By the time I woke up, Mara had already left. It was just as well, I didn’t have any real desire to involve anyone else in what was now just my own business. The were’s had their answers, ARC had their publicity and the vamps even had their formula. I was going to finish Toussard and let Nate rest peacefully, I owed him that much at least. Funny that once all the politics and posturing was over with it all came down to simple revenge.
I went back up to the gallery and through another door into my own personal armory. There wasn’t anywhere near the range of weaponry that Lisa had, I preferred the type of weapon that made loud noises rather than more medieval types. I strapped myself into an ARC tactical vest, complete with Kevlar neck protection; and grabbed some extra weapons and lots of ammunition. If this wasn’t walking into a war zone I didn’t know what was. The vamps would be dug in their lair with all the traps and protections they could create over the years and who knows how many bodies. That was all fine with me, I had a year’s worth of frustration to work off. Covering the body armor with my usual long coat, I slung a bag with what I couldn’t carry on me over my shoulder and made my way to the door.
From the looks of the map when Ted and company cast the spell the easiest way down into the catacombs would start somewhere in the tangled buildings in Harlem. I took a cab to the area, stopping a few blocks away to get a feel for the area. I wandered around, keeping my distance from the entrance at first looking to see if there was anyone suspicious in the area. If any people knew they were harboring the entrance to an underground lair of vampires they didn’t let on. It didn’t look like there was too much backup coming from the outside once I entered the lair so I made my way there.
Almost a block from where my planned descent into the underworld was located I saw a familiar face… Mara was standing outside a small corner drugstore sipping a bottle of orange juice. She looked completely relaxed and not a whit out of place which immediately made me suspicious. She didn’t look like she was waiting for anyone in particular so I made as if to walk by casually towards the entrance. As I did she fell into step beside me, finishing her drink and depositing it neatly in a garbage can.
“You didn’t honestly think that Holly would let you go in there alone where she can’t keep an eye on you, did you?” She let a small smile play across her lips as we made the last turn into a relatively large cul-de-sac where the entrance supposedly was. There, waiting for us, was nearly everyone I could hope to have as backup going into a vampire lair. Tony was standing around talking with what must be two dozen fully loaded ARC troopers while a few others compared weapons with Lisa. A mobile tactical van was set up only partially filled with body armor and guns after having passed out what it contained, everyone in the area looked up as we arrived.
“No, but I figured she could do the heavy lifting and call everyone while I got some sleep. I’m not sure if she actually sleeps herself.” I tried to downplay my surprise at the number of people who had showed up on what was at best an unsanctioned op. Taking the bloodsuckers on in their own home turf was probably still a suicide mission but with this many bodies, we could do some serious damage first.
“And you’ll never know.” A bemused snort of a laugh from my ear set indicated Holly was still listening. The door the compass had led us to was nondescript as anything, a simple green-painted metal door set into a brick building it could have been the rear entrance to any of a dozen local shops or restaurants. Around the area each member of the team assembled checked their armor and weapons, seeming ready to go in hot at a moment’s notice.
“You should probably think twice about going in with us, this isn’t exactly on the legal side of things… I am fully planning on finding and executing Toussard for what he tried to pull.” Five very large men separated themselves from the shadows in the corner of the gathering and approached. They definitely weren’t ARC, they moved the same way Mara tended to, with an easy gait with a pent-up tension ready to be let loose any second.
“Not here as a cop tonight, Hunter. A while ago someone pointed out to me that sometimes there are bastards that simply deserve to die, I think this counts.” The men nodded briefly at me, eyes not wavering from mine, they were making sure not to challenge but at the same time not submitting. Just what I didn’t need tonight, wolf dominance drama. “Thorne sent them to help, he’s sorry he couldn’t do more since you practically helped stop an extermination order on us.
I went to inspect the entrance our GPS pointed to. On closer look, it wasn’t a simple door after all, metal-reinforced frame, and titanium lock mechanism, and the wood exterior was a fake front over a metal door. Nondescript to a fault but certainly not in place here, Tony walked over to join me in front of the entrance.
“Good to see you back in the field, old man.” I shook Tony’s hand with a vigor born of years working together. “Disability paychecks not cutting it anymore?”
“I’ll show you disabled you little runt. ARC thought I couldn’t cut it anymore… two life-endangering injuries but just too stubborn to die. Offered me a golden parachute… I could be on a beach sipping Mai-Tai’s but instead, I’m about to go through a door in a dirty back alley that leads down to hell with you. Do you know why?” He raised a gun that only could have come from ARC’s theoretical weapons department to his shoulder.
“You’d miss my smiling face?”
