Human Revolt 02 - Vampire LA

by Phil Tucker

  They sat in silence, digesting this. Selah looked past Chico’s pensive face at the street, at the handful of people walking by. A group of kids jumped rope, laughing and yelling at each other as two girls bounced in unison in the center.

  “My father,” she began, and then cleared her throat. “My father was investigating the Dust trade. I think he turned up some government connections before he disappeared. Does the name Colonel Caldwell mean anything to you?”

  “Sure,” said Chico. “He’s the Colonel that runs the LA Forward Operating Base just outside of town.”

  “He is?” Selah sat up. “Right here in LA? Then maybe my dad figured out a connection between him and the Dust.”

  “Could be,” said Chico, shrugging. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was in on it. So much money is getting thrown around it’s almost impossible for him not to be.”

  “Huh,” said Selah, sitting back. “What about the Hybrid Project? That mean anything to you?”

  Chico shook his head. “No. Sorry.”

  Selah tried to connect the dots. Dust came out of the Core. Maybe made of vampire blood. The Machado connected the gangs to the vampires, and the gangs had bribed the military—Colonel Caldwell—into allowing them to export huge shipments across the country. If her dad had turned up some hard evidence about all this, then that would be plenty of reason for him to be arrested. But what about the Hybrid Project? That had seemed to be really important in her father’s notes.

  “How are things going in Miami? Have you been keeping up with the news?”

  “Not really,” said Cloud. “We got out the night after Sawiskera died, and we’ve been avoiding going online so as not to be tracked. Have you heard anything?”

  Selah pulled her thoughts back. Miami. A week ago she’d killed Sawiskera the vampire king, and left the city in disarray. Had fled under the cover of night and not looked back.

  “A new leader has emerged. Do you remember a vampire by the name of Karl Plessy, who was in government during the War? It looks like he’s taken over. It’s been all over the net. He’s been spending his time in DC and New York, talking to everybody who will sit with him. CNN, ESPN, MTV, anybody. He’s got a simple message, and it’s catching on. Says he represents the ‘new’ vampire, a modern generation that was made during the War. That Sawiskera and the others were the problem, were the ‘old’ vampires who were used to treating people like animals. That he’s led a revolution against those old vampires, and that their time is over. People are really buying into it. He’s been making promises—that he’s going to start issuing visas for people in Miami who want to enter the States, that he’s going to grant full access to Miami to any organization that wants to help improve the situation. He’s been speaking with the Catholic Church about bringing in priests to reopen churches, and more.” Chico paused, and looked at Selah. “What?”

  She was shaking her head, smiling in disgust. “That bastard. That freaking bastard. I know him. God.” She laughed, and looked up at the sky. “He did it. I don’t believe it.” She looked at Cloud. “Do you think—do you think this was his plan all along? To get rid of Sawiskera so that he could step up? Use me to weaken him, and then …” She stopped. Furrowed her brow in thought.

  “What?” asked Cloud. “What is it?”

  “It’s just—I’ve never felt easy about what happened that night. Like, as if I never really understood why it all went down the way it did.” Something hung in her mind, trembling. A fact, a memory. Plessy. What was it? She closed her eyes and focused. “Remember how Plessy forced me to work for him?”

  “Yes,” said Cloud. “When he blackmailed you.”

  Selah nodded. “Before you showed up on your bike and saved me. Plessy had me up in his apartment. He told me that his servant vampire had tried to hit him after drinking my blood. He said that should have been impossible, because of some supernatural loyalty between a vampire and the vampire he’s created.”

  She opened her eyes. Chico and Cloud were leaning forward, listening intently. “So, remember how we figured he’d tricked Hector into letting me go? But we didn’t know why? He must have known I would have wanted to save you from that cage fight… “ She opened her eyes wide as the truth came to her. “I don’t believe it. He tricked Hector into freeing me, knowing I’d want to save you. But that the only way for me to do so was to convince Theo to drink from me so that I could get his power. Which would have broken Theo’s loyalty to Sawiskera for the night. Which would have made it possible for Theo to help me kill Sawiskera.”

