Changeling: Zombie Dawn (13 page)

The cabbie puffed out his cheeks and was about to say something when Alexa waved two twenty-pound notes at him in the rear-view mirror.

‘You’re the boss,’ he said and pulled away from the curb.

Her attempts to find a listing for Caulden & Son Ltd – the name on the sign Trey had shown her – had drawn a blank, so she’d resigned herself to finding him the hard way. When she’d reached out to him before, the link between them had been metaphysical in nature – a merging of minds. But now she had an image of the physical space he was being held in to concentrate on she knew she’d be able to translate that link into an actual path. She could already sense that they were going in the right direction. It was like water-divining with those dowsing rods that crossed when the person carrying them walked over an underground spring or well. As long as she kept her mind free of any distractions, and pictured nothing but the dilapidated building and that rusty sign, she could
feel
the route she had to navigate through the streets. Each time they went past a turning that she realized they should have taken she told the driver to stop and turn back, eliciting loud moans and groans from the disgruntled cabbie, who was no doubt keen to get rid of his eccentric passenger.

She realized that beyond
finding
Trey, she really didn’t have much of a plan. Initially she’d assumed that Ella alone had taken Trey, but the more she thought about this, the less it seemed likely. Alexa shook her head, forcing these concerns away. She’d simply have to deal with whatever and whoever was responsible for Trey’s capture when it came to it.

‘Take this left,’ she said suddenly to the driver, causing him to turn quickly and eliciting a screech of protest from the rubber tyres.

‘Look, miss. I’m not bein’ funny or nothing, but I’ve had just about—’

‘Shh!’ Alexa commanded.

She was near now, she could sense it, and she barked out the next few directions to the driver before they were even at the junctions, forcing him to navigate a series of quick turns this way and that until they finally pulled into a street in which most of the houses were boarded up, and those that were not looked as if they should be. At the end of the road was the entrance to an industrial estate, and this too had the distinct appearance of being unused and derelict.

‘Stop here,’ she said. She shoved the two twenties at the driver and climbed out. Behind her she heard the taxi turn around and quickly drive off.

The feeling that Trey was here was stronger than ever, and she knew that somewhere up ahead was a rusting old hulk of a building that had once belonged to Caulden & Son Ltd.

She strode forward, telling herself that no matter what happened she would not be leaving without Trey, and that whoever was responsible for abducting and drugging him would be sorry they ever laid eyes on the sorceress Alexa Charron.

Lucien, Hag and Tom got out of the car, the vampire doing so hesitantly, still fearful of the fiercely blazing sun overhead despite Hag’s reassurances that he would be fine and didn’t need the sunblock he’d smothered himself in. Nonetheless, his new ability to go out in the sun had arrived just in time for this, their biggest and potentially last great stand, and he was grateful for that. Lucien and his two colleagues stood side by side surveying the incongruity up ahead while they waited for the demons to join them from the other car. There were only a handful of them in all; Lucien had reasoned that taking a large number of demons through to the other side of the Shield could cause even greater panic and distress when they were revealed for what they truly were. For now they were still hidden behind their human disguises, but that would no longer be the case once they were inside. Besides, he needed his team back at the offices almost as much as he needed those by his side right now – if anything went wrong, they could be ready to react instantly.

The long line of traffic, coupled with the large number of people who now jammed the Fulham Road and every other street in the vicinity, made further progress by any other means than on foot impossible. But even from here, looking across the sea of heads before them, they could make out the Shield.

It looked like some kind of monstrous snow globe, but instead of tiny flakes of white plastic snow, this one was filled with a hazy fog that shifted and swirled behind the hemispherical barrier.

Tom gave a small whistle but said nothing.

The mood of the crowd seemed to be teetering between wonder, bafflement, shock and fear. It would not take much for those standing and staring in amazement to become a wild, panic-stricken stampede. Lucien could hear the speculation all about him – alien visitation, a stunt or a trick. One old man was brandishing a Bible at anyone who came within shouting distance, announcing gravely that this was the Judgement day, when they would be made to pay for their sins.

