Days seem to fly by when you're busy. Sorry for the long wait.

2035

With years passing by, the human colony slowly came to accept Jade among them. She proved herself time and time again to the point that they had no choice but to trust her. It took a lot for Michael to stop setting up ridiculous tests, but eventually he did. Jade was tired of random injured humans purposely trying to tempt her, or being called to defend them, or even getting attacked herself. It was all to make sure she didn't retaliate, ditch, or kill any of them in return. She saw it as a little unfair, but understood, so her complaints went no further than the team. As planned, she trained with the four humans and became the squad leader. As well as being her team, they were also her closest friends. She hadn't ever had any and restricted any possibility for that to happen because she didn't want the day to come where they would be taken away in some form or another. But this group of young men and a single woman grew up sturdy and she felt they had a better chance at survival than most. Which was what her job included, ensuring that they survived on their scouting missions.

She did that and more. Any close calls were tempered by throwing herself in danger. After all, she could take a little more beating than they could. She healed faster than them but slower than she should seeing as she only drank blood from animals and other vampires they fought. With humans hard to come by, the animals in the area were wary of everyone, hiding as soon as their paths crossed. She figured most vampires were living the same way, but with a broken mind, they were even more savage than before. Jade hadn't seen a talking vampire in some time now. At this rate, she would be the only one. A hand came down heavily on her shoulder with a slap but she just rolled her eyes after snapping out of her thoughts. She knew it was Beck trying to bring her back into the present and out of her many musings. They were in the middle of gearing up to go out again. Jade finished before them, not needing much in the way of weapons, and sat down to think. It looked like they were ready, or close to it, now.

"Why are you off being a loner again, babe?" he questioned her playfully. Jade fought to stop herself from rolling her eyes again. In all the ten years that she knew Beck she had to admit that he had grown into his adult body nicely. They had met when he was eighteen, when he was a scrawny teen. Now he was twenty eight and better built. That also held true for both Andre and Robbie who were a year younger. Even Robbie didn't look so useless anymore. Cat was two years younger than them and wasn't as physical, but she too had grown well, gaining toned muscle. It was weird to watch them grow up while she remained the same. Sure, being what she was gave her a great figure, but she was still, and would forever be, twenty. The thought alone agitated her.

"Don't call me that. What do you want?" she retorted, black and white eyes narrowed on him. He shrugged and hopped up on the table next to her.

"Just checking up on you. The others are still getting ready," he answered.

"I hate how fast you get ready. Then I'm always stuck with you for a chat," she replied, scathingly enough to mean it but not for him to take it hard. Beck was well versed in what the vampire said compared to what she meant and rarely ever took anything too hard, unlike Andre who tended to avoid her bitter words, or Robbie who just plain ran away. Cat seemed to take it fine mostly because Jade dulled her words due to the fact that it grated on her nerves to hear Cat cry should she get hurt.

"Aw, come on, you know you like my company," he joked, nudging her. She shoved him back and he almost took a tumble off the table. Her strength was well above the average human's but she often wondered just how much stronger she would be on an all human blood diet. Once in a while she would get to have human blood, but as she suspected, it wasn't something that was done a lot. They wouldn't want her too strong or unintentionally triggering her bloodlust. She felt she had that under control, but even she didn't want to risk it.

"No, I don't. Especially if it interrupts my thoughts," she responded, frown in place.

"What were you pondering this time?" he asked, glancing at the team to see they were doing a last minute check. He pulled out his handgun and checked to make sure it was loaded then reached back to slide out the precision blade strapped to his back. It was nice and sharp. He shifted in his minimal body plating and then rested his dark brown eyes on her.

"None of your business," she answered, sliding off the table to join the others. All Jade needed was her own handgun and her knives she fashioned out of the two halves of her scissors. The switchblade she kept in her room, safely put away. She wore minimal body plating but less than her human comrades. She needed to be able to move and too much would make that hard. Her accuracy was mostly always fatal so she didn't need many firearms either. Andre was the heavy hitter of the group with his shotgun and grenades. Cat had throwing knives and two small submachine guns. Robbie had a pistol as well but he favored his sniper rifle because he rarely if ever was neck deep in a fight like the rest of them. He often planned routes for them and was a source of ammunition and supplies. They all carried a good amount of their own but he held extra, just in case.

