The Journal of Tom Barnett: Vampire Apocalypse Survivor

by Daniel S. Atkinson

  I don’t remember much after that, at least not until that evening. I can recall being briefly conscious as I was dragged roughly out of a car, begin hauled into an old house. I eventually woke up in a chair. I tried to get up but couldn’t. My arms were bound to the armrests, my legs to the chair’s legs. The room I was in was dark, heavy dark blue curtains blocked the windows. I could tell from the reddish light filtering through that it must be close to dusk. As my eyes adjusted I could see I was in a bedroom. The place was filthy, newspapers and crap everywhere. I couldn’t even see the floor due to all the junk.

  My head throbbed in about four different places and I wondered if I had a concussion. My lips were cracked and sore, I was so thirsty. I found it hard to focus or concentrate on anything. This was probably for the best, as I would’ve gone mad imagining what this psycho had in store for me. I had already witnessed what he did to thieves in the seven eleven. I woke again in the middle of the night. The moans of the vampires seemed to be all around me. I panicked thinking they were in the room with me. The man had left me here for them as punishment. But the sounds were from beyond the windows.

  “You’re awake, are you thief.” I jumped about a mile in the chair at the sound of his voice. I could barely make out his form sitting on the edge of the bed. He grinned and I could see his teeth glint in the darkness. He mumbled something else and I heard liquid sloshing in a bottle. He laughed drunkenly and rose from the bed. He staggered towards me and stood behind me. He placed a large hand on my shoulder and bent down so his mouth was next to me ear. Waves of putrid breath flowed into my face and I gagged. It smelt like stale beer and cabbage. He whispered menacingly, “You’re lucky I’ve gone to the trouble of bringing you here boy. Normally I just put your kind down. Like the vermin that’s infested our streets outside.” He took another swill and slurred, “You’re no different to them. But I can’t waste any more bullets on them, it just doesn’t work. So why should I waste a bullet on you?” He then stood up, stumbled slightly to right himself. “Ahh. Why should I bother? Are you going to defend yourself or not?” I said nothing in response. He seemed to take that as confirmation of my guilt, but I thought that would be better than making him angry. Who knows what he’s capable of, especially drunk. He then snorted in disgust and swung a hand at me. Despite his inebriation, his aim was spot on. The blow rattled my head like a maraca. It seemed to reignite the existing hot spots in my skull and I grimaced and swooned. My captor paused the door and said, “You’ll get what’s coming to you soon enough. There has to be order boy, even if I’m the only decent one left.” He slammed the door behind him. I heard some bottles clinking in the next room and saw a faint light illuminating the edges of the door. The pain in my head gradually increased until I felt it would burst. It overwhelmed me eventually and I must have passed out.

  I didn’t see him again until about noon the next day. He burst in abruptly and grabbed me by the hair. He titled my head back and roughly pushed a bottle to my lips. I drank greedily until the bottle was finished. He threw the empty bottle amongst the rest of the filth and looked at me with contempt. “You don’t even deserve that thief. But I haven’t regressed to a primitive state like you. Someone has to hold on to their humanity.”

  I got my first good look at him then. He was in his late forties at least. He was overweight but there was strength and muscle underneath the flab, I could attest to that. He wore the overalls of a tradesman, bits of food, beer and other ghastly stains ran down the faded denim. He was unshaven and in need of a haircut, thick black fuzz crept out over his shoulders and up his neck. But it was the eyes that held me. He has these weird grey eyes. They darted around ceaselessly, not seeming to focus on anything for more than a moment. The guy was insane. And I was at his mercy.

  I started to say something, to plead for my life, anything. But he flew into a rage and raised one of his big paws. I winced and shied away. He stopped mid swing and laughed hysterically. “I knew it. You are nothing more than a dog. No. Worse than that, a lamb. A meek little lamb.” A wide crooked grin split his fat head. My heart sunk because I knew what he was going to say next, I knew what demented thought had just entered his festering brain. His wayward eyes focused on me for the first time. “Like a lamb to the slaughter.” He cackled again in laughter and slammed the door shut behind him.

