Dead by Dawn Page 27

  Joe grabbed the shotgun he kept next to his bed. He crawled the three feet to the edge of the yacht’s upper floor.

  Sherry was leaning over the back of the boat, reaching down to the water. Matt was scooting backward towards the cabin and Chip had disappeared entirely.

  “No!” Sherry screamed.

  “What the hell happened?” Joe yelled.

  “They took him, they took him!” Sherry was leaning out so far that he thought she might fall in.

  That was when he noticed the shoreline. It was only two hundred yards away, maybe a little more. There were figures standing at the edge of the water, hundreds of them. They were little more than tiny shadows from the yacht, but he knew what he was looking at. White plumes formed where they were jumping in.

  “Holy shit,” Joe whispered.

  “Keith,” he shouted. “Get us moving!”

  Sherry’s hand was close to the water. She didn’t stand a chance when the vampire pounced. Water burst into the air, carrying with it the dark silhouette of a monster. It came up high with its arms spread wide. Joe had just enough time to see its gleaming fangs before it landed on Sherry and dragged her over the edge.

  Joe ignored the ladder and jumped down to the lower deck. He took two bounding steps past a quivering Matt and onto the back ledge of the boat. He looked down, through the sights of his shotgun.

  The water was black and the ripples were fading, replaced by natural waves. The yacht became eerily calm without Sherry’s sobbing screams.

  “I’m not ready,” Matt sobbed. “No, please, I’m not ready.”

  Joe searched the water, looking for any sign of his companions. The cabin door burst open and Keith appeared wielding his revolver.

  “What the fuck is going on out here?” he asked.

  The water below Joe exploded as a vampire burst up through the surface. Joe shot it with a slug and it fell back down.

  A wake was coming towards them from the direction of land. The water behind it bubbled as if it were boiling. Joe thought he could see an arm and a leg here and there, kicking and pulling their way through the churning water.

  “We’ve gotta move!” Joe yelled.

  Another vampire leapt for him. Joe shot it, but the creature still managed to finish its dive. It shouldered Joe square in the stomach, knocking him backwards onto the deck.

  The vampire clawed at the hole in the side of its stomach from the shotgun slug. Joe was able to get a hand on its neck and push away.

  Keith stepped up and pressed the barrel of his own gun against its temple. He pulled the trigger and the contents of the vampire’s head painted the deck a deep crimson. Keith then grabbed the flailing body and tossed it overboard.

  Joe sat up and muttered his thanks.

  He racked the slide of his shotgun before hopping back up onto the railing. The boat’s engine began to rumble and he was sure either Adam or Sarah had started it.

  The water stirred and Joe fired a round into it. He immediately cursed himself for wasting a bullet. He wouldn’t have time to reload so every shot had to count.

  Joe heard Keith’s pistol and risked a glance back. There was a vampire crawling towards them from the bow of the ship. Keith shot it twice more, then unsheathed his knife.

  The boat lurched forward and Joe almost fell over the stern. He was forced to straddle the railing to keep from tumbling into the water. A different man might have lost the shotgun in the process, but not Joe. He kept a firm grip on it with his left hand.

  The vampire coming from the bow slid forward, where Keith stabbed it in the neck with his knife.

  He yanked it free and the vampire tumbled into the water, screeching all the way down.

  Joe stood up and stared out at their wake. The swarm of vampires had changed their course to follow. Already they were fading behind.

  Joe might have watched them longer, but climbed up the ladder to his bed instead. Reloading the shotgun was his number one priority at the moment.

  Keith walked over to the edge of the yacht to observe what Joe already knew. The anchor was gone, and so were Chip and Sherry.

  Chapter 40

  Darkwood military base, WA - July 28th

  Dr. Bennet wiped the sweat from his brow. He tossed the scalpel he was holding in the tray by the operating table. A pair of bloody pliers and the vampire fangs they extracted lay next to it.

  The vampire underneath him choked and then spat before it continued to gargle on its own blood.

