Rotter Apocalypse (17 page)

The coven had made its nest in the blacked out living room of the farmhouse, opting to reside in the same area for security and safety in numbers. Mattresses and sofas from the other rooms had been dragged in and pressed into corners or against walls. The only illumination came from a set of candles atop a coffee table in the center of the room. A love seat and three easy chairs surrounded the coffee table. They had secured the room well, painting the glass black in the three windows along the north wall, nailing boards across the frames, and draping heavy curtains over the interiors to block any sunlight. The sliding double doors, as well as the single swinging door to the kitchen, had also been closed, with heavy curtains stretching across their length and deadbolts inserted into the jambs. The coven was impervious to sunlight, and neither rotters nor humans were breaking in without waking them.

Most of the coven had wandered off to their respective corners and fallen asleep once the thrill of meeting new vampires had worn off. Four still remained awake: Dravko and Tibor, who each sat in an easy chair, plus Vladimir and a female vampire with long auburn hair who he had introduced as Gabrielle, who cuddled together on the love seat. Tibor and Vladimir chatted animatedly, mostly discussing the good times before the Vampire Council had initiated the outbreak that slaughtered billions of humans and nearly wiped out their own species. Gabrielle sat beside her Master and didn’t speak, rubbing his chest or running a hand along his thigh, playing the role assigned to her. Dravko kept to himself, not wanting to discuss certain uncomfortable subjects.

“So how did you survive being banished from the camp?” Tibor asked, bringing up one of the subjects Dravko had wanted to avoid.

“I almost didn’t.” Vladimir’s tone lost none of its pleasantness. “I’ll admit, I hovered around the camp for several days, plotting a way to sneak back in and murder Paul and Elena—especially Elena—for throwing me out like they did.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because I knew that would turn the humans against you. The rest of you would either have been killed or banished, and with nowhere to hide you wouldn’t have lasted long. I thought it was better to let the coven survive than to get revenge.”

Tibor laughed. “How noble of you.”

“It was always my best quality.” Vladimir chuckled. He glanced over at Gabrielle. “Isn’t that right?”

“Lord of the manor,” she replied. Dravko noted she said it with more fear than affection.

“At first I headed south, hoping to meet up with any survivors from the raiding party we had sent to shut down the nuclear reactor at Seabrook, but didn’t have any luck. I did find Gabrielle held up in an old diner in Hampton. She had been one of seven people who had set themselves up there shortly after the outbreak. Four had died in supply runs, one succumbed to pneumonia, and the last had committed suicide a month earlier. Gabrielle had been alone for weeks when I ran across her, and she begged me to make her one of us.”

When Gabrielle lowered her eyes and bowed her head, Dravko assumed Vladimir was not relaying events precisely as they had happened.

“We headed north. I figured we’d be safer where there were fewer rotters. Any humans we came across were given a choice. Join the coven or be bled dry. You’d be surprised how many chose death over immortality.”

“I wouldn’t,” said Tibor. “I lived among humans long enough to realize that not everyone is strong enough to be immortal.”

“Exactly.” Vladimir shoved Gabrielle aside and leaned toward to Tibor. “That’s why I gave the humans a choice, and why I only accepted into the coven those who asked to be immortal. Our bloodline has been diluted by bringing in those who were weak in mind and body. We’ve polluted our species to the point that our leaders thought releasing the Zombie Virus would be beneficial.”

“Those assholes nearly killed us all,” Tibor agreed.

“Which is why, when I decided to rebuild the coven, I swore I wouldn’t make the same mistake. I wanted to ensure the purity of our species going into the future. Only those who asked to be immortal, and who I thought were worthy of being immortal, were allowed to join.” Vladimir pointed to the fireplace where a tall vampire in a leather greatcoat and blond crew cut, and who appeared to be in his mid-thirties, curled up by the hearth. “That’s Miles. He was part of a biker gang holed up in a bar outside of Concord that had been overrun by rotters. I found him ten miles away after his bike spun out and tossed him in a ditch, breaking his leg and shattering several ribs. He begged me to turn him so he could get some payback on the rotters. Good thing I did. He’s the toughest son of a bitch in the coven.”

