Tomorrow's Dead: The Julia Poe Vampire Chronicles (23 page)

“Did you kill all the engines?”

“Yes, except for one.  That will be our way out of here in case we don’t make it to
the Mission District to meet Rufus,” he said as he took her hand.

“You know how to fly?”

“Barely.  And you?”

“Nope.  My brother and sister were into video games, but not me.  So I blew off Rufus’
offer to give me lessons.”

“I guess we’re going to have to find a pilot somewhere in this town.  Or else I’ll
try my hand.” 

“Scary thought,” said Poe while twitching her mustache.

They avoided Nob Hill where the most important undead lived, according to Sainvire. 
Poe pulled out her map and suggested, “If we go north on Franklin Street and hang
a right on Pacific Avenue, we’ll hit Chinatown.  I don’t know if the streets are safe,
though.”

“Why don’t you walk on the other side of the street?  It seems conspicuous for a day
vamp like me to hang around a Superfly troll like you.”

Poe shook her head, a little hurt by his callousness at her specially selected outfit
and disguise.  She crossed the street in annoyance.  She reached for the scar concealer
and looked at herself in the reflection of an old toy store window.  She dabbed at
her trademark scar and stuffed the bottle back in her pocket.  The girl was offended
and hungry.  Her food was buried in her pack along with grenades and bullets.  She
wasn’t about to stick her hand in there and search for a sandwich. 

She glanced at Sainvire, who walked a little ahead of her, and cursed his rudeness. 
Her musings ended when a battered avocado-green Vespa driven by a forlorn-looking
custodian parked not too far from Poe.  Four years ago she had the exact same color
and model of Vespa.  Her instincts told her to let it be, but once the human picked
up her basket of cooked food and entered what seemed like a blood farm, Poe couldn’t
help herself.  She adjusted the familiar seat and let the Vespa, engine still on,
zoom away.  She left a bewildered Sainvire behind.

From her rear view mirror she could see a blur of movement and smiled.  Sainvire was
running behind her like a pet dog.  “That’s what you get, you jerk,” she said aloud
knowing full well that Sainvire’s ultra-sensitive ears would hear.

In the middle of her gloating, Poe’s right profile was hit by a spinning football. 
She lost control of the Vespa and slammed her elbow on the asphalt street.  Dazed,
Poe ran her tongue over her teeth and said thanks upon finding they were unchipped. 
The girl had a rabid obsession with flossing, brushing, and keeping her teeth intact
through many a fight. 

Sainvire helped her to her feet.  He was angry with himself for failing to reach the
girl in time.  Poe straightened her brown-tinged Ray-Ban sunglasses that survived
the fall.  “Ouch,” she cried when he touched her injured elbow. 

“Sorry, sweets.  I should’ve watched out for you,” he apologized, looking around for
the person who kicked the ball at Poe.  A bulked up Asian man of about 50 picked up
the ball in the gutter.  He threw Poe and Sainvire dirty looks.

“What’s your problem, man?” asked Sainvire.  He wanted to choke the air out of the
human’s throat for purposely hurting his woman.

“It was an accident,” said the overconfident man with a Golden State Warriors jersey. 
“And she’s riding my girlfriend’s scooter.”

Stretching her right arm and checking for breakage, Poe groaned and looked at the
man.  “Was this hers?  Sorry about that.”

“You should be.  If she’s late with her duties, the leeches flog her and feed her
blood to vampires.  They cut custodians whenever they can get away with it these days.” 
He looked directly at the large bald vampire that could easily be a sinister opponent
from a kung fu movie. 

“She was just borrowing your girlfriend’s ride, okay?” said Sainvire moodily.  Glancing
at Sainvire’s mean face scared even her. 

“There’s no such thing as borrowing in this town.  You should know that by now,” the
man quipped and walked away.

“Let’s go, P…Superfly,” said Sainvire.  They walked miserably for half an hour until
Poe couldn’t take it anymore.  She’d biked San Francisco hills and walked for miles,
all without sleep.  She was injured, hungry, and highly embarrassed for stealing somebody’s
bread and butter.  “I gotta eat, mister, or I’m going to faint.  My blood sugar is
super low right now.”

