Dead by Dawn (29 page)

Chapter 43

              Sarah’s stomach didn’t settle until an hour into the flight. Watching the world fly by down below did little to help. She compared it in her head to a roller coaster that was never going to stop.

It was loud; the only way they could talk was to yell. Because it took so much effort, they mostly kept to themselves. Having Adam so close went a long ways to keeping her calm. Just having his back against her leg helped.

Joe and Keith must have known what they were doing because they very rarely turned back from the cockpit. If they ever did, it was usually Keith giving them a reassuring thumbs up.

After they were flying for awhile and they had grown accustomed to flight, Adam asked the question that they had all been wondering about.

“How are we planning to kill the main vampire?” He shouted up into the cockpit.

Keith replied that they were either going to use his silver tipped knife or Joe’s stake. If it came to them needing to use guns, they were probably screwed. However as long as they beat the sun, they wouldn’t have to worry about that.

Sarah had no idea how far away the White House was, but it felt like they were crossing the entire country. They flew for countless miles, over towns and lakes, rivers and roads.

The earth below was a ghost land. If she would have paid closer attention, she would have seen the remains from millions of tiny battles.

They passed over a field that held the remains of a plane. What was left of the wreckage lay at the end of a charred crater. A wing had ripped free thirty feet away.

They passed over an army tank. It sat in the center of a suburb, resting on pieces of a white picket fence. The houses all around it were riddled with bullet holes. Judging by the size of some of the holes, the houses had taken a few hits from the tank’s cannon as well. The top latch of the tank was open, its handle bent at an odd angle as if it had been torn open.

They passed over countless traffic jams. If they looked close enough, they could make out bloodstains on some of the hoods.

They passed over the charred remains of hundreds of houses. The untouched houses had their front doors open, swaying back and forth in the breeze. Others had broken windows, or holes torn through the roof.

They passed over an army bunker. Its sand bags and weapons were still there, but the soldiers were not.

When the afternoon came, Sarah was beginning to wonder if they would ever land. She thought maybe they would fly straight on through the night and land when the sun rose again.

The helicopter changed its course by then and she was pretty sure they were flying in circles.

It wasn’t until she spotted the Washington Monument that she realized how close to the White House they were.

The monument stood in defiance of all that was happening around it. A great white spike standing tall amidst the wreckage: A reminder of man’s resilience.

By then the sun was hovering in the west. It had yet to begin making its final dip, but in another hour or two it would.

The helicopter continued around in the wide arc it was making. Sarah caught a glimpse of the White House before they nosed towards it, preparing to land.

There was a long green strip of land connecting the Washington Monument and the White House. The bright shade of the land popped against the slightly darker trees that bordered it. The strip of land looked almost like a football field, only stretched so it was far longer than it was wide.

The White House sat overlooking the field. It’s domed ceiling and rich pillars dominating the surrounding land.

“I see it,” she yelled.

“None too soon,” said Keith.

They continued in a straight path, losing altitude every second. It wasn’t long before Sarah felt she could stick her foot out the door and skim the tops of buildings. The lower they went the faster they seemed to be going.

Joe flew them right over the top of the White House and put them down on the front lawn.

They came down harder than she expected and Sarah bit her tongue. The pain made her eyes water. It was surprising how bad it hurt. She held her breath and waited for the initial shock of it to fade.

The helicopter engine whistled as it began to slow. As the noise from the propellers faded, Sarah became aware of how bad her ears were ringing. It was like having millions of invisible ants screaming inside her head.

“I bet you never expected to land a helicopter on the White House lawn,” said Keith.

“Can’t say I did,” said Joe.

They unbuckled themselves and began climbing out of the helicopter. Sarah followed them out.

The grass came over her feet when she stepped down. Some of it managed to get on the inside of her pants, making her calves itch.

The grass and general landscaping maintenance was so far neglected, that the White House lawn was more of a field than anything. At that moment, it was in no way presentable. If this grass was in her subdivision back home, Sarah was positive the neighbors would be bitching up a storm by now.

“I don’t like this,” said Matt. “It feels wrong. We should get out of here.”

“What the hell’s it supposed to feel like?” asked Keith.

