Opening his eyes, Reece shivered at the horrible dream. He hoped the voice was right, though. They were all getting sick of playing defense and barely making it out of each scrape alive. Reece desperately wanted to take to the fight to the enemy, much like what they had done in Florida before the Order had relentlessly rained destruction down upon them.

The thoughts quickly floated away as consciousness took over and he smiled at the warm body pressing itself up against his side. Karina was just as beautiful as always and he couldn’t stop himself from caressing her face with his hand as he admired her porcelain beauty. Her eyes flickered open, and her exquisite twin red orbs found his. The girl yawned and stretched, splaying her nude body out lewdly over his.

“Hey, no time for that, sweetheart,” Reece teased while mussing her hair up. “We’ve got a date with the Egyptian chapter of the Order, and I for one don’t want to be late.”

“Very funny,” Karina answered. “I’m pretty confident that I’ll be ready before you.”

“No fair,” complained Reece, grinning roguishly. “I don’t have your super speed!”

Karina kissed Reece on the lips, pulling his lower lip out with her own before releasing him and slipping out of bed. She winked at him as she sensuously and slowly walked towards the shower and started the water. Reece threw the covers off himself and joined her.

He was thankful for the plush officer’s quarters of the new carrier class. There was no way that even officers had quarters this nice aboard any sea-going vessel when he was in the Marines. Those thoughts washed away when Karina started lathering him up with her hands. The shower only lasted ten minutes, but they made the most of that time.

Karina dried off and quickly dressed in a tan loose-fitting outfit and matching combat boots, laced almost up to her knees. Reece wore his now typical outfit, currently grey...just like the walls of his quarters. Double-checking his sword and pistols, Reece was ready. The pair headed to the deck, Reece making a pit stop to grab a rock-hard bagel from the galley. He also grabbed several bottles of water, just in case.

Once on the deck, he could hear Bjorn’s loud belly laugh from around the side of the tower. He cleared the corner to see that Bjorn was laughing at some joke that Angel had just told him. Aika and Pasha were standing arm in arm, which sent a small pang of jealousy coursing through Reece. He glanced down at Karina to remind himself he was being a hypocrite. Suddenly he was nearly tackled from the side by Naeva and Ciera.

“Oh, my gods,” breathed Naeva. “You will never believe this.”

“Guess what?” asked Ciera, a roguish smile on her face.

“You’re pregnant with twins,” said Reece, smiling back at the pair while trying to deflect from his inner confusion.

“Wow, close,” stated Ciera, clearly taken aback. She recovered quickly and smiled broadly. “Nope, Naeva’s pregnant too! Isn’t that great?”

Reece glanced from Ciera to Naeva, whose face was harder to read.

“We didn’t plan this, and I’ll be honest, the thought never crossed my mind,” said Naeva, a carefree ‘take it or leave it’ look on her face. “But the idea of raising our child has a certain appeal. The same rules apply. Ciera and I will be the main caretakers, but you’re more than welcome to help as much as you desire. Sound good?”

Reece was stunned, and not only from the surprise. He had just been put on the spot in front of Karina. There was no good answer to Naeva’s question. He looked down at Karina and could almost see her heart breaking all over again. He hardened himself and hoped they would understand.

“Look, I’m happy for the both of you, truly I am,” he explained through a mouth that tasted of ash as he woodenly placed his hands on Naeva’s shoulders. “This wasn’t something I was prepared for in the middle of a war, but I’ll do what I can to help. Say the word, and I’ll be there or die trying. I swear it.”

Reece glanced down at Karina again, hoping Naeva would take the hint. Looking back into her eyes, he saw her nod slightly, the look of hurt replaced by a level of understanding. He made sure to give Ciera a hard look before she pushed the issue. She opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it. Twice more she repeated the gesture before she finally seemed to give up. Reece gave Naeva’s shoulders a loving squeeze before letting her go.

