Topia
Author: Brandon Hale
Date: 2012-12-18 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Science Fiction; Supernatural; Urban Fantasy; Paranormal; Vampires; Young Adult
Description: Book Three in the Day Soldiers Trilogy. After more than a decade of fighting, the end has finally arrived. The war is almost over. Topia has been born. A few courageous Day Soldiers have chosen to make a final stand against a world of vampires. They know it’s a battle they’ll probably lose, but they made a promise to protect the day and it’s a promise they intend to keep. They fight because they are the Day Soldiers. They fight because nobody else can. They fight because, if they don’t, all hope is lost. Sometimes, redefining victory is the only way to achieve it…
Publisher: Smashwords Edition

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Copyright © 2012 by Brandon Hale

Cover design by Brandon Hale
Book design by Brandon Hale

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

To Laura, for laying the foundations upon which Topia was built.

Chapter 1

Wasteland

The hatch opened.

Ignoring the ladder running up to the hatch, Jesse dropped into the hole just as the sun rose above the broken buildings behind him.

He dropped for at least twenty feet, landing softly on a cement floor. He looked up to see a corridor full of humans.

They all had crossbows pointed at his heart.

Jesse raised his hands, palms out, and said, “Don’t shoot. I was just trying to help.”

A girl with eyes much older than her face stood in front of the crowd. “Thanks for your help,” she said. To the humans behind her, she said, “Kill him.”

“You need me, Lily,” Jesse said.

Lily held up her hand, which apparently told the others to hold their fire.

“Of course I recognized you,” Jesse said. “You’re probably the most famous human in the world.”

“That’s nice,” Lily said. “Now, explain why I need help from a bloodsucker like you.”

“I’m assuming you’ve been locked away in this tomb for over a year,” Jesse said. “It’s not the same world you left. I’ve been everywhere. I know what’s up there. You don’t.”

Lily smiled and walked toward Jesse. She reached out, grabbed his face, and shoved him against the wall. Her touch was excruciating, but Jesse didn’t fight. He knew if he tried anything, he’d have a dozen crossbow bolts in his heart.

“So tell me, vampire,” Lily said. “What’s up there?”

Jesse forced a smile. “Congratulations. You’ve given birth to a vampire apocalypse.”

“We’ve been facing a vampire apocalypse for a decade,” Lily said.

“No,” Jesse said. “You’ve been facing a potential apocalypse. An almost-apocalypse. The bombs last year made it a reality.”

Lily let go of Jesse’s face. “You’re saying the war is over. Really over.”

Scott stepped up beside Lily. “He’s lying. DC is still in ruins.”

“Listen kid,” Jesse said. “Just because America is a mess doesn’t mean the war’s still going on. This was a world war. When America was destroyed, everything changed. The war shifted. It took about six months, but the rebellions were stomped out. It’s over. I’m not lying.”

“Why haven’t they rebuilt DC?” Lily asked.

“America is a wasteland,” Jesse said. “They decided to leave it that way. It’s a monument to the destructive nature of humanity.”

Grung stepped from the crowd. “I don’t believe it.”

“Then why the hell don’t I have vampires with me right now?” Jesse snapped. “I just found what is probably the largest group of surviving Day Soldiers in the world. Why am I sitting here chatting with you instead of calling for reinforcements?”

“He’s a scout,” Lily said. “He’s probably communicating with them right now, telling them what he’s seeing. Kill him.”

“Wait!” Jesse said. “I just rescued you! If I was part of some military action, there would be better ways to flush you out of here.”

I told you they wouldn’t believe you.

“Shut up, Bao!”

“Who the hell is he talking to?” Grung asked.

“Other vampires,” Lily said as she pointed a crossbow at his heart.

“No!” Jesse yelled. “I’m a little on the bonkers side, that’s all. I keep the ashes of the vampire who made me. I talk to him and sometimes he talks back. That’s it, I promise.”

Yeah. That’ll really win their trust.

“Shut up, Bao!”

“Now he’s doing it on purpose,” Scott said.

From the crowd, Carl said, “I believe him.”

Lily, Grung, and Scott turned to face him. “Why?” Lily asked.

Carl shrugged. “Gut feeling.”

Lily looked at Scott, then Grung. “Good enough for me,” she said. “You guys up for trusting Carl’s instinct?”

“Sure,” Grung said. “Why not.”

Scott looked at Jesse. “Okay, we’ll trust you for now. You’ll be living in a cell, though. I’m assuming you’re cool with that?”

Jesse smiled. “Oh, definitely. I totally understand.”

As they walked into the facility, Carl said, “I also have a logical justification for letting him live.”

“That’s nice,” Lily said.

“I mean, really,” Carl went on, “there’s no benefit to killing him. Whether he’s a scout or not, we now have an open door and we have to be ready for an attack. So there’s no real consequence to hearing him out.”

“But in your gut,” Lily said, “you think he’s telling the truth, right?”

“Yeah,” Carl said. “I think so.”

“Okay,” Grung said as he slapped Carl on the shoulder. “That’s good enough for us. You could’ve left out all the logic malarkey.”

“It’s not malarkey,” Carl said. “It’s a reasonable way to look at the situation.”

“Is he always this annoying?” Jesse asked.

“You have no idea,” Grung said.

Lily stopped and looked back toward the hatch. Sunlight was streaming in from the small hole in the ceiling. “Nobody closed the hatch,” she said.

“Crap,” Scott said. “How did we miss that?”

Lily started to walk back toward the opening. “Been an eventful morning.”

Scott turned to Grung. “Can you make sure our guest gets a nice room?”

“Sure,” Grung said. “I’ll also report to Abbie. I’m sure she’ll want to meet him.”

“Thanks,” Scott said. “I have a feeling Lily’s about to take a stroll in the morning sun, which isn’t something she should be doing alone.”

“That’s not fair,” Carl said.

“File a complaint,” Scott said as he followed Lily back to the hatch.

“Asshole,” Carl mumbled.

“Werewolf hearing here!” Scott yelled as he trotted away.

Lily climbed the ladder to the hatch. Without hesitation, she climbed through the opening and stepped onto the rubble that used to be a motel. She climbed over the debris surrounding the hatch and made her way to the street.

She made sure to keep her eyes on the ground. For now, she had no desire to look at the destruction around her. Lily wanted to experience one thing, and the sight of a destroyed America would detract from that experience.

Once on the road, she walked until there were no shadows from the half-destroyed buildings. Completely enveloped by the warm morning sun, Lily placed her crossbow on the ground, then lay on the road and closed her eyes. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Scott’s voice interrupted her moment in the sun.

“You really shouldn’t be up here,” Scott said.

Lily opened her eyes and looked up at her friend. “I don’t know why not.”

“One,” Scott said, “we haven’t gotten clearance to leave. That order can only come from Abbie or Reagan.”

“Not caring so much about your first point.”

“And two,” Scott went on, “it’s kind of a jerk thing to do. None of the other soldiers were allowed to come up here and feel the sun for the first time in a year.”

“They’ll get their turn,” Lily said. “A week from now, every person in Bunker City will have felt the sun. I doubt anybody will give a crap that I went first.”

“And three,” Scott began, but fell silent.

Lily gave him a few seconds, then said, “And three?”

“Okay,” Scott said, “I can’t think of a third point.”

Lily chuckled and closed her eyes again. “One and two were pretty damn weak, so leave me alone. I want to work on my tan.”

“Wait,” Scott said. “I found a third reason.”

“It had better be good,” Lily said, “because I’m really enjoying the sun here.”

“Oh, it’s good,” Scott said.

Lily opened her eyes again. “So what is it?”

“Not what,” Scott said. “Who.”

“Huh?”

“Someone’s coming.”

Lily sprang to her feet. “Shit.”

In the distance, she saw two men walking toward her and Scott. The men wore what looked like the ragged remnants of police uniforms. They had bandanas pulled over their faces.

“Should we go inside?” she offered.

“No way,” Scott said. “We don’t know who they are or how many are with them. We don’t want to lead them to Bunker City.”

“Good point,” Lily said. “So I guess we meet the neighbors.”

“I guess,” Scott said. “Maybe you should pick up your crossbow?”

“Nah,” Lily said. “I don’t want them to think I’m their enemy. Besides, I have a much better weapon.”

“What’s that?”

Lily looked at him and winked. “A werewolf.”

The two men approached cautiously. They held rifles, but the weapons looked old. Maybe even homemade.

“Human?” Lily said to Scott.

“Yeah,” Scott said. “Particularly stinky humans.”

“Don’t judge,” Lily said. “Not everybody got to live in an underground city for the past year.”

“Wasn’t a judgment,” Scott argued. “Just an observation.”

As soon as the men were in earshot, Lily waved and yelled, “Mornin, officers!”

When the men were close enough to see them in detail, Lily suddenly felt guilty for the easy life she’d had for the past year. The men were extremely thin. Lily couldn’t see their faces because of the bandanas, but in their eyes, she saw sadness and exhaustion.

“I told you I saw someone coming this way,” one of the men said to his partner.

“Okay, okay,” the second man said. When he saw Scott’s and Lily’s uniforms, his eyes widened. “Jenkins,” he said, “we got ourselves some Day Soldiers.”

“Holy shit, Paul,” the first man – Jenkins – said. “Look at em. They’re… pristine.”

“We’re not Day Soldiers,” Scott said quickly. “We found us a good bunker down in Virginia a few months back. It was an abandoned Day Soldiers hideout or something. Fully stocked with food, clothes, water. We lived well for a while, but ran out of food last week. Been working our way north since then.”

“Why north?” the man apparently named Paul asked.

“We were hoping to find some sort of government here,” Scott said. “We were disappointed.”

“Yeah,” Paul said. “I’m pretty sure you’re lying. You’re both under arrest.”

“Huh?” Lily said. “What makes you think we’re lying? And why are we under arrest?”

Paul pointed toward Lily’s belt. “You’re not just wearing clothes. You’re wearing a utility belt, fully equipped with fancy stuff. And your clothes fit too perfectly. And I can tell by the way you carry yourselves. You’re Day Soldiers.”

“So why are you arresting us?” Scott asked.

“For being Day Soldiers,” Jenkins said.

Paul pointed his makeshift rifle at Lily. “Jenkins, cuff em.”

Lily looked at Scott. “What do you think?” She knew they were in no real danger from these two men, and she knew that any other action might draw more survivors to their bunker.

“I’m kinda curious,” Scott said. “I mean, when did being a Day Soldier become a crime?”

Jenkins stepped behind Lily. “Why are you discussing this like you have a choice?”

Lily chuckled. “Oh, we have a choice, there, Barney. The only way you and Andy are arresting us is if we decide to let you.”

“You underestimate us, soldier,” Paul said as Jenkins snapped a pair of handcuffs on Lily’s wrists. “We’ve been surviving out here for a long time. You two look like you’ve been living in a nice little bunker somewhere.”

Jenkins stepped behind Scott and cuffed him.

“Aren’t you going to read us our Miranda rights?” Scott asked.

Jenkins looked at Paul. “Who’s Miranda?”

Paul shrugged. “Who knows. Let’s get em to the car.”

The two men led Lily and Scott through several blocks of the ruins that used to be DC. Eventually, they came to an old police car.

Lily took one look at the car and wondered how it could possibly run. The car had no hood and no doors. The lights on the roof were broken. The windshield was spider-webbed with cracks. Lily turned to Jenkins and said, “So who steers and who pushes?”

“Shut up and get inside,” Paul said.

Lily and Scott climbed into the back seat. Jenkins slid into the front passenger seat. Paul sat in the driver’s seat and cranked the car. After several tries and a massive amount of smoke, the car cranked.

They rode through the remnants of DC for several minutes, eventually making it to a highway. Once on the highway, Scott said, “So where are you taking us? Looks like we’re leaving DC.”

“The township is a few miles away,” Jenkins said.

“You don’t have to answer their questions,” Paul chastised.

After about thirty minutes on the highway, Paul took an exit and entered what appeared to be suburbs.

Lily looked at the houses as they rode down the street. Several people were standing on porches, watching them go by.

“This place doesn’t look so bad,” she said. “Most of the houses look intact. Could use some gardeners, though.” While the houses looked more or less normal, the yards were just fields of brown dirt.

“Guess they managed to avoid the brunt of the attack,” Scott mused.

Paul pulled into the driveway of one of the houses. “We’re there.”

The house looked normal enough. White, two stories, a large front porch. The only unusual thing about the house (besides the dirt yard) was the sign above the door that read: “Courthouse.” The sign was a board nailed to the wall with the words on it obviously hand-painted.

“Come on,” Paul said. “Time for your day in court.”

They walked up the porch and stepped inside. The living room of the house had been converted to a small courtroom. An older woman with dark skin sat behind a large desk facing the room. Like Paul and Jenkins, she looked terribly thin. Judging from her robe, Lily guessed she was the judge.

The judge’s desk faced two other desks. Currently a man stood behind one of the desks and a woman stood behind the other. Several rows of empty chairs filled the rest of the room.

“Take a seat,” Paul whispered. Lily and Scott sat in the nearest chairs and watched as the judge spoke to the man behind the first desk.

“Kenny,” she said, “I’m afraid I’m gonna have to rule in Henrietta’s favor on this one.”

“That’s not fair, Judge!” Kenny said. “I lived in that house for four months.”

“When you got lost in the wasteland,” the judge said, “we could only assume you were killed by the floaters.”

Lily looked at Scott and mouthed, “Floaters?”

Scott shrugged and whispered, “No idea.”

“Henrietta took the house fair and square,” the judge continued. “She put in an official request and waited the required forty-eight hours. You’ll have to find another house.”

“That’s horseshit,” Kenny said. “I spent a full week repairing that house before I moved in. It’s not my fault my damn car broke down on a food run! I’m telling you, Henrietta sabotaged it!”

“There’s no evidence of that,” the judge said.

“Because my car’s still in the damn wasteland,” Kenny argued.

“It stinks,” the judge admitted, “but you know the law. Fix up a new house, Kenny. Case closed.”

As the man and woman left the courtroom, the woman said, “If you miss the house, you can come over and work on my kitchen sink. It has a leak.”

“Shut up, bitch,” the man said as they walked outside.

Lily nudged Scott with her shoulder and said, “This place is awesome.”

The judge looked at Lily and said, “What have you brought me, Paul?”

“Come on,” Paul said.

Lily and Scott walked to one of the desks facing the judge. Paul stood on one side of them and Jenkins stood on the other.

“Day Soldiers, judge,” Paul said. “We picked em up in DC. They said they came from the south, but I still think there’s a bunker somewhere under all that rubble. They were too clean to have been travelling. I request permission to take some men back and do a full search of the area.”

“We’ll get to that later,” the judge said. “First things first. What’s the charge against these two?”

“I charged em with being Day Soldiers,” Paul said.

“Guilty,” the judge said.

“Hold on,” Scott argued. “We don’t get to defend ourselves?”

“Nope,” the judge said. “Moving on to the sentencing portion of the trial—”

“That’s crap,” Lily said.

“You wanna know what’s crap?” the judge shot back. “We had lives. We had homes. The worst thing about our lives was the fact that we had to occasionally donate blood. That’s it. The rest of the time, life was pretty damn good for us.”

“You can’t be serious,” Scott said.

“Oh, I’m deadly serious,” the judge said. “You people just wouldn’t let it end. You had to keep fighting. You refused to accept that maybe… just maybe… the world was better off. So you kept pushing and you kept pushing until they eventually pushed back. And look at us now.”

“You’ve lost your damn mind,” Lily said. “Vampires imprisoned you and eventually dropped a nuclear damn bomb on you, and you’re blaming us? Really?”

“The sentence,” the judge said, “is death. Paul, take them to a holding cell. At dusk, take them to the platforms. If we offer these two up, maybe the floaters will leave us alone for a day or two.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Paul said.

As Paul and Jenkins led them from the courtroom, Lily looked at Scott and said, “What do you think? Escape now?”

“If you want,” Scott said. “Honestly, though, I’m kind of curious to find out what a floater is.”

Lily smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that. I just hope Grung doesn’t come looking for us.”

“Who’s Grung,” Paul asked.

“He’s a friend,” Lily said. “And one you’d better hope never comes to this town. I don’t know what a floater is, but I can promise you one thing… Grung is worse.”

Chapter 2

Bunker City

“The vampire is secured in a holding cell in the detention center,” Grung said.

“Thanks, Grung,” Abbie said from behind her desk. “I’ll go see him shortly.”

Reagan sat in a chair beside Abbie’s desk. When Grung didn’t leave, she asked, “Is there something else, soldier?”

“I hesitate to mention this,” Grung said, “but can I take a few soldiers with me to the surface?”

“No,” Reagan said. “Nobody goes to the surface until we’ve thoroughly questioned this vampire.”

Grung started to speak, then fell silent. He uncomfortably shifted his weight from his right foot to his left.

“Someone went to the surface,” Abbie guessed.

“Yeah,” Grung said meekly.

“Let me guess,” Reagan said. “Baxter.”

“Yeah,” Grung said. “And Scott. They’ve been gone for three and a half hours now.”

Reagan shook her head slowly. “Abbie, I don’t know why you love that girl so much. She’s really a terrible soldier. If it were up to me, I’d discharge her from the Day Soldiers.”

“It is up to you, dear,” Abbie said. “You’re in charge, not me.”

“Okay,” Reagan said, “I probably wouldn’t discharge her. But I sure as hell wouldn’t be as tolerant as you and Wallace have been.”

“Reagan,” Abbie said, “for ten years, we tried to kill Phillip. Lily accomplished it in one meeting.”

“We both know that was luck.”

“Oh, no,” Abbie said. “Luck played a part, but Lily and Leo chose to take advantage of the situation. They were prepared and courageous. You can’t take that away from them.”

“I’m not trying to take anything away from them, Abbie. I’m just saying—”

“And Lily killed Dennis,” Abbie went on. “Luck played no part in that. Then there’s Arcas, who is dead because of Lily’s quick thinking. Natasha was a group effort, I admit.”

“Travis killed millions of vampires, Abbie,” Reagan said. “That doesn’t mean he’s a great Day Soldier.”

“That’s not fair.”

“No?” Reagan said. “There’s more to being a Day Soldier than killing vampires and werewolves. Until Baxter learns to follow orders, she’s a danger to everyone around her.”

“I completely disagree.”

“Baxter’s not a soldier,” Reagan went on. “She’s a killer. We’re just lucky she happens to like killing vampires.”

“About my request,” Grung interrupted. “They should have been back by now. Something has happened. I’d really like to go find them.”

Reagan was silent for a few seconds, then said, “No, Grung.”

Grung and Abbie both gave a heartfelt, “What?”

“I’m sorry, guys,” Reagan said. “We simply don’t know what’s up there. They could have been killed by radiation or something within minutes of going to the surface.”

“That’s unlikely,” Abbie said. “It’s been a year.”

“The point is,” Reagan said, “we don’t know. And until we talk to our new guest, I’m not risking anybody’s life to find out.”

“I’m going,” Grung said. “I’ll take Talbot with me.”

“Grung, no,” Reagan said. “I’m serious about this. We have to find out if it’s safe. It was ridiculously stupid of Baxter and Vellin to go up there. You’re not going to help them if you step outside and immediately drop dead.”

“I hate to say it,” Abbie said, “but she’s got a point, Grung.”

“This is—”

“Bullshit,” Reagan interrupted. “I know. You guys say that a lot.”

“That’s because there’s a lot of bullshit around here,” Grung said.

Reagan leaned back in her chair and sighed. “Go find Talbot,” she said. “Abbie and I will go talk to the vampire right now. After we talk to him, if we decide it’s reasonably safe to go above-ground, you and Talbot can go looking for your friends. That’s fair, isn’t it?”

“I guess,” Grung said.

“Of course it’s fair,” Abbie said. “Go get Talbot. We’ll have a decision within the hour.”

After Grung left the office, Abbie turned to Reagan and said, “You really shouldn’t insult Baxter in front of him. His devotion to her is powerful.”

“I wasn’t insulting Baxter,” Reagan said, “I was telling the truth. What she did was stupid. I’m not going to pretend otherwise just because it might hurt her teammate’s feelings.”

“I wasn’t referring to her leaving the facility,” Abbie said. “I agree that was stupid. I’m talking about the ‘she’s not a soldier, she’s a killer’ nonsense.”

“I don’t think it’s nonsense,” Reagan argued. “I happen to believe it’s true.”

“That’s fine, dear,” Abbie said. “Just know that you’re not accomplishing anything by saying it in front of Grung. If he had to choose between your orders and Baxter’s, he’d choose Baxter every time. You’re not going to earn his respect by saying she’s a terrible soldier. He happens to believe she’s the best soldier in this organization.”

“Noted,” Reagan said. “Now, if you’re done chastising me, can we go see this vampire?”

Grung walked briskly through the hallway of Bunker City. After a year, he was still amazed at the scale of the facility. It had dorms, entertainment rooms, a training facility, several cafeterias, several offices, a detention center, and even a small auditorium. It was truly the size of a small city.

Grung turned left and headed toward the training facility. He knew that was probably where Talbot was. After a few minutes of walking, he stepped into a large gym full of training equipment. All the lights in the room were off.

“I know you’re in here,” he said as he closed the door behind him. “Your scent isn’t exactly subtle.” From his left, a seven foot tall half-man, half-wolf sprang from the shadows.

Grung quickly stepped from its path and pulled a sword from the sheath on his back. The werewolf spun around and shifted to the mostly human form of Talbot. Without hesitating, Talbot picked up a sword from the floor and attacked.

The assault lasted several minutes. Talbot was relentless, driving Grung back toward the door. Grung blocked as many attacks as he could, but Talbot eventually managed to disarm him, sending his sword flying across the room.

Talbot pressed the tip of his sword against Grung’s throat. “I’m disappointed.”

Grung pushed the sword away. “I didn’t come here to practice,” he said.

Talbot tossed his sword to the floor. “Dammit, Grung, you can’t just clock out. We’ll be going to the surface soon. If you’re going to lead my people, you have to stay prepared. If the werewolves here don’t respect you, it’s just a matter of time until one of them challenges you.”

“If they challenge me, I’ll stop them,” Grung said.

“It’s not that simple,” Talbot said. “There are three thousand werewolves in this facility, and they all follow you. Not all of them will be as honorable as I was. If the wrong wolf decides you’re not a worthy leader, the attack could come exactly like it did here. From the shadows. You can’t assume you’re safe. Ever.”

“That’s a wonderful thought,” Grung said.

“It’s the reality of leadership, my friend,” Talbot countered.

“I beat you,” Grung said. “I can handle the others.”

Talbot laughed. “You beat me because I was broken. If we fought today, I would destroy you.”

Grung nodded. He knew Talbot was right. Over the past year, it had become obvious that of the two, Talbot was the better warrior. That fact raised a question that had crossed Grung’s mind hundreds of times in the past year.

“Go ahead and ask,” Talbot said.

“Am I that transparent?” Grung asked.

“No,” Talbot said with a fanged smile. “I’m that observant. Grung, we’re about to go back to the world. We can’t leave things unsaid between us.”

“Did you lose on purpose?” Grung asked. “When we fought last year, did you let me win?”

“No,” Talbot said.

“I just don’t get it,” Grung said. “You’re ten times the swordsman I am.”

“That day was the worst day of my life,” Talbot said. “When I took off Wallace’s head, I instantly knew I had done something horrible. I realized that I had been fighting for something I no longer believed in. I suppose the short answer is that killing Wallace broke my heart. I realized in that moment that I am no leader. I’m a soldier.”

“So I’m the leader because I attacked you during the worst moment of your life,” Grung said. “That’s not exactly an ego booster.”

“Don’t underestimate yourself,” Talbot said. “It wasn’t just because my heart was broken. You came at me with a fury I’ve never seen. You tapped into something powerful that day. I strongly suspect you would have defeated me no matter what I was going through. I’ve spent the last year trying to help you tap into that power again.”

“I think it’ll come,” Grung said, “when I need it. I really do.”

“I hope you’re right,” Talbot said. “Now, if you didn’t come here to practice…”

“Oh yeah,” Grung said. “We have a mission.”

Abbie and Reagan stepped into the cell. The room was a small square with only four white walls, a single door, and a small cot. Jesse sat on the cot. His backpack was on the floor beside him.

As the door slid shut behind them, Abbie said, “I’m a channeler and my friend here is a werewolf. Any attempts to feed on us would be pointless.”

“I don’t know what a channeler is,” Jesse said, “but you don’t have to worry. I didn’t surrender myself to you so I could get killed trying to feed on you. I’m honestly here to help.”

“That’s what we don’t understand,” Reagan said. “How could you possibly help us?”

“I want to help you find a home,” Jesse said.

“First things first,” Abbie said. “Tell us about the surface. Is it safe?”

“Depends on what you mean by safe,” Jesse said.

“Don’t toy with us, vampire,” Reagan said.

“No, really,” Jesse argued. “It’s dangerous in some ways, but safe in others.”

“Radiation,” Abbie said. “Will the act of going to the surface harm humans?”

Jesse shook his head. “No. In that regard, it’s safe.”

Abbie looked at Reagan.

“He could be lying,” Reagan said.

“I’m not.”

“He could be,” Abbie agreed, “but I don’t think so. What would be the point of tricking a few of us to the surface?” She turned and looked at Jesse. “Besides, there’s something about this vampire… something different.”

“What makes you say that?” Reagan asked.

“Gut feeling,” Abbie said.

Jesse leaned forward. “Make no mistake, ladies. It’s still very dangerous up there. The danger just comes from places you might not expect.”

“Explain,” Abbie said.

“Other humans, for one,” Jesse said. “There are several groups of humans up there who hate the Day Soldiers. They blame you for everything that happened to this country. Matter of fact, there’s a group not too far from here. I passed the town on my way here. At the edge of their town, I saw several dead bodies tied to large stakes. All of em were wearing Day Soldier uniforms.”

Abbie and Reagan exchanged concerned glances.

“That girl,” Jesse said. “The one who went above when they captured me. She’s not come back, has she.”

“That’s not your concern,” Abbie said.

“Look,” Jesse said. “The air is safe up there. If she hasn’t come back, it’s because those people took her. I saw a couple of them roaming around the area before I found your hatch. The girl’s in danger.”

Abbie looked back at Reagan. “Your call.”

With a sigh, Reagan unclipped the earpiece from her belt. Without attaching it to her ear, she spoke directly into the mic. “Grung, you there?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re cleared for your mission. Go find Baxter.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Take Talbot, but nobody else,” Reagan said. “Humans will just slow you down. Find Baxter and get back here ASAP. Don’t explore. If you’re still out there after dark, don’t waste time looking at the stars. Get her and get back. Got it?”

“Got it. Thanks, Reagan. Grung out.”

Reagan clipped the communicator back to her belt and looked at Jesse. “If you’re lying, you’re dead.”

“I’m not lying,” Jesse said.

“Back to your original statement,” Abbie said. “You said you want to help us find a home?”

“Yes,” Jesse said. “I’ve been searching for free humans for a year now. I want to see you survive. Your culture has to survive. It can’t be lost.” His eyes were full of anguish.

“So you’re saying,” Reagan said, “the human culture is lost?”

Jesse was silent for several seconds. Finally, he said, “I’m sorry. Humanity is lost. America is all that’s left, and it’s not the same.”

Abbie’s lips tightened and her eyes rimmed with tears. “I don’t accept that. Travis only bombed America. Have you even been to other continents? I’m certain the war is continuing somewhere.”

“Lady,” Jesse said, “I told you, I came from other continents. I crawled out of my cave in Vietnam to find a world at war. When America was destroyed, I was somewhere in Germany. After the bombs, I watched humanity fall.”

“How?” Reagan asked quietly.

“Keep in mind, I was relatively new to this world when it happened,” Jesse explained, “but from what I’ve learned, after America was destroyed the ruler of England took credit for the attack.”

“Human or vampire?” Abbie asked.

“Vampire,” Jesse said. “His name is Ian Taylor. He claimed to be the leader of the Legion, but from what I’ve heard, most vampires had no idea who he was until he made the claim. Now, of course, they all consider him the leader. He’s the guy they think ended the war.”

“It wasn’t Cassius?” Reagan asked.

Jesse cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t know of anybody named Cassius. After America was bombed, this Taylor guy said the bombing happened on his orders. He said the time had come to end the war and vowed to destroy every country on Earth if the Day Soldiers refused to surrender. The fact that he destroyed America was his proof that he wasn’t bluffing.”

“Disgusting,” Abbie said.

“It worked,” Jesse countered. “After that, Day Soldiers across the globe surrendered. They didn’t want to be responsible for the deaths of billions of humans.”

“And I’m sure the purges from a few years ago made the vampire’s claim seem more legitimate,” Reagan said. “They slaughtered their own kind once already. I suppose it wasn’t hard for the Day Soldiers to believe they’d do it again.”

“There must be humans in hiding,” Abbie said. “Somewhere.”

“I’ve been looking for a year now,” Jesse said. “There are pockets of survivors in America. A settlement here or there, but I’ve found nothing in the rest of the world. The Legion has done a bang-up job of sniffing out survivors. I eventually came to the conclusion that my only real chance would be America.”

“Because they left it as a wasteland,” Reagan said.

Jesse nodded. “It’s technically forbidden to even come here, although it’s a rule some vamps happily ignore. I came across two groups of vampires on hunting expeditions.”

“What did you do when you met them?” Abbie asked.

“Killed em all,” Jesse said with a dark grin.

“I don’t get you,” Reagan said. “You’re a walking paradox.”

“You mean that I’m a good vampire?” Jesse asked.

“Yes,” Abbie said. “Frankly, we don’t believe you’re possible. We’ve dealt with millions of vampires. We’ve never found one that is what you claim to be.”

“I don’t claim to be good,” Jesse said. “The whole idea of good and evil is just a bunch of hooey. I’m not here because I love humanity. Truth is, humans are probably more destructive than vampires and werewolves combined.”

“Then why are you doing it?” Reagan asked.

“Because I hate vampires,” Jesse said.

“I don’t understand,” Abbie said. “If you think humans are more destructive, why do you hate vampires more?”

Jesse’s eyes grew dark. “Because they took my life from me. I had a wife and a two-year old son. I had friends.”

“And the vampires killed them,” Reagan guessed.

“No,” Jesse said. “I killed them.”

“I’m afraid I still don’t understand,” Abbie said. “The fact that you feel guilt is evidence that you’ve somehow retained…” She hesitated.

“My soul?” Jesse offered.

“Your humanity,” Abbie corrected. “I don’t want this to become a theological discussion. How did you retain your humanity?”

“I had help,” Jesse said.

“Who helped you?” Abbie asked.

“No,” Jesse said. “I didn’t come here to talk about me.”

“It could be important, Jesse.” Abbie was a little taken aback by the fact that she used his name so naturally. He was no longer a thing to her. He was a person.

“If you want my help, take it,” Jesse said. “If you don’t, kill me, let me go, or keep me as a prisoner. Either way, I’m done talking about my life.”

“Okay,” Reagan said. “Let’s move on to what you’ve seen in the past year. You said you want to help us find a safe place to live. What have you found?”

“That depends on how many people you got here,” Jesse said.

“Twelve thousand humans and three thousand werewolves,” Reagan said.

Abbie was a little surprised to hear her give up that information so freely. She sees him as a person too.

“The werewolves should be fine,” Jesse said. “They’ve taken to the wilderness all across the globe. I’m sure you’d be welcome anywhere.”

“What about the humans?” Abbie asked.

“The best place I’ve found is the Yukon,” Jesse said.

“Wait,” Abbie said. “You mean in Canada? Doesn’t it get to subarctic temperatures there?”

Jesse nodded. “You wanna avoid vampires, you’ll have to go to the places even vampires don’t wanna live. I found a group of people there. A small group, about fifty or so. They live in a church. The leader’s a priest, I think. It’s not much, but they appeared to be self-sufficient. It would be a start.”

“What’s a priest doing living in the Yukon?” Reagan asked.

“No idea,” Jesse said. “I didn’t interact with them. I watched them for about a week or so. I couldn’t go near the place.”

“Did they have vampire protection of some kind?” Abbie asked.

“Sort of,” Jesse said. “There was a man there. Once a day, they’d take him outside. He was in a wheel chair and he was always covered, so I’m not even sure it was a man. Could’ve been a woman, I guess.”

“You couldn’t tell by the scent?” Reagan asked. “That’s odd.”

“Yeah,” Jesse agreed. “Everything about this guy was odd. I got no scent from him and… it hurt to look at him.”

Abbie’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”

“Not physically,” Jesse said. “Well, not exactly. It was kind of a weird mix of emotional pain and physical pain. I can’t explain it. When he came into the yard, I usually left the area. It was just too unpleasant. I’m guessing he had some kind of weapon on him that I was reacting to. Maybe holy water or something.”

“Holy water wouldn’t do that,” Abbie said.

“Well, whatever it was,” Jesse said, “it was potent.”

“Did you ever hear his name?” Abbie asked.

Jesse shook his head. “No. But when he wasn’t around, the others called him an angel.” He looked at Abbie and cocked an eyebrow. “Your heart’s beating like crazy, woman. You need to calm down.”

“Jesse, how quickly can you take me to this place?”

“Now hold on,” Reagan said. “We’re just talking here.”

“Not anymore,” Abbie said. “Reagan, I’m asking you to trust me here. This could be important. Very important.”

“I could get you there in about a week,” Jesse said.

“A week?” Abbie asked. “That’s fast.”

“We’d be riding the wind, baby,” Jesse said. “It’s how I roll.”

Abbie knocked on the cell door. The door slid open, activated by a soldier on the other side. “We’ll finish this discussion later,” she said to Jesse.

“I wasn’t done,” Reagan said.

“We’re done for now,” Abbie said. “Come with me, dear. We have much to discuss.”

Chapter 3

The Floaters

Lily looked at the sun setting over the buildings in the town. “My first sunset in a year, and I get to watch it while tied up to a damn pole.”

Scott laughed. “You find the negative in everything.”

They were tied to large poles at the edge of town. Several other poles stood beside them, each with the body of a dead soldier tied to it. “I think a little negativity is appropriate in this case,” she said. “I also think we might have been a little rash in letting them tie us up out here.”

“I can break us free if you want,” Scott said. “We can go back to the base.”

“Do you have any theories about these floaters they were talking about?”

“I do,” Scott said. “And if I’m right, I don’t think we’re in any real danger from them.”

“Care to share?”

“Nah,” Scott said. “If I’m wrong, you’ll just use it against me later.”

With a chuckle, Lily said, “You’re probably right. But if your theory’s correct, I won’t believe you when you start bragging about it.”

Scott thought about this for a moment. “Shit.”

Lily looked back at the town. “Either way, we’ll find out soon enough. Sun’s down.”

“You know,” Scott said, “We’re gonna catch hell when we get back to Bunker City.”

“I know,” Lily said. “I don’t much care, though. Between you and me, I’m not a big fan of Reagan’s leadership style.”

“She’s not so bad,” Scott said. “You should give her a chance. She just believes a military organization hinges on following orders. It’s a valid stance, Lily. Wallace was the weird one there. He let us get away with too much.”

“He trusted us,” Lily shot back. “She doesn’t. And I’ll tell you something else. I think she blames me for everything that happened.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Scott said. “She’s just trying to make you a better soldier. She doesn’t let you get away with childish nonsense. Abbie was the same way during training.”

“I don’t think so,” Lily said quietly.

Scott spun around on his pole so he was facing Lily. “Listen to me, chief. Reagan doesn’t blame you for anything and she doesn’t hate you. The day will come when you find her standing beside you, and when that happens, you’ll be glad. I promise.”

“Whatever,” Lily said. “It’s getting pretty dark. I’d say the locals are locked up for the night. How about we get out of these ropes.”

Scott twisted back and forth for a few seconds, then pulled his hands free from the rope that had him tied to the pole. “Gotta love civies. Can’t tie knots for shit.” He walked to Lily’s pole and untied her.

“Aw,” Lily said. “I was hoping you’d have to wolf out and be naked.”

“Shut up,” Scott said.

Lily looked across the open field. Dust particles seemed to be dancing in the moonlight as a soft breeze continued to blow across the area. “So spill it,” she said. “Tell me what you think a floater is.”

“I think you’ll see soon enough,” Scott said. “I’m pretty sure they’re here.” He pointed his finger toward the field.

Lily peered forward. “I don’t see anything.”

“Sure you do,” Scott said. “They’re right in front of us.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you see that?” Scott was still pointing, but his finger was moving around as if he were pointing at a bee in mid-flight.

“Do you mean the dust?” Lily asked. “Are you saying the floaters are dust particles? Like something carrying some kind of disease?”

“Yes,” Scott said, “and no.”

“Chill with the riddles,” Lily said. “You’re not some kung fu master.”

With a quiet laugh, Scott said, “Actually, I was trying to act like a super detective, teaching the rookie on the team.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lily said.

“Sure you do,” Scott said. “I’m the genius detective who looks at a crime scene and says, ‘The answer is right in front of you, if you’d just learn how to look for it.’ That kind of thing.”

“That still sounds like a kung fu master to me,” Lily said.

“No, a kung fu master would talk in much more lofty riddles,” Scott said. “I’m like the guy who tells it straight, but won’t just give you the answers.”

“Scott, what’s a damn floater?”

“Just watch the dust particles,” Scott said. “Sheesh.”

Lily continued to watch the particles blowing in the moonlight. After a few seconds, she noticed their movements weren’t random. Sometimes, they floated in a direction opposite the wind. They swirled around each other like fairies in some fantasy movie.

They really are dancing, she thought.

A female’s voice giggled from… nowhere. It sounded distant, yet somehow close at the same time. There was a definitive musical quality to the laugh.

“Where’d that laugh come from?” Lily asked. “Did you hear that?”

“I heard it,” Scott said. “Are you wearing gloves?”

“No.”

“Good,” Scott said. “Get those vampire-burning hands of yours ready. We’re about to meet the floaters. And for the record, I’m pretty sure they’re exactly what I thought they were.”

“I don’t believe you,” Lily said with a smirk.

Scott gave her a mischievous grin. “Yes you do.”

“Whoah!”

For a brief second, Lily thought she saw a woman’s face in the moonlight, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

“I think I just saw a ghost,” she whispered.

“Nah,” Scott said.

“Are we in danger, Scott?” Lily asked. “I gotta admit, I’m a little freaked out here.”

“Anybody else would be in very real danger,” Scott said, “but considering our unique conditions, I’d say we’re pretty safe.”

Lily knew he was referring to the fact that he was a werewolf and she was a channeler.

A second giggle filtered across the night. This time, the giggle was followed by a soft, musical voice.

“The villagers left us a present,” the voice said.

“I’ve got an idea,” Lily said to the faceless voice. “How about you stop being all mysterioso and show yourself? That sound good to you? Sounds great to me.”

“Okay.”

An instant later, a young woman was standing beside Lily. She had long blond hair and very white skin. When she smiled, Lily instantly knew the woman was a vampire.

“Neat trick,” Lily said.

“You’re a brave one,” the vampire said. “I find that… scrumptious.”

“That’s lovely,” Lily said. “What’s your name, sunshine?”

“My name is Death.”

“No, it’s not,” Lily said. “It’s probably something boring, like Linda.”

“Hey,” Scott said. “My mom’s name is Linda.”

Lily gave him a smirk, then turned back to the vampire. “So what’s your name?”

The vampire’s shoulders slumped slightly. “You know, you’re really taking the fun out of this.”

“It’s what I do,” Lily said.

“What have we got here, sister?” another female voice said from the darkness. “Have the villagers left us a gift?”

“What’s with the villager crap?” Scott said. “You people aren’t old enough to remember villagers. Obviously, you’ve been influenced by movies.”

The second vampire materialized beside the first. She was beautiful, like the other, but her hair was dark brown. “He’s feisty,” she said with a mischievous giggle. “The feisty ones always taste better.”

“Just stop it already,” Lily said. “You don’t sound scary. You sound stupid.”

“We should just feed, Margaret,” the blond vampire said. “These two are no fun at all.”

Lily tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck. “Have at it,” she said. “I should warn you, though. Your day is about to get very bad.”

“Wait.”

A third female vampire stepped from the darkness. She had long blond hair, which made her look very similar to the first vampire. She walked up to Lily and seemed to be examining her face.

“I think you need to back up a step or two,” Lily said.

The vampire smiled. “I know you. You came to my hometown when I was a human. You wanted to kill all the vampires there, but we stopped you.”

“I’ve been to a lot of hometowns,” Lily said.

“But I know you from somewhere else, too,” the vampire said. “Where?”

“Homecoming dance, four years ago?” Lily said. “I was the one wearing black.”

The vampire laughed and turned to her companions. “Ladies, do you know who this is?”

“Dinner,” one of them said.

“Oh, no,” the vampire replied. “She is most certainly not dinner. Drinking her blood would boil you from the inside out.”

“A channeler?”

“Not just a channeler,” the vampire answered. “This is our lucky night. We’re looking at none other than the famous Lily Baxter.”

Scott stepped forward. “Okay. We’ve established you can’t feed on us and we’re currently without weapons. I’d call this encounter a draw. How about we all go home.”

The dark haired vampire continued to stare at Lily’s face. “Are you sure, sister? I’ve been a vampire for so long, most humans look the same to me.”

“There’s no way,” Scott said, “that you’ve been a vampire longer than a year. Does becoming your breed of vampire make you stupid?”

“Breed?” Lily asked.

“Think about it, kid,” Scott explained. “They just materialized from the fog. A year ago, we knew of one vampire with that ability. Now…” He pointed at the three women.

“Travis!” Lily said.

Scott nodded. “Apparently, he’s decided the world needs a better class of vampire.”

“You’re Scott Vellin,” one of the blond vampires said.

Scott looked at her. “I’m surprised you’d know that. There are no videos of me.”

“Educated guess,” the vampire said. She looked back and forth between Scott and Lily. “I don’t understand. What are you two doing out here?”

Lily pointed toward the town. “We were captured by the townspeople.”

“Ridiculous,” the vampire said. “There’s no way they could have captured you without your full cooperation. Those people are sheep. You two are wolves.” She looked at Scott and smiled. “Literally, for you.”

“We were curious,” Scott said. “They kept talking about floaters. We wanted to know what they meant.”

The vampire laughed. “So instead of asking them, you allowed them to offer you up as sacrifices? Putting yourselves in mortal danger to satisfy your curiosity. It’s just so…”

“Human,” the dark haired vampire said.

“We aren’t in mortal danger,” Lily said. “Especially from the brides of Travis.”

The dark haired vampire turned to the other two. “Okay, let’s do this quickly so the werewolf can’t stop us. Remember, avoid contact with her skin. If she concentrates, she can turn any part of her body into a weapon.”

“I don’t know what you’re planning,” Scott said, “but I promise you, it won’t—”

“Now.”

Two of the vampires swept in, grabbed Lily’s arms and lifted her into the air. A split second later, they were lost in the night sky.

Scott didn’t even have time to shift to a wolf. He turned to the remaining vampire and screamed, “Bring her back! Now!”

The vampire gave him a playful wink and disappeared into the night.

Chapter 4

Finding the Lost Ones

“That’s impossible,” Reagan said.

“It’s not impossible,” Abbie argued.

They sat in the mess hall, eating dinner. The room was full of other soldiers, but Abbie and Reagan were alone at a small table in the corner.

“At best,” Reagan said, “it’s highly improbable.”

“I’m telling you,” Abbie said with wide eyes, “that vampire was talking about a good creature.”

“I’m still not convinced those things even exist,” Reagan said. “The only evidence we have is the word of a woman who was under the influence of vampires.”

“Charlotte,” Abbie said, “was not under their influence when she told me about the good creatures. What she described was exactly what Jesse described.”

