Tony flexed his fingers behind his skull, scratching at the back of his neck, so angry that he needed to claw at flesh, even if it was his own. “You’re a piece of shit, Pearson. I didn’t know for sure that you would actually go through with it, but you did! You’ll regret this butchery.”
“Really? When will I regret it, exactly? After you’re dead and I’m pissing on your corpse?”
“I think you’ll regret it sooner.”
Shotgun blasts lit up the darkness at the edges of the camp. Pearson’s men – for they had never been Tony’s – panicked as two of their number collapsed to the ground with gunshot wounds. Wraiths emerged from the shadows, blindsiding the men and making them panic. Within seconds, Pearson’s soldiers were lying on the ground moaning, unconscious, or dead.
Tony yanked the 9mm semi-auto he’d tucked into the back of his collar and, at the same time, shoved away the rifle pointed at his chest. Before Pearson could react, Tony had the handgun placed under Pearson’s chin. “Drop it, Sergeant, or I’ll drop you.”
Pearson ground his teeth, but he did as he was told, tossing the rifle down at his feet. Someone tried to get up a few feet away, but a vicious kick put them down again. Tony looked around, genuinely surprised at how smoothly things had gone. “Cullen? You there?”
Cullen stepped out of the darkness with a satisfied grin on his face. “I thought you said these were Thomas’s best? Are you okay, Colonel?”
“Call me Tony. I’ve officially resigned my commission. Thomas can shove it up his arse.”
Cullen chuckled. “The Urban Vampires are a little low on numbers, fancy interviewing for a job?”
“Interview? Don’t I automatically qualify?”
“Yes,” said Mass, limping into view. The guy looked half-asleep, but at least he was standing. “Welcome to the family, Tony. Now, what should we do with these naughty children?”
Pearson put his hands above his head, but he scowled at Tony as he did so. “Put a bullet in my skull if you have to, but you don’t need to kill the boys. They were just—”
“Following orders,” said Tony. “Yeah, I get it. The thing is, we’re doing things differently now. Mankind can’t only survive extinction, it needs to earn the right to keep existing. Killing a bunch of innocent people because your boss told you to ain’t gonna fly no more. We all need to take responsibility for our actions.”
Pearson sneered. “Fine. How did you even pull this off? At least give me that before you kill me.”
Tony raised an eyebrow at Mass. “Yeah, I’m still not quite sure how you did it? I never heard you leave your tents.”
Mass shrugged his massive shoulders. “Told you I would handle it. We have a magician on the team. He can pull a rabbit out of a hat, heal a dying man, and make us invisible.”
A familiar-looking man stepped out from behind a tent. He seemed uninterested in what was going on and spoke in an oddly detached manner. “I made no one invisible. I simply clouded the minds of those who might see. Mass and Tony, you are both needed in the battles ahead.” He looked at Pearson and wrinkled his nose. “You, however, are unimportant. I am dismayed to take part in this ruse, but it was necessary. Good men need to live.”
Pearson seemed confused, but when he turned back to Tony, he was defiant. “So you’re throwing your lot in with a bunch of weirdos and rejects, huh? I thought you understood what was at stake here. Portsmouth needs to survive at any cost. Bad things happen in war, and the only thing that matters is which side you’re on.”
Tony pulled the trigger under Pearson’s chin and blew the top of his head off. The sergeant’s body slumped to the grass. “I’m on this side.”
The men on the ground that were still conscious tried to make a run for it, but Smithy fired his shotgun and frightened them back down. The blast left tiny flames flickering on the ground. “Sit still, kiddos, or teacher will get angry.”
“You don’t have to do this,” one of the men begged. “You have a choice.”
“You’re right,” said Tony. “I can either shoot you in the face, one after the other…”
The man trembled. “Or?”
“Or I can assume your actions were misguided and spare your lives. In exchange, I want your word that you will never again act against me. You will obey my orders and no one else’s – not even those from Thomas himself.”
“Bad idea,” said Mass. “Once a traitor, always a traitor.”
Tony looked at the younger man with sadness on his face. “I’m disappointed to hear that from you, Mass. Isn’t your entire unit built on second chances? I thought the Urban Vampires were a family for those looking for a new start.”
Mass went to argue but stopped himself. Shrugging his shoulders, he simply said, “Your funeral.”
Tony knelt beside the man who had begged for mercy, trying to speak directly to whatever conscience existed. “What you did tonight was bad. Now, you can keep doing bad things until you eventually pay for it, or you can open your eyes and see what’s real. Forget orders, forget careers, this is the survival of the human race. General Thomas murdered General Wickstaff, and he ordered you to murder a dozen innocent people in this camp. Do those seem like the actions of a good man?”
The soldier shook his head. “No, sir.”
“Not sir, just Tony. I’m just a man trying to keep things going. My question is, will you help me?”
The soldier nodded. “I swear.”
Tony stood, taking in the faces of the grounded men. There was no reliable sign of whether
