Megan and Tanya walked up the road. Mud was strewn across the asphalt where trucks exited the mine gate. They spotted the red and blue flashing lights and the squad cars which were parked on the safe side of the Do Not Cross tape. They got closer when an officer held his hand up.

“Stay away,” he said. His flashlight shone at Megan and then at Tanya. “Oh, Tanya. I didn’t recognize you. It’s been a while.”

“Hi, Billy. Where’s the new sheriff?”

“Shift change, he’s gone home for some shut-eye. I’m here until six,” Billy replied. “What’re you doing here, anyway?”

Tanya smiled at Billy. “You know, we wanted to see what was happening, that’s all,” she replied. Tanya glanced through the mine gateway. “Is the mine guarded all the way around?”

“Nah. Only here and the rear entrance into the woods with a couple of the army guys patrolling the perimeter.”

Tanya couldn’t see the source of the gas from the road. Only the stream which filtered up into the sky and spread outward. Suddenly a round of gunshots echoed around the mine.

“What’s that?”

“Some of the old workers were infected and never made it to the hospital. They’ve turned into some horrible kind of animals.”

Tanya turned to Megan before she answered Billy. “That’s horrible.”

“They’re ugly as sin. Black as anything and they have these blood-red eyes. I only saw one before the sheriff blew its head off.”

I hope we don’t bump into one,” Tanya said.” Her body shuddered from mock fear. “We’d better get going, anyway. We’re only passing through.”

“Good to see you again.” Tanya and Megan turned to walk down the road.

“How’re we going to get in?” Megan asked.

Tanya stopped walking and looked back up the road. “Billy said the army had placed a couple of patrols, roaming around the perimeter. That means there isn’t many. We can sneak along the outer fence and find a way in,” she replied. “If we meet a soldier, we’ll have to deal with them.”

Billy fell out of view when they rounded the corner. Tanya led the way and dashed up along the side of the fence. The path was freshly trodden and would be from the patrolling soldiers. Branches bushed against their legs and their feet fell on mushy undergrowth. A few hundred yards from the road, the solid fence changed to chain link. They stopped and glanced at the scene in the mine that was deep below them. The entrance to the tunnel had collapsed because two large diggers clawed at the loose rubble and at big boulders to clear the way. High up on the far bank of the mine where the landslide started, a thick plume of green gas flowed upward. Megan pointed over to the stores building. A makeshift pen was built and was full of stooped-over bodies which walked around in circles.

“They must be the things your Billy was talking about,” Megan said.

“I guess so. From what I can tell from this distance is; they’re nothing like us.”

“Can we make them followers, or is it too fucking risky?”

“We’d better cross that bridge when we come to it. The gas for Sanders is the most important thing,” Tanya replied.

She was looking for signs of an opening. Megan pulled her cell from her pocket and said she’d message him. Just to keep him in the loop. He might know more about the things. Megan’s fingers tapped on the phone’s on-screen keyboard.

We’re at the mine looking for a way in. The gas has mutated some of the workers. They aren’t vlads. They appear to be something very different.

Tanya found the fencing which wasn’t connected at the bottom. She fed her fingers through and yanked it free from the overgrown undergrowth. The chain-link lifted with remnants of grass and leaves hanging from it. Megan threw the backpack underneath. The gas canisters clanked together while she rolled underneath the fence. Megan then stood and lifted the fence while Tanya started to crawl under.

“Hey!” they heard a muffled voice say. Megan looked through the fence as a soldier in a gas mask approached. His gun was pointed at Tanya. “Stay where you are.”

Tanya rolled over and looked through his mask and into his eyes. “I can’t stay here, can I?” she muttered from the ground.

“Slowly.”

He gestured with the barrel of his gun for her to crawl back outside of the fence. Tanya wriggled back outside and stood. She brushed herself off and looked at the soldier. She knew she needed to finish him quickly, otherwise he’d raise the alarm, and all hell would break loose.

“Are you two alone?”

