Vampire Apocalypse: A World Torn Asunder (Book 1) (13 page)

There were only two of them left
now and, unconsciously, the two men drew closer together as they
scanned the room. The vampire seemed to be able to meld into the
darkness so completely that it seemed to disappear. It could merely
have walked in and torn them apart. Their bullets were useless
against it anyway. It was obviously playing with them, relishing
their fear.

Suddenly the man beside Harris
shuddered and Harris watched in terror as the man’s head simply
fell to the ground with a dull thud. A thought struck him just
before he felt the impact; he still hadn’t actually seen a
vampire.

And then the darkness washed
over him and all was quiet.

Harris woke in a sweat as the
images of his dream still tugged at him. He had suffered through
the same dream regularly ever since he had been brought out of the
serum’s influence almost a year ago. He was always nervous before a
new mission but tomorrow’s mission was the largest they had ever
attempted and his mind just wouldn’t rest. His bed was damp and the
covers were twisted together from his thrashing about. He looked
around the bare walls of the room he shared with four others but
they still slept soundly.

He pulled himself to his feet
and began to dress. It had been so long since he had slept a full
night that his body was used to his nightly walks. He knew that the
dreams were, on some level, the guilt he felt for surviving when
those he led had not. Rationally he knew that he could not have
done anything more to save them but the fact that he had survived
when they had not did not sit well with him.

He had spent many hours trying
to figure out why the vampires had not simply killed him but he
still could not find an answer. It made no sense and the feeling of
impotency just would not go away. He still wondered if those they
had bought the time for had made it to safety – was there anywhere
in the world that was safe now? He hoped they had made it. At least
that would be something to justify the terrible toll that had been
paid in their names.

But he would never know. No
matter how he tried this guilt for surviving continued to eat away
at him. He drove himself relentlessly to save others as a form of
atonement but no matter how many he saved the dreams kept coming
back. He might enjoy a few nights of peace after a successful raid
but the dreams always returned, as if to remind him that his work
was not yet done.

It seemed he was doomed to push
himself harder and harder or risk being taken over by his demons.
He yearned to talk to someone about it all. He felt that if he
could share his demons that he might be able to deal with them more
effectively. But he had left it too late now. He had hidden the
truth too long now to suddenly reveal his past. He had built a life
with this community, one that he could be proud of. Unfortunately
it had been built on lies and deceit and he was afraid that he
would lose it all if he were exposed. He yawned as he continued to
wander through the deserted facility. The calm of the dimly lit
corridors was in total contrast to the storm that raged in his
mind. The faces of those who had died under his command seemed to
sweep before him, though whether they were condemning him or
whether he was condemning himself he wasn’t entirely certain. He
had to continue, he decided. There was just too much at stake. So
what if he had a few bad dreams? It was a small price to pay if
they continued to save lives. His mind made up, Harris felt calmer
as he headed back towards his room, though he knew that he would
not sleep anymore this night. There were plans to re-check and
equipment to clean. He yawned again and wondered idly whether it
would be a vampire or exhaustion that finally took him out of his
misery.

Chapter 11

“Peter!”

Harris turned at the sound of
this name and saw Sandra Harrington trotting down the corridor. His
face softened into a smile when he saw her. “Hello there,
stranger,” he said.

“Yes, it has been hectic for the
last few days, especially with the children being sick.” Her smile
faded at the thought of the growing sick list and then seemed to
shake it off. “Anyway, that shouldn’t stop you from visiting me,”
she teased back as she pocked him in the chest.

“I make it a firm rule never to
enter hospitals, even to visit such a pretty nurse.”

They both smiled at that and
moved to the side of the corridor as people jostled past.

“It sure is busy out here,”
Sandra said as she nodded towards the throng of people.

“Yeah, we’re about ready to go.
Hopefully we’ll bring back something that’ll help the kids.”

Sandra’s face suddenly grew
serious. “Listen,” she began and then faltered as if not quite sure
how to proceed now she was here. She looked at Harris and was
shocked to see such lines around his eyes. He looked pale and his
eyes seemed to reflect a deep sadness that she hadn’t seen before.
There had been a definite spark between them since Harris had been
brought into the group but there had never been any opportunity to
be alone to explore where it might go. When they had still lived in
the city they had been forced to remain in their own residences or
risk being discovered and, as they had lived on opposite sides of
the city they had only ever seen each other at their weekly
meetings. Even there, her father was always around so they had
never really had more than stolen glances and the occasional
whispered conversation. Even now, with them living in the same
location, they had been pulled in different directions as their
responsibilities took more and more of their time.

But still, she felt knew him as
well as anyone could and there was something not quite right.
Something seemed to be weighing on him. She tried to look deeper
into his eyes, hoping to see something there and then the moment
was gone as they were jostled aside by people trying to get past.
“You take care out there,” she said quickly as she rested her hand
on his arm. Whatever was wrong would have to wait. “This is a major
operation. We’ve never done anything on this scale before and
…”

“We don’t have a choice.” Harris
interrupted softly as he raised his hand to brush her cheek. “Don’t
worry; we’ve gone over the plan so often I could do this
blind-folded.”

“When you come back we’ll have
to make time for each other.” She seemed to blurt the words out as
if afraid that if she thought too long about them that they
wouldn’t come out at all.

“Count on it,” he replied and
then smiled. For a brief moment his eyes lit up and she saw the
spark that had attracted her to him when she had first met him but
then, just as quickly, it was gone and his eyes took on a haunted
glaze again. She was about to speak when he suddenly folded her in
his arms. This wasn’t the time, she decided as she hugged him in
return. But they would have to talk when he returned. As he hugged
her she could feel his obvious love for her but there was also
something almost desperate about how he held her that frightened
her.

