Lycan Fallout: Rise Of The Werewolf (37 page)

Mike went back to the house at first light empty-handed and empty-hearted.

“Nothing?” Tracy asked with concern.

“Not a trace,” Mike told her.

“What now?” BT asked.

“Well, I’d like to take a couple of people to go out and look for her.”

For over a week, Mike, Justin, Travis – all of them at various points –
walked out looking for something. Ever further westward with no luck. It was an impossibility he would ever chance upon her, Azile had headed east towards the ocean. She had walked south down the coast almost to New York before she found what she was looking for; a ship heading away from the devastation. It was rumored that England had come through the zombie apocalypse relatively unscathed due to its isolation.

Nothing could have been further form the truth. London had burned to the ground. The lack of firearms in the country had proved their downfall. Years later, militias would come with the express purpose of flushing out the zombie stasis hiding spots, burning what little remained. Of the forty people on the ship, only Azile and a man named Grant Perry had disembarked in a town near Liverpool. He had family in Manchester and had been trying desperately to get back home since the beginning.

“Wiltshire?” he asked again when they set foot on dry land. “That’s clear across the country. Come with me to Manchester.”

She politely
declined; and not for the first time. Azile was convinced Grant had wanted her company more to bolster his courage than for her protection. She had no real reason why she felt a pull to a place she’d never been, but the name had screamed into her head as she lay in bed at Ron’s house.

“You know this isn’t really the best time for tourists,” he told her, referring to her telling him she needed to go to Stonehenge.

“Good luck, Grant.” She shook his hand.

She had never seen him again. She had checked on the address he had given her, but that was more than fifteen years later, and if he had ever found his way back there, he had not left a forwarding address. The decomposed bodies in the foyer did not
, however, leave much doubt he had not found what he was looking for.

It was
four nights later when Azile had found herself in the middle of the famed structure. She felt like she had finally found what she was searching for.

“I’m here,” she said with no small measure of excitement.

Three people dressed in long, flowing brown robes appeared almost as if summoned. “We’ve been waiting for you,” the
tallest of the trio told her.

He pulled back the oversized hood he had been wearing. He had a scar that started from below his right eye, curved down the side of his neck, and was then lost in the collar of his garment. He was severe looking, but his words and countenance were anything but.

“My name is Triplos, this is Cerin (the woman nodded), and my silent friend over there is Lanner. We are the order of Druids.”

“Home,” Azile said.

“Come,” he said, taking her hand.

Her tutelage was difficult and painful, but she had unlocked many secrets during her time with them. When she felt she surpassed her teachers is when she finally struck out for home. She had foreseen the winds of war and the ultimate outcome if something was not done. Xavier’s lust was without bounds
; he knew of the lands beyond the ocean, and when he was done on one shore he would keep moving, striving to create the largest and most ruthless reign the world had ever seen.

“Stonehenge? I’d always wanted to see that,” I told her.

“Perhaps you will someday,” she said sadly.

“You really believe that?” I asked.

The dip of her head let me know the truth behind her words.

“Well, like you said, you’re not all-knowing, otherwise you’d have that tiara.” I tried to alleviate the mood.

She smiled. “This is true. I’m not sure we’ll make it through this next moon.”

“Think I have enough time to get to Talboton and back?” I asked. “For the beer.”

“We make it through the next few days; I’ll show you how to brew the nasty stuff.”

“Nasty? And wait...you’ve been holding out on me? At least I have an incentive.”

“Holding on to your head not enough?” she asked wryly.

“Unfortunately, no.” I told her, being honest. “I wish I had left Oggie in Talboton…or even with Lana. I don’t know how I’m going to keep him out of the mix.”

“I’m sure the price Lana would have charged to watch him might be too steep,” she laughed.

“You’re probably right. I wonder how my girlfriend is faring?”

“Girlfriend?” Bailey asked approaching.

“Yeah…you and me,” I told her.

“I like my men...bigger.” She eyed me up and down.

“Ouch, my ego is going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“The preparations are made,” she said, changing the subject. She was much too serious, although BT
had been at the beginning as well. If we were to luck out and have more time together, then I’d eventually wear her down. “Now we wait.”

I knew that waiting was always the worst, giving men and women the time to let their imaginations run wild was the worst possible idea. They’d break before it started.

“Come morning.” I told her, “I want you to double the amount of drills with the populace. You can blame it on me. They’ll hate me for the next few days but thank me for it after.”

“If there is an after,” she echoed my thoughts.

True to my word – and then some – Bailey had the locals out and sweating before the birds of morning could even clear their throats. I got more than one glare as I walked past that day. The smell of smelting silver dominated the village. Townsfolk would periodically line up to give a silver lining to their weapons. Maybe we were all going to die but we were going to do it in style. All manner of weapon received a coating, from the lowly rake to the mighty sword. I even made sure that the bowmen dipped their arrow tips. Besides putting a shine to my sword and axe there was another plus I gained from the whole damn thing and that was from Tommy. I hadn’t known his skill with a sword until he approached me.

