Vampire Apocalypse: Fallout (Book 3) (18 page)

She had not
seen either of her children since yesterday, but at least they had
not been chosen as food or worse since she had begun her vigil. If
she was to get to them she would need help. She blinked and then
began the long process of getting to her feet. Her muscles screamed
at her and the blood burned through her veins as she uncoiled her
legs. She felt numb and stumbled as she tried to rise. Her left leg
was completely useless and she felt herself fall; only to have her
decent halted by powerful arms that held her up easily.

“I wondered when you were going
to move,” the deep voice grunted in her ear. “I assume you have a
hell of a plan to get out of here or has my patience been a
complete waste of time?”

“So, have you any ideas?” Harris
asked.

Father Reilly sighed and brought
his hand to his balding head and scratched. “Peter, I haven’t a
clue. It’s just unfathomable that any of us could do such a thing,
let alone one of the committee.”

“
Is Regan
right?” Harris asked as he blew on his fingers to keep them warm.
The two men had met at the edge of what was considered safe
territory, just inside the range of the wireless protection, though
Harris constantly scanned the sky for any sign of vampires. It was
early yet, but the heavy cloud cover hid a weak sun and, while it
was risky, it was certainly possible for the older vampires to
venture out in such light. “Could no one else get to the
storeroom?”

“
It certainly
seems that way. It would be difficult to get to the food, though I
wouldn’t want to condemn someone based on it being merely
difficult.” Reilly sighed. “Why would they ruin the food? I mean
they will starve right along with the rest of us.”

“
Either they
had orders to do so or they have access to food we don’t know
about.” Harris laid down his weapon and blew on his
fingers.

“No,” Reilly said emphatically,
“there’s no way there is any food in that camp that we don’t know
about.”

“
Father,”
Harris laid his hand on the priest’s shoulder, “they’ve been spying
on us for some time now, passing word back to California without us
knowing. Hiding a little food wouldn’t be beyond their
capability.”

Reilly paused
as he considered that and then rubbed at his eyes. Harris could see
the strain on the priest’s face. His eyes were far more sunken than
the last time he had seen him. His face was grey and the lines
which had given him his craggy, stern distinction were now merely
heavy jowls which seemed to weigh him down. His thin, wispy hair
was matted and hung limply against his skull and his shoulders,
once straight and powerful, were now bent slightly. Harris was
worried about his friend. He had never fully recovered from his
injuries and he pushed himself far too hard. He considered asking
him to move to the cave but he knew that that would solve nothing
so he kept quiet.

“How do we catch him?”

“It could be a woman, remember,”
Harris cautioned him. Reilly was about to object and then thought
better of it and merely nodded. “If we knew what was driving them
we might be able to narrow it down. Do we know the background of
all the committee members?”

Reilly looked at him
quizzically.

“
As I see it,
this person is acting for one of two reasons. Either they are being
coerced through some form of blackmail or they are acting purely
out of greed. We need to see who has close family that are still
missing; maybe Von Richelieu is holding them to keep our traitor
compliant. On the other hand, we need to see who is more likely to
act in their own interest on such a scale as to sell us all out.
You’ll need help to cover all of them. Are there enough of those
you can trust with this type of work?”

Reilly
nodded. “As the only priest in the community I am in a unique
position to see a part of those who come to me that most others
never see. Unfortunately not everyone comes to me.” He sighed and
then forced a smile but Harris could see that it did not reach his
eyes. Don’t worry, my friend, there are enough for what I need
among the community.” Reilly paused and then suddenly began to pat
his pockets. “I nearly forgot.” He smiled again and this time his
eyes sparkled with genuine humour and it transformed his features.
“It seems that love transcends all barriers. How is that young
boy…man, I should say, Ricks?”

“
He’s coming
along nicely.” Harris took the folded note.
“He has a good head on his shoulders.”

“Mind you keep it there or there
will be a very angry young woman in camp. I promised her you would
keep him safe. Will you pass this on to him for her?”

“
Of
course.
” Harris placed the note in his
jacket. “How did she know to give the note to you?”

“
Love will
always find a way.” T
he priest smiled
again but it was more tired this time.

“Be careful,” Harris warned. “If
she can identify you as the conduit to me then so too can the
traitor, especially after you announced it to the committee. You
are a threat to them and they know it now.”

Reilly was about to make light
of the danger but he saw the worry in the younger man’s face and he
merely nodded and patted Harris on the hand.

“
Speaking of
danger,” he asked, changing the subject. “What mad caper do you
have planned now?”

“Oh, nothing much,” Harris
smirked. “We’re going to blow up some nuclear waste.”

As the two men parted with a
warm hug, Father Reilly walked slowly back toward the community
with a heavy heart. His worry for Harris and the others weighed
heavily upon him, but they all played a dangerous game and there
was danger enough for all of them. He set his mind to his own task
and began to compile a list of people he could trust. He was
surprised that the list was still quite short by the time he
entered the familiar halls of their main living area. It seemed
that he did not really know the majority of the community’s
residents as well as he had thought he did.

Except for a
few notable exceptions
, he lived among a
few thousand strangers, any one of whom could be their quarry. He
had been so busy of late consoling so many people that he had not
had time to forge strong ties with anyone. He had a lot of work to
do and so little time to do it in.

