Blood Cell (21 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The mob of newly dead inmates swarmed Sally. This time, no one tried to take a bite. They knew better than to cross their master. The original vampire slammed the first table against the door again, to block out the sunlight. As it clapped against the double-doors, the effect was of a huge bellows blowing Ox Werden’s ashes into the air

Fifty steps away, Josh Farewell, Carlos Castro, and Matt Williams watched helplessly. Between them they had an axe, two stakes, and two little crosses. In front of them were at least fifty vampires, one of whom had some serious power, and a girl that nobody wanted to watch die.

“We really need a fuckin’ miracle,” said Josh.

Williams looked into the nearest cell, hoping to see help coming his way out in the yard. But from this far away he couldn’t see much out the window. But then something caught his eye. Williams remembered a creature comfort he had allowed an inmate to make for himself as a reward for good behaviour. That was the cell.

Williams broke off from the pack, leaving Carlos and Josh alone in the middle of the block. In the darkness above him, a vampire taunted Williams and threatened to jump down. Williams stayed in the light, and ignored the threat. He slipped into the cell as the wall of vampires opened and Sally was pushed to the front of the pack. At least four different monsters had a hand on her. The master was still pacing around the outside of the group, taking his time.

“I want you to see this,” he said to Josh and Carlos. “The two of you, who fought me, scarred me. Burned my face. Watch as I drain your girl and her blood makes me stronger. It’s her strength I’ll use when I tear your arms and legs off and leave you to these animals.”

He finished his circuit and stood next to Sally. He reached out with one hand and traced his claws lightly over her lips. Then he looked back to Josh and Carlos.

“I want this memory burned into your minds for the rest of your short lives.”

The monster grabbed Sally by the hair and jerked her head to the side, exposing her long, smooth neck.

Just as he opened his mouth, Williams emerged from the cell, holding a square piece of plastic in his hands. It had been painted in a silvery paint, and the vampires wondered what it was. Josh knew, though, as soon as he saw it. He could see himself in the square. It was a mirror. Josh had once glued something almost identical to it to the inside of his high school locker.

Williams angled the mirror into the sunlight, and raked it across the mass of vampires. It burned through them like a laser, sending the vampires scattering. The vampires screamed as the sun burned their flesh. One in the centre of the mob caught fire, flailing his arms and screaming. Before he dusted, he grabbed onto a nearby vampire and spread the flames. The second vampire dusted too.

Williams aimed the sunlight for the vampires nearest Sally. Two of them tried to hold her as a human shield, but there was no room for both of them to hide behind the slender woman. They both caught fire and let her go. The master let out a shout of frustration, and pulled his long cape over his face. As her captors burned, Sally sprinted through the parting pack, running into the sunlight and Josh’s awaiting arms. He pulled her in, wrapping his right arm around her shoulders and neck. “I can’t believe you got away.”

Williams continued to guide the narrow sunlight-laser at the vampires, scattering them into the few cells that offered sanctuary. He panned up, targeting the vampires on the upper levels. One who had been climbing on the balcony was shocked by the sun on his hand and fell from the third floor down to ground level. He impacted with a bone-snapping crunch, and he couldn’t crawl away before Williams burned him too. All around them, the undead screamed. Some sounded like anguished men, others like wounded coyotes.

Josh handed Sally his cross. They both turned to look at the window, the blue sky and the morning sun.

“The sun’s up,” he told her, “we’ll be OK now.”

Sally turned back from the window and rested her head on Josh’s shoulder. She held him tightly, surprised at her intimacy with an inmate. She opened her eyes and looked over his shoulder. Josh felt her tense up. He turned to face the entrance again, and that the master vampire had vanished. A disembodied voice echoed from all around them, as if the air itself were speaking.

“Children,” he said, “let’s put away your toys.”

*****

The SRT finally had some traction on the wet ground of the field. With the concertina wire opened, they were able to drive the battering ram up to the wall of C Pod. Handheld rams had already failed to push through whatever was holding the doors shut. The mobile ram would not have the same problem, certainly not after the plastic explosive charge.

An officer from the SRT shaped the charge around a wooden frame, which would be placed across the double doors. The timing was important. First the bomb, then the ram, then the breach team. There was no way to know how many inmates were still alive, nor how organized they were. But they would be tired, and they would not have body armour, and if they did have guns they’d run out of ammo quickly.

The breach team would carry automatic rifles with rubber bullets, but if the inmates went to live ammunition, the officers would switch to their sidearms. However, everyone was hoping to end this thing peacefully.

