Alpha cleared his throat and removed his trench coat, offering it to Lei. Lei reluctantly dropped her arms from Steve’s waist and took the coat but merely held it in her hand, making no attempt to cover herself in any fashion, them moved to Alpha’s side. The hunters gathered around Alpha who beckoned to Steve to come over to the group.
“Gentlemen, and lady,” Alpha began, “our people are located inside the room which lies beyond the vaulted door. All are alive and in no immediate danger; however, they are hooked to machines and rest in a state akin to a coma or a suspended animation of some sort. At the moment I have no idea how to revive them. You are all my hunters. You have been trained in the old ways to act as leaders of our people in times of need, so I put the question to you. Do we try to disconnect our people from the machines and bring them to a safe location where we can attempt to revive them? Or do we call upon those not of our community, those of the outside world, and pray they are both willing and able to help?”
The hunters looked genuinely distraught at the idea of asking for help from anyone not of their world.
Steve listened to Alpha and could not keep quiet, “You can’t try to revive them or even move them unless you know what you are dealing with here. You could easily do them more harm than good.” Steve’s voice softened, “I’m sorry, but we need to bring people in on this for help.”
Alpha responded with a calm and passive question, “And if the people brought in are successful in reviving my people Detective, what then? Will they be locked up for observation? Will they be imprisoned on the premise it’s ‘for their own good’?”
“I seriously doubt the LAPD officers, who are presumably locked up around here somewhere, will arrest those who just rescued them, as well as these other poor souls,” Steve said with confidence.
Alpha was clearly ill at ease with the idea but, Steve thought, to his credit, Alpha let the group make the final decision.
To Steve’s surprise, Lei spoke up first, “All those in favor of calling those not of our kind for help?”
Not a single person moved, no hunter spoke up or said anything as Alpha scanned the group.
Then the unbelievable occurred. Alpha stepped forward and raised his hand into the air. All of the hunters, including Lei were visibly taken aback by the gesture, too stunned to move or respond in any way.
Lei walked over to Steve and wiped blood off of his chin.
“You back home now?” She asked as she wiped the blood on her fingers across her lips. Steve looked deeply into her eyes then at the red slick down the front of his shirt and back at Lei. He removed his badge from where it hung on his belt and tossed it aside. No words past between them as Steve pulled Lei in and kissed her deeply, each tasting the blood on the others lips.
Alpha rolled his eyes, but smiled at the reunion. After the merest of moments Lei’s hand went up as well, her lips still locked on Steve’s.
When the pair finally separated Lei shook out the trench coat Alpha had handed to her and in a graceful sweeping flourish, swept the coat around like a cape, pushing her arms into the sleeves. Using the belt attached to the back of the jacket she tied the coat closed in the front then slapped Steve across the face.
“That’s for making me wait.” Lei exclaimed, giving Steve another quick kiss.
The hunters regained their animation and each walked up to stand with Alpha and Lei until the vote was unanimous in favor of the group reaching out for help from a world that had only ever exploited them in the past.
“All right,” Alpha began, “Tracker, I want you to organize my people. Protect the innocent and get communications back online so we can get the help we need.”
Steve chuckled as he heard Alpha call him by his old nickname. “What are you gonna do?”
“I am going after Daniels.”
Chapter 50
Alex Daniels’ mouth hung agape in combined horror and astonishment at the scene he had just witnessed on the security monitors in his private office.
“Oh God!, Oh God! They’re eating them! They’re actually eating them! They are the real deal! Real vampires and they are eating my security team!”
Daniels tried to think. Kunnert had told him to stay put, but he had to get out of the building. Besides what did that buffoon know? This wasn’t some clandestine operation or demilitarized zone. This was his skyscraper. A building he had bought through all of the hard work he’d put in over the years making his fortune.
Well, in truth it was a fortune he had made on the hard work of others, but it was his vision that made the company all of the money those inept intellectuals would have lost if kept to their own devices.
Yes, that was right.
It was his genius, his vision that took the information and used it properly to make billions. And think of all of the people who have benefited from the mass production of the drugs he “acquired” who would not have been helped if the medicines had been produced on a smaller scale.
Yes, that’s right!
This wasn’t fair. These demons were going to kill him for doing no more than trying to make the world a better place. Clearly they didn’t understand this, so he had to make sure they didn’t find him. He wasn’t threatened at the moment; the security cameras showed all of the demons on the tenth floor. Daniels moved away from the monitors and to the safe on the wall where he kept all of the computer files regarding the “Donor Program.”
What Daniels didn’t see was the blur which passed under the camera located just outside his office door.
Frantically, Daniels spun the tumbler on the combination lock, failing to get the door open on the first or even the second try. The third time, as the saying goes, was the charm and with a snap the fastening latch disengaged and the door pulled wide open. Daniels shoved stacks of money out of the way as he groped inside the safe for the small diskettes. These were the only records indicating his direct involvement in the project. These diskettes were crucial to the company.
