Authors: Christine Dougherty
Or at least he had until now.
One of the horses neighed shrilly.
“Peter!” Riker said sharply, pushed by vague fear.
Peter blinked and looked at him again.
Evans looked around, too, his eyes first grazing and then catching on Peter.
“Help me get this figured out, would you?” Riker said, keeping his eyes on Peter. He waved a rolled-up map. “You used to live in Pennsylvania, right? You’re familiar with the area?”
Peter nodded. “Yeah, sure thing. What do you need to know?”
“Well, take a look at this and tell me what you think the best–” Riker unfurled the map and pointed to the area in question. Peter bent over the map, Evans forgotten for the moment.
Miller, who’d watched the entire exchange, went back to sorting out rations, handing everything to Nancy to put into piles. She was glad Riker had distracted Peter from Evans, but Miller wondered if there was anything Riker could do that would put a permanent end to the tension between Peter and Evans. She glanced at Promise, who was wiping the horse’s legs with a heavy cloth. She really was a pretty girl, and even though it sucked, that fact alone was probably responsible for eighty percent of the bad blood. Anyone could see Evans was attracted to her, and there was nothing Riker could do about
that
. That particular story probably went all the way back to the days when the first humans lived in caves.
Peter curled himself around Promise, drawing her back against him. They were at the far side of the barn, opposite the doors, and the horses were paces away. He watched as Lu moved about, a flat silhouette pushing sticks into the fire. He felt his eyes growing heavy.
Then Evans flashed into his mind: the look Evans’d been giving Promise earlier. Hot anger rushed into him, and he tightened his arms reflexively. Promise made a small sound of protest in her sleep, and he loosened his grip on her. He did not miss the quick glow that lit her black hair to a brief, fiery orange. It must have come from his eyes, he realized with wonder. The lurking power within himself that until now had made him uneasy now helped him to feel calm; he had nothing to fear from Evans, in fact, the opposite might well be true.
The thought comforted him, and he drifted into sleep.
Riker crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. The fire crackled soothingly, but he was not soothed. His mind wanted to drift to Shields, but he very deliberately turned it away. He would not think about the lost soldier until they were back in Delaware.
Tomorrow they were headed into the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge where they’d be traveling directly into and through some very dense forest. It would be two miles of dangerous territory, especially if Lu was right about the possibility of daytime vampires. The best he could do was hope for strong sun as they made their way through, but the rain that had fallen all day and now into the night seemed like the lasting kind.
Tomorrow, they would drop off 90 before Montezuma and take the more rural roads over the Finger Lakes to 81 in order to bypass Syracuse. They would end up skirting Auburn–the most populated area on their route until they were almost out of New York. There was another outpost just past Auburn in a town called Greenville.
Or there had been, anyway, two months ago when the last Guard had gone through.
Riker began to drift, and as he did, his daughter’s face coalesced on the screen of his mind. Abigail, so pretty, so sweet with her big brown eyes so much like her mom’s. She’d just turned ten the year before–the year she’d died–and ten was not too old to hug your daddy with unselfconscious abandon. As his sleep-state deepened, Riker smiled, his arms tightening on nothing…then he and Abigail were hiking on a wooded trail, and Jane, his wife, was just over the next hill, just out of sight with a picnic spread out on a check blanket in a sun-dappled field that looked like something out of a Disney movie. Some part of his dreaming brain told him that this was Heaven; that this was where Jane and Abigail had gone–and where he would someday meet up with them again.
~ ~ ~
Ash danced anxiously, his hooves clip-clopping hollow rings from the rutted blacktop. Snow, picking up Ash’s nervousness, shook her head and shivered. She neighed, and it was a shrill, warning sound. Peter ran his hand over her shoulder, trying to calm her.
Promise pulled Ash’s rein to the side, gently but firmly, bringing his big head around in an attempt to swerve him from his anxiety. She turned him until his back was to the woods they’d be entering all too soon. Through her legs, she felt the need in him to bolt, the fear traveling from his nerve-endings to hers. She calmed her breath and spoke softly to him and was gratified when he blew sharply, as if his nerves had a pressure release valve, and stopped prancing.