"Are you guys ready yet? It'll get too dark by the time we go if you're not," Jade asked them, stopping by Cat.

"That's what I said. But you know Robbie, he's slower than a snail in a snail race."

"Rex! Don't make me reprogram you!" Robbie warned, lifting his hand to scold what looked like an average digital wrist watch but held so much more. It was an AI Robbie had been working on for years and had finally made after scouring for the required parts. Now that it was fully operational, it was just as annoying as it was helpful.

"Sure you will. I'd like to see you try, nerd."

It was highly offensive too. Jade, and everyone really, wondered why it had an urban accent and was rude to almost everyone. For some reason it liked to try and flirt or compliment Jade all the time. It irked her but she'd only broken it once out of spite. It would have been four times if she hadn't held back. She hated the thing but Robbie made it to tap into the satellite system that was still revolving out in space. With some tinkering he gave them a GPS system. It wasn't exact, since it only had information on places before the outbreak happened, so many times they would reach a blocked off section or a chasm, and have to plan around it. For the most part it gave them a sense of location so that they weren't completely blind.

"You're lucky I'm a nerd or you wouldn't be created!" Robbie countered. Jade smacked the hand that the AI Rex was strapped to and stood in front of Robbie.

"Quit fighting with your watch and let's go. We're wasting time," she stated.

"Yeah, I'm with hot, dark, and Gothic."

Jade growled and wrapped her slender but strong fingers around the AI on Robbie's arm.

"Robbie, I will crush your arm in order to break this thing if we don't get moving now!" she threatened. He squeaked and she released him so that he could run ahead of them out the door. Cat followed with a worried crease of her brows.

"Damn, girl. No need for violence," Andre spoke up. Jade shot him a look before starting for the door. Andre and Beck exchanged a glance, shrugged, and followed her out. They were now in the conference room where Michael, Danielle, and Jason were busy talking. They stopped when the rest of Team Beta arrived. They were naturally Team Alpha and went out on missions to exterminate large groups of vampires in the more dangerous sides of town while Team Beta was in charge of gathering supplies or running small missions. Michael stepped forward now that they were all there.

"We've been discussing what needs to be done and we've come to the conclusion that sooner rather than later we will run out of supplies. We have a good enough stock here for now. It'll last us a while. So what I want you to do is start looking for the lab that was rumored to be on the far side of town. We need to start trying to find answers," he informed the group. Each had their own shocked reaction. Jade was the only one unaffected.

"What made you think we're up for that now?" she inquired, arms crossed and posture straight. She eyed him warily, as she often did. His stance toward her was always to protect the others. She knew this, but it didn't mean she liked how he treated her. Lately he was a little more polite and formal, but regardless, she was always on the defensive with him.

"You've shown you're capable. All of you have done a good job helping this colony. I can even say with honesty that you've become a trustworthy leader," he replied, scanning over each of them before landing on Jade. She wanted to thank him but remained quiet. He didn't deserve her gratitude. She knew she wasn't a danger long before now, as had the others. Now that he believed it she was more grateful for no more tests than the fact that he trusted her.

"Then we should head out as soon as possible," Beck said, stepping up to his father. He nodded.

"Take this map and line it up with your GPS. It's hidden so you might have to look for passageways and secret doors. It's located underground. There are a lot of vampires hanging around the area the last time I was over there so be ready to fight your way in. Good luck," he instructed, handing Beck the map. He passed it to Robbie to decipher, saluted his father, and then headed for the door. Jade strode behind him and the others behind her. They weaved their way through the complex and exited out the manhole. The guards surrounding it wished them luck. They dropped down, traveled through the tunnel, and then back up to the surface with Jade now in the lead. She hefted aside the cover and climbed out, nose to the air and eyes searching. In order for her to join them they always left as soon as the sun was close to the horizon. But the later it got, the more vampires there were, so they tried to make it back before then.

"Clear," she called back to them. They each climbed out and Jade replaced the cover.