“Jesse described a covered figure in a wheel chair,” Reagan said. “Nothing more.”

“He also described how that figure made him feel,” Abbie said. “Charlotte was very specific about that. She said it hurt vampires to look at them.”

“She also said good creatures were immortal,” Reagan pointed out. “Why would an immortal need to be pushed around in a wheel chair?”

“They don’t age,” Abbie said, “but they can be killed or hurt. They don’t heal like vampires heal. If you cut off a good creature’s legs, they don’t grow back.”

Reagan sighed. “You’re determined to go there, aren’t you.”

“I am,” Abbie said.

“The Yukon’s very dangerous, Abbie,” Reagan said. “If you spit, that spit is ice by the time it hits the ground.”

“Good thing I don’t go around spitting,” Abbie said.

Reagan chuckled, then said, “Let some werewolves go instead. They could handle the cold.”

“No,” Abbie said. “We don’t know how a GC would react to a werewolf. It has to be a human, and I think I’m the best person for the job.”

“What makes you think that?”

“He’s staying at a church,” Abbie said. “I think I might have some pull with the priest there. Besides, my conscience wouldn’t allow me to ask anybody else to do this.”

“You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you,” Reagan said.

“Actually,” Abbie answered, “if you say no, I won’t go. I trust your judgment, Reagan. I also happen to think you agree with me on this. You’re just trying to talk yourself out of it.”

Reagan sighed and took a bite of the mashed potatoes on her plate. “If you’re doing this, don’t waste any time. Get there and get back. And don’t let your guard down when it comes to this vampire. Has it occurred to you that this whole thing might be a trap specifically designed to get the famous Sister Abbie? You killed a lot of vampires in your day.”

“It has occurred to me,” Abbie admitted.

“And?”

“And,” Abbie went on, “my gut tells me it’s real. Nobody knows that Charlotte told us about the good creatures.”

“Unless they infiltrated that searcher facility,” Reagan said. “We don’t know what happened to them after the bombs fell.”

“That’s a fair point,” Abbie conceded. “Still, it’s worth the risk. I preach to my trainees that following their instincts is a good thing. My instinct tells me this is a good creature.”

“Then don’t waste any time,” Reagan said. “Scout the area. See if it’s somewhere we might be able to settle. Since the communicators won’t reach us down here, I’ll send someone above ground every day for a progress report.”

“That’s not necessary,” Abbie said.

“It’s necessary for my sanity,” Reagan said.

“Oh, sanity,” Abbie said with a grin. “I lost mine a long time ago, back in Ireland. Hopefully, I’ll find it again someday.”

Reagan chuckled quietly. “Well, I doubt you’ll find it in the Yukon. Be careful, Abbie. You’re putting yourself in danger in more ways than I can count.”

“I know,” Abbie conceded, “but the payoff is worth it. One good creature could help us reclaim this world.”

“From the way that vampire was talking,” Reagan said, “the world might really be lost this time. I’d be satisfied if we could just reclaim this country.”

Scott kicked open the door to the community’s courthouse. He ran through the house until he found the “judge” eating dinner in the kitchen.

“Where did they take her!”

The woman dropped her fork and jumped back several feet. “How are you alive?”

Scott grabbed the table and threw it across the room. “Where did they take her!” He let out a growl that was clearly not human.

The judge looked terrified. “I… I don’t know. They took her somewhere? They didn’t just feed on her? That’s new, I swear!”

The two men who had found them earlier that day burst into the kitchen. They were both carrying guns. “Judge,” one of the men said, “we have a problem. Two more Day Soldiers just entered town—” He saw Scott and immediately fell silent.

“Paul, right?” Scott said.

“No,” the man said. “I’m Jenkins.” He pointed a thumb at the other man. “That’s Paul.”

“Well, Jenkins,” Scott said as he walked toward them, “you have one chance to save your life and the lives of your friends here. Tell me where those vampire bitches have taken my friend.”

Paul pointed the gun at Scott and fired.

Scott didn’t flinch as the bullet shot into his chest. He grabbed Paul’s gun and threw it across the room, then wrapped his hand around Paul’s throat. “I’m not kidding, here. I’ll kill you all if you don’t tell me. Right now.”

“What the hell are you?” the judge said.

“I’m Scott Vellin,” Scott said. “I’m a Day Soldier and more importantly, I’m Lily Baxter’s best friend. You morons just got her captured by vampires and if you don’t help me find her, this is going to be the worst day of your lives. And I’m guessing you’ve had some pretty bad days up to now.”

“Lily Baxter?” the judge said. “Oh my God.”

“I thought I smelled your perfume, pretty boy!”

Scott looked toward the door and saw Grung and Talbot step inside. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Got permission to find you,” Grung said. “The vampire told us about these guys. We figured it was the best place to start looking. Guess we were right.”

“They got Lily, Grung,” Scott said.

“Who?”

Scott released Paul and looked at Grung. “Not sure. Vampires. Weird ones, like Travis. They grabbed her before I could stop them.”

“Are you saying that girl was Lily Baxter?” the judge asked.

“Why the hell do you care?” Scott snapped. “Judging from the bodies at the edge of town, you guys don’t care who you sacrifice as long as they’re wearing a Day Soldiers uniform. Those people risked everything to protect you and you just left them out there to die!”

“We were just protecting ourselves,” the judge said. “It was the only way we could keep the vampires—”

“You’re murderers,” Scott growled. “And make no mistake, after I find my friend, I’m coming back.”

“Stand down, soldier,” Grung said. He turned to the judge. “Why do you care if it was Lily or just another soldier?”

“Because,” the judge said, “if that was Lily Baxter, I think I know where those vampires took her.”

“Where?” Grung asked.

“Iveyton,” the judge said.

Scott and Grung looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to the judge. “I think you’re confused,” Grung said. “Iveyton’s destroyed.”

“I’m not confused,” the judge said. “If that girl was Lily Baxter, I’m sure those vampires took her to Iveyton.”

Chapter 5

Iveyton, Virginia

The vampires landed softly in the woods and released their grip on Lily. The predawn light was already brightening the sky through the treetops. This told Lily they’d literally flown all night.

“Where are we?” Lily said.

“Can’t talk,” the dark haired vampire said. “Sun’s coming up. That’s our bedtime, sweetie.”

“If you came from Travis,” Lily said, “the sun won’t kill you.”

“It’s still not pleasant,” the blonde vampire said. “Besides, I’m surprised you don’t recognize these woods.”

Lily looked around. “I’ve been in a lot of woods.”

“But these woods are special,” the dark haired vampire said. “You were born in these woods.”

“I was born in a hospital.”

The vampire laughed. “Your body was born in a hospital. You were born in these woods.”

Lily looked around again. As the morning light filtered through the trees, the woods began to look very familiar to her.

“This is where we killed Phillip,” she said. “I’m in the woods near Iveyton.”

“Welcome home,” the vampire said with a giggle.

“Why did you bring me—”

All the vampires were gone.

Lily took a few minutes to build up her nerve, then began her walk to Iveyton. When she got to the road, she stopped walking. The road circled Iveyton, so either way would take her to town. She knew going left would get her there faster, but it would also lead straight to her back yard. She didn’t want her first sight to be the remains of her burned home, so she decided to take the long way.

The morning sun was high in the sky when Lily stepped from the woods and looked at the town of Iveyton.

“My God.”

Her hometown had risen from the dead. The houses were rebuilt and looked exactly like they did when she lived there. Most of the houses were dark, but the old “We’re Open” sign was flickering at Pete Green’s gas station.

In the distance, she saw a burly old man step from the gas station and walk toward the pumps. He had a clipboard in his hands. From where she stood, the man looked like Old Pete.

Except Pete’s dead. I killed him.

The old man looked at each pump and wrote something on the clipboard.

Morning inventory, Lily thought. He’s checking his tanks, just like he does every morning.

The man finished his checks, then looked around the town. Eventually, he saw Lily standing in the road.

He waved. “Hey there, Lily! You’re up early.”

It wasn’t Pete’s voice.

While the knowledge that Pete hadn’t been resurrected brought Lily some measure of comfort, the thought that he had been replaced by a new Pete unnerved her just as much.

As she walked toward the gas station, it became obvious that this old man wasn’t Pete, but the resemblance was remarkable. Same build. Same balding gray hair. Same clothes.

“Who are you?” Lily said as she got to the gas station.

“I’m good, I’m good,” the old man said. “How are you this fine mornin?”

“I didn’t ask how you are,” Lily said. “I asked who you are.”

The old man looked genuinely confused. “You okay, kid? Come to think of it, what the hell were you doing in those woods? Did something happen to you?”

“Who the hell are you?” Lily repeated.

“Lily,” the old man said, “I’m Pete. You’ve known me your whole life.”

“You’re not Pete,” Lily said. “I killed Pete.”

The old man gave her a worried look. “Come on inside and sit down,” he said. “I’ll fix you some hot chocolate and we can call your dad. You’ve got me a little concerned here.”

“Who are you!” It took Lily a second to realize she had screamed the question.

“Calm down,” the old man said. “Just calm down. Something obviously happened to you in those woods. We’ll get you all fixed up, but you have to calm down. We’ll get your dad to come get you and take you to the doc—”

“My dad is dead!” Lily found it hard to breathe. It took all her willpower to stay conscious. “The doctor is dead! I killed my father and Leo killed Dr. Brower. And I’ll say it again, in case you didn’t hear me the first time. I killed Pete Green. Now, if you don’t tell me who you are, I swear to God, I’ll kill you.”

The man took a step back. He looked terrified. “Lily, I’m Pete. Your dad is fine. I talked to him last night. Doc Brower is fine.” He looked at the woods behind her. “You mentioned Leo. Is he with you? Is he okay?”

“I’m leaving,” Lily said as she spun around and began to walk back toward the woods.

“Wait,” the old man said. “Please.”

Something in the old man’s voice caused Lily to stop.

He’s terrified.

She turned back around and said, “You want me to stay?”

“Yes,” the old man said, his voice trembling.

“Then stop with the Pete bullshit,” Lily said. “We both know you’re not Pete, so stop it and tell me what the hell is going on.”

“I can’t.”

“You can’t?”

“I just mean,” the man said quickly, “that I can’t let you go wandering off. Something’s wrong, Lily. I know you don’t realize that, but a vampire has screwed with your mind or something. We need to get you to a doctor.”

He wants to say more, Lily thought, but he can’t.

“Look,” she said, “it’s obvious somebody’s making you do this. You’re scared shitless. Just tell me who’s forcing you to act this way and I’ll kill em. Problem solved.”

Lily heard an engine and turned around to see a police car coming toward her. The car pulled into the gas station and a younger man in a police officer’s uniform stepped out. He looked at the old man, then at Lily. “You’re up early, Baxter.”

“No,” Lily said, knowing what was coming next.

“Hey, Billy,” Fake-Pete said.

“This man is not Sheriff Gifford,” Lily said. “He kind of looks like Billy, but everybody here knows he’s not Billy.”

“Sheriff,” Fake-Pete said, “we, ah, have a bit of a problem.”

“Those Hill Street kids change your signs again?” the officer asked.

When Lily was growing up in Iveyton, some teenagers from Hill Street used to sneak across town and change the sign in front of Pete’s store. They’d rearrange the letters to spell out funny – usually vulgar - words. Lily was amazed the imposter referenced that so casually. How did he know so much about her hometown?

“No, no,” the old man said. “That hasn’t happened since those kids went off to college. To be honest, I kind of miss coming out to see what new words they came up with. This problem’s a little more serious. Maybe a lot more serious.”

“Go on.”

The old man pointed at Lily. “It’s about our Lily here.”

“I’m not your Lily,” Lily said. “Hell, I wasn’t even Pete’s Lily. You need to do more research. You’re getting your dialogue wrong.”

Fake-Pete looked back at Fake-Billy. “See? She came staggering in from the woods and is acting all confused.”

“I was not staggering,” Lily said. “And we all know I’m not confused. I don’t know why you people decided to build a fake Iveyton, but I’m not staying here. This is sickening.”

“Lily,” The Billy imposter said, “why don’t you come with me. I’ll take you to your mom and dad. You can get some rest and maybe see Doc Brow—”

“If you think I’m going with you,” Lily said, “you’re insane.”

“I’m afraid,” Fake-Billy said, “I’m gonna have to insist.”

Lily noticed him glance toward the roof of the gas station. She turned around and saw a very small camera mounted on the edge of the roof. “We’re being watched,” she said.

“That?” the old man said. “That’s just my security camera. Hasn’t worked for years.”

Lily looked at the old man. “You’re sweating,” she said. “It’s a very cool morning, but you’re sweating. What has you so nervous?”

“You,” the man said. “You’re acting very strange, kiddo. I just wanna get you some help.”

“Whatever, Pete,” Lily said. She turned to Fake-Billy. “Tell you what. I’ll go with you if you give me a ride back to the woods first. My backpack’s there with most of my supplies.”

“Deal,” the man said eagerly. He seemed extremely relieved.

She got in the passenger side of the police car while the man climbed in behind the steering wheel. “So where are these supplies?” he asked.

“In the clearing where we killed Phillip,” Lily said.

“Got it,” he said as he pulled out.

“You know where that is?” Lily asked.

“Of course I do,” he said.

Lily chuckled darkly. “I gotta hand it to you people. You’ve done your homework.”

After a few minutes of driving through the woods, the Billy imposter pulled off the side of the road and turned off the car. “Are your things far?”

“Not far,” Lily said.

She opened the door, stepped outside, and immediately darted into the woods.

“Shit!” Fake-Billy said as he jumped from the car and sprinted after her.

Lily ran until she found a tree big enough to climb. She quickly grabbed a low hanging branch and scurried up the tree. She waited until the searching man was directly beneath her, then dropped.

She came down fast and hard, kicking him in the back of the head as she dropped. With a painful grunt, he fell to the ground. Lily sprang to her feet and snatched the pistol from the man’s holster.

“Okay,” she said as she pointed the gun at his head. “Tell me what the hell is going on here.”

The man climbed to his feet and raised both hands in surrender. “Lily, you’re sick,” he said.

“Drop the Billy shit!” Lily screamed. “I thought we had an understanding back in town.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I saw the camera, Billy,” Lily said. “You couldn’t tell me the truth because you were being watched. Or recorded or something. Well, I got us out of town. I seriously doubt there are any cameras out here.”

“I’m not so sure,” the man said as he looked around nervously.

“So I’m right,” Lily said. “Somebody’s making you do this.”

“You can put the gun down,” the man said. “It’s a prop.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“Go ahead,” he said. “Pull the trigger.”

Lily popped out the clip and saw that it was empty. “Shit.”

“Listen to me.” The man spoke quickly, in a half-whisper.  “We don’t have much time. He knew you were coming, so he’ll be watching the videos. He’ll see that I took you into the woods. If I come back alone, he’ll kill me. And probably Pete.”

“That guy is not Pete,” Lily said.

The man’s voice was verging on full blown panic. “I don’t give a damn what his name is. I know him as Pete. Just like he knows me as Billy. And if I go back to town alone, he’ll kill us both.”

“Who?” Lily said, although she was pretty sure she already knew.

“Please,” the man begged, “just come back to town. Life is good here. We’re safe. No war. No vampires. No werewolves.  But if you don’t come back with me, all of that will end. If you don’t come back, I’m sure he’ll kill us all.”

“Travis,” Lily said. “You’re talking about Travis.”

“Please,” the man said. “We’re running out of time here.”

“I’ll give you one day,” Lily said. “I figure Travis will show up tonight, and I’m gonna kick his ass for this. But until then, I’ll play along.”

“Thank you,” the man said.

“On one condition,” Lily added. “I don’t want to meet anybody pretending to be my parents. I won’t be able to handle that. If I meet anybody claiming to be my mom or my dad, I’m leaving. And I promise you won’t be able to stop me.”

The man unsnapped the walkie-talkie from his belt. “Terry, you there?”

“What’s up, Sheriff?” a man’s voice said.

“I need you to go to the Baxter house and make sure nobody is there.”

“Not sure I understand that order, Billy.”

“I just explained to Lily,” the man said, “that her mom’s visiting Florida this week and her dad’s away on a business trip. I need you to make sure they aren’t back yet.”

The radio was silent for a few seconds, then the voice said, “Got it. Going now.”

The man clipped the walkie-talkie back to his belt and looked at Lily. “Can we go now?”

Lily tossed him the gun. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.”

Chapter 6

London

Ian Taylor walked across the field toward the Human Living Center. He wore black fatigues and had short black hair that was always impeccably styled. He was a tall vampire with a strong build, probably because of his time as a Day Soldier.

Ian was the closest thing the Legion had to a world leader, but he rarely dealt with any other countries. The other vampires could do what they pleased. London was his home, and it was the only place he really cared about. The rest of the world could fall into chaos for all he cared, but he was determined to make London an inspiration in this new world called Topia.

And no overzealous guard was going to ruin that.

Two vampires dressed in black fatigues followed him across the field. A human walked between the two vampires.

When he got to the gate of the human facility, one of the two guards standing in front of the door stepped forward. “Welcome to kennel five-two-seven, Commander.”

“Don’t call it a kennel,” Ian snapped. “Which one of you is Eric?”

The guards looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to Ian. “Neither of us, sir,” one of the guards said. He was eyeing Ian’s escorts and the human. “Eric’s inside. I can call him if you’d like.”

“No,” Ian said. “I’ll find him. Open the gate.”

The guards opened the gate and Ian strolled through, followed by his two escorts and the human. To the human, Ian said, “Do you know where he could be? This place is large.”

“He likes to hang out behind the cinema, sir,” the human said.

They made their way to the local movie theater and, sure enough, a man in a guard’s uniform stood behind the theater.

“That him?”

“Yes,” the human said.

“What’s he doing here?” one of the soldiers said.

“This is where he got me,” the human answered. “People have stopped coming here because of him.”

Ian walked up to the guard and said, “Are you Eric?”

As soon as the guard saw him, he stood a little straighter. “I am, sir. Just keeping the streets safe, sir.”

“Come with me,” Ian said.

They walked to the center of the facility. There was a small stage in the middle of the street, empty except for a podium at the edge. The stage was used for public announcements or facility meetings. Ian stepped onto the stage and pressed a button on the podium. As soon as he pressed the button, every street light in the facility began to flash a blue light. It was the signal to the humans to gather in the square.

“Come on up,” Ian said. “All four of you.”

Eric, the human, and the two vampire soldiers stepped onto the stage.

After a few minutes, dozens of humans had gathered in front of the stage. Ian pressed the button to stop the blue lights and pulled the microphone from the podium.

“Thank you for coming out so early in the night,” he said. “I’m here because there is an important bit of business we must address.” He looked at the two soldiers and said, “Hold him.”

The soldiers immediately grabbed Eric and held him in place.

“Sir,” Eric said, “I don’t understand what’s going on here.”

Ian looked at the human. “This is the vampire?”

“Yes,” the human said nervously.

Ian turned back to the crowd. “It has come to my attention that this guard has been feeding on the humans in this living center. I know he has fed on this young man. Has he fed on any of you?”

The crowd just watched silently.

“It’s okay,” Ian said. “You can be honest here.”

Several people in the crowd raised their hands.

Ian sighed. “When the war ended, we promised you would never be attacked by a vampire again. We set up donation clinics to keep that promise. You have kept your part of our arrangement. Thanks to this vampire, we have not.”

“Sir,” Eric said.

“Shut up,” Ian snapped. He looked back at the crowd and said, “I apologize for this vampire’s actions and I want to show you that we take our promises seriously.”

He handed a wooden stake to the human on the stage.

“Sir!” Eric said. “These people are lying—”

“Then who left the bite marks on this man’s neck?” Ian asked. “If we match those marks to your teeth and discover you’re lying, your punishment won’t be death. It’ll be much, much worse.”

“I didn’t hurt them,” Eric said. “I just had a drink or two. I wouldn’t dare hurt these people.”

To the human, Ian said, “You can stake him if you want. Or I can do it for you. The choice is yours.”

“Is there no other option?” the human asked. “We just want him to stop. Killing him isn’t necessary.”

Ian smiled. “Your compassion is admirable, my friend, but this is necessary. Eric has violated our most sacred law. We cannot build a relationship based on mutual trust if vampires know they can feed on humans without punishment.”

The human handed the stake back to Ian. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said. “I can’t do it. I’m not a killer.”

“I admire that about you,” Ian said as he took the stake. “Really, I do.”

He drove the stake into Eric’s heart.

As the guard fell, Ian turned back to the crowd. “We can’t order you to trust us. We can only try to earn it.” He looked at the vampire guards standing behind the crowd. “And to the other guards, let me be absolutely clear. If you feed on a human, you will die. If you take any kind of retaliatory action against these humans, you will die. If you disrespect these people in any way, shape, or form… you will die.”

With a sigh, he turned to the soldiers behind him and asked, “Did he have a family?”

“He had a wife, sir.”

“Take his body to her,” Ian said. “Give her my sincerest condolences.”

“Yes, sir,” the soldier said as he lifted Eric’s body and threw it over his shoulder.

Ian looked at the crowd of humans again. “It breaks my heart to do what I just did,” he said, “but he knew the law. This new world cannot survive without trust, and trust cannot be earned if we don’t keep our promises. Have a good night.”

He stepped from the stage and began walking back toward the gate. As he walked, the second soldier jogged up to him and said, “Sir, I just got a message from Cassius. He’s asked that you contact him as soon as possible.”

“He can wait,” Ian said. “I’m going to the pub and having a drink. You’re welcome to join me if you’d like. I think we’ve earned it.”

“I’d love to, sir,” the soldier said, “but I think you should know that Cassius said it involves the American Day Soldiers. I think he’s discovered where they’ve been hiding.”

Ian stopped walking. “Damn. I suppose the pub will have to wait.”

“I thought you’d say that, sir.”

Ian stepped into his office and closed the door behind him. He walked across the room, sat at his desk, and tapped a few keys in front of his computer.

Cassius’s face immediately popped up on his monitor. “Hello, old friend.”

“Hello, Cassius,” Ian said. He generally disliked interacting with Cassius. “You found something?”

“I did,” Cassius said, “but first let me pat you on the back. I just watched your little PR event at that kennel. Good job.”

Ian sighed. “Don’t call them kennels,” he said. “These people deserve more respect than that. And it wasn’t a PR event. I meant everything I said to them.”

“Of course you did,” Cassius said with a smirk.

“You found something?” Ian said again. He had no desire to make small talk with this vampire.

“One of my human contacts in America,” Cassius said, “contacted me. She said she met Lily Baxter yesterday.”

“Really? Surely Lily Baxter is dead.”

“Apparently not,” Cassius said. “My contact said that after Baxter left her town, three other Day Soldiers showed up looking for her. All three were werewolves.”

“Interesting,” Ian said. “So they survived the bombs.”

“Apparently,” Cassius said.

“Did she say where Baxter went?”

“Yes,” Cassius said. “She was kidnapped by the local vampires and taken to Travis.”

Ian groaned. “Great. Just great. I really hate that guy.”

“We all do, my friend,” Cassius said, “but we can’t let that stop us from taking advantage of this opportunity.”

“Can’t we just leave her alone?” Ian said. “She has no power. We’ve turned the world’s Day Soldiers into vampires. We also turned humanity’s greatest thinkers. The people left just want simple lives. They have no love for the Day Soldiers or Lily Baxter.”

“We can’t leave her alive, Ian.”

“Why not? She’s trapped in a wasteland. She’s a relic from a war that has ended. She’s no threat to us.”

“She’s also not alone,” Cassius said. “I suspect there’s a base under DC. Depending on how many soldiers survived, they could rebuild America. That wouldn’t be good for us.”

“It’s very unlikely they could rebuild that country,” Ian said. “How many Day Soldiers could one bunker hold?”

“Unlikely,” Cassius said, “but possible.”

“I still think we should leave her alone,” Ian said. “The girl has earned her survival.”

“I chose you to rule because you used to be a Day Soldier,” Cassius said. “I thought it would be an asset, but now I’m starting to wonder if you have some lingering sentimentality for your old comrades.”

“Not at all,” Ian said. “The war is over. There is no place in the world for the Day Soldiers. Their time has passed. I will not pretend, however, that I don’t respect this girl. She has done incredible things.”

“Agreed,” Cassius said. “It’s because of those incredible things that I think we have to stop her. I don’t think we have a choice. I wish she could live happily ever after, but as long as she’s alive, this world is in danger.”

“You have a point,” Ian conceded. “Do you know the exact location of this bunker?”

“No,” Cassius said, “but I know exactly where they picked up Baxter. The entrance must be nearby.”

Ian considered this, then said, “What time is it in America?”

“I think it’s about two in the afternoon there,” Cassius said.

“Okay,” Ian said. “I have some troops in Cuba. They can be in DC by midnight. They’ll find that bunker by dawn.”

“Make sure they’re prepared,” Cassius said. “If Lily Baxter was in this bunker, it’s very likely that other high ranking Day Soldiers will be there, and we already know it’s housing werewolves. It won’t be an easy victory.”

“My people,” Ian said, “are always prepared. Besides, winning the first battle isn’t as important as finding out everything we can about the base. That should be our primary goal here. Once they verify the location, I can send in my troops from the carriers off the coast.”

“Okay,” Cassius said. “I’ll leave this in your capable hands. Just let me know when it’s all over.”

The screen went blank.

Ian leaned back in his chair. Lily Baxter was finally going to die. Despite every reason to feel good about it, the thought made him just a little bit sad.

“End of an era,” he said as he opened the communication channel to his troops in Cuba.

Chapter 7

A Gift From Travis

Lily sat in the kitchen of her rebuilt home. She had to admit, the replication was very accurate, especially from the outside. The town was, for the most part, exactly as it was before the war came to Iveyton.

Inside, things weren’t quite so good. She could tell a lot of guesswork had been involved in several of the design decisions.  Her father’s TV, for example, was missing from the kitchen. And her bedroom looked nothing like the room she grew up in.

Overall, though, she was left with the very eerie feeling that she had been transported back in time. The people outside were going about their daily routines. Most of them looked similar to the person they were mimicking. The rebuilt Iveyton caused Lily to feel crippling sadness, but mostly it just made her furious.

“Travis,” she said as she walked to the living room and looked at the people outside, “if you’re behind this, I am staking you at least three times for this shit.”

It was dusk. Soon, the fake people of Iveyton would be settling in for the night. Lily was thankful that no Fake-Leo had shown up at her door. She was sure he was in town somewhere, but apparently the other imposters realized it would be a monumentally bad idea to have him show up.

From somewhere outside, Lily heard someone yell, “He’s coming!’

She looked out the window and saw the townspeople gathering in the square in front of the police station. She looked at the steps going up to the sheriff’s office and felt a sudden pang of despair.

That’s where I met Wallace for the first time.

Now, Commander Geoff Wallace was just another name on her terrible list of people she loved who were dead because of the Legion.

A fog began to gather in the square.

“Okay,” Lily said as she stepped onto her porch, “time for answers, Travis.” She looked at the old rocking chair to her left and chuckled. “We never had a rocking chair, Travis,” she said as she kicked over the chair and pulled one of the wooden legs free. The round piece of wood was solid. It wasn’t a perfect stake, but it would have to do.

She looked back at the town square and saw a figure floating toward the ground.

“You have got to be kidding,” she groaned.

He had black hair, slicked straight back. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a white bow tie. Behind him, his large black cape fluttered in the wind.

“He’s wearing a cape,” Lily said as she walked toward the square. “Of course he’s wearing a cape.”

Travis landed in the center of the crowd. The man impersonating Sheriff Gifford walked up to him and dropped to one knee. “We did the best we could, sir.”

“You did fine, Billy,” Travis said. “I don’t know why you’re acting so scared. Considering the shitty way she was acting, I think you did a bang-up job.”

Billy relaxed visibly. “Thank you, sir.”

“So where is she?” Travis said with a grin. “I’ve really missed that little hellion.”

“I’m here,” Lily said as she walked toward the crowd, “and you’re a total bastard.”

“What does that even mean?” Travis said. “Is it possible to be a half bastard?”

He held out his arms. “I think somebody owes me a big hug for rebuilding her—”

Every person in the town gasped as Lily drove her stake into Travis’s heart. Travis staggered back a few feet then fell to the ground.

“Someone get me a knife,” Lily said.

“Huh?” Fake-Billy said.

“I’m going to cut him up and hide his body parts all across the world.”

“No, you are not.”

“Listen to me carefully, Fake-Billy,” Lily said. “He’s controlling your mind, but you can resist it.”

“He’s not controlling our minds,” the man said. “We want him here. He protects us.”

“Oh my God,” Lily groaned. “I hate this new world. You’re his prisoners, you idiot.”

“They’re not prisoners,” Travis said as he pulled the stake from his chest and stood up. “They’re free to go whenever they want. I mean, sure, I had to kidnap them to get them here, but once I showed them what we’ve built, they all chose to—”

Lily snatched the stake from Travis’s hand and drove it back into his heart.

“Dammit, Lily!” he screamed as he fell to the ground again.

“He’s not lying,” a woman in the crowd said. “It’s a wasteland out there. In here, we’re living relatively happy lives. It’s not even like those kennels in other countries. This is just a town, and Travis keeps out all other vampires.”

“Does he feed on you?” Lily asked defiantly.

“No,” Travis said as he pulled the stake out and stood up again. “This town has complete immunity from any vampire interference. It was part of our arrangement.”

“I see,” Lily said. “Forgive me for not believing you. Can I have my stake back, please?”

“No,” Travis said. “You’ll just stab me again.”

“I won’t,” Lily said. “I’ve made my point.”

“You’re so funny,” Travis said as he handed the stake to her. He turned to Fake-Billy. “See, it’s a pun, referencing the point on her stake—”

Lily drove the stake back into Travis’s heart.

“Son of a bitch!” Travis screamed as he fell a third time.

Lily reached down and pulled the stake from his chest and said, “Okay, I lied the last time. Now, I’m done. Come on.”

“Where we going?” Travis asked as he got to his feet again.

“My house,” Lily said, “so you can explain to me why you did this.”

Travis looked at the others in the street. With a smile and a shrug, he said, “Women. Build them an entire town, and what do you get for it? Staked in the heart.”

Lily sat on the couch in her new living room. “The couch is wrong, by the way,” she said.

“We didn’t have a picture of your couch,” Travis said as he sat in the recliner on the other side of the room.”

Lily leaned forward. “I don’t know what to do with you, Travis. I really don’t.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Travis said. “It’s not like you could do anything to me, even if you wanted to.”

“Oh, trust me,” Lily said, “as soon as I figure out how to kill you, I will.”

“No doubt,” Travis said. “Hell, if I could figure out how to kill myself, I’d probably consider it. I’m a damn menace.”

Lily leaned back and sighed. “You killed a lot of people, Travis.”

“I know.”

“Millions,” Lily said. “Maybe billions. I don’t know what the population was at the time.”

“I doubt I killed billions,” Travis said. “A lot of people survived. I’m actually surprised by the amount of humans still walking around out there. Every town I’ve come across is trying to rebuild society or some such nonsense.”

“Why’d you do it, Travis?”

He smiled. “Because I’m a killer.”

“I don’t buy that,” Lily said.

Travis looked offended. “I am a killer.”

“I know you’re a killer,” Lily said, “but I can’t believe that’s the only reason you destroyed this country.”

“Yes you can,” Travis said with a dark smile. “Not only do you believe it, but there’s a little piece of you that’s jealous.”

Lily stood up. “I’m going to fix a cup of hot chocolate while you get the bullshit out of your system.”

“You know it’s true, Lily,” Travis said. “You’re a killer, just like me.”

Lily stopped and turned around. “I’m nothing like you.”

“Okay,” Travis said, “I’ll admit we’re not exactly alike. You have a moral code and all that dumb stuff, but don’t stand there and pretend you’re not a killer.”

“I’m a soldier,” Lily said. “You’re just too insane to understand the difference.”

“I understand the difference just fine,” Travis said. “You’re an okay soldier, Lily Baxter, but you’re a damn good killer. You enjoy it. You love it.”

“We’re not here to talk about me.”

“I bet the only time you’re truly happy is on the battlefield,” Travis said.

“Do you want to get staked again?”

Travis laughed. “Admit it, and I’ll move on. I saw you in the battle of DC, kid. You were having the time of your life. I bet when you’re not fighting, you’re an awkward person, but on that battlefield, you become a leader. You become a warrior. That’s because you’re doing what you love. You’re killing.”

“That’s not true,” Lily said. She was surprised by the lack of conviction in her voice.

“That doesn’t mean you’re evil,” Travis said. “You don’t go around killing human beings. You kill monsters. It’s okay to admit you love it.”

Lily just shook her head then turned around and walked into the kitchen. Travis followed her.

“Were you impressed that I stocked hot chocolate?” Travis said as Lily placed a cup in the microwave. “Wanna know how I knew you liked hot chocolate?”

“I’m guessing Enrico mentioned it,” Lily said. “I’m sure he got the information from Leo.”

“Well, you suck,” Travis said.

Lily pulled the cup from the microwave and sat at the kitchen table. “Okay,” she said. “Question number two… how the hell did you rebuild Iveyton in a year?”

“Well,” Travis said as he sat across from her, “a lot of the town is fake. Most of the buildings are just empty shells.”

“This house isn’t fake,” Lily said. “That gas station isn’t fake. And those people… they know so much about this town.”

“They really do,” Travis said with a grin. “I’m very proud of them.”

“How did you do it?”

“I spent the first month or so searching for the right people,” Travis said. “Architects, electricians, people like that. Every time I found a survivor that could help, I turned em into a vampire. Then I took my new construction team to one of the abandoned Day Soldier bunkers. You’d be amazed by the amount of information they have about Iveyton in their database. Pictures, maps, the works.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Lily said. “Iveyton was an important part of the war’s history.”

“Well, the rest was easy,” Travis said. “Vampires make damn good construction workers. While they rebuilt the town, I took the files on its citizens and set out to find replacements. That was a lot easier because I just had to match up how they looked.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Lily said.

“We had the whole town repopulated within a few months,” Travis went on. “After that, it was just a matter of getting everybody to learn the town history. I think they did a great job.” He thought for a moment, then added, “Of course, I required them to study their parts for about five hours every day for six months.”

“Why did you do this, Travis?” Lily asked. “Did you think I needed a little extra torture? I mean, you destroyed the entire country. That wasn’t enough for you?”

“Torture?” Travis asked. “No, Lily. This place is my gift to you. It was my way of saying thanks for your help in DC. There’s no way I could have gotten back inside that bunker without your help.”

“You really are insane.”

Travis smiled. “I thought we established that a long time ago.”

“Travis,” Lily said, “tell these people to stop acting like the citizens of Iveyton. If they want to stay here, fine, but don’t make them act like dead people. It’s just sick.”

“Stop being so unappreciative,” Travis said. “I rebuilt Iveyton for you. You have your old life back. You can live here in peace. You can pretend the war never happened.”

“Stop it,” Lily said. “This place is an abomination. Travis, you have to recognize how nuts this is.”

“You’re hurting my feelings,” Travis said. “I’ve never done something this nice before, and you’re just pissing all over it.”

“How exactly am I supposed to react?” Lily snapped. “You really thought I’d be happy to see fake versions of the people I killed?”

“Well,” Travis said, “if you want to focus on the negative, I guess that’s true. They’re also the people you grew up with, you know.”

“That makes it worse,” Lily said. “Not better.”

“You might as well get used to it,” Travis said. “It’s not like you have anywhere else to go.”

“Of course I do,” Lily said. “I have a war to win.”

Travis shook his head. “And you call me crazy. Lily, the war is over.”

“I’ve been told that before,” Lily said.

“This time it’s true,” Travis replied. “You’ve been underground for a long time, kid. America is a wasteland. The only vampires here are the ones I made and the ones who managed to survive the Travis Apocalypse. Most of those are the ugly bastards who were in hiding anyway.”

“You didn’t bomb the world.”

“No, I didn’t,” Travis said, “but your Day Soldier friends surrendered a long time ago. Honestly, I think I deserve some kind of peace prize. I ended the war. Really, Lily, you have nowhere to go.”

“I don’t believe you,” Lily said.

“It’s true,” Travis said. “The vamp in charge is a former Day Soldier. Bastard took credit for my bombs, but that’s okay. We have an arrangement now that makes up for it.”

“I don’t care if Abraham Lincoln is in charge,” Lily said. “As long as I’m alive, this war is not over.”

“Lincoln wasn’t a vampire,” Travis said. “I think there’s a book where he was a vampire hunter, but I didn’t read it. The premise just seems too silly for me.”

“You’re wearing a tuxedo and a cape,” Lily said.

“Anyway,” Travis went on, “you can be Miss I-Don’t-Give-Up all you want. The war’s over. The rest of the world is at peace. The werewolves have taken to the mountains and the woods, the humans are living happily in their little kennels, and the vampires are building some kind of undead utopia. Everybody’s happy but you.”

“I doubt the humans are happy,” Lily said.

Travis stood up. “I’ll prove it. Come on.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Lily said.

“No, seriously,” Travis said. “I’m going to prove the war’s over. I have a plane just outside town. It’s not like that rickety one I used to fly around in. This puppy is a government plane. Very fast and very fancy. My pilot can have it ready for take-off in an hour.”

“No,” Lily said. “I’m leaving, but not with you. I’m sure my people are looking for me right now.”

“You have two choices, kid,” Travis said. “You can come with me as a guest or as a prisoner. I don’t care which one you choose, but you’ll probably have more fun if you’re not tied up.”

Lily knew there wasn’t much she could do. “I hate you,” she said.

“No, you don’t,” Travis said with a smirk. “You’re fascinated by me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Lily said.

“You probably should gather some things for the trip,” Travis said. “We’ll be gone for three days, tops. After we’re done, I’ll drop you off in the ruins of DC if you want, but my guess is you’ll decide to come back here and just live the quiet life.”

“Three days?” Lily said. “Where the hell are you taking me?”

Travis grinned. “London.”

Chapter 8

Assault

Scott, Grung, and Talbot sprinted across the wasteland. They’d been running since the judge told them about Iveyton. She had explained that it was rebuilt and protected by a group of vampires. Very few humans were allowed to live there. Anybody else who came near it was immediately killed by the vampires living outside the town.

It was a mystery all along the east, and the rumors about it varied wildly. One detail, though, was persistent in every story.

The vampires had rebuilt the town in preparation for Lily Baxter’s return.

Whether it was some kind of reward or some kind of trap, nobody knew.

As he ran alongside Grung and Talbot, Scott kept thinking of Travis. It was obviously Travis’s doing, but there was no way to know why. Travis had warned them about the bombs and he had stayed away from Bunker City for the past year, but that didn’t mean he considered them friends.

The one truth about Travis was that he would always be inherently unpredictable. That fact made Scott very worried about Lily.

Maybe – in some warped way – rebuilding Iveyton was Travis’s way of being nice. Of course, it was just as likely that rebuilding Iveyton was part of another plan to cause mass destruction.

Either way, Scott thought, Lily is in serious trouble.

After another hour of running, they came to a road. Once they stepped onto the road, Talbot shifted back to his near-human form. He waited until Scott and Grung were human again, then said, “Which way, Grung?”

Scott started to answer, but was quickly shushed by Talbot.

“I want Grung to tell me,” Talbot said.

“This isn’t a teaching moment,” Scott said. “Lily’s in danger. We have to get—”

“Every moment is a teaching moment,” Talbot said. He turned back to Grung. “Once you’ve been somewhere, you can always find it again. It’s part of being a werewolf. So tell us. Which way do we go?”

Grung looked around for a few seconds, then pointed south.

“Are you sure?” Talbot asked.

Grung nodded. “Yeah. We can follow the road, for now.”

Talbot looked at Scott. “Well?”

“He’s right,” Scott said. “His sense of direction is properly calibrated. Can we get moving now?”

“Do not belittle this,” Talbot said. “Grung doesn’t have the luxury to learn at his own pace. He’s leading thousands of werewolves. If he makes one mistake, they’ll kill him. If you had been raised with your own kind, you’d know that.”

“I’m not sure why you have a problem with me,” Scott said, “but my best friend is in very serious danger. Can we stop the chest bumping long enough to find her? Please?”

“At least he stopped calling you a traitor,” Grung said.

“You’re not helping,” Scott said.

“My apologies,” Talbot said. “I keep forgetting how sensitive domesticated werewolves are. Lead on.”

“After we find Lily,” Scott said, “you and I are going to settle some—”

He immediately fell silent.

“I hear it too,” Grung said.

The sound was very faint at first, but got louder as the seconds passed.

“It’s a car,” Talbot said.

“No,” Scott said. “It’s several cars.”

They looked around, frantically searching the night for somewhere to hide.

“There,” Scott said, pointing toward a small farmhouse on a nearby hill.

They sprinted up the hill and ran onto the porch. Once they got close, they could see that the house had been on fire at some point. Most of the paint had been burned away and the inside was full of scorched furniture. The door hung from a single hinge.

They stepped inside to see two burned bodies on the floor.

“Somebody had a bad day,” Talbot said.

“What happened here?” Grung said. “Doesn’t look like vampires had anything to do with this.”

“They probably didn’t,” Talbot said. “Take away the structure of society and humans become the monsters vampires fear. My guess is someone wanted the house and these two refused to give it up.”

“Horrifying,” Scott said.

“You disagree?” Talbot asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Scott said. “I just said it’s horrifying. These people deserved better than this.”

“Well,” Talbot said, “when we get to Iveyton, you’ll probably get the chance to confront the vampire responsible.”

“I hope so.”

“Look,” Grung said.

They all looked outside and saw the vehicles driving by at the bottom of the hill.

“Wow,” Scott said.

Dozens of trucks were on the road, all military in design.

“Who the hell are they?” Grung asked. “Gotta be a hundred trucks down there, at least.”

“More importantly,” Scott said, “where are they going? I’m pretty sure this road takes them into DC.”

“They’re vampires,” Talbot said.

“No,” Scott said. “Can’t be. Vampires wouldn’t be driving military vehicles.”

“Look at them,” Talbot argued. “Those drivers are vampires. They’ve obviously stopped off at a military facility somewhere.”

Scott peered at the people in cabs of the trucks. Talbot was right. It was a convoy of vampires.

“Guys, this is bad,” Grung said. “A hundred military trucks full of vampires headed toward DC.”

“Why the hell are they driving vehicles?” Scott asked. “They move faster without them.”

“My guess,” Talbot said, “is that they plan on taking prisoners from DC. They figure it’ll be easier to move hundreds of prisoners in vehicles.”

“We don’t know they’re going to DC,” Scott said.

“Can we really take the chance that they’re not?” Talbot asked.

“We have to get to Lily,” Scott said.

“Lily’s one person,” Talbot said. “If they somehow found out about Bunker City, thousands of people are in danger.”

“You’re right,” Scott conceded. “We’ll split up. You guys go warn the others. I’ll find Lily.”

“No,” Grung said. “We’re not splitting up. We’ll end up having to find both of you.”

“Grung,” Scott said, “it’s Lily.”

“I know,” Grung said. “That’s the only reason I think we should get back to Bunker City. I’m pretty damn sure Lily can take care of herself.”

Scott watched as the vehicles drove away.

“Damn,” he said.

“I hate guard duty,” Carl grumbled.

“Me too,” Cooper said.

They sat in the corridor beneath the entrance Jesse had used to enter Bunker City.

“It’s just gonna get worse,” Carl said. “As they clear more entrances, guard duty will be increased for everybody.”

“You’re kind of a downer,” Cooper said.

“Yeah,” Carl said. “I guess I am.”

Cooper chuckled. “That’s okay, brother. Eternal optimists are just as annoying.”

