It wasn’t until they were screaming down the street that Elliott asked, “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Cass sent me back. We met up with Patsy down the street, and her and Jamie got in with them,” he explained, taking a corner too fast. Cadence was wedged between Margie and Aaron in the back seat so she didn’t slide very far, but she had a feeling there would be more crazy driving before they could get out of this mess.
“Don’t they have us surrounded?” Aaron asked, using Elliott’s head rest to pull himself forward so he could better see out the windshield.
“Yep,” Brandon answered as a line of ghouls came into view in front of them, about a half mile down the road. The thinning fog obscured them a bit, but Carter’s death had left Holland reeling, and she hadn’t seemed to regain her composure yet. There had to be at least twenty Vampires of all shapes and sizes standing in front of them, most of them looking just as shocked as Cadence felt knowing the two sides were about to collide.
There wasn’t a whole lot of time to think. The three Guardians that weren’t driving rolled down their windows simultaneously, drawing their weapons as Brandon somehow managed to speed up, and Cadence braced herself for impact.
Aaron, Elliott, and Margie’s gunfire seemed to scatter the Vampires a bit, but there were several who stood solidly in the way of the speeding car. Brandon slammed into them, easily going a hundred miles an hour. Aaron and Margie ducked inside early, but Elliott just managed to pull himself back in right before one of them careened into him after rolling off of the windshield, which was now shattered. Another had gone up into the air. Cadence hadn’t gotten a good look at him, and by his appearance she guessed he had been around a very long time.
She never heard him land, so she turned to look behind them. Cadence saw many of the monsters rushing behind the vehicle. While they were fast they couldn’t keep up, and they were soon left far behind, save the older man who she now realized had a vice like grip. He was grasping the luggage rack, his legs dangling down, covering the back glass, until he pulled himself up on top of the SUV.
“Shit,” Aaron mumbled, handing Cadence his Beretta and pulling a Glock out of his holster.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I can’t let him stay up there. He might block what’s left of the windshield.” He pulled himself up, preparing to go through the window. “And if Elliott tries to go, he might get stuck.”
“Hey! Don’t make fun of my girlish figure!” Elliott shouted as Aaron pulled himself out so that he was sitting on the window ledge, his Glock in one hand as he held onto the window frame with the other. A second later, he was on the roof.
Cadence watched through his IAC as the monster began to kick at him, but since Aaron was so much faster, he missed each time. The Guardian came to standing and pulled the Vampire up as well, intending to shoot him, or so Cadence thought. He didn’t get a chance to, however, as Brandon shouted, “Overpass!”
Horror washed over her as she imagined what might happen if the man she loved hit the concrete barrier in front of them, but rather than making contact with the structure, Aaron flipped himself backward, off of the vehicle, landing on the street behind them. The Vampire wasn’t so lucky, and Brandon was able to scrape him off when the bottom of the overpass collided with his head.
That didn’t end him, however. He hit the ground a few yards in front of Aaron. Dazed, he didn’t manage to make it to his feet as Aaron emptied his chamber into him. A few seconds later, there was nothing left but ash.
Cadence would’ve breathed a sigh of relief if she didn’t see the mist forming behind Aaron. It was blue, the same shade as most of the mist monsters, and it was coming for them.
Brandon threw the car into reverse, pulling back down the road so quickly, Cadence wasn’t sure if he’d stop before he ran Aaron over. He hit the brakes just before colliding with his boss. Aaron climbed into the back seat, and Cadence wrapped her arms around him, glad to see he was still in one piece.
“I’m all right,” he assured her. Brandon was headed forward again, somehow managing to see through the shattered glass.
“I know. It’s just, sometimes watching you do stuff like that is terrifying, even though I’m pretty sure nothing much can kill you.”
He smiled at her. “Yeah, not dying and not ending up in a world of pain are two different things.” He leaned down and kissed her, and she let him, momentarily forgetting about the mist monsters, Holland, and the hundreds of Vampires bearing down on them.
“I hate to interrupt y’alls honeymoon, but even if we get to headquarters, what are we going to do? Aren’t we just leading this army back to the lambs to be slaughtered?” Elliott asked.
“Becky didn’t go back to headquarters, and that’s not where Patsy was headed either,” Brandon exclaimed. “She told me how to get there.”
“There’s another site, a more secure one,” Aaron explained. “Did she tell you about the bunker?”
“Yeah, I think that’s what she called it. Everyone should be safe in there, she said, and she doubts Holland even knows where it’s at,” Brandon continued.
His father looked slightly relieved. “How much further is it?”
“Just a couple of miles. I’m following her IAC video.” Brandon continued to drive, and Cadence turned to look behind them. The mist was gone now, so far away she could no longer see it. But it was still there, just out of range—for now.
“Cadence, you should probably know that we had a little bit of an altercation getting out of there,” Aaron said, his voice calm and even as usual.
She turned and looked at him, her eyes wide. “Is Cass all right?”
“Cass is fine,” Aaron assured her. “She’s…”
“A badass,” Brandon provided.
His comment didn’t make her feel any better. Apparently, Elliott was alarmed as well. “Was she involved?”
“Yeah, a little bit. But she was fine,” Aaron assured him. “We are all fine. I just thought I should tell you first, before she does.”
Cadence wasn’t sure what to say. The thought of her sister engaged in battle was hard to swallow. At least she was unscathed, and by the sounds of it, it must not have been much of an attack. Perhaps that was the noise she’d heard off in the distance. “Thanks,” was about all she could come up with.
Aaron nodded, looking relieved. Maybe he expected her to be angry, but then, why would she be? It wasn’t like he had caused Vampires to attack her sister, after all, and she imagined he had done quite a bit to keep her safe.
Pushing thoughts of her sister’s first engagement aside, Cadence remembered that the Vampires were still out there, even though she could no longer see them. She asked, “What about the people? Won’t Holland continue to build her army, taking innocent victims until she can’t find anyone else to claim?”
“From the looks of it, she doesn’t need anyone else,” Aaron replied. “I mean… I don’t think that will be her priority. Once she realizes she can’t get to you right now, she’ll go back and regroup, I think. Come up with a more solid plan. At least, that’s what she did last time.”
“And what about the coordinated attacks?” Margie peered around Cadence to have a better look at Aaron. “Do you think she’ll still order those armies in?”
“I do,” Aaron nodded. “But not right away. She’s seen the weapons we have and knows they can be successful against what she has to throw at us. She’ll have to be sure that’s her angle before she decides to send them all in.”
“We know where they are now, though,” Cadence reminded him. “We don’t have to wait to be attacked.”
“That’s true.” Aaron looked thoughtful. “What do you have in mind?”
“Go through with our plan, the one we talked about at the last meeting, and then go find them.” She hoped he’d know what she was talking about because she wasn’t sure she should say anything about the Transformation serum in front of Margie.
“You wanna just go wipe out every single one of them?” Elliott confirmed, turning to look at her.
“None of them are innocent, are they?” Cadence asked.
“Hey, I’m just clarifying,” he replied as Brandon turned down what appeared to be a country road. It was much darker out here with only the stars and waning moon to light the way. She hoped he knew where he was going, but then, he had his IAC on now and that should be able to guide him.
“So… you’re talking about annihilation?” Margie asked, bringing Cadence back to the discussion.
“I guess so.” Cadence wasn’t sure what she’d think about that. Margie had been around a long time and could potentially think it was wrong to attack Vampires before they attacked innocents.
She didn’t have to wait long to get an answer. “Hell, yeah. Count me in,” the blue haired woman replied with a smirk.
For the first time in a long time, Cadence was able to genuinely smile. “Annihilation it is.”
