Blood Lust: A Supernatural Horror (58 page)

“
You took too much time deciding
,
”
I said.

The
light from
Simmons
’ flashlight
almost blinded me as he swung it in my direction.
stand
.
“We can try downstream,
”
he said,
eyeing Joria with contempt.

We began to wade downstream searching for a way out.
The air in the river tunnel was much fresher than the air in the subway tunnel above. That was encouraging. That meant fresh air was entering from somewhere
A thousand yards
later, we
encountered
a recent rock fall and
a maze of
charred wood
and heavy beams – the remains of the underground mill beneath the
monastery
.
I looked at the debris crestfallen
, m
y hopes dashed.
There was no way out downstream, not now. My previous act of arson had doomed us
all
.

“End of the line,”
Simmons quipped
, taking the
blockage in stride.

Frustrated and angry
with
myself,
I clambered upon one of the heavy beams. “Maybe we can dig our way into the mill.”

“The
entire monastery
fell in
on top of it
, Hardin
.
There’s tons of masonry up there,”
Simmons
said, dashing my hopes.

I jumped back into the water. “There’s no place left but the cavern.”

“Back the way we came?”
Ella
whined.

“Unless you want to wait here for the creature to show up,” I s
napped irritably
.

Joria
ignored us but followed as w
e followed the river upstream until we reached the cavern.
I activated both
remaining
glow sticks and tossed them
against
the cavern walls.
In the almost ethereal light, i
t
would have been a
beautiful place if
we hadn’t been
trapped.
Smoke was beginning to invade the cavern from the smaller opening that led to the
narrow winding passage
I had followed earlier
.
That meant th
e fire in the tunnel
above
was spreading rapidly.
I hoped it
grew
hot enough to
fry the
Chupacabra
.

Simmons
sat down
beside the pool
and
drank from
it with cupped hands
. I started to remind him
the water
might be
full of germs
, but remembered he was carrying a massive load of infection already. A little more
probably
wouldn’t hurt.
I was surprised he was still walking around, amazed
by
his stamina.
I sat
down
beside him.
Ella,
looking distraught,
kept an eye on Joria.

“Looks like I’ve trapped us here
,
”
I told
Simmons.

He glanced at me. His face was gaunt and he was perspiring heavily.
The infection was eating at him badly. His voice was weak as he spoke
, but he managed a smile
. “Better than the tunnel,” he said quietly
, rolling his eyes up to indicate the inferno above
. “We’re not dead yet.”

“
M
aybe the cavalry will come,” I said half in jest. His companions from
Section One
would
have
arrived on the scene by now
. I
f I hadn’t played arsonist again
they would probably have been
in the subway tunnel
already
.
I doubted they could get to us now.

W
e both turned at the sound of a loud splash downstream.

“Debris from the fire?” I asked.

His look of despair told me he did
n’t
think so. The
Chupacabra
had
enlarged
the hole in the wall and had followed us, either in an attempt to escape the
blazing
inferno
above
or simply in pursuit of us.
I grabbed the elephant gun
,
placed
it across my lap and pulled out the .357
, laying
it on the ground
beside me
.

Ella
noticed. “What is it?” Her eyes grew wide. “It’s coming, isn’t it?”

Joria laughed.
“
It will enjoy drinking your blood.
Maybe
I’ll try some as well
.”

This angered Ella. She took a step toward Joria
, perhaps to slap her again
. Knowing how cunning Joria was, I stopped her.

“Leave her alone,” I said. “She just wants a chance to kill you. Here, take this.”

I handed her the
.357. She eyed it with
suspicion
.
“
I can’t
use it,” she protested.

Just point and pull the trigger.”

The wall she glared
at Joria, I questioned my wisdom in arming her.

“Should we move
against
a wall?”
Simmons
asked.

I shook my head. “I want to be out
in the open
where I can see it coming
from all sides
.
I’m tired of fighting in the dark or in
confined
spaces.
The glow sticks will last a while
longer
and I don’t think it’s in any mood to wait
.
”
I held out the elephant gun.
“Let’s see what this thing can do
when I’ve got time to aim it
properly
.”

