"Glad to have you along Mike. Maybe after this you'll finally agree to join our
little
Coalition." Billy tossed a crumpled piece of paper he’d been taking notes on in his direction.
"I didn't say all that Williams," he said with a deep throaty laugh. “It’s hard enough making a living without sharing with you boys.”
"Alright," The Judge said, taking back control of the meeting. "As you can see from the pictures, the complex is made up of four different wings that make a kind of giant cross. Each team will hit a wing, kill everything in sight then link up in the middle. Team Alpha will be myself, Lt. White, Drill Sergeant Ortega, Greg Ortiz and his team, along with a six man Marine squad armed with SAWs. We will enter through the west side of the complex here and secure the entrances to these underground tunnels here and here." He said, pointing to a building schematic of the building.
Greg Ortiz, a council member of the Coalition that Jake had never met before, looked down at the schematic in front of him. In a slight Spanish accent he said, “Colonel, how accurate are these schematics? These buildings have got to be nearly a hundred years old.”
Colonel Judge nodded thoughtfully. “As accurate as we can find Ortiz. As you said, this is a very old building and there aren’t a lot of records on file.”
“Maybe we’ll catch a break and some of the tunnels will have collapsed,” Ben Morris added from his spot next to John.
“Or maybe they will be crawling with a couple hundred grunts,” Turner said, “the point is, you don’t know what’s down there.”
Judge ignored Turner and continued. "We will set up these new devices we’ve nicknamed screamers, on the south side. They emit a high-pitched sound that I’m told should just about drive any vampire in the area insane with pain. We want to draw as many as we can away from the east wing.”
“What’s in the east wing?” One of the Hunters at the table that Jake didn’t know asked.
“According to our source that’s where the prisoners are being held,” Judge answered. Murmurs instantly broke out around the room. “That's right gentlemen; the enemy has got holding pens where they keep humans to feed on. Anywhere between two and three hundred men, women, and children. However, this is our secondary objective. Make no mistake we are here to kill vampires, and that's exactly what we are going to do."
"Secondary objective?" John asked. "How are three hundred men, women and children a secondary objective?"
"Believe me Bishop I don't like it any more than you do. But we're going by the numbers. Let’s say twenty-five Makers make it into those tunnels. Let’s say they are able to hold us off until night and escape. How many people will those bastards kill over the next year? We know they have to eat at least once a day. That's one human death per day, per vampire. Multiply that over a year and that's over nine
thousand
deaths. And people wonder why hundreds of thousands of people disappear each year. Do any of you want that on your conscious?”
When no one answered, the Judge continued, “so our most well armed and advanced team, Team Bravo, will engage the enemy on the south side. We've got Seal teams seven and nine along with three squads of Marines plus Hunters Perez and Richardson's groups that will hit this area. This team is expected to exact the most kills and take the most casualties. These are the heavy hitters. Sergeant Lucas himself will be leading this group. They will be armed with SAWs, claymore mines, frag grenades, as well as three .30 caliber mini-guns. Anything that gets in their way will be turned into Swiss cheese."
Jake watched his old instructor for any signs of fear or nervousness. But Sergeant Lucas sat there cool as a cucumber.
"Team Charlie will be composed of John Bishop, Ben Morris, Talon Parker, and Sergeant Major Castle with another six man Marine squad. Your mission will be to extract the survivors. Once they are out into the daylight you will set up positions blocking off the access to the underground tunnels here and covering the second story stairway here,” he said, again pointing to the diagrams.
“Team Delta will come in at the North. This will be made up of Lt. Perry, Smart, and Mike Holloway and Daniel Luis' crews. Delta will cut off the retreat blocking two tunnel entrances here and here, as well as the stairway here. If they get to the second story, it’s inconvenient but not really much of a game changer. If they make it into those tunnels we are in for a long term fight."
"Where do you want my kids?" Billy said, motioning to Jake and his teammates.
