Blood Apocalypse - 04 (14 page)

10

Later that afternoon as Second Squad finished securing the last of the gear from their old haunt at Tinker, the guards mai
ntaining the hangar changed and Tufo was approached by their squad commander. “Gunny, we have an issue that you might need to bring up with Colonel Mitchell.”

Tufo looked up from the manifest he was operating from, “I’m all ears, Master Sergeant.”

“Immediately after the squads left, my men reported that someone from Tinker Actual came and stated that the hangar was going to be absorbed back into the base’s assets,” he explained. “I wasn’t on duty at the time, but they contacted me and I informed them that the last word we had from the colonel was that the squads were returning. The base rep said that they got it from the Pentagon that you weren’t.”

Mark nodded. “Well, the rumor may well be true, Sarge. We probably will be relocating to the desert, but even if we do, they can’t just come in and change the locks on the doors. This is our house, got it?”

The Master Sergeant snapped to attention and rendered a salute. “Understood, sir.”

Mark shook his head. “I’m not officially the XO yet, so don’t go calling me sir. I still work for a living.” He chuckled. “But let them know if they try that shit again that Mitchell is still the CO of this operation and until we come in and finish clea
ning out our goods, they are to turn-to, heave-ho and whatever else they need to do to stay the fuck out of here.”

“Roger that, sir…er, Gunny.” He turned serious again. “And if they try to force their hand?”

“Have them contact Mitchell personally and report it to us,” Tufo ordered. “Until then, keep the doors locked and nobody is allowed access unless they’re MS personnel.”

“Roger that.”

“If all goes well, we’ll be back in a week or so and finish cleaning out everything. We’ll gather you boys up to go with us and we can play in the sandbox with the rest of the cat turds.”

“Looking forward to it, sir.”

Tufo shot him a warning glare, but the guard simply smiled. Mark shook his head and turned back to the crews and Second Squad loading the truck. “Everything ready?”

Apollo gave him a nod and a thumbs-up as he jumped into the waiting Hummer.

“See you in a couple weeks, Master Sergeant.” Tufo turned and headed to the Hummer.

“Good hunting, sir.”

*****

Barbara Mueller had been hiding at her grandfather’s cabin in the woods for days. She slept little and her nerves were shot. She stayed up all night, patrolling around the perimeter of the small cabin in the middle of nowhere while her son Bobby slept safe within. While she patrolled, she kept her pistol in her hands, always loaded with silver ammunition, a round chambered and ready to fire.

By day, she would try to catch small catnaps as time would allow. During those short times that she was awake during the day she would allow Bobby out of the cabin to get some fresh air, to run in the woods, throw rocks and climb trees; to be a little boy. Bobby tried not to complain because he knew that they were in hiding, but when you’re young and bored, it was tough.

The nights were cold and Barbara dared not light a fire for fear that someone may follow the smoke to the cabin. She wai
ted until deep in the night before daring to light the old woodstove and by then, it barely took the edge of the biting cold. When the sun rose in the morning she would smother the fire and waken Bobby as the first rays of light hit the windows, ready to run at a moment’s notice.

Only once did she dare go into town since they had reached the cabin; when food and fresh water and necessities like toilet paper had bottomed out. She tried her best to conceal her ident
ity, but having grown up in the area and having spent so many summers there with her grandfather, many of the local merchants knew her, even if they didn’t say anything to her. It was no surprise to them when the two strangers with short hair and polished suits showed up in town asking if she had been seen in the area lately. Flashing phony IDs that said Department of Defense and claiming that they really needed to find her, most locals feared the worst, that something horrible had happened to her husband Robert and gladly told the two strangers that they had indeed seen her in the area. Since a search of the local hotels turned up nothing as they expected, they felt fairly certain that she must be staying at her grandfather’s cabin. They weren’t certain where it was, and neither did many of the town’s residents. All they knew was that it was deep in the woods, somewhere in the mountains.

Tax records indicated that her grandfather had owned a lot of land in the area, and searching it all would take a lot of ma
npower. But at least they had the general area. They knew that she was here. They only had to sniff her out.

The two strangers made some strategic phone calls and not
ified a crew of familiars to come into the area and assist with the search. They only had a few days before the Sicarii’s forces hit the mainland, and they wanted good news to report.

*****

The convoy of tractor trailers made their way along the dusty highways until reaching the outer gates of Groom Lake. The drivers, familiars of Paul Foster, called ahead to Rufus Thorn to notify him of their arrival. Wackenhut Security Officers waited at the front gates for the black semis to arrive and as they approached the gates, the officers opened them and waved the trucks through, counting as they drove through the outer gates and into the base property. Another set of gates waited with another set of guards standing by to wave them through. As the trucks approached the base proper, Major Flemings and Third Squad stood by to escort the trucks along the bumpy terrain that used to be a road to the huge underground area that once was used as a warehouse.

The lead truck stopped as Major Flemings held her hand up and she climbed the steps to speak with the driver. She pointed to the area where they would be headed and explained the rough terrain. The driver nodded when she told him that she would lead him out there along the least bumpy path and that they would open the door and the trucks could back in once they turned on the lights.

Flemings took to her golf cart with two of Third Squad’s members while the rest followed in a quad cab pickup. The semis geared down and followed along the bumpy path that had been smoothed as best as possible over the last two days in preparation for their arrival.