  That whole afternoon was the longest one of my life. I could hear him stomping through the house, laughing to himself sometimes or breaking into some unintelligible song. I heard the sound of hammering and sawing. The worst thing was my imagination, what the hell was he preparing out there? I couldn’t even block my ears to drown out the cacophony of noise.

  Finally the sun began to sink. All hope seemed to go with it. I watched morbidly as the light fell through the curtains. My captor threw the door open and stood with his arms outstretched. “It’s time little lamb,” he said. “You are about to be judged for your sins.” He strode over and grabbed the back of my chair in one meaty hand. He dragged me out the door and into a kitchen. The kitchen was just as disgusting as the bedroom. Dirty plates filled the sink. Cockroaches swarmed over most surfaces. We didn’t stop there though. We went down a dark corridor to a stairway. He then dragged me up the flight of stairs, still single-handed. The guy was strong, what hope did I have even if I could break free?

  We went through another bedroom. The setting sun flooded through an open balcony. He cut the bonds from me with a great big dirty kitchen knife and then held the blade under my throat. “Do exactly as I say or I’ll stick you like a pig. Got it?” I nodded quickly and wished I hadn’t as I felt the knife grate against my soft flesh. He grinned and pushed me to the balcony. My heart faltered as I saw what he had planned. He had built a plank, like from a pirate ship. The railing for the balcony had been removed. I could see its shattered remains strewn below amongst the overgrown garden. A thirty centimetre wide plank had been bolted to the floor. It extended out about two metres into space. It was another three metres to the ground below. He giggled like a schoolgirl and pushed me forward. He whispered in my ear and I could tell he had been drinking again, “I have to thank you for this idea. I can’t believe I’ve wasted all those bullets on the other heathens.” He stopped me at the edge of the balcony. “Not yet my little thief. Don’t be so rude. We can’t start until our dinner guests have arrived.”

  We didn’t have long to wait. The last rays of the sun dipped below the horizon and dusk began to settle over the street. We were on a slight hill and had a commanding view of the street below. Everything was quiet until I heard him sigh in satisfaction. I saw it the same time as he did, the front door of the house across the way opened slowly. A woman shuffled out, or what used to be a woman. She was topless but even that didn’t excite me, probably due to the ragged gash that runs from her neck to her navel. The maniac's breath grew ragged and he panted in my ear. "Oooh Mrs. Stevens. Haven’t you been a naughty girl.” I shuddered and watched as more and more undead spilled out into the street. They wandered around aimlessly unaware of us.

  Suddenly something explodes next my head and I realize it’s a gunshot. A roaring white noise seems to fill my right ear and I wonder if I’m deaf. But I can hear my captor yelling out to the horde below. “Come on you blood sucking freaks. Come and get it.” We watched together as the vampires below turned on mass, as if they were all part of a single consciousness. They raised their arms and their moans filled the night air. Then they come, staggering and shuffling in their eagerness. Soon the entire front yard is filled with them, dozens if not more.

  I felt the butt of the gun in the small of my back and he pushed me forward until I was on the edge of the plank. He attempted to say something poetic to me but his voice was all choked up. I felt sick to my stomach, this guys is getting off on this, he really is insane. At this exact moment I know I would rather be down there with those creatures than up here with him. I step out onto the plank and he whispered, “That’s it my boy. That’s it.” He makes it sound erot
ic and I stepped out further to get away from him. Soon I was at the very end of the plank. It bowed down under my weight alarmingly but somehow manages to hold.

