Containment Measures Read online

  Anna nodded. “Seven containers of it. Do you think it will work?”

  Xairin shrugged. “It should. Just make sure you take some now. I think it needs to be in your bloodstream beforehand.

  Anna pulled out a vial with an aged blue wrapper on the bottle. She twisted the top off and used the eyedropper inside to put two full squirts of the brown liquid into her mouth and swallowed. “That tasted nasty.”

  She looked at the bottle, it lacked an expiration date that was discernible. “I hope this won't kill me.”

  Xairin scoffed. “Look at the Brightside, if it doesn’t, the bats or the ghouls will.”

  Anna just looked at him.

  “So where are these, Waslick campers?”

  Anna walked, leaving him to follow her without saying anything other than, “Follow me.”

  He walked behind her. He could see a faint light coming into the building. The sun was starting to come up and the early rays were beginning to cause a sting to his eyes. He didn’t stop, he just shielded his eyes with his hand and kept up the pace.

  She took him to an open view of the city. The sun hadn’t crested the buildings yet. Xairin was able to look directly at where she pressed her finger on the glass. “That building, right there.”

  Xairin looked to where she was indicating. The building was made of a fine glass exterior. He couldn’t see a name on the building, other than the letter T was barely hanging along the front of it. The rest had peeled off years ago. For the most part, the building was intact, aside from busted out glass on a few levels. “They’re there.”

  The higher the sun got, the more Xairin’s eyes stung in their centers. He had to look away. It was the first time he had attempted to look at a sunrise since his new condition. It hurt like a son of a bitch. He almost felt blinded.

  “Are you ok?” Anna inquired.

  Xairin nodded. “Yeah, it's the bat thing, I won't burst into flames, but the light really hurts.”

  “Can I do anything for you?”

  Xairin’s eyes went from stinging to burning. It was like pouring onion juice into his eyes with a pinch of hot pepper seeds added to the concoction. He had to get to someplace darker. All he could do was stumble and rub his eyes. The vampire was blinded.

  “FUCK ME!” He yelled. The burning got worse. He tripped over some debris and fell face first.

  The woman stood there, watching the vampire. This would have been an easy moment to either run away or try and kill him. Anna considered it for a moment as she looked around for anything pointy at the end. She was about to pick up a metal pole, when she thought back to him saving her again. The act of what he had did, caused her to rethink things as he stood back up.

  Anna noticed he couldn’t guide himself. He was blinded. Instead of looking for something to stake him with, she rushed to his side, and helped him. “Tell me what you need?”

  Xairin was trying not to panic. His blood started to speak to his instincts. “I need the dark, someplace dark.”

  Anna helped him into an old clothing store a hundred yards away from the window. She helped him sit and then lie back to rest. He reached for clothing with his hands, feeling for the textures. She saw him trying and helped pull a pair of women’s jeans off a metal hanger, after that he wrapped it around his head.

  For her new friend, she was worried. He had been helpful, she knew she needed him. If some sort of monster came out of the shadows, she needed his help. “What can I do?”

  Xairin was almost incoherent as he waited for the pain in both his eyes to subside. His voice was pained. His voice was gruff and strangled from the burning he was feeling in his retinas. “Sunglasses, something, I’m not sure. I didn’t expect it to hurt like this.”

  He was starting to feel defeated. In one night, he had been bitten by a ghoul, killed two people to cure his blood fever, and then a little boy to stop a ghoul outbreak. Now the sun was rising, making it difficult for him to attempt what he had come here for in the first place. His good intentions were falling short.

  Chapter 2

  Armed to the gill.

  Even a vampire as old as Lillian had to obey the rising sun’s stinging glare. She had packed what looked like skiing goggles and had them snug to her face. She had fastened it just in time.

  The cleanup crews were hard at it. Droids with vaporizing lasers, made a clean sweep of the ghoul corpses, leaving nothing but dust behind as the rays from their guns, burnt away what was left, not even bones remained behind. Meanwhile Ezra and Marine were locked and loaded. After a change of pants, Ezra wanted some payback.

  Commander Fentrose however, wasn’t too keen on two of her better detectives going across the bridge. She had other plans. First and foremost, they had one major case needing an overhaul, secondly their other cases were starting to fall by the wayside. There was no time for additional excursions. “Huxley, Evans, you two are staying!”

  Ezra was feeling like a little retribution was due since he had to admit to soiling himself from the ghoul that surprised him. He was changed into combat gear, ready to cross the bridge right as the woman’s robotical voice sounded out. The man snuffed her. “Are you serious Commander?”

  Fentrose was very serious. “You two are to report back, we have Immortium assistance. That and you two have a case to work on wrapping up and a body count rising, get on it!”

  Hannibal had been lying low, Fentrose made sure to include him as well while her mechanical voice yelled. “YOU TOO DETECTIVE QUESSENBERRY!”

  The dark-haired gentlemen lowered his head and didn’t give any lip.

  Marine wasn’t as eager to leave either. “Commander, with all due respect, they could use a wolf.”