I know we looked pathetic
for an army
,
two
men
and a woman
, exhausted, sick
, frightened
and wounded, challenging a creature whose kind had been around for millennia, whose intelligence
was
probably
higher than
all
ours combined and
knew every trick any
of
its kind had learned in all that time. It was determined to wipe us out – me for killing its kin and
the others
simply
for
being with me. But we were determined too. I had witnessed its
savage
butchery, its disdain for the human race
as
anything but a source of fresh blood.
I had killed its parent and siblings, but it had killed my partner and my friends.
On this score
,
we were even. The advantage I had over
the creature
was that
I
doubted we would live through this fight. All I wanted, at least, was the chance to kill it with my last dying breath.

I stood and faced downstream. I left
Simmons
sitting
where he was
by the pool
.
He was too weak to stand
but the look of hatred on his face gave me courage. If the creature escaped,
as I imagined it could do eventually,
it would continue its killing spree and someday spread across the face of the globe.
This was too
large a burden to shoulder, so I concentrated on my first priority – revenge.

3
4

Tr
e
y Faber
exited the
sleek
black Hummer
, stood
and
looked over the group of men gathered around the ventilator shaft. Black smoke was roiling from the
opening
, an ominous sign
. The men seemed uncertain what to do.

“Which one of you is
Oliver
McNeil?”
Faber
asked
as he walked up to them.
With his neatly pressed black suit and dark shades, he exuded an air of authority
, which
he was glad to see the gathered men did not miss.

McNeil
chew
ed
on an unlit cigar
. He eyed Faber
suspiciously. “I’m McNeil.”

Faber took in McNeil’s rumpled and dirt-stained clothes
without comment.
“
Your office said I would find you here.
What’s going on?”

“
Well I’ll tell you what’s going on here
, mister
.
A fire is going on here. Who the hell are you
?”

“My name’s Faber. I’m with Homeland Security.
My men need access to the
old
subway tunnel.
” He pointed to five men
dressed in black fatigues
standing around the
Hummer. “
Is this shaft the only way in?”

“
Right now t
here’s no way in
,
or out. The containment doors
between the two tunnels
are
sealed
.
If we open any doors, the fire will spread throughout the entire tunnel system
and endanger the stations
. I have a crew
down there
spraying water on the
wooden walls
where the two tunnels diverge
hoping to keep the fire from burning through.
”

Faber pointed down the open shaft
, backing away from a
sudden
puff of smoke
and heat
. “What about through here?”

McNeil shook his head.
“
The power’s off and
the
fans aren’t working. The air’s full of smoke
, dust
and carbon monoxide
.”

Faber
sighed knowing he was quickly
running out of options. “What about
using
self-contained suits with oxygen
?”

“It’
s about 150 degrees down there. Men couldn’t last more than a few minutes
in that heat even with a
n air-conditioned
suit
.
You would have to remove them to enter through the trap door.
”

Faber was exasperated and let McNeil know that he wasn’t used to people throwing obstacles in his path.
“I
have to get my men
down there,” he bellowed.
“How do I do it?”

McNeil
glared at
Faber
, but when he saw the concern in Faber’s eyes, he allowed a
touch of sympathy
to show
in his.
He idly massaged his sore left arm.
He
wasn’t usually as gruff
or as
short tempered, but he
was still feeling the effects of his mild heart attack. He
had
belligerently refused
the well-intentioned ministrations of the ER doctor and
had
insisted on returning to the ventilator shaft
after
the doctor
had
assured him that Walmsley would live
. He saw
no reason to l
ie
around
in a hospital bed
while
men he knew, friends, faced danger in his subway
.

“I’ve got a couple of friends down there
and I’ve lost one man already.
If I
thought there was a way
down there, I
’d go
in
after them.
”
McNeil turned away.