“Let’s go,” he whispered. “We’ve got a plan to execute to start making this world safer for my children.”

The twins, Masika and Nephi, showed up while Reece and his three female companions joined the rest of the group. Once gathered, they all greeted each other heartily.

Dmitri, Hank, and Aspen were to stay back. The desert was no place for a plant woman, and Hank’s heavy fur coat would be sweltering in the heat. As for Dimitri, he went wherever Hank went. They were almost inseparable, probably due to their shared struggles, Reece figured. Whatever the reason, he was glad the carrier still had some powerful defenders if something unexpected were to happen. He knew better than to put all his eggs in one basket unless he had no choice.

Now, it was time to lay out the plan and make any adjustments based on the input from the rest of his companions. He stared into the eyes of each of them, seeing a myriad of emotions there. Of those, the two main things that he saw were a deep respect for him and a determination to succeed. Reece had a feeling they would all need that determination to survive the coming events of the day. He forced himself to exude confidence, juicing up his squad better than any pre-game pep-talk ever could.

“Alright, here’s the plan...”

**********************************************

Driving the Sand Skimmers out from a pair of amphibious assault landing craft, the group roared off across the Sudanese beach on their way to southern Egypt. The carrier had managed to drop them off at Port Sudan after traveling through the Gulf of Aden and half of the Red Sea. Luckily, the port had long been abandoned and they encountered no resistance as they began their trek north through the Eastern Desert. Their destination was the Red Pyramid. It was going to be a long day. At least with the Sand Skimmers, they could make a B-line straight to the pyramid although they were able to use paved roads most of the way.

Unfortunately, due to years of neglect, the sand had swallowed up most of the pavement. So, the going was a little slower than it should have been. Pasha seemed to have a heyday jumping many of the drifts along their route. Reece, Angel, Bjorn, Aika, and Karina joined in if only to break up the monotony of the trip. At least the Sand Skimmers were fast, considering the solar-powered hovercraft were older tech.

After several hours of skimming the sand, the group arrived at the river crossing. For the last hour of the journey, the sand had given way to scrub and then thicker and thicker foliage. It wasn’t long before they came to a long bridge that crossed the mighty Nile River. Several zombies were shambling about, the first zombies they had seen on the African continent. It was all an illusion, however. They all knew that there were a lot more, they had just gotten lucky so far. Aika and Karina took the opportunity to stretch their legs. The two femme fatales decapitated the couple dozen zombies that were blocking the path along the long rusted-metal bridge.

When they were about halfway across and over a dozen zombies lay headless on the cracked pavement of the old bridge, the rest of the zombies turned as one to face off against them. The zombies’ odd behavior gave the group pause. Even Karina cocked her head in confusion. Casting aside the rags they wore; it became instantly clear that these weren’t zombies at all.

Reece was just close enough to make out Sebastian, the vampire that they had originally encountered at Cape Canaveral. In addition to the strangely intelligent zombies, with him were another three people who didn’t look like zombies at all. Reece presumed that they were most likely vampires like Sebastian.

“Sebastian!” hissed Karina, readying her spear for a deadly confrontation.

While the group readied their weapons, Reece studied their adversaries. From what Reece could make out, the other vampires were all male and dressed in dark robes. One was tall with pale skin and short blonde hair, another was medium height and golden skin and black hair, and the third was also medium height with dark skin and short dark hair. Also, the creatures with them had the appearance of zombies but moved with a predatory grace that betrayed their intelligence. As Reece and the rest of the group drove up to the opening of the bridge, he could make out their words.

“...you made it this far,” said Sebastian. “It’s time you end this little charade of a rebellion and get in line. You know that you’re outnumbered, right? You and your pets have no chance of surviving this fight. Oh, and we know about your little victory in the sea. Where is your Kraken this time? You may want to call it in, you’re going to need it.”

