Fall of the Mortals (Book 1) (37 page)

“I’m not interested in wiping out Kristof and his brothers for power,” said Shaun.

“Why are you doing it then?” asked Campbell.

“Because they killed a friend of mine and are a threat to the rest of my family,” Shaun answered.

“Your family?” asked Lennox.

“The trapped people, yes,” Shaun responded.

“Shaun, I understand all that but someone has got to take the captain’s chair when Kristof falls,” stated Campbell in a cunning tone. “Might as well be you. You may be the last hope of humanity. You’re most likely the only one of your kind that has a conscience and ability to reason. You see that don’t you?”

Shaun stared off iinto the distance knowing the president was making a lot of sense. He remembered telling Hammond that he may be the key to end the vampire epidemic.

“Well?” asked Campbell.

“I’d say you’ve given me a lot to think about, sir,” said Shaun.

“When will we meet again?” asked Campbell.

“Here, tomorrow night at the same time,” said Shaun. “Remember to keep the lights down and stay in the water. There’ll be a heavy rainstorm. I’ll have my family ready too.”

“And Kristof?” asked Campbell.

“If all goes as planned, he and his brothers will be dead,” Shaun responded, drifting higher in the air.

“Tomorrow night then?” said Lennox.

“Tomorrow,” Shaun replied before flying off into the night.

The three of them glanced at each other.

“Well that was interesting,” said Stanton.

“I think we can do some good with this guy,” said Campbell.

“Sir, he’s part of the enemy and can’t possibly be trusted,” stated Lennox trying to be dissuasive.

“Of course he can,” said Campbell. “Shaun will do our dirty work getting this Kristof and his brothers out of the way. They seem to be the root of the problem.”

“What about the treaty?” asked Stanton. “Does that seem like a reality?”

“Something tells me Shaun will give us one of the states, or a city at least.  It will be enough to base ourselves until we figure out how to take the nation back,” Campbell answered with a smile.

“Nice diplomacy skills, Mr. President,” said Stanton.

“Thank you. Besides, we want Shaun to feel comfortable for a while,” said Campbell. “It’ll keep him quiet and his cronies away from us. I might as well give him the Oval Office and let him feel like a world leader.”

“Brilliant, sir,” said Stanton as they made their way back to the lifeboat.

A dark feeling stirred inside of Lennox. He watched the president glaringly and resented him trying to get cozy with Shaun negotiating with him. He hated the idea of these so-called survivors coming aboard the Arizona. He felt it compromised everybody and put them at risk.
How do I know these friends of Shaun’s aren’t contaminated in some way or won’t become those vicious flying things after they’re on board? The Arizona is the only safe hold on the West Coast. I don’t care who the president thinks he is, no one will compromise me, my men or the Arizona,
he thought.

***

Shaun flew down to a freeway and landed at his crashed motorcycle. He stood it up, started it and checked its driving ability.

“Perfect,” he mumbled turning it back off and lifting it up as he drifted into the air. He flew off in the night carrying his motorcycle. It was like carrying a heavy suitcase.

***

Shaun descended into the museum lobby carefully through the roof holding the motorcycle, making sure no one was around.

“Hammond?” he called.

“Right here,” Hammond answered coming out of a doorway looking around cautiously.

“There’s been a change of plan,” said Shaun landing on the floor with the motorcycle leaning it on its kickstand.

“Oh?” said Hammond.

“I may not need you to fly a plane after all,” said Shaun. “But I will live up to my promise of getting you out of here.”

“What happened?” asked Hammond.

“I can’t explain now. Just stay hidden until dawn,” Shaun responded. “In the morning, you’ll need to drive yourself to the bank tower downtown then hide in the parking terrace until nightfall. Stay hidden there until I come for you. Can you manage?”

“Yeah, I haven’t been on a bike in a while but I’ll be there,” Hammond responded.

“Also, you must not have any contact with anyone before I come for you,” said Shaun. “Especially with any of the men carrying assault rifles. They must not learn you are with me. Do you understand?”

“Absolutely,” Hammond answered.

“Excellent,” said Shaun as he flew out the ceiling. “Vampires are close. Hide!”

“Right!” said Hammond, dashing back into the basement.

***

The next morning, Hammond drove down the freeway. He looked into the distance and saw the tower in the downtown area.

“There it is,” he mumbled.

He drove on down the emergency lane and around the multiple abandoned vehicles in the other lanes.

***

Hammond arrived at the tower parking terrace and dismounted, watching for anyone who could have seen him. No one was around. It felt like he was the only person in the entire city. He wheeled Shaun’s bike through the parking garage which was dark compared to the light of day outside. He pushed the bike across parking stalls still keeping an eye open for anybody. He noticed seven Harley Davidson motorcycles which were parked near the automatic double entry doors which led to the elevators.

He hid Shaun’s bike behind a large, thick cement post which was a short distance from the entry doors and leaned the bike on its kickstand. He started to walk back towards the set of double doors cautiously. Terry and Curtis came around the corner of the parking garage each of them holding machine guns. Hammond was startled and ducked behind the cement post quickly. They didn’t see him. He eavesdropped on their conversation.

Terry and Curtis walked up to their motorcycles and stopped. Both of them lit up a cigarette.

“We can’t just keep these people locked up here, Terry,” said Curtis, exhaling.

“I know,” Terry answered, taking a drag. “This whole thing has gotten so damn far out of hand, I can’t even think straight anymore.”

“We got to let them go, you know that, right?” said Curtis, staring at him.

“Let them go?” asked Terry as if Curtis was being stupid. “Where?”

“Just make them leave,” said Curtis. “They were going to do it to us.”

