With that done, I headed down to the ninth level. The closer I got to them, the more their energy bit. I hoped like hell it wasn’t a bad sign.
Cat returned, her energy briefly brushing my skin, her presence warm compared to the chill the adult déchet were emitting. They have gone. The grate is closed again.
“Thanks, Cat.” I sat down and held out my hand. “I need your help to contact the adults.”
That is dangerous.
I know. But I had no other choice given the adults seemed intent on keeping their distance.
Cat didn’t hesitate, simply let her energy caress my palm and merge into mine. As I became one with that other realm and the creeping hand of death once again began to claim my flesh, I said, “Déchet soldiers, I need your help.”
There was no immediate response, but the chill of death increased, and this time it came from without rather than from within.
Then a sharp voice behind me said, We know what you want. Tell us, why should we help those who are responsible for our destruction?
“Because you’re not helping them. You’re helping their children, who cannot be held accountable for the actions of their parents during a time of war.”
No one helped our little ones. They were left to rot just as much as we were.
“I know precisely what was done to them. I was there, remember?”
And survived.
“Because of my genetics, and the fact I was made immune to all toxins and poisons, yes. That is not my fault.”
We do not blame you for surviving.
Well, good, because there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it except die for real—and that was a possibility if I didn’t get their cooperation and quickly end this conversation. Death was moving entirely too fast up my legs.
“Nor should you blame the offspring of humans and shifters for actions they took no part in.”
Air stirred, then the speaker stood in front of me. He was a thickset, hirsute fellow, more bear than human. Death had obviously caught him midshift.
And what does this mission offer us other than the possibility of a permanent death?
“It offers you the chance to vent your anger and kill. The nest we raid is a large one, and, yes, there is a very real possibility none of us will survive.” I paused, studying him. “But isn’t going to battle and taking the chance of a true and glorious death worth such a risk?”
Other ghosts began to appear behind him. Their murmurs filled the air, but were so soft I had no idea whether it was assent or dissent.
The chill of death was getting stronger. If I didn’t end this soon, I wouldn’t have the strength to enter the nest and save those children.
It would appear the others agree with you, he said eventually. We will accompany you and tear this nest apart.
“And not harm the children? Or, indeed, those who come to claim them?”
Cold amusement touched his expression. We made no move against the shifters, even when they entered this place. We cannot, unless ordered to do so. You know this.
I knew, but it didn’t hurt to check. “Thank you all for agreeing to help,” I said. “Cat?”
Her energy immediately left me, but for several seconds, it was all I could do to suck in air. My entire body was trembling, and my feet and hands ached with the chill of death. I wasted precious minutes calling to the healing state to chase the cold from my flesh, then pushed upright and said, “This way.”
I led the way down the levels until we hit the seventh, then headed for the South Siding exit. Once the grate was open, I paused, reaching out to Cat and Bear, sending them gentle kisses as the adult ghosts surged out into the sunlight. They were once again going to war, and their relief stung the air, making it shimmer and dance. Or maybe that was just a result of the sheer number of them who’d answered my call to arms. There had to be at least a hundred there, and it made me hope that Sal was right—that such a force could destroy the vampires.
I closed the grate and ran through the wasteland between Central and the bunker, not stopping when I hit either the rail yards or the station platforms. No one stopped us; in fact, everyone moved out of the way long before we got anywhere near them. It was almost as if the energy of the ghosts was a wave that brushed them aside; certainly some of their expressions were startled, if not a little scared.
I ran on, following the gentle curve of the curtain wall, my gaze scanning the riverbed as I tried to find the old sewer outlet. I eventually discovered it settled deep in the steep left bank of the old riverbed. It was taller than I was, a big semicircle structure made of red brick that had been stained almost black by time and weather. Once upon a time a thick metal grate had covered the outlet’s opening, but the bars had been peeled back and rather resembled twisted, skeletal fingers reaching for the sky. Sad-looking shrubs clung to the sides of the outlet, and a wide, well-worn path led into it. The smell coming from within . . . I shuddered. It was thick with rot and death, and all I wanted to do was run.
I squashed the urge, freed the light tube from the backpack, then unfolded the slender but powerful solar panel and shoved it in the ground. Once I unraveled and activated the tube, it would provide enough brightness to keep the vampires out of arm’s reach. Or, at least, that was the theory. I’d never actually seen these things in action.
I hooked the tubing to my belt so that it would unroll as I moved, then grabbed two weapons and said, “Right. Let’s go kick some vampire butt.”
The déchet surged into the darkness. I followed quickly, my body tense as the stinking darkness enveloped me. Nothing immediately jumped out at us. The sewer drain was wide and empty, and though moisture and slime dripped from the upper sections of the old brick arch, little water ran down the deeper middle of the drain. I stuck to the left bank and ran after the ghosts, my steps light but echoing softly across the silence.
The vampires would hear it. Even though the rising sun would be pushing them to sleep, they would hear my footsteps and wake. It was just a matter of how deep into this system we got before that happened.
I ran on, every sense alert and every muscle so tightly strung it felt like the tiniest blow would break me. But as we moved deeper and deeper into the sewer system, there was no sign of the vampires and absolutely no movement beyond the rats that scattered the minute they sensed our presence.
