Uprising

Chapter Seventy-Two

‘It’s over!’ Garrett brayed at her in triumph.

Or he would have done, if Alex had let him complete the sentence. He still had a syllable left to go when the 9mm Nosferol round made a third eye in his forehead.

No need to hang around to see the result. She turned and sprinted towards the conference room. Burst through the exit door she’d come from. And saw the lights of the helicopter gunship hovering over the glass dome. The glass was shattered. Twin 30mm cannons slung beneath the aircraft’s nose were raking and strafing the inside of the conference room, churning up everything in sight. Vampires were cowering, running, stumbling, falling, being blown into meat, convulsing and shrieking in their final agonies. Grotesquely mutilated corpses and burst-open body parts littered the remains of the auditorium like the floor of a slaughterhouse. The sharp acid stink of Nosferol in the air made Alex recoil.

Without even thinking about what she was doing, she ducked between the shattered seats and punched the Beretta upwards, firing at the chopper, again and again, the pistol bucking in her hands. Her bullets pinged harmlessly off its armour.

Then the floor was erupting into pieces as a snaking line of gunfire raced towards her almost faster than she could move out of the way. She dived for cover and planking and bits of chair were blasted into pieces that rained down on her.

‘Alex!’ The scream came from just yards away. Harry Rumble’s voice. He was crawling on his hands and knees under the shattered remnants of a catering table. She made a dash towards him, slid to her knees on the broken glass and sprawled under the table next to him. Its flimsy surface offered as much protection from heavy machine-gun fire as a sheet of baking paper. But the chopper had acquired a new target and was distracted as a couple of vampires who had bolted for the main exit were sliced in half and their dark blood sprayed upwards in an arc. The machine guns pummelled their bodies into jelly where they lay.

‘This conference is over,’ Alex said. She grabbed Rumble’s wrist, dragged him out from under the table. Together they dashed for the side exit. The chopper turned its nose towards them like a predator. The walls exploded into plaster dust and wood chips as they dived through the door and out into the corridor. ‘Run!’ she yelled in his ear, still gripping his wrist. She led him at a sprint the way she’d followed Garrett.

Rumble let out a cry as he saw the body. ‘Xavier?’

‘He sold us out to Stone, Harry. Who do you think is doing this? Now keep moving. There’s got to be a way out of here.’ She checked her pistol. One round left.

She’d always enjoyed challenging odds.

They raced through the hotel, running blind. A door led into an empty kitchen, and she led Harry between the rows of steel worktops to an exit at the far end. Another narrow passage, another fire door that crunched off its hinges as she kicked it open.

The luxury lobby of the Grand Châteauneuf was now just yards away. She could see the dark sky through the entrance doors, and the flash of the gunship’s lights on the trees.

Alex smashed the last door open.

‘We’re going to make it!’ Rumble gasped.

‘Not quite,’ said a voice.

Alex turned to shoot, but a blow out of nowhere knocked her hard off her feet and sent the Beretta tumbling from her hand. She looked up as a group of vampires in black tactical clothing swarmed into the lobby around them. They were armed with short, curved sabres. Two grabbed Harry Rumble and forced him to his knees.

‘Nice try,’ said the heavily-built male vampire who’d knocked the gun away from Alex. He walked casually over and picked up the fallen weapon, ejected the last round and tossed the gun away in disgust. ‘We’ve no use for these things any more. It’s back to the proper old ways from now on.’

The thud of chopper blades above the building was fading. The gunship had done its work and was now flying away. Through the glass doors of the lobby, its long bulky fuselage lit up by the floodlights illuminating the hotel grounds, a Chinook transport helicopter sat on the front lawn, its twin props rotating at idle speed.

Alex slowly picked herself up. There was little use fighting. She counted a dozen, maybe fifteen, vampires circling her and Rumble. Behind them, the seven Supremos had been rounded up and cuffed together. There were blades pressed against their throats from all sides. Olympia Angelopolis was whimpering in terror.

Not all the prisoners were Federation top brass. Four other vampires were dragged into the lobby and thrown to the floor. Rough hands searched them. Alex watched as her last remaining Solazal tablets were confiscated and tossed into a Ziploc pouch.

‘Do ‘em all here?’ said one of the attack squad to his leader, pointing at Alex, Rumble and the other non-VIP prisoners.

‘Good a place as any,’ the leader replied casually.