A lot of the time the inmates in a riot will just give up. They know they are outmatched, and in this case they are also outnumbered. An unarmed man, if sober, is unlikely to attack a team of armoured cops with rifles.

But you always have to be ready.

Outside the yard, at a distance a few steps closer than where the officers had told her to stand, Virginia Elliot was taking pictures. She was a print reporter and not a very good photographer, but she found that photos were often so much better then notes for reminding her of what happened. Sure, she’d write down the names and proper spelling of the notables, but for describing the breach? Photos were so much better. It was just a nice bonus that photos were also a saleable commodity on a buzzworthy story like a prison riot.

The main reason she kept her camera handy was a vested interest in seeing what happened to that man in the window. The one who, to her eyes, had burned to ashes from exposure to sunlight. That roll of film was sitting in her pocket, burning a hole in her leg.

A Canadian prison riot was good. She could syndicate a story like that across the U.S. But photographic proof of— human combustion or, well, whatever it was— that would make her name, make her career, and make her money. But only if she could get the shot, and so far she likely only had blurry photos of a fight and some lens flare. Without evidence, she was a crackpot with a story less saleable than a bigfoot sighting.

She held the camera in her left hand and fished her notepad out of her pocket with the right. She had a fresh page open, blank except for the one word she had found herself writing after five minutes of dumbstruck staring at the window where the man had burned. The one word she still couldn’t believe she had written. The one page she wanted to rip out, crumple up, and forget about. The page she had been compulsively staring at ever since she wrote the word. She swallowed hard, and forced herself to put the notebook away again, raising the camera.

The officers gathered in a circle. Virginia snapped a photo. They were giving out the marching orders. It was time to take back Pittman Penitentiary.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Williams used the beam of light to keep the vamps away from the cell door. As this happened, Josh grabbed the sliding door and slammed it shut, trapping five vampires in the cell. He was on the inside of the block, where there are no windows, and keeping the creatures contained was just as good as killing them. He nodded to Williams, looked to the next cell, and started moving down the block.

Across the hallway, the cells on the window side were just as crowded. Now that they had seen Josh’s plan play out, they knew what to expect. Once Josh made a move to shut the next cell, a dozen vampires from the window side rushed into the corridor and straight for him. Josh turned to face them. That was a mistake. The vampires he had just trapped in the cell reached between the bars to grab at his clothes, holding him in place. He managed to keep the stake raised, but barely.

Williams reacted right away, redirecting the small beam of sunlight into the rushing mob. The vampires flinched, trying to duck away from it, while also throwing each other in front of the beam as a form of self-preservation. Several started to burn, but they still reached Josh, slamming him against the cell bars and allowing the trapped vampires to get their arms around him. They had Josh pinned.

The master, still floating in the ether, roared. “Get him!”

Fearing their maker more than the mirror, the vampires from the other open cells rushed out as well, joining their unholy brothers in a crazed blitzkrieg against Josh. Vampires who had been hiding in the darkness above suddenly screamed, announcing themselves, and leapt into the fray.

Carlos charged in with his crucifix. Williams looked to Sally. “Take this.” His gaze went to the mirror.

With Sally manning the mirror, Williams picked up his fire axe and headed into the skirmish. Sally kept the beam aimed squarely at Josh, trying to keep the creatures from biting him. One of the vampires in the cell grabbed at the stake in Josh’s hand, and with a slash of inhumanly sharp claws, his hand let go of the weapon. A vampire who had previously been a bank robber grabbed the stake and threw it into the locked cell, forever out of reach. One more weapon lost.

A vampire who Sally thought might be named Alcala dropped from the second-floor railing and glared at Sally. She had to take the beam away from Josh and redirect at this new threat. Alcala screamed. He tried to jump back up to the railing, but he wasn’t as strong as he though and only jumped about five feet off the ground. Sally stayed with him and the light set him on fire. He landed with a thump, somersaulted in a pathetic attempt at “stop, drop and roll,” and became a windblown pile of ash. Sally returned the sunlight to Josh at the centre of the pack. She didn’t realize that another vampire had slipped around behind her while she was distracted.

Williams swung the axe sideways like a baseball bat, knocking one vampire’s head clean off. When it hit the ground, the head exploded across the floor like a handful of sand. It got the other vampires’ attention, and they turned from Josh to Norris and Carlos.

Sally could see that Josh was still held in place by the caged creatures, so she flashed the light over their arms, burning into them until they had to let go and back into the shadows. Josh had lost his stake but still had the small cross. It was three against more than a dozen, but at least all three were mobile.

