Chapter 119
Jamie didn’t have too much time to think about it, however. A middle aged woman was the first to fall victim to his silver bullet, followed by an older man with long, dark hair, and a girl who only looked to be ten or twelve. Despite the fact that he knew she was already dead when he shot a child, it was always difficult for Jamie. Next, two men came charging at him at the same time. He managed to shoot one squarely in the head before the other ran into him. Jamie flew back into the air, making contact with the trunk of a palm tree, but he managed to hold onto his gun. He fired at the back of the large man who’d knocked him off his feet, and like the others, his aggressor went up in a poof of ash.
Whirling back around just in time, Jamie saw a large woman soaring at him, her teeth barred, her claws out. He ducked down, and she went flying over his head, careening into the same palm tree he’s just gotten to know. He shot her and then realized he was out of bullets. There was one more Vampire, a young man, who’d manage to make it about twenty yards into the tree line. Jamie glanced in Taavi’s direction and saw him giving chase to a teenaged woman as well.
Jamie holstered his revolver and sped after the boy. The bloodsucker might’ve run faster if he would’ve stopped glancing over his shoulder every few seconds, but his anxiety allowed Jamie to catch up to him, and just before he got to the thicker part of the rainforest area, the Guardian flung himself at the boy, knocking him to the ground. Before he could even shriek in protest, Jamie had ahold of his head and was cranking. It popped off a few seconds later, and he was left sitting on a pile of ash.
Slowly getting to his knees, Jamie saw Taavi standing with his hands on his thighs a few feet away. “Did you get her?” he asked.
Taavi shook his head. “She got into the trees, and I lost her.”
“That’s all right,” Jamie assured him, looking off into the rainforest the best he could. There was no sign of the last Vampire anywhere. “We’ll get her another day.”
They slowly made their way back to the houses and Jamie took a seat on the front porch of the middle house, Taavi lowering himself down as well. “Do you think Aaron could use our help?”
“No, he’ll be fine.” Jamie was certain of that. A few minutes later, Aaron came through the tall grass. Jamie, who had been polishing his revolver, slipped it back into his holster, thinking he needed to reload it, just to be safe. “Well, that didn’t go as planned.”
“You can say that again. How many did you take out?” Aaron asked, looking a little more winded than Jamie expected.
“Five, but one got away,” Taavi explained. “We’ll have to track her down later.”
“I took out seven. I guess the estimate was just a little off.”
“Guess so,” Taavi nodded. “Sorry.”
Aaron laughed. “Don’t apologize. I think it’s just evidence that there is a growing problem on the island.”
“Yes,” Taavi agreed. “We need to get it back under control.”
“I’ll let Jordan know. Let me know what we can do.” Aaron assured him. Jamie stood, thinking it was time to hit the road. He had places to be, people—person—to see.
Taavi was a little slower to rise. “Thank you,” the Hunter said, offering his hand, which Aaron took. “Oh, here’s your gun.” He pulled the revolver from his waistband and offered it to the Guardian.
Aaron waved him off. “Keep it. I’ll get you more of the special ammunition it takes. It looks like you might need it.”
“I appreciate it,” Taavi replied. He shook Jamie’s hand. “Doctor, thank you for your assistance.
“No problem,” Jamie smiled, thinking he’d like to work with Taavi again someday. He was a pretty good shot and followed directions much better than some of the people Jamie had worked with over the years.
Walking back to the car, Jamie said, “Well, that’s enough excitement for one day!” He couldn’t help but hope he’d get back to his apartment to find Ellie had come to pay him a visit.
“Yes, it is,” Aaron agreed. “I’ll be perfectly content to spend the rest of the afternoon finishing up paperwork, staring out the window at the ocean.”
“A lazy Sunday morning in paradise sounds good to me,” Jamie muttered as he climbed into the passenger seat of the car, wondering if Aaron had any idea he wasn’t talking about the island. The smirk on his friend’s face told the doctor he probably did.
They headed back toward town, mostly in silence. Jamie glanced at the time on the dashboard and saw that it was almost 8:00. He imagined Ellie was likely still sleeping. However, as he was daydreaming about her, a strange noise caught his attention. He and Aaron exchanged glances as they realized they were hearing engines, lots of them. Off in the distance, in the sky above the harbor, Jamie could see a fleet of aircraft, and to his horror, they were not US planes.
“They’re bombing the fleet!” Jamie shouted as a Japanese Zero buzzed past them overhead. It was low to the ground and looked as if it was completing a bombing run. “Get me as close to the hospital as you can!”
While Aaron was not in the military, Jamie was certain he knew the kind of disaster such a surprise attack could entail, and Aaron hit the gas. The closer they got to town, the louder the sounds of war became. Zeros circled over the ships in the harbor, dropping explosives that shook the ground, and gunfire rained down all around them with no regard for civilians or the fact that the US hadn’t even declared war.
They were perhaps a mile from the hospital when a Zero pelted the car with bullets. The engine wound down, and Aaron pulled it over. Jamie couldn’t wait to try to find another ride. Without a word, and not caring who may see him, he took off in a blur toward the hospital, knowing there would be more wounded than they could possibly handle.