“Then you’d hate Lily’s team,” Carl said. “Those guys are the most optimistic people I’ve ever met.”

After a few seconds of silence, Cooper said, “So tell me about Lily.”

“What about her?”

“Her and Scott,” Cooper said. “Do they have a thing?”

“Honestly,” Carl said, “I have no idea.”

“They spend a lot of time together.”

“Yeah,” Carl agreed. “That doesn’t mean much, though. Even if they don’t have a thing, they’re definitely best friends.”

Cooper nodded. “Yeah.”

“You know,” Carl said, “you probably should have asked me about this before Lily got lost in the wasteland.”

“Yeah,” Cooper said. “Probably.”

Before Carl could reply, the ceiling exploded.

Carl and Cooper dived to the ground and covered their heads as several pieces of ceiling came crashing down on top of them. Carl tried to look up but was mostly blinded by the amount of smoke and dust in the corridor.

Through watery eyes, he saw several figures drop from the hatch and disappear into the hallway. At first he thought it was a few, but they just kept coming.

Hundreds of them.

Maybe thousands.

Through the dust and smoke, it looked like a swarm. They poured in from the ceiling and quickly vanished, obviously heading to other locations in Bunker City. In the distance, Carl could hear gunfire.

Eventually, the invaders stopped dropping from the ceiling. Only three remained by the hatch. As the dust settled, Carl could see they were vampires, but they appeared to be something… more.

They looked like soldiers.

Each one wore a uniform very similar to a Day Soldier’s uniform.

“Take care of these two,” one of the vampires said, “then guard the entrance.”

“Yes, sir.”

The vampire darted down the hallway, leaving the other two behind. Carl struggled to push the rubble away, but it was simply too heavy.

One of the vampires easily tossed the debris to the side, then helped Carl get to his feet. As soon as Carl was standing, the vampire disarmed him, tossing his stake, gun, and crossbow to the floor. The other vampire did the same to Cooper.

The vampire near Carl had short black hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. The other vampire looked pretty much the same, minus the goatee.

“I’m Captain Jones,” the goateed vampire said with an English accent. “As a member of the Topian Protectorate, I am required by the Taylor War Doctrine to offer you a choice.”

“I have no idea what you just said,” Cooper said from across the hall.

Jones turned to face Cooper. “You are our prisoners,” he said. “The Taylor War Doctrine requires that we give all prisoners of war a choice.”

“What are our choices?” Carl asked.

“You can join us,” Jones said, “or you can die.”

“You mean we can choose to be turned into vampires,” Carl said.

“Yes,” Jones said.

“No thanks,” Carl replied.

“Your choice,” Jones said as he pointed his gun at Carl’s head.

“Now, let’s not be hasty,” Cooper said. “Can we have a minute to think this over?”

“No,” Jones answered. “That is not required in the Taylor War Doctrine.”

“Well,” Cooper said, “isn’t it required in the basic human decency doctrine?”

“We’re not human,” the vampire beside him said.

“Oh, yeah,” Cooper said. “Well, I don’t care what the pipsqueak wants. I’m choosing to join you.”

“Cooper!” Carl yelled. “You’re a hero in this war. What the hell are you doing?”

“Did you see the amount of vamps that just ran by?” Cooper asked. “Screw this shit. I’m done. I’m tired of fighting on the losing side. I’m tired of hiding. It’s time to accept the inevitable, kid.”

Carl sighed. “Okay, but you have to go first.”

Cooper pulled his shirt back, exposing his neck. “Make it quick, okay?”

Jones gave the other vampire a single nod. The vampire sank its teeth into Cooper’s neck… and immediately fell against the wall, screaming. Smoke poured from its mouth.

Carl dropped to one knee, grabbed his crossbow and quickly fired at Jones. Cooper scooped up his own stake and sank it into the other vampire’s heart.

As they stood over the two dead vampires, Cooper said, “Apparently, there’s nothing in their war doctrines about biting a channeler.”

“Most likely, there is,” Carl said. “I’d say they just got sloppy.”

Cooper looked at him and said, “Man, I was just giving a cool comment, like in the movies. Do you have to piss on everything?”

“Oh,” Carl said. “Sorry.”

“No problem,” Cooper said. “I’m not a grudge guy. So… you ready to kill some vampires?”

Carl loaded another bolt into his crossbow. “Is a nuclear physicist ready to split atoms?”

Cooper just stared at him.

“I’m saying yeah,” Carl said. “I’m ready to kill some vampires.”

Abbie and Reagan burst into Jesse’s cell. The sounds of battle echoed through the halls behind them.

“I swear,” Jesse stammered as Abbie slid the cell door shut, “I didn’t bring them here!”

“You show up and we’re immediately assaulted,” Reagan spat. “You really expect us to believe that’s a coincidence?”

“Believe what you want,” Jesse said, “but I didn’t lead them here. At least not intentionally.”

“You think you were followed?” Abbie asked.

Jesse shrugged. “Maybe, but I don’t think so. My guess is they had people watching the area. I think it’s more likely that your lost soldier tipped them off.”

“Lily would never do that,” Abbie said.

“Maybe not on purpose,” Jesse said. “If they discovered her, it wouldn’t have been hard to figure out where she came from.” There was an explosion somewhere outside the cell. “Shouldn’t you ladies be out there fighting? I’m happy to help.”

“Can you definitely get me to that church in the Yukon?” Abbie asked.

“I can,” Jesse said. “Getting out of this base will be the hard part.”

“We can get you out of here without a problem,” Reagan said.

“Then I can get you to those people,” Jesse said.

Reagan turned to Abbie. “Are you sure about this?”

“Somewhere in that church,” Abbie said, “is humanity’s best hope. I’m sure of it.”

“It could still be a trap,” Reagan said.

“We’re getting attacked by an army of vampire soldiers,” Abbie said. “What could he possibly have planned that’s worse than that?”

Reagan nodded. “Okay. Get the hell out of here. If you take the hidden southeast passage, you should come out near the DC entrance.”

“Are you going to be okay here?” Abbie asked.

“These vampires clearly don’t know how many troops we have. We’ll stop them. You go. Find that creature and get back here.”

Abbie turned to Jesse. “Let’s go.”

Jesse grinned. “We’re going on an adventure!”

“Shut up and put on your little backpack,” Abbie said.

“Good luck,” Reagan said.

Abbie gave her a two-finger salute. “You too.”

They left the cell and immediately ran in different directions. Abbie and Jesse ran toward the exit, while Reagan shifted to a gigantic bipedal wolf and ran toward the sounds of battle.

Cooper leaned over the mic on the monitor and said, “Topian troops have entered the base! Topian troops have entered the—”

He turned off the intercom and stepped away from the console.

“Why didn’t you finish?” Carl asked.

Cooper shrugged. “More dramatic that way.”

“You’re weird,” Carl said.

Cooper slapped him on the shoulder. “You have no idea.”

Carl looked around the room. “Okay,” he said. “We made it to the control room. Now what?”

One wall was covered with monitors showing battles going on in different parts of Bunker City. There were several computer stations in front of the wall of monitors.

“Grab a computer and a headset,” Cooper said. “We’re going to play this battle like a video game.”

They both sat down in front of a monitor. “The monitors have corresponding numbers to each room on the big screen up there,” Cooper said. “Just click the room you want and you should come through the intercom in that room.”

“Got it,” Carl said.

Cooper tapped one of the icons and said, “Drake, can you hear me in there?”

On the screen, a soldier waved.

“Okay,” Cooper said, examining the large screen. “You’ve got five vamps about to come in from the south entrance. They’re carrying guns.”

On the screen, the soldiers flipped over a table and ducked behind it. They all pointed their crossbows at the south entrance.

As the vampires ran into the room, the soldiers easily shot them down.

Looking at another room, Carl said, “Can you guys hear me in there? Wave if you can hear me.”

Several of the soldiers waved.

“There are three vampires just outside the room,” Carl said. “I think they’re holding grenades.”

One of the soldiers appeared to give an order, then two others ran into the hallway. They quickly shot the vampires in the hall, then ran back into the room and shut the door, protecting themselves from the explosion outside.

Cooper laughed. “This is going to be a hoot!”

In the ruins above Bunker City, Scott, Grung, and Talbot stopped running when they found the dozens of parked vehicles. They were all now empty.

“How far are we from the entrance?” Grung asked.

“About a mile,” Scott said.

“Damn,” Talbot said. “I’d say they were definitely headed for the bunker.”

“Yeah,” Scott agreed. “This could be bad. Let’s go.”

They continued to run through the ruins until they eventually made it back to the entrance. The only problem was that the entrance wasn’t an entrance any more.

It was a hole.

“They blasted their way in,” Grung said. “Shit.”

From the depths of the bunker, they could hear gun shots, screams, and the general sounds of battle.

“At least it’s not too late,” Talbot said with a snarl. “Come on.”

As he started to turn into a wolf, two figures sprang from the hole and landed on the ground beside them. One of the figures was carrying the other on his back.

“Abbie?” Scott said. “What the hell are you doing riding on the back of a vampire?”

Abbie let go of Jesse and said, “Did you find Baxter?”

“No,” Scott said, “but we know where she is. We saw the vampires coming this way and decided we were needed here.”

“Good call,” Abbie said. “Lily can take care of herself. You’d better get down there. It’s ugly.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Scott said. “Why are you riding a vampire?”

“People are dying, Scott!” Abbie yelled. “I’m fine. Get down there and help the others!”

Without another word, Scott, Grung, and Talbot leapt into the hole.

“You think they’ll survive down there?” Jesse asked.

“I know they will,” Abbie said. “I’m not remotely worried about this battle. It’s what will happen afterward that has me concerned.”

“What do you mean?”

“When your vampire friends discover this assault failed, they won’t underestimate us again,” Abbie said. “They’ll be sending enough troops to kill us all.”

“Do you have a plan to stop them?” Jesse asked.

“Yes,” Abbie said. “Although I admit it’s more of a hope than a plan.”

“So what’s this one great hope?”

Abbie looked at Jesse nervously. “You.”

Chapter 9

Travis and Lily in London

“Air Blood One, you have permission to land at landing site four-six-two.”

“Copy that, London,” the pilot said. “Coming in now.”

Lily and Travis sat in the passenger section of the plane. “Air Blood One?” Lily said as she took a sip of hot chocolate. “Seriously?”

“I think it’s cool,” Travis said.

“It’s stupid.”

“What happened to you down in that bunker?” Travis asked. “You’ve gotten mean.”

“You might want to strap in,” the pilot said. “We’re landing now.”

“I can’t wait until we’re on the ground,” Travis said. “Before we do anything else, we’re hitting a pub. I’m parched.”

“Travis,” Lily said, “please don’t do this. If you take me out there, I’m dead. If one person recognizes me, they’ll kill me.”

“Nonsense,” Travis said. “You’re wearing civilian clothes. They’ll just think you’re one of my slaves. I’ve brought slaves here before.”

Lily was wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a brown leather jacket. Although the outfit came from her new closet back in Iveyton, it really didn’t look like anything she would normally wear, even before she joined the Day Soldiers.

“You might want to lose the ponytail, though,” Travis added.

“Huh?”

“Every picture or video of you in existence,” Travis said, “has you with your hair pulled back in that ponytail.”

Lily pulled her reddish brown hair from the rubber band and let it fall to her shoulders. “This entire trip is insane,” she said.

“I told you,” Travis said, “I have an agreement with the leader of the vampire world. He managed to get world peace by taking credit for my kills. He owes me. Big time.”

“So what was the arrangement?” Lily asked.

“Basically,” Travis said, “all the leftovers in America belong to me.”

“That’s sick,” Lily said.

Travis laughed. “Not the people. I mean the physical things. The government equipment, the houses, the buildings, all of it. That’s why he declared America a wasteland. It secretly belongs to me. I own the country.”

“How does that protect us here?” Lily asked. “We’re not in America.”

“He lets me come and go as I please,” Travis said. “That wasn’t officially discussed, but it’s understood.”

“Great,” Lily said. “It’s understood. I feel so much safer now.”

“Look,” Travis said. “This guy loves me. I won the war for him. You’re safe here. Trust me.”

“The last time I trusted you,” Lily said, “millions of people died.”

“Well, this time is different,” Travis said. “That said, you might want to keep your head down. Just in case.”

The engine went silent. The pilot looked back and said, “Commander Taylor is waiting on the runway.”

Travis opened the door and walked down the stairs to the road below.

As soon as Lily stepped onto the stairs, the vampire below yelled, “Travis, no! No more humans!”

The vampire looked very much like a Day Soldier. He wore black fatigues, had short black hair, and wore a small communicator on his right ear.

“Oh, come on,” Travis said. “I just want to show her New London. Maybe she’ll decide to stay.”

“Rubbish,” the man said. “We don’t need more humans. More importantly, I don’t need you walking along my streets with a human slave.”

Travis motioned for Lily to come down the stairs. “Come on down, Mary Beth! I want to introduce you to Ian Taylor. This is the man who brought peace to the world.”

With a sigh, Lily walked down the stairs.

“Ian,” Travis said, “this is my friend, Mary Beth Flanders. Mary Beth, this is Ian Taylor.”

“Get her back on that plane, Travis,” Ian said. “I executed a vampire this week for mistreating humans. I cannot have you walking around with a slave.”

“We won’t be long,” Travis said.

“No,” Ian argued. “You can visit for as long as you want, but the human stays on your plane. This is not a negotiation.”

“Really?” Travis said. “You might want to reconsider. If I don’t have my human to talk to, I might get a little chatty with the citizens of London.”

“That’s enough!” Ian said. “No more blackmail. We had an agreement. I honored that agreement. You must start respecting our laws.”

“Okay, okay,” Travis said. “You don’t have to get all hyper on me. I’ll give Sarah Beth a tour of London, then I won’t bring any more humans. I promise.”

“Mary Beth,” Lily whispered.

“Mary Beth,” Travis said.

“Oh my God.” Ian was staring at Lily. “That’s Lily Baxter.”

“No,” Travis said. “This is Mary Beth Sanders.”

“Flanders,” Lily said.

“Flanders,” Travis said.

Ian walked up to Lily and pushed her hair to the side. “I don’t believe it. You actually brought Lily Baxter to London.”

“Dammit, Travis,” Lily mumbled.

“She just has one of those faces,” Travis said.

Ian tapped the headset on his ear and said, “Richard, send troops to the south airstrip. Lots of troops.”

“No,” Travis said, his voice suddenly serious. “She’s under my protection.”

Ian looked genuinely surprised. “Travis, this is Lily Baxter. She’s under nobody’s protection. We’re taking her into custody.”

“I’ll kill you and your men,” Travis said. “You know I can do it.”

“Be reasonable,” Ian said. “I can’t let her go back. If that means I have to die trying to keep her here, so be it. My men might not be able to kill you, but they’ll find a way to stop you.”

“Will they be able to stop my kids?” Travis said.

“Kids?”

“I have an army of vampires in America,” Travis said. “And unlike yours, my vampires can’t be killed. You don’t want them in your country. Trust me on this. Call off your dogs.”

Ian started to say something, then hesitated. Finally, he tapped the communicator and said, “Belay that order for now. I’ll let you know if I need you. Stand by.”

“Much better,” Travis said with a smile.

“No,” Ian said, “it’s not better. Just yesterday, I received orders to kill this girl. I take my orders very seriously.”

“Orders?” Lily said. “I thought you were in charge here. Are you talking about Cassius?”

“Not your concern, girl,” Ian snapped.

“Not my concern?” Lily said. “You’re arguing about whether or not you get to kill me.”

Ian looked at Travis. “Why? Why would you bring her here?”

“Actually,” Travis said, “I brought her here to show her that the war is over. I would think you’d like that idea.”

Ian looked at Lily. “From what I know of this girl, I don’t think anything you show her will convince her of that.”

“Seems to me,” Travis said, “we’re in a bit of a pickle. You want Lily, but I’m not going to let that happen. If you take her by force, you’ve got another war on your hands. I think your best option is to let me show her what you’ve built here. Worst case scenario, she’s not impressed, we leave, and you’re no worse off than you were yesterday. Best case scenario, she finally sees the truth and gives up her fight.”

“I have orders to kill her,” Ian said.

“You don’t want to kill her,” Travis countered. “I know you. You’d rather see her run off and hide for the rest of her life. I’m giving you the chance to make that happen.”

After some thought, Ian said, “Two conditions.”

“I’m listening.”

“First, I go with you on your little tour. I don’t trust you to take this girl anywhere without an escort.”

“Fair enough,” Travis said.

“And secondly,” Ian continued, “after she sees London, I want to talk to her. Alone.”

“No can do,” Travis said. “I’m not stupid.”

“I give you my word,” Ian said, “no harm will come to her. I’ll return her to you safe and sound. I just want to reason with her, soldier to soldier.”

“Do I get a say in this?” Lily asked.

“No,” Travis said.

“Do we have a deal?” Ian asked.

“Okay,” Travis said. “Deal. Now, can we start the tour? I promised to have her back in a few days.”

Ian reached into the pocket on his pants and pulled out a black cloth mask. “Here,” he said, reaching it to Lily. “It’ll cover everything but your eyes. We use them when we get stuck out after daylight.”

Lily looked at the mask. “Won’t it attract attention?”

“Probably,” Ian said, “but if someone recognizes you, I’m fairly certain that’ll attract even more attention. If anybody asks, I’ll tell them you’re a witness to mistreatment in a human facility. Not that anybody will ask. This is my city.”

“I see,” Travis said. “A minute ago, you were afraid to let me take a human slave down the street, but now you’re all ‘This is my city.’ Got it.”

“Learning that your slave is Lily Baxter changed things a bit,” Ian said.

“Didn’t change the fact that you’re full of crap,” Travis said.

“Can we get this over with?” Lily said as she slipped on the mask. “I don’t think I’m overstating when I say I’m really not comfortable in the capital of the vampire world.”

“It’s dark,” Lily said as they walked down the London street.

“We don’t need much heat or light,” Ian said. “Our homes and businesses use very little power. That’s just one way our takeover has benefitted the planet. We aren’t the resource hogs that humans were.”

Several other vampires were walking the streets. A few gave Lily a curious look, but most just went about their business. Lily had to admit the city really didn’t seem that different.

“These people,” Ian said, “have never killed a human. And most of them never will. They’re just average people, living their lives. They have jobs. They have families.”

“They don’t kill because you do the killing for them,” Lily said.

Ian laughed. “Not at all. Every human facility has a donation clinic. Humans go to these clinics and donate blood. We were very careful about how many vampires we made. On average, we have thirty humans for every vampire. That means each human only has to give a small amount of blood to sustain the population.”

“Let’s go to a pub,” Travis said. “I want her to see this world up close.”

Ian pointed at Lily. “Stay silent,” he said. “Even if a vampire talks to you, do not respond. Vampires use all their senses, not just their eyes, and your voice is as famous as your face.”

“Understood,” Lily said. She was deeply troubled by the world she was seeing, but not for the reasons she had expected. This wasn’t an evil city. It was a world full of… people. This bothered her even more than if they had been snarling monsters.

When they stepped into a nearby pub, the room fell silent. “It’s okay,” Ian said to the crowd of staring vampires. “We’re just transferring a human and my friend here wanted a drink.”

That seemed to be enough for the patrons. They immediately went back to chatting with each other. Lily guessed it was because most of them recognized Ian and didn’t want any trouble.

When they got to the bar, Travis leaned on the counter and said, “What’s the best stuff you got?”

“A-positive, slight buzz,” the bartender said. “That’s the most popular anyway.”

“I never touch the alcoholic stuff,” Travis said. “Just give me some A-positive, clean.”

“Don’t look so disturbed,” Ian said to Lily as the bartender gave Travis a glass of deep red liquid. “It was all given freely.”

“Slight buzz?” Lily asked.

Ian smiled. “Each human facility has a pub. They can go in and have a few drinks, then donate. The blood is rushed to our pubs while the alcohol is still there. Because of the time factor, it’s significantly more expensive, but the Topians seem love it.”

“Topians?” Lily asked. The word made her slightly sick to her stomach.

“We think it’s time to let go of the vampire label,” Ian said. “A vampire is a creature that prowls the night, preying on the innocent. We don’t do that. We chose the name Topia in honor of the vampire you executed.”

“Natasha.”

Ian nodded. “Don’t worry, it’s just a PR thing. I’m glad she’s dead. Natasha was a monster. Everything she did had a political motive. I’m not like that. I truly want to build a peaceful world.”

“Then let the humans go,” Lily said. “If you really want to build trust, give them freedom.”

“It’s not that simple,” Ian said. “We contain them for their own protection. They must be separated from the vampire population for now. We all have some adjustments to make. Until that happens, it’s just not safe to have humans and vampires mingling.”

“Sounds like bullshit to me,” Lily said. “You’re creating a slave race, and this is just the political crap you feed them to keep them in line.”

“Okay,” Ian said. “We need to leave. You’re not holding up your end of the bargain.” He turned to Travis. “Finish up.”

“I haven’t talked to anybody,” Lily said.

Ian tapped his own ear. “Vampire hearing.”

Once they were on the street again, Ian said, “Just so you know, I’m not looking to create a slave race here. Eventually, I hope to open all the facility gates.”

Lily shook her head. “You were a human once,” she said. “I assume you’ve read your history books. Every emperor who has ever lived promised to hand over his power once some fake crisis was resolved. They never do, though. And neither will you.”

“This isn’t a fake crisis,” Ian said. “We’re dealing with vampires here. Feeding on humans is a fundamental part of who they are. If I let the humans just walk around freely, the temptation will be too much. I have to let the vampires adjust to this new way of life. That’s going to take some time. Once they’ve adjusted, I will open the gates. Until then, though, I must keep the humans safe.”

“I don’t buy it,” Lily said, but she wasn’t being entirely honest. It disgusted her to admit it, but there was some truth to what Ian was saying.

“Let’s go see a Human Living Center,” Ian said.

“Most people call them kennels,” Travis added with a grin.

“No,” Ian said, “most people don’t call them kennels. It’s a repulsive name and I will not tolerate it being used in my presence.”

“He’s sensitive about words,” Travis said. “When he was a boy, all the kids called him peein’ Ian.”

“Anyway,” Ian said, ignoring Travis, “when you see a human facility, I think you’ll change your mind. They’re not concentration camps.”

The human facility was huge. It was much bigger than anything Lily had seen in America. The walls surrounding the facility were at least four or five stories tall and stretched on for what looked to be miles.

After a quick communication from Ian, the guards opened the main gate and the trio stepped inside.

“Impressive, no?” Ian said when he noticed the look of awe on Lily’s face.

It looked nothing like Lily had expected. This wasn’t a prison, like the facilities Lily had seen during the war. This place was a town. A fully functioning town.

The streetlights were bright here, especially in contrast to the dark streets of London. People walked up and down the streets, talking and laughing as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

“They’ve adapted to a night time existence,” Ian said. “I guess they weren’t comfortable sleeping while we were awake. Especially at first.”

“What do they do here?” Lily asked.

“They live their lives,” Ian said. “They get up, tend to their food supplies and water supplies. They repair the things that need repair. They eat, sleep, and they spend time with their families. They’re safe here.”

“But they aren’t free,” Lily said.

Ian laughed. “Freedom is an antiquated notion. Humans were never free, even when they were ruled by other humans. The only difference between the old world and the new world is the fact that we don’t lie to them about it.”

“I don’t believe that,” Lily said.

“He’s right,” Travis said. “That’s why I brought you here. I wanted you to see it for yourself. Just like the people in Iveyton, these folks are happy. I hate what the new world’s doing to vampires, but the humans have it made in the shade.”

“Don’t start with the vampire rubbish,” Ian said. “We’re evolving.”

“You’re as bad as Natasha,” Travis said. “Vampires are killers. They’re supposed to hunt. The real horror of this world isn’t what you’re doing to the humans. It’s what you’re doing to the vampires.”

“Well, you have an entire continent you can use for hunting,” Ian said. “We’re happy with this new world.”

“I’m not,” Lily said softly.

Ian pointed at an older woman coming out of a grocery store. “You see that woman? She’s one of the representatives here. When the people have a problem, she comes to me about it. Would you like to meet her?”

“No,” Lily said.

“Well, you’re going to anyway,” Ian said. He raised his hand and motioned for the woman to come to him.

As soon as the woman saw him, she smiled. “Commander Taylor,” she said. “This is an unexpected pleasure.” When she saw Lily, her smile vanished. “Why is she wearing a mask? I do hope we’ve not had another incident with the guards.”

“No, no,” Ian said. “I’m simply giving this young lady a tour of your village. For reasons I’d rather not go into, we need to keep her anonymous for now.”

“Mysterious,” the woman said with a mischievous grin.

“It’s not nearly as interesting as you think,” Ian said.

“I bet it’s more interesting than I think.”

Ian laughed. “Well, no matter. I can’t tell you.”

The woman reached out her hand to Lily. “I’m Florence.”

Lily silently shook the woman’s hand.

“Florence,” Ian said, “I’m going to ask you a few questions. I want you to be completely honest in your answers, okay?”

“Absolutely,” Florence said.

“I mean it,” Ian said. “I want brutal honesty.”

“Have I ever given you anything less?”

“Okay,” Ian said. “I’ll start with the good bits. What is the best thing about living here?”

“That’s easy,” Florence said. “You leave us alone.”

“Explain.”

“You only come when we ask you for help,” Florence said. “When we first came here, we were convinced that you’d make us follow a bunch of silly rules. Most of us thought you’d make us worship you like kings or gods. But you didn’t. You left us alone. You bring us supplies, but other than that, you let us live how we choose.”

“What’s the worst thing about living here?” Ian asked.

“That’s a much more difficult question,” Florence said. “To be quite honest, the worst thing about living here is the loneliness.”

“I don’t understand,” Ian said. He looked genuinely concerned. “The population here is large.”

“But we’re alone, Ian,” Florence said. “I planned to bring this up in the next meeting. Most of us have family all across the country. We would like to know if they survived the war. We would like to know if they’re vampire or human. We miss them, Ian.”

“I’m sorry,” Ian said. “I should have thought of that. Tomorrow, I’ll reach out to the other cities. We’ll create a network so you can communicate with each other.”

“Thank you,” Florence said.

“I want to be honest with you, though,” Ian added. “It might not be the happy reunion you’re hoping for. Many of them are probably dead. Others may no longer be human. We were at war for many years, and you lost that war. I will offer no apologies for my actions during the war. I will do everything I can for you now, but during the war, I did what was required to win.”

“We understand,” Florence said. “More than anything else, we want closure.”

“We’ll have you connected to every other facility in England by the end of the week,” Ian said.

“Wait,” Lily said. She looked at Florence. “What about freedom? You’re prisoners here.”

“We are,” Florence said. “We have no delusions about that, dear. But our freedom is coming.”

“How can you possibly believe that?” Lily asked.

“I happen to trust Ian,” Florence said. “He has always told us the truth, even when that truth was painful. He has kept every promise he’s ever made. So when he tells me that his goal is to have a world where humans and vampires—”

“Topians,” Ian said.

“Right,” Florence said. “When he tells me that his goal is to have a world where humans and Topians live together in peace, I have chosen to believe him. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best we can hope for.”

“No,” Lily said. “You can hope that they’re defeated!”

“That’s simply not going to happen,” Florence said. “We are faced with two choices. We can live in war or we can live in peace. When we were at war, most of us lived in a state of constant fear. Those days have passed. I wish the vampires had never stepped from the shadows, but they did. Now, we must accept reality. Ian is our best chance for a better world.”

Lily looked at Travis. “I’m ready to go.”

“Already?” Travis said. “We just got here.”

“I don’t need to see any more,” Lily said. “I can’t stay here.” She turned to Ian. “Please.”

“Okay,” Ian said. “We’ll go.”

Chapter 10

Southern Canada

“I found some arctic gear over here,” Jesse said. He was standing beside a locker. “Looks to be some high quality stuff.”

Abbie put her crossbow on a nearby table and walked over to the locker. “Heated thermal,” she said as she looked at the clothing. “And several unopened battery packs. Good find.”

Jesse shrugged. “I saw this place the last time I was in the area. I figured what better place to have top-notch arctic gear than a Canadian Day Soldiers base.”

“Okay,” Abbie said, “we’ll get all we can carry here, then head to the mess hall. Hopefully, there’s still plenty of canned food there.”

“You plan on bribing them when you get there?”

“It’s not bribery,” Abbie said. “I’m sure those people could use the supplies.”

“Fair enough,” Jesse said. “So about this place… are we going to do anything with the bodies?”

While exploring the base, they had discovered the remains of dozens of Day Soldiers. At some point in the past year, there had obviously been a battle.

A battle the Day Soldiers had lost.

“We can’t do anything with them,” Abbie said. “We simply don’t have time to bury them.”

“I could pile them in the yard,” Jesse said. “We could burn them. It just feels wrong to leave them here like this.”

“Jesse,” Abbie said, “you traveled the world before you found us. Surely, you didn’t bury every dead body you found.”

Jesse didn’t reply.

“You did,” Abbie said, “didn’t you.”

“I didn’t bury them all,” Jesse said. “I burned some of them. These people deserve a funeral. They died defending humanity. They shouldn’t be left here to rot.”

Abbie looked at him for a few seconds, then said, “You’re a remarkable vampire.”

“I’m not special,” Jesse said. “I’m lucky. I had a friend who forced me to find my humanity again. That’s all.”

“When all this is over,” Abbie said, “I want to hear your story. You might change the way we see vampires.”

“Don’t count on it,” Jesse said. “I’m not some great hope for vampires, Abbie. I’m a freak. I didn’t choose this any more than I chose to—”

He stopped talking and lifted his nose slightly, sniffing the air.

“What is it?” Abbie asked.

“Vampires,” Jesse said.

Abbie ran across the room and picked up her crossbow. “How close?” she whispered.

“In the building,” Jesse said.

“It’s a big building.”

“I’m not a werewolf,” Jesse argued. “Be thankful I can smell them at all.”

“Do you know how many there are?” Abbie asked.

“No,” Jesse said.

“Okay,” Abbie said. “Grab what you can. We’re leaving.”

“No,” Jesse said. “We’re not.”

“There could be hundreds of them,” Abbie said. “We can’t risk it. Too much is at stake.”

Jesse’s eyes were hard. “I don’t care how many are here. They’re not going to get away with murdering these people.”

“We’ll come back,” Abbie said. “We’ll come back after—”

“Abbie, shut up,” Jesse said. He pulled two wooden stakes from his belt. “We’re staying until these bastards are dead. Help or get out of the way.”

“Okay,” Abbie said. “Just tell me when they get here.”

“Soon,” Jesse said. “The smell is very strong. Watch the doors.”

Three vampires dropped from the ceiling vents.

Abbie shot and killed the first vampire with ease then quickly reloaded her crossbow. These were the bald, monstrous vampires from the earlier days of the war. Purge survivors, she thought as she fired a bolt at the second vampire.

The vampire dodged Abbie’s shot, but died a second later when Jesse drove his stake through its heart.

The third vampire quickly backed against the lockers. “Please,” it said. “We smelled the human. If we had known she belonged to another vampire, we would not have attacked.”

Jesse grabbed the creature by the throat and slammed it against the locker. With his other hand, he pressed his stake against its chest. “How many more of you are here?”

“Just us,” the vampire whispered in a serpentine voice. “We just found this place. We didn’t know it was occupied. Let me go and I’ll find another home.”

“Did you kill these people?” Jesse asked.

“No,” the vampire said.

“He’s telling the truth,” Abbie said. “These soldiers died in a battle. This type of vampire hasn’t been part of the Legion for a very long time.”

“Okay,” Jesse said. He looked at the vampire. “Today’s your lucky day. You get to die quickly.”

Before the vampire could say anything else, Jesse drove his stake into its heart. As it fell to the ground, he turned to Abbie and said, “There are different types of vampires?”

“Yes,” Abbie said. “Some look almost human. Others look like these things. And recently we’ve discovered a third type. I’m starting to suspect you belong in the third category.”

“Why have I never seen vampires like this guy?” Jesse asked.

“They were purged,” Abbie said. “The other vampires killed them all.”

Jesse flinched. “That explains the deaths I felt. When I came to the surface, it was because I felt millions of vampires dying.”

“That would have been the purge, yes,” Abbie said. “Do you smell any more?”

“No,” Jesse said, “but I can’t be sure. These guys are still putting off a solid stink.”

“Okay,” Abbie said. “Let’s get those supplies. Tell me if you smell or hear anything new.”

“Will do,” Jesse said. “Sorry about telling you to shut up.”

“It’s okay,” Abbie said. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

They stuffed several thermal suits and batteries into their backpacks then went toward the exit. The mess hall was across the yard. “You want to put on your snow clothes now?” Jesse asked.

“Nah,” Abbie said. “I’ll wait until we’re closer to save the batteries.”

“Fair enough,” Jesse said as he opened the door. Instead of leaving, he stood in the doorway, staring outside.

“Go on, already,” Abbie said.

“I think our vampire friends lied to us,” Jesse said.

“What do you mean?”

“They weren’t alone.”

“Do you smell more?” Abbie asked.

“No,” Jesse said. “I see more.”

Abbie stepped beside him and looked outside.

Dozens of vampires stood in the snow, watching them.

“I think,” Abbie said, “we might have stumbled onto a retreat for vamps running from the purge.”

“Yeah,” Jesse said.

“They probably killed the soldiers here,” Abbie said.

“Probably,” Jesse agreed. “I know it’s cold out there, but I think you might want to take off your gloves. We might need that channeler’s touch you were bragging about.”

Abbie removed her gloves. “I think you might be right.”

“You ready to bring justice to the people murdered here?” Jesse asked.

“Not like we have a choice,” Abbie said.

Outside, the vampires continued to stand in the snow. A few of them paced back and forth, but none of them attacked.

“Looks like they’re waiting for us to make the first move,” Jesse said.

“I’m happy to oblige,” Abbie said as she pointed her crossbow at one of the vampires and fired.

Chapter 11

The Coming Storm

Ian’s office was sparse. Other than one small computer desk and two office chairs, it was completely empty. Lily sat in one of the chairs; Ian sat in the other.

“I don’t know why you wanted to speak to me alone,” Lily said. “Nothing you say will win me over.”

“I’m not trying to win you over,” Ian said. “I’m trying to save your life.”

“Yeah,” Lily said. “I totally believe you.”

“You should,” Ian said, “because it’s true. I think you’ve earned your survival. I don’t want to kill you, but I absolutely will if I have to. I’m offering you a chance to live. You won’t have the life you hoped for, but you’ll be alive.”

“Nothing you can say will make me stop fighting,” Lily said. “Nothing. I’m not as forgiving as Florence.”

“I’m not asking you to forgive us for anything,” Ian said. “I’m asking you to be reasonable. Get your people out of America. Find some unoccupied corner of the world and live out your lives in peace.”

“Are you planning on bombing it again?”

“No,” Ian said. “That’s not an option. Humanity surrendered based on my promise that no bombs would ever be used again. If I break that promise, everything I’ve built here will fall apart.”

“Then I don’t know why you’re so confident,” Lily said. “If you try to take us toe to toe, you’ll lose. I don’t know if you’ve been keeping track, but when it comes to ground wars, we’ve beaten you before. We can do it again.”

“You overestimate your chances,” Ian said.

“I noticed there were no werewolves roaming around London,” Lily said. “I’m assuming you made the same arrangement that was made in America?”

“Yes,” Ian said. “They left the cities.”

“So you don’t even have werewolves,” Lily said. “Honestly, I hope you do send your vampires. It’ll be a good training exercise for us.”

“You have roughly fifteen thousand people hidden in DC,” Ian said. “About three thousand of those are werewolves. Am I correct?”

Lily tried her best to show no reaction, but Ian’s intimate knowledge of the Day Soldiers in DC made her very uncomfortable. “I don’t know where you got your information, but you might want to re-evaluate your spy network.”

“I didn’t get my information from spies,” Ian said. “I got my information from the soldiers I sent to attack your DC base.”

“You’re lying.”

“I never lie,” Ian said. “It’s not worth the effort. I sent a few thousand troops to attack your base yesterday. They lost the battle, but that’s okay. I didn’t expect them to win. Their mission was to retrieve data about your base. One of my soldiers managed to get to the surface and transmit the information before your people killed her.”

“So my people killed your troops,” Lily said. “To me, that’s the important part of your story.”

“Then you are very short sighted,” Ian said. “I have an entire legion of troops on ships just a few miles off the coast of America. That’s over a hundred thousand troops, awaiting my orders. All I have to do is give the word and they’ll be at your base in less than two weeks.”

“I don’t believe you,” Lily said. “There’s no logical reason you would be telling me this.”

“I told you my reason,” Ian said. “I think you’ve earned the right to live. As soon as you leave here, I’m giving my troops the go-ahead. That gives you about two weeks, Miss Baxter. I highly recommend you get your people and leave the country. If you don’t, you’ll all die.”

“We can beat a hundred thousand vampires,” Lily said.

“These aren’t just vampires,” Ian said. “They’re trained soldiers. Most of them were Day Soldiers during the war. I promise, you won’t survive this attack.”

Lily stood up. “Are you going to join the assault?”

“Yes,” Ian said. “I’m taking a plane to the ships tomorrow. That battle will mark the end of war on this planet. It will be a day talked about for eons. Of course I’ll be there.”

“Good,” Lily said. “I’ll see you on the battlefield. I look forward to seeing the horror on your face when you realize you completely underestimated us.”

“Two weeks,” Ian said. “Please take my advice and leave. If you and your people are there when we arrive, we’ll kill you all. This moment is your one chance for survival.”

“I learned a long time ago,” Lily said, “that vampires who appear to be on my side are the ones I should fear the most. Forgive me for thinking you’re completely full of crap.”

She spun around and left the office.

Ian leaned back in his chair and sighed.

“How’d it go?” Travis asked as Lily stepped onto the plane.

“Don’t ask,” Lily said.

“You know,” Travis said, “the sun’s coming up. Most of them will be going to sleep soon.”

“So?”

“So,” Travis went on, “we could go back into the city and kill a few hundred of those bastards while they sleep. By the time they figure out what happened, we’ll be back in Iveyton.”

Lily turned around and looked out the door of the plane. The pre-dawn sky was pink over London. “No,” Lily said. “I need to get back to DC.”

Travis stepped beside her. “You want to do it, though… don’t you.”

“Yes,” Lily whispered. “They’ve taken everything from me. All of our sacrifices… all those deaths… for nothing. We lost anyway. We should’ve surrendered years ago. It would have saved millions of lives.” She looked at Travis. “And it would have prevented you from existing.”

“I’d have found a way,” Travis said. “Besides, you don’t want to kill them because of what they did to you.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Lily said. “What other reason could I possibly have?”

Travis smiled and quietly said, “You wanna do it because you’re a killer.”

“Get away from me,” Lily said, “before I stake you again.”

“You don’t have any stakes,” Travis said.

“I’ll find a way.”

“Let me turn you, Lily,” Travis urged. “You could avenge humanity. Together, you and I could wipe out entire cities.”

“Why do you need me?” Lily asked. “You have an army of unstoppable vampires.”

“Yeah,” Travis said, “I lied about that. The vampires I turned are weaklings. A single stake kills them just like any other vampire.”

“Aw,” Lily said, “that’s so sad. You can’t make badass vampires. What makes you think I’d be any different?”

“You know the answer to that,” Travis said.

“I’m a killer,” Lily said with a sigh. “Travis, this bit is getting boring.”

“Accept who you are,” Travis said. “Accept what you are. We’re the same, Lily. The only difference between you and me is the fact that I’m not ashamed of what I am. The world needs killers.”

“Take me home,” Lily said.

Travis pulled the plane’s door closed then turned toward the cockpit. “Take us home.”

“Yes, sir,” the pilot said.

As the plane’s engines began to rumble, Travis flopped into one of the seats and said, “I don’t know why you’re in such a damn hurry to get back. Ian knows about you now. He won’t stop until you’re all dead.”

“I know,” Lily said. “That’s why I have to get back. I have to warn them.”

“Why bother?” Travis said. “You know how it’ll play out. Your friends will get all inspired to fight back. They’ll convince themselves they can win… then they’ll all die.”

“Shut up,” Lily said.

“You don’t really think you can win this, do you?” Travis said. “Ian has access to a world full of soldiers. You have, what, a few thousand people?”

“I don’t think we can win,” Lily admitted.

“Then why bother telling them?”

“Because they deserve to know,” Lily said. “Because there’s more at stake here than our lives.”

“Bullshit,” Travis said. “The only thing at stake is your lives. If you think you’re going to inspire humanity to rise up, you’re wrong. Most humans in the world are happy. I know you can’t get that through your thick skull, but it’s true.”

“They’ll rise up,” Lily said. “It might take years. Hell, it might take generations. But they’ll eventually fight back. And when they do, they’ll have the memory of the Day Soldiers to inspire them.”

“You’re an idiot,” Travis said.

“Probably,” Lily said. She sat in one of the seats and closed her eyes. “Wake me up when we’re in radio range. Maybe my people have left the facility by now. If so, I should be able to reach them on a communicator.”

“I’m sure any communications will be picked up by Ian’s people,” Travis said.

“I don’t think that really matters anymore,” Lily said.

Travis moved to the seat beside her. “Let me turn you.”

“Travis, I said no.”

“If I make you like me,” he said, “you might actually stand a chance of winning that battle.”

“If you make me like you,” Lily said, “I’ll probably end up killing the people I love.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Travis said. “Maybe it does for those other vampires, but not with me. When I turned, nothing changed. I’m still the person I was before Cassius turned me.”

“That’s because you were an evil bastard,” Lily said.

“No,” Travis said. “You’ll be the same person. I’m sure of it.”

“Forget it, Travis,” Lily said. “I will never be a vampire. Never.”

“Just think about it,” Travis said. “You would be more powerful than—”

“Will you shut up and let me sleep?” Lily snapped. “Damn.”

At the base in Canada, Abbie and Jesse stood by the bonfire, quietly watching the bodies burn. Abbie stood next to a large sled full of supplies for the people at the church. Jesse had grumbled about having to carry it and Abbie, but eventually he had agreed to carry it.

“This is a colossal waste of time,” Abbie said. “These people don’t need a funeral, but the people in DC do need our help. We should be travelling right now.”

“Humans give each other funerals,” Jesse said. “When we stop doing human things, we stop being human.”

Abbie didn’t have a reply to that. She suspected doing things like this was how Jesse had managed to retain his humanity. Either way, her instincts told her she shouldn’t push the issue. She looked around the snowy yard. It was littered with dead vampires. “You fought well. We finished them much faster than I thought we would.”

“I’m weak,” Jesse said. “These guys were just weaker. I think they’re starving.”

“Why are you weak?” Abbie asked.

“Because I’m starving.”

“I would help you there,” Abbie said, “but it would probably kill you.” She was surprised by the fact that she meant it. If her blood weren’t poison, she would have donated some to this vampire.

“I wouldn’t have taken it anyway,” Jesse said. “I won’t drink from a friend.”

Are we friends? Abbie asked herself. She wasn’t ready to explore the possible answers to that question. Not yet.

“So you said there are three kinds of vampires,” Jesse said.

“Yes,” Abbie said. “There are the monstrous ones, like the ones we just killed. For a decade, we thought they were the only vampires in the world. Now we know they are the weakest of the three.”

“What about the other two types?”

“A few years ago,” Abbie said, “we discovered that there is another breed. They are much older and look much more human. They’re also more powerful. These are the vampires that have now taken over the planet.”

“And you don’t think I’m like them?” Jesse asked.

“I did at first,” Abbie said, “but now I’m not so sure. We recently discovered a third type. This vampire is like the vampires you read about in horror books. Extremely powerful and – as far as we can tell – he can’t be killed.”