  “You know how to stop the pain,” said Dr. Bennet. “Give me what I want to know.”

  “Never!” the vampire hissed.

  “Then we’ll continue.”

  Dr. Bennet held out his hand and his assistant gave him a small flashlight. He turned it on, letting out a beam of ultraviolet light.

  He began on the vampire’s foot, shining the beam on the tips of its toes.

  The vampire howled and tried to move its foot, but the restraints held it in place. Its toe, slightly longer than a human’s, with a toenail sharpened to a point, turned red. A small flame burst forth like the head of a lighter.

  Dr. Bennet moved down the slightly exaggerated arch in its foot, and continued up the leg. He held the beam steady, allowing the skin underneath to smoke, but moving on before it could catch fire.

  Every tendon in the vampire’s body was tight as it flexed away from the pain.

  “You’re on your own,” said Dr. Bennet. “Only you can save yourself.”

  “Wait,” the vampire huffed. “No more.”

  Dr. Bennet took a deep breath and allowed his shoulders to relax. Coming up with new ideas for torture was not easy, and he had just done it for hours on end. Breaking a vampire’s will was like trying to break a boulder with his bare hands. After trying for so long, he was beginning to believe it was impossible.

  He looked up at his assistant. “I believe he’ll break soon. Continue with the torture. I have to talk to Major General Smith. He said he wanted to be here when it finally cracked.”

  “I think you have to go up top if you want to do that,” said Nancy. “Get him on one of the guard’s radios.”

  Dr. Bennet looked up from the vampire to meet her gaze. “It’s that bad?”

  “They didn’t want to distract you.”

  Bennet turned for the door, his lab coat fanning out behind him. He continued to walk at a fast pace, doing everything he could to keep from running. The elevator felt tight, even though he was the only one on it. He thought at any moment the cables might snap and he would fall to his death. It would be the final tragic end to the worst month of his life. The scary part was that he wouldn’t even mind. At least if he was dead he could rest.

  He knew the vampires were coming, they found that out the night before. The only reason they made it this long was because the daylight had saved them. The vampires had to stop their charge and find places to hide from the sun. Dr. Bennet spent the entire day down in his lab trying to get the captured vampire to talk. He’d been aware when the night came, just not of the vampire horde.

  He glanced down at his watch; it was just after 3:30 in the morning. When had the vampires begun their assault?

  Dr. Bennet heard muffled gunfire the moment the elevator doors parted. The lights were out and he found himself staring into a wall of blackness.

  He was unsure what to do. Darkness was not his friend, anything could be hiding in the shadows. He debated closing the doors and heading back down. He knew that was only a dream, however, because fear was a luxury he could not afford at the moment.

  There was a flash of light and for a moment he could see the silhouette of the front room. It came in through the front door, allowing him to see the six figures crouching nearby.

  The flash was followed by the sound of an explosion and the room rumbling.

  “Hello?” he called.

  “You shouldn’t be up here sir,” came a young man’s voice. “It’s not safe.”

  Dr. Bennet allowed himself to take a ste
p out into the room. His eyes were beginning to adjust and he was able to make out the six figures without the help of the light. They were soldiers, guarding the front door.

  The ground continued to rumble and the air was filled with gunfire. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear a siren wailing.

  Dr. Bennet continued moving forward until he was close enough to see out the front door.

  “I’m serious sir, I need you to return back downstairs. It’s for your own safety.”

  “I came up here because you need to get me in touch with Major General Smith. We have a mission.”

  If the soldier had any objections he didn’t act on them, instead he radioed for the General.

  “What the hell does he want?” Smith’s voice soon came booming out of their walkie-talkie.

  The soldier handed Dr. Bennet the walkie-talkie who hesitated but took it.

  He held down the talk button and brought the device up to his mouth. “I believe the vampire is ready to talk.”

  “What do you mean ready? Do you have the information or not?”

