"Half of us are leaving," said Helen. "A few of the faithful are going to stay."
Selah stepped up next to Lee and they returned Helen's defiant stare. Lee shrugged and turned to Gordon. Selah tried to think of something to say, and then simply nodded. "Be careful. Thank you again. You've done so much."
Helen stepped forward and took Selah's hands in her own. Something within the older woman seemed to relent, melt away, and she gave Selah a toothy grin. "Darling, it's what good people do for one another. That's all. Now be careful, drive safe, and don't hesitate to drop us a line and let us know how you're doing. We'll be thinking of you."
Selah squeezed Helen's hands back and nodded. "I will."
Then, far too quickly, they stepped outside and climbed into the Subaru station wagon that Lee had procured. It was low-slung, forest green, corners comfortably rounded, and it looked like it could run forever. Without any cases or packs, they simply got in, Gordon collapsing with a grunt into the passenger seat, Dominique in the middle of the back seat, McKnight and Selah each taking a window at her side. Selah watched as a half dozen people ran back and forth from the front door to three other cars that were parked curbside, loading what looked like an endless supply of suitcases. Jane was amongst them, lugging a hiking backpack that trailed wires and several poster tubes under her arm. Selah raised her hand and waved, and Jane gave her a luminous smile back.
Lee closed his door and looked skeptically at the hotel, then down the road. He wiped his sleeve over his brow. He was sweating despite the cold. There was an hour maybe before it got dark. He had left the engine running, so he simply lowered the parking break and pulled out onto the road.
"This is so much better than walking," said McKnight. "Goddamn."
Lee looked at her in the rear-view mirror and grinned. "You getting soft, McKnight?"
"I guess so. In my old age." They watched McCance slide by. "And call me Rebecca already, Lee."
"Rebecca." Another sharp smile. Lee was clearly pleased to be on the road as well.
They drove carefully out of McCance, past dead stores and silent homes, and Selah tried to rein in her imagination. Not picture Blood Thralls lying under beds, beneath storm drains, faces frozen, eyes liquid black, waiting, waiting for the sun to go down.
Unable to resist, she dug Jane's Omni out of her pocket. She pulled out the Goggles and FingerTips as well. Thumbed their on switches, and saw the little Bluetooth signals pop up on the Omni's screen. The Goggles and FingerTips were fully charged and tethered. "Um, I'm going to go under for a bit. Check the news. If anything, just give me a push, yeah?" Lee nodded, intent on the road, and she slipped the earbuds and three FingerTips on, one on her right thumb, index finger, and middle finger. Then she pulled the Goggles on over her head, fit them snugly over her eyes, and pressed the activate button that lay across her temple.
The car disappeared. Instead, she was looking out into white space, without definition or real depth, that conveyed a sense of immensity, of vast space. Pearlescent light filled the air, coming from no real source, gentle and pervasive. She still felt the car rumbling beneath her, but all she could hear was the gentle hum and chimes of the login screen. A window opened up before her, its rim made of acid etched steel, its screen black and scrolling archaic green blocky text. Selah smiled. Jane's preference, no doubt.
She raised her FingerTipped fingers and typed her login information into the floating keyboard that appeared in the lower half of the window. Immediately, the environment changed; with Goggles and FingerTips she could access her Nexus, a place she hadn't visited since Brooklyn. With just an Omni, she normally ported straight into her Garden, but now, with this immersive technology, she could enter her Nexus first, a Techno-punk forest glade that brought back a charge of nostalgia and tenderness toward the young girl she had once been.
The blank white void disappeared. In its place, she stood in a magical glade, the colors overly intense, the flowers improbably tall, the trees vast, a combination of Amazonian jungle and redwood forest. Endless rainbows crisscrossed between the trees and a floating Aurora Borealis effect hovered like a low-lying cloud just overhead. The sound of small waterfalls came to her, and looking around, she saw the endless streams that she had spent so much time getting just right. Mr Jams the bunny rabbit hopped into view and looked up at her. He was dyed a riot of purple hues and his rear legs were made of banded steel. Jane would have loved him; he was Selah's first creation.
