The Dead War Series (Book 2): Desperate Times (18 page)

Alexis lifted the man off the roof, holding him a foot from the surface. The man's feet dangled and kicked as he struggled in the vampire's grip. With little effort, he walked over to the edge, holding the human over it. The man's eyes bulged in their sockets as tears leaked down the sides on his face. The other humans stood, mouths agape, too shocked to say anything at all about what they were seeing. The display of strength and malice took them completely by surprise.

Alexis watched the fearful expression of the man he was holding and he smiled. “Do you see what I am capable of?”

The man nodded.

“Are you going to have the audacity to mouth off to me again?”

The man shook his head. His face was turning blue by this time, his tongue protruding past his teeth.

“Understand that you are beneath me. You don't question what I do, you obey.”

The man's eyes squeezed shut, but he still managed to nod as much as Alexis' hand around his throat would allow.

“Excellent.” With that Alexis tossed him toward the others. He landed with a hard thump, what little wind he had in him was immediately knocked out upon impact. He groaned as he rolled over onto all fours, coughing and gasping for fresh air. Alexis approached the four humans, looking down at the one still trying to regain his baring. “Get up.” he ordered.

Keeping his mouth shut, the man rose to his feet. The color was slowly returning to his face as he wiped the tears from his cheeks and eyes. All four stood in front of him, their eyes glued to his face, just how he wanted them to be. He captured their minds with his powers, exerting his mental control over them.

“Now, I'm going to fly you out of here. The four of you will wrap your arms around me as tightly as you can and don't let go. Not until I tell you to and you will remain calm and quiet the entire time, do you understand?” Alexis asked.

They nodded absently, remaining silent.

“The female will ride in front,” Alexis said. His lips widened in a leering smile as she approached him. He pulled her close, lifting her up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. Under different circumstances, that position would have been more pleasing to him, but now was not the time. Next, one of the men climbed onto his back, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Alexis took hold of the other two men, the loudmouth and the leisurely dressed one. Once he felt they were secure enough, he took to the skies.

Chapter Eight

“Master, the lab is complete,” Madison said, giving Ovidius the update.

Ovidius nodded as he looked out over the ledge of the roof down at the crowd of zombies surrounding their stronghold. “I'm not a religious man, Madison, but this scene does appear to be the beginning to the end of days.”

“When the dead walk the earth? Wouldn't we have a monopoly on that?” Madison asked, her gaze on the zombies as well.

“I've never considered what we are truly dead. Our souls and are bodies are one. Blood ignites us, warms us, fills us. Our hearts—however slowly—still beat. There are no souls left in those things down there, only hunger. Mindless, raging, unending hunger. There is no reasoning with them, no mercy that they can show, no passion that they can express. They are empty beasts, true monsters.” Ovidius stared forward, transfixed by the zombies scratching at the thick metal of the trailers, trying to get in. The barrier was strong, stronger than their combined effort. And even if they somehow managed to break through the trailers--which Ovidius hoped would never happen—they would find it impossible to penetrate the building itself. Of that, he was certain.

“Master, are you all right? I can't recall the last time I'd seen you this... introspective, I suppose,” Madison asked. Her brows were furrowed as she studied her maker. A slight frown marred her pretty face.

Ovidius blinked and straightened himself as if coming out of a trance. “I'm fine.”

Both looked off to the right when they noticed a helicopter approaching.

“I wonder if this is the government agents sent to 'watch' us, or the team of doctors from Adeline's coven?” Ovidius speculated. The helicopter drew closer and he smiled. “Ah, neither, it's Hans returning with more humans.”

“And hopefully more fuel. That thing comes in handy,” Madison said.

“Indeed,” Ovidius agreed as both watched overhead as the helicopter hovered, kicking up dust and wind.

It descended slowly, carefully until the landing skids touched the tar covered roof. The rotor blades began to slow to a stop as the humans exited to aircraft keeping their heads low. Hans followed them, his clothing covered with splotches of blood and bits of flesh and other gory parts. Ovidius approached him, his eyes scanning over the other vampire's attire.

“Were you bitten?” Ovidius inquired.

Hans shook his head then bowed. “No, Master, but I came close to several times while trying to save these humans. Those things are fast as fuck, stronger than I had anticipated, too.”

Ovidius nodded then his gaze shifted to the human bounty, taking count of all fifteen, nine adults and six children of varying ages. “You did very well. Are there any among them of worth besides sustenance?”

Hans shook his head. “Not that I could gather. I managed to gather this lot from an elementary school.