  “You requested to be here for this, that was the plan.”

  “Dammit Doctor, this isn’t some kind of game.”

  “General Smith you get your ass down here and help me save the fucking world!”

  The radio went silent for a moment and then, “I’m on my way. If I don’t show up in the next five minutes, go on without me.”

  A beam of light passed by the front of the building. Dr. Bennet knew it was from one of the ultraviolet spotlights that were mounted on the rooftops of buildings all over the base. He also noticed a faint orange glow lighting the ground outside of the door. He could only assume the source was a fire outside his range of vision.

  If five minutes passed, Dr. Bennet knew what he was going to do. Earlier that afternoon, Smith’s men came in and installed a desktop computer. Its sole purpose was to send out a message of Dr. Bennet’s choosing. Whether it would work or not, he didn’t know, as testing it was out of the question. His instructions were to only use it if the vampire gave up the whereabouts of its leader. He only had one shot.

  The only reason Dr. Bennet came up to the surface instead of sending the message right away was because he thought Smith should be there. It was way above his pay grade and Smith was the one who knew what the message was and how to work the computer program after all. Had he known how bad the fighting was outside he would have figured out how to work the program on his own. It couldn’t have been that hard, and pulling Smith away from his duties at such a crucial time was beginning to make him feel like a fool.

  Now that he’d radioed Smith to come in, Dr. Bennet went to wait for him inside the light of the elevator.

  When Smith showed up a few minutes later, the right sleeve of his uniform was torn and there was a bloody gash above his forehead.

  “What the hell happened?” Dr. Bennet blurted out before he could stop himself.

  “This is what happens when the U.V. lights are trained in the wrong direction for thirty seconds. At least that was the case when the battle began. Now a quarter of my lights are out and it’s a crap shoot.” He pressed the button for the elevator doors to close and stepped back with his arms folded behind his back. “Our defenses are collapsing out there. I’m afraid all we can do now is try and buy you a little more time.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Brave men are going to die to ensure the safety of the others. Everyone manning a light turret is going to sacrifice himself so the rest of my men and women have a chance to retreat to this building. This better be worth it Doctor.” Bennet noticed his hands were shaking. “This building is our number one priority. It’s going to get a hell of a lot more crowded around here.”

  Dr. Bennet felt his knees going weak. Things were a lot worse than he could have ever imagined. “Shit…”

  “Shit is right, you better be ready to make that vampire squeal.”

  “What about the other buildings, all the labs?”

  “Compromised.”

  Dr. Bennet’s mouth went dry. When Smith said “compromised”, all he heard was that most of his team was being slaughtered. Worst of all, it was because of his decision to bring the vampire to the surface.

  Bennet and Smith wasted no time getting to the back room as soon as the elevator opened. The burn marks had almost disappeared from the vampire’s skin, Its toe was still slightly red; the only sign that it had been burned at all..

  Nancy was rubbing a silver coin into its chest, drawing dark burn lines that left trails of smoke as she pressed harder.

  The vampire opened its mouth to hiss at them and Dr. Bennet noticed two white dots poking out of its gums. Its fangs were already beginning to regrow.

  After one look at the vampire, Dr. Bennet knew it had sunk back into defiant resistance. He secretly cursed Nancy for easing up on the torture in his absence. He tried talking to it anyway.

  “This will all end if you only tell us what you know. Start talking.”

  The vampire flashed its teeth, licking its new fang with its tongue. “No.”

  “What the hell is this?” asked Smith.

  “Tell me damn it!” Dr. Bennet shouted.

  He grabbed the ultraviolet flashlight and clicked it on in the center of the vampire’s chest. He drew a red and bubbling line all the way to the vampire’s chin.

  “You will have to kill me.” It began to laugh, letting out a high-pitched gargle that echoed around the room.

  Dr. Bennet shut the flashlight off and threw it. He grabbed the vampire by the shoulders and screamed in its face.

  “Talk!”

