Chapter 5

            Bible John sat in the back of the now-empty box van save for some automatic weapons.  The plan was quite simple actually: Breach the compound, and rescue several thousand human slaves.  Security was minimal, about sixteen armed guards; four on each floor.  No telling how many other vampires were in the compound, and how many weapons they had stored.

            He looked over at Rossi and his best friend Sonic, who eagerly awaited the confrontation.  They are the humans' best hope now, along with Blade.  As young as they were, there was no room for error.  One could mean death, or worse. 

            Monica, using Bible John's laptop computer, tried desperately to begin an encryption process of the compound's security system.  Several fail-safe devices were set-up to protect the vampires from the sun's deadly rays during the day.  Almost impossible to get in or out for those twelve hours. 

            Blade slowly pulled the van around the docks of South Street Seaport, looking for a large boat with enough room to load a couple of dozen humans on a single round-up, and fast enough to get them to the docks and back in good time, or out of danger if and when necessary.

            A large white, yacht bearing the name Demeter in bold italic letters sat bobbing on the gentle waves at the end of a pier.  Blade popped the van into park, and got out to have a closer look.  He walked around the front of the van, and glanced to his left before walking to the Demeter.

            The Brooklyn Bridge lay silently beaten and destroyed from a terrorist attack nearly eighteen years ago.  The entire mid-section lay beneath the water—steel reinforcement beams crawled out from the concrete skin like a skeleton's fingers reaching for its flesh.  Almost two years to the date this attack happened on the September 11 anniversary.  Similar attacks happened all over America, that second dreadful day of infamy. 

            The Golden Gate Bridge was obliterated as well during a Gay/Lesbian celebration.  Underground tunnels were devastated in many cities, killing thousands more.  Four Baseball stadiums were hit with biological weapons, one with nuclear. 

            The retaliation of America could've swallowed the world in its nuclear wrath if it wasn't for the next attacks on US soil, though the next attacks were from monsters even deadlier than the Arab terrorists.  At night, they declared war on the human race, and within months most of humanity was enslaved. 

            And the world thought it couldn't get worse. 

            Blade snapped out of his recollection of those horrific days before the uprising and jumped on the side of the Demeter.  He looked the ship over, and then checked its fuel and engine—it started right up.  Again there was that bright smile that seemed would bring the world back from the dead with the motor coming to a groggy, lazy rumble with the push of a button.

            Blade looked over to the van, and nodded—the signal that this boat would work, and so Rossi, Sonic, Monica and Bible John exited the four-wheeled vehicle and hopped on the yacht.

            As the Demeter pulled away from the pier, Monica sat against the rail and studied the compound's internal and external security for a way in—and out.  Monica was fairly experienced with computers.  That was her job at the Vampire Nation's building in upper Manhattan.  She did everything from track and locate hunters—that part she left out.  And she helped to translate all of the text from the Book of Erebus electronically.  She was also somewhat familiar with the "concentration camps." 

            Monica was already in the government's satellite, now it was a matter of disarming the security, or finding the key code, that only a handful of vampires had.  The security wasn't that radical, seeing as how they only housed human slaves, and if they did happen to have some escape, they were in for a rough swim, and chances are they'd be picked up before they got halfway to shore.  But, the compound couldn't be penetrated by Blade's idea—force.  Explosives wouldn't really work.  Maybe enough, but Monica's idea was to disable the security, thus disable the communications, and eliminating reinforcements.

            Hopping over the rough seas Sonic looked as if he would vomit—inviting Rossi to play on that while holding his stomach, he closed his eyes and leaned his head over the ship just in case.

            "Ha!  You can't take a couple of choppy waves, but you can kill vampires and familiars till your hearts content.  Man, you're somethin' else," Rossi said while patting him on the back.

            Sonic took it in stride—he kept his eyes closed and concentrated on not throwing up.  Sounds easier than it actually is: every movement made him want to let loose his intestines on the water, and empty his stomach of food not even there. 

            Rossi walked to the front of the ship where Blade was quietly steering the ship to its destination—the large black square. 

            "I didn't know you could drive one of these things, Blade."

            "I don't."

            "So…you don't know how to stop this thing?"

            "I guess I'll try the same thing I did to get it going, only in reverse."

            Bible John entered the large cabin, and took the controls from Blade.

            "That's alright, Blade, I think I can take care of this," he said with a wry smile to Blade, then peering out from the large panoramic window in front.  Blade returned the smile, and walked out onto the deck for some fresh air.  He stared at the seagulls that followed them, and then over to Sonic who was still becoming sick.

            "What's the plan then?" Rossi said from behind him.

            "To kill as many of the suck heads as we see, and free the humans inside," was the fairly tactical-lacking response Rossi wasn't looking for.