Dominion of the Damned (33 page)

“
Leading them to slaughter would be letting them go to that prison without a fight. Esme would probably kill us all eventually, if she got the chance.” She reached out and took hold of his arm. “We have to win this, Alek.”

He nodded. “I know.” Then he let out a frustrating groan. “The timing couldn’t be worse. If Zach thinks we’re so close to a breakthrough, I should be with him in the lab.”

“
Then go.”

“
No,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not going to incite everyone to battle and then leave them without making sure they’re as prepared as possible.”

“
Alek, we’ve got this. Besides, it’s not like almost everyone here doesn’t have combat experience. We’ve all had to fight off shamblers at some point.”

“
Maybe so, but shamblers aren’t intelligent, and they don’t have any pride at stake.”

“
But like you said, there are more ways to kill a vampire. Or at least slow them down. We should put together a team to set up booby traps. I think guerrilla warfare is probably our best bet.”

There was that look of admiration in his eyes again. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

Hannah smiled. “Right back atcha.”

He was leaning in to kiss her when the doors at the back of the auditorium flew open in a swirl of wind and rain. One of the volunteers who had helped to rescue Alek ran inside, dripping wet. He barely kept his footing as he approached them, slipping and sliding on the tile, his face pale and frightened.

“
What is it, Tim?” asked Alek. “Don’t tell me they’re here already.”

He shook his head. Keeping his voice low, he said, “I don’t want to start a panic, but we spotted a twister on the ground. It’s headed this way.”

FORTY-TWO

Alek and Hannah exchanged glances, then Hannah hurried to take Noah from Paula while Alek addressed the assembly. “All right, everyone needs to stay calm and head to the storm shelters. A tornado has been spotted on the ground. Each shelter holds about twenty people, so don’t crowd each other. Everyone come to the front and get a weapon, then follow me.”

Panicked voices filled the air, but to everyone’s credit, they stayed calm and followed directions. Hannah grabbed an automatic rifle to sling over her shoulder before following Alek out the door.

Wind and rain whipped around her, so thick that she could barely see where she was going. Noah started to shriek in fear and confusion. Alek took off his already rain-soaked jacket, then took Noah from her and wrapped him up in it. He grabbed her hand and led her to the first of the shelters, a row of plain, white, shed-like structures that dotted the camp near the barracks. He shoved open the door and handed the baby back to Hannah before ushering people inside. Paula and Chris were among those who joined her in this shelter before Alek started directing people to the other buildings.

They didn’t have long. The wind was already so strong and so loud that even when they shouted they could barely hear each other over it. Alek pushed Hannah inside and showed her how to bolt the door. “These things were tested for winds up to 300 mile per hour, so you should be fine, but everyone should get down and cover their heads.”

“
Where are you going?”

“
Zach’s still at the lab. I have to go get him.”

“
But there’s no time!”

“
I’ll make time.” He grabbed hold of her face and kissed her, quickly but passionately.

“
Be careful,” she told him, a little breathlessly, as he let her go.

He nodded. “You be careful when you leave the shelter. Who knows what you might find out here. Try to stay put until I can come back for you.” He kissed her again, then shut her inside.

The others knew the drill. They were already seated along the walls of the shelter, knees drawn up and ready to duck and cover their heads if necessary. Hannah took a seat next to Paula, who was murmuring a prayer for everyone’s safety. Noah’s cries were almost deafening in the echoing confines of the shelter, and Hannah did everything she could to sooth him. Otherwise, everyone kept silent as they waited.

A long, tense moment passed, and then they heard what sounded like a freight train bearing down on the camp. Hannah wrapped herself around Noah and said a prayer for Alek.
Please let him make it inside
, she repeated over and over in her head. She wondered if vampires could survive getting carried off by a tornado, and consoled herself by deciding that they probably could.

All around them, the building started to vibrate and rattle. Children screamed and added their cries to Noah’s as adults whispered words of comfort. Everyone braced, and prayed, and waited.

Then it was over. The building went still, and the sound of wind departed, leaving only the soft patter of rain hitting the roof. Everyone in the shelter began to relax, raising their heads to look at each other, scared expressions melting into relieved smiles. They made it.

“
We should stay put a while,” said Hannah. “There could be more.”

They all settled in to wait. After a while, people started to lament their lack of a weather radio, or of radio stations to report what was happening.

To Hannah’s surprise, Chris moved to sit next to her. “Chris,” she said, “I’m so sorry about everything.”

He held up a hand to stop her. “I just want to tell you that I really like you, Hannah, and it sucks to see you with the doc. And I’m kind of pissed off that you didn’t tell me about the two of you.”

“
I swear, Chris, nothing was going on between us while we were going out.”

“
Look, I get it. We went out twice. I thought we’d be going out a lot more, but it’s not like we had a commitment. But still... like I said. It sucks, and I’m pissed.”

“
I know. I’m really sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, and I don’t blame you for hating me.”

He leaned his head back against the wall of the shelter, and just sat there like that for a moment. Then he blew out a long sigh. “I don’t hate you.”

“
It’s okay. You’re allowed to hate me.”

“
But I don’t,” he insisted. “And I get it. I can’t say I’m too surprised. Doc’s a good guy, and I figured it would just be a matter of time before you figured that out.”

“
You
are a good guy, Chris,” she said. “I hope you know that.”

“
Yeah.” He gave her a wry smile. “Just not good enough.”

“
Chris—”

He cut her off. “No hard feelings, okay? We all need to stick together. We don’t have the luxury of holding grudges against each other.”