  He let it go then cupped both hands over his own face and rubbed at his sore eyes. Going to get Smith was a bad idea and now their deaths were going to be for nothing.

  How could I be so careless?

  The vampire opened and closed its mouth, following his movements with its eyes.

  Hideous red eyes.

  Dr. Bennet turned to his assistant. “Do we still have holy water available?”

  “I’m sure we do, hang on,” Nancy rushed out of the room, presumably heading to one of the laboratories near the elevator.

  “I should kill you, you know that?” asked Smith. “We’d still have a few days to live if you didn’t bring this thing to the surface.”

  “There’s still time,” said Bennet.

  The General’s eyes were wild with rage, yet he spoke with a haunting calm through gritted teeth. “It would be so easy. I could run you through with my knife and never have to fear getting caught. We’re all about to die anyways.” His hand went to his hip where it rested on his knife. It was a large vicious looking thing and Bennet was positive he wanted nothing to do with it.

  “It’s going to talk,” he said. “I guarantee it.”

  Nancy came back a minute later and handed him a pill bottle sized container along with a dropper.

  Dr. Bennet twisted off the cap and used the dropper to extract the holy water.

  “Last chance,” he said, setting down the bottle and walking up to the vampire.

  When the vampire didn’t respond he lifted the dropper over its head.

  A drop of holy water fell free, generating an acidic mist as it splattered on the vampire’s forehead.

  The vampire sucked in sharply.

  “This is going to hurt like hell you son of a bitch,” said Dr. Bennet. “First I’m going to take your vision, then I’m going to kill you so you stay dead for the rest of eternity.”

  He brought the dropper to its eye and squeezed.

  The vampire’s cry was so loud it could have shaken the glass. Its eyelid melted away, followed by its eyeball. The hole it created was dark and deep.

  Dr. Bennet refilled the dropper and brought it up to the vampires other eye.

  “Where is your leader!” he both shouted and squeezed simultaneously.

  The second eye did no better than the first, disintegrating into white gas.

  “No!” t
he vampire screamed. “The White House, the White House, he’s at the White House!”

  Dr. Bennet looked back at Smith whose eyes had gone as big as saucers.

  “That’s all you had to say,” said Bennet, though he doubted the creature could hear him over its screams.

  Dr. Bennet lifted the container of holy water up to the first eye socket and dumped it. The vampire began to shake and lurch, having what little seizure it could inside its restraints. This went on for a good thirty seconds before the holy water began to drip out the back of its head. The vampire went still soon after. The vapor filled the room with fog. Dr. Bennet could feel the moisture of it on his skin. It smelled like rotten meat.

  “The White House,” Smith mused. “Why would he go there?”

  “Who knows,” said Dr. Bennet. “A dominance thing maybe. Or it could be he wanted a symbolic victory, that’s a pretty damn good one if you ask me.”

  “Then let’s not waste any more time,” said Smith.

  They began to rush for the laboratory where the computer was set up. They just reached the hallway when the elevator doors parted.

  Twelve soldiers came spilling out, all of them battered in varying degrees of injury. Dr. Bennet could see bite marks on a few of their necks.

  “What the hell’s going on?” Smith demanded.

  “The vampires, there’s so many,” said one.

  “They ripped the roof right off, came pouring in on top of us,” said another.

  “What about the others?” asked Smith.

  The first man shook his head. “All dead. We’re the only ones that made it out alive.”

  “All of them?” Smith went pale.

  A clanging sound echoed in the elevator shaft. The noise made Major General Smith turn from white to red.

  He turned and pointed one finger at Dr. Bennet. “Send that message out now!”

  The computer was set up in the laboratory to his left and Dr. Bennet ran for it. He practically fell into his computer chair, fumbling with his wallet as he did. He pulled out a small piece of paper with the ten-digit passcode and laid it out on the desk.

  FE47G4H67303F

  His hands were so shaky, that he fat-fingered the keys on his first try and had to start over.