Reece wondered how they could know about that, considering the entire force they had sent had been wiped out by the timeless monster. Then it struck him, something Sora had said all those years ago. They were linked. Every member of the Order, or the ones that had taken the serums, were part of some mind collective. He had a feeling that Sebastian wasn’t part of the mental network but had still allied himself with their cause. While he wanted to know why, he realized that if Sebastian was destroyed, then the ’why’ really wouldn’t matter.

The bigger question was whether Sebastian was bluffing or not. The vampires outnumbered Karina and Aika two to one, and he had no idea how powerful the strange zombie-like creatures would be. He quickly glanced around but didn’t notice any other forces closing in on them. Regardless, this was a trap and they had fallen into it. A shiver went up his spine as he considered what kind of power the force had deployed against them this time, especially after the Order’s defeat at sea.

While he considered their predicament, he noticed that the rest of the group had dismounted and were ready for combat. Bjorn had transformed into his massive bear-like berserker form and drawn his mighty sword. Ciera had pulled out her Spear rifle, choosing range over the unlimited ammo of her knives. The Nubian twins, Masika and Nephi, each held bladed staves while their skin took on a complexion that could only be described as polished obsidian. Their faces still appeared human, but they now sported cat ears and the whites of their eyes burned an intense orange instead.

Naeva stood beside them, machine gun in hand. She had also partially transformed into her wolf-like form. Angel was to her left and was in the same posture, armed and partially changed into his panther form. The group was as ready as it could be. Reece hoped it would be enough.

Reece pulled out his twin pistols, hoping they would work against the enhanced zombies and/or the vampires. He considered using his greatest weapon but decided to wait and see how things played out. He figured that the Order had to be suspicious after the sea battle, but he doubted they knew who had caused their zombie whales to act strangely and attack their own. He was sure they were closing in on the truth after the Madagascan beach battle, but he wanted to hold onto his secret weapon a little longer if he could. If they knew it was him, he didn’t like his chances of living much longer. His new ability would paint a big target on his back.

His thoughts were interrupted when a moment later, all Hades broke loose. The vampires attacked Aika and Karina all at once, while the mutant zombies sought to get around them. The loud reports of machine guns came from the other side of the bridge as two fifty-caliber turret-mounted mini-guns started spraying bullets judiciously in Reece and his group’s direction. Several whistled by, and he was grazed by two more; one on his shoulder, the other nicking the side of his head. Three more hit him center mass, knocking him off his feet and throwing him back a good five meters.

Gasping for breath, he refused to look down. Instead, he watched while Masika and Nephi rushed to the forefront of the group, their bodies greatly increasing in size as they went. Each of the twins now stood at least three meters tall. For their second trick, they somehow created an asphalt wall in front of them, protecting the group. Bjorn, Angel, Ciera, and Naeva all huddled behind them as they blocked the rest of the gunfire. Angel was holding his side, blood dripping freely from between his fingers. Pasha lay unmoving behind them, a large pool of blood spreading out under him. Reece grimaced but smiled grimly, knowing that he would be the only one to die and stay dead from the gunfire. At least they now had a wall blocking their front from the hail of bullets.

Unfortunately, the missile fire that followed came in from the sides. Reece felt the entire bridge rock as one connected with a thick column just underneath where they were all huddled. Another flew over the bridge railing to explode behind the group, but safely out of range. By then, Ciera had trained the Spear rifle over the side and started firing as fast as she could pull the trigger.

Fearing the worst and feeling excruciating pain radiating from his chest, Reece finally willed himself to look down. Instead of bloody sucking chest wounds, Reece saw three flattened bullets, obviously stopped by his suit.

“Thank the Goddess!” he exclaimed, a wave of relief flowing through him once he realized his suit was bullet-proof. Laughing despite the pain, he forced himself to his feet.

His companions gawked at him incredulously, clearly amazed that he was not just alive but cheery. He merely winked at them and went to the other side of the bridge, making sure to stay behind the cover provided by a burnt-out shell of a troop transport vehicle. Looking down, he spotted a second missile battery. He fired several shots, but his aim was off. The battery was manned by a gangly-looking ghoul, eyes burning like red flames. Just another mutation they hadn’t come across before.

