DIANA HAD JUST about reached the limit of her tolerance. Although she hadn't spoken a word since she was led into the strategic planning room, she had better things to do than introduce herself.
Diana worked on marking spots on the map while the soldiers stared at her in disgust. Some made snarky comments even while knowing she heard every word.
Normally, she would have just ignored it but when a General snapped at Rudolph for correcting his map reading, Diana lost her calm.
"Gentleman, do we have a problem here?" She asked calmly, but she was anything but calm.
"Of course, we do, mutt!" A commander sneered. "You waltz in here like you own the place and don't even bother introducing yourself. What do we look like to you? Kids?"
She put down the marker and walked to the front of the room.
"First off, the name's Diana and not mutt or anything else. You don't see me calling you a bloodsucker for being a vampire. Secondly, respect goes both ways, you respect me and I respect you."
She faced the General who had snapped at Rudolph, her eyes turning a darker shade of green. "Thirdly, talk to my companion that way again and my fist will find your face. Do not test me!"
Diana could feel the King's eyes on her but she ignored it. His soldiers needed to learn respect and if she had to put one or two on their asses for that to happen then so be it.
A buff General hissed, "How dare you-"
He was cut off by Diana walking back to the map and ignoring him. She picked up thumbtacks and attached the huge map to the wall then picked up a pointer.
"I have circled the locations for the government labs I discovered over the years. As you can see, they are placed in a triangle."
She drew a line joining those circles, forming a perfect triangle. Right above the top of the triangle, in an unnamed land, she drew another circle.
"And this island right here houses a high-security facility with more security than all the other facilities. This is where 'project XPX' lies. Our job is to find out what that project is and shut it down before it destroys us."
She put down the marker and moved back to the front with Rudolph closely behind her.
"How do you suppose we get into a high-security lab that might possibly be swarming with Zombies and get out alive?" A female General asked while looking at her like she had lost her marbles.
Diana gave the floor over to Rudolph to explain that part, which he did with a shaky voice. Rudolph was better than her at entering into a place undetected.
He tool the pointer off her hands and went on to tell them about the guards' positions around the lab and the loopholes from where they can go in and get out if ever the lockdown sequence is initiated.
She continued when she felt it got too much for him, and he gave her a thankful smile which she almost returned. Almost.
"Once we go in through this area, I will locate the powerhouse and shut down the alarm and security system, initiating stealth mode. That way, we can go in undetected and do a lot of damage before the security can get to the lab.
"After getting what we want, we will use the front exit because by then, security would have been alerted and would have zombies flocking into the place, leaving the exits vacant.
"While all this is happening, another team would have already placed explosives all over the lab, and that gentlemen is how we make our exit." Diana raised an amused brow at their expressions which ranged from amazement to confusion.
"Any questions?" She asked and was immediately swarmed by a lot of questions which she carefully listened to.
"Quiet!" The King's voice rang throughout the room and instantly, silence filled the room. Then he gestured for Diana to go on.
"I will answer only two questions as the rest falls under the explanation I just made and I do not repeat myself. Will I be coming with you on this operation? Yes.
"When will all this take place? Reaching the island will take five days on foot if we travel at a steady pace. That is, of course, except you have another means of travel," she responded while staring at the King for a reply.
"You will be provided with some military vehicles and weapons to aid your operation. General Colton here will see to that." He pointed to the General who had snapped at Rudolph.
She nodded the moved to leave but paused. "Do you agree with the plan, your Highness?"
Not that she doubted her almost perfect plan but it was his people she would be taking to the raid so she needed his opinion.
"It is a great plan indeed, Lady Diana, my Generals will provide whatever you need."
"Thank you, your Highness," she said then turned to General Colton. "Can you lead me to the vehicles and weapons?"
The General looked to the King for confirmation and King Aiden gave a positive response. Diana could see the soldiers staring at the King in shock that he was granting a stranger, a werewolf at that, access to the kingdom's weaponry.
But Diana knew why. She knew all along that the King knew about 'project XPX' so she had to put it down as her first card; the trick card.
The first card was a cover. It was one of the many covers she needed to derail him from the real secret. Aiden was smart and calculating.
He wouldn't be the well-known King he was if he didn't possess those traits. But Kings could be controlled too, it was just a matter of presenting the right bargaining card.
And Diana had a full deck of cards.