“I’m just saying, my gut’s telling me to run.”

Joe shot him an irritated glance. “There’s the street.”

Joe pulled a shotgun and his 9mm pistol out of Keith’s drag bag. He made sure they were both loaded then placed the pistol on his belt.

He was the first to begin moving towards the White House. Its famous pillars loomed over him like the temple of some ancient Roman god.

The others fell in behind, cautious and ever aware of the afternoon sun. Sarah thought they should run inside to save time. She didn’t say it out loud however. In the shadow of such a powerful building, she couldn’t quite find the nerve to protest caution.

They made their way up the large front steps. They were the same steps traversed by so many others over the course of American history. Never before had a journey up those steps been so important.

The front doors of the White House were bashed to pieces. Broken chunks of glass cracked under their feet as they stepped inside.

Sarah wished more than ever that they had working power. It was dark in the White House and in a two hundred year old building; darkness felt all the more haunting.

Chunks of plaster littered the wooden floor that had been torn apart in random spots. Every step they took seemed to echo through the building before fading into the haunting void of sound. The walls and ceiling were shredded, as if vampires had spent the last few days sharpening their claws on everything.

It was more like a building that had been abandoned for years than the home of the President. Sarah realized with dawning horror how much this building matched the state of the rest of the country. They paralleled each other.

“Now what?” asked Matt.

Keith racked the shotgun he was holding then looked back at his companion.

“Now we tear this place apart looking for the son of a bitch.”

Chapter 44

              They saw their first vampire five minutes into the search. Adam and Sarah split up to save time, taking a large marble staircase to the second floor. The other three went to check the closer rooms on the first floor.

Adam knew from the beginning that splitting up was a horrible idea. Unfortunately, they were racing the giant clock in the sky and time was almost up. The shadows were already growing long and they still had the entire building to search. This meant their only chance to find the head vampire was to maximize their searching ability.

In case something went wrong, if they didn’t die, they were to regroup at the front of the building.

At the top of the staircase was a richly decorated hallway lined with silk chairs and grandiose mirrors. All of the mirrors were broken and covered in spiderweb cracks. The red carpeting was ripped in places. In some spots it was pulled back revealing hardwood flooring underneath. They could taste mildew on their tongues, the air was thick with it. It was obviously a very old building and it had the smell of age to go with it.

Adam went to the nearest knob and twisted the handle. The door creaked and slid open of its own accord.

Every window inside the room was boarded up. Perhaps that was why Adam didn’t see the figure at first. It was laying under the covers of a king-sized bed, pale and unmoving. Its arms were crossed over its chest like a corpse.

Adam jumped backwards and almost knocked Sarah down. She had to take two stumbling steps to keep her balance.

“What the hell Adam?” She had enough sense to whisper at least.

“There’s one of them on the bed.”

She grabbed his elbow and peered around him. Her grip tightened on his arm as she froze.

Sarah’s voice grew so quiet, Adam had to strain to hear it. “Is that him? What do we do?”

“We should get the others.”

“We should kill him now,” said Sarah.

“How? We don’t have any guns.”

“There.” She gestured to the remains of an old dresser.

Something (presumably the vampire) had ripped it to shreds, scattering its pieces all across the floor. She bent down and picked up a long slender piece that came to a point on one end.

“Help me.” She began moving for the vampire and Adam was painfully aware of every squeak the wood floor made beneath her feet.

When she reached the bed she held the wooden shard over the vampire’s chest.

The vampire looked as though he were around their age, in his early twenties. He had chiseled features and cropped black hair that looked to be permanently gelled. The tips of its fangs were visible at the edge of its lips.

It wasn’t wearing a shirt which was good, Adam wasn’t sure they could puncture deep through its skin and a shirt at the same time. Then again he had no idea, it would be his first time stabbing someone in the chest.
Did the vampires have thicker skin?
He didn’t doubt it.

He held his breath when he got close. The idea that they might wake the vampire was frightening. They would both be dead before they could even make it to the door.

He grabbed Sarah’s hand and lifted them high over their heads. He made sure his grip was tight.

“We swing on three,” he whispered.