A vampire lunged at Carlos from his weak side. It got under his swinging crucifix and slammed hard into his damaged arm. Williams swung the axe down on this vampire, burying the head of the axe into the creature’s back. It wouldn’t kill the vampire, but it hurt like hell and broke his spine. Before he could pull the axe free again, the vampires were on him. Williams was swarmed by a mass of powerful arms throwing both punches and open-hand swipes. The bastards had claws. Josh leapt in, pounding the cross violently against the face of one vampire while punching the face of another. The cross seared into the vampire, but didn’t kill him, and the fist only pissed off the other one. Ultimately, Josh’s attack didn’t do much to stop the swarming mass of angry, hungry, snarling vampires.

Josh was checked hard from behind and tumbled into the centre of the group. He tripped over the half-dead vampire with the axe in his back, and fell onto Carlos. Looking up from the floor, Josh couldn’t see the walls in any direction; the circle of vampires was so thick and so close. He saw the small, shaky square of reflected sunlight flash by, then drop away. Sally had dropped the mirror, but the crowd was so thick that Josh couldn’t see what was happening to her. He tossed the cross up to Williams, the only man still standing.

“Back!” screamed Williams, desperate now.

A hand swept out from the crowd and slapped the cross out of his hand. It hit the floor somewhere underfoot and was kicked away. In an instant, three sets of arms grabbed Williams by the shoulders. Another hand grabbed the side of his head, forcing it to tilt hard to the side, craning his neck. Exposing his carotid artery. He felt a man’s tongue lick up his neck.

A blinding flash of light struck the crowd. A thick, warm beam of pure sunlight flooded into the corridor. The arms holding Williams exploded into orange flame, the heat terrifying in its intensity and its closeness. Williams dove for cover.

All around him, Carlos saw the vampires struck by the light, and then they became the light—as if the light penetrated straight to their black hearts then rebounded, exploding back out of them in bright flame. And where there had been dozens of vampires before, now there were none.

“Jesus,” muttered Josh, brushing off the ashes.

“Don’t blaspheme,” said Carlos. “But thanks, Jesus.”

“What the fuck was that?” asked Williams, just raising his face out from under his hands.

Someone whistled. The three men turned toward the source of the sound—and the source of the light. Sally was standing in the nearest cell, the blanket that previously been covering the window in her hand.

“Somebody was chasing me, so I figured opening the window might work a little better than flashing this thing around.”

She trotted out of the cell, smiling. The men started to laugh. Josh helped Carlos to his feet, and faced Sally with a massive grin. “You figured right.”

Williams surveyed the area. “Did you get ‘em all?”              Carlos was also looking around. “There are still a couple scurrying around up top.” He cocked his head. “Do you smell smoke?”

Now that it was pointed out, Josh definitely smelled smoke. They looked around. On the other side of the twenty-foot strip of shade that still covered the end of the block, there was dark smoke pouring in from the main corridor. It flooded the ceiling and the sight of that churning black smoke only reminded them that there was still one more creature out there.

“Something’s on fire upstairs,’ said Norris.

Carlos grinned. “Fuckin’ Santos must have got a hold of Leo.”

Josh slipped his hand around Sally’s and held it. “Let’s open the last couple windows and get the hell out of here before we can’t breathe.”

The four of them started into the shadow, heading for the next window cell, when the dark man dropped down before them. He lowered from above, as if riding an invisible elevator.

“Actually,” intoned the master, “suffocation shouldn’t worry you. You’ll all be dead long before that.”

“Everyone stay in the sun,” instructed Josh, pulling Sally a step farther into the light. “He might be able to survive it but I doubt he enjoys it.” He stepped to the side, edging closer to the nearest window-side cell. He strategically placed his hand over the locking mechanism on the door frame.

The intruder made note of Josh’s protective instinct toward Sally. “Are you the one who has been hiding the woman from me? Denying me my dessert?”

Josh shook his head. “To be honest she did most of it herself.”

“Clever girl,” said the demon, licking its lips. “A woman without smarts is like a lamb without mint. Doesn’t taste the same without it.”

Josh’s mind was racing. This was a tough spot, but they’d managed so much. One thing was replaying in Josh’s mind—the image of the master using his bare hands to hold Ox warden in the sunlight. Suddenly, Josh’s eyes lit up with an idea. He grabbed Sally by the arm and pulled her close.

“Do what I tell you,” he whispered.

Josh violently yanked Sally’s arm to drag her toward the nearest darkened cell. He shoved her past the bars and pulled the door shut. She was locked in.

