Yu Jie drank more water. "My older brother wanted to join Master Han's army. All the young men in the village were doing it, 'cause they could earn good wages and send some money home for the rest of us. Master Han said he would employ them all if we would grow the demon herb for his friend, Darafer. The village elders agreed." She frowned at the bottle she held. "I haven't seen my brother since then. I think it's been a few months."
Leah smoothed a Band-Aid over the small puncture where the IV needle had been inserted. "Do you remember when your brother left?"
Yu Jie tilted her head, considering. "It was March. 2011."
Leah winced. The girl had lost about twenty months of her life. "This is November, 2012."
Yu Jie's mouth dropped open. "What? What happened?"
"You were drugged. I believe your whole village is drugged." Leah touched her shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Tears glistened in Yu Jie's eyes. "I-I'm sixteen now? I don't remember anything. How could this happen?"
"I think we can safely say that Darafer tricked you. You thought you were helping your brother, but Darafer turned you and all the village into his mindless slaves - "
"No!" The water bottle crackled as Yu Jie's hands tightened around it. "I have to go back! I have to save my family."
"Calm down." Leah patted her arm. "We're going to help you, okay? We succeeded in making you normal again, so that means we know how to save your village."
A tear ran down Yu Jie's face. "You can save my people?"
"Yes." Leah squeezed her arm. "I'll save them. What you need to do now is rest and get your strength back so you can help me. Okay?"
Yu Jie nodded, more tears spilling down her face.
Rajiv strode into the room, carrying a tray with a bowl of hot noodles and a cup of hot tea.
"Perfect. Thank you." Leah set the tray on a table that swiveled over Yu Jie's bed.
Yu Jie grabbed the chopsticks and pinched a huge hunk of noodles.
"Not so fast," Leah warned her. "Your system isn't used to food anymore. Take it slow and easy so you won't get sick."
Yu Jie nodded, then ate only a few noodles at a time.
"That's good." Leah smiled at her. "I'll check on you in about thirty minutes, okay?"
Yu Jie nodded and continued to eat.
"Can you hang around in case she needs something?" Leah asked Rajiv.
"Sure." He sat next to the bed and watched the girl eat. "I'm twenty-two. How old are you?"
Leah strode back to her dorm room to gather up some fresh clothes. Then she showered and dressed. After a quick breakfast in the cafeteria, she was feeling good.
She was on her way back to the clinic when Rajiv left the room, carrying the tray.
He stopped next to her in the hall. "Yu Jie fell back asleep."
"That's good."
"You could sleep, too," Rajiv suggested.
Leah smiled. "I'm wide awake now, so I'll get some work done. Thank you."
She took some blood samples from the captives to see if any progress was being made. While she waited for the results, she wandered down the hall to the security office.
"How's it going?" she asked the guys. Howard was sitting in front of the security monitors, and Rajiv was at a table, studying a map.
"Great," Howard replied as he munched on a donut.
Rajiv grinned. "Pooh Bear is happy 'cause Kyo brought him donuts from Tokyo."
"Phil's outside looking around." Howard motioned to a camera that showed the beach. "Congrats on curing the zombie girl."
Rajiv nodded. "We are eager to save the whole village."
"When do you think we'll go?" Leah asked.
"Probably tomorrow." Howard wiped his hands on a paper napkin. "The Vamps can teleport us and the supplies there tonight. As soon as the zombies go into their daytime trance, we'll move into the village."
Leah nodded. "Okay. I'll start figuring out what I need. Oh, we'll need to feed the villagers. They'll be starving when they wake up from their trance."
"We'll pack some food." Howard grabbed another donut. "Rajiv's got some good news about the evacuation."
"I do!" Rajiv pointed at the map. "The zombie village is only a mile from the Mekong River. Grandfather will send some men and their fishing boats down the river to pick up the villagers."
"Oh, that's wonderful! I'd better get back to work." Leah hurried back to the lab to box up supplies.
By late afternoon, her lack of sleep caught up with her. Abby was just waking, and she agreed to watch over their patients in the clinic and help Yu Jie get ready for the mission.
Leah slipped on her flannel pajamas and fell fast asleep.
"Leah, wake up." Dougal sat on the edge of her bed and patted her shoulder.
"Mmm," she moaned. "What is it, Howard?"
"Howard? Are ye dreaming of Howard?"
Her eyes flickered open. "Dougal?"
"Aye, 'tis me, yer true love, Dougal."
She smiled drowsily at him. "Yes, that's true."
"Good." He shifted on the bed to face her. "Now that we have that straightened out, let me tell you - "
"What time is it?" She scooted into a sitting position against the headboard.
"Just past midnight. Leah, I doona want you to do this mission at the zombie village. 'Tis too dangerous to send you into enemy territory."
