Dawn of Darkness (Daeva, #1) (16 page)

"Maybe he
got bored of sitting behind a desk and ordering people about," Ash
said.

Once upon
a time, I had thought of leading an ordinary, boring life with a
desk job. Now I couldn't imagine it. I liked the adrenaline rush,
and the idea of doing something worthwhile for the human race, even
if it did scare the shit out of me at times.

The
garage was packed full of people. I could see at least two other
squads, including the Second Sunreavers, our Daeva predecessors. It
seemed General Marsten would be accompanying our group, as he
climbed into the cab of the Wisent that Sergeant Locke was stood
next to, waiting for our arrival.

We
climbed into the back and strapped ourselves in. Sergeant Locke
pulled the doors shut, and gave two taps on the cab window. General
Marsten peered through at us, and I felt his eyes settle on me for
a moment. Then the engine sputtered to life and we were off. From
the small window, I saw one other vehicle trailing us. It was
another transport vehicle, a mobile jail cell. They were intending
on taking prisoners.

Sergeant
Locke began passing out some unfamiliar handguns. "These are the
new B-28 tranquilliser guns," he said. "The council wishes to
capture members of the insurgency for questioning. These guns have
not yet been field tested, so we're not sure if they'll have any
effects on vampires. Therefore, your orders are to capture any
human insurgents. If you do encounter a vampire, it should be dealt
with as normal. Any questions?"

"What
about shifters?" Lucas asked.

"Capture
them if you can. Just be warned, they're gonna take a few darts
before they go down."

"What's
General Marsten going to be doing?" This was from Lucas
again.

"I
thought someone might ask that. The General has received orders
from the council to personally oversee and take part in this
mission. That alone should tell you how important this mission is.
If you fuck up, you'll be answering directly to the General, so I
expect you all to bring your A-game today. Now, if there's no more
questions..." He paused. There was only silence from the group.
"Good."

Sergeant
Locke picked up the map from its compartment and unrolled it. He
pointed to the area labelled 'Boursac'. "This is where we are
headed. The other two squads you saw in the garage will be scouting
the ruins of Allogny." He pointed again, to a much larger town a
few miles north-east of our destination. "Once we arrive, General
Marsten will be giving each of you your assignments."

*****

It was
about twenty minutes later when the Wisent came to a halt. We
stepped outside and were surrounded by a dense woodland, overgrown
with no-one to keep it in check. Except for the road we came
through, the ruins were contained by a wall of trees with
needle-like leaves, dusted with snow. Beneath us, the ground was
covered in a blanket of moss and weeds. The wind whistled through
the trees, carrying with it the sound of birds chirping.

I
wondered how many places on Earth were like this, where nature had
been left to run amok for a century. Inside the city we were safe
from attacks, but the people living within the walls of Rachat
would never see anything like this for themselves.

"Sightseeing's over," General Marsten called out. We snapped
out of our daydreaming and gathered round, ready for our orders.
"Starting from this point we will fan out and meet up over the
other side." He gave us each a direction to travel in. The General
would take the far north-east path, with me taking the next path to
the south. To my dismay, Ash was assigned to the southern-most
route, along with Lucas. That left Brad and Katiya covering the
middle of town.

"Report
any successful captures via the radio, and Sergeant Locke will send
out two of our lucky cadets to retrieve the body. Are we all
clear?"

"Yes,
Sir," we said in unison.

The
mobile containment vehicle pulled up behind us. Four young cadets
poured out, carrying stretchers with them. There was something
about the way the General had said 'lucky cadets' that made me
think they were anything but lucky. Perhaps, they were being
disciplined for something or other, but I had never seen body
retrieval as a method of punishment before. It made me wonder what
they were missing out on to be here. Or maybe, I was reading into
something that wasn't there.

"All
right then," General Marsten said, standing up straight and
gripping the rifle that hung lazily from its shoulder strap. "Let's
move out."

We split
up, each heading along our designated routes. My path was littered
with stone bungalows, blanketed in creeping vines and moss. The
first house I approached still had its door attached. I pushed at
the door, but it was stuck fast, probably swollen from the damp and
held in place by the snaking vines. I gave it a swift kick, and
still it refused to budge. Fortunately the windows were large
enough for me to climb in through, and the glass was long since
removed.

I peered
inside, activating my flashlight There was a strong smell of damp,
though it was more of a sweet smell, and not rotten like in
Marmagne. With everything clear, I climbed inside. Surrounded by
the musky darkness, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The
memories of the skinned corpses were beginning to
resurface.

"I can do
this," I told myself. "There's no corpses here." I
hoped.

With my
back against the wall, I peeked out into the hallway. Nothing but
more plant-covered walls. I moved to the next room, scanning each
corner with my light. There was a squawk. My heart jumped into my
mouth. A large, brown bird spread its wings, flying from its nest.
I laughed quietly, hoping this thing with birds wasn't going to
become a recurring theme with me. At least Katiya wasn't there to
creep up on me. I turned quickly, just in case, and let out a sigh
of relief when I found nothing. I'm sure I would have looked a
fool, jumping at shadows, if anyone had been watching
me.

I
ventured deeper into the house, but found nothing more than old
furnishings, destroyed by the damp and wildlife. I retraced my
steps through the house, exiting out of the same window I climbed
in through.

Not
surprisingly, the next few houses I checked were in the same
condition. There was no sign of life, other than the odd animal and
the plants, which threatened to consume everything. The radio
crackled and I heard Katiya announce that she had managed to sedate
a young male. Sergeant Locke replied that he was sending out the
cadets to retrieve the prisoner.

