Desolation: Chapters 5 & 6
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 Five
Along afternoon bent over a sewing machine left Hannah with a sore back and neck, making her grateful when the bell finally rang. She put her work away and followed the crowd to the cafeteria for supper. Phyllis found her there. Hannah let her do most of the talking while she tried to work out the kinks in her spine.
“We need to eat fast if we’re going to get a good seat in group,” Phyllis told her.
“A good seat? Is it therapy or entertainment?”
“Yep.”
They ate quickly and put away their trays. Others were already filing out of the cafeteria before them as Phyllis hurried Hannah toward the door. She led her to a room with about thirty folding chairs arranged in a circle. More chairs lined the walls, many of which were already occupied. “We should sit in back,” Phyllis suggested, “otherwise they’re more likely to make you share.” She started to take a seat near the door, then seemed to reconsider. “I mean, unless you want to share your story—”
“No, this is fine. I’m really not in the mood to talk about it just yet.” Hannah grabbed the seat closest to the door and Phyllis sat beside her.
The room filled up quickly. Hannah studied each person that came through the door, trying to learn who her neighbors and fellow survivors were. She recognized the laundry room foreman, a few people from the sewing room, and the rabbi who had urged them both to attend this session. Everyone else was a stranger.
Once they were all seated the rabbi called them to attention. While he spoke, another figure slipped into the room and stood by the door, conspicuous in his white lab coat amidst all of the prison orange.
“What’s he doing here?” Hannah whispered.
Phyllis followed her gaze. “Who, Dr. Creepy?” She shrugged. “I told you earlier, they like to monitor our gatherings, make sure we’re not organizing a revolt. I guess tonight was his turn.” She frowned. “Weird, though. He doesn’t usually stick around camp this long.”
As if he could sense that they were talking about him, he looked in their direction and locked eyes with Hannah. There was nothing sinister in the look he gave her. It seemed more curious than anything. Still, it made her uncomfortable. She tore her gaze away and fixed it on the speaker.
A skinny boy stood up, obviously several years younger than Hannah despite being nearly six feet tall. He had dark hair and freckles, and he fidgeted with the sleeves of his jumpsuit as he spoke. “H-hello. I’m… my name is Ben.”
“Hi, Ben,” the rest of the room answered in unison. Hannah glanced around as everyone spoke, a little taken aback by the collective response.
“It’s okay, Ben,” said the rabbi reassuringly. “Tell us your story.”
Ben nodded, looked around at the faces that filled the room, and swallowed. “We were on the school bus. My little sister and me, I mean. The little kids up front were screaming, and the bus driver was yelling at us all to sit down and stay calm. Mary, my sister, kept calling my name. She sounded so scared—”
Ben started to cry. Rabbi Zuckerman put an arm around him. “It’s okay, son. You don’t have to keep going.”
But Ben wiped his nose and shook his head. “So the zeds, they kept pushing on the bus, and finally they got the door open. The first one in grabbed the bus driver, Mr. Callahan, and then more of them went after the little kids. I could hear Mary screaming, but I couldn’t get to her. The other kids were all pushing me back, trying to get to the emergency exit. I tried to climb over the backs of the seats, but I wasn’t fast enough.”
Tears streamed down his face as he told his tale. Hannah squirmed in her seat, thinking of Noah. The thought of watching him get taken made her stomach churn.
“I couldn’t do anything for Mary,” Ben continued, “so I ran. A bunch of us made it out the back and ran into the woods. I kept running and didn’t look back. I was a Boy Scout, so I knew what to do in the woods, you know? I mean, it wasn’t easy, but I knew how to take care of myself if I got lost, until I got rescued.
“Except there wasn’t anyone to come and rescue me. I don’t know how long I was out there. I tried to make my way home, to find my parents, but I never made it. Then the vampires found me and brought me here.” By the end of his story, his voice had grown calmer, his face more resolute. “So that’s my story. That’s how I survived.”
The rabbi clapped him on the back. “Thank you, Ben. You can take a seat.” He looked around at the crowd. “Who else would like to share?”
At the back of the room, several chairs down from Hannah, a waif of a young woman raised her hand. “Yes, Cheryl,” said the rabbi, nodding in her direction. “Go ahead.”