“I’m sorry.  You haven’t eaten since last night.”  They selected Great China Herb
Company for a temporary HQ.  Sainvire wiped the dust off the red padded bench for
Poe.  All the herbs had been snorted or smoked long ago.  The vampire peeled the pack
off Poe’s back and unzipped it.  He reached for one of the crushed peanut butter sandwiches
among the grenades and handed it to Poe.  He placed the bottle of water by her leg. 
“Take off your jacket so I can check on your arm.”

Poe bit into the dry sandwich and extended her right jacket sleeve for Sainvire to
pull.  Her paisley shirt had blood stains around the elbow area.  The blood had seeped
through two layers of thermals and a cheesy shirt.  “Just a scratch.  Nothing’s broken,”
said Poe with a mouthful of food.

“Humor me and let me inspect up close.  That’s an awful lot of blood,” insisted the
vampire.

“I’m not removing my clothes, Kaleb, so forget about it.  I’m not undressing in front
of you so you can get titillated.”

Sainvire nearly saw spots.  The thought of Poe naked with her awful hair, gigolo glasses,
and mustache reserved for porn stars made him want to fly away and escape the hideous
thought.  “Yes.  Wouldn’t want to do that.  We’re working here.”  He helped Poe slip
her arm inside the leather sleeve.

“Listen, I’m awfully tired.  I’ve only slept an hour.  We don’t really have an itinerary,
and we don’t know how to contact the underground.  You mind if I get in a couple hours
shuteye?  Then we can blow things up.”

“Sounds good.  You sleep.  I’ll canvas around, maybe get you some more water.”

“Don’t you wanna cuddle?” asked Poe as she sneezed while resting on a pile of dusty
curtains.

“No!” cried Sainvire a little too succinctly.  “I mean, I’ve got to see if Chinatown
is clear of bad vamps.  Their racism is off the charts, even for vampires.”

“Good idea,” said Poe.  She stretched out on the ground using her pack full of explosives
as a pillow and was asleep before Sainvire left the herb shop.

 
E
XCEPT
FOR
A
FEW
street lights illuminating the store window, Poe woke up to complete darkness.  She
sneezed five in a row from the dust she disturbed when she sat up.  Disoriented but
alert, Poe picked up her pack and slung it over her shoulders.  The digital watch
on her right wrist shone 8:30 p.m. 
Where are you, Kaleb?
she wondered with mounting fear. 
I shouldn’t have let him walk around without me. 

“What kind of princess are you to take naps during a sabotage mission?” she whispered
to the darkness.  Now the dead owned the night, and she was stuck in the herb shop. 
She walked toward the display window and nearly shrieked when she saw a pickled mandrake
that looked like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.  Commotion on the streets snapped
Poe to attention.  Dead were running and herding custodians in front of the Buddha
Universal Temple.

“If we find out there’s more of you hiding in these buildings, we’ll kill you on the
spot,” somebody yelled.  “Custodians, this is your last chance.  We have sniffers
on their way, so come out, come out, or we’re coming after you!”

Poe’s nostrils flared as she made up her mind. 
I’m a goner if a bloodhound vamp finds me hiding.  Nesbitt’s men must’ve discovered
the sabotage. 
Calmly, Poe walked outside and joined the twenty-some cowering humans surrounded
by eight fuming vampires. 

More than a third of the crowd was Asian, there were two blacks, and the rest were
Latino
.  I should be nervous, but I’m not
, thought the girl. 
There’s only eight of them versus my big guns
.

“That’s it, Bradley,” said the vampire wearing Bono shades.  “Question them already. 
I have ceramics class tonight.”

“Fuck your ceramics class, dumbass!  Four Councilmen have been found with their heads
missing.  Three more kills and we’ll have a dictatorship on our hands.  Personally
I can’t stand that stiff-ass Nesbitt.  Fuck how he wants us to us to call him ‘Master’
like he’s fucking Dracula or something.”

“Who do you think did it?” asked a vampire with a Michael Jackson voice.

“Who knows?  L.A. people?  Maybe Nesbitt himself?  We should question these sorry
fucks so they can go back to sleep.  They’ve been working since dawn to feed our pathetic
blood-makers.”

Poe couldn’t believe her ears at the way the vampires bandied their hate for Nesbitt
and sympathy for the plight of the blood slaves and custodians.

Bradley, basically a fluffy guy with strategic muscles here and there like Russell
Crowe, clapped his hands to get the custodians’ attention.  “I know this is your rest
time, but somebody’s committed some heinous crimes against the Council.  We’ve also
learned that the choppers have been ambushed.  Now we’d like to know if you can help
us out.  Witness anything strange?  Anyone you’ve never seen before?”