Billet and Lu stood nearby at the sign that said: Welcome to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge! Please Register with Park Rangers Before Camping • No Alcoholic Beverages • No Open Fires Aug 1 thru Aug 26 NO EXCEPTIONS! Fire Pits must be IRON and Certified by NPA • NO Fuel in containers of ANY KIND • NO Unleashed Dogs • DO NOT Feed Wildlife •
Please Enjoy Your Stay!
The park was longer north to south than it was east to west, and down here at the southernmost end, they’d be in and out in just over two miles. But the woods were incredibly dense, heavy with pines and underbrush. And though not raining, the morning was overcast and gray. Thunder rumbled to the north, but there was no wind, and Lu couldn’t tell which way the storm would go. They were lucky at least that the unseasonably mild temperatures were holding. The horses would really slow them down if it had been snow instead of rain.
“Something’s got him spooked,” Promise said to Peter. Her eyes were filled with anxiety as her gaze slid to the dense mouth of the woods.
“We’ll be in and out in a flash, less than ten minutes if we run them. Two miles is nothing for these guys,” he said and patted Snow’s shoulder.
But Promise was remembering the vampire that had chased her and Ash through the woods in Wereburg. Ash had been running flat out, full tilt, and still the monster had gained on them, wounding Ash even as they’d burst from the woods, the sun finally clearing the clouds and stopping the vampire’s charge.
She shivered at the memory and looked up at the heavy, bruise-colored clouds that hung low and dead in the sky. No chance of a sunny reprieve this time.
“Hey, can we get going some time today?” Evans yelled from where he leaned against the Humvee. “Or did we want to just set up camp at nine in the morning? Let the little horsies rest?”
Miller, who was off to the side with Nancy as the girl peed in the bushes, glanced back at Evans. Her face showed the exasperation she felt, and she glanced at Riker to see if he’d curb Evans.
“Enough, Ev,” Riker said, and his voice carried a stern warning. He walked to Peter and Promise. “I think you two should ride ahead of us until we’re in the clear. If either or both of the horses get spooked, I don’t want them turning back. Plus, you’ll be able to go at your own pace, and we’ll match you. What do you think?”
“I think you’re right,” Peter said. “If something does go wrong, I’m giving Snow free rein.” He looked at Promise, and she nodded agreement.
“Don’t let the horses bolt right through, though,” Riker said. “Try and stay calm because if they pick up a stone or sprain an ankle or anything like that…Evans is right, there’s no vet we could take them to. And they wouldn’t fit in a Humvee.” He smiled at Promise, trying to ease the tension he saw in her posture. She was trying to hide it, and doing a good job, but Riker knew a scared kid when he saw one. “You take it easy, Promise. We’ll be on the other side in no time. Okay?” He gripped her calf where it rested against Ash’s side.
“Okay,” she said, and her smile was faint, but there. She seemed to gather some strength from his hand on her leg, and he was reminded again of Abigail. He had a brief flash of last night’s dream…the meadow filled with white moths, dappled with buttery yellow sunshine. The dream was in stark contrast to his current cold, damp surroundings. Something deep in his mind–a feeling he’d had to suppress in order to get through day to day–turned over in longing at the image of his lost family.
He squeezed Promise’s calf one more time, then jogged to the first Humvee, calling to the others to get in the trucks; it was time to go.
Promise turned to Peter. “Ready?” she asked.
He smiled. “As I’ll ever be,” he said, quoting what she’d said when they’d first left Wereburg.
She returned his smile. Then she laughed, and more of the tension in her body drained away.
She turned Ash toward the woods and was amazed at how much calmer he was now. She didn’t think to connect his calm with her own. Snow walked placidly beside, her white head lower than Ash’s black one.
An enormous tree had come down just past the entrance, and it hung, barely suspended over the road like a bad omen. It was a dead gray and filled with leaves that had most likely been green when it was knocked over–either by lightning or heavy wind–and it had flattened smaller trees on its way down. Now the leaves were brown, rattling husks. Promise and Peter pulled the horses to the side of the road and still had to duck to get under it, pushing branches aside. To Promise, the rustling all around them sounded like whispers, malicious and secretive. Her stomach tightened, and once they were through it, she turned and eyed the tree nervously. Beneath her, Ash snorted and the steady clop clop of his hooves took on a skittish hitch.
