Coalition of the Damned - 03 (22 page)

Horith approached him and spoke quietly, “The others will be arriving soon. Perhaps we should make meal and prepare to leave.”

Jack gave him a thumbs-up and gathered his things, placing them back in his pack. The table had been reset for breakfast and Jack was amazed that such a meal could be prepared and set without waking him since he was such a light sleeper. He grabbed his radio and checked for any kind of signal. He soon realized that wherever they were, radio signals were a definite no-go. He turned it off to save the battery and put away the radio then grabbed a quick bite. Perhaps once the others began arriving and the doorway was open, he could radio back to HQ and find out where Mitchell wanted them to muster.

Jack grabbed an apple and a heavy bread roll made from some dark grain and strolled out among the large trees again. The morning air greeted him and he noticed a slight breeze, something that had been missing since they first arrived in the Greater Elf ward. The draping limbs of the trees gave a slight swaying motion in the breeze and Jack’s memory noted that something seemed
off
about the little village. He strolled through the pathways and while everything appeared the same, it just felt somewhat askew to him. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it felt different.

He continued to stroll along the pathways and noticed a lack of children, a lack of the elderly, the tree homes were closed, doors and windows shut. Jack stopped and turned in place loo
king up at the tree houses and noticed that the trees themselves had drooped their limbs as if to protect the homes in their branches. He shook his head slowly as he took it all in. An eerie feeling cut through him. It was as if the forest itself knew that something was about to happen and wanted to protect its wards.

Jack turned back toward the common building and encou
ntered Kalen speaking to a number of the warriors in his hunting party. As Jack approached, Kalen sent them on their way and turned to him. “The others will be approaching soon,” he announced as he turned to walk with Jack.

Jack stopped and held him lightly by the arm. He pointed to the trees. “I noticed the trees and the lack of people. It’s as if the trees are trying to protect them.”

The other nodded. “It is the Wyldwood. She has brought about the change and asked the forest to help protect us in case we are not successful.”

Jack tried not to show his amazement at her ability to do such things, but he failed. “Impressive,” he whispered.

Kalen smirked and shook his head. “She can do much more if the need is there,” he stated simply. He swept his arm wide to encompass the entire area. “She can move all of the trees to a safer area to avoid fire. She could coerce the forest animals to bring food to the people inside their homes if needed.” He lowered his voice to a whisper and came in close to Jack’s ear, “She could even convince the brook to flow up a hill to bring its waters to the people.” He nodded his head as if to convince Jack he weren’t stretching the truth.

Jack turned and gave him a quizzical look. “Can she only do those things
here
, or can she do them out there in the real world as well?”

It was Kalen’s turn to give a quizzical look. “They are one and the same.”

Jack laughed. “Oh, no, buddy, they aren’t. Things are definitely
different
in here.”

Kalen’s brows knitted in thought and he glanced around the area. He spotted Horith and whistled. A moment later the sligh
tly taller twin was standing with the two men and Kalen spoke to him in Elvish. Horith answered in the same language and Kalen nodded in acknowledgement. Horith turned to Jack and stated, “On the
outside
, the Wyldwood is slightly limited in her ability, but she can do a lot of the same things.” He pointed to the sky and the surroundings. “But in here, the aura feeds her strength so what she does isn’t as stressful on her.” He smiled at Jack. “Does this make more sense now?”

Jack was nodding. “Yeah, actually, I think it does. In a strange sort of way, I think I understand.” Jack looked around at the magical place and smiled. “Almost like this place feeds her batteries no matter where she goes and if she’s here, then she’s sort of plugged in.”

The twins looked at each other and shrugged, the concept of electricity not really sinking in. Jack just smiled again and patted Horith’s back. “I think I got it. Right or wrong, I think I understand.”

Jack noticed a group approaching them through a haze of morning fog off in the distance. What appeared to be a hunting party soon emerged from the feathering wisps and showed to be one of the arriving groups of warriors from another tribe of Greater Elves. Their members wore different leather armor and their faces were painted, reminding Jack of American Indians from old western movies of his childhood. If not for their pale skin, light hair and slightly pointed ears, he would have thought that he was watching a war party of Comanche or Apache arrive straight from the 1800s. They carried bows and spears, clubs and many other handmade weapons that he didn’t recognize as an
ything but lethal.

