Vampire Apocalypse: Descent Into Chaos (Book 2) (10 page)

The laughter of the members of the gallery was like a
release valve and the members of the committee relaxed as the
laughter returned but Sandra kept her eyes on Regan and his two
scheming playmakers. She could see by the look of pure vitriol that
Lohan shot toward her that this play was far from over. She
shuddered as she wondered if they might have been better off
letting Regan leave the committee. Reilly may have won this battle
for them but a cornered rat is far more dangerous than a greedy
one. Suddenly she wished fervently that Harris had not gone on his
latest mission. She had a terrible feeling that they would need his
expertise very soon.

April Cassavetes wandered the halls of the supply
base in silence. All around her people hurried about on unknown
quests or stood and chatted with others, while still others guided
machinery to move boxes from one place to another or unloaded
crates from vehicles. The noise of the busy station swept over her,
organized chaos as Lucy Irvine liked to call it, but the bustle was
lost on her as she traveled on in her silent world.

She caught snatches of conversation from those she
passed as she watched their lips. She had gotten really good at
that lately but did not let on, and she did not want people to be
any more guarded around her than they already were. She understood
that people felt awkward around anyone that was different, but she
was deaf, for Christ’s sake, not a mutant.

She had been born deaf so she had no idea that she
was missing anything. Because she could not hear she had developed
her other abilities and saw much more than anyone else she knew.
Other people could see but they very rarely really looked closely
at anything. Because she had to, April looked at everything in
detail. She had to study machinery before she passed it because she
could not hear its engine; she had to be aware of her environment
and where everything was in that area because she would not hear a
shouted warning. She had done this since she was very small, and
because of this she automatically noticed everything around her.
She was able to remember what people wore, to know whether exhaust
fumes were coming from a tail pipe, and whether people meant what
they said by looking into their eyes and interpreting their body
language.

People felt sorry for her, she could see it in their
eyes and she could read it on their lips when she entered a room
and people whispered to each other. She was used to being treated
differently and she had had more than her share of people who had
tried to take advantage of her, mistaking her silence for stupidity
or shyness. Her third grade teacher had learned the hard way that
she was not an easy mark when she had left him doubled in pain,
clutching himself, before she had called the authorities.

Even her parents had treated her differently, as if
her deafness had been their fault. They always seemed to be trying
to make up to her. She loved them dearly but their constant
attention had always been wearing. And now that she was alone
again, everyone seemed to think that she needed to be treated as
special when all she wanted was to be accepted and to be treated
normally. In fact, the only person in all her life who had ever
treated her the way she wanted was Steele.

He treated her as an equal, the only allowance he
made to her condition being that he always made sure he was looking
at her when he spoke. He had found her wandering the halls a few
weeks ago and had listened to her story and how she was looking for
her parents. She had been surprised that the man could understand
sign language—but then there were many things that surprised her
about Steele. He had been kind but firm and had told her that they
were most probably dead but that he would help her look if she
wanted the company.

She had known deep down that her parents were gone
but his offer had been a shock and she had numbly accepted it. They
had grown close over the following weeks as they spent their free
time together. She had gotten a job with Lucy Irvine keeping the
supply books up to date so she had a lot of free time lately with
the supplies being so low. She might be only fourteen but she had
seen the knowing glances that people cast at Steele on their walks,
and she had blushed many times at their whispers, which were like
shouted accusations as she watched the poison spill from their
lips.

She had heard that Steele had worked for the vampires
before he had joined the community and the whispered accusations of
the things that he was supposed to have done hurt her deeply. She
knew that he was a very dangerous man, she might be young but she
wasn’t stupid. But his heart was purer than most she had known. She
could tell that he too was searching for something, something that
he had lost some time ago, so she chose to ignore the hateful lies
and accept the man for what he was. She preferred to judge people
by their actions and, as far as she could see, Steele was far nicer
and more sincere than most of the population. She never told Steele
what they said about him but she noticed that he stiffened slightly
as he walked past these groups so he probably had a fair idea.

For the first few days Steele had helped her come to
terms with her new status as an orphan but as she grew more
resigned to this she began to see that Steele was probably just as
damaged as she was. There was a gaping hole in the man. He hid it
very well but she was used to looking closely at people and
studying their features and body language, and she could see that
he had far more issues than were obvious at first glance. He wore a
haunted look in his eyes but she had seen those same eyes sparkle
with genuine affection when he was with her. Not in a sexual way,
she was old enough to know the difference, but like an older
brother. As much as he helped her, she knew that she also helped
him find something in himself to make him get up every day and
continue the struggle. And that was enough for now.

She had missed him over the last few days. She
worried about him. She had met most of the team who were going with
him and pitied anyone that tangled with them. All except that brute
Sherman; there was something about the way he looked at her that
made her squirm. She had seen that look before and knew what lay
hidden behind the man’s genial smile. She would have to be careful
around him.

She came to the door of the stores and was about to
announce her arrival by knocking on the open door, her vocal cords
worked fine but she knew that people only saw her with pity when
she tried to form words. It was difficult to pronounce words she
had never heard spoken so she generally kept quiet. As she raised
her hand to knock she suddenly saw two figures in the corner. There
was something about their movements that sent an alarm through her
and she moved quickly to the side of the doorway to minimize the
chance of her being seen.

The first man had his back to her and blocked the
other’s face, but he kept glancing around as he spoke and she was
able to catch the movement of his lips each time his face moved to
the side. She didn’t recognize the man speaking and couldn’t see
the other man at all, though by his bulk she was fairly certain it
was a man. She caught snatches of the conversation but not enough
to get a good understanding of what was being said. Somehow, by
their furtive nature, she doubted if what they were doing was for
the greater good.

