"No." J.L. lowered his binoculars. "Sometimes I can spot Wu Shen. He's one of their top military officers, so it's a good bet that if we see him, then that's the camp where Master Han and the lords are hiding."
"There's a guard." Dougal pointed at a lone soldier venturing away from the camp, heading into the ravine below them.
"Probably needs to take a piss," J.L. muttered. "Want to nab him?"
"Sure." Dougal removed some tranquilizer darts from his pocket. They had decided earlier to take only two captives, and to make sure they were from two different bases. That way, when the soldiers never returned to camp, they would probably be labeled deserters. Master Han wouldn't be alarmed over the desertion of two soldiers when he had an army of a thousand.
They teleported down to the ravine and crept up behind the soldier. When the soldier was zipping up his pants, they zoomed forward. J.L. grabbed him, slapping a hand over his mouth, while Dougal jabbed a dart into his neck. The soldier struggled, and Dougal inserted a second dart.
When the soldier slumped over, unconscious, J.L. tossed him over his shoulder. "Let's go."
Dougal grabbed the soldier's fallen rifle and teleported back to the Japanese island. After J.L. materialized with the soldier, they rushed inside the school and placed the soldier on a stretcher in the room for prisoners.
While they fastened the restraints, Gregori peered inside. "Yoshi told us you were back. You got one?"
"Yep," J.L. responded. "We need to get him into stasis."
Abby, Leah, and Laszlo ran into the room, followed by the fox shifter. Dougal exhaled with relief to see Leah looking well.
"Are you all right?" She glanced over him quickly before inserting an IV in the captive's arm.
"Aye. Did anything happen while we were gone?"
"No, it's been quiet."
"Don't worry," the fox shifter said. "I will not let any harm come to the scientists." She smiled at Laszlo, who smiled shyly back.
Dougal's mouth twitched when he realized Laszlo was wearing the red shirt Wilson had torn to reveal his chest. "We need to go so we can bring you another soldier."
Leah nodded. "Be careful."
Thirty minutes later, Dougal and J.L. returned with a second captive. While the scientists were busy, Dougal went to the cafeteria to report to Angus. J.L. teleported to Tiger Town to bring back Rajiv.
"We're off to a good start," Angus said as J.L. and Rajiv entered the cafeteria.
Rajiv sat at the table with Angus and Dougal. "If there's anything the were-tigers can do to help, just let me know."
J.L. grabbed a bottle of Bleer from the fridge. "We shouldn't take any more captives right now, or it will look suspicious."
"Aye," Angus agreed. "Let's wait and see if our scientists are successful with the two we have. Once we know that it works, we can step up our game."
Dougal took a sip from his bottle of Bleer. "I'm no' sure if this strategy is enough. Even if we change a hundred soldiers back to normal, willna Darafer just make a hundred more? Or two hundred? We would be stuck here forever, waging an endless battle."
J.L. sat beside him. "I doubt it would be endless. Once Darafer and Master Han figure out what we're doing, they'll attack."
Angus rubbed his chin. "They have a total of three vampires: Master Han, Lord Qing, and Lord Liao. That means they could only teleport three soldiers here at a time."
"We canna be sure how powerful Darafer is," Dougal said. "He might be able to teleport a huge number of soldiers. And even if he came alone, I'm no' sure we can defeat him, no' without the God Warriors."
The table grew silent as they all considered.
Dougal drank more Bleer. "If we can change the soldiers back to normal, then we need to keep Darafer from making any more." He turned to J.L. "Do ye know how he's doing it?"
J.L. shrugged. "Some kind of hocus-pocus, I think, but he needs a specific plant to pull it off. The demon herb."
"Oh, I remember that!" Rajiv sat up. "They were growing it at the zombie village."
"Zombies?" Dougal asked.
"Not real zombies," J.L. assured him.
"They move around like zombies," Rajiv insisted. "Their brains aren't working."
J.L. nodded. "Darafer's using them as slaves."
Dougal's prosthetic hand clenched, and he slipped his hand under the table. Slaves. "Are they being whipped?"
"No," J.L. replied. "Darafer's got them under some kind of mind control. They're unconscious all day, then get up at night to work in the field. When we saw them, they were gathering the demon herb, and some of Master Han's soldiers came to pick it up."
Angus drank some Bleer. "I wonder if our scientists can break the mental hold Darafer has on them?"
Rajiv nodded. "Maybe they can turn the zombies back to normal!"
Dougal's hand relaxed. "That's exactly what we need to do. Change the zombies back, then burn the field of demon herb so Darafer canna make more mutated soldiers."
J.L. whistled. "He'll be really pissed. If he thinks the villagers have betrayed him, he might kill them."
"We'll evacuate them." Dougal turned to Rajiv. "Can the tigers help with that?"
Rajiv nodded. "Yes."
"And when Master Han's soldiers come to collect the demon herb, we'll attack and keep them from reporting it," Dougal added. "It should buy us some time so the villagers can escape."
