Billy walked from the rear of the plane with blood dripping from his chin. He’d made a quick acquaintance with the hostesses because the menu wasn’t to his liking. Megan smiled and thought he’d fit in well with her world. She changed into her inner wolf and grabbed the first passenger who sat in front of her. Billy marveled in his blood-thirstiness and pillaged his way down the far aisle.

Tanya (meanwhile) slept.

The captain’s voice crackled over the intercom that they were descending, and to make ready for landing. Megan and Billy stood at the front of the plane and watched as the hoard of passengers turned into vlads or the new type of beast which was Billy’s strain.

Tanya woke and immediately smelled the stench of fresh blood which Billy and Megan had spilled.

She stood and looked in front of her. “Jesus, not again,” she yelled.

Megan retorted and told her to relax; no one would be any the wiser by the time the plane touched down. The hostesses went about their business as if nothing had happened, apart from the blood-red glow which shone in their eyes.

Megan and Billy made their way back to their seats as Tanya commented that they needed to make sure they stayed out of the sun. It’d be almost lunchtime, so they had a fair chance of being hit by the sun’s rays and going up in a puff of smoke.

“We’ll have to find a vehicle which is blacked out,” Megan replied.

Billy opened the shutter which was covering the window as the plane rumbled down the runway and taxied toward the terminal. He spotted the luggage train. The carriages had a tarpaulin cover. If they could get down from the plane to where the bags were unloaded, they could turn an airport staff member and get him/her to drive them to safety. He relayed his plan to Megan, and she agreed it was the only way they could avoid the sunlight.

Megan called over one of the hostesses. “Yes ma’am, how can I help?” she asked.

Megan’s eyes flashed a honey-gold as she explained what they wanted to do. With a red glow in the hostess’ eyes, she said to leave it to her. She explained they needed to wait on the plane until the other passengers disembarked (who’d be engulfed by the sun), and they could exit down the steps at the end of the tunnel which lead to the terminal.

The crew pushed the tunnel to the side of the plane, and the door opened. Megan watched as a guy in a fluorescent jacket stepped inside the plane and vanished into the galley. Megan spotted the sole of his boot as the hostess pulled him further into the plane and turned him. As the passengers left, they blindly stepped past the guy who slumped on the floor while the vlad genes rampaged through his body and turned him into one of their own.

The plane was empty apart from Megan, Billy, and Tanya. They grabbed their hand luggage and walked to the front of the aircraft. They stepped inside the tunnel as the fluorescent-jacketed guy opened the door to reveal the steps leading underneath the plane. The considerable shadow spread across the floor and covered the luggage train.

“The canisters,” Tanya exclaimed as they descended the metal steps.

The crew member rifled through the luggage train until he found the two backpacks which contained the filled gas canisters. He unhitched the trailing carriages and threw the cases onto the floor from the first carriage. He placed the backpacks inside and then urged the three of them to climb inside.

“What about by security, there’s no way he can drive us to a motel?” Tanya asked.

Billy smiled. “There’s a delivery van inside the terminal. I can drive you.”

“You can’t you dip-shit; you’ll be hit by the sun.”

The airport crew member said he could get one of the staff (who hadn’t been turned to a vlad) to drive them instead. If they could convince him his route had been changed, then it’d be all well; and good. If he happened to stop somewhere and open the doors to the van, they’d be absolutely screwed.

“Climb inside and leave the rest to me,” he said.

Tanya climbed onto the carriage and curled her legs underneath herself. Megan huddled by her side as Billy climbed in and pulled the backpacks and hand luggage close to his side.

“Now be quiet,” the crew member said.

He pulled over the tarpaulin cover. They felt the trolley vibrate as the truck moved away from under the plane. They twisted and turned in the darkness as the truck made its way through the vast Houston terminal. With the squeak of brakes, they came to a halt. They sat in silence. Only the sound of their breath was filling the confined area.

The tarpaulin lifted. Tanya squinted for her eyes to adjust. They were inside the belly of the airport. Conveyor belts ran in lines and curves, and then made their way up to the holes in the walls which led to the carousels in the departure lounge.

“Quickly. It won’t be long before human staff notice there’s something wrong with the plane's luggage.” Tanya heard screams from high above them. It sounded like the first passengers were caught by the sun’s rays through the windows.

A solid-sided vehicle sat with the engine running. The door was ajar, and the crew member ushered them inside. He explained he’d get the driver to take them to the first motel he could find. From there it was up to them, and it was the best he could do.

