The Human-Undead War Trilogy (Book 1): Dark Intentions (20 page)

Chapter 26

Strajowskie threw the flaps aside and stepped out of the tent. Soldiers scampered about, shouting at each other, toppling over tents, tables and supplies in their haste. Several beasts tromped through the center of the encampment. The beasts uttered what could be construed as laughter as they toyed with their prey in the mass confusion.  

A group of soldiers ran by, a stretching gangly beast in close pursuit. One soldier turned to square off against the creature. A stretched arm raked the soldier’s face with razor-sharp claws, bowling him over. A giant hairy foot squashed the poor private’s head into the ground like a tomato. The remainder of the group all wheeled about, miniature Ashmores and broken table legs in hand. 

The beast kicked one soldier in the stomach, doubling her over. It then reached out with one hand and tore another soldier’s head clean off with one simple tug. 

The creature was feet away, oblivious to his presence. Strajowskie stepped up behind it, jabbed the Ashmore between its shoulder-blades, and fired three times. The beast slumped forward and crashed like a felled tree. The hulking thing crushed the body of the headless soldier in a sickening thud. 

“Stand and fight! Go for the eyes and the heart! Do not be cowards! Serve your country and your race as you should!” 

The soldiers looked at each other in confusion. 

“Triangular formations of twenty or more. Stand firm!” Strajowskie shouted above the din of screaming, dying soldiers. The soldiers he spoke to still stared, the fear like a shroud draped over them. His anger surfaced. “Do you want to fucking live?” 

The frightened soldiers nodded. 

“Then do as I say! Find your commanding officers and spread the word!” 

He stormed away, toward another disturbance where one beast was tossing soldiers like pebbles. Strajowskie reached the outer ring of soldiers who were attempting to subdue the beast. He shouted for them to get into triangle formation. They obliged, lining up like bowling ball pins in front of the creature. The foremost soldier was immediately ripped in half by the outraged creature. The next two in the formation were knocked aside by horrendous blows. Strajowskie—at the rear and outer right tip of the formation—side-stepped his soldiers and sprayed four arrows blindly. 

One arrow struck the creature’s shoulder, halting its advance. The creature reached for the shaft and ripped it out, bits of flesh and muscle strung on the tip. As soon as it paused, the soldiers fanned out into a single line and harped on it with arrows. The creature slumped to the plains as the removed arrow fell from its palm. 

Strajowskie climbed atop an intact table and surveyed the encampment. Everywhere beasts leapt, ran, stretched and howled in pleasure. Soldiers milled about the beasts, attempting to assemble formations. Before they were able to, they were ripped apart in droves, the beasts killing fifty humans for every one of their kind that succumbed to death. The sun basked the plains to the east, where figures continued to rush toward their camp. 

He sighted a beast in a small divot in the plains on the outer perimeter toward the east. The creature was being attacked by only a handful of soldiers yet seemed to be in disarray. It raised its arms skyward. Arrows rained down from the assemblage of soldiers who stood five feet above it. It swung and stretched its arms, howling. Not a single arrow had lodged into it, yet it flailed as if struck. 

The soldiers surrounded it, containing it to the divot, drowning it in offensive maneuvers. The creature continuously reared its head back, as if trying to peer above its ledge-like brow. 

Strajowskie guffawed. He’d found yet another weakness. 

He rushed back to the tent where Cannopolis and Manera paced (or rolled, in Cannopolis’ case) back and forth. “Manera, I have an important job for you.” 

Keith straightened his posture and stopped pacing. 

“I need you to find the nearest valley in proximity to this camp. Something with high bluffs on each side. A narrow passage between two hills would be ideal.” 

“What about me?” 

Strajowskie regarded his loyal general. It was hard to look at him in his current state. He could empathize with Arthur’s frustration and impatience to get back to the battlefield. But he dared not keep Cannopolis around lest he find himself alone with one of the newest vampire freaks. 

