Disclaimer: You know, I'm going to skip this part since you already know
that I don't own them.
Notes: This is the last chapter. I repeat, this is the last chapter. You all have been so wonderful and I want to thank all of my loyal reviewers and my new ones. I was so happy to share my thoughts with you and I really appreciate the fact that you enjoyed this story. If I get plenty of reviews I might just do a sequel.
"Tell Chris that I." Zack started.
"Veronica!" Marguerite came storming into the hut. "There are some hunters out there. Max (he's the other vampire that came. I was so tired of writing 'the vampire') sensed them coming. We better get out of here."
Realizing she interrupted something, Marguerite turned to Zack. "Sorry. What were you going to say? I heard 'Tell Chris that I..'"
Shifting his feet, Zack quickly said, "Never mind. It's not important anyways. Hunters you say? Then we better get the hell out of here."
"I'll go with you and the messengers since the other tribes should listen to me. Take all of the women, children, and the warriors with you. I don't want to deal with any innocent dying," Assai told everyone.
"What about Jarl?" asked the heiress.
"He's going with his wife." Jarl entered the hut. "I'm not having you go alone Assai."
"It doesn't matter who goes where! We better get a move out or we'll might end up dead ducks!" Zack cried.
"Are you always this paranoid?" Marguerite asked him.
"Only when there's danger. So let's get a move out!"
+++
Castle
The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon and a worried hunter sat out on the balcony watching over to see his friends. I should have gone, he thought bitterly. There's danger out there and I let Marguerite go off on her own.
The handsome man was up all night waiting eagerly for his love to return. Just as soon as she left, he couldn't wait for her to return. All this waiting was driving him insane and he figured he give them a 10 more minutes before he goes out looking. Well, he didn't have to wait.
Approaching the castle was Marguerite and Veronica and what appeared to Roxton, the whole village. After catching a glimpse of his chosen lady, he ran out of the castle to greet them. When he reached them, Christina was there.
"Where's Zack?" she said as she scanned the large group.
"He went with Assai and Jarl to get other tribes to help," informed Marguerite.
The future girl gave her a skeptical look. "He went without any backup? What was he thinking?!"
"Now's not the time. We better get all these people into the castle and wait for them to come back. They should be back soon," the jungle princess told Christina.
Sighing, she nodded.
+++
The castle was becoming crowded and everyone was nervous. Especially Christina.
She was in the library just staring out the window. Marguerite and Roxton were walking by and noticed her.
"I'm worried about her John. For a couple of hours she sits there and stares," whispered Marguerite.
He squeezed her hand and look down at her with admiration. "She'll be all right. I bet Assai will be coming back soon with reinforcements."
They both left to look for Challenger.
Christina heard them and deep down she hope they'll be here soon. She was not only worried about her parents and friend but also Zack. He was terrific and always was there for her when she needed comfort. A dozen of memories flitted through her head of all the times Zack helped her. A small smile appeared on her face and a feeling she never thought she would feel again after Mark's death went through her.
Ohmigod! Am I finding Zack attractive? He's like a brother to me and I'm feeling. . . I can't believe it! she thought. Out in the distance she saw Zack and what she assumed was Assai was coming up with a large group of warriors.
+++
Tree House
"Cain! Cain!" roared Carl.
"Yes sir?" he asks as he entered the lab.
"Are the men ready?"
Cain nodded.
"Good. Have them suit up and bring the animals. The weather is lovely and I feel we should have a picnic. And the main course is fried vampire."
Cain gulped and before he left, he barely noticed a shadow in the distance. He didn't say anything and left quickly before his boss realizes he saw anything.
"Sorry for the interruption but I need to get them ready," Carl explained.
"No problem," the shadow purred. "Do you have the instructions I gave you to the castle?"
Carl nodded and patted his coat pocket where he had them. "Excellent. Soon Christina and her entire family will be dead and we'll rule the world."
They both laughed and the shadow jumped out and ran out to the Great Room and leapt over the balcony with such speed that no one knew what happened.
+++
Castle
"Great! Our numbers is now up to 1,000," said Christina.
"Yeah and you won't believe how many tribes were willing to help. I think we should recruit them in the future," joked Zack.
A tense laugh went through the dining room. Christina had all the leaders and explorers in the room to discuss their tactics.
"We should charge them and fight until they're all dead!" cried a voice in the back.
"Who said that?" Roxton asked. The voice sounded familiar.
"Thane. I'm sure you haven't forgot our meeting," he said as he walked up.
"You! How dare you!?" cried Marguerite, remembering the fateful day at the bridge.
"I came to help. I'm sorry what happened before but we should focus on the problem at hand."
"He's right," Veronica said.
"But," protested Marguerite.
"The lad is right. The only thing that's important is getting everything back to normal," Challenger pointed out. Even though the man of science despises the raiders for the fate of Summerlee, he knew in order to win they have to team up with their enemies.
"So what will be our plan of action, Christina?" asked Finn.
"We're going to divide into 4 sections. Now, before anyone complains, I know you all," directing to the chiefs, "lead your people to battle and stuff. You will do that but I'm going to put my men in charge of each section. They know the hunters' tactics and their way of fighting. There will be no disagreement. The first two sections are going to be in front and use guerilla warfare so I see that some of you are familiar with the concept. You will be the ringleaders and the rest will split up and try to surround the hunters in a counteract attack. The first section will also be our scouts and will send a couple of men ahead to see where the enemy is. If the scouts could, they might be able to rescue my parents and Monica. Any questions?"
There were no negative remarks and because of this, Christina was glad. There wasn't enough time to please everyone. She gathered her best fighters and each of them assigned to a section. The tribes that use guerilla went with the two sections and the rest went by experience of battles. Thane's group was in the third section.
"I see you had plenty of time to work this all out," joked Zack to Christina.
"Sure did with all the worrying you gave me." She stopped after realizing what she just said.
"Worried? About me?" Zack asked, hoping he heard this clearly.
"A little. You know you shouldn't have done that without my authorization," she scolded.
"I know but it was . . ."
"Forget it." She held up her hand to silence him. "I put you in the third section with me since you had a hard time following orders the last time."
Zack gave her a long hard look. He knew she probably didn't mean it but she was the leader now and he shouldn't object.
"Chris!" Christina looked up as Dayna came flying in the room. "Chris!"
"What is it Dayna?"
"The hunters!" she gasped. "I saw them coming in the ball!"
All heads turned to the young leader to see her reaction.
"It is time," she stated grimly.
+++
"Are you sure we should march in and fight? Couldn't we wait for the opportune moment?" asked Dayna as she stood by her old childhood friend. "As leader I thought you would take in consideration of your troops you're leading."
"I am Dayna and if there's something wrong then there's nothing I can do. It's either now or later and if we wait later we will all be dead," Christina told her.
"But . . ."
"No buts Dayna. This is it, don't you see? This is the moment we have all been waiting for centuries and now it seems you want to back down. Why? Don't you remember what it was like when we were kids? The fear, the pain? If we act now then the future generations won't have to go through what we did."
Dayna sighed. "You're right Chris. I'm sorry I guess this thing has gotten me work up and I didn't think it through."
Christina put her hand on her shoulder. "That's all right. Say, what are friends for?" She smiled and left to finish some business. Dayna watched her until she was gone. "That's right Chris. What are friends for?"
+++
On the Trail . . .
"Sir! The prisoners are growing restless," Cain told Carl. "What should we do?"
"Tell them to shut up or we'll stop and kill them now," Carl replied.
The young man nodded and left. Carl watched him go. The lad's smart but I can see a weakness in him and that's not good. I'm afraid when the time comes, he won't be able to take part in my dream and I'll make sure of it, the madman thought.
Cain approached the cage and peered inside. The vampires were complaining all the way and banging on the walls. "Hey! Shut up or you'll be dead on the spot," he told them.
Monica went up and bent down to have direct eye contact. "Why should we? It doesn't matter when your boss kills us since he's going to do it anyways. Maybe it might be in his best interest to," she glowered at him. Cain gulped. Ever since they captured them, this one gave Cain uneasiness. Maybe the fact that she was attractive or that she had a mouth full of threats, that made Cain feel this way. He really felt bad for them, if anyone didn't figure. Ironically, he's a vampire hunter and this woman who was a vampire attracted him. Cain kept his feelings at bay or else if Carl found out he would definitely be a dead man.
