Chapter Nine
Maru
Enoch had quickly and unequivocally agreed to allow Yarrow safe passage to the human Haven they had been ushering people to over the past several weeks, saying there was plenty of room. Once I secured a place for her there, I sent a message letting her know. Things had been quiet for two days and I’d been climbing the walls of the small apartment, waiting to hear back from her and worrying she’d gotten caught trying to help me, when the device finally rang.
I'm on night shift, she wrote. Delta Unit. Sector Three.
Sector Three wasn’t far from where I was holed up. I quickly decided to find her and hide with her until dawn, when the shifts would head back to the Compound and Enoch would send someone to protect us. I sent a message letting him know as much and he replied, saying he would come for us himself and personally see us to safety.
As much as I wanted to trust him, I didn’t. I couldn’t. It was hard to consider him as anything other than the monster Victor had told us about for so long. There were broadcasts of him drinking from women until their legs were too weak to stand, his laughter ringing out as he eased them to the ground. There were broadcasts of him from other surviving cities, showing attacks from his vampire army on the military.
Yarrow said she’d dug up a lot more information she needed to share with me. I hoped she had good news instead of what I’d seen on the broadcasts. Especially if he was coming after us himself.
I waited out the sun and when it began to set in the west, I watched to make sure no one was outside. Sector Three was two blocks over. Delta Unit was one of the furthest deployed from the Compound, and the closest patrol to the Dead Zone. They were also historically the unit who suffered the most casualties. Their turnover rate was triple that of the Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie units, so I needed to find her fast and get her to safety.
Enoch’s device buzzed in my pocket with a message from Yarrow as I crossed the street. Entering Sector Three. Our orders are to enter the Dead Zone and take out as many vamps as we can. Please find me. I’m terrified.
Yarrow, who was used to typing on keyboards and scanning screens, was pretending to be a member of the military. She was probably armed to the teeth, yet terrified of the weapons strapped to her back and in her hands. They carried assault weapons and magazines loaded with wooden bullets, which were only effective for vamps who hadn’t fed and were withering. Maybe they would surprise a fresh one, or assist someone else and get lucky. More often, the vamps ducked away and fed through our lines of defense.
My heart thundered. I didn’t want Yarrow to get killed over this.
I weaved between buildings and hid behind steel dumpsters, climbed through windows and out back doors. The device buzzed. Washington Avenue and 3rd Street heading toward 2nd.
She was a block away and advancing in my direction.
I hid in what once was a bookstore, the smell of old paper and dust permeating the air. I knew I had to grab Yarrow without being seen. If anyone else saw me, they would arrest me and take me to the Compound where Victor would decide my fate, and he’d already made up his mind that he wanted me dead.
A few soldiers passed, but none were Yarrow. “Hurry up!” a young man hollered over his shoulder. I could tell he was new and not very bright. With a voice that loud, the vamps would hear him coming a mile away and be ready for their attack. I finally saw Yarrow dawdling up the sidewalk. She awkwardly held a rifle over her shoulder, pushing her thick glasses up onto the bridge of her nose. She furtively glanced in every nook and cranny, in every window, ignoring the guy’s prompts for her to speed up.
I crouched at the shop door, quickly swinging it open and pulling her inside. “Thank God,” she breathed, immediately handing her gun to me. “I was terrified I’d shoot myself. I have no idea how to use one of those things.”
“We aren’t safe yet,” I whispered, urging her further into the store where we could hide between the tall bookshelves.
“I was the slowest. I made sure of it. So, if we’re going back to the apartment you’ve been squatting in, we won’t be seen by any of the military. The bulk of Delta unit should be close to the Dead Zone now.”
“Ticher ordered Delta into the Dead Zone?” I exclaimed.
She nodded. “He’s done taking orders from Victor. He told us that Victor’s surprise tactics aren’t getting rid of the problem. To get rid of the vamps, we have to fight dirty, and we have to attack hard.”
Yarrow was dressed in standard-issue black military fatigues, her beautiful hair swept up in a hat. She wore a slender, foam pack on her back that blended seamlessly into her uniform. When all was clear, we made our way out of the store’s rear door. A cat startled as we spilled into the alley. I held tight to Yarrow’s hand as we made quick tracks across town. We slipped into the apartment I’d hijacked and I made it as safe as possible, blocking every exit with furniture.
In the days while I waited for Yarrow’s message, I explored my space of confinement, realizing this apartment was originally a storefront that had been converted to a living space. I found a small door that led into a basement overflowing with boxes, stuffed full of hats, blouses, coats, worn shoes and peeling leather handbags. There were stacks of canned goods and a small lantern. If nothing else, we could hide in the small space. The military would never find the entrance. I wouldn’t have noticed it if I hadn’t been staring at the space so long.
I’d found a cache of small jingle bells in the closet, and now every window had a tinkling alarm bell hanging from it. If someone opened a window, we would hear it. If they tried a door, they wouldn’t be able to get in without a great deal of effort. And most importantly, we would have time to get away.
“There’s so much to tell you, I don’t even know where to start,” Yarrow whispered, pressing a shaking hand to her forehead.
“You’re safe now,” I reminded her.
“I’m not safe until I make it to the Haven. Maru, I am so scared.”
She surprised me by hugging my neck tight. I wrapped my arms around her and held her just as tight. I’d given Eve hugs on occasion, but Yarrow was different. She was nothing like a sister to me, and everything I wanted.
When she finally released me, she pulled the pack off her back and unzipped the largest pocket. “I’ll tell you everything I know, but there are a few things you need to see first.”
She pulled out a communicator. “They can’t track this.” Scrolling through reams of data, she pulled up a video feed. “This is not one of Victor’s cameras. I think it might be General Ticher’s. I think he planted it during one of his meetings with Victor.”
In the video, Kael and Victor were staring unflinchingly at one another, a simple mahogany table separating them. “Explain why Eve’s clone is wearing clothing that is not from this era,” Victor demanded.
“You ordered me to deploy the clones,” Kael answered calmly.
“The army I sanctioned was supposed to land at the gala the top Assets never appeared at. That was the plan.”
Kael gripped the table edge until his knuckles were stiff and white. “That was the plan you suggested, but it wasn’t the wisest course of action.”