Angus leaned forward. "How many villagers are we talking about?"
"About thirty," J.L. said. "They were all elderly or young women and children. All the young males are gone, probably serving in Master Han's army."
Angus shook his head. "I'm no' sure we can make this work. If we swoop in at night to teleport the villagers here so we can treat them, the soldiers will be there and try to stop us. If one of them reports to Darafer, then all our plans could fall apart."
"Then we have to do it during the day," J.L. concluded. "There won't be any soldiers. And the zombies will be unconscious. Our scientists could go there and work on them for hours, and no one would know."
Dougal sat back. When he'd started this train of thought, he hadn't realized it would end up with Leah being sent to China. "Laszlo canna do it during the day, and I doubt Gregori will let Abby go." Leah would be on her own. His hand clenched again. "We canna do it during the day."
"We have to," J.L. insisted. "It's the only way to keep Darafer from being alerted. The shifters could go along to keep them safe."
Angus glanced at his watch. "The sun will be up here soon. You have forty minutes to bring back one of the zombies. We'll see if our scientists can make him normal. If they can, we'll move forward with the new plan."
Dougal swallowed hard. He'd hoped Leah could remain safe if she stayed on this remote island. But now she would have to venture into enemy territory. And she'd be there during the day, when he would be powerless to protect her.
Chapter Twenty-five
"Dr. Chin, wake up."
Someone patted Leah's shoulder, and she jerked awake. For a second she thought she was back at the hospital in Boston doing her residency, but then she saw Abby sleeping in the bed next to her and Howard, the were-bear, leaning over her.
"I'm sorry to wake you," Howard whispered. "But the zombie girl is coming to."
"Oh. Okay." She sat up in bed. She was still wearing her clothes from last night.
"I woke up Rajiv," Howard said. "He's trying to talk to her in Chinese."
"I'll be right there." Leah ran across the hall to use the restroom. While she was washing her hands, she glanced at her watch. Eleven fifteen. So she'd gotten almost five hours of sleep.
Shortly before dawn, J.L. and Dougal had brought a girl to the clinic where the prisoners were being kept. They'd called her the zombie girl, explaining that she came from a village where the entire population was under Darafer's control. As far as J.L. knew, their only sustenance was some sort of drug Darafer made out of the herb the villagers grew.
It hadn't taken long for Leah to determine that the zombie girl was suffering from severe malnutrition in addition to whatever drug she'd been given. She had stared blankly, not saying a word, while Leah had cleaned her up, slipped her into a hospital gown, and hooked up an IV. Abby had come up with the idea of using a milder version of her drug that boosted a person's mind control - the same drug she'd used on Dougal - to see if it could help the girl break free from the zombielike haze that had been suppressing her mental faculties.
By then, the sun had come up, and the Vamps had all retired to the basement for their death-sleep. Howard and Phil, who had slept during the night, had woken up to take their shift in the security office. Leah and Abby, both exhausted from working all night, had finally gone to bed. Howard had promised to wake them if anything happened to the captured soldiers or the zombie girl.
Now Leah rushed to the lab to grab her stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. Then she dashed across the hall to the clinic. A quick glance at the two captured soldiers assured her they were still in stasis. The girl had wakened, and the panicked look on her face made it clear that she was no longer in a zombie state.
Rajiv was sitting next to her, talking to her gently in Chinese. "It's all right." He tried to pat her hand, but she jerked away from him, eying him with suspicion.
"Don't be afraid." Leah approached the girl slowly. "I'm a doctor. I'm here to help you."
The girl gave her a wary look.
"Thank God you're here." Rajiv stood. "I wasn't getting anywhere."
Leah looked the girl over. There was color in her cheeks now, but her lips were dry and cracked. "Bring her a bottle of water."
"Yes, Doctor." Rajiv ran out the door.
Leah set her equipment on the nearby table. "It's all right. We're here to help you." She reached for the girl's hand. "I want to check your pulse. Will that be all right?"
The girl frowned, then nodded.
Leah looked at her watch while taking the girl's pulse. It was a little fast, but that was to be expected when the patient was upset. At least it was strong now, and not weak like before.
Rajiv ran back in. "Here's the water." He unscrewed the top and handed the bottle to the girl.
She grabbed it and guzzled down some water.
Leah smiled at her. "This is Rajiv. And I'm Leah. What's your name?"
"Yu Jie." She drank more water. "Where am I? Where's my family?"
"Your family is back at the village, and you're in a clinic. We're trying to make you healthy again."
"I want to see my family. And I-I'm very hungry."
"I'm sure you are." Leah glanced at Rajiv. "Can you bring some food from the cafeteria? Something mild."
"Yes, Doctor." He hurried down the hall.
Leah hooked her stethoscope around her neck. "I'm going to check your blood pressure, okay?" When the girl nodded, Leah completed the procedure, then wrote the results on the chart she'd started six hours earlier. "You're making wonderful progress. I'd like to remove your IV now. And we'll take you back home as soon as you're well. Do you remember what happened to your village?"