Horith broke away from Jack and trotted to greet the ne
wcomers. He embraced many of them and spoke in hushed tones. Their faces were grim, but happy to see an old friend. Perhaps under different circumstances, the reunion would be more joyous. Jack almost didn’t hear Tufo approach him as the two observed the newcomers greet their hosts. “They just get here?” Mark asked.

“Yeah.” Jack responded. “Appeared like ghosts out of the mist.” He turned to Tufo and shook his head. “It was kind of e
erie how a group that large could be so silent.”

Tufo nodded. “Sweet. Let’s hope that kind of stealth comes in handy against bloodsuckers.” He handed Jack a package that was wrapped in a fine cloth. “A gift from Loren.”

“What is it?” Jack asked as he untied the string binding it.

“Your eyes only, buddy,” Tufo said. “Not my place to know, I guess.”

Jack hefted the weight and it felt solid. He unwrapped the many layers of the silken cloth and looked at the gift inside. It appeared to be a large rock, roughly twice the size of a softball and made of some type of crystalline quartz. With hues of yellow and pink running through it, it was stunningly beautiful, but he couldn’t imagine the significance of the gift.

Jack nudged Tufo who glanced at the shining rock. He gave a low whistle. “Nice paperweight, pal. You should be proud.” He smirked.

Jack shook his head slowly. “Somehow, I doubt seriously that this is just a paperweight.” He glanced around at the camp with the bowing trees protecting the inhabitants, the foggy mist that hadn’t been there before and the way the sunlight made everything glow strangely. “No, there’s something to this thing.” He wrapped it carefully back up.

“Meh, with our luck it’s a dragon egg or something,” Tufo muttered.

“Uh, no. Dragon eggs are
much
larger and scaly. They look like—”

“I really don’t care,” Tufo interrupted. “I’m just saying that it’s probably something that will come back and bite us in the ass.” He nodded toward the warriors assembled in the village center, then pointed off in the distance. “There are more co
ming.”

Jack peered into the mist and saw another group merging out of the fog. He didn’t know if his mind was playing tricks on him or if the fog was growing thicker, but as the group emerged, the fog was so thick he could barely see the bodies as they stepped out. “I wonder if they’re using the fog to mask their numbers as they travel?” he thought aloud.

“If they are, it’s a pretty neat trick,” Tufo said.

Donovan approached the pair from the rear and asked, “What’s with all the fog? I stepped out just a bit ago to piss and it wasn’t like this…where did all these people come from?”

“Elf back-up, I guess,” Tufo muttered, popping a nut into his mouth.

“They’re the warriors from the other districts,” Jack said. “They’re supposed to be arriving this morning.”

Donnie nodded. “Any idea how many?”

“Nope, didn’t ask,” Jack said. “Beggars can’t be choosers.”

Tufo shot him a sideways glance. “Who says we’re beggars?” he asked quietly. “Their asses are on the line, too, ya know.”

Jack simply nodded and continued to stare as the number continued to grow exponentially in the village square. He couldn’t be sure, but he knew there were multiple hundreds mil
ling about, talking in hushed and quiet tones. He couldn’t pick up a single word of any conversation, but he noted more than a few quizzical and a few unfriendly stares in their general direction. “I think we’re being sized up.”

“Let ‘em,” Tufo grumbled. He tossed a nutshell on the ground and turned his back on the crowd. “I still say screw ‘em,” he growled, his temper flaring with the offhanded stares. “All of this other-worldly crap is for the birds. We don’t need their help. We got enough firepower to level the blood suckers. Drop a couple of MOABs on ‘em as they come sneaking in and let the pieces fall where they may. End of story.”

Jack hiked an eyebrow at him and chuckled slightly. “Right. And let the cleanup crews deal with picking up the pieces from a million or so vampires when they’re scattered over a couple dozen square miles of Nevada desert?” he asked. “That’s mighty nice of you.”

“Meh, let the buzzards have them.” He smiled. “From what I understand, the virus won’t cross over to animals anyway. It would be good for the environment. Feed the wild critters, fert
ilize the fields, who knows? Maybe we could get something to grow out there if we scatter enough of their bone meal across the fruited plains.”

