Z Day +72

  JAMES

  The rest of that day had been organized chaos. All the zombies had been rounded up and destroyed. Rhi had protected the corral without injury to any of its residents. As a matter of fact, besides Pagoda, the only fatality had been the one guard I'd shot. We'd taken the entire compound without a scratch...well, aside from the one on my cheek, Shae's busted lip, and Rhi’s dress, which she would not shut up about. I was utterly astonished.

  We could never have done this without Mark. The whole being bloodbound to Pagoda thing had blown every plan I had out of the water. If it wasn’t for Mark and his miraculous shot, we’d all be dead, or worse, right now. Of course, we could never tell Mark that, or we’d never hear the end of it.

  Pete got the sensors up and running again when he removed the bug he'd inserted into the system.

  There had been a large gathering of all staff where the change of command from Pagoda to Mark was explained. Many were confused by Mark's status as a human, and Shae came up with the most reasonable explanation. Since I'd recently used Mark as a tap boy, my altered vampire DNA spit was in his system. Since Pagoda's blood had been used to start me down the path, she figured that, somehow, whatever happened was a one-time deal that could have only worked with Pagoda.

  I gave up trying to understand it and just accepted it. I tried to give commands to see if I could control any of the bloodbound, but the one-up rule continued to apply, so Mark extended his orders to include taking orders from Shae and myself to everyone.

  Shae had gone into her whole court etiquette routine which seemed to consist of her becoming this hard ass who constantly ordered people around and for some reason it worked. People seemed to want to jump when she said jump. Somehow this was what vampire etiquette consisted of. When I jokingly warned her about “ordering people around” as she’d warned me on multiple occasions, she just told me to shut up.

  Of all the staff, only three requested to leave. While they were bloodbound, Mark and the rest of us decided it would be better to let them go rather than have dissidents in the compound. Before they left, Shae and Rhi had very specific words to guarantee we wouldn’t be having problems with them in the future. The rest didn't want to take their chances outside the wall. They had it too good here.

  The civilian population was another thing altogether. Most hadn't really understood what Pagoda was and didn't want to understand it now. They just wanted to know they were safe from the zombies and had food, water and shelter. They were told nothing would change for now. But I had a feeling we were going to have some problems there.

  Once the compound was secure and some semblance of peace returned, we transferred Miria and Richard from the old house. They'd stayed behind just in case and were relieved everyone was safe and sound.

  Miria laughed when she heard Mark was now “King of the Vampires.” She, too, knew about his aversion to vampires back in the day and found it terribly ironic.

  In the two weeks that followed, I tuned up security with Rhi’s help. She seemed to have a better grasp on it than I'd expected from someone who'd never worked security. When I asked her about it she said, “It's not a hard job, James. I mean, you did it.”

  It was scary how easily the change of command happened. But most people didn't care. They didn't care who called the shots as long as they were safe.

  The only one who seemed to be on the fence about the new situation was Becca. With Mark now in charge, Becca found herself constantly having to defend him from “floozies” who kept trying to sidle up to him. But I don’t think she really minded. I felt she was organizing more of those group activities they’d expressed an interest in way back when.

  I collected the anti-vampire ammunition and secured it. No one other than our group knew about it, and everyone agreed we wouldn't be telling anyone else.

  Travis had managed to escape in the confusion. I guessed he returned to San Antonio, but I wasn't sure if he'd feel safe enough there after betraying us. I still wasn’t sure if he had betrayed us. For all I knew, he’d been under Pagoda’s influence/orders this whole time. I had a feeling he'd cleared out of BAMC for greener pastures. But I made a note to check on it if I got the chance.

  We had a few leads on other clans out in the surrounding areas. We knew we'd need to establish some alliances, trade, that sort of thing if we planned on making this place viable in the long term. But that was something we'd have to attend to another time. Right now, I had a promise to keep.

  We were finishing loading the L-ATV, one of the many toys Pagoda had in the garage Travis mentioned. It was a military vehicle designed to replace the HMMWV, made by Oshkosh, not to be confused with OshKosh B’gosh, who made children’s clothes. It had horrible gas mileage, but it was agile, tough and could carry enough gas cans to get us to Houston.

  “Need a hand with anything?”

  I heard Shae behind me and turned towards her. “Nope, I think we’re all set. All we need—” And the sight of her caused me to stop.

  Shae had cut her hair. In place of her shoulder-length cut, she now wore the lopsided pixie cut she’d worn when I’d first met her.

  “I like your hair,” I couldn’t help but grin.

  “Thanks. There’s a girl who knows how to do hair here. She doesn’t have a lot of supplies, but she managed to help me with this. Besides, it's much easier to take care of.”

  I knew the girl she was talking about. She’d helped me buzz my hair back short, the way I wore it in the service. I’d also found a razor and had my first shave in a long time.

