Desolation: Chapters 35 & 36 (Conclusion)
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.
This is the finale. Need to catch up? Click here for the navigation page.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“I think this is it.” Alek held up the vial of liquid, seeming to admire it in the light of the Bunsen burner.
“How sure are you?” asked Hannah.
“Well, we need to test it to be positive, but I went over and over Zach’s calculations and only found one minor error. Otherwise, his work seemed flawless. Everything I know about biology and immunology says that this should work.”
Hannah rummaged through Zach’s supplies until she found a sterile syringe. She tore open the plastic it was wrapped in and handed it to Alek. “Here. Load it up.”
He took the syringe and filled it with the substance. When he was finished, Hannah took it from him and started undoing her pants.
“What are you doing?”
“I think the hip is probably the best injection site, don’t you?”
He grabbed back the syringe. “I thought you were going to give it to one of the rats. You’re not injecting yourself with this.”
She took hold of his wrist before he could waste the vaccine on a rat. “We don’t have time to test it. If you’re that sure it works, then just give it to me.”
“I can’t be that sure until it’s tested. And I’ll be damned if I test it on you.”
“I don’t think it really makes a difference at this point. It’s not like I’m planning to go out there and get bit. But I have to get back to Noah, and this place is crawling with shamblers. If that vaccine will increase my chances of getting back to him alive—”
“You will get back to him. I’ll make sure of that. Shooting yourself up with an untested drug isn’t the way.” He held out the syringe. “Now, please administer this to one of the rats and place it in isolation while I obtain a sample from Bob. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said irritably as she took the syringe. They were wasting time with this and Alek knew it. She understood his caution, but caution took time and that was something they didn’t have. Reluctantly, she approached the rat cage, but stopped when she heard footsteps pounding down the stairs.
“Hannah!” someone called from the corridor. “Doc!”
“Chris?” She called back. “We’re in here!”
He appeared in the cell’s open doorway, panting and doubled over, clearly out of breath. “You… you’re okay,” he said. “We… we heard the explosion…”
“Explosion?” Alek looked at her. “What explosion?”
“Long story,” she said. “Chris, what are you doing here? I thought you were still in the storm shelter.”
He shook his head. “We got everyone moved to the old fort. Shamblers are everywhere.”
“We know. You didn’t have to risk your neck to come and tell us.”
“That’s not what I came to warn you about,” he said, his breath coming back to him. He stood up straight and looked at Alek. “They’re here.”
“What?” Alek took a step toward him. “You’re sure?”
“Some of us snuck out of the fort to get the weapons from the auditorium. We were in there when they arrived. There were probably half a dozen helicopters, and soldiers in black rappelling to the ground. They’re probably already at the fort by now.”
Shocked, Hannah looked from Chris to Alek. “You said they wouldn’t come till tomorrow.”
Alek shook his head. “That’s what they told me, but clearly I was a fool to believe them. I thought there was no way they could mobilize this quickly. They must have already been planning this.” He let out a bark of derisive laughter. “Damn Esme. They probably would have gotten here even sooner if not for the storm.”
“Where’s Noah?” Hannah asked Chris.
“He’s still with my mom. She’s had him all night.”
She looked at Alek, not even trying to disguise the fear she felt. “I have to get to him. Esme… the way she looked at me back at the prison… if she gets him she’ll use him against me.”
“And she’ll use you both as leverage against me.” He came over and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you back to him.” He retrieved Zach’s pistol and handed it to Hannah. “Keep this.” He turned to Chris. “Let’s go. Both of you stay behind me. Chris—”
“I’ll watch her back,” he said, following Alek out of the lab. Hannah paused before following and looked down at the syringe in her hand. “Nothing to lose,” she muttered before jabbing the needle through her jeans and into her thigh.
Alek led them up the stairs and out of the old jail. They stuck to the shadows, avoiding the tell-tale sounds of moaning and keeping out of sight of the helicopters.
He would have preferred that Hannah and Chris both stay in the lab where he knew they’d be hidden and safe. But he also knew there was no way Hannah would have agreed to stay behind when Noah was in danger; and if Hannah wouldn’t stay, neither would Chris.
