Read Online Vampire Redemption by Phil Tucker - Free Book Online
Authors: Phil Tucker
Tags: Vampires
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were declassified. The connection between Blood Dust, the military, and the government. The mysterious Hybrid Project that nobody seemed to know anything about. She almost asked McKnight, but then stopped. As if the Sergeant would casually disclose something so classified to her. If she could just learn more, somehow, and publicize it, her father might go free. Not at once, sure, but in time. Some sort of process could be put in place.
In the end, she let her thoughts go. Instead, she simply relaxed and enjoyed the bleak beauty of the view. Silence but for the occasional car rushing down the road. The desert vast and beautiful, the rising sun painting it a shifting palette of variegated hues. The stunted bushes cast long and twisted shadows. The world felt fresh, clean, cool, and scrubbed.
"Come on." McKnight pushed off the Humvee, having somehow already finished her coffee despite how scalding hot it was. "Let's go." She dumped the empty wrappers on the ground and hauled herself up and behind the wheel.
Selah turned and got in as well. When she looked out the window, she saw that the gas station owner was watching them. She met his gaze and he looked away.
Chapter 6
The military research base was tucked away in a pocket canyon high in the Rocky Mountains. They drove along a winding and freshly asphalted two-lane road, driving uphill and through dense phalanxes of evergreen trees which parted on occasion to give them a view of the valley below. Selah had slept through most of the morning, and now she pulled McKnight's jacket tight about herself, burying her chin in the soft wool that lay thick around the collar. McKnight drove with rugged determination, her jaw set, lips pursed, eyes locked on the road and hands at ten and two o'clock. She had been driving for almost ten hours straight, and beyond looking paler and with some purple under her eyes, she seemed to be none the worse for wear.
The road rose sharply over a final incline and then curved around a flinty shoulder to penetrate into the miniature canyon, leaving the broad valley behind. The slopes here were steep and furred thickly with trees. Cold air razored in through McKnight's open window. The Humvee's display showed that they were but minutes from their destination, and Selah watched the luminous lines on the windshield as each curve they took corresponded to a turn on the map.
"Why is this base way the hell out here?" she asked. Proximity was making her nervous. "Must take them hours to get stuff delivered, or go home after work."
"Isolation is its own form of security," said McKnight, her voice dry, and then suppressed a sudden yawn that seemed to take her by surprise. "And most of the people live on base. Excuse me." She covered her mouth and blinked away tears.
"Oh," said Selah. "And... what do they research here that's so dangerous?"
"Before the war it was communicable diseases. Ebola, SARS, the ultra-flu. I think they've been focused on other stuff since then." Another yawn ambushed the Sergeant. "God damn," she said, straightening up in her seat, and then yawned a third time.
Selah fought down a sympathy yawn, and then stared intently at a square white sign that rolled past on their left that read: USAMRIID.
"U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases," said McKnight before Selah could ask. "You Sam Rid for short. We've arrived." They drove around the last curve, and then slowed at the sight of the security checkpoint. It was light in comparison to what Selah had seen at the LA Base, a standard six foot chain-link fence topped with razor wire and a black and yellow crash barrier in front of a closed gate, a squad of four soldiers standing before it with machine guns slung over their shoulders.
McKnight slowed down, threaded the Humvee through two sets of cement blocks on the road that forced her to approach in an S-curve, and then stopped before the gate. Another couple of soldiers emerged from the security booth and one of
In the end, she let her thoughts go. Instead, she simply relaxed and enjoyed the bleak beauty of the view. Silence but for the occasional car rushing down the road. The desert vast and beautiful, the rising sun painting it a shifting palette of variegated hues. The stunted bushes cast long and twisted shadows. The world felt fresh, clean, cool, and scrubbed.
"Come on." McKnight pushed off the Humvee, having somehow already finished her coffee despite how scalding hot it was. "Let's go." She dumped the empty wrappers on the ground and hauled herself up and behind the wheel.
Selah turned and got in as well. When she looked out the window, she saw that the gas station owner was watching them. She met his gaze and he looked away.
Chapter 6
The military research base was tucked away in a pocket canyon high in the Rocky Mountains. They drove along a winding and freshly asphalted two-lane road, driving uphill and through dense phalanxes of evergreen trees which parted on occasion to give them a view of the valley below. Selah had slept through most of the morning, and now she pulled McKnight's jacket tight about herself, burying her chin in the soft wool that lay thick around the collar. McKnight drove with rugged determination, her jaw set, lips pursed, eyes locked on the road and hands at ten and two o'clock. She had been driving for almost ten hours straight, and beyond looking paler and with some purple under her eyes, she seemed to be none the worse for wear.
The road rose sharply over a final incline and then curved around a flinty shoulder to penetrate into the miniature canyon, leaving the broad valley behind. The slopes here were steep and furred thickly with trees. Cold air razored in through McKnight's open window. The Humvee's display showed that they were but minutes from their destination, and Selah watched the luminous lines on the windshield as each curve they took corresponded to a turn on the map.
"Why is this base way the hell out here?" she asked. Proximity was making her nervous. "Must take them hours to get stuff delivered, or go home after work."
"Isolation is its own form of security," said McKnight, her voice dry, and then suppressed a sudden yawn that seemed to take her by surprise. "And most of the people live on base. Excuse me." She covered her mouth and blinked away tears.
"Oh," said Selah. "And... what do they research here that's so dangerous?"
"Before the war it was communicable diseases. Ebola, SARS, the ultra-flu. I think they've been focused on other stuff since then." Another yawn ambushed the Sergeant. "God damn," she said, straightening up in her seat, and then yawned a third time.
Selah fought down a sympathy yawn, and then stared intently at a square white sign that rolled past on their left that read: USAMRIID.
"U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases," said McKnight before Selah could ask. "You Sam Rid for short. We've arrived." They drove around the last curve, and then slowed at the sight of the security checkpoint. It was light in comparison to what Selah had seen at the LA Base, a standard six foot chain-link fence topped with razor wire and a black and yellow crash barrier in front of a closed gate, a squad of four soldiers standing before it with machine guns slung over their shoulders.
McKnight slowed down, threaded the Humvee through two sets of cement blocks on the road that forced her to approach in an S-curve, and then stopped before the gate. Another couple of soldiers emerged from the security booth and one of
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