Drake’s POV
If I were to take the wheel from the Alpha, the best thing I would do was to find my way out through another freer area around the fence. Neither of us was immune to gunshots especially when the shots aimed at us were coming from a semiautomatic rifle that releases more than three, four, or five bullets in splits of seconds. Believe me, I had no idea if those bullets were ridden with silver. If so, then we should be in a very hot soup.
But then, Alpha Richards continued moving the vehicle forward without difficulty or in this case, fear. The only thing he did that I considered wise out of the whole stupid decisions he made was when he instructed me to keep my head down. I did anyway without any sort of protest. But then the guard stopped destroying our glasses and changed his course.
For a moment, I wondered why he stopped shooting. I thought that he might have changed his mind. I thought maybe that something had touched him and he turned into a good guy. I looked up and saw the IDIOT reloading. Goodness!
When is it going to be over?
He didn’t shoot to kill us this time after he reloaded but did something worse. He began to shoot at the truck’s engine, radiator, and whatever his bullets could get at the front of the truck. Alpha Richards didn’t stop though. I was sick to the stomach and I wondered how he drove as though he was immune to bullets. Thanks to the reckless gate at the front, the truck smashed it open, probably destroying the gate as we passed through.
“That was b-aaad,” I screamed at Alpha Richard. He flinched a scowl at me but didn’t say a word. I looked forward and saw the bonnet steaming. The guard on the gate had succeeded in destroying our engine and it would be a matter of time before Rudolph or Levi or whoever it was going to be would approach us with another vehicle and probably get us both killed.
I thought of what to do. I brought out my phone and quickly dialed Thelma’s number. But then, I remembered that she told me that she forgot her phone. I changed the idea. I dialed Simon’s number instead. “Hey, Sim!”
He sighed over the phone. I knew it was a sigh of relief. “Hey, Alpha. Are you okay?”
“I don’t think so. How close are you to the fortress?” I asked
“Not more than a mile away. Are you out?”
“Yup.” A voice in the background said, ‘Oh God.’ I couldn’t tell whose voice it was but I knew it should be Thelma’s. “Can you get closer? We are still heading north out of the fortress.”
“North!” he said, sounding more like a question. “Anywhere can be north, Alpha. Can’t you be more specific?”
I thought of what to say but didn’t know what to answer him. I closed the speaker with my hand and turned to face the Alpha. “Where are we at?”
He dodged what seemed like a gallop upfront before he turned to speak to me. “Heading downtown. Phoenix lake is a few minutes’ drive from here.”
“Thank you.” I removed my hand from the phone. “Hey Sim, are you there?”
“Yes, boss,” he said. “Speak.”
“We are heading down lake Phoenix. Just a few minutes from here.”
“We?”
“Yes.”
“Who is we?”
“Business first, details later,” I hissed in frustration. “If you don’t arrive here in time, then we are spooked.”
“Just hang on, I will be there sooner.”
“Wait,” I said. “We might have company if you don’t maintain the SOONER as you just said. It will get really ugly if you delay us.”
“Okay, I will be there soonest then.”
I wanted to laugh. I hardly see Simon in such a mood. And for him to joke at that crucial moment sent tiny jingles around the nerves in my armpit. He hung up.
“We have people coming for us,” I said without looking at Alpha Richards.
“Sounds great,” Alpha Richard said, his tone of a voice seemingly unimpressed. I wouldn’t blame him though, he was under a lot of stress and pressure.
The engine was wheezing. Smoke was booming out hot through the bonnet. I wasn’t sure how far the vehicle could take us without bursting out into flames. I wasn’t even sure if the truck would get us to the lake. Alpha Richards and I didn’t speak to each other for a moment until I could spot the sight of the Phoenix lake. But then, our vehicle began to slow down and it became worst as we advanced.
“What’s wrong, Alpha?” No response! I waited for him to say a word but he didn’t. I looked at Richards, he had his head rested on the wheels with both palms on it. Confused, I poked him but he didn’t turn nor respond. I pinched him and he didn’t flinch nor make any movement-related stuff. I lifted his head and saw blood welling down from his stomach.
“Oh my,” I muttered. I stopped the truck immediately, came down from the vehicle, and went around the driver’s side. I dragged the Alpha down from the seat and made him stand up on his wobbly feet. It appeared that he had bullets lodged in his stomach and the wound looked deep. He was huge so there was no way only I could carry him except I let him rest on my shoulder and then scoop him up from there.
