“Saw it happen. The s.o.b. snapped his neck and then did this to me. How did we get away?” Kyle staggered towards the kitchen house.
“Don’t know and don’t care. All I know is we gotta get out of here now.” David said as he nudged Kyle to go faster and kept an arm under his shoulder to assist.
The next few seconds were hard as the pair of friends made their way to the evacuation vehicle. The way was tough as the wind pelted them with sheets of rain so strong it was nearly horizontal, but they finally made it.
David passed Kyle off to Brian, who guided him into the bus and immediately tied up his arm with a shirt to stabilize it until they could have Josey look at it later. David got in the bus and noticed that the kids were all aboard, and that Benjy had gotten Hope, who still hadn’t reawakened yet, situated in the back. Then he realized Christi and Josey were missing. He looked at Brian. “Where are the women?”
“They went inside to get the last of the supplies a few minutes ago. I just saw Mike and Kim go in, too.” Brian made his way back to the front of the bus after getting Kyle situated.
“Damn it,” David said. “I’m going to go get them. Why don’t you go get the Jeep out of the garage and follow us; it has a winch and might come in handy if we run into blocked roads. I will drive my baby here. Benjy, come shut the door behind us while I go get the ladies. Brian, I’ll send Mike and Kim with you, so just pull up and pick them up as soon as you get it.” David then ran out of the Devastator and back into the kitchen house.
As David went through the front door, he was almost knocked down by Kim as she screamed and ranted about something he couldn’t make out. As he tried to calm her down to get some idea of what was going on, he noticed the blood-soaked clothing and the gaping wound on her shoulder, which exhibited definite teeth marks on her skin. Before he could get her to calm down, he came to realize what he was dealing with as two very grotesque slabs made their appearance at the end of the hallway. They were some of the worst looking slabs he had yet seen yet. They looked like they were in the final stages of decomposition; one of them had an arm barely hanging by a thread. Both of them, however, still moved with a purpose, and that was to get to their prey . David slung his automatic shotgun up and hit both squarely in the head with two shots.
Feeling safe for the moment, he turned to tend to Kim who had collapsed as she tried to open the front door and was weeping silently. “Did you get bit?” David asked fearfully even though he already knew the truth.
“Mike’s gone. Mike’s gone.”
“Did you get bit?” David asked forcibly a second time as he tried to snap her out of her frantic state.
Kim looked at him and nodded her head very slowly. “Where is my baby?”
“She’s in the bus, safe and sound.” David slowly withdrew his sidearm without allowing Kim to see it.
“Please take care of her. Can you do that? Please, please, pl—” David’s shot ended her suffering.
“Yes, I can.” David holstered the still-smoking gun.
David then turned and made his way toward the living room. Something in his gut told him he wouldn’t like what he found there as he made his way down the hallway. He reached the end of the hallway and was greeted by three slabs as they went in search of the noises they had just heard. David quickly dispatched all three of them with the shotgun before he turned the corner into the living room.
He hesitated at the sight of the carnage. Mike’s body was mere feet in front of him, with five slabs tearing into his lifeless body, completely unaware of David’s presence. Next, he found Josey’s remains pinned against the wall with three slabs still partaking of the trapped meal. But he hadn’t seen Christi yet, so he still had a little hope. He unleashed his shotgun on anything that moved in the room. He even put a round into the heads of his former friends and campmates so they wouldn’t have a chance to come back and suffer the existence of the hungering dead. It was as he made his way through the room,as he came across the last moving slab, that he found his wife, dead on the ground near the back door.
David put the last slab down. He then stopped and dropped to one knee to inspect his wife’s body. He found the bullet hole, but didn’t see any bite marks. That revelation puzzled him. Why would someone shoot her without her having been bitten? He knew that there had been some sort of intruder that Kyle had dealt with, but he wasn’t aware that the bandit had made his way to this house. He picked up her body, and for the first time in many years, David shed tears. He pressed her tight against him, and felt the weight of the world upon his shoulders as he realized he was alone with a child, and he had no way to know how to handle that. As he sat with his wife, lost in thought, he paid no heed to his surroundings. He was unaware of the threats approaching from both the back and the front door Kim had slightly opened, until it was too late. He looked up and found himself completely surrounded by well over two dozen slabs flowing into the room, attracted by the sounds of his gunfire.
CHAPTER 57
EIGHT MONTHS PRIOR TO THE CAMP H INVASION
The Council and President Miller
The meeting hall glowed in the light of the torches situated around the room that had been completely transformed into the comfortable setting in which the Council members always met. Any modern architecture had been covered up or removed, and even the tables and chairs brought in were older than anything else in the entire building. Long banners with ancient family crests or Egyptian hieroglyphics adorned the walls next to each torch, and a large emblem of a yellow star wrapped with a serpent was painted on the wall as well as etched into the table. Wine and breads of every kind had been set. There were 24 chairs situated around the large boomerang-shaped table, with eight on one side and 16 on the other. One chair of the eight head chairs and two of the sixteen lower-station chairs had each been covered with black cloth.