“Harris!” The shout came from
the entrance bay to the underground facility where a group of
people waited.

“I have to go,” he whispered and
then hugged her tightly once more before he broke the embrace. His
lips softly caressed hers and then he turned and hurried to the
waiting group.

Sandra Harrington admonished
herself when the tears began running down her face. She had not
known Peter Harris for long, but already she couldn’t imagine life
without him. She watched him make his way down the corridor and
follow his team out to the elevator. At the last moment he turned.
His jaw was set so rigid she feared his teeth would crack. They
stared at each other and she mouthed the words, “I love you.” She
saw him begin to reply, but then the door closed with a loud clunk
and she was left alone.

Harris surveyed the city from an
old building outside the walled area. Feels like I’ve been in this
situation before, he thought. The wall that stretched before him
ran out of sight in both directions. Floodlights perched every
thirty feet or so illuminated the surrounding areas. Thralls
patrolled the ramparts and their posture and occasional stretching
revealed their obvious boredom. Harris could see eight thralls from
where he stood, but was certain that many more were inside the
city.

When they left the Cave the
group had split into three separate units to reduce the risk of
being spotted. Each unit followed a pre-determined and totally
separate route to the city. They had left an hour before dawn and
it had taken his unit twenty minutes on a forced march to get into
position. He had no way to be sure that each group had reached
their positions because they had decided against the use of their
radios this close to the city.

This was by far the biggest
undertaking they had ever embarked upon. Thirty-five people were
positioned around the city and another twenty people would leave
the Cave soon with transport for the return journey. They had had a
few scares on the way when they spotted patrols, but, luckily, the
thralls were merely going through the motions and the vampires were
more interested in returning to their lairs this close to dawn.

The committee had decided on
three separate objectives for this attack. Group Alpha would make
their way to the Hospital and scavenge anything useful there. This
was considered a soft target because it had been abandoned since
the vampires had taken over and that group consisted of only five
people. Their main problem would be the mile long journey they had
to make deep into thrall territory.

The Anderson brothers, Bill and
Scott, led this group. John Pritchard would also accompany them.
Harris hated taking three of his best men away from the assault;
especially since they all had actual experience fighting the
vampires. But they really needed medical supplies and the distance
involved warranted the high calibre of men. Jenny White, one of
their nurses and another very scarce resource, was with the group
to ensure that only usable medicines and equipment were brought
back. John Hackett completed the group. Harris didn’t really know
anything about the man other than he had been a farmer, but at
six-foot-three and built like a linebacker, he reckoned that he’d
be good for carrying if nothing else.

Group Bravo consisted of twenty
people and they had the most critical mission of the three, namely
food and general supplies. Unfortunately for the group, the thralls
controlled the only consumable supplies left in the city and these
were kept in their many barracks dotted throughout the city.
Tonight’s target was chosen due to its proximity to the city walls,
but as luck would have it, this was also one of the largest
occupied facilities in the city. Dan Reiss was leading the group
in, and, in Harris” opinion, a better choice couldn’t be found. As
an original core group member, Reiss had the most experience of any
of them. His group was made up of volunteers who had distinguished
themselves during the many practice sessions they had run.

I hope to God this doesn’t
backfire on us, Harris thought, the Cave will be virtually
defenceless if we fail here tonight.

Harris led the third group,
Group Nero. He smiled at the name that defied the naming convention
of the other groups. Harris” target was Nero himself. This was a
big risk, but if they could destroy the city’s head vampire, the
ensuing confusion would give the group more time to establish
themselves while the other vampires fought over the vacant
leadership. They had identified the building Nero used as a base
some time ago, but had never dared to attempt an assault
before.

The three attacks were spaced
out over a distance of over a thousand yards along the wall. They
hoped that using multiple entry points would create more confusion
and force the thralls to spread their forces over a larger area.
Although Harris had successfully planned a number of raids so far,
he still based his strategies more on his knowledge of historical
battles and a lifetime of playing and designing war games than on
any actual experience. In fact, before the vampires had taken over,
the closest he ever gotten to real action were a few games of
paintball with friends in the woods.

Designing war games had
instilled in him a love of history though and his research into the
causes, deployment and aftermath of many of the wars in human
history did give him a good theoretical base to plan strategy. What
he did not have, however, was any real experience in the human
element that so often in history turned most of the battles he had
studied.

He hated planning other people’s
lives. It petrified him to think that people lived or died on the
strength of his decisions. These weren’t computer-generated pixels
that could be renewed from a saved game if he made a mistake. These
were real people. If he messed up, people he knew would die. That
was a hell of a responsibility and he had spent an hour with Father
Reilly before they had set out. He explained his doubts and
confessed his fears of the task that had been set for him.

Reilly had listened and asked
him a question every now and then but remained largely silent.
Harris had spoken at length of what had happened to him in Boston,
his nightmares since then and his fears for the same thing
happening all over again. Reilly had seemed shocked that he had
managed to keep such pain and fear to himself for so long.

“You have had a lot of
responsibility thrust upon you, Peter,” he had begun when Harris
had finally finished. Strangely he had felt almost light-headed
after finally telling somebody of the guilt that drove him and the
fear that twisted his stomach before every mission. He had never
been one that could easily open up to anyone but he had felt like
someone had lifted a great weight from him or if not actually
lifted, at least the load had been shared. Reilly had spoken calmly
about how many people in history had been thrown into situations of
responsibility they had not asked for but who had risen to the
challenge anyway. Finally, he had taken Harris’s hands in his and
looked him straight in the eyes, “If not you, Peter, then who else?
Is there anyone else in the community who could do a better
job?”