“That would explain why you were fortunate enough to find the children,” Ovidius eyed the youths with a hungry, predatory gaze.

“It was the reason why I chose the school, over the barber shop.” Hans smirked as his eyes settled on the children as well. He could already taste their delectable, sweet blood on his palette.

“They should join the others.” Ovidius nodded toward the rooftop door. “How is the fuel level on the copter?”

“We're good. We managed to load up and gather another helicopter at the barracks,” Hans said.

Ovidius nodded. “Very good. Were you able to gather any other weapons?”

“We took a nice stock of high-powered weapons. With the right aim, you can shoot off an ear or blow the brains completely out of the skulls of those dead fucking things,” Hans said, smiling. “I tested a few from the chopper.”

“Even better.” Ovidius returned his smile, pleased that they had discovered another way to kill the zombies, and from a safer distance to boot!

Hans walked over to the helicopter and began unloading the fuel and weapons he gathered, sitting them on the rooftop. Once he was finished, he turned to Ovidius to await his next order.

“Well, since we're good on fuel, gather more humans.”

Hans nodded and with a short bow, climbed back into the helicopter, taking his seat beside the pilot.  Ovidius looked at the helicopter seeing the pilot still sitting quietly in the cockpit. A few words from Hans and the engine clicked on and the blades began to rotate.

“Should I go with him, Master?” Madison asked.

Ovidius shook his head. “No, I need you here. Guard the wall, report any weak links and slay all that get close to breaching the wall. Try your best to do so without bringing risk to yourself.”

Madison swallowed hard. The very thought of having to get close enough to those zombies didn't sit well with her at all. Sure, it was a relief knowing that she would return to herself eventually, that was based solely on if her maker bothered to risk it if she'd become too dangerous for their self-preservation. She didn't voice her opinion, instead she nodded. “Yes, Master.”

“Good.” Ovidius turned, making his way back to the door and inside the building.

Madison stood still for a moment, allowing herself a brief moment in the sun as the rays warmed her caramel skin. Unlike most vampires, she enjoyed the sun and spending time with her human lover under its light. Had this day turned out normal, that'd be exactly what she'd be doing. Probably making love to him in their cool, backyard pool. Unfortunately, this day was shit and she was pissed. She leaped from the rooftop to the top of the trailer barricade, staring down at the few hundred zombies that were gathered there, clamoring to get in. The smell of rotting flesh assailed her nostrils and she frowned as she watched them clawing at the thick steel of the trailers.

Madison watched them all with a morbid fascination, she couldn't help herself. She took note of their bodily conditions, some were full intact, and others were missing limbs. Some still had a bit of semblance to their lost humanity while others looked absolutely hideous. Their black eyes, ominous and their large mouths gaping open as if they could unhinge their jaws like snakes. Another thing she didn't like was that they all seemed to be immune to pain. She wondered how they were still functioning, their eyes were dark voids, soulless, unlike vampire eyes that captured the light making whatever color they were even more vibrant.

“Fucking--”

“Shit!” Madison yelped, spinning around to face the man's voice that startled her out of her contemplation. She groaned, a scowl appearing on her face.

“Damn, how deep in thought were you, baby. I think that's my first time ever sneaking up on you?” Elijah said as he continued to climb up the ladder.

“And it will be your last. Don't do it again. Why are you here anyway, it's too dangerous.”

“I came to see you.” Elijah stepped up onto the top of the trailer, standing before Madison. “I was worried. This shit is just so fucking creepy and you've been so busy and... well...” He shrugged one shoulder.

“I'm fine. I had things to do, you know this,” Madison snapped.

“Don't be mad at me.” Elijah looked at her, his jade eyes softening as they roamed over her curvaceous body.

“If you don't go back inside where it's safe, I will be. One bite from one of those fucking things down there and I'll have to cut off your head.” Madison pointed to the zombie horde below.

Elijah peeked over the edge, staring down at the things he'd only seen in monster movies. Like Madison, he became fascinated and took advantage of his safer location atop of the trailers to get a good view.

“My God, this really is real, isn't it?” he murmured.

“It is, as much as I wish it wasn't.”

“I heard on the news its spread to Tennessee and North Carolina. Some news stations are already off air and others are predicting those zombies will be in Florida within a few hours. They really can't judge how fast it's moving because the outbreak is sporadic. They don't know infected vampires are the cause of it.”

