Rise of the Phoenix (The Phoenix Trilogy Book 1) (12 page)

“No,” she said taking his hand and leading him outside.

The cool air of the night felt so welcoming on her skin. Phoenix took a deep breath to clear her mind of the hate she had just encountered.

Adam walked over to a barrel full of water and scooped some out with a cup that had been left behind. He brought it over to Phoenix and washed the blood away from her neck. As the water ran down her skin, raised voices came from inside Ben’s shanty. Mostly it was Ben yelling and Doug sounding like he had smoked ten packs a day all his life. “I make the decisions here, and you’re welcome to get goin any time,” Ben yelled.

Doug burst through the door and slamming it behind him. The shanty shook as if it might crumble. When he turned toward Phoenix and Adam his voice and breathing were raspy. “You’ll get yours,” he said as he stumbled from the porch and half ran, half limped down the road and out of the village.

“I’m real sorry bout all this,” Ben said.

“Are you sure he won’t be back?” Adam asked.

“Oh no. He knows the welcome mat is gone.”

“Sorry for the broken table,” Phoenix said.

“Table can be fixed.” Ben nodded his head toward them. “You too alright?”

“Yeah, all healed,” Phoenix said with a smile on her face.

When they walked back in Vera was picking up the pieces of the shattered table. “I’ll build a new leg for that, darling.” Ben said bending down to help her.

Adam moved the broken table out of the way and leaned it against a wall.

Once the shards of wood were cleaned up Ben brought out a half full Mason jar of shine. He took a deep drink. “Let’s forget about this crazy night,” he said handing the jar to Adam.

“I second that,” Adam said tipping the clear liquid into his mouth.

Phoenix took a drink and handed it to Vera. To her surprise Ben’s wife took two large gulps and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Glad the trouble’s over.”

“I hope so,” Adam said but his voice was filled with doubt.

PHOENIX SAT UP and yawned. Her fingers stroked her neck where Doug’s knife had pierced her skin. Nothing remained, but it was a reminder of how unwelcome vamps were.

Looking over her shoulder at Adam, she listened to the sound of his snoring. She decided not to disturb him and slid off the bed. It let out a squeaky protest, but Adam didn’t stir. The morning air was filled with a pungent chemical smell and the skies seemed to have darkened. The normal light grey was now the color of a wet stone. Her eyes looked to the heavens and she wondered if a plane was flying above her right now.

The village was just beginning to come to life. People milled around slowly, probably still hung over. Phoenix found her way to the bathhouse and was glad that nobody else was in it. There was no running water or electricity so water was stored in barrels from the local well Ben had dug. Dipping the pail into the barrel just outside the door, she filled it to the rim and set it on a bench. There were clean rags and towels stacked on the bench. Ben had laid a plank wood floor that had gaps just big enough to let the used water run out. There were large candles burning, their flames left orange shadows that danced against the mud and log walls.

Using a large ladle she soaked her hair and lathered it with soap. The people in the village bathed but coated their bodies with dirt to keep the bugs away. She hadn’t had one single mosquito bite since becoming a vamp and she loved that fact. As she bent over to wash the soap from her hair, a sound filtered in from the distance. At first she thought it might be gunfire, but the pops were to rhythmical for that. When the sound became clear she hurried and picked up the entire pale and poured it over her head, wiped her hair back from her eyes, and ran out of the bathhouse. Helicopter blades sliced through the air and Phoenix looked up just in time to see the machines come into full view. Everyone in the village poured out of their shacks and stared in wonder. The sound grew louder and louder until finally it was clear their target was the village.

Four black Huey helicopters appeared over the horizon flying directly toward them. Running back toward Ben’s home she crashed into a startled Adam. His eyes squinted upwards, then widened at the sight. “We have to get all these people out of here.” There was no hiding the fear in his voice.

“What in tarnation?” Ben asked as he emerged from his front door.

“Get everyone out!” Adam said as he began to run down the center of the village calling out an alarm and waving his hands wildly. “Run, get out!” Some instantly heeded his words, while others stood mesmerized by the first hint of working modern machinery they had not seen in years.

When the choppers reached the village they hovered overhead. The panic started when men in swat gear repelled down; their fully automatic weapons poised and ready to fire.

Screaming begat screaming as people scattered every which way. A toddler stood in the middle of the road crying. His mouth hung agape as tears stained his cheeks. Adam scanned the crowd to see if anyone was coming for him. Not a soul seemed to notice the child. Dashing toward the little boy Adam scooped him up and shoved him into the arms of the closest person. “Take him and go. Now!”

“Where?” the terrified teenage girl asked.

“Anywhere. Run and don’t look back.” Adam gave her a little shove to get her going.

Within seconds the village was filled with a platoon of men. Phoenix stood face to face with one. The barrel of his gun was pointed at her chest. His uniform was all black and the goggles he wore were darkly tinted, but that couldn’t hide the glow of his green eyes.

As she stood there motionless Adam ran up behind the soldier and hit him on the back of the neck with a thick board. He was stunned, but didn’t go down. Phoenix didn’t hesitate and yanked the gun from the vamp and used the butt to knock him out cold. His helmet flew from his head and swirled around on the ground like a top.

Just as she and Adam turned to run, four soldiers blocked their way. “Freeze!” one yelled.”

For a brief second Phoenix wondered if she had time to shoot them all, but looking at them changed that thought. They were covered head to toe in some kind of body amour. She would have had to hit each one in the neck. With four guns aimed at her and Adam there wouldn’t be enough time.

“Drop the weapon.”

Phoenix did as she was ordered. The machine gun hit the dirt with a soft thud and she knew any chance she would have had to escape was lost.

“Hands on your head.”