  Selah looked at Cloud, her eyes wide with outrage. “He planned everything. Your capture. My escape. Theo’s independence. Knowing that Sawiskera wanted to steal my humanity, and knowing that the process would weaken him, just at the time Theo would become independent. So that we could kill him, and open the way for Plessy to take control.”

  Chico looked rapidly back and forth between Cloud and Selah, trying to understand. Cloud stared at her, incredulous. “You’re kidding me. You think he could have thought all that through?”

  Selah laughed sarcastically. “Plessy? Hell, yes. He set Theo up to kill Jocasta just a few nights before that. Theo told me she was the other major block against Plessy rising to power, the other major ‘old generation’ vampire. Then—then he used Theo and I to take down Sawiskera, and emerges a week later as the leader of the ‘new generation.’”

  “I’m guessing you don’t believe his ‘new generation’ line,” said Chico.

  Selah shook her head again. “Plessy’s even worse than Sawiskera. Don’t get me wrong, Sawiskera was a monster, but he was like—like a natural monster, like a panther that just wants to hang out in its cave and eat the occasional deer. Plessy? He wants more.”

  “He’s doing what I knew he would,” said Cloud. “His media plan. He trying to make vampires acceptable. This ‘new generation’ angle is perfectly in line with that. Man.” Cloud slowly shook his head, “That’s brilliant. And bringing in the church? Issuing visas? People will eat that right up.”

  Chico took off his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt. “Well, it seems to be working. His face is everywhere right now, and the journalists, the politicians, they’re indeed eating it right up.”

  “As if I needed more motivation to get cured,” said Selah. “If he’s pulling this off, then we need that vaccine all the more urgently. He’s got to be stopped.” She felt blank denial and rage rise up within her. “If I get out of this in one piece? I swear I’m going back to Miami to kill him.” Memories boiled within her. Plessy handing her over to Jocasta. Plessy casually threatening to have Mama B and Maria Elena brutalized. His little smile, his smooth, almost baby-like face, his overly polite way of speaking

  Chico and Cloud shared an uneasy look, and then Cloud nodded. “You’re right. He has to be stopped. But … let’s focus on getting you cured first, okay?”

  “Right …” said Selah, looking down. She took up a twig and stabbed it into the dirt. Plessy in charge of all of Miami. How he had manipulated her, let her think she was taking the initiative, being strong, making a difference. When all she’d been was yet another tool in his hands. And Theo. She paused, recalling his face. The dark angles, his full lips, his harsh features. Those twin scars across his cheekbones. She thought of his strength, his steadiness, the faint memory of his hands on her hips as they danced when they first met. Where was he now?

  “Heads up,” said Chico, rising smoothly to his feet.

  Armando was stalking across the park toward them.

  Chapter Seven

  The three of them stood up. Nobody spoke as Armando made his way over, but basic caution led Selah and Cloud to step behind the bench. Armando’s anger was radioactive, and when he strode up Selah almost thought he was about to slam a fist across the ex-Jesuit’s face.

  “Armando,” said Chico, voice calm.

  Armando just stood there, lower jaw jutting out and eyes slitted. He didn’t speak. Chico met his eyes with impressive poise, a
nd they just stood there for perhaps thirty seconds before Armando let out an explosive breath and sat down heavily on the bench, digging the balls of his thumbs into the corners of his eyes as if he had a pounding headache.

  Chico sat down next to him at the edge of the bench. “Machado gone?”

  “Machado.” Armando said the name as if it tasted bad. “I should have had him shot. I’m telling you right now. I’m going to regret not killing that fucking curandero when I had the chance.”

  Chico waited for more, but it wasn’t forthcoming. “You going to stop with the Blood Dust?”

  “No. Maybe. Fuck, I don’t know. You might as well ask if I’m going to put a gun in my mouth and pull the trigger.” He lowered his head into his hands and massaged his scalp roughly. Looked up and around the park, scowling.

