Trail of Tears (8 page)

Regan was a coward. He had no thoughts
outside of what affected him personally. She might want power but
she did care about what happened to the community. She hadn’t
always been like that. Before the vampires came she had been a
hellion. Three marriages had come and gone, each one adding to her
growing fortune. She had control of two companies; her previous
husbands had been weak and easily manipulated. She had been
ruthless, petty and unfulfilled so she had always craved more. She
had thought the world revolved around her and her alone. And now
here she was standing against vampiric thralls to allow children to
escape. Where had this change come from?

It had begun when the vampires arrived. She
had been swept up in the first of the human hunts. She remembered
the terror of being herded with thousands of others into a camp.
All her money and power had meant nothing to the vampires. All her
conniving and power had led her to the same fate as the lowliest of
humans as they were crushed into filthy pens in the middle of a
forest. She remembered the cold as she tried to sleep on the
ground, but too many people were cramped in together and she had
been stood on repeatedly.

Moans of pain and cries of terror had filled
the night’s air and she had retreated into herself. She vaguely
remembered some of the captives trying to use their numbers to
attack the walls of their prison and she remembered the vampires
slaughtering those humans to set an example. She remembered the
thralls coming among them and picking the prettiest of the females
and taking them screaming from the pens. Some came back and some
didn’t. The ones that did come back never really recovered. She
remembered seeing one woman who had come back, stumbling and
bleeding. Her eyes had been empty, devoid of life or consciousness.
She swore she would never end up like that. She would kill herself
first.

She couldn’t remember how long it had gone
on. Her memories only went up to a point and then nothing until
Harris and his crew had rescued her. She knew now that the thralls
had used the serum to keep them all docile but she had no memories
of her time in captivity after those first few weeks. They had,
however, left an indelible mark on her. She would never let the
thralls or vampires take her again.

Once in the community it was clear that she
had certain talents for organising and she quickly rose to a
position on the council. Regan had been a means to an end, an
abhorrent one, but beggars could not always choose. She set out to
rule this small community that had adopted her. Why should she care
for these people? Her only interest was in ensuring her own
survival. Ian Phelps was a much nastier option but one she could
not ignore. She had hidden behind Regan at first; happy to pull the
strings but then Phelps had become more overt. He had forced the
situation that resulted in Harris being expelled, but she had
allowed it to happen in order to maintain her position. What did
she care if a few people were thrown to the wolves?

That was before she met Lucy though.

She had never considered that she would ever
like another woman in that way. She had never been excited by men
but, with her looks, she had learned early that men could be easily
manipulated. Lucy Taylor was her own age and had a daughter, Lizzy,
who was only six years old. Her husband had died before the
vampires had come and the two were inseparable. It had begun as an
unlikely friendship. Lucy worked wonders with Penny Arkwright in
the local school and they had met when she had been there on
council business. She had been asked to address the children on
what a council member did.

She smiled now as she stood awaiting her
death and she remembered how she had arrived at the school. She had
been livid that she had had to come to talk to children. She had
never liked children and had long ago ensured that she would never
be afflicted by such parasites. Her attitude must have been written
all over her face because Lucy had taken her politely aside and
informed her that they would manage without her and thanked her for
coming. It had been like a physical slap and it had taken her a few
minutes to recover from the shock. By that time Lucy had already
turned away and rejoined the children. No one had ever talked to
her that way. She had always ridden over people, forcing them to
bend to her will but Lucy had stood up to her and made her realise
that other people had feelings to be considered. She still couldn’t
remember why she had done it but she found herself suddenly joining
the group. She had completed her talk, with a much more
conciliatory tone and had found that she had actually enjoyed
herself. She had sought out Lucy after the talk and thanked
her.

From there they had become confidents and
then friends and finally lovers. Her hard exterior had been
shattered by this diminutive woman with a backbone of steel and her
daughter Lizzy had become part of her life. When the alarm sounded,
she had rushed to Lucy and Lizzy and organised for the children to
be taken to the south exit. Lucy had pleaded for her to come with
them but she found herself refusing. It had taken her awhile to
realise it, but finally she came to the stark truth that power also
brought responsibility. Somebody had to buy them time and there
were few who were prepared to step up.

None of the other council members had
stayed. There were pathetically few of them lining up as the last
defence. It wasn’t surprising. None of them were really fit to lead
this community she realised in a moment of clarity. Her heart
thundered in her chest but each moment she delayed them bought Lucy
and Lizzy another moment to get away. She found she didn’t mind
dying if the others got away. She suddenly realised that this must
be what Harris always felt. To stand for something, or someone,
more important than the individual was quite liberating. The burp
of machine gun fire sounded closer now and she gripped her weapon
more tightly. She looked along the line of volunteers and realised
these were the ones who should run the community. Ben Thackery had
stayed and she nodded to him but his attention was focused ahead.
Amanda Reitzig had argued but everyone had sent her away. They
needed a doctor; administrative experts were ten to a penny. She
hadn’t seen Ian Phelps at all.

There was movement along the corridor and a
wave of panicked people rushed towards them. The volunteers allowed
them to pass through but the panic tore through the main line of
defenders and the thralls arrived while they were still trying to
organise their lines. Bullets flew, screams erupted, and chaos
ruled as the human defence stood their ground.

Patricia Lohan shuddered as the weapon
bucked in her hands and her thoughts turned to those she had grown
to love. She whispered their names as the bullets tore into her and
sent her reeling to the floor.