Vladimir motioned to the far end of the room where three other vampires slept, one propped up in the corner and the other two at his feet. They each appeared to be in their early twenties and wore street clothes. “Those three are Jonathon, Stamos, and Sean. I came across them in a Stop & Shop in Hanover. There were eighteen people hiding inside, and they had a pretty good set-up until I came along. The coven ate well that night. Me, Gabrielle, and Miles overpowered the guards and drained them, and then rounded up the others. We spent over a week there feeding. Several of the survivors begged to join us.”

“They were the ones who begged?” Tibor asked.

Vladimir shook his head. “No. The ones who begged were terrified for their lives. I would never have let them in. Those three were the last to die. I taunted them, telling them that if they wanted to be immortal all they had to do was ask. Jonathon said he would love to be immortal, but would rather die than beg for it. The other two agreed. I liked their spunk, so I turned them. They’ve been loyal.”

“What about her?” Tibor motioned toward a female spread out by the sliding doors.

“That’s Mia. I found her collapsed by the side of a road, almost dead from hunger and dehydration. She wasn’t even worth feeding from. She begged me not to let her die, and promised eternal loyalty if I saved her. So I did.”

Vladimir looked to the opposite corner where a young brunette with bobbed hair wearing a knee-length skirt cuddled against a blond teenager in a flannel shirt and denim jacket. “He’s Lewis, the only one sired against his will. When we attacked him in Barre, Lewis overpowered and staked one my vampires. There was no way I was going to kill someone who fought that tough, so while Miles and Stamos held him down, I turned him. His girlfriend Tamara begged me to do the same to her so they could be together, so I obliged.”

“Wait a minute,” Dravko interrupted. “You said that Lewis killed one of your vampires?”

“Uh-huh.”

“How big was your coven?”

“At one time it numbered fifteen,” answered Vladimir. “Lewis killed one. Another was taken down by some humans we had captured who escaped. That’s why I hobble them now. Three more died when the coven was swarmed by rotters in the White Mountains. And the last committed suicide.”

“You’re shitting me,” said Tibor.

“She was a punk seventeen year old. I don’t even remember her name. When the coven found her, she threatened us with an axe. I gave her a choice: die quickly or join us. She chose the latter. Two weeks later, she left the group in the middle of the day and walked out into the sunlight.”

“First time I ever heard of that happening,” said Tibor.

“It makes sense, though. Every time a master sired one of us, they would mentor us in how to be a vampire, and would teach us what we needed to know. Now we turn a vampire and hope he or she survives the next few weeks. It’s why I moved here.” Vladimir sat back and gestured to the farm house around him. “The coven was losing vampires almost as fast as we could create them. I figured there were fewer rotters, so our chances of survival would be greater. A lot of humans thought the same way, so we’ve not gone hungry. I wish I could say the same for you. You two look terrible.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Tibor gave Dravko a disapproving stare.

Vladimir settled into the love seat and drew Gabrielle close to him. Dravko noticed how comfortable Vladimir handled not only being in charge, but in being able to manipulate the situation. “What happened to the coven after I was expelled?”

Tibor spent the next hour relating what had transpired since that first incident between humans and vampires at the camp that had resulted in Vladimir being banished, with the emphasis on the last month. Tibor detailed the journey down to Site R and how Sultanic had been bitten while trying to save Whitehouse from rotters; how Dr. Compton had wanted to exterminate the vampires inside Site R and released four hundred rotters on Robson’s team when he refused to go along; how Tatyana’s human boyfriend infected her with the virus, forcing Tibor to kill her; how they had gotten back from Site R only to find the camp destroyed by Price’s gang and Elena and the others murdered; and the attack on the gang’s compound. Vladimir said nothing, allowing Tibor to tell the story. Only when he was done did the Master speak.