Tanya thanked him and left him unaware of his untimely demise which would fall on him as soon as he stood in daylight. He closed the door and locked them inside. Parcels and boxes lay strewn on the van floor as the vehicle made its way out of the confines of the airport.

The vehicle came to a halt.

They heard the low mumbles of muffled voices through the front of the vehicle as the driver sat waiting at the security gate. He said he only carried parcels, and the guards let him pass without checking if he was telling the truth. The vehicle picked up speed and the van became filled with the rumble of tires on asphalt, and the intermittent fuf…fud of the expansion joins in the road. The three of them sat with their heads resting on the parcel shelves as the van weaved its way around the streets, now leaving the airport.

After what seemed like five or ten minutes, it slowed and ground to a halt. “Check outside,” Megan said to Billy.

There was no way she was risking the chance of falling into the sunlight. Billy wasn’t up to speed on how quickly it’d grab hold of him and turn him into ash. He pulled on the inside catch of the door. A thin band of light flooded into the rear of the van. He pushed the door wider and poked his head outside. He paused for a moment. Megan waited for him to pull his head back inside and to be covered in flames. He didn’t.

Billy smiled back into the darkness of the vehicle. “We’re under a canopy, and the coast’s clear.”

The driver was at the reception and obviously attempting to deliver something which wasn’t expected. Billy and the girls leaped from the rear of the vehicle and casually sauntered into the reception area.

The driver huffed and puffed in front of them, and then stormed out through the double-glass doors. The manageress shook her head.

“These damned delivery drivers,” she remarked. “They get their delivery wrong, and then they get upset when you tell them to go back and check.”

“Always delivering what they know nothing about,” Tanya said as she booked two rooms. They turned as the van outside the entrance slammed on its brakes. The driver jumped from his seat and closed the rear door which was swinging on its hinges.

“You staying long?” the manageress asked.

Tanya looked up from signing the guest names into the book and said they should be out of her hair by the evening. They were waiting for their boss who was on his way and was delayed by the storm further around the Gulf.

“I hope he managed to get clear of it. There’s a second storm right behind it, it’s like a twin twister.” The manageress giggled. “The islands off the coast of Florida are getting the brunt of it. They say there’s going to be ten to twelve hours of rain with both of the storms.”

“We know people down in that area,” Megan said.

“Let’s pray for their survival.”

Megan looked at the manageress with a blank stare from her good eye. “I’m not praying for no one.”

The TV was restored from the broken broadcast, and the weather reporter said a mouthful in Spanish and Declan had no idea what they meant. Sascha translated and said they were due to a good day’s rain from the smaller second storm which was towed behind the first. He paced back and forth around the restaurant of the motel. Sanders could make up the lost ground now the effects of the first storm had vacated their vicinity.

Maria pulled out her laptop from the Ziploc and hit the power button. She entered the Wi-Fi password and surfed to the weather page. Luckily, the connection hadn’t been affected by the storm, but the connection was slower than what she’d previously connected to out at sea.

The map came up, and she found their location. She checked the status for the following twelve hours, and it was pretty-much as forecast. She scrolled to the west side of Florida and watched the map. She smiled and lifted her head.

“Did Sanders say he was going to meet Megan and Tanya in Houston?” she asked Declan.

“Uh-huh.”

“Looking at the weather map and the news reports, he might’ve been delayed as much as us. A truck’s blown off a bridge on his route. Checking the map, they’d have no other way to go which was as quick,” she explained. “I think we’re both back at square one.”

“Well, that’s not the best solution, but it’s better than nothing.”

Dustin made his way back from the restroom. His face was pale and gaunt as he sat on the red vinyl bench. He shook his head and it appeared as if he wanted to puke.

“Are you okay?” Sascha asked.

“I’ll be fine. It’s the fact that I hate water. Childhood experiences have left a mark,” he explained. “I thought I was done for when the wave washed me away from the boat.”

“You’re lucky Kelvin can swim like a fish,” Declan said. “Isn’t that right, Flipper?” He looked at Kelvin and laughed.

“I’m a bonafide nanny to an old guy,” he commented.

The waitress came to the table with two pots of coffee. Declan asked Sascha where Gabriel and the captain were. She told him they were checking that the boat was secure now the wind had dramatically eased. They should be with them; any minute.

Declan slid onto the bench next to Noelle and leaned toward the window. The street outside was littered with fronds from the palm trees which lined either side of the street. The wind now died down so the rain fell vertical as it should, but, there was no sign of it easing as Maria had just explained.