“Well, you are just so damn pretty.” He grinned with a look I hadn’t seen in his eyes in the ten years since he was in the field. “Told ARC to take their retirement and shove it, got me an upgrade instead.” He tapped the side of his leg a few times, the metal sounding like it had been reworked since I last saw them. “Retirement’s a little too close to giving up in my opinion, and I just don’t have quit in me. We’ll see how you keep up once we’re inside.”
“I’ve learned a few tricks since you went to the farm, don’t you worry. What about them?” I nodded at the gathering of ARC troopers that milled around the portable weapon wagon dispatched to operations requiring any team over ten.
“When I got your call I went to Coulton. He quite loudly and forcefully encouraged me to take some of my back vacation days. This is my escort out of town… under strict orders not to let me out of their sights until I am on a plane to Aruba.” He gave me that grin again, the one that made Nate and I trust this crazy mofo enough to follow him into hell and know we would make it back out. I couldn’t help but smile back, I had missed this more than I would care to admit.
“Ladies! Form up! On me! We are going full breach in Three… Two…” With a quick movement, Tony took a long step to the door and kicked it, his new leg sending the door a dozen feet down the hall inside dented and bent. I could hear him chuckle sometime about retirement again as he slipped inside the door, gun at the ready, all he needed was a lit cigar in his mouth to complete the image. I followed close on his heels sweeping my gun around the warehouse, searching the shadows for any sign of movement.
Mara, Lisa, and the rest of our men spread out into the building. The inside was lined with row after row of shelving with all varieties of food and medical supplies. I looked through some of the boxes and it looked like a prepper’s dream. There was enough on the shelves there to keep a group of two dozen or more healthy and fed for months if not years.
“The vamps can survive nearly anything, except starvation. This place is just so they can keep their own personal food supply alive and well while they feed off them.” Tony looked from shelf to shelf with a frown of disgust. “There are people on the street starving not even a block away from here and not a drop goes to help them.”
“To the vamps,” Mara walked over, shouldering her gun. “This is no different than a barn full of grass or grain to feed cows before we eat them. Except in this case, the cows can think, talk, and probably have homes they want to get back to.”
“Sir!” One of the ARC soldiers snapped a salute as he approached us. “The warehouse is clear, we found a door in the floor in a room in the back. Stairs inside descend an undetermined distance with little illumination. We’ve posted a guard and await your orders.”
“Excellent, have everyone convene there. Things should get much more interesting downstairs.” We headed in the direction the soldier had indicated and found a large hole in the ground in a tiled, kitchen-like area. Two huge metal plates had been lifted up revealing a metal staircase leading down into the darkness.
“Looks like fun. Who gets to go down the dark scary hole first?” Lisa popped up from nowhere behind us.
“Oh me…. Can it be me? Please?” Lisa charged down the stairway wearing a grin that nearly split her face in two. Tony and I glanced at each other knowing how easily her enthusiasm could get the better of her. With a shrug, we all followed her into the darkness, filing down the steel staircase into the unknown. We had descended several dozen feet into the dimly lit stairwell when a familiar voice began to boom over some sort of unseen speaker.
“Here I was thinking you would do something to surprise me.” Toussard’s voice echoed off the stone walls as we descended. “I knew as soon as I saw your release from prison you would be paying us a visit, I just thought you would have a more clever plan of attack than running in the front door. Well, far be it for me to ignore my responsibility as a host. I do so hope you will enjoy the entertainment that we have prepared for you… I doubt very much I shall be seeing you again.”
Explosions echoed in the confined space of the stairwell from all around us. The stairs beneath our feet lurched like a metal snake come to life as it was separated from its anchors. One of the ARC troopers above me plummeted past, screaming his way into oblivion.
“Don’t just stand there gawking, ladies!” Tony took charge with the easy air he always had. “Move like your lives depend on it!” The mad dash downwards sped by as we took stairs two or three at a time trying desperately to keep our footing on the unstable structure. Another set of explosions rang out, fully detaching the upper levels of the stairs from the cement and sending it crashing down on top of us. We scrambled desperately, trying to slow our descent but it was no use, the entire assault team, stairs and all, fell into the abyss. As gravity took hold of me and I plunged into freefall I felt a huge form collide with me, pressing me against the wall.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The ground hit me like I had done something personally to offend it. I struggled to breathe through the pain as one of the werewolves peeled himself from around me. He had grabbed me and taken the brunt of the fall on himself, bones protruded from his skin in several areas but they were already receding as his healing knit his body back together. Gunshots ringing out around me snapped my attention back to focus as the fangers attacked before we could even gather our wits.
Bright white fangs snapped at me out of the darkness as I searched for the others. I brought my arm up and the vamp only ended up chewing on my shotgun, I kicked it backward off me, my knee screaming in protest at the movement. I was knocked sideways in the crossfire from other troops nearby as I got to my feet. The were that had saved me sprang up shortly after, gotta admit a little jealous at that. The vamps had surprised us in the very moment we were already distracted but ARC training is very thorough, and Tony had brought some veterans with him that had repelled much of the attack. The biters withdrew when they felt they had lost the advantage, certainly to attack the next time our attention lapsed.