‘We’ll never get through this lot,’ Tom said to Lucien, nodding at the vast crowd before them.

‘We’ll get through them,’ his boss answered. ‘Desperate times call for desperate measures. Come on,’ he commanded, beginning to push his way forward. He could just make out the police cordon up ahead and he headed for it. Most people moved aside as the vampire politely but authoritatively asked them to make way; those who didn’t were given a private viewing of Lucien’s fangs. The time for hiding what he was had passed. Despite the fear and tension he was feeling, Tom had to smile at the sudden change in these individuals; at first aggressive or belligerent, they shrank back in horror after a single look from his terrifying boss. It was a crude but effective means of clearing a path.

Approaching the police barrier, Lucien moved his arm so that the huge bladed weapon that hung from his hand by a wrist strap was obscured under the long black leather coat he was wearing. The vampire glanced behind him to check that Tom, Hag and the demons he’d brought along were all still together. People were pushing forward towards the metal blockade, and the police, two deep in places, were having a tough time keeping them back. Some of those at the front clearly had family or friends who were at this very moment trapped inside the thing up ahead. Their angry and frightened questions were met with placating but ineffectual words from the baffled officers behind the metal cordons. Off to one side, several reporters were gathered, making frantic notes and phone calls – one of them even had a small camera crew with her and was trying to interview an awkward-looking policeman. Tom looked up to see a police helicopter hovering in the air above them, its rotors making an angry chugging sound over the crowd noise. Lucien had made his way to the far end of the barrier where it mounted the pavement, terminating at a shop front.

‘You’ll have to get back, sir!’ a young policeman yelled in the vampire’s direction as he stepped forward.

‘I don’t think so,’ Lucien replied. ‘You see, my friends and I need to get over there.’ He nodded his bald head in the direction of the dome-shaped monstrosity in the near distance.

‘That’s impossible, sir. You’ll have to go back.’

The vampire shook his head, and the young officer glanced to his right at his colleagues. The crowd in the centre had pushed forward again, and a number of the police were concentrating on coping with the surge. Lucien was faced with only four officers.

The vampire looked into the four men’s eyes, taking in each one in turn. He felt their fear and insecurities, and he knew that they were as terrified of the thing at their backs as everyone else was. The vampire took a deep breath and
blinked.
For everyone in Lucien’s immediate vicinity, the world stopped. It was as if time had been placed on pause, all sound and motion ceasing to be.

‘My friends and I need to get past this barrier,’ Lucien said in a low, urgent voice. ‘You and your colleagues will allow us to do so. You will move aside long enough for us to get through, but you will not allow anyone else to pass. When we are behind you, you will forget that we were ever here. Do you understand?’

The police officers all mumbled that they did.

The vampire nodded, adding, ‘You’re doing an excellent job. Stay brave and keep these people here safe. We’ll do what we can to get this thing sorted.’

The uniformed men all nodded.

‘Good. Now move the barrier, please.’

They did as the vampire commanded, pulling it a little to one side so that Lucien’s people could squeeze, single-file, through the gap. The vampire was the last to pass. ‘That’s all of us,’ he whispered to the officer who’d first spoken to them. The policeman nodded and quickly dragged the metal barrier back in place. As soon as he did so, the world seemed to restart for the young constable. He frowned for a second before facing the angry crowd ahead of him again, yelling at them to calm down. He had the strange feeling that something or someone was behind him, and the thought sent a shiver down his spine. A large woman wearing a blue baseball cap stepped up to the barrier and began shouting in his face. He forgot his unease and concentrated on the task at hand – to keep these people away from whatever that weird dome thing was until the authorities could work out what they were going to do about it.

Lucien and his team hurried towards the Shield, leaving the worst of the noise and clamour behind them. As they drew nearer they could make out the vague figures of people on the other side. Ghostlike, they lined the perimeter, some hurrying up and down along its length looking for a means of escape, others frozen in despair. As they watched, a figure came into view, running through the others, and threw itself at the barrier. He or she – it was impossible to tell which – stuck there for a moment, jerking violently as if some huge electric current were flowing through their body, only to be forcefully flung backwards away from the wall again and into the mist behind.