“I mourn for Sultanic and Tatyana. It’s a shame they died because of humans.”

“What about Elena?” Dravko asked.

“She got what she deserved.” When Dravko tried to protest, Vladimir held up a hand to cut him off. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful. She was the Mistress of our coven and I obeyed her. The fact remains, she never should have joined forces with the humans. I’ve proven we can survive on our own. When you lie with dogs you can’t complain if you get fleas.”

Tibor nodded his assent. Dravko remained silent.

“So let me get this straight,” Vladimir said to Tibor. “When Compton developed the Zombie Virus vaccine, it was only effective on humans?”

“Yes.”

“Because he had used human blood to create the vaccine,” added Dravko. “Our vampire blood is different, so the strain of Zombie Virus used in the vaccine would have infected us.”

“Did he offer to create a vampire-effective vaccine?” The tone of Vladimir’s voice indicated he already knew the answer to the question.

Dravko lowered his head. “No.”

“Fuck,” Tibor chimed in. “The asshole wanted to use it on us and then, once we were infected, put us down.”

“This is what I’m talking about.” Vladimir slammed his palm down on the love seat’s arm for emphasis. “The humans created a vaccine to help them survive the rotter apocalypse, and engineered the vaccine so it’s lethal to vampires. The humans are going to use this to enact genocide on us and blame it on the outbreak. We never should have trusted them.”

“That’s not true,” Dravko protested. “Robson’s people have been good to us.”

“Wasn’t it O’Bannon who sided with Compton and used the vaccine to infect Tatyana?”  Vladimir asked with a melodramatic flair.

“Robson stopped him.”

“No!” shouted Tibor. “
I
stopped him. Robson was too busy trying to retrieve the vaccine.”

Dravko shook his head. “Robson has treated us well.”

“Has he?” Vladimir pushed Gabrielle aside again and leaned closer to Dravko. He spoke like a professor leading a student to realize something he knew already. “Has he ever allowed you to go after a meal like the hunters you are, or have you only been allowed to feed off of animals or humans at their discretion?”

“We hunted members of the rape gang.”

Vladimir raised an eyebrow. “With his permission or by instinct?”

Dravko said nothing.

“I thought so. Tell me, after leaving Site R, did Robson feed you regularly?”

“It was difficult. The blood supply at camp had been destroyed. And once he had decided on going after the gang….”

“Once Robson decided to go after the gang,” Vladimir surmised, “saving his precious human was his top priority rather than making sure all the members of his team were fed. Tibor, didn’t he make a supply run to a Walmart to get supplies for his people?”

“Yes,” Tibor hissed the word like a snake.

“Did he offer to feed you? Did anyone volunteer to give you blood?”

“No.”

Vladimir turned back to Dravko. “Robson may have treated you well, but he saw you as nothing more than pets, as attack dogs to be used when needed. Don’t get me wrong. Most humans like their pets and treat them well. They don’t treat them the same as other humans.”

“That’s not fair,” Dravko said halfheartedly, no longer sure if he believed it himself.

“It
is
fair because it’s true. If you and Tibor were truly part of his group, he would have put your needs before those of humans he had never met. He didn’t. Humans come first to him. He has shown that time and time again.”

Tibor’s eyes were pleading for his friend to accept the truth. “I’ve been telling this to you for weeks. You know I’m right.”

“No one is blaming you for any of this,” said Vladimir. “Once Elena was dead, you did what was best for the coven under the circumstances. Now things have changed. It’s not the two of you anymore. I’ve started a new coven. I’m growing the vampire population again. And this time we won’t take second place.”

“What do you mean?” asked Tibor.

“Releasing the Zombie Virus was a stupid move because it nearly wiped us out. It also nearly wiped out the humans. Both species are going to try and rebuild, except this time they don’t have the numerical advantage they’ve had over us for the past two millennia. We finally have an opportunity to increase our numbers so that vampires rival humans as the dominant species.”