Vampire Redemption (20 page)

Selah sat in a heavy armchair. The warmth in the room was prickling her frozen extremities, sinking into her body and thawing her out. Her feet were still frozen solid within her boots, but she felt drowsiness steal over her. The women were talking. Their voices were growing distant. The warmth lulled her. The armchair was incredibly soft and she felt as if she were sinking into it. She saw McKnight being ushered into the bathroom and closed her eyes.

Somebody shook her gently by the shoulder. She cracked open her eyes. Everything hurt.

"Come on. Your turn." Selah tried to protest, to turn away, but Helen was unlacing her boots, pulling them off and sending jarring shocks of pain through her lower legs. She felt her socks being peeled off, and then both Susan and Helen took her by the elbows and wrists and pulled her up. She staggered into the bathroom, felt them take off her jacket, and then did the rest herself, stepping into the hot shower with a gasp.

Perfection. Delight. Heaven. The water pressure wasn't the best, but Selah simply closed her eyes and stood under the hot water, felt it prick and scald her skin, run over the fuzz on her scalp, down her face. She turned to take the water down her back, then around again so that the hot water could wash her chest, run down her stomach. Still hugging herself, she ducked her head down and felt her feet burn as they came awake. This was glory. She felt knots in her shoulders begin to slowly relax. Nothing could be better.

She emerged twenty minutes later, shampooed and clean, and was buried in a massive cotton towel by Helen, who seemed to have no qualms about invading her privacy or treating her like a child. She was firmly toweled dry and then bundled up and ushered into the bedroom. McKnight was seated on the edge of the bed, hair wet, wrapped in a towel and wearing a bathrobe, face scrubbed clean, cupping a heavy mug to her lips. Selah sat next to her, and Susan pressed a mug into her hands. Soup. Vegetable broth. She took a sip. Salty and delicious.

"Now, drink that up, and sleep. We'll talk when you wake." Helen wiped her hands on her thighs.

"Thank you," said Selah. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Helen grinned at her, showing yellowed teeth. "Now hurry up and drink that, then go to sleep. Come find us downstairs when you wake."

Jane curled a strand of purple hair behind her ear. "Where do I know you from?" She was looking closely at Selah.

"Later." Helen ushered Jane out the door. Susan followed after, pausing before closing the door to smile at them both. "Sleep well."

The door closed. Selah looked at McKnight. The other woman was staring out at nothing. The bruising was awful, her left eye swollen nearly shut. Mechanically, McKnight raised her mug to her lips, drank, lowered it. She looked desolate, alone, bereft.

"Why did you help us?" McKnight, blinked, and turned to look at her. Studied her. Didn't say anything. "I mean. You're going to get kicked out of the army now, right? Why? Why throw everything away?"

McKnight looked away. Finished her mug and set it aside, and then lay back on the bed. She looked up at the ceiling, one fist on the pillow by her face, the other over her chest. Selah realized that she wasn't going to answer, so she finished her own mug. It warmed her from within, eased an ache she hadn't realized had pained her. She walked around to her side of the bed.

"I did some research. After I dropped you off," said McKnight. "Called the General that had given me the orders. Back in LA. An aide of his put me in touch with an aide of General Adams. A guy called Cloud. He told me about you. What was going on. What was happening." McKnight closed her eyes. "I didn't feel like I had a choice."

"Oh," said Selah. She sat down and looked at McKnight. Thought of when she had first met her several weeks ago. The initial interrogation. The disdain and anger. Now, here she was, wrapped in a white bathrobe, showered, exhausted, beaten, and no doubt guilty of treason. She looked small, wrapped in the huge robe, but her face remained hard, mouth a line.

"Thank you," said Selah. She looked down at her hands. The hot water had stung cuts and scrapes, washed off the scabs. There was still some dirt under the nails. "Thanks." Exhaustion curled through her like steam rising from a great mug of coffee. McKnight didn't respond. Was probably already asleep.

Selah rubbed at her face. She should sleep, but something kept her awake. She rose and walked to the window. Looked out through a gap in the boards at the abandoned town of McCance. The sun had yet to clear the mountain to the east, but the sky above them was now a clear and delicate blue. The vampires and Blood Thralls had no doubt gone to ground. Theo was somewhere out there, healing, resting. Gathering his strength. The military would be searching for them too. They wouldn't be able to rest here. They'd have to move, and soon.

