by Derek Gunn
The helicopter was being refuelled so he would leave on it as soon as it was safe to fly in this storm. He had to get away from here as soon as he could. He would, of course, leave his guards here. He could always replace them, but the plant was critical to his power base so he had to keep it protected. The humans would be long gone as well, so it looked like it had been a wasted trip after all. He really had to find the humans, though.
He would devote all his resources when he returned. They were proving far too resilient and troublesome. The thoughts of radiation poisoning again came into his thoughts and he shuddered at the scenes he had seen in movies of the damage it could do. He shivered as he imagined the invisible death that could already be all around him. He called for the pilot and the thrall rushed back into his quarters. He would have to leave here right now, even if it meant taking some risk in the storm.
Peter Harris strained his eyes as he peered through the sheets of rain at the nuclear plant in the fading glow of the afternoon sun. It had taken them longer than he had hoped to get here, carrying Atkins under the deluge of rain that had started some time ago. It was late afternoon and the sun was already beginning to sink back toward the horizon. He scanned the plant with his binoculars and cursed.
“There’s more than before,” he said and offered the binoculars to Warkowski. The helicopter squatted in the centre of the parking lot and he could see a thrall lifting a heavy barrel from the fuel depot toward the aircraft. That would have taken three men to lift, he thought as he marvelled at the thrall’s strength. He continued to scan the plant as he desperately tried to think of a plan that might have some chance of success.
“Okay,” he turned to the other three, “Philip,” he nodded toward Warkowski, “I need you to take up position so that you can clear a path for us.” Warkowski was about to argue when a deep rumble of thunder drowned him out. “I need your eyes and your skill, Philip,” Harris insisted and the big man merely nodded. “Hopefully the storm will drown out the sound of the gunshots and we might just make it in without being discovered.
“And we get to come with you,” Al Warnback smiled as he pulled back the slide on his weapon. “Good, I was getting bored on this trip.” Harris smiled at the man. He might spend all his time complaining, but there was no doubting his courage.
“Okay, we’ll enter from this side, through the fence below us and up to the service door Trevor told us about. Philip, we’ll need the two thralls on the platform below us taken care of before we cut the wire.”
“It will be done,” Warkowski said simply and Harris nodded before turning toward Atkins. “Trevor, this is where you have to make your own way. Are you up to it?”
Atkins gulped but nodded firmly.
“Good, that’s the plan, then.”
“But, how do we get back out?” Atkins asked with a look of confusion.
The men merely looked at the scientist, and, slowly, realisation came to him. He gulped again and nodded.
“Ah, I see. My wife?”
“Sandra and the others will make sure she and the rest of your family get back to your son.”
“Then I too am ready.”
Peter Harris cut through the last of the chain links on the fence and began to push the sides apart. A few years ago the fence had probably been connected up to an alarm system, but it was obvious by the rusting on the metal that no one maintained the outer defences of the plant. Who in their right mind would want to break in?
Thunder rumbled again and Harris thought he could hear a sharper crack that was almost hidden by the noise. He looked up at the ledge above them and saw one of the thrall guards slump forward and disappear over the railing to the ground below. Even in this poor light Warkowski is amazing, Harris thought as he pushed on inside the plant’s outer rim.
Carter listened to the thunder outside. Was that a gunshot? He thought and then chastised himself for being paranoid. There was no good reason for the humans to come back. It must have been his imagination. Something in his mind wouldn’t let him dismiss it, though. The humans had a habit of doing the unpredictable. Maybe he should… “Sergeant,” he called out. “Take a patrol and check out the perimeter. I have a feeling”
“Bastard,” the Sergeant muttered under his breath. “You have a feeling and we get pissed on.”
Harris passed the two bodies and made his way toward the service door. The rain was still pouring down and the clouds had blanketed the sun about fifteen minutes ago. The sun still managed to cast a dull glow on the horizon, but, from where he stood, it was already fully dark. The lights from the plant pushed valiantly against the darkness, but they failed to offer anything more than small pinpricks in the gloom. At least no one can see us, he thought as he wiped away the rain from his eyes. He reached out and gripped the door handle and turned it. It clicked open. He looked back to the others and nodded as he stepped back and let them go in ahead of him. With a quick wave up toward the spot where they had left Warkowski, he ducked inside.
Philip Warkowski followed the men inside through his scope and then took the scope from his eye. He couldn’t see a damn thing anyway so there was no point in straining his eyes. He hated waiting in the rain when he had nothing to occupy his mind. Would the others need him again? Harris had told him to stay here but what good was here on the top of this hill when he couldn’t see anything? He should follow them down. Maybe he could help.
There was no way he was going to return to the Cave and face Sandra Harrington with the news that Harris was dead. He would rather die here than bring that message back. Sure, he was probably already dying of radiation, so it wouldn’t matter if he went down to the others. They were all dead anyway. Weren’t they?
Shit! He cursed to himself. “Damned if I do and damned if I don’t,” he muttered. Finally, he made up his mind and stood up. He’d take the dressing down Harris would give him for breaking orders over this shit any day. He had to do something.
