Page 9 of Marked for Extinction
I chuckled. “It’s alright, Vanessa. Thank you for looking out for her. She’s not used to me being gone long.”
It was luck that had me stumbling upon a little pup in the middle of the woods left all alone. Now, fully grown, she was bigger than most domesticated dogs I had seen. I was confident that she was part wolf, it was the only explanation for her mannerisms, her smarts and her size. She had been trained to become an asset to our supply runs and vampire hunts.
“Tell me about it,” she laughed as she straightened back up with her hands on her hip. “It’s why I had to ask for some reinforcements. Poor Inés here was minding her own business when I dragged her along with me to find the mutt. I know how important she is to you.”
“Thank you,” I told them both before dipping my head and walking away. Angel heeled right at my side with each step I took deeper into the caverns.
I waved a few of the residents as I walked by, some of the kids calling out Angel’s name. She was a superstar here. The children loved her. They were also scared for her every time we went out on missions.
“Angel!” one of the kids yelled out.
“Girl, you’re more popular than I am around here. How did that happen?” I asked her under my breath, scratching her ear.
She huffed in answer and I laughed.
That was when the adult whispers started. I should be used to it by now, but I wasn’t.
“Hey, did you hear about what happened to the group that went out?” one of the men mumbled.
“Yeah I heard, five men went out and only four came back. Did you hear what happened the last time?”
“No, what?”
I tried to drown them out but my guilt made the walls close in again. I gritted my teeth and continued to put one foot forward in front of the other without giving anyone a glance.
“...seven left and two lucky bastards returned. But sadly, one of them had to be put down like a fucking dog because he was bitten”
“No shit?”
“Yeah, the other was Jake. Remember that guy? He lives three houses down from me.”
“The one with a missing arm?”
Flashbacks of the team running for their lives during a mission gone bad flitted behind my eyes. My head felt tight, my body hot, as my mind replayed the bloodsuckers attacking us one by one like prey. We were given false information and paid dearly for it. I gritted my teeth to the point where my jaw audibly popped.
The whispers continued to others like wildfire. People started talking about all the missions and the fact that we never came back with full numbers. Didn’t they realize how bad the world truly was out there? No, they couldn’t while they stayed safely beneath the ground, letting others fight their battles.
Peace was paid with sacrifice and if they would just put their own asses on the line every once in a while, they wouldn’t be whispering like they were now as I walked by with Angel.
“Doesn’t he feel guilty?” was the last thing that floated to my ears before I turned and grabbed the fool by the scruff of his shirt, bringing him nose to nose with me.
Angel growled and I signaled her to stand down.
“I was the one who sewed him up and listened to his screams as he cried out for his wife and children,” I snarled then took a moment to wipe the sweat from my forehead.
My increasing anger wasn’t helping my body temperature. I felt like their words were burning me alive.
“Look, man. Calm down. What’s your problem?”
“What’s my problem?” I looked directly into all the faces of those who had whispered about me. “He was strong and well trained, they all were, and the vampires went through them like a hurricane. Carlos’ time for fighting is over and he was one of our best fighters. Now, his family sits depressed and praying to a god that doesn't exist. How can any of us protect his children or work for his family if not to continuously put ourselves on the line so that assholes like you can have a better and safer life down in these caves?”
I shoved the asshole into another man, uncaring of what they thought of me and stomped away catching a glimpse of Inés behind the crowd looking in my direction.
“We do our part down here to keep things running!” he yelled out after me, attitude lacing his voice.
I stopped and fisted my hands at my sides.
“Something is going to change in this war. Things can’t continue like this.”
