by Thomas Bach
The ting of the last empty cartridge hitting the ground faded away. A total of 15 dead vampires lay before us. Standing there motionless, guns still at the ready, we all worked to comprehend what just took place. Spencer and James to my left, both looked unaffected. Ivy to my right, she looked shaken, that little smile was gone and not likely to return any time soon. Her Thompson lay on the ground surrounded by spent casings. Her pistol gripped tightly in her right hand.
Softly I asked, “you OK babe,” half expecting her to break down crying.
She stretched her head to one side, holstered her pistol and picked up her Thompson, “ya, no problems. I''m getting hungry so let's get back to the hospital.”
After almost being killed twice, out in the middle of hostile territory and she is still tough as nails, man I love her for it.
We hurried back to the trucks, Eddie was cowering behind the cargo truck, still too scared to see what was happening. David was staring out the back window of the Dodge, he had checked out so there was no use trying to talk to him anymore today. It was getting late and I wanted to get back to the hospital. Climbing into the Dodge I looked back at the creatures, where did they come from? There was no sign of them coming or going from the department store when we first got here. Were they local or part of the group from Chicago? We drove away with more questions then answers. That funny feeling of being watched came over me as we rounded the curve and the department store disappeared from my rear view mirror.
It was dusk by the time we made it back to the hospital. The other group had returned, almost as successful as we were. Exhausted we hurried past the century and entered the ER. The smell of hot food made my stomach growl and mouth water. Eddie carried in a box of his new found electronics and scampered off to an examining room to tinker. The main group of the WDT was gathered in the center of the ER, eating and laughing. It was nice to be greeted by smiling faces, everyone seemed to be in a good mood. The news I had could wait until morning, for now we needed food and sleep.
The smiles and laughter faded as David entered the ER. New people are always meet with some level of suspicion, it's human nature I think. The group fell silent; they could see we had it a bit rougher then team 2.
“Everyone, this is David. He comes from the Chicago area and he's been through a lot.” I hoped a simple introduction and a trusting inflection would alleviate some of the suspicion. “We had some good luck and some bad luck out there today.”
James stepped up and said, “Billy is being modest, we got a great hall plus we fought off a small herd of vampires.”
“Your damn right we did,” Spencer chimed in. “We kicked ass and took names.”
“We did find some valuable things out there today. And like James and Spencer said we encountered a group of vampires. I understand team 2 was very successful today as well. That's good, that's very good.” I tried not to let the fear show as I contemplated what to say next. “After such a good day and because of some new information I'm going to change the plan for tomorrow.”
Grumbling along with looks of confusion spread among the WDT gathered there.
“Listen up everyone! quiet down. Now I know some of you were expecting to get a chance to scavenge tomorrow but things change. Nathan, I need you to lead the group back to Station Hope tomorrow. Take the cargo trucks, armored trucks and a 4X4. Myself, James, Spencer and Ivy are going to stick around and scout the area to the south of us.
“Why would you do that?” a voice from the back of the room shouted.
I didn't want to panic anyone or cause undo concern until I had more information so I stretched the truth a bit.
“I just want to check the area out for future scavenging trips.”
The group seemed to accept this explanation without further question. We settled in and ate a good meal. David ate and seemed a bit more at ease. He was talking and interacting with a few of the others. I was happy to see him come around, I didn't have the heart to tell him he would be coming with us tomorrow to find this vampire King.
I just put my last fork full of food in my mouth when I heard the shouts of “Stop, stop!” coming from the front check point. I grabbed my rifle and lead the group out of the ER. The flood lights now illuminated the checkpoint. The WDT member manning it was shining his flashlight onto something in the shadows, something I couldn't make out yet.
Running up to him I peered into the darkness, seeing nothing but sensing someone or something was out there.
“What it it, what did you see?”
“I'm not sure Sir, I thought I saw a person move out there.”
The perspiration gleamed off his upper lip, his eyes were as big as saucers. This WDT member was one of the youngest on his second mission. There isn't one of us that can't say the night can play tricks on the mind when your manning a post. My first thought was to chalk this up to inexperience and return to the ER for some much needed sleep. Then I heard a twig snap, the sound filled the night air. Everyone froze so I knew I wasn't imagining it. The flood lights illuminated the pines directly in front causing them to cast deep dark shadows behind.
“Who's out there? Show yourself!” My voice penetrated the night startling a few WDT member closest to me. After today I didn't know what to expect. At that moment the image of my grandfather saying, “always expect the unexpected Billy Boy,” popped into my head.
Slowly, a figure emerged from behind a large blue spruce. Small in stature, her eyes squinting from the flood lights. She raised a hand to block the light, I quickly checked the other and saw it was empty. Her head was covered by an old green knit cap; long curly blond hair fell out of it framing her face. A blue button down coat hung over her frame, the large leather belt around her waist gave clue to her true size. Knee high leather boots, obviously a few sizes too big, covered her feet. A small pack was hanging on her back, not full but concealing something. Overall a strange sight in the dark, in an area we were not familiar with.