"Listen," he whispered sharply, "I don't want to see you get killed that's all. Is that so hard to believe?"
"Yes!" she whispered back. "Don't even think for a second you can fool me. I know plenty of men just like you and do you want to know what happened to them?"
Cain shook his head fast. Though, she was a beauty she was also very scary!
"No ma'am." And with that he left, leaving Monica smiling. For a hunter, he's not so bad looking, she thought.
+++
Castle
The past hour went by so incredibly fast, that Christina forgot what she was suppose to do. "The study!" She ran past Finn to the study. The young blonde followed her. "Christina, what are you doing?"
"Finn! Good that you are here. Could you help me?" Christina was standing by a large portrait that Finn assumed must be her ancestor. Christina went over to the side of the portrait and pulled a loose brick out. The portrait swung around and a secret arsenal was shown.
"Whoa," Finn said. Guns, walkie-talkies, bullets, grenades, and the whole nine yards of weapons were in there.
"I thought you said this castle was built by your ancestor?" Finn said.
"It was. The location was kept in secret with the one person he trusts, his wife. Someone in our family has to know where it is and so my uncle added this in. Pretty neat, uh?"
"Neat." The two gathered as many items they could carry (mostly walkie- talkies) and passed them out to the officers that were in charge of each section. It was now time for war.
+++
1st Section
"Now keep it low," whispered Dayna. Dayna was in charge of the 1st section and they went off immediately to try to divert the hunters away from the castle. Dayna's cousin Mike was second in charge. The section split off and Mike took his side one way.
"Big Mike! Are you there? Over," Dayna said.
"Moby White, I roger you. Do you have a clear look of the enemy? Over," the walkie-talkie crackled.
Dayna looked around and saw a large cage with a bunch of men guarding it. "Big Mike, do you see the cage? I bet those bastards has the Smiths in there."
Dayna's platoon's mission was to rescue the Smiths. "Okay, men let's do this," she ordered.
+++
3rd Section
Christina's group set off to the tree house to see if they could selvage anything worth keeping. This section wasn't quite as large since most men were needed to fight. Christina made sure Zack was by her side but she didn't want to appear over concern.
She kept him busy with ordering the raiders. Thane was unhappy about this since his tribe was fighters not scavengers.
"You! I need to talk to you," Thane said as he approached Christina.
"What?"
"My men are fighters! You separated my tribe and as leader I deserve to be where the action is!"
"Sorry but this battle doesn't really concern you and I don't care who you are. I'm in charge and what I say goes! I'm grateful you're helping but please don't turn this into a standoff. We can't afford to lose allies and I can tell you fought plenty so you understand what I mean to do."
He blinked and then stormed off. Well, at least he's going to keep it inside and not his temper interfere, she thought.
They arrived but there was some hunters left behind. Luckily, there were only a few. They were quickly dispatched and Christina and Zack went up. She was hoping they would have left the prisoners but they didn't. Zack wandered into the lab and what he saw shock him. "Chris!" he yelled.
"What?" she asked as she came down. Zack gave her some papers he found. She glances them and gasped. She looked up at him and then back.
"Oh my God!" she breathed. Zack nodded. This was not good for any of them.
Christina grabbed her walkie-talkie and contacted Mike. This was not good at all.
+++
2nd Section
Roxton, Marguerite, and Veronica were bringing up the front of their section. This section had the Zangas since they knew each other and were able to work with one another. There were other tribes here too; a few of them were another branch of the Zangas. They were a few miles behind the first section.
A few other vampires joined them and together, they and Roxton and Veronica were able to come up with a plan of attack. The trip to where the hunters were was going smooth, a little too easy for the experience explorers but they didn't complain.
+++
4th Section
"Challenger? Why do we have to be last?" complained Finn.
The older man was busy working on some type of invention and asked Christina for him to be last and Finn too. Challenger thought Finn as a daughter and wanted her out of harm's way. Of course, the others were his kids too but they were older and were needed.
She was standing behind the scientist looking over his shoulder. "Finn. I'm almost done but Christina told us we're backup and if one of the other sections come back or we get a call, then we go."
She groaned and left the man to his work.
+++
3rd Section
"Big Mike! Big Mike! Do you copy?" cried Christina. "This is urgent!"
The walkie-talkie came to life as Mike answered.
"Mike, we have a problem."
"What's up?"
"They have the directions to the castle."
"We know that. That's what Dayna said she saw."
"They got the directions from someone! I'm looking at what I think is the leader's log and he says that he was shock the creature was willing to go behind its own kind! We have a mole!"
"Who?!" Mike shouted. This was not good.
"I don't know. It doesn't say but don't attack until I get there and make sure you contact Dayna."
"Ten four."
Christina whirled around to face Zack. Zack knew this got her all flustered and her face turned beet red. He couldn't tell if it was embarrassment or anger. Probably a mix of both, he thought.
"Zack, we have a traitor among us. I wish I knew who because there will be hell to pay! We have to warn the others!"
She started to leave when Zack reached out and grabbed her. "It's too late now. We should return to the castle and see if we can protect it so the women and children won't get hurt," Zack said softly.
She stared in his eyes. She didn't care what she looked like now since this whole ordinal was deeply upsetting her. This was suppose to be a simple mission and now it turn into a war in a place where it had nothing to do with. She bit her lip.
"Chris," Zack continued. "You know we have to return. If it makes you feel better, I'll take a small portion to the others and you go to the castle."
"No!" she said firmly. "I'm in charge and as my duty I should go and help fight. You go to the castle."
He shook his head. "I don't care what your position is. I know what to do. The best thing is that you must be protected, that's what matters most."
"I'm not going back. Zack, I'm going and that's final!"
She ran out, leaving Zack alone. He heard her barking out orders and she sent her lieutenant back to the castle. He sighed.
+++
2nd Section
They were getting close and then the walkie-talkie in Roxton's pocket started to crackle. Startled, he jumped, as did Marguerite and Veronica. They were not use to this type of device since it was much different than the one they know about.
"Lord R! Lord R! Do you copy? Over."
He took it out and looked at it.
"John! Answer," Marguerite told him.
He pushed the talk button and answered.
"Got some bad news, buddy. Chris found out there's a mole in the party and that's how those cannibals knew where to head. Someone gave them the directions so keep your eyes open for anyone who tries to back out. A real soldier never backs down for someone they love," Mike told him.
"Roger that. We keep a sharp eye," Roxton said.
After returning the walkie-talkie to its original spot, the lord repeated what he heard to the others.
"Who could do such a thing?" Marguerite growled. Even as a spy, when the enemy captured her, she never turned against the country she loved.
"They don't know. It could be anyone," he told her.
"Then we should watch our backs then," the jungle princess said.
The 2nd section was now only a half an hour closer to the first. It was only 4:25.
+++
Carl & Co., 4:28
"Sir, are we lost?" asked a couple of men in back of Carl.
"No!" he shouted.
"We have been walking for hours and we are no where's close to where we have to be. What's so special about this direction?" asked one of the men, named Hudson.
"Because a little bird told me that's why," Carl barked.
In the middle, Cain was starting to become worried. He knew whatever he saw in the lab, was somehow tied into this and Magger wasn't spilling it. He slowly looked around and thought he saw someone in the bushes. Stepping out of line, he went towards the bush and after looking it over, there was no sign of footprints or any sudden movement on the ground.
"Jesus, I must be seeing things in this crazy place," he muttered. He went back to his group without a second look.
High above in the trees, Dayna overlooked everything. "That was close!" she whispered. She thought for sure she would be caught and that would blow everything. When the last man walked by, she jumped down and proceeded to where her regiment was going. Mike told her to have her group come to where his was.
+++
4th Section, 6:30 pm
Finn was lounging on the balcony when she first heard gunshots in the distance. She ran inside and found a telescope in the first room her and Vee in. She was surprised she didn't notice it at first, but she didn't care. Returning back, she peered in the eyepiece and gasped. Thousands of people were shooting and stabbing one another. The action she saw, made her stomach churned. The vampires, some of them, were biting the hunters and she saw some blood dripping all over. She heard some shouts and saw part of the 3rd section running and screaming.
She flew inside and opened the door to let them all in. Everyone around heard the commotion and went to the entrance to hear the latest news. The lieutenant, nearly out of breath, told them about the mole. He also said that Christina and what was left went to help the others fight. It was only a couple of hours ago when the decision was made.
"We were almost here when we heard the gunshots. We ran the rest of the way to tell you all," he panted.