Not wanting to be on the receiving end of several smaller missile strikes, he decided to deploy his secret weapon. He prayed to Odin that it wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass. Reaching out to the gangly creature’s mind, he easily found it. Unlike the other zombies he had controlled, this one had its own intellect, and he knew he couldn’t simply command it without a fight. Like during his practice sessions, Reece instantly found himself on a flat, plain battlespace. The only things on the hard-flat surface of the ground were himself and the gangly creature. It grinned wickedly at him as it stared at its hand and a wicked ax appeared. It started to charge.

Looking down at his own hands, he envisioned a loaded and cocked assault shotgun. As he expected, it appeared in his hands. He wasted no time in raising it and firing the weapon into the face of the gangly creature when it was still a few meters away. Its head disappeared into a red mist and Reece had to side-step the headless body while it crashed to its feet and slid past him, its momentum carrying it several meters behind where he stood. A moment later, the battlespace dissipated, and he found himself back aboard the bridge and in control of the creature’s mind. Since the creature was obviously more intelligent than the zombie whales or shark abominations, he figured it could handle more complicated commands.

“Use the missile battery on the machine gun nests,” he sent out to the things mind. He watched with great satisfaction as it swiveled the weapon and began firing missiles at the other end of the bridge. Several explosions later and the gunfire finally petered out completely as the missile battery ran out of ammunition. He stared hard at the creature and willed it to kill itself.

A second later, he found himself back in the battlespace. Apparently, that was a bridge too far for the creature. Before he had time to register it, the creature pointed a gun at Reece’s head and pulled the trigger. The next thing he knew, he was back on the bridge and the link was broken. Reece cursed himself for such a stupid mistake. The creature was much weaker than him. He just hadn’t expected to enter the battlespace and it had caught him off guard. At least the thing was out of missiles. It howled in frustration when it saw that it was unarmed.

Not to be deterred, the thing began rushing towards the bridge. Reece’s eyes opened wide at its speed. They opened even wider when it leaped at him, easily twenty meters up, with rage in its eyes. Reece brought both pistols to bear and unloaded two clips into the creature. It fell back to the rocky shore below, twitched once, then lay still. One arm and half its head were completely blown off. Having neutralized the threat, Reece glanced back, checking on his companions.

Bjorn had ahold of one of the enhanced zombies and was using its already punished body to brutalize another one of the creatures. The twins had returned to normal size, though their asphalt walls still stood in the middle of the road. They were whirling their staves with practiced precision, hacking, and slashing into the more intelligent zombies. They may not have been as fast or strong as the lilitu or the vampires, but they were extremely efficient as they slaughtered the ghouls, despite the creature’s extra intelligence.

Ciera had a smug smile on her face as she used the Spear rifle to blow the heads off the oncoming zombies. She had obviously finished with the missile battery and was using the ghouls for target practice. Angel and Naeva stood back a bit and shot anything moving that managed to avoid their companion’s devastating wrath. With things well in hand at this end, he took the time to check out the battle on the other side of the bridge.

He watched as more and more enhanced zombies poured out of the jungle on the other side and flooded the bridge. Aika and Karina did what they could to stem the flow of the creatures, but they were preoccupied with the three remaining vampires. The pair had somehow managed to decapitate one of the insanely fast creatures, the tall blonde one. Reece could barely make out their movements as they continued to do battle.

Reece made another gamble and reached out with his mind again, this time to one of the intelligent zombies near the battling vampires. The battlespace came up again and this time, Reece was ready. He quickly raised the rocket launcher he had just envisioned and caught the zombie flat-footed. The explosion blew the creature’s body apart. The only parts of its body remaining were its feet topped with smoking ankles. He chuckled to himself as the scenario dissolved and he was in control of the creature.

“Attack the vampire nearest you,” commanded Reece.