“Stop right there! Don't move! Is anyone else with you?
“No, it's just me.”
Her voice was soft, with a hint of southern in it. How could this small woman be out in the middle of nowhere by herself and with no weapon. Questions that would be asked and answered at a later time. I looked around and saw David was just behind me off to my left.
“David, is she from your group?”
Walking forward to get a better look he studied her for several seconds.
“Can't be certain it was a large group but I don't know her.”
“Spencer, go pat her down and check that bag, the rest of you keep him covered.”
She made no fuss and did what Spencer asked without objection. A thorough search revealed a few cans of food, an old tattered map of the area, an extra shirt and an old faded picture of a man and a small boy, but no weapon. Spencer threw the bag over his shoulder, took hold of her arm and led her to me. There was something off about her, I couldn't put my finger on it.
“What's your name?”
An uneasy tension followed as I waited for her response. She seemed slightly scared or confused. I was sure she was sizing us up as much as we were sizing her up.
“Where did you come from Nancy?”
“West, I came from the west.”
“Are you alone or with a group.”
She scanned back and forth as if she was attempting to memorize each of our faces. After she had looked at each one of us she said, “I was with a group but they are gone now.”
“Gone where, what happened to them,” I asked.
Her expression changed in an instant, pain, anger and fear griped her as she looked me in the eye.
“They're gone, all gone!”
Any further question along those lines would be pointless so I moved on.
“How far west, how far have you traveled.”
She returned to scanning us, her face emotionless now. It was obvious she had been through something traumatic, I couldn't help but wonder if she was completely crazy.
>
“Minneapolis, we lived in Minneapolis.”
“What happened to make you leave?”
Her head sank, when she raised it again a tear was running down her cheek.
“The same thing that will happen to you if you stay here.”
“And what's that Nancy?”
“They will come for you and kill you all.”
8
The second morning at the hospital brought with it a clear blue sky. The sun was just about to break when I made my way down the main corridor just off the ER. The third examining room on the left had Rob, a WDT member for two years now, stationed in front of it. He was a tall gangly kid only 17 years old. He wore an old olive green army jacket and desert camo pants. An AK-47 laid across his legs as he sat on an old metal folding chair. He sprang to his feet when he saw me coming almost dropping his AK.
“Good morning Rob, how's our new stranger been?”
“Sleeping like a baby all night.”
“Good, good.” I peered through the small window into an examining room. She was lying on a gurney with her back to me.
“Well it's time to get her up. We have a lot to do today and she needs to answer a few questions.”
This strange new female stood up as we entered the room, it was as if she had been awake for some time.
“How are you feeling Nancy?”
“I'm fine, she looked around a bit bewildered. “what is this place, where are we.”
“You don't know?”
“I have no idea.”
“What's the last thing you remember?”
“I remember last night, meeting you. Before that I was in Minneapolis.”
“So between Minneapolis and showing up at our doorstep you don't remember anything?”
I looked at Rob, he had the same confused look I'm sure was on my face. Just then Ivy and James entered the room.
“Thought we would see if you needed any help Billy,” Ivy said.
“Ya, Billy everyone is wondering what's going on with her and what our next move is,” James said.
“Well, I just started asking her a few questions. She doesn't seem to remember much before last night. Ivy, do you have the items we took off of her?”
“Ya, right here in my pocket.”
“Show her that picture, the one with the man and boy in it. Maybe that will jar her memory.”
Ivy grabbed my arm and pushed me into the corner of the room. We were turned now with our backs to Nancy.
Whispering into my ear, close enough to feel her breath she said, “you sure that's a good idea? It's obvious she has been thought a shit storm. Maybe we should hold off on showing her the picture, it might send her over the edge.”
“Normally I would agree with you but from what she said and what David said I don't think we have much time. I have to know what's coming this way and I think she knows.”
“Alright Billy, I hope your right. Here's the picture.”
I walked over to Nancy, stretched out my arm with the picture facing her. “Do you know these people?”
She started to tremble as she studied the faces of the man and boy. Tears began to flow as she grabbed the picture and clinched it to her chest.
“Who are they Nancy?” Ivy said in a soft comforting tone.
Through the tears she managed to say, “that's my husband and son.”
“Where are they now,” I asked, hoping her memory had returned completely.
She stopped trembling and looked at each one of us. A mixture of pain and hatred was etched on her face. I wondered if the hatred was directed at us or the creatures.
“They were taken and fed upon by those hideous vampires! Those bastards killed my family!”
“How long ago was that,” I asked.
“I don't know; I just don't know. My husband was killed back in Minneapolis on the first night of the attack. My son, my beautiful little boy was taken a few nights ago.”
Ivy stepped forward and wrapped her arms around this tragic woman. Nancy sank her head into Ivy's chest and wept uncontrollably. I knew no more questions would be answered for a while so I turned to James and instructed him to take Rob and get the trucks ready to go back to Station Hope.
