Grim Echoes

Chapter 48 - Maeve

"So we're going to make bombs?" Maeve peered at the items they'd purchased on the tarp on the floor of the motel room. There was more room since the table had been broken by Will's earlier tantrum.

Will grinned and reminded her of an adolescent boy about to cause trouble. They'd been to two other hardware stores for two more propane tanks, giving them four.

"I wouldn't call them bombs. Maybe frag explosives?" he chuckled as he opened another box of screws.

She watched Will and Ander put various nails, screws, and other metal bits into plastic sandwich bags. "So you're going to tape those on the propane tanks?" Still confused about these "weapons of minor destruction," as Will had called them.

"Yep, well, two of 'em. The other two, we'll wrap the aircraft cable around," Will answered. "Not too much tape, they won't fly as much if there's too much tape," Will told Ander just about as he was about to tape a bag to his propane tank.

Ander cast a irritated glance at Will, but either he didn't notice or didn't care.

"Why do the other two have cable again?"

"If they explode right, then the cable will break where we've weakened it and fly out with speed and force that'll knock things down or entangle them. Shit, if it goes perfect it might rip one of 'em in half. Imagine that, a vampire ripped in half with one of these?" He picked up a piece of cut cable. "That'd be funny as hell," Will laughed.

Ander stopped taping and stared at nothing with a thoughtful expression. Knowing him, he was thinking about anatomy and how that could actually happen. Maeve sat on the bed and felt sick from the idea of a person, vampire or not, being torn in two from anything. She swallowed and reminded herself this was normal for them. They were around death all the time. It was their job to destroy threats against humanity, to protect people. She'd seen some ex-military at the behavioral center. Their threshold for violence and disturbing bloody sights was much higher than an average civilian. She might not find it humorous, but it was probably Will's way of dealing with things.

"So these are for sneaking in during the day and placing them in their hive?" she focused more on the logistics rather than the consequential death from it.

"Yes, although vampires do not have to sleep during the day, as some legends suggest, the majority do. Their power is greatly diminished during the daylight hours. Several sources have shown that the younger vampires develop an allergy to the sunlight over time and eventually it becomes so severe they catch on fire. I think it is less about the sunlight and more about the UVA or UVB rays." Ander gathered more bits and pieces into another bag. "The Soldiers of Night have tested different weapons and ammunition with UV light over the last couple of decades, but with mixed results. Primarily due to the inconsistently in the way they are manufactured,"

Will nodded in agreement. Maeve was taken back that Will hadn't cut off Ander or got angry because he'd explained things about the Soldiers of Night. Will still had a smile plastered on his face and for once his eyes didn't dart around, searching for threats. He was enjoying himself.

"So assuming they're sleeping, won't they have a security system so people can't just sneak in and try to kill them?"

"Of course, that's half the fun."

"Yes. We would disable their security and then plant these in key locations." Ander gestured to the propane tanks. "On our exit we use those." he pointed to the now full gas containers. "Create a trail and light it,"

"What about doors or windows?"

"Blood suckers tend to pick places with less windows and block the windows that are there. We barricade the doors to trap them inside so they get roasty toasty. Course some will escape, pissed off and on fire but it gives us an advantage." Will turned the propane to check it had even coverage with the baggies.

"I thought wooden stakes worked on vampires?" She asked, confused.

Will's smile disappeared.

"Yes, they do, to a point," Ander started. "I know all the information is a lot to take in and remember, so its good you are asking again, to be certain," he said, more to Will than her.

Will focused on the propane tanks, the smile back on his lips.

"Wooden stakes incapacitate them versus end their life. That was why people assumed they worked previously. The wood works similar to a poison in their system and forces them into a kind of coma where they are aware of what is happening but can not physically react to anything. Some Soldiers of Night swear using a fresh branch from an umbrella thorn acacia destroys them,"

"But wouldn't it be easier to sneak in and stake them and then kill them? I mean, rather than risk one of them waking up or several of them surviving and breaking out and attacking you?"

"Yeah, that'd work fine if the fuckers weren't psychic. I mean, not all of them are, but the puppet masters are dangerous. Say you stake a puppet master who was queen fucking bee of the hive. It doesn't need a body to move, it can just use one of the puppets to kill you before you even realize it woke the shit head up." Will paused his movement.

"Some are just psychic and can get into your head. You stake them and move to the next one. But then the one you started with is in your mind screwing with you. You could end up shooting yourself in the head cause they made you. Either way, after you stake them, all they'd have to do is wait for others to wake up and pull the toothpick out of its chest,"

"Oh," Maeve had known they were gifted with psychic abilities, but she didn't know they could still use them if they were staked. Of course, they'd thought about the safest way to handle a hive. If they built explosives, they'd probably done it before and knew it worked.

"So tonight we're only confirming the info in the mission file?" Once again, she wanted to change the subject.

"Yep, just making sure we don't waste our time or elevate the risk while scouting locations tomorrow. Plus I heard Wayside Tavern has good wings."

Maeve noticed Ander had stopped his movements and listened to the conversation. "Ander will do most of the talking. I'm going to, how'd you put it? Sit there and look pretty? And if some local talks to me use whatever cover Ander comes up with for us?"

Ander flicked his eyes to Maeve, full of gratitude. He hadn't been listening earlier, as Will had suspected, but why? Had he been lost in thought, or was it something else?

"Yep. You come up with who we are and all of that nonsense yet?" Will asked Ander.

Ander shrugged and grinned at Will.

"We're not being health inspectors again or paramedics." Will stopped and glanced at the bathroom door. "Or plumbers, they deal with nasty shit, literally. No teachers either. Don't be an asshole. What are we?" Will demanded, but his tone still playful.

Ander winked at him. The next thing Maeve knew, they rolled around on the floor like children wrestling. When they knocked the propane tanks, she jumped and climbed onto the bed before backing all the way to the headboard, worried they'd explode. They both laughed when they saw her reaction. What did she know about home-made explosives? She glared at them.