“That’s bad,” Jesse said. “How many have you met?”

“Just one,” Abbie said. “His name is Travis. He’s the vampire responsible for destroying America.”

“And you think I’m like him?” Jesse asked.

“I do.”

“Why?”

“The way you travel, for one,” Abbie said. “You ride the wind. You fly. Travis is the only other vampire I’ve ever seen do that.”

“Maybe other vampires just don’t know they can do it,” Jesse said. “Or maybe they just don’t want to travel that way.”

“Does sunlight kill you?” Abbie asked.

“No,” Jesse said, “but it’s very uncomfortable.”

“You’re the third type,” Abbie said. “None of the other vampires can survive direct sunlight.”

“Does that bother you?”

“Yes,” Abbie said. “It means Travis isn’t an anomaly. He is a great threat, and I don’t like the idea that there are others like him.”

“I’ll never be like him,” Jesse said.

“I believe you,” Abbie said, “and that disturbs me even more.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not evil,” Abbie said. “We didn’t think that was possible. To be honest, we didn’t want that to be possible. It changes everything.”

“It changes nothing,” Jesse said. “Vampires are evil. Don’t let me change your mind about that. But even if they weren’t evil, they’re still trying to enslave humanity.”

“Compromise was never an option,” Abbie said, “because we knew we were fighting evil things. How many lives would have been saved if we’d have met you first?”

“Stop that,” Jesse said. “Humanity didn’t declare war. The Legion started this. I’ve walked through the streets of their perfect world. Believe me, they’re not trying to build a world where humans and vampires live in peace. The only reason they’re treating the humans well is to lull them into submission. Twenty years from now, humans will be vampire pets and nothing more.”

“What did they do to you?” Abbie asked.

“That’s a story for another day,” Jesse said. He looked at the fire. “I think we’re good to leave if you’re ready.”

“I’m ready,” Abbie said. “I hope I’m right about this person you saw. Everything depends on it.”

“Do you think your people survived the attack on your base?”

“I know they did,” Abbie said. “I also know things are about to get worse. That assault was military. It wasn’t just a bunch of vampires trying to feed.”

“Yeah,” Jesse said.

“That means the next attack will be bigger,” Abbie said. “Much bigger. That’s why we have to hurry.”

“Okay,” Jesse said. “Let’s go.”

“So this is what the sun feels like,” Carl said as he stepped onto the streets of DC. “I had forgotten.”

“Yeah,” Cooper said. “I gotta admit, it feels pretty good.”

They stood beside the hole that led into Bunker City. Cooper looked around the ruins, then pointed to a building to the left. “There. I think that roof is probably the best location in walking distance.”

“Okay,” Carl said. “Let’s get going. This backpack weighs a ton.”

As they started walking toward the building, Cooper tapped his communicator and said, “Reagan, you getting this?”

“Yeah,” Reagan said. “Loud and clear. You guys hear me okay?”

“Yeah,” Cooper said. He looked at Carl.

Carl tapped his communicator. “Loud and clear.”

“Good,” Reagan said. “The signal enhancer seems to be working. Remember, if we’re going to find any other soldiers out there, we have to get it as high as possible. We don’t want anything that could block the signal.”

“We found a building that should work well enough,” Cooper said. “We’re headed that way now.”

“Good to hear,” Reagan said. “Enjoy your time in the sun. Keep me updated.”

“Will do,” Cooper said.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Reagan said.

“Go ahead.”

“Thanks, guys,” Reagan said.

“You’re not getting sentimental on us are you, Reagan?” Cooper said. “We’re just installing a communications relay. Not exactly a heroic deed here.”

“I’m not talking about the relay,” Reagan said. “Your actions in that communications center probably won the battle last night.”

“Don’t be goofy,” Cooper said. “Those vamps wouldn’t have beaten us.”

“Well,” Reagan said, “at the very least, you saved a lot of lives by manning that station. Shooting a gun isn’t always the best way to fight a battle.”

“Fair enough,” Cooper said. “And you’re welcome.”

They heard Reagan chuckle. “Let me know when the relay is installed. Be careful up there. We still haven’t heard from Baxter.”

“We’re always careful,” Cooper said. “Anything else?”

“No,” Reagan said. “That’s it. See you when you get back. Reagan out.”

“That was nice of her,” Carl said.

“Yeah,” Cooper agreed. “I served under her through most of the war. She’s good people.”

“How many people do you think we lost in the battle last night?”

“Don’t know,” Cooper said. “Not many. Those pointy teethed bastards really didn’t know what they were getting into.”

“I think it was a scouting mission,” Carl said.

“It was a lot of vampires,” Cooper said.

“Yeah,” Carl agreed. “I’m sure they attacked because they underestimated our numbers, but I don’t think it was a full assault force. If they already knew our location, they would have sent enough to finish us.”

“Good point,” Cooper said. “It’s also a very depressing point.”

“What do you mean?”

“Now, they definitely know our location,” Cooper said. “So I guess we can expect that full assault soon.”

“Oh, yeah,” Carl said. “That is depressing.”

They made their way through the ruins and entered the building. Luckily, the stairs weren’t destroyed, so they made it to the roof in a matter of a few minutes.

Once on the roof, Carl removed his backpack and began to set up the satellite relay.

“This will make us vulnerable,” Carl said as he snapped together the equipment. “I’m sure they’ll be able to trace any signals.”

“Carl,” Cooper said, “didn’t we just establish that they already know our location?”

“Oh, yeah,” Carl said as he stepped away from the device. “We should be all set. Right now, it’s set to pick up all the standard Day Soldier signals. If anybody is trying to reach us, it should come through.”

Cooper pointed at the device. “What’s it mean when that light is green?”

“It means a communication is coming through,” Carl said. “Why?”

“Because that light is green.”

“Oh,” Carl said. “It should be transmitting to the communications center now.”

“Is anybody in the communications center?” Cooper asked. “I think everybody’s on cleanup today.”

“Okay,” Carl said. He looked at the readings on the side of the relay. “Set your communicator to… two point four. I think that should connect us to whoever is sending the mes—”

“Bunker City, are you there? If you’re getting this, please respond.”

Carl’s heart skipped a few beats when he recognized the voice. He quickly tapped his communicator. “Lily?”

“Carl!” Lily said. “Thank God.”

“What the hell?” Carl said. “Where are you?”

“Carl, get me Abbie, right away!”

“Sorry, boss,” Carl said. “Abbie’s not here. She’s on a mission.”

“Dammit. Okay, put me through to Reagan.”

“On it,” Cooper said. He tapped his own communicator and said, “Reagan, you there?”

“Lily, where the hell are you?” Carl said. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Lily said, “but I need to talk to Reagan right now.”

Cooper said, “She’s on her way to the communications center right now.”

“Lily,” Carl said, “I’m patching you through to the communications center. Reagan will pick up shortly.”

“Thanks, Carl.”

After Carl transferred the signal to the communications center, Cooper said, “She sounds worried.”

“Yeah,” Carl agreed.

“That makes me a little worried,” Cooper said.

“Then you’re a better man than me,” Carl said, “because it makes me a lot worried.”

“Guys, you there?” It was Reagan’s voice.

“We’re here,” Cooper said.

“I need you to head south. There’s a plane that will be landing shortly, and I want you there.”

“Lily?” Carl asked.

“Yes,” Reagan said, “and Travis.”

Cooper and Carl looked at each other.

“Okay,” Cooper said, “I didn’t expect that.”

Chapter 12

The Decision

Travis sat in the seat of his plane with an agitated expression. Carl stood by the door, looking equally annoyed.

“This is bullpoop,” Travis said. “They should have let me go with Lily.”

“Are you kidding?” Carl said. “The last time you were in that base, you bombed America.”

“Yeah,” Travis said. “So they know there aren’t any more bombs. They wouldn’t even know about the attack if I hadn’t taken Lily to London. And why the hell do they have you guarding me? I mean, if I had some big plan, it’s not like you could stop me.”

“I’m a little pissed about that myself,” Carl said. “I guess they figure I might be able to get out a warning before you kill me.”

“I’m considering killing you,” Travis said, “just to teach them a lesson.”

“Please don’t,” Carl said.

“Or maybe a wedgie,” Travis added.

“Please don’t,” Carl repeated.

“Well, they should have let me come along,” Travis said.

“You murdered millions of people!” Carl said. “If you think they’re gonna trust you for anything, you really are insane. You’re lucky they agreed to let you watch the meeting remotely.”

“Why do people keep saying things like that,” Travis said. “We’ve already established I’m insane.”

“Can you turn on the monitor, please,” Carl said. “I want to see the announcement.”

Travis flipped a switch on his seat and a large screen slid down from the ceiling. The screen flickered to life, showing the auditorium in Bunker City. The residents were all filing into the auditorium. Nobody was on the stage yet.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret, though,” Travis said as they watched the video. “I’m not really insane.”

“Okay,” Carl said.

“Don’t condescend to me,” Travis said. “Seriously, I’m not insane.”

“I’m not taking the bait,” Carl said. “There’s no way to win an argument with a psychopath.”

“I’m a sociopath,” Travis said. “I’ll grant you that. But I’m not psychotic. I’m not crazy. I just have no allegiance to either side of this goofy war.”

“And you kill people,” Carl said.

“That doesn’t make me crazy,” Travis said. “It just means I don’t value human life like you do. I don’t see you having funerals for ants every time you step on one. To me, there’s very little difference between an ant, a vampire, or a human. They’re all just little animals scurrying across the surface of the planet.”

“I don’t randomly kill ants for fun,” Carl said.

“I don’t randomly kill people for fun,” Travis said.

Carl laughed humorlessly. “Right.”

“No, really,” Travis said. “I kill humans to gain power. I kill them because every kill puts me one step closer to becoming a god.”

“That’s weird,” Carl said, “because you know something I’ve never wondered, ever? I’ve never wondered how much power I’d gain if I killed someone. Even if what you’re saying is true, you had to kill someone to find out. And that makes you a frickin psycho.”

“I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone,” Travis said. “I’m going to tell you about the first person I killed, back before vampires and werewolves stepped from the shadows.”

“I’m not interested, Travis.”

“It was a mugger,” Travis went on. “He was unfortunate enough to attack me on a day I failed a major test in college. I was very worried about graduating back then, and this test just had me all to hell.”

“I said I’m not interested, Travis.”

“So anyway,” Travis said, “I’m walking home and this guy jumps outta nowhere, pulls a knife on me, and demands my wallet. I guess I’d just had enough bad news for one day, so I looked at him and just said, ‘No.’ He didn’t like that too much.

“He came at me with the knife. Looking back on it, he was probably just trying to scare me, but I didn’t know it at the time. I snatched the knife from him and drove it straight into his heart.”

“Travis,” Carl said, “I don’t want to hear about the good ol days of you as a serial killer.”

“As I watched him die, I felt something change,” Travis said. “I don’t think it came from him. Not really. It was more like a door was opened inside me and something powerful stepped through it. I spent months evaluating that feeling, and I eventually decided that killing another person makes you stronger. It’s as simple as that. And since then, I think I’ve proven it’s true.”

“So killing people makes you feel powerful,” Carl said. “Yeah. That’s not psychotic at all.”

“It doesn’t make me feel powerful,” Travis said. “It literally makes me powerful. It’s not some illusion. I actually became more powerful.”

“I’m happy for you,” Carl said. “Also, I’m not really happy for you at all. You’re kind of the most horrifying monster I’ve ever met.”

“Look,” Travis said, “I’m just explaining that I don’t kill because I like it. I kill because it gives me power. If killing ants did that for you, I think you’d kill as many as you could. And since I see human life as being on the same level as ants, what I’m doing is perfectly reasonable.”

“I see,” Carl said. “It all makes sense now.”

“You suck,” Travis said.

“Says the vampire,” Carl said.

Travis laughed. “Okay, that was pretty good.”

On the video, everyone was gathered in the auditorium but the stage was still empty.

“I don’t know what the werewolf plans to tell your people,” Travis said, “but you’re all going to die. I hope you realize that.”

“We’ve overcome incredible odds before,” Carl said.

“This isn’t a case of overcoming incredible odds,” Travis said. “You’re a few thousand soldiers facing an entire world of vampires. The only question is how long you’ll last before they finally finish you off.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Carl said. “Maybe not. Maybe there are factors you’re not considering.”

“There are no factors,” Travis said. “What kind of stupid talk is that? You’re all going to die. I happen to think that sucks because I find your group very entertaining.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“I also find it annoying,” Travis said, “that you’re all choosing to die when it doesn’t have to happen.”

“They won’t run,” Carl said. “That simply isn’t an option. These people devoted their lives to this fight.”

“I’m not talking about running,” Travis said. “I’m talking about winning.”

“As usual,” Carl said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Lily,” Travis said.

“What about Lily?”

“If she’d let me turn her,” Travis said, “your people would stand a chance. She would be unstoppable. Literally.”

“She would also be a monster,” Carl said.

“No,” Travis said. “She would just be an unstoppable version of herself.”

“If that’s true,” Carl said, “then turn another Day Soldier. I’m sure someone would volunteer if it meant saving humanity.”

“It has to be Lily,” Travis said. “If I just turned random soldiers, it wouldn’t work. Lily is different.”

“Because she’s a channeler?”

“No,” Travis said. “It’s something deeper than that. Something… well, it’s something you wouldn’t understand.”

“I understand just fine,” Carl said. “You have a thing for Lily.”

“What are you, twelve?” Travis said. “I’m talking about the survival of humanity here.”

“I’m just saying Lily’s special and all, but she’s not that special,” Carl said. “You can’t tell me that out of every soldier we have, none of them would make a good vampire.”

“Maybe they would,” Travis said, “but I don’t know them. Lily’s a stone cold killer. It’s in her blood. That is what will make her like me.”

“If you think that,” Carl said, “then you don’t know her at all.”

“Go right on lying to yourself,” Travis said. “And have fun dying with all your friends.”

Carl looked at the screen. Reagan still hadn’t come out to speak yet. They’re trying to come up with a plan, Carl thought. It sickened him to admit it, but Travis was right. There really wasn’t a plan to save them this time.

“You’ve lived in this wasteland for a year now.”

“Yeah,” Travis said.

“What’s it like out there?”

“It’s a wasteland,” Travis said.

“I know it’s a wasteland,” Carl said, “but what about the people? Are there cities? Are people surviving?”

“Yeah,” Travis said. “New York probably has the closest thing to a civilization, but it’s a brutal one.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s run by gangs and thugs,” Travis said. “I’ll go there to feed sometimes, just because those people are the most fun to hunt. When Ian’s people decide to settle America again, they’ll get the most trouble out of New York.”

“How many are there?”

“Don’t get any ideas, kid,” Travis said. “If you go to New York, you’ll be dead in an hour. They’re not big fans of the Day Soldiers there.”

“It might be worth checking—”

“The show’s starting,” Travis said, nodding toward the screen.

Reagan walked across the stage in the center of the auditorium. Lily, Scott, Grung, and Talbot walked behind her. She stopped at the podium and picked up the microphone.

“I’m not going to drag this out,” she said. “Trouble’s coming. The battle yesterday was just the beginning.”

She paused for a bit, letting her words sink in. The crowd was silent.

“As we speak,” she went on, “there are several warships somewhere off the east coast. These boats are carrying an invasion force large enough to kill us all.”

In the crowd, a soldier raised his hand.

Reagan sighed. “Cooper, this isn’t a question and answer session.”

“I know,” Cooper said, “but I think this is important. Lily was in London, right?”

“Yes.”

“Are there other Day Soldiers there?”

“No,” Reagan said. “The Day Soldiers are defeated. We’re not an army any more. We’re a small resistance force, at best.”

“Not sure I understand,” Cooper said.

“We’re the last of the Day Soldiers, Coop,” Reagan said. “The war is over.”

“Oh,” Cooper said. “Well, that kinda sucks.”

“Yeah,” Reagan said. “It does. And let me be absolutely clear about this coming invasion. It’s not like the other battles we’ve fought. They aren’t going to stop. They’re going to keep coming until we’re dead.

“You people are the finest group of soldiers I’ve ever known, but no matter how great we are, we’re still just fifteen thousand people standing against a world of vampires. We’re not going to win this one.”

Cooper raised his hand again.

“Dammit, Coop,” Reagan said, “you’re killing my momentum.”

“Sorry,” Cooper said. “I’m just having a really hard time with this. Are you saying we’re all going to die?”

“Not necessarily,” Reagan said. “We have a choice. We expect the invasion to start in about a week and half. That gives us time – if we choose – to run.”

The people in the crowd began talking to each other. Reagan could tell they were not happy with idea of running.

She waited patiently until they were quiet again, then continued. “If we stay and fight, we’ll probably die. For us, surrender isn’t an option. The vampires don’t take Day Soldiers prisoner. They’re afraid we’ll cause unrest among the other humans. If we’re captured, we’ll get executed or we’ll get turned into vampires.”

“If we run,” Cooper said, “what will you do? The werewolves, I mean. You guys don’t have to run with us. I’m sure the other werewolves in the world will take you in.”

Talbot stepped forward and said, “I’m certain they would. The werewolves in my home country are honorable. We could easily have a home with them.”

“Well, that’s good news,” Cooper said.

“I can’t speak for the other werewolves here,” Talbot said, “but I will not be going to the old world. I made my choice. I stand with the Day Soldiers. Your fate is my fate.”

The werewolves in the audience nodded, echoing his sentiment.

“So,” Reagan said, “that leaves us with a decision to make. We can leave. We can find some remote corner of the world and just live out our lives. Lily has been assured that we’ll be left alone.

“Our other choice… we stay and fight. This isn’t a decision we have to make now, but we do have to make it soon. Time is not on our—”

“We should stay and fight,” Cooper said.

“Take a few hours, Cooper,” Reagan said. “Think about his.” She looked at the crowd. “All of you should do the same.”

“Nothing to think about,” Cooper said.

“Cooper,” Reagan said, frustration edging her voice, “if you stay and fight, you’ll die.”

“If I run,” Cooper said, “I won’t want to live. If this is our last stand, so be it. When I joined the Day Soldiers, I dedicated my life to defending humanity. I’d rather die fighting for humanity than live to see it fall.”

“Me too!” Someone yelled from the crowd.

“Same here!” another person yelled.

“Okay,” Reagan said. “If you need time to think about this, raise your hand.”

Nobody raised a hand.

“If you want to stay and fight,” Reagan said, “stand up.”

Every person in the crowd stood up. Nobody remained seated.

“Okay,” Reagan said. “Let’s start making preparations.”

Travis hit a button and the video turned off. “Nothing surprising about that meeting,” he said. “Humans are idiots.”

Carl didn’t respond. He just sat in his chair, staring at the wall.

“I’m assuming you’d have stood up too,” Travis said.

“Yeah,” Carl said.

“Idiot.”

“Travis,” Carl said, “I need a favor.”

Travis laughed. “Why on earth would I do you any favors? I haven’t forgotten that you stabbed me in the face. A guy remembers that sort of thing.”

“It’s a big favor,” Carl said. “I hate that I have to ask you, because… well… I hate you. I don’t see another alternative, though.”

“Okay,” Travis said. “I’m officially curious.”

As the auditorium cleared, Scott stepped beside Lily and said, “Hey, kid. Everything’s been crazy since you landed, so I haven’t had a chance to say welcome back. You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lily said. “For whatever crazy reason, Travis won’t hurt me.”

“Just so you know,” Scott said, “I was coming to get you, but the vampires attacking this place changed my plans.”

“I figured,” Lily said.

“What was London like?”

“It was awful,” Lily said. “Mainly because it wasn’t awful.”

Scott laughed. “Amazingly, that makes perfect sense.”

They rounded a corner and began walking back toward the living quarters. “I desperately need a shower,” Lily said.

“You do,” Scott said.

“Shut it,” Lily said with a chuckle.

“So,” Scott said, “this is it, huh. After all the training and all the battles, we’ve finally come to the end.”

“Looks like it,” Lily said.

“How do you feel?”

Lily stopped walking and looked at him. “I feel like I haven’t done all the things I wanted to do. And I haven’t said all the things I wanted to say.”

“Me too,” Scott said.

After a few awkward seconds, they continued walking toward the dorms.

“So you agree with Reagan?” Scott asked. “You think this is unwinnable?”

“I do,” Lily said.

Scott sighed. “I hate this feeling. I hate feeling like there’s nothing we can do.”

“Oh, there’s something we can do,” Lily said.

“Really?” Scott said. “What’s that?”

Lily smiled. “We can win anyway.”

Scott laughed. “So you’re saying we can win an unwinnable battle. That’s a paradox, you know.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Lily said. “And for the record, I don’t care if it’s a paradox.”

“So tell me,” Scott said, “how do you propose we accomplish this impossible task?”

“I have absolutely no idea,” Lily said.

“But you’re confident we can do it,” Scott said.

“Yep.”

Still smiling, Scott said, “Okay, then. That’s good enough for me.”

Scott’s communicator beeped. He unsnapped it from his belt and clipped it to his ear. “Vellin here.”

After a few seconds, he looked at Lily and said, “It’s Reagan. She wants to talk to you.”

Lily looked down and realized she was still wearing the civilian clothes Travis had given her. “Shit.”

“Here,” Scott said as he handed her his earpiece.

Lily clipped it to her ear and said, “What’s up?”

“Baxter,” Reagan said, “do you happen to know why Travis would leave?”

“He left?”

“Yeah,” Reagan said. “His plane took off just a few seconds ago. We’re hoping you might have some idea about what he’s doing.”

“Sorry,” Lily said. “I have no idea. I’ve given up on trying to predict his behavior.”

“I normally wouldn’t give a damn what he does,” Reagan said, “but he took Carl with him.”

“He did what?”

“He took Carl with him,” Reagan said again. “I’ll see if we can reach him from the communications center. I was just checking to see if you had any ideas. Thanks.”

Lily handed the communicator back to Scott. “Travis left.”

“I heard,” Scott said. “Werewolf hearing. Do you think he’d hurt the kid?”

Lily thought about that for a moment. “I don’t know,” she said. “I really don’t.”

Chapter 13

The Topian Protectorate

Ian and Cassius stepped from the plane onto the runway of the huge aircraft carrier.

“I’m still surprised you decided to join us,” Ian said.

“Are you kidding?” Cassius said. “This is a major historical event. There’s no way I’d miss this battle.”

Ian laughed. “I said the same thing.”

“Your men didn’t expect you to be here?” Cassius asked.

“They weren’t sure,” Ian said. “I’ve been very focused on London lately.”

Ian hadn’t told Cassius about Lily’s visit to London and he didn’t plan to. He was sure Cassius would incorrectly consider it a betrayal, which was a thought Ian didn’t like. He wasn’t worried about punishment, of course. He didn’t fear Cassius. If it came down to a fight, he was pretty sure he could defeat the older vampire.

Loyalty prevented Ian from entertaining any thoughts of actual betrayal. As a Day Soldier for the United Kingdom, Ian had refused to be turned when he was first captured. He didn’t know it at the time, but his capture had been part of a greater plan.

Cassius had personally chosen him to inherit the world. As it turned out, refusing transformation wasn’t an option for Ian. Cassius personally turned him, then began training him to take over as Commander of the UK forces.

After Natasha’s death, Ian became the unofficial leader of all vampires. Since then, Cassius always treated him with respect, letting him run the new world however he saw fit.

Because of that, Ian always treated Cassius with genuine respect. As a matter of fact, not mentioning Lily’s visit was the first time Ian had ever kept information from Cassius.

Doesn’t matter, Ian thought. She refused my offer, so she’ll be dead soon anyway.

“When are you launching the attack?” Cassius asked. “We’re not far from the coast. We could be there in hours, really.”

“Not a good idea,” Ian said. “After the last assault, I’m sure they’re expecting us. I think we should wait about a week. Let them start to hope we’re not coming.”

Cassius nodded. “That makes sense.”

Inwardly, Ian gave a sigh of relief. A small piece of him hoped Baxter and her people would reconsider his offer.

Cassius looked around the giant boat. The vampire soldiers went about their duties with solemn purpose. “After this battle,” he said, “the war will finally and truly be over.”

“Yes,” Ian said. “I worry for my troops. Once the war is over, I’m not sure there will be a place for them.”

“There will be a place for them,” Cassius said. “I already have plans.”

Ian gave him a sideways glance, “Now I really worry for my troops. You plans can be… extreme.”

Cassius laughed. “Don’t worry, my friend. These are good plans.”

They made their way to the center of the runway and stepped on a small platform. After a nod from Cassius, the vampire standing beside the platform pressed a few buttons.

The platform began to rise.

“Are you about to give a rousing speech?” Cassius asked.

“Nah,” Ian said. “My people don’t need speeches for motivation.”

“Then why are we on this platform?”

“Come now, Cassius,” Ian said. “Surely you can appreciate the desire of a commander to stand on a mountain top and look at his army of devoted warriors.”

“I suppose I can,” Cassius said with a smile.

As the platform reached its maximum height, Ian could see all of his soldiers going about their nightly duties. It was beautiful to see thousands of vampires preparing for their final assault.

“How many boats are out here?” Cassius asked. “The fog makes it hard to see the others.”

“Five,” Ian said. “And they’re not just boats, Cassius. They’re battleships, each carrying thousands of vampires. I’ve had them out here for the past six months. I knew the day would come when we’d retake America.”

“If you think you’ll need more troops, bring them,” Cassius said. “We can’t play games this time and we can’t underestimate these soldiers. They managed to survive everything I’ve thrown at them.”

“I don’t think I’ll need more soldiers,” Ian said. “We have enough to finish them. I actually feel a little guilty about it. This isn’t going to be a battle… it’s going to be a massacre.”

“I appreciate your devotion to honor,” Cassius said, “but the most humane thing to do is to end this quickly. If they manage to escape, it’ll just drag out their suffering. It’s time to put all our focus on building Topia.”

“I agree,” Ian said with a single nod. “I don’t like that it has to end this way, but I agree it must be done.”

“We’ll make sure history remembers them correctly,” Cassius said. “Those soldiers are a credit to the human race and they deserve to be honored for it.”

“Thank you,” Ian said.

“Now,” Cassius said, “stop focusing on the negative. A month from now, war will be extinct. This world will know peace for the first time since human civilization began. That’s a big deal, Ian.”

Ian placed a hand on Cassius’s shoulder. “You’re right, my friend. That is a very big deal.”

“History will remember that correctly as well,” Cassius said. “Peace was delivered to the world by Ian Taylor and his Topian Protectors.”

“I know it’s not very humble of me to say this,” Ian said, “but I must admit, I like the sound of that.”

“We literally took over the world,” Cassius said. “Screw humility. We deserve this moment. We earned it.”

Ian looked down at the soldiers.

His soldiers.

His army.

“You’re right again,” he said. “We did earn this. Screw humility.”

Chapter 14

The Church in the Yukon

Father Simon Plaza stood in front of the church, watching the figure come toward him. Father Plaza was mostly bald with a long gray beard. His frame was small, but that didn’t much matter as he was usually covered in many layers of fur and clothes.

The snow storm was fierce, which prevented him from seeing much more than a fuzzy gray shape. The figure was walking down from the woods surrounding the valley. He (or she?) appeared to be pulling a sled.

Behind him, the church door opened. A young man with blond hair and a scraggly beard poked his head out and said, “Father, you should come inside. I think this storm’s gonna be a bad one. We should shut the doors and stoke the fires. When the temperature drops, we don’t want to open these doors unless we have to.”

“Kevin, look up there,” Plaza said with a Venezuelan accent. “Coming down from the ridge.”

The young man peered through the snow. “Is that a person?”

“I believe it is.”

“It can’t be a human,” Kevin said. “There’s no way a human could have gotten this far on foot.”

“Perhaps he has a vehicle nearby that is no longer working,” Plaza said.

“Or perhaps he’s a vampire,” Kevin said. “Or worse, maybe he’s a werewolf. We can defend against a vampire, but if that’s a werewolf, we’re in trouble, Father.”

“Don’t be silly,” Plaza said. “Look how he’s trudging through that snow. It’s taking all his strength to pull the sled.”

“Well,” Kevin said, “if that incline gets any steeper, he won’t have to worry about that.”

“My point,” Plaza went on, “is that neither a vampire nor a werewolf would be having such difficulties walking through this snow. That person is a human. I have no doubt.”

“What are we going to do?”

“The only thing we can do, my child,” Plaza answered. “We’re going to invite him inside.”

“Father, no,” Kevin said. “We cannot let a stranger inside. It’s too dangerous.”

“We do not have a choice,” Plaza said. “Like you said, he is too far from any place he can get to on foot. If we refuse this person shelter, we are condemning him to death. That is not something I can do.”

“He has supplies,” Kevin said. “Let him build his own shelter.”

Plaza looked at the boy and smiled. “You want to protect the angel. I understand. I want to protect him too. But you know that he would not permit us to refuse help because of him.”

“We could just forget to tell him.”

“Go inside,” Plaza said. “Tell the others about our guest, then get Harut to a safe corner. You do not have to hide him. Just keep him away from our traveler here. Humans do not see him for what he is. It should be fine.”

“Father,” Kevin said, “again, I must object to this.”

“Noted,” Plaza said. “Now go prepare for our guest.”

Once Kevin was gone, Father Plaza looked back at the figure coming toward the church. He would offer this person refuge, but he understood the seriousness of taking in a stranger. This person could not be permitted to go near Harut.

“Please,” Plaza said quietly, “be a friendly traveler.”

Abbie trudged through the snow, dragging the supply sled behind her. Jesse was hidden in the woods above. As soon as they had neared the edge of the woods, Jesse had commented that he could feel a “very unpleasant” presence.

Seeing Jesse’s reaction to the church renewed Abbie’s hope. Something in that church was so powerful that Jesse couldn’t come any closer. Abbie could think of nothing with that kind of influence over a vampire.

Except maybe a good creature.

Abbie was also relieved that they had picked up the arctic clothing. Without it, she was certain the temperature would have finished her. The cold was mean and bitter, even with heated clothes.

As she neared the church, she was awed that such a structure existed in this frozen wasteland. The church stood two – maybe three – stories high, and was almost as wide as it was tall. Why would someone build that out here? She thought.

When she got a little closer, she saw a man standing in the yard, watching her. He was covered in various pieces of animal fur. Once she was sure he could see her, she waved.

The man waved back and began to walk toward her.

When he was closer, she could see that he was an older man, probably in his early sixties. “Hello, stranger,” the man said pleasantly, yelling over the wind. “It’s not often that we see a traveler this far out.”

“I bet,” Abbie said.

The man laughed. “Ah, you’re a woman.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, no,” the man said. “Of course not. It is just hard to determine out here. We all look the same under fourteen layers of clothing.”

Abbie laughed. The man spoke with a Spanish accent, but she couldn’t pinpoint it beyond that.

The old man pointed at her sled. “Allow me to help?”

“Thank you,” Abbie said. “Between this sled and the knee deep snow, I’m a bit on the exhausted side.”

The man took the rope Abbie was using to pull the sled. “Follow me. We will get you inside and warmed up. After that, we will discuss why you are here. I’m guessing your arrival is not accidental.”

“No,” Abbie said. “It’s not.”

Once inside, Abbie removed her top layer of clothing and the cloth mask that covered her face. The room was small, mainly used for coats. The old man pulled the sled inside and shut the door. “We’ll leave your supplies here for now,” he said. “You can come here to get anything you might need from the bags.”

“The supplies are for you,” Abbie said.

“I do not understand,” the man said.

“They’re gifts,” Abbie explained. “Canned food. Several outfits, all top-of-the-line arctic gear. A few cans of gas, in case you use generators. And a few other various items I thought it might make life easier out here.”

“I am still confused,” the man said. “Why have you brought us gifts? How did you know we are here?”

Abbie held out a hand. “Sister Abigail Reid,” she said with a smile. “My friends call me Abbie.”

The man’s eyes widened as they shook hands. “Are you from the church?”

“No,” Abbie said. “I’m a Day Soldier. I’ll explain it all once we’re inside. Are you in charge here?”

“Forgive my bad manners,” the man said. “I am Father Simon Plaza. We do not have a person in charge, but if we did, it would probably be me.”

“Nice to meet you, Father,” Abbie said. “If we could go inside, I’ll explain why I’m here.”

They stepped through another set of doors and entered the chapel. It was very cold and quite dark, but not so dark that it prevented Abbie from seeing its details. “This place is beautiful,” Abbie said. The Chapel was huge. Several rows of pews ran to the front of the church, where a large podium stood. The windows were made of intricately detailed stained glass. “How did you build this place? And why?”

“I’ll explain it all over dinner,” Plaza said. “The rest of our people are in the cafeteria in the back. I imagine you’re hungry?”

“I’m starved,” Abbie said, “but I think I should get my coat. It’s colder in here than I expected.”

“It is warm in the cafeteria,” Plaza said. “We only use the generators in the kitchen and the living quarters, except on special occasions.”

“I see,” Abbie said. She wondered how they had enough fuel to power the generators constantly, but assumed Father Plaza would explain that when he was ready. As she followed him toward another door, she asked, “How many people do you have here?”

“Forty-seven,” Plaza said.

“It must be difficult surviving out here.”

“It is not easy,” Plaza said, “but we are happy. At least there are no vampires or werewolves here.”

They stepped into the cafeteria. Several people were sitting at various tables lined along the walls. The others were standing in what looked to be a buffet line.

“Come,” Plaza said. “Let’s get a plate before these savages eat it all.”

The diversity in the group surprised Abbie. There were men and women of all ages and pretty much every ethnicity Abbie could think of. As more and more of the people noticed her, the cafeteria grew increasingly quiet.

“Okay, people,” Plaza said to the group. “Let’s not be rude to our guest. This is Sister Abbie. Abbie, this is… everybody.”

Most of the people chuckled. A few said, “Hi.”

“Hello,” Abbie said. “Thank you for taking me in. I very much appreciate your hospitality.”

A young red-haired boy – probably in his preteens – stood in line in front of Abbie. “You talk like me,” he said. His accent was Irish.

Abbie smiled. “I do,” she said. “Apparently, we come from the same country.”

“I haven’t been home in over two years,” the boy said. “Is everybody okay there?”

“I don’t know, child,” Abbie said. “I haven’t been there in a long time.”

“Oh,” the boy said. He turned around and pointed at what appeared to be mashed potatoes. The man behind the counter plopped a spoonful on his plate.

“Forgive their curiosity,” Plaza said. “We haven’t had a visitor in a long time.”

“Nothing to forgive,” Abbie said as she pointed at some corn. The man put a spoonful on her plate. “Curiosity is a good thing. I admit, I’m extremely curious how you keep this place in power.”

“We have several gas-powered generators.”

“Where do you get the gas?” Abbie asked.

“We have some snowmobiles,” Plaza explained. “There are two towns not far from here. By using the snowmobiles, we can get to each one in about two hours.”

“The towns are still populated?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Plaza said. “The vampires destroyed both towns last year, but they left the towns in good shape. They were well populated, so they still have enough supplies to sustain us for quite a while. We go on a supply run about once a week. When the towns run out of supplies, I honestly do not know what we’ll do.”

“You’ll find a way,” Abbie said. “You people are clearly survivors.” They moved down the line, getting various foods, then walked to a table along the wall. There were several other people at the table.

“Would you like to speak somewhere with more privacy?” Abbie asked.

“Not at all,” Plaza said. “Like I told you, I am not their leader. We have no secrets from each other here.”

“I like that,” Abbie said. “A true community.” She looked around the cafeteria. “Why did you choose to build a church instead of something more… practical?”

“We have our reasons,” Plaza said. “Good reasons. We actually built this place years ago, back before the war got so… destructive. We wanted a place that was safe from the Legion. This project was supported by a few wealthy donors. We flew the crew out here, built our church, and left. Nobody knew it was here. After the big assault a few years back, we began our journey. Originally, we had over two hundred pilgrims. This is all that’s left.”

“I’m very sorry,” Abbie said. “Did they die here?”

“No,” Plaza said. “We were attacked many times during our trip. It was a difficult journey.”

“I certainly understand difficult journeys,” Abbie said. “After that same assault, we traveled for over a year, just looking for a place to hide.” She paused, took a deep breath, then said, “So anyway… about your decision to build a church instead of a village…”

“I told you,” Plaza said. “We had a good reason. If you don’t mind, I would prefer to keep that reason to myself.”

Okay, Abbie thought, enough small talk.

“Is it because you’re housing an angel?”

Everyone at the table stopped eating and stared at Abbie. Plaza dropped his fork onto his tray. “Who are you?”

“I told you,” Abbie said. “I’m a Day Soldier.”

A young blond man a few seats down looked at the priest and said, “I told you, father! We should have turned her away!”

“Be quiet, Kevin!” Plaza snapped. He looked at Abbie with fierce eyes. “You have obviously obtained inaccurate information. Inaccurate and quite silly.”

“We both know you’re lying to me, Father,” Abbie said. “You have someone here that you refer to as an angel. Since I can’t think of any biblical female angels, I assume it’s a man.”

“Where did you hear this?” Plaza asked.

“I’ll explain it all, I promise,” Abbie said. “After I meet him.”

“Even if what you say were true,” Plaza said, “there is absolutely no way we would allow you to speak to him.”

“Time is short, Father,” Abbie said. “I must speak with this person. You believe he is an angel. I think he’s something else. I also think he is humanity’s last hope. I must speak to him.”

“You will stay the night,” Plaza said. “I can’t let you try to travel at night because it would be a death sentence for you. Tomorrow, you must leave. We will give you a snowmobile.”

“Father, no!” the young blond man said.

“Kevin, there are more vehicles in town,” Plaza said. “We’ll be fine.” He turned back to Abbie. “I am sorry you came this far to be disappointed, but you cannot stay here. If you would like to take your gifts with you, we understand.”

“I’m not taking back my gifts,” Abbie said, “because I’m not leaving until I speak with your angel. I’m sorry, Father, but too much is at stake here.”

“We can make you leave,” the young man, Kevin, said.

Abbie looked at him and smiled. “You can try, dear.”

Kevin stood up.

Abbie didn’t. “Child, sit down before I embarrass you in front of your friends. I appreciate that you’re protecting this man.” She looked at Plaza. “I appreciate that you all have been protecting him. I get it, Father. You think you’ve found an angel on earth. I’m guessing he’s injured in some way, so you decided he must be protected. That’s why you chose this location. It’s why you all live here. You’re protecting one of God’s angels from the evil that has swept this planet. That is a truly noble deed, and one that may very well save humanity.”

“How do you know these things?” Plaza asked.

“It’s time,” Abbie went on. “It’s time for your good deed to become something more. It’s time to save the men and women now living in vampire prisons. It’s time to rid the world of this evil.”

“Kevin, sit down,” Plaza said. The boy complied. Plaza looked at Abbie with sad eyes. “I’m afraid you have incorrect information.”

“Father, let’s not go there again,” Abbie said with a sigh.

“You misunderstand, my child,” Plaza said. “I am not denying his existence. Clearly, you know he is here. I am simply telling you that you are mistaken if you think he is the key to saving humanity. He cannot help anyone. We protect him because without us, he would die. He is not the savior you think he is.”

“Let me meet him,” Abbie urged. “If what you say is true, I’ll leave here and never return.”

“We’ve known you for less than an hour,” Plaza said. “Why should we trust you on this?”

“Because there is no other choice,” Abbie said. She leaned forward. “You’re a priest. You have been protecting this angel for years. Don’t you think it’s possible that this is the reason God chose you to protect him? Have you lost your faith, Father?”

“I do not question my faith,” Plaza said. “I do, however, sometimes question my judgment.”

“Then trust my judgment,” Abbie said. “Humanity has been enslaved by demons straight from Hell. You house an angel. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“She makes a compelling argument.”

The voice came from the right.

Abbie turned to see a man in a wheelchair rolling toward her.

He’s beautiful.

He had dark skin that almost glowed with a golden hue. His black hair was long and curly, hanging down to his shoulders. He had a short, black beard.

It was his eyes, though, that drew most of Abbie’s attention. His eyes were gray. A cool gray that looked like the sky just before a snow storm. In his eyes, Abbie saw nothing but love and kindness. One glance at this man and she knew she could trust him with anything.

Abbie had absolutely no idea how old this man was. He could have been twenty or he could have been sixty. She honestly didn’t know.

It took Abbie several seconds to notice that both of the man’s legs were cut off at the knees.

“Harut,” Plaza said nervously, “this is not wise. We do not know this woman. She could be a vampire slave. She could be—”

“She is who she says she is,” the man (Harut, the priest had called him) said in a kind voice. He looked at Abbie and smiled. “I knew someone would eventually find us here. I’m just glad it was a Day Soldier and not a vampire.”

“Actually,” Abbie said, “it was a vampire. We learned of you when we took him prisoner.”

There was a collective gasp throughout the cafeteria.

“That is not good news,” Harut said.

“Don’t worry,” Abbie said. “The vampire is a rogue who passed by here last year. He stands with humanity. The other vampires are unaware of your existence.”

“Are you sure?”

“As sure as I can be,” Abbie said.

“A good creature,” Harut said. “That’s the simple phrase your Day Soldiers use to describe my kind.”

“It is,” Abbie said.

“A very optimistic description.”

“An accurate description,” Abbie said. “If I wasn’t sure before, I am now.”

Harut chuckled. “You honor me with your words.”

“We need your help,” Abbie said. “The end of humanity is near. Without you, all is lost.”

“Finish your meal,” Harut said. “We will talk after we have eaten.” He turned around and rolled back toward his table.

Abbie picked up a roll and took a bite. She looked at Plaza. “This food is very good,” she said with a smile.

Chapter 15

Preparing for the End

“We can’t stay here,” Reagan said. “That much is certain.”

Several humans and werewolves sat at a table in one of the many conference rooms in Bunker City. Reagan sat at the end of the table. Scott, Lily, Grung, and Talbot sat to her right. Cooper, along with several other soldiers Lily didn’t know very well, sat to her left.

In the past year, this group had become the unofficial decision makers in regards to the Day Soldiers. The only empty seats in the room were the seats where Abbie and Carl normally sat.

“Travis was our best shot at stopping them,” Lily said.

“What do you mean?”

“He made an arrangement with the vampires overseas,” Lily explained. “They told him he could have every piece of equipment in America. I’m sure he knows the location of some serious hardware.”

“Well, he left,” Reagan said. “Nothing we can do about it now.”

“We have to find a way to kill that guy,” Grung said. “Seriously, as long as Travis is alive, we’ll never have any kind of control.”

“If he hurts Carl,” Lily said, “I’ll find a way to kill him. That’s a promise.”

“You and your promises,” Cooper said with a chuckle. “You know, you’re famous for that, right? Every time you get into trouble, you promise all kinds of crazy shit.”

Lily smiled. “Yeah. It’s kind of my thing. So far, I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping them, though.”

“You really have,” Cooper said. “It’s pretty awesome, actually.”

“Guys,” Reagan said, “can we stay focused here.”

“Right,” Lily said. “I agree with you. We can’t fight them in Bunker City.”

“I’ll take it a step further,” Scott said. “I don’t think we should fight them in DC at all. There’s a lot of debris up there. They could use it to their advantage. For us, it’ll just be added danger.”

“Agreed,” Reagan said. “So that leaves us with some important questions. Where do we go and how do we get there?”

“How is easy,” Grung said. “The vampires that attacked us left a whole convoy of military vehicles about a mile or so from the entrance. It might take a few trips, but we could use them to transport our folks. Just depends are how far we have to go.”

“I suggest we go to a forest,” Talbot said. “We have three thousands werewolves. We should not handicap them by sticking them in a city.”

“What do you mean?” Lily asked.