Tanya shook her head and pointed behind the soldier. His attention was distracted while he turned to look. Tanya called on her vlad form and lunged herself at the soldier’s back. Her fangs pierced his uniform and found their target. The soldier dropped his gun and fell to his knees. Tanya drew the warm blood from his neck, and then pushed his body to the ground. Her eyes shimmered as she faced Megan and changed to her human form.

“He’ll be out of action for a while,” she said, and she wriggled under the chain-link fence.

They walked to the edge of the mine. Sand and rock crumbled and rolled down the already-mined slope. It was too dangerous to go down as the earth was recently blasted and was full of loose rubble. Megan noticed a smaller part which led to the track the dump trucks had used. They walked along the rim of the mine then scrambled down the bank.

Once they reached the bottom, they crouched behind a large boulder and spent a few minutes surveying the area in front of them. The lowest level of the mine was nothing but an open area between the boulders and the buildings just a few hundred meters away.

“How the hell do we get to the warehouse now? There are too many soldiers in the bottom of the mine,” Tanya said.

The warehouse sat in the center of the open area with nothing between them. They needed a distraction. Megan looked at the ground and reached for a boulder, a little smaller than the palm of her hand. She felt the weight and nodded her head.

“What are you gonna do with that?”

Megan turned her head and grinned. “Something I watched Kelvin do.” Megan started to change to her vlad form. She pulled her arm back and then ran forward a few steps. She threw the boulder over the mine in the direction of the caged beasts. The rock fell short.

“Throw it higher,” Tanya said.

Megan scowled. “Do you want to throw the fucking thing?”

“I can’t throw to save my life.”

“Shut it then.”

Megan reached for another boulder. She stepped back further. She flexed her arm and ran forward. The boulder arced higher. They watched while it traveled over the mine and started to drop. It entered the enclosure and smashed into the head of a circling beast. The animal screamed. All of them began running around and were howling and screaming. Soldiers ran across the bottom of the mine to circle the enclosure. Now was their chance, and possibly their only chance. They scrambled down the rock-strewn slope. They hit the flat part of the mine and ran toward the rear of the warehouse. A red light shone in the distance above a door.

Fire Exit.

“Head for the door,” Megan mumbled. She glanced around to make sure no army guys had spotted them. It was deserted, apart from the diggers working away at the tunnel entrance.

Their backs hit the wall of the warehouse. They breathed deeply and regained some of their composure. Megan pulled on the handle of the door.

“So much for health and safety. It’s open.”

They stepped inside and stood in the shadows. The shutter door was open, and they saw the soldiers using cattle prods on the beasts when they attempted to climb over their enclosure. The sound of electricity and yelps of pain filled the mine. Tanya looked around for the stairs leading up to the office.

Megan’s cell phone rang as she received a message. A soldier turned back to the direction of the warehouse. He ambled cautiously while his cattle prod shot tiny bolts of electricity which flashed blue and white between the prongs. He entered the warehouse then stood and listened. His arm reached for the button at the side of the door. He pushed it, and the roller shutter slowly rolled down until it reached the floor.

Megan signaled for Tanya to circle while she drew his attention. Tanya nodded and crept along the shadowed wall. The soldier started to reach for his revolver when Megan stepped from the shadows.

Her head bowed, and her back stooped. She walked as if she was one of the caged beasts. Her interpretation was enough. The soldier muttered a few words and pushed the button for the door. The motor whirred into action and Tanya only had a few seconds before they’d be in full view. Tanya hit the shoulders of the solider and rolled him away from the door. He scrambled for his gun when Tanya tried biting his neck, but he pushed against her throat with his forearm. A flash filled the air and Tanya blinked for her eyes to adjust. Megan stood over the soldier with the cattle prod held firmly against his chest.

“Now you can sort him out.”

The soldier's body stopped wriggling when Tanya sunk her teeth into his neck. His legs kicked and slumped on the floor.

“Another soldier on the books when he turns,” Megan remarked. She pointed to the stairs.