"So we're going to head down that street on the right and then turn left. There's another right turn and then it's a straight walk from there but we might have to detour at any time," Robbie announced, Rex's small flashing blue screen reflected on his glasses. Jade nodded and began walking down the road he pointed out. She took out her blades and held them at the ready. Everyone else followed her example. The journey seemed to go by quickly and would have been short if it hadn't been for a collapsed building blocking off the street they needed. They had to travel around, encountering three vampires on the way, before they were back on track. When they hit the straightaway, Jade froze. The crew's eyes were instantly on her.

"Get down," she whispered in alarm. They all huddled behind a broken down semi-truck and looked to her for an explanation.

"Your father wasn't kidding. There are a lot of them past this point," she directed at Beck.

"Will we have to fight right through it?" Andre questioned. Jade looked to him, and suddenly, an idea formed.

"We won't have to if we lower the number. I've got a plan," she replied.

"Does it involve trussing up Robbie as bait?"

Robbie glared at Rex but held his tongue. Jade's brow rose in amusement.

"Close, but not exactly," she admitted.

"Hey!" Robbie gasped under his breath.

"I'm going to draw their attention to that gas station across the street. Andre, I want you ready to set up some explosives by the gas pumps. Hopefully there's trace amounts that'll blow the whole thing. Beck, you'll watch his back. Robbie, I want you to find a perch and take out any stragglers on the outskirts of the blast and Cat you're going with him as back up. Is everything clear?" Jade informed them. They all nodded and then separated to their posts. Jade was the first to run out, heading straight for the multiple groups of vampires milling around. She sped up and rammed both blades into the spine of the nearest vampire. She tore it almost in half when she pulled free. The other vampires hissed and began stalking closer. They had a nasty reaction to her every time they came in contact.

Jade figured it must be that they either smelled human on her or were angered that she was their enemy. Maybe it was even a combination of the two. Whatever it was, no vampire liked her and didn't see her as one of them. She felled another that jumped at her and another right after that before running to the gas station. She glanced back to make sure the hoard was chasing her and led them behind the station first to buy time. Meanwhile, Beck and Andre were busy setting up out front. A few vampires in the back of the group stopped to attack but Beck quickly took them out. The rest that hadn't followed were dropping like flies with Robbie's marksmanship on top of the semi. Cat sat next to him and gunned down any that spotted them up there. All was going to plan so far. Jade burst in the back door and ran through the small building, ducking through the broken glass of the front door.

"Andre!" she screamed in warning. He looked up and signaled that he wasn't done yet. She growled her frustration and threw back the first vampire to exit. It took down the others fighting to get through but they were still spilling out. Beck rushed over to help her keep them back. Caught up in the fight, they didn't hear Andre calling to them until he appeared next to them, blowing back an advancing vampire with his shotgun.

"Let's get out of here!" he yelled over the snarls around them. Jade lunged for a vampire behind him, stabbing deep into its stomach and shoving it away. She cleared a path and made sure they ran ahead of her. The explosion shook the ground under them and sent them to the ground. The vampires closest to the blast were practically incinerated while the ones furthest were tossed into surrounding buildings.

"Ha, ha, whoo! That was a blast! Get it?" Andre shouted as he rolled over to sit up. Beck chuckled as he sat up. Jade pushed off the ground and scanned the destruction for any movement.

"Did we get 'em?" Cat asked as she walked up to Jade. Robbie was clumsily trying to climb down and fell heavily to the ground with a girly scream. Jade laughed at him before answering.

"Yeah, that should take care of most of them. Let's hurry before more show up," she suggested. Robbie whined as he got to his feet and shifted the supply bag before jogging over. Together they quickly ran down the previously crowded street. At the end they stopped and glanced around.

"What now?" Andre wondered, looking to Robbie who was busy checking Rex for information.

"Stop poking at me, fool! I don't have that kind of information!"

"If the lab is located underground then we really don't have access to that information," Beck agreed.

"Well, which one of these buildings looks like it could have a secret hidden door into a lab we aren't completely sure even has the answers we're looking for?" Andre stated, a little sarcastically with hands gesturing to the buildings in question.

"How about we check them all?" Cat suggested.

"Check them all? That would take days!" Andre replied.