The first to enter the room were the twins, Petrus and Petronella. They held hands and as they entered, then bowed their heads to the painted emblem centered on the wall behind the table. Once they were done they took to their seats, side by side, on the consort side of the table. Slowly, all of the other consorts entered and performed the same ritual before they, too, took a seat on the consort’s side of the table near the twins. They all began to quietly converse amongst themselves, sharing adventures had since the last time they had seen each other; for some, it had been many years since they were together last. Some laughed, and some spoke about the situation that had brought them all together again. One by one, they each noticed the two empty chairs where Eva and Tovas should’ve been and wondered where they might be, as they all knew they had made the trip and had arrived on the last boat. They also noticed the empty chair next to Norris, and were about to ask him where his co-consort was when the doors opened. Immediately all talk in the room ceased and they all turned to reverently watch the masters enter..
In single file the consorts’s seven masters entered the room, each in a lavish robe of differing colors. The first was Heng, dressed in his dark purple robe. His friend Xavier followed in a green robe. Next was Christo, wearing a longer flowing white robe that Benedictus was careful not to step on as he followed behind in his own blue atire. There was a short pause as the first four masters made their way to stand behind their chairs. Then Rowland appeared in a crimson robe, followed by Donavan in an orange one. The last to enter was Kane, in his yellow master’s robe, the color denoting his station as lead master for the council. In his arms he carried a black robe. As the final three rounded the ends of the table, Kane paused for a moment to lay the black robe on the single black-clad chair on the end of the masters row of seats.
Once they were all in place, the seven masters sat down across from theirconsorts. Kane extended his arms out parallel to the table, and in a ritualistic gesture, swept them out to his sides to encompass everyone around the table as they all bowed their heads to him once more. With the formal silent welcome complete, Kane opened the table up for discussions. The first to speak was
Donavan, his second-in-command.
“Let us touch upon the heart of the matter,” Donavan said abruptly. “Kane, how is it this plague has occurred? How could this happen, and leave us all so unprepared for it? Last, and most importantly, what shall we do now to rectify this situation, and how are we to proceed for here on out?”
“My friend, Donavan, I can always count on you for your brevity and clarity in times of strife,” Kane said with a barely concealed chuckle, as he stood from his seat and moved to the corner of the room to gather up an old-looking leather satchel. He returned to the table and pulled out its contents to place in front of his fellow Council members.
“Firstly, I shall do my best to clear up any and all confusion you must all be feeling regarding the details of this predicament we find ourselves in. It was by my bidding that the plague was once again unleashed on the population.”
A collective gasp moved through the Council.
Before anyone could speak, Kane continued, “However, I had certainly not intended for it to be released when it was. The timeframe of the release of the plague was purely accidental. After the last few attempts of the Council to bring humanity down a few pegs and back under our control, failed miserably, I decided to go another route. To go back to an older plan that gave us the closest prospect for success the first time it was thrust upon us. I had been in preparations to inform all of you, my dearest Council, of my newest strategy when the plague was accidentally released before I was able to do so. When I learned of incident, I immediately went into containment mode to limit the damage. However devastating the initial outbreak appeared for the human population, there are still several locations around the world that are, as of yet, untouched by the contagion. Greenland is secure, as are Iceland, Cuba, and most of the whole of the Pacific island chains off the coast of Japan. There are large pockets of secure zones throughout each of your areas of control as well. These areas alone shall be enough to guarantee the ability of humankind to recover from the edge of extinction. For the first time in this Council’s history we have reached a place in time, and have enough forces under our control, that we will be the ones to ensure we control all. We will allow the human population to rebuild, with our management, of course, and in a way that we see fit. This time, they will heed our rule. We shall no longer hide in the shadows, controlling only a portion of humanity. Though this was not the way I had intended it to occur, we are now stepping forth from the shadows to openly rule as we rightly deserve.”
“Before you say more, I demand a moment for us to confer on this revelation,” Benedictus spoke..
As you wish. I shall remove myself to give you all a few moments” Kane got up and left the chamber.
The room went completely silent as everyone contemplated what they had just learned. The silence was broken when Benedictus slammed his hand down on the table and stood. “We have a strict code that forbids any member to actively engage in this kind of manner without the full support of the Council. In the past, each time we have acted on our decisions to change the course of mankind, we did so with every member’s approval. The last time we acted without each member’s input, we were met with failure, due to the allegiance we forged with the wrong people, and it damn near destroyed us. Some of you were not present during the mess Germany brought upon the world and the repercussions brought forth at the conclusion of that debacle.. The Council made it clear from that point forward that any and all instances of change, to either control or cull the human race, at that point would need to be much more careful and subtle. What Kane has done has gone against everything we vowed to never do again. I demand an immediate vote on the legitimacy of Kane’s continued leadership.”
