Free Jade: Earth's Last Hope Against the Undead by Kenneth W. Cain Page A

their next task. Like a set of
instructions had been preprogrammed in all of them collectively and
they were only following cues.

    They didn't stop until they were well into
Ohio, quite a hike with very little action. Now that they were in
Akron a certain calling overwhelmed Jade. She wasn't surprised the
following morning when Trent once more went missing.
    She tracked him down a few hundred yards
from where they'd slept, standing outside of an old department
store. He stared in through a dark window where tiny red lights
blinked off and on inside.
    Not a blood farm, but a vampire nest all the
same.
    Jade's approach from behind him didn't shake
Trent from his daze. He remained confused for several minutes even
after she woke him with a sharp nudge to the shoulder.
    "Not again?" he said.
    She unsheathed her sword. "Seems you walked
here in your sleep."
    "I didn't wake you?"
    She grinned. "Not at all, doll. You're a
regular old bloodhound these days." She pointed in through the
window. "Found us a nest I see."
    Trent stared in through the window. He
jumped when he saw them. "Holy Jesus. How many are there?"
    "I'm not sure. A dozen, maybe."
    He kept staring as Jade moved toward the
door.
    "Wait," he said.
    "What is it?"
    He scanned the ground, found a length of
wood and held it like a club. "I should go with you."
    "Really?" She returned to him and pushed the
wood down. "You think this is going to do you any good?" She
sighed. "Besides, don't you get it yet?"
    "Get what?"
    "Everything is happening for a reason. All
of this, it's been programmed into us. It's almost like we're on
some reality TV show where everything is scripted."
    "What? Who would...who could do that?"
    "Come on, Trent. You know who."
    He whispered. "Hiru."
    "You got it. Tell him what he's won Bob."
She smiled and took the wood from him. She tossed it aside. "Now
you stay here while I go tidy things up inside. Got it?"
    He nodded.
    She slid inside the door and they woke. A
flurry of wind and dark shadows crisscrossed overhead. She stood
ready. When those winds and shadows came close enough, her sword
moved like lightning.
    Silver streaks split the sky and when those
flashes of light struck flesh, it killed. Several heads fell to the
floor like wet sandbags. Those she didn't kill with the first
strike tried to escape. A fast and relentless Jade killed every
last one of them in less than seven minutes.

    When she returned outside, Trent looked
different. Something about him seemed less distant and more
approachable. As their travels continued, they seldom spoke or
reminisced about any of their adventures. They walked without
emotion.
    Then it dawned on Jade. She had no idea
where they were going or for what reason. Although Trent still led
the way, he also seemed to have lost his all-knowing sense of
direction. She didn't broach the subject for a very long time.
    Several hours later Jade fetched her sword,
held it in her hands to appreciate its keenness, and suddenly
realized something horrifying. She no longer knew how to use
it.
    "Trent, stop."
    He did, his eyes intent on her. "What is
it?"
    "My sword. I don't know how to use it."
    "Stop being silly. Of course you do."
    "No, seriously Trent. I can't remember." She
looked him deep in the eyes. "Do you even know where we are going
anymore?"
    "Yes, I do."
    "Really? I mean do you feel it?"
    "Feel what?"
    "Do you feel where we need to go? Or are you
just walking?"
    He shrugged, and then hushed, as if
considering this thought for a long moment. "I guess I’m just
walking west like we were told."
    "Don't you get it?"
    "Not in the slightest."
    "It's over."

    They camped out that night and, as they lay
in each other's arms, they made love for the first time.
    It was sweet and gentle and of their own
fruition. No one had preprogrammed them to perform this task. His
kisses were tender and his body firm. It was the most passionate
thing she'd ever felt.
    Afterward, they lay there, not asleep, but
dozing. And then Trent