  Lillian overheard the eagerness and approached. While another thrope could be useful, she had to agree with Fentrose. She shook her head. “I have a team ready.” No sooner had those words pursed her lips, a woman approached daunting a red kevlar body uniform. You could tell it was a woman, based on the outline of the sentinel’s figure. She took of her helmet, holding it to the side. The young woman stood there shaking out her dark curls. After a second of taking the time to fix her hair, the raven-haired woman smirked at the shewolf detective. Marine got a whiff, it was a mer.

  Lillian seemed boastful. Clearly, she had a lot of stock in the mer she was assigning to the task. “This is Lana Bales, she will be leading a team into the city. I am quite sure, her shark like senses will come in quite handy detective.” Lillian persisted. “As you know, sharks do have a keener sense of smell. Luckily for us, this mer is one of the best.”

  Lana Bales looked like an 18-year-old female boxer given her muscle tone. It was her long dark curls that helped hide her broad shoulders. Lana was an expert in weapons, ranging from spears, blades, and highly skilled with firearms and projectiles. In the ocean, she was one of Poseidon's, fiercest warriors. Marine took notice of the six laser pistols strapped in a holster across the woman’s sides. She also noticed grenades clipped to the mer’s belt. The woman even had a curved blade in a holster on her back. This woman meant to kill, by any means necessary.

  Lana wasn’t alone. Twelve additional mer gave their scents away as they came up behind her. They didn’t bother to remove their helmets. They just stood behind their squad leader and bowed before Lillian. Each one, decorated in the same amount of weaponry. This squad meant business.

  There was no point in trying to rebuttal Lillian. Mer, especially those that were part shark, had the keenest sense of smell compared to any Immortium. Their ability to regenerate, paralleled even gorgons, they also had a tendency for being quite agile in combat. Marine knew they had it covered. She bowed to Lillian and walked off.

  Lana had a friendly voice. She didn’t sound as mean as she looked. Though her youthful voice was still intact. She was headstrong. She had years of making a point to prove herself and carried her strength for all to see. Anyone that wanted to fight the 300-year-old shark woman, had another thing coming. She smiled. “My Queen. My team and I are ready for your orders.”

  A hovercopter began to descend. Rhymes had kept true to his word. What the vampire Lillian wished him to fetch was finally arriving. “It's about time!” Lillian said.

  An athletic man with a short kept high top stepped out of the hoverchopper’s open door. The brown-haired man stood there, wearing green kevlar, along with protective eyewear, similar to Lillian’s. He noticed the vampire queen and walked over. He hadn't pledged to the Society, but to the Global Alliance’s generals. Given his affiliation, Lillian wondered what training he had in the way of Immoritum and if he even knew how to sense for Xairin, or the bat she was hoping that would lead the team to the roost, so they could hopefully end the genesis of new vampires. Either way, this was the only other known red eyed vampire that had been seen so far. Parker Roark’s voice was deep. “Miss Rutherford. I’m Parker Roark.”

  “I know exactly who you are Parker. I have a job for you.”

  The man put his hands on his hips, leaning snidely. “I’ve been briefed. You need me to find a vampire that was bitten by the same bat that got me, correct?”

  She smirked. “It's a little more than that. I need a vampire that can link to the bat that bit you so that we can find the roost and assist in an extermination effort. This roost must be destroyed before more humans are put at risk. Finding one of your former fellow quarantine members is also a priority.”

  Parker nodded. “Give me the intel.”

  Lillian hated a jarhead mentality, she always preferred the personal touch with clear thinking at the wheel in anything she wanted done. She knew this man would likely step out of line. Either way she needed him. She tried her best to treat the man respectfully, even if he had an arrogant energy about him. “Containment Measures are everything Mr. Roark. You will be going in with one of my sentinels, and following orders given by Miss Lana Bales. You will obey her team of mer and listen to her commands. She’s been an Immortium far longer than you have and has the experience of fighting ghouls and other Immortium throughout her long life.”

  Parker was chewing some gum and looked at Lillian. “” Whatever you say Miss Rutherford.”

  Lillian rolled her eyes. “Pay attention to Lana’s instructions, or else I will have to have a chat with the Grand General, understood?”

  He nodded. Mentioning Rhymes did perk his attention. “Sure, whatever you wish.”

  Lillian was persistent. “I mean it. These creatures. The bat that bit you for example, they’re strong, agile, and unpredictable. Don’t go in there thinking this is like hunting deer, they will be hunting you.”

  Lillian left Parker to suit up while returning to Lana. Lana overheard the man and Lilian. Lana wasn’t too keen on taking on a hot trot jarhead, but she knew if he could sense anything, it would help the mission. Containing the threats coming out of New York City’s ruins was paramount right now. “I will keep the vamp in line. Is there anything else I need to be aware of?”