I
continued on with my patrol, going from house to house. Nothing. A
nest of rodents. More nothing. I glanced down the road, noting I
wasn't even halfway done and sighed. Searching for the enemy was
quickly becoming my least favourite mission objective. Not that I
would have preferred to be fighting vampires all the time, but at
least then there was the excitement and the adrenaline.

The next
house was bigger than the rest, with a second floor to it. The
downstairs was clear, and so, stepping over a pile of rubble, I
headed up the flight of stairs. As expected, the place was empty,
save for a large spider that scuttled off into the darkness when my
flashlight passed over it. I was about to descend the stairs when a
deafening screech exploded in my ear, threatening to split my skull
in two. I ripped the radio from my ear, holding it at a safe
distance as the feedback continued. Finally, it stopped and was
replaced with static, accompanied by an incessant ringing in my
ear.

"Can
anyone hear me?" I asked. The only reply was more static. "Stupid
thing," I cursed, giving the radio a couple of taps before trying
it again. There was no change.

Standard
operating procedures dictated that I should head for the designated
rendezvous point. In this case, that would be base camp, where the
vehicles were parked. I gave the radio one last try, before
starting back to Sergeant Locke to explain my
predicament.

As I
walked down the street, the temperature began to drop. I looked up
and saw masses of deep grey clouds rolling across the sky, blotting
out the sun and darkening the world below. I sighed, dismayed at
the thought of having to continue the mission in bad weather. Even
through the thermals, I felt the hairs on my arms begin to stand on
end. I hoped there were no more radios left, and the mission would
be aborted because of it. Not likely, given the apparent importance
of our objective, but one can dream. Movement from my left yanked
me from my thoughts. I turned, my gun aimed.

"It's me,
Hart," the voice said. I recognised General Marsten's voice before
he stepped out from behind the building.

"Sir, my
radio is down. I'm getting nothing but static."

The
General nodded. "Mine too. Either something has happened back at
the Wisent, or our signal is being jammed." He paused for a moment,
resting his chin in one hand. "Okay, come with me."

"Sir?" I
replied, wondering why he was heading in the opposite direction.
"Shouldn't we be heading back to the others?"

General
Marsten continued walking away and I hurried to catch up with him.
"If there's a problem back at base then the others will deal with
it. But if someone is jamming our signal, then we need to find
them, and stop it. This mission is far too important to give up on
because of a jammed radio."

If it
were any other commanding officer, I might have argued it would
have been better to meet up with the others first, and then seek
out the source of the problem together. But I had to trust he knew
what he was doing. After all, you don't get to be the General for
nothing. Besides, he had a short temper when it came to questioning
his orders, and the last thing I wanted was another evening of
scrubbing the garage and vehicles.

We
reached the edge of the ruins and General Marsten kept walking,
pushing his way through the overgrown wilderness. He held his radio
close to his ear in one hand, listening to the static. In his other
hand was his rifle, held firm as he used it to push aside leaves
and branches. I followed reluctantly, the undergrowth becoming
thicker and harder to traverse, until we reached a small clearing.
The edge of the clearing was lined with dead trees, and in the
centre was a large pit. At various points around the crater were
headstones, cracked and weathered with the passage of time. I
looked down, standing at the edge of the slope, only to find a pool
of mud.

"What is
this place?" I asked.

The
General stopped to answer. "It's a mass grave," he replied, his
voice sounding more serious than usual. "The victims of the plague
would have been thrown in here and burned."

"Must
have been a lot of people," I said, judging by the size of
it.

"This is
one of the smaller ones. Boursac probably had a couple of thousand
inhabitants at the most. The bigger cities would have had entire
landfill sites overflowing with the dead, in an attempt to contain
the plague."

I
shuddered at the thought of so many people sharing a grave. It
didn't seem right to me. The wind groaned and shrieked as it passed
through the woods, sounding out the agony and pain of the grave's
residents.

"Let's
keep moving," General Marsten said.

Something
about the situation caused a knot in my stomach and a nagging at
the back of my mind. Maybe it was seeing the mass grave that put me
on edge, even though I hadn't actually seen any of the bodies. Or
maybe, it was because we were heading further from Boursac and the
rest of the squad, with no means of contacting them if we ran into
trouble.

We were
going slowly uphill now, as if level ground wasn't enough trouble
in this place. The General stopped, listening again to the
static.

"We're
getting close," he said, pointing deeper into the woods. "This
way."

"Sir, I
really don't know about this. I–"

"You
what?" He turned to face me, his lips curled. His voice was a low
growl. "Unless you want to be spending the next few days scrubbing
boots with a toothbrush, I suggest you get a hold of yourself, and
do as I say without question. Do I make myself clear,
soldier?"

"Sir," I
replied, my eyes cast downwards. "Yes, Sir."

General
Marsten turned and continued up the hill. I clenched my fists and
followed after him. We came upon a small cave, set into the side of
the hill, filled with stalactites and stalagmites. The entrance
reminded me of a large, open mouth, complete with rows of pointy
teeth.

"In
here," General Marsten said, motioning for me to take
point.

I pulled
out my handgun and stepped inside, flattening myself against the
wall as I came to a corner. There was a muffled bang, and at first,
I couldn't figure out where it had come from. Then there was a
sharp pain in my arm, and I grasped at the source of the pain,
finding a small dart. I dropped to my knees, feeling my heartbeat
begin to slow. My breaths grew longer and deeper. General Marsten
crouched down next to me, removing my radio and pushing me to the
ground. He crushed the radio under his boot, twisting his foot, to
make sure it was well and truly destroyed.