Kill Wilson (Petersburg Vampires) (13 page)

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The next evening, wanting to get out of the house, the
three walked the streets of Everett. Robert had arrived back near dawn, not
wishing to get caught in the daylight. Newly turned vampires were much more susceptible
to the danger of the sunlight, and the chance for painful burns became a high
risk. He had slept most of the day, the walk a chance for the three to talk
about their plan; as well as how Robert spent his evening in the big city.

There was a street carnival set up in a shopping mall’s
parking lot, and the crowds, enjoying the mild spring weather, were out in
force. The screaming and laughing of children as they rode the rides, the
hawking of the carnies to the crowd, and the smell of hot dogs, and popcorn, and
funnel cakes filled the evening’s air.

The three walked along the edge of the festival, not
wanting to get too close to the festivities. At this time of year, with humans
having not been in the sun all winter, the pale vampires didn’t particularly
stand out. It was summertime, when most people had their tans going, that
vampires received second looks from those curious about their pale complexions.

“I talked to a few friends of mine on the phone, trying
to see where we need to be on an action plan. Everything we talked about was hypothetical’s,
so there’s no need to worry about anyone knowing what we’re doing. Nobody would
believe it anyway. Shit, I don’t believe it every day when I wake up. I ordered
our arms and ammo, which was easy. It will be available for pickup in a week.”

“There wasn’t any problem ordering the gear?” Nikka
asked.

“Nope, it’s actually such a small order it didn’t raise
an eyebrow from anyone.”

“I would give anything to eat a frankfurter sausage
covered with sauerkraut,” Amp said. “One of the few things I miss about
humanity.”

“Maybe wash it down with an ice cold Bud,” Robert added,
smiling.

“Sorry, we didn’t have hot dogs and Bud when I was
human,” Nikka said. “I do remember the taste of roasted pig, my favorite. It
was not plentiful where I was from. It was always a treat, which is what made
it so good.”

They found a bench in the shadows away from the carnival,
the music of the carousels reaching them as they talked.

“I think there are a couple other things we need to
discuss,” Robert continued. “We need to insert somebody for advance
surveillance. We need to know layout, guard changes, numbers, and habits.
Somebody has to get us intelligence, the more the better. It’s been over a year
since you were there, Amp. We need to know if they are on high alert or if they
have settled into some type of routine behavior. If Riley and you killed ten,
has he somehow found ten replacements? There’s so much shit we don’t know.”

They considered the problems that this would present; a
look of concern on Nikka’s face. “I understand the need,” she said. “The
problem is we are three, and I’m not certain we can afford for one of us to do
that. Furthermore, if an outside vampire shows up in Petersburg, they’ll know.
They would eventually sense one of us, passing us on the street, in a bar, or
store. That’s a chance I don’t think we can afford.”

“Agreed,” Robert said, surprising both Nikka and Amp. “I
wasn’t thinking a vampire. I’m thinking an expert, somebody that spent ten
years sitting around in jungles, and deserts, and up in trees…and was never
detected. It would cost us, but there’s no doubt in my mind that we can get the
best guy available.”

“A human?”
Amp
asked, surprised.

“A Ranger sniper,” Robert answered. “The best I ever
knew. We could send him there specifically to collect data, and I promise you,
we would know everything but the brand of underwear that Wilson wears.”

“How do you explain
your…
uh…transformation?”
Amp asked. “You are a bit different, Robert.”

“I think we can do the majority of the planning with him
over the phone. We go way back, and I found out last night that he’s living in
San Clemente and just finished doing a job overseas. He’s available, and I was
told he’s chomping at the bit for a challenge.”

“He’s liable to see things up there that will blow his
mind,” Amp answered. “He’s not going to be spying on the normal. How’s he going
to react to that?”

“Don’t know…something for us to think about.”

“Okay, I think you’re right,” Nikka said. “We’ll put that
on the back burner, and talk about it later. What else, Robert?”

“This is the most important thing, at least to me. Anne
Marie, Nikka told me about Danner and Riley, and I’ve listened to you talk about
them. I’ve always been all in on the operation, I like fighting
battles,
and you guys are pretty much my family and all; there’s
never been any doubt where I stand. I found out something last night that
really lit my fire. Nikka told me how you met Riley, him being in the Army, and
coming back wounded and with malaria. Last night, I was in a bar with an old
bud of mine, and we were talking and sipping beers, and he had just lost his
father who had fought in War Two. He was on his laptop, right there in the bar,
and looking up his father’s war record. It was amazing the information we got
on his dad, a real trooper. He had been in Italy with the snow troops…the 10
^th
Mountain, and they were awesome. After we talked about his dad a bit, I asked
him to put Riley Toole in the database, find out what might pop up.”