Sarah began to count. “One, two, three…”

They brought the shard of wood down, just below the vampire’s chest. It broke the skin, but didn’t pass more than an inch deep.

The vampire’s eyes flew open. It’s red pupils glared up at the round ceiling.

“Shit,” said Adam.

He leaned forward, putting as much weight on the stake as he could muster. The vampire brought his hand up and grabbed Adam’s wrist. He cringed as its nails cut through his skin.

At the same time Sarah fell onto the stake, throwing her shoulder into it.

The wood tore through its flesh, pierced its way deeper until their knuckles touched the vampire’s cold chest.

The vampire sucked in a harsh breath. It let go of its grip on Adam’s hand and Adam was able to pull it away. A trickle of blood ran from the lacerations it left.

Both Adam and Sarah stepped away.

The vampire lifted its hands and latched onto the shard now sticking from its chest. It was shaking as it failed to pull the wood free.

They could hear the sound of crackling and Adam thought the wood was turning a darker shade. The vampire’s skin began to sag like paralyzed flesh. Its features, so charming only seconds earlier, began to warp into something hideous.

It rocked against the bed, screeching into the air. Its eyes rolled back and the color drained from its hair until every strand was ghostly white. Wrinkles grew across its face, sinking deeper and spreading wider. As the wrinkles spread the skin underneath began to dry and crack.

The transformation continued until the vampire’s body looked comparable to that of a mummy. When it exhaled its final breath, dust flew out.

The creature’s screeches weren't loud enough to reach much farther than the outside of the room, and Adam was thankful for that. If there were any other vampires, he didn’t want to risk waking them.

They left the vampire with the wood protruding from its chest. Turning their back to it felt wrong, so they fled the room as quickly as possible.

When they reached the hall they began to laugh. They didn’t understand why and neither could do anything to prevent it. It was as if they had lost their minds. The only thing they could do was to try to laugh quietly. Unfortunately, this only made them laugh harder.

Adam was frustrated with himself for laughing. The situation was way too serious for the way he was acting. Even so, it couldn't be stopped. The laughter continued, playing on his frayed nerves.

Adam checked his hand and was glad to find the cuts weren't that deep. The bleeding had already stopped.

Both he and Sarah staggered back downstairs, regaining some of their composure before reaching the lower level.

When the laughter left Adam it was replaced by the shakes. He could hardly hold himself still. He had once gotten buck fever a few years earlier when he’d gone hunting with a friend, this was ten times worse.

Sarah wasn’t faring any better. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was breathing in rapid pulls as if she’d just fallen into an icy lake.

“What the hell happened?” asked Joe as he met them at the bottom of the steps.

“We killed one,” said Adam. “It was asleep upstairs.”

Keith came out of a room to their right and set his drag bag on the floor. He unzipped it and began digging around inside.

“Alright, that’s it, everyone gets a gun.”

“We should have done this in the first place,” said Joe.

Matt came out of the room after him, looking sick. He received a black .45 ACP Smith and Wesson, pistol. Sarah was handed a Sig Sauer P220 Combat revolver. Adam received a single barrel, twelve-gage shotgun.

“They’re all loaded and the safeties are on,” said Keith.

Matt held the pistol like it was a snake that might bite. Compared to him Sarah looked like a professional with years of training.

Maybe she had been a cop, or a soldier in her past life,
thought Adam.

He kept the barrel of the shotgun trained down at the floor. He held it with two hands, one finger on the trigger.

“Do me a favor,” said Joe. “Take your finger off the trigger until the moment you’re ready to shoot.”

Adam pulled his pointer finger away and let it rest against the stock of the gun. It felt a little awkward.

Keith gave him a gentle slap on the shoulder. “That keeps us from getting accidentally shot in the ass.”

They went together to the next three rooms, all of which were vampire free. The first was a meeting room with a large oval table in the center, followed by somebody's office and a waiting room. There were pictures of a family on the desk in the office. The frames were covered in dust and a few had been knocked on the floor. The people inside stared up through cracked glass.

Each room grew harder to see inside than the last as the light outside faded.

On the other side of the third room, Joe stopped them.

“I think the kids should make a run for it before the vampires wake.”

