Vampire War: Redemption: Vampire War, #7

By Jeff Brown

Redemption is the final volume of the Vampire War series. Taking place several months after the conclusion of Vampire War: Ascension, the story begins with what appears to be the final collapse of the remaining human population. A few survivors settle in a new town and a former team member returns after several years with information that changes the course of their activities. Bringing in assistance from another dimension, the few humans that remain discover the method of resolving the conflict. A great deal changes on both sides of the equation and the conflict is finally resolved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeff Brown
• Release date: Nov 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201265021

Jeff Brown

Jeff Brown created the beloved character of Flat Stanley as a bedtime story for his sons. He has written other outrageous books about the Lambchop family, including Flat Stanley, Stanley and the Magic Lamp, Invisible Stanley, Stanley’s Christmas Adventure, Stanley in Space, and Stanley, Flat Again! You can learn more about Jeff Brown and Flat Stanley at www.flatstanleybooks.com.

Book preview

Jeff Brown

SPECIAL THANKS

Writing a novel, a series of novels, especially one of this length and with such a huge cast of characters isn’t particularly easy. In fact, it’s pretty demanding, mentally and physically. I could not get this done without additional support, inspiration, motivation, and recurring interest. The following people have made the completion of this novel and series possible.

Jodi Albritton DeAnna Allen Kevin Barr Jo Renee Bass Karen Bates Suraya Birkhoff Lisa Bishop Lloyd Blailock Eldon Blalock Kayla Bruce Trevor Campbell Kim Chancelor Joan Cox Samantha Cummings Paul Dancsisin Stacey Day Valerie Easley Rachel Fagan Wanda Faircloth Dee Freeman Sheli Godbold John Goodwin Lynn Greene Ray Hamilton Jennifer Harwell Monique Hibbs David Higginbotham Dorothy Howell Jody Johnson Angela Jones Nicole Knight Sharon Laird Cleve Langston Mary Larsen Hal Maranto Jason Marsalis Magan McClellan Regina McGovern Tommy McMorris Steve Mercier Victor Merritt Jennifer Miller Jennie Moesta Susan Nealy Brittany Ollie Carol Price Michael Ray Myra Reeves Braxton Rushing LaTisha Rushing Eric Schilling Melinda Slemaker Penny Slemaker Shelia Smith Theresa Smith Chris Starnes Rocky Stevenson Cheri Stringer Melissa Summersell Jimmy Turner Polly Varnado Melissa Wallace Chris Waller Stacey Wilkinson Mike Wimmer Veronica Wimmer James Wolfe Sydney Woodson Tammy Wright

OTHERS IN THE SERIES

Vampire War: Nemesis

Vampire War: Corruptor

Vampire War: Dark Nation

Vampire War: Fallout

Vampire War: Resistance

Vampire War: Ascension

OTHERS BY JEFF BROWN

Dead Time Book I

Dead Time Book II

The Princess Agenda: Revelations

The Princess Agenda: Rescue

The Princess Agenda: Exposition

The Princess Agenda: Development

The Princess Agenda: Recapitulation

The Last Mage

In The Dark: The Last Mage Book II

Dawn of Night: The Last Mage Book III

Blood Sisters: The Last Mage Book IV

Campus Crusade

The Revolt

Reunion

Thirst

Vessels

The Veteran

Storm Warning

Seven Wishes

Blurred Visions

The New Kid

Retaliation 28

Finding Suraya

Refugees

Second Chances

Vampire War: Redemption

PART I: The Fall of Sanctuary

ONE

Waking up in the middle of the night to the incessant buzzing of the small alarm clock beside his bed was never fun for Dan McKinley, but it was worse after having stayed up late to celebrate the birthday of a close friend, a fellow survivor of the vampire invasion. It was only a four-hour guard duty shift, but it was the middle of the night, barely giving him four hours of interrupted sleep at one time. He’d never liked being up that late before leaving his Oklahoma home and it was no different in Sanctuary. Still, he was glad to be alive and not an undead bloodsucker like the ones that had taken his family and most of his town.