“Oh my god, you can do that?” Amp cried.

“Yep; if you know where to
look,
and this guy had all the passwords and shit. Here’s the thing. You know from
your first conversations with Riley, when he was dying, he had seen some action
in the Pacific.”

“Right, he never talked about it again. I think the only
reason he discussed it with us at all was because he was near death, like he
wanted somebody to know, even though he had lost everything during the war, he
had fought, and was proud of himself.”

“Well Anne Marie, he had a right to be proud of himself.
He fought for three years in the Philippines. He volunteered to be put ashore
after General Wainwright surrendered to the
Japs
. A
bunch of the Americans refused to surrender, and headed into the jungle, where
they teamed up with some other hard-heads and Filipino loyalists. They fought
the
Japs
in maybe the greatest display of guerilla warfare
in the history of the world. Riley went ashore with a platoon of volunteers in
order to train and help organize the Americans and Filipinos hiding in the
hills. He did himself proud…CIB, three Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars with Oak
Leafs, a Silver Star, and all kinds of foreign awards and patches. The man was
a bona fide hero.”

“Oh god, he was so young, just a kid,” Amp said softly.

“No honey, he was a man, a tough-as-nails first sergeant.
And here’s the deal…he was a member of the First Rangers, Darby’s Rangers…the
original bad asses of Special Forces. Your friend was a Ranger, and suddenly
this fight has gotten very personal for me. Rangers…and I don’t care from what
war or era, are brothers. The cowards that killed him will pay, Anne Marie. I
promise you, we’ll win this thing; for you, for Danner, but mostly for Riley
Toole.”

The two girls digested what Robert had said, their minds
swirling with the revelations of his trip to Seattle. Finally, to break the
somber mood, Nikka asked one more question.

“So Robert, not to be personal…but did you happen to get
laid?”

The man smiled, looking sheepish, while the other two
burst into laughter.

 
“Well, as a matter
of fact…” he
started,
the three standing and moving
down the street from the crowd, their arms around each other’s shoulders. “I
did meet this one
ol
’ gal who likes her men tall,
dark, and dead…”

------

“Come on, girlfriend, we’re going to town,” Nikka said
coming through the door, finding Amp sitting in the living room looking through
a magazine.

“Shopping?” Amp jumped up excitedly.

“Not exactly.
It’s a surprise, but I think you’re going to like it. No questions until we get
there. Oh, and tomorrow, let’s ride over to Mount Vernon so I can pick up some
gear at my house. I have some clothes and stuff, and I want my sword. I haven’t
practiced with it in a while, and I want it when we go to Alaska.”

The girls drove into Seattle, Nikka listening to the GPS device
direct her to the address she had plugged in. When she pulled in front of the
storefront in a seedy part of the city, Amp looked out at the sign.

“A tattoo parlor?” she asked surprised.

“Yep, a special tattoo parlor. Come on; let me show you
the surprise.”

The girls walked through the front door, the place empty except
for a man sitting on a stool behind the counter, and another coming out of the
back room.
 

“Are you Dag?” Nikka asked. The man, huge and well built,
with shoulder length black hair, had tattoos from his wrists up his arms under
his t-shirt and around his neck. Amp was certain they covered everywhere else
he could fit them on his body. He was obviously a biker, his dress and manner
leaving no doubt. He was frightening looking in a good way, a tough as hell man
with a sweet smile.

“Yep, you must be Nikka? Glad to meet you. This is my
brother Pete. Who might this little lady be?”

“This is my friend Amp. Amp, Dag, Pete…who I understand are
the best tat artists in the state. And what’s special about these characters
are that they are vampire, so their work is going to be outstanding.”

Amp had picked up the vibe that the two were vampire, but
was wondering what the surprise was. Nikka must be getting a new tattoo, and
wanted Amp to be there with her.

“Did you get what I wanted, Dag?” Nikka asked.

“Let me show you a couple versions, and you guys pick
what you like. If you don’t like any of it, we’ll work until you do.”

Reaching below the counter, he pulled out a folder with
several designs, and spread them out on the counter.

 
“These are the
most beautiful pictures,” Amp said, looking at each of the drawings.

The two girls looked at the drawings, and then Nikka
pointed at the one she liked.

“This one, Dag.
Amp
and I are creating a memory. Someday soon, we’ll come back and add the ending to
it. This is what we need right now.”

Amp looked at her friend, finally snapping to what Nikka
was doing.

“We’re both getting this?” she asked quietly, feeling
emotions that were as strange as anything she had ever known. She looked down
at the picture of two women, one blonde, one black haired, both wielding swords,
and wearing dusters and boots walking into a representation of hell, demons and
spirits hidden in the boldly colored flames . The legend was intertwined
between them in black, bold script:

Boldly
they rode and well,

Into
the jaws of Death,

Into
the mouth of Hell…rode the two.

