the enemy.
Chloe and I stood up and retrieved our bags from the compartments and then lined up in the aisle with Gavin, Zander and Christina.
“You all ready?” Daniels asked from the door of the plane.
Once again we all nodded. With his weapon at the ready, Daniels descended the steps of the plane. We followed him down onto the tarmac. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun was beating down, but a light breeze offered us some relief from the heat. Even though it was the end of summer, and fall was quickly approaching, it was still wicked hot most of the time.
We did as Daniels instructed and followed him directly to the three black cars which were waiting for us. “You two,” Daniels pointed at Chloe and I, “get in this one. And you three, in that one.” He pointed where he wanted us to go. “Move!” he snapped, waving his hand urgently. Apparently we weren’t moving fast enough.
Yeah, they were afraid of something. I was glad that we all had our weapons on us, just in case something happened.
I also didn’t like our group being separated. Chloe shot me a worried look as we loaded into the sleek black car. “I know,” I whispered, crawling in beside her. “I don’t like it either.” I knew that she was just as observant as I was and would have noticed how cautious the soldiers were being.
After everyone was safely situated into the cars, they caravanned from the airport to the Pentagon. We had to go through massive security, but eventually we found ourselves being walked into the building.
Men and women in uniforms were everywhere. Some wore the everyday uniforms, while others were wearing their dress uniforms. Then, there were those who didn’t have on any kind of uniform at all.
“This way.” Daniels waved us on.
“Whoa!” Christina whispered from behind me. “How big is this place?”
Daniels spoke as he walked. “There are seven levels total, five are above ground and two below. If you walk every hallway, the distance would be a little over seventeen miles.”
Damn, that was big. “Why was the building built in the shape of a pentagon?” I asked.
“It’s strategy,” Daniels explained, finally glancing back at us. “The Department of Defense was designed so that a person could get from any part of the building to any other point within seven minutes or less.”
Well, that was pretty interesting.
“I’m going to take you to your rooms first and then we will meet with General Ahlman at 1500 hours.”
“You have rooms here? Like, guest rooms?” Chloe asked
Daniels nodded. “Yes, we do. After the vampires started taking over, the basement floors of the building were used to house everyone we could get in there.” He paused, as if reflecting back to that time. “This is one building we didn’t let them take from us.”
“Everyone in here survived?” Zander finally ended his silence.
“Yeah, mostly. We lost a few during the fights. But, we holed up here and did the best we could to live. We sent out teams when we needed supplies, when we did that, we took out any vamps we could. The shitty … er, crappy part was that for every vampire we killed, it seemed like three more would replace it.”
We all nodded. We knew better than anyone how fast the vampires were turning people. But, Daniels story didn’t add up to me and I told him so. “I don’t understand why the vampires didn’t make this place their first priority, after the White House. I mean, you are the Department of Defense, I would think that would be number one on their hit list.”
Daniels paused and looked back at him. “It was number one on their hit list. But, as you said, we are the Department of Defense … so we fought for it. There is a lot that goes on here that the public doesn’t know about, so we are far from vulnerable to attacks.”
So they had secret weapons and possibly hidden rooms. We have a panic room in our place back home, but if a vampire knew we were in there and really wanted us out, they could wait us out if they wanted to. We had food and water inside, but not enough to last more than a few weeks. Vampires could live forever, so the survivor in that situation is obvious.
I wondered if they had a plan for escaping attacks and having to live long term in hiding. They probably did, I couldn’t see the military not having some sort of plan for that.
We took the stairs and went down one floor. Daniels led us down another hallway and then finally stopped in front of a door. “You have two rooms,” he told us. “Probably best to room the girls together and the guys together.”
My eyes slid toward Gavin, who wore an agitated expression. He was probably feeling like a third wheel since Christina and Zander were a couple and so were Chloe and I. In this case, it did make sense to room by gender.
We nodded our understanding as Daniels opened the door. “Also, don’t be wandering around too much. Stay on this floor, there is a cafeteria if you head that way.” He pointed to our right.
“Thank you, sir.” I extended my hand so we could shake. He took it and nodded. “Just doing my job. Hopefully you all can help us to better equip our forces against the vamps.”
“That is what we hope to do as well,” Chloe agreed with him.
“I’ll be back at 1500 hours. Be ready for the meeting.” Without waiting for a response, Daniels turned and marched off in the direction we had come from.
Chloe waited until he was out of earshot before speaking. “Well, at least they didn’t take our weapons from us. I’m kinda shocked they didn’t.”
“Yeah,” Christina added. “Something strange is going on. These guys aren’t only fighting the vampires.”
