Chapter Eight
"We should have reached the road by now." Sam heard Walt grumble much later on. "So where is it?"
That was something the captive half-vampire would also like to know. From snippets of conversations he had managed to catch earlier, the road was where they were going to make camp. And making camp meant getting sleep. Something Sam was pretty sure he'd have no problem with this time around. He was exhausted.
They'd been walking for hours now, taking small breaks along the way for food and rest, none of which Sam got any of, and though he still wore the shirt blindfold he was pretty sure it must be nearing nightfall.
"Quit your whining, boy, we're almost there. The road's just over this hill." Kubrick grouched back.
"Hear that, Dean?" Adam said somewhere on Sam's left. "Not long now."
"Yeah, I heard." Dean panted from behind.
After trekking up what felt more like a mountain than a hill, they finally came to a stop.
"There it is," Walt sighed. "About time too."
"Boy, your still whinging," said Kubrick. "Why don't you make yourself useful for once and get us some wood for a fire."
Walt made a small sound of protest that was quickly drowned out by Gordon.
"Excellent idea. Off you go, Walt. Kubrick, help me set up for dinner. Adam, sit your brother down before he passes out, would you?"
Adam complied quickly and afterwards took Sam by the arm and sat him down by a tree, tying him to it using a length of cord.
"Sorry," Adam muttered. "I have to."
Sam just nodded tiredly and listened to what was going on around him. He heard the rustling of bushes as Walt collected firewood, the clatter of pans being taken out of packs and the muttering of the other hunters as they argued about who would be taking first shift as lookout.
He was asleep before they could make up their minds.
It felt like only minutes later that he awoke but he knew instinctively that it must have been a lot longer than that.
The air was beginning to get a little cooler now, the residual warmth left by the day's scorching sun slowly fading away. The sound of soft snores and chirping crickets filled his ears and it would have been enough to lull him back to sleep if it weren't for the fact that his backside had gone completely numb.
He shifted slightly and tried and get into a more comfortable position but all it did was send a painful wave of pins and needles down his right leg.
"Are you awake?" Adam's voice whispered suddenly. Sam wasn't sure if the boy was talking to him but after a moment's hesitation, he whispers back.
"Yes,"
Suddenly there are nimble fingers clutching at his blindfold and he flinched violently, smacking his head against the trunk of the tree.
"Sorry," Adam said. "I just wanted to take off your blindfold. Is that okay?"
Sam had no idea why the young Winchester wanted to do that but in all truthfulness, his eyes did feel a lot better and the headache had long since disappeared so he nodded his assent.
The blindfold was slipped off and he blinked owlishly up at Adam, who looked back at him and said grimly, "Dude, you're a mess."
"Thanks,"
"No, really, your face is all kinds of messed up ri - "
"No, really, thanks," Sam cut in again, not wanting to hear the particular details of his appearance after hours of sun exposure. He refused to look down at himself, telling himself that it didn't matter anyway. He'd heal eventually.
Instead, he glanced around at the campsite. A small fire was still burning at the heart of it and the hunters, cocooned in their sleeping bags, slumbered close by the embers but not so closely that they risked rolling over into it.
"I guess it's your turn to make sure I don't miraculously escape by bonds and eat you all in your sleep?" Sam asked, barely stifling a yawn.
Adam scowled. "No, we're pretty sure you're not going anywhere. But there are other things out there. Like bears and wolves and things like that.
"Right," Sam grunted, quickly losing interest in the conversation as he felt the pangs of hunger eat away at his stomach again. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten properly. It was sometime before he and the other vampires had first set off out of the city so it must have been around four days now. Sure, he'd had the occasional swig of blood whilst travelling with the others in the army but he didn't consider that real food.
As if on cue, his stomach growled loudly and no amount of curling up would quieten it.
Adam's eyes widened. "You must be really hungry."
Sam considered denying it for a second but knew there was no point so just remained silent.
Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, brightly coloured block. "Here," he said. "It's a granola bar. I know you don't really eat human food but it's got to be better than nothing, right?" He proceeded to unwrap it and then tentatively extended it towards Sam's lips, as though worried the vampire might snap is head forward and bite him instead of the offered food.
Sam took a small, cautious bite. He'd never had a granola bar before. His diet back home had consisted of mostly fruit, nuts and vegetables. Occasionally he was able to have some rabbit meat or bread but both he and his Mom were always too worried that others would smell it cooking to have it all that often.
It was hard and chewy but as the unrecognisably sweet flavour rolled over his tongue, it took all he had in him not to moan aloud.
The bar was gone within seconds and Adam chuckled quietly. "Yeah, I like them too."
With a contented sigh, Sam leaned back against the tree and looked beyond the camp. They were at the very top of a tall hill and from his vantage point, he could see about him for miles. Or at least, he would have been able to if it were day. In the dark, he could only see as far as the moon and stars permitted. Everything beyond that was just black shadow.