"I know. I saw it happening," Finn said.
Challenger gave her a quizzical look. "How could you?"
"I found a telescope upstairs and I saw it."
The visionary rubbed his chin and then retreated upstairs.
The lieutenant, finally got his breath, told everyone to stay put and that if the battle was lead here, then they'll be ready.
+++
3rd Section, 4:45
The group moved at a astound speed. Christina wanted to catch up to the 2nd section to be there ready.
When she told everyone what was going to happen, there was no questions, no comments, and no replies. They did what they were told. She could feel it all over, the excitement of what was awaiting them all. Her pulse was beating rapidly and there was no one who could stop her from her goal. Her mind kept repeating in a never-ending prayer, don't stop don't stop run run fight fight win we're going to win!
The humans that came, to her surprise, could run as fast as she could. But she didn't focus on that. She looked around and saw everything, feel everything. She could see Marguerite and Roxton, holding hands. Close! So close!
She could smell their fear. Odd really. But she couldn't explain how, she just could. Run! Run! Fight! Fight! Win! We're going to win!
+++
2nd Section, 4:55
They were only a walking distance now from the 1st section. Veronica went up ahead and gasped at the sight in front of her. The entire section was basically gone. Only a dozen stood piling the bodies of their friends gone into graves.
When the rest of the 2nd section made it, they were all in disbelief. Mike, badly wounded, came up to Veronica.
"We were wondering when you would show up. As you can tell, we had our own misfortune and let's say that the rest of us are even lucky to be alive."
"What happened?" asked Roxton.
"When Christina told me about the mole, I figured it would be best of both sides of the section were united. I called Dayna and her side came. At first, when they arrived she wasn't there. My buddy, Max, said she was out scouting. I got mad because she always does that and this was no time to be separated. Well, she was on her way back when it happened. It was so fast, you know, and we didn't have time to react."
Mike stopped and pointed to a group of trees nearby. "Dayna was walking through there when a hunter came from behind and grabbed her. Then all of these hunters came from all over and started shooting. I yelled for the guy to let Dayna go and he stood there, laughing. I ran over to free her when I was attack. I fought back and when I look, Dayna and her captive were gone. I couldn't go off, so I stayed and fought. It became too much so we retreated with those hunters at our feet. The ones who were severely hurt fell behind and this is all we have left, I'm afraid."
"Is Dayna dead?" asked Marguerite.
Mike shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm not surprised if she is. These men have no heart when it comes to us. I only hope it was quickly and less painful, for she was like a sister to me and I didn't want to see her suffer."
"How long ago did it happened?" asked the jungle princess.
"25 minutes."
The three friends looked at each other and they all had the same thought, Could Dayna be the mole? If so, then why?
None of them voice this aloud because the others were still mourning and if Mike knew his cousin did betray them, he would be heart-broken.
Roxton had the other vampires in their section tell everyone to help with burying. When the task was complete, the 2nd section went off to find the hunters while the remaining 1st section went back to the castle.
Before Mike left, he wished them all good luck.
It was now 5:20.
+++
Carl & Co., 5:35
Carl had this huge triumphant smile plastered on his face from their victory. The shock looks of the enemy of what was happening were priceless. His men stood their ground and fought with such strength that Carl was extremely proud like a parent would be.
He trained them well and that was enough for them to win. Of course, he could have finished them. But he pulled back because they were not his concern. His main objective was to have the leaders killed. This was all made possible from the little bird that he told Cain about. If it weren't for her, then he wouldn't know what to do.
He looked at his watch, it was 5:40. Things were going along quite nicely and that was what he wanted to stick with.
"Sir!" Cain ran up to him. "Sir, why did we capture another creature? We don't need her for all we know she will be in the way."
"Cain, son, don't ask questions. All you have to do is listen to my orders and follow them. Besides, we don't want her dead so stop asking so many damn questions!"
Cain jumped from the sudden outburst from his leader. He left and kept his mouth closed. He didn't want to have the same fate as Johnson did. It was strange to him that his boss didn't want the new prisoner in the cage. He wanted her to walk among them with no handcuffs, no guards, no anything! If she wanted, she could run off but she didn't. This one stayed. She didn't even go near the cage. This was unusual to Cain.
This one was different but he didn't know what. Then a memory pop and he recalled Carl saying once about a little bird told him the directions and the shadow in the lab!
"It couldn't be," he said to himself. He looks over to where she was and he thought she actually smiled at him. The smile was a twisted one and shivers went down his spine. For the first time in his life, Cain was scared.
+++
2nd Section, 6:29
It took awhile but they finally caught up with the hunters. They were taking a break.
Roxton scanned the area and saw Dayna sitting by (what he assumed) was the leader. She was laughing and hanging over his words. This didn't look like a prisoner to the lord nor did she appear to look like one.
He caught Marguerite's expression and they knew the reason for the 1st section to be gone was Dayna. She was the mole.
Then, she stopped laughing and quickly looked around. The leader said something and she nodded. The last moment of silence disappeared when Dayna locked eye contact with Roxton. It was now 6:30.
+++
4th Section
"We have to do something instead of sitting around and waiting!" cried Finn. She followed Challenger and she grew anxious by the second. Almost all of her friends were out there fighting for their lives and Challenger, who knew them for the longest time, didn't protest what the lieutenant said. He left and went to the lab and worked.
Finn was now over the edge of her patience.
"Finn, we have to stay in case the hunters come here. I know what you're feeling and I would like to go and fight but it's not the time. Our friends know what their doing and I have complete faith in them all."
She looks at him in wonder. He was right. Even if it killed her, she will stay.
+++
3rd Section
Christina and her group kept moving without stopping. Way back, they saw graves and she realized it was the 1st section. The 2nd section must have stop and buried the bodies before going off after the hunters. She cried for a little bit but she couldn't show her weakness to everyone. It now all depended on her and she wasn't going to let death stop her from her goal.
They saw traces of the 2nd section and knew they were going in the right direction. When they did catch up, they found themselves in the middle of a battle-taking place.
"Men, fight and whatever you do don't stop!" she yelled. In response, her group cheered and clashed with the hunters. Christina lost sight of Zack but now wasn't the time to worry about her feelings. After she killed a hunter, she saw Marguerite struggling with a man who now held her. She ran towards him and slammed him to the ground.
He jumped up and after punching a couple of blows to the stomach she took out her knife and finished him off by slicing his neck.
"Thanks, I think," the brunette said.
Christina smiled. "No problem."
Both women turned and killed a couple of men that were aiming at them.
"What took you so long?" Marguerite asked, as she kicked a guy in the ribs.
"Looking for you. Saw the graves what happened?" Christina said as she drove the knife in a hunter's stomach.
"They were attack. Dayna's the mole," she answered.
"What?" And at that moment she saw Dayna and Carl running from the fight.
"I'll be back!" Christina yelled to Marguerite and she chased after them.
"Uh?" when the heiress turned to her, Christina was gone.
"MARGUERITE!" screamed Roxton.
She turned and saw her love as he pointed to a man coming right at her. Roxton whipped out one of his Webleys and shot the man.
He ran up to her and after quickly inspecting that she was fine, they heard some shouts. The cage was tilted over and Christina's parents and friend was trying to get out.
The dark-haired couple ran to them and was able to blow the lock off. The three vampires scrambled out.
"Thanks," said the man. "I know it's the not the time for introductions but where's Christina?"
+++
It was over. Dayna hoped that they would reach the castle before the others caught up but she was wrong. When she saw Lord Roxton all she could think of was the plan was ruined. She was going to play hostage just until they reached the castle and act as a distraction to lure everyone out. It was over. The plan failed and so she told Carl what she saw and it all happened so fast.
Now, the two were running away. She wasn't sure what direction they were heading but all she knew she had to get away in case Christina showed up.
"Are you okay?" Carl asked when he saw the brooding expression on her face.
"I'm fine," she snapped. "Let's get out of here first and then we'll talk."
After running for about five miles, they stopped for Carl to catch his breath.
"Damn, you can run fast," he commented.
She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and looked at him, flirtatiously. "Well then I better slow down. After all I don't want you to be worn out and then we can't have fun."
She seductively swayed her way to him and Carl went out and grasped her hips. He pulled her close to him and murmured, "You can't worn me out. Not for a million years."
"Do you want to put that to a test?" Slowly, she caressed his lips with her own and then added pressure.