She rubbed her eyes. "I have to go. I promised Yu Jie that I would save her people. They can't survive much longer at that level of malnutrition. Darafer is slowly killing them."
"I appreciate your wanting to help them. But we have a total of eight Vamps here. We could teleport all the villagers here in just a few trips."
Leah shook her head. "They're awake at night and might resist. It'll be much easier to treat them during the day when they're unconscious. Besides, Master Han's soldiers would be there at night to stop you. This way is really the best."
With a sigh, Dougal ran a hand through his hair. He knew the daytime plan was the best way, but he hated the thought of not being there to protect Leah.
She leaned forward to touch his shoulder. "Howard, Phil, and Rajiv will be with me. That's a grizzly bear, a wolf, and a tiger. Who's going to mess with them?"
Dougal groaned. There was no stopping this. Angus had given the go-ahead, and already he and J.L. had teleported close to the village to find a good spot for hiding the supplies. "All right. I'll go along with it."
"You're the one who will be in more danger," Leah continued. "I'll be safe in Tiger Town by the time the sun sets. You'll be facing Master Han's soldiers when they show up at the village."
"I'll be fine." Dougal took her hand in his. "We'll take you and the shifters there shortly before dawn. Ye'll only have to wait about thirty minutes before going into the village."
"Won't the sun be up here? How will you get back?"
"We willna come back here. There's a camp nearby. J.L. has stayed there several times. 'Tis less than a mile from the village." He would be close to Leah, but unable to help her during the day.
She squeezed his hand. "You still look worried."
"Am I still at ninety-five percent?"
She smiled. "You're up to ninety-nine."
"Och, that's excellent." He pulled her into his arms. "How can I gain that last point?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'll think of something."
"Like making love?"
She snorted. "You wish."
"I do wish." He kissed her forehead, then her nose. With his lips a fraction away from hers, a knock sounded at the door.
J.L. called out, "Dougal? Are you in there? We're moving out."
He groaned.
Leah kissed his cheek. "Time to go save the world."
For the next few hours, Dougal teleported supplies with J.L. There were medical supplies, including ten IV poles, that Leah had packed, and an ice chest and several boxes of food that Rajiv had packed. Angus had found a shallow cave on the rocky ridge overlooking the village, and he remained there, standing guard, as they stashed away the supplies.
With that job completed, J.L. teleported Dougal to the nearby cave where the Vamps would do their death-sleep. It was a good defensive location, Dougal noted, for it was on a small island in the middle of a lake. They spent another hour teleporting supplies to the cave.
Then they returned to Angus and ventured close to the village to see what was happening there. Torches were set up around the field, and soldiers marched about while the villagers cut off stems of demon herb and dropped them into burlap sacks.
"I count ten guards," Dougal whispered, "and twenty-nine villagers."
"That's a few less than last time," J.L. said, half hidden behind a bush.
"There might be some in the village, too sick to work, or they may have died. Leah said they're all slowly dying."
J.L. sighed. "We should have done this months ago. The last time we were here, there were chickens and a cow. Now, there's nothing. And their homes are falling apart."
They hurried back to Angus, who had covered the entrance to the shallow cave with leafy branches.
He glanced at his watch. "Time for you to bring the others. I'll call in five minutes."
Dougal and J.L. teleported back to the school. Leah was ready, dressed warmly in a sweater and coat, and she had Yu Jie scrubbed clean and dressed in borrowed clothing. Kyo and his friends and all the shifters were ready and well armed. Abby and Laszlo would be left behind with Gregori and Gu Mina as their guards.
Angus called, and Dougal put his voice on the speaker phone so the Japanese Vamps could use it as a beacon. They grabbed the shifters and Yu Jie and teleported.
"Ready?" Dougal took Leah in his arms.
"Yes." She slipped her hands around his neck.
He kissed her, then teleported her to the ridge where the others had already materialized.
Angus showed the shifters where the supplies were hidden. "Good luck. We'll see you tomorrow night in Tiger Town."
Dougal touched Leah's cheek. "Be careful."
She nodded. "You, too."
He teleported with the other Vamps to the island. The minute they stepped inside the cave, he spotted a figure moving about in the dark. He seemed to be holding a burlap sack and filling it with their supplies.
"Who goes there?" Angus clicked on a flashlight.
The figure glanced toward them.
"Russell," J.L. whispered.
He backed up, his hand going to the sword on his hip.
Angus lifted his hands to show they were bare. "Russell, we're no' here to capture you."
So this was the Marine major who had gone AWOL over a year ago. Dougal noted he was a large man, dressed like a peasant, although he had a sword and rifle half hidden beneath his shabby coat. His hair had grown long enough that he now tied it back in a ponytail. He clutched the burlap sack with one hand, while his other hand rested on the hilt of his sword.
"I'm not going back until I've killed Master Han," he said in a voice that sounded stilted and rusty, as if he hadn't talked to another person in months.