The Hunters met up at an upscale hotel called the Cattleman's Inn, in a medium sized town named Twister, Oklahoma. For the Operation, Secretary Hernandez had rented out the entire hotel.
Col. Judge used the large conference room for their briefings. In the middle of the room sat a large rectangular table with the heads of the largest teams. The room was packed to capacity by many more, including Jake and the other recruits that stood pressed against the walls behind them. Aerial surveillance photos and building diagrams of the Sanitarium littered the middle of the table.
Sergeant Major Castle was leading the meeting. "Our best estimate is that there are at least fifty, possibly up to sixty vampires currently residing inside. As you can see from the building plans, there are numerous entry points. Colonel," he said, taking a seat and giving Colonel Frank Judge the floor.
Col. Judge stood up straightening his fatigues. His head was shaved clean with two long scars running across it from front to back. A black patch covered his left eye. To add to his already intimidating exterior he wore more guns than Jake had ever seen on any two people. On his right hip sat .45 Colt M1911. On his left, set for a cross draw was an ivory handled Colt .45 peacemaker which rumor had it had been a gift from Major General George S. Patton IV, son of the famous World War II general. In his shoulder holsters sat matching Smith and Wesson .357 revolvers and strapped to his back on his right shoulder was a double barrel sawed off shotgun. And those were only the guns the group could see. He was the only person at the meeting that was armed.
Most startling of all was his left arm. It was gone at the elbow and had been replaced with a prosthetic that rumor had it hid a sharpened steel spike. Jake had to admit the man was beyond intimidating and he truly felt sorry for any vampire that crossed his path.
In a very raspy voice, he spoke up. "This is the real deal, folks. The biggest goddamn nest we've ever seen. We need all hands on deck for this little foray into hell. "
"Colonel, where exactly did this information come from?” Billy asked, leaning forward in his chair. “Ben has been combing police reports all over the country and we've never had a single vampire related disappearance within a hundred miles of this place."
"That information would be classified,” Judge answered.
"So you just expect us to charge in there guns blazing not even knowing where you got your information?" John, who stood directly behind Billy, crossed his arms. “Come on Judge, you've got to give us more than that."
"What do you expect John, it's the U.S. government," Cort said, from his chair next to Billy, eliciting chuckles from half a dozen other hunters.
Castle stood up his face growing red. "The same government that's been supplying you with ammo and weapons? That's been lining your pockets with taxpayer dollars? That’s been training your kids? Show a little respect Bishop."
Don’t do it Grandpa. Jake cringed. Please don’t make a scene.
But Cort Bishop wouldn’t be intimidated by anyone. “Listen, pal,” Cort said, spitting tobacco juice into his white plastic cup. “You might frighten these young boys and girls. But you ain’t shit but a government man to me. And I don’t trust government men. So tell me where you got the information or my boys and I will walk.”
The Judge gave a chuckle and placed a hand on Castle’s shoulder. “Damn it Bishop, you aren’t ever going to change. Sergeant Major Castle is right. We’ve dished out a lot of money to you all over the past few years, and it’s time to earn your keep. I’m not giving you the information and that’s the bottom line.”
“Where does Hernandez sit on this?” Ben Morris asked from his place next to John.
Derek Carson, who sat quietly against the wall taking notes answered. “I speak for Secretary Hernandez and I can tell you first hand that he supports the Colonel’s judgment one hundred percent. If he says you don’t need to know, then that’s how it stands. I’m sorry Ben, that’s just how it is.”
Cort stared back at the Judge, and then started to rise. Billy Williams put a large hand on his shoulder shaking his head. “Let’s at least hear them out.”
Reluctantly Cort sat back in his chair. “The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh boys?”
Most of the Hunters sitting around the table murmured their agreement. All but Wes Turner. His face was scrunched up in an evil scowl. "Hey pal,” he said, addressing Judge. “I earned every single dime of that money by doing what I do best, killing vampires. And for your information, my family was doing it long before any of you got involved. While your superiors were dicking around in wars that didn’t have shit to do with us, my dad died killing vamps,” he said, giving Cort a hard look. “You want to talk about respect Castle? Okay, let’s talk numbers? How many vampires have your men killed compared to ours? It's at least a six to one ratio and we're not out cruising the country in helicopters and Humvees. We made do with the tools we had before you all came along. We can sure as hell do it again."