Meanwhile, Christina observed all of this taking place. It made her sick and she felt like she was going to throw up. Don't let this get to you; this is the opportunity to stop them, she thought. Taking a deep breath, she walked out, with her pistol ready.
+++
The others weren't faring well. There were too many hunters and it seemed that more was coming and their numbers wouldn't go down.
Christina's parents and Monica got into the fight. Monica just KO a guy when she sensed someone from behind. When she turned, the guy fell dead and she saw Cain in front, with his gun in hand. He ran up to her. "Are you all right?"
"Fine but you just killed one of your own," she pointed out.
He looked at the stiff and back to her. "I couldn't do this any more. My boss is mad and he'll probably kill me after this so I rather die trying to stop him instead."
"Cain is it? Well, good to have you aboard," she smiled.
Zack ran up to them. He saw what happened and he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Did you just?" he asked and Cain nodded.
"Where's Christina?" Zack asked Monica.
"I don't know. I was lock in a cage, remember?"
"She went after my boss and your friend, there." Cain pointed to where he last saw his boss.
"Thanks." Zack ran off to find her.
+++
"Maybe you two should get a room or better yet, why don't you surrender."
Dayna and Carl jumped when they heard someone's voice. Getting off another, they scramble to their weapons and pulled them out on Christina.
"Chris, I was wondering when I would see you," Dayna smirked. "And to let you know, yes. I am the mole. I'm the backstabber."
"Why?" Christina looked desperately to her old friend. The information wouldn't process in her mind and even when Dayna was holding a gun at her. This couldn't be true.
Seeing that Chris was in disbelief, Dayna kicked the gun out of her friend's hand. The gun flew a few feet away and Carl went over and picked it up before Christina realized she was now unarmed.
"Dayna," she pleaded. "Don't do this. Think about your family, your friends, please don't do something you'll regret."
Dayna let out a low chuckle. "The only thing I regret is that I had the chance to kill you before and never took it. By the way, did you ever wonder how David knew where to find you?"
"You . . ." Christina's voice faded.
Dayna nodded. "Yup. It was me. See, I feel I should be the leader of the vampires and not you and your family. Sure, you started all this but change is always good."
"You're crazy!" Christina cried.
"On the contrary, see, I met Carl a few years ago. Just like you and Mark, we were meant to be. He wanted power and so did I so you can see how this worked out."
Carl came up and stood next to Dayna. "It was hard convincing David to go after you. Even though we were friends, the trust factor wasn't the greatest. I knew you would kill him and if you didn't well I would have killed him anyways. He never had the same vision as I did. He wanted you all dead but I want to take charge," Carl explained.
"Why kidnapped my parents and Monica?"
"Monica was at the wrong place at the wrong time that's all. And for your parents, well, it would have been a matter of leverage. You would have surrender if they were in danger and giving up your place as leader would have brought them back to you."
"You have us killed, right?"
"Yes," Carl answered. "But sometimes plans fails and new ones had to be made. We kept them and decided to go to the castle. I know from experience that the weak are kept in the 'safe ground' and those deaths will make your side grow weak and my side to overpower everyone."
"That's a pretty good plan but you messed with the wrong vampire," Christina spat.
"No we didn't." Dayna aimed and pulled the trigger.
Time stood still (think of The Matrix) and out from the corner of Christina's eye, she saw Zack coming towards her and he jumped in front of her. Time then slowly started to return and the bullet slammed into Zack and he fell.
"No!" Christina screamed.
She fell down and looked for a pulse. It was weak but he was alive.
"You missed!" Carl hissed.
"I didn't expect Zack to be there," Dayna growled.
"I'll do it then!" Carl grabbed her gun out of her hands and a shot rang through the jungle.
+++
Some of the warriors started to flee into the jungle. There was no way they would come out as victors. Thane and the explorers fought with all their might but it was too much.
An idea came to the raiders leader, and he ran off.
"Where the hell does he think he's going?!" screeched Marguerite.
"Watch out!" Claire pushed Marguerite and shot an oncoming hunter.
"Thanks!"
"You helped my daughter. That's the least I can do," Claire told her.
"Now's not the time for tea ladies," Roxton said annoyed.
+++
4th Section
Finn stayed out on the balcony and saw the battle grow intense. She was grateful her friends were still standing. Assai came up beside her and Finn handed her the telescope.
Assai looked through and gasped. "I'm afraid we're not going to win," the native princess said.
"Don't say that. Look, we've been through tough situations before so this isn't anything different," Finn said.
"You're strong. I know the others as well and I know there's a good chance they might make it out alive. But look, can't you see this isn't going to end well? I have my husband out there and as much as I hate to say but it will take a miracle for us to win."
"Assai, I think I see that miracle. Look!"
+++
The hunter that was punching Roxton, stopped and ran off. Roxton look to see what scared him off and what he saw never made him happier.
Thane returned, with some help from a certain lizard and his army.
"Lord Roxton, I must say I never thought you would need my help but as young Thane pointed out this depends on the fate of the plateau. I will always help you whenever needed but when Thane came to me I thought I would have to kill him until he explained everything."
"Glad you can help, Tribune," the grateful hunter said.
The lizard smiled and ordered his troops to fight.
There was enough people helping and the favor now turned to the good side.
+++
"Carl!"
Carl stood there, expressionless, and fell face down. A bullet entered his back and he was killed instantly.
"You!"
Christina looked to where Dayna was screaming at and there was Cain with Monica at his side.
"I knew you were trouble," Dayna hissed.
"You're right. And you know what? I always thought you were bitch." Monica took Cain's gun and fired at Dayna.
Dayna looked to her chest as blood gushed out. She put her hand to it as if to stop the bleeding, but her eyes closed shut and fell backwards.
"Chris! Are you all right?" Monica ran to her. "Ohmigod!" Monica saw Zack and his face was turning pale.
"Quick we have to get him out of here," Cain spoke to both women.
"Yes. But what about them?" Christina was talking about Dayna and Carl.
"Leave them. They're not our worry," Cain replied.
+++
It was long and hard. But the final moments came and the last of the hunters retreated when there was no chance of winning. Of course, most of them didn't have any ammo so they had to face with the local wildlife.
Cain, Monica, and Christina returned and Cain was carrying Zack. There wasn't enough time to celebrate so the remaining people did their best to help the wounded heroic vampire.
+++
Three days later . . .
Zack was feeling better and just yesterday most of the tribes were able to return to their villages. Again, the Smiths and the other vampires were grateful for everyone helping.
It was a pity of what Dayna did but Christina was able to get over her best friend's choice. It was time for her and everyone else to leave but before they did, they escorted the explorers back to the tree house.
"Sorry that the hunters made a mess out of it," Christina said.
"It's okay. I guess we can redecorate," Veronica joked.
"I'm really going to miss you all," Christina said as tears started to appear.
This caught on and everyone stood there trying to get out their good-byes.
"Promise you will come and visit," Finn said to Christina.
"I will Finn."
"You know, even though you were with us for a short time, it felt you were part of this family," Marguerite told her.
"Thank you," Christina whispered.
"Christina, it's time sweetie," her dad said.
"I should go."
Christina went around and gave everyone one last hug before disappearing down the elevator.
The explorers watch her go and they stood in the middle of the Great Room, reflecting what happened.
"You know the sad thing," Roxton spoke finally interrupting everyone's thoughts. "I bet there's people still out there just like Dayna, David, and Carl that we don't know about. It makes me sick to know that there will be people out there that will not stop until a certain race is gone. I think we all learned a lesson from this."
The scientist nodded. "I'm afraid you're right Roxton. Look at the Great War and what happened. Nations were divided and were willing to kill anyone who was against them. I bet that in future wars that a certain group might be targets for anyone who feels they don't belong."
"Like the Holocaust in World War II," said Finn.
"World War II?" asked Marguerite.
Finn nodded. "It was the worst ever. Many innocent people died because they were different and in the future we are reminded constantly of this. Apparently, in a way this was similar to it. The vampires were victims of hate."
"You know what I think," Veronica said. "I think that we don't have to really fight in wars. If people just sat together and tried to talk it out that many lives will be saved and no one will have to worry about anything."
They all nodded.
Hey everyone I'm done with this! Sorry it took so long but I have been studying for mid-terms and if anyone knows what I'm talking about they can be stressful! Just to let you know, this was my first action sequence story so I hope everything came up great. You all have been great so go ahead and click the review button and tell me what you think!