They ran across the warehouse when the door lifted and filled the dark musky interior with a green hue. They ran up the steel steps in time with the motor. The sound of their footsteps were easily drowned out. They stepped inside and locked the door.

“Jesus, how close were we?” Tanya asked as she slumped in the chair and wiped her forehead.

Megan chuckled. “That’s only half of the job. We need to get out of the mine yet.”

Tanya asked what the message on the phone said. Megan pulled the phone from her pocket and looked at the message.

“Sanders says...” she started to say. She paused.

A scratching sound started from the dark corner of the office.

Maria arrived back in Declan’s apartment with Dustin. Tiffany’s bag was slung over her shoulder, and her laptop was under her other arm. Dustin closed the door and sat at the table.

“Maria says we’ve got the final location,” Dustin said. Maria powered on the laptop while she looked at the combination lock which held the zippers together on the backpack.

“It’s locked.”

Declan stepped from the kitchen area with the mugs of coffee. Noelle followed with a kitchen knife and handed it to Maria.

“I think we need to improvise.”

Maria plunged the knife through the thick canvas and sliced a new opening across the top of the backpack. She reached inside and pulled out a few clothes. Her hand fell on something cold and what felt like metal. She lifted her hand to bare a holstered pistol.

“Why’s Tiffany got a pistol?”

Maria felt in the bag and pulled out a large wad of banknotes and a couple of passports. Everyone looked puzzled.

“You think she was a spy of some sort?” Maria asked.

“That’s far-fetched, but she might be linked to some sort of organization, you did say she mentioned the others,” Declan said.

Maria finally pulled out a notebook. She opened it and started to read the notes. A few pages were related to Edmund and his experiments. It then mentioned Sanders and was a report on his actions.

“These notes are dated. It started while you were away,” she said to Declan.

“It all fits in with what Gab mentioned. She arrived out of the blue when he was filling in for me as alpha,” Declan replied. He flicked through the notes when Maria handed him the notebook. He stopped on the day before she vanished.

Declan handed the book to Dustin. He flicked through and spotted something. “There are numbers here.” He showed them to Declan. “They look like coordinates.”

“It’s a code of some sort. Have you any idea?” asked Declan.

Dustin shook his head. He’d seen codes and coordinates when he was in the forces, although, anything which was outside a regular squadron was way above his head.

He handed the book back to Declan. He took a final quick glance at the pages and closed it. “That’s all in the past, if they help us in any way, that’s all well and good. I’ll get Wong to take a look at it,” he said. “For now, let's focus on what we know.”

Maria tapped into the laptop. The page popped up on the location where they needed to go. Vera Cruz in the Cordoba Mountains. Maria found pictures of the mountain range and showed them to Declan and Dustin.

“I think it’s going to be one hell of a trek.”

“We can go by horses or by mules. We might need a guide, or we’re gonna get lost,” Declan said.

“Looking at this map, we need to travel by vehicle. It’s over an hour away from Veracruz.” Maria pointed out it was one word and not two, as they’d initially thought.

“I don’t think that’ll slow him down. But the weather might.”

Declan said to check the incoming weather. It might have a severe impact on their journey, and their chance of leapfrogging Sanders.

“For a couple of days, it seems we’ll have rain at night. Then it’s showing an increase in wind. After that, the page is stating there’s a tropical storm heading north of here.”

Maria went to another weather page. The live map showed swirling colors to indicate wind speed. It was a dark red out at sea, and level with Tampa. She scrolled forward day by day. The map showed landfall by Daytona Beach. It crossed and made its way into the Gulf of Mexico and headed toward New Orleans.

Declan nodded and smiled at Dustin. “That couldn’t have helped us more if we’d planned it,” Declan said.

Maria gave a puzzled look. If Sanders was hindered, inevitably they’d be caught up and wouldn’t be able to make it past where he was located.

“Won’t we have a problem going by road?” she asked.

Declan grinned and spun the laptop. He pointed at the map. “We aren’t going by road.”

“We are animals which are sent to defend, against the beasts from below, until the bitter end.”