The woman stood up. She was rail thin—just like most of the people there—and petite, with straggly, dirty blonde hair. She looked around the room and offered a small wave and a nervous half-smile to all those who had turned in their chairs to see her better. “Hi, I’m Cheryl,” she said, unnecessarily.
“Hi, Cheryl,” said the room.
“Some of you know that my husband, Carl, he didn’t treat me so good. I mean, sometimes he’d get drunk, and whoever or whatever he was pissed off at, he took it out on me. So I was used to him coming after me. But that morning, it was like nothing else I’d ever seen. He’d gone out to work on his truck before he had to go to work—that thing was always breaking down. I’m surprised it ever got us anywhere.
“Things were usually okay in the mornings. Carl was usually sober then, and he was a morning person, so he was usually in a good mood. Mornings were always my favorite time of day, ‘cause that’s… that’s when it always seemed like he liked being married to me.
“But that morning, he came in and, and something was wrong. I mean, wrong, you know? There was blood on his shirt, and when I asked him what happened, if he was hurt, he just stared at me. He didn’t cuss me out or tell me to shut up or anything. He just stared, and it was like there was nobody home. And then came towards me. He didn’t say a word, but he made this sound… I didn’t know what to think. I was more scared of him in that minute than in our entire twelve years together.
“I tried to run, but he grabbed me by the hair. He didn’t yank me back or throw me down or anything like usual. He just held on, and he kept on making that noise and shuffling his feet toward me. That’s when I grabbed the skillet—”
Suddenly Hannah was no longer listening. Instead she was feeling the iron skillet in her hand, hearing the crying baby nestled against her chest, seeing her mother’s vacant eyes and gnashing teeth.
She took a deep breath and leaned over to Phyllis. “I have to go.”
Phyllis blinked at her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. But I can’t do this. I’m going back to my cell.”
“You want me to come with you?”
“No, thanks. I’ll be fine.”
Hannah made her way quietly to the door, trying not to draw attention to herself. But everyone else in the room seemed to be riveted by Cheryl’s story.
Everyone except the doctor, anyway. She couldn’t decide whether the look on his face was curiosity or concern. She did her best to avoid eye contact as she slipped past him and out of the room.
“Miss Jordan?”
She turned. He had followed her into the hall.
“Is everything okay?”
She didn’t really know how to answer that question, so she simply laughed. He seemed to realize it was a stupid question. Looking mildly sheepish, he shoved his hands in the pockets of his lab coat as he came toward her. “It’s not safe for you to walk around here alone. I’ll walk you back.”
She laughed again, disbelievingly. “You mean I’m safe with you?”
He stopped and leveled his gaze at her. “Yes. You are.”
Something about the way he said it made her want to believe him, to trust him. She wondered again about vampire powers of hypnosis and shook her head. “Thanks, Doctor, but I’ll be fine.”
She walked away, but he followed her anyway. “The ones who brought you here said they found an emergency shelter in your back yard. Is that where you were hiding all this time?”
“Yes.” She didn’t see any further point in denying it.
“How long were you down there?”
“Since the outbreak. About five months.”
“And your brother. He was born in the shelter?”
Hannah stopped walking. “Why are you asking about my brother?”
Dr. Konstantin turned to face her. “I need to know his medical history.”
“Why? Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. I just need to know if he’s had his vaccinations, or if he’s been exposed to any illnesses that we should be aware of.”
“Why are you so interested in him? What are you planning to do with him?”
“Do?” He looked startled by the question, maybe even a little insulted. His mouth twisted into a grim smile. “I see the rumors have wasted no time in reaching you.”
“What rumors?”
“That I’m an evil mad scientist, and I spirit away children to my secret laboratory to experiment on them.”
“Well? Are they true?”
“No.”
“Why should I believe you?”
He seemed to think about it a moment, but then sighed. “Honestly, from your perspective I can’t really think of a good reason.”
“Neither can I.” She started walking.
He fell into step beside her. “Nevertheless, I am your doctor, Miss Jordan. Your brother’s, too. I’m going to need to know your medical history. If your brother’s never been vaccinated, we need to take care of that, and soon.” When she kept walking, he grabbed her elbow, not ungently. “Miss Jordan—”
“Don’t touch me!” Hannah jerked her arm out of his grasp and spun to face him, bringing her hands up defensively as she fell into a ready stance.