With the doors open and the lights on, the trucks began li
ning up to back in one by one. Flemings stood by the doors as each truck slipped through the doors like a knife through warm butter and lining themselves up next to each other with military precision. Row after row of diesel powered semis slipping into position until the warehouse was nearly a third full. Flemings hadn’t noticed, but Third Squad had taken up security positions around the loading zone, their barrels pointed away from the trucks, their eyes scanning the entire area as each truck backed into place, covering the arrival of the semis until each one was safely in the underground area.

From a distance, a blacked out SUV approached from the campus of the base, following the same path the trucks had ta
ken. She held the doors open until the SUV drove through, then pulled the doors shut and latched them, herself and Third Squad inside with the SUV and the semis.

Drivers from each truck had already shut off their engines and were opening the cargo doors to allow their ‘loads’ to di
sembark. As Major Flemings and Third Squad stood near the main doors of the old warehouse, scores of vampires slowly made their way forward from the rear of the large area. Finally, the rear doors of the SUV opened and Rufus Thorn stepped out followed by Viktor. Rufus stood as still as a statue, dressed in a white suit and white patent leather shoes, Viktor contrasted him by being dressed all in black, his dark hair brushed back and his goatee neatly trimmed. It gave him a very menacing appearance.

From the rear of the new arrivals Paul Foster stepped fo
rward to greet Rufus. “Brother! So good to see you again.” He smiled at Rufus, but even Diane, who had never met the man felt a shiver run up her spine. She didn’t trust him any further than she could throw him and fought the overwhelming urge to break for the door.

“I trust your journey was uneventful,” Rufus said coldly.

“For the most part, yes.” Paul nodded. “Hard to know for sure, being trapped in the back of a trailer.”

“I’m sure.” Rufus looked over the group that Foster had brought with him. “Where are the rest of your people?”

“On their way. We sent word as soon as you sent the coordinates.” Foster smiled, reminding Diane of a used car salesman. “Some are traveling from overseas so it may take them a bit longer to get here.”

“Very well.” Rufus turned to leave.

“Hey! Wait a minute.” Paul reached for him. “Where are we supposed to stay?”

Rufus looked around the warehouse then turned back to Paul. “This will be sufficient.”

Paul feigned shock. “This?” The distaste in his voice was palpable. “It was bad enough we had to hole up in those ratty warehouses on the wharf while we worked out the alliance, but now this?”

Rufus allowed a pulse of power to emanate from him that brought most of the vampires to a knee, their eyes to the floor. Foster merely bowed, his eyes averted. “Forgive me, Master,” he whispered.

“You are free to find your
own
shelter if you wish. The door is right there.” Rufus motioned quietly.

“No, Master, this will be more than sufficient. Thank you for supplying it.” Paul kept his eyes to the floor.

Rufus closed the space between them and lifted Paul’s face so that his eyes met his own. “Do not forget,
brother
. We are about to wage war.” He kept his voice low. “Acquiring world class accommodations are the least of our worries at the moment. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Of course, Master. Forgive me.” Paul’s voice finally found its humility.

Rufus stared at him a moment longer then looked about. “Your people are ready for what awaits us,
oui
?”

“Yes, they are ready and eager,” Paul replied.

Rufus withdrew the ebb of power he had sent flowing out into the room and the many vampires slowly rose to their feet. “Excellent. We will need each of them to their purpose.” He caught Paul’s eye. “As each of your people are about to arrive, contact me so that we can make arrangements to allow them access and get them safely to your group,
oui
?”

“Of course, brother.”

“Very good.” Rufus patted Paul’s cheek. “We will speak again soon, Paul. Until then, rest. Try to be comfortable here and remember that this is only temporary.”

“As you will.” He lowered his eyes.

Rufus turned and gave Viktor a slight nod. Viktor held the door open for him and the driver started the SUV’s engine and turned it back toward the doors of the old warehouse. As the doors shut behind the truck, Major Flemings stepped forward and introduced herself to Paul Foster. Paul looked at her as if she were a snack to be had, but kept his comments in check, probably due to the hunters at her side, weapons in hand.

Diane gave him a card with a list of phone numbers on it and told him that facilities were installed in the underground hideout and ready for use. She explained that many of the side stairwells may not be safe and that he should keep his people out of them for their own safety. The other side of the facility had rooms that were deemed safe and were at his disposal.

She then asked if Paul’s people needed bagged blood and Paul did a double take. “We don’t do ‘take-out’ thank you,” he replied rather snobbishly.

Diane paused and felt the hair on her neck bristle. “The people on this base are
not
to be used as food.”

Paul eyed her a moment before raising an eyebrow and smiling. “No worries, Major. We brought our own sustenance.”

Diane shivered at the thought of humans being transported for these monsters to feed on and she could almost feel the hunters at her side stiffen. Spalding was about to raise his weapon when she outstretched her hand and held him down. “We’ll deal with this later,” she whispered to him. She turned back to Foster and stated simply, “If you need anything, call those numbers.” She turned on her heel, the hunters covering their backs as they exited the building.

Once outside, Sanchez turned to Major Flemings, “Did he mean they brought
people
to feed on, Major?”

“I don’t know, but I’m hoping that Thorn can find out for us.”

“I thought Thorn said that his people only fed on animals,” Hank tried to offer up an explanation.

“I’m hoping that is what this Foster character meant,” she replied. “I really hope he was just trying to give me the heebie-jeebies.”

“If he was, he did a helluva job,” TD remarked as they loaded back into their vehicles.

*****

Dominic stood at attention in front of Colonel Mitchell’s desk as Matt looked over his medical report. Laura sat in the corner going over her copies as well. She found herself returning to and thumbing through Dom’s report of the soil he had found while escaping. For some reason, it intrigued her, but she couldn’t quite figure out why.