“How many did we lose?” I called out, maneuvering through the twisted metal wreckage of the stairs. I saw one of the ARC troopers impaled not far away, steel tubing piercing through his chest, ending his career earlier than any had planned. Others sounded off in the gloom around me as we did our best to regroup.
“Looks like we lost eight between the fall and the attack, four others are too injured to proceed safely. We’re treating injuries quickly while I sent two to scout ahead.” Tony assessed our forces from where he sat binding a trooper’s shoulder. “The were’s quick thinking saved us from having a lot more bodies on our hands but it had a few of the men rattled. If the whole field trip is going to be like this we may need to bus another class out to help us.”
One of the wolves walked up, he was a scrawny man with a dirty blonde mop of his head strolled over. I could not, for the life of me, tell which of the beastial hulking masses of muscle and fur that had been doing battle a moment ago. A gaping wound in his side was slowly closing as he approached us.
“Status?” Tony looked the man over, knowing in his mind to assess the state of the man he would be fighting beside.
“We will be ready to proceed in minutes. Only one of us was seriously injured and he is well on the way to recovery. The humans have all been treated as best as our supplies allow.” He cast his eyes downward a moment, the shadows passing through them spoke volumes about how this was not his first battlefield. “We gathered the bodies of your men together for retrieval… I’m sorry we couldn’t save more.”
A soldier had approached with him and held out the tags of the eight men we had lost for Tony to hold onto. “I’ll get them to the families.” Tony sighed as he stowed the tags, he had never liked losing men under his command, no one ever did. He put the emotions away along with the tags, there was a time and a place, and mid-op was neither.
“We’ve lost communication with the surface,” The soldier cut in. “Radio’s being jammed somehow. Our best guess is we fell somewhere upwards of two hundred feet, likely more.” I tapped my ear a few times as the report continued, trying to raise Holly with no luck.
“Looks like the only way out is through,” Tony muttered to himself. “Post watch… two of the less injured will guard the rest here and hope for contact from above. The rest squad up…. We leave in five minutes.”
~ * ~
The scouts returned just in time for the group to set back out.
“It’s some sort of maze.” One of the scouts reported upon their return. “Multiple paths, doors leading into other corridors and rooms. We were cautious to avoid contact but there is certainly an unknown number of hostiles within.”
“No way for us to go but forward for now.” Tony took inventory of what our forces looked like now, a little harried but still willing to fight. “Okay, from here on in we are splitting ourselves into groups, Butcher, Andrews, Harris, McGuire, and Vaughn you’re Alpha. Briggs, Harrison, Frost, Hearne, Chance, and myself are Beta. Hunter and his team are designation Gamma and, Hunter, I know she’s here by her own choice but if my niece doesn’t come out on the other side of this I will make you suffer in such unique ways researchers will pay to take notes. I won’t speak for the wolves since I understand they likely have their own priorities.”
The groups formed up as Tony continued issuing orders. “The rest of you keep trying to contact up top and arrange exfil. Keep safe and good luck. Let’s head it on out, rules of engagement are easy, if it moves down here it wants you dead in as messy a way as it can manage. Do not hesitate, if you engage the enemy make sure you fire first and you damn well be sure you fire last.”
The scrawny wolf who had spoken with us earlier decided to stay and protect the wounded, he swore to us none of them would come to any further harm in a very serious tone. Two others, introducing themselves as Amoux and Mingan came with us while the last two weres split up with the remaining groups. Mara and myself had been made a priority to the were’s by Thorne so they were to keep a close eye on us in the underground.
Watching the ARC soldiers was a thing of beauty, they were trained to work together in a way that freelancers like myself did not. Exiting the base of the ruined stairs the path opened to a wide hallway with a few scattered doors. There was no talking among the group, they were all business while on the job. A few motions of Tony’s hands sent Alpha to set up outside the first door while his group moved to the second across the hall.
Our group was built of outsiders to the military formations with the possible exception of Mara, so we formed up in the center between the two groups watching their backs as they moved. The primarys of each group covered the doors with their barrel waiting on the go signal from their secondaries. Tony counted down the breech and both groups moved at the same time, breach rounds sounded as the doors were opened and the teams rushed inside. Loud hissing and weapon fire echoed into the hall from both rooms as the assault teams took on those they found inside.
The noise of the attack did not go unnoticed, other doors in the large hall were thrown open as a stream of monsters rushed out to meet us. Mara and I rolled grenades out at the approaching horde, flashes of UV lights and silver shrapnel exploded in the crowd. Lisa opened fire with an assault rifle, just spraying bullets at waist height into the charging vamps as they poured out of the darkness. Chutes opened in the ceiling above us, dropping vamps right into our midst.