  Chico waited. Selah began to get the sense that most conversations with Armando were like this—and Chico had practice.

  “You gonna talk to me about God again?” asked Armando, turning to look at Chico. “Hey, Jesuit? You gonna tell me His opinion on what I do?”

  Chico kept quiet.

  “Because let me tell you, God’s blessed me every day of my life. I’ve prayed to Him since day one. Asked for His blessings, and He’s given them. You think I wouldn’t be where I am now without His help? You think I wouldn’t be providing for all these fucking people if it weren’t for His approval?”

  Chico raised his eyebrows, but remained silent.

  “Mother fuck.” Armando looked away. “So what, I bring in the Blood Dust. So does every other vato in this city. And if I stop, you know it’s going to be a war. Louis, Machado, they’ll find somebody to come at me. At least I’m using that money for some good, you know? You think it’s cheap getting One World in here? You think I just make money out of thin air? Fuck.”

  Armando scowled fiercely at Chico, and looked away again. He was so on edge that Selah half expected him to get up and just stride away.

  “Then why are you here talking to me about it?” asked Chico, voice quiet.

  “What?” Armando slid him a look like a knife between the ribs.

  “If you are so set on dealing, if it makes so much sense, why you here telling me?”

  Armando stood up. “Well, fuck you, then. I don’t have to tell you nothing.”

  “No,” agreed Chico, looking up. “But here you are. Because you know there’s a better way, and that knowledge is driving you crazy.”

  Armando flexed his hands into fists, relaxed them. Looked away.

  “You didn’t ask for this. I know your story. You didn’t set out to be the number-one guy. But now here you are. The others are dead. You got your vengeance, and now everybody looks to you for the good word. Question is, what are you going to do with it? You going to be like every other gangbanger, slinging Dust, watching people turn into hollow shells of themselves as the money comes in, even if you spend it on water, electricity, food? Or you going to be different? You going to try and make things better?”

  Armando was standing still now, glaring out across the pond with the tense rigidity of a sphinx.

  Chico watched him. “I told you. If you’re ready to take this step, I can hook you up with a whole different crew. The vampiros aren’t the only ones with money, with power. The US government is looking for a way to stabilize this area. They would be willing to step in and help out. Give you money, social services, advisors, whatever you need.”

  Armando shot Chico another venomous look. “Right. And before I know it they have my ass in jail and some pinche pendejo in a suit is running things into the ground.”

  Chico shook his head. “No. That wouldn’t be how it would work. They want a local authority in place. They don’t have anybody with the connections you do, the respect you do. They want to work with you. Let me set up a meeting. You don’t have to commit to more than that. Let me get some people together to tell you what they’re offering. All you have to do is listen.”

  Armando turned away again. He was so tight with tension, Selah could see the muscles of his deltoids flare into taut view and then fade away again into round smoothness. His forearms bulged with the strain of how tightly he was clenching his fists, heavy veins like earthworms wrapped around them.

  “Fuck, man,” said Armando, sitting down again. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. What you’re asking. The minute I cut out the Dust, the fuckin’ Culebras are going to snatch up my share. Or the Maldados. Somebody. And their operation gonna double. And their money gonna skyrocket, and that money is gonna go into buying military-grade guns. And where do you think they’re gonna come knocking?” He looked sideways at Chico. “How the fuck am I gonna hold them off if I got shit in the bank?”

  “Talk to my people,” said Chico. “Trust me. They can help. This is the US government we’re talking about. No matter how much money the other gangs have, the government’s got more. They make the money. They own the military. If you work with them, we can figure out a way to make your turf Fort Knox.”

  Armando stared at him, and then grinned, the expression genuine, his teeth a vibrant white. “Fort Knox, eh? Damn it, Chico, you one smooth-talking motherfucker. I bet if you weren’t all fucking priestly, you’d be getting laid all the time, eh?” Chico’s smile took on a pained edge, and Armando roared in amusement. He smacked Chico’s knee and then shoved him hard on the shoulder, rocking him where he sat. “Damn, man, don’t worry, I won’t bring up the pussy no more. You look like you just got food poisoning.”