Dan was a big guy, a former football player that hadn’t completely let himself go. He was spreading around the waist and his arms were a little flabby, but he was still able to handle all the tasks assigned to him since his arrival in the walled town. His football career hadn’t lasted past the community college level. He was just too short, a couple of inches short of six feet, to make it in Division One ball. Still, the local recognition he’d received had translated to a fairly decent job in the construction industry. He’d started at the bottom, a simple laborer, but moved his way up over the years until he’d finally been promoted to supervisor over a handful of crews. At that point, he’d no longer been doing the heavy work, just making sure someone else did it. After a couple of years, he’d grown lax in maintaining his physical condition and had started to spread in all the wrong places.

Then the invasion had taken place and he’d been fortunate enough to find a small group getting out of town. They’d made it, survived working their way across the country, and finally found Sanctuary nearly two years after leaving Oklahoma. They’d heard rumors about the place, but never encountered anyone that actually knew the location. Finally, they met someone from the town and were directed to it. They settled in and were soon given jobs to perform, making it a real society with responsibilities and rewards in addition to preparations to guard against the constant threat of vampires.

Rising from his small bed with a heavy groan, Dan sat up and rubbed his eyes, not ready to wake up and get started. After a moment, he heaved a sigh and ran his left hand through his salt-and-pepper hair, cut short as always, and finally stood up. He wore only faded and thin pale blue boxer shorts and a white tank top-style t-shirt that bulged a little too much at the waist, but there was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t bother turning on the light in the small room. Enough light filtered through the room’s single window from the recently installed streetlight outside for him to see clearly. Besides, he wasn’t ready for much light knowing he was going out into the relative darkness for his shift at the wall.

After a brief stretch, he found his work clothes and grumbled as he began dressing. He didn’t mind the dark clothing. It was similar to what he’d worn for years and it felt like a step backward. Once he was dressed, including the heavy work boots that were just a little too tight, he left the tiny apartment and made his way to the wall.

It had been several months since any vampire presence in the area had been detected and the powers that be decided it was time to begin work on expanding the town, extending the wall nearly three hundred yards to the west. To do that, they’d torn down a large section of the wall and, even with the constant construction, there was a massive gap, more than enough for an attempt at infiltration. With the town vulnerable, a number of people had been assigned to stand guard duty through the night. There was no threat of vampire attack during the day, but the night was their active time and the time that was most difficult for humans to see.

Outside in the cool night air, Dan felt a little better, but he still wanted something to eat, or at least a cup of coffee, before spending four hours seated atop the wall with a large rifle in his hands. He’d never been much of a gun enthusiast prior to the invasion and wasn’t the best shot, but there wasn’t any other choice. Practically everyone in the town was required to stand guard duty at some point during the night. He hadn’t checked the time, but seeing a few others heading toward the gap in the wall told him it was getting close. He wouldn’t have time to stop and eat, but he would definitely need coffee. The dining hall manager, Rachel Farragut, always had coffee ready for the wall guards. She wasn’t required to stand that duty and did her best to help those that did.

Once he had the coffee, he walked as quickly as he could while sipping the perfectly brewed beverage toward the wall gap. A few others were heading that way as well, most with their own cups of coffee, but he didn’t know any of them until he neared the corner of a narrow side street and another of the construction unit, Wayne Grayson, appeared out of the shadows.

Hey, Dan, Wayne said and fell in step beside him. You ready for more of this?

Dan shrugged and shook his head, Not really, but I guess we have to.

Yep, Wayne agreed. I wish we could get a move on with this stuff. They’re running it like an old highway construction crew, taking forever.

Yeah, Dan agreed with a curt nod. They should let us run the whole damn thing.

You got that right, Wayne smirked. We’d have it finished in less than a month.

They continued chatting until they reached the gap and the old metal shed set up as the main guard station and armory. The sliding doors stood open as they approached the rusting structure and a wooden table sat across the opening. Behind it was their supervisor, Jerry Brixton, in his black uniform as one of the town’s guards. He was a tall man with graying hair and sharp brown eyes.

