Free Vampire Apocalypse: Fallout (Book 3) by Derek Gunn Page A

and she had hooked up together,
though her immediate reaction to his joining Harris’s group
indicated how serious they were. One of the men was her brother
Benjamin, never Ben, Harris remembered as the joking just never
stopped with people carrying old $100 notes and asking the young
man why his picture didn’t match his actual appearance.
    It had been funny for a while,
but then it had worn thin and Benjamin had announced that he would
prefer to be addressed as Benjamin. However, the level of fun
people had with him was as nothing compared to when his sister
walked into a room and people broke into spontaneous renditions of
“Why Why Why Delilah?,” so he had taken the fun with good
nature.
    He had been training with Harris
since he had been weaned off the serum. He and his sister had been
among those rescued a month or so before the huge rescue so they
had already found their feet in the community but were not there so
long that they had formed strong ties. He had been a state trooper
before the vampires had come, though at twenty-two he had only just
joined the force. He was good at taking orders but still walked, or
strutted, as any young man would who thought themselves
indestructible. The other man was unknown to Harris but he seemed
to be following Benjamin’s lead. His broad shoulders and huge
muscled arms would be a great help, so Harris wasn’t concerned as
to his motivations. Just as they were about to leave there was a
commotion at the back of the room and raised voices caused everyone
to turn.
    “You can’t go,” they heard a
high-pitched voice plead, and then a young boy pushed through and
looked defiantly at Phelps for a moment before he continued up the
steps and joined the small group. The boy couldn’t have been more
than fifteen and Harris searched his memory for the boy’s name,
something like Rick, he thought, but wasn’t sure. The boy was an
orphan, or at least his parents hadn’t been found yet, though they
could still be alive somewhere.
    “Ricks,” a girl of around the
same age finally made her way though the main throng of people
until she stood half way between the two groups. She stopped
suddenly as if unsure what to do next.
    “Conor,” she repeated more
softly, “you can’t go. You’ll be killed.” The girl pleaded but
seemed unable to move any further toward him. Just then a number of
other children between the ages of thirteen and seventeen made
their way though the main group and stood with the young girl.
    “I have to,” Ricks answered her.
“Harris is the only one likely to rescue any more people and my
parents are still out there.” He lifted his hands as if he was
about to speak again and then dropped them in frustration when he
couldn’t find the words he was looking for.
    “I have to,” he repeated with a
sigh. “As long as there’s a chance.” He shrugged and looked at the
girl and the faces of those standing behind her.
    There was a shocked rumble in
the room as the young man’s words hit a chord.
    “Conor Ricks, you’re too young
to fight the vampires,” the girl argued and then turned to Phelps
as her face lit up, “Mr. Phelps, tell him you’ll continue to look
for his parents.”
    Phelps looked as if he’d been
slapped in the face and an awkward silence descended over the room.
Harris turned to the young man who now stood before him.
    “Son,” he began as he looked the
boy in the eyes. “I can’t promise to find your parents. You know
that, don’t you?”
    “Maybe not,” the boy sighed,
“but I bet you’ll at least try, won’t you?”
    Harris looked into the boy’s
eyes. He should lie, he knew, he should tell this boy that he
wouldn’t look for his parents and get him to stay with the
community. But there had been enough lies told already and he had
had enough.
    “Yes,” he sighed, “I’ll keep
looking until I find them or die trying.”
    “That’s enough for me,” the boy
replied. “I want to help.”
    “Glad to have you,