“And
that
is why you’ll never be in charge, Tufo,” Jack smiled.

“Oh, hell. If I were in charge, I’d have had you boys injec
ted with tracers a long time ago.” He said straight faced. “As soon as they nabbed Dom, I’d have dropped a fucking nuke on their asses.”

Jack’s face went slack as he realized that Tufo had both a good idea, and that he’d sacrifice Dom in a heartbeat. He searched Mark’s eyes to see if he were joking, and he simply couldn’t tell. He was about to tell him that he was a heartless son-of-a-bitch when Tufo added, “But not before I sent you boys in balls-to-the-wall to pull Dom’s ass out of the ringer.” He popped another nut into his mouth and turned back to the gro
wing crowd of elves. He shook his head. “Sure wouldn’t be recruiting a bunch of bleach-blonde Indians to go on the warpath with me.”

Kalen left the growing group of warriors and approached Jack. “Do you know yet where we need to go?”

“I need to radio my boss and find out, but I can’t seem to reach him from here.”

Kalen simply nodded and led him back to the entrance of their domain. He pressed along the sides of the stones again and pushed it aside, revealing the very same place they had entered. Jack stepped out and sent a radio message, meanwhile Donovan ensured that the team got everything packed and ready to move out. He was certain that they would be leaving soon and while they were overloaded, he noted that the warriors carried only their weapons and a few small leather pouches tied to their waist. He hoped that wherever they went, they had provisions to handle them all.

13

Dominic trudged through the jungle, fighting through the thicker areas and climbing up to the highest ground he could find until he finally broke through to a clearing. As he stood in the bright tropical sunshine, he could hear water rushing through the dense jungle underbrush. He strained his ears, slowly turning his head until he was able to pinpoint the direction of the sound. He pushed off in the general direction and found himself at a fres
hwater pool fed by a beautiful waterfall.

He fell to his knees and sunk his head into the cool, fresh water, letting it soak into his uniform top and saturate his hair. Finally, he pulled his head out and cupped his hands to drink from the cold, fresh water until he satisfied his thirst. Dom sat at the water’s edge and took in his surroundings. If he didn’t know better, he’d think that this could be a tropical paradise, but the familiar tickle in the back of his mind reminded him that this was still all in his head, a comatose dream induced by the drugs administered by the Team Two members.

He reached into the water and sifted his hands through the sand in the water, feeling the grains and small rocks shift between his fingers. He watched small fish dart off as the mud below clouded the water and quickly washed away. Dom sighed and focused on the plant life surrounding the little pool and tried to imagine them going away, but they wouldn’t. The island breezes blowing the tops slightly, the sun playing across the fronds made them feel so realistic to him.

He slowly got to his feet and made his way toward the w
aterfall, peering upward to the top. He saw how the water cascaded from the top of the islands mountainous peak and worked its way over the edge to crash here into this little pond before washing away to the coast. He had no idea what the purpose of this dream was or what he was supposed to do next, but all of his training had taught him to seek high ground to ascertain the layout of the land.

He was just about to look for the best way to begin scaling the mountain when he heard a noise in the underbrush that sounded distinctly like someone approaching. He quickly scoo
ted from the water’s edge and took cover behind a low palm to see who might be sharing the island with him when the islands other inhabitant burst through the shadowy jungle. Dom squatted lower to the ground, his hands resting in the soft earth below him and his fingers instinctively curled into the soil below him, feeling the coolness of the shaded earth. Although his eyes watched for the island’s newest inhabitant, his mind thought that the ground certainly felt real…it felt
right
.

Dom’s attention shifted and although he couldn’t immed
iately see who the other person was, he quickly approached where Dom had been squatted by the water’s edge and he was able to see his back. Whoever it was he was dressed in khaki shorts, a light Hawaiian shirt and deck shoes. He was a large man with grey hair and his skin was tan, as if he had spent a lot of time in the sun. He studied where Dom had been at the water’s edge and drank and stood up to look around. Dom watched the man put his hands to his mouth and yell, “Hello!” into the jungle. Dom was no fool, though. He didn’t move. He still wasn’t sure if this was real or his imagination, but he trusted nobody. The man kept turning, scanning the area, but Dom couldn’t see his face. He cupped his hands again and yelled, “Dominic! Where are you!”