"I'll be honest with you Williams; I'm not very comfortable having a bunch of teenagers anywhere near this hunt. But we're short on men and Sergeant Major Castle, Sergeant Lucas and Drill Sergeant Ortega have all assured me that they received the best training available. Needless to say, I put a lot of faith in their opinions or your kids wouldn't even be here right now. So Team Echo will be strictly for observation. They will not engage the enemy. Is that clear? They will wait here in the courtyard. Once the building has been secured, they will be allowed to enter the complex. Turner you're with them."
Wes Turner’s face turned beet red. "Why the hell do I have to babysit? I'm just as good as any of your guys."
The Judge gave him a cold stare out of his one eye. "Maybe. But you don't know how to follow orders. And I don't have time for bullshit. Not when so much is on the line. If this is going to be a problem, you can just sit your ass right here and drink out of the mini bar in your room? So, do we have a problem?" he asked tapping his prosthetic hand on the table.
"No I guess not,” Turner said, lowering his eyes to the table. “I'll play babysitter then. But I get an equal share of what every other man gets. I'm not missing out on the biggest payday of the decade!"
Jake’s stomach lurched at the thought of having to spend the hunt with Bloody Wes Turner. Donnie nudged him in the arm and Jake could tell by the look on his face he felt the same way. From the look on all of his team’s faces Jake could tell they weren’t very happy, all except Buck of course.
“Before we adjourn does anyone have any final questions?” Judge asked looking around the room.
"I’ve got one,” Buck said, raising his hand. "Why don't we just use some C4 and open a few holes for the sun to stream in? Rig the tunnels as well and blow the hell out of them. The fight would be a lot more in our favor if we cut off their escape and put the sun on our side." Buck’s area of expertise, to everyone including the trainers surprise, had turned out to be explosives. He seemed to have a real knack for it.
"Turner isn’t it?" The Judge nodded at him. "That's actually a damn good idea. We even considered it. But this building is falling down already. It's been condemned for over thirty years. You start blowing holes in it and under it and the whole thing could come down."
"What's so bad about that?" Buck said, his voice reeking of sarcasm. "Let the sun deal with them."
Jake could tell the Colonel’s opinion of Buck had instantly dropped a few notches. If he didn’t know Buck, he’d feel the same way. But Jake knew the only reason Buck was talking this way was to impress his father. The Judge had made Turner look bad, and if there was one thing Buck was consistent about, it was defending his father.
"Well for one there are about two or three hundred civilians that would die if we did that and two, you can't guarantee you will get all of the vamps. Oh sure a lot of them will be exposed to the sun and burn up pretty quickly, but a good percentage of them would be shielded by the debris. Do you have any idea how long it takes to move that amount of rubble out? Weeks. And during that time how many of them will escape once it's nightfall? No this is the best way to go, maximum efficiency, least amount of civilian casualties, maximum amount of dead vampires. Does anyone else have any questions?” he asked the room.
No one did. “Good. We will adjourn until tomorrow morning. Tomorrow will be the greatest hunt of our lives and there’s a good chance a lot of us won’t be around to celebrate tomorrow evening. So get some rest, watch your corners, and come back alive."
One by one everyone stepped out of the room. Buck rushed excitedly ahead to find his dad. Jake’s team was the last ones out. He walked out with Donnie and Diana at his side. "So what do you guys think?" he asked.
"I think it's a pretty good plan," Diana said, “I wish we had more people and the sun on our side, but there's not much can do about it."
Things had improved with Diana tremendously in the past few months. She’d given up making passes at Jake and had even apologized for the way she’d acted that night at
The Station!
Jake in turn had apologized for what had happened to her. Even though she'd taken full responsibility, he couldn't help but feel guilty. Now the two were good friends. Donnie now held her full attention. He’d come out that night as her hero. The two had started dating back in May. At first, Jake had felt a tiny bit of jealousy, but overall he was happy for them.
"My only problem is having Turner at our backs,” Donnie said, “Forget all the rumors; there's just something about that guy I don't like."
"Agreed," Chris said, walking at the back of the group. "I've put up with Buck and his crap for years now, but his dad is just plain evil.”
"Look guys I don't like him either but what can we do?" Jake opened the glass doors to the parking lot. "Besides, we're just here to observe. It's not like we actually have to go in and fight."