  I hear him dragging something and he said, “Look at me boy.” Reluctantly I try to turn around on the narrow plank. My foot edges out over the drop and I nearly tipped over. The vampires below me strain upwards, their dirty fingernails scratching the air a metre below the plank. Absently I wondered why they don’t try to jump. I looked up and saw my psycho friend sitting on my chair right at the edge of the plank. He has the gun pointed at my chest. “I’ll make you a deal boy,” he said smugly, “If you can last till dawn on that plank, you can go free.” I looked at him in disgust and said the only two words he ever hears from my lips, “Fuck you.” His face screwed up in anger and he raised the gun. The bullet whizzed by my left arm, I could feel the air it displaced only millimetres away. I stumble on the plank and go down on one knee. The vampires moan and clamber below sensing my downfall. I slowly regained my footing and stood up again. The psycho was happy again, now that he’d regained control of the situation. “The offer still stands thief. I am a man of honour, unlike you heathens.” He grinned smugly and fished a beer out of one pocket. He cracked it and took a swig.

  So I stood on that plank for a least an hour. Or however long it took my tormentor to drink three beers. My legs were staring to cramp badly now. My left one especially, it was beginning to tremble alarmingly. Only a little at first, but it was getting worse. He could see something was going to give because he stood up and leered at me. I couldn’t last much longer. My resolve was crumbling. He leaned forward and said, “It’s the end for you now boy. Give my regards to the beasts below.”

  Just as I was about to slump down it happened. I saw movement above me. I looked up and saw a dark figure running along the roof next door. It leapt into the air and soared like a giant bat. It landed with a deafening crash and scurried like a crab on all fours. All this happened in a split second, it moved so fast. My insane captor wheeled around and looked above. It was the Dark Man, the Master vampire that had stalked, besieged and killed my neighbours. It reached the edge of the gutter and hung out over the edge like a giant black spider. Its lank hair hung down around its head like creeping vines. Psycho boy yelled in alarm and fear and fired his rifle. The bullet struck true, ripping a hole through the vampire’s shoulder. It lost its grip on the roof and fell head over heels. It struck out one talon, caught the gutter and hung there suspended in mid air. It bared its fangs at the man below and roared. He fired the rifle again and punched a hole right through its stomach. Black gore splattered the side of the house, sticking like hot tar. The master vampire dropped to the balcony easily, unfazed by its wounds. It looked at me with a knowing smile and winked. I swear to God it did. My captor saw this and screamed, his mind completely gone now. “You did this,” he said to me. “You brought him here to save you. I’ll kill you both.” He rushed at the vampire and tackled it like a rugby player. The vampire wasn’t expecting this, how dare a mere mortal attack me? Their bodies tangled together, the psycho was no match for the strength and speed of the vampire but his bulk alone was enough to push them over the edge.

  I took my chance and attempted to walk back along the plank to the balcony. My legs had other ideas though. I had been standing there too long, my left calf cramped and I fell. I scrambled desperately and somehow managed to hold onto the plank. I was bent over double, my legs hanging down. I struggled to get up but my muscles wouldn’t obey. Then I felt hands grasping at my feet. I looked down and saw a sea of claws desperately waving in the air only centimetres away. One got hold on my foot and pulled with horrible intensity. I fell further and felt a cold hand grip my ankle. Then luckily my shoe came off and I found the energy to climb, to survive. I scrambled to my knees and looked down. There were hundreds of vampires below now. The activity above had worked them into a frenzy. Off to one side there was a gap in the crowd. The master was bent over the fat man. His victim’s head was leaning at an obscene angle, almost completely severed at the neck. The master was drinking greedily from the profusive blood flow. The lesser vampires kept a respectable distance, like lion cubs waiting for the alpha male for eat his fill.

  I wrenched my eyes from the sight. Even that psycho didn’t deserve such a death. I crawled along the plank towards the balcony. Halfway there I heard an ungodly howl. I turned and saw the Master staring at me with those intense yellow eyes. He raised his arms again and roared, blood and spittle flying from his jaws. The surrounding lesser vampires crowed around him and ravaged the still fresh corpse. This is what saved me I think. He would have got me if he had a clear run at it. He could cover the twenty metres in a second, but not with all those bodies pressing against him. As it was I barely made it. I reached the balcony and looked back, expecting him to be right there. Instead I saw him bulldoze a path through the undead, flailing his arms like pistons. Once he was clear I saw him tense to leap. I copied him and leap myself. I heard him crash onto the balcony behind me as I hit the floor within the bedroom. He stood at the entrance like a demon from hell. His chest was heaving, not from exertion but from frustration. He couldn’t enter the house. Even though the balcony doors were wide open, he couldn’t enter. Not unless I invited him first.

