Behind The Alpha Book 8 ADAM

Chapter 19

(Chapter song ‘Cry Little Sister' by Marilyn Manson)
2630

“What if they were wrong.” 
I step through the woods, my automatic at the ready.  “They’re never wrong, Mitchell.” 
“Quit whining.”  Fredericks says as she rest her gun on her shoulder and struts by him. 
“I’m just saying.  We've been in these woods for hours and haven’t seen a single Dire.  I don’t know.  I feel like somethings missing.”  He runs his fingers through his dirty blonde, wavy hair. 
Riley bumps him.  “If Comms says there are dires out here then there are.”
“Raven.  Anything on Sats?”  I ask as we all maneuver around the trees.
“Nothing yet.  I don’t know, I’m starting to agree.”  He sighs and scratches his blonde hair.
I shake my head.  “Ferguson.  Take a flight.  See if you can see anything.”
“Yes, sir!”  She gives a little salute and I smile.  Her spunky attitude is cute, but it’s not really needed out here.  I’m sure it’s just her angelic nature.  Bourne should be proud of his little bird.  I wish I had that.  A true angel to hold at night.  Maybe some day, but not while the world has gone to shit. 
She unfurls her black, barely visible to the eyes, wings and takes off into the sky.  I stop and watch her disappear into the clouds over the trees tops.  The moon is full and casting a deep blue light across the forest. 
“She’ll be a while.  Let’s get moving.”  I order.
We move silently and enter a clearing.  It has a rolling hill on one side and is quite large.  It’s lined with darkened trees and the moon paints the field with its magic.
“I’ll tell ya.  If I ever get a chance to stand under that thing…”  Fredericks says.
“You would.  Really?”  I glance at her. 
“Yeah.  Are ya kidding?  The ultimate prize, man.  To have someone love you that much.  God…”  She grins. 
“What if you never find them?”  I ask as we slowly slink through the tall grass. 
She shrugs.  “Never say never.   I wouldn’t have Dire blood if it was impossible.”
“True enough.”  I tick my head. 
You’d have to be a special kind of crazy to hook up with a Dire, but I think that’s why Fredericks is my right hand woman.  She’s all kinds of crazy. 
We slow our pace once we reach the center of the clearing.  “Here’s where they were projected as heading to.  They should be here.”  I inform.
“Shh…you hear that?”  Preston turns to the trees.
I feel a vibration in my feet and look down to see the small pebbles on the ground bounce at my boot.  I slowly raise my head to the trees and watch the darkness. 
Then I smell them.  Thousands of them.  First years. 
“Shit.”
My eyes widen as the trees sway violently and the trunks fill with glowing green eyes. 
“VAMPS!”  Frederick’s yells and they all take a fighting stance.
“NO, NO, NO!”  I rush around the group and pull them into a huddle.  “Don’t…move.”
“What?!”  Riley looks at me like I’m nuts. 
I hold a finger to my lips as my eyes move outside the circle. 
Like a bloodthirsty tidal wave, thousands of vamps explode from the trees.  They hiss and growl as they enter the clearing and run across the grass. 
In seconds, they surround us and run past us.  The hunger in them is so strong, I feel it in my gut. 
We’re lost in the sea of death. 
My friends heads are on swivels as we watch the Vamps run around us. 
I look over Raven to see them stop at a hill and drop to their knees. 
I can hear my friends hearts pounding and smell their fear. 
“What’s going on?”  Raven whispers. 
Then the screams rose over the thunderous noise of their boots stampeding through the clearing.
We turn to the hill and from the east and west sides, adult vamps drag people of all forms out of the trees.  They stop at the edge of the group and throw them into the hungry ocean. 
Fangs bare, hisses ring out and wails of agonizing pain rise. 
I watch in horror as men, women and children are thrown in one by one. 
“It’s a feeding frenzy.  For first year Vamps the hunger is so intense, it makes you deaf and blind.  All you crave is blood.”  I whisper as more Vamps come and fall all around us.
“They can’t see us?”  Mitchell asks. 
I shake my head.  “No.  Not yet.  Once they have their fill, we'll be next.”
I look to my boot as rivers of blood surround it and flows past us.
The more people they drag in, the more voracious the Vamps become.
Then my heart stopped.  My brows stitch up as I see his thick legs carry him to the hilltop.  He's joined by a man in a black cloak and…
“Keep it together, buddy.  Keep it together.”  Preston says as he grabs my shoulder.
I nod as I watch my father stand at his side.  My lycan tries to rise as he stands there smiling.  His eyes glow the color of fire as he says something to Lefu and Lefu nods.  He looks just like me and I hate that so much.  My disdain for that man is off the charts.  If I could go up there and rip his head off, I wouldn’t give it a second thought.
“THE WORLD IS OURS!  I'M YOUR KING!!”  He bellows across the clearing.
“EAT, MY CHILDREN!”  Lefu raises his hands like he’s some sort of God, but I know what he is.  “KILL THEM ALL!!”  He roars and the wave roars back as more people are brought to the slaughter.
Shivers run through me and my chest fills with rage as Lefu and my father laugh maniacally.
“Adam, we need to go…now!”  Fredericks grits in my ear. 
“Agreed.”  I turn them to head back.  “Do not wake them.  Don’t touch them.  Don’t make a sound.”  I instruct.
We slowly step over arms and legs.  We walk around hunched over bodies feeding off of dying people.  The satisfied growls surround our legs as we carefully walk to safety. 
Stragglers run past us to join the feast and we have to quickly avoid colliding with them. 
“Once in the trees, run like you got something to lose.”  I glance at my friends who are all shaken up and holding their weapons tight. 
“ADAM!”
The call from the sky sent me into a panic.
“Go back!  Stay up there.”  I wave my hand to the angel in a frantic attempt to tell her to not land. 
“No!  Ferguson!”  Fredericks joins me.
She’s not listening.
All of us were quietly shouting at her and waving our arms.  We shook our heads no until we almost broke our necks.
She swoops down and back up.  I watch her go to where Lefu was standing and I turn my head back to the trees.
My eyes widen when I come face to face with a blood covered vamp. 
He smiles with a hiss and his fangs drop. 
“Um…Guys…RUN!!”  I yell and slam the but of my gun in his face.
The high pitched squeal of the first years rising almost made our ears bleed as we ran like we were on fire into the trees. 
The forest rumbles as the Vamps entered hot on our tails.
“WE NEED A PLAN!!”  Fredericks yells as she jumps a log.
“I'M THINKING!”  I yell and look back. 
We run down a path and hit the edge of the forest. 
The lake is dark and the blue moon hangs over it.  If I wasn’t afraid of dying, I’d enjoy it.
“THE BRIDGE!” I bark as we run down the bank to the north bridge of the dead city. 
Our breaths huff.  Our boots hit the pavement and our legs are on fire as we try to get to the safety of the city. 
The suspension bridge shakes as it fills with the Vamps.  They climb the cables and jump them to get to us. 
They gorged themselves too much to break into a vamp run which is good for us, but the hunger is still heightening their sense for blood.  We're being hunted. 
Just ahead, a cloud of black smoke appears and my best friend in the whole world appears. 
“Need a lift?”  Bourne smiles.
We practically run him over.
“GO, GO, GO!”  We all crowd around him and hold onto each other.
He looks around us.  “Where’s angel?”
“Still out there.  She’s flying. GO!!”  I yell as the Vamps close in fast. 
He nods and we smoke out. 
We appear on a road in the city.  “I have to find angel.”  He says.  “Hide and I’ll find you.”
“Ok.  Check your weapons.”  I order.  “We need to find shelter and fortify it.  This way.”  I wave them deeper into the city.