It did as he asked, launching itself at the much more powerful being. It managed to grab the vampire from behind and sink its rotting teeth into the blood-drinker’s neck.

It only took the vampire a moment to pull the creature off and body slam it into the asphalt of the bridge. Reece could hear the sickening crunch from where he stood on the other side of the bridge. Unfortunately for the vampire, a moment was the only opening that Karina needed and she liberated the vampire’s head from its body with a fast and powerful arc of her spear, quickly backing up to guard against a renewed assault from the two remaining vampires, which included Sebastian.

Getting cocky, Reece tried the same trick with the other vampire. He figured he’d let Karina and Aika handle Sebastian. The moment the battlespace came up, Reece brought up the rocket launcher again, but the vampire was on him almost instantly. He fired anyway, blowing them both up. He was back aboard the bridge again but sporting a terrible headache from the encounter.

Luckily, he must have caused the vampire enough of a distraction to let Aika slip through its guard. One of her katanas was sticking through the creature’s chest, holding it still enough for her second katana to slice cleanly through its neck. Now it was Karina and Aika who outnumbered Sebastian. Reece got the distinct impression that Sebastian was working on his escape plan again. While he doubted the solo vampire could defeat the pair of deadly women, he wanted this to end now.

Despite the headache, Reece reached his mind out to Sebastian. He had a good idea of what to expect, but Sebastian was much quicker than the first vampire, though he had nothing on Karina. The moment the battlespace appeared; Sebastian rushed forward and slammed face-first into the large plate glass obstruction that Reece had conjured as part of the battlespace.

He didn’t need to win, just slow Sebastian down long enough for his companions to do the job for him. Sebastian snarled as he scanned the plate glass maze that Reece had created. Quick as a whip, the vampire flashed through the maze, quickly working his way to Reece. Just as Sebastian turned the last corner, Reece unloaded two semi-automatic pistols into his body. It didn’t stop or kill him but slowed him down for a few more seconds.

Sebastian hissed and charged, running headlong into the thick iron shield that Reece conjured, buying him another couple of seconds. The shield was quickly wrenched from his hands. A second later, Reece felt the vampire’s cold hands upon his neck as his will began to give out. Suddenly, Sebastian’s body just disappeared into a wisp of smoke.

The battlespace also disappeared, cracking apart as the fight ended unfulfilled. Darkness closed in, and the battlespace shut down completely, removing Reece’s consciousness from it. A moment later, Reece awoke back on the bridge. He was on his knees. Looking across the expanse, he saw Aika and Karina standing over the vampire’s mutilated corpse. Sebastian’s lower legs had been chopped clean off as well as his head. He wasn’t going anywhere. Reece smiled as the darkness of unconsciousness descended upon him. Before he blacked out completely, he realized that mind control was much more strenuous against actual enemies. He’d have to make a note of that.

****************************************

A flash of cold and Reece’s eyes popped open. His head was wet, and Masika held a water bottle, smiling at him as she held it over him.

“Wake up, you,” she teased. “You’re sleeping on the job.”

“Yeah, yeah,” mumbled Reece and he slowly dragged himself to his feet. “So, I guess we won?”

“More or less,” cut in Pasha, her feminine voice proving that she had died once again. “I really should have brought a change of clothes.”

“Yeah, and we have a swarm moving in,” added Angel, referring to a mass of Zs that traveled together and swarmed like ants over everything in their path. He walked over and patted Reece on the shoulder. “We need to get moving before they slow us down. They’re coming from the northeast, so we should be okay as long as it’s the only swarm.”

“Fair enough,” replied Reece. “We still have a mission to accomplish.”

Everyone hopped into their Sand Skimmers, which had luckily survived the battle, and headed across the bridge. Once on the other side, they turned south and made their way toward the red pyramid. It was slow going until they cleared the jungle, the Sand-Skimmers having to stay on the roads through the thick trees and other vegetation.