Besides, Esme would be gunning for them both. It would only be a matter of time before she coerced someone into revealing their location—if she hadn’t already. He only hoped that she hadn’t harmed anyone to get the info.
If she had, that would just be one more reason to kill her.
The old corral was on the other side of the historical section of the base, about a quarter-mile or so from their current location. The buildings there were fewer and farther between with a lot more open ground between them. Esme’s forces had probably taken care of any shamblers that posed an immediate threat to the corral’s inhabitants, but there were still plenty of others milling about between the old guard house and the corral. And there were the helicopters.
“We have to move fast. Try to leave any shamblers we encounter to me. Use the butts of your rifles like clubs if you need to defend yourselves. Don’t shoot unless you absolutely have to.” He looked at Hannah and Chris in turn. “Stay close.”
They both nodded. Alek edged out from the shadow of the guard house. Immediately, he was met by a lone shambler. He grabbed its head and twisted it off before it could make a sound.
They made good ground, crossing the yard in silence, weaving and dodging their way around random shamblers and managing not to draw attention. They made it several yards before he heard Chris cry out behind him. Alek turned to see a shambler’s hand grasping the boy’s shirt. He and Hannah were double-teaming it, beating it down with their guns. That drew the attention of two more nearby, but Alek made quick work of them both. “Are you two okay?”
Hannah nodded. “Let’s keep moving.”
They were halfway to the corral, in the middle of open ground, when they heard the sound of a helicopter engine powering up. A moment later, a large black chopper rose from the center of the corral.
“Get down!” Alek dropped to the ground, pulling the others down with him. Flattened out on the ground, he hoped that the predawn darkness would be enough to hide them. The helicopter passed over them without seeming to notice. When he looked back up toward the corral, he saw black-clad vampire soldiers leading a line of people out through the gate.
“They’re rounding everybody up,” said Alek. “We need a better plan than this.”
“We have a plan?” asked Hannah.
“My point exactly.”
“Guys,” said Chris, “they’ve got my mom.” He started to get up.
“Wait!” Hannah pulled him back down. “We can’t help them by rushing in there.” She looked back up at the line. “Alek, Noah’s not with her.”
“It’s all right,” he said, hoping it was the truth. “Don’t panic. That won’t help anybody.”
They were starting to draw attention. Not from the vampires, but from the shamblers. Alek could sense them closing in. “We need to get out of here,” he said, getting to his feet. He helped Hannah up. Chris was already on his feet, pointing.
“Look!”
Some of the shamblers had taken note of the line of humans being herded toward the choppers. Their moaning was drawing others toward them. “They’re going for my mom!” He broke into a run. This time neither Alek nor Hannah were quick enough to stop him.
“Chris!” Hannah shouted as loud as she dared. “Get back here!” She started to run after him, but Alek held her back.
“Let him go. If we get caught we won’t be able to help anybody.” He pulled Hannah along with him to hide behind a nearby tree. Chris opened fire on the shamblers.
“Get away from them!” he shouted as he fired. “Here! Come this way!”
“What is he doing?” asked Hannah.
“Getting himself killed.” Alek growled with frustration. “Wait here.” He started to go after the boy, but it was too late. The guards had already taken note of him, and so had Paula. She shouted and pointed at him as some of the guards rushed to put down the shamblers and retrieve Chris. “It’s okay,” said Alek. “The vamps will capture him, but they won’t kill him.”
But the sound of gunfire drew more of the creatures—more than the vampires could handle. The stupid, brave boy saw them closing in, and kept shouting and waving to draw their attention away from the crowd.
“What’s he doing?” asked Hannah.
“Being a hero. Damn it.”
“We have to help him.”
Alek nodded, but cursed under his breath. “We’ll go around the back of the buildings and try to intercept. Maybe I can hold them off while the two of you—”
He was cut off by a distant scream, followed by a gasp from Hannah. Chris had been gaining ground, staying ahead of the shambler horde. But the noise had drawn another mob, and they closed in on him from the opposite direction. He was surrounded, and there was nothing anybody could do.
Alek didn’t know whose screams were louder, Chris’s or Paula’s. Hannah’s might have drowned them both out if Alek didn’t have a hand clamped firmly over her mouth. “Shh,” he told her as she struggled against him. “Shh, Hannah. We can’t help him. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She kept fighting him. “It’s too late for him,” Alek whispered in her ear. “We have to think about Noah.”