**** 

I pace around and think on how to get us out of this alive. 
Ferguson came back, but told us Bourne got taken by my father.  His status is unknown. 
“The perimeter is holding, but if they keep throwing themselves at it, it’s gonna fail.”  Fredericks comes back from a patrol. 
I nod.  “Ok.  We just have to wait for Mitchell.” 
I turn to soft sobbing and see angel on the floor with her knees pulled up.
“Awe…”  I walk to the pain filled girl and drop to my knees in front of her.  She wraps her arms around my neck and I hug her as she cries.
“I’m so scared.”  She chokes. 
“I know, angel.  I’ll get us out of this.”  I look to my other friends.  “Somehow.”
A canon boom fills the stadium and I rise to Mitchell walking into the area with a woman behind him. 
She’s shorter with short red hair.  She’s wearing a white pant suit and smells human.  I step up to them.  “Mitchell?” 
“Yeah.  I found base and told them.  This is Miranda Williams.  She says she can help.”  He motions to the woman.
She steps into the middle of the circle.  “This is quite the predicament.”  She smiles and her blue eyes find mine.
“Yeah.  What are you doing here?  Looking to die?”  I study her closely.
She chuckles.  “No, Adam.  I’m not.  I’m here to save you and everyone.” 
“Everyone.”  I mutter.
She nods and steps in front of me.  “What if I told you there was a way to stop Lefu before any of this ever happens.”
“I’d say you’re insane.”  I smirk. 
“Maybe.  Want to find out how?”  She turns to the rest.  “Or you can wait here and hope help comes before the fence fails.”  She turns back to me.  “What do you say?” 
I meet my friends eyes and then hers.  The vamps growl and hiss as the fence zaps and whines.  “Mitchell can’t get us all out.  He’s not strong enough.”
“I have a trick up my sleeve.”  She ticks her head and crinkles her nose.  She pulls out a vile with a dark purple liquid in it and walks past me. 
She squats down and pours the liquid on floor.  She steps back, the liquid rises and a shimmering circle appears.  It stabilizes and becomes like a fog filled mirror. 
I slowly step to it and analyze it.  In the fog, people in lab coats walk around a medical room filled with desks, equipment and beds.
“What is this?”  I whisper as I look over the thing.
“A portal and your salvation.”  Miranda says. 
I turn and my friends all blink at me. 
“Well?”  She says.
I look back at the portal and back at the group. 
The Vamps continue the attack and it sounds like it’s growing.
“Adam.”  Raven motions his head to the Vamps as he crosses his arms. 
I know we don’t have a lot of time.
I step up to Miranda.  “What do we have to do?” 
She smiles.  “Follow me.”  She walks to the portal.  “Watch your step.” 
She steps into the fog and I motion to the others to follow.  One by one they enter the portal.
Fredericks stops and turns to me.  “I hope you know what you’re doing.” 
“Yeah.  Saving our asses.  Get moving.”  I shove her to the portal and follow her in. 
We walk slowly into the room and the people stop and stare at us.  Our heads float around, inspecting everything as the group of people stand behind Miranda.
She holds her hands out to her sides.  “Gentlemen and Ladies.”
We turn our attention to her.
“Welcome...to ReGen.” 
She stands proudly and smiles as we all look at her with confusion.