They were encoded with Daniels’ business and marketing plans for the new anti-viral drug to be developed worldwide. Daniels kept these files separate and secure in his own safe. He knew from experience that every company, from time to time, is subject to investigation. Proper police procedure would always call for warrants to be filled out ahead of time, which gave his paid people from the courts and law enforcement the time they needed to give him a proper warning of the pending investigators. Daniels had always used this time in the past to hide or destroy any incriminating evidence against himself or the company. Having set up these particular destruction procedures well in advance, Daniels had minimal work to do in order to gather the material and decide how to best hide or dispose of it.
His fingers touched then grasped the diskettes. He was placing them in his pockets along with a handful of the stacks of hundred dollar bills when a low voice called politely from across the room.
“Going somewhere, Mr. Daniels?”
Daniels whirled around with such speed he almost fell.
“What?!?” Daniels stammered out before recognition came, “Dr. Whelan? What are you doing here?”
“Just following orders like a good soldier,” the doctor chuckled as he spoke. “Funny to think of me as a soldier, isn’t it?”
Daniels broke in, “Doctor, I don’t know if you realize but this isn’t a good time for…”
Daniels would have continued but he noticed the doctor’s eyes had shifted to the open safe and the stacks of money inside.
“Listen to me, you can have the money, as much as you can carry, but we have to get going.” Daniels began to stuff some of the money he had taken out for himself into a briefcase and searched his desk for his car keys. He was ready to leave and this fool wasn’t going to slow him.
“Thank you for the gift. I will of course accept such a generous attempt at recompense; however, it is too little, too late.”
The doctor removed something small and shiny from his pocket and a small amount of light glinted off the m
etal catching Daniels’ attention.
Daniels froze. “Is that?”
“A smaller, portable version of the flash box? Why, yes it is!”
The predicament he was in now registered. Daniels was barely able to protest when a blinding white light flashed in front of his eyes. The next thing Daniels knew he was sitting in his office chair, albeit somewhat uncomfortably, with the doctor looking down at him with a compassionate and concerned look on his face.
“Are you all right Mr. Daniels?”
The doctor’s low voice was always so unnerving, especially coming from such a slight man. The look on the doctor’s face was pained, as if he were reluctant to tell him something, but the doctor placed a hand on Daniels’ shoulder and in a caring and calm manner he proceeded.
“I want you to remain very calm and try not to move.” The doctor sighed, “Regrettably I see you were leaving with my research diskettes. I wondered what happened to them when I found them missing from my personal safe just now.”
Daniels tried to move but found himself completely immobilized by the device.
“Betrayal is a very foul act Mr. Daniels. It represents not only an act of deceit, but a fall from grace in the eyes of those who had faith in you.”
The doctor brought a small knife into view and twisted it before Daniel’s eyes. There is no greater crime to perpetuate against the faithful than betrayal.”
The knife dropped out of view. Alex Daniels suddenly felt horrific pain across his abdomen then a dropping sensation as if he were descending rapidly on a rollercoaster.
Chapter 51
Kunnert looked in disbelief at the radio he held in his hand as words played over the speaker. Everything was going south in a hurry; a strategic withdrawal was looking more and more like a prospect worth considering. At this point Kunnert reasoned his best move would be to collect Daniels and the doctor and beat a hasty retreat to the parking garage.
The techs had been producing the anti-viral medicine non-stop for two days and had it prepped for shipping. With a minimal amount of help he could get a truck loaded to capacity and escape with enough medicine to make him millions on the black market. Sales to certain terrorist organizations would be extremely lucrative since its effects make their soldiers immune to their own dirty bombs.
“Doctor, give me your position.”
The doctor quickly responded, “At this point I am just cutting loose ends.”
“Copy that. I want you, and only you, to break off and head for the loading dock.”
“Oh?”
“When you get there use the forklift to load as much of the product as possible into one of the newer trucks and get the motor running.”
“Live to fight another day?” Kunnert could hear strange amusement in the doctor’s voice and it disturbed him.
“Exactly. I’ll meet you in the loading area unless you hear otherwise from me. Out.”
“Oh indeed. Out.”
Kunnert clipped the radio to his belt and thought about his next move. The first step was to collect Daniels then figure out the best way to get the two of them down to the loading dock without attracting attention.
Kunnert ordered his remaining men to set up a defense of the perimeter with the assumption any hostile force would be coming out of the stairwell. As the men took their positions in front of the stairwell door, Kunnert moved into the hallway and jogged to Daniels’ private office. Gripping and turning the doorknob, Kunnert entered the office without knocking. The smell hit him first and fast. It was a coppery, noxious smell that had filled his nostrils so many times before.
Blood…lots of blood.
With a swiftness and efficiency that only come with years of training and practice, Kunnert simultaneously drew his sidearm and dropped to his knees in a shooter’s crouch. He surveyed the room. Nothing moved. Slowly Kunnert crept across the floor to Daniels’ desk. Deciding to take the offensive, Kunnert crept to a position of best conjecture, held his breath and counted to three. On three he quickly stood and whipped the barrel of his weapon to bear on the first thing that moved. Nothing moved, but Kunnert peered at the ruin of what was once Alex Daniels. The man had been completely disemboweled.
