Jade: Earth's Last Hope Against the Undead (8 page)

Hiru smiled. "It was never for me."

Jade's eyes went wide as Hiru stood and
began to walk away. Then, seeing his silhouette among the shadows
of the room made it difficult to breathe,

How long has he been there? How much did he
hear?

Her heart pounded in her chest, so fast she
couldn't settle herself. Tiny beads of sweat popped out on her
forehead and she trembled uncontrollably.

I'm goddamned shivering so
much. I know he sees that
.

Trent crossed to her. She gazed into his
soft, round eyes, his gentle lips as they turned up into a grin,
his eyebrows, his shaggy dark hair, his muscles.

I think I'm going to faint.

And she was certain of this up until the
point he was beside her. In that moment, time stood still. The only
thing she could hear was the beating of her heart, as wild and
reckless as the stomping hooves of a stallion.

He bent and leaned in to her. As if some
magnetism existed between them, she found herself leaning toward
him. Their bodies met, her in his arms, and he holding her
shivering body.

He stroked her back. "It's okay."

She tried to say something, but all that
came out was a senseless phrase. It hadn't even sounded like her,
as her voice squeaked. Still she couldn't slow her breathing or her
pounding heart.

He pulled back his head and when she glanced
up at him, he looked back at her. He said nothing more, making that
second of time last an eternity. Then he kissed her on the lips and
held her a while longer.

Once she no longer trembled, he sat across
from her and drank his tea. His hand crawled across the table,
found hers and squeezed.

She didn't know how to react, even to his
smile. She let the moments happen, certain he sensed her
discomfort. They sat that way for a very long time before retiring
to the couch where they slept entwined about one another for the
rest of the night. Everything was right in the world for that brief
slice of time.

They departed the following day, after
sleeping in and eating a late lunch prepared by one of Hiru's
friends. At first, things were slow going. A full belly and a good
day's rest accounted for most of that. There was also the matter of
who would be the first to speak of the previous night .

Hiru's parting words had been specific. The
zombies were no longer a concern. The hordes had been taken care of
and the few that were left in existence would soon be handled. Yes,
they might run into one here and there, but they were to avoid them
if at all possible, as killing the zombies would be doing the work
of the vampires for them, thus bringing a faster conclusion to
their plans.

Of greater concern were the vampires. Jade
would not know which ones she could trust and which she couldn't.
In fact, it was altogether probable she might kill one of the good
vampires before even knowing she'd done so. But the vampires had
all agreed on the possibility via blood pact and deemed those
losses acceptable as long as a few of them were able to live out
their lives here on Earth.

The problem with the bad vampires was that
once the zombies were gone their focus would turn to gathering what
humans were left and affixing a harness to each of their heads.
That way they could control everything about the humans: their
breathing, the giving of blood, their mating and breeding, and far
more. Humans would be slaves to their new masters if that
happened.

Jade wouldn't let it. She'd been trained for
this exact conflict and she'd do anything to end this torment for
good.

"What are you thinking about?"

Trent stared at her, and at first she didn't
know how to respond. Then it came to her. "Last night."

He laughed.

"I see," she said bashfully. "So this is
funny to you, is it?"

"Frankly, it is. I mean we've been together
for a while now. I think we both knew how we felt about each
other." He smiled at her. "So why should any of this be
awkward?"

She tried to suppress her smile, but it came
anyway. "Why, indeed?"

His hand crept into hers, and they walked on
to nowhere in particular. Hiru had only instructed them to get as
far away from the east coast as they could. Their plan was to head
west toward one of Trent's relative's house.

They reached Youngstown, Ohio and sought
refuge in a hotel, surprised to find a few others hiding out there
as well. These people welcomed them without question and even fed
them.

A pregnant woman—she said her name was
Jane—asked why Jade carried a sword around with her. Jade offered
no real response, just that it was quieter than a gun. All of them
nodded, knowing this as truth.

In total, there were fifteen of them,
sixteen if you included the unborn baby. They came from all walks
of life, but now lived on the second floor of this hotel. Each day
they came downstairs to handle any business, which may or may not
have included killing the undead. Each night they rebuilt their
barricades and slept through whatever madness occurred outside
their walls.

According to Jane and her husband, Jason,
there had been a lot fewer zombies as of late. They'd seen a
vampire here and there, but there'd been far less attacks. In these
people's eyes, things were getting better, almost as if the
vampires had stayed true to their promise. Jade and Trent didn't
bother exposing the reality of what was going on. They didn't want
to ruin the upbeat mood.

