Blood Apocalypse - 04 (2 page)

“That doesn’t give his people the right to just slip past all of our defenses and not explain to us
how
!” the man screamed. “We need to know where the weaknesses are so we can strengthen them and I want to know what the fuck they were using to make those half-naked guys disappear and reappear like that…they could be any-fucking-where.”

“We’re going to figure it out and we’re going to get some answers, but blowing your top and demanding answers from somebody like Mitchell isn’t the way to do it.” Captain Roberts tried to make his voice soothing. Logic rarely worked when one of his best had his temper flared; and James McDonald’s temper wasn’t just flared, he was past the boiling point. “We’re going to have to use kid gloves with this guy if we want to get answers.”

“Fuck that!” McDonald spat. “We ought to just go in there, cuff the bastard and beat the answers out of him. A little water boarding goes a long way.” He growled. “I guaran-damn-tee ya that me and the boys could get some answers out of that full bird if you’d just let us do our fucking jobs.”

Roberts pointed a finger at him, “Your job is to do what
I
tell you to do. Do you understand me?” He jabbed the finger into the man’s chest to emphasize his point. “Do you?”

McDonald glared at him, his eyes wild. “I got you. I don’t have to like it though.”

“No, you don’t,” Roberts agreed. “The time for liking it comes later.” He added, an evil smile crossing his features.

James glanced at him, unsure that he caught his meaning. “What do you have in mind?”

“Payback, of course. Nobody breaks into
my
base, abducts
my
men and then tells me to stand down over it,” he said, menace dripping from his voice. “Not unless they want their dick slammed in the door.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear.” McDonald smiled, calming down somewhat. “So what do you have in mind?”

Roberts shook his head slowly. “I don’t know yet.” He turned to watch all of the activity on the monitors. “But we’re recording everything that these bastards are doing.” He pointed to the screen. “This isn’t just some standard run-of-the-mill change of command here.”

“Then what is it?” James asked, studying the screens.

“I don’t know.” Roberts leaned in, studying the screen. “It’s more like…an invasion.” He tapped the monitor at the top. “Look at all this shit they’re moving into the underground bunker. Who needs that much crap? And who are all these new fucking people? We don’t have any of their files, their security clearances, their service jackets, health records…nothing. It’s like they just blew into town and the new sheriff tells me to mind my own fucking business and guard the gates!” He glanced at James again. “Fuck him. I’m going to get to the bottom of all this and when I do, I’m going to throw a monkey wrench into their works that will make the Titanic look like a dinghy sprung a leak!”

James laughed and clapped his captain on the back. “That’s what I wanted to fucking hear.” He sat up straight and squared his shoulders. “Finally…somebody with some
balls
around here.”

*****

Laura Youngblood, Executive Officer for the Monster Squad, hurriedly gathered the certified duty officers together and delegated different duties to them, assigning them each different sections to get set up. The armory was being set up as she spoke; and the more important areas at the moment were communications, logistics and machinery areas. Each had their own subsections and Colonel Mitchell had put as much of their operation as he thought would fit into the concrete bunker that Dr. Peter’s lab would be set up in. The bunker had three levels, two of which were deep underground, with Evan’s lab in the middle.  Laura set the officers off on their respective duties and hurried to Evan’s lab to unpack him and check on him. She had an uneasy feeling ever since the plane landed and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to rest easy until she saw that he was okay.

She hurried to the bunker and worked her way past the di
fferent crews, moving crates and boxes and setting up the various areas. She paused long enough to announce, “This may not be as temporary as we originally thought, fellas, so let’s do it right the first time.”

This earned her a lot of quizzical looks, but rather than e
xplain now, she turned and found the stairwell that took her down to the next level. She continued on until she found the new area designated to be Evan’s lab and opened the door. Crates were lining the walls and she smiled when she saw why it was chosen. The room looked like a high school chemistry lab, with two long workspaces in the middle, thick counters with sinks built in, beakers and Bunsen burners along the middle of each, a shelf running down the middle of each workspace. Storage lockers lined one wall with stickers indicating that hazardous or toxic materials were within their closed doors. She shook her head as she took in the room.

“He’s going to be thrilled,” she muttered to herself.

“Like a kid in a candy store,” Evan quipped as he slipped in beside her, causing her to jump slightly and catch her breath.

“You startled me,” she said as she caught herself.

“Sorry. I heard you coming and had to…take care of a few things first.” He looked away sheepishly.

“What?” Laura searched his face.

“I was…having a snack.” He replied self-consciously.

Laura reached for him and pulled him to her. “You don’t have to hide to feed, Evan. You know that.”

He stiffened slightly when she said ‘feed’. To him, he was simply eating, but to her, he was ‘feeding’ like an animal. He tried hard to put it out of his mind, knowing it was just a slip of the tongue, but he also pondered whether it was a Freudian slip. “Yes, well, I find it somewhat embarrassing.” He pulled away slightly and looked at her. “Why are you here so soon? I haven’t even unpacked.”

She smiled and lowered her eyes. “I came to unpack
you
.” She shook her head. “Matt said you had crated yourself and I thought you would need help to…I don’t know.” She laid her head against his chest and laughed at herself. “I was just worried when the plane landed and they opened the doors and I thought you were simply riding in the back. The sun was out and I feared the worst.” Her eyes began to mist as her emotions rose up on her again and she fought to hold them in check.

He pulled her closer and rubbed at her back. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For caring so much.”

She said nothing as she rested a moment in his arms enjoying the knowledge that he was safe and unharmed. She squeezed him tighter in her arms and held him desperately for a moment longer. “I hate to do it, but I have to go.”