Konstantin backed up a step, holding his hands up in a gesture of acquiescence. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” Slowly, he lowered his hands and ventured a step toward her. Hannah kept her hands raised. “Look,” he said, “you asked me to get you your brother. That’s what I’m trying to do. But you’re going to have to trust me.”
Hannah shook her head. “I can’t do that.”
The doctor gave her a long, sad look. Then he nodded. “I know.” His eyes filled with determination as he leaned in and said in a low voice, “But you will.”
He looked like he wanted to say something else but seemed to think better of it. With a slight shake of his head, he turned and walked back the way they had come.
Hannah didn’t let her guard down, but remained tense and alert as she hurried back to her cell. When she reached it, she found that the lower bunk had been made up for her, and some basic toiletries sat on the little shelf over the sink. Her own clothes lay neatly folded on the top bunk next to the spare jumpsuit and a pair of towels. She would have to remember to thank Louise for all of this the next time she saw her.
She sat on the bottom bunk and looked around at the dismal little cell. Beyond the bars, she could hear the low buzz of murmuring voices, fellow survivors who had already become accustomed to this life, going about their business. It already felt like her time here had been endless. Only yesterday, she had been going about life in the shelter, caring for Noah and holding him in her arms. She thought about what Dr. Konstantin had said, and wondered if there was any way she could possibly trust him. She could use an ally, and she had a feeling he would make a powerful one, if he was true to his word. But he had yet to demonstrate that he could be trusted, and blind faith could get her and Noah both killed. Or worse, if those rumors about him really were true.
She got up and shut herself inside the cell, wondering how much she could count on the bars to keep the guards out if any of them decided they wanted in. She turned out the light and climbed onto the top bunk, where out the tiny window she could see the maximum security section rising against the sky. Tomorrow, she resolved, she would find a way up there and get the lay of the land.
She pushed the clean laundry out of the way and lay down beside it, determined to stay awake and keep an eye on the cell door throughout the night. But the trouble with staying awake was that it gave her time to think, a luxury she hadn’t had since leaving the shelter. The events of the last couple of days had been overwhelming, and she’d never really had a chance to process any of it. It was like she’d somehow crossed over into another universe where nightmares all came true. Her old life, like her parents, was gone, and she was never getting it back. Her home, her college, her friends, even her country... none of it existed anymore. All she had left in the whole world was her baby brother. She couldn’t even be certain about that.
She suddenly missed him, missed everything, with an ache that hadn’t filled her so completely since that first night in the shelter.
Hannah reached down to grab a pillow from the bottom bunk. She curled up around it and buried her face to muffle the sobs that she couldn’t keep shut up any longer.
Chapter Six
Another bell rang. Hannah opened her eyes. She woke up in the same position she’d fallen asleep in, curled up in a ball and clutching her damp pillow.
She heard movement outside and looked over to see people filing past her cell. She sat up and rubbed her face, still puffy from crying. Her eyes stung and her throat felt raw. Her head hurt, too, and all of her joints felt stiff. This was why she rarely let herself cry. It never made anything better and it always left her feeling like hell.
At breakfast, she found Phyllis in her usual spot. “Morning.” Hannah sat down in what was already becoming her usual spot.
“Hey. So how’d you sleep?”
“Not that great. I woke up with a headache.”
Phyllis nodded, as if that was to be expected. “The first night here’s always the hardest. You can go to the infirmary to get something for your headache. But not until after your contribution to the blood bank. They don’t give out any meds before. They don’t want it tainting the supply.”
Hannah picked up her fork and dug into her breakfast of scrambled eggs and a sliced tomato. “Where do they get this food?”
“It’s one of Doctor Creepy’s pet projects. They say he runs a farm with human slave labor. I guess the kids that survive his experiments are put to work on it.”
Taking another bite, Hannah paused with the fork halfway to her mouth and frowned in dismay at her food. “That’s horrible.” She set her fork down, suddenly not having much of an appetite, and shook her head. “It’s so hard to believe, too, when you talk to him. He comes off like he actually cares.”