They took a room that night among these
people and, for the first time in a long time, Jade got a really
good night's sleep. Part of that came as a result of the person
lying next to her. It was slight, but it was there all the same.
She'd fallen in love with Trent. Life couldn't have been more
perfect if none of this had ever happened.

Jade woke early to a new day and left Trent
to go for a morning walk. With nearly all the undead wiped out, one
would think these people would have noticed the vampires weren't
going anywhere. If they had been true to their word, wouldn't they
have left Earth to heal by now? But they hadn't, and no one seemed
to care or notice, which made Jade consider her special training
today.

Prior to visiting Hiru, she'd believed
they'd done this to her so she could help rid Earth of the zombies.
Now that she'd come this far and seen firsthand what decimation had
already occurred without her assistance, she knew she'd been
created for a greater purpose.

But what?

Yes, there was the matter of the vamps, as
they hadn't left and her sword could destroy them. And obviously
the doctor and his people had aligned themselves with the
vampires.

Not all of them, though.

This much was true. They'd apparently worked
together with the vampires who hadn't agreed with the majority,
more specifically Hiru and the other vampires who'd resided here on
Earth all along. They'd been the ones to equip her with this sword
and her abilities as well.

So maybe they'd created her with the purpose
of killing off the bad vampires, but still, Jade felt a higher
calling, one they hadn't counted on. What that was, she didn't
know, but she felt it all the same. This mystery unraveled inside
of her and she struggled to put the pieces together.

The doctor and his people had met with a
vampire, possibly one of Hiru's friends. Or maybe it had even been
Hiru. Jade thought hard, but she wasn't sure. She considered Hiru's
face and thought back to that night. Everything seemed so fuzzy
now, but the face of that vampire hadn't been Hiru's. And hadn't
that vampire's expression seemed rather bothered by Jade's
presence? She considered this, unsure of herself, but remembered
the vampire hadn't said anything to Kat.

At least that you know
of
. But if the vampire had said something to Kat,
wouldn't the doctor have gotten word?

Who's to say the doctor had any knowledge of
Kat's meeting?

So what then? Might that vampire have been
one of the bad ones? Jade luaghed at the mere thought of any vamper
being good. So what would that make Kat?

A mole?

Maybe, but what would it matter if she was?
Someone had given her this ability and they'd disguised it as a
means of disposing of the zombies. But they would never have
silver-plated the sword if it hadn't been created for the purpose
of killing vampires.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Jane said.

She walked up beside Jade who observed the
morning for the first time that day. The Earth seemed to breathe,
its exhalations caught in the morning air. The air drifted among
the rubble and destruction as if searching for the living, trying
to determine the fate of humanity.

She breathed deeply, smelling the freshness
of it all. It was good, like a new beginning. Although she didn't
believe one bit that new beginnings were anywhere in sight just
yet.

"Too bad," Jane said.

Surprised, Jade looked at her. "What?"

"About the blood farms."

"What blood farms?"

Jane actually looked surprised. "You know,
the places they take those of us they catch."

Jade's full attention went to Jane. "No, I
don't. Please, go on."

Jane sighed and rubbed her left hand over
the swell of her stomach. "It started a few weeks ago. They came
and took a few of us at first. Over the weeks they took more,
especially those of us who got too curious. We never saw them
again."

"What do they do with them?"

Jane pointed off in the distance. "They take
them to these large warehouses over that way. At least that's what
I've heard. I don't go close enough to check it out. I'd rather
keep my little one safe. And we don't really know what they're
doing there, but you one could guess. That's why people call them
blood farms."

"They're farming blood?"

Jane sighed. "That's what we think. But no
one knows for sure." Her eyes welled with tears. "Like I said, no
one ever comes back."

Jade stared off into the distance, now fully
understanding why Hiru had set them on this path. She hadn't been
exact in what Jade was supposed to do, but she'd known they would
come across one of these blood farms sooner or later. That alone
revealed to Jade the full purpose of her training.

CHAPTER 4

Raiding the Blood Farms

From a distance, the warehouses looked
abandoned. Not unused, but empty. The windows were painted pitch
black. No one tended the accompanying fields, despite the bountiful
harvest they held. But it did look as though the fields had been
freshly plowed and some of the crops harvested. Then again, she
knew little about farming.

What would vampires need with crops?

She studied the buildings for a long time,
daring not to go any further. Though she wanted to, badly. As she
roused she heard a noise behind her and stopped.