Chatter resumed throughout the room as Benedictus let his words soak in. Rowland was about to stand when Heng jumped up first and seconded the motion, causing him to rethink what he had been about to say. “I wish to speak before we vote,” said Rowland. “It is not my place to defend Kane’s actions, whether intended or not. However, I do feel it necessary to call attention to his actions after the accidental release of the plague. His first action upon learning of this was to assess the situation and perform damage control protocol as quickly as possible. He reacted as he thought best. It has only been six months since the initial outbreak, and already the human population has shown potential at regaining control over this plague. As bad as this entire situation is at the moment, let’s not forget that it could have been much, much worse.”
“Enough talk. Let us vote. Place your right hand upon the table if you believe Kane’s actions were detrimental to us and he should be removed from head of this Council,” Donavan stated, and then started to count the hands on the table. “Nine to eight. It is passed. Kane remains head of the Council.” He got up to alert Kane of the vote.
As he made his way across the room, he heard whispers among the various members that led him to believe that not all of them were happy with the outcome.
Once Kane and Donavan returned, the room went silent as Kane retook his position at the head of the table under the symbol on the wall behind him. He did not retake his seat as he finished his previous talking points.
“As you can see by these satellite images taken just days ago, many of the major cities’ fires have died down. Also, you will take note that the heat signatures given off by the undead have also drastically been reduced. This all points to the result that they should eventually begin to die off on their own, once their primary food supply has dwindled to nothing. We should soon be able to contain the remaining scourge and completely eliminate them, allowing us to re-colonize the cities in the near future.” Kane finally retook his seat.
Then Xavier spoke up. “What of the cure? Was that not used last time? Why are we not actively looking into that option?”
“Unfortunately, the few leads we had on the location of the book that holds the cure’s formula have all dried up. Although we haven’t had much success in locating it yet, I have not given up on the possibility of finding our dearly-departed friend’s hiding spot. If he did manage to hide it after the last time, I still hold out hope that we shall be able to locate it.” Kane glanced at the covered empty chair at the end of the table.
“Alas, I believe we have spoken enough on this dull subject,” said Kane. “We have all traveled far and endured much to get here. For the time being we are safe, and we have the luxury of time to discuss or debate what we plan to do next. For now, let us take our time with our own thoughts on all we have discussed this evening, and we can convene again soon to discuss any further revelations or anymore questions you may have. For now, let us move on to the best part of our meeting. If you will all rise and follow me , it is time to eat.”
One by one, they all stood and moved into the next room as Kane and Donavan stayed behind to talk for a moment. “I really wish you would have briefed me ahead of time that you had planned to reveal the whole plan tonight,” Donavan whispered to Kane.
“I could not, my friend. I needed you to appear just as surprised as the rest of the Council in the event they voted me out of office, so you could easily slip back into control yourself,.” Kane moved toward the other room. “I have sent Eva and Tovas to secure the package. Once they return I plan to send them out on a trial mission to see if our plan will work. For now, let us celebrate with the others.”
As Kane and Donavan entered the room, they found everyone else already in position. In the center of the expanse were 18 chairs placed in a circle. Upon each chair sat a person facing the center of the circle. Behind each person stood a Council member with their ceremonial robes on and the hoods pulled up to hide their faces. The people in the chairs were not bound, but still sat very calmly, as if they were asleep with their eyes open, almost as if in trance.
Everyone patiently waited for Kane to get into position. As he did so, he finally spoke.
“My friends. My family. Some of you have been with us from the beginning. Some of you are newer to the family, replacing th
e loss of a previous loved one. We are here tonight to enjoy one another’s company and to be our true selves, the truth of which we must hide almost daily. We are the secret rulers of this world. We have been since the dawn of humanity, and so shall we continue to always be. At times, our very existence has been threatened, but each time we have come out victorious, each time we have again risen more strongly and more intelligent for doing so. Long have we played our game in the shadows. This is the dawn of a new era. I say for the moment, for tonight, let us be who we are.”
One by one, each member removed their hood and revealed a new face, one much older than the previous one they wore as they walked into the room. Some faces were wrinkled, mostly the older ones. Some were weathered looking. However, all had one thing in common; all of their eyes were yellow throughout the sclera. Once all their true faces had been revealed, one by one they opened their mouths to show off fangs in place of their normal teeth. They all looked to Kane and waited.
“We have been known by many names throughout history,” said Kane. “There is but one that I have grown quite fond of. One that I find best describes what we truly are. So tonight, in our true forms, let us be that which the humans whisper about in the shadows. We are the night. We are Vampires!”
In unison they all leaned down and bit into the necks of the people in the chairs and commenced to drain the blood that they needed to continue to exist. Not one victim made a sound. A couple winced for a brief second, but that was it. Then one by one, the eyes of the victims closed, indicating they had been completely drained.
The Council members let out a loud howl as each finished their victim until all of them howled in unison.
Humanity's Hope (Book 1): Camp H Page 26