"We could keep coming back…" Robbie spoke up.

"It doesn't sound like a solid idea," Beck disagreed. While the gang all argued over what to do next, Jade was busy wandering the area. She sensed something, but she was having a hard time figuring out what it was. Her long dormant instincts were reacting against it, bringing on the need to destroy the supposed threat. She paced across the street and then stopped in front of a tall, angular, structure that had a mostly glass entrance. It might have looked elegant back when it was still running. The strange scent reached her nose again and promptly disappeared but it still evoked a reaction from her. She bared her teeth, a low growl rising from her throat. Her senses sharpened, and suddenly, the noise from her human companions was too much.

"Shut up!" she screamed at them. They fell quiet and looked at her with varying degrees of alarm.

"The vampires, they were gathered around here for a reason. Why?" she remarked. When they didn't respond, she climbed the steps up to the entrance of the suspicious building.

"I'll tell you why. They sensed what was in here," she told them. They exchanged uncertain looks but took the broken stairs up to look inside.

"What's in there?" Cat questioned.

"I don't know. But whatever it is, I don't like it," Jade answered. She stepped inside only for Beck to grip her by the arm and stop her.

"You don't like it or your instincts tell you that you don't like it?" he asked.

"We'll have to see," she replied. His brows furrowed at that but he let her go. She led the way inside, her body tense and her senses on edge. Whatever was causing her to react this way couldn't be good, could it? There was only one way to find out. They walked through the lobby and continued past the front desk to the hall leading off to the right. Jade stopped to reevaluate the direction of their destination and brought the team to a door marked with an 'employees only' sign. She pulled it open and found a room at the bottom of a flight of stairs. It looked like a lab of some sort, but it was relatively ordinary and small.

"This can't be it, can it?" Robbie said as he looked around. Beck signaled to remain quiet, keeping his eyes on Jade. She explored the room with careful steps and stopped to stand in front of an askew shelf laden with all kinds of glass tubes and beakers. She reached around to grip at the back of the shelf and yanked on it, sliding the wood against the grimy tiled floor under it. When it was out of the way she ran her hand over the wall behind it.

"There's a door here. Look, there's a slight draft and a seam," she pointed out, a finger tracing the edge of the ajar door.

"Are we muscling it open or finding a switch?" Andre asked, seeing no other way in.

"No explosions. This place could come down on top of us. We'll have to look for a switch, if there is one," Beck answered. Jade rolled her eyes and dug her fingers into the gap.

"No need. It's already open enough for me to force it," she told them. They gathered around as she pulled the heavy door open wide enough for them to slip inside. Jade cringed at the smell coming from the passage while the humans were clearly unaffected.

"Jade?" Beck questioned, a hand moving to her shoulder. She pushed him away before he made contact and then darted into the darkness beyond without a word. Beck quickly pulled out a small flashlight and headed in after her, the circle of light helping the others to see. Jade was well ahead of them, having taken the stairs two at a time and skidding to a halt in the room at the bottom. It looked to be some kind of storage room. She left the room and quickly strode down the long hall outside, leaving her companions to scurry after her. She went down each winding hall, following the source of her agitation. They passed offices and rooms built for testing but were long since abandoned or in a critical state of disarray. Jade didn't slow down until the source she was looking for suddenly disappeared, leaving her clueless in one of the testing rooms. Beck came in first, breathing a little heavy but otherwise fine.

"Is this where they did those experiments we heard about? Do you think this is one of the labs they created the virus in?" he wondered, just as the others entered. Jade only shook her head.

"No vampire has been in here. Just humans, and something else," she responded, walking on light feet towards the back of the room. Her eyes cut through the dark, noticing a blinking light on a panel by the far wall, a tank of some sort attached to it. Jade cautiously stepped up to it and carefully brushed off some dust that had settled over the top. The contraption was at an angle, the top tilted toward the wall, and was long in length.

"What do you think it is?" Andre spoke up, voice hushed. Robbie opened his mouth to give an answer but Cat cut him off before he could.

"A metal coffin," she interjected. He scoffed and shook his head.

"No, a cryotank. Man, I've never seen one this big before. I've only seen blueprints. I never knew they actually made them," he said in awe at the discovery.