That took the fight out of her. As she went limp in his arms, he removed his hand from her mouth. “Oh, God,” she whimpered, collapsing against him. “Chris.”
“I’m so sorry.” She turned around in his arms and buried her face against his chest. “It’s up to us, now,” he told her. “We have to stay hidden, and stay alive. Then we can come up with a plan. It’s not over as long as we’re alive, and free.”
“We can’t let them take Noah. Alek, we have to find him.”
“We will.” He pulled her down to a crouch behind the tree. “Esme probably has him, but she won’t hurt him. She’ll use him to bait us. He’ll be okay.”
She nodded. Then her face crumpled with grief and she slumped back against the tree. Alek sat down and pulled her into his lap. He held her while they waited for the coast to clear. He didn’t speak as she shuddered against him with silent sobs. They needed to be as quiet as possible, and besides, there was nothing he could say to make this better.
She was all cried out by the time the helicopters lifted off. He knew Esme too well to believe she was on one of them. She was still here, somewhere, hunting them.
“There’s a chance she’s still at the corral,” he whispered to Hannah. “If not, she’ll probably look there for us eventually.” He looked up at the sky. It was beginning to lighten, turning from black to the deep purple that signaled predawn. “We don’t have a lot of time, and neither does she.”
“Then let’s go,” she said, her voice dull and raw. He helped her to her feet and, hand in hand, they started across the open yard toward the corral. Without any shadows to hide them, they were easily visible to the remaining shamblers, who were turning to follow them.
“Alek,” said Hannah.
“I know. Just keep moving.” He broke into a run, albeit a slow one so she could keep up with him. They reached the outside of the corral when she staggered and fell. “Hannah, get up.”
“Look out!” she pointed behind him. He turned just as a shambler reached him. He dispatched it quickly. When he turned back around, Hannah had her weapon up, firing at more of them. But her arm seemed to grow heavy, and her aim was off. “It’s not working,” she said. “Damn it!”
There was no time to ask what she was talking about. Alek stood between her and the shamblers, taking them out one at a time. They started to gang up, and he went into overdrive, letting his vampire reflexes take over as he destroyed one after another, working his way out from Hannah, until not one of them would be getting up again.
He didn’t give himself time to reign in his vampiric side before rushing back to where she had fallen to her knees. “Hannah? What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry, Alek. It didn’t work.” With visible effort, she raised her arm to show him a fresh bite mark. “The vaccine’s no good.”
He stared at the bite. “What? No.” He looked at her. “When?”
“When that one grabbed Chris earlier. It got its teeth in me while we were fighting it off. I took the vaccine before I left the lab. I thought it was working. I thought I’d be okay.” She closed her eyes, fresh tears falling from them. “I’m so sorry.”
“No.” He grabbed her face in both hands. “No! Hannah, you don’t do this. You stay with me.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again. “I’m so sorry.” She slumped forward, and he caught her in his arms. “Please take care of Noah. Tell him I’m sorry.”
“No.” Alek held her and rocked her. This couldn’t be happening. It simply couldn’t. He had to be able to save her. It hadn’t worked with Zach, but he had to try. He couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t try.
“Hannah, I’m sorry. I know I promised… but I can’t lose you. Not like this. I can’t just let you die.”
“Alek,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I love you.”
“I love you,” he said. “Hannah, I love you so much. Please don’t leave me.” He brushed her hair back from her shoulder, stretched open her collar, and kissed the spot on her neck just over her pulse point. He wasn’t sure whether the tears he tasted were hers or his own, but the saltiness of them mingled with the coppery taste of the blood that filled his mouth as his fangs punctured her artery. Her heart had already begun to slow. As her blood pressure dropped, he had to work to drain the infected blood out of her. It tasted foul, and wrong, and he could feel her life fading. He had no time to waste, no time to be careful about damaging her neck or leaving marks. He had to drain her quickly.
When it was done, he used his teeth to tear open a vein in his wrist and pressed it to her mouth. “Come on,” he said when she made no move to respond. “Please, Hannah. Drink. Come on!”