But the air was growing ever colder, and the scent of death and darkness had grown so strong every breath felt like an invasion.
The last of the light tube rolled out, and we still hadn’t found the vampires. I swore softly, then unhooked it from my belt and attached the control box. Here goes nothing, I thought, and hit the activation switch. Light flared across the darkness, milky white and somewhat muted. I had no idea if this was it, or whether the tube took time to warm up, and I couldn’t stick around to find out. Even a slither of sunshine was better than nothing.
I moved on. Ten minutes later, we hit the nest.
There was absolutely no warning that we were even near it; one minute I was following the ghosts down the tunnel, the next I was at a junction of six outlets and the reek of vampire was so thick and strong the air felt diseased. Fear slammed into my heart as my gaze swept the large, circular area. There were no structures here, and nothing that resembled accommodation, beds, or basic comforts. The vampires seemed content to sleep where they fell, be it on one another or the thick, slime-covered floors of the various tunnels. But there was something here other than darkness and vampires—bones. They were everywhere, inches thick, all over the floor. Some had even been used to form a macabre effigy of humanity in the middle of the junction. Bloodied bits of flesh and internal organs were scattered around the base of the structure, undoubtedly offerings to whatever god the effigy was supposed to represent.
What I couldn’t see were the children.
The energy of the ghosts briefly surged upward, drawing my gaze in that direction. Two metal cages swung gently above the sleeping vampires, and inside them we
re the children. There was no movement, no sound, coming from them. Either they were scared witless, or they were drugged. I prayed for the latter, simply because it meant there was less chance of them making a noise and waking the nest. We were only going to get one shot at this, and there was no way in hell I was going to grab two or three and leave the others behind.
The vampires nearest me were beginning to stir. Why they hadn’t woken before now, I couldn’t say, but I had to move before they did. I quietly but quickly slipped off the pack and placed it on the ground. It left me with the six guns I carried and my knives, but if they got past the ghosts, then I very much suspected no amount of weaponry was going to help. I flexed my fingers, reaching for calm, and said, Déchet, I need a score of you protecting this tunnel. The minute they wake, the rest of you attack. Use the weapons if you can—it won’t take as much of your energy as attacking the vamps directly would.
I could feel the discontent. They wanted to attack now, while the vampires still slumbered. That’s sensible in wartime, but not here. Our greatest chance of getting those children out in one piece lay in freeing them from those cages before the vampires woke.
The ghosts weren’t happy, but the vampires remained undisturbed. Relieved, I called to the darkness and surged upward, squeezing through the thick bars of the nearest cage, then re-forming inside. As the cage swung and creaked at my sudden weight, three sets of wide, frightened eyes stared at me from pale, gaunt faces. But they made no sound and, after a moment, I realized why. Their mouths had been sewn shut.
Anger ripped through me, so fierce it charged the air. Below, vampires sniffed and stirred, and the ghosts readied to attack.
Calm. I needed to be calm if we were all going to get out of here alive. But it was a hard state to achieve when I was staring at the bloodied, swollen mouths of the three little ones. The youngest was barely four . . .
I briefly closed my eyes, fighting the sick fury as much as the fierce and sudden joy that Sal had died as slowly and as painfully as he had, then forced a smile and whispered, “I’m going to use a little magic and get you all out of here, but you have to do exactly what I say. Okay?”
Wide eyes stared back at me. I had no idea if they understood me or not. I took another, somewhat shuddery breath, which did little to erase the fury, then gently motioned the two littlest into my arms. They hesitated, then shuffled close enough that I could wrap my arms around them both. I glanced at the oldest of the three. “I’ll be back for you in a minute. Don’t make any noise.”
He nodded. I called to the darkness and let it wash through the three of us. Then I went back through the bars and dropped toward the exit tunnel, landing, rather ungainly, just beyond the ghosts guarding the tunnel. I re-formed us all, and then motioned the little ones to sit and wait. They nodded, eyes wide and somewhat glazed. I became darkness again and moved back out into the junction. Tension sung through the air and on the far outer reaches of the nest, vampires stirred and muttered, the guttural sound heavy in the silence. I spun upward and collected the third boy, but this time, when I re-formed, weakness hit and my stomach convulsed. I have no idea whether it was the stink of this place or sheer terror, but it was all I could do not to vomit. I glanced at the three children; wide, frightened eyes stared back at me. I forced a smile, held up a hand, signaling them to wait, then stepped back into darkness.
I was barely through the curtain of ghosts protecting the tunnel when the vampires finally became aware of our presence and all hell broke loose.
Their screeches and fury filled the air, but even in the bedlam of being torn from their slumber and attacked by the ghosts, they sensed my presence and surged en masse, their claws slashing at my particles even as others shifted to darkness and chased after me. But just as their energy began to lash around mine, the ghosts hit them, flinging them away and freeing me. I slipped into the second cage and found flesh. But there was no time to comfort these two, and no time to explain what was about to happen. I simply grabbed them, pulled them into my arms, and tore us all into darkness.
