The Forgotten Kings (The Scourge Book 4) Page 6

  People of all ages and races emerged from the front doors, watching the two vehicles drive into a cul-de-sac.

  “They’re all like me,” said Donnie from the back seat looking at the men, women, and a few children standing, looking back. The excitement was obvious in his voice despite his attempt to subdue it.

  Five cookie-cut two-story homes, in pastel shades, surrounded Joel and Donnie as they got out and stood in the road. Lucas and Dominic did the same as the others got out of Carla’s vehicle behind.

  A woman, who looked the complete opposite of what a werewolf could be, stepped from the sidewalk and up to Lucas. She went to smile at Joel before her expression turned into one of horror.

  “You’re one of them…” she said, taking a step back.

  “He ain’t anything, Ma,” said Dominic, walking forward to throw an arm around his mother.

  “We’re no threat to anyone here,” said Joel.

  Lucas walked forward, holding his wife’s hand and brought her forward. “This is Lucy, my wife.” He looked at the small stout woman, wearing glasses, and her blonde hair in a ponytail. “It’s ok, they were just passing through on to a human camp down south.”

  Lucy looked at her husband, mouthing silent words while trying to mask her efforts.

  Lucas smiled. “Yeah, he’s a hybrid. There’s a whole wagon trail of them a few miles from here on the highway.”

  “Umm… one of our vehicles has an engine issue. So we’re just looking for another vehicle, and then we’ll be on our way.” Joel wasn’t sure how comfortable he was being in the middle of a werewolf community, but Lucas seemed a nice enough guy.

  “Well… are any of you hungry? We have plenty of food if you want any?” said Lucy.

  Joel smiled. “If you have anything to spare that would be appreciated.”

  While the others talked a few yards up front, a young girl walked up to Carla with a doll in her hand. The whole situation was making the LT jittery, and she wanted to be back on the road as soon as possible. On seeing Joel, Donnie, and the others walk towards Lucas and Lucy’s house she sighed.

  “We need to be getting going soon, Joel!” she shouted after him. He briefly turned and produced some kind of hand gesture which suggested she should wait a bit.

  “You’re not a werewolf or a vampire are you?” said the little girl.

  “Err… what? No… I’m human,” Carla replied, trying not to be distracted.

  “Hmm… I feel bad for you.”

  The strange sentiment sent a chill through Carla’s body which she quickly pushed away.

  The little girl turned and ran back to her mother and father who were now slowly walking back to their home.

  Keller and Bishop looked at the windows of the houses around them and the drapes that were lifted and then put back down.

  “I don’t like this,” said Keller.

  “A whole town of werewolves. It’s nuts,” said Bishop.

  “Yup. Let's keep our heads. No reason we can’t be out of here within thirty minutes,” said Carla.

  Back at the highway, most of the hybrids were still asleep. The noonday sun acting as a sedative.

  Geri leaned on the hood of the brown sedan. She pulled a cigarette from her side pocket and lit it up. Then offered the box to Dalton who was standing a few feet away, watching her and the other two men.

  “Want one?” she said.

  “No.”

  She put the plastic covered box away. “Not much of a talker, are you? It would be nice seeing we’re basically your hostages, that we could chat.”

  Dalton frowned but stayed silent.

  Kizzy jumped out of the rear of the car, and danced up and down on the spot, grinning like a cat.

  Geri took a draw on her nicotine provider while observing the spunky young girl. “You’re a strange one. Not a vamp, but…” As she watched, Kizzy’s neck extended pushing her head upwards, until it wavered at the end of a two-foot stump.

  Geri’s mouth was open. “What…”

  “She can change her form,” said Amos on the other side of the car.

  Geri hadn’t realized he was there, and her head flicked between the young man and his girlfriend, then took another draw on the cigarette. “The Scourge really did screw everything up…” she said between puffs.