“Have they shown any footage of vampires?” Madison looked at him briefly before returning her attention to the zombies. “Hold that thought.” She walked towards another of Ovidius' vampires as he was monitoring the zombies as well.

“What are your plans?” she asked Elliot.

“Fuck if I know. We can't risk jumping down into the fray and taking heads. Not when it's this many here.” He looked out beyond the crowd of zombies. “I'm thinking we attack from behind. Their focus seems pretty single-minded from what I've gathered.”

Elliot had been one of the vampires who was their first line of defense, killing as many zombies as he saw before their number grew too great and he was forced to retreat back to their stronghold. His clothes were clean now, brand new thanks to the resources provided from their location. It was the first thing he did after reporting to Ovidius, terrified that the infected blood would be absorbed into his skin somehow. To all of their relief, he remained of sound mind, but still, he would rather be safe than oh, so sorry.

“Elaborate.” Madison kept her hazel gaze on the threat below while listening.

“When I was fighting these things, they didn't seem to follow any kind of logic other than feeding from the nearest food source. What worries me, is I'm not sure which senses they're using. Do they smell or is it sight and sound?”

“Well, I'm guessing it's probably sight and sound at this point. I'd think we'd have more of them here banging on our wall if they could smell us. The final construction brought this lot here,” Madison said.

“That's bad enough. How well is their hearing? Is it on the level of humans?” Elliot asked, looking at Madison, who appeared to be thinking about what he was saying. Her bottom lip caught between her teeth as her eyes narrowed.

“Let us test them, shall we?” Madison pointed to the roof of the gas station located a half block away from the main building. “Go over there and making the slightest of noises, only something I'd be able to hear.”

Elliot nodded, then levitated before he took off towards the gas station to take his post. Once there, he knelt, claws extending before he scraped them lightly along the metal edging. Madison motioned for him to make a louder sound and he obliged by digging his nails into the metal and ripping it back. Madison raised her hand, giving him a “thumbs up” as she monitored the zombies below. None seemed to be aware of what Elliot was doing. That was a good thing. Madison motioned for him to make a louder noise and he did, screaming at the zombies.

“Hey, here I am, come on over!” Elliot's voice carried over the distance, immediately capturing the attention of the monsters. All seemed to turn as one solid unit and race toward the gas station. Those with limbs moved considerably faster than those lacking. Madison watched in horror as several of the reanimated corpses dragged their severed torsos towards the gas station. She watched as one dragged its organs long the ground leaving blood-clotted trails. Some of the organs detached from the body along the rough graveled pavement and grass terrain. Bits and whole pieces of hearts, splines, livers and entrails clung to twigs, pavement and dirt as the zombies crawled over them.

Behind her, she heard an ugly chocking sound and turned in time to see her human servant and secret lover leaning over the edge of the trailers. Vomit spewing from his mouth, landing on the pavement below. A few of the slow-moving zombies turned their attention back at the new sound. They began to crawl towards the trailers again. Madison advanced, taking Elijah by his waist and leaping onto the ground on the safe side of the trailer before leaping back on top. Removing her sword from its sheath on her back, she jumped down and with her vampire speed, raced to the seven zombies that were crawling back. The blade slicing through their necks, severing their heads from their body. The sound she made, which was barely audible was enough to attract the attention of more zombies and they began to rush back, some faster than others. Without wasting another second, she leaped back onto the top of the trailers, safe from their grasp. Elliot rejoined her.

“Nice move,” he complimented.

“Barely made a dent. And the noise we made only drew more.” Madison watched as more zombies joined the others as they were split between the gas station and their trailer wall.

“We needed to know what we are dealing with,” Elliot said. “The risk was necessary.”

“I know.”

He looked down at Elijah and frowned. The human was getting over his nausea as he looked up at them.  “He needs to be inside. He's a distraction.”

“I know,” Madison agreed. “I'll send him away.”

“You give him too much leeway. He's lost his understanding of his place in our world. In your life,” Elliot chastised.

“Elliot, we are friends, you and I. There are times when I value your council but it is now
you
who oversteps.” Madison turned toward the other vampire, glaring. Her hazel eyes boring deeply into his gray.

Elliot inclined his head slightly. “Apologies. It's just that... well, people talk. There are rumors that you care for your human too much.”

“It's no one’s business what I do with my human.”

“True. But as your friend, I really must advise against caring for him so much. Ovidius may not allow you to turn him and you'll be left with having to watch him wither and die. It's best not to get too attached.” Elliot gazed down at Madison, his expression void of recrimination.