  “Ha,” said Chico, taking off his glasses and cleaning them. “Yeah. Okay, so. Can I set up the meeting?”

  “Fuck, why not.” Armando turned to bring Selah and Cloud into the conversation. “Least I can do is see if I can get some shit for free from them, right?” He stared right at Cloud, who found himself nodding agreement without knowing why. “So. What the hell you two want? Friends of Chico? Don’t tell me you also want community centers, condoms, or whatever else he’s thought of.”

  “We need to get into the Core,” said Selah. Armando had been watching Cloud, expecting him to speak, and now his eyes slid over to her.

  “You’re the second person who tells me that today. I look like some fucking taxi service?” But there wasn’t any real animosity in his voice. It sounded almost reflexive.

  Selah felt her head begin to pound. This was it. This was the moment she’d been driving and fighting to reach ever since they escaped over the Miami Wall. He had to help. Had to. Without realizing she was doing so, she reached up and took off Hernan’s sunglasses.

  Armando’s eyes narrowed at the sight of her murky gray eyes. He shot Chico a sharp look. “What the hell is this?” Looked back at Selah. “You a Duster?”

  “No. I’m turning into a vampire. I’ve got a few days left. I need to get into the Core and see if somebody there can cure me before it’s too late.”

  Armando lifted his eyebrows, and then burst out laughing again, his deep and delighted belly laugh from before. “You serious? You think the vampiros gonna help you just because you ask them to?”

  “No,” said Selah. She felt herself shivering from the intensity of her emotions, her need. “They will because if they don’t, I will fuck them up so bad they won’t know what to do.” She had no idea what she was saying, was flying on instinct, but something about her tone, her expression, registered with Armando. His smile slipped away.

  At last he nodded. Looked over at Cloud. “This your girl, amigo? Watch out. I think she’s too much sand for your little truck, yeah?” He grinned at Chico, and stood. Smacked his belly and cinched up his belt and sagging jeans. “All right. I’ll get you in tonight with the other girl. We’re going through to pick up some Dust anyway. You can just ride along.” He scowled immediately at Chico, who studiously kept his face neutral. “I’m still doing business, asshole. I ain’t committed to nothing yet.” He stared at Chico, daring him to make any kind of judgment, and then nodded. “All right. Let’s keep it simple. Be at the hos
pital in a couple hours. Eight o’clock. Bring all your shit because you ain’t coming back. We’ll take you in from there.”

  Selah nodded, the storm of emotion within her preventing her from saying anything else. She gripped the bench back tightly.

  “Okay, Chico. I’m out. You set up that meeting with your peeps. Tell them I ain’t committing to nothing yet, but they best bring their best fucking offers ’cause I don’t want to haggle. They impress me or they don’t, end of story. Clear?”

  Chico nodded. “You know I won’t waste your time.”

  “Good.” Armando swung his hand into Chico’s, and pulled him in so that they banged shoulders. He clapped him on the back, and then roughed Chico’s hair as if he were a kid. “You fucking kill me, man. You and Machado. Fuck.” He turned and walked away, shaking his head, calling out in his powerful voice for the guys waiting at the edge of the park to get their asses in gear.

  Chico sat down heavily once Armando was gone, and Selah felt the tension flood out of her, knees weakening. She slid around and onto the bench, and watched the backs of the last of the Locos as they stepped out of the park and crossed the street.

  “That went well,” said Cloud.

  “It did, actually.” Chico watched the last of the Locos depart, and then turned to Selah. “And you did really well. You impressed him. That’s not easy to do.”

  “No kidding,” said Cloud. “You looked ready to start tearing out people’s throats.”

  Selah reached out and squeezed Chico’s shoulder. “Thanks. For hooking us up.”

  Chico shrugged amiably. “My pleasure.”

  He was about to continue when Selah cut him off. “I’m sorry. But do you have an Omni? I need to make a call. I promised my grandma I’d let her know when we got here.”