His response was immediate. “Then stop fucking losing them. I thought you were a medic. A fucking doctor or some shit. Aren’t you supposed to be saving people?”
I looked over my shoulder with a face full of fury for the people who dared to speak this out loud as well as to myself who still carried the guilt over our recent loss. “There will never be any peace until you stop breathing. The bloodsuckers will make sure of it. So, I suggest you shut your fucking coward’s mouth and let those who know what they’re doing, continue with the cause.”
ChapterFour
“Control yourself,Vik. I’m not going to warn you again.”
Dean, the commander in chief of Black Hollow glared at me from where he sat. The large wooden table separated us in the strategy room. If we were any closer, I would have punched him in the face. He didn’t understand the odds out there, he didn’t understand why we needed to change tactics in order to get the upper hand.
I leaned into the table. “What I’m proposing here is something we need to consider quickly and put into effect for the sake of everyone in Black Hollow.”
“Vik, sit your ass down,” Ozzy gritted out. He sat beside Dean with his arms crossed. Second to Dean, he was also the man who trained every new recruit in our human resistance and deemed this worthy enough to fight for the cause topside. No one wanted to cross Ozzy. His skills would kill you before you could even decide your next move.
Dean ran into Ozzy a couple of years back while on a supply run. Ozzy was single handedly leading a good number of people away from their last compound when their leader became questionable with the choice of meal source.
I glared at him as I slowly sat back down into my chair. We needed to get on the offensive before the bloodsuckers found us out. How long were we willing to live day by day on the defensive. When was it time for humans to rise again so that we may allow the children to live in a world where they didn’t have to fear becoming the next vampire meal or part of their blood farms?
Rumors of those have risen in the past few months. The Letos clan name always accompanied the rumors andthatwas what made it worse. If that crazy clan won the vampire wars, the world would be doomed to nothing but ashes and blood.
“We need to recruit more men into our ranks. If we decide to go forth with your plan Vik, we need more soldiers at home that can protect the rest of the community while we’re out there starting our own wars.” Dean rested his elbows on the table, covering his mouth, staring at me intently.
Ozzy looked contemplative in my direction but didn’t add any opinions. Silence descended upon the entire room and my skin prickled. What were they suggesting?
“Okay. So what do you need me to do?” I threw out, unable to continue the staring game without feeling my fury simmer. Were they messing with me? Humoring me only to pull the rug from under me?
“You want this done? You’re going to have to lead it,” Ozzy instructed.
“I’m not the main trainer here—”
Ozzy stood up from his seat, screeching the chair across the floor loudly before he leaned toward me with his palms flat against the table. It was an imposing position and he knew it.
“You came up with this bright idea, you execute it. If by the end of it all you are able to create a big enough force for us to use as offense, then maybe I’ll consider assisting you on strategy planning. But as of now, it's easy to talk out of your ass with ideas and propositions. I’m not going to take direction from someone who doesn’t fucking know what they’re doing. So prove to me that you do and then we’ll talk again.”
Ozzy didn’t wait for my answer and Dean didn’t stop him when he abruptly left the strategy room. A couple of the guys followed before Dean himself stood up.
I glared at the exit long after Ozzy left. Did he think this was a fucking joke? My mind swirled with different emotions but the main one that made me stand up with everyone else was determination. When the bloodsuckers come picking us off one by one, they’ll realize their mistake today.
Carson slapped my chest with the back of his hand before flicking his head to tell us to get out of here.
I nodded reluctantly and followed him out. Once we exited the west tunnel, I voiced my thoughts.
“Carson, this shit—”
“Vik. Stop. We’ve all heard you. Numerous times, numerous days. If Dean and Ozzy haven't done anything by now, you know the majority isn’t going to listen. They run this place. You know that. But that right there, was an opening, an opportunity they allotted you. The question is, what are you going to do about it?”
I knew what he was saying, but I wasn’t an instructor. I didn’t know the first thing about teaching anyone how to defend themselves. It came down to innate instinct and the will to survive. That wasn’t teachable, that required life experience.
And that was the problem with the people who stayed behind. They lacked the experience. They didn’t allot themselves that opportunity, instead, choosing the safety of remaining underground while the soldiers battled topside.
Amir caught up with us a few minutes later, slapping us both on the shoulder in greeting.
Carson stopped walking and turned to look at me. “You want this, Vik? Shit or get off the pot.”
“I’m just a fucking medic,” I admitted with guilt. People died around me. I had no business leading teams.
“So what?” Amir added. “You gonna do it? You taking up Ozzy’s challenge?”
Fuck, there really was no way around it.