  Joel stood in the kind of kitchen his wife had always wanted. The worktops alone were the size of what his old kitchen used to be. But then this wasn’t LA.

  Lucy was piling cans, jars, and packets into a plastic box. “I’m not sure what you would like, so I’ll just give you a…” She stopped, then turned and looked at Joel. “Do you eat food? I mean, this can be for your humans, but do you eat? We have heard stories, but I’ve never met one of your kind before. Usually, it’s your dumber cousins, and they just want blood.”

  “I eat. It doesn’t taste like it used to, but it… helps remind me of how things used to be. Most of what you give us will be feeding the humans like you say. I’m sure they would be very grateful for it.”

  Lucas was sitting at a large round wooden table. “How did you end up with so many hybrids? From what we heard, they are rarer than our kind.”

  “That’s, umm, a long story…”

  An awkward silence returned to the room which was thankfully broken by the doorbell ringing.

  Lucas got up and opened it. The sound of boots told Joel who it was, as Lucas and Carla walked back into the kitchen-dining area.

  Carla smiled at Lucy, then looked at Joel. “We need to get going.”

  “Can you and your people stay a bit longer? I was hoping we could catch up on some news. We don’t really know much of what is happening out there,” said Lucas.

  “The sooner we get to the human camp the better… Have you seen any military looking vehicles pass by lately?” said Carla.

  Lucas stroked his beard. “Yours are the first vehicles we have seen for weeks. Why? Is there someone coming our way?”

  Carla and Joel looked at each other, and Joel nodded.

  “You might not be safe here,” she said.

  Lucas and his wife briefly exchanged a look of concern.

  “We deal with vamps daily. We can take care of ourselves,” said Lucas.

  Joel sat in the nearby wooden chair. “This is not just about vamps. What do you know of the Copeland corporation?”

  “He’s a bigwig in the world of business, that’s all I know,” said Lucas.

  “Now he’s a kind of vamp, and he’s still running his corporation, except now he’s also trying to take over the country with it,” said Carla.

  “Okay…”

  Joel continued. “And he has an army of vamps and other kinds, and he’s using them to take control, killing humans when his soldiers find them. We’re trying to get to the remaining human camps before they do, and there is a good chance Copeland's people will find you sooner or later as well.”

  “Well, like I said, we can take care of ourselves…”

  “Against M4s and grenades? Helicopter gunships?” said Carla.

  “And that might be after he sends a thousand vamps into this quiet little suburb.”

  “You sound like you’re talking from experience…” said Lucy, looking between the newcomers and her husband.

  “We were attacked by thousands of vamps up north. There was a camp just across the border. We holed up inside a prison, but the only reason we survived was pure luck,” said Joel. “If the same number of vamps come through here, you won’t stand a chance.”

  Lucas was looking away, deep in thought.

  “What should we do?” said his wife, the anxiety obvious on her face.

  Lucas sprang to his feet. “Maybe your friend here is right. Probably a good idea you and your people left.”

  “Lucas, these are good people. Maybe we can help each other to survive this Copeland person?”

  Lucas ignored his wife and forced a smile for Carla and Joel. “I know where there are plenty of vehicles. I’ll take you there my—”

  “Lucas!” shouted Lucy, trying to break her husband out of the spell he was under.

  Carla and Joel looked awkwardly at each other and began to move towards the hallway.

  “Err… thanks. I’m sure we’ll find our own vehicle,” said Joel.

  He and Carla left the house and moved quickly across the sidewalk then the road to the first of the pickups.

  On placing his hand on the pickup’s door handle he realized Donnie wasn’t around. He looked at Carla. “You seen Donnie?”

  She shook her head.

  He checked with the other soldiers and Shannon but got the same response. “Where the hell is he…” he said to himself. Just as he filled his lungs ready to shout the young man’s name, Donnie appeared from the same house Joel had just left and walked to the vehicles.

  “Come on, we’re leaving,” said Joel.

  Donnie remained motionless a few yards away.