  His eyes bored into mine and he smiled. He began to talk but I clamped my hands over my ears and ran downstairs. I heard him howl again but I kept going. I found the dirty bedroom and shut the door. I pulled the blanket off the bed and huddled into a corner, wrapping it around my head and body. I stayed that way until the next morning.

  I think the gun going off in my ear saved my life. I could sort of hear him stalking around outside and talking, but it was muffled. My hearing in that ear is only coming good now. I spared no time at all getting out of that house of horrors. It took me most of the morning to find a main road. From there it was easy to find the other house. Luckily that maniac had left all my belongings intact.

  The ride back here to the safe house was an ordeal. I was so exhausted and beat up that I had to rest four times. I’ve drunk about three litres of water since this morning and I still feel thirsty. But I’m back now. I like it here. Let’s hope the Master can’t track me, I don’t have the strength to move again.

  30th December 2011. 06.59am.

  After I wrote yesterday morning I went back to bed. I slept all yesterday afternoon and through the night. Damn I was tired. I feel pretty good now. I have a lot of aches and bruises but it’s that good ache. The kind you get after a good workout.

  The Master obviously can’t track me to this location. I think it was the gunshots that alerted him to our location the other day. He must have superhuman hearing to go along with his speed and strength.

  30th December 2011. 19.40pm.

  Not much to write about today. I haven’t really moved from the couch since this morning. Just been reading, drinking eating and dozing. Feels good to relax and recuperate after the adventures of the last couple of days.

  Due to my voluntary convalescence, I’ve been able to get through a lot of the books from the library. Damn, it feels like that trip to the library was months ago. I’ve been focusing mostly on the vampires. I need to find out as much as possible about them in order to protect myself. So far my technique of lying low and hiding has worked brilliantly. But I can’t rely on this forever. I need to be prepared for all possible eventualities. The incident with the Camberwell madman is evidence enough. What if I get stuck outside amongst them? What if I have to confront one of them one on one? What if I get stuck in a house at dusk and need to clear them out before the sun sets? There are so many questions and I need answers.

  I’m going to read some more and hopefully formulate a plan tomorrow.

  31st December 2011. 12.08pm.

  OK. I’ve been pacing up and down my street all morning. Thinking and planning. I’m actually starting to get a bit excited. It’s good to have a goal to work towards. The goal is to be able to protect myself
from the vampires if I am caught unawares. So I need to know what can hurt them. There must be some way for me to turn the tables, to become the predator. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to spend my nights bunkered down and safe, this is just for future reference. Hopefully I won’t be faced with such horrible circumstances.

  From the books I’ve been reading there appears to be some common myths surrounding vampires, specifically what hurts vampires. I’ll list them here and describe each one briefly:

  1. Vamps hate sunlight. I couldn’t find much information regarding this. It appears to be a recent myth, most likely created in modern fantasy. Who gives a toss, I know for a fact they don’t come out during the day.

  2. Crucifixes. Vamps supposedly shy away from them and won’t approach a house bearing a cross on the door. This myth was confirmed on the night the Robinson’s were destroyed. I briefly toyed with the idea of hanging one outside this house for protection. But then I thought: what if a Master vampire happens by? He would notice it most likely, and then he would know the house was occupied. Then I would be in for a world of hurt. Better they don’t know about my location at all.

  3. Wooden Stake. Driving a stake through the heart will permanently end a vampire’s life.

  4. Guns. Bullets don’t seem to do anything to vampires. I saw this on the TV news and again the other night. The Master barely flinched when that crazy guy shot it from point blank range. Only to be used as a distraction.

  5. Holy Water. This is ordinary water that has been blessed by a priest for various church related tasks such as baptisms, etc. Like the crucifix, vamps hate all things to do with the church.