Loud arguments started around the table between soldiers and Hunters. The Judge beat the table hard with his prosthetic hand as if it were his own personal gavel. The room instantly quieted. "We don’t need you here, Turner. The only reason you’re here at all is because Williams vouched for you. I don’t trust you, and I don’t trust your pathetic group of wannabe bikers. So unless you’ve got anything constructive to add to this briefing, I’m going to continue my meeting. If you don’t like that, don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out."
Turner crossed his arms and stared back at him.
“Can you at least tell us if we’re dealing with grunts or Makers?” Ben asked.
"Makers." Castle answered
“Sweet Jesus.” Mike Holloway said from his seat at the table. “Fifty or more Makers in one confined space. That means at least twice that many grunts. That’s one tall order, Judge.”
"Is your team not up to the job, Holloway?" Judge asked.
"What other option do we have? Sit back and let Williams and his little Coalition take all the credit? No way, we'd never live that down," he said, with a dry chuckle.
"Glad to have you along Mike. Maybe after this you'll finally agree to join our little Coalition." Billy tossed a crumpled piece of paper he’d been taking notes on in his direction.
"I didn't say all that Williams," he said with a deep throaty laugh. “It’s hard enough making a living without sharing with you boys.”
"Alright," The Judge said, taking back control of the meeting. "As you can see from the pictures, the complex is made up of four different wings that make a kind of giant cross. Each team will hit a wing, kill everything in sight then link up in the middle. Team Alpha will be myself, Lt. White, Drill Sergeant Ortega, Greg Ortiz and his team, along with a six man Marine squad armed with SAWs. We will enter through the west side of the complex here and secure the entrances to these underground tunnels here and here." He said, pointing to a building schematic of the building.
Greg Ortiz, a council member of the Coalition that Jake had never met before, looked down at the schematic in front of him. In a slight Spanish accent he said, “Colonel, how accurate are these schematics? These buildings have got to be nearly a hundred years old.”
Colonel Judge nodded thoughtfully. “As accurate as we can find Ortiz. As you said, this is a very old building and there aren’t a lot of records on file.”
“Maybe we’ll catch a break and some of the tunnels will have collapsed,” Ben Morris added from his spot next to John.
“Or maybe they will be crawling with a couple hundred grunts,” Turner said, “the point is, you don’t know what’s down there.”
Judge ignored Turner and continued. "We will set up these new devices we’ve nicknamed screamers, on the south side. They emit a high-pitched sound that I’m told should just about drive any vampire in the area insane with pain. We want to draw as many as we can away from the east wing.”
“What’s in the east wing?” One of the Hunters at the table that Jake didn’t know asked.
“According to our source that’s where the prisoners are being held,” Judge answered. Murmurs instantly broke out around the room. “That's right gentlemen; the enemy has got holding pens where they keep humans to feed on. Anywhere between two and three hundred men, women, and children. However, this is our secondary objective. Make no mistake we are here to kill vampires, and that's exactly what we are going to do."
"Secondary objective?" John asked. "How are three hundred men, women and children a secondary objective?"
"Believe me Bishop I don't like it any more than you do. But we're going by the numbers. Let’s say twenty-five Makers make it into those tunnels. Let’s say they are able to hold us off until night and escape. How many people will those bastards kill over the next year? We know they have to eat at least once a day. That's one human death per day, per vampire. Multiply that over a year and that's over nine thousand deaths. And people wonder why hundreds of thousands of people disappear each year. Do any of you want that on your conscious?”