* * *

Phil Regan led the children out through the
south exit. His heart thumped in his chest as he heard the gunfire
erupt behind them.
It sounded so close.
He whimpered as he
ran. He looked back and saw that he had pulled out a gap between
himself and the first of the children. One child fell and he slowed
as he looked at the little girl,
no more than seven
, he
thought but his feet continued to move. His mind quickly convinced
him that someone else would look after the child and he turned and
ran to the exit. The south exit was always locked from within.
Harris had insisted that there be an exit no one knew about and
that it was always secure to allow for just such an eventuality.
Fucking Harris is always right,
he thought bitterly. Even
when the fucker wasn’t here he was saving them.

Regan came upon the small door more quickly
than he expected and he slammed painfully into the steel. He
shouted in pain and fear as he fumbled with the key he wore around
his neck. The sound of gunfire was much closer and his fingers
couldn’t grip the key. He stabbed at the keyhole repeatedly until
it finally slotted in and he turned it savagely pulling the door
towards him.

By this time the others had caught up and
one of the teachers held the child that had fallen and glared at
him accusingly. He ignored her and felt the cool air sweep over him
as he stepped into the night’s air.

“Might have known you’d be leading the
retreat, Regan.” Regan stopped dead as the figure loomed out of the
darkness like a giant. He looked mutely on as another, much taller
figure joined the first and then his mind finally caught up with
events.

Harris!

* * *

Harris pushed past Regan with Warkowski
coming up behind him. There were whispers of awe from the children
as the two men moved through them.

“Continue on out and head east,” Harris
stopped in front of Amanda Reitzig as she gripped his hands. Harris
looked down the line and saw the number of people thronging the
corridor. “Is this all there is?” His voice was more like a croak
and Amanda nodded and hugged him once. He felt so thin, she thought
briefly. There was a burst of gunfire and Harris jumped and then he
was gone, rushing through the survivors.

* * *

“Philip?” Harris looked over when he heard
her voice and he moved over to Sarah Warkowski. She looked into his
eyes and he could see the worry and the question there. Suddenly
her eyes moved to the side and opened wide. She rushed past Harris
and disappeared into the big man’s embrace, and Harris forced
himself to give them a minute and then the gunfire stopped and he
coughed gently.

“I’ll bring him back,” Harris said gently,
“but we have to go now.”

A woman came up to Sarah and put an arm
around her. A small girl clung to the woman’s legs and looked at
him as if he were a giant.

“Are you going to save Trisha?”

Harris moved down to his hunkers and looked
at the little girl. “I’m going to try. Is she your friend?” The
girl nodded her head vigorously and he brushed her tears away and
rose to his feet.

The woman looked at him. He had seen her at
the school but he couldn’t remember her name.

“She’s talking about Miss Lohan. Bring her
back to us, please.”

Harris nodded mutely, too stunned to reply.
Jesus, that cold-hearted bitch had people who loved her. Who would
have thought? There was hope for everyone if she could find love.
What else had he missed?

Harris rushed down the corridor. He had
hurried as fast as he dared through the throng of people, searching
each face, hoping to see Sandra but knowing that he wouldn’t. She
was too like him. She would be among the last of the defenders.
Warkowski and he had heard the gunfire and seen the fires as they
had made their weary way into the city. They had been talking about
the welcome they might get; the hugs and kisses they would receive
but nothing had prepared them for what had greeted them here. There
had been so few in the escape corridor. Was everyone else defending
their retreat or were they already dead? How had the thralls found
them?

There was a deep thump of an explosion.
Grenades
, he thought. He pushed the questions aside and
hurried towards the fighting.

* * *

Emma pushed on ahead of the soldiers. She
didn’t want to be anywhere near McAteer. He had lost it completely.
She was no expert but she didn’t think that that was normal. Even
taking into account the stress of the situation. He was meant to be
a professional soldier. Was he psychotic or had the serum changed
him somehow? He had been part of the last batch that had been
rescued, had it been too late? She would have to talk to someone
about it, if they survived. They couldn’t risk rescuing more if
they were bringing dangerously unhinged people into their midst.
But could they leave everyone else to die? She shrugged. It wasn’t
her call. There were still some advantages to being too young. She
was more interested in getting to the infirmary and Conor.

She made her way through the bodies in the
corridor, trying not to look too closely. She had known these
people, some were her friends. Was her mother among the dead? Her
brothers? Were there some of the ‘Wolverines’ lying dead beneath
her? She was afraid to look too closely. Tears crawled down her
cheek. If she had come straight here rather than going out into the
wasteland again would she have been able to save her mother? Would
she be dead herself?

No. She forced the thoughts away. She had
warned the community. She had given them time to get to safety. She
had even gone back out into the wasteland to delay the thralls
further. But why were so many dead? Had they not heeded her
warning? Was anyone still alive? She came to a fork in the
corridor; the main passageway went on straight towards the main
community plaza but the narrow hall to the left would take her
around the plaza and bring her out close to the infirmary. If her
mother and brothers were alive they would be among the survivors
trying to get out the southern exit. She felt she should go to find
them. Her mother was not exactly capable of coping with life at the
best of times, let alone with such a catastrophe. However, Conor
was injured and incapable of defending himself. She was torn as she
approached the fork, guilt for her family slowing her steps. In the
end she went with her heart. Her brothers would be taken out with
the rest of the children, there were people assigned to that task
and they had trained for this day. Her mother, well she had made
her own choices in life. Conor needed her more.

She started down the shortcut and Grier
called out to her.

“I hope he’s okay.”

She looked back at him and nodded as she
wiped the tears from her cheeks. She could see that tears streaked
Grier’s face also. They had all lost people here today. She hoped
that the decision she made did not see any more of those she loved
die.