Dom was shocked. Whoever this was, he either was expec
ting him, or knew he was here. He toyed with the idea of stepping out  from behind his cover, but he just couldn’t allow himself to do it. The experience on the darkened sea with the vampire who tried to drown him was still pulling at the back of his mind and he didn’t trust anything or anyone right now. He kept watching the grey haired man intently and when he turned and Dom finally saw his face, he nearly fell over.

He could see his face clearly now…the crow’s feet around the eyes, the dark hairs intermixed with the grey, the scruffy stubble of unshaven beard. The broad chin with the cleft in it, the dark brows and dark eyes that he had stared into so many times during his childhood…he was looking at the face of his grandfather, lost at sea when he was barely ten.

With a fearful shake in his hands, Dom pulled the fronds away from his hiding place and stepped out into the open. The old man turned his head toward him and smiled, the slight gap in his front teeth flashing at Dom and sending a chill up his back.

Dom took another tentative step toward him and was sha
king his head in disbelief. “This can’t be. You died…”

“I know, boy,” the old man said still smiling at him. “Nearly twenty years ago.” He stepped toward Dom and the specter def
initely left prints in the sand. “Yet here I am.”

Dom froze in place and continued to slowly shake his head. “You died. Grammy got the report from the Coast Guard.”

“I know, boy.” The old man stopped and slowly the smile faded from his face. He shook his head and his features saddened. “But somebody’s got to lead you back home.” 

*****

The little messenger hurried to the antechamber where the dark vampire awaited news for any movement of the human hunters. He had sent search parties out to look for the ex-wife that had escaped capture as well, but no sign of her had yet to show. She hadn’t been using any credit cards or they could have tracked her down, so wherever she had gone, she was either using cash, or had no need for money. The Sicarii was pacing behind the bank of computer operators who worked diligently trying to trace her whereabouts. They had followed some of her movements by hacking into traffic cameras, but lost her once she got into a rural area. They were now going through government records to see if there were any land holdings in the direction she was headed and tracing her histories to see if she had any college friends who may have relocated to an area in that general direction.

The little messenger burst through the door excitedly. “Sicarii! I have news of the hunters,” he yelled, breaking the s
ilent ticking and tapping of the computer hackers who never looked up from their work.

The dark vampire stopped his pacing and turned to the little messenger. “Yes, Puppet. Tell me something that will please me,” he responded softly.

“They are on the move, Master,” he said excitedly. “Planes are departing from all areas and heading in one general direction.”

The dark vampire leveled his gaze at the little vampire in anticipation. When the little vampire stood there and simply stared at him, the dark one sighed heavily and responded, “
Where
are they going, Puppet?” he asked impatiently. “Why do you make me ask when you know I want the answer?”

“Oh! Forgive me, Master,” The little vampire apologized. “I didn’t mean to displease you. I was simply—”

“Puppet!” Sicarii growled. He took a moment to compose himself. “Simply tell me. Where are they going?”

The little vampire lowered his eyes to the floor. “I’m not sure, Master,” he answered softly. “At least, not exactly.” He looked up again and noted that his master held a droll look upon his face. “They have begun leaving in their planes. The planes here in the EU and in England and South America are all headed to the United States, but we’re not sure exactly where.” Then he added quickly, “Yet! But we should know soon, Master.” His little legs began to tremble so he added, “And we were able to get tracers on two of the American planes and one of them has taken off as well, Master. It is headed west by southwest. So…maybe Arizona? Southern California?” he offered. “We really don’t know yet.”

“But you will soon, I understand,” the dark vampire finished for him. “As soon as you know exactly where they are going, let me know. Until then, do not interrupt me.” He shooed away the little messenger with a wave of his hand.

“Yes, Master.” He bowed and scraped his way back out of the computer room and stood in the hallway.

The little messenger sighed heavily and looked at his hands. They were still shaking from fear. Every time he went near the master, his entire body trembled from fear of his immense power. He didn’t know why he did it, but he did. His master had never made a violent move toward him and his mind told him that he was safe, but his body quaked with fear every time he came close.

He trotted back to the communications room and waited for word on where the planes would land, hoping that it wasn’t an
ytime soon. It had gotten to the point that it was taking longer and longer for him to recover from his meetings with the Sicarii.