"Hello, Selah!" He had a British accent that had once caused her no end of amusement. "Do you want to play a game?"
She ignored him and mimed walking with her FingerTipped index and middle finger, propelling herself forward to the greatest tree in the glade. It had a number of different windows implanted into its vast trunk. Some were windows into her former best friends' Gardens. Others looked into a couple of the Multi-User Dungeons she had been playing in before being deported to Miami. Some Fashion windows, a handful of tiny windows no larger than her palm that looked into the public Gardens of some of her favorite bands. She smiled a sad smile, examining what had been important to her back in the day. No longer.
She raised her FingerTipped hand, clicked the three fingers together three times, and the borders of all the widows became outlined in red. With an imperious wave, she wiped them all from the surface of the tree. They disappeared, so that she was looking at rough bark alone. Then she pointed her index finger, outlined a rectangle in the air, and a fresh window opened up, looking out into pearlescent nothingness.
She almost spoke out her first command, but remembered in time that she didn't have a mike attached. Instead, she activated the hovering keyboard, and typed out 'CNN.' The window immediately looked into a newsroom where news anchors were talking silently, endless windows hovering behind them showing scenes from around the world. She finger walked up to the Window, tapped its lower sill twice and it dropped to the floor, turning the window into a door. She turned her profile to Private, and finger walked through and entered the CNN Garden.
A murmur of well-modulated voices filled her ears, but she didn't key into any one news anchor just yet. Instead, she finger walked around the newsroom, looking at headlines, watching videos. There was a wealth of information here. All she had to do was tap any one newsfeed to draw up supporting documents, related videos, interviews, and recorded reportage. She just browsed at first, trying to absorb as much as she could.
LA was a hell zone. The city had been declared an official disaster area. She turned away from shots of countless thousands trudging along roads south to San Diego, north to San Francisco, people falling down, exhausted from dehydration, dying on the highway shoulders by the score. Paused to watch a Public Service Announcement instructing viewers on standard safety procedures. The need to collect in government-approved shelters if your home wasn't certified at least B+ Safe by a government-approved agency. Curfew started at 6pm, and anybody found outside by security forces would be shot on sight. A review of common myths about vampires--how crucifixes, Stars of David, and other religious symbols didn't stop them; holy water and garlic had no effect; stakes though the heart would hurt them as much as any other form of bodily damage, but not more so.
Selah walked on, drawn by a huge map of the US. It showed the West Coast drenched in red, with LA, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Boise, and Salt Lake City represented by a garish crimson skull and crossbones. A number of cities around those were circled in blinking yellow. The red had spread through most of California, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. She felt her stomach clench. So fast?
She reached out and pulled up the interactive console. Examined it. Hit the Historical Replay button. Looked up and saw a large date appear on the upper left of the map, the day LA had fallen. On cue, LA suddenly blinked and was replaced by a skull and crossbones. The days began to flicker past and she watched the red flow out like spilt blood over California, lap around San Francisco and San Diego, engulf the refugees with disastrous consequences, then spill out into the other cities. Watched Phoenix fall first, followed shortly by Vegas and the others.
She took a deep breath. Calmed her mind. Studied the console and selected the 'Latest Sightings' button. Immediately, a constellation of blinking yellow dots appeared scattered over the Rockies, down through New Mexico, up into Wyoming, and even Montana. She tapped a couple, bringing up dates, locations, and a few detailed reports.
Gallup, New Mexico: two vampires seen on city limits by Minutemen patrol. Engaged in gunfire, vampires killed. No human casualties.
Rock Springs, Wyoming: Siege continues. 37 vampires reported killed over the course of the night. 9 human casualties, identities still awaiting confirmation. Situation critical.
Omaha, Nebraska: Lone vampire intercepted and killed leaving family residence. More vampires found within residence, house condemned. Seven human casualties.
