Read Online Vigil by Craig Saunders, C. R. Saunders - Free Book Online

determination that had helped their enclave to survive so long. Fear. Pure and naked.
    ‘Kappa,’ said Jean, ‘would you please explain what happened last night?’
    Kappa, stoic in the face of vampires, paled as he was called on to speak before the assembly.
    He cleared his throat.
    ‘At precisely 0100 hours my team retrieved three survivors from topside. We used background fire to blind any vampires who might be observing. We were reliably informed over the microphones by one of the survivors that this was a distinct possibility.
    ‘The rescue was effective, with zero casualties to the team. However, once inside we discovered that one of the survivors had been fitted with what was effectively a tracking device. It is highly likely that the vampires now know the exact location of the eastern exit.’
    The room was in uproar. Tom swore soundly. Bloody fools!
    Kappa looked extremely uncomfortable. He just sat down. Tom was the only one paying attention to the head table. He was the only one who heard Kappa’s hastily muttered apology.
    Tom was angry, same as everyone else, but he knew it wasn’t Kappa’s fault. It wasn’t even Jean’s fault. Not really.
    The fault lay with all of them. They were comfortable. Cosy. Secure. No one but Tom had been looking to the future.
    Of course it wouldn’t last. Their little safe haven.
    The only constant was change, same as it ever was.
    ‘Please! Please! Let us talk!’
    Someone shouted out in English. Others were shouting in French, German, Russian, falling back on their native language in anger.
    Tom understood the sentiment, even when he didn’t understand the language.
    Jean shouted. People shouted back at him.
    Samson stood and bellowed.
    ‘Shut the fuck up! Let him talk!’
    That did the trick.
    ‘Thank you,’ Jean said, to the crowd more than Samson. Jean looked tired. He looked finished.
    He might well be, thought Tom. A fuck up this big and people would be baying for blood.
    ‘One of the survivors, a little girl…well. She had some interesting things to say. If she is to be believed – and the evidence of last night’s rescue lends credence to her story – the vampires have evolved beyond all our expectations.
    ‘We thought they would begin to work in unison to hunt. This new group of vampires has surpassed that. At a location somewhere to the east – perhaps as far as Switzerland – there are vampires using people as cattle.’
    ‘What the hell does that mean?’ asked one of the people at the back.
    Jean floundered again. Like he was pulling a plaster.
    Tom reminded himself not to underestimate Jean, like they underestimated the vampires. Jean wasn’t a coward.
    He cut his own leg off to save his life, after all.
    ‘The vampires know that the people they feed on turn. Those can no longer be food. They are…they are…ah…draining blood and drinking it without turning us.’
    ‘Farming,’ said Samson. Quietly. But enough people heard it.
    A few people in the assembly began crying. Tom felt like crying, too. Why did nobody ever listen to him?
    God, he wished he’d been wrong.
    Would they listen now?
    ‘What’s more,’ said Jean, speaking more quietly now, ‘the vampires are using technology. The captives were brought here in a van, blindfolded. They used a walkie talkie with locator technology. The girl says they travelled from an enclave like this one…perhaps military. The girl says they used weapons before. It is entirely possible that the vampires have powerful weapons at their disposal. Perhaps more powerful than ours.’
    Marie spoke where other could no longer bring themselves to.
    ‘What are we talking about, Jean? Military?’
    ‘Possibly.’
    Lucius spoke up. Tom turned to look at him.
    ‘Military…meaning grenades, rocket launchers? That kind of thing.’
    ‘Maybe…’ said Jean.
    ‘You don’t know.’
    ‘No, Lucius. We don’t.’
    ‘Tanks?’
    ‘Maybe.’
    ‘Planes?’
    ‘Maybe…but could they use these