At last she swallowed. Unconsciously, she took his blood into her, replacing what he had taken. When it was done, she lay still and pale as a corpse.
“Please,” he said, picking up her hand and pressing her fingers to his lips. He said it over and over again. “Please. Please, please, please.” It was a prayer, a benediction, all that remained of the last thread of hope he had in this world. “Please let it work this time.”
All that was left to do was wait. The sky had already begun to lighten. Alek looked around and realized they were inside the old corral. It was open in the middle, but surrounded by a stone wall and horse stalls. He picked Hannah up and carried her to the shelter of one of the stalls, and then lay down beside her, continuing his pleas. “Please come back to me. Please don’t leave me like this.”
He lay there and watched shadows form around the wall as the sun began to rise. It was high enough to bathe the center of the corral in sunlight when she began to stir.
Fear and hope wrestled for domination as Alek got to his knees beside her. He leaned over her, stroking her hair. “Come on,” he urged. “Come back to me.”
She opened her eyes.
“Hannah?”
They looked around wildly, unfocused and disoriented. His heart and stomach began to sink. “No. Please. Please, Hannah.”
Her eyes fixed on him and focused. His heart lifted again, almost soared right out of him as he realized that her eyes had turned a bright, pale, icy blue. “Hannah?”
She licked her lips. “Alek?”
“Oh, God,” he said, gathering her into his arms. “Oh, God. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Slowly, she raised her arms to embrace him. “What happened?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. He took her face in his hands and kissed her. “I know I promised, but I had to try. I couldn’t lose you.”
“You… what did you do? I feel different.”
“I know. But you’re still here.”
“I feel… strong.”
"You know,” said a voice from across the corral, “there’s a penalty for turning them.”
Esme emerged from the shadows on the opposite end of the corral. “But I’d say you’re in enough trouble already.” She stood at the edge of the stalls, just beyond the reach of daylight. In her arms she held Noah.
“She has my brother,” said Hannah, shoving Alek out of her way as she jumped to her feet. Alek tried to grab her and pull her back, but she was too determined. He couldn’t stop her from running into the sun.
“No!” he screamed, reaching his arm into the light, trying to grab her and pull her back. But she was too fast for him.
She kept going.
She didn’t burn.
Alek stared in amazement as she ran across the corral unharmed. Then his gaze fell to his arm, still outstretched and bathed in sunlight.
He wasn’t burning, either.
He climbed to his feet, only partially aware of the confrontation happening across the yard. Tentatively, he reached his other hand into the sun, fascinated by its warmth, by the way it illuminated his pale skin. He looked up at the sky as he stepped out from the shadows, closed his eyes as he felt the warmth on his face and arms, felt the heat soak into his clothes and hair.
He felt different, too, he realized. Still strong, still powerful, but less so. His stomach growled, and he realized he felt hungry. But not for blood.
What’s happening to me?
The vaccine. Of course. Of course!
All this time, they’d been basing it on the resurrection virus, but if that was an offshoot of the vampiric virus as he’d suspected… it all made sense. Hannah took the vaccine, and once she was infected, he’d taken her blood into him, where the vaccine mixed with his vampiric blood. And then he’d given it back to her…
Zach had been so close. The minor adjustments Alek had made to the formula had gotten it closer, save for one final component.
It was the blood exchange that completed it.
It wasn’t simply a vaccine. It was a cure. The one he’d spent the last seventy years trying to produce.
Across the yard, he heard Hannah shout, snapping his attention back to the situation at hand. Putting his excitement on hold, he ran through the sunlit yard to fight by Hannah’s side.
Chapter Thirty-Six
She felt strong. Running across the courtyard, she moved faster than ever without even getting winded. Her senses were heightened, aware of everything. Aware of Alek shouting at her to stop, of the heat of the sun on her skin, of the scent of mud beneath the rain-soaked grass.
Mostly she was aware of Noah, crying in that bitch’s arms, and the fear in his cries as he reached out his chubby little arms toward her.
And she was aware of her total lack of fear for herself. She felt unstoppable.
She felt like killing somebody.
And she had the perfect candidate in mind.
Esme wrapped a hand around Noah’s neck. “Stop right there,” she said as Hannah reached her. “If you think I have any qualms about killing this infant, you’re sorely mistaken.”
