Desolation: Chapters 29 & 30
Dominion of the Damned: Book One
In a world where zombies roam and vampires rule, how far will Hannah Jordan go to survive?
Desolation is the first book in my post-apocalyptic horror trilogy, Dominion of the Damned.
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Chapter Twenty-Nine
It started raining before they landed. A bolt of lightning lit up the interior of the helicopter. Hannah jumped with fright and said a prayer that they wouldn’t experience another crash. “How long until we land?”
“We’re close,” said the captain. “Don’t worry. I’ve flown in worse conditions than this.”
That didn’t do anything to ease the tension she felt.
Alek seemed to sense her nervousness. “Are you okay?”
She offered him a weak smile and nodded to assure him she was fine. But only when they were safely on the ground did she unclench her fists from the straps that held her in her seat.
Zach met them at the landing site with umbrellas, although with the wind picking up, the umbrella he was using didn’t seem to be doing him much good. “How’d it go?” he asked as Hannah and Alek climbed out of the chopper.
“Not good.” Hannah took one of the umbrellas and struggled to open it against the wind. “They want to shut us down.”
“What? When?”
“If Esme had her way,” said Alek, “they’d already be here. But we’re in luck. The hubris of the elders gives us time to plan. They expect us to surrender. They think we have no choice.”
“Do we?” asked Zach.
Alek’s only answer was to clench his jaw. “I need you to gather everyone. Emergency town hall meeting in the auditorium in one hour. I don’t care if people are already in bed, get them up.”
Zach nodded. “I’m on it.” Without another word, he headed off to sound the alarm.
Alek turned to Hannah and the captain. “We need to arm everyone. We should gather weapons. Automatic weapons, machine guns, rocket launchers… things that can damage them so badly it will take a lot of time to recover. We’ll pass them out at the meeting. You’ll have all day tomorrow to make sure everyone knows how to use them. Look for bayonets, too. Knives, anything that can pierce the heart or cut off heads. And grenades.”
“Alek, are you sure about this?” asked Hannah. “You’re talking about killing your own people.”
“You are my people. Everyone here, you’re my family. And I’m going to protect you, or at least make damn certain you can protect yourselves. Besides, they’re the ones who declared war on us.”
Hannah nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s get to the armory. I’ll meet you guys there. I need to go change out of this dress.”
An hour later, they were assembled in the same auditorium where only hours earlier they’d held the memorial service. The same faces filled the seats, now a mix of sleepy, confused, and curious, where before they had been somber and sad. The weapons they had gathered lay piled on the stage behind them.
Paula was one of the last to enter, carrying a sleeping Noah. Chris came in behind her and found seats for them as she came down to the front. “Zach wanted me to tell you that he’s working. He thinks he’s too close to stop now. He set up a temporary lab in the basement of the old jail house. He thinks he’ll be hidden well enough down there to keep working until they find him and make him stop.”
Alek nodded. “Thank you, Paula.”
Hannah reached out to smooth Noah’s hair. “How is he?”
“He’s great. We played until he was tuckered out. This little angel can sleep through just about anything.”
Hannah smiled. “Paula, tomorrow night I want you to take him and get underground with Zach. Just stay hidden and keep him safe.”
“Why? I wish somebody would tell me what’s going on.”
“We’re about to,” said Alek. “If you take your seat, we’ll get started.”
She headed to her seat and he raised his hands to call everyone to attention. “I know you’re all wondering why we got you out of bed and insisted that you come here tonight. As you know, earlier this evening I was sum-oned to a meeting with the vampire High Council. These are the rulers of my race, the ones who decide what happens with the camps. What happens with you.”
“What did they want?” asked someone from the crowd.
He paused to take a deep breath. “They want to shut down this camp and ship all of you to the local prison.”
The auditorium erupted with cries and shouts of protest, people hurling questions and angry epithets at Alek. He tried to call them to order, to no avail.
Hannah had enough. She hopped up on the stage next to the big pile of weapons they’d stacked there.
“Hey!” she screamed. When that didn’t work, she took out her weapon and fired a shot at the ceiling, causing acoustic tile to rain down on the stage.
That got their attention.
“You people know Alek,” she said. “You know everything he’s done for you. Do you really think he’s going to let this happen? Listen to him!”
He gave her a look of appreciation, with a touch of unveiled admiration, before turning back to the crowd.