Ghosts rose to escort me into the tunnel. Vampires flung themselves at us, only to be sharply tossed back into the screaming, pulsating mound of flesh and fury. One of them hit the effigy of bones, and the whole structure cracked and began to tumble. The vampires screamed in despair and rose as one, forming a huge black wave that hit us hard, scattering the ghosts and sending me tumbling. I splattered against a sidewall and saw stars, but the surging mass had not finished yet. They hit me again, the force of the blow so strong that my particles were forced apart, until all that separated me from an inglorious death was the merest of threads. Somehow, I gathered myself together and shot forward, heading for the tunnel and praying to Rhea that the ghosts could hold them off long enough for me to re-form and get the children out of there.
Shots ricocheted across the darkness as the ghosts began to use the weapons. The scent of blood bloomed thick and heavy in the air, but the vampires didn’t stop to feed on their fallen. They were too busy trying to get me, to kill me.
I shot past the barrier of ghosts and became flesh again. But I was going too fast, and I hit the ground hard. I curled my body around the little ones to protect them as best I could as we tumbled several yards past the other three.
When we finally stopped, I released my grip on them and pushed upright. The tunnel spun around me, and my knees briefly buckled, threatening to send me crashing back down again. I swore and reached back to grab my one and only flare. I lit it and tossed it toward the tunnel entrance. The flickering light revealed a growing wall of twisted, angry flesh, and no matter how many times the ghosts shattered that wall, it just kept rebuilding and growing.
We had to get out of there.
I glanced at the first three I’d rescued and made a come-here motion. They stared at me and didn’t move. I can’t say I blamed them, given I hadn’t really done much more than fling them from the frying pan into the fire, but we couldn’t remain here. I had no idea how long the ghosts could hold out against the black tide battering them, but it was very evident time was the one luxury we didn’t have much of.
“We need to move before the vampires can reach us,” I said softly. The two slightly older children I’d just rescued climbed to their feet and pressed against me. A small hand touched mine. I wrapped my fingers around hers and glanced down, giving her a quick, bright smile that felt every inch as false as it was. “It’ll be okay,” I whispered. “We just have to move. Just wait here while I get the others, okay?”
She nodded solemnly. I released her hand, then ran over to where three of them still sat. “Up we get.” I caught the hands of the oldest two and hauled them upright, then squatted in front of the remaining little girl. “Can you climb onto my back and hang on really, really tight?”
After a moment, she nodded. I swung around and she climbed onto my back, her grip so fierce around my neck she would have choked me had she been any stronger. I clasped the hands of the others, then said to the remaining two, “Okay, keep close; grab my shirt if you have to. There’s light up ahead, but we need to run through this darkness for a little bit.”
They nodded solemnly; one of them grabbed my shirttails, but the oldest boy simply waited beside me. There was no fear in any of them; they were just all wide eyes and solemn faces. Maybe they’d seen so much they simply couldn’t fear anymore. But Penny had also showed little in the way of fear or situational awareness. Maybe it had something to do with Sal’s tests. Or maybe it was simply shock.
We went as fast as the little ones could, but it was slow, so damn slow. It brought back memories of the bunker, of the death I’d tried to outrun then, and the uselessness of the effort.
No. This time, I wouldn’t fail.
This time, I would save the children.
Behind us, the flare died, and the ghosts gave way. The tide was after us. I resisted the urge to go faster; to do so would risk losing the boy who clung to the back of my shirt. The ghosts weren’t done y
et. There were still weapons firing, and that meant there was still hope.
Then awareness surged—several vampires had gotten past the re-formed line of ghosts and were approaching fast. I didn’t stop, simply shifted the little girl’s grip from my hand to my shirt, then pulled the rifle free and fired randomly over my shoulder. One vampire went down, its guttural howl abruptly cut off; the other, however, was still very much in action.
The oldest boy reached up, snapped the second rifle free, then spun and shot. The vampire went down with a scream. The boy looked at me, and there was dark satisfaction in his eyes.
“Good shot,” I said. “Now let’s run even faster.”
We did. Up ahead, light began to twinkle—the tubing offering a distant line of hope. The children saw it, and their speed increased. Behind us, the wall of ghosts broke again, and again the vampires surged after us. Their hate and desperation were so fierce they were wind that battered our bodies and nipped at our heels. I fired over my shoulder until the rifle clicked over to empty, then swiftly hooked it onto my belt, grabbed one of the smaller guns, and kept on firing. Vampires went down, but more came after us.
We hit the light; hope surged fierce and fast, but we were hardly out of the woods yet. The tide was still behind us, and I had no idea how long the light tube would hold them off. But given their actions in the Broken Mountains’ bunker earlier tonight, I wouldn’t have been surprised if a few sacrificed themselves for the safety of the greater nest.
I stopped. Five wide gazes immediately met mine. “I need you all to run ahead while I stop the vampires behind us. Follow the light tubing—it’ll lead you into the sunlight and an old riverbank. Wait for me there.”
They nodded solemnly. The oldest of them held out the modified rifle he’d used. I hesitated and then shook my head. “You keep it, just in case one of them gets past me. It won’t,” I hastily added, to reassure the younger ones. “But it’s always better to be safe. Go. And keep together.”