“If you think there’s anything else to keep you alive if you hurt him,” said Hannah, “you’re even stupider than I thought. Give him to me.”
Esme laughed. “Celine!”
Immediately, three more vampires, identical in head-to-toe body armor, emerged from the deep shadows at the back of the stalls, all of them training rifles on Hannah. Esme smiled triumphantly.
She looked Hannah up and down. “Funny, I could have sworn he turned you. But you’re obviously still human, and that means you’re not bulletproof.”
No, she hadn’t been turned. But something had happened to her. She didn’t understand what it was, but she felt different—too different to be merely human any longer. Not that she had any intention of showing her hand to Esme.
“I’ll only tell you one more time,” she said. “Give me back my brother.”
“Or what?”
That was a good question. Be smart, Hannah. Think! If she attempted a physical confrontation while Esme still held Noah, she would probably get him hurt, or worse. She could also get herself shot.
All she could do was to appeal to Esme’s pride, something the vampire had no shortage of.
“Come on, Esme. We both know you want to hurt me. But is this really how you want to do it? Hiding behind a baby, threatening me at gunpoint?” Hannah glanced at the soldiers lined up behind her. She knew they probably had orders not to kill any humans. Their guns probably held tranquilizer darts instead of bullets, and Hannah already knew how far she could make it after getting tranqued.
Esme’s grin diminished into an amused smirk. “You’re not going to bait me, little girl.”
“You’re right,” said Hannah. “I am just a girl. And you’re a bad ass vampire. So why the hell are you so afraid of me?”
“Don’t mistake prudence for fear.” She stepped closer and leaned in. “I’ll have the satisfaction of killing you,” she said in Hannah’s ear, too softly for anyone else to hear. “Just not today.”
Hannah’s only response was to bring her knee up, hard, into Esme’s stomach. She caught the baby as the vampire doubled over, then turned her back to the soldiers’ guns, shielding Noah from them as she ran into the sunlight, too far for them to follow.
“Shoot her!” Esme shouted behind her. Hannah braced herself, but then Alek was there, putting himself between her and Esme and the guns. Hannah stared at him, her brain trying to process what was wrong with this picture, why she hadn’t expected him to be there.
The sun, she thought. He’s here with me in the sunlight, and he’s okay. She blinked. “Alek, what—”
But he didn’t give her time to ask before spinning around to face Esme. “Stop this!” he shouted.
Esme couldn’t believe what she was seeing. When she had first met Alek, he had mistaken her for an angel. But now he was the angelic-looking one, his pale skin practically glowing in the daylight, the morning sun forming a halo as it rose behind him. She felt an overpowering urge to touch him, to see if he was really there. She peeled off a glove and reached for him, her bare fingertips passing from shadow into light. It immediately scorched her flesh. She yanked her hand back into the darkness.
She cradled her burned hand. “Alek, what have you done?”
“The vaccine,” he said. “Esme, I did it. I found a cure.”
“A… a cure? For the contagion?”
“Yes, for that. It cured Hannah. But it also cured me.” He spoke animatedly, his voice full of excitement. “Look at me, Esme.”
No. It couldn’t be. All these years… she’d known about his ridiculous quest for a cure for their vampirism, knew that he saw it as an affliction, a curse rather than the blessing that it was. She had allowed it to go on because she had never believed it possible. But now… “I see you,” she whispered.
“My heart’s beating.” He moved closer, into the shadows. He held up a hand to ward off the soldiers. They lowered their weapons, but only slightly. “Here,” he said, taking her hand and placing it over his chest. “Feel.”
She could feel it. She remembered the last time she’d felt his heart beating, as she’d held him in her arms in that alley in Prague, feeling it grow fainter and fainter as she drank the life from him. Now it beat strong, a hammer in his chest, pumping adrenaline through his veins. She could smell it. He smelled alive. Human.
“It’s over,” he told her. “It’s all over.”
Yes. It was over. If she let him go back and replicate more of the vaccine from his own blood, or from the girl’s, the world she knew and loved, the world she had helped to build, the power she had attained for herself and her kind… it would all be lost.