“We do not belong in cities, ruined or otherwise,” Talbot said. “The smells of a city are unnatural and distracting. In a forest, we miss nothing. We hear every sound. We smell every odor. And we instantly recognize the things that don’t belong.”

“Okay,” Cooper said. “He’s convinced me. Where’s the nearest forest?”

“We could get to the nearest national forest in about three hours, using those vehicles,” Scott said. “Personally, I think Talbot has a point. The werewolves in this group will be vital to our survival.”

“Look at you,” Lily said with a smile. “Talking like we have a chance of survival.”

Scott shrugged. “Hey, we made our decision. If I’m gonna fight, I’m fighting to win, no matter what the odds.”

“Does anybody disagree with Talbot’s suggestion?” Reagan asked. When nobody objected, she said, “Okay, we’re going to the national forest. It’ll take several trips to get the supplies and the people out there. We can make our specific battle plans once the relocation has begun. If there’s nothing else, we should get started. Time is not on our side.”

As the group dispersed, Lily, Scott, and Grung stepped into the hallway together and walked toward the dorms. “How are you guys feeling about this?” Scott asked.

“I feel like we need Ellie,” Grung said.

“Yeah,” Lily said. “She would have been scurrying up those trees like a damn forest elf.”

“This is probably our last fight together,” Scott said.

“We thought that before the battle of DC,” Lily said. “And before the battle of New York. And I’m sure we’ll think it before our next battle.”

“Do you really believe that?” Scott asked.

“No,” Lily said.

Nobody spoke for several more seconds, then Grung said. “I think we’re gonna win this one.”

“You didn’t talk to their leader,” Lily said. “He’s not taking chances on this. And even if we win, what’s next?”

“What do you mean?” Scott said.

“Do we run?” Lily asked. “Because if we’re planning to run after this battle, why are we risking our lives to fight now? Why not just run first? And if we don’t run, they’ll just send more troops. And if we win that battle, they’ll send more. I just can’t see a happy ending on this one, guys.”

“Well, gee,” Grung said. “I guess we should just kill ourselves right now and save them the trouble.”

“That’s not what I’m saying, Grung.”

“Then what are you saying, Lily?” Scott asked. “I’m not being a smartass here. I just don’t get your point.”

“My point,” Lily said, “is that we have to start thinking beyond each battle. Even if we win a battle, we’ll lose good soldiers. And they’ll keep coming until we’re all dead. We need to stop thinking about winning battles and start thinking about how we’re going to get them to leave us alone.”

“Are you talking about a truce?” Scott asked. “Because, honestly, I don’t see that happening.”

“I know,” Lily said. “I’m not sure what we can do, but we have to think of something.”

“Why didn’t you mention that in the meeting?” Grung asked.

“Because,” Lily said, “Reagan would have just told me to focus on the task at hand.”

“She’d have a point,” Scott said.

“Don’t you see?” Lily argued. “That’s how they’ll win. As long as we keep focusing on the next battle, they’ll just keep picking away at us until we’re all dead. We have to think of something else. Something permanent.”

“That’s a good point, too,” Scott said.

“Okay,” Grung said. “That’s our side mission. We’ll think on this and come up with an answer. Once we have some suggestions, we’ll go to Reagan.”

“For once,” Lily said, “I really wish we had Carl here. That little punk is good at stuff like this.”

“Yeah,” Grung said.

“What brought this on?” Scott asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you, chief,” Scott explained. “This isn’t the kind of thing you normally sit around thinking about. The Lily Baxter I know focuses on the mission and finds a way to win. When did you start thinking about the big picture?”

“London,” Lily said. “It was awful, Scott. The vampires were happy. The humans were happy. There’s no war, no crime…”

“Cut that shit out,” Grung said. “That place isn’t the country club they made it out to be. Those people are prisoners. Of course they’re gonna pretend to be happy.”

“I know,” Lily said. “That’s why I said it was awful. I just mean it made me realize that we lost the war. The humans over there were already adjusting to their new lives. They accepted the fact that they were prisoners and were just thankful that they were being treated relatively okay.”

“That’s pretty damn depressing,” Scott said.

“Tell me about it,” Lily agreed. “It changed everything for me. It made me realize that we’re not going to free those people. All we can hope to do is make sure they’re treated well. And we can’t do that if we’re getting our asses kicked over here.”

“We’ll come up with something,” Scott said. “I really believe that. But not if we get killed next week.”

“Fair enough,” Lily said.

They entered the living area and stopped in front of the door to Lily’s apartment. “Meet for dinner later?” Lily asked. “It might be our last meal in Bunker City.”

“Sure,” Scott said. He looked at Grung. “You up for a last supper?”

Grung didn’t answer. He stood quietly, looking at the floor.

“You alright, buddy?” Lily asked.

“I think I loved her,” Grung said quietly. “Ellie, I mean.”

“We all did, man,” Scott said.

Grung gave him an agitated look.

“Oh,” Scott said.

“And I think she loved me,” Grung went on.

“She did,” Lily said. “During the battle in DC, we actually gave you guys crap about it. She never denied it.”

“I remember that,” Scott said. “Why do we only seem to have fun when we’re in the middle of a battle?”

“Because we’re weird,” Lily said.

“I never told her,” Grung said. “I never just sucked it up and told her.”

“She knew,” Lily said.

“Yeah,” Grung said. “That makes it even worse. We both knew it, but neither of us said anything about it.”

“We had bigger things to worry about, big guy,” Scott said. “You becoming the leader of the werewolves, for example.”

“I should have said something,” Grung said. “She should have said something. We didn’t because we were afraid. It had nothing to do with me becoming a werewolf. It’s really kinda funny. We faced thousands of vampires without flinching, but we didn’t have the courage to talk to each other about how we felt.”

Lily put a hand on Grung’s shoulder. Neither her nor Scott said anything.

Grung looked at them both. “I’m not saying this to depress you. I’m telling you this because it’s something you both need to hear, especially now that we’re facing the biggest battle of our lives.”

“Sure thing,” Scott said.

“We appreciate it,” Lily added.

“Do you two have any idea what I’m talking about?” Grung said.

“Absolutely,” Lily said.

“Loud and clear,” Scott said.

“I regret that I never told Ellie how I felt about her,” Grung went on. “She died in a major battle before I built up the nerve to tell her. Now, you two are facing a major battle. A battle that you might not survive.”

“Right,” Lily said. “We understand, Grung. Thank you.”

“Okay,” Grung said. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

After Grung walked away, Scott looked at Lily and said, “Do you have any clue what he was talking about?”

“No idea,” Lily said. “He’s a weird guy. See you at dinner?”

“Yep,” Scott said, then turned around and walked away.

Chapter 16

New York City

Vince slammed against the wall of the building then fell to the pavement. Blood gushed from his bald head, obscuring the tattoos that ran along the side of his skull. He was a strong man, but his strength was nothing compared to the strength of the vampire he now faced.

Vince was the leader of the most powerful gang in New York. He controlled what was left of Manhattan and the southern half of Brooklyn. Since the bombings, Vince’s life actually improved. Instead of a street thug, he became a warlord. A respected leader in the new New York.

As he got to his feet and looked at the unconscious bodies of his twelve best men, he couldn’t help but wonder if his good fortune had finally run out. Vince had killed his share of vampires, but none of them had been anything like the monster now facing him.

The vampire had swooped in from nowhere and quickly beat the shit out of all of his men. Vince was sure he’d landed a stake right in the vampire’s heart, but apparently he missed because the bastard just pulled it out and tossed it aside.

“What’s your name?” the vampire asked.

“You’ll never know,” Vince said.

The vampire cocked an eyebrow. “That’s weird. What’s the big deal about telling me your name?”

“It’s not a big deal,” Vince said. “I’m just not the kind of guy who takes orders from bloodsuckers.”

“Fine by me,” the vampire said. “I’m in a good mood, so I’ll let you decide how this all plays out. Do you want to be the first person I drain, or would you rather see me kill your friends first?”

“Neither.”

The voice came from somewhere behind the vampire.

They both looked toward the street and saw a young man walking toward them. He held a stake in each hand and was wearing a Day Soldiers uniform.

The vampire looked at Vince and said, “You have Day Soldiers working for you? I’m impressed.”

“He’s not one of mine,” Vince said.

The vampire turned back to the Day Soldier. “You’re kinda scrawny for a Day Soldier.”

“Leave these people alone,” the Day Soldier said, “and I’ll let you live.”

The vampire laughed. “Kid, any one of these people would kill you just for walking down their street. I’m doing you a favor.”

“This is your last chance, vampire,” the Day Soldier said. “Leave now, or die.”

The vampire glanced back at Vince. “Don’t go anywhere. This won’t take long.”

Vince looked around the alley. The street ahead was the only way in or out. “Couldn’t go anywhere if I wanted to.”

The vampire dashed toward the Day Soldier.

Carl easily dodged the fake-attack and responded by kicking Travis in the small of the back. Travis fell to one knee but quickly sprang to his feet.

“You’re good,” Travis said. “Your blood will be delicious. Delicious, I say!”

“Tone it down,” Carl said.

Travis attacked again. Carl dodged the second attack, then spun around and drove his stake into the Travis’s chest.

“No!” Travis screamed. “He got me! The Day Soldier got me!” He staggered around the alley, blood pouring from the wound in his chest. “I’m comin to see ya, Elizabeth! We’ll finally be together!”

“Okay,” Carl said. “You can die now.”

“I didn’t think it would hurt so much!” Travis screamed as he continued to stagger around the alley. “Everything’s getting dark. I hope somebody will feed my dog… he’s… a good… dog.”

After a few more extremely exaggerated wails, Travis fell to the ground.

“What the hell was that all about?” Vince asked.

Carl looked at him and said, “Who knows. Some vampires are just weird—”

“Tell Laura I love her!” Travis screamed from the ground.

“Dammit,” Carl groaned as he walked over and drove a second stake into Travis’s chest.

“Ow!” Travis screamed. “What the hell, man! You already got me with the first one!”

“Just die!” Carl yelled.

“You’re an asshole,” Travis said. He looked at Vince. “Remember that. My last words were pointing out that this guy is an asshole.”

“DIE!” Carl yelled again. “God!”

Travis coughed a few times, then closed his eyes and stopped moving.

“That,” Vince said, “was the weirdest damn vampire I’ve ever seen.”

“I’ve seen worse,” Carl said.

“That vampire,” Vince said. “took me and my men down like we were nothing. That means you’re either damn lucky or a total badass. Either way, I owe you my life, kid.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Carl said, “because you’re the reason I’m here.”

“I appreciate what you did and all,” Vince said, “but just so you know, we don’t want you here. If you came to set up some kind of base, you can turn around and leave right now. The Day Soldiers got no place in this city.”

“Don’t worry,” Carl said. “We’re not coming here. I’m alone. I just came to talk.” He held out his hand. “I’m Carl, and I need your help. The world needs your help.”

In the alley, the other gang members began to stir.

Vince didn’t take Carl’s hand. “Well, Carl, you can just go back to where you came from. Normally, I’d kill you for trespassing, but since you killed that freak, I’m gonna give you a free pass. Go home.”

“I’m not asking for anything but a few minutes of your time,” Carl said. “I strongly suggest you listen, because your lives depend on it.”

“Was that a threat, Carl?” Vince said. “I don’t care what you just did for me, I don’t allow people to threaten me.”

“It’s not a threat,” Carl said. “It’s a warning. The danger isn’t from me or the Day Soldiers. A storm is coming, my friend, and if you aren’t prepared for it, your little empire is going to fall.”

Vince considered his words. “Okay,” he said. “Come with me. I’ll give you half an hour, just because I owe you.”

Carl smiled.

Carl followed Vince through ruins of what used to be a very nice hotel. Apparently, the gang had made this place their home base. The lobby was full of young men and women. All of them carried guns and had stakes strapped to their bodies in various places.

The hotel had no power, but the place was well lit by several battery-powered lanterns. They walked through the lobby and entered what used to be the hotel’s restaurant. Like the lobby, this room was full of gang members.

“You’ve got yourself an army,” Carl said as he followed Vince to the bar.

Vince stepped behind the bar and grabbed a bottle of liquor and two shot glasses.

“I don’t drink,” Carl said.

“You do today,” Vince said as he filled the tiny glasses and handed one to Carl. “You have thirty minutes, amigo. Tell me about this storm.”

“Not here,” Carl said. “I want you to gather your people. They all need to hear this.”

“I’m losing my patience with you,” Vince said. “I don’t take orders, especially not in my own house.”

“I’m sorry,” Carl said quickly. “I mean no disrespect. This is your home, and I will respect whatever rules you lay down. I’m not demanding anything here, but I am asking you. Please let me speak to your people. I want them to know the truth.”

“You don’t think I’ll tell them the truth?”

“That’s not what I mean,” Carl said nervously. “I just know that details get lost when a story passes from one person to the next. There are things you might not find important now, but later, you’ll wish you’d shared it with your people. I can prevent that from happening.”

“You’re very annoying,” Vince said.

“I know,” Carl said. “It’s my curse. Please believe me, you want to hear what I have to say. And you’ll want your people to hear it.”

“Tell me first,” Vince said. “Then I’ll decide.”

“No,” Carl snapped. “Dammit, we don’t have time to play games here!”

Vince quickly drew a gun and pointed it at Carl’s head. “I warned you about disrespect.”

The room fell silent. Everyone was now watching the events at the bar.

“If you pull that trigger,” Carl said, “you’ll die. I am here with information that will save your lives, and you pull a damn gun on me. Are you really that stupid? Is your ego really more important than the lives of you and your people?”

Carl saw rage pass across Vince’s eyes. He also saw something else.

Hesitation.

And a hint of fear.

“Go on,” Carl said. “Pull the trigger. All your people are watching. This is your chance to show them what kind of man you really are. Are you a leader or are you a thug?”

Vince didn’t pull the trigger, but he didn’t lower his gun.

“I’m done with you,” Carl said. “I will show you respect, but I’m not going to ask you for permission to save these people’s lives. I’m speaking to them. Period. You can put the gun away and listen to what I have to say or you can get your ass kicked for the second time today. Your choice.”

Vince laughed. “I think I like you,” he said.

“That’s good,” Carl said. “Keep your authority by pretending I amuse you. I’m good with that. Just put the gun away. I don’t have unlimited time here.”

“Say please,” Vince said.

“Please.”

“Say pretty please.”

Carl sighed. “I don’t have time for this nonsense. Travis, come on in.”

Travis crashed through the ceiling and landed on Vince’s head. They both disappeared behind the bar.

Carl spun around and threw his hands up. As expected, everyone in the room had drawn a weapon.

“No need to shoot!” Carl said. “I know you were listening to our conversation. He was being a jerk. I’m here to help you.”

A young woman standing by the table closest to the bar said, “You killed Vince.”

“Vince isn’t dead,” Carl said. “I came here to make friends, not enemies.”

“You probably should have explained that to your pet vampire,” the woman said.

Without even turning around to look, Carl knew. He just knew. “Dammit, Travis.”

“It’s not my fault!” Travis said. “He broke his neck.”

Carl spun around to see Travis standing behind the bar, his face covered in blood. “He broke his neck? Like, he saw you coming, and in a fit of terror, he broke his own neck?”

“I just mean he broke his neck when I landed on him,” Travis said. “Freak accident, I swear.”

Carl pointed at Travis’s face. “So all that blood… I’m assuming that’s blood that accidentally splattered all over your face when he hit the floor?”

Travis smiled. “No sense being wasteful.”

“Get us out of here,” Carl said. “You ruined everything.”

“Now hold on a second,” someone said from behind.

Carl turned around. Most of the people in the room had put their guns away.

A young Hispanic man near the front said, “Vince was an asshole. The only people who’ll care that he’s gone are the thugs in his inner circle, but without Vince, they won’t feel so tough.”

“See?” Travis said. “I didn’t ruin your plan.”

“Shut up,” Carl said. To the young man, he asked, “Where’s his inner circle now?”

“They were the ones that escorted you back here,” the man said. “They’re probably on the streets now. They do patrols at night… which means they look for innocent people to harass.”

“Why the hell are you in a gang, kid?” Travis asked. “You seem pretty disgusted with normal gang-related recreational activities.”

“I’m no gang member,” the man said. “I’m a survivor. I was a fourth grade teacher before New York fell. We joined Vince because we had to. He made us. Most of us had lives before the bombs.”

The woman beside him said, “I, for one, am very interested in what you have to say.”

“You owe me an apology,” Travis said.

“I don’t owe you crap,” Carl said. “The only reason we’re still alive is because Vince was a bigger jerk than you. And while we’re on the subject of you ruining things, what was with that act in the alley?”

“That was my death scene,” Travis said. “I had to make it believable.”

Carl just shook his head, then turned back to others. “Gather your people. We don’t have much time.”

They gathered in what was left of the hotel’s auditorium. Carl looked at the survivors standing in front of him. A few hundred people, at most.

It’s a start, he thought.

Carl felt sad for these people. They looked like a small army of mercenaries, but they weren’t. They were just people. People who had lost everything and were learning to adjust to a dark new reality. Carl wondered how much of the dangers these people faced came from vampires and how much came from other humans.

Doesn’t matter, he reminded himself. If I don’t get them to listen, they’ll all be dead soon.

“My name is Carl,” he said, “and I’m a Day Soldier.”

“Hi, Carl!” someone said from the crowd, eliciting laughter from several others.

Carl chuckled, then said, “I’m here for a few reasons, but mostly I’m here to ask for your help. Before I do that, though, I want to clear some things up. Over the past few years, I’ve heard a lot of misinformation about the Day Soldiers. I’ve heard people call us war mongers. I’ve heard people blame us for the destruction of their homes. I’ve heard people claim life is better as a vampire slave.”

“If this is some kind of recruiting drive,” a man said from the crowd, “you can go back home, kid. We don’t blame you for what happened, but we don’t want to hear a bunch of propaganda about how you’re the world’s greatest heroes either.”

“I’m not here to recruit you into the Day Soldiers,” Carl said, “but I am here to ask you to join their fight. If you want to do that as a Day Soldier, great. If not, great. I don’t care if you call yourselves the Stake Brigade. Bottom line, we need you and you need us.

“I’m also not here to spew a bunch of propaganda about the Day Soldiers. We’ve made our share of mistakes. Some bigger than others. I’m not going to apologize for those mistakes, though. This is a war. Things aren’t always black and white, and the right path is very rarely the easy path.”

“And sometimes the way up is the way down,” another person yelled. “Get to the point, Socrates.”

“Okay,” Carl said. “I’m going to tell you about the Day Soldiers I know. I’m not gonna sugar-coat anything here. I think it’s important that you know the truth about the people who have been fighting this war. Specifically, I think you should know the truth about the people who are still fighting it.”

He noticed that someone in the audience had pulled out a small camera and was recording him. Good, he thought. That’ll make this plan easier.

“I thought you were going to tell us about some great danger,” someone said.

“I am,” Carl said, “but first I’m going to tell you about the people protecting you from that danger. You should know the truth about them. The whole truth.”

He took a deep breath to steady his nerves, then said, “I’m going to start with a name most of you probably know. Lily Baxter.”

He told them everything.

It wasn’t a history lesson. He didn’t bother with tactics and occupied territories. Most of the survivors had probably learned that stuff in school or by watching the news.

Instead, he told them about the people.

He talked about Lily’s first meeting with the vampires in the woods outside Iveyton. He talked about the battle of New York, when – as a sniper – he first saw Lily and her B-Team.

He told them tales of friendship and love. He told them about Abbie’s journey and Wallace’s leadership. He told them about the friendships between Grung and Ellie, Scott and Lily. He told them about overcoming impossible odds and how they never let silly phrases like “certain death” stop them.

He told them about loss.

Leo.

Wallace.

Greg.

Ellie.

He held nothing back, not even tears.

He explained that the Day Soldiers weren’t perfect, but they weren’t the villains the vampires made them out to be.

He eventually moved on to the vampires. He explained what Lily had discovered about the rest of the world. He told them that an army stronger than anything they had faced was coming to finish them off, once and for all. He also pointed out that when it was put to a vote, every Day Soldier in Bunker City had chosen to stay and fight.

Every one.

By the time he finished, he stood firm on his opinion that, yes, the Day Soldiers were heroes.

And he dared anybody to say otherwise.

When Carl finished his tale, a woman near the front of the crowd pointed at Travis and said, “So what you’re saying is this guy bombed America.”

“Yeah,” Carl said, “but that was really only part of the story.”

“This vampire,” the woman continued, “is responsible for the deaths of our loved ones. This vampire is the reason we lost the war across the globe.”

“Yeah,” Carl said sheepishly.

“I just want to be absolutely clear that I’m understanding you correctly,” the woman said. “This vampire… the one who is now standing by your side like he’s some kind of ally… the one you aren’t trying to kill right now… this is the guy who destroyed America.”

“I explained that,” Carl said. “We can’t figure out how to kill him. If you want to come up here and give it a shot, feel free.”

“I get that,” another man from the audience said. “You can’t kill him. Fine. What I don’t get is the fact that he seems like your buddy now.”

“He’s not my buddy,” Carl stammered. “You gotta understand… Travis is special. And not in a good way.”

“Hey,” Travis said. “That’s mean.”

“Yes, he’s a brutal murderer,” Carl said. “Yes, he’s a complete sociopath. He’s also not devoted to the vampires. I would kill him right now if I could, but I can’t. If he’s gonna be walking around, I’d rather him be beside me than against me.”

“My whole family died from those bombs,” another woman said. “My mom, my dad, my grandmother.”

“I understand,” Carl said. “It’s not easy to have to team up with a monster like—”

“Four aunts,” the woman continued, “five uncles, sixteen cousins, two brothers, four nephews, one niece.”

“I get it. People you loved have died.”

“My dog Pickles.”

“I get it!” Carl said. “Please understand, he’s not our ally. It was a temporary but necessary alliance. I wouldn’t be talking to you if he hadn’t decided to help me.”

“Why did he decide?” someone asked.

Travis shrugged. “I was bored.”

“Look,” Carl said. “Maybe it’s screwed up that I’m working with Travis. I accept that. But Travis is only part of my story.”

“A pretty big damn part,” someone said.

“Okay!” Carl said. “Damn. He’s a big part. That doesn’t change the fact that the Day Soldiers have sacrificed everything for the good of humanity. It doesn’t change the fact that millions of vampires are coming to destroy what’s left of them.”

“That’s something else I don’t understand,” the woman near the front said. “They’re coming to kill your friends. How, exactly, does that mean we’re in danger?”

“Once they’ve completely eliminated the Day Soldiers,” Carl said, “do you think they’ll just go back home? After that obstacle is overcome, they’ll take back this country. I know life is hard, but do you really want to live on blood farms?”

When nobody replied, Carl said, “The Day Soldiers gave up everything to protect you. Everything. You can scoff at the decisions they’ve made, but there’s no denying these people put your wellbeing ahead of their own, and they’ve been doing it for a long time.

“And now, they need your help.”

The crowd was silent.

“That’s all I have to say,” Carl said as he stepped down from the ruined stage. “Join us if you feel like it’s the right thing to do. I’ve done all I can.” He turned to Travis. “Let’s go.”

“I told you this was an idiotic idea,” Travis said. “If these people wanted to fight the good fight, they’d have joined up years ago.”

“Yeah,” Carl said, dejected. “I guess you’re right.”

“Wait.”

Carl turned back to the crowd. The woman who had listed her entire family was standing in front of the crowd.

“We never said we wouldn’t help.”

Chapter 17

The Good Creature

Abbie, Harut, and Plaza sat in a small room in front of a beautifully detailed fireplace. Abbie suspected they were on an outer wall of the church because she could hear the wind pounding the walls outside.

“Please forgive the protectiveness of our people here,” Harut said. “They are good people.”

“Like I told Father Gaza, there’s nothing to forgive,” Abbie said. “I admire them for their devotion.”

“Slightly misguided devotion, I admit,” Harut said.

“Nonsense,” Plaza said. “You are holy, my friend. We will always protect you. Always.”

Abbie looked at Plaza. “So when you call him an angel, you mean that literally?”

“I do,” Plaza said with a nod.

“I’ve tried to convince him otherwise,” Harut said. “I am no angel. I’m a living creature, born of this earth, just like him.”

“He does not understand his heritage,” Plaza said. “Any reasonable person would accept that our biblical interpretations of angels were told from the perspective of men. I’m sure they got some of the details wrong.”

“How very progressive of you,” Abbie said.

Plaza chuckled. “I think this man is truly a gift from God. He is an angel, even if he doesn’t fit every biblical definition.”

“Everybody has a name for me,” Harut said.

“What do you call yourself?” Abbie asked.

“Harut,” he said with a smile.

“Nothing more… broad?”

“You mean like vampire, werewolf, human, things like that?”

Abbie nodded.

“No,” Harut said. “As far as I know, my people never had a name. Of course, I’ve never met my people, so I can’t be sure. Mostly, I just say healer. I think it sums us up pretty well.”

“There are more like you?” Abbie asked.

“Centuries ago,” Harut said, “we were many. Today, I worry that I am the last.”

“What happened?”

Harut leaned back in his wheelchair. “Vampires, of course. About six hundred years ago, the vampires decided to exterminate us. They largely succeeded. We have many gifts, but we also have many weaknesses. We can be killed just like you.”

“You’re not eternal?” Abbie asked.

“Yes and no,” Harut said. “We don’t grow old and we don’t develop diseases of any kind, but if you put a bullet in my head, I will die. If you cut off my arm and don’t stop the bleeding, I will die. We do not have the good fortune of only being vulnerable to a stake or a silver bullet.”

“I see.”

“The vampires can feel our presence, so finding us wasn’t difficult,” Harut explained. “Once they decided to declare war, we were wiped out fairly quickly. We have to touch them. They can kill us from a distance. My maker called that time the Days of Dying. We went from thousands to a few survivors scattered across the globe.”

“I take it you weren’t there for this slaughter?” Abbie asked.

“No,” Harut said. “I was actually born less than two hundred years ago. This power was passed to me by a woman who survived that slaughter.”

“Where is she now?” Abbie asked.

“She is dead,” Harut said. “We do not reproduce like the vampires. We are not a plague. Unfortunately, that is one of the reasons we’re now extinct.”

“You are not extinct yet, my friend,” Plaza said. “And the Order will make certain you are never extinct.”

Harut smiled. “I appreciate your determination, but we both know it’s just a matter of time. If they don’t manage to kill me, they’ll get one of my descendants. The time of the healers has passed. Humanity is now the only thing standing between the darkness and the light.”

“How did your maker die?” Abbie asked.

“She died making me,” Harut said.

“I don’t understand,” Abbie said.

“We’re moving too fast,” Harut said. “Let’s slow down a bit. Give me your hand.”

Abbie held out her right hand.

Harut took her hand and removed her glove. “Father?”

The priest handed him a knife.

Abbie pulled her hand back.

“You’re asking us to trust you,” Harut said, “but you don’t extend that trust to me?”

“That’s a fair point,” Abbie said as she again held out her hand, palm up.

Harut took the knife and sliced it across her palm.

Abbie hissed and jerked her hand back. “What the hell was that? A lesson about trusting strangers?”

“You’re a nun?” Plaza asked.

Harut laughed. “I’m not done. May I see your hand again?”

“No.”

“Trust me,” Harut said. “I think you know what I’m about to do.”

For the third time, Abbie held out her hand.

Harut placed his index finger and ran it along Abbie’s new cut.

Abbie laughed. “It tickles.”

“You should feel it from my end,” Harut said with a smile.

As his finger traced the cut, the wound vanished.

Abbie wiped the blood from her hand to see that it was completely healed. “How far does this power go?”

“I can heal any wound,” Harut said, “as well as any disease.”

“And if you had cut off my hand?” Abbie asked.

Harut chuckled. “Unfortunately, no. It would heal the wound, but you wouldn’t grow a new hand. Although, I’ve heard werewolves have this ability to a degree.”

Abbie looked at Plaza. “I can see why you risked so much to protect him.”

Plaza nodded.

Abbie turned back to Harut. “Can you heal yourself?”

“In a manner of speaking,” he said. “We’re very fast healers, but we are not invulnerable. Like I said, if you cut off my arm, I’ll probably bleed to death before it heals. It takes much longer for us to heal ourselves than to heal others. Our condition is very… altruistic.”

“If someone gets shot in the head,” Abbie asked, “can you stop them from dying?”

“Most likely, they would be dead immediately,” Harut said.

“But if they didn’t die right away,” Abbie said. “You could save them?”

“The bullet would have to come out,” Harut said, “but if they still have the spark of life in their body, I can heal them, yes.”

“Amazing,” Abbie said. “Have you ever tried to resurrect someone from the dead?”

“Not yet.”

“Yet?” Abbie asked. “You say that like it’s something you’ve considered.”

“It will happen,” Harut said. “One day. That is how we pass along our heritage.”

“By bringing someone back from the dead?” Abbie said. “That’s rather morbid.”

“I agree,” Harut said. “In order to become like me, you would have to die first. If I then choose to bring you back, you would no longer be human. You would be a healer. A good creature, as your Day Soldiers so optimistically put it.”

“People from your group have died,” Abbie said. “Why didn’t you bring them back? They were undoubtedly good people, devoted to you. It sounds like you’re choosing to be the only one?”

“It’s not a choice,” Harut said.

“I don’t understand,” Abbie said.

“The act of bringing someone back will kill me,” Harut said. “It’s our curse. We can never increase our numbers because the only way I can make another is by bringing that person back from the dead… but the only I can bring someone back is by giving that person my life-force. All of it. If you die, I could bring you back… but I would die in the process.”

“I see,” Abbie said. “That’s a problem.”

“It most certainly is,” Harut said. “It’s also how the vampires were able to kill us. We’ve never had great numbers, and we have no way of increasing those numbers. It was really just a matter of time before we became extinct.”

Abbie leaned back in her chair. This wasn’t good news. This man was crippled, so he couldn’t help the Day Soldiers even if he wanted to. And the only way he could make another would be to sacrifice his own life.

This wasn’t good at all.

“That is why I have to be very selective about who I choose as my heir,” Harut said. “I get one chance.”

“Chance?” Abbie said. “Do you mean it might not work?”

“It would definitely bring them back,” Harut said, “but they might not be a healer. I can’t just select anybody. You have to have something within you to become a healer. You have to be selfless. You have to be devoted to helping others. If you’re not these things, you won’t gain my… abilities.”

“I’m amazed your kind has survived this long,” Abbie said.

Harut chuckled. “We’re very selective. It’s actually not hard for us to recognize a potential heir. They have an innate ability to focus their energy. Many have used that ability to fight the vampires that now dominate this world.”

“Channelers,” Abbie said.

Harut nodded. “That is what your Day Soldiers call them. We call them heirs. They are not like us, but they have the potential.”

“We have many channelers in the Day Soldiers,” Abbie said. “We spent years searching for them.”

“Being a channeler isn’t enough,” Harut said. “To be a true heir, they also have to be completely unselfish. Finding that is the hard part.”

“Have you found an heir yet?” Abbie asked.

Harut looked at Plaza.

“I am not fond of his plans,” Plaza said. “I am not worthy of this power.”

“Every person worthy of the power,” Harut said, “claims to be unworthy.” He looked back at Abbie. “Honestly, I’m just waiting for Plaza to die so I can pass this to him.”

Abbie sighed. “I must admit, my heart is a little broken here. I truly believed you were the key to saving humanity.”

“He is,” Plaza said. “Perhaps not in the way you believed, but he is definitely humanity’s greatest hope.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Abbie said. “I was just hoping for something a little more…proactive.” She looked at Harut. “Don’t get me wrong. You’re amazing. The ability to heal others is an astonishing gift.”

“You were looking for a warrior,” Harut said.

Abbie nodded. “At the very least, I was hoping for someone with the ability to harm vampires.”

“I have that ability as well,” Harut said.

“I’m sorry?”

“I’m a healer, Abbie,” Harut explained. “Vampires are walking corpses, but their bodies are still diseased with the vampire’s curse. One touch from me and the body heals itself.”

“What are you saying?” Abbie asked. “You can turn vampires back into humans?”

“No,” Harut said. “I wish that were so. The body purges the vampire’s infection. Since the body is already dead, once the vampire is purged, the body simply returns to its natural state.”

“The vampire dies,” Abbie said. “That’s what you’re saying here. Your touch kills a vampire.”

Harut nodded.

“No weapons,” Abbie said. “No focus. No power objects. If a vampire simply touches you, it dies.”

“Yes,” Harut said. “Instantly.”

“Okay,” Abbie said, “my hopes are returning.”

“It is not as powerful as you think,” Harut said. “I have to touch them to bring them harm. They can kill me from a distance. They simply need a gun or an arrow or any other ranged weapon. Our ability to kill a vampire isn’t very effective in battle. It’s purely a defense mechanism.”

“But if you were to turn a trained Day Soldier—”

“Abbie, no,” Harut said. “I respect that you’ve traveled a long way, but there is simply no way I can help you. I lost my legs because a vampire tried to kill me by flipping my car over the side of a mountain. I survived the crash. My legs didn’t.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Abbie said, “but that’s no excuse to turn your back on humanity.”

“I am a healer!” Harut snapped. “I will heal any person who comes to me. I have not turned my back on humanity.”

“I’m sorry if I offended you,” Abbie said, “but you’re wrong. You’re here because you’re afraid. What good are you to humanity if there are no humans left to heal?”

“If I try to help you,” Harut said, “I will be killed and my race will be extinct. Do you plan to just push me around in my wheelchair during this great battle? I don’t think that will be very effective.”

“Harut,” Abbie said, “we have one chance to save humanity. One. We have to make the vampires so afraid of us that they decide to leave America alone. If they leave, we can begin to rebuild. You’re our best chance to make that happen.”

“I am sorry, Abbie,” Harut said. “I am no warrior.”

Abbie looked at Plaza. “Then turn him.”

“What?” Plaza said. “I thought we explained this. The only way to turn me is to bring me back from the dead.”

Still sitting in her chair, Abbie drew her gun and pointed it at the priest’s head. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I really am… but the world is depending on us. The human race is depending on us.”

“Put the gun away!” Harut said. “Even if you kill him and I turn him, he wouldn’t be able to help you. He’s not a warrior either.”

“I can make him a warrior,” Abbie said. She kept the gun pointed at Plaza. “I can’t believe you’re fighting this. Are you that afraid to die?”

“I would die this second if I thought it would help,” Harut said. “Plaza is a priest.”

“I’m a nun,” Abbie said. “What’s your point?”

“You are more than a nun,” Harut said. “Father Plaza would never be able to fight. It is not in his nature. He would be killed and my kind would be lost forever. Abbie, I understand your desperation. Truly. But this will not help your cause. The only result from turning Plaza would be the death of humanity and the death of the healers. Do you really want that?”

Abbie sat silently for a few seconds, then lowered her gun. “No.”

Plaza let out a sigh of relief. “Believe it or not,” he said, “I am sorry. I truly wish we could help, but that is not my place. I am here to protect the angels.”

“Thank you for your time,” Abbie said. She stood up and walked toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Harut asked.

“I’m leaving,” Abbie said. “There’s nothing for me here.”

“You can’t leave now,” Plaza said. “You’ll never survive out there after dark.”

“I’ll be fine,” Abbie said. “Besides, it doesn’t really matter if I survive. Everything I’ve been fighting for is lost.”

As Abbie reached for the door, Harut said, “I could turn you.”

Abbie stopped and turned around. “What?”

“I could turn you,” Harut said.

“Sir,” Plaza said, “I must protest.”

“She is right, my friend,” Harut said. “We both know it. I would be no help to her people. Neither would you. But she could make the difference. She is a daughter of God and a warrior. She is a channeler and she has devoted her life to defending the world from evil. I believe it is fate that brought her here.”

Plaza was silent.

“Are you sure it would work?” Abbie asked. “Are you sure I would change?”

“No,” Harut said, “but I have faith.”

“If you’re wrong,” Abbie said, “you will have died for nothing.”

“If I’m right,” Harut said, “I will have died for everything.”

“I didn’t come here for this,” Abbie said.

“I know,” Harut said. He leaned forward in his chair. “Make no mistake, here, Abigail Reid. It is your faith being tested, not mine.”

“I don’t understand,” Abbie said.

Harut’s eyes looked beyond Abbie’s physical self. They looked at something within. Something even Abbie couldn’t see. “There is only one way for you to be turned.”

“I have to die,” Abbie said.

Harut nodded. “You have to die.”

Abbie walked back to her chair and sat down. “That’s a big decision.”

Harut laughed. “And that’s an understatement.”

Plaza placed a hand on Abbie’s shoulder. “I have complete faith in Harut. If he says this is how it should be, I believe him. I have known him for years. I have seen the miracles he can perform. You, however, have known him for a few minutes.”

Abbie looked at her own palm.

“Faith has always been a major part of your life, Abbie,” Harut said. “You’ve put your faith in God… you’ve put your faith in humanity… you’ve put your faith in the Day Soldiers. Now it is time for you to ask the most important question of your life.”

“What question?” Abbie asked.

“How much faith do you have in yourself?”

Jesse watched the church from the woods on the hill. He watched as the front door opened and several people stepped into the snow covered yard.

Abbie was the first to come out, followed by the man Jesse assumed was the priest in charge. Behind them, a third man came out, pushing a figure in a wheel chair.

As soon as Jesse saw the man in the wheelchair, he felt… uncomfortable.

People continued to file from the church until the yard was full. They all formed a circle around Abbie, the priest, and the man in the wheelchair.

Abbie dropped to her knees.

The priest pulled a dagger from his coat and lifted it into the air.

“Oh, hell no!”

Jesse rode the wind to the yard and ran to the crowd.

“Let her go!”

There was a collective gasp from the crowd when they realized he was a vampire.

“Jesse, no!” Abbie yelled.

“No?” Jesse said. “They’re about to sacrifice you!”

“Trust me,” Abbie said. “No matter what happens, do not interfere!”

Jesse looked at the man in the wheelchair and began to growl.

“You are different,” the man said quietly. “I can feel it.”

“Jesse,” Abbie said, “this isn’t what you think. Please, you have to trust me. Do not interfere.”

Jesse looked at the priest, who was still holding his dagger. “I can’t promise that.”

“You have to!” Abbie yelled. “I don’t have time to explain. Just promise me you’ll stay out of this.”

Jesse stood silently.

“Promise me, Jesse! Right now!”

“Okay,” Jesse said. “I promise.”

Abbie looked at the priest. “Okay, don’t waste time. Do it. Now.”

The priest drove his dagger into Abbie’s heart.

Jesse screamed in shock and anger, but when he looked into Abbie’s pleading eyes, he knew she still wanted him to stay back. He looked at the man in the wheelchair and said, “If she dies, I’ll kill you all.”

“She’s going to die, my strange friend,” the man said, “but that is only the beginning of her journey.”

Abbie tried to speak, but instead just coughed up large amounts of blood. She began to sway back and forth, then finally fell into the snow, face first.

After a few minutes, the priest reached down and rolled Abbie onto her back. He seemed to do some sort of examination, then said, “It’s over. She’s dead.”

“I warned you,” Jesse said as he took a step forward.

“Five minutes,” the man in the wheelchair said. “Give me five minutes. After that, if you still want to kill us, we cannot stop you.”

The man pulled himself from the wheelchair and fell onto the ground. He crawled to Abbie and placed both of his hands on her face. Eyes closed, he sat over her for several minutes.

Eventually, he looked up at the priest. “It has been an honor to know you, my friend.”

The priest was crying. “The honor was mine, Harut. My angel.”

With that, Harut fell into the snow beside Abbie.

As the man died, the uneasiness Jesse felt dissipated.

And a new uneasiness replaced it.

Abbie groaned.

She sat up, then slowly climbed to her feet.

“How do you feel?” the priest asked.

Abbie looked at Jesse and smiled. She looked the same, yet… different. She looked older. Wiser. Yet, at the same time, she somehow looked younger. Her skin almost glowed in the night air and her blue eyes had developed a depth that Jesse had never seen in a human before. “How do you feel, my friend?” she asked.

“Unpleasant,” Jesse said. “That guy gave you whatever he had.”

Abbie laughed. “He did.”

“Thank God,” the priest said. “It worked. The angels live on.” He turned to the others in the yard. “The angels live on!”

The crowd cheered.

“We must go,” Abbie said. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us, Father?”

“We would just slow you down,” the priest said. He looked at Jesse. “So this is the vampire you told us about?”

“It is,” Abbie said. She looked at Jesse and said, “Jesse, this is Father Plaza. He is our friend.”

“Sorry about almost killing you, Father,” Jesse said.

Plaza smiled. “I would have done the same. You look nothing like any vampire I’ve seen. You look so… human.”

“They came here before the purge,” Abbie explained. “They’ve only seen vampires like the ones we fought at the base.”

“I don’t know how we’ll get back,” Jesse said. “I can barely stand to be near you. I can’t imagine carrying you all the way back to DC.”

“I’ll have to cover myself well,” Abbie said. “You can’t touch me. Not now, not ever.”

“I don’t know if that’ll matter,” Jesse said. “Being near you hurts, Abbie. I’m weak already. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to take you back.”

Abbie looked at Plaza. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes,” Plaza said. “We want to do our part.”

Abbie turned back to Jesse and said, “Feed, my friend. Just make sure you don’t kill them.”

“I’m sorry?” Jesse said, confused. “You want me to feed on these people?”

“They volunteered,” Abbie said.

“If humanity is to survive,” Plaza said, “we all must do our part. We have faith in you, Jesse. Abbie told us about you. You are not like the other vampires. You have a part in this, and we must do what we can to give you strength.”

“Just don’t kill anybody, please,” Abbie said.

“Okay,” Jesse said with a smile. “I’ll feed on them, but I won’t like it. I guess we all have to make sacrifices.”

Chapter 18

The Beginning of the End

One week later.

The first vampires to enter Bunker City were quickly killed by the many traps set throughout the facility. Ian and Cassius patiently waited on the surface as the second wave of troops fully explored the facility, removing any and all traps they found.

Cassius looked at the sky. “The sun will be up shortly.”

“Good point,” Ian said. He turned to the vampire soldier beside him. “Go inside, see if they’ve given an all-clear. Tell them dawn is approaching.”

“Yes, sir,” the vampire said, then dropped into the entrance.

Cassius looked around the ruins of DC. “They’re here somewhere,” he said. “They’re planning something. They wouldn’t run. Not this group.”

“I agree,” Ian said. He would never have admitted it to Cassius, but he still hoped they had taken his advice to leave. He seriously doubted it, though. Most likely, Cassius was right. They were hiding, planning something.

“All clear!” the soldier yelled from the hole.

Cassius and Ian dropped inside. Several soldiers followed.

They walked through the corridors, stepping over the bodies of the first wave of vampires, until they made their way to the central control room. As they walked into the room, a female vampire turned to them and said, “Sirs, the place is completely deserted.”

“We gathered that, Patterson,” Ian said, hoping he’d gotten her name right. “Did you find any hint as to where they’ve gone?”

“Yes, sir,” the vampire said. “We found more than a hint. They left us instructions.”

Ian and Cassius looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to Patterson. “Let’s see it,” Ian said.

The vampire tapped a few buttons on the main console and an image appeared on the monitor.

It was Lily Baxter.

“Of course,” Cassius said with a smile.

“Play it,” Ian said, hoping desperately that Baxter wouldn’t mention her recent trip to London.

On the monitor, Lily smiled. “Hi, guys,” she said. “I hope our traps didn’t kill too many of your bloodsuckers. We probably should have put a warning on the door about all the motion-sensors and automatic crossbows. Sorry about that.”

“She’s really quite annoying,” Cassius said.