Notes: This is the last chapter. I repeat, this is the last chapter. You all have been so wonderful and I want to thank all of my loyal reviewers and my new ones. I was so happy to share my thoughts with you and I really appreciate the fact that you enjoyed this story. If I get plenty of reviews I might just do a sequel.
"Tell Chris that I." Zack started.
"Veronica!" Marguerite came storming into the hut. "There are some hunters out there. Max (he's the other vampire that came. I was so tired of writing 'the vampire') sensed them coming. We better get out of here."
Realizing she interrupted something, Marguerite turned to Zack. "Sorry. What were you going to say? I heard 'Tell Chris that I..'"
Shifting his feet, Zack quickly said, "Never mind. It's not important anyways. Hunters you say? Then we better get the hell out of here."
"I'll go with you and the messengers since the other tribes should listen to me. Take all of the women, children, and the warriors with you. I don't want to deal with any innocent dying," Assai told everyone.
"What about Jarl?" asked the heiress.
"He's going with his wife." Jarl entered the hut. "I'm not having you go alone Assai."
"It doesn't matter who goes where! We better get a move out or we'll might end up dead ducks!" Zack cried.
"Are you always this paranoid?" Marguerite asked him.
"Only when there's danger. So let's get a move out!"
+++
Castle
The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon and a worried hunter sat out on the balcony watching over to see his friends. I should have gone, he thought bitterly. There's danger out there and I let Marguerite go off on her own.
The handsome man was up all night waiting eagerly for his love to return. Just as soon as she left, he couldn't wait for her to return. All this waiting was driving him insane and he figured he give them a 10 more minutes before he goes out looking. Well, he didn't have to wait.
Approaching the castle was Marguerite and Veronica and what appeared to Roxton, the whole village. After catching a glimpse of his chosen lady, he ran out of the castle to greet them. When he reached them, Christina was there.
"Where's Zack?" she said as she scanned the large group.
"He went with Assai and Jarl to get other tribes to help," informed Marguerite.
The future girl gave her a skeptical look. "He went without any backup? What was he thinking?!"
"Now's not the time. We better get all these people into the castle and wait for them to come back. They should be back soon," the jungle princess told Christina.
Sighing, she nodded.
+++
The castle was becoming crowded and everyone was nervous. Especially Christina.
She was in the library just staring out the window. Marguerite and Roxton were walking by and noticed her.
"I'm worried about her John. For a couple of hours she sits there and stares," whispered Marguerite.
He squeezed her hand and look down at her with admiration. "She'll be all right. I bet Assai will be coming back soon with reinforcements."
They both left to look for Challenger.
Christina heard them and deep down she hope they'll be here soon. She was not only worried about her parents and friend but also Zack. He was terrific and always was there for her when she needed comfort. A dozen of memories flitted through her head of all the times Zack helped her. A small smile appeared on her face and a feeling she never thought she would feel again after Mark's death went through her.
Ohmigod! Am I finding Zack attractive? He's like a brother to me and I'm feeling. . . I can't believe it! she thought. Out in the distance she saw Zack and what she assumed was Assai was coming up with a large group of warriors.
+++
Tree House
"Cain! Cain!" roared Carl.
"Yes sir?" he asks as he entered the lab.
"Are the men ready?"
Cain nodded.
"Good. Have them suit up and bring the animals. The weather is lovely and I feel we should have a picnic. And the main course is fried vampire."
Cain gulped and before he left, he barely noticed a shadow in the distance. He didn't say anything and left quickly before his boss realizes he saw anything.
"Sorry for the interruption but I need to get them ready," Carl explained.
"No problem," the shadow purred. "Do you have the instructions I gave you to the castle?"
Carl nodded and patted his coat pocket where he had them. "Excellent. Soon Christina and her entire family will be dead and we'll rule the world."
They both laughed and the shadow jumped out and ran out to the Great Room and leapt over the balcony with such speed that no one knew what happened.
+++
Castle
"Great! Our numbers is now up to 1,000," said Christina.
"Yeah and you won't believe how many tribes were willing to help. I think we should recruit them in the future," joked Zack.
A tense laugh went through the dining room. Christina had all the leaders and explorers in the room to discuss their tactics.
"We should charge them and fight until they're all dead!" cried a voice in the back.
"Who said that?" Roxton asked. The voice sounded familiar.
"Thane. I'm sure you haven't forgot our meeting," he said as he walked up.
"You! How dare you!?" cried Marguerite, remembering the fateful day at the bridge.
"I came to help. I'm sorry what happened before but we should focus on the problem at hand."
"He's right," Veronica said.
"But," protested Marguerite.
"The lad is right. The only thing that's important is getting everything back to normal," Challenger pointed out. Even though the man of science despises the raiders for the fate of Summerlee, he knew in order to win they have to team up with their enemies.
"So what will be our plan of action, Christina?" asked Finn.
"We're going to divide into 4 sections. Now, before anyone complains, I know you all," directing to the chiefs, "lead your people to battle and stuff. You will do that but I'm going to put my men in charge of each section. They know the hunters' tactics and their way of fighting. There will be no disagreement. The first two sections are going to be in front and use guerilla warfare so I see that some of you are familiar with the concept. You will be the ringleaders and the rest will split up and try to surround the hunters in a counteract attack. The first section will also be our scouts and will send a couple of men ahead to see where the enemy is. If the scouts could, they might be able to rescue my parents and Monica. Any questions?"
There were no negative remarks and because of this, Christina was glad. There wasn't enough time to please everyone. She gathered her best fighters and each of them assigned to a section. The tribes that use guerilla went with the two sections and the rest went by experience of battles. Thane's group was in the third section.
"I see you had plenty of time to work this all out," joked Zack to Christina.
"Sure did with all the worrying you gave me." She stopped after realizing what she just said.
"Worried? About me?" Zack asked, hoping he heard this clearly.
"A little. You know you shouldn't have done that without my authorization," she scolded.
"I know but it was . . ."
"Forget it." She held up her hand to silence him. "I put you in the third section with me since you had a hard time following orders the last time."
Zack gave her a long hard look. He knew she probably didn't mean it but she was the leader now and he shouldn't object.
"Chris!" Christina looked up as Dayna came flying in the room. "Chris!"
"What is it Dayna?"
"The hunters!" she gasped. "I saw them coming in the ball!"
All heads turned to the young leader to see her reaction.
"It is time," she stated grimly.
+++
"Are you sure we should march in and fight? Couldn't we wait for the opportune moment?" asked Dayna as she stood by her old childhood friend. "As leader I thought you would take in consideration of your troops you're leading."
"I am Dayna and if there's something wrong then there's nothing I can do. It's either now or later and if we wait later we will all be dead," Christina told her.
"But . . ."
"No buts Dayna. This is it, don't you see? This is the moment we have all been waiting for centuries and now it seems you want to back down. Why? Don't you remember what it was like when we were kids? The fear, the pain? If we act now then the future generations won't have to go through what we did."
Dayna sighed. "You're right Chris. I'm sorry I guess this thing has gotten me work up and I didn't think it through."
Christina put her hand on her shoulder. "That's all right. Say, what are friends for?" She smiled and left to finish some business. Dayna watched her until she was gone. "That's right Chris. What are friends for?"
+++
On the Trail . . .
"Sir! The prisoners are growing restless," Cain told Carl. "What should we do?"
"Tell them to shut up or we'll stop and kill them now," Carl replied.
The young man nodded and left. Carl watched him go. The lad's smart but I can see a weakness in him and that's not good. I'm afraid when the time comes, he won't be able to take part in my dream and I'll make sure of it, the madman thought.
Cain approached the cage and peered inside. The vampires were complaining all the way and banging on the walls. "Hey! Shut up or you'll be dead on the spot," he told them.
Monica went up and bent down to have direct eye contact. "Why should we? It doesn't matter when your boss kills us since he's going to do it anyways. Maybe it might be in his best interest to," she glowered at him. Cain gulped. Ever since they captured them, this one gave Cain uneasiness. Maybe the fact that she was attractive or that she had a mouth full of threats, that made Cain feel this way. He really felt bad for them, if anyone didn't figure. Ironically, he's a vampire hunter and this woman who was a vampire attracted him. Cain kept his feelings at bay or else if Carl found out he would definitely be a dead man.
"Listen," he whispered sharply, "I don't want to see you get killed that's all. Is that so hard to believe?"
