Vampire's Day (Book 1): Epicenter (15 page)

57. Boozer 7

Limping, he walked forward, trying not to fall in the pools of blood. The famous actress followed him, he could hear her muffled sobs, she was on the verge of hysterics, but still held onto his belt.

“Left at the door!”

“What is it? Damn!”

There was a man corpse with a cut throat, except that he didn’t behave like a normal corpse – he moved his hands and made ridiculous attempts to sit up. Boozer noted that several of the dead were also beginning to move. And they breathed.

“Come on!”

In his last steps before entering the attic, he was thinking only one thought - if all these people are dead, why do they die a second time from his shot?

“Right!”

Another staircase, and the last opened door to the roof.

“Hold my shoulders, so I don’t fall on my back!”

The first step on weathered steps, second, third.

“He’s behind us!”

“Who?!”

He didn’t have time to hear the answer; a couple of enemies appeared in the doorway. The first shot at them with a pistol, but took aim too high; the bullet went over Boozer’s head. His shot back was accurate. The guy with the gun dropped down, his place immediately taken by a girl of sixteen with a baseball bat. Boozer tried to reload the shotgun, but her hit was faster and more accurate, falling on his left shoulder and the actress’ slender fingers resting on it. The blow nearly knocked him down; Boozer heard the actress scream, the shotgun fell out of his hands, and the girl with the bat swung for the final blow.

One shot, a second, third… he shot from a police gun from the hip, aiming at the girl’s belly. She folded in half and fell on the stairs.

“He's back, he's...”

“Shoot him, you bitch, shoot, you also have gun!”

She shot twice; he knew his gun’s sound. Boozer turned to see a familiar corpse at the foot of the stairs, the one that had first tried to get up. The actress sobbed, looking at her mutilated left hand - the palm was broken in several places. The button on the cuff, however, isn’t damaged and now this button again starts to buzz angrily. The helicopter is on the way.

“Don’t wait, go!”

His left shoulder was severely damaged, and Boozer rejected the idea of raising the shotgun - he can’t hold it. Better to pick up an enemy gun; now he needs a weapon which can be operated with one hand.

The roof met them with hot sun, columns of smoke from burning buildings, the sounds of gunfire from surrounding streets and corpses. Fake dead, the same as in the corridor, and many were beginning to stir. It was not important, the main thing was that the helicopter was approaching; they have already heard the noise of the blades.

“There!”

The center of the roof overlooked the old elevator machine room, which can be climbed up by the ladder. Boozer pushed the actress there; he decided to use this building as a small landing area, it would be easier to defend. Fake corpses were already making attempts to get to their feet, and screams could be heard on the stairs.

“Climb!”

Groaning from the pain in her broken hand, she began to climb the stairs to the engine room, Boozer turned to the door, enemies were coming out, and among whom he recognized several former neighbors.

He ran out of ammo before the enemies ran out. Afterwards he continued fighting with his bare hands and now lay bleeding at the foot of the stairs. The remaining vampires were killed by machine-gun fire, and the actress was loaded into the helicopter.

“It is necessary to take that guy, he's alive, he saved me...”

“No. He’s badly injured, we don’t want to take risks, this infection is transmitted by blood. Faster, lady, faster. Go!”

Boozer floated in a pleasant oblivion, in which there was no more pain from his many wounds. As time passed the oblivion was gone and he opened his eyes, as the helicopter vanished away. No more pain, his crippled spine no longer responded to every move, maybe now he could walk without limping, so Boozer thought. And he thought about what he wanted to drink. Only now vodka would not help, he needs something different, that he has not tried before. Here, on the roof, he can’t find it, he must go down, try to search there.

“Come on, you old bastard!”

Holding the ladder, he was able to stand up and take a few steps, first cautiously, but then more and more confidently. God knows what had happened to him, but his spine was no longer hurting, and now Boozer could walk as before, as he had almost forgotten how to do. He has a new purpose in life, and for this purpose, it’s necessary to go. And he will go.

58. Ark 3

“What should I do? Go north?”

“No, stay where you are, farther north there is fighting at roadblocks. Leave the road and get some shelter, stay there until our arrival.”

“Get off the road and find shelter, understand. How long do we wait?”

“We will soon come after you. Over and out.”

“Stop, wait...”