SLEEP EVADED DIANA that night. She would be facing zombies again the next day and was the least excited about it, especially since she had lost a lot because of those gory creatures.Diana recalled the first time she saw the zombies… that was just the beginning of the end for her.FlashbackWhen most people wake up in the middle of the night screaming, it's because they've had a nightmare.An escapable work of fiction caused by the brain, trying in vain to interpret the random firing of neurons.Diana’s screams that night were not only caused by a dream but the crushing feeling of dread. A sign of the horrible events that were to come.As reality finally settled in, the shrill sounds of her screams faded in her throat, but her heart was still beating too quickly, and her lungs wouldn't fill as she tried to brea
THE NEXT DAY, the soldiers were out and ready and waiting for Diana at the arena. The King assigned three commanders to go with her.One was a commander of foot soldiers, the second was a commander of firearms and the third, of archery. Each commander had ten soldiers behind him making it a total of thirty soldiers.She was provided with six SUVs with the capacity of containing six soldiers each. Diana walked to the first SUV with Rudolph walking beside her. She had tried convincing him to stay back but it all fell on deaf ears.Shooting him a glare which he returned with a cheeky grin, she entered into the vehicle and felt Rudolph climbing up after her.To think she would be used to it by now but she wasn't. She never wanted him to be anywhere close to danger but he went wherever she did, even if it was dangerous.Going to this facility was extremely important for Diana an
THE HALLWAY WAS cleared in minutes as the vampire soldiers outside stormed into the building. The doctors in all the labs had need knocked out and floors swept.Diana already knew where the secret lab was so she went straight to it with Rudolph in tow. There was no need to input the security code as the security system was down so the duo walked straight through the door.Diana was almost blinded by the amount of white in the room. Everything was white except for the cages which contained snarling zombies.The lab was almost like other labs but Diana knew something was up, she just needed to find out what it was. She searched the lab for anyone that could tell her what 'Project XPX' was but found nothing out of the ordinary."Over here!" Rudolph called out and she rushed over to him.At the edge of the lab was a bigger cage that was separated with a middle panel
Diana THE KINGDOM WAS fuller than normal when they got back. Diana heard whispers about an attack but nothing too informing. Immediately, she gave the boy to Rudolph, who took him to their room to get cleaned and rested, then she went to the King, all bloodied and all. The information she had was one of urgency. She was told by one of the courtroom guards that the King was in a closed-door meeting with his officials. "It is important that the King hears what I have found out," she said calmly while pulling up her brown hair in a ponytail with the rubber band on her hand. She had earlier taken it out to be washed at the river and left it out to air dry. One thing she hated most was having dirty hair. "Miss, we can not let you in," the same guard told her, and she had the mind to knock him out and force her way when the door opened, and Richard walked out. "Let her in," Richard said simply before returning inside, and Diana followed him, and this time, she was not stopped.
OTHER CLANS HAD come to take refuge in the Kingdom, therefore, limiting space and resources. It had been a busy week in the kingdom as more people were settling in. Diana saw less of the King as he was busy with the new clans.Diana had expected the influx of vampires into the kingdom. If the attacks persisted, there would be no more clans, just the main kingdom. The same was heard of the other kingdoms.She was preparing her plan for the alliance when she heard the warning bells ring. Her heart skipped a terrified beat when she recalled that Robin and Rudolph went into town to get supplies.Dropping the papers in her hands, she dashed out of the strategic room and ran through the corridors. She left the castle unseen and blended into the crowd of running vampires.She almost choked on the stench of so many vampires at once but focused on getting to her friends. Her wolf reeled back in re
DIANA FELT ON edge the closer it got to their death anniversary. She had a feeling something big was going to happen soon but she had no idea what.The day after the incident at the town centre she had a meeting with the strategic team to find a solution for the zombie attacks. She brought up the idea of capturing a living zombie for testing so they could find out what was used to create them.That way, they could create zombie specific weapons. Hence why at that moment, the soldiers were on the outskirts of the town on a zombie hunt. She stayed back with the planning team and doctors, preparing the lab for the zombie.The Vampires lacked scientists and the equipment the Fay people had but they would have to make do with what they had. It wasn't like they had another choice.Currently, she was watching her two friends argue with the doctors about whether bats were vampires or not. She could tell the
RudolphRUDOLPH'S HEART CLENCHED, and suddenly, all he could feel was this gut-wrenching agony that he knew was not his."What's wrong?" Robin asked upon seeing his pained expression."I don't kn...arrrgh!" Rudolph began, but from the stinging sensation from the black swirl in his back, he was cut short when he cried out.'The black swirl,' The thought popped up in his head, and as if on cue, realisation dawned on him."Ana!" Rudolph whispered to himself, and before he could process what he was doing, he was already fleeing the lab like his butt was on fire.It was not long before he reached the King's study and barged in without knocking.Scanning the room, Rudolph spotted the source of his discomfort sitting on the wall, shaking and whimpering with the King kneeling next to her. The sight of Diana's state was eno
DianaIN ONE MOMENT, Diana's perspective of the King changed. She had heard rumours of human meals but it was her first time seeing it in person.What was the use of the blood bags she saw all over the place if the King still used humans?She couldn't help the disgust that painted her face at the thought as she watched the scene before her eyes.King Aiden pulled his bloody lips away from the dazed human and sent her on her stumbling way. Opening his desk's top cabinet, he pulled out a white towel and gingerly wiped his lips with his gaze not leaving Diana.The edges of his lips quirked up in amusement at the look of disgust on her face. He smirked, ensuring that she saw the gleaming ends of his pearly white fangs which he licked clean."Sit, Lady Moonshine," King Aiden spoke, the look of amusement leaving his face and being replaced by curiosity