Morning, guys, he said with a straight face as Dan and Wayne approached. Looks like another typical day. Just keep your eyes open.

Of course, Dan grumbled as he took the rifle and small leather bag that held night vision gear and a pair of extra clips for the rifle.

Jerry just nodded and repeated the process with Wayne.

As they moved away, heading toward different positions, Wayne looked over at Dan and said, See you when it’s over.

Right, Dan nodded then shook his head as he moved to the post almost a hundred yards from the guard shed.

He finished the coffee at the base of the narrow ladder that led to his perch atop the wall and tossed the empty paper cup into a trash bin beside it. With the rifle over his right shoulder and the bag in his left hand, he climbed the ladder and sat on an old metal stool placed there. The previous occupant had apparently left early, but that wasn’t anything new. The eight to midnight shift did that all the time, especially with the way things had been going. There hadn’t been any signs of activity during the night in over a year and they’d become lazy. Dan was no exception. He planned to sit there with the gun across his lap and take a nap.

At the top, he sat down and dropped the leather bag at his feet. The night vision gear was practically useless with the lights spread over the construction area and he hadn’t taken them out of the bag since his first night on duty.

He took a moment to look around, making sure the nearest posts were visible, then relaxed and closed his eyes.

TWO

Sydney Lawson couldn’t sleep. She hadn’t been able to sleep through the night since the incident that had taken away the use of her legs. Alex Chance, lying beside her sound asleep, had done his best to make her comfortable, but she’d never been able to sleep in one position for the entire night. She hated that she was unable to simply roll onto her side or curl into a fetal position at times. She hated depending on Alex and the others for practically everything. She couldn’t go to the bathroom by herself and that was still an embarrassing experience every time.

She lay in bed with her left arm thrown over her eyes trying to not make a sound and wake Alex. He was on his left side, facing away from her, and was breathing softly and evenly. Without his abilities as the Nemesis, he’d been sleeping more and more. She worried about him as much as she worried about herself. She knew he would be okay if his abilities never returned, but she wasn’t so sure about herself without the use of her legs.

They’d tried everything imaginable without a true medical professional in the town. The closest they had, Jennifer Milken, had little training and learned what she knew after she’d been pushed into being more than a glorified receptionist. Sydney didn’t blame her at all. She’d tried her best and even found a few medical books she thought might help, but it was beyond her.

It was also embarrassing, but Alex never complained about having to undress and dress her every day. That made her feel even more useless, but he was always there for her and did his best to take care of everything she needed. That told her he really did love her, just as she loved him. The abilities didn’t matter and being without them allowed them to see the truth. Alex had shown his true self and she knew they would be together long after this war was over, if it ever ended.

She was glad she’d been able to get back in the lab. Working with Magan McCall, and Jodi Albertson before she was called back to the tribe, had kept her sane and they’d done a few productive things. The hypersonic weapons had been replicated, though the process took quite a while. There were now more than two dozen of them scattered around with one in the possession of each insertion team member as well as the four that had lost their abilities. Though she had still found no success in developing a cure for the vampiric virus, she had managed to isolate certain characteristics that easily identified a vampire presence. Unfortunately, the device was too large to be portable and they hadn’t yet created one large enough to cover the entirety of Sanctuary and they wouldn’t work on that until the new wall extension was complete.

With Magan’s assistance, they’d also worked on a sort of prosthetic that might return the use of her legs, but there were several issues they hadn’t yet overcome. She didn’t think it would ever work, but they kept trying. They had nothing else to do. Magan had taken some time away from their research to work on a small project with Alex that Sydney thought was a great idea.

With the opening of the wall to begin construction of an expansion, the town was open to attack, though there’d been no sign of it in a long time. Alex didn’t trust the guards stationed along the gap and through the construction area to alert them of an attack in a timely manner. He had talked with the higher-ups about it, btu they did nothing. He thought they should be prepared in case there was an attack and it got past those meager defenses.