The sheer insanity of the sight made Kunnert start to shake; it took a great deal of concentration for him to re-holster his sidearm without potentially shooting a hole in his foot. Kunnert looked from the mangled corpse to the open safe in the wall, which reset his head to work analytically again. What had been in the safe that was so important to Daniels? Carefully, Kunnert moved to the body, pushed aside the gore and felt over Daniels pockets, finding nothing of interest.
“Breathe,” Kunnert told himself, “breathe,” as he tried to still the unbridling fear shooting through his entirety. Kunnert heard gunfire coming from somewhere on this floor. He raced back to the elevators to find Alpha cutting down the men he’d stationed there.
Kunnert could only stare as he watched the man move. Every motion flowed seamlessly into the next as if the entire battle had been choreographed ahead of time. Kunnert had watched enough masters to recognize the expertise in the white haired man who was literally taking his men apart. Men who were armed with automatic weapons being carved to pieces by one sole individual armed only with knives.
The area where most of the bloodletting had been occurring was a good thirty-to-forty feet away from where Kunnert held his position. Kunnert ran several possible scenarios through his head regarding how he might get past the fracas without having to join in the melee. Deciding on his best plan, Kunnert moved into the fray anticipating his path. To his surprise, Alpha leapt out of the space and into the hallway leading to the elevator. This maneuver ruined Kunnert’s escape route, although it did open the possibility of the stairs as an exit point.
As Kunnert bolted for the stairway door he turned to see Alpha spinning with arms outstretched. With timing, strength and speed seeming humanly impossible, he placed his right hand horizontally on the last guard’s throat. The guard’s neck cracked sharply and his body toppled over as Alpha came to a complete halt. He stood facing Kunnert and the stairway door.
At first Alpha either didn’t see or didn’t recognize Kunnert, frozen in place under the glare of a face completely masked in crimson. Kunnert remained motionless as Alpha regarded the heap of bodies he had left in his wake. Kunnert’s breath caught in his throat; he fumbled desperately for the latch to open the door. Alpha’s hands tightened into balled fists at the sound and he charged toward Kunnert.
Kunnert’s training took over. He instinctively drew his sidearm and fired at Alpha. Alpha had seen the motion, broke his charge and darted into one of the side offices for cover. The bullet whizzed past his head and exploded into the wall behind him. Kunnert’s entire countenance quaked as he realized his shot had missed. He never missed! How could this be? It was impossible to dodge a bullet. How could this freak have managed it? Kunnert screamed as he fired aimlessly into the office, praying he could somehow hit and, at the very least, incapacitate Alpha with one of his shots.
As the last bullet was spent, the bolt of Kunnert’s automatic ratcheted to the open position. With practiced efficiency Kunnert ejected the cartridge and lifted a full one from his pocket. He slammed it home reloading the weapon in less than a second. While aiming his gun back into the area where Alpha had disappeared, a rush of air whistled past his ear. Something very solid and heavy slammed into the door behind him and stuck there with loud impact. Kunnert turned to see what had hit the door and was horrified to view a metal letter opener sunk deeply in the door. Alpha had thrown the opener with such force it penetrated a steel, fire resistant door!
Alpha moved back into the hallway. Kunnert aimed and pulled the trigger on his weapon, not bothering to look where his shots were going. He bolted through the stairway door. Had he looked he would have seen one of his shots graze the side of Alpha’s thigh, an insignificant wound, but enough to secure Kunnert’s getaway into the stairwell as Alpha twisted with the impact an
d fell hard to the floor.
Chapter 52
Steve was back on the first floor where Chris Barnes’ dead body lay peacefully on the ground, his head propped up on the jacket he’d been wearing. Steve stared at the body of his friend, overcome with grief at the sight.
Alpha had directed half of his hunters upstairs with his people on the tenth floor to protect them from guards looking to escape by using the innocents as leverage. The remaining hunters, including Lei, were searching the building for any opposition.
Earlier the hunters had located a tech hiding in one of the bathrooms on the first floor and brought him to Steve. The man was sufficiently terrified and set to work on the system with ferocity.
“I have restored the security cameras throughout the building. We can see every floor in full detail. I have also removed the block on the cell phones so everyone should be getting the maximum signal available to them at this point forward.”
One of the hunters watching the monitors called out: “We have movement in the loading dock.”
Lei ran over to where the hunter was standing, “No, they’re not...” Alpha had given Lei his cell phone before he went after Daniels. She quickly used it to call the other hunters. “We have activity in the loading dock. Who is checking that area?”
When no one responded Lei slammed the phone on the desk and ran for the exit.
The noise stirred Steve from his mourning and yelled after her, “Take some help with you!”
“I can take care of myself, keep everyone else on task,” Lei responded coldly.
Steve reluctantly got up from where he’d knelt beside Chris and moved to look at the security monitors. He could see someone loading a truck with several boxes, not wearing a security uniform. Then a second man came running into view; Steve glared at the image on the screen.
“Lei, a second man has just arrived. It’s that security guy, Kunnert. Do not attack on your own!”
No response came from the other end.
Blood Harvest Page 27