  “It looks good on you,” I said, pulling her close.

  “What about this?” she held up her left hand where a small gold band with a diamond chip sat on her ring finger. “How does this look?”

  “Where did you find that?” I stammered, looking at the engagement ring I’d bought her all those years ago.

  “It was buried in Pagoda’s safe. As soon as I saw it, I remembered what it was and took it back,” she grinned.

  I couldn’t help it; a big, goofy smile spread across my face.

  “What? You said to try it on for a while and see if I liked it,” she wore an innocent expression.

  “And?” I prodded.

  “I’ll let you know,” she smiled and kissed me briefly.

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  I didn’t let her get away with it and pulled her in for a much longer lip lock.

  “AHEM,” Rhi cleared her throat, causing us to come up for air. “If you two are quite finished, you need to come see this.”

  “Jealous heart,” Shae chided.

  Shae and Rhi had seemed to bury the hatchet over the past two weeks. There was still the same picking at one another occasionally, but it seemed more like good natured siblings now. It only bothered me when they ganged up on me with their teasing. The bother came from me not being able to find a suitable comeback to the pair.

  “Hmph,” was all Rhi said as she turned to lead us back into the main building that I’d started calling the Alamo due to its similar fa?ade.

  We followed Rhi into the back where Pagoda’s bedroom had been. Natalie was leaning against one of the bedposts as we entered the room.

  Pagoda’s style of bedroom was something straight out of 16th-century Austria. The room held a giant four-post bed with drapes, oversized furniture, tapestries, and rugs. The bed alone looked like it weighed about 1,300 kilos.

  “Natalie,” I said, feeling Shae stiffen beside me. I glanced at Shae, but she was looking at the ground. It was the first time she’d seen Natalie in the flesh since Drakes.

  “Yeah, she just popped up when I opened that,” Rhi pointed at a trap door in a small closet off the side of the room. The hinges appeared to be on the inside, so it would be nearly invisible when it was closed.

  “There was something just like that at—” I started.

  “My house.” Natalie finished for me. “Yes, the head of every clan has one, so now Mark has one. I’ll be honest, I didn’t see that one coming. Who knew?”

  “What is it?” Shae said quietly, looking at the trapdoor.

  *Oh, stop that!* I heard Natalie’s snap at Shae and watched as Shae looked up.

  Natalie held out her arms and enveloped Shae in them.

  *Now, knock it off, would you? I understand; you’re a warm-blooded woman who’d just gotten the love of her life back. I wouldn’t have wanted to get dressed either. But the fact of the matter was, I needed you to get gone, and your rut was keeping you in place. I did what I knew would get you going, nothing more. No hard feelings?*

  Natalie held Shae out at arm’s reach and made her look into her eyes.

  Shae nodded.

  *Good.* “Now, what you’re looking at is a gateway to Drakes.”

  “Gateway?” I asked. Natalie was acting more lucid than I’d ever seen her before. It was freaking me out.

  “Yup. You can step into it, and you’ll appear at Drakes as if you’d just stepped through the door. It works both ways. Drake always wanted to ensure he could provide hospitality to the more elite clientele, so he provided these.”

  “Drake made these?” Shae asked.

  “I don’t know if he made them; I just know he provides them. Now to the matter at hand. Drake heard you were planning a trip to Houston and wanted to ask a favor. I offered to convey the message since he couldn’t come here himself. Plus, I just wanted to see you guys again before you took off,” Natalie smiled. “So, apparently, the Drakes in Houston has ‘gone dark’ as it were.”

  “There’s a Drakes in Houston?” I asked.

  “There’s a Drakes in almost every major city,” Shae whispered.

  “What do you mean ‘gone dark?’” Rhi asked.

  “There hasn’t been any word in or out of the place for about two weeks. Normally, there are these gateways between the two, but the one on the Houston end is not working. While the personal gateways, such as this one,” Natalie pointed at the closet, “these can be secured just by closing the lid. The ones at Drakes always remain open. There are emergency ‘doors’ that can be used to close the portals but even if closed, the link remains active. So, the fact that the Houston link is no longer working means something serious has happened.”

  “Maybe just power loss?” I offered.

  Natalie smiled patiently, “Darling, they don’t exactly run on electricity.”

  “Oh,” I managed, chagrinned. Again, we were getting out of my comfort zone. Vampires and zombies, I’d started to accept as a given. Magical portals? That’s a bit out there for me.

  “So, Drake just wants us to check on it?” Shae asked.

  “Yes. If there’s any way to get the link reestablished, then Drake can take over and fix whatever else has gone wrong. That and he can offer you a much quicker ride home.”

  “I know where it is,” Shae said. “I’ve been there a few times while visiting family in Houston. I’m pretty sure I can get us there.”