When no one answered, the Judge continued, “so our most well armed and advanced team, Team Bravo, will engage the enemy on the south side. We've got Seal teams seven and nine along with three squads of Marines plus Hunters Perez and Richardson's groups that will hit this area. This team is expected to exact the most kills and take the most casualties. These are the heavy hitters. Sergeant Lucas himself will be leading this group. They will be armed with SAWs, claymore mines, frag grenades, as well as three .30 caliber mini-guns. Anything that gets in their way will be turned into Swiss cheese."
Jake watched his old instructor for any signs of fear or nervousness. But Sergeant Lucas sat there cool as a cucumber.
"Team Charlie will be composed of John Bishop, Ben Morris, Talon Parker, and Sergeant Major Castle with another six man Marine squad. Your mission will be to extract the survivors. Once they are out into the daylight you will set up positions blocking off the access to the underground tunnels here and covering the second story stairway here,” he said, again pointing to the diagrams.
“Team Delta will come in at the North. This will be made up of Lt. Perry, Smart, and Mike Holloway and Daniel Luis' crews. Delta will cut off the retreat blocking two tunnel entrances here and here, as well as the stairway here. If they get to the second story, it’s inconvenient but not really much of a game changer. If they make it into those tunnels we are in for a long term fight."
"Where do you want my kids?" Billy said, motioning to Jake and his teammates.
"I'll be honest with you Williams; I'm not very comfortable having a bunch of teenagers anywhere near this hunt. But we're short on men and Sergeant Major Castle, Sergeant Lucas and Drill Sergeant Ortega have all assured me that they received the best training available. Needless to say, I put a lot of faith in their opinions or your kids wouldn't even be here right now. So Team Echo will be strictly for observation. They will not engage the enemy. Is that clear? They will wait here in the courtyard. Once the building has been secured, they will be allowed to enter the complex. Turner you're with them."
Wes Turner’s face turned beet red. "Why the hell do I have to babysit? I'm just as good as any of your guys."
The Judge gave him a cold stare out of his one eye. "Maybe. But you don't know how to follow orders. And I don't have time for bullshit. Not when so much is on the line. If this is going to be a problem, you can just sit your ass right here and drink out of the mini bar in your room? So, do we have a problem?" he asked tapping his prosthetic hand on the table.
"No I guess not,” Turner said, lowering his eyes to the table. “I'll play babysitter then. But I get an equal share of what every other man gets. I'm not missing out on the biggest payday of the decade!"
Jake’s stomach lurched at the thought of having to spend the hunt with Bloody Wes Turner. Donnie nudged him in the arm and Jake could tell by the look on his face he felt the same way. From the look on all of his team’s faces Jake could tell they weren’t very happy, all except Buck of course.
“Before we adjourn does anyone have any final questions?” Judge asked looking around the room.
"I’ve got one,” Buck said, raising his hand. "Why don't we just use some C4 and open a few holes for the sun to stream in? Rig the tunnels as well and blow the hell out of them. The fight would be a lot more in our favor if we cut off their escape and put the sun on our side." Buck’s area of expertise, to everyone including the trainers surprise, had turned out to be explosives. He seemed to have a real knack for it.
"Turner isn’t it?" The Judge nodded at him. "That's actually a damn good idea. We even considered it. But this building is falling down already. It's been condemned for over thirty years. You start blowing holes in it and under it and the whole thing could come down."
"What's so bad about that?" Buck said, his voice reeking of sarcasm. "Let the sun deal with them."
Jake could tell the Colonel’s opinion of Buck had instantly dropped a few notches. If he didn’t know Buck, he’d feel the same way. But Jake knew the only reason Buck was talking this way was to impress his father. The Judge had made Turner look bad, and if there was one thing Buck was consistent about, it was defending his father.
"Well for one there are about two or three hundred civilians that would die if we did that and two, you can't guarantee you will get all of the vamps. Oh sure a lot of them will be exposed to the sun and burn up pretty quickly, but a good percentage of them would be shielded by the debris. Do you have any idea how long it takes to move that amount of rubble out? Weeks. And during that time how many of them will escape once it's nightfall? No this is the best way to go, maximum efficiency, least amount of civilian casualties, maximum amount of dead vampires. Does anyone else have any questions?” he asked the room.
