Suburban Vampire: Redemption, Book II: Leviathan

Chapter 52

Malheur walked along the highway for a few miles, eventually coming upon a few abandoned cars. There were a couple sheriff's cars that looked to have received extensive damage; these he passed by. There were a few other cars as well, but those looked equally damaged. Eventually he spied an abandoned car that looked entirely pristine; in fact, it was brand new and probably had just been purchased. At first, he turned up his nose.

"You've got to be kidding me. A Smart Car? Fine!" Malheur entered the car. He checked the instrument panel; it carried a full charge. He noticed that this was the newest premium model and came complete with a voice-command interface. "Start!" He said.

"I'm sorry, I don't recognize your voice," the computer said.

"Start, please!"

"Command not recognized."

"I command thee, begin the turning of thine engine!"

"It is not recommended that you drink while driving."

"Starto el carro!"

"That is not a recognized command and may be ethnically or racially insensitive."

"I will use a spell on you!"

"Starting 'I Put A Spell on You' by Screaming Jay Hawkins."

"No! I... oh. The keys were in the ignition the whole time."

*

"We're up at 6,000 feet," the pilot said to Kitty, who was sitting beside him and looking out the window, "and cruising at about a hundred knots. The air is still, but it's unusually dark. Visibility is compromised."

"How's IFR?" Kitty asked.

"The readings seem accurate, but they're occasionally glitchy."

"Glitchy how? Glitchy as in it's a minor inconvenience glitchy, or glitchy as in oh God, we're all gonna die glitchy?"

"Everything is under control, so far. Let's just hope I don't hit something up here."

"Fair enough. Where are we?"

"We're paralleling 97, just south of Metolius."

Kitty looked out down toward the highway. Although it was dark, there was enough ambient light to see movement below. "Zed said this chopper is equipped with FLIR," Kitty said as she checked a screen in front of her.

"That's right. Just hit the switch right next to the screen. The small joystick to your right controls the FLIR camera."

Kitty did as the pilot instructed. She pointed the FLIR toward the highway. The image on her screen, in various hues of green, told her what she needed to know. "Okay, there's a sizeable herd of vampires, I assume, heading south on 97."

"Any estimates on speed?"

"Maybe about 50 miles per hour, which actually isn't top speed for a vampire. I've clocked Jeremiah doing 90, and he was taking it easy that day. He didn't want to wreck his shoes."

"That should get them to Terrebonne in about a half-hour."

"Yeah, and that's assuming they stick to 97. I'm going to contact Jeremiah and... oh. He's calling." Kitty had the phone synced to the headset she was wearing. "Hey, Jeremiah, I was just about to call you. The vampires are moving south on 97. Assuming they stay on the highway, they'll be there in about a half hour."