“Ride with him. Search together. And use your little cell phone trick to get Lester back here faster than I can kill a dozen of these ugly motherfuckers.” 

Keith whistled. “I’ve seen him take out twelve holograms in three minutes.” 

“That’s nothing. I’ve seen him take out twelve real ones with one arrow,” Cannopolis said. “We better get a move on, Manera.” 

Strajowskie chuckled and raced through the tent flaps, forming a plan to hold the creatures at bay until he could get to the battleground he desperately needed.  

***

Brian ran at the wall and jumped, his body parallel to the floor. He called upon the winds. They hit him where he beckoned, holding him upright and at the same time propelling him forward, so that he was running on the wall. He then brought the gust up beneath him and kicked out, soaring through the air toward Barnaby’s chest. 

Barnaby grabbed his leading foot in mid-air and held Brian suspended where he was. 

Just what Brian had expected. 

He rolled in mid-air—charged by a rolling wind he’d perfected, a current that acted similarly to a tornado but not nearly as grand in scale. The roll brought him out of Barnaby’s grasp. He kicked out and landed a foot on Barnaby’s jaw. 

The vampire leader grunted and backed away. Brian dropped the winds and settled to the ground. 

Barnaby wiped the cuff of his white ruffled sleeve over his mouth and smiled. “First blood. Good job.” 

Brian crossed his arms over his chest. Muscles bulged beneath his shirt. His arms and chest were cut and lean after a week of training and regular feeding from the moat. His stomach was almost a six-pack, his legs becoming solid like tree trunks. It was difficult to fathom that he’d been a flabby human just two weeks prior. He hardly recalled what it was like to be alive anymore, in human terms.  

“I must commend you for your mastery of levitation manipulation, Koltz. I have never seen anyone become acclimated so quickly to that particular ability before.” 

“I suppose, as usual, you still would’ve won?” 

“Of course.”  

They chuckled simultaneously and walked beside each other to the statue in the middle of the chamber. The gaping hole from their first sparring match had already been repaired. Brian wouldn’t have thought it possible to have such materials on hand, but Barnaby’s resources and finances appeared limitless. 

“I apologize for the short notice, but our training sessions must be put on hold for a while. I have a business trip that will take me out of the area for some time. Father Stephenson will be the liaison in my stead. If you need anything, find him. He will be at the library as usual.” 

Brian couldn’t contain his curiosity. “Do you mind if I ask where it is you’re going? In case anyone asks?” 

“Everyone has secrets,” Barnaby said, waggling his finger, “and this one, unfortunately, I cannot share.” 

Brian shrugged in understanding. He’d grown fond of Barnaby, finding the rumors of his abhorrent, vile personality to be heresy. Sure, he’d witnessed Barnaby lose his temper several times, had seen his eyes glow with unabridged hatred. But he also knew, as a vampire especially, emotions weren’t easily controlled. He had no reason not to trust the vampire leader, and his business was nobody else’s business. 

“It has been an honor to watch your progression, but I must take my leave now and prepare for my journey,” Barnaby said as they approached the chamber door. “You may do as you choose whilst I am away. Ruby as well. The grounds are yours. I only ask that you keep commotions to a minimum in my absence.” 

Brian clapped the Undead leader on the back. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about us.” He wished Barnaby a safe trip and they shook hands.  

He sped out of the chamber, thrilled about besting his mentor for once. He was in his room within seconds. When he entered, Ruby hopped up from her bed, squealed, and ran at him. She jumped and latched onto him like a koala bear hugging a tree. He caught her legs around his waist with ease. 

She kissed him passionately, then dislodged her lips and stared into his eyes. “I missed you.” 

“I missed you too.” 

“How’d it go?” 

“Practicing here in our room paid off.” He beamed with pride and lowered her lithe body to the floor. “He played right into the flying kick.” 

“You got him, then? You beat him?” 

“One hit and it was over.” He stepped past her and fell onto the bed, neither weary nor exhausted. 