Selah rested her forehead against the cold glass. Closed her eyes. A deep fatigue was in her, a bone-sapping exhaustion. The comedown from the Serum, hours of adrenaline, the Blood Thralls' power, the pain and cold. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so tired. So dispirited. She tried to recall. Maybe when she had pulled herself off the road outside the LA Wall after hurling herself over it. Broken and bloodied. Maybe.

Selah pushed away from the window. Turned and looked at McKnight. Looked through her, and recalled Theo's distant and feral eyes. Tried to think of what McCance's abandonment might portend. What tomorrow might bring. Of the thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Blood Thralls out there in the wilderness, hiding themselves in caves and under mats of leaves or in abandoned homes, pulling closet doors shut after them or stealing down into basements to await another night. Tried to think of the immensity of what was still to come, and how the President of the United States himself had arrayed his powers against her.

It was all too much. She staggered to the bed, fell into it, and sank into oblivion.

Chapter 17

Selah awoke to the sound of McKnight humming softly to herself. Turning her head, she saw the other woman seated on the edge of the bed, back toward her, running a brush through her newly wet hair. Selah lay still. She was warm. The pillow was a little dusty, but it was soft and she was afraid of awakening her aches and pains. So she lay still and listened to McKnight's low-throated hum, the soft melody that she repeated quietly over and over as she ran the brush through one side of her hair then the other.

"Morning," Selah said at last. McKnight paused and turned to look at her. The bruising was much better, already greatly faded, her eye bloodshot, but now open.

"More like evening. It's almost five."

"Five?" Selah sat up. Her body felt all right. Not great, but not like she'd been run over by a truck either. She turned her head till her neck cracked, and then stared at the window. The sky through the cracks was already growing dark. "Oh, no. I was hoping for... You know, sunshine." She hadn't seen the sun in weeks. The disappointment was crushing.

McKnight gave her a crooked smile. "You can still catch the last of it. Sun's already gone over the mountains though. Sorry."

"No problem. You been up and around already?"

"No. I've been up for an hour, but I ran myself a bath. Haven't had that luxury in over a year."

"How-- I guess it must be the Serum. Us healing like this. You looked half dead last night."

McKnight lowered the brush and looked down at her hands. She frowned. "Lee had no right."

Selah shrugged. "He didn't really have a choice. You weren't going to make it."

McKnight's frown deepened, then smoothed away. "Doesn't mean I have to like it. Having that ... shit. Injected into me."

"It saved your life. And maybe all of ours. I know I wouldn't have made it past the crash without it. Nor Dominique." Selah looked over at where the other woman still slept, noted her color looked better. She swung the covers off and stood. She was wearing a clean shirt and a pair of shorts. Where had they come from? She stretched, joints popping, and then released the stretch with a sigh. Her shoulders slumped. "Part of me wants to head back up there to find Tom. Give him a burial, you know?"

McKnight hesitated, then shook her head. "We have to keep moving. They're going to be looking for you. Us. I'm surprised they haven't swept the town already."

Selah looked around, and saw clothing folded on a chair by the door. She padded over and pulled up a wool sweater. "These people are really nice. It's almost weird."

McKnight set her brush down and walked over. She raised a black turtleneck. "No kidding. Makes me suspicious."

Selah snorted and got dressed. The clothing fit, mostly. A little tight around the hips, but pretty good. She looked at her muddied boots, and reluctantly pulled them on too. After a brief stop in the bathroom, they headed out and downstairs, deciding to leave Dominique to rest a little more. Voices drew them to a large dining room toward the back of the hotel, a long table lit by a fake chandelier and several wall sconces. A score of people were there, including Lee.

"Well, hello there," said Helen from the head of the table. "Just in time. We were about to clear this all away."

Selah pulled out a chair and sat down. "Thanks. I'm starving." Fenton took a plate from a stack, and served her mashed potatoes, a thick wedge of turkey breast meat, and a large spoonful of peas. The plate was passed down the table by Susan and a man she didn't know--might have been one of the sentries from up top--and was set before her.