“Pack everything you can from yesterday along with everything we got from this hospital into the trucks. Leave the Dodge and load it up with the best guns, plenty of ammo, food and water for three days. You, me, Ivy, Spencer and David will head south to do some recon. The rest of the group will high tail it back home. You got that James?”
“Ya, no problem. I'll have everything ready to go in 20 minutes. I'm sure Eddie will be happy to get out of here.”
“No doubt, I hope all that shit we got for him will keep him busy for a while. Rob, I want you to look after Nancy on the trip back. She has been though a lot but she's still a stranger to us. We don't really know her so I want you to keep an eye on her.”
“No problem Sir, you can count on me.”
“Get going then, I'm going to try and get more info out of her”.
James and Rob left the examining room as Ivy helped Nancy sit on an old plastic chair. Ivy reached to her side and removed a canteen from its carrier. She unscrewed the top, glanced up at me with a half-smile, and handed it to Nancy. Nancy took a long drink and handed the canteen back to Ivy with a forced smile. She whipped her mouth with her sleeve and sat back. As I looked down on this little woman with the knit hat I couldn't help but wonder what she had been though. I also couldn't help but wonder if she was telling us the truth. There were a few red flags going off that raised my suspicion. For one, how could she have made it all this way without a weapon. For another, her clothes in the light of day seemed to new, to clean to have traveled all this way. And for another, the little voice in my head was telling me to watch out for her, and that little voice is seldom wrong. I had to know more, more about her and more about her story.
“Nancy, how long ago did the vampires attack you in Minneapolis?” If felt so strange, almost surreal to say the word vampire. I grew up calling them simply the “creatures” but I now think vampire is a better descriptive term.
“I don't know; I just don't know.” She had stopped crying now. The back of her head resting on the wall, her eyes shut.
“Can you give me some idea, a week a month, anything?”
“If I have to guess I'd say three weeks ago.”
“And how did you get here, how did you make it this far without a weapon.” I was short on time so the direct approach would have to work for now. Nancy shifted forward and placed her head in her hands. I could tell her annoyance level was rising.
“We ran, we ran for days and days.”
“Who ran, how many of you were there?”
“alright, let me tell you the whole story. We were living in Minneapolis, what was left of it. Doing pretty good for our selves. There was a large group there, I'd day close to 5,000 people. We hadn't seen a vampire in months. We figured they all died off and we didn't have to worry about them anymore.” She paused and looked up at me. “We were wrong. They came at dusk and over ran us. People scattered in every direction. My husband, Son and me managed to get out of our settlement and head east. We were trying to get to the Mississippi.”
I interrupted her and asked, “Why the Mississippi, why try to get there.”
“We learned that they don't like moving water. Don't ask me how we know we just know. So our only hope was to get across the Mississippi and head east. We heard of a place somewhere around here that was fortified, a safe haven.”
“Who told you that?”
“It's not that someone told me, it was just sort of common knowledge. We only made it a few miles when the vampires caught up to us. My husband was killed fighting them off as we ran. At day break I met up with a group of about 30 others also heading east. My Son and I joined up with them. We used an old barge to cross the river. We walked for several days without any sign of the vampires. We figured the river had stopped them, again we figured w
rong. One by one they picked us off. Mostly at night, but a few in the day. The most upsetting thing was when someone would disappear in the middle of the night as we slept. We would wake up and they were just gone, no sounds, no screams, no blood, just gone. The vampires were just toying with us; they would harvest us one or two at a time. We moved as fast as we could, held up in whatever shelter we could find. The fighters in our group killed dozens of them. But they just kept coming and then we began to run out of ammo. We must have been out there for longer than three weeks. Now that I think about it we were running for almost two months. A few nights ago there was only five of us left.”
“So just a few nights ago there were five of you? When did the vampires last attack you.”
“I think it was the night before I found you. That's the night they took my Son. He was next to me one minute and then disappeared into the night the next. Terror overcame me so I ran, I ran for what seemed hours. Come daybreak I was alone, utterly alone. I saw your truck late yesterday afternoon so I followed in the direction you went. I found you last night and here we are now.”
“Alright Nancy, I only have a few more questions. Can you tell me how many vampires attacked you in Minneapolis?”
“I really have no idea, there were so many and they came so fast.”
“How many followed you here then?”
“I can't be sure of that either, I only saw a few. I think it was more of a hunting party that followed us.”
“When we first saw you you said they would kill us all if we stayed here, why would you think that?” Is the main body of vampires coming this way?”
“I don't know; I don't even remember saying that. I don't know how many are out there. I don't know where they are. All I know is everyone I loved is gone.”
Nancy began to cry uncontrollably again; I was grateful Ivy was there to comfort her. That was enough questions for today. I left her with Ivy and went out to check on the trucks. I was happy to see they were almost full and ready to go. Spencer and James were standing next to the Dodge talking with David. I figured this would be a good time to inform him he was going with us on our recon mission.