Both she and Adam locked their fingers at the back of their heads. One soldier searched them while the other three kept the guns aimed and ready.

No weapons were found on them. Nobody in the village expected to be invaded and none of them had time to mount a defense.

The helicopters landed in the field just outside the main gate. Phoenix, Adam, Ben, Vera and a few others that didn’t safely make it away from the village were escorted and loaded inside. All four choppers took off in unison and Phoenix looked out the open door at the village. Hiding in the fields she could see some of the population that had fled. Closing her eyes she silently prayed that the soldiers would continue on their way and not go back for them.

Ben’s voice shouted over the sound of the whipping blades. “What’s this about?”

Nobody gave him a verbal response, but one soldiers moved his gun a bit higher to be level with Ben’s head. Vera gripped her husband’s arm and he didn’t push it any further.

Phoenix needed to talk to Adam, but there was no point in their current company. All she could think was that the government knows about vamps. What exactly that meant she wasn’t sure, but it probably wasn’t good. A government that slaughtered their own people would never be up to any good.

A couple hours later the choppers banked to the left and descended. As they touched down Phoenix felt panic. All around them was a fortified compound. What used to be an oil refinery was now a fortress, with walls that seemed to touch the sky and high voltage wire surrounded the entire thing. The expanse of the place couldn’t be judged. The wall surrounding it didn’t seem to end.

As the soldiers escorted them, Phoenix watched as other soldiers followed them from above. Their footsteps clanging against metal scaffolds and bridges gave her the chills. Where one soldier’s walkway stopped another would pick up and mirror the pace of the prisoners.

On the other side of a oil storage tank was a large, white concrete building. As they stepped closer to the front door it automatically slid open with an unwelcome swish. The troops that escorted them hung back and another group took over. Not a word was spoken by any of them; all were vamps.

The interior of the building mimicked a hospital. Tile floors, thick doors with small windows and cream-colored walls stared back at Phoenix causing her to swallow hard.

As they approached another set of glass doors one of the lead soldier bent down and held his eyes to a scanner. With another swish of sliding doors, freedom was gone. Phoenix looked back at the first set of doors knowing this was probably the last time she would see the outside world.

The soldier’s boots thumped in rhythm as they hung a right. Phoenix’s mouth dropped open. All along the corridor were glassed room partitions. Inside one room was a vamp strapped to a gurney screaming as an IV pumped some kind of liquid into his veins. In another were two vamps. One was lying back on a table while a male vamp had sex with her. His body moved so fast it was a blur of color. In the next room two vamps were fighting, but it wasn’t a normal brawl. Each looked on the verge of death and the room looked like a murder scene with blood spattered across every surface. Phoenix watched as the victor killed his opponent by bare handedly reaching inside his chest cavity and pulling a still beating heart out.

Adam gripped her hand. “Don’t look. Just keep your eyes forward.” She nodded and moved closer to him.

Behind them, Vera gasped loudly causing Phoenix to turn. What she saw made her week in the knees; all the humans from the village were being escorted into one of the glass rooms.

“Where are you taking them?” Phoenix demanded. All that got her was a shove with the butt of a rifle.

She let go of Adam’s hand and spun around. Without all the armor these vamps were on her level and she decked the one that shoved her. His face jerked to the right and blood flew from his mouth. She shoved past another soldier and dashed for the door that Ben and Vera had been shoved into. The humans stood huddled and trembling. Jerking on the door handle she pulled with all her strength, but it won’t budge. Someone began to speak via intercom and all in the room looked up. Phoenix couldn’t hear what was being said clearly but everyone stood stock still as if a witch had just placed a strong curse on them. What appeared to be water began to spray from the ceiling, and cries of terror erupted. Even their screams couldn’t be heard clearly from outside the room. As she pounded on the glass door Ben tried his best to shield Vera, but then the liquid began to shoot at them from the walls. Within seconds they were drenched.

A fist that felt like a wrecking ball slammed into Phoenix’s cheek and she stumbled back from the glass. “Keep moving,” the vamp that she had hit said. She moved to hit him again, but her balled fist met the resistance of Adam’s hand. He wrapped her in his arms before she could plot another attack and walked her away from the room.

“You can’t do anything for them,” he whispered in her ear.

Her mind filled with fear, helplessness and worry, but she walked on. The hall of nightmares ended at a T. Phoenix was tugged in one direction and Adam in the other. She looked down at their joined hands as his fingertips curved feebly trying to hold onto her. Her boots squeaked against the linoleum floor as she fought to gain traction against the guard’s grip. The vamp that held her by the waist let go and slammed his elbow into her temple. The hallway ahead became a dark tunnel of cotton and clouds, while Adam’s voice sounded more like a vinyl record barely turning.

Losing consciousness meant losing Adam, so she fought hard to focus. Dark shapes moved in front of her, sometimes revealing an outstretched arm. Objects were surrounded with a soft glow of light. Phoenix’s legs were like mush as she fought to get her feet beneath her. A trail of blood ran from her temple and filled her right eye. It continued along her cheek, before finally filling her mouth with the taste of iron. Her own life force was snapping her out of the acid like trip. Her veins ached for more blood. Hunger burned deep inside, causing her mouth to water. The pain subsided little by little and a clear picture of her surroundings began to form again.

Adam punched his guard, but his opponent was formidable. Punches and kicks were thrown while blood spatter littered the hallway. Both vamps moving faster than a human eye could follow reminded her of watching a hockey game; no matter how much you concentrated on the little black puck it would fly across the ice leaving you to search for it.

Adam backed his opponent against the wall and laid into him with a steady stream of blows. When the guard blocked his face, Adam would hit him in the gut. When the guard countered to protect his abs, Adam hit him square in the jaw sending the guard’s head flying to the left.