“By now,” the recording of Lily continued, “you’ve probably figured out that we’re not here. Don’t worry, though. We didn’t run. That’s not what we do. We’re actually waiting for you in the forest. Just pull up the main database and type in the word ‘B-Team’ and you’ll get a map guiding you to our exact location.”

“We’ve already tried it,” Patterson said. “It gave us a map to a national forest not far from here.”

“One more thing,” Lily said, “if you’ve decided to go ahead and surrender, be sure to tie a bunch of white flags to your equipment.  Otherwise, we’ll just kill you like we killed all the other vampires who tried to stop us. See ya soon!”

The image flicked off.

“Gotta admit,” Ian said, “she’s tenacious.”

“She’s a fool,” Cassius said. “They knew we were coming and chose to die. That’s not bravery. It’s stupidity.”

“Walking into a forest full of Day Soldiers and werewolves isn’t the smartest move either,” Ian said.

“Agreed.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“We spend the day here,” Cassius said. “Then we walk into a forest full of Day Soldiers and werewolves.”

Ian laughed. “The tsunami approach again.”

“Unless you have a better idea,” Cassius said.

“I don’t. You wanted this to be a once-and-for-all kind of thing. I think sending everybody in to just overwhelm them is really the best way to do that.”

“Casualties will be high,” Patterson said from the computer.

“You’re right,” Ian said, “but I can’t think of a better solution. Besides, we’re not like the attack forces they’ve faced before.”

“What do you mean?” Cassius said.

“My troops aren’t just vampires,” Ian said. “They’re soldiers. We’ll have guns, explosives, and advanced training. I personally think we’ll have them all dead within an hour.”

“I hope you’re right,” Cassius said.

“Patterson,” Ian said, “am I right?”

“No, sir,” Patterson said.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not right, sir,” Patterson said. “You said we’ll kill them all within an hour. I happen to think we’ll do it within forty-five minutes. Sir.”

Ian looked at Cassius and grinned.

Deep in the forest several hours away from DC, Lily Baxter frantically climbed a tree. The morning sun filtered through the treetops, which made Lily anxious. It would be much harder for her to stay hidden with the damn sun beaming down on her.

She held her breath as she watched the figure slowly walk along the forest floor, searching. She climbed around to the opposite side of the tree and pressed herself against the trunk.

Don’t see me, don’t see me, don’t see me.

“I see you!” Cooper yelled.

Lily poked her head out from behind the tree. “Dammit. What gave me away?”

“I saw your foot sticking out from the branch,” Cooper said.

Lily climbed to the ground. “Who’s left?”

“I found Scott back toward the camp,” Cooper said. “Idiot thought he could bury himself in leaves. Like I wouldn’t notice a giant pile of leaves.”

Lily laughed. “So that leaves Grung.”

“Yeah,” Cooper said. “I’ll find him, don’t you worry.”

“I got found,” Grung said from behind them, “but not by you.”

They turned around and saw Grung walking toward them. Reagan was beside him.

“Let me get this straight,” Reagan said. “We’re about to face the biggest vampire force we’ve ever seen, and you three decide to prepare for it by playing hide-and-go-seek?”

Cooper shrugged. “Camp’s all set. The battlefield is prepared. We were bored.”

“Bored,” Reagan said. “You were bored. How about instead of acting like you’re ten years old, you get some rest. I got the notification that they triggered Bunker City’s alarms last night. That means they’ll probably be here tonight. This could be your last chance to rest before they arrive.”

“It’s also our last chance to play hide-and-seek,” Cooper said.

Lily laughed.

“Don’t encourage him, Baxter,” Reagan said.

“See?” Cooper said to Lily. “I told you she’s worse than Abbie. She doesn’t even let us have any wind-down time.”

“Just be at your designated camps by four this evening,” Reagan said. “If you want to act like children until then, fine.”

“Thanks,” Cooper said. “You’re welcome to join us.”

“No thanks,” Reagan said as she walked away. “I’ve got a battle to plan.”

“I don’t know what she’s got left to plan,” Cooper said. “We’ve been planning the battle for a week now.”

“Besides,” Lily said, “our game has strategic value. We’re learning the layout of these woods.”

Cooper looked at Grung. “How’d she find you?”

“The branch I was standing on broke,” Grung said. “Crashed to the ground right in front of her.”

“Ouch,” Lily said. “That’s gotta be embarrassing for the leader of the werewolf nation.”

“I just hope she doesn’t tell Talbot,” Grung said. “I think he’d try to kill me right then and there.”

Scott burst from the ground to the right and screamed, “Booyah!”

They all stared at him.

“Burying myself in leaves worked this time, didn’t it you judgmental bastards!”

“I already found you,” Cooper said.

“I know,” Scott said as he pulled leaves from his hair. “I was just demonstrating that it’s a valid hiding technique.”

“I wasn’t looking for you, though,” Cooper said. “If I’d been looking for you, I would have found you.”

“You were looking for Grung and Lily,” Scott said. “So you were looking, just not for me.”

“You’re the obsessive type, aren’t you,” Cooper said.

“No,” Scott said.

“Yes,” Grung and Lily said.

“I’m hungry,” Cooper said. “Wanna head back to one of the camps and get a bite to eat.”

“Not me,” Grung said. “I want to be hungry when this battle begins. I’ve discovered it makes me more alert.”

Lily looked at the trees around them. “This is a beautiful forest,” she said. “I bet it’s gorgeous in the fall.”

“Yeah,” Scott said. “Grung and I were on a scouting mission yesterday, a couple miles east from here, and came across a valley that just takes your breath away. There’s a big rock overlooking the valley. If you stand at the edge of the rock, you’re so damn high, the birds are actually flying beneath your feet.”

“It’s a shame we’re about to cover the place with dead bodies,” Lily said.

“You really need to get a check on that dark side,” Cooper said.

“Yeah,” Lily agreed. “I’ll work on that after we win tonight.”

“There you go,” Scott said. “That’s the grossly overconfident Lily I’ve missed. Lately, you’ve been so—” He stopped and looked at Grung.

“Yeah,” Grung said. “I smell it too.”

“What?” Lily asked.

“Vampires,” Scott said. “The breeze shifted and I got the tiniest whiff.”

“Shit,” Lily said as she drew a stake from her boot. “They’re coming in the daylight.”

“No,” Grung said. “I don’t think so. It’s gone now, but it wasn’t like the vamps we’ve been fighting. It smelled like a vampire, but it smelled… different.”

“That’s because you haven’t dealt with these since becoming a werewolf,” Scott said. He looked at Lily. “It was the scent of a vampire from the war. The bald, ugly bastards.”

Lily looked around the woods. “I bet it’s in hiding. Refugee from the purge.”

“Probably,” Scott said. “It was very faint. I think it was coming from the west. Grung?”

“Definitely from the west,” Grung said.

“We should go tell Reagan,” Cooper said.

“Or,” Lily said, “we could go find the vampire, then tell Reagan.”

Cooper grinned. “Sneakers are so naughty.”

“And infantrymen are total squares,” Lily said. “You coming?”

“Of course.”

Tracking the vampire was a slow process. Grung and Scott lost the scent often and had to wait for the wind to shift in order to pick it back up. They slowly made their way deeper into the woods, across a stream, and were half way up the side of a wooded mountainside before they stopped again.

“It’s strong here,” Grung said.

“Yeah,” Scott said. “It’s not just one vampire.”

They looked around, but could see nothing.

“What time is it?” Lily asked. “We’re gonna have to start heading back soon. If we’re not at a camp before dark, Reagan will not be pleased.”

Cooper looked at his watch. “It’s three now. Lily’s right, guys. We should be heading back.”

“I think they’re underground,” Grung said. “I bet there’s a cave here.”

“Yeah,” Scott said. “I’m sure Lily’s right. We’re dealing with some refugees from the purge.”

“They’re some lucky bastards,” Cooper said. “They managed to escape the purge by hiding in a forest that wasn’t decimated by the bombs.”

“There,” Grung said, pointing to a small outcropping of rocks. “I bet there’s a cave in those rocks.”

They made their way to the rocks and, sure enough, found the opening to a cave. Scott looked at the others. “It’s pretty dark in there. Could be dangerous for you human types.”

“We’re both channelers,” Lily said as she pulled a flashlight from her belt. “I think we’ll be okay. Besides, this could be important. If there are vamps in there, they could pose a pretty significant problem if they decide to join the battle.”

They stepped inside the cave to find one small room. “Looks uninhabited to me,” Cooper said.

“No,” Grung said. “The scent’s strong in here. Very strong.”

“Over there,” Scott whispered.

At the far end of the cave, there was a small hole in the floor. They walked to the hole and looked inside.

Blackness.

Lily pulled a grappling hook and cable from her belt. She snapped one end of the cable to her belt and handed the hook to Scott.

“Don’t drop me,” she said.

“Don’t you think it’d be wiser if Grung or I—”

Lily dropped into the hole.

Grung just chuckled silently.

After a few seconds, all three of the men’s communicators beeped.

“Guys,” Lily said, “you can come on down. It’s only about a ten foot drop.”

“What’s down there?” Grung asked.

After a pause, Lily said, “Vampires, Grung. Lots and lots of vampires.”

“Shit,” Scott whispered. “We’re on our way.”

“No need to whisper,” Lily said. “They’re awake.”

Scott held the rope while Cooper climbed down, then he and Grung dropped into the hole.

They landed to see Lily facing dozens of vampires. Like Scott had guessed, these vampires were the bald, monstrous creatures from the war. They were very thin and mostly naked. They were staring at the team, but none of them seemed to want to attack.

“Guys,” Lily said, “meet the cave vampires. Cave vampires, meet the guys.”

“Please,” one of the vampires said, “just go. We are hurting no one. Leave us in peace.”

“Wish we could, ugly,” Lily said, “but you’ve got yourself a terrible case of wrong place, wrong time.”

“We have done nothing to you!” the vampire said. “We haven’t fed on a human in a very long time, and we never will. We are alone. Humans want us dead, werewolves want us dead, and vampires want us dead.”

Lily pulled her stake from her boot and looked at her teammates. “You ready to do this, guys?”

“Wait a second,” Scott said. He stepped up to the lead vampire and said, “Your sanctuary is lost, whether we leave you or not.”

“What do you mean?”

“A vampire army is coming,” Scott said. “These are the same vampires who killed your kind. If we leave, they’ll kill you all.”

The vampire turned around and looked at the other vampires. They stood in silence for several seconds.

“I think they’re having a telepathic town meeting,” Scott said.

Lily snorted.

The vampire turned back around and said, “Perhaps we can establish some sort of… arrangement?”

Chapter 19

The Assault Begins

“That’s a lot of damn vampires,” Jesse said.

“Yes,” Abbie said. “It is.”

Jesse and Abbie hid in the back of a broken down pick-up truck about a half a mile from the running army of vampires.

“It looks very much like the force that changed the direction of the war two years ago,” Abbie said. “They decided the way to win was to overpower us with brute force. For the most part, their plan worked.”

“Looks like they’ve taken that approach again,” Jesse said. “Really, that’s a lot of damn vampires.”

“You said that already,” Abbie said.

“It was worth saying twice,” Jesse said. “Vampires as far as you can see. How many would you say are down there? A hundred thousand? A million?”

“I have no idea,” Abbie said. “Too many to venture a guess. They’re moving away from DC. I wonder where they’re going.”

“There’s a big forest in that direction,” Jesse said. “Several miles, but that looks to be where they’re headed. I swear, that’s a damn ocean of vampires.”

“I can see that,” Abbie said.

“I’m surprised they don’t sense you,” Jesse said. “I’m still not used to the feeling of being near you.”

“They probably do feel it,” Abbie said, “but I doubt they’d recognize what’s causing it. You didn’t. Most likely, they just think it’s battle nerves.”

“So what should we do?” Jesse asked. “Follow them or go back to your bunker?”

“It’s very doubtful anybody is at the bunker,” Abbie said. “That place is a death trap.”

“So we follow the horde?”

“We follow the horde.”

“One more thing,” the video of Lily said, “if you’ve decided to go ahead and surrender, be sure to tie a bunch of white flags to your equipment.  Otherwise, we’ll just kill you like we killed all the other vampires who tried to stop us. See ya soon!”

Carl reached over and stopped the video. “Damn,” he said.

“Looks like you’re gonna be late for the party,” Travis said.

“How fast can we get there?” Carl wondered.

“With the vehicles we picked up along the way,” Travis said, “you and your friends can be there in a few hours. Which is probably a few hours too late. I don’t expect this shindig to last very long.”

“Damn,” Carl said again. “Well, we’d better get moving.”

“Have fun,” Travis said.

“You’re not coming?”

Travis laughed. “You think I’m part of your little team now? I’ve considered killing you at least a dozen times between New York and here.”

“Why?”

“You make this really annoying whistling sound when you breathe through your nose,” Travis said.

“I do not,” Carl huffed.

Travis pointed at him. “There! You just did it! I swear, if I have to keep hearing that, I’ll kill you. And yes, I mean that literally. I will kill you.”

“Fine,” Carl said as he left the control room. “Go on. Ignore the fact that you caused this.”

“Ignore it?” Travis said. “I love it. I’ve really missed you guys, Whistler.”

“Are you coming with us or not?”

“No,” Travis said. “I have things to do. You guys have fun, though. Let me know who wins.”

“I hate you,” Carl said.

“Well,” Travis said, “you can take it out on that vampire sneaking up behind you.”

Carl yanked a stake from his belt and spun around to see an empty room. “Har har,” he said as he turned back around. “You’re just a barrel of…”

Travis was gone.

“Laughs.”

Cassius and Ian stood at the edge of the woods. The army behind them stretched into the distance, farther than either of them could see.

“They’re in there somewhere,” Ian said. “I can smell them.”

“Yeah,” Cassius said. “Although, I also feel something else. Something… unpleasant.”

“It’s nerves, my friend,” Ian said. “I feel it too. I’m sure most of us feel it. This is a big day.”

“I don’t get nervous,” Cassius said. “Ever.”

“You’ve never faced the beginning of a new age before,” Ian said. “You’re just excited.”

“Nonsense,” Cassius said. “I’ve created empires before. This is only different in scale. What I’m feeling isn’t a case of nerves.”

“What are you suggesting?” Ian asked.

Cassius looked around. The forest was ahead of them, the road leading back to the ruins was behind them. “I know this feeling,” he said. “I’ve felt it before. A very long time ago.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Ian said.

“Holy shit,” Cassius said. “I know what’s causing this feeling. It’s been so long, I had forgotten, but I’m sure of it now.” He looked at Ian. “Everything has changed.”

“I’m very confused,” Ian said.

“The Day Soldiers have a new weapon,” Cassius said. “A very powerful weapon. We can’t just rush in with a straight assault. Not at first, anyway. We have to change our tactics.”

“Cassius,” Ian said, “you don’t normally join us in battle. You’re just anxious. We all are.”

“Are you stupid?” Cassius said. “I was fighting wars when the people of this country were still killing buffalo with spears. This is not anxiety. They have acquired a very dangerous weapon. You need to trust me on this.”

“Okay,” Ian said. “What do you suggest we do?”

Cassius was quiet, considering options. Finally, he said, “Do you have many soldiers who can control the wind?”

“Most of them can,” Ian said. “What do you have in mind?”

“Bring them to the front,” Cassius said. “We should have done this anyway.”

“Done what?”

Cassius peered into the woods. “We’re going to burn them out. That should cut down their numbers enough to make this much easier. Your people just need to make sure the fire burns away from us and toward them.”

“What kind of weapon do they have?” Ian asked.

“During your time as a Day Soldier,” Cassius said, “What did you learn about their search for good creatures?”

“I learned enough to assume they’re a myth,” Ian said. “Most Day Soldiers believed the search was a waste of important resources.”

“I can tell you now,” Cassius said, “the search has paid off.”

“Are you saying they’ve found a good creature?”

“That feeling in your gut,” Cassius said, “isn’t nerves. I’ve experienced it before and there is only one living thing that does that to a vampire. In the old days, we called them light bringers, because their very presence hurt us as much as daylight.”

“Okay,” Ian said. “I believe you. So we’re starting a fire. How many grenades to start it? Two? Three?”

“At least twenty,” Cassius said. “We’re not playing games here.”

“You’re the boss,” Ian said as he waved for several vampires to come closer.

The werewolf stepped into the camp and shifted to human form. “They’re here,” he said. “About two miles east, at the edge of the forest. When I left, they had stopped at the edge of the woods. I think they’re formulating a plan.”

“Okay,” Reagan said, looking around the camp. “Everybody get to your positions. Stoke up these campfires. We want it to draw them in. Werewolves, stay spread out. Each werewolf should cover at least a hundred yards of forest.”

Talbot nodded and turned to a group of men and women standing behind him. “Let’s go.” A moment later, they were gone.

Reagan looked at Scott. “Are you sure about those vampires, Scott? That’s an awful risk.”

“I’m sure,” Scott said. “They saw their own kind get wiped out by the pretty vamps. They know we’re their best chance at survival.”

“I wish you had come to me first,” Reagan said. “I’m not sure I would have promised them these woods. One thing we know about those types of vamps is that we can’t trust them.”

“Sorry,” Scott said. “It was a spontaneous thing.”

Reagan nodded. “Where are they now?”

“About a mile deeper in the woods,” Scott said. “They’re going to wait until the battle is underway. Element of surprise and all that.”

Reagan looked at Lily. “Baxter, get your team up to the north ridge. Remember, you’re a commander now. Don’t go running into the fray with a stake. Use your crossbow when you can.”

Lily nodded then turned to her team. Including Grung, Scott, and Cooper, she had thirty soldiers under her command. “Let’s go.”

Reagan looked at the soldier standing beside her. “Jane, contact the other camps. Tell them to get to their positions. Let them know the vampires are here.”

“On it,” the woman said.

“Okay, folks,” Reagan said. “Let’s win this thing.”

In the distance, they heard a string of explosions.

“What the hell was that?” Grung asked.

“I don’t know,” Reagan said.

“Requesting permission to check it out,” Grung said.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Scott said. “They’re starting a fire.”

Reagan sniffed the air. “Damn,” she said. She again turned to the communications officer. “Jane, tell everybody to head west, now.”

“Deeper into the woods?” Cooper said. “We haven’t scouted the area. We’ll lose our advantage.”

“What choice do we have?” Reagan said. “If they’ve set a fire, it’ll spread fast. We have to run. Maybe we’ll find a field or somewhere safe.”

“I can smell it now,” Lily said. “With my pathetic little human nose. It’s spreading fast.”

“Let’s move,” Reagan said. “Now.”

The group moved through the dark woods as fast as they could. As they moved, the smell of smoke grew stronger. Through the trees behind them, Lily could see a soft orange glow in the distance.

“We should’ve predicted this,” she said to Scott.

“Well, we didn’t,” Scott said.

“Just once,” Grung said, “I’d like a damn battle to go like we planned.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Cooper said.

Ahead of them, the group stopped walking. Lily jogged to the front of the group and saw that they had come to a very high cliff. “Damn,” she said.

“This is the place I was telling you about earlier,” Scott said. “It’s beautiful in the daylight.”

They stood over a very low valley. Most of the edge was a very steep cliff. Climbing down appeared to be impossible for the humans, especially at night.

“We’ll have to go around,” Lily said. “We’ll just keep moving until we find a spot that can be climbed.”

“No time for that,” Reagan said. She looked at the group. “Every werewolf, grab two humans and jump down there, then get your asses back up here and grab two more.” She looked through the trees to the east. “That light is getting brighter. Move!”

“Wait,” Scott said. “Something’s not right back there.”

“What do you mean?” Lily asked.

“Look at the light,” Scott said. “It stretches to the left and to the right, but it’s completely dark straight ahead. Why is there no fire in the center? It all should be burning.”

“Wind,” Lily said as she pulled out her crossbow and loaded a bolt. “They’re controlling the wind to create a path through. They’re coming.”

“Shit,” Grung said.

“Get your weapons ready!” Reagan yelled. “It’s about to get very ugly—”

Reagan fell to the ground.

Lily looked at Reagan and saw a bullet hole in her head. She was dead.

“Holy shit!” Cooper yelled.

“Find cover!” Scott screamed.

Hundreds of vampires sprang from the forest. Some fired guns, some attacked with their hands.

Every werewolf in the group immediately shifted and began to fight back.

With the light from the fire behind them, most of the vampires were simply black silhouettes, which made it very difficult for Lily to differentiate between the vampires and the other humans.

She decided her best bet was to get on the other side of the vampires, with the light of the fires behind her. “Come on,” she said to Cooper, then ran to along the edge of the cliff.

“Where are we going?” Cooper asked.

“We have to circle around and get behind them!”

As they ran along the edge of the cliff, Cooper looked back and said, “Looks like they’re using the same tactics they used in DC. They’re only using the guns on the werewolves. I’m assuming to conserve the silver bullets.”

“Good,” Lily said. “That might let us sneak around relatively unnoticed.”

They ran for several yards, then turned back and began to circle toward the woods. “Have that crossbow ready,” Lily said. “With that light behind us, we should have the advantage.”

“Until the fire catches up to us,” Cooper said. “Then we’re trapped.”

“We’ll have to deal with that when it happens,” Lily said.

They ducked into the woods and ran back toward the battle, doing their best to stay in the shadows. The light from the fire was getting brighter. Lily could actually feel the heat coming from the forest.

“This is going to be bad,” Cooper said as they got close enough to again see the fighting.

The battle was fierce. The humans were holding strong, driving stake after stake into the hearts of the vampires, but the vampires were merciless and had much higher numbers. The vampires swarmed the soldiers, breaking necks, throwing them from the cliff, and ripping out throats.

Without the werewolves, the fight would have been over in a few seconds. The werewolves spent most of their time defending humans. The wolves were more brutal than Lily had ever seen. They weren’t just staking the vampires. They were in a frenzy, ripping off heads, tearing off arms and legs, and throwing vampire parts over the cliff.

Beside her, Cooper was already firing his crossbow. Lily joined him.

“Does that kill them?” Cooper asked as he fired off another shot. “Ripping off their heads, I mean.”

“No,” Lily said as she fired a shot. “If you put the head back on the body, it’ll heal up almost instantly. But it does incapacitate them. And I’m guessing it hurts like a bitch.”

Every shot Lily fired was precise. She had a good view of the battle and, so far, her and Cooper had gone unnoticed. If she didn’t have a clear shot of a heart, she didn’t take it. Judging by the amount of vampires she saw drop from Cooper’s crossbow, Lily assumed he was being equally precise.

“I wonder how the other camps are doing,” Cooper said.

“Good question,” Lily said. She tapped her communicator. “Camp two, how are things there?”

No answer.

“Camp two, you copy? Tony, you there?”

Nothing.

Her and Cooper exchanged nervous glances, then she tapped the communicator again. “Camp three, give us an update.”

No answer.

“Camp three, are you there?”

“Lily?” It was a female’s voice, whispering and desperate.

“Ashley, is that you?” Lily asked.

“We need backup,” the voice said. “Now.”

“Ash, we can’t come,” Lily said. “What’s going on?”

“The forest is burning,” Ashley said. “They just leapt through the fires. It’s a slaughter, Lily. We need backup!”

“Just run,” Lily said. “Get the hell out of there!”

“Can’t run. Surroun—”

Silence.

“How many more camps do we have in these woods?” Cooper asked.

“Fifteen total, I think,” Lily said. “I’m not contacting the rest. We have our own problems.”

“Yes,” a voice said from behind them. “You do.”

Lily and Cooper turned around to see five vampires standing between them and the growing fires. They all held guns. The vampire in the front – a woman in a soldier’s uniform – smiled and said, “What do we have here? Boys, I believe we’ve found the infamous Lily Baxter.”

“If you have a pen,” Lily said, “I’ll be happy to sign your boob or something.”

“Not interested.”

“So I guess you’re gonna take me prisoner?” Lily said. “I’ll be honest here, I’m getting really tired of being taken prisoner by vampires. And I’m not sure why you guys keep doing it. It never works out well for you.”

“Well,” the vampire said, “you’re in luck. We have full permission to kill you. We’re done with politics. We’re here to end the—”

Several white figures burst from the trees and attacked the five vampires in front of them. It took Lily a moment to realize who the attackers were.

The bald vampires from the cave.

Dozens of them swarmed the five Topian vampires.

“Hot damn!” Cooper yelled. “They actually kept their word!”

The five Topians were completely unprepared to face other vampires. They had no stakes, no crossbows, no power objects, nothing.

The bald vampires, however, were completely prepared. Each one carried a makeshift stake. Within seconds, the Topians were dead.

One of the bald vampires pulled his stake from a Topian’s chest and stared at the ongoing battle by the cliff. “It’s time for revenge, my brothers and sisters,” he said in hissing serpentine voice. He looked at Lily. “We have done our best to contact others like us. We do not know if they will come, but we have tried.”

“Thank you,” Lily said. She really didn’t know what else to say. This was the first time in her life she didn’t have the desire to kill this type of vampire.

Without another word, the bald vampires joined the battle.

Lily picked up her crossbow and dropped to one knee. “We might actually win this fight.”

Chapter 20

Promotion

The battle by the cliff was unquestionably a victory for the Day Soldiers. The vampires from the first assault all lay dead on the ground. Lily and Cooper stepped over the bodies, looking to retrieve crossbow bolts and survivors. They moved fast because the fire was now dangerously close.

They also knew it was just a matter of minutes before the second assault came.

Lily stood over Reagan’s body. “I wasn’t what you’d call her biggest fan, but she deserved better than this.”

“Yeah,” Cooper said. “I agree. So do you and Scott have a thing?”

Lily just stared at him.

“Bad timing?”

“Yeah,” Lily said. “What the hell, man?”

Grung, Scott, and several other werewolves climbed up from the valley. The other werewolves went toward the other humans. Grung and Scott shifted back to their human forms and walked up to Lily and Cooper.

“Okay, guys,” Scott said. “You’re next. Just climb onto my back.”

“Ew,” Lily said. “You’re naked.”

“We’re in the middle of the biggest battle of our lives,” Scott said. “Do you really have to keep up the ‘you’re naked’ bit?”

“I think so, yeah,” Lily said.

Scott turned back into a werewolf and Lily climbed onto his back. She looked at Grung and Cooper. “Race you to the valley?”

“Wait,” Cooper said. “When you said yeah, did you mean it was bad timing or were you actually answering my question?”

“Take me to the valley, my big, strong, naked werewolf,” Lily said.

Scott leapt over the side.

“You’re not allowed to call me that,” Grung said.

“So Lily and Scott,” Cooper said. “Are they an item?”

Grung shifted to a werewolf and pointed toward his back. Cooper sighed and climbed on.

Once everyone was gathered in the wooded valley, they continued to move away from the flames above. The other side of the valley was a steep incline, but it wasn’t like the cliffs on the east side. This side was at least walkable.

Lily found it incredibly disturbing that they now had a group of vampires travelling with them. She might have been able to handle it if the vampires had been more human, but these vampires looked exactly like the creatures she fought in Iveyton. They were the same creatures who killed her family.

No, she reminded herself. They look like them, but these aren’t the same vampires. I killed those vampires.

It still wasn’t pleasant. She knew these vampires weren’t fighting for the good of humanity. They weren’t fighting for the good of anything. They simply fought for revenge.

Ultimately, she decided she didn’t care why they were fighting. She had to admit, those ugly bastards were the reason they’d won the first skirmish. If these vampires decided to betray them later, the Day Soldiers would kill them. End of story.

As they walked toward the top, they expected a second wave of Topians to attack at any moment. By the time the made it to the top of the rise, no more attacks had come.

Scott walked beside Lily. He wore a pair of pants he’d taken from his backpack, but nothing else. “I finally made contact with camp three,” he said. “Most of them survived the fight.”

“Ashley?” Lily asked.

Scott nodded. “Yeah. Spoke to her personally. She’s okay.”

“Thank God,” Lily said. “I was sure she’d been killed. What about the other camps?”

“We’ve only been able to reach four other camps,” Scott said. “That’s including camp three. The rest aren’t answering.”

“That’s bad, Scott,” Lily said. “How many people do you think are still alive?”

“We have around a thousand in our camp,” Scott said. “We only lost forty-seven soldiers up on the ridge, but that’s because we had these bloodsuckers helping. I’d say the other camps had much higher casualties.”

“Yeah,” Lily said. “That’s definitely bad. We’re lucky if there are three thousand surviving Day Soldiers in these woods. This isn’t working out like we hoped.”

Scott stopped and turned around.

From their height, they were roughly even with the woods on the other side of the valley.

The entire forest across the valley was engulfed in flames.

“Maybe the fire got too big for them to control,” Lily said. “Now they have to wait it out before they continue the attack.”

“Makes sense,” Scott said.

“Do you see any other soldiers?”

Scott pointed to an area in the valley below. “There are some soldiers working their way through the valley. I can’t really make out who they are. They’re too far for to see, even with my fancy werewolf eyes.”

“I’m just glad to know there were some survivors,” Lily said. “I’m starting to think coming to the woods was a very bad idea.”

“Nah,” Scott said. “They just cheated. I think when the full assault comes, we’ll be glad our werewolves are in the woods.”

“I wish crossbow bolts could clear this valley,” Lily said. “We could pick off a lot of em while they went down those cliffs.”

“Yeah,” Scott said. “That’d be nice, but we don’t have anything with that kind of range.”

“I still think we should camp here for a bit,” Lily said. “With the moonlight, we can see fairly well and we have a clear view of the other side. We’ll be able to see them coming and we’ll have the high ground.”

“Both good points,” Scott said. “By the way, your boyfriend’s coming.”

“Huh?”

“Turn around.”

Lily turned around to see Cooper walking toward them. “You’re an asshole,” Lily quietly said to Scott.

“What?” Scott said. “I think you make a cute couple.”

“Shut your face,” Lily snapped.

Cooper jogged up to them and said, “Okay, I’ve been talking to the other team leaders. Since we lost Reagan, the team leaders are all equal as far as ranking is concerned.”

“Right,” Lily said. “I have a suggestion for them, if they want to meet. I think we should stay here for a while.”

“That’ll be up to you,” Cooper said.

“Huh?”

“That’s what we just decided,” Cooper explained. “You’re in charge. We can’t run this battle with a committee. One person should call the shots, and we all agree that person should be you.”

“Why me?” Lily asked. “I’m far less experienced than most of the team leaders here.”

“Don’t be goofy,” Cooper said. “You’ve not been with the Day Soldiers as long as us, but you have far more experience. We’ve never taken down a thousand vampires in one night.”

“It was closer to five hundred,” Lily said. “I had Leo with me.”

“Whatever,” Cooper said. “You’ve accomplished some amazing shit.”

“I’m not a leader,” Lily said. “Ask my team. I’m terrible at following orders, and I almost never make logical decisions.”

“We don’t need someone who can make logical decisions,” Cooper said. “We need someone who can make the right decisions. That person is you. The proof is the fact that you’ve faced some crazy shit, yet you’re still here.”

“Don’t I get a vote?” Lily asked.

“No,” Cooper said. “We all agreed unanimously, so even if you had a say, you’d have been outvoted.”

“Coop,” Lily said, “I’m really not a military—”

“Shut up already,” Cooper said. “You’re in charge. Adjust. Now, what were you saying about staying here?”

Lily took a moment to let the promotion sink in, then said, “Okay. I’m in charge. I think we should stay put for a while. We have a clear view of the other side and we have the high ground.”

“Bad idea,” Cooper said. “We’re not doing that.”

“You just told me I was in charge!” Lily said. “Like, twenty damn seconds ago.”

“Right,” Cooper said. “I always questioned Reagan’s orders. I’m sure you questioned Wallace’s. So I’m questioning this order. I think it’s a bad idea.”

Lily groaned. “Why?”

“Because some of our scouts said there’s a lake just over the next rise,” Cooper said. “If there happens to be an island on that lake, I think we could mount a solid defense there.”

“Or we could get ourselves completely trapped,” Scott said.

“Think about it,” Cooper said. “These vampires would have to cross a lake to get to us. If they go under the water, we could pick them off as they resurfaced. And the ones who do make it to the island will be forced to fight up close. When fighting vamps, up close and personal gives us the advantage.”

“Why the hell didn’t you mention this first?” Lily said.

Cooper shrugged. “I figured you knew what you were talking about when you said we should stay here. I was obviously wrong.”

“How did you go from being my best buddy to being an asshole?” Lily said.

“I guess I just have a problem with authority,” Cooper said. “You’re now part of the establishment.”

“You made me accept the position!” Lily said.

Cooper flashed a smile and gave her a wink. “Ironic, isn’t it.”

“Get your ass back to the others and tell them we’re going to this lake,” Lily said.

“Sir, yes sir!” Cooper said with a salute. He started toward the others then stopped and turned around. “You know I’m just giving you shit, right?”

“Yes, Coop,” Lily said. “I know.”

“Joking aside,” Cooper said, “we chose you to lead us because we all respect the hell out of you and your team. You guys don’t succeed because you trust the rules and procedures. You succeed because you trust each other.”

“Thanks, Coop,” Lily said. She felt her face flush slightly. “We’re not that special. Honestly, a lot of what we accomplished was luck.”

“Whatever the reason,” Cooper said, “you guys don’t accept defeat. Ever. The people here respect that. I thought you should know. Both of you.”

“Thanks,” Lily said. “Now stop confusing me by being nice, then being an ass, then being nice again. Pick a personality and stick to it.”

Cooper smiled. “Yes, sir.”

“Get everyone ready to move,” Lily said. “If we’re following your suggestion, we’d better get going. I’m sure that fire won’t hold them back forever.”

“Yep,” Scott said. “And there’s your proof.”

“What do you mean?” Lily asked.

Scott pointed to the cliffs across the valley.

The vampires were lining up along the edge of the cliff. Thousands of them.

“Damn,” Lily said. “Coop, get those people moving. Now.”

As Cooper ran to the group, Scott activated his communicator and said, “Okay, people. If you’re in the valley, hide. Hide now. The vamps are coming across. Don’t do anything stupid. There are too many of them to fight down there. Just hide. Once they’ve passed, make your way up the mountainside. There’s a lake over the rise. That’s where we’re making our stand. Get to that lake.”

“We’re in trouble,” Lily said.

“We’ve been in trouble before,” Scott said.

“Chief!”

Lily and Scott turned around to see Grung and Talbot running toward them. Several of the bald vampires were with them.

“You guys make it to that lake,” Grung said. “We’ll slow these bastards down.”

“No, Grung,” Lily said. “We’re going to need you at the lake.”

“If you don’t make it to the lake, it won’t matter,” Grung said.

“He has a point,” Scott said.

“How many werewolves do we have with us?” Lily asked.

“Ninety-seven,” Grung said. “Hopefully, the ones with the other camps made it to that valley. We’ll get them to join us.”

“How many do you need to take with you?” Lily asked.

“Give me sixty,” Grung said. “The vamps want to go with us. You can take the rest of the wolves with you.”

“Scott,” Lily said, “you’re coming with us. No arguing. I need you with me.”

“That’s sweet,” Grung said.

“Shut up,” Lily said. “He’s my best advisor.”

“Scott,” Lily continued, “get on the radio and tell the werewolves in the valley to meet up with Grung.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Talbot said. He shifted to his wolf form.

“Why won’t it be necessary?” Lily asked.

“We got this,” Grung said. “Go!”

As Lily and Scott ran toward the rest of the soldiers, Grung and Talbot began to howl.

Chapter 21

Storm Chasers

“Stop the car,” Carl said.

The man driving the car glanced at him and said, “We’re almost there. You sure?”

In the distance, they saw great columns of smoke rising from the somewhere too far away to see. Carl was certain that was the site of the battle.

Right now, though, he was more concerned with what he saw in one of the houses on the side of the road.

“I’m sure, Alex” he said. “Pull over.”

The driver – Alex – slowed the car, eventually coming to a stop. The line of cars behind them did the same.

Carl jumped from the car and began walking toward the house.

“Did you see something?” Alex asked as he stepped from the car.

“A kid,” Carl said.

“What?”

“I saw a little kid in that window,” Carl said. “He was waving for us to stop.”

“Respectfully,” Alex said, “we can check on the kid on our way back. He’s probably safer in that house anyway.”

“We’re checking it out now,” Carl said. “If he’s safe, we’ll leave him here, but we have to know.”

“I think we have bigger fish to fry.”

“No!” Carl snapped. “We don’t.” As he walked, he pointed at the house. “We are fighting this war for that kid! That’s why we’re doing this. If we just leave him here to die because we don’t have time to check on him, we’re fighting this war for nothing.”

“If we let the world die,” Alex said, “the kid won’t be any better off. Besides, what are you gonna do? Take him into battle?”

“If I have to,” Carl said.

“This is stupid,” Alex said.

Carl spun around to face Alex. “You want to go to the battle, go. Leave me the car and get with the others. I’m not leaving some kid to die, probably alone. You go worry about the needs of the many. I’ll take care of this one.”

He spun around and again started toward the house.

“Okay,” Alex said. “We’ll check on the kid. But make it quick.”

Crossbows drawn, they silently entered the house. Carl listened for any sounds. At first, the house was completely silent.

A female voice broke the silence.

“Come on out, honey,” it said from upstairs. “I’m sorry I was gone so long, but I’m back now. Did you have plenty to eat while I was gone? Honey, come on out. I won’t hurt you.”

Alex looked terrified. The voice had a ghostly quality to it. It seemed to fill the entire house.

Carl looked at him and mouthed, Vampire.

The voice upstairs continued. “I would have come back sooner, but… well… things happened.”

Carl and Alex crept up the stairs and silently walked to the end of a narrow hallway. Carl peaked around the corner.

The vampire was leaning against a closed door. She was beautiful. She looked similar to the vampires from the battle of DC, but there was something different about her. Something otherworldly. Something… scary.

Carl stepped into the hallway and said, “Hey. Over here.”

The vampire sprang to her feet and charged him, teeth bared.

Carl fired the crossbow, landing a direct hit to the heart. The vampire immediately fell to the floor.

Carl walked up to her and pulled the bolt from her heart. “Come on out,” he said to Alex. “She was the only one.”

Alex stepped around the corner. “I hate those things.”

“She was different,” Carl said. “It’s very interesting. The other vampires I’ve faced were monsters, but they weren’t like her. She felt… supernatural.”

“They come into New York occasionally,” Alex said. “Usually, we just had to deal with scrawny vamps that crawled up out of the sewers, but occasionally these vampires would roll into town. I know people who claim they’ve seen them actually turn into fog and just…disappear.”

“Ah,” Carl said. “Travis.”

“The vampire you brought into New York?”

“Yeah,” Carl said. “I’m sure this woman was turned by vampires Travis made. She was probably out scavenging for food when they got her.”

He tapped on the door. “Hello? Anybody in there?”

Silence.

“My name is Carl,” he said. “I’m a Day Soldier. It’s safe now. You can come out.”

When there was no answer, Carl said, “Okay, I’m going to kick the door open. Don’t be scared, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just worried that you might not be able to open the door.”

“Why didn’t the vampire do that?”

“Who knows,” Carl said. “Sometimes they get off on torturing people. I’m assuming the kid in there is her kid. Maybe she was just trying to convince him she’s not a monster. Doesn’t matter now.”

With one solid kick, the door flew open.

A little girl sat huddled in the corner of the room. He held two pencils, taped together to make a cross. She was crying silently.

“Hi,” Carl said in a gentle voice. “It’s okay now. The vampire is gone.”

“It was my mom,” the girl said. “She’s a vampire now.”

“I’m really sorry,” Carl said.

“She went to get food, but when she came back, she was a vampire. That means I’m not supposed to listen to her anymore.”

“That’s right,” Carl said. “Did your mom teach you that?”

The girl nodded.

“Sounds like you had a really cool mom,” Carl said.

“When she came back, she tried to pretend like she wasn’t a vampire, but I know she was,” the girl said.

“Well, it’s over now,” Carl said. “What’s your name?”

“Marty,” the girl said.

“How old are you, Marty?”

“Six.”

“You’re very brave,” Carl said.

“You’re standing on my holy water,” Marty said.

Carl looked down to see that the floor was wet. “You had holy water?”

Marty nodded. “Mom had it from before I was born. She gave it to me whenever she went to town.”

“And you poured it in front of the door when she came back?” Carl said. “That’s really smart.”

“Mommy told me to do it,” Marty said. “Before she was a vampire.”

Carl smiled. “Marty, do you want to come with us?”

Marty nodded.

“Okay,” Carl said. “You might have to stay in a car for a while, but we’ll make sure someone is with you the whole time, okay?”

She nodded again.

“This is a very bad idea,” Alex said.

“Are you suggesting we leave her here?”

Alex sighed. “No. We can’t leave her here.”

“Alright then,” Carl said. He looked at the little girl. “Marty, I’m going to carry you down the stairs. When we leave this room, I want you to close your eyes until I say it’s okay to open them again. Can you do that for me?”

Marty nodded.

“Good girl,” Carl said. “Now let’s go. I have some food and water in the car if you want it.”

“Chicken?” Marty asked.

Carl chuckled. “I wish. It’s just cruddy granola bars.”

“I like granola bars,” Marty said.

“Well, good,” Carl said as he picked the little girl up, “because we have plenty of those. You can have mine. I think they taste like dirty monkey toes.”

Marty giggled.

Carl glanced back at the hallway. He could see her mother’s foot through the door. “Okay, it’s time to close your eyes while we go downstairs. You ready?”

“It’s because my mom’s in the hall,” Marty said.

Carl sighed. “Yeah, kiddo. I think it’ll make you sad if you see her.”

“I’m not mad at you,” Marty said.

“I’m glad,” Carl said.

“You sent her to heaven,” Marty said.

“Still,” Carl said, “I’ll feel better if you close your eyes.”

“Okay,” Marty said. “They’re closed.”

Carl jogged into the hallway and around the corner. “Okay,” he said. “You can open them now. You did really good.”

“I looked.”

Carl looked at her. She was crying.

“Carl, buddy,” Alex said. “We really have to go.”

Carl nodded silently. Marty buried her face in shoulder and sobbed as they walked to the cars.

Jesse landed in a large field about a mile south of the blazing forest. He set Abbie on the ground, then dropped to his knees.

“Is it really that bad?” Abbie asked.

“Yes,” Jesse said. “Your presence hurts. We need to get to this battle so I can get the hell away from you.”

“You’re hurting my feelings,” Abbie said.

“You’re hurting my everything,” Jesse replied.

“Fair enough,” Abbie said. “I agree we need to get to the battle. We should have joined the fight when that first wave of vampires entered the woods. You completely ignored my orders.”

“Yes, I did,” Jesse said. “Good thing I’m not one of your Day Soldiers, huh. That old man died to give you this power. Do you really want to throw that away by burning up in a forest fire? If you’re going to make a difference in this fight, you have to do it on your own terms.”

“I disagree,” Abbie said. “I could have saved lives in those woods.”

“You’re not fireproof,” Jesse said.

“What’s done is done,” Abbie said. She looked at the smoke in the distance. “If they were in those woods, they would have run from the fire.”

“There’s a lot of ways they could’ve gone,” Jesse said. “I can find them faster if you let me search by myself. I can find them, then come back for you.”

“I agree,” Abbie said. “I’ll be okay here. Go find the teams, then come and get me.”

“Be back soon.”

“Just find them and come back,” Abbie said.

“We covered that,” Jesse said.

“No matter how the battle is going,” Abbie said, “you’ll help them most by coming to get me. Don’t jump in and try to help. If you get killed, I’m stuck here.”

“Got it,” Jesse said. “Damn, woman. I bet you were the trainer all Day Soldiers hoped they didn’t get.”

“Go!”

Without another word, Jesse sprang from the ground and was gone.

Chapter 22

Vampires, Werewolves, and Topians

“Cute,” Cassius said. “Looks like the dogs are attacking so their masters can escape.”