"Yes!" she whispered back. "Don't even think for a second you can fool me. I know plenty of men just like you and do you want to know what happened to them?"
Cain shook his head fast. Though, she was a beauty she was also very scary!
"No ma'am." And with that he left, leaving Monica smiling. For a hunter, he's not so bad looking, she thought.
+++
Castle
The past hour went by so incredibly fast, that Christina forgot what she was suppose to do. "The study!" She ran past Finn to the study. The young blonde followed her. "Christina, what are you doing?"
"Finn! Good that you are here. Could you help me?" Christina was standing by a large portrait that Finn assumed must be her ancestor. Christina went over to the side of the portrait and pulled a loose brick out. The portrait swung around and a secret arsenal was shown.
"Whoa," Finn said. Guns, walkie-talkies, bullets, grenades, and the whole nine yards of weapons were in there.
"I thought you said this castle was built by your ancestor?" Finn said.
"It was. The location was kept in secret with the one person he trusts, his wife. Someone in our family has to know where it is and so my uncle added this in. Pretty neat, uh?"
"Neat." The two gathered as many items they could carry (mostly walkie- talkies) and passed them out to the officers that were in charge of each section. It was now time for war.
+++
1st Section
"Now keep it low," whispered Dayna. Dayna was in charge of the 1st section and they went off immediately to try to divert the hunters away from the castle. Dayna's cousin Mike was second in charge. The section split off and Mike took his side one way.
"Big Mike! Are you there? Over," Dayna said.
"Moby White, I roger you. Do you have a clear look of the enemy? Over," the walkie-talkie crackled.
Dayna looked around and saw a large cage with a bunch of men guarding it. "Big Mike, do you see the cage? I bet those bastards has the Smiths in there."
Dayna's platoon's mission was to rescue the Smiths. "Okay, men let's do this," she ordered.
+++
3rd Section
Christina's group set off to the tree house to see if they could selvage anything worth keeping. This section wasn't quite as large since most men were needed to fight. Christina made sure Zack was by her side but she didn't want to appear over concern.
She kept him busy with ordering the raiders. Thane was unhappy about this since his tribe was fighters not scavengers.
"You! I need to talk to you," Thane said as he approached Christina.
"What?"
"My men are fighters! You separated my tribe and as leader I deserve to be where the action is!"
"Sorry but this battle doesn't really concern you and I don't care who you are. I'm in charge and what I say goes! I'm grateful you're helping but please don't turn this into a standoff. We can't afford to lose allies and I can tell you fought plenty so you understand what I mean to do."
He blinked and then stormed off. Well, at least he's going to keep it inside and not his temper interfere, she thought.
They arrived but there was some hunters left behind. Luckily, there were only a few. They were quickly dispatched and Christina and Zack went up. She was hoping they would have left the prisoners but they didn't. Zack wandered into the lab and what he saw shock him. "Chris!" he yelled.
"What?" she asked as she came down. Zack gave her some papers he found. She glances them and gasped. She looked up at him and then back.
"Oh my God!" she breathed. Zack nodded. This was not good for any of them.
Christina grabbed her walkie-talkie and contacted Mike. This was not good at all.
+++
2nd Section
Roxton, Marguerite, and Veronica were bringing up the front of their section. This section had the Zangas since they knew each other and were able to work with one another. There were other tribes here too; a few of them were another branch of the Zangas. They were a few miles behind the first section.
A few other vampires joined them and together, they and Roxton and Veronica were able to come up with a plan of attack. The trip to where the hunters were was going smooth, a little too easy for the experience explorers but they didn't complain.
+++
4th Section
"Challenger? Why do we have to be last?" complained Finn.
The older man was busy working on some type of invention and asked Christina for him to be last and Finn too. Challenger thought Finn as a daughter and wanted her out of harm's way. Of course, the others were his kids too but they were older and were needed.
She was standing behind the scientist looking over his shoulder. "Finn. I'm almost done but Christina told us we're backup and if one of the other sections come back or we get a call, then we go."
She groaned and left the man to his work.
+++
3rd Section
"Big Mike! Big Mike! Do you copy?" cried Christina. "This is urgent!"
The walkie-talkie came to life as Mike answered.
"Mike, we have a problem."
"What's up?"
"They have the directions to the castle."
"We know that. That's what Dayna said she saw."
"They got the directions from someone! I'm looking at what I think is the leader's log and he says that he was shock the creature was willing to go behind its own kind! We have a mole!"
"Who?!" Mike shouted. This was not good.
"I don't know. It doesn't say but don't attack until I get there and make sure you contact Dayna."
"Ten four."
Christina whirled around to face Zack. Zack knew this got her all flustered and her face turned beet red. He couldn't tell if it was embarrassment or anger. Probably a mix of both, he thought.
"Zack, we have a traitor among us. I wish I knew who because there will be hell to pay! We have to warn the others!"
She started to leave when Zack reached out and grabbed her. "It's too late now. We should return to the castle and see if we can protect it so the women and children won't get hurt," Zack said softly.
She stared in his eyes. She didn't care what she looked like now since this whole ordinal was deeply upsetting her. This was suppose to be a simple mission and now it turn into a war in a place where it had nothing to do with. She bit her lip.
"Chris," Zack continued. "You know we have to return. If it makes you feel better, I'll take a small portion to the others and you go to the castle."
"No!" she said firmly. "I'm in charge and as my duty I should go and help fight. You go to the castle."
He shook his head. "I don't care what your position is. I know what to do. The best thing is that you must be protected, that's what matters most."
"I'm not going back. Zack, I'm going and that's final!"
She ran out, leaving Zack alone. He heard her barking out orders and she sent her lieutenant back to the castle. He sighed.
+++
2nd Section
They were getting close and then the walkie-talkie in Roxton's pocket started to crackle. Startled, he jumped, as did Marguerite and Veronica. They were not use to this type of device since it was much different than the one they know about.
"Lord R! Lord R! Do you copy? Over."
He took it out and looked at it.
"John! Answer," Marguerite told him.
He pushed the talk button and answered.
"Got some bad news, buddy. Chris found out there's a mole in the party and that's how those cannibals knew where to head. Someone gave them the directions so keep your eyes open for anyone who tries to back out. A real soldier never backs down for someone they love," Mike told him.
"Roger that. We keep a sharp eye," Roxton said.
After returning the walkie-talkie to its original spot, the lord repeated what he heard to the others.
"Who could do such a thing?" Marguerite growled. Even as a spy, when the enemy captured her, she never turned against the country she loved.
"They don't know. It could be anyone," he told her.
"Then we should watch our backs then," the jungle princess said.
The 2nd section was now only a half an hour closer to the first. It was only 4:25.
+++
Carl & Co., 4:28
"Sir, are we lost?" asked a couple of men in back of Carl.
"No!" he shouted.
"We have been walking for hours and we are no where's close to where we have to be. What's so special about this direction?" asked one of the men, named Hudson.
"Because a little bird told me that's why," Carl barked.
In the middle, Cain was starting to become worried. He knew whatever he saw in the lab, was somehow tied into this and Magger wasn't spilling it. He slowly looked around and thought he saw someone in the bushes. Stepping out of line, he went towards the bush and after looking it over, there was no sign of footprints or any sudden movement on the ground.
"Jesus, I must be seeing things in this crazy place," he muttered. He went back to his group without a second look.
High above in the trees, Dayna overlooked everything. "That was close!" she whispered. She thought for sure she would be caught and that would blow everything. When the last man walked by, she jumped down and proceeded to where her regiment was going. Mike told her to have her group come to where his was.
+++
4th Section, 6:30 pm
Finn was lounging on the balcony when she first heard gunshots in the distance. She ran inside and found a telescope in the first room her and Vee in. She was surprised she didn't notice it at first, but she didn't care. Returning back, she peered in the eyepiece and gasped. Thousands of people were shooting and stabbing one another. The action she saw, made her stomach churned. The vampires, some of them, were biting the hunters and she saw some blood dripping all over. She heard some shouts and saw part of the 3rd section running and screaming.
She flew inside and opened the door to let them all in. Everyone around heard the commotion and went to the entrance to hear the latest news. The lieutenant, nearly out of breath, told them about the mole. He also said that Christina and what was left went to help the others fight. It was only a couple of hours ago when the decision was made.
"We were almost here when we heard the gunshots. We ran the rest of the way to tell you all," he panted.