“I’m sure he does care, in the same way a farmer cares about his livestock.” Phyllis took another bite of her breakfast, undeterred by where it had come from. “But don’t be fooled,” she mumbled around a mouthful of eggs. “He’s a vampire.” She swallowed before continuing. “As far as I’m concerned, the only difference between him and those things outside is that he still has the smarts to use his medical training. He’s still the walking dead. And he still sees us as food.”
Hannah knew she was right, but it was still hard to believe that was all he thought about when he looked at her so intently. Had his plea for her to trust him last night been nothing more than trying to calm a frightened animal that was destined for the slaughterhouse?
She gave a start when a loud buzzer sounded overhead. “Speaking of which,” muttered Phyllis as the sharp whistle of feedback came over the loudspeaker.
A moment later a voice announced, “Residents with last names beginning with the letter F through the letter J, report to the infirmary at once. Again, that’s letters F through J. Report to the infirmary.”
Phyllis gave her a sympathetic look. “It’s nothing to be afraid of,” she reminded her. “It’s just like any other blood drive.” She glanced down at Hannah’s unfinished breakfast, and pointed with her fork. “You can finish that first if you want, but then you’ll end up at the back of the line. If you go now, you’ll be able to get it over with faster.”
Hannah grimaced. It wasn’t giving blood that bothered her. It was who she was giving it to and what they’d be doing with it. But as long as they had Noah she had no choice but to go along. Grudgingly, she slid her plate over to Phyllis and got up. “It’s all yours.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you at lunch, okay?”
Hannah nodded, and then followed the others who were already heading out of the cafeteria. They led her back through a series of barred gates that eventually led to a regular wooden door. It opened into the hallway down which the guards had escorted her the previous morning.
This time it was flanked by a pair of guards, male and female. The woman was a pretty redhead who fixed her gaze straight ahead as the line of humans passed by. The man might have been handsome, but the way he leered at Hannah made him repulsive.
“Fresh meat,” he said as she passed within earshot. Hannah kept her eyes on the back of the person in front of her as she reached the door. The guard leaned in and made a slurping noise in her ear. “Gonna get me a taste of that,” he said after she walked by. Hannah suppressed a shudder, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.
The line to the infirmary was short, but it was rapidly lengthening behind her. Hannah tried to tell herself it was just like lining up for the blood mobile, but nothing could get her over her disgust at being nothing more than food to these creatures. She fixed her attention on the door at the end of the hall. It had an electronic lock with a slot for a sliding key card. She wondered where it led. Would she find Noah somewhere on the other side?
Before she could give it much thought she was ushered into the infirmary. Despite what Phyllis had told her, she’d half-expected to find some kind of chamber of horrors, with people hung up like slabs of beef while the life drained out of them. But it really was just as mundane as Phyllis had said, with people reclining on infirmary cots as their blood traveled through tubing into plastic plasma bags.
She was shown to a cot and told to lie down. A brunette in black who appeared as young as Hannah immediately grabbed her right arm and swabbed the crook of her elbow. When the vampire turned to the tray behind her, Hannah noticed a key card hanging from her belt, within easy reach. The vampire had her back completely turned to Hannah, and she seemed intent on unwrapping a package of tubing. After glancing around to make sure nobody was watching, Hannah reached for the belt clip and gently slid it off. She lay back down and held the key card against her stomach, concealing it under her hand, as the vampire turned back around.
Roughly, she took hold of Hannah’s arm and jammed the needle into her vein. “Ow!” Hannah complained, but the vampire didn’t apologize. She didn’t even acknowledge that Hannah had spoken.
She adjusted the bag that hung on the side of the cot and ordered, “Lie still,” before moving on to the next cot. Once her back was turned, Hannah slid the card inside her jumpsuit and let go of the breath she’d been holding. She closed her eyes, but opened them again moments later, startled, when a pair of gentle hands took hold of her arm.
“Did she hurt you?” Konstantin examined the shunt. Hannah tensed up at his touch, but she didn’t pull away from him this time. He was only doing his job. And she had to hand it to him, his bedside manner was better than that of a lot of the human doctors she’d worked with as a nursing student.
“She was a little rough, but I’ll live.”