“I wouldn’t speak so lightly of werewolves,” Ian said. “They are formidable.”

Cassius and Ian stood at the edge of the cliff, watching the werewolves run down the mountain on the far side of the valley. They couldn’t see the werewolves clearly because of the trees, but they saw enough to figure out the werewolves were probably going to try to slow them down. The howls a few seconds earlier told them there were other werewolves in the area as well.

Countless Topian soldiers stood behind them. The burning forest roared behind the army.

“Rousing speech time,” Ian said as he turned around to face the troops.

“I thought you didn’t give rousing speeches?” Cassius said. “I thought your people didn’t need them for motivation.”

“This isn’t for my soldiers,” Ian said with a smirk. “This is for the history books.”

Cassius laughed. “I see.”

“Listen up,” Ian said to the soldiers. “We’ve got a fire pushing us into a valley full of vampires and werewolves who want to kill us. They will be fighting with a fury we’ve never faced because they’re fighting to stop the end of the world.

“The end of their world, I should say.

“We are fighting for a new world. A better world. We are not like the vampires and werewolves in that valley. We are not slaves to our desires. We are not mindless animals. My friends, we are not vampires. So I ask you… what are we?”

“I’ll just be honest here,” one of the soldiers in the front said. “I kinda thought we were vampires.”

Cassius laughed.

“No, my friend,” Ian said. “You are not a vampire.” He pointed toward the valley. “The monsters in that valley are vampires. We are nothing like them. We are better. We are evolved.”

“I’ll tell you what we are,” Ian said as he jumped onto a higher rock on the edge of the cliff. “WE ARE TOPIANS!”

The soldiers roared.

“Let’s finish this!”

The Topians poured over the side of the cliff.

“Not bad,” Cassius said. “A little dramatic, but that’s okay, I suppose.”

Ian watched as his soldiers disappeared beneath the canopy of treetops covering the valley. “They seemed to like it. I don’t think you could have done better.”

“I’m not one for political speeches,” Cassius said.

“I’m starting to think you’re just an instigator,” Ian said. “I’ve never seen you actually do anything. You get other people to do everything for you.”

“Give me that sword,” Cassius said, pointing to the silver sword on Ian’s back.

Ian drew the sword and handed it to Cassius.

“You’re making some incorrect assumptions about me,” Cassius said as he examined the blade. “I don’t waste my time doing things others are happy to do for me. I don’t stand in front of cameras and make fancy speeches. I don’t command armies when I have generals to do it for me.”

“What do you do?” Ian asked.

“I build worlds,” Cassius said. “You can be the hero if you want. Just remember, heroes defend worlds. Gods build them.”

“Wow,” Ian said. “I always knew you had a god-complex. I just didn’t know it was literal. Have you ever actually fought in a battle, or do you just send your worshippers to do it for you?”

“I’ll fight for two reasons,” Cassius said. “No more, no less. First and foremost, I’ll fight when I have no choice. Usually, I have a choice. More often than not, I have people who are perfectly happy to do my fighting for me.”

“And the other reason?”

Cassius smiled. “Sometimes… on very rare occasions… I fight because I want to.”

Ian cocked an eyebrow. “Is today one of those days?”

“I believe it is,” Cassius said as he lightly twirled the sword.

Grung and Talbot led the vampires and werewolves toward the other howls that had answered their call. They bound down the mountainside and darted through the trees.

Grung saw the other werewolves almost immediately. He sprinted to them and shifted back to his human form.

The wolves in front of him quickly became human. The one nearest him was a woman named Kay. He’d talked to her a few times over the past year. She used to be one of Talbot’s werewolves, so she didn’t have a deep respect for Grung or the Day Soldiers.

“I’m glad you’re alive, Kay.”

“We lost a lot of people,” she said. “We should have considered the possibility of fire.”

“Agreed,” Grung said. “How many are with you?”

“Eighty-four werewolves,” Kay said. “Ashley took the humans up the mountain.”

“Then you did better than us in the first battle,” Grung said. He looked around the dark woods. “The vamps are probably already in the valley. We need to set up a second wave. Talbot and I will take our people to the cliff side. We’ll meet them head on.”

Kay looked at Talbot. Talbot gave her a single nod.

“You take your wolves to the opposite side and stay there,” Grung continued. “We’ll fight them long enough to let em think we’re all that’s left. Hopefully, that’ll bring most of em down on us. When you hear us howl for you, get there fast. The only chance we have is the element of surprise.”

Kay looked at Talbot again.

“Stop looking at him for approval,” Grung said. “I told you where to go.”

Kay’s lip curled into a subtle snarl.

Grung punched her, hard. She flew into a nearby tree and fell to the ground.

“I don’t have time for a pissing contest,” Grung said. “Take your position or I swear to God I’ll kill you right now just to get you out of my way.”

Kay climbed to her feet and stood facing him for a few seconds. Finally, she said, “We’ll finish this later.”

“I look forward to it,” Grung said. “Now get your ass to the other side of that valley.”

Kay turned to the werewolves with her and nodded. They quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Talbot gave Grung a friendly nudge and said, “Now that’s how you lead werewolves.”

“We’re probably going to die to today,” Grung said. He pulled a stake from his backpack. “Just so you know.”

Talbot nodded. “It will be an honorable death. That’s good enough for me, my friend.”

“Defending humans is an honorable death?” Grung said. “You’ve gotten soft, old man.”

Talbot laughed. “I was wrong about the Day Soldiers. They are warriors. They fight for something greater than themselves.  I am honored to stand with them.” He placed his hand on Grung’s shoulder. “And I am honored to fight by your side.”

“Let’s do this,” Grung said as fur began to sprout onto his face and body.

Grung and Talbot – in wolf form – burst from the trees and attacked the first Topians to drop from the cliff. The werewolves behind them quickly joined the fray.

Grung grabbed the first Topian and ripped his head off, throwing it as far as he could. A second Topian aimed his weapon at Grung but didn’t fire because Talbot quickly ripped his arm from his body.

Every werewolf had come to the battle carrying a stake. Within the first second of battle, all the stakes were on the ground. The werewolves discarded them in favor of a bloodier assault.

They knew it wasn’t the most strategic move. Ripping Topians apart didn’t technically kill them. It did, however, incapacitate them. It was also a good way to hit the morale of the other Topians who happened to see their friends being ripped into little pieces.

Most importantly, though, it just felt good to tear the bastards apart.

The bald vampires sprang from the woods and joined the battle. Instead of staking the Topians, they did something that surprised Grung.

They swarmed the Topians and fed on them.

Now that’s Karma, Grung thought briefly before attacking another Topian.

The battle was brutal. The werewolves kept the fight as close to the cliff as possible, using the cliff itself as a weapon. They regularly slammed the Topians against the wall. Within a few minutes, the base of the cliff was drenched in blood.

After several minutes of fighting, Grung heard one of the Topians scream, “Here! The battle is here!” He was clearly signaling the other soldiers to come to the fight.

Grung began to howl. Nearby, he heard Talbot join him.

Within seconds, the second wave of werewolves – led by Kay – joined the fight.

The werewolves were grossly outnumbered, but they fought with a ferocity the vampires simply couldn’t match. For a brief moment, Grung actually thought, We might just win this thing.

Then Cassius dropped from the cliffs above.

Cassius landed softly and immediately sliced off the head of a nearby werewolf. Another wolf attacked from behind, but Cassius easily flipped over the creature and drove his sword through its back.

Two of the bald vampires rushed him. He leapt into a nearby tree, broke off two branches, then came back to the ground and drove the branches into the vampires’ hearts.

A third werewolf grabbed him from behind and threw him into the wall of the cliff. The impact caused his sword to fly into the air as the werewolf charged him.

Before the werewolf reached him, Cassius scrambled up the face of the cliff, grabbed his sword while it was still in mid-air, then dropped on top of the werewolf, driving the sword through its skull.

“Remind me to never make you angry.”

Cassius turned around to see Ian watching him.

With a grin, Cassius said, “I’m not pissed, my friend. This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

“Okay,” Ian said. “Remind me to never let you have fun with me as your target.”

With a slight nod, Cassius said, “You have a big ugly werewolf behind you.”

Ian spun around to see a very large gray wolf standing behind him. Before he could react, the wolf knocked the gun from his hand and lifted him up by his throat.

“A little help here?” Ian said.

Cassius leaned against the cliff. “No way. I want to see what you’ve got, soldier.”

Ian pressed both feet against the werewolf’s chest and pushed himself away. The creature’s claws left several large gashes in his throat, but he managed to break himself free and land on the ground between the wolf and Cassius.

“Can I at least have my sword back?”

“Nope,” Cassius said.

As the werewolf took a step closer, lip curled into a nightmarish snarl, Ian said, “Cassius, sometimes you’re a real jerk.”

The werewolf suddenly howled with rage and charged toward Cassius. Ian tried to attack, but the wolf was clearly no longer interested in him. It lifted him into the air and threw him into the woods.

Cassius pulled his sword to a ready position and smiled. “Ah, you know my name. I hope that means you’re a high ranking dog soldier.”

The wolf stood facing him for a moment, then began to change back to a human.

Even in its human form, the werewolf had a strong wolf-like appearance. His face was still mostly covered in fur and his incisors were still inhumanly long.

“Am I supposed to know you?” Cassius said.

“Perhaps you know of me,” the werewolf said as it reached behind its back and drew a short sword. “I was Daciana’s general.”

“Talbot?” Cassius asked.

Talbot nodded.

“I must admit,” Cassius said, “it surprises me that you would join these humans. Daciana always spoke so highly of you, but here you are fighting alongside filth.”

“You were a fool to join this battle,” Talbot said as he tossed the sword from hand to hand.

“Also,” Cassius said, “you werewolves look absolutely ridiculous with those backpacks. I know it serves a purpose, but it really just makes you look… domesticated.”

Talbot attacked.

For the first time since becoming a werewolf, Grung was tired. No single Topian was a match for him, but every one he killed was replaced by five more.

They just kept coming.

Grung’s heart ached when he saw werewolf after werewolf fall in battle. They’d been holding off the vampires for several important minutes, but it was rapidly becoming a slaughter.

It’s time to go, he thought as he pulled a stake from a nearby Topian’s heart.

Before he could signal a retreat, two figures burst through the trees. Neither of them seemed to notice Grung. They were busy fighting each other.

With swords.

Grung recognized one of them instantly. He shifted to a human and yelled, “Talbot! Am I supposed to stay out of this?”

“Hell no!” Talbot yelled as he and Cassius clashed swords. “This isn’t some honor fight!”

That was all Grung needed to hear. He quickly shifted back to his wolf form and grabbed Cassius from behind, slamming him into the wall.

Without so much as a moment’s hesitation, Cassius pushed off the wall and leapt into the trees above.

Grung again became human. “Who the hell was that?”

“Cassius!” Talbot said. “Come on! We have a chance to take off the serpent’s head!”

Before they took their first step, Cassius sprang from the trees and drove his sword into Talbot’s heart.

Grung roared and started to attack, but the vampire was gone as suddenly as he had appeared. He started to chase him, but stopped when he saw that Talbot was still breathing.

Grung kneeled beside his friend. “Come on,” he said. “I’m getting you out of here.”

“I took a silver sword in the heart,” Talbot said. “Don’t be foolish. My part in this war has ended.”

Grung took a deep breath, then nodded.

“I’m sorry about Wallace,” Talbot said.

“I know,” Grung said.

“Tell the others that I am sorry.”

With those final words, Talbot closed his eyes and died.

Grung stood up and looked around. The ground was covered with bodies. In the woods, he could hear the battle raging on. More than any other sound, he heard the cries of dying werewolves.

Grung again took his wolf form and howled.

It was an order to retreat.

This battle was over.

Grung hoped they had at least bought Lily enough time to prepare for the coming battle.

Chapter 23

The Lake

Lily stepped from the boat onto the tiny beach of the island in the center of the lake. While the beach was small, the island itself was rather large. Several boats carrying the rest of the Day Soldiers continued to land.

“I told you,” Cooper said. “This is the best place to make a final stand.”

At one time this lake had obviously been a popular vacation retreat. Several vacation homes lined the edge of the lake. Most of them had small docks with boats, which was how the team got to the island in the middle.

The island had apparently been an entertainment center for the retreat. There were several shops, a small hotel, and a large square in the middle that was probably used for parties and dancing. The festive decorations added to the loneliness of the island. This place had been deserted for a long time.

Scott stood beside Lily, watching the last of the troops climb from their boats.

“How many people do we have?” Lily asked.

“I haven’t done a full count,” Scott said. “No time. If I had to guess, I’d say we’re around the five thousand mark. There may be more on the way, but we can’t count on that.”

“Five thousand,” Cooper said, “against hundreds of thousands of vampires. That’s not good odds.”

“And this time,” Lily said, “there’s no army of werewolves coming to save us, like in DC.”

“We’re going to lose this, aren’t we,” Cooper said. It wasn’t a question.

“Winning the battle isn’t our goal,” Lily said. She looked at Scott. “Does anybody have a video camera?”

“If some of our troops are using their original Day Soldier rifles, they probably have small digital recorders attached to the scope,” Scott said. “The recordings made great training vids for the new recruits.”

“Find out,” Lily said. “And if none of the rifles have cameras, check the buildings in this resort. Surely there’s a camera here somewhere.”

“What’s your plan, chief?” Scott asked.

“You’re not gonna like it,” Lily said.

“That’s okay,” Scott said. “I’m used to not liking your plans.”

“I want you to find a camera and attach it to the highest point on this island,” Lily said. “Probably a rooftop to one of the buildings.”

“Okay.”

“When the battle starts,” Lily explained, “I want you to start recording, then join the fight.”

“Sure thing,” Scott said. “Not sure why you thought I wouldn’t like that.”

“Here’s the part you won’t like,” Lily said. “When the battle turns and defeat looks inevitable, go get the camera and get the hell out of here.”

“I think I see where she’s going with this,” Cooper said.

“Before you start arguing,” Lily went on, “you’re the best person to do this, Scott. You’re a werewolf, so you’ll stand a good chance of escaping. And you’re a poser, so you’ll be able to blend in to the new world.”

“You want me to show that video to the imprisoned humans,” Scott said.

Lily nodded. “After America falls, you have to figure out how to get to England. Infiltrate their human containment facilities and show people this battle. Show them that we fought to the very end. Show them that we chose death over slavery. Make as many copies as you can and make sure that video is shown to as many humans as possible.”

“This battle,” Cooper said, “isn’t about defending anything, is it. This battle is meant to inspire a new revolution. It’s meant to get humanity to start a new war.”

“Our deaths have to mean something,” Lily said. “That’s the best I can come up with. Scott, are you willing to do this for us? For me?”

For once, Scott didn’t argue. He simply gave her a single nod.

“Okay, go find a camera and set it up,” Lily said. She turned to Cooper. “You gather the troops. I want every person to get to this beach, crossbows ready. When they start to cross that water, we can drop hundreds of them before they ever make it to the island. Maybe thousands.”

“On it.” Cooper jogged away, running toward the other soldiers.

“He’s a good soldier,” Scott said.

“He is,” Lily agreed.

“If this goes like we expect,” Scott said, “we might not get a chance to say goodbye.”

“Yep,” Lily said. “Go get a camera.”

“Lily—”

“Scott, we’re fighting for the survival of human civilization!” Lily snapped. “Some things are just a little more important than personal bullshit. Go find a camera.”

“Yes, sir,” Scott said, a mix of pain and anger in his eyes. “Right away, sir.”

As he ran toward the island, Lily closed her eyes and tried her damnedest to prevent herself from crying.

She wanted to yell at Scott and tell him she loved him. When she really thought about it, she had no idea if that love was based in romance or friendship. She decided she didn’t care. Love was love, and she loved Scott dearly.

But right now, she didn’t want to feel love. She didn’t want to feel good, even for a moment. She held onto her anger and refused to let it go. She thought of everything she’d lost in this war.

She thought of her mom’s dead body, tied to a chair in an upstairs bedroom.

She thought of the look on her dad’s vampire face as he fell from that same bedroom window.

She thought of the hundreds of people she had killed in her hometown. All of her friends and family.

Dead.

By her hand.

She thought about the look on Leo’s face when he died.

She thought about the day Travis forced her to kill Greg and the day she found out that Wallace was dead.

She thought about the terror in Ellie’s eyes as she fell dead.

Grung was probably dead by now. Abbie too, probably. Nobody had heard from Abbie since she left DC.

Travis and Carl had been gone so long, Lily was beginning to accept the probability that Travis had killed him.

Yeah, she’d wanted to tell Scott she loved him, but she couldn’t risk letting any joy enter her heart. Right now, she wasn’t interested in love. Right now, she wanted to deliver hell to the monsters she was about to fight.

She didn’t want comfort.

She didn’t want closure.

Right now, Lily Baxter wanted one thing and one thing only.

She wanted revenge.

The soldiers stood along the beach of the island. They watched the woods on the other side of the lake intently. The soldiers stood side by side, packed as tightly as possible. Every soldier held a crossbow, ready to begin firing as soon as the Topians stepped from the forest.

Lily stood a few feet in front of the group, ankle deep in the water from the small beach. Cooper and Scott stood beside her.

“It’s been almost an hour,” Cooper said. “Maybe the werewolves are holding their own.”

Without looking away from the forest, Lily said to Scott, “Should you go back and restart the filming? How long can it record before it runs out of space?”

“It should be fine,” Scott said. “We found a camera in the restaurant. It had plenty of space. Should record for up to eight or nine hours. I seriously doubt this battle will last that long.”

“I have to pee,” Cooper said.

“Just go out until the water’s above your waist,” Lily said, “and pee in the lake.”

“Not possible,” Cooper said. “Shy bladder. Besides, that’s gross.”

“How is it gross?” Lily asked. “This is a lake, not a swimming pool. I’m sure there’s a ton of fish pee in that water already.”

“Does a fish pee?” Cooper asked. “I’ve never really thought about that.”

“Of course a fish pees,” Lily said.

“I’m not so sure,” Cooper said. “I mean, do they drink? They live in water. Wouldn’t that be like us peeing air?”

“If you need to pee,” Lily said, “go now. Jump behind one of the buildings back there. Just hurry.”

“Looks like you’ll have to hold it,” Scott said.

“Oh shit,” Lily said. “It’s starting.”

Across the lake, several werewolves sprang from the woods. They ran so fast, Lily could barely tell they were werewolves. The wolves didn’t even slow down when they got to the beach. They sprinted onto the water and kept running toward the island.

“Are they running on top of the water?” Cooper asked.

“It’s a speed thing,” Scott said. “If they slow down, they’ll sink like rocks.”

“That’s damn neat,” Cooper said.

Lily tapped her communicator. “Okay, people, it’s show time. I want all communications channels open. I don’t care if we start to overlap, I want to hear what’s going on. Crossbows ready. Team Leaders, check in.”

“Team two, check.”

“Team three, check.”

“Team five, check.”

“Hey, you jumped line, Tom. Oh, and team four, check.”

“Shut up. She didn’t say we had to report in order.”

“It just makes sense, though.”

“Team six, check.”

“Why does it make sense, Bernie?”

“Team seven, check.”

“Team eight, check.”

“Because it’s easier for Baxter to keep track if they’re in order, idiot.”

“Team nine, check.”

“Look, asshole, you didn’t speak up soon enough. What, was I supposed to wait all day for you to check in?”

“After this is over, I’m kicking your—”

“Okay!” Lily said. “When I said open channels, I didn’t mean you guys could spam us with your arguing. Keep the chatter relevant to the fight.”

“Sorry, boss.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

The werewolves ran onto the island’s beach. In all, there were twenty. The one in front shifted to his human form. It was Grung.

Lily hugged him. If she’d thought about it, she would have refrained, but the compulsion to give him a hug just overcame her.

“Thank God you’re okay,” she said as she pulled back.

“They’re not far behind us,” Grung said.

“How many?” Scott asked.

“Lots,” Grung said. “We held them as long as we could. Talbot is dead.”

“I’m sorry, Grung,” Lily said, surprised that she meant it. She was actually sorry that Wallace’s murderer was dead.

“He said to tell you he’s sorry for killing Wallace,” Grung said. “I promised I’d tell you that.”

“The vampires, Grung,” Scott said. “More than a thousand?”

“I didn’t have time to count them,” Grung snapped, “but I’d say more than a thousand. Maybe more than a hundred thousand. They flooded that valley. They were everywhere.”

“What about the other vampires,” Lily said. “The ones helping us, I mean.”

“Far as I could tell, they’re all dead,” Grung said. “Little bastards fought like heroes though. We couldn’t have held them off as long as we did without their help.”

“That’s probably a good thing,” Lily said. “I’m sure that alliance would have ended badly anyway.”

Across the lake, thousands of Topians stepped from the forest.

“Okay people,” Lily said into her communicator. “This is it. Our last hurrah. I suggest you use this opportunity to kill as many bloodsuckers as you can… and have fun doing it.”

Chapter 24

Humanity’s Last Stand

The Topians sprinted across the lake. Like the werewolves, they maintained enough speed to stay on top of the water.

“Fire!” Lily yelled.

The Day Soldiers staggered their shots. While one group fired, the second group reloaded. This allowed the onslaught of crossbow bolts to remain constant.

The first wave of vampires fell to crossbow assault. As soon as a vampire was struck by a bolt, it sank into the lake below.

The majority of vampires in the second wave also fell to the crossbow shots. A few made it to the beach but were quickly killed by stakes.

“This is working out great!” Cooper yelled as he fired. “You owe me dinner if we survive this!”

“You got it!” Scott yelled.

“I wasn’t talking to you, fuzzy,” Cooper said.

“I know,” Scott said.

Lily laughed as she dropped another vampire and quickly reloaded. “If you guys are gonna fight over me, I might just have to hook up with Grung.”

“Do I get a say in this?” Grung said as he fired his crossbow.

“Nope,” Lily said

The third group of vampires to run across the lake had significantly greater success. Their numbers were simply too large. Dozens of Topians charged the beach.

“Switch it up, boys!” Lily yelled as she drew her stake.

Cooper dropped his crossbow and pulled out two stakes.

Grung and Scott both drew stakes then changed to their wolf forms.

“I gotta say,” Cooper said as he drove his stake into the first vampire to reach him, “Scott’s gonna be hard to compete with. I mean, I can kill my share of vamps, but I can’t turn into a giant fuzzy monster.”

Lily dodged an attack and sank her stake into the attacking Topian’s heart. “You’ll just have to win me over with your charms, I suppose!”

“Can someone explain,” Cooper said as he killed two more vampires, “why you guys never talk about this stuff unless you’re killing vampires?”

“I honestly have no idea,” Lily said.

Across the beach, the battle rapidly turned from a ranged fight to a hand-to-hand conflict. Topians attacked humans, humans staked vampires, werewolves ripped off arms and legs and heads.

The water on the beach quickly began to turn red.

On the other side of the lake, Ian and Cassius watched the battle. “Where are your snipers?” Cassius asked.

“Weren’t many left after the fight at the cliffs,” Ian said. “We used a lot of ammo to stop those werewolves. I figure we should conserve what we have left. Once we’ve cleared out the humans, we can focus all our ammo on finishing off the dogs.”

“You’ll lose many soldiers doing that,” Cassius said.

“Can’t win a chess match without pawns,” Ian said. “Are you planning to join the fun this time?”

“You bet,” Cassius said. “Although, I think I’ll wait until they’ve exhausted their crossbows first.”

Ian chuckled. “Good plan.” After a brief pause, he said, “I do have one request.”

“You want Baxter,” Cassius said.

“If possible,” Ian said. “I don’t want to take any major risks to get her, but if the opportunity comes up, I’d like to face her. I’d like to kill her.”

“Why?” Cassius said. “She’s never wronged you. What do you have against the girl?”

“I have nothing against her,” Ian said. “I respect her greatly. Her death should be clean. I simple shot to the head. She doesn’t deserve a bloody death. The Topian who takes her life should understand the significance of that moment.”

Cassius shook his head. “I’ll never understand soldiers. You can dress it up all you want, but you’re just glorified murderers. Stop pretending this is about respect. You want to kill her because you want the glory.”

“Respectfully,” Ian said, “you’re wrong, sir. I do respect this girl.”

“Did she impress you that much when you talked to her in London?”

Ian was silent.

“Yeah,” Cassius said. “I knew about your little meeting. I’m surprised you thought you could keep something like that from me.”

“Cassius,” Ian began nervously.

“Relax, my friend,” Cassius said. “I promised you a long time ago that I would trust your judgment. While I’m disappointed you tried to hide it from me, I don’t consider it a big deal.”

“I’m sorry,” Ian said. “I should have had more respect for you.”

“No problem,” Cassius said, “but just so you know… if she somehow manages to win this battle, I’m blaming you.”

Ian laughed. “If she manages to win a battle against an army of Topians, I’ll take full responsibility.” After another moment of quiet, Ian added, “Do you feel the presence of your light bringer?”

“No,” Cassius said.

“Maybe the fire got him,” Ian said. “I admit, that was a stroke of genius, even if it did slow down our assault.”

“I also don’t see any more crossbows being fired,” Cassius said as he drew his sword. “You ready to join the party?”

“Yeah,” Ian said. He activated his communicator and said, “Topians, it’s time to end this. Everybody, let’s move.”

They sprinted toward the island, followed by the thousands of Topians that were waiting in the woods behind them.

The Topians pushed the humans toward the island’s interior. The battle was intense, but so far the humans held their own. The biggest problem was space. There were so many vampires, humans, and werewolves on the island, Lily could barely move. Everywhere she turned, she saw vampire faces.

On the other hand, this was an advantage because it prevented the vampires from sending their entire army in at once.

Each Day Soldier was easily worth twenty vampires, but the vampire numbers were so extreme, Lily found herself wishing the odds were as low as twenty to one. This felt more like a fifty to one.

Lily had already lost sight of Cooper, Grung and Scott. The crowd was so thick, she had also given up on trying to use stakes. Instead, she took full advantage of the fact that she was a channeler.

She ripped off her jacket. The tank top underneath gave her the opportunity to use her skin more effectively. She punched, smacked, and elbowed her way through the crowd.

Even with open communication, nobody was talking. They were clearly focused on the battle. Through her earpiece, she could hear screams, grunts, and roars.

I should say something, she thought as she punched another vampire in the face.

“Keep it up, people!” she yelled. “Show them what it means to face a Day Soldier!”

“Hey Bernie!” a voice yelled over the mic.

“Yeah,” another voice answered.

“Sorry about yelling at you earlier.”

“No problem, buddy.”

Lily laughed. Apparently, her team wasn’t the only team to maintain a sense of humor in the thick of a battle. She dodged another attack and returned with a punch that seemed to set the vampire’s face on fire.

“Baxter!” another voice said over the mic. It was Cooper.

“Yeah,” Lily said.

“Do you and Scott have a thing or not!” Cooper yelled.

Lily laughed so hard it almost got her bitten by another Topian. She dodged the attacked and thrust her palm into his face, sending him flying into the group of vampires behind him.

Screw it, she thought.

“No,” she said into the communicator, “but I kinda wish we did.”

From somewhere in the distance, she heard a wolf howl.

“Sounds like Scott’s wearing his communicator!” Cooper said.

Lily laughed again.

“Okay, I’ll step back,” Cooper added. “That’s all I needed to—”

“Coop?” Lily said as she smacked two vampires at the same time. “Coop!”

“He’s down,” a female voice said. “I saw several of them pull him to the ground.”

No, Lily thought. No.

“And now he’s back up!” Cooper yelled. “Bastards just learned what happens when they drink a channelers blood!”

Several people cheered.

Three vampires came at Lily at once. She managed to burn the first two, but the third one kicked her in the chest. She flew back, bounced off another vampire, then fell to the ground.

“Get back to the battle!” she heard a voice yell. “I will handle this.”

She recognized the voice.

“Hello again,” she said as she looked up.

Ian stood above her, his gun pointed at her head. “I gave you a chance, Lily,” he said. “I told you to run.”

“We did run,” Lily said.

Ian smiled. “Yeah, but you left us a map and dared us to come find you.”

“Just pull the damn trigger already.”

“I want you to know that you have earned my respect,” Ian said. “The history books will not paint you as a villain. You are truly a hero and that’s how you’ll be remembered.”

Lily jumped to her feet and attacked.

Ian pulled the trigger.

Scott was a few feet away when he heard the shot. He turned just in time to see Lily fall to the ground. A vampire holding a gun stood in front of her. Smoke trickled up from the gun’s barrel.

He roared and sprinted toward the vampire.

Another werewolf cut him off. He instantly recognized its scent.

Grung.

Grung tackled the vampire, causing both of them to disappear into the crowd.

Recognizing that Grung had taken care of the shooter, Scott turned his attention to Lily.

She was on her back, staring blankly at the sky. Her breathing was strained and erratic. Her left shoulder was covered in blood.

Scott quickly scooped her into his arms and leapt from the crowd.

Grung and Ian slammed onto the ground, the impact causing Ian to drop his weapon. Grung grabbed him by the legs, lifted him into the air, then slammed him against the ground.

Ian kicked himself free and jumped to his feet. They stood facing each other for a brief moment, then Ian turned and ran.

Grung followed.

He chased the vampire through the crowd, eventually coming to the beach. Ian sprinted across the surface of the water. Grung leapt through air and landed on his back.

Together, they sank beneath the murky surface of the lake.

Scott placed Lily on a couch in the island hotel’s lobby. She tried to get up, but moving caused excruciating pain to shoot through the left side of her body. Outside, she heard the sounds of battle.

“Relax,” Scott said quietly. “Your part in this is done.”

“No,” Lily said. She coughed and felt something warm on her chin. It took her a moment to realize it was blood coming from her mouth.

“Yes,” Scott said.

“What happened?” Lily asked.

“You’re shot,” Scott said. “Just relax, Lily.”

“I’ll be okay,” Lily said. “It just went into my shoulder.”

“It went in at an angle,” Scott said. “I think it hit a lung.”

Lily looked at him. It hurt to breathe. “Am I dying?”

Scott was silent.

“Scott,” she said, “am I dying?”

“I’m not a doctor, Lily,” Scott said.

“Scott.”

“I think so,” Scott said. “You’re coughing up a lot of blood.”

“Where’s my communicator?”

“I took it,” Scott said. “You don’t need it. You did your part, Lily. You did more for humanity than any person I’ve ever known.”

“What’s happening out there?” Lily asked.

“It’s not pretty.”

“Give me my communicator.”

“No.”

Lily coughed again. “Now, Scott.” She felt tears rim her eyes, then slip down her cheeks. “I need to be with them at the end. If it has to be through a communicator, so be it, but please don’t take that away from me. I have to be with them.”

Scott handed her the communicator.

“Now go,” Lily said. “Help them.”

“No,” Scott said. “It’s time for me to leave. It’s time for me to follow your orders, chief.”

“Is it that bad out there?”

“Yes,” Scott said. “I’m going to get the camera and I’m going to do what you asked. But for now, I’m staying right here.”

“Not necessary,” Lily said.

“Bullshit,” Scott said. “If they find us in here, I’ll be damned before I let them have you. They’ll turn you, Lily. Out of spite.”

Lily attached the communicator to her ear and held out her hand.

Scott pulled up a chair, sat down, then took Lily’s hand into his own.

Lily closed her eyes and listened to the voices in her communicator. It wasn’t pleasant. As a matter of fact, it was heartbreaking.

But she kept on listening. She wanted to be with them to at the end.

She had to be with them at the end.

“Carol, get over here! I need one of those stakes!”

“I need backup over here! Is anybody near the bea—”

“Everybody, try to regroup on the beach! I think that’ll be our best—”

“Bernie’s down!”

“Shawn’s down! They got Shawn!”

“Where’s Ashley? Has anybody seen Ashley?”

“Carol’s down!”

“They’ve got snipers! All werewolves, watch your backs! I just saw snipers firing from across the—”

“Where’s Cooper? Anybody seen Coop? I could use a channeler over here!”

“I think Coop’s dead, Ash. I saw a vampire throw him across the island. Addison, you around? Ash needs a channeler. I think she’s cornered by the restaurant.”

“On my way!”

“Guys, they have me pinned down. I want you all to know that it’s been a privilege to call you—”

Lily opened her eyes and looked at Scott. “We’ve been through too much for it to end like this.”

“I know,” Scott said. “Turn off the communicator.”

“No,” Lily said.

“This isn’t the end,” Scott said. “The world will never forget the sacrifices these soldiers made today. I promise you that.”

“I’m sorry I was a bitch on the beach earlier.”

Scott chuckled. “You weren’t, boss. You were a leader and you were right. It wasn’t the time for personal bullshit.”

Lily closed her eyes and continued to listen to the fight outside.

“Dave, it’s Addison. Ash is dead. I didn’t get here in time.”

“There’s another wave coming across the water! Shit!”

“Focus on the bloodsucker with the sword! Somebody needs to stop that bas—”

“Has anybody seen Baxter?”

“I think she’s dead. I saw a vamp shoot her, point-blank.”

“Who the hell is that?”

“Baxter? You don’t know Lily Baxter?”

“No, dumbass. Who the hell is the guy dropping from the sky?”

Lily’s eyes sprang open. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah,” Scott said. “Are they dropping vamps from the sky now?”

“Look outside.”

Scott walked to the window and looked outside. “Holy hell, Lil.”

“What?”

“It’s Travis,” Scott said. “And he’s not alone.”

Cassius pulled his sword from the chest of a Day Soldier, then spun around and beheaded an attacking werewolf. He scanned the area for more werewolves. The humans had become a bore to him, but the werewolves at least offered a small challenge.

He saw several Topians flying through the air, obviously tossed by something powerful.

Cassius smiled. “I’m coming to get you, doggie.”

“I think the dog will have to wait.”

The voice came from behind.

Cassius spun around drove his sword deep into the chest of the man behind him.

Travis just grinned as he pulled the sword from his chest and tossed it back to Cassius.

“Want to try again?”

“Travis,” Cassius said, “I appreciate your help, but we don’t need you. This battle is pretty much over.”

“This battle,” Travis said, “is just beginning.” He pointed toward the sky. “It’s raining vampires.”

Cassius looked up and saw hundreds of vampires falling from the sky.

“Meet your grandkids,” Travis said. “While you were off building your army, I was here building an army of my own.”

“I don’t get you, Travis,” Cassius said. “I would have gladly given you an army.”

“I don’t want an army of pansy fake vampires,” Travis said. “I understand why you do. You want to be the most powerful vamp on the planet, so you’re breeding a race of sissies. Well, I have a different method.”

Cassius watched as the vampires landed on the ground and immediately began attacking the Topians. “Why the hell are they attacking my people?”

“I have this speech about power, Cas,” Travis said. “I won’t bore you with the long version, but basically it’s about how power is achieved through killing. I wanted to give my kids a chance to gain some real power, and what’s the best place to kill a bunch of people at one time? A battle, of course. Thanks to your little assault, my kids are gonna be strong. Very strong.”

“That’s why you took Lily to London,” Cassius said. “You wanted us to attack.”

Travis grinned. “Whatcha gonna do, kill me? Oh wait, you can’t. I, on the other hand, can kill you.”

Cassius took a step back.

Travis laughed. “Holy crap! You’re afraid. The great Cassius is afraid.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Cassius said. “I made you.”

Travis’s smile vanished. “You didn’t make me. You just gave me a head start.”

“Travis, listen to me—”

Travis grabbed Cassius and threw him across the battlefield.

Cassius flew over the battling soldiers and landed in the entertainment square in the center of the island. Before he could get to his feet, Travis landed beside him and picked him up by the throat.

“Travis!” Cassius screamed. “Don’t stand with these humans! Join me. I can give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”

“I’m not standing with the humans,” Travis said. “Once we finish off your little vampire army, we’re going to turn our attention to the humans. And I already have everything I’ve ever wanted. You have nothing to offer, old man. Except blood.”

Travis bared his fangs and came in toward Cassius’s throat.

Then stopped.

He dropped Cassius and sniffed the air. “Lily,” he whispered as he looked at the buildings around him.

He looked down and saw that Cassius was gone, but he didn’t care. He could smell Lily’s blood. The smell was very strong, which meant it wasn’t inside her body. She was losing blood.

A lot of blood.

Travis ran toward the smell.

Cooper opened his eyes and saw nothing but sky above him. It took him a moment to realize he was lying on the beach. He tried to stand but immediately fell back to the ground.

His leg was broken.

Cooper tried his best to remember what had happened. The last thing he recalled was a vampire lifting him into the air. He guessed that vampire had thrown him. The landing must’ve knocked him unconscious.

Instead of trying to stand, Cooper just sat up and looked at the battle in front of him. What he saw confused him.

Vampires were fighting Day Soldiers, werewolves, and other vampires.

“Guys,” he said into the communicator, “why are the vampires fighting each other?”

“Coop!” Someone said. “You’re alive!”

“Yeah,” Cooper said. “Took a fall, but I’m okay. Why are the vampires fighting each other?”

“We have no idea,” the voice said, “but we’re not questioning it. A bunch of em literally dropped from the sky and started fighting the soldiers. We’re still grossly outnumbered, but it’ll stretch this thing out for a while.”

Cooper shook his head, trying to process the situation. New vampires. Were the vampires already developing factions?

One of the Topian vampires darted from the crowd and ran toward Cooper. It took Cooper a moment to realize the vamp was actually running toward the water, not him. As he ran by, Cooper reached out and grabbed his leg. “Where do you think you’re going, big guy?”

The vampire kicked him in the face. “Go back to sleep.”

Cooper managed to keep his grip on the vampire’s ankle. “Hey, that’s my line, asshole!”

The vampire sighed and picked Cooper up by his shirt. “You don’t have a weapon. You’re clearly injured. And yet you tried to stop me. You’re either very brave or you’re a channeler.”

“It’s the second one,” Cooper said as he grabbed the vampire’s face.

The vampire’s face began to burn, but he didn’t flinch.

“Shit,” Cooper said.

The vampire slammed him back into the dirt. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m not like the others. I don’t run off screaming just because something hurts.”

“I’m cool with calling it even,” Cooper said. “You go on your way and I’ll just stay here on my beach.”

The vampire laughed. “I don’t think so. I can’t leave a channeler alive. You could do some serious damage to my people.”

“Your people?” Cooper said. He thought for a moment, then added, “Cassius or Ian?”

The vampire smiled. “I’m not Ian.”

Cooper yelled into his communicator, “Everybody, get to the damn beach now! Cassius is here!”

“Wow,” Cassius said. “I’m famous.”

“Now, guys!” Cooper screamed. “I’m injured. I need backup. It’s Cassius!”

Cassius lifted his foot above Cooper’s head. “I really wish I had a weapon,” he said. “Crushing a skull under my boot is just so… messy.”

“Let’s talk about this,” Cooper said. “There’s a girl here that I really dig. I don’t want her to find me with my brains splattered across the beach. Can you kill me in a way that makes me look cool? Like I died in some badass fight?”

“You’re trying to distract me,” Cassius said, “to give your friends time to get to the beach. Well, rest assured, I am not concerned. Even if they…” Cassius paused and shook his head, as if he’d forgotten what he was about to say. “Even if they come, I’m not…” He staggered back a few steps and shook his head again.

“Something wrong, Cassie?”

Cassius took several breaths, then said, “It’s you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Cooper said.

“You’re the light bringer,” Cassius said.

“I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about,” Cooper said. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”

“I don’t know why I didn’t feel it before,” Cassius said, “but I feel it now. You’re the light bringer. The healer.”

“Really, dude,” Cooper said. “You’ve lost me.”

“You’re the good creature,” Cassius said. His breathing was growing more and more strained. “But you touched me. Why didn’t it kill me? Does it take time for it to set in?”

“Cooper isn’t the good creature,” a female voice said from behind Cassius. “You’re feeling my presence, not his.”

He turned around. A woman and a vampire stood behind him.

“Abbie?” Cooper said with a laugh. “Seriously?”

Cassius ran.

“Get him!” Cooper yelled.

“It’s just a vampire,” Abbie said as sat down beside Cooper. “We’ll get him. Right now, we need to focus on you, my friend.”

“Abbie,” Cooper said, “that was Cassius.”

Abbie’s eyes widened. “No.”

“Yes!”

Abbie turned around and looked at Jesse.

“I’m on it,” Jesse said. A moment later, he was gone.

“What did you do to that guy?” Cooper asked.

“First things first,” Abbie said. “Let’s get that leg healed up.”

“It’s broken,” Cooper said. “There’s not much you can do.”

Abbie smiled. “Child, you’re gonna be very surprised at the things I can do.”

Grung and Ian burst from the lake, clawing, punching, and kicking each other frantically. They flew through the air and splashed back into the water, quickly disappearing under the surface.

“What the hell was that?” Cooper asked.

“No idea,” Abbie said. “Can I see your communicator? Mine stopped working in the Yukon.”

Cooper handed her the earpiece.

Abbie snapped it on and said, “This is Abbie. I must say, I’m disappointed that you folks haven’t won this battle yet. I’ll be joining this fight shortly, but please don’t make me do all the work.”

Across the island, Cooper heard cheers. “I think they like you.”

“Okay,” Abbie said with a smile, “let’s get you healed up. I hope I do this right. It’s my first time.”

“Abbie?”

It was Scott’s voice.

“I’m busy right now, Scott,” Abbie said. She looked at Cooper. “I’m going to have to set the bone first. I’m guessing that’s going to hurt, but it won’t last long.”

“Abbie,” Scott said, “I think you should come to the center of the island.”

“In a minute, Scott.” Abbie grabbed Cooper’s leg and pushed.

Cooper screamed and fell back onto the beach.

Abbie pushed up the leg of Cooper’s pants and placed her hand on his skin.

“Abbie,” Scott said, “this is important.”

“Is it more important than an injured soldier, Scott?” Abbie said. “Coop could die if I leave him helpless on this beach.”

“Yes, it’s more important,” Scott said. “It’s Lily.”

Abbie looked at Cooper. “I have to go. How’s your leg?”

Cooper lifted his leg into the air and shook it. “What the hell, Abbie?”

Abbie smiled. “You’re welcome.”

A moment later, she was gone.

Cooper stood up and jumped up and down. “Seriously, what the hell?”

“I’m serious, Travis,” Scott said, “get the hell out of here.”

Travis stood just inside the door, looking at Lily. She was unconscious. “She’s dying, kid. I can feel her life slipping away.”

“I know,” Scott said.

“I can fix that.”

“You really are insane,” Scott said, not bothering to look at Travis.

“I don’t get you people,” Travis said. “She’s dying. I can prevent that.”

“By turning her into the thing she hates most,” Scott said. “No thanks. Besides, you couldn’t do it anyway. Her blood would boil your insides.”

“I don’t think so,” Travis said.

“You’re special,” Scott said, “but you’re not that special.”

“Doesn’t have jack to do with me,” Travis said. “Her blood wouldn’t kill me because she wants this. She just doesn’t know it.”

“Yeah,” Scott said. “Insane.”

“It’s not insane,” Travis said. “She’s a killer, Scott. You know it’s true. She just won’t admit it. This girl has always been a shitty soldier and you know it. Anybody who’s ever studied her past knows it. She’s good at one thing. Killing.”

“Killing vampires,” Scott said.

“No,” Travis said. “Before you people made peace with the fuzzies, she was just as good at killing werewolves. Lily isn’t a vampire killer. She isn’t a werewolf killer. She’s a killer. Period. Let me turn her, kid. She’s running out of time.”

“No,” Scott said. “If you try, I’ll stop you.”

“Boy,” Travis said, “you can’t stop me. I know you think you’re a badass because you’re a werewolf but…”

He stopped talking and looked at Lily.