“Well, Shaun was,” said Terry.

“What? You out of your skull?” asked Curtis. “You don’t remember the shotgun Harold was holding when he called us a bunch of
skanky bikers
telling us to get our white trash butts out of here?”

“Just send them all into the night to meet their deaths?” asked Terry exhaling.

“Why not? We’re all going to die anyway, Terry,” Curtis responded. “All we’re doing is delaying the inevitable.”

“I suppose the supplies would serve us best for a while,” stated Terry in an uncaring voice.

“You need to make Chris go with them too,” said Curtis in a stern voice.

“Chris, the little mo-tard,” said Terry with a smirk. “It’s that little punk’s fault we’re in this mess!”

“In the jungle the strongest survive, homie!” said Curtis, raising his voice. “And that little weak turd just ain’t one of us.”

“Fine,” Terry responded. “We make them all leave tonight.”

Terry and Curtis walked through the set of double doors and headed towards the elevators. Hammond heard everything and remained hidden behind the post.

***

Kristof sat up in his coffin and floated to Count Dracul Arcos’ statue. He put his hands together in a praying position, closed his eyes and mumbled something as he meditated. Lightning flashed and thunder was heard outside his home. Lucian and Adrian came out of their coffins and joined him mumbling a prayer as well. Shaun awakened, sat up and watched them. Their praying stopped in unison but they remained floating near the statue.

“Shaun?” asked Kristof.

“Yes.”

“Won’t you join us?” Kristof asked.

“Sure,” Shaun answered as he floated next to Kristof and put his hands together.

Kristof kept his eyes closed and was silent. Shaun looked around at what was left of the brotherhood. The deaths of Damien, Miranda and Seth flashed in his mind like a bolt of terror.

“Tonight, my brothers, is the night,” said Kristof as loud thunder rumbled outside. “We will finally put the humans under our feet once and for all.”

 Shaun stayed quiet and pretended he was all for Kristof’s cause.

“Thanks to our brother, Shaun,” Kristof added. “The newest member of our brotherhood.”

Kristof and his brothers opened their eyes. Kristof grew a hardened expression looking around the circle of his trusted fellow vampires.

“Where is Seth?” asked Kristof.

Shaun felt scared as he pretended to look around the dimly lit coffin room for their missing brother whom he slew a couple of nights prior.

“I haven’t seen him, brother,” Lucian responded.

“Nor I,” answered Adrian. “Not for two days.”

“He knew how important this night was to us!” stated Kristof, raising his voice in anger. “What it meant to me!”

“We must do this without him, Kristof,” stated Lucian, trying to calm him down. “Another perfect storm may not come for some time.”

“Shaun?” asked Kristof.

“Yes, brother,” Shaun answered.

“When did you see Seth last?”

“A few nights ago,” Shaun answered. “He was outside in the front with a young female. They flew away together to the west.”

“That little vampire whore,” Kristof sneered floating upwards. “How dare she steal my brother’s heart and distract him from such an occasion!”

Shaun was relieved seeing they believed his story.

“Oh well, no matter,” said Kristof. “He will feast on none of the fresh blood, our prize of the victory.”

“The storm is howling,” said Adrian.

“To the roof,” said Kristof.

***

It was late at night in Lennox’s office. He sat at his desk in front of a laptop looking out his window at the calm seas beneath the moonlight. He typed something and the face of a man appeared on his screen. He had brown eyes, and black hair which was slicked back. He had a sinister look about him.

“Good evening, Mallas,” said Lennox.

“What’s Eagle’s standing now that he’s met their leader?” asked Mallas with cold eyes.

“The one we met tonight isn’t the boss,” Lennox answered. “We met some guy named Shaun.”

“And Campbell’s position?” asked Mallas.

“He wants to do things the hard way,” Lennox responded.

“How do you mean?” asked Mallas.

“Wants to dance for these things as well as allow them to come aboard my Arizona,” said Lennox.

“Sounds compromising,” Mallas answered.

“He wants them to throw us a bone,” stated Lennox.

“Such as?” asked Mallas.

“A city or state occupied by civilians only,” Lennox answered.

“Campbell actually trusts these things to go through with something like that?” asked Mallas as if Campbell was an idiot.

“Absolutely,” Lennox answered.

“He’s a bigger fool than we figured,” said Mallas.

 “I think the situation is ready for your special touch,” said Lennox.

“It’s earlier than we scheduled but I can make something work,” said Mallas.

“I thought you CIA black op guys were always ahead of schedule,” said Lennox smirking.

“Our guy in The New Order is ready to take Campbell’s place,” said Mallas. “Timing is critical. We need somebody who’s going to play ball with these flying bastards and understands aggressive negotiations.”

“What do you need me to do to help things along?” asked Lennox.

“Nothing,” Mallas answered. “We already have things in place with the weapons specialist on your ship. One of our guys is ready for the order.”

“Is it going to be an accident?” asked Lennox.

“We believe going head on with our problems. Hard and fast, plain and simple,” said Mallas. “Even if it means the removal of a world leader like Campbell.”

“What time is it going to happen?” asked Lennox.

“Watch the Eagle rise and fall in the morning,” Mallas responded.

“Til then,” said Lennox, closing his laptop.

***

The next morning was cloudy with thunder in the distance. Lennox stood on deck with a fake smile watching Campbell and Stanton climb on board a military helicopter with armed federal agents. Campbell gave Lennox a friendly wave as the helicopter lifted off the deck. Lennox waved back knowing the end was near. He watched the helicopter fly nearly a half mile from the Arizona gaining some altitude. He turned his head to the sound of one of the double cannons rotating to set its aim.