Authors: Tim Miller
Chapter 32
Jessica sat in her room with Anna finishing her breakfast. Jessica was sitting at her little desk, while Anna was leaning back on the bed with her feet up against the wall.
“So what do you think they’re talking about?” Jessica asked.
“I don’t know. They haven’t seen each other since you were like a baby. I’m sure there’s a lot for them to discuss.” Anna explained.
“You think they’ll get back together?”
“I really don’t know. That’s just up to them to work out.”
“Well I hope they do. That would be awesome.”
Just then, the door swung open. They both looked up to see a hulking black man in the doorway. Anna sat upright as Jessica just stared.
“Hello ladies. I hope I’m not interrupting.” The man said.
“Who are you?” Anna asked. I’ve never seen you before.
“No, but you may have heard of me. I am Randall.”
“Randall?” Anna said. “I didn’t know you were still alive, or that you were here.”
“I know. I like it that way, but I felt the time had come for me to reveal myself. I heard our friend here may be the cure for vampirism once and for all.”
Jessica still sat motionless; she looked over to Anna, then back at Randall.
“I-I guess so,” Jessica said. “Are you going to hurt me?”
Randall laughed.
“Now why would I do that?” He asked.
“I don’t know, because you’re big and scary.”
He stopped laughing and his expression became stern. It was a look that would stop people in their tracks.
“You don’t know the half of it my dear. But I need you to come with me. Dr. Rothstein needs your help.”
“My help? With what?”
“Your blood holds the key to getting rid of vampires for good. So he’ll need more of it, but don’t worry, he’ll only take a little at a time.”
“I don’t know if I wanna do that,” Jessica said.
“It wasn’t a request.”
He stepped aside as Jessica and Anna came out of the room. They walked down the hall when Steven came around the corner. When he saw them, he froze where he stood, his eyes wide.
“Randall?” He said.
“Hello Steven. It’s been a long time.”
“I thought we killed you.”
“You thought wrong. Don’t worry, I’m not mad. And I hear you’re human again, so I can’t hold it against you.”
Steven turned and looked at Jessica.
“You ok Jess?”
“I’m ok daddy. Randall says the doctor needs my blood to cure all the vampires.”
“Ok, I’ll go along with you.” Steven said.
“That won’t be necessary,” Randall said.
“I’m her father, so I say it is necessary.”
Randall walked up to Steven, he stood several inches taller than Steven, but Steven never backed down. They stared at each other for several minutes, and then Randall laughed and backed away.
“I’ll let you win this one. But I wouldn’t push it,” he said as they headed to the infirmary.
Chapter 33
When they reached the infirmary, Dr. Rothstein explained everything to Jessica and her dad then began to draw her blood. She handled the needles just fine as her dad held her hand. He would take a pint a week for a few weeks, though he hoped he could replicate the properties that would cure a large group of vampires. Outside the room, Adam approached Randall who looked on.
“What are you doing?” Adam asked.
“Since when do you question me?” Randall answered.
“Since you’ve decided to just
wander around out in the open; are you going to be ok watching her blood being drawn?”
“I’ll be just fine, as long as you do your job.”
Adam rolled his eyes as Dr. Rothstein stepped in the hall. He paused when he saw Randall. The doctor looked the large man up and down, taking a few steps back.
“Don’t mind him doc, he was just leaving.” Adam said, as Randall shot him a deadly stare.
“Um, ok,” the doctor said. “I just wanted to let you know, once I have this pint, I’ll start working on some things. I’m not sure how long it will take, but I have a few ideas.”
“Sounds good.” Adam said.
“She asked for some Froot Loops once we are done.”
“I think we can manage that.”
“What are Froot Loops?” Randall asked. Adam laughed and shook his head.
“I guess you do need to get out more.”
“Very funny,” Randall said.
Several hours later, Jessica was starting to feel better. The needle was out of her arm, and after a bowl of Froot Loops and some juice, she was feeling less dizzy. Anna came walking into the exam room and pulled up a chair.
“How you feeling kiddo?” She asked.
“Oh, pretty good. Giving blood wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
“Yeah, it’s not too bad. You might not know this, but everyone in the building is talking about you.” Anna said.
“Really why? They making fun of me again?”
“No! Why would you say that?”
“In my school, when all the kids were talking about me, it was usually to make fun of me,” Jessica explained.
“Well this is just the opposite. What you did at the mines, in rescuing Desmond, and now this. You can cure vampires! Make them human again! You have any idea what that means?”