“They’ll send forces tomorrow night to shut us down and transport everyone to the prison. They’ll most likely arrive shortly after sundown. They’re going to expect us to cooperate and come quietly. They won’t be expecting us to fight, but that’s what we’re prepared to do. The question is, will you fight with us?”
A hush fell over the auditorium. After a moment, Chris spoke up. “How do we fight vampires? You guys are, like, invincible.”
“We’re hard to kill,” Alek admitted. “But if it were impossible to kill us, we wouldn’t have been gathered here for a memorial earlier tonight. Stab us through the heart, cut off our heads, blow us to pieces or burn us and we die just like anyone else. Bullets don’t kill us, but they slow us down. A lot of bullets can stop us, at least temporarily. It takes time to heal from multiple wounds. Time, and blood. And they’ll have strict orders not to kill or feed on any of you. That gives us an advantage."
Another murmur went through the auditorium as people took a moment to talk it over. Alek gave them a minute, and then hopped up on the stage with Hannah.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said. “Everyone who is willing and able to fight will spend tomorrow getting comfortable with these weapons. Then we’ll hole up in the old fort. All we’ll have to do is hold them off until sunrise.”
“But then what?” asked Paula. “Won’t they just regroup and come back with a bigger force?”
“Maybe,” admitted Alek. “Or maybe they’ll decide we’re not worth the trouble, and leave us alone. Maybe they’ll be willing to listen to terms. Or maybe—hopefully—Zach and I will be able to complete the vaccine before they return again, and then we won’t be confined to the base.”
“Maybe,” said Paula. “But what if they decide we’re not worth the trouble, and so they should just kill us all?”
“Then we take as many of them with us as we can. Look, this is not my decision. I’ve never imposed my will on you, and I’m not going to start now. If you’d rather surrender peacefully and go to Esme’s camp, you still have that option.”
“To hell with that,” shouted Chris, and Paula nodded in agreement as other voices shouted their assent.
"All right, then,” said Alek. “We’ve got approximately sixteen hours to get ready. I want those with military training to pair up with civilians and go over weapons and combat maneuvers. Hannah also has weapons training, so you can ask her if you need help with shooting. Anyone who has strategic training or experience, with me.”
As people began to pair up, Alek turned to Hannah. “I guess we’re really doing this.”
“Are you sure you’re all right with this?”
“Yes. I just hope I’m not leading them all to slaughter.”
“Leading them to slaughter would be letting them go to that prison without a fight. Esme would probably kill us all eventually, if she got the chance.” She reached out and took hold of his arm. “We have to win this, Alek.”
He nodded. “I know.” Then he groaned with frustration. “The timing couldn’t be worse. If Zach thinks we’re so close to a breakthrough, I should be with him in the lab.”
“Then go.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I’m not going to incite everyone to battle and then leave them without making sure they’re as prepared as possible.”
“Alek, we’ve got this. Besides, it’s not like almost everyone here doesn’t have combat experience. We’ve all had to fight off shamblers at some point.”
“Maybe so, but shamblers aren’t intelligent, and they don’t have any pride at stake.”
“But like you said, there are more ways to kill a vampire. Or at least slow them down. We should put together a team to set up booby traps. I think guerrilla warfare is probably our best bet.”
There was that look of admiration in his eyes again. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
Hannah smiled. “Right back atcha.”
He was leaning in to kiss her when the doors at the back of the auditorium flew open in a swirl of wind and rain. One of the volunteers who had helped to rescue Alek ran inside, dripping wet. He barely kept his footing as he approached them, slipping and sliding on the tile, his face pale and frightened.
“What is it, Tim?” asked Alek. “Don’t tell me they’re here already.”
He shook his head. Keeping his voice low, he said, “I don’t want to start a panic, but we spotted a twister on the ground. It’s headed this way.”
Chapter Thirty
Hannah hurried to take Noah from Paula while Alek addressed the assembly. “All right, everyone needs to stay calm and head to the storm shelters. A tornado has been spotted on the ground. Each shelter holds about twenty people, so don’t crowd each other. Everyone come to the front and get a weapon, then follow me.”
Panicked voices filled the air, but to everyone’s credit, they stayed calm and followed directions. Hannah grabbed an automatic rifle to sling over her shoulder before following Alek out the door.
The wind whipped the rain all around her in horizontal sheets so thick that she could barely see where she was going. Noah shrieked in fear and confusion.
