Chapter 28

The moment that Tom and Mark entered the station, Dr. Nolan of the CDC came running up to them. Panting from the slight exertion, he asked breathlessly, "Detective, about time you got here. What can you tell me about these things?"

"Good morning, Dr. Nolan," Tom replied pleasantly, "It's nice to see you again, too. But I thought we didn't have time for ridiculous superstition."

Dr. Nolan had the decency to look abashed at Tom's words. "Sorry," he answered sheepishly, "We were wrong, you were right. Now, would you be willing to share what you know?"

"Sure, we're all on the same team, after all," Tom replied, "but I want a few things, first." He would certainly have provided the information without conditions, but an opportunity to get things moving in a hurry could not be passed over.

"What?" Dr. Nolan asked with exasperation.

"I want the travel restrictions against people leaving the city lifted. In fact, why don't we just make it a mandatory evacuation? Get word out immediately. It would be a good idea to search every car that leaves. Make certain the sun touches everyone. The vampires who are behind all that has been going on quite likely have regular people, mercenaries, helping them. They could try to leave the city by day with the mercenaries' help."

"Done, but why evacuate?"

"The obvious reason. The fewer people there are in the city, the fewer people there are for the vampires to kill or turn into other vampires." Tom was almost ashamed at the perverse pleasure he took in the pained looks that crossed the doctor's face every time he said the v word.

"Anything else?"

"Yes. Call in the people at the checkpoints inside the city. Form them into search parties and have them start looking in every dark alley, every dumpster, every open basement, and every building with broken or open windows or doors. If they find anyone who seems dead, they are to drag that person out into the sun. It would also be good to open every manhole and lower mirrors down to reflect sunlight up and down the pipes. The sewer pipes in this city are too small and too full for people who have to breathe to be crawling around in them for a proper search, but using the mirrors should help a little."

Dr. Nolan nodded thoughtfully, "Good idea. Done. Is that all?"

"I would like to know two things: how many people did we lose last night and what specifically happened to change your mind about the existence of vampires?"

Dr. Nolan's face turned grim, "Last night, we split all available people into four shifts of six hours each. Inside the bounds of the city proper, we lost everyone on the first shift; just under three hundred men. About a third of those are still missing. Those who were assigned to outlying districts or the highways reported no contact with the enemy. The entire second shift was attacked either while they were assembling for assignment or while they were driving there through that blasted fog. Almost four hundred dead. Fortunately, some of the men had come prepared with bows and arrows and they held off the attackers while more than two hundred others escaped into the city-county building lobby. They then stood guard until morning, keeping those people safe. We had the third shift assemble at the South Side station and just manned the outer checkpoints from there on out.

"As to your second question: early in the evening, one of the checkpoints was attacked by a single man and they managed to restrain him and bring him in. When I examined him, I found that he had no pulse, no blood pressure and was room temperature. Although the team reported that they had shot him repeatedly, there was no sign of any injury other than the holes in his clothes. His pupil reactions, reflexes, and flexibility were, however, completely normal, even better than normal. When I checked his teeth, I discovered that he not only had fangs but could extend and retract them at will. He was completely unresponsive to questions, and acted more like a caged animal than a human being. When I had blood tests run on the exceedingly small amount that I could squeeze out of him, the results were more bizarre than anything I could have ever imagined. Not only was the chemistry all wrong, but it contained cells like nothing I've seen before.

"The presence of those cells had almost convinced me that it was a disease after all. Just a very, very exotic one. Then, at six fifteen this morning, the exact time of sunrise, he ceased struggling against the chains that we had used to hold him down and went completely limp and seemingly lifeless on the gurney. Ten minutes later, the sun began shining through the windows of the examining room and he, the vial of blood that I had drawn from him, and the blood that I had smeared on some slides burst explosively into flame. That made a believer out of me. Now, will you tell me what you know?"

Shocked by the sheer numbers of dead, Tom replied in a subdued voice, "Sure, Dr. Nolan. While you make the arrangements for the search parties and the evacuation, let me see if I can round up some other people who need to hear what I have to say."

Dr. Nolan turned to go but then spun to face Tom again, "Detective, you do realize that telling the world that there really are vampires is pretty much out of the question?"

"It's the truth. And assuming that hiding that truth is even remotely possible at this point, which I sincerely doubt, why would you? I think the people have a right to know what it is that they're facing."

"Think of the panic that such knowledge would cause, and the economic and social disaster that would occur if everyone was suddenly afraid to leave their homes after dark. Consider, too, that vampires look like us; in a sense they are, or at least were, us. Anyone walking by you on the street could be one. And that is exactly what a lot of people will think.

"Fear is not a rational emotion. If someone is acting odd, or is new to an area, or follows different customs, they will be subject to suspicion, even violence. It won't matter if the suspicions are unsupported by evidence. It never does. Look how long racial and ethnic stereotypes have persisted and how much violence has occurred because of them. That is so even though no such stereotype has included the added dimension of the subject wanting to kill and eat you."

Tom shook his head, "I don't think you're giving people enough credit, Doctor. People are smart enough..."

Dr. Nolan interrupted, "A person is smart. People are not. A person can view a situation logically and rationally. A group of people, however, is prone to fear, hysteria, paranoia and violence. Mob mentality is an unfortunate reality."

"That's an extremely dim view of human nature."

"Actually, Detective, that's the bright side. On the other side of the coin is the people who, instead of being afraid, want the power and longevity that vampirism can offer. They will flock to the city with the hope of becoming infected. And if they succeed ... Well, I don't think I need to paint a picture of what would happen if people who are willing to consume the lives of others to prolong their own actually got the opportunity."

When Tom just stared at him, dumbfounded, Dr. Nolan pressed on, "I know this will be covered in the briefing you'll be giving, but answer me this: Do you know how long these creatures have been around?"

Tom bit down on his anger and answered, "I don't know. At least a few hundred years."

"Yet this has been the only incident of this type?"

"Well, yes..."

"From Ms. Harper's story, I get the impression that this is all the work of one or two creatures?"

"Only one, really. The woman who was with him was created here."

"Okay. Do you not think it a fair assumption, then, that, even if there are others of his kind, even many others, he is an anomaly, a rebel among them?

Grudgingly, Tom admitted, "I suppose so."

"So, if we manage to eliminate this one, don't you think it likely that we will have no further incidents of this type?"

"It's possible, but what if there are?"

"I'm not suggesting that we stick our heads in the sand, Detective McNelly. There will be people, all with proper levels of clearance of course, who know the truth. There will likely even be a rapid response team trained specifically to combat any future incidents. What I am suggesting is that the truth will not do the masses any good and may even do a great deal of harm."

"As an intellectual exercise, I suppose that I can see your point, but there are already a huge number of people who know the truth..."

"No. There are a huge number of people who think they know the truth. Very few have actually seen a vampire up close and survived. If we offer a plausible alternative, who do you think the masses will believe? Us, with our rational and logical explanation, or people who spout out incredible tales of mythological creatures attacking a modern city?"

"What 'rational and logical' explanation could you possibly give for all that has happened?"

"All we need to do is put an added spin on the old explanation. It is a disease, similar to rabies but also causing hallucinations, delusions and rapid growth of the canine teeth. To be on the safe side, we'll say that it has a hundred percent mortality rate in cases of full infection. We'll also say that it can only be spread through a direct mix of bodily fluids, such as by a bite or ingestion of blood, and that it has almost no incubation period. That will allow us to perform the evacuation without inciting pandemic hysteria. We'll even have the checkpoints administer fake 'skin chemistry' tests to make sure that those leaving aren't infected. I imagine simple litmus paper will do."