  Lillian tilted her head. “Alex Fifer and his team of wolves should have landed on the north end of the city and will be working their way down to you.” She handed her a tablet. “This tablet has the coordinates for the rendezvous point with Mr. Fifer and his wolves. See if you can find any of the ghoul progenitors responsible and assassinate them along the way. Just make sure you find that roost, wipe it out, and if you come across a red headed male vampire wondering around, be sure to redirect him back to Bastion City. The intel is on the tablet. Just use your thumbprint to activate it.” Lillian walked off.

  Lana looked at her squad. “You heard her!” Lana gave attention to Parker. “You know how to sense vamps and bats?”

  Parker shrugged. “Never really tried.”

  Lana felt like facepalming but opted to just chastise him instead. “Well private, if you start feeling a tingle in your noggin, just let us know. I will talk you through the rest if it happens.”

  Lana and her team were setting off on foot. It was best that way. Her team went into a jog. By human standards they were running quite fast, but for an Immortium, it was a pace barely breaking a sweat. They crossed the bridge, and kept in a triangular formation, with Parker following behind Lana. It was like watching an arrow run through the city streets.

  _____

  The shopping center.

  Xairin was finally getting to where he could see without the burning in his eyes. Anna had found him a pair of sunglasses that suited his face, having a black frame to them. He hoped that it would be enough, the glasses were not wide, or circular, so he hoped that it's narrow build would suffice.

  He was standing, cracking his knuckles, and popping his neck. It surprised him that his bones still made that sound given they were made of a hardened rubbery substance now.

  Xairin had asked her for something else. Anna had given him a bottle of the colloidal silver, just one. The other bottles she was keeping for herself, just in case she couldn’t find a supply of it again.

  Xairin wasn’t too sure, how effective the liquid would be once it dried. He was going to have to use it on the fly. He planned on soaking his bullets with it. No sense in wasting it just in case it wasn’t effective when it evaporated. He figured he would just pour a little down the barrel and see if that worked right before he fired. Only one way to know for sure, was to test it.

  He made it out of the department store and back into the main hallway. The sun was up now in its full glory, shining right through the glass windows and down the hall. So far, the sunglasses were helping, but his eyes still were stinging some.

  While he was standing taking in the sunlight, a flash in his mind happened. He saw what the albino was looking at. She was walking through the building, sniffing. He got a glimpse of a room with a tarnished metallic wall, he thought it looked like gold plating at first. It must have been some rich person’s apartment at some point. Whoever it belonged too, sure wasted a lot of money surrounding themselves with such beauty they couldn’t take with them. Xairin felt it was a waste.

  The link broke. This time, he could feel how close she was after the link severed. Anna was right, she was in the building next to the complex he was in. All he had to do now was go next door and see if he could find those he had come for. The question was, how was he to go about it?

  Xairin figured that the bats had the same light sensitivity that he had, so it was likely that if the survivors were near a window, the bats would probably stay clear of it. He hoped that they had figured that out at least.

  He thought of something. If I was full enough, i wonder if I could fly them out? Obviously, I would need to do it one by one. The question is, how much weight can I carry at a time?”

  Xairin turned around slowly and glared at Anna. He figured she had to weigh in at roughly 200 lbs. or so. The look he was giving her made her feel slightly uncomfortable. She figured he was hungry. She stuttered. “Is everything ok?”

  “How much do you weigh?”

  Her stuttering was more evident. “Whaat, kind of quueeeestion is that?”

  Xairin picked up in her apprehensive tone. “Oh please, I’m not going to eat you. How much do you weigh? I’ve only flown once, so I’m debating on if I’m even able to carry a passenger with me. If I can, I could possibly fly the survivors out of that building and not have to even worry about confronting the bats.”

  Xairin looked up at the tower before him. There was plenty of busted out glass along its exterior. While he waited on Anna to reply. He chattered his teeth, sending out his sonar waves. An electric outline of the building began to populate inside his mind. He saw elevator shafts, office spaces, hallways, and apartments. He saw the air shafts, and caved in structures, as well as those nearing the breaking point. His mind continued to formulate and record a photographic detail of the structure, till finally, he found what two things he was looking for.

  Midway up, there were several rooms that had merged into one due to the drywall and framework giving way. The recently created space was adjacent to a hallway, lavishly designed at one point, now in ruin. It was this area that the bats were sleeping. Xairin took the time to count 58 of the massive beasts. Along the floor, there were over two hundred smaller bats becoming dog sized. As for the bats that infected them, Xairin equated their size to that of a grizzly bear that had replaced its front extremities with wings. They had become too large to hang upside down due to the fragile nature of the building. They were each curled up like hibernating bears. The one bat he was missing was his creator, the albino. His senses found her using her large wings to walk down a hallway on one of the upper levels.

  The hallway the albino was traveling was in one of the more decorated floors of the complex. She was sniffing the air. Xairin could see her snout moving in such detail, that he knew she was homing in on the scent of human DNA. He followed her path and chattered his teeth again. Behind a barricaded door, there were 19 people mustered behind the debris that they had used to press against the door, mostly furniture and structural items that had given way. To his delight, the room they were in, had a large broken section of windows that had been blown out. If the bats didn’t come through that door, they sure would when the dusk arrived.