Raven Moon (6 page)

Lazarus stood and bore his fangs. “Of course I know! And of course I want vengeance. Diego was my nephew.” He sighed. “I understand your rage, but we need you here.”

His wolf calmed. “I’ll have Jonas drop me near Jaeger’s suspected location. When I return with his heart, then I will consider your offer.”

Lazarus sneered. “Very well then. Go with my blessing but arrange for him to pick you in a week’s time. We need every pilot here to gather supplies before the spring thaws those monsters. Jonas will stay and I’ll have Nick fly you in.”

He didn’t know Nick but as long as he was a pilot, he wouldn’t argue. “Good enough.” Maddox bowed and left.

Chapter 4

The ravens landed on the balcony of a posh Spanish palazzo style San Antonio hotel overlooking the river. Below, a swarm of flesh-eating zombies stood in their weird stasis sunbathing stance. She roused her feathers in place and cawed several times. She knocked down a decorative ceramic vase. Zombies were attracted to manmade noise, and before she shifted to human form, she wanted to make sure she was alone, and not surprised by ghoulish tenants.

She cocked her head and waited, attentive to the indicative sound of their shuffling feet and grumbling moans before she shifted. “Clear.” Rave returned to human form. She wore zombie hunting attire, black boots, black leather pants and a little black bomber jacket over a red
I Heart Werewolves
t-shirt, which bugged the hell out of Cashel. He’d done his best to keep her from fraternizing with werewolf men, and much to her mischievous pleasure, she’d enjoyed the game. Beccan never said a word about her desire for men of the furred variety and obviously hoping she would finally accept his nest offering. It was a symbolic gesture to court but unlike most female ravens, his gift would never work for her. Not even with his diamond-laden nest or his spectacular flight acrobatics.

Rave opened the door. “Wow. Crazy amazing!” The luxurious living room was decorated with top of the line furniture, leather armchairs and sofa, and dark wood tables. Beautifully adorned with works of art both paintings and ceramic pieces. The dining room sat eight. Nice. It reminded her of her penthouse home in San Francisco, that is, before the Bane. She sighed, longing for civilization and strolled into the master bedroom. A huge 42-inch flat panel LCD television faced the king sized bed covered in sumptuous silver goose down bedding. Amazing how the suite looked as if the maids had just finished cleanup. She dragged her finger over the screen and a slight dust film stained her finger. Not looted or littered by humans hiding from the zombie apocalypse. The undead never cared for luxury, making beautiful homes devoid of humans a pleasant haven. She glanced out the window at the dramatic skyline. Like all other cities, San Antonio succumbed to the Bane.
I guess Texas lost the Alamo to the zombies.

Instinctively, she picked up the remote and clicked on the button to the television. Her heart sank. No power, although the room boasted high quality bandwidth wireless. Once addicted to social media, she often dreamt of finding a computer geek who could re-connect the world to the internet and create a post-apocalyptic social group. After several months, she quit whipping out her android to check for text messages and comments on her latest status. Single. Interested in men. Although, she never specified what type of men. How could she? Werewolves didn’t exist in a human world.

Cashel interrupted her nostalgic thoughts. “Princess, shall I check the rest of the building for zombies?”

“Just this floor. We’ll return after we check out the lab and maybe stay a few days.”

Cashel nodded a bow and left. Beccan found a mirror and beat her to a good preening session. He combed his sleek black hair and straightened his coat sleeves then he gave her a twisted smile. “How do I look?”

Rave winked. “Hot as always.”

Beccan lunged at her and invaded her mouth with a fierce demanding kiss. She pushed him away and wiped her lips. “What are you doing?”

“Please, Ravenna, give me a chance.”

“How many times have I told you I’m not into you?”

He grabbed her arms and shook her. “Yet every chance you get, you tease me.”

“Tease?” Okay maybe saying he was hot was a bit much but, it was true. Any other woman would drool over his tall muscular body and his big puppy dog eyes.

“You bat your long lashes at me and when you walk, you wiggle your…” He sputtered, “I worship you.” He lowered his mouth to her lips. “Don’t tell me I don’t mean anything to you?”

“Let go of me,” she snapped and lifted her chin. “Must I remind you about the proper pecking order?”