"Thanks," she said again, and then hesitated. "What are you guys doing here still? Where did everybody go?"

People stared at each other, and then back. Lee went on eating. Helen spoke up. "We're the last. You could call us stubborn, some have called us worse. We just refuse to quit and run."

"Hell," said the bearded man who had been sentry. "I ain't letting nobody force me out of my home."

"Not even vampires?" Selah forced herself to eat a discrete amount of mashed potatoes and not shovel it all in at once. It tasted heavenly.

"Not even from vampires," said Helen with some measure of satisfaction. "Nope. This is our home, and we plan to weather the storm. That, and we've got the base just up the road. Well..." She frowned.

"What?" Selah looked from one face to another.

Lee paused, fork mid-air. "They're on lockdown. Looks like they were nearly swamped after we left."

Selah opened her eyes wide. "For real? But they're still all right?"

"All right?" An old man shook his head. "Hanging in there, more like. Looking ready to bolt. If they leave, hell. I don't know. Guess we'll have to rethink some things."

"What matters," said Helen, "is that you're safe for now. We had some difficulties last night, but we're well armed, and all of us know how to use a shotgun."

"You need to leave," said Lee. "There's still an hour of sunlight. You could be seventy miles from here, eighty by the time the sun sets. Denver, maybe, with a little luck."

"Now, listen here," said Helen. Lee pushed his plate away and something in his expression gave her pause.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude. But if there are enough vampires, Blood Thralls, out there to almost swarm the base, then you don't have a chance. It's a miracle you're still here. Trust me. We're leaving soon as Gordon and Dominique are ready to go. We're going to find a couple of cars and drive as fast as we can east."

"We are?" Selah looked from Lee to McKnight, who nodded her agreement. McKnight wasn't wasting any time. She was shoveling food down like it might be her last meal. Selah took the hint and got to work.

"Well," said Helen, sitting back, thick hands on the table. "Well, I don't know about that. We've done all right so far."

Lee shrugged. "What did you do for a living, Helen?"

"I was a massage therapist."

"And you, Sam?" The old man huffed and then allowed that he was a retired police officer. Their professions came out one by one. Stay-at-home mother. Yoga instructor. High school teacher. Owner of an art store in town. Jane was last, and she said with some pride that she was a freelance graphic designer.

"Right. I'm military. Been military all my life. So has McKnight here, and Gordon upstairs. We know what we're talking about. When I tell you that you need to leave, you need to leave." He held Helen's gaze, and then stared at the rest of them. "You don't have to. You can stay. But you'll die tonight if you do. You have an hour to get your gear together. I suggest you get to it."

Helen opened and then closed her mouth. She was not used to being argued with, and definitely not so clearly and succinctly. Lee went back to eating, clearly not interested in pushing his point further.

"Helen. Maybe he's right." Susan's voice was hesitant. Fenton nodded. Soon, an argument was in full swing, with Helen and Sam holding out, the others rallying against them. Selah finished her plate, had a second in record time, and then she, McKnight, and Lee stepped aside.

They walked out into the hall. Up close, Lee didn't look too good. His bronze skin was pale and the occasional chill still shook him.

"All right." His voice, however, was firm. "We're out of here in thirty. Selah, get an Omni from Jane. If anybody has one, she does. McKnight, get Dominique ready to go. I'm going to find us transport, then get Gordon down."

"How is he? Gordon?"

"Not good. His clavicle is broken. If he wasn't a Hybrid he wouldn't have made it last night. He's paying for it now. He'll move though. Thirty minutes. Clear?"

Selah nodded. The argument was still going on in the dining room, Helen speaking over several other voices. McKnight moved toward the stairs, as did Lee. Selah hesitated, then edged back into the doorway. She hung back, and when Jane glanced in her direction, she beckoned her over.

A moment later, Jane stepped out into the hallway. "Hey."

"Hey, Jane. I have a favor to ask."

"Sure. You know, you look really familiar."

"I do?" Selah paused. "I don't think so."

"You do. I can't place it." Jane frowned, then shrugged. "Anyways. What you want?"

"An Omni. I need to get in touch with somebody."