"I know. I saw it happening," Finn said.
Challenger gave her a quizzical look. "How could you?"
"I found a telescope upstairs and I saw it."
The visionary rubbed his chin and then retreated upstairs.
The lieutenant, finally got his breath, told everyone to stay put and that if the battle was lead here, then they'll be ready.
+++
3rd Section, 4:45
The group moved at a astound speed. Christina wanted to catch up to the 2nd section to be there ready.
When she told everyone what was going to happen, there was no questions, no comments, and no replies. They did what they were told. She could feel it all over, the excitement of what was awaiting them all. Her pulse was beating rapidly and there was no one who could stop her from her goal. Her mind kept repeating in a never-ending prayer, don't stop don't stop run run fight fight win we're going to win!
The humans that came, to her surprise, could run as fast as she could. But she didn't focus on that. She looked around and saw everything, feel everything. She could see Marguerite and Roxton, holding hands. Close! So close!
She could smell their fear. Odd really. But she couldn't explain how, she just could. Run! Run! Fight! Fight! Win! We're going to win!
+++
2nd Section, 4:55
They were only a walking distance now from the 1st section. Veronica went up ahead and gasped at the sight in front of her. The entire section was basically gone. Only a dozen stood piling the bodies of their friends gone into graves.
When the rest of the 2nd section made it, they were all in disbelief. Mike, badly wounded, came up to Veronica.
"We were wondering when you would show up. As you can tell, we had our own misfortune and let's say that the rest of us are even lucky to be alive."
"What happened?" asked Roxton.
"When Christina told me about the mole, I figured it would be best of both sides of the section were united. I called Dayna and her side came. At first, when they arrived she wasn't there. My buddy, Max, said she was out scouting. I got mad because she always does that and this was no time to be separated. Well, she was on her way back when it happened. It was so fast, you know, and we didn't have time to react."
Mike stopped and pointed to a group of trees nearby. "Dayna was walking through there when a hunter came from behind and grabbed her. Then all of these hunters came from all over and started shooting. I yelled for the guy to let Dayna go and he stood there, laughing. I ran over to free her when I was attack. I fought back and when I look, Dayna and her captive were gone. I couldn't go off, so I stayed and fought. It became too much so we retreated with those hunters at our feet. The ones who were severely hurt fell behind and this is all we have left, I'm afraid."
"Is Dayna dead?" asked Marguerite.
Mike shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm not surprised if she is. These men have no heart when it comes to us. I only hope it was quickly and less painful, for she was like a sister to me and I didn't want to see her suffer."
"How long ago did it happened?" asked the jungle princess.
"25 minutes."
The three friends looked at each other and they all had the same thought, Could Dayna be the mole? If so, then why?
None of them voice this aloud because the others were still mourning and if Mike knew his cousin did betray them, he would be heart-broken.
Roxton had the other vampires in their section tell everyone to help with burying. When the task was complete, the 2nd section went off to find the hunters while the remaining 1st section went back to the castle.
Before Mike left, he wished them all good luck.
It was now 5:20.
+++
Carl & Co., 5:35
Carl had this huge triumphant smile plastered on his face from their victory. The shock looks of the enemy of what was happening were priceless. His men stood their ground and fought with such strength that Carl was extremely proud like a parent would be.
He trained them well and that was enough for them to win. Of course, he could have finished them. But he pulled back because they were not his concern. His main objective was to have the leaders killed. This was all made possible from the little bird that he told Cain about. If it weren't for her, then he wouldn't know what to do.
He looked at his watch, it was 5:40. Things were going along quite nicely and that was what he wanted to stick with.
"Sir!" Cain ran up to him. "Sir, why did we capture another creature? We don't need her for all we know she will be in the way."
"Cain, son, don't ask questions. All you have to do is listen to my orders and follow them. Besides, we don't want her dead so stop asking so many damn questions!"
Cain jumped from the sudden outburst from his leader. He left and kept his mouth closed. He didn't want to have the same fate as Johnson did. It was strange to him that his boss didn't want the new prisoner in the cage. He wanted her to walk among them with no handcuffs, no guards, no anything! If she wanted, she could run off but she didn't. This one stayed. She didn't even go near the cage. This was unusual to Cain.
This one was different but he didn't know what. Then a memory pop and he recalled Carl saying once about a little bird told him the directions and the shadow in the lab!
"It couldn't be," he said to himself. He looks over to where she was and he thought she actually smiled at him. The smile was a twisted one and shivers went down his spine. For the first time in his life, Cain was scared.
+++
2nd Section, 6:29
It took awhile but they finally caught up with the hunters. They were taking a break.
Roxton scanned the area and saw Dayna sitting by (what he assumed) was the leader. She was laughing and hanging over his words. This didn't look like a prisoner to the lord nor did she appear to look like one.
He caught Marguerite's expression and they knew the reason for the 1st section to be gone was Dayna. She was the mole.
Then, she stopped laughing and quickly looked around. The leader said something and she nodded. The last moment of silence disappeared when Dayna locked eye contact with Roxton. It was now 6:30.
+++
4th Section
"We have to do something instead of sitting around and waiting!" cried Finn. She followed Challenger and she grew anxious by the second. Almost all of her friends were out there fighting for their lives and Challenger, who knew them for the longest time, didn't protest what the lieutenant said. He left and went to the lab and worked.
Finn was now over the edge of her patience.
"Finn, we have to stay in case the hunters come here. I know what you're feeling and I would like to go and fight but it's not the time. Our friends know what their doing and I have complete faith in them all."
She looks at him in wonder. He was right. Even if it killed her, she will stay.
+++
3rd Section
Christina and her group kept moving without stopping. Way back, they saw graves and she realized it was the 1st section. The 2nd section must have stop and buried the bodies before going off after the hunters. She cried for a little bit but she couldn't show her weakness to everyone. It now all depended on her and she wasn't going to let death stop her from her goal.
They saw traces of the 2nd section and knew they were going in the right direction. When they did catch up, they found themselves in the middle of a battle-taking place.
"Men, fight and whatever you do don't stop!" she yelled. In response, her group cheered and clashed with the hunters. Christina lost sight of Zack but now wasn't the time to worry about her feelings. After she killed a hunter, she saw Marguerite struggling with a man who now held her. She ran towards him and slammed him to the ground.
He jumped up and after punching a couple of blows to the stomach she took out her knife and finished him off by slicing his neck.
"Thanks, I think," the brunette said.
Christina smiled. "No problem."
Both women turned and killed a couple of men that were aiming at them.
"What took you so long?" Marguerite asked, as she kicked a guy in the ribs.
"Looking for you. Saw the graves what happened?" Christina said as she drove the knife in a hunter's stomach.
"They were attack. Dayna's the mole," she answered.
"What?" And at that moment she saw Dayna and Carl running from the fight.
"I'll be back!" Christina yelled to Marguerite and she chased after them.
"Uh?" when the heiress turned to her, Christina was gone.
"MARGUERITE!" screamed Roxton.
She turned and saw her love as he pointed to a man coming right at her. Roxton whipped out one of his Webleys and shot the man.
He ran up to her and after quickly inspecting that she was fine, they heard some shouts. The cage was tilted over and Christina's parents and friend was trying to get out.
The dark-haired couple ran to them and was able to blow the lock off. The three vampires scrambled out.
"Thanks," said the man. "I know it's the not the time for introductions but where's Christina?"
+++
It was over. Dayna hoped that they would reach the castle before the others caught up but she was wrong. When she saw Lord Roxton all she could think of was the plan was ruined. She was going to play hostage just until they reached the castle and act as a distraction to lure everyone out. It was over. The plan failed and so she told Carl what she saw and it all happened so fast.
Now, the two were running away. She wasn't sure what direction they were heading but all she knew she had to get away in case Christina showed up.
"Are you okay?" Carl asked when he saw the brooding expression on her face.
"I'm fine," she snapped. "Let's get out of here first and then we'll talk."
After running for about five miles, they stopped for Carl to catch his breath.
"Damn, you can run fast," he commented.
She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and looked at him, flirtatiously. "Well then I better slow down. After all I don't want you to be worn out and then we can't have fun."
She seductively swayed her way to him and Carl went out and grasped her hips. He pulled her close to him and murmured, "You can't worn me out. Not for a million years."
"Do you want to put that to a test?" Slowly, she caressed his lips with her own and then added pressure.