“Does this mean you’ll be training more every day now?” 

Brian shook his head and sank deeper into the down pillow. “I doubt it. And Barnaby’s leaving for a few days anyway. Said he had some kind of business trip to attend to.” He winked at her. “He also said you need to stay out of trouble while he’s gone.” 

“Right. Like I’m the one who causes trouble around here.” Ruby plopped onto the bed next to him and ran her fingers through his hair. “So what are we going to do during your little vacation?” 

He raised both eyebrows twice and Ruby slapped his chest.  

“Okay, okay, so maybe nothing like that,” he said between chuckles. “I don’t know. Relax, view the sites. We haven’t had a chance to explore since our first tour of Haven. Maybe we could go out and play pool and drink beer like normal people again.” 

Ruby giggled. “I don’t think we’ll ever be considered normal again.” 

They lay in comfortable silence then, fingers laced together on Brian’s chest. Their relationship had flourished in the past few days, so much so that Brian could hardly believe they hadn’t always been this intimate. His soaring confidence had finally broken down his walls of solitude and allowed Ruby in. Closer than he had imagined. 

Of course, their relationship hadn’t progressed to the level of intimacy a human relationship might. No human—aside from perverted necrophiliacs—wanted to have sex with a corpse. 

But Ruby could’ve fooled him on that one. 

Her smile faded. “What about your work? Isn’t that what this has all been about?” 

He broke from his musings. The platelet mushroom. The negotiations. Saving the world. He’d forgotten about all of that, so wrapped up in his new life, his new body, his shifting emotions. “Shouldn’t I keep training and get used to being what I am first?” 

“I think you should do what you planned on doing all along. You justified your transformation with being able to live forever and complete your work. But you haven’t even talked about it since that night. Fresh eyes could open new doors, you know.” 

The platelet mushroom. It seemed so foreign an idea. Instant doubts of its success crept in. He couldn’t fathom beginning from scratch on the creation he’d doled over for nearly a decade. But perhaps it was time to take up his old experiments. He could use his new abilities to aide him. Microscopes wouldn’t be needed anymore, and his newfound speed could accelerate lengthy procedures.  

He thought then of Keith, Strajowskie, Cannopolis, the URC. The memories were cloudy, as if it’d been centuries since he’d conjured them. He missed his friends and his job.  

He bolted upright in bed. 

“Are you okay?” 

He nodded and gripped both of her hands, pulling her close, attempting to rein in his exhilaration. “How about we take a trip ourselves?” 

***

Strajowskie rammed the nose of his Ashmore into the creature’s right eye. He pulled the trigger once, kicked the beast square in its chest, then shot it twice more. It pitched forward, eyes rolled back, serpentine tongue lolling out of its mouth. He jumped backward. The creature crashed to the ground at his feet. 

He turned away from the front line. “Find higher ground!” 

Soldiers scattered. Behind them, wild fires raged, caused by dishevelled cooking pits that hadn’t been extinguished before the attack began. He watched as the lab tent went up in a gigantic ball of flames, accelerated by the chemicals housed inside. He was glad he’d sent Keith and Cannopolis on their way two hours earlier. They wouldn’t have survived. 

A loud screech like that of a prehistoric pterodactyl brought his attention to the perimeter once more. Five of the hulking Franken-vamps charged the lines, bowling over soldiers and squashing them into the dry plains. The sons of bitches were suited for war: They were donned in remnants of Kevlar that had been pieced together to protect and fit them. 

Ten soldiers formed a triangle in front of the advancing group of armored beasts. Before they could brandish their weapons, they were all dead, chopped down by razor claws. Blood stained grass in all directions, spots that darkened as the sun slipped over the western horizon. Moments later, the final vestiges of sunlight disappeared altogether. 

And then every beast in sight turned and ran to the east. 

The soldiers within Strajowskie’s vicinity stared in awe. Their weapons lowered as much from fatigue as from relief.