“Uhh, no?”
Anna laughed as she shook her head. Sometimes Jessica seemed so smart and so with it, then others it was like talking to a six year old. Either way, the kid was growing on her.
“It means if this works, and we can get it to spread, it would mean no more vampires. No more fighting, no more slaves or death.”
“Oh, I guess that would be cool. Could I still ride Hawk and shoot grubs?”
“There would be no more grubs silly.”
“Then what would I shoot?”
Anna groaned.
“Never mind,” she said.
Dr. Rothstein took the bag of blood to his table and began working on it with some objects that looked like large cans.
“What are you doing now?” Jessica asked.
“I’m going to dilute your blood cells into a vapor, and embed it into these ultraviolet grenades. Or try to at least. When the grenade goes off, the vapor will go into the air and infect any vampires in the area. That’s the plan anyway.
“Wow, cool!”
She watched him working for what felt like hours, but she was fascinated with the process. He poured the blood into a machine, then some other liquid, the machine heated up and he watched the doctor filling several tubes with the gas, then inserting them into the grenades. She managed to not ask too many questions as Dr. Rothstein worked. He turned around and held up one of the grenades.
“There, done!” He said.
With that, the door burst opened. Anna didn’t recognize the guy who ran in.
“Gear up guys!” He said. “And hurry! They’re coming!”
“Who’s coming?” Anna asked.
“The vampires!”
“What? How many?”
“All of them.”
Chapter 34
They ran to the rooftops, Adam and Randall was with them. The sun was just starting to go down as they looked into the horizon. The sky was blackened by the site of thousands flying toward them. They were in the distance, and looked like a swarm of locusts heading toward them.
“When did vampires start flying?” Anna asked.
“Beats me,” Adam said. “We couldn’t fly when I was a vampire.”
“It’s the ancients.” Randall said.
“Ancients? I thought you were the oldest
.” Adam asked.
“
There are a lot of things you don’t know.” Randall said.
“Wait? Randall is a vampire?” Anna asked. Randall shot her a glance that made her step back.
“It’s complicated.” Adam said. “We’ve got a bigger problem.”
The horde of vampires grew larger as they got closer.
“What do we do?” Anna asked.
“Everyone inside!” Adam yelled. “Lock everything, reinforce the doors. Sound the alarm. We need everyone.”
They were all running back inside, but Jessica turned and ran toward Hawk.
“Jess!” Anna yelled. “Get back here!”
“I can’t leave Hawk out here,” Jessica yelled. “They’ll kill him.” She hopped on his back and took off into the sky. They sailed away from the vampire horde that approached the compound. Anna watched and then ran inside.
“Where’s Jess?” Adam asked.
“She jumped on Hawk and took off, I yelled for her but she wouldn’t listen.”
“Great. Get our weapons. Get the UV floodlights going. It won’t stop them, but will slow them down some.”
Anna gathered her armor and weapons, getting everything together as she ran back to the conference room where Adam and Randall were waiting. She noted the concern on both of their faces.
“We’re not gonna make it are we?” She asked.
“Yes we will,” Adam said. “I promise.”
She put together her cross bow
and waited. They didn’t stand a chance against thousands of those things. All they had was crossbows, guns, and UV lights.
“I have an idea,” Adam said.
“What is that?”
“Get everyone down below, to the basement.”
“Basement? Aren’t we going to fight?”
“We can’t win a head to head fight with those things. There is a bunker under this compound.”
“Are you serious? Since when?” Anna asked.
“Since before it was built. I had it put there in case something like this were to happen, but never used it. It’s a ways underground, but it has supplies and can hold us all until morning. Ancients or not, they can be in the day light.”
High above the compound, Jessica circled on Hawk’s back. She was even above the horde and could see them swarming around the compound, landing on the roof, along the outer walls, pulling at the roofing, the doors, windows, anything to get inside. She had to think of a plan. Some of the creatures had torn sheets of metal off the walls, other were digging through the concrete. She couldn’t even see the actual building. It was as if a pack of ants had taken over the compound.
Some of them had caught sight of her. They turned and flew up in her direction.
“Oh no! Hawk, get us out of here!” She yelled, but the creature was already getting closer. This was the first time she’d gotten a good look at them. He they could fly, but had no wings. Their faces were distorted, eyes glowing white and their mouths fill with sharp, jagged teeth. There were several
others behind him but this one had caught her first. He grabbed her by the leg and sank his teeth into her calf.