“Fall back!” Shouted Tony. “Converge at the hall, Alpha give cover, Beta deploy barricades!” He grabbed a charging bloodsucker by the neck and kicked it, his legs tearing one of the thing’s legs off at the knees. “Move! Move!”
The soldiers dropped line strips across the entrance to the room from the hall, sparking one end of each as hardening foam grew into a short wall. The last few joining them had to leap over the growing barrier, as they landed on the far side they would plant their foot. In one practiced motion they pivoted, dropping to a firing position and opening fire. Explosions and gunfire erupted from the line they had formed against the tide of bodies. It seemed like Thorne was willing to sacrifice a dozen or more bloodsuckers just for the chance of injuring one of us. They wanted to make us pay for every inch with blood and that was fine with us.
~ * ~
Minutes later the stream of enemies stopped as suddenly as it had started. As soon as it was clear they lost any advantage the nightspawn would withdraw and wait for a better opportunity. We climbed cautiously over the bodies as we proceeded farther into enemy territory. We came to a three-way split in the path and we separated. Mara, Lisa, myself, and the two weres went down the passage our guide indicated would lead us to Toussard, the other two teams marched down the other passageways to continue cleaning the nest out.
The underground tunnels were a discordant labyrinth that connected tool-dug passageways to clean metal tunnels to wood-lined passages that reminded me of mine shafts. It must have taken decades to build all of this under the city without anyone ever knowing it. The vampires made the best they could out of their home-field advantage, using guerrilla tactics to tire and weaken us as we moved. They would strike quickly from a hidden door or behind a corner, only a few at a time, do what damage they could, and retreat before any effective counterattack could be launched. More than half an hour after we separated from the others we were tired and wounded; all of us. Small cuts and bruises mostly but they were adding up as we progressed deeper into the lair. Once we expected the sneak attacks we were better able to deal with them and more than a few of the fangers met their demise at our hands but there was still no sign of Toussard.
Five nightmares that would have given Bram Stoker night terrors dropped on us from above. I dodged, tripping one into another and firing into a third, the last of my RIP bullets expanding, shredding the vampire’s insides. The two weres split up, letting the two I sent stumbling fall before picking one for each of them. Lisa torched the last two with one of her gems as Mara leapt over the flames launching blessed daggers at their chests. I turned, pumping another shell into my shotgun only to find none left. It turned out that it didn’t matter as the rest of the ambushers had already been dispatched.
Amoux let out a tired cheer. “Seems like this is getting easier the more we practice.” He limped along slowly, werewolf physiology could cure wounds as easy as breathing but a person’s body tires as it uses energy, magical or not. We were all nearing exhaustion every one of us and there was no telling how much farther we had left.
“You’ve got so much energy you can take out the next group on your own.” Mingan stretched his muscles out as if he could revitalize them with a few quick motions. I glanced at the compass\gps in my hand and started down the passage again. I had gone two steps at most when Mingan’s head rolled off his shoulders landing at Mara’s feet. His body stood there, stock still for a long second before crumbling to the ground. There were no weapons anywhere near him that could have attacked; it made no sense to me.
Mara called out and ran to where his body lay motionless. I called out to her to stop but she was determined, her foot sank into the dirt of the floor less than a yard from Mingan. She and the body sank into the sand before the floor gave out completely and they fell into the darkness, a steel panel sliding into place to cover the hole. Two more panels opened up on opposite sides of the hallway, one revealing a sort of steampunk air cannon that fired into Lisa before we could react. With a squeak of surprise, she shot across the hall into the other door before both slammed shut.
“Now isn’t that better, Hunter? They have appointments of their own to keep and would only interfere with our business. Now that it’s just the two of us, we can attend to things personally.” Toussard’s cocky voice resonated through the hallway they had used to separate us. A glance at Amoux made me realize perhaps the vampire prince wasn’t as all-seeing as he presented himself to be. It was possible to still get the drop on this monster and just maybe, beat him.
“Silly me, such a busy night I’m forgetting to do things in their proper order.” As I watched Amoux fall apart before my eyes. Before either of us was even aware of anything happening he fell into small chunks of meat on the dirty floor. I looked over the body quickly and found it covered in a nearly invisible net. I lifted one of the fibers and it began cutting into my finger with nothing but its own weight dragging it down. I snatched my hand back, sucking at my finger to stop the bleeding. Mono-filaments, cut through the flesh of the weres without any resistance at all, opening cuts in them at the atomic level. Not even a werewolf could heal that sort of massive trauma. I hated to imagine what other fun our host had planned, and what he had planned for the others.