The corner of his mouth turned up in a wry half-smile. “Yes, I suppose you will. But I apologize, regardless. I’ll speak with her about being more gentle.” His face turned more serious as he leaned down to switch the already full plasma bag for an empty one. “I need to talk to you,” he whispered. “Not here. Meet me—”
“Dr. Konstantin!” a male vampire called to him from across the room. “I can’t find the vein.”
He nodded, and looked back at Hannah. “I’ll be right back,” he said before going to help the other vampire, but Hannah wasn’t about to wait. She watched the bag fill, willing it to fill faster, while Konstantin and the others were distracted.
Once it was filled, she sat up, fighting lightheadedness as she pulled the tray over. She clamped the tube and slid the needle out of her arm. She covered the tiny wound with a cotton ball and squeezed her elbow shut over it for a minute. Finally, she closed off the second bag and laid it on the tray next to the first. She was tempted to take the bags with her and dispose of them later, out of spite, but she left them there and headed out of the infirmary.
Her head swam and the floor tilted a little, but she managed to stay upright as she exited into the hall. She paused to look at the door with the key card lock, but people in the line were watching her. She nodded to them and headed back the way she had come. She had to pass back by the two vampire guards. The male guard made a big show of sniffing her as she passed. He called out, “You smell sweet!”
Hannah ignored him and followed the trail of people to the end, where she got back in line. The man in front of her turned to give her a questioning look, but she kept her head down and avoided eye contact. He shrugged and turned back around.
The line moved slowly. After what felt like a small eternity, she found herself back in view of the guards. She kept her head down, letting her hair fall in front of her face. She watched the male vampire through the veil of her long bangs. As she drew closer he did a double-take and eyed her suspiciously for a moment, but he let her pass without comment.
Finally, she reached the infirmary again. As the man in front of her was ushered inside, Hannah turned to make sure nobody had entered the hallway behind her. With everyone inside the infirmary distracted, she slipped past the entrance and hurried to the door at the end of the hall. She pulled the key card out of her jumpsuit and slid it through the lock. Immediately, she heard it click and turn. Checking behind her once more, she quietly opened the door and stepped through.
Beyond the door was another hallway, with more doors like the one she’d just come through. Hannah guessed that these were the administrative offices. An exit sign flickered at the other end of the hall, but she suspected that the exit would be guarded. Even if it wasn’t, she wouldn’t make it very far outside without any weapons. It didn’t matter, anyway. She wasn’t about to leave without her brother.
One of these rooms might have a map of the prison layout. If she could find that, she’d know right where to go; but none of the doors had windows, and it was impossible to tell if the rooms were occupied. She had no chance if she walked in on a vampire and gave herself away.
Behind her, the lock on the door clicked open. Frantically, she scanned the hallway for a place to hide, and spotted a door to a stairwell. She let herself through just as the other door started to open. At the top of the first flight, she paused and waited. When no one entered behind her, she leaned over the railing and looked up. There were at least five more flights of stairs. If she could get to a window up there, she might be able to get a better idea of the prison’s layout. She started to climb.
Halfway through the fourth flight, she wished she’d done more to stay in shape all those months in the shelter. She forced herself to keep going. By the time she reached the top, she had to lean over and brace her hands against her knees while she caught her breath. When she felt steady again, she tried the stolen key card on the door. It opened.
Hannah stepped out into a short corridor that led to a barred doorway. It was open. Beyond it she found a wide catwalk that wrapped all the way around a massive room and overlooked rows and rows of cells stacked several stories high. All of them were empty. Large, barred windows lined each wall, filling the place with sunlight and casting barred shadows on the floor. Her footsteps echoed through the chamber as she approached the nearest window.
It looked out over the prison yard and the surrounding wall. The guard towers appeared to be unmanned. From this height, Hannah could see over the wall, and what she saw made her gasp. A writhing crowd pressed against the outside of the wall. It was at least a hundred bodies deep and stretched the entire length of the prison wall that Hannah was able to see. From that height, they could easily be mistaken for human, except for the way they pressed up against each other with the single-minded purpose of getting through the wall. Hannah swallowed. Even if she somehow managed to find Noah and arm herself and escape, she couldn’t possibly get through that.