Hannah resisted the impulse to lean over and kiss his cheek. She figured that, under the circumstances, the gesture wouldn’t be appreciated. So instead she simply nodded, and they sat in silence for a moment. Noah had finally calmed down and was about to fall asleep in her lap. The weather sounded like it was calming down outside. She’d thought Alek would’ve been back by now. “We should scout out what’s happening outside.” She looked over at Paula. “Do you mind?”

“
How often do I have to tell you, darlin’? I never mind taking care of this angel.” Careful not to wake him, she gently moved Noah into her lap. Chris was already on his feet, and he helped her up. “Okay,” said Hannah. “We’ll see what the situation is outside, and we’ll let you know if it’s clear.”

She unlatched the door, and readied her rifle as she stuck her head out. A sprinkling of soft rain still fell, but the sky was beginning to clear, revealing stars and a bright moon. The coast looked clear. Hannah stepped outside, followed by Chris. “It looks clear,” he said.

“
Shh.” She thought she heard something. “Listen.”

There it was, not far in the distance: a moan. And then another.

Chris heard it, too. “That sounds like…”

The moaning turned into a chorus, and Hannah’s stomach filled with dread. “The fence,” she said. “The tornado took out the fence.”

“
Shit.” Chris turned back to the shelter. “We need to get everybody to the old fort. That’s where we holed up the last time they got in.”

“
We don’t even know if the old fort’s still there,” said Hannah. “Everyone should stay in the shelters. They’ll be safe in there. If a tornado can’t breach them, then neither can the shamblers.”

“
But those things aren’t made to stay in indefinitely” said Chris. “There’s no food, no water, no place to use the bathroom. And there’s no way to fight.”

“
I’ll go find Alek,” said Hannah. “We’ll scope out the rest of the camp and see what’s there, and we’ll come up with a plan. But for now everybody needs to just sit tight. We need to let the other shelters know that they shouldn’t try to leave.”

“
I’ll do that. You go find the doc before the shamblers get here. And Hannah, be careful.”

“
You, too.”

She cocked her rifle and headed off in the direction of the old jail house. The moon cast enough light to reveal debris scattered everywhere, downed trees and damaged buildings. She hoped that her house had made it through unscathed. Rounding a corner, Hannah stopped in her tracks, a chill shooting down her spine as she heard a loud groan. It sounded close. Bodies lay among the debris, some in the street, some flung into trees, and one dangling off the edge of a roof, all of them writhing and moaning.

Hannah turned to try another route, but more shamblers were scattered on the ground behind her, and they were starting to get up. There were too many for her to take them all out with her rifle. She backed up to the other side of the street and tried to edge past the fallen ones without drawing their attention, but it was too late. They were getting to their feet, and they seemed to lock onto her.

She smelled gasoline, and looked around for the source. A jeep had been dropped on its roof in the middle of the street, and it was leaking fuel. She put it between her and the shamblers, and backed up to a tree that still stood nearby. She took position behind the tree, aimed at the puddle of fuel, and waited. The shamblers had to pass by it to get to her. One reached the jeep, and then another, each moving with their slow, shuffling gait, teeth gnashing at the air, their faces otherwise expressionless. Four or five were gathered near the jeep now, then six. If she waited any longer, they’d move too far past it. She pulled the trigger, and missed.

Her hands were shaking. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then took aim again. Fired. This time the bullet struck the jeep, and sparks ignited the puddle of fuel. Hannah ducked behind the tree and covered her ears. The explosion caused the tree to vibrate against her back, raining leaves down on her. A blast of heat enveloped her. Then she heard a wet
plop
beside her, followed by another. She opened her eyes to see a pair of severed legs, one on each side of her. Another
plop
, and an arm fell between them. Something wet landed on her head. Hannah knocked it off, and recognized an ear.

“
Aw, God, that’s nasty,” she muttered, and waited until body parts finished raining down around her. Taking a deep breath, she got to her feet and peeked around the tree. The shamblers closest to the jeep had been obliterated. She’d already seen (and touched) what happened to the rest. Hannah didn’t waste any more time. She turned in the direction of the old jail and ran.

FORTY-THREE

Zach’s umbrella was inside out and useless by the time he reached the old jail house, leaving him soaked to the bone. Heading down into the dank basement, he began to shiver. Even in the lingering heat of late summer, the old underground cells tended to be chilly. Ignoring the moaning coming from Bob 2.0’s cell, he made his way past it into the slightly larger cell where he’d set up a makeshift laboratory to salvage his and the doc’s research. A century-old underground jail cell seemed like an unlikely place to conduct sophisticated biochemistry research, but that was exactly why Zach had chosen it. If any more would-be saboteurs managed to get into the camp, at least they’d have a hard time finding the lab. Hopefully, the vampires would have an equally difficult time, buying Zach some extra time to find the vaccine.

Inside the lab, he lit a Bunsen burner, more for heat than anything else, before stripping off his shirt and hanging it to dry. He pulled on his lab coat and buttoned it up, then checked on the rats. They were all huddled together in a corner of the cage, sound asleep. He put some fresh food pellets in their bowl, and promised to get them some fresh water after the crisis passed.

Then he got to work. He felt bad about missing the assembly, and as much as he wasn’t really made for combat, part of him wanted to be up there with Doc and the others, getting ready for the fight that faced them. But he knew that continuing the vaccine research was the most important job he could be doing. They were running out of time. If the vampires shut them down before they could come up with the vaccine, then humanity would forever be at their mercy.

“
But no pressure,” he muttered to himself as he went over his notes for about the eleventy-billionth time.