"Yeah, I think you're right. And it looks like it's still in use," Jade told them while peering into the machine. She could barely make out the shadow of a figure through the frost on the glass.

"Should we even be messing with it?" Andre asked, hesitant.

"Well, what if the person inside is a potential start of a cure; or better yet, is the cure? Anything and everything should be checked, just in case," Beck pointed out.

"Before you guys start arguing again I'm just gonna open it and find out," Jade silenced them, her steady tone leaving no room for disagreement. She moved to stand at the panel and pressed the button next to the blinking red light. The light turned green and a hissing filled the air. Everyone but Jade took a hasty step back, weapons at the ready. The door of the tank popped open and cool air billowed out to curl like a chilly ice cloud at their feet. Jade lifted the door the rest of the way and waited for the cloud to disappear. Not that she needed it, but more for the humans waiting behind her, a light inside the machine came on with a soft white glow. A sleeping young woman came into view.

Jade gazed down at her and couldn't help but find her beautiful. She didn't know how long she had been here but she was perfectly preserved. The sight of her gave way to a scent that rippled the perfect control Jade had mastered for years. She flinched back as the smell reached her nose and she growled. Almost like the sound was a trigger, the young woman's eyes opened, and coffee brown irises were overcome with a golden yellow glow. She unleashed a threatening snarl of her own and bared sharp teeth. Jade hissed and made to attack but she was already tackled to the ground. The young woman displayed amazing strength over her, pinning her down with ease, sharp black nails digging into, and past, her minimal armor to cut at her pale skin. The gold eyes met hers and hardened. Her gaze was focused.

"Vampire," she accused gruffly, latching a clawed hand around Jade's neck. Jade tried to bite in retaliation but couldn't reach. Instead, she gripped the unknown person by the neck as well. She was trying to push her off but she wasn't moving even an inch. She had never felt so weak before. Being what she was, a meager diet didn't impact her greatly when compared to humans. But this person, whatever she was, felt like a major threat. She was a threat, and Jade had a feeling that even if she had been at her strongest, she still wouldn't have been able to match this stranger's strength. She disliked the thought greatly. A click of a gun alerted them both to the humans who had been ignored in the scuffle. Beck was pointing his pistol at the stranger.

"Let her go," he demanded. The tanned young woman narrowed her eyes at him but released Jade to stand and step away. Instead, she stumbled and fell back to lean heavily on the cryotank behind her. It seemed she needed some time to recuperate. However, Jade jumped to her feet and prepared to pounce but Beck yanked her back before she could.

"Stop," he ordered, jerking her back again for emphasis. She pulled away from him with a sneer.

"Who are you?" he asked the young woman. Her eyes flicked from one face to another before lingering on Jade. She scowled and returned the glare then settled her gaze on Beck.

"My name's Victoria Vega," she replied.

"Do you remember anything?" he questioned next.

"No," she answered, shaking her head. She seemed to fully realize this and the revelation caused her unbalanced frame to sag further. Her sharp teeth disappeared and so did her sharpened nails. Her golden yellow eyes were the last to fade away. She stood there now, looking like any average person. The crew put away their weapons and Beck maneuvered around Jade to get closer.

"It's ok. We're here to help," he assured her when he saw her hands curl into fists. Jade's glare worsened, her white irises drawing Victoria's eyes to her. Their eyes locked and a heated glaring contest ensued. Jade didn't like her one bit, and she was determined to show it from now until they got rid of her. Whatever she was, Jade's natural reaction was to hate her and gain instinctual hate in return. Seeing Beck's friendly reaction to her set Jade on edge. She couldn't very well tell him that befriending Victoria was a dangerous idea, because he had done this before with her. As far as she knew, this stranger didn't eat people like she did. It made him a tad bit safer pursuing her trust than it had been getting Jade's so she couldn't really complain. There was nothing she could do or say so she stepped away to lean on the panel responsible for opening the cryotank. The rest of her team, brimming with curiosity, gathered around the new discovery. In a second they would be questioning her, learning about her, and generally being the friendly people they were. Jade on the other hand, wanted no part in it.