Surviving a plane crash, the wounded Ark continued to move northwards, along with thousands of other refugees. The bus roof had been struck by landing gear, and there was no longer a windshield just glass on the floor, but it wasn’t important now. The main thing was that the Ark could move forward and its passengers were alive and well, barring a few light bruises and cuts.

Miss Gloria tried to avoid the main roads; she had seen what was happening on the highway. Even if there were no more roadblocks, the traffic was very slow because of many accidents and jams.

No, she would not repeat mistakes of the inexperienced drivers who didn’t know the detours and were now all crammed together on the main road. She was able to find a path out of this trap through the suburbs, her driving experience and excellent knowledge of the city telling her the right way.

She drove through the burning streets, near the shooting, but in the end she brought them out of LA. On the left side was the highway, banded by the big roadblock, in the sky were circling helicopters, and she was already thinking to go there to get the children under military protection. But then the roar came.

Miss Gloria looked frightened, thinking that another Boeing was going to ram her bus, but there were no more kamikaze planes, and the roar didn’t stop. What was this, a storm?

“Miss Gloria, look on the highway!”

She saw a shell explosion in the traffic jam, throwing cars right and left, and smoke rose over the destroyed outpost. She saw, and pressed the gas, pushing Ark forward. Shooting continued on the highway, and once a military helicopter flew above the bus and she curled into her chair, knowing that it would not save her from the shells, but the pilot didn’t shoot, and Ark went forth, gradually leaving behind the raging highway battle. And then the phone rang.

She remembered many Ark passengers in person, has known them quite a long time. Many are bused to the school several times a week. But she was seeing this boy in the luxury suit for the first time, although he had the standard pass to an expensive private school, that's why she took him on board. Perhaps he was with friends that night, or something else happened and the personal car didn’t come for him, and he was with her usual passengers, and she had to take him to school. It didn’t happen due to force majeure, due to which they are now going to the north in the wrecked bus. And now this stranger in a luxury suit got a phone call.

Everyone looked at him - no other phone or tablet was working, and even the radio had died, but it worked, and someone was calling him. The boy took the phone and said something, and then went to Miss Gloria.

“They want to talk to the driver.”

“Who are they?” she said angrily, and without waiting for an answer, grabbed the phone.

It was a strange phone - small and heavy, a bright red and yellow box with a small number of buttons. Anti-shock, she thought.

“Yeah, I’m listening, who speaks?”

“Rescuers, miss. Where are you?”

Finally, someone had come up with the idea to find out where the numerous school buses were, to pull the children out of the fire. Finally, the authorities were beginning to evacuate, finally someone important had thought about how to save the Ark passengers. Miss Gloria didn’t understand why the rescuers had contacted her through one of the passengers, but now it didn’t matter, what mattered was that they’d finally sent a helicopter. Now they just had to wait.

She slid onto the bypass road leading to the orange plantations, drove a quarter mile, and then turned left and stopped Ark behind a small hill, where they were not visible from the highway. Here she cut the engine

“Miss Gloria, can I get off? I need the toilet.”

“Well, just don’t go far away, the helicopter comes soon, and we will be taken away from here.”

“Where do we go?”

“I don’t know, probably to a military base.”

“And Mom and Dad, they’re being taken too?”

“I think they have already been taken.”

They waited forty minutes behind the low hill. And then she heard the sound of blades and the phone rang again.

“We are approaching, are you all right?”

“Yeah, just get us out of here.”

“We will, don’t turn off the phone.”

She led the children from the bus and put them in a column.

“So, now a helicopter is arriving and will take us. Don’t run; don’t cry; be quiet cargo on board, just like you are in the Ark. Got that?”

The huge helicopter, without weapons and unmarked, not in camouflage and painted blue and white paint, was something she had never seen before. To hell with camouflage; more importantly, it was big and would fit them all.

“Quietly go to them.”

Once the MI8 chassis touched the sand, from the open hatch down the small staircase came two men and a woman, all in uniform, with guns. She saw them, and also saw a few people in the cabin, sitting at the big round portholes.

“I'm so glad to see you; you have no idea what we went through this morning and...”

“Good. Is Bill Riley here? Is he all right?”

“That’s the boy with the phone? Yes, he is alive, all of them are alive, just a few cuts...”

“Ok, Bill, come here!” commanded a woman, and the boy came out of the column and ran to her, holding out his pass.