She started to turn from the window when something caught the corner of her eye. She turned back to see someone crossing the catwalk that led out to the first guard tower. They were dressed head to toe in black, not baring an inch of skin. Even their face was covered. What disturbed Hannah was what they carried. Draped over the person’s shoulder in a fireman’s carry was a man in an orange jumpsuit, either unconscious or dead.
The figure in black carried him to the guard tower and opened a window on the side overlooking the horde. Hannah covered her mouth with both hands and willed herself to turn away as she realized what was about to happen. But she couldn’t. She could only watch, paralyzed and helpless, as the body—at least, she hoped it was a body, and not a living person—dropped through the air to the crowd below. Thankfully, what happened next was hidden from view, but she could well imagine the feeding frenzy that followed, like a school of sharks going after a baby seal.
Her heart hammered and she felt sick. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply to steady herself. She had to find Noah, and fast. And somehow, she had to find a way to get them both out of this place.
She opened her eyes and retraced her steps, crossing to the set of windows on the other side of the cell block. She passed the barred door that led back to the stairwell and kept going until she heard a second set of footsteps echoing behind her. Hannah stopped and turned around. Behind her stood the guard from downstairs, the crude one who had leered at her. Just like he was leering now.
He grinned. “Well, here’s a little lost lamb that got separated from the herd. What am I gonna do with you, little lamb?” He took a step toward her, and Hannah stepped back. His grinning face turned menacing. “I told you I was gonna get a taste of you.” As he spoke, his canine teeth extended into sharp fangs. Hannah turned to run, but he was on her before she could take a step. He held her from behind, clamping a hand over her mouth. He brushed her hair away from her neck and licked the pulse point under her jaw. She shuddered, but not with pleasure.
“Do you have any idea how deprived we are?” He spoke into her ear. His breath, like his touch, was cold, and smelled like copper. “You humans, you have it great. We have to take good care of you. You’re well fed, and you get to screw each other whenever you want, while the rest of us are on cold rations and expected to keep it in our pants.” His left hand released her for a moment. Hannah went cold as she heard the sound of a zipper coming undone. No. This was not going to happen.
She closed her eyes as he went on. “So we have to take a little back every now and then, you understand. It’s what keeps us sane, and keeps you sheep not dead.” His hand came back and started pulling apart the snaps on the front of her jumpsuit. Hannah went very still as he reached in to fondle her breast. “I bet you taste as sweet as you smell,” he said.
Swallowing the bile rising in her throat, Hannah forced herself to relax. She moaned against his hand, and tried to make it sound like a moan of pleasure as she writhed against him. He let go of her mouth and looked at her in surprise.
Hannah licked her lips and gazed at him through her lashes. “You don’t have to take it,” she said.
He looked uncertain. “No?”
She shook her head. “Maybe we can come to some sort of… arrangement.”
His grin returned as he released her so she could turn to face him. “You mean, you scratch my itch, and I scratch yours?”
Hannah smiled. It wasn’t easy, but she hoped it looked suggestive. “Something like that.”
He nodded. “I think that can be arranged.” He reached for her, and she let him pull her close. He closed his eyes and leaned in as if to kiss her, and she reared back and slammed her forehead into his nose as hard as she could. He reeled back, grabbing his nose and crying out in pain. She took the opportunity to kick him between the legs, also as hard as she could. As he doubled over, she ran back to the windows overlooking the yard. The catwalk beneath them was bathed in sunlight. Hannah put as much of it as she could between her and her attacker.
His moaning became laughter as he straightened up and stalked toward her, careful to stay in the shadows. “You little bitch. You are so dead.”
“How are you gonna manage that?”
She wished she didn’t ask. About a foot of shadow lay between the edge of the sunlight’s reach and the railing. He edged into it, careful to avoid the direct light. Hannah backed all the way up to the center window and clung to the bars. “You’re fast, and you seem to have a strong sense of smell.”
“Yeah. So?”
“So what else about you is superhuman?”
He laughed. “If you would’ve just held still, I would’ve shown you.”
“What about hearing? Is that super, too?”
He stopped in front of her, on the very edge of the shadows. “Why? What’s it to you?”
Hannah took a deep breath, threw her head back and screamed with everything that was in her.
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