Over the past several months, with help from two active members of the insertion team, Scott Bonacci and Tess March, he’d brought in four large boats, enough to take quite a number of them across the lake and to relative safety on the far side. He also had Bonacci find a number of vehicles that weren’t reported to the officials, enough to transport those people out of the area. Tess had also acquired the supplies they would need: food, clothing, weapons, ammunition, and technology. They kept the vehicles hidden and counted on at least one of the three surviving an attack and getting others out of the town.

It was too much to think about at that time of night and she wanted nothing more than to get out of bed and pace the room, but she couldn’t. All she could do was lie there in misery and wait until either Alex woke up or the sun rose.

THREE

I just don’t get it, Marie Barton said as she sat across a small table in the dining hall from Paul Sandusky, the director of the DSA task force that had initially been charged with eradicating vampires. Why won’t she let us do anything?

Sandusky, tall and lean with graying hair and piercing blue eyes, leaned forward as well and said, Because she’s the President. She thinks anything like that, preparing to escape in the event of an attack, will be seen as a sign of weakness. Penny Kramer is not a weak woman. She’s held what remains of this nation together much longer than anyone would’ve expected when she was the Vice-President. With so many new faces, people that don’t know anything about her, she has to project that image in any way she can to maintain the public’s trust. By preventing us from actively preparing for an escape, she’s trying to show the population that she believes in the wall and our security measures.

Marie nodded slowly, her long, chestnut brown hair falling about her slim shoulders and her big, brown eyes set in a narrow face were slightly narrowed. She understood what Sandusky was saying, but she didn’t particularly like it.

Okay, she said. If she won’t allow us to prepare for that, I think we should do it without her knowledge.

Sandusky smirked, almost smiling, and said, Well, I guess some people are pretty good at keeping secrets.

What do you mean? she frowned, her head tilting slightly to the left.

He drew in a breath and said, Alex, Bonacci, and Tess have been working on that for a few months. Carol helped them figure out where to find the right equipment and, last I heard, it was all ready to go.

Marie shook her head and closed her eyes for a second, I’m way out of the loop.

Yeah, Sandusky chuckled once as he nodded. That was sort of the idea.

Okay, she said and leaned forward, crossing her forearms in front of her. Tell me what we have.

He quickly told her about the boats and the vehicles on the other side of the lake.

And how do we get to these boats? she asked. Go out the main gate and walk around to the lake?

No, he shook his head. There’s a building at the southeast corner of the town, one that was labeled as a pumping station for the town’s water supply. I had Magan get into their records and put that in there. It’s actually a bunch of useless pipes with access to a small inlet under the edge of the lake. The boats are in there. We just have to get everyone there and through that little opening quickly.

Marie nodded then asked, Who are we focusing on?

He nodded and replied, Alex has been working on that. He’s going to be focused on getting Sydney, Paula, and Donna out first. If there’s time, he’ll go back for others. DeAnna is in on it. She’ll have the insertion team working on the President’s staff and the Tribunal. Now that you know what’s going on, you’ll help me with the rest of the task force and the tribe.

The tribe? she asked, frowning. Really? Can’t they handle themselves?

Sandusky nodded sharply and said, Yes, they can, but we need to stick together. Jodi knows about this as well and she’ll do what she can. You’re just going to make sure they know what’s going on when and if it happens.

Okay, she nodded. I can do that. But should we let anyone else know what’s going on?

No, he shook his head. Magan is keeping track of everyone and she’ll let us know when the time is right. That’s why we’re staying on comm all the time now.

I see, she nodded. That makes a lot of sense. But do you really think there’ll be an attack soon?

He shrugged and sat back, I have no idea, but it’s been so long since we’ve seen or heard anything about the vampires that I’m expecting it to happen at any time.

He then sat up straight and his expression hardened as she saw Rachel Farragut moving toward them, bringing a pot of coffee and a pair of large ceramic mugs. She walked quickly, still a somewhat large woman, though she’d lost quite a bit of weight during their time in Sanctuary. She was constantly on the go and always had a bright smile on her face. Sandusky almost envied her sense of optimism and her cheerful attitude.