The sun was just setting in the west. Jake looked down at his watch to see it was 8:30pm. Less than 12 hours until the hunt.
Buck was outside waiting for them. Their conversation about Wes Turner instantly dropped. "What's up bitches!" he said, punching Jake in the arm. "Guess we're heading out with the best hunter there is huh? Man I don't know about you guys but I can't wait, and knowing Dad, he won't leave us hanging either. There will be plenty of vamps for us to kill."
"Our job is in the courtyard Buck. Lots of sunlight out there," Amber said.
"Oh come on baby. You know my Dad will make sure we see some action."
"Don't call me baby," Amber said angrily. "I told you before. We're done, Buck. Deal with it."
"Whatever." Buck rolled his eyes. "Your loss.
Yeah and my gain
Jake thought smiling inwardly. Whisper gave him a look letting him know she was thinking the exact same thing.
“Anyway, later losers. Me and my old man are going to hit the town tonight!" Buck jogged off trying to catch up with his dad.
"Think he'll ever grow up?" Chris asked.
“Not as long as he’s still around Bloody Wes Turner,” Jake said sadly. “After everything he’s done to him, Buck still defends the dirtbag every chance he gets.
"Well I'm heading over to the Pizza Hut for a bite, who's with me?" Donnie asked.
"I'm in!" Diana said a little too excitedly. Lately anywhere Donnie wanted to be she did too.
“Why not,” Whisper shrugged.
Chris seeing her going also became interested. “Yeah me too.” Even after all these months he’d yet to make a move. And though Jake desperately wanted to tell him that Whisper felt the same about him as he did for her, he couldn’t betray Whisper’s trust.
"Jake, Amber? You guys in?" Donnie asked.
"I think I’ll go clean my weapons one last time,” Jake replied. “Make sure everything is ready for tomorrow."
"Oh come on Jake, you've cleaned them a dozen times since we got the word we were going on this hunt. You can't get them any cleaner or the blade on that axe any sharper." Donnie said.
"I know, I know," Jake laughed. "But, I just want to be sure, you know? I don't want to mess up because my gun jams, or because my axe was too dull."
"Alright. Well your loss. What about you Sis?" he asked Amber.
"I think I'll stay with Jake," she said,
HUH?
Jake thought to himself.
Buck’s out of the picture! Oh, this could be good. This could be very good!
"Oh really?” Diana said in a playful tone. “Okay then, well you two behave yourselves.”
Jake swallowed the lump in his throat.
A night alone with Amber . . .
The others walked across the parking lot to where the Pizza Hut sat, leaving them alone.
"Soooooo . . .” Jake said, shoving his hands in his pockets shifting from foot to foot. “You and Buck are done huh?"
"Yeah,” she said sadly.
“Well . . . what happened?” Jake asked.
She gave him an annoyed look then sighed, “I guess everyone has been wondering, huh?” She sighed again wrapping her arms over her chest protectively. “Remember a few weeks back when we had that big get together for the fourth of July?"
"Yeah, of course. Most of you guys headed out to the lake. I was stuck watching fireworks from my Grandpa’s barred kitchen windows. He won’t even go out after dark on the fourth of July."
"Well Buck disappeared that night. A couple of days ago I found out where he went. He was with this cheerleader from San Angelo High. They spent the night together in her tent."
"What?!" Jake said, genuinely shocked. "How did you find out?"
"I found a letter she'd written him in his jacket pocket. He wrapped it around me one night when we were at the movies and I accidentally came across it. She thanked him for an amazing night, mentioned a few things she’d like to do to him next time and left her number. When I confronted him with it he confessed. I thought he was being a gentleman. What a joke."
"Amber, I’m sorry, but what did you see in this guy? Sure, he has his moments but overall he's just a selfish ass! He always has been."
"Yeah but you don't know the real Buck! He's really a nice guy he's just . . . it's complicated."
"Well then uncomplicate it. None of us could figure why you were with him."
"He was so sweet to me. It's just his dad that makes him into such a jerk and since his mom left, it has been really hard on him."
"If you say so," Jake said, shaking his head. “My mom is gone too; it didn’t turn me into a prick.”