“I know. Duty calls and all that.”

She stared at him, his rugged handsomeness, his caring eyes, the slight curl of his hair and she wondered how anybody who laid eyes on him
couldn’t
love him. It helped for her that he was so damned tall and didn’t make her feel like a freak. When he held her, she felt normal and she fit against his body. Laura rarely dated in high school or college because she was the same height or even taller than most of the guys that were in her circle of friends. But Evan was so tall that, when they were seen together, she seemed
normal
compared to him.

She ran her hand along the side of his face and a smile tugged at the ends of her mouth. He smiled back at her. “What?” he asked.

“I just love you so damned much.”

Evan was somewhat shocked by her deep emotional admi
ssion and wondered at the source of it, yet he knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. He simply smiled back at her and replied, “Not nearly as much as I love you.” He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her for all that he was worth. Their tongues danced and darted, hers hot and wet, his cold and coppery from his ‘snack’. Laura felt his fangs slowly descend and knew the effect she was having on him. She smiled inwardly and allowed one hand to wander, to stroke his…ego, for a moment. He growled in her mouth as she tempted and teased him.

She traced his fangs with her tongue and thought of Nadia’s words on the plane, how a vampire’s bite can bring one to levels of ecstasy akin to orgasm in a matter of seconds. She pulled away from Evan and breathed in his ear, “Bite me.”

Evan froze solid in her arms while Laura continued to writhe and stroke him. “Bite me,” she pleaded at him. He pulled away from her and stared at her, hard.

“What is wrong with you?” His face reflected his fears.

Her eyes fluttered open and she tried to catch her breath, not realizing that Evan’s level of worry went beyond a simple question. “What do you mean?”

“Do you know what you’re asking?” He pushed her away. “I’d never turn you, Laura. I couldn’t…
kill
you!” he cried, his eyes wide with shock. His face reflected one who had been betrayed by the person he trusted most and Laura couldn’t quite understand, her emotions still riding the high of endorphins in her blood.

“What are you talking about?” Her confusion was muddled by her lust.

“My bite!” he said as he paced the room. “I’d kill you if I bit you. I can’t just
bite
you…I can’t control myself, my fangs would descend, I KNOW it. I’d end up infecting you and—”

“No!” She interrupted. “Evan, you don’t understand.” She tried to explain, but Evan was on the verge of a breakdown. The one and only person who had shown any emotional interest in him since his death and resurrection now wanted him to risk her life for something as simple as a bite. The insanity of it befu
ddled and frightened him. “Evan, Nadia explained it to me on the plane!” she yelled, trying to get his attention.

He stopped his rant and turned to her. “What would Nadia know of a vampire bite?” he asked slowly.

“She has lived with them her entire life, sweetheart. They have told her everything about themselves,” she explained. “Before they fed on animals, they used to feed on humans. And the bite itself doesn’t change you. Yes, there is a virus in the mouth, but it acts like a drug. It makes you not care that you are being bitten, it deadens the pain and it gives you a sexual high that is better than an orgasm.”

Evan’s eyes rounded as she spoke. “Why would you want more than what we already have?” he asked, unsure if he wanted the answer.

She smiled at him and approached slowly, taking his hand and pressing it to her chest. “I want to share
everything
with you. I want to share my blood with you while we make love. I want to please you with every part of me. I want to be pleased as well. I want to be marked by you as well…by your bite.” She moved his hand to allow it to cup her breast and he swallowed hard.

Evan stood there a moment, a mix of emotions flowing through him as he weighed the possibilities. His hand began to shake and she pressed it harder to herself. He pulled his eyes away from her breast and to her eyes. “I want to. I’ve
wanted
to for so very long, but I fear the OTHER possibilities, as well.”

“But Nadia says it’s safe—” she began to argue.

“Forgive me if I don’t take the word of a werewolf we’ve only just met,” he interrupted. He pulled her close to him and stared deeply into her eyes. “I love you more than anything in this world. If you’ll give me just a little time.” She looked away from him and he pulled her eyes back to him. “Just a little, please, to ensure that it’s safe. A few tests to know that you won’t turn into…
this
.” He said as he indicated himself. “I’ll hurry and I’ll do my best to be thorough.”

She nodded and laid her forehead against his chest. “I love you, Evan.”

“I love you more,” he breathed as he stroked her hair.

*****

Apollo Creed Williams, Team Leader for Second Squad searched the new training area and found Darren Spalding, the Team Leader for Third Squad as he was just exiting. “Hey, man. You seen Jack?” Apollo asked.

“Nope. I was looking for him, though.” Spalding shrugged. “You looking for him, too?”

“Yeah, I’m hoping he can tell me what the fuck that was that dragged us all over the base and had us waking up at Max’s feet.”

Spalding shook his head. “Yeah, I’d like to ask him about that as well.”

“Any idea where he might be?” Apollo fell into step as Spalding turned and headed back across the open terrain between the buildings.

“Not really, but I’m hoping maybe Colonel Mitchell either knows something or maybe he can find out. That shit was just too weird,” Spalding said. “I was halfway back to where I was before I even realized what had happened.”

“Yeah, man, me too! That was some voo-doo shit right there. Almost like a dream or something.” The two men continued walking across the common areas until they reached a quartet of crewmen working on the grounds. Apollo approached them. “Hey, where can we find the head honcho’s office?”

The work crew stopped what they were doing and eyed the two commandos suspiciously. “Where’s your base badge?” one asked.

“What base badge?” Spalding asked.

The crewman flipped at a plastic ID that was clipped to his shirt. “This.”