She stopped beside the table and placed a mug on the table in front of each then began filling those mugs with coffee as she said, You two are up pretty late.

Sandusky looked up and shrugged, Our work is never done. So, how are you tonight, Rachel?

She quickly glanced around at the nearly empty building and said, Could be worse. It kind of slows down after the guard shifts change. Some of them will come in and eat, but most of them just take coffee. Then, when the shift is over those guys will come in and eat. There’s still a few from the last shift finishing up in the back corner, but they’ll be heading to bed soon.

I see, Paul nodded. ‘But when do you get a break?"

She shrugged and smiled, I just take it when I can get it. We’ve had so many come into town over the past several months that I’ve been able to find some really good cooks and a few with great customer service skills. I could probably just go home and stay there until it was time to find more supplies.

That’s really good, Marie said, looking up at her. I almost wish we could get things running that smoothly elsewhere.

Rachel chuckled once and smirked, I know what you mean, but they’re doing the best they can, given the circumstances. It’ll all work you. You’ll see.

I hope so, Marie said and pulled the now-filled mug closer to her.

Okay, Rachel said as her smile returned. What can I get you to eat?

FOUR

A small fire burned in a shallow pit at the center of the dirt floor in the small building not far from the wall gap, wisps of white smoke floating toward the high ceiling hidden by the darkness above. Four dressed in soft leather garments were seated around the fire, three in tan and one in white. The tribal Elder, Eldon Blake, was dressed in the white leather than indicated his position as leader of the tribe with Shaman Lynn Murrell and Balance Karina Bettis seated beside him. On the other side of the fire, once member of the task force’s insertion team and former member of the tribe, Donna Trosclair sat with her legs crossed, like the others, and her hands on her knees.

Donna’s long, dark blond hair cascaded over her shoulders and her soft brown eyes were open wide as she stared through the flames at the trio. Her lean, narrow face was almost lax as she waited for the trio’s response to her request.

She wanted to rejoin the tribe and needed the approval of both the Elder and the Shaman. The issue was that she’d left the tribe when she’d participated in a ritual that changed her into what they referred to as a Hybrid. The ritual gave her the combined abilities of a lycanthrope, vampire, the Nemesis, the Healer, and the Holy Warrior. It fundamentally changed her genetic structure in the process of giving her the abilities to fight and defeat the vampire Master. She’d never been given the opportunity to face the Master and the abilities had never been tested. With the completion of the Master’s Ascension, they had been removed along with her previous state as a werewolf. After months of trying to recover the Hybrid abilities and with no hope for that to happen, Donna was desperate to return to the tribe and become a wolf again.

The meeting had been set up after those months of experimentation and theorization for her to present her request and plea to be reinstated to the tribe and transformed into a werewolf once again.

Donna, Lynn Murrell, her coal black hair almost gleaming in the firelight, leaned slightly forward. I fully understand your request, but there are circumstances preventing the transformation.

Donna frowned and shook her head slowly as Lynn continued, You see, once the ritual was performed to create the Hybrid, your genetic structure was altered. With the removal of the abilities, the alteration was not fully reversed. My examination shows that you haven’t returned to your original state. I can’t explain it, but there’s nothing we can do. We can’t transform you into a wolf again. Unless the Hybrid abilities return, you will remain powerless and human.

As Lynn sat up, Karina turned her head toward Donna. She was tall and lean with long, brown hair and large, dark brown eyes set in a lean face of sharp angles.

Donna, she said evenly and calmly. I’ve focused my own abilities on you and have discovered the same as Lynn. There is nothing I can do to alter your condition.

Donna nodded slowly and said defeatedly, I understand. I must remain as I am until the others figure out how to reverse whatever happened when Suraya ascended.

Exactly, Eldon nodded, his face remaining impassive. You are no longer considered part of the tribe, though we have not forgotten you. I’m sorry, but we cannot even accept your presence with us. You must remain separate.

Donna nodded as a tear formed in the corner of her left eye then fell to her cheek and rolled slowly down.