He and Adam sat in companionable silence after that and he began to feel himself drift to sleep again but before his eyes shut completely, a light caught his attention and he snapped back to alertness.
"Adam," he started.
"I see it too." Adam stood quickly as the one small light became several and they sped in their direction alarmingly fast. "Guys," he called. "Guys, wake up. We got company."
The hunters were awake and up almost immediately, scrambling out of their sleeping bags and rushing towards Adam so they could see what the problem was.
Gordon swore.
"One of ours?" Kubrick asked.
"I can't tell. It's too dark to make out."
There was a tense silence for a few moments and Sam watched in fascination as the lights came closer and a distant rumbling sound reached his ears.
Dean suddenly gasped. "I'd recognise that beautiful purr anywhere. That's my baby."
"The impala?" Adam asked, excitedly.
"How many other babies do I have exactly?" Dean responded, sarcasm lacing his voice.
"Finally, things are looking up." Gordon sighed and both he and Kubrick raced down the hill to head off the lights.
Sam couldn't stay quiet any longer. "Are they cars?"
Adam laughed. "Of course they are. What else would they be?"
"I've never seen one before." Sam confessed.
Now that wasn't completely true. Once, at the age of twelve, he and Benny had snuck out of the city and come across the shell of an abandoned car next to a river but it had been more of a rusty carcass than anything else. He'd never seen an actual car in motion before. Whilst the world had managed to hold onto running water and working electric, fuel for cars was pretty much non-existent and using the roads for anything but walking on was a thing of the past. At least that was what Sam had believed.
"What?" Adam squawked, completely appalled. "You've never seen a car?"
Dean just grinned and crouched down to untie Sam. "Oh man, then are you in for a treat. The impala is a thing of beauty. Come on, let's get down there and you'll see."
It took a considerable amount of skill (and a helping hand from Dean) to make it to the foot of the hill when his hands were still tied behind his back but he managed it without injury and by the time they reached the road the cars har already stopped and Gordon was talking to someone through the open window of the car in front.
There were two cars in total but Sam knew immediately which one was Dean's beloved Impala. The leading car really was beautiful with its pitch black coat, silver rims and sleek curves in all the right places.
The car behind it looked more like a small pickup truck and it's mud spattered white coat was so badly chipped and rusted that it reminded Sam of the dead car shell he'd seen all those years ago.
"What did I tell you, huh? A thing of beauty." Dean said proudly.
Gordon moved away from the impala, his conversation apparently over and the door to the vehicle swung open.
The man who stepped out of it was quite possibly the most intimidating man Sam had ever laid eyes on. He was about as tall as Dean and well built, muscles flexing under his shirt as he stretched out. He had a hard face with lines that showed him to be somewhere in his late forties and dark, fathomless eyes. Sam knew immediately that he must have been some kind of leader.
"Dad!" Adam exclaimed and rushed forward to embrace the man who returned the gesture just as enthusiastically.
"Are you okay, son?" the man asked, voice gruff.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
He turned to Dean, eyeing his bandaged arm with some concern. "And you?"
Dean just smiled and shrugged. "I'm good."
The man nodded and turned his eyes on Sam, who had to try really hard not to shrink under the heavy gaze. "And you're the vampire." The man strode forward and before Sam had the chance to back away the man grabbed hold of his throat and squeezed.
It wasn't tight enough to completely cut off his air supply but he still choked a little and felt blood pool in his head as it was unable to travel further through the veins that were momentarily cut off.
"Dad, no," Dean exclaimed.
"Why not?" The man thundered. "Dean, why haven't you killed the fang already?"
There was that name again.
"You've not had any problems with killing in the past. Why now? He's a monster, pure and simple. And from what Gordon's told me, he had a hand in what happened back in the village."
Dean held up his hands in a placating manner. "Maybe he did but he also helped me and Adam out. If it weren't for him I'd probably be dead right now. Or at least a lot worse off. He saved me, Dad. We can't kill him."
The hand released Sam and he gasped in a breath of sweet, cold air.
"You saved my son?" the man asked.
"Yes, Sir," Sam's not sure where the 'sir' came from. It just sort of slipped out.
"Why?"
"I…" Sam shot a glance at Dean. "I don't really know, Sir. It just felt like the right thing to do."
Sam hoped the answer was enough.
The man just rolled his eyes like Sam had just attempted the corniest pickup line in the history of the world. "Fine. We'll take him with us. Maybe he'll prove useful." The way he ground it out between clenched teeth made it sound like the words were painful for him to speak.
Dean let out a sigh of relief.
"But he isn't riding up front with us. He goes in the trunk."
Sam didn't know what a trunk was but it didn't sound comfortable.