Beccan let go and shook his head as if coming out of a fog. “Forgive me, Princess.”

Rave rubbed her bruised arms. His campaign to win her heart had all started a couple weeks ago after her parents sent a raven to relay their disappointment over her decision to fly the coop or rather the raven rookery. Beccan had taken advantage of the breakup and asked her out. Rave warned him, if he kept that up, she would find his replacement. He apologized and promised to remain professional, but all along, he must have planned to seduce her far from their rookery. “Try anything again and I’ll send you packing back to Yosemite.”

He lowered his head. “I understand.” He swallowed and met her eyes. “I will only protect you.”

Rave sighed. “We’ll protect each other.”

Cashel entered. “Princess, the floor is clear.” He glanced at Beccan who briefly closed his eyes.

Her cheeks warmed. So that’s how it was. Before their departure, Cashel had received a letter from her father. Her father and Cashel must have conspired to encourage Beccan to be more aggressive with his intentions. Beccan was not royalty but from a good wealthy family. During their flight, time after time, Cashel left them alone to survey the area before they roosted for the night. He was often gone for hours as if giving Beccan time to seduce her. However, this was the first time Beccan had the guts to make his move.
I should have just flown solo.
“Good, this place will do for the night.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Let’s fly.”

They shifted on the roof and flew twenty minutes toward the Biomedical Research Center. The area where the building should have been, looked like a crater. Explosion? The smell of fire still lingered. Must have happened recently.

Cashel cocked his head as he glided. “Trapped scientists might have detonated the place.”

Raven maneuvered upside down below him. “My raven foresight agrees. I sense a suicide pact?” Not that she had the greatest foresight but her vision of people huddled in a circle and nodding at a man with a detonator stormed her mind. She turned right side up and swooped above the gaping hole.

Near the crater, a truck lay on its side but with steel bars, reminding her of the type used for transporting circus animals. The words and symbol for biological hazard displayed on its side. Probably the apes from their research facility. Although, zombies never went after any other primates but man. Hmm. Maybe the truck was being used to transport zombies. Odd, how could zombies bend steel bars? There were no signs of zombies near the crater. She flew over the primate facility. The enclosures were left opened. The caretaker must have released them to save them from certain starvation. In the dusty fields were several bands of baboons. They seemed to fit into the landscape, similar to their African habitat. She and her guards circled back toward the facility above the parking lot near the crater. “Let’s land.”

In raven form, they walked around, surveying the area. Beccan clucked. “What do you think happened?”

Rave had seen urban destruction but she had a strong raven foreboding something nefarious had happened. She cocked her head, her raven eye honing in on what was once the building. “I see them overrun by zombies but faster ones.”

Cashel cawed. “Look, a human.”

A man cautiously crawled out of an armored truck. A rifle slung around his shoulder as he scanned the area. Dressed in cargo pants, polo shirt and a light brown jacket, he limped forward; a blood soaked wound on his calf wrapped in a makeshift bandage. He clutched a small camcorder and aimed it toward the overturned animal transport truck.

Rave clucked, “I’m going to shift and find out what he’s up to.”

Cashel protested. “You can’t. He’s bitten.”

“He could have injured his leg escaping. Don’t worry, if he was bitten, we’ll shoot him as soon as he turns. Anyway one zombie will not be a problem.” Rave flew, landing a few feet in front of the man.

He turned and videoed her while narrating, “A raven, actually three of them. I’ve never seen a Northern raven this far south, only the smaller Chihuahuan raven and crows. Actually, these are bigger than the ones I’ve seen in Alaska.”

Great, a member of the Audubon Society.
Time to add another species to his life-list. Rave shifted and so did her men.

He fell back and fumbled with his camcorder nearly dropping it. “Holy shit!” He shook his head and spoke into his camera. “I’ve started to hallucinate. This may be the first sign I’m turning.”

Rave kept her voice calm. “You’re not hallucinating. We are raven shifters.”

He stared at her and then at Beccan and Cashel who aimed their HK 416s at him. “Yeah, right.”

“If we’re not real, why would we carry weapons?”

With trembling hands he videoed them, stopped filming and then tilted his head. “Because in my mind I want you to?”

