Part 30 (1/2)
”You can't leave us!” begged Kay.
”Are there others like you on the compound?”
Both women nodded.
”Then I have to check on them and make sure they're safe. I'll come back for you. Right now I need you to close the door and don't open it for anyone except me. Understand?”
They both stared at him blankly.
”Ladies, do you understand?”
”Y-yes,” Mich.e.l.le stammered.
”I'll return in a few minutes.” Robson made his way to the door and looked out, checking the compound for signs of gang members or rotters. When he turned, neither woman had moved. ”Close this behind me.”
Mich.e.l.le jumped up and ran over. Robson stepped out and waited until she slid the door shut. She stopped halfway, her eyes pleading. ”Please come back for us.”
”I will.”
After Mich.e.l.le closed the door, Robson used the chalk to mark the cement with an X and the number ”2” beside it. He moved on to the next storage unit.
Earl moved so fast Tracey could not keep up, so he practically dragged her through the compound. She had complained once or twice, and each time Earl clutched her hair tighter and jerked her head to one side to shut her up. Now she kept quiet and endured the lesser of the two pains. Jake followed ten feet behind them, walking backwards and facing the battle zone to make sure no one pursued them. The trio made their way to the opposite wall of the compound, turned left, and after a minute arrived at the parking area.
Earl walked down the line of vehicles, checking the steering columns of each one until he found an SUV with the keys in the ignition. Even better luck, this one held enough food and ammunition to keep them supplied for a while. Stepping toward the rear fender, he opened the back door and shoved Tracey toward the vehicle.
”Get in, b.i.t.c.h.”
”Please,” Tracey pleaded, ”leave me here.”
”Get in the f.u.c.king car.”
When she hesitated, Earl grabbed her by the throat, pushed her into the backseat, and slammed the door. Tracey's leg was not all the way in and the door closed on her s.h.i.+n. Earl opened it, grabbed her leg, and shoved it inside. She lay on the back seat, wailing. He slammed the door shut again and spun around to face Jake.
”Go move the school bus so we can get out of here.”
Jake shook his head. ”No f.u.c.king way, man. That thing is full of deaders.”
”Move it or I leave you behind.”
It took a moment for Jake to realize Earl was serious. Rus.h.i.+ng across the parking lot, he climbed up into the bus, checking the back to make sure no deaders remained inside, and slid into the driver's seat. The engine was still running, so he s.h.i.+fted into reverse.
As Jake cleared the entranceway, Earl crawled into the driver's seat of the SUV, started the engine, and pulled out of the parking s.p.a.ce.
Dravko and Tibor had released close to twenty prisoners and made their way down the western side of the Line when Tibor heard the school bus s.h.i.+ft into gear and its engine rev. He stood up, the chains of another prisoner clutched in his hands.
The human stared at him. ”What's wr-?”
”Shh!” Tibor silenced him and called over to Dravko. ”Do you hear that?”
”Yeah.”
”Something's not right. Moving the bus is not part of the plan.”
”Let's check it out.”
Tibor rushed away, and everyone on that segment of the Line who had not been freed shouted for them not to go. When Dravko stood, the middle-aged man who he was attempting to release grabbed his arm and clutched it tight. ”Don't leave me here. I can't take it any longer.”
Dravko patted the man's hand. ”We'll be back in a minute.”
The man held Dravko's arm for another few seconds before letting go. Dravko set off after Tibor and caught up with him at the corner of the wall. Someone had moved the bus fifty feet from the main gate and backed it between the compound wall and the perimeter fence. ”What's going on?”
”Someone moved the bus, but it's not one of our people.”
”Why would they do that?”
”I think they're trying to escape.” Tibor pointed to the gate. An SUV exited the compound and stopped. A person in a Harley Davidson leather vest ran off the school bus and over to the pa.s.senger side of the SUV. Tibor glanced over at Dravko. ”Should we stop them?”
”Yes.”
”And feed?”
Dravko hesitated for a moment. ”Yes.”
The two vampires rushed the SUV and caught up with it as it pa.s.sed through the outer gate and turned onto Parade Road. They morphed into their vampiric forms and jumped onto the vehicle's roof, with Tibor landing on the pa.s.senger's side and Dravko above the driver.
”We made it.” Earl high-fived Jake as they sped away from the compound, only to have the elation drain away when something heavy dropped onto the roof.
”What the f.u.c.k is that?” Jake asked.
Three-inch-long talons penetrated the metal above his head. Jake froze, watching in horror as the vampire tore back the front section of roof and hovered over the opening, glaring down at them. It had elongated ears, a furrowed forehead, and a flared nose. Tracey screamed and tried to push herself into the corner of the backseat, ignoring the throbbing in her leg. The vampire snarled at Jake, exposing a mouth full of fangs. Reaching in, it yanked Jake to his feet, plunged its fangs into his neck, and began to drink. Jake whimpered and his body shuddered. After a few seconds, the vampire lifted Jake out of the compartment and tossed him aside, the body disappearing into the dark along the side of the road. The vampire snarled at Earl.
Earl whipped the steering wheel to the right and back again. The vampire lost its balance and tumbled off the roof on the pa.s.senger side. It reached out at the last second and grasped the SUV's roof rack, trying to regain its footing. Earl swerved right, aiming for the trees along the side of the road, hoping to rip the son of a b.i.t.c.h off the roof.
A taloned hand smashed through the driver's side window. Earl waited for the vampire to claw at him. Instead, it grabbed the steering wheel and pulled. The SUV made a sharp left turn toward the woods. Earl stiffened his arms against the steering wheel as they crashed into a tree head on. He experienced an incredible bolt of pain as his arms snapped and his chest smashed into the steering column, and then everything went black.
Dravko pulled the mangled body from the driver's seat and threw it onto the gra.s.s. Blood poured from the twin compound fractures in the arms, draining away precious life fluid. Desperate for a meal, he dug his talons into the human's chest and ripped open the ribcage, revealing its heart. He had not tasted human blood in weeks, ever since he had turned Dr. Compton. Bending over, he plunged his fangs into the meat and drank, savoring the taste. Terror sweetened human blood, the adrenaline adding a special flavor. Because this human had already lost so much due to the accident, he faded quickly. Dravko sucked as the heart slowed and finally stopped beating. Rising to his knees, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and licked the last few drops from his fingers. This one body barely satisfied his hunger. How he missed preying on humans.
Dravko heard a noise from the rear of the SUV. Tibor crouched in the back on top of a young woman. He had her pinned to the seat, his knees resting on her pelvis and his hands holding her arms by her side. She didn't struggle, probably from being stunned from the accident, although she did quietly plead for Tibor to leave her alone. He ignored the woman and drained her blood from her carotid artery. Dravko had to stop him. After all, this woman did not belong to the gang. The vampires had to rise above their instincts if they wanted to live among humans. He moved around to the other side of the SUV and opened the rear pa.s.senger door. He reached in, and for the first time he noticed the woman's injuries. The right front of her face was a b.l.o.o.d.y pulp from where she had smashed it against the window during the accident, and her collar bone protruded from her shoulder. She would die soon, so why let good blood go to waste?
Leaning in, Dravko sank his teeth into the other side of the woman's neck and fed.
DeWitt and Roberta also heard the commotion by the main gate. Someone backed the school bus into the perimeter zone and then jumped into an SUV that raced off down Parade Road, with the vampires in pursuit.