Meanwhile, Christina observed all of this taking place. It made her sick and she felt like she was going to throw up. Don't let this get to you; this is the opportunity to stop them, she thought. Taking a deep breath, she walked out, with her pistol ready.
+++
The others weren't faring well. There were too many hunters and it seemed that more was coming and their numbers wouldn't go down.
Christina's parents and Monica got into the fight. Monica just KO a guy when she sensed someone from behind. When she turned, the guy fell dead and she saw Cain in front, with his gun in hand. He ran up to her. "Are you all right?"
"Fine but you just killed one of your own," she pointed out.
He looked at the stiff and back to her. "I couldn't do this any more. My boss is mad and he'll probably kill me after this so I rather die trying to stop him instead."
"Cain is it? Well, good to have you aboard," she smiled.
Zack ran up to them. He saw what happened and he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Did you just?" he asked and Cain nodded.
"Where's Christina?" Zack asked Monica.
"I don't know. I was lock in a cage, remember?"
"She went after my boss and your friend, there." Cain pointed to where he last saw his boss.
"Thanks." Zack ran off to find her.
+++
"Maybe you two should get a room or better yet, why don't you surrender."
Dayna and Carl jumped when they heard someone's voice. Getting off another, they scramble to their weapons and pulled them out on Christina.
"Chris, I was wondering when I would see you," Dayna smirked. "And to let you know, yes. I am the mole. I'm the backstabber."
"Why?" Christina looked desperately to her old friend. The information wouldn't process in her mind and even when Dayna was holding a gun at her. This couldn't be true.
Seeing that Chris was in disbelief, Dayna kicked the gun out of her friend's hand. The gun flew a few feet away and Carl went over and picked it up before Christina realized she was now unarmed.
"Dayna," she pleaded. "Don't do this. Think about your family, your friends, please don't do something you'll regret."
Dayna let out a low chuckle. "The only thing I regret is that I had the chance to kill you before and never took it. By the way, did you ever wonder how David knew where to find you?"
"You . . ." Christina's voice faded.
Dayna nodded. "Yup. It was me. See, I feel I should be the leader of the vampires and not you and your family. Sure, you started all this but change is always good."
"You're crazy!" Christina cried.
"On the contrary, see, I met Carl a few years ago. Just like you and Mark, we were meant to be. He wanted power and so did I so you can see how this worked out."
Carl came up and stood next to Dayna. "It was hard convincing David to go after you. Even though we were friends, the trust factor wasn't the greatest. I knew you would kill him and if you didn't well I would have killed him anyways. He never had the same vision as I did. He wanted you all dead but I want to take charge," Carl explained.
"Why kidnapped my parents and Monica?"
"Monica was at the wrong place at the wrong time that's all. And for your parents, well, it would have been a matter of leverage. You would have surrender if they were in danger and giving up your place as leader would have brought them back to you."
"You have us killed, right?"
"Yes," Carl answered. "But sometimes plans fails and new ones had to be made. We kept them and decided to go to the castle. I know from experience that the weak are kept in the 'safe ground' and those deaths will make your side grow weak and my side to overpower everyone."
"That's a pretty good plan but you messed with the wrong vampire," Christina spat.
"No we didn't." Dayna aimed and pulled the trigger.
Time stood still (think of The Matrix) and out from the corner of Christina's eye, she saw Zack coming towards her and he jumped in front of her. Time then slowly started to return and the bullet slammed into Zack and he fell.
"No!" Christina screamed.
She fell down and looked for a pulse. It was weak but he was alive.
"You missed!" Carl hissed.
"I didn't expect Zack to be there," Dayna growled.
"I'll do it then!" Carl grabbed her gun out of her hands and a shot rang through the jungle.
+++
Some of the warriors started to flee into the jungle. There was no way they would come out as victors. Thane and the explorers fought with all their might but it was too much.
An idea came to the raiders leader, and he ran off.
"Where the hell does he think he's going?!" screeched Marguerite.
"Watch out!" Claire pushed Marguerite and shot an oncoming hunter.
"Thanks!"
"You helped my daughter. That's the least I can do," Claire told her.
"Now's not the time for tea ladies," Roxton said annoyed.
+++
4th Section
Finn stayed out on the balcony and saw the battle grow intense. She was grateful her friends were still standing. Assai came up beside her and Finn handed her the telescope.
Assai looked through and gasped. "I'm afraid we're not going to win," the native princess said.
"Don't say that. Look, we've been through tough situations before so this isn't anything different," Finn said.
"You're strong. I know the others as well and I know there's a good chance they might make it out alive. But look, can't you see this isn't going to end well? I have my husband out there and as much as I hate to say but it will take a miracle for us to win."
"Assai, I think I see that miracle. Look!"
+++
The hunter that was punching Roxton, stopped and ran off. Roxton look to see what scared him off and what he saw never made him happier.
Thane returned, with some help from a certain lizard and his army.
"Lord Roxton, I must say I never thought you would need my help but as young Thane pointed out this depends on the fate of the plateau. I will always help you whenever needed but when Thane came to me I thought I would have to kill him until he explained everything."
"Glad you can help, Tribune," the grateful hunter said.
The lizard smiled and ordered his troops to fight.
There was enough people helping and the favor now turned to the good side.
+++
"Carl!"
Carl stood there, expressionless, and fell face down. A bullet entered his back and he was killed instantly.
"You!"
Christina looked to where Dayna was screaming at and there was Cain with Monica at his side.
"I knew you were trouble," Dayna hissed.
"You're right. And you know what? I always thought you were bitch." Monica took Cain's gun and fired at Dayna.
Dayna looked to her chest as blood gushed out. She put her hand to it as if to stop the bleeding, but her eyes closed shut and fell backwards.
"Chris! Are you all right?" Monica ran to her. "Ohmigod!" Monica saw Zack and his face was turning pale.
"Quick we have to get him out of here," Cain spoke to both women.
"Yes. But what about them?" Christina was talking about Dayna and Carl.
"Leave them. They're not our worry," Cain replied.
+++
It was long and hard. But the final moments came and the last of the hunters retreated when there was no chance of winning. Of course, most of them didn't have any ammo so they had to face with the local wildlife.
Cain, Monica, and Christina returned and Cain was carrying Zack. There wasn't enough time to celebrate so the remaining people did their best to help the wounded heroic vampire.
+++
Three days later . . .
Zack was feeling better and just yesterday most of the tribes were able to return to their villages. Again, the Smiths and the other vampires were grateful for everyone helping.
It was a pity of what Dayna did but Christina was able to get over her best friend's choice. It was time for her and everyone else to leave but before they did, they escorted the explorers back to the tree house.
"Sorry that the hunters made a mess out of it," Christina said.
"It's okay. I guess we can redecorate," Veronica joked.
"I'm really going to miss you all," Christina said as tears started to appear.
This caught on and everyone stood there trying to get out their good-byes.
"Promise you will come and visit," Finn said to Christina.
"I will Finn."
"You know, even though you were with us for a short time, it felt you were part of this family," Marguerite told her.
"Thank you," Christina whispered.
"Christina, it's time sweetie," her dad said.
"I should go."
Christina went around and gave everyone one last hug before disappearing down the elevator.
The explorers watch her go and they stood in the middle of the Great Room, reflecting what happened.
"You know the sad thing," Roxton spoke finally interrupting everyone's thoughts. "I bet there's people still out there just like Dayna, David, and Carl that we don't know about. It makes me sick to know that there will be people out there that will not stop until a certain race is gone. I think we all learned a lesson from this."
The scientist nodded. "I'm afraid you're right Roxton. Look at the Great War and what happened. Nations were divided and were willing to kill anyone who was against them. I bet that in future wars that a certain group might be targets for anyone who feels they don't belong."
"Like the Holocaust in World War II," said Finn.
"World War II?" asked Marguerite.
Finn nodded. "It was the worst ever. Many innocent people died because they were different and in the future we are reminded constantly of this. Apparently, in a way this was similar to it. The vampires were victims of hate."
"You know what I think," Veronica said. "I think that we don't have to really fight in wars. If people just sat together and tried to talk it out that many lives will be saved and no one will have to worry about anything."
They all nodded.
Hey everyone I'm done with this! Sorry it took so long but I have been studying for mid-terms and if anyone knows what I'm talking about they can be stressful! Just to let you know, this was my first action sequence story so I hope everything came up great. You all have been great so go ahead and click the review button and tell me what you think!