FIVE

President Penny Kramer returned to her quarters after a late-night meeting with Paul Sandusky with a frustrated scowl on her face. The walk back from the meeting in the DSA headquarters had been one of silent contemplation as she considered everything the task force director had told her and asked of her. Of course, her Security Detail Agent, Davin Bogart, had been there with her and heard everything, but she knew he would keep his mouth shut. He was the most dependable and loyal person she’d ever met and had no qualms about trusting him.

They hadn’t spoken on the walk back to her quarters and he’d remained outside in the hallway once she entered the room. Inside, she looked at her bed and wanted nothing more than to crawl into it and sleep until the world ended, but she couldn’t do that. She had responsibilities and duties that outweighed her desire for an escape. The ideas Sandusky had presented to her weighed heavily on her mind and she did see the logic behind them, but there was too much at stake and too many people to seriously consider creating an escape plan.

She knew the wall gap was practically an invitation to the vampires, but they hadn’t yet acted and it had become the general consensus that the attack would never happen. She didn’t actually believe the idea, but she had to admit they’d grown complacent, acting as if there was nothing out there to harm them, almost like society had been before the vampires had made their presence known to the world. She knew they should be better prepared, but it was impossible to motivate the number of people currently residing in Sanctuary to be as vigilant and prepared as was necessary. Still, she thought the evacuation plan was an idea worth considering. The method Sandusky proposed, though, was not exactly feasible considering the numbers involved.

He had explained that his idea was to focus on those in positions of authority, her own staff and the DSA staff, but it wouldn’t mean much if the remainder of the human population was left to be killed, turned, or taken by the vampires. It wasn’t the greatest plan, but it was one she knew would work. If the vampires did attack and managed to infiltrate Sanctuary, at least a few of their number would survive and that was better than none of them.

She decided, as she moved toward the bed, that she would meet with a few of her staff in the morning, primarily her Logistics Director Shari Leonard, REST Director Hal Martino, and Emergency Services Director Kevin Barker to get them on board with the plan and get them started on preparing for it. From there, they would get the others ready and the escape shouldn’t be difficult at all. She would also get in touch with Sandusky and let her know she’d changed her mind.

With that settled, at least in her mind, she decided it was finally time for at least a little sleep and began undressing.

SEVEN

Walking through the practically deserted streets of Sanctuary at night and unaccompanied by someone with a weapon was still something of a thrill and a relief to Kim Chandler. It might have been different had she not been tasked with the job of monitoring the wall gap though there were a number of human guards stationed around it as well. She was Sandusky’s idea of backup and additional security. Since she slept through the day and was up all night, she was the ideal choice for the patrol, but she wasn’t alone with the job.

Briana Olivetti, the girl from New Orleans that had been turned by Suraya then rescued by Kim while infiltrating the school the vampires had taken as their base of operations to gather some intelligence on their plans. Briana had never wanted to be a vampire and was still rather traumatized by the treatment she’d received from Suraya, having been forced to be the Master’s pet. Kim had rescued her just in time, before she’d been fully corrupted by Suraya and forced to do the unthinkable things the Master had in mind for her.

Briana was a short girl, barely five feet tall, with long, light brown hair and light blue eyes set in a soft oval face. She had a full figure with large, prominent breasts that she didn’t mind showing off and the black clothing she was now forced to wear in preparation for a mission or a possible attack was uncomfortable for her. She didn’t like being so overly concealed at all times. She had quit complaining about it and Kim saw it as a sign that she was starting to accept the situation.

This is pointless, Briana muttered as they walked along an area several yards behind the gap, away from the construction area. We can’t do anything useful here.

Kim looked down at her, almost scowling, and said, We’re doing this for two reasons. First, we’re the first line of defense. If an attack happens, we’ll be able to alert the others and get them moving more quickly. Second, these guards are not properly trained. We’re extra eyes and ears. We can see and hear more than they can and we’ll remain more alert. They’ll grow bored and sleepy. It’s our job to fill in the gaps.