Jessica cried out in pain, and tried to shake the creature off. Blood sprayed from her leg, but in seconds the creature’s irises returned to its eyes, it began to gag as a look of horror overtook his own face. He lost his grip on her leg, and fell to the ground.
The other creatures watched him fall for a second, and then went back after Jessica. Blood was still dripping from her leg as they flew toward her. She lifted her leg, trying to ignore the dull, throbbing pain. The bite was deep, but she hoped wasn’t too bad. It was still bleeding quite a bit. She began wiping the blood off her leg, and smeared it onto her hands, face and arms.
Another of the vampires reached her, this one almost climbing on to Hawk’s back. She shoved her hand in his face and stuck her hand in his mouth, pulling it out before he bit down. She knew he was quicker than her, but he was so surprised, he failed to bite down. He began to choke and gag as well. She pushed him off Hawk’s back and watched him fall.
She looked and saw the other three vampires hovering in front of her. They looked at her and at each other, and then turned and flew back toward the compound. She sat and watched as they fled.
“You see that Hawk? They’re scared of me!”
Chapter 34
Alarm sounds were ringing loudly through the compound as everyone headed to the basement. Anna, Adam and Randall were together toward the front of the group. Once they reached the basement, Adam went to a large pole that looked like a support beam. He pulled on it for a few seconds, throwing all of his weight into it. After a bit, the pole started to move downward. As the pole moved down, one of the walls began to slide open, revealing a large stair well.
They all headed down the stairwell while Adam stayed at the top. Once everyone was in, which was around three hundred people, he pulled a lever inside the stairwell, as the big wall slid shut. He ran down the stairs which felt like they’d never end. He’d forgotten how far down it was, until he reached the bunker.
The bunker itself was nothing fancy. It was just an oversized basement made of concrete. There were blankets and folding cots scattered about. He’d had it made years ago when they first built the compound. But this was the first time it was ever needed. No doubt the compound would be ruined by morning. Anna and the others gathered at the far corner of the bunker. Anna tried to keep her distance from Randall.
“So what exactly is your story?” She asked Randall.
“My story is none of your business, rodent!” He snapped back.
“Hey, easy!” Adam said. “I think she’s entitled to some answers. I’ve kept too much from everyone already.”
“She is entitled to nothing!”
“She is, or I’ll see if Doctor Rothstein’s little concoction works on you. How’s that sound?”
“If you try it I’ll—“
“What? Kill me?” Adam said. Randall backed off finally. Adam turned to Anna. “Ok, here’s the deal. As you know, I was once a vampire. Randall still is, but he’s—unique.”
“Unique how?” She asked.
“Unique as in, up until tonight, I thought he was one of the oldest, like thousands of years old. He’d been turned by one of the ancients. That’s why he is so powerful. During the dark ages, there was a great purge of vampires. They thought the ancients had been extinct, but it would seem they had just gone underground. Vampires can do that. They don’t die, so they’d just be week, though not sure how they fed this whole time.”
“I know how,” Steven said joining the group. “The rest of us gathered blood for them and stored it over the years, feeding them a little at a time. Keeping grubs alive as long as we could
help too. They had this planned for ages though I think Jessica sped up their timeline a bit.”
“So what is with Randall?”
“He survived the purge. He also found out that it was some of the younger vampires who started the purge. They worked with humans to weed them out. So Randall also went underground. But because of his mixed bloodline, human blood with that of an ancient, he’s much more powerful than many younger vampires. Only ancients can fly for example. The ancients are a race, or species. They never were human; they were around since the dawn of time.”
“My God,” Anna said.
“Exactly. So once Randall got tired of hiding, he joined the hunters like us and has worked with us ever since. He considers himself better than the vampires of today.”
“So why is he scared of the ancients?” Anna asked, glancing to Randall who by now his back had turned.
“They know he’s betrayed them. So they would rip him limb from limb and leave him out in the sun.”
“Wow,” Anna said.
“You happy now?” Randall said.
“Not really. Don’t be mad at me your people are all screwed up. I guess that’s what happens when you live forever, you get bored.”
“Want to find out?” Randall said.
“Enough!” Adam said. “We need to figure out what to do if they get through here.”
“Can they make it through down here?” Anna asked.
“I don’t know. I’d rather now find out. So everyone needs to be ready just in case.”
As soon as he was done speaking, they heard the most horrific screaming any of them had ever heard.