  “Donnie! We have to—” Joel realized the young man had things to say. “What is it?”

  “I’ve already talked to the Mills… umm, Lucas and Lucy, and they said I can stay.”

  Carla rolled her eyes while getting into her vehicle. Joel looked bemused. Shannon though was already getting out of the pickup.

  “Donnie, you don’t know these people!” she said, walking to him while looking at the buildings which all seemed to be looking at her.

  He moved his head to the side avoiding her glance, then back at her. “It’s not just about them being like me. Cos I know that’s why you think I want to stay. It’s also because they said they will take me to the farm. I can check up on Ma and Pa.”

  Joel sighed. The young man was making sense. At least the kind you would have trouble arguing against.

  Donnie looked into Shannon’s eyes. “Stay with me. I already asked Lucas. He said some humans are already staying here, and they’re safe, and…”

  Shannon was already taking a few steps back towards the pickup. She finished the movement by shaking her head, then fully turned and returned to her back-seat position.

  Donnie’s expression had already become resolute. He nodded as if agreeing something with himself, then turned and walked back to the Mills’.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Joel had spent the last hour glancing at his new passenger in the back seat. Gone was Donnie, in his place was a forty-plus-year-old rocker chick, complete with dark rings around her eyes and a studded leather jacket, with a ‘From hell’ sprayed across its back in red paint. After a quick consultation that Joel was not part of, she said that her group thought it was a good idea she would go with them to the human camp, to see for herself and learn more about the corporation. She also said it was only fair she go with them, seeing one of ‘yours’ is staying with us.

  He couldn’t see any reason why not to let her come. So now they had a new passenger. Like for like.

  Joel felt sorry for the young girl who was sitting next to Geri. The only time Joel had seen Shannon smile was when she was with Donnie, and now the mask of determined hate for the world and all that dwelt within had returned.

  They were an hour past Minneapolis and the sun was heading towards the horizon. The pace had been slow due to the number of abandoned vehicles on the highway, some of which they had to nudge from their path.

  In the motorhome, Evan had been observing subtle glances between his grandfather and Max. The two old-timers had gotten close, and he was glad Bill had someone other than himself who was over half a century younger to keep him company, but they were acting like two conspirators, with their written notes being passed back and forth, and it was getting irritating. The next time the convoy stopped and they could stretch their legs he would ask him what was going on.

  Gas stations and shopping complexes were soon replaced with the green and brown leaves of forests and the occasional lake as they pushed further south.

  In the SWAT vehicle, screams, claws, and growls kept flashing into Carla’s mind, each image producing a twitch across her arms and legs and making the steering wheel move more than it should. She kept shaking her head to bring her back to the here and now.

  Finally, Bishop noticed. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine. Just… tired, that’s all. Haven’t slept much since… the battle.”

  Bishop took in a large breath. “I keep thinking about being trapped in the other Walrus, with nothing between us and the vamps but half an inch of plating… if it weren’t for that weird device, we wouldn’t be here now.”

  “Nope.” Carla wanted her subordinate to change the subject. Bishop went to talk again and Carla clicked on the radio. “Joel? Over.”

  “I’m here, go ahead. Over.”

  “We’re not going to make it to the camp before sundown. At roughly six p.m. we should find somewhere for the night. Over.”

  “I was thinking the same. Over.”

  Carla placed her radio back on the dashboard.

  “What do you think we’ll find when we get to the camp?” said Bishop.

  This time new images pushed their way into Carla’s mind, these were of human devastation, buildings destroyed, and vamps picking over what remained.

  “I don’t know, but we should be ready for anything.”

  The next six hours were only interspersed by three small delays of a few vamps that happened to be on the highway. The convoy either drove over them or slowed enough to shoot them.

  As the sun hovered on the horizon, being blocked by the occasional group of small trees, Bishop nudged Carla sleeping to her right.

  “Hey, you awake? LT?”