Back in the computer room, one of the vampire hackers shook his head and whispered a quiet, “Damn.”

The dark vampire turned to the tech and asked, “What is wrong?”

The vampire cracked his knuckles and sat back in his seat a moment. “Master, I cannot be certain, but I think I may have found the woman.”

The Sicarii stepped toward the computers and leaned over his shoulder. “What is this place?”

The vampire clicked a few buttons and the picture on the screen enlarged. “This is the military base where the human hunters are stationed. On a hunch, I decided to hack into their security cameras. I timed it for someone who drove straight through, stopping only for fuel and checked the times around then for a vehicle like hers. I searched an hour prior and three hours after and almost to the minute, here is a vehicle matching hers…to a ‘t’. Of course, from this angle, we can’t see the driver well and we can’t verify the license plate, so I’m not positive, but…it’s an awfully large coincidence.”

The dark vampire nodded his head and leaned back. “Pull up the security camera footage of the vehicle when she left her house.” The technician pulled it up and it was a grainy black and white still from a low quality camera. The vehicle year and make was the same and it was obviously a light metallic color, but both images were black and white, so verifying the color was near impossible. The Sicarii stared at the two still images for what seemed a long time before he stood back and asked, “Was the direction she headed in the same general direction to the military base?”

After a few clicks on the computer, one of the other techs piped in, “It
sort of
is. It’s in the same general direction, but only if she were trying to avoid getting on the freeway at the closest ramps.”

The Sicarii nodded. “Smart one, this girl. She probably su
spected that we would have agents waiting for her at key locations should she evade her captors,” he said softly. “
Very
smart, indeed.” He stood straight and nodded. “Very well. Shut down the search. She’s most likely at the military base with her ex-husband. Which means that the hunters know that we tried to abduct her.” He glanced around the room. “Good work.”

*****

As the first cargo planes departed, Mitchell picked up his briefcase and started for the main doors of the hangar. He noted the dark SUV with the limo tinted windows parked within. Rufus and Viktor were about to get in when Rufus stopped and motioned to him. “Colonel, would you be so kind as to join us on our jet?”

Matt studied him a moment and considered the options. “You’re flying out of Wiley Post?”

“
Oui
. And Max will be joining us,” he answered. “It will give us a chance to…discuss matters, before we reach Nevada.”

“It’s a pretty short flight, Mr. Thorn. What exactly did you hope to accomplish during it?” Matt asked, shifting the briefcase to his other hand.

Rufus raised an eyebrow and stared at Mitchell. “Have you considered, Colonel…the Sicarii will be attacking on the full moon,
oui
?”

“Yes, I am aware of this,” Matt responded.

“And does this Groom Lake facility have a silver barred cage for you?” he asked simply.

Matt froze in place with fear. He had been so preoccupied with facing down the vampire and his horde that he had forgo
tten about his own problem and when it occurred. He glanced back over his shoulder and tried to calculate how long it would take to tear out one of the sets of silver bars and transport them. His brow broke out in a cold sweat and his palms turned clammy when Max came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Relax, Colonel,” he said softly in his ear and Mitchell automatically felt his heart rate slow and his breathing come under control. “That’s just one of the things we’d like to discuss on the plane.” Max motioned to the SUV. “Care to take a plane ride with us?” Matt stared at the SUV and noticed that Viktor didn’t seem too happy about it, but, he never seemed very happy.

He radioed to Laura and informed her that he would be ta
king the civilian flight with Thorn and Verissimo and that she was to finish supervising the loading of the last cargo plane then hop that flight. She gave him a “Roger, sir.” Mitchell hopped into the SUV with the others. Max climbed in behind him and smacked the roof to let the driver know they were ready. The SUV pulled out of the hangar and began to make its way through the base. Max cleared his throat as he looked at Thorn. “You realize, it wasn’t that long ago that simply being this close to a vampire would have sent me over the edge. I would have tried to kill you regardless of your actions.”

Thorn nodded thoughtfully. “Then it is very good that you have put such things behind you, oui?”

“Actually, Tasha filled me in before we got here.” Max gave him a toothy grin. “She tells me that you’re a better man than most…men.”