“No,” Scott whispered. He knew it instantly. Lily wasn’t breathing. Her heart wasn’t beating.

Lily Baxter was dead.

“There’s still a chance,” Travis said. “Let me try.”

“She’s dead, Travis.” Even as Scott said the words, he couldn’t believe it. This was a day he never thought he’d see. He wasn’t prepared for it.

“She’s lost a lot of blood,” Travis said. “Let me give her some of mine. People have been dead for longer than this and still managed to come back. Let me try.”

With a snarl, Scott grabbed Travis and threw him against the wall. “Get out of here, Travis.”

“If you want to just let her die—”

“SHE’S ALREADY DEAD!” Scott screamed. He felt himself turning into a wolf. He tried to stop it, but it was beyond his control. His rage was stronger than his willpower.

From somewhere outside, Abbie yelled, “Scott!”

Something about Abbie’s voice gave Scott the strength to resist the transformation. He shifted back to a human, let go of Travis, and quickly opened the door. “Over here!”

Abbie ran into the building. “Where is she?”

Scott nodded toward Lily.

Abbie walked to the couch and sat in the chair. “Oh, you poor, sweet girl.”

“What the hell are you?” Travis said. He had to lean against a wall to keep from falling. “You make me sick. Like, literally sick.”

Abbie chuckled. “Can’t take it, get out. Your vampires need your help anyway. They’re not doing too well out there. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. They’re keeping them off my people for now.”

Travis looked out the window. “Yeah, I expected most of em to die. This was really just to weed out the weak ones.”

Abbie reached down and gently stroked Lily’s hair. “This girl deserved a happy ending.”

Scott leaned against the wall, staring at Lily’s body. “I’ve lost a lot of people in this war,” Scott said, “but I’ve never felt pain like this. She was more than my friend. She was my hope for humanity.”

“It’s foolish to put that much hope into one person,” Abbie said.

“I know,” Scott said. “I just…”

He slid to the floor and began to cry.

“I can save her,” Abbie said.

“What?”

“I can save her, Scott,” Abbie said again. “The cost will be high, but I can save her.”

“Abbie, she’s already dead,” Scott said.

“I know,” Abbie said.

“You’re a good creature,” Travis said.

Scott looked at him. “What the hell are you talking about? How do you even know what a good creature is?”

“I designed the DC computers,” Travis said. “You think I didn’t have access to important information?”

“She’s not a good creature, you idiot,” Scott said. “I’ve known Abbie for a long damn time. If she were a—”

“Yes, Travis,” Abbie said. “I’m a good creature.”

Scott looked at her. “Huh?”

“Long story, Scott,” Abbie said. She looked back at Lily. “Bottom line, I could save this girl, but it would kill me.”

“Will it make her like you?” Travis said. “Because, frankly, that would suck. I don’t like you at all right now.”

“Maybe,” Abbie said. “Maybe not. If she’s just a bloodthirsty killer, like you claim, it won’t change her. She’ll come back, but she’ll just be the same human she was before she died.”

“Then bring her back,” Travis said. “I don’t give a shit about you, lady, but Lily’s… interesting.”

Abbie looked at Scott. “What do you think? If I’m wrong, I’ll die and she’ll come back as human. An amazing human, but just a human. Without a good creature fighting with them, those soldiers outside will die. It also means an entire race will become extinct. It’s an awful risk, Scott. Is Lily Baxter worth that?”

“There’s absolutely no way I can answer that, Abbie,” Scott said. “Especially right now.”

Abbie turned back to Lily. “I think she’s worth the risk. I think she’s more than a killer. I think the world needs Lily Baxter to survive this battle.” She again looked at Scott. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I think I understand now. My entire life has been preparation for this moment, Scott.”

“I don’t understand, Abbie,” Scott said.

“Faith,” Abbie said as she turned back to Lily. “One gigantic leap of faith.”

“So that’s it?” Travis said. “You’re going to risk all of humanity on your gut feeling?”

“Yes,” Abbie said. “I think I am.”

Travis laughed. “Okay, you’re a little more interesting than I thought at first.”

“Before anything else,” Abbie said, “we have to get this bullet out of her.”

“There’s an exit wound on her back,” Scott said. “The bullet passed through her.”

“That’s good,” Abbie said. “One less thing to do.”

“Do you want me to give her a message?” Scott said. “Is there anything you’d like to say to her?”

“Nothing she doesn’t already know,” Abbie said.

She closed her eyes and placed her palms on the sides of Lily’s face.

Chapter 25

Rule Number One

Ian burst from the water and ran toward the battle on the island. He was covered in gashes and wounds.

Behind him, Grung – still in wolf form – sprang from the lake and landed on his back, sending them both rolling across the sand.

Ian kicked him in the face, jumped to his feet, and ran back several feet. “We can do this all night, wolf,” Ian said. “Neither of us will win.”

Grung shifted to his human form. “You’re forgetting one thing. Once the sun comes up, I’ll be fine. You won’t.”

Ian pointed toward the battle behind them. “Take a look, wolf! This war is over. Your people are dying.”

“Looks like you’ve hit a snag,” Grung said. “I see vampires fighting vampires. A little unrest in your perfect world?”

Ian laughed. “I expected Travis to get in our way. It’s a minor setback, nothing more. Just take a whiff, dog. This island is saturated with human blood. I bet there’s no more than a few hundred left. It’s over. Go find a pack somewhere and settle down. Have some pups. You fought the good fight, but it’s over.”

“This isn’t about fighting the good fight,” Grung said. “This is about killing the vampire who shot my friend.”

“This is war!” Ian said. “Am I supposed to let an enemy live because her friends won’t approve? There are bigger things at stake here.”

Behind Ian, Grung saw two figures run across the roof of one of the buildings in the island square. They leapt from one roof to the other. It took Grung a moment to recognize them, but as soon as he did, he said, “You know what, that’s good advice. Some things are more important than personal grudges.”

He turned back into a wolf and leapt over Ian’s head, chasing the two figures on the roof.

Ian turned around and saw the two vampires running across the roof. “Oh, damn,” he said and took off after Grung.

Jesse chased Cassius across the rooftops. Judging from Abbie’s reaction, this vampire was important. Jesse had no intention of letting him go. For the past several minutes they’d basically been running in circles, jumping from roof to roof.

“Why are you so obsessed with me?” Cassius yelled as he landed on another roof. “I’ve never met you in my life.”

“Stop running and I’ll explain it,” Jesse said.

“Are you one of Travis’s babies?” Cassius asked.

“I don’t even know who Travis is!”

Cassius stopped and turned around. “Oh. Why didn’t you say so?”

Jesse landed in front of him. “Why’d you stop?”

“Because if you’re not with Travis you’re probably not a threat.”

“You might be surprised,” Jesse said.

Cassius kicked Jesse in the face, sending him flying over the edge of the building. “Maybe, but I doubt it.” He turned around to walk away but was instead tackled by Grung.

They landed in the center of the island square. Grung sprang to his feet and stood facing Cassius. Jesse stood beside Grung. Ian dropped in and stood beside Cassius.

The battle continued to rage around them, but the four men only focused on each other.

“You want the wolf or the vampire?” Cassius said.

“I’ve been fighting that damn wolf for too long already,” Ian said. “I wouldn’t mind changing it up, if that’s okay with you.”

“Fine by me,” Cassius said.

“Hello, Cassius,” Scott said as he stepped from the building behind Grung. “Long time no see.”

“Who the hell are you?” Cassius asked.

“You don’t remember me?” Scott said. “The last time we met, Lily shot me in the head with a crossbow.”

Cassius laughed. “Oh yeah! That was hilarious. You’re the werewolf from New York. Sam or Steve or something.”

“I’m Scott Vellin,” Scott said. “I’m an information specialist for the B-Team. This furry guy is Grung. Back in the day, he was my team’s weapons specialist. We used to have a scout named Ellie, but that Natasha bitch murdered her. We’re still not over that, by the way.”

“You’re surrounded by the cries of your dying teammates,” Ian said, “and yet, you stand here chatting like what you say matters. You’re quite smug.”

“Yeah, I am,” Scott said. “It’s because of Rule Number One.”

“Oh God,” Cassius said. “I was in DC, you know. Are you about to say something about the B-Team always winning?”

Scott was quiet for a moment, then said, “No.”

“You were!” Cassius said. “Talbot used that line beautifully in DC. Now, it’s just a cliché. Come on, man. Think of something original.”

“That’s not where I was going with it,” Scott said. “I wasn’t going to mention what Rule Number One actually is, precisely because Talbot already covered it.”

“I don’t know what Rule Number One is,” Jesse said.

“Me either,” Ian said.

Grung shifted to his human form. “Guys, it’s hard for me to stay in the zone when you’re sitting here having a conversation.”

“Right,” Scott said. “Sorry. Back on topic.”

“Just to be clear here,” Jesse said, “what is Rule Number One? I got that it has something to do with winning, but beyond that, I’m totally confused.”

“Rule Number One,” Grung said, “is the most important rule on the B-Team.”

“What’s the B-Team?” Jesse asked.

“It’s our team,” Scott said.

“You mean the Day Soldiers are also called the B-Team?”

“No,” Scott said. “It’s the name of our individual team within the Day Soldiers. Dude, you’re really screwing up my moment here.”

“Sorry,” Jesse said. “Go on. What’s Rule Number One?”

“The B-Team always wins,” Lily Baxter said as she stepped from the building.

Jesse, Ian, and Cassius staggered back several steps.

Lily sprinted toward Cassius.

Cassius grabbed Ian and shoved him toward Lily.

Lily grabbed Ian’s face and slammed him to the ground. He fell without any resistance. As soon as she touched him, he just went… limp.

Lily looked at him on the ground.

Ian was dead.

“How in the hell did you do that?” Grung said. “Seriously. How did you do that?”

Cassius turned to run but something blasted from one of the buildings and pinned him to a nearby wall.

“You’re not going anywhere, Cassie,” Travis said.

“Travis,” Lily said, “keep him here until we get back.”

“We’re not going to kill him?” Travis asked. “Are you screwing with me?”

“Not yet,” Lily said. “I’m serious, Travis, don’t kill him.”

“No promises,” Travis said.

“If you kill him,” Lily said, “I’ll kill you.”

“It’ll be worth it, I think.”

Lily sighed. “Jesse, stay with him. Don’t let him kill Cassius until we get back.”

“Got it.”

“So she’s commanding vampires now?” Grung asked. “How long was I in that lake?”

Scott laughed.

Lily tapped her communicator. “This is Lily Baxter. If you need backup, call out your location. I’ll be there within two minutes.”

“Lily?” It was Cooper. “They said you were dead!”

“I was,” Lily said. “But it turns out the condition was temporary. Also, I’ve decided to change our battle strategy. Instead of dying for a greater cause, how about we just win this damn thing?”

“I like that plan much better!” Cooper said.

Lily pulled the communicator from her ear and held it toward Grung. She smiled. “Go ahead. I know how you like to say it.”

Grung leaned toward the mic and said, “Vampire killers… LET’S KILL SOME VAMPIRES!”

They heard several yells from the crowd.

The battle shifted almost immediately. Every vampire in the area seemed… weaker. Lily, Scott, and Grung ran through the crowd, killing vampires by the dozen. Mostly, Scott and Grung just held the vampires just long enough for Lily to touch them.

And one touch was all it took.

With each kill, Lily felt herself grow stronger and the vampires around her became weaker. Eventually, the vampires were so weak that the remaining Day Soldiers were able to overpower them physically.

Within a few minutes, thousands of vampires were dead. Many tried to run, but the Day Soldiers easily chased them down and staked them.

“Should we avoid the ones who aren’t wearing uniforms?” Scott asked. “Those belong to Travis.”

“Hell no!” Lily said. “If they’re undead, they die.”

“Works for me,” Grung said.

Cooper broke through the crowd and tossed two stakes to Grung and Scott. He looked at Lily. “You have got to teach me that trick!”

“It’s not something that can be taught,” Lily said as she killed several more vamps.

“They just die with your touch?” Cooper asked.

Lily grinned. “Yeah! Isn’t that the coolest damn thing you’ve ever seen?”

“Flip one on the nose!” Cooper yelled.

Lily ran up to a vampire and flicked her finger across his nose.

The vampire dropped dead.

“Holy shit!” Cooper said. “That is amazing!”

Lily tapped her communicator. “Remember, the most important thing I need from you guys is to watch for any vampire carrying a ranged weapon. If you see one with a gun, that vampire has to be your main target. Hell, if you see a vamp about to throw a rock, take him down. You guys protect me and I’ll protect you.”

“I don’t get it,” Grung said. “If GCs are this powerful, how are vampires even around? They should’ve been wiped out years ago.”

“I’m as vulnerable as you are,” Lily said. “At least I think so. I didn’t get an instruction manual.”

“Most likely, the GCs were hunted to near extinction,” Scott mused. “Purely because of their power.”

“Personally,” Lily said as she punched another vampire, “I don’t care about the past nearly as much as I care about the present. And right now, I’m feeling pretty damn good!”

The battle turned quickly. The vampires died in rapid numbers. Before long, there were more Day Soldiers than vampires on the island.

“I like this plan much better than our ‘die for a good cause’ plan!” Cooper said.

“Yeah,” Scott said. “Me too.”

In the center of the island, Travis held Cassius from behind. Jesse stood in front of them, a stake pressed against Cassius’s chest.

“Hey!” Travis said, looking toward the battle. “She’s killing my people! That’s not fair. They were helping!”

“Travis,” Jesse said, “pay attention to the job at hand.”

Cassius smiled. “She’ll do the same to you when she’s done, Travis. You know it’s true.”

“Shut up,” Jesse said. “It won’t take much for me to push this stake forward.”

“That wouldn’t please your human buddies,” Cassius said.

“You dead is better than you escaped,” Jesse said. “I think they’d understand.”

“Seriously,” Travis said, “it’s screwed up that she’s killing my vampires.”

“I don’t get you two,” Cassius said. “These people are our food. It’s not evil. It’s nature. Why do you answer to them?”

“She has to stop killing my vampires,” Travis said.

“Travis,” Jesse said, “no.”

Travis looked back at Jesse. “Just keep the stake on his chest. You’ll be fine. I’ll be right back.”

“Travis, no!”

Travis let go of Cassius and ran toward the battle.

Jesse looked at Cassius. “One move… one flinch… and I drive this stake straight through—”

Cassius kicked him in the gut, sending him flying into the wall of another building.

Jesse sprang to his feet just in time to see Cassius sprinting toward the beach. “Son of a bitch!”

Lily and her team stopped killing and watched the remaining Day Soldiers finish off the remaining vampires. It was more or less over. The island was covered with dead bodies, mostly vampire bodies.

“We did it, Scott,” Lily said. “We actually faced the ultimate unwinnable situation, and we overcame it.”

“Yes, we did,” Scott said. “Abbie would be proud.”

“Abbie is proud,” Lily said. “I can feel her. She’s part of me now.”

“I still don’t know where we’ll go from here,” Cooper said. “They’ll just send more troops. This victory is incredible, but it’s still just postponing the inevitable.”

“Since when,” Grung said, “did you become the resident downer.”

“He’s right,” Lily said. “We all know he’s right. This time, though, we have one advantage we didn’t have before.”

“You,” Scott said.

Lily looked at him. “Oh, hell no. I turned the battle on a tiny island in the middle of a lake, but I won’t do much good when facing a world of vampires.”

“Then what’s our one advantage?” Grung asked.

“We have Cassius,” Lily said.

“Oh,” Scott said. “Yeah.”

“I think we can still come out of this,” Lily said. “We just have to change our idea of victory.”

“What does that mean?” Cooper asked.

“This is bullshit!” Travis yelled as he strolled toward Lily.

“Oh my God,” Lily said. “Travis, if you killed Cassius—”

“Relax,” Travis said. “I left him with that weird vamp. He’s fine.”

“Travis, get back there now!” Lily said.

“No,” Travis said defiantly. “You killed my people. Why did you kill my people? I thought we had a good thing here. They were helping you kill the other vamps, and you just up and killed them. What the hell?”

“Are you kidding?” Lily said. “What were you planning to do after you killed the other vampires here?”

“I was gonna let them feed on the leftover humans,” Travis said, “but you didn’t know that!”

“Get back to Cassius,” Lily said, “or I’ll kill you, Travis. Don’t test me on this.”

“You really suck, you know that?” Travis said. “It took me a year to turn all those vampires. You know, it’s not like I have a lot of choices in this country. Most of the damn people are dead.”

“Because you killed them!” Lily said.

“Not the point.”

“No,” Lily snapped. “I’d say it’s very much the point. I killed about a hundred of your people. You killed several million of mine.”

“Okay,” Travis said, “I’ll give you that. What do you say we call it even?”

“Even?” Lily said. “Seriously, Travis, you’re two comments away from pushing me over the edge here. Get back to the damn prisoner.”

“I’m not one of your soldiers,” Travis said. “This is my country, Lily. After this is over, I might let you live here, but it’s my country now. Don’t forget that.”

“That’s it,” Lily said. “Scott. Grung. Get him. I’m done with this shit.”

A wooden stake flew from nowhere and stabbed Lily in the side, just above her right hip. She staggered forward a step or two, then fell to her knees.

She looked to her right just in time to see Cassius running toward the water.

Cassius sprinted across the surface of the lake. He was disgusted that his stake hadn’t struck the girl in the heart, but considering the fact that he was weakened by her presence, he was pleased he managed to hit her at all.

The loss of this battle wasn’t a big deal to Cassius. Some of the Day Soldiers survived, but most of them were now dead. Coming back to finish the rest would be no problem.

He mourned the loss of Ian. Ian was by far his favorite leader. Replacing him would be difficult, but not impossible.

Oh well, he thought. Onwards and upwards.

Overall, he decided that this day was a victory for Topia. They had mortally wounded the Day Soldiers. They wouldn’t recover from the losses they experienced in the battle. Even if Baxter survived her new wound, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

The war was truly over.

Finally.

Cassius stepped onto the beach of the lake and began to walk toward the woods.

He stopped.

A young man stepped from the forest.

He was wearing a Day Soldiers uniform and holding a crossbow.

Several humans stood behind him. All of them held crossbows.

Cassius laughed. “Step aside, kid. I’m in a hurry, so if you let me pass right now, I won’t kill you or your friends.”

“I’ve got about ten thousand people in these woods,” the young man said. “Ten thousand crossbows, all pointed at you. If you think you can outrun ten thousand wooden bolts, I welcome you to try.”

Cassius quickly decided there was one thing he could say that might prevent this kid from ordering his troops to fire.

“I’m Cassius,” he said. “Baxter wants me alive.”

Chapter 26

The Day Lily Baxter Died

“Give me your shirt,” Scott said to Cooper. He sat beside Lily on the beach. The others stood around them. He had his hand over the wound in Lily’s side. The stake was on the ground beside her.

Cooper quickly removed his jacket, then his shirt. Scott took the shirt and tied it around Lily’s waist. “This should stop the bleeding until we can get her to a doctor.”

“I’ll be okay,” Lily said. “One death a day is my limit.”

“You’re pale as a vampire, kid,” Grung said. “You don’t look okay to me.”

Jesse ran up to the group. “Cassius,” he said. “He got away.”

“You’re a really crappy vampire!” Travis said.

“I never claimed otherwise,” Jesse said. “You feed just enough to stay alive and see how strong you are.”

“Cassius is gone,” Lily said. “I saw him. He threw the stake.”

“This is your fault,” Grung said to Travis.

“Is not,” Travis said. “It’s her fault for trusting me with something important. I dropped nuclear bombs on your country. Why do you people keep treating me like I’m on your side?”

Lily heard a click in her communicator, then a voice said, “You don’t have to worry about Cassius. He’s with me.”

“Was that Carl?” Scott said.

“Yep,” the voice said. “Look across the lake.”

They all looked across the water and saw a figure standing on the beach, waving back at them. A vampire sat in the dirt beside him. Several dozen humans stood behind him.

“That’s Cassius with you?” Lily asked.

“You’re damn right it is,” Carl said. “Sorry I was late to the party. I hope this makes up for it.”

Despite the intense pain it caused, Lily laughed. “Yeah, Carl,” she said. “I think this makes up for it. And for every time you’ve ever gotten on my damn nerves.”

“Send me a boat with some werewolves and we can do a prisoner transfer,” Carl said.

Lily looked at Grung. “Find another werewolf and go get Carl.”

“I’m another werewolf,” Scott said.

“Sorry, buddy,” Lily said. “I need you to help me get ready.”

“Ready for what?”

Lily smiled. “The sentencing hearing.”

“Hot damn,” Travis said. “I get to be the executioner!”

“Says who?” Grung said.

“Me,” Travis said. “I just called it. I have dibs.”

“You can’t call dibs on something like that,” Grung said. “We should draw straws or something.”

“I know exactly how we can decide,” Cooper said. “Let’s have a singing competition.”

“How about we get the prisoner over here,” Lily said. “We can argue about things that don’t matter later.”

“Even if it’s not for this,” Cooper said, “can we still have a singing contest?”

Lily looked at Scott. “Help me up. It’s time for Cassius to face something he’s never faced before.”

“And what would that be?” Scott asked.

“Justice.”

Grung and Carl escorted Cassius into the front room of the small hotel.

Lily stood behind the front counter. Travis and Jesse stood behind her. Scott stood against the left wall and Cooper stood against the right wall. They both held crossbows.

“Humans, vampires, and werewolves,” Cassius said. “All working together.”

“Guilty!” Travis yelled.

“Travis, shut up,” Lily said.

“Don’t you see, Baxter?” Cassius said. “This is exactly what I’ve been trying to build. We want the same thing.”

“I didn’t enslave an entire race to achieve my goal,” Lily said.

“Guilty!” Travis said again.

“Travis, shut up,” Lily said again.

“Are you seriously suggesting humanity would’ve volunteered to help us if we’d just asked nicely?” Cassius said.

“Declaring war didn’t seem to help,” Lily said.

“Beg to differ,” Cassius said. “You were in London. Seems to me, declaring war worked out pretty well.”

“Can we get on with the trial?” Travis said.

“This isn’t a trial,” Lily said. “This is a negotiation.”

“Wait,” Travis said. “What?”

“I want to negotiate,” Lily said to Cassius.

“Not sure what you could possibly expect,” Cassius said. “I’m not giving up what I’ve created.”

“I’m not asking you to,” Lily said.

“Okay,” Cooper said. “It kills me to say this, but I’m kinda with Travis here. What the hell are you talking about?”

Lily continued to maintain eye contact with Cassius. “I’ve redefined victory,” she said. “I accept that we probably can’t win back the rest of the world.”

“You want America,” Cassius said.

“I want you to leave us alone,” Lily said. “Let us rebuild. We stay here and you leave us alone. No more battles. No more war. Just two separate nations, living in peace on the same planet.”

“And you call me insane?” Travis said. “You really think he’ll stick to that deal?”

“Yes,” Lily said, still looking at Cassius. “He will. Because he knows we’ll never stop fighting. He knows we’ll destroy any force he sends our way. He can’t launch a nuclear attack because it’ll break Ian’s promise, and he can’t afford to do that.”

“You lost a lot of people today,” Cassius said.

“We also gained a lot,” Lily said. “Carl, how many people joined you?”

“Too many to count,” Carl said. “I’d say millions. And word is spreading fast. The people of this country are tired of living in fear.”

“Is land that important to you, Cassius?” Lily asked. “Because that’s all you’ll get. The people here will never surrender.”

“If you want to make a deal,” Travis said, “make a deal with another vampire. Kill Cassius and make a deal with whoever takes over. You can’t just let him go!”

“I understand you, Cassius,” Lily said. “You don’t give a shit about peace, but you certainly like power. You know we can take you down. We might not have enough soldiers to defeat your army, but we are plenty strong enough to make Topia a very unpleasant place. Especially now that I am… what I am.”

“I don’t disagree,” Cassius said. “And contrary to what our psychotic friend is saying, dealing with another vampire would be unwise. I’m the only person who can keep this promise. The rest of them don’t have the vision to understand what you’re offering.”

“Leave us alone,” Lily said. “Forever. No more assaults, no more battles… no more war. And in return, we’ll stay here and rebuild.”

“I’ll do you one better,” Cassius said. “I’m open to the idea of developing a relationship with the world you build. A treaty could be good for Topia. If the humans have a choice… if they feel like they there’s a place they can go if they don’t like what we’re offering in Topia…”

“One step at a time,” Lily said. She pointed to a camera on the wall behind her. “For now, just agree to never come here again. Promise me that no Topian will ever set foot on the American continents.”

“Hold on,” Cassius said. “That would include all of North America and South America. That’s a lot of land.”

“Not when you compare it to the rest of the world,” Lily said. “This won’t work if you’re living on our borders. You know that’s true. We need oceans between us.”

“And you’ll trust me on this?” Cassius asked.

“I will,” Lily said. “Because I don’t have a choice. And because you don’t have a choice. If this war continues, we’ll both lose.”

“On that,” Cassius said, “we agree.”

“So you agree to my terms?”

“Lily,” Travis said, “don’t be an idiot. Let me kill him!”

“Travis, shut up!” Lily said. “You don’t give a damn about vampires or humans. You want to kill him because he’s old. You think it’ll give you more power.”

“So?” Travis said. “I think that’s a pretty good reason.”

“It’s a good reason if you’re a killer,” Lily said. “So let me make something clear to you, once and for all. I am not a killer.”

“Well, goodie for you,” Travis said.

Lily looked back at Cassius. “Do we have a deal?”

Cassius nodded.

“Say it,” Lily said, pointing toward the camera. “I want you to say it out loud.”

“We have a deal,” Cassius said. “From this moment forward, America is not part of Topia. The war is over.”

“The sun will be up shortly,” Lily said. “You’re welcome to stay here until nightfall.” She smiled. “As a diplomat.”

“No thank you,” Cassius said. “I’ll manage.”

“Okay,” Lily said. “We’re done here.”

“I look forward to seeing how this new arrangement works out,” Cassius said. He turned to walk away, but Grung and Carl still blocked the door.

“You sure about this, chief?” Grung asked.

“I’m asking you to trust me on this,” Lily said. “Please escort Cassius off the island. Make sure no soldiers harm him.”

With a nod, Grung opened the door. He and Cassius left the room.

“I’ll hunt him down,” Travis said. “I’m not part of your little treaty. I’ll go to London and have myself a little bit of fun. Just thought you should know that.”

“Cooper,” Lily said.

Cooper shot a crossbow bolt into Travis’s heart.

“I don’t like you anymore,” Travis said, just before falling to the ground.

“Carl,” Lily said, “can you and Coop make sure that stake stays in his chest?”

“On it,” Carl said as he got down on his knees.

“I gotta admit,” Scott said, “I’m not too comfortable with this.”

“Me either,” Lily said. “If you can think of a better solution, I’m open.” She looked at Carl. “How many people do you really have with you?”

“Couple hundred,” Carl said. “I was guessing you wanted me to bluff.”

Lily smiled. “You guessed right.” She looked at Scott again. “We simply don’t have an army anymore Scott. If nothing else, I just bought you some time to build a new one.”

Scott nodded. “I suppose.” He looked down at Travis. “What are we going to do about him?”

Lily sighed. “I really should kill him.”

“Yeah,” Scott said. “You’re the only one who can at this point. In Bunker City I did a shitload of research. Every legend that references a vampire like him says he can’t be killed. They give instructions on how to imprison him, but there’s nothing on how to kill him. I think you’re the only way.”

“Guys,” Lily said, “I think that stake hurt me worse than I thought.”

“Are you okay?” Scott said. “What’s wrong?”

Lily fell to the floor.

“Lily!” Scott ran around the counter. Lily sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. The floor was covered in blood.

“You’ve been standing back here bleeding out!”

“My tourniquet came off but I couldn’t let him know I was weak,” Lily said. “There’s no way he would’ve taken my offer seriously if he suspected I was dying.”

“Shut up,” Scott said. “You’ve just lost a lot of blood. We can fix you up.” He dropped to one knee and retied the shirt around her waist.

“My part in this is over,” Lily said. “I’m not a killer, but I am a warrior. Building a new world… that’s gonna be up to you.”

“Stop it,” Carl said. “You’ll be fine.”

“You’ve lost a lot of blood,” Scott said. “Do you think Cassius smelled it?”

“I’m hoping my presence screwed up his senses,” Lily said.

“It did,” Jesse said. “I saw the blood, but I couldn’t smell it at all. Has to be because of your new abilities.”

Grung entered the room. “Well, he’s gone. Guys, I’m just gonna come out and say it. I don’t like this plan.” He looked down and saw Travis in the floor, then looked up and saw that Lily wasn’t standing behind the counter. “What the hell happened in here?”

“Lily’s hurt,” Scott said, “but don’t worry. We’ll fix her up.”

“We have to talk about the next step,” Lily said.

“Later,” Scott said. “After you’re better.”

“No, Scott,” Lily said. “We have to talk about it now.”

“I know one thing,” Jesse said, “I’m going to kill Cassius.”

“Jesse,” Lily said, “please don’t make me kill you too.”

“I don’t mean now,” Jesse said. “I’m a patient man. It might be a year from now. It might be a hundred years. But eventually, I’m going to kill him. I promise you that.”

“Okay,” Lily said with a weak laugh. “Try and put it off, though, okay? At least until he breaks the promise he just made.”

She struggled to her feet. “Now, onto the important stuff… Like I said, my part is done.  What comes next is up to you. All of you.” She staggered a bit, but steadied herself against the counter.

“Let me get you a chair,” Scott said.

Lily tried to say something else, but instead fell to the floor.

Two hours later, Scott Vellin stepped from the hotel. Dawn had reached the island. The other Day Soldiers were gathered in the square. As soon as Scott stepped from the building, they fell silent.

“Today,” he said, “will be remembered for two things. First and foremost, it will be remembered as the day the war ended. It’s over folks. We can rebuild. The vampires are going to leave us alone.”

“So,” one of the soldiers said, “are you saying we won the war?”

Scott looked at him and shrugged. “Sort of? We won America. We’ll have to just take it from there and see what happens.”

“What’s the second thing?” another soldier asked.

Scott was quiet. He looked at the soft light of the rising sun. It really was beautiful.

“Sir,” the soldier said, “are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Scott said. “Sorry. The second thing. I’m just having a little trouble saying it.”

“Lily,” the soldier said. “It’s Lily, isn’t it.”

Scott nodded. “Today will be remembered as the day the war ended… but it will also be remembered as the day Lily Baxter died.”

The crowd was silent.

Chapter 27

Iveyton, Virginia

Fifteen Years Later

Ellie Davidson and her sister Lily sat on the front steps of the tomb. Ellie was twenty-one years old. She wore a Day Soldiers uniform. Lily was ten.

“Amazingly, the vampires held their end of the bargain,” Ellie said. “For fifteen years now, they’ve stayed out of America.”

Lily sat quietly beside her sister.

“I know you’ve heard all this before,” Ellie said, “but Daddy wanted you to hear it from one of us. History books rarely tell the whole story.”

“The little girl in that house,” Lily said. “The one that Daddy rescued from the vampire. That was you, wasn’t it.”

Ellie smiled. “You’re pretty smart,” she said. “If Daddy hadn’t stopped and gone into that house, I wouldn’t be here today. I would’ve been killed by my own mother.”

“You said the little girl’s name was Marty.”

“That’s my first name,” Ellie said. “When Daddy found out my middle name was Ellen, he was convinced it was fate that he found me. I’ve been Ellie ever since.”

“Benny Dinkle in my English class says Lily Baxter isn’t real,” Lily said. “He says they made her up just to give people hope. He says the videos of her are fake.”

“Who are you going to believe?” Ellie asked. “Your dad – who was one of Lily’s best friends – or some smartass kid named Dinkle? Seriously, what kind of name is Dinkle?”

Lily giggled. “I believe you and Daddy.” She sat quietly for a few seconds, then said, “What happened to Travis?”

“They killed him,” Ellie said. “They just couldn’t think of another option.”

“What about Jesse?”

“Jesse left,” Ellie said. “Nobody knows where he went. Most folks believe he went back to wherever he came from. Jesse had goodness in him, but he was a vampire. He wouldn’t have been able to live among humans. Sooner or later, it would’ve gotten ugly.”

“Have you ever met President Vellin?”

“Oh, sure,” Ellie said. “I’ve met Scott several times. You met him too. He was there for your birth and when you turned five.”

“I’d like to meet him again,” Lily said. “I don’t remember him.”

“He’s very busy,” Ellie said, “but I’m sure you’ll meet him again.”

Lily stood up and turned around. “Lily Baxter’s in there,” she said. “Right now.”

“Yep,” Ellie said as she got to her feet and stood beside her sister. “They built the tomb in these woods because this is where it all started. This is where Lily and Leo killed those first vampires.”

“And Phillip.”

“Yeah,” Ellie said. “And Phillip.”

Lily looked at the rose in front of the tomb. “Why is there always a flower here?”

“We replace it every few days,” Ellie said. “Just our way of showing her we’ll never forget what she did for us.”

“I hate that she died,” Lily said. “I hate it.”

“Okay, kiddo,” Ellie said. “I’m going to tell you a legend, but you have to promise that you’ll take it for what it is. A legend and nothing more.”

“I promise,” Lily said.

“Even Daddy denies this,” Ellie said, “so I’m not saying it’s true. I’m just saying it’s a story people like to tell.”

“Okay.”

“Some people say she didn’t die that day,” Ellie said. “Some people say they faked her death.”

“Why?” Lily’s eyes were wide with excitement.

“To test Cassius,” Ellie said. “To see if he’d actually keep his word, even without Lily around to threaten him. After that, they decided to just stick to it and let Lily go into hiding. At least, that’s how the story goes.”

“Why?” Lily asked. “If he kept his word, why wouldn’t she have come back? I don’t think I believe this story.”

“A lot of people,” Ellie said, “think it’s just a matter of time until the Topians break their promise and come back. They say the Topians are leaving us alone because they want us to let our guard down. They’re waiting for us to get complacent. Soft. Then they’re gonna swoop in and enslave us all.”

Lily looked horrified.

“Relax, kid,” Ellie said. “This is all just speculation. Besides, that’s why this legend is so good. Some people think Lily faked her own death and is out there… somewhere… building a secret army. Watching over us. You know how I said the Topians were just waiting for us to let our guard down?”

“Yeah.”

“Well some people think that’s what Lily Baxter is doing to them. Some people think the treaty was just a trick. They say the treaty was just to get the Topians to leave us alone long enough for Lily to rebuild a new army of Day Soldiers.”

“We have an army of Day Soldiers,” Lily said. “You’re a Day Soldier.”

“Modern Day Soldiers are protectors, but we’re not really soldiers,” Ellie said. “There are still vampires roaming the night in America. Leftovers from the war. Leftovers from the ones Travis made. We’re here to protect people from those guys. We’re not really here to fight a war. Not anymore.”

“But you think Lily Baxter is building an army to fight a war,” Lily said.

Ellie laughed. “I didn’t say I think that. It’s just a legend. And don’t tell Daddy I told you. He’ll just get mad.”

“I won’t tell him.”

Ellie looked at the sky through the trees. “I know you’ve got a million questions, but they’ll have to wait until tomorrow. You need to get home. It’ll be dark soon.”

“You gonna walk back with me?”

“Can’t,” Ellie said. She pointed her thumb back at the tomb. “I’m on guard duty all night. Now go. If you’re not home before dark, Daddy will freak.”

“Okay,” Lily said, “but tomorrow you have to answer all my questions.”

“I will.”

“Every one,” Lily said.

Ellie laughed. “I promise. Now go.”

At midnight, Ellie entered the tomb of Lily Baxter. She pushed the cement door open, stepped inside, then closed the door behind her.

Once inside, she pressed a button on the wall that turned on the overhead light. She looked at the body lying on a stone slab against the back wall of the tomb.

“Sometimes,” she said, “I almost feel sorry for him.”

A man stepped from the shadows. “I don’t.”

Ellie looked at him and smiled. “Hi, Coop.”

“Hey, Kiddo,” Cooper said. He looked at the body on the slab. “If you’d known him, you wouldn’t feel sorry for him. Not one bit.”

Lily Baxter was not in the tomb.

Instead, Travis lay on the slab. A large metal stake was driven into his chest. His body was lined with garlic. His severed head sat on a shelf on the other side of the tomb. His mouth was stuffed with Garlic.

His eyes watched Ellie.

“It’s creepy that he’s alive,” Ellie said. “It’s amazing that some old superstition is what it took to stop him.”

“It’s kept him here for fifteen years now,” Cooper said. “I hope it keeps him here forever. If he ever gets out, he’s gonna be pissed.”

“Why didn’t Lily just kill him?”

“Who the hell knows,” Cooper said. “Her and Travis always had a strange relationship. I think she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.”

“She thought this was better?”

“I guess,” Cooper said. “Maybe this is just until she can think of something better.”

Ellie laughed. “It’s been fifteen years.”

“Yeah,” Cooper said. “Pretty low on the priority list, I guess. So, you ready? Being around him kinda creeps me out.”

“Yeah,” Ellie said. “I’m guessing this meeting is important. My notice said the president is here.”

Cooper laughed. “Yeah, Scott’s here. And Grung. And your dad’s down there. The gang’s all here.”

“Neat,” Ellie said.

They walked to the back of the tomb and Cooper pressed a button on the wall. A panel on the floor slid open, revealing stairs. They walked down the stairs and stepped into the tight hallway at the bottom.

An electric motorcycle leaned against the wall of the tunnel. Cooper climbed onto the bike and said, “Hop on.”

Ellie got on the back of the bike and wrapped her arms around Cooper’s waist.

They rode through the tight tunnel for several miles, eventually stopping in front of a large metal door. They climbed off the bike and walked to the door.

“Back in the old days,” Cooper said as he tapped some numbers on the keypad beside the door, “the only way to get here was by going up on the mountain and swimming down to it through a river. This tunnel made things a helluva lot easier.”

“I’ve been here before, you know,” Ellie said. “Plenty of times.”

“I know,” Cooper said. “I just thought that was an interesting bit of trivia.”

“Yeah,” Ellie said. “You were kinda wrong.”

Cooper laughed. “Smartass.”

They stepped inside and were immediately greeted by a woman with short blond hair. “Hi guys,” the woman said.

“Hi, Charlotte,” Ellie said.

“Come on,” Charlotte said. “The meeting’s about to start. They’re crammed in the rec room.”

They worked their way through the facility until they finally got to the rec room.

It was packed with soldiers.

Ellie and Cooper elbowed their way through the crowd until they finally got to the small group at the front of the room.

“Hi Daddy!” Ellie said.

Carl turned around and smiled. “Hey, kiddo. Glad you made it.”

Grung gave Ellie a friendly pat on the back. “Good to see you again, kid.”

“You too, Grung.” She looked at a man and woman leaning against the wall. “Hey guys.”

“That’s Mr. President to you, young lady,” Scott said.

Lily Baxter smacked him on the shoulder. “Don’t be stupid, Scott. She’s family.” She looked at Ellie. “We all call him Howler. I suggest you do the same.”

“Howler,” Ellie said. “I like that.”

“Dammit, Ellie,” Scott groaned. “Don’t cave in to peer pressure.”

Ellie looked at Lily. She was always taken aback by how beautiful Lily was. She always looked so… ageless. Her skin was perfect and her eyes were so bright they almost glowed.

“You okay?” Lily asked.

Slightly embarrassed that she was caught staring at Lily, Ellie said, “I told your namesake all about the war today.”

“How’d that go?” Lily asked with a gentle smile.

“She wants to meet the president,” Ellie said.

Scott laughed. “I’ll have to arrange that. I’ve been a crappy godfather.”

“Yes,” Carl said. “You have.”

“Okay,” Lily said. “The gang’s all here. Scott, are the cameras rolling? I want the folks in the other facilities to hear this.”

“They’re rolling, boss.”

Lily stepped onto a chair so she stood a little higher than everybody else. “Okay, people, listen up.”

Everyone in the room stopped chatting and looked toward Lily.

“Some Topian troops were spotted in the desert in northern Mexico.”

“An invasion?” someone asked.

“Probably not,” Lily said. “Most likely, it’s a scouting group. No doubt, Cassius will claim they were here without his permission. A group of rogue hunters or something. That’s what he always says when Scott challenges him about these things.”

“So what are we gonna do about it?” Carl asked.

Lily grinned. “We’re gonna do what we always do. We’re gonna kill em all. It’ll be good training for the newer recruits. Who’s up for a trip to Mexico?”

Every hand in the room went up.

Lily laughed. She looked down at Ellie. “You ready to lead your first mission?”

Ellie grinned. “You’re damn right I am.”

Lily dropped down from the chair. “The life of a Day Soldier isn’t easy, kid. It’s a hard life, full of pain and hardship. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

Ellie looked at Carl.

“I was younger than you when I joined the Day Soldiers,” Carl said. “This isn’t my decision. It’s yours.”

Ellie looked back at Lily. “I’m ready.”

“Okay,” Lily said. “Pick out a team. You leave tomorrow.”

After the crowd cleared from the rec room, Grung and Scott dragged out the old ping pong table.

“They’re gonna play ping pong?” Ellie asked.

“Yeah,” Lily said. “Grung and Scott have an old score to settle. This is gonna be epic.”

“Lily,” Ellie said, “can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Lily said.

“Are you happy?”

“Wow,” Lily said. “That’s a big question.”

“You’ve been through a lot, Lily,” Ellie said. “I’m not gonna stand here and list all the people you’ve lost, but the number is pretty damn high. That has to take a toll, but here you are, excited about a ping pong match between two werewolves.”

Lily looked at Scott and Grung.

They stood on each end of the ping pong table. Grung picked up his paddle and said, “The odds are even now, Howler. Werewolf against werewolf.”

“Before we start,” Scott said, “let me officially apologize for the intense embarrassment I’m about to cause you.”

“Bring it, pretty boy,” Grung said.

Scott tossed the ball on the table and smacked it toward Grung.

“So,” Lily said to Ellie, “are you asking about my personal happiness or are you hoping I’ll tell you happy endings exist?”

“Both, I guess,” Ellie said.

“Sometimes,” Lily said, “a happy ending comes when you realize you don’t need an ending at all.”

“That was confusing,” Ellie said.

Lily laughed. “Yeah,” she said. “I guess I’m just saying you find happiness when you realize that life isn’t about winning. It’s about maintaining.”

“Yeah,” Ellie said, “that didn’t clear it up at all.”

“Let me put it this way,” Lily said. “We’ll never destroy all the evil things in this world. Instead of killing bad things, we should focus on protecting the good things. When I realized I didn’t have to win, everything changed for me.”

“I just asked if you’re happy,” Ellie said. “If you don’t want to answer that, it’s cool.”

“I’m happy, kid,” Lily said as she watched Grung and Scott furiously smack the little white ball back and forth. “That a good enough answer for you?”

“Yeah,” Ellie said. “That’s good enough for me. I’m glad you’re happy.”

“Any other questions I can answer badly?”

“Just one,” Ellie said. “Cooper wanted me to find out if you and Scott have a thing. He said it looked like you did for a while, but now he’s not sure.”

Lily laughed. “What do you think?”

“I think you do,” Ellie said. “Am I right?”

Lily just smiled and continued to watch the ping pong match.

The End.

About the Author

Brandon Hale grew up in a small Virginia town. It was in that town that he met his first love: Horror books and movies. He wrote his first full length novel when he was 17. In the decades since, he has written nonstop, producing multiple novels and short stories. Brandon's first published novel was The Gods and the Builders. Shortly after that, his second novel - Day Soldiers - was released, followed by Purging Fires (Day Soldiers Book Two). Brandon still lives in Virginia with his wife Laura.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27