No one did. “Good. We will adjourn until tomorrow morning. Tomorrow will be the greatest hunt of our lives and there’s a good chance a lot of us won’t be around to celebrate tomorrow evening. So get some rest, watch your corners, and come back alive."
One by one everyone stepped out of the room. Buck rushed excitedly ahead to find his dad. Jake’s team was the last ones out. He walked out with Donnie and Diana at his side. "So what do you guys think?" he asked.
"I think it's a pretty good plan," Diana said, “I wish we had more people and the sun on our side, but there's not much can do about it."
Things had improved with Diana tremendously in the past few months. She’d given up making passes at Jake and had even apologized for the way she’d acted that night at The Station! Jake in turn had apologized for what had happened to her. Even though she'd taken full responsibility, he couldn't help but feel guilty. Now the two were good friends. Donnie now held her full attention. He’d come out that night as her hero. The two had started dating back in May. At first, Jake had felt a tiny bit of jealousy, but overall he was happy for them.
"My only problem is having Turner at our backs,” Donnie said, “Forget all the rumors; there's just something about that guy I don't like."
"Agreed," Chris said, walking at the back of the group. "I've put up with Buck and his crap for years now, but his dad is just plain evil.”
"Look guys I don't like him either but what can we do?" Jake opened the glass doors to the parking lot. "Besides, we're just here to observe. It's not like we actually have to go in and fight."
The sun was just setting in the west. Jake looked down at his watch to see it was 8:30pm. Less than 12 hours until the hunt.
Buck was outside waiting for them. Their conversation about Wes Turner instantly dropped. "What's up bitches!" he said, punching Jake in the arm. "Guess we're heading out with the best hunter there is huh? Man I don't know about you guys but I can't wait, and knowing Dad, he won't leave us hanging either. There will be plenty of vamps for us to kill."
"Our job is in the courtyard Buck. Lots of sunlight out there," Amber said.
"Oh come on baby. You know my Dad will make sure we see some action."
"Don't call me baby," Amber
said angrily. "I told you before. We're done, Buck. Deal with it."
"Whatever." Buck rolled his eyes. "Your loss.
Yeah and my gain Jake thought smiling inwardly. Whisper gave him a look letting him know she was thinking the exact same thing.
“Anyway, later losers. Me and my old man are going to hit the town tonight!" Buck jogged off trying to catch up with his dad.
"Think he'll ever grow up?" Chris asked.
“Not as long as he’s still around Bloody Wes Turner,” Jake said sadly. “After everything he’s done to him, Buck still defends the dirtbag every chance he gets.
"Well I'm heading over to the Pizza Hut for a bite, who's with me?" Donnie asked.
"I'm in!" Diana said a little too excitedly. Lately anywhere Donnie wanted to be she did too.
“Why not,” Whisper shrugged.
Chris seeing her going also became interested. “Yeah me too.” Even after all these months he’d yet to make a move. And though Jake desperately wanted to tell him that Whisper felt the same about him as he did for her, he couldn’t betray Whisper’s trust.
"Jake, Amber? You guys in?" Donnie asked.
"I think I’ll go clean my weapons one last time,” Jake replied. “Make sure everything is ready for tomorrow."
"Oh come on Jake, you've cleaned them a dozen times since we got the word we were going on this hunt. You can't get them any cleaner or the blade on that axe any sharper." Donnie said.
"I know, I know," Jake laughed. "But, I just want to be sure, you know? I don't want to mess up because my gun jams, or because my axe was too dull."
"Alright. Well your loss. What about you Sis?" he asked Amber.
"I think I'll stay with Jake," she said,
HUH? Jake thought to himself. Buck’s out of the picture! Oh, this could be good. This could be very good!
"Oh really?” Diana said in a playful tone. “Okay then, well you two behave yourselves.”
Jake swallowed the lump in his throat. A night alone with Amber . . . The others walked across the parking lot to where the Pizza Hut sat, leaving them alone.
C.O.T.V.H. (Book 2): Judgment Page 20