“It has to be the pledged.” I kept my voice low. “They were loyal to the Vampire Council.” All four of them stared at me as if waiting for me to finish speaking. “Think about it, if they have the dragon, they are imprisoned and probably given the death penalty, so why not keep fighting with the vampires and be taken care of in return.”
Gavin nodded. “That’s what I think too.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “I’m not worried. We’re ready for them if it comes down to it.”
I smiled. My Chloe, always ready to fight. “All right, girls, take this room. We will take the other.”
Chloe and Christina exchanged a look and then entered their room. “See you in a little while,” I called out, closing the door behind them.
Zander h
ad already opened the door to our room gone inside. “Aw, dammit!” I heard him shout. Gavin and I hurried into the room with him. We found him standing there staring at the two full size beds in front of him. “There are only two beds,” he whined. “I’d rather have a set of jailhouse bunk beds at this point.”
I wanted to laugh, but I held it back and just smiled. “What? We can share. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
Gavin threw his bag on one of the beds and glanced at Zander. “Yeah, cause what happens at the Pentagon, stays at the Pentagon.”
Zander wasn’t amused. “I’ll sleep on that couch over there. It looks comfortable enough.” He wandered over to examine it. “A bit on the short side, but it will do.”
I flopped down onto the bed and slid my hands behind my head. “What do you guys think about this place so far?”
Gavin wandered over to the small wooden table and sat in the matching chair. “It seems normal so far. The heavy security measures are what I would consider normal, considering the state of things right now. They were just protecting us from whoever is out there.”
I nodded. That was true, but I couldn’t shake the bad feeling I’d had ever since we boarded the plane. What I really wanted to do was get this meeting over with and go home.
***
Daniels returned about two hours later so that he could take us to the meeting. Chloe and Christina appeared in the hall only moments before Daniels showed up. I couldn’t help but let my gaze linger on her. She wore jeans with black knee length boots and a black tank top that showed a little bit of cleavage. Her necklace lay against her skin, the bullet resting just underneath the neckline of her tank. The bullet was the only jewelry she ever wore. I had the necklace made for her a while back. It was supposed to represent the bullet she had been shot with. I would have used the actual shell from the shooting, but it looked ugly and I didn’t want to give her an ugly gift.
She had her holster strapped on over her clothes, both guns ready to be pulled in an instant. Her extra clips were lined up in a special belt she sometimes wore and I knew that she had at least two knives on her body at all times. If I were to guess, I would say they were strapped to her legs inside her boot.
Seeing her all decked out for battle always made me want to take her in my arms, push her up against the wall and make out until we couldn’t breathe.
I was in love with her.
Everything about her was amazing. Even her crazy, stubborn, reckless ways. Sometimes, she took her dhampir side as some kind of invincibility and did things that put her in danger. I hated when she did crap like that, but at the same time it was one of the reasons I loved her, she was brave.
Chloe Kallistrate was one of the strongest women I’d ever met in my life, and that was saying a lot since I grew up in a community of Vampire Hunters. She had overcome and learned so much in the last few years. When I first met her, we had gone on a mission Luke had ordered and ended up saving her from a vampire attack. Her mother was murdered during that attack.
I remember lifting her into my arms and carrying her to my truck. Back then, she was a defenseless young girl who didn’t have a clue about who she was … or who she could be. She chose to train with me, to learn everything she could about killing vampires, and now she was quickly becoming one of the best Hunters around. In all honesty there weren’t many people I trusted with my life, but she was one of them.
However, being in love with your battle buddy had its downside. I worried about losing her every minute we were in danger. Truth was, she could defend herself far better than I could, but that didn’t take away the urge to protect the one you love.
Sometimes, this feeling made it look like I was being an ass and didn’t trust that she could take care of herself, but that wasn’t it at all. I would always do whatever I had to if it kept her from danger and if that makes me look like a jerk, then so be it, as long as she was alive to chew me out for being that way.
“Um, do you need a moment alone with Chloe?” I was suddenly pulled back into reality as Christina’s voice invaded my thoughts.
“What?”
Christina was grinning and shaking her head while Chloe stared back at me with a worried expression. “Are you all right?” Chloe asked softly. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“I wasn’t staring at you. I was thinking.”
“Well save it for later, big boy.” Christina slapped me on the back. “Daniels is coming.”
I tore my eyes off of Chloe and turned around to find the soldier marching toward us.
He spotted us waiting in the hall and nodded with an appreciative smile. “Good, you’re ready. Let’s move.”