  Carla’s eyes flicked open and she sat up in one movement. “Where are we?” She looked around. “What time is it? Shit.” She picked up her radio. “Joel. We should stop for the night at the next town…”

  “He’s sleeping but I think he would agree. Over,” said Anna.

  Carla blinked and rubbed the crust from her eyes, trying to get some bearing on where the convoy was, but for tens of miles in every direction was just beige farmland.

  “South-eastern Iowa… I think,” said Bishop.

  “There! Take the next exit,” said Carla, pointing at the lonely looking green sign which announced ‘Exit 32.’

  Bishop drove the heavy vehicle to the right and the convoy behind followed suit, moving onto a far bumpier road.

  Soon they were all stopped at a junction, opposite of which sat a gas station and diner with accompanying small buildings.

  “That’s perfect. Pull us into there, park at the back so everyone behind us has enough space as well to fit onto the lot.”

  Bishop did as ordered, and soon the ‘Walrus’s’ engine was allowed to cool.

  Carla jumped out onto the forecourt. She rubbed her arms together feeling the chill in the air. Despite the hours of sleep, her body still felt heavy. As the other vehicles pulled in, each trying to find a good spot, she looked at the white wooden homes a mile off behind, and on the other side of the road, opposite, a trailer park, complete with motorhomes nestled amongst trees.

  She noticed Joel get out, stretching his arms. Walking to him, she observed the humans and hybrids that were emerging from the backs of trucks and pickups. “Looks like the hybrids are awake.”

  Joel nodded.

  “I think we should keep them separate from the humans.”

  Joel paused for a moment before nodding again. “Probably for the best. I spotted some buildings behind the diner, maybe we can keep them in there.”

  “In where?” shouted a tall man in a plaid shirt a few sizes too big for him.

  Joel could immediately tell he wasn’t human, despite the gloom.

  The tall man looked at some of the others that were milling around him. “We’ve been cooped up inside these trucks all day, I ain’t being cooped up again just because you’re scared we’re going to eat the humans! And where is our blood? I’m getting thirsty.”

  A few rumbles of agreement came from those around him.

  “You’ll all get your blood. We got enough to last a few days still, so no one needs to get antsy about it.” Joel ignored his own pangs for the red stuff. “No one's going to be locked inside, or imprisoned, but I’m sure some of you here have human relatives with us, and you want them to be safe?”

  It was a Hail Mary on Joel’s part, but from the nods from those behind the tall man, it appeared to do the trick. He pressed home his advantage and walked towards the side of the diner. “I could do with some of you helping me check out these buildings.”

  The tall man frowned and joined three others following Joel.

  *****

  Marina sat on the red leather seat, Jess and Jasper to her right. Her head was rolled back, with her jacket propping it up, but she still wasn’t able to sleep. Cinders of hunger fizzled somewhere inside her, and the fact that the diner was full of possible solutions didn’t help.

  At the table in front sat a family of four, all human. One of the young children, a boy of around eight, kept turning and sniggering in Jasper’s direction. In reply Jasper kept looking down, his sunglasses hiding most of his awkwardness.

  Jess leaned closer to him. “Ignore him. He’s stupid.”

  The boy turned again, this time pulling a face but was met with such a stone cold look of hatred from Jess that he quickly turned back to his family.

  Marina smiled. It was a brief interlude from her own anxiety. She had no idea what the ‘camp’ was like they were heading towards. When she was traveling to the Canadian camp, there was hope. They had no idea what the corporation’s plans were. Now the world was an even darker place than it was before. Vamps were deadly but they were mindless killing machines. Like sharks. As long as you avoided them, you could survive. But Copeland had changed that. Now the vamps had a leader, sending them like a poison to kill off those that remained. She couldn’t help shake the feeling that nowhere was safe. Each day would be a continuous fight to remain alive. She just hoped she had the strength to defend the two youngsters sitting close to her.