The Supremos were kept at a distance as, one by one, the rest of the captives were made to kneel. Vampires in black held on to their arms while the biggest of the squad gripped his sabre, brought the blade back and then whooshed it sideways with a hum of air and a ripping squelch as it sliced through the victim’s neck. One by one, all four of the other struggling prisoners were decapitated while Alex and Rumble watched.

Their headless bodies were dumped in a pile, and the heads kicked like footballs into a corner.

‘Bastards,’ Rumble muttered.

‘You all had it coming a long time ago, you Federation fuckers,’ the leader said.

The executioner walked over to them, grinning. His dripping sabre left a trail of blood spots across the lobby carpet as he approached. He pointed a black-gloved finger at Alex.

‘Eeny.’

Then at Rumble. ‘Meeny.’

At Alex. ‘Miny.’

Back to Rumble. ‘Mo.’

‘Fuck this, we’ll be here all day,’ said the leader. ‘Stop messing around and do the bitch first.’

‘Fine, fine.’ Strong hands seized Alex’s arms and held her powerless. The executioner took a good grip on the slippery hilt of his sabre. ‘Sorry, sweetie. Nothing personal.’

She spat in his eye.

‘Nice. That makes it easier.’ He drew back the blade.

Alex closed her eyes and prepared herself. She thought about William. And about Joel Solomon. Maybe he was right. Maybe she deserved what was about to happen to her.

But the blow never came. A harsh female voice cut through the lobby.

‘No!’

And Alex opened her eyes again.

It was Lillith. Halogen spotlights gleamed off the red leather of her tight jumpsuit as she came swaggering across the lobby and the assault team vampires parted to let her through.

‘Agent Bishop,’ she laughed. ‘Told you I’d catch up with you sometime, didn’t I?’

Towering behind her was the massive shape of the powerful black vampire Alex had last seen in the battle at the London Eye. He’d swapped his tactical combat gear for a black shirt and a tangerine suit that shimmered like silk. His eyes were hidden behind shades and his grin was broad and dazzling.

The executioner stepped back in disappointment and lowered his sabre. Lillith reached across her body and drew her own blade from its scabbard with a rattle of steel. She walked up to where Alex was still being held on her knees and swished the sabre through the air a couple of times, relishing the moment.

Alex looked down, refusing to make eye contact with her. Then she felt the cold steel of the weapon’s tip touch her face.

‘Look at me, Agent Bishop.’

The point of the blade ran down Alex’s cheek, stroked her lips, then Lillith pressed up hard under her chin and forced her head up.

‘I said, look at me, bitch.’

Alex glowered at her. Lillith smiled. ‘I wonder how your head would look on a silver platter. We could have delivered it to your Federation bosses. That is, if you still had any. Shame — me and Zachary here would have loved to slice that pretty little neck of yours.’

Zachary gave a low chuckle.

‘Don’t miss your chance,’ Alex said. ‘You might not get another.’

‘My brother’s looking forward to meeting you,’ Lillith said. ‘He’s got plans for you.’ She whipped the sabre away from Alex’s chin and slid it back into its scabbard.

Turning to the assault team vampires, she said, ‘Okay, load her up with the others.’

The assault leader pointed at Harry Rumble. ‘What about that one?’

Lillith surveyed Rumble with disdain. ‘Who is he?’

‘Just the VIA head in London.’

‘Really? How interesting. And you were about to give him the chop?’ She strolled casually over to Rumble, swaying her hips. He flinched away as she ran her fingers down his cheek. ‘Nice little bonus. Gabriel will be pleased. Fine, bring him along too.’

Alex and Rumble were hauled to their feet and dragged over to join the Supremos. The vampires in black prodded them with the swords towards the exit and marched them outside towards the Chinook. Its enormous rotors began to turn faster and the whine of its turbines rose to a roar as the pilot readied for lift-off.

‘Whatever you’re being paid to do this, I can triple it,’ Olympia Angelopolis pleaded with Lillith as she was bundled into the rear hatch of the helicopter.

‘I know you and your cronies have stashed away plenty during the last few years,’ Lillith said. ‘But we’re not interested in your money.’

‘I could rip her tongue out if you want,’ Zachary offered.

Lillith shook her head. ‘She’s going to need one for the little show we’re putting on.’

Alex and Rumble exchanged quizzical glances. Neither of them spoke. The vampires in black shoved the rest of the prisoners on board. Lillith gave them a mocking wave as the hatch was closing.

‘Bon voyage, Federation scumbags. Pretty soon you’re all going to wish you’d never been turned.’

The hatch clanged shut, the cargo hold went black. Moments later Alex felt a rising sensation as the big Chinook took off into the night.