Right, Briana nodded. I know that. I just mean that it’s pretty unlikely that Suraya is going to attack here. She saw what happened last time.

Last time, there was a solid wall, Kim countered. Last time, she didn’t have the power she has now. I have a suspicion that she’s planning something.

Briana just nodded and fell silent as they continued walking slowly along the opening, watching for any sign of activity beyond the lights spread out over the area. Kim did agree that their task was pointless, but she had to show Briana they were dedicated to the human cause, to eventually remove the vampire threat from the world even if that meant their own demise.

She mostly disliked the idea of having the small earbud in place at all times. She knew it was important in case there was an attack for rapid communication, but it was irritating and she hadn’t yet grown accustomed to its presence. Thankfully, it was set up in a way that individuals could communicate privately without forcing everyone to hear their conversations, but there was still a way to contact them all at once. It was keyed to verbal commands that were fairly simple and not easy to confuse. Kim was impressed with Magan and the way she created these little technological marvels that proved to be mostly invaluable.

A moment later, the darkness was shattered by a blast of electric blue light, a bolt of what appeared to be lightning striking one of the lights over the edge of the construction area. The raised fixture shattered and a shower of sparks cascaded to the ground along with the remnants of the bulb and upper portion of the fixture. The explosion, a crack of thunder as the lightning split the air, was like a shot that Kim and Briana felt more than two hundred yards away.

They both turned toward it as one of the guards, Dan McKinley, stood up and raised his rifle to firing position.

They’re here, he called out. The goddamn vampires are here.

He began firing as Kim looked into the darkness, squinting to block out as much of the light as possible. She couldn’t make out anything definite, but she saw what looked like a wave of bodies surging toward the open field that was intended to be the extension of Sanctuary.

Dan fired six shots, all that his rifle held, and decided not to try reloading. From what he saw, there wouldn’t be time. Instead, he clambered down the rickety ladder with the rifle over his shoulder and the bag in his hand.

Kim remained focused on the rushing crowd, but the light still kept her from seeing anything specific. A second blast of lightning struck another of the light poles and destroyed it as well. With the loss of that light, Kim was able to see a bit more clearly. She shook her head and stepped back as Dan ran past her, almost growling as he tried to go for help. After a second, Kim saw what was coming and that brought a sharp gasp from her.

She reached up with her left hand and tapped the earbud then said, Go comm. All hands, full spectrum.

She paused the span of a single breath then continued, This is Kim. I’m at the perimeter. The vampires are attacking and there are thousands of them.

A second later, the voice of Magan filled her ear, Copy that, Kim. We’re on it. Standard order is to fall back to base.

Copy that, Kim replied with a nod. We’re falling back.

No, Briana said softly and took a step forward, toward the on-rushing vampires. This isn’t an attack. They’ve come for me and I must go to them.

Kim reached out and grabbed her arm, Stop that! That’s Suraya trying to get in your mind again. Block her out like you did before.

Briana shrugged out of Kim’s grasp and continued forward, It’s where I belong.

Shaking her head, Kim let the younger girl go. She didn’t have time to try and convince her she was wrong. It was more important that the others, primarily the four that had lost their powers and the President, get out safely.

She turned and ran through the streets of Sanctuary, carefully working her way through the growing crowd of people rushing from their homes at the sound of the alarm going up. But as she ran to help those groups, only one name was on her mind, that of Moonshadow.

She knew the tribe had distanced itself from the daily operations quite a bit over the past several months and none of them had been included in the distribution of the comm units. She wanted to alert them, but her duty was to the task force and the Presidency. Setting her jaw, she continued toward the task force’s headquarters and forced herself to focus on the evacuation plan Alex had drawn up.

EIGHT

Alex’s eyes flashed open and he kicked the thin blanket away as soon as Kim’s voice entered his ear and told him the attack was happening. His eyes opened wide and, as he sat up, he was once again struck by the loss of his enhanced vision. He was completely without the powers he’d relied on for so many years, but he still had to react. He’d created their escape plan and, if the vampire attack was as massive as he’d expected, it would take quite a bit of