Captain Andy and Gabriel walked into the motel reception and removed their yellow (but cracked) sou’westers. Gabriel squeezed in next to Sascha with a smile on his face. Declan looked at him, and Gabriel’s face was filled with his I’ve had sex grin. It couldn’t be sex with the captain, so it must be something else which he found immense pleasure in.

“What are you grinning about?”

Gabriel leaned his body forward and reached for a couple of cups. As he poured one for himself and the captain he began to explain.

“Our good friend the captain here has relatives on the island,” he said. “You know; the sorts of relatives who can help me get my wolf back.”

That revelation came as a shock. Why hadn’t they found out a shaman was closer to Miami than Mexico? It could’ve solved everything so much quicker. Gabriel explained they weren’t shaman in the same vein. He found he couldn’t explain anymore, so he handed the explanation over to Captain Andy.

He continued to explain the powers went way back to his ancestors who came from the Congo basin. Palo was their belief, and it held strong powers which weren’t of this world.

“I’ve seen quite a bit of that,” Declan said.

“It isn’t my relatives who can perform this, but they live in a village where the Palo belief is strong. The ones who perform the ritual look to the higher Gods, namely Nzambi.”

Andy’s large frame stood motionless as he waited for an answer. Everyone fell quiet. Was it luck which was on their side, or coincidence? It was Dustin who shattered the silence.

He lifted his head, and some color returned to his face, and now he appeared to be a shade of green which was slightly lighter than pea soup. “When can we go?”

Andy said from what he remembered, the ritual took place in the evening, but he wasn’t sure how the storm affected being further inland.

“Can we check?” Dustin asked.

Andy explained they needed transport and needed to set off as soon as they could. The weather would slow them, and there might be landslides further toward the villages. They could (with some luck) reach it before night set in.

“Now all we need’s transport,” Gabriel said. His excitement filled his body and bolts of adrenaline flooded through his veins. He hadn’t been so excited since...

Since the first time he made love with Sascha.

Sascha pushed her head against the glass. Through the pouring rain and the litter-strewn streets, she noticed there were vehicles which were skewed from when the water from the large waves washed them sideways. Or when the drivers abandoned them when they tried to reach higher ground. It was evident that no one was returning to their vehicle in this weather. If the engine was flooded, it’d take someone with a little knowledge to get it running again.

Sascha spun in her seat. Her hand fell on Gabriel’s leg. She gave him a comforting squeeze and then she turned to Dustin.

“How easy is it to start a vehicle which has water in the motor?”

“It can be a real bitch. Unless you’ve got spare cables and a spray which can disperse water, you might need to wait until the motor dries out,” he said. “Saying that, though. There’s another option.”

The table looked at him and waited for his next statement. He peered from over his mug as he took a gulp of his over-sweet black coffee.

“Diesel.”

Captain Andy nodded his head because he knew what Dustin was commenting on. He had the same thing on his boat.

“Expand on that a little,” Sascha said.

“Diesel engines. They can get wet to a higher degree than regular gasoline engines.” He continued explaining. Sascha raised her hand and said enough was enough. She wanted the simple version, not the DIY manual or extended version.

“Is it possible?”

“Yes.”

“I know it’s raining and all that,” Declan said. “But why are you asking that question?”

Sascha smiled and pointed from the window. The street was awash with vehicles which were deserted. Out of all of them, there must be a diesel which had been abandoned.

“It needs to be big enough to carry all of us,” Dustin remarked.

He counted how many of them there were. He tallied eight. Sascha turned back to the street and looked. Most vehicles were the old American cars of yesteryear, or small imported saloons which were too small. Any 4X4 would’ve been able to escape the deluge of seawater which flooded up and over the beach.

She turned back and sighed. She lifted her hand from Gabriel’s leg. She no longer felt she was in a position to comfort him.

“There’s none out there which fit the bill,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Dustin leaned closer to the glass as a patch of yellow caught his eye. He turned and grinned. “Don’t be too quick to cast an assumption.” Sascha looked back from the window. She quickly raised her hand and wiped the condensation away from the front of her face.

“I can’t see anything,” she said.

“You see that yellow thing in the distance?” She nodded. Dustin turned then sat back in his seat. “That’s the one,” he said.

“What is it?” Gabriel asked.

“Well, from here, it looks like a 1940s GM bus.”

“When you feel safe in bed, all cozy and warm, evil is abound.”