The last time Esme had felt afraid, it had been the night Balthazar had come into her room at the bordello. He had paid her mother handsomely for the privilege, much more than what she usually charged. She had spent so many nights in that room afraid, helpless, praying for another life, for the power to make it all stop. And then Balthazar gave her that power and took away her fear forever.
But it wasn’t forever. Nearly two centuries couldn’t erase the memory of what it felt to be victimized, again and again, to be helpless to do anything about it. The thought of a world where Esme was on equal footing with everyone else… where some might be able to overpower her…
She couldn’t let that happen.
“I see,” she said again. “But do you?” Fury rose up within her, flooding out the fear and giving her strength. She shoved her hand back inside the glove and pulled it tight. “I gave you a gift. You had power. Nobody could hurt you, ever again, because of what I gave you! And you…” Esme laughed. She couldn’t help it. It was just all so absurd. “You just threw it all away for… for what? The chance to grow old and die? To be subject to disease and decay? To be weak and afraid like you were when I found you?”
“To be human, Esme,” said Alek. “Something you haven’t been in so long that you’ve forgotten what it means.”
Still laughing, she shook her head. “Oh, I remember. I remember everything. That’s my curse—I can’t forget things. Like the way it felt the first time my mother pushed me into her customer’s bed and warned me to save my crying until he was done with me. I remember wishing I could be strong, strong enough to fight him off, to kill him, to kill them all! It was Balthazar who made my wish come true. And now you expect me to line up and throw it all away?”
“Esme—“
“Shoot him,” she ordered. “Shoot them both.”
Behind her, she heard the hiss of a tranquilizer gun; but somehow, Alek and his pet remained standing.
Esme turned to see what had gone wrong and found the barrel of an air rifle pointed at her. Two of her guards lay unconscious on the ground with darts sticking out of their chests. The third had moved back into the shadows, a safe distance from Esme. She peeled off the mask that concealed her face and shook out her flaming red hair.
“Is it true, Doctor?” Celine asked Alek without taking her eyes, or the rifle, off of Esme. “Is it really a cure?”
“Just look at me. You saw me walk through the sun just now.”
She nodded. “Then I’d like to line up for it, if that’s all right.”
Esme couldn’t believe it. “You traitorous…” Without another word, she charged forward and grabbed the barrel of the rifle. She slammed the butt into Celine’s face, sending the other vampire reeling. Esme hit her again, knocking her unconscious before turning the gun around and spinning toward Alek.
But another hand grabbed the gun barrel and wrenched it from her with more strength than she would have believed.
“Alek,” said the girl as she flung the rifle into the sunlight, far out of Esme’s reach, “take the baby.”
Alek grabbed Noah and ducked into the sunlight, out of Esme’s reach, just as she met Hannah with a backhand that sent her flying. She slammed into the wall of the stable, hard enough to splinter the wood, and fell in a heap a few feet from where the red-headed vampire had landed. Hannah shouldn’t have been able to recover from such a blow, but to her surprise, she was able to climb to her feet.
Esme was still laughing that infuriating, bitchy laugh of hers as she stalked toward Hannah. “I guess that’s some special juice he’s got you hopped up on,” she said. “But if you think that’s enough to beat me, little girl—”
Before Esme could finish her threat, Hannah got a running start and leapt into the air, delivering a flying kick to Esme’s chest. It sent her stumbling backward but she managed to catch her balance before falling into the sunlight.
At least it shut her up.
Hannah landed on her back but quickly jumped back to her feet. Esme might still be faster and stronger, but Hannah had training. Granted, she hadn’t been practicing since the Apocalypse happened, but years of Krav Maga lessons were coming back, aided by her newfound super-strength.
Esme approached more carefully this time. “What are you?”
Hannah wanted to know the answer to that question herself. But instead of admitting her confusion, she said, “I’m the future of the human race. Get used to it.”
She closed the gap between them in two steps and aimed a roundhouse kick at Esme’s kneecap. The vampire lost her balance and dropped to one knee. Hannah slammed her own knee into the vamp’s face.
Esme reeled back, but managed to stay upright. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and it came away bloody. She stared at the blood in disbelief, and then at Hannah. Rage took over her features, her fangs extending as she shot to her feet. She barreled into Hannah, ramming a shoulder into her stomach and driving her back against a support beam.