And on and on. Each brief note hinting at tragedy and violence. Selah stepped away, overwhelmed, and hurried to a Public Bulletin entitled
What We Know
. She activated it and watched as words began to scroll up the screen, accompanied by images. It was brief and mercifully to the point. A comparison was drawn between the original vampires of the first war and this new wave of vampires that was threatening the country.
Blood Thralls,
Selah thought, but she didn't see that name anywhere.
"This new breed shows a marked drop in intelligence and ability to plan and exercise restraint on their hunger. Unable to operate complex machinery, they are limited to traveling on foot or, in a few rare cases, stowing away with cargo. Strength, speed, and endurance have also been found to be less than that of the original vampires, leading some to speculate on a weakening of the virus or thinning of the generative curse. Encounters with these Gen 2.0 vampires always result in attacks which are of as direct and violent a nature as possible. No attempt to converse, reason, or otherwise interact with Gen 2.0 vampires has been met with any success.
However, despite their growing numbers they appear to possess limited vitality. It has been speculated that either due to an inability to feed consistently or the short lived nature of their state, Gen 2.0 vampires do not last more than a week before collapsing. Investigations are ongoing into this phenomenon, with hope being advanced by strategists that if we can but contain the infection for that period of time, the Gen 2.0 vampire threat will collapse upon itself."
She watched the rest of the video, but it didn't tell her anything she didn't know. Instead, she turned and walked up to one of the news anchors. He was a good-looking man, in his forties with greying hair and a harried look of genuine concern. Over his shoulder hovered a window showing President Lynnfield and Plessy as they stood together during a press conference. She reached out, interrupted his report, and had him start from the beginning.
"President Lynnfield was joined last night in the Rose garden by Mr. Plessy, the elected leader of the Free City of Miami, as he made a statement as to the government's latest attempts to contain the vampiric infection."
The window over his shoulder came to life and swooped forward. President Lynnfield looked grave, and by his side, Plessy stood with hands clasped before him, chin and brows lowered. Selah felt a wave of hatred at the sight of him, a visceral sense of disgust.
The President began. "Good evening, and thank you for coming on such short notice. Never have our liberties and freedom been so imperiled as they are today. Never have the core ideals of the American people been so threatened by an alien and despicable threat. Yet we stand tall, refusing to bow our heads, determined to fight on and rescue this noble and beautiful country from the danger that stands poised to wash over us."
All right already,
thought Selah.
Enough with the empty words.
She reached out and forwarded the video a minute past more grandstanding. Stopped and pressed play once more.
"Which is why I stand firm with Mr. Plessy, united in our common cause to restore order to this country. Mr. Plessy has disavowed Miami's involvement with this outbreak and maintains the integrity of the US government's treaty with the Free City of Miami, ensuring that no Miami vampire leaves the city's confines. This gesture of good faith is not only welcomed, but appreciated, and what's more, a common ground has been found between his ... ah ... citizens and our own.
"Mr. Plessy has stated in no uncertain terms that the safety of his citizens depends on the health of our government. That their desire for equality with humanity requires a hale and hearty humanity to be equal to, and that their respect and desire for civility, order, prosperity, and advancement means that this barbaric attack is as much an attack on the dreams of the Free City of Miami as it is upon the USA.
"As such, he has agreed to support us in this war with unconditional support. We are launching a joint effort to fight fire with fire, and are creating a joint task force composed of our military elite and the best citizens that Mr. Plessy has to lead strike teams into contaminated areas and build firewalls to prevent the advance of these Gen 2.0 vampires."
Plessy nodded, face almost comically stern, his small eyes pitch black behind his rectangular glasses. Which were for effect only, Selah knew. He didn't need them. His vision was perfect. Reporters had raised their voices in consternation, and the President raised his hands and waited for quiet.
"Know that your government is acting with the safety of the American public in mind. Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. We will, in the fullness of time, reveal more details about these joint task forces, but we must remember that the most important goal is victory, and that rather than risk annihilation, we must use whatever forces and tools are at hand to ensure the safety of our people."