The
destroying of the food indicated an escalation in whichever agenda
their traitor was working toward, and he needed to bring together a
strong force to first identify and then combat whatever they had
planned. He needed a group of trusted agents who could travel
invisibly among the community to follow and compile information on
their chief subjects. He thrust his hands into his pockets and
suddenly thought of the young Logan girl and her little band of
adventurers. He quickened his stride as his excitement
grew.

The figure watched as the priest
and Harris parted. If they acted quickly they could probably take
them both of the figures out. The figure brought the pistol up and
sighted along its barrel but a sound to its left made the figure
stop. As they scanned the ruins of the street they picked out two
men walking through the rubble. The figures appeared casual at
first glance but the figure noted that their weapons were held
ready and their heads constantly scanned the surrounding area.

Harris had
brought company. The figure cursed. For a moment
they considered firing anyway and making a run for it.
There was a chance that they could lose themselves in the ruins,
but, equally, there was also a chance that they would be caught.
And that couldn’t happen. Reluctantly, they lowered the gun. There
would be another time.

For a moment
they considered following the priest and breaking his neck before
he got back to safety. It would be so easy; the old fool was so
frail his neck would snap easily. But it might be better to let him
live for now and take note of who he spoke to. Identifying those
who would plot against what must be was paramount. The priest was
still needed to lead the way to all those involved in the plot.
Then they would be able to eliminate all of the conspirators. The
figure melted back into the shadows and followed its
prey.

Chapter 12

“Where do we even start?” whined
Robert Seager.

Father Reilly
pursed his lips and sighed. “Maybe I was
too hasty, bringing this to you.” He began to get to his
feet, “I’ll go to some older…”

“
Don’t mind
him, Father,” Emma interrupted as she reached out to stop the
priest from rising any further. “Bob is just a little slow.” She
turned and shot a glare at Seager that dried his intended retort
and left him open-mouthed and silent in the corner.

“We can do this,” Emma assured
him and swept her hand in a motion for him to continue.

The priest
seemed to consider this for a moment and the kids held their
breaths while the older man made up his mind about whether they
were up to the challenge. He could see a few of them shoot the boy
Seager dark glances as they thought he might have blown it for
them. Reilly played his part well. In reality, these kids were his
only hope of keeping an eye on the committee members without them
finding out that they were under surveillance. These kids were the
only ones who could remain invisible in the community. No one paid
them any mind at all as they raced around doing who-knew-what.
Everyone else in the community had a job and would be noticed if
they weren’t where they should be.

He hated to
put these children in danger, but he had no intention of letting it
get that far. All he wanted was for them to keep an eye on a few of
the main suspects and report back to him. No one should even know
they were there.

“
Well, okay,”
he sighed with as much reluctance as he could muster, “but you must
promise to stick to the plan and go no further. There is an element
of danger in this so you must stick to the script.” He glared at
each child in the room to try and impress upon them the seriousness
of this task, but he could see by their smiles and glazed eyes that
they were already caught up in the fantasy of agents and
spies.

“Don’t worry, Father,” Emma
Logan interrupted his thoughts, “I’ll take care of them.”

He looked at
the girl for a moment. She was the only female in the group and
seemed to play the role of mother as well as designated leader,
though he could see that the larger boy, Seager, considered himself
to be in charge. He chuckled to himself as he realised that most
men thought the same in their relationships, but it was rarely the
case. Young Miss Logan was most definitely the driving force of
this group.

He had met
her mother and he marvelled that this girl could be so well
balanced with a mother who only cared about where her next drop of
alcohol would come from. It hadn’t taken the men of the community
long to learn where they could find a warm bed for the price of a
bottle of spirits. His heart went out to this poor girl who had to
live in the same room where her mother entertained her callers. He
had tried to offer her accommodation with another family but she
had refused, saying that someone had to take care of her
mother.

She had had
to take care of herself, her brother and her mother during the hard
times before the vampires had come and she still saw it as her role
to take care of them now. He wondered how she had managed to
survive the early days when technology had broken down and before
the vampires had come. Those days had been filled with death and
depravity. The breakdown of law and order had seen many revert to
their baser instincts and many people had been killed, raped or
abandoned as humanity struggled to come to terms with an existence
without the technology and the easy living most had come to know.
The fact that she and her family had survived at all was a
testament to this young girl’s abilities.

He could see
that she had grown up without the delicate hand of a mother,
though. She was a very pretty girl, but she dressed like a boy,
hung around with boys and wore her amber hair stuffed inside a
baseball cap that she wore constantly. He could see errant tresses
stick out here and there, but she seemed to be trying to deny her
true self behind this tough image.

She was on
the cusp of becoming a woman and seemed determined not to allow
that to happen. It was obvious to him that this was because she did
not want to be like her mother. It was just a pity that she did not
know that she could be her own person and a woman at the same time.
He would have to have a talk with a few of the more enlightened
women in his flock and see if they could help her through this
difficult time.

“
Okay,” he
said at last and almost smiled when he heard the numerous
exhalations of breath around the small room. He had come to them in
their comic shop headquarters. They had been surprised to see him
as they had thought their secret hideaway was actually a secret.
This was his biggest worry in involving them in his mission: he had
to impress upon them that growing into adulthood did not always
mean that one lost all one’s intelligence, despite all the evidence
contradicting this.

At their age
they saw themselves as reflections of the heroes that filled the
walls around him. They may not wear the lurid spandex of these
costumed heroes but they considered themselves every bit as
indestructible. He would have to impress upon them the reality of
their situation.