“What do you mean?” asked Adam.

“Find a car and head for the hills. If we kill the vampire we’re looking for, you’ll be safe. You too Matt, you should go with them.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Adam.

“Me neither,” said Matt.

“This isn’t a negotiation,” said Joe. “This building is a death trap. Even if we kill the leader, I don’t think we’ll last long in an infested building.”

“But that’s why we should stick together,” said Sarah. “We can put up a better fight.”

Joe shook his head. “No. My gut tells me this is a suicide mission. I should've never dragged you guys this far into it.”

“We’re in this together,” said Adam. “Don’t forget, we were the ones to get the text message in the first place.”

Keith stepped in between them and placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “I agree with Joe, make a run for it. Let us stop them tonight so you can give mankind a second chance tomorrow.”

“We can’t just run,” Sarah complained.

Adam agreed with her, but he also saw the logic in what Keith said. They shouldn’t all spend their lives in one moment when they didn’t have to. But still, he couldn’t help but think their chances were better together. It wasn’t like it was any less of a death trap outside.

“What do you think’s going to happen when we try to run?” he asked. He could feel the fear beginning to build in his chest. “There’s vampires outside too, remember.”

“You’ll probably die too,” said Joe, looking sullen. “But it’s better than placing all our eggs in one basket.”

Keith glanced at him before turning back to Adam. “You’re going to drive like a bat out of hell and when we kill their bastard leader, the vampires won’t have a mind to catch you.”

“Adam?” asked Sarah, her voice was strained and slightly pleading.

Adam kicked the ground. If he was being honest with himself he didn’t want to choose either option. At that point he would have preferred they get back in the helicopter and come back in the morning. He knew that wasn’t an option though, they didn’t have enough fuel and the vampires would be waiting for the moment they landed. Their leader would probably find a new place to hide as well.

“Fine,” he said. “I’m going to get a car and I’m going to drive us back to the mansion. I expect to see you guys there tomorrow afternoon.”

“You’d better get moving,” said Joe.

Adam and Sarah went for the door, but stopped when they saw Matt wasn’t coming.

“Go on without me,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

Joe gave him a look that was disapproving, but didn’t say anything.

Adam went through the front door first and stared out at the front lawn. It was a few acres across with a black fence that separated it from the sidewalk. There was a handful of trees here and there and, of course, the helicopter. The sky was pink on the horizon and turning purple overhead. Adam’s heart froze as he realized he couldn’t see the sun.

“Come on,” he said to Sarah. “We’re running out of time.”

They ran across the yard, only stopping when they reached the black fence. Breathing heavy, Adam boosted Sarah over. When he attempted the climb himself, his pant leg got caught at the top and he wound up parallel to the ground. Sarah had to climb up and work it free before he could get down on the other side.

There was a Chevy Cruze in the middle of the road a few yards away from where they jumped the fence. For a moment, Adam thought they were in luck, the door was open and the keys were in the ignition. Unfortunately when he tried to start it, he discovered the battery was dead.

“How are we going to get a working car?” asked Sarah.

Adam glanced around. He could feel the grip of night moving in. They had no time at all to find a working vehicle.

There was a truck sitting in front of a parking meter that’s time had long since expired. Adam peeked through the passenger’s side window to find the keys were gone.

“Can you hot wire it?” asked Sarah.

“No, but I have a plan.”

He picked up a rock and broke out the window. Once the glass was shattered, he snaked his arm inside and opened the door.

He began searching under the seat and through the glove box, looking for any tool he could use.

“What are you looking for?” asked Sarah.

“Any type of sockets or wrenches.”

The truck was barren of tools. It was barren of almost anything, the vehicle’s owner kept it cleaned out. It might as well have been straight off the dealership’s lot.

The Cruze however was a different story. Sarah came running across the street carrying a pair of pliers she’d fished out of the glove box.

“Remind me to kiss you when this is over,” said Adam, taking the pliers.

He popped the hood of the truck and began undoing the battery. With the battery out and in his hands he went over and did the same with the Cruze. It was nerve-wracking work, as the pink was fading out of the sky. Their hourglass was down to its last grains of sand.