It knocked the wind out of her, but she didn’t let it stop her. She slammed her elbow down between Esme’s shoulder blades, causing her to release her grip. As soon as Hannah was free, she swung and landed a right cross on Esme’s mouth, cutting her knuckles on the vampire’s extended fangs. Esme’s head snapped back, but when she righted it again, she was smiling. She licked Hannah’s blood from her teeth.
And then her claws came out. Literally.
She swiped at Hannah’s face, but Hannah got an arm up in time to block the attack. It sliced deep into Hannah’s forearm, causing her to cry out in pain.
“Hannah!” Alek cried out in alarm, and the baby started to cry. But they sounded far enough away that she knew they were safe.
Esme took another swipe at Hannah. This time her block was better, stopping Esme in mid-swing and avoiding her claws. She stiffened her free hand and aimed a chop at Esme’s throat before planting a hard front kick in the center of her chest, knocking her back as she gasped for air. She stumbled to the edge of the stable’s shelter, but kept herself from crossing into the light.
Hannah’s instinct was to tackle her and knock her into the sun, but as she started forward she stumbled, suddenly woozy. She looked down at her arm. It was bleeding heavily.
“Give it up,” said Esme. “Clearly, you’ve got your limits, but I don’t. I can do this all day.”
Hannah forced herself to take another step forward. “I don’t need all day,” she said, but she didn’t feel nearly as confident as she tried to sound. “I told you I’d kill you if you touched my brother again. People have died because of you. My friend Phyllis, and Abby’s father, the man I saw you murder, and who knows how many more. And I’m not going to let you shut us down. It’s over, Esme. You don’t get to be in charge anymore.”
Esme’s response surprised her. “Why you?” she asked. “Why did he choose you, after all I’ve done for him?”
She looked out at Alek, who stood watching them in helpless frustration as he held the baby out of harm’s way. “Why couldn’t he love me the way I loved him?”
Hannah felt a sudden, inexplicable stab of pity for the creature in front of her. She could see fear in the vampire’s eyes. Not fear of Hannah, but of the future. Of the unknown. Hannah knew that kind of fear well.
“Because you never really loved him,” she said. “You’ve forgotten what it means to love someone.” Hannah shook her head, and the motion made her dizzier. “Maybe you never really knew.”
Esme laughed, but it sounded bitter. “And you do?”
“I know I’ll die before I let you hurt them any more.”
Esme looked again from her to Alek. She seemed to be weighing her options. Behind Hannah, she could hear the other vampire, Celine, starting to come to. Esme shot her a look of contempt. Shaking her head, she pulled her mask back over her face and ran into the light. At first Hannah thought she was making a run for Alek and Noah, but instead she leapt onto the wall of the fort and scaled it, disappearing over the top.
“She’s getting away,” said Celine, scrambling to her feet. “We have to stop her!”
Hannah tried to comply, but as she took a step forward to pursue Esme, her vision swam and she lost her balance.
Alek caught her before she hit the ground. Cradling Noah in one arm and Hannah in the other, he sunk to the ground with her. “Let me see your arm,” he said, setting the baby on the ground. He sucked air in through his teeth. “It’s deep. You’ve lost a lot of blood. But look.” He angled her forearm for her to see. “It’s already starting to heal.”
She marveled at the way the bleeding had already stopped and her skin was beginning to knit itself back together. She also realized that she already felt stronger, enough to sit up on her own. She pulled the baby into her lap. “How is this happening?” She looked at Alek. “The vaccine? You said it was a cure.”
“Not the vaccine. Us. It’s in our blood. A vaccine for the virus, and a cure for vampirism.”
Hannah stared at him in disbelief. She reached up to touch his face, and rested her hand on his neck, where she felt his pulse. “How?”
“I…” He smiled, almost apologetically. “You were dying.”
It took a moment for the implication to dawn on her. “You… you turned me.”
He nodded. “I always suspected they were linked. The viruses, I mean. When I took your blood into me, somehow the vampiric strain in my blood must have combined with the components of the vaccine. When I fed you my blood, it counteracted the progress of the contagion.” He became more animated as he spoke. “You’re… we’re some sort of hybrid, I think. Not vampires, exactly, but…”
“But not exactly human, either.”