Alek took off his rain-soaked jacket, took Noah from her and wrapped him up in it. He grabbed her hand and led her to the first of the shelters, a row of shed-like concrete structures that dotted the camp near the barracks. He shoved the door open and handed the baby back to Hannah before ushering people inside. Paula and Chris were among those who joined her in this shelter before Alek started directing people to the other buildings.
They didn’t have long. The wind was already so strong and so loud that even when they shouted they could barely hear each other over it.
Alek directed Hannah inside and showed her how to bolt the door. “These things were tested for winds up to 300 mile per hour, so you should be fine. But everyone should get down and cover their heads.”
“Where are you going?”
“Zach’s still at the lab. I have to go get him.”
“But there’s no time!”
“I’ll make time.” He cradled her neck in his had and kissed her, quickly but passionately.
“Be careful,” she told him, a little breathlessly, as he let her go.
He nodded. “You be careful when you leave the shelter. Who knows what you might find out here. Try to stay put until I can come back for you.” He kissed her again and then shut her inside.
The others knew the drill. They were already seated along the walls of the shelter, knees drawn up and ready to duck and cover their heads if necessary. Hannah took a seat next to Paula, who was murmuring a prayer for everyone’s safety. Noah’s cries were almost deafening in the echoing confines of the shelter. Hannah did everything she could to sooth him. Otherwise, everyone kept silent as they waited.
A long, tense moment passed, and then they heard what sounded like a freight train bearing down on them.
Hannah wrapped herself around Noah and said a prayer for Alek. Please let him make it inside, she repeated over and over in her head. She wondered if vampires could survive getting carried off by a tornado, and consoled herself by deciding that they probably could.
All around them, the building started to vibrate and rattle. Children screamed and added their cries to Noah’s as adults whispered words of comfort. For what seemed like an eternity, everyone braced, and prayed, and waited.
Then it was over. The building went still and the sound of wind departed, leaving only the clatter of hard rain pelting the roof. Everyone in the shelter began to relax, raising their heads to look at each other, scared expressions melting into relieved smiles. They made it.
“We should stay put a while,” said Hannah. “There could be more.”
They all settled in to wait. After a while, people started to lament their lack of a weather radio, or of radio stations to report what was happening.
To Hannah’s surprise, Chris moved to sit next to her. “Chris,” she said, “I’m so sorry about everything.”
He held up a hand to stop her. “I just want to tell you that I really like you, Hannah, and it sucks to see you with the doc. And I’m pissed off that you didn’t tell me about the two of you.”
“I swear, nothing was going on between us while you and I were going out.”
“Look, I get it. We went out twice. I thought we’d be going out a lot more, but it’s not like we had a commitment. But still… Like I said, it sucks and I’m pissed.”
“I know. I’m really sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, and I don’t blame you for hating me.”
He leaned his head back against the wall of the shelter and for a moment simply sat there. Then he blew out a long sigh. “I don’t hate you.”
“It’s okay. You’re allowed to hate me.”
“But I don’t,” he insisted. “And I get it. I can’t say I’m too surprised. Doc’s a good guy, and I figured it would just be a matter of time before you figured that out.”
“You are a good guy, Chris. I hope you know that.”
“Yeah.” He gave her a wry smile. “Just not good enough.”
“Chris—”
He cut her off. “No hard feelings, okay? We all need to stick together. We don’t have the luxury of holding grudges against each other.”
Hannah resisted the impulse to lean over and kiss his cheek. She figured that, under the circumstances, the gesture wouldn’t be appreciated. So instead she simply nodded.
Noah had finally calmed down and was about to fall asleep in her lap. The weather sounded like it was calming down outside. She’d thought Alek would’ve been back by now. “We should scout out what’s happening outside.” She looked over at Paula. “Do you mind?”
“How often do I have to tell you, darlin’? I never mind taking care of this angel.” Careful not to wake him, Paula gently moved Noah into her lap. Chris was already on his feet. He reached down to help her up.
“Okay,” said Hannah. “We’ll see what the situation is outside and let you know if it’s clear.”
She unlatched the door and readied her rifle as she stuck her head out. A sprinkling of soft rain still fell but the sky was beginning to clear, revealing stars and a bright moon. Hannah stepped outside, followed by Chris.
“Looks clear,” he said.
“Shh.” She thought she heard something. “Listen.”
There it was, not far in the distance: a moan. And then another.
Chris heard it, too. “That sounds like…”
The moaning turned into a chorus, and Hannah’s stomach filled with dread. “The fence,” she said. “The tornado took out the fence.”
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