Kind motherfuckers,
thought Poe. 
Vampires at home are a bunch of assholes.  And could that guy really be into ceramics?
  A bulky Asian man Poe recognized as the one who kicked a football in her face raised
his head.  Poe groaned inwardly.

“I did see something strange today,” he said looking at Poe straight in the eye. 
“Two gay guys I’d never seen before were walking down the street.  One is an ugly
human and the other a vampire.”

“What’s so strange about that?  You think this is ass-crack Nebraska?  Folks hook
up with other folks.”

Poe narrowed her eyes.

The muscular Asian turned his head toward Poe once more.  The girl readied herself
for a fight.  “No.  I’m just speculating.  They looked pretty suspicious.”

Bradley took out a tiny notebook and a pencil.  “Okay, what did they look like?”

“Oh, the vamp was tall and extremely plump, wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt.  The human
was tall.  I think he was Indian.”

“Dot or feathers?”

“Dot.”

“Okay.  Thanks for the information.  I still think those guys are finding love where
it counts, but we’ll look out for them.  Any other observations?” Bradley asked patiently.

The custodians shook their heads while Poe expelled a deep breath.  The asshole was
playing with her, and she wanted to choke his neck until his eyes popped out. 

“We’re tired, Bradley.  Give us a break, huh?” said one of the black humans.

“Alright.  Go on home everyone.  Have a good night.”

Poe narrowed her eyes at the Asian man and had the urge to flip him off double.  She
walked away and took to the streets of Chinatown.  She imagined barbecued ducks with
their heads bowed in humiliation showcased in window displays like the good old days. 
Now only empty hooks that brought torture to mind were displayed.  She stared in front
of Dim Sum Palace and salivated.  Her parents would take Poe and her brother and sister
to many ethnic restaurants, but Poe loved dim sum the best, especially dumplings dipped
in soy sauce with vinegar. 

Fresh out of things to do, Poe sat on the curb and waited for Sainvire.  If he was
close enough he would recognize her scent.  The four dead Council members chilled
her.  She would’ve done exactly the same thing had she known where they lived. 
Heck, I’d skewer Peter Nesbitt himself if I could.
But that wasn’t the plan.  She didn’t want to create chaos in San Francisco until
an interim government was prepared to take over.  Without at least a temporary framework
in place, blood slaves and custodians would be on their own.

There was nothing for it.  She had to find the underground so they could ramp up for
a takeover.  In Poe’s estimation, San Francisco was disorganized.  Groups clustered,
and vampires tolerated their leaders.  Some were humane enough to acknowledge the
hard work of custodians.

They had three more days to instigate havoc, and they had to make their way back to
the Mission District to meet Rufus.  Though she was loath to admit it, having Sainvire
with her was an ego boost.  His powers made her plans easier to execute.  She would
have unleashed incendiaries on those helicopters and Hummers and caused all sorts
of noise.  But Sainvire’s quiet savage nails saved her from blowback and allowed her
to nap for an hour.  She was getting spoiled, and she liked it.

From the corner of her eye she noticed a black hearse round the curb and drive slowly
down her street.  Poe’s feeler alert sounded, and she stood up and continued her walk
down a dim street.  She patted her guns and felt a modicum of safety.  The car slowed
enough to pace Poe’s walking speed. 

Either keep going and get followed, or face the music
, thought Poe.  She decided to stop and stare into the darkly tinted car window. 
Poe’s scalp suddenly itched like a legion of lice attacked.  Her hair needed shampooing,
and so did her wig. 

When the window on the passenger side lowered, Poe said in her toughest Mr. T impression,
“What the fuck do you want, fool?”

The face that greeted her was Bradley the vampire.  Behind the wheel was the buff
Asian dude she wanted to kill.  “We want you to sit in the back and take a ride with
us.”

“Fuck that shit.  I’m walking home.”

“And where is home?” asked the Asian man.

“The Squid Ink Eyeball Tentacle Restaurant in Kimchee Wonton Land.  None of your business,
goddamn collaborator.  Now why don’t you ride on out of here before I cap your ass.”

Bradley smiled a kindly smile.  “Listen.  We know you and your friend burnt a bunch
of skinheads in a church, destroyed Hummers, slashed our air power, and we don’t have
a clue who you are.”