It wasn’t just those people on the inside of the Shield who had tried to breach its defences. All around there were wrecked cars and vans that had been used to try to find a way through. Most of them had come to a crashing halt at the perimeter of the shimmering force field, their front ends concertinaed and crumpled with the power of the impact.

There was a shout, and Lucien turned to his right to see two uniformed officers hurrying towards them.

‘You lot! What are you doing here? This is a restricted—’

Hag mumbled something under her breath, and the men simply crumpled to the ground in an unconscious state.

‘Go,’ Lucien said, nodding to the two incubi demons he’d brought along. They hurried over to the fallen men, took one glance at them and transformed into their perfect replicas. They dragged the unconscious officers to the safety of an abandoned car where they quickly swapped into their official uniforms. This done, one of them came trotting back over to Lucien and the others.

‘We’ll go on patrol now and make sure you’re not disturbed by anyone else.’ The demon nodded at its boss.

‘You’re not to hurt anyone, do you understand?’

‘Of course,’ the demon said. ‘Good luck,’ it added before rejoining its partner.

Lucien nodded his appreciation to Hag. The team moved forward again until they were no more than a few metres from the Shield wall. Immediately before them was a vertical shimmering force that rose up to about the height of a bus before it began to curve away. The ‘wall’ stretched from one side of the street to the other, passing straight through buildings and continuing on the other side.

‘Why’s it so foggy in there?’ Tom asked.

‘It isn’t,’ Hag answered. ‘The Shield just gives that impression. If you think what it was used for, it made sense to have the movements of troops within the cordon kept hidden from those on the outside. In there,’ she said, pointing, ‘the sky will be dark and purple and clear – a little piece of the Netherworld brought right here to Earth.’

‘How big is it?’

‘Big enough,’ the sorceress said. ‘I shudder to think how many people are trapped in there, or what might have happened to some of them already.’

There was a pause during which nobody said anything.

‘Exactly how long is it since Leroth was first transported here?’ Lucien asked.

‘An hour and four minutes,’ Tom said with a glance at his watch.

The vampire turned to look at Hag. ‘How long does it take for a zombie’s victim to reanimate? How long until those that have died in there come back to life?’

‘That depends on the nature, and the outcome, of the attack. If the zombie has killed the person with a bite, the infection will quickly pass through the victim’s body. In those cases the reanimation could take place in as little as an hour, maybe less. If the victim survives the attack, he or she is still infected, but it will take longer.’

Lucien frowned. ‘So those killed in the first wave could reanimate at any time.’

‘Great!’ Tom said, swearing under his breath. ‘We have no idea how many zombies Caliban brought with him in the first place and now they’re about to multiply by . . . well, we don’t know how much!’ He shook his head and pointed at the dome-like barrier. ‘We could be facing anything from one to a thousand creatures when we go in there, Lucien.’

Tom looked down at the machete-like weapon in his hand. They’d all been issued with one, and he hoped it was going to be enough to stop whatever they encountered when they got on the other side of that wall. They were no ordinary blades: they were forged in the Netherworld from a special ore found only there and they were almost impossible to blunt. Even so, the Irishman wished that he were taking something a bit more
military
in with him – an Uzi or a Glock maybe. Even better, an M4 carbine with a tasty little 40mm grenade-launcher underneath – that’d suit him down to the ground. But guns, just like electrical equipment, simply failed to work in the Netherworld. No, this was going to be hand-to-hand combat, with all the gruesome horrors that entailed. He hefted the heavy blade in his hand and puffed out his cheeks. ‘Well, I suppose we’d better get inside and see exactly what we’re up against.’

Lucien turned to Hag. ‘
Can
you breach the Shield?’ He was almost afraid to ask – their whole plan relied on the witch being able to do so, but it was no small task and not guaranteed by any means, however powerful she was.