“…we’ll have to…bastard Harris when…it’ll be too
late.” The men shook hands. And then, abruptly, the first man
turned and headed quickly to the door. April only barely had enough
time to straighten up and announce her arrival by calling to Lucy
that she was here before the man suddenly loomed before her. She
used her voice and purposely forced the words out as an
unintelligible mess and looked blankly at the man as he passed. He
barely glanced at her, but she did catch his lips forming the
words, “Stupid half-wit” as he passed.

She didn’t recognize the man, but that was not
uncommon with all the new people. She smiled blankly at him,
re-enforcing his impression of her, as he pushed past her. Then she
moved into the room, calling again for Lucy but hoping to see the
face of the other man. She only caught a brief glance as the man
was forced to move to the side as Lucy entered from the far door
but she could have sworn that the man had been Ian Phelps. What was
he doing down in the supply centre? Normally he wouldn’t dirty his
hands with common folk. She would have to let Steele know about
this. He would know what to do.

The stink of fuel hung heavily in the air around the
vehicles by the roadside. Thick palls of smoke belched from cold
engines that had not been started since the war with the vampires.
The throaty rumble of the engines as they growled into life
shattered the early morning air and their smoky pollution rose
upward and spread across the sky like a cancerous growth. William
Carter stretched his stiff shoulder as he rearranged the sling and
sighed. He looked down at the bandage as the throbbing continued
and then at the new insignia on his shoulder and smiled despite the
pain. It was just his luck that he had nicked an artery when he had
shot himself and had nearly died before the doctor was able to stop
the blood pouring out of him. It still hurt like hell but his new
rank of Major had helped ease the pain. He was still a little weak
from the ordeal but he could hardly refuse his superiors’ newfound
confidence in him.

He had been careful not to embellish his story too
much but it had been necessary to concoct certain elements to fit
with the evidence. He looked back at the line of trucks and armored
cars along the road and whistled. Von Kruger had been livid that
Wentworth would dare to attack his fuel supplies, and had ordered a
full retaliatory action. Carter hadn’t thought at the time he had
arranged his heroic tale that such a full-scale operation would
result from his actions, but he could hardly go back now. He had
not really thought out his plan very well. He had intended to tell
his superiors that he had not really gotten a good look at his
attackers but certain parts of his story were already established
before he had come out of surgery and he had had to improvise.

By the time they had found him he was unconscious and
they had rushed him into surgery to close the artery and replace
the blood he had lost. This, he found out later, had been the
subject of much debate, as blood was never given to thralls. The
vampires would never condone such waste. The surgeon had removed
the bullet from his shoulder and it had been identified as a .22
caliber round, so they knew that he had been shot within the range
of a pistol, so he must have seen something. Von Kruger had been
most eager to learn as much as possible about the raid so he had
approved the use of the replacement blood. It meant, however, that
when he woke, and in fairness to himself he had still been quite
groggy, he had had to describe his attackers.

He had not seen another soldier other than
Wentworth’s men in years so he had stuck with what he knew and
described them perfectly. In reality he was only confirming the
conclusions his superiors had already made, so it wasn’t really his
fault. He had expected a lot of shouting between the states with
Wentworth denying his involvement, and that it would all blow over
after a while—after all, it was only one fuel truck and a few
guards that they had lost. He hadn’t expected the entire south
brigade to be mobilized.

Everything had spiraled from there and he had been
caught up in the preparations for war like a leaf in a gale, unable
to stay still long enough to think. He was still terrified that
someone would discover his lies and that he would spend an eternity
being tortured by the vampires. As a result of this every time he
was asked to contribute or to confirm a point about the attack he
ended up telling his superiors what he thought they wanted to
hear.

He had even received a promotion for his bravery,
which he had been delighted with, but now found himself leading
this brigade. There was a severe lack of men tested under fire in
Von Kruger’s army and his superiors wanted men who had proven their
courage under fire to lead them. His superiors had also assumed
that he would want the honor of leading the retaliation for the
killing of his own platoon. However, that came with a whole new set
of problems. Namely, that he was expected to lead from the
front.

Sometimes even the best of plans bit you in the
ass.

What if they find out that Wentworth never sent those
men? The thought kept coming back to him and sent his stomach into
convulsions. But who else could it have been? It was unlikely that
any other large force of men could have made it from another state
without being seen by someone as they crossed at least two borders
to get here. The vampires would have spotted any such convoy in
their nightly patrols.

No, it had to be Wentworth. But surely he must know
that Von Kruger would retaliate or demand compensation? Was
Wentworth that desperate for fuel that he would risk that?

Wentworth had far more guards and far better armor
than they did, so they would be a difficult foe to defeat; however,
it was unlikely that they had sufficient fuel to run the majority
of their heavier weaponry. That swung the advantage over to Von
Kruger’s forces. His own tanks and armored cars were filled to the
top and raring to go. However, if Wentworth was expecting an attack
then he could lay in wait for any invading force and tanks did not
need fuel to just sit and wait. They could be torn to pieces as
soon as they crossed the border.

And he would be the first across the border.

He went over the plan again in his head. He was to be
one part of a three-pronged attack on a town five miles over the
border. He couldn’t think of the name of the town, he had been too
awed at the planning meeting to take much in. He had never been to
such a session before. He usually received his orders via the
radio, or in rare cases through a dispatch. He rarely even met his
direct superiors; they preferred to spend their time in the larger
cities where their every need was pampered to. Along with his
superior officers there had also been three vampires at the
meeting. He had not even seen a vampire in years, not up close
anyway. He had forgotten how terrifying they were. They seemed to
carry the very darkness with them and shadows seemed to loom around
them like palpable shields. He was glad that they had ignored him,
as he would never have been able to sustain his lies if they had
questioned him in earnest.