Without a word, the five of us followed Daniels back to the elevator and up to the top level. I wondered if the offices were always on the top level, or if they moved them up after the Apocalypse for the feeling of safety.
I was one of those people who didn’t like being underground. Not having fresh air or windows for the ability to see what’s around me was one of my peeves. If I was in charge around here, the rooms would up on the upper levels, not down below.
“Here we are.” Daniels opened the door and entered the room first. “Good afternoon General … Mr. Secretary.”
Seated at a long, shiny, rectangular table was a gray haired man in a black suit and another man who wore the Army dress blue uniform. Both men immediately stood to greet us. “Good afternoon.” General Ahlman moved from his spot at the table so that he could walk around to shake our hands.
“Hello, my name is James Ahlman, you must be Andrew.” He reached for my hand since I was closest. I extended my arm and accepted his. His grip was firm as he pumped my hand up and down.
“Call me Drew, and it’s a pleasure to meet you sir.”
“Likewise.” He released my hand and gestured to the other man. “Let me introduce, Abraham Grant, our Secretary of Defense.”
I nodded, not sure if I should make my way over there and shake the guy’s hand, since he made no move toward us. But, just because I was a Vampire Hunter didn’t mean that I forgot proper etiquette. “Again, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” I turned slightly, “This is Chloe, Gavin, Zander and Christina.”
Mr. Grant, finally left his spot at the table and strode over to us. “I’m so glad you agreed to come and have talks with us.” He offered me his hand to shake and I took it. His skin was soft and smooth, unlike mine. My hands were rough and calloused from putting them through hell every single day. You can tell a lot by a person’s hands and his said he rarely put in a hard day’s work at all … well, in the physical sense anyway.
“We are happy to be here, sir.”
He shook hands with the rest of the group and then returned to his seat. “Have a seat, please.”
Everyone, found a chair and sat down at the table, except Daniels, who stayed on guard by the door.
“Now,” Mr. Grant began, “I’ve already acquired a bit of background information on your organization and several of the Hunters when I spoke we spoke on the telephone.” He directed the statement to me, but all I could think about was how strange it was to hear the Vampire Hunters referred to as an organization. I simply nodded and let him continue.
“What we would like to do here, is plan and implement a training course for our soldiers. Those who are already in service will be required to take the class. However, those who are entering the military for the first time will receive the course during their basic training.”
Chloe adjusted herself in the seat beside me and I knew right away what was bothering her. “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t think that killing vampires efficiently is something that can be learned in a single course. Most of us have been learning how to do this since we were born. Those who haven’t,” I unintentionally glanced at Chloe, “are exceptional.”
Both Grant and Ahlman nodded in understanding, but it was Ahlman who continued the conversation. “Yes, we know this. For now, until we can form a better schooling for
eliminating the undead, we would like to create a quickie class with the basics … a vampire killing 101, so to speak.”
Vampire killing 101, damn, the next thing you know we will be writing books called vampire hunting for dummies or some crap. I fought the urge to laugh and agreed, “I think we could manage to come up with a one-day class that could cover all the basics, as well as give us time to work with each individual. We have to ensure that they will be able to do what needs to be done without hesitation.”
“Even a second of hesitation can lead to death,” Christina told them. “Vampires are a hundred times faster than we are.”
Ahlman took this into consideration. “All right, a one-day class it is then. We will supply all you need for the training courses, but you have to be willing to travel to wherever the training is being held.”
That wasn’t a decision that I could make on my own, so I looked to the group. Each of them nodded their heads in silent agreement. “Okay, we can do that if you add to the contracts we draw up that we will not travel more than once a week at the most.”
That was a deal breaker, I wasn’t going to live my life on the road. I liked roots. As it was, I already missed home since we had just barely got back from our stint in New Orleans. We had an obligation to protect the area around our immediate home, too. So we couldn’t be gone all the time.
“Deal.” Ahlman scribbled notes onto a small notepad that he had on the table in front of him.
The rest of the meeting was filled with small, boring details like how many we could manage per class, what we would need and where the first few courses would be held.
The only one who didn’t speak through the entire conversation was Zander. Near the end of the meeting, I leaned forward to see how he was doing at the end of the table. Usually, he was not a very quiet guy, so I worried a bit when he didn’t open his mouth with some snarky remark.
He sat at the end of our row beside Christina, and he looked like he was fighting the urge to throw up or something. His hands gripped the arms of the chair and his lips were clamped shut. His eyes were set on General Ahlman and did not stray. Afterward, while the meeting continued, I kept an eye on him and not once did he stop giving Ahlman the death stare.
Winds of Fire (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #5) Page 2