“Hey, Promise,” Peter said. “What do you think Lea and Mark are doing right now? Do you think they talked to Mr. West about Deidre?”
Promise looked at him, considering. With her attention diverted, Ash calmed again, and his pace resumed its rhythm.
“I hope so. She could cause real problems if she wanted to,” Promise said. Unconsciously, she glanced over her shoulder again. Ash snorted.
Deidre–pushy as a former prom queen–had been adamantly opposed to Promise trapping Chance. She’d said that it was a danger to everyone, and when no one had bought into that, she had declared that Promise, Mark, and Lea were putting themselves unnecessarily at risk. When no one had backed her on
that
…she’d started questioning Peter’s status as a half-and-half and the danger he might pose to all the ‘normal’ humans.
Thinking about Deidre now made Promise irritated, almost angry.
“She better steer clear of Chance, that’s all I can say,” she said.
The Humvees roared to life behind them, and she started, coming out of her reverie and glancing back. They could barely see the military vehicles past the downed tree, but their headlights glimmered through the dead leaves.
Promise glanced at Peter as she urged Ash into a trot. They had to get out ahead of the Humvees. “I know you’re trying to distract me from being nervous,” she said, and Peter gave her a wide-eyed, innocent look. She smiled at him. “I appreciate it,” she said, and he returned her smile.
The horses maintained a quick pace, about six to seven mile an hour, their hooves clunking dully on the rutted track. Promise watched ahead; some of the ruts were real ankle turners. She wouldn’t want either of the horses galloping over this terrain, not even thick-legged Snow. It was dangerously uneven.
Once they were through this part and the road smoothed back into solid blacktop, they would be able to canter along at a better pace with the Humvees out ahead as they’d been traveling up till now. Promise much preferred being able to see the Humvees…having them at her back made her obscurely nervous, especially when she pictured Evans at the wheel. That guy was not just vicious, he was crazy.
As if to prove her point, an air horn sounded behind them, making the horses jump.
Snow stumbled into a rut, and Peter was thrown forward over her neck, but recovered himself before he tumbled completely off. He pushed himself back into his seat and looked quickly to see if Promise was okay as anger flared through his system. Promise had turned in the saddle to look back at the Humvees.
Her face was a mask of horror.
Peter followed her gaze.
The lead Humvee–the one Miller was driving–sat directly beneath the upended tree. A tattered woman struggled half in and half out of the passenger side window, her bloodless white legs kicking furiously as though she were swimming through the dry leaves. The low hanging branches rattled like a chattering chorus of the dead.
Her mouth opened and closed like a dying fish as the flesh on her exposed legs began to burn where the tree did not block the light as fully. Her skin steamed as though the liquid in her body were beginning to boil.
Riker struggled in the passenger seat, trying to get his arms up, but the vampire had him pinned with her upper body. From her place behind the steering wheel, Miller was engaged in a tug of war over the little girl, Nancy.
Nancy screamed. Her cries were breathless, almost tired-sounding, as if she were so used up that she had very little left for this latest outrage.
The vampire had Nancy’s head and neck in her clawing hands, and Miller had grabbed Nancy’s arm. She leaned back against the door, teeth gritted in determination, but was impeded by the limited space in which to fight. She couldn’t break the monster’s grip on the wailing girl.
“Let go of her, you bitch!” Miller screamed, and the vampire hissed, spitting and gibbering, and snapped at Miller. Its eyes burned a bright but somehow sludgy orange, and Miller renewed her struggles. The sunlight, however muted, was taking a toll on the creature. It couldn’t last much longer without heavier cover.
Lu and Billet burst from the vehicle behind Miller’s. They each had their crossbows up and ready. “Run! Get the horses out of the woods!” Lu yelled, waving at Peter and Promise. Billet dropped his bow to grab the flailing legs of the vampire stuffed into the passenger window.
Promise dragged Ash’s rein down and around, getting him faced in the right direction. She glanced at the Humvees once more. What she saw made her hands go lax on Ash’s rein. A gush of foaming, bright red blood splashed onto the inside of the windshield. A scream built in her chest, and before she could think, she had kicked one leg over, preparing to dismount. Then Peter was next to her, shaking her shoulder, pushing her back onto the saddle.