From the Ash II: Broken

Chapter I: Jittery Information

       Present Day...

"Doc."

The silhouette of an enormous figure filled Doc's groggy vision. He blinked, trying to orient himself as the blissful dream faded from his mind. Growling at the intrusion, he cracked his neck and ran a hand through his thinning grey hair. His back screamed in protest as he tried to straighten up in the chair; he hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep within the confines of Haven's former leader's study. With his eyes finally adjusting to the dim lighting from the lamp beside him, his annoyance evaporated as his most trusted ally came into focus.

"Ah, Toro. I was having the most delightful dream about an old...acquaintance." Doc smacked his lips together and shook with pleasure. "How wonderful he tasted."

The big man—Toro—leaned against the wall behind Doc and rolled the toothpick resting in the corner of his mouth to the other side. He folded his arms against his bare chest, coiling the tattoos covering the entirety of his upper body against one another, like a snake ready to spring towards its prey and devour it whole. It was such a subtle action from the stoic giant—but Doc knew something was troubling him.

"Twitch is back," Toro said, his voice coming out in a low rumble.

Doc nodded. "I'm assuming he has news?" He rolled back from the desk and rose to his feet.

Before Toro could answer, the double doors leading to the hallway opened violently. Doc's hand shot to the dagger on his belt—only to realize it wouldn't be necessary. A stick-figure of a man, short, pale-skinned with spiky brown hair, strode into the room, a false air of confidence surrounding his anxious posture. The man rubbed the back of his neck aggressively as he approached the desk. Hazel eyes darted around behind enormous goggles that rested against his face, never pausing on a location for more than a few seconds.

"Wow, looks like the people of Haven are living in style!" the newcomer exclaimed emphatically. He looked past Doc. "Calm down, big man. Gonna try and stick me with that thing?" He chuckled, pointing towards Toro's fingers gripping the hilt of his enormous knife.

When the big man slowly pushed himself away from the wall, Doc grinned, raising a reassuring hand, stopping Toro's advance. "Now Twitch, do you need to be reminded of what happened the last time you upset Toro?"

Twitch's nonchalance ceased instantaneously, and he froze. He swallowed and reached a hand up towards the side of his head, his eyes never leaving Toro's. "N..no Doc, that...that won't be ne..necessary. I was only f..fooling...." His voice trailed off as he rubbed at the nub of skin where his ear used to be.

Walking around the desk, Doc reminded himself why he didn't succumb to his hunger and just rip out Twitch's windpipe right then and there, appease his inner yearnings: Twitch was useful. And useful men were difficult to come by these days.

"Now," Doc began, coming up and putting an arm around Twitch's shoulder, "what have you found out for me?"

Twitch's quaking resumed in earnest, a common enough mannerism from the fidgety man, but Doc sensed from his agitation that he may not like what he was about to hear.

Clearing his throat and avoiding eye contact, Twitch wrung his hands against his dirt-colored jeans as he spoke. "That Stryker's definitely from Fort M..Merrick. It's the only base, okay, that I know of that has a depot that used ta house those models. It's an older one, okay? The military used 'em for training. I was...kinda familiar with the locale, seeing as it was only built a few years ago, right? So I took a scouting party to check out the area and..."

"Go on," Doc prodded when Twitch's voice trailed off.

Twitch wiggled out of Doc's armhold and reached behind him, pulling a large rolled up paper from his back pocket. "It'll be easier to explain if I just show you." He held it up and moved towards the desk.

Doc watched as Twitch unrolled the paper across the desk. Moving to stand beside him, Doc saw long yellow marks: roads, highways and interstates spiderwebbed across Twitch's hand-drawn map. Doc immediately recognized the area shaded in green that covered most of western Oklahoma, running in an S shape all the way down to the Oklahoma-Texas border—the land untouched by the blasts. Everything within it lay under his control. Dozens of smaller blue dots, each representing the Flock settlements, were scattered within the green-zone radius.

"Now, we're here, okay?" Twitch said, pointing to a blue dot a few miles southeast of the Texas-Oklahoma border. He traced his finger along Interstate 40. "We f..followed the tracks from the Stryker, going east for about forty-five minutes, right? And we found what was left of Fort M..Merrick—here." He tapped an area northeast near a small town marked "Sayre" outside of the green zone.

Doc looked up from the map and raised an eyebrow. "What was left?"

Twitch nodded. "The base was completely destroyed, and not by the blast that left the world in this shit state it's in now. This just happened, like, m..maybe a day or so ago. Everything around the whole place was still burning. I...okay, I kinda remembered where the entrance was, D..Doc, but there's no way we coulda got anywhere near it." He licked his lips before continuing. "But those people that brought that Stryker, they oughta be able to tell us what happened there."

Doc grinned. "Toro, bring me that red-haired bitch and the pretty boy. The old man, too."

Looking over his shoulder, Doc saw that Toro hadn't budged. He simply reached up, removed the toothpick from his mouth and pointed it at Twitch. "Tell him the rest."

"The rest?" Doc asked, looking back to Twitch for an explanation.

And that's when Doc noticed the jittery man's clothing. He blamed his grogginess for not seeing the evidence right away; red splatter marks covering Twitch's mud-colored jeans. His vest, tattered, with more unmistakable blotches of crimson staining the material. Doc took a step closer, grabbing Twitch's hands and turning them over.

"Twitch," he began, moving his thumbs over the bloodied bandages, "why is my best scout covered in blood?" He tilted his head, slowly baring his teeth.

"Uh, okay, Doc, now that's what I was going to tell you next," Twitch replied, blinking rapidly and rubbing his bottom teeth against his upper lip. "We ran into some tr..trouble once we got to the b..base per..perimeter."

"What sort of trouble?" Doc asked as he began squeezing ever so gently against Twitch's hands.

Wincing, Twitch began speaking rapidly, "Okay. We n..noticed the smoke billowing from miles away, Doc, and I knew it would be better for us to travel on foot as we got closer, you know, a stealthier approach in case...in case it was a trap of some sorts. I did everything right, okay? I left a few guys back with the vehicles and t..took the r..rest of the men with me on foot. We got as close as the fires would let us, okay? Searching for anything or anyone." He shook his head. "But the closer we got, we could tell, I mean, this had to be their territory. Vamps, Doc. V..vamp territory."

Twitch stared at the map blankly, speaking barely above a whisper, "And that's when the g..ground started to shake. We d..didn't know what was happening. Felt like maybe another explosion was going off under our feet, like the ground was going to open up and s..swallow us. I was just about to order everyone to retreat, get back to the trucks, and they were everywhere, Doc. Dozens of them on horseback barreling right at us through the smoke...we...we didn't st..stand a chance. They must'a been waiting for us. And...and there was this girl...a girl with a sword—ACK!"

Doc roared, lifting Twitch off his feet and slamming him into the chair beside them then grabbing the armrests and pulling the chair to him, putting Twitch's shocked face inches away from his razor-sharp fangs.

"Twitch, I want you to take a moment to gather your thoughts. And when you do—" Doc ran a tongue over his fangs, "—you will tell me, slower this time, everything that happened there. Leave nothing out. Do I make myself clear?"

Twitch's head bobbed frantically, looking as if it would break away from his neck and roll onto the floor. "Y..yes, sir. Yes, sir, Doc," he replied.

"Lovely," Doc said, smiling as he beckoned Toro over.

The big man approached with another chair under his arm, placing it directly in front of Twitch before resuming his position against the wall. Doc sat down and leaned forward, placing his hands against Twitch's legs. "Now then..." he began, pulling the smaller man close and baring his teeth again.

"Talk."