“It’s from Tennyson’s
Charge
of the Light Brigade
. It’s an awesome poem about honor and bravery against
all odds. I changed the last line from 600 to two. I think it’s perfect for us.
What do you think?”

“It’s perfect, Nikka…more than perfect. Where should I
put it?”

Dag worked on Amp, and he was better than advertised, creating
a masterpiece on her upper back, and onto her right shoulder blade. Pete did
Nikka’s tattoo down her right side, using the limited free space she had left. The
procedure was almost painless to the girls, which surprised Amp. Their pain
tolerance was strong, and the healing was complete before they paid Dag. The
two walked out of his shop almost seven hours later sporting stunning, matching
tattoos.

The six girls leaning on Amp’s rental car looked to be
mid and late teens, big girls dressed alike in yoga pants, sweatshirts or
windbreakers, and cowboy boots. They were a mixture of races, two blacks, and
the other four Spanish.

“Fashion alert,” Amp said as they approached the car,
Nikka taking the key out and hitting the unlock button.
“Yoga
pants and cowboy boots.
Very chic.”

“The sweatshirts make the whole thing work,” Nikka
replied, chuckling.

When they didn’t move when the car unlocked and the
lights came on, Nikka spoke.

“Get off the car,” she said, not loud, but every word
clear. Nobody could have mistaken what she said.

Amp was trying not to laugh, knowing how this looked.
These girls were heavy, and ugly, and tough looking, obviously a street gang
with violence on their agenda. She and Nikka looked like two little suburban high
school girls, caught out late on the wrong side of town.

“Right, we meant to talk to you about that, cupcake,” the
biggest girl said, obviously the gang’s leader. “What you think you’re doing on
our street at four in the morning? Where you been, and who you been seeing?”

“I told you to get your fat ass off my car,” Nikka said,
her tone changing, Amp knowing the fat girl was on dangerous ground. “I’m not
going to tell you again.”

The other five girls were now standing straight, grins on
their faces, anticipating the beat down that was coming.

“There’s one way you can maybe get out of here without me
getting all over your skinny white ass,” the leader moved up into Nikka’s
space, a mistake that she realized when Nikka’s forehead connected with the middle
of her face.

The girl’s nose exploded, spraying blood in every direction,
the girl going to her knees and holding her face, blinded by the blow, tears
pouring out of her eyes, and mixing with the steady flow of blood; howling in
pain and out of the game.

There was a moment of absolute silence from the others,
then as if in slow motion, one of the black girls, and one of the Spanish girls
went for Nikka, the first catching a boot in her left ear, rendering her
unconscious for the next several hours; the other a boot to her kneecap, this
blow breaking bone, both girls down and out. As the girl who had taken the shot
in the knee grabbed for the pain, she felt the jagged edge of her tibia
sticking out of her ripped skin. She passed out from shock, her head hitting
the pavement with a dull thud.

Amp hadn’t made a move, had turned her eyes to focus on
the other three. The girls were staring in disbelief at their three incapacitated
friends sprawled on the ground. The black girl suddenly made a move for Amp, trying
to save a little face by attacking the smaller girl. She wasn’t sure how it
happened, but suddenly she couldn’t take a breath. She felt no pain, just the
refusal of her lungs to inhale. Amp’s straight jab to the girl’s throat wasn’t meant
to kill her, but she joined her friend’s on the ground, holding her throat, and
desperately trying to draw air into her non-functioning lungs.

The other two girls did the right thing and ran; not an
attractive sight in the skin tight yoga pants.

“Oh my…that’s a picture that is permanently burned into
my memory,” Amp chuckled.

Nikka went to the leader, the girl still bleeding heavily
from her nose. The stars were starting to go away, and she recognized Nikka as
the vampire bent down into her face.

“The next time a skinny white girl tells you to move your
fat ass off her car, I recommend that you move it,” Nikka said. “The next time,
if that white girl is me or my friend, we won’t be having this conversation
because you will be dead. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

The girl nodded, tears falling down her cheeks, afraid if
she opened her mouth she would say something wrong, something that would make
this girl kill her. She had not a doubt in her body that the white girl meant
every word. “Sorry…I’m sorry,” she finally managed.

“Yes. Yes you are,” Nikka replied, stepping away from her
and opening her door. “Come on,
Amp,
let’s get away
from this garbage.”

The evening had been emotional for Amp, the friendship
the girls were forming more than a casual thing, the fight having spiked her
adrenaline level sky high. It didn’t seem to matter what the girls did
together, it always seemed to be the right thing at the right time. They both
felt it; both needed it.