Carlos shouted at him, “What him the fuck!?”

Josh ignored the anger of the other two men and faced the vampire. “She’s the one you want, right?”

The demon smiled.

“There she is. All locked up with nowhere to go. So why don’t you just woosh on through the bars and have a snack?”

“You son of a bitch,” said Williams.

The vampire smiled. “You think the time it takes me to eat her will be enough time to escape. Very well. You’d better start running.”

The vampire disappeared into a heavy grey fog, flowed through the bars of the cell, and reassembled himself facing Sally.

Josh shouted: “Now, Sally! Open the window!”

Sally didn’t need to be told—she’d figured it out already. She jerked the blanket off the window and flooded the vampire with sunlight. He screamed once, then a second time, then started to laugh. Sally look on in shock as the vampire’s pale face shook from side to side, shaking his head to say ‘no, that won’t work.’

“I’m afraid the sun won’t save you.”

“No, but I will.” The vampire turned and saw Josh an instant before he smashed Carlos’s cross into the vampire’s face. The demon fell back against the bunk beds, tumbling onto the bottom bunk.

“Sally, run!” said Josh.

She did just that, darting past the monster and the door, which she still couldn’t believe was open. Williams grabbed her arm and Carlos came around to the other side of her, ready to run for the doors. But Josh wasn’t following. They turned back.

Josh was still in the cell. He hooked a finger into the lock mechanism on the door, fiddled around, then pulled it shut.

“Locked for real this time, motherfucker.”

“Josh!” shouted Carlos. “What the hell are you doing?”

“The sun won’t kill him. He’s too powerful for that. But in the sunlight, he’s just a man. I saw it when he was burning Ox. He could barely hold onto him. We’re at even strength in here. I can take him.”

Sally came to the bars. “Don’t be an idiot—you can’t win.”

Josh still watched the vampire, who was now hunching his shoulder, with his head leaned down. The vampire’s posture seemed to be that of a wolf working up the courage to attack. Josh tapped on the bars, the solid sound reverberating.

“It’s already done, babe.”

The vampire charged. It lunged at Josh hard, but Josh spun to the side, letting the vampire bounce off the bars. Then he slammed his forearms against the vampire’s head, forcing its face into the bars.

The vampire snarled in anger, and on the other side of the bars Sally, Carlos and Williams saw the vampire with human teeth instead the mouthful of razors that they had seen previously.

Josh fought with the creature—the vampire only had the strength of one man now, but that was still a stronger man than Josh. Soon, the creature would beak free. Josh looked to Williams. “Axe!”

Williams nodded, raising the axe and then slamming it down. It rattled side-to-side between the bars, heading for the top of the vampire’s head. The vampire dropped to the floor, and the axe struck the horizontal crossbeam in the cell door, missing Josh’s hands by about a centimetre. The vampire bounced up immediately, grabbing Josh while kicking off with its legs. It threw Josh backward a few feet, and he fell against the bed, beneath the window. Pretty much the only spot in the room that sunlight couldn’t reach.

The vampire dove on top of him, and in the shade it bore its real teeth again, and snapped at Josh’s face. Williams stuck his arm between the bars, holding the axe upright, and with a strong straightening of his elbow, he threw the axe at the vampire’s back. The axe-head found its target, digging into the vampire’s ribs. It screamed and sat up, letting Josh realize what had happened. Both Josh and the vampire reached for the axe. As they fought over the weapon, a blur of brown passed between their faces and Williams’ little cross tinked off the wall. Josh went for it as the vampire pulled the axe from its wound. As the vampire reached for a better grip on the axe handle, Josh found the little cross and stabbed the tip of it into the vampire’s neck, breaking the skin. In lieu of blood, black smoke poured from the wound, and the vampire screamed. It dropped the axe harmlessly next to Josh’s chest and pulled away. Josh grabbed the axe in his left while he rose with the monster, still jabbing at it with the cross in his right hand. He backed the vampire against the window, and thrust the cross at the monster’s face. He stabbed the bottom of the cross straight through the monster’s cheek. Letting go of the cross, he used both hands to raise the axe above his head, readying his swing while framed by the light of the morning.

The window cracked with a high-pitched clicking sound, and Josh Farewell started to bleed. The sniper’s bullet had caught him in the left side of his neck, and all the feeling went out of his left arm. The axe fell away, and Josh fell backward off the vampire, hitting the floor with a crash. Sally screamed and both Williams and Carlos felt their stomachs sink.