“Hey, Mr. T, can we talk?” he asked.

“Sure,” I told him as I ‘swooshed’ my sword through the air. I think I even made a swooshing sound-effect…well, just for effect, I suppose.

“It’s about your sword.”

I stopped moving around. “Pretty sweet, huh? You want me to teach you some moves, I’m damn near a ninja.”

“I’ve seen ninjas, Mr. T.” He paused.

I stopped to look at him. I got it. “I’m no ninja is what you’re saying?”

He nodded solemnly. “I can teach you some things, though.”

I swallowed my bruised pride and we worked all that day and deep into the night. Far past lunch, then dinner, past the call of the crows as they rested for the night. Even the crickets had begun to tire by the time we called a break. I’m sure the clang of our metal kept more than one citizen awake, but if I could keep learning, chances were, I’d keep those same people alive or at least have a better chance of it.

There was a chance I was slightly faster than the boy, though he could have been sandbagging on me; but as for strength, I think he could hammer me into the ground. By the end, we were at full speed. He caught me a couple of times with the flat of his sword, and where he did, my skin sprang up in ugly welts and blotted blood. Although I took small victories in putting a couple of slices in the tunic he was wearing. He would show surprise when I did so, and then try to smash my weapon in two with his parries. I don’t think I’d ever seen the boy truly angry before; funny how I can bring that out in folks.

I was breathing heavy, hunched over and leaning on my sword, as sweat sloshed off of me in fat droplets.

“Not quite a ninja…but impressive nonetheless,” Azile said.

“Thanks to Tommy…and has everyone seen friggin’ ninjas except for me?” I asked. It didn’t come out quite that smoothly. I was too busy trying to breathe in between words. I’m not going to lie, I was happy Tommy seemed to be in the same state as myself, although he was actually laying on the ground in your standard ‘snow angel’ pose. He was looking up at the heavens, his chest heaving.

“Gimme...sword,” he finally managed.

I didn’t move. Not because I didn’t want to, but rather, I was unsure if my legs would betray me before I got there. My hard-fought stalemate would look bad if I fell over now.

“Sharpen,” he said as he rolled over and got to his knees.

The ground looked pretty pleasing, but unless I wanted to sleep under the stars, I knew I couldn’t go down to embrace it.

“Azile, we should talk,” I told her.

“About?” she asked suspiciously.

“Just get over here.” Thankfully she did as I asked. “Okay, I’m going to shuffle over to Tommy
. When I give my sword to him, I will have basically lost the only thing keeping me up.”

“Oh? I am to become your cane then?”

“Shh, don’t let him hear you,” I begged.

“Men and their little boy pride,” Azile said. She gave me a hard time, but was smiling as she did so.

Tommy had finally pushed the upper half of his body from the ground and was now on his knees. He grabbed my sword, thankful that he now had two props.

“Sharpen them my ass,” I told him as I leaned heavily against Azile. “I see what you’re doing.”

“As I see you,” he replied. “We will resume on the morrow.”

On the morrow
, I thought. I like the sound of it, it reminded me of knights. Knights…ninjasighplied.…either were pretty cool in my book.

“On the morrow it is. Lead on,” I told Azile. I was dragging my feet like I was drunk and had forgotten the necessary motor skill commands to make them work properly. With some difficulty, we found the way to my living quarters. It had housed three other men, but they very much disliked the idea of sleeping with a half-vamp. How 18th century of them. Vampire-ists.

Azile laid me down in my bed – which was basically a raised platform with a layer of feather covered with a heavy quilt.

“Would you like me to stay?” Azile asked.

I had not a clue what she was talking about, but she must have taken my silence for acquiescence. She grabbed the front of her robe and swept it over her shoulders.

“Oh, I get it now,” I said softly. Oggie grunted when I gently pushed him off the side. A body I thought incapable of anything beyond sustaining life at the moment began to respond as I looked upon her. I was thankful for the enhanced vision.

I had not lain with anyone since Tracy, and to be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure what to do as she got into the bed with me.

“Be gentle,” I told her, as she first placed her finger over my lips and then replaced that with her lips.

When I awoke the next morning (okay afternoon) Azile had already awoken and left – if she had ever even slept. I wasn’t entirely convinced that the whole thing hadn’t been some elaborate dream…or even a spell. No matter which of the three options it ended up being, it was still something special. Even if nothing much past a PG-13 rating happened. Okay, maybe an R rating was necessitated, I think a breast was involved but it was dark. Then, in the blink of an eye or the beat of a heart, the warmth of the remembrance became wracked with a guilt so deep I didn’t think I could speak. My beloved Tracy, what would she think? Would she hold this transgression against me if I could ever find my way back to her? It would all be for naught if I somehow won my soul back and she turned her back on me when I approached. I wouldn’t be able to take that. It was with that morose feeling I finally got out of bed.