Rave couldn’t blame him for not believing what happened before his very eyes. Humans always reacted to their shifting by thinking they were either high on drugs or insane. Usually she was patient but they were outside her territory. At any moment, a swarm could appear. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and met his glance. “Look. Raven and other shifters exist. We never made ourselves known until now. We want to help humanity.”

He put his camcorder down, sat and snorted. “Too late to save any of us, especially me.”

Pity tightened her heart and she lowered her gaze. At least now, he’d die quick and not return as one of them. They’d offer him that merciful shot to the head. Just not yet. “How long ago were you bit?”

“Two days ago. Before the building blew up.”

Rave’s brows drew closer. Shouldn’t he at least have a fever? Maybe he hadn’t been bitten. His gash might have been caused by an accident and in his heightened confusion he mistook the wound as a bite. “Who blew it up?”

“Dr. Tom Giles. He and four others stayed inside but at the last minute, I panicked and left.”

I was right.
“Suicide.” Often a quick death was the only alternative to escape being eaten by zombies.

“The things escaped and killed close to seventy people.” He stared at his camera. “Actually they were eaten to the last bone. Given the circumstances, the survivors agreed to blow up the building.”

Don’t they always eat every bit of flesh? Rave cocked her head. The lab must have kept thousands of zombies. A shark feeding frenzy came to mind. “But you got out.”

“Six of us managed to escape but we were all bitten by turned humans. We left the building but the other five scientists were savaged by the creatures that followed us out. I hid beneath a manhole and waited until they left. I figured I could leave a recording so others would know. Then at the first sign of a fever, I would put a bullet in my brain.”

“What’s the point, we all know about the zombies, Mr…?” asked Cashel.

“Gary Nichols, I worked in the lab’s media department.”

“I’m Rave and these are my men, Cashel and Beccan.”

He fingered his blond hair back and glanced around them. “Things are going to get a hell of lot worse. While hiding beneath the manhole, I heard a truck and the creatures’ fierce screams. I peeked and saw men netting and then hauling away five of them. I worried the men were sadistic tankers and quietly filmed them.”

Rave tensed hearing him mention tankers. Vicious gangs known as tankers were thugs who preyed on helpless survivors. The term ‘tanker’ evolved from the fact that these dregs filled their gas tanks to reach and raid one town after another. “Good thing you hid. The tankers captured the zombies for their sick arena games.”

“Except they acted more like the military. They were probably a new militia scouring for survivors. I dragged myself out but I was too late to warn them before they sped away. If those things escape…” He shook his head as if it was his fault.

Rave raised her brow. “Hmm. Why would the militia bother collecting zombies?”

“Because those things are not human zombies.”

She looked at her men, who seemed to have blanched. “Not human?” Could they have been attacked by the human hating Vircolac werewolves? It would explain why he had not turned. “Did they look like wolves, I mean werewolves?”

“No, more like primates from hell.” He pointed to the overturned truck with bars designed to transport wild animals. The explosion probably sent the vehicle flying.

Cashel frowned. “Impossible.”

Rave blinked and not in her usual flirty eyelash batting way that drove men wild with lust. She met his eyes. “Not possible, all studies showed the zombie disease never infected apes.”

“Early during the Z-phage pandemic, we secretly manipulated the virus to infect chimpanzees. It worked and the specimens turned.”

Appalled, Rave gave him a scolding stare. “Why the hell would you do that?” The idea was as bad as remaking ‘Planet of the Apes’ after the first much better classic. An even newer remake, ‘Planet of the Zombie Apes’ would suck big time.

“To test for a vaccine. After they turned, we had no choice but to shoot them. However, two weeks ago, within our underground sterile level four lab, Dr. Giles experimented on a new vaccine and it worked on the ten infected chimpanzees. None turned. He sent a team to pick up the last twenty chimpanzees from the enclosures. We were elated when the vaccine appeared to work. They turned but at a slower rate, proving the vaccine didn’t work. Then, they escaped.”

“How many?”

“Thirteen died in the explosion but fourteen, maybe fifteen escaped the building before the bomb was detonated. Those men took five.” He nervously glanced around as if expecting the apes to swing down at any moment. “They had been locked in level four, but they broke out and attacked us. These creatures are stronger, faster and far more coordinated than human zombies.”