  “Great, I’ll let Drake know you’re on the case,” Natalie smiled.

  “You said these are given to the heads of ‘clans,’” Shae started, “how do you have one in your house?”

  “Yeah, I was hoping you hadn’t noticed that little slip.” Natalie seemed to consider it for a few moments. “Let’s just say Drake considers me a VIP.”

  “He did seem a bit smitten with you,” I said, remembering my last conversation with him.

  “He did?” Natalie seemed taken aback.

  “Anyway, how do we let Drake know what’s going on once we get there?” I asked.

  Shae patted me on the shoulder. “You know that link that was supposed to fade after we left Natalie’s room? The one I used to talk to you and Rhi? Yeah…it doesn’t fade…ever.”

  This time, Rhi was the one that tensed up next to me.

  I looked at Natalie, who had the courtesy to look sheepish, scuffing her toe on the carpet. She looked as if she was about to say-

  *Aw, shucks,* Natalie said, finishing my thought.

  “You and I are having words once they’re gone,” Rhi was glaring at Natalie, who nodded in return. “But right now, y’all are wasting daylight; you need to get on the road.”

  Aside from a hairstylist, one of Shae’s favorite features of the compound was the UV baths. She’d started using it as soon as things had settled down. It was a large room complete with several large tubs recessed into the floor. They were filled with the UV solution that allowed vampires to walk in the sun.

  A vampire had to submerge themselves in it for a minimum of thirty minutes. That bath provided about a week’s protection, allowing us to travel during the day again. Shae reveled in the sun every chance she got now, having been without it for nearly two months.

  “Right, take care, Natalie,” I said as we hugged briefly.

  Shae also hugged Natalie.

  I turned to Rhi, “you, take care of yourself and keep an eye on the others, would you?” I went to hug her, and she caught me tightly.

  “The hell with that,” she kissed me deeply, taking my breath away as she plastered her body to mine. It was my turn to be overwhelmed by her thoughts and the warmth of her body. When we broke sometime later, the room was spinning.

  *Wow,* I managed.

  Shae chuckled at the two of us and took Rhi into her arms cautiously. “Stay safe, OK?” She whispered in her ear and kissed her on the cheek.

  Rhi stood stiff and awkward as she was hugged. It seemed Rhi wasn’t quite ready to be touchy or huggy with Shae yet.

  From the smile on Shae’s face, she was doing it on purpose.

  Rhi and I hadn’t had a repeat of our marathon night together. Instead, Rhi seemed to make a game of ambushing me in the most easy-to-get-caught locales and doing as much as she could get away with. It was always a surprise and while Rhi seemed to enjoy almost getting caught, we never were.

  When I told Shae about these encounters, she just laughed and patted me on the head. She never acted jealous or told me to knock it off. I wasn’t sure what to make of the whole thing. All I knew was that the three of us had a complicated relationship.

  “Seriously, I don’t want to put him back together if something happened to you,” Shae said, holding Rhi at arm’s length.

  Rhi nodded. “You take care of him, alright?”

  “Of course,” Shae said.

  “Alright, enough with the mushy stuff. Get gone, you two. Rhi and I need to have those words.” Natalie turned to Rhi and looked at us over her shoulder. “Shae, be a dear and close the door on your way out,” Natalie grinned evilly as Rhi glowered at her.

  And that was how we left those two.

  “You think she’ll be OK?” I asked Shae.

  “Which one?” Shae smiled back at me.

  Shae and I had already said goodbye to the rest of our group from the Hacienda earlier. Everyone seemed a bit rattled by the change in scenery but were adapting quickly. It’s amazing how much hot water showers can take your mind off things.

  Mark had asked me to look in on his sisters in Houston if I could. I told him, “Of course,” and then started thinking of Trent and Liam. Trent lived near NASA, and Liam lived in Baytown with his folks. I wasn’t sure how feasible, but I’d also try to check on them if we could.

  I put on the headset for the L-ATV and plugged it into the intercom. “You all set, Pete?”

  “Yup,” came Pete’s response over the headset from the back seat. He still had his nose buried in the user manual for the L-ATV. Every time he came across something he found “fascinating,” he’d make sure and give us a detailed description. I figured by the time we got to Houston, we’d know this thing like the back of our hand.

  Pete was already belted in and anxious to go find his mother.

  I looked over at Shae, who was just buckling in, and she gave me a thumbs up. I looked around at the bustling compound.

  “They’ll be fine until we get back,” Shae’s voice came over the headset.

  I nodded, looking around one final time. The trip to Houston would typically take about four hours, give or take how you drove. I knew it would take longer than that for us, considering all the dead traffic that had to be between here and there. I just hoped this trip would be as uneventful as the one we’d taken to San Antonio.

  (It wasn’t.)

  FIN – Book 1

  [But not really, keep going -Rhi]