“It matches, this is he. Come on, Bill, quickly into the helicopter, we're leaving.”

“What?”

The boy with the phone had disappeared in the helicopter, and the guards turned and briskly went to the MI8. The pilot added speed to the blades, ready for takeoff.

“Wait a minute, what about us?” Miss Gloria caught up with the woman in uniform.

“We can take only one, no more places, you have to act independently. Get the children back into the bus and drive to the north.”

“I can see that there are a lot of places, the helicopter is big, and we will not take up much space and…”

“I said - go to the bus!”

Miss Gloria tried to grab her hand but stopped as a long black submachine gun rested against her chest.

“Don’t make me use force. We can’t take you all.”

“But you could take this one, could find him and take him with you? How much were you paid by his parents, how much is a ticket for this helicopter?!”

Miss Gloria understood. Understood why this boy in an expensive suit, who happened to be on board her bus, carrying an emergency phone that worked even when all communication was down. Understood why they used a civilian helicopter. She realized that this rescue operation was actually one big and very profitable business. And she only helped them, facilitated the work, hiding Ark and waiting for them for almost an hour, instead of racing farther north. Silly girl.

The children ran to the helicopter, but she stopped them with her powerful voice. Those bastards might open fire if someone tried to stop them leaving.

“Take at least three of them, the youngest, they will fly on the floor!”

“Go north, miss, that is where the military defense is organized. You have to go as far as possible from LA. Here, take this.”

A woman with a gun slung her a small black radio.

“This is an army radio, it will work, and you will be able to call for help and know what is happening. Good luck.”

“Drop dead, bastards!”

The woman didn’t answer, she jumped inside, slammed the door and the helicopter with the world’s most expensive tickets went to take off, showering them with hot sand.

The children ran after it for some time, shouting and waving, but Miss Gloria called them back to the bus. They still had gas; the engine started despite all damage, and it was necessary to go further. No more help, they must seek salvation alone.

59. Chief

A quarter fell into the slot by jukebox, and a song began by Dina Durbin.

“This old shit again, Chief? Every day? Did you fuck a girl for the first time to this song? What year was it?”

“You know what your problem is, Joe,” said Chief, melancholy, wiping the bar. “You are not accustomed to good music. You should get to know it from childhood, so that people grow up surrounded by the best, this is extremely important. Not everyone can afford to give children a good education, but they can all provide the necessary cultural background for development. Good books, music, movies - they must become a young man’s best friends. My mother made every attempt to make me a cultured man, and now, years later, I am immensely grateful to her. Culture and art should be passed on, and I have now decided that I am going to raise your cultural level. Good music to begin with, then movies, and then books. Like Professor Higgins, I'll make you a civilized man, no matter how difficult it might be. Did you see "My Fair Lady"?”

“Was that porn?”

“No matter how difficult it will be.”

Chief laughed good-naturedly and lovingly looked at the shimmering jukebox lights. This machine was his pride and joy, a real
Wurlitzer 1015
,
in perfect condition. Chief had repeatedly been offered big money to sell it, but he refused. The stylish old jukebox dramatically stood out among all the new surroundings, which were practical and impersonal. The jukebox had its own face, its own individuality. And this individuality turns the ordinary army canteen into a homelike place that was inviting, especially during heavy rain.

“I don’t remember such rain for a long time!”

Right on schedule, the duty shift came into the dining room. They had an hour before their duty started.

“Chief, turn the TV louder, we need to learn what is going on in Los Angeles.”

“They won’t say anything new, it’s all the same thing – the introduction of a quarantine zone and martial law.”

Roast beef with mashed potatoes was the Chief’s special, very tasty. A couple of off-duty junior officers came in and Amber began to mop the floor.

“They say that orders have already arrived. Are we getting involved?”

“Nonsense, look where Los Angeles is and where we are. Do you think they can’t deal with it without our reserves? Our arsenal is for another war.”

Another news report ended without saying anything new. The roast beef was almost finished. Chief left his post, as usual taking a quarter out of his pocket. As the door is quietly, Amber went to the steel sink to wash the dirty dishes.

“My favorite.”

The quarter is lost in the jukebox depths. Ink Spots’
If I Didn’t Care
.

“Don’t you have anything more fun?”

“Not this time.”

Air pistols appear in the hands of Chief, Amber and Joe, surrounding the officers from all sides. There are barely audible shots.