“I’m not sure exactly how it worked. I’ll need to do more research. But the main thing is, it’s in us now. We can replicate it from our blood and make enough for everyone.” He looked into her eyes and took her hand. “I know what I promised. I’m sorry. But I just couldn’t let you go. Not like that.”
She looked at Noah, who had stopped crying now that he was in her arms where he belonged. She shuddered to think what would have happened to him if Alek hadn’t tried everything he could to save her. “It’s okay,” she said, leaning into him. “I get it. I would’ve done the same thing, if it had been the other way around.”
He wrapped his arms around her and Noah. “I love you.” He breathed against her hair. When she tilted her face up to look at him, he met her with a kiss, full of tender passion and feelings she could easily guess at, because she felt them too.
They were interrupted as Celine returned from her pursuit of Esme. “I can’t find her,” she called from the shadows, removing her protective mask. “She couldn’t have gotten far, but there are so many places to hide.”
“It’s fine,” said Alek. “If she sticks around here, we’ll deal with her.” He nodded toward the other guards, still unconscious on the ground. “What about them?”
“They probably don’t know what hit them,” said Celine. “I’ll think of something to tell them. But they’re not satisfied with the status quo. They might be open to helping us. Helping you, I mean.”
“Thank you,” said Hannah. “If you hadn’t intervened—”
“Don’t make me regret it,” said the vampire.
“We won’t,” Alek promised her. “What will you do now?”
“Get them back to the chopper,” she said, indicating her colleagues, “and get us home. I’ll tell the Council that we couldn’t find you. That should buy you time to do whatever you need to do to process more of the cure. At least, until Esme makes her way back to the Council and tells them the truth.”
“We’ll get it ready before she has a chance to do that,” said Alek. “Thank you, Celine.”
“Just make sure I’m first in line when it’s ready.” She went to crouch next to one of the fallen vampires. “You probably shouldn’t still be here when they wake up.”
Alek climbed to his feet and helped Hannah up. Hand in hand, with Noah snuggled up against Hannah’s chest, they walked out of the fort and into the day. Alek paused, lifting his face up to the sun. Then he pulled Hannah into his arms for another long, deep kiss.
She didn’t know how long they stood there, holding each other with Noah between them, basking in the morning sun. She didn’t know a lot of things, like what they had both become, or what it meant.
But she knew a couple of things, the only things that really mattered to her at that moment. She knew that she and her brother were safe, and that he would have a chance at a decent life. And she knew that, whatever this day or the next brought with it, she wouldn’t have to face it alone. She had a partner now, an equal, and he loved her. And she loved him.
“So what happens now?” she asked.
“Now?” Alek looked down at her and Noah, and smiled. “Now we go change the world.”
Hannah and Alek’s story isn’t over by a longshot!
"So what happens now?"
"Now? Now we go change the world."
Alek Konstantin sounds so certain. But Hannah Jordan doesn't share his certainty. No longer fully human, not quite fully vampire, Hannah hovers somewhere in between, the next level of evolution that could save humanity and vampire-kind alike -- or lead to their destruction, more assuredly than the zombie plague that started it all.
Within her veins lies both an antiserum against the plague and a cure for vampirism -- and there are those who would fight and kill both to attain the cure and to destroy it. Still getting used to her new abilities -- and his new limitations -- Hannah and Alek hatch a plan to infiltrate the vampire-run camp where their human friends have been imprisoned, and to synthesize and distribute as much of the vaccine as they can to level the playing field between the humans and their vampire captors.
As they gather allies and assess their enemies, it's impossible for either of them to be sure which side anyone is on. Hannah only knows one thing for certain -- that her love for Alek, also altered by her blood, and for her infant brother Noah, means she'll do whatever it takes to protect them, and to make the world habitable again, a safe place where she and Alek can raise Noah in peace -- if they manage to survive.
Thank you so much for reading Desolation!
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Thanks again for taking this journey with me. For me, it was a throwback, but for many of you it was a brand new adventure. I hope you had a good time.
Stay tuned to Through a Glass, Darkly for more serialized dark speculative fiction, both short and long, new and old!
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