It wasn’t a good decision because it would only end up causing him more pain. But, I had no option. I lifted him and rested him on my right shoulder.
He screamed. “It hurts,” he said. “Painful. So much.” I pitied him. If I had a choice, I would have taken another alternative. I knew he had been wounded, eaten by a vampire, starved, and now, shot at. That was way too unacceptable. But there was no way we could stay there. The vehicle could burst any moment and if it didn’t, then we could easily be spooked by any unexpected guest along the road.
‘”I am so sorry,” I said.
He nodded disturbingly and slowly. He was sure in pain but he was helping but wasn’t enough. I just had to pace up. “Bring the brown big envelop with you, please,” Richards said, pointing at the file. Even though his tone of voice was not there but to speak of such an envelope under such pain suggested that the item was important to him. Even though he growled most of the time, it sounded deeper than his normal voice.
I grabbed the file like he told me to and hurried away from the already flaming truck. I wasn’t comfortable with the too many eyes we were getting from passing motorists. We had been getting a surreptitious glare as more people passed.
The police too could have pulled us over if we had wasted unnecessary time. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my week in their office answering unnecessary questions. I decided to move off the tarred road. I carried him down the bridge, close to the lake, and stopped somewhere under the pillars of the long overhead bridge. I dropped the Alpha quietly on the cold floor and made him relax on his back. He grunted in pain as I tried to lay him on the floor.
“They will soon be here,” I said, assuring him of safety that I wasn’t sure of.
I hoped that his wounds weren’t riddled with silver bullets. Because if they were, then he was sure in very big trouble. I picked up my phone and redialed Simon.
“What’s keeping you so long?”
“I am almost there.”
“How long exactly is the almost?” I inquired.
“Few seconds away,” Simon said hastily. I looked at the dying Alpha, his eyes were closed. But the good news was, he was still breathing.
“I don’t think I have extra few more seconds, Simon,” I said. I called his name in full. Now I knew there was a fire on the mountain. I couldn’t remember the last time I called him by his full name. I had almost forgotten his surname too.
I heard a loud blast atop the bridge, I looked up and saw the truck burning with a blue flame. I came close to the Alpha, crouched beside him, and grabbed his neck, balancing his head on my lap.
“We will go home soon,” I said. “Just hang in there.” I barely finished the statement when I saw Simon driving the truck down lake Phoenix. I grabbed the Alpha again and carried him on my shoulder. He squeaked in protest this time but it didn’t bother me. I could spot help coming already. He just had to hold on there for a few more minutes and things would get into shape.
The tyres of my truck screeched to a halt in front of me and then Simon and Thelma jumped out of it. “Alpha,” Simon said, running toward me. “Is he okay?”
“Oh my. . . are you okay?” Thelma asked.
Of course, Drake didn’t know exactly which question he should answer first. So, I decided not to. “Help me out guys,” I said, begging. “Let’s get the hell out of here. Trouble is brewing somewhere and it is very close.” And it was true.
“Oh father,” Thelma said, crying. “What have they done to you?” she clasped her hands into a fist and closed her mouth with it. She stood in shock while Simon helped me drag him up. We both moved him to the back of the truck. Thelma hurriedly joined her father in the back seat, supporting his weight on her body. The old man lay on her shoulder with a faint smile on his face. While Simon drove the truck home under the siege of the evening darkness, I prayed that we wouldn’t get attacked or stopped by that useless vampire and her bunch of betrayal lunatics.
Luckily, we got home safely without any attending surprises, got our wounded visitor outside, and called for the prefect’s help.
“What happened to him,” she asked when she first saw the wounded Alpha- Richards.
“Long story,” I said. “Let’s get him treated first. Can you do that?”
“I will see what I can do, Alpha,” the prefect told me. “Simon, help me lay him flat on the bed.”
Thelma was still sobbing beside the bed, refusing to leave her father’s side. “I think you should leave too. He would need all the space he can get please,” the prefect said to Thelma.
I grabbed Thelma by the arm. “Let us go. He will be fine.”
She resisted for a moment but then moved along with me.
Sometimes, heartbreaks could be managed. But you see, losing the sight of someone you care about to the cold hands can be compared to having a nail hammered directly into your ass. I knew Thelma was in pain and probably afraid. I had been there before. All she needed was maybe a hug, an assurance too that her father would be okay since he made it to the packhouse.
Thelma walked with me until we moved outside the room and then she slumped under my arms.