Harris shivered now that they were out of the rain. His dried his hands as best he could and checked his XM8. He signalled for Mendez to check out the corridor to their left and he led the others into the main corridor on the right.
“How far from here?”
“It’s up two floors and across to the other side of the plant, I’m afraid,” Atkins stuttered as his body shook with the cold.
Harris nodded and led the way forward. He hated corridors like this; there were no doors or service hatches along its length. If they were discovered here they would have no chance. Halfway down the corridor he heard the low murmur of conversation and he stopped while he strained to pinpoint their position. He couldn’t tell whether it was on this level or above him, but they did seem to be stationary. They had no choice but to continue on so he signalled ahead and led the way.
They were nearly at the top of the corridor when he heard a shout behind them and he turned. The others were in his way and he couldn’t see anything. He heard a burst of fire and Mendez screamed and then Warnback opened fire down the corridor while he screamed at Harris to continue on.
Harris had no choice; the corridor was too narrow to push past Atkins and move up to help Warnback. They were nearly at the end anyway so he grabbed Atkins and ran on, shouting for Warnback to follow.
“What, and spoil my fun?” he heard Warnback shout back as he continued to fire down the corridor.
Harris reached the end of the corridor and immediately turned and looked back down the corridor. “Come on, Warnback,” he shouted. “We’ll cover you.”
Warnback began to ease backwards but bullets slammed into the floor and walls around him. For a minute Harris thought that he was charmed and that he would make it, despite the heavy fire, but then he heard Warnback grunt and stagger as a round hit him. Somehow he stayed on his feet and continued to fire, reload and fire again as calmly as though he were still on the training ground.
“Get out of here, Harris,” he shouted as he fired down the corridor. “And I want a fucking big statue in my ho
nour if you make it back.” The man staggered as another bullet struck him. This time he fell to one knee but he continued to fire regardless.
Harris wanted to rush forward and help him but he knew he had to go on and try and complete their mission or they would all be dead. He cursed and slammed a hand against the wall in frustration. He grabbed Atkins and pushed the man ahead of him down the corridor. It wasn’t long before the sound of gunfire stopped abruptly. The plant seemed unnaturally quiet as the two remaining men ran toward the control room.
Outside Sergeant Al Robinson heard the gunfire through the downpour and he shouted for his men to head back toward the plant. That bastard Carter had sent them out into the rain on a wild goose chase and had left the control room unguarded. Bloody officers. Two of his men suddenly materialised beside him from the gloom but there was no sign of the third.
“Masters, you bastard, where are you?” he shouted into the night.
Suddenly one of the men beside him was wrenched up into the air so quickly he didn’t make a sound. Robinson’s heart seemed to stop for a moment and then the body of the soldier suddenly dropped to the ground in front of him and remained motionless. He looked at the body and noted that its head was missing. Shit. They’re here; he thought as he grabbed at the remaining thrall and pushed him toward the plant.
The vampires were here.
Von Kruger watched the two thralls run toward the plant and laughed. He wiped at the blood smeared on his mouth and relished the taste of the thrall blood. The rain was so heavy that even his keen vision was affected but he could sense his brothers and sisters around him as they tore the plant’s pitiful defences apart. He called out to them and could sense their response. The scent of blood filled the air and he felt his veins singing as the fresh blood coursed through him. It was time to take care of this Carter once and for all.
Harris followed Atkins as they raced though the corridors. He hoped the scientist knew where he was going. He heard more gunfire, and for a moment, thought that Warnback must still be alive. He stopped but the gunfire seemed further away than before. It’s outside, he realised. What are they firing at out there?
Carter paced around the control room. Around him numerous lights were flashing red and he saw a number of dials pushing into areas marked in red. That can’t be right.
“You,” he shouted at a young woman in a white lab coat. “What the fuck is going on?”
“I …I don’t know,” the woman stammered.
“What the fuck do you mean you don’t know!” he screamed at her incredulously. “Fix it.”
“I can’t!” the woman shouted back and he could see the wild panic in her eyes. “Jake Warren was killed today and he was the…”
“Are you telling me that the only one who knew…oh shit?” He mind raced frantically. Suddenly a red light began to sweep quickly around the room, casting a red glow like a demented lighthouse. He had to get out of here. Gunfire erupted outside. “What the fuck is going on?” he screamed as he began to lose control. He grabbed a thrall guard and shoved him toward the door. “Find out what that gunfire is about.” It can’t be the vampires, his mind raced. There is no reason for them to be here. Shit. “Where’s my pilot?”
The pilot thrall stood up and approached him.
“Get the chopper ready.” Carter screamed at him.
“Sir, the storm…”
Carter slapped at his hip and brought up his pistol and aimed it at the thrall. “Get the chopper ready now.” Carter could hear the panic in his own voice but he didn’t care. He had to get out of here.
The thrall nodded soberly and disappeared out the door.
“You,” he shouted at the woman. “There must be something you can do.”
“Nothing that helps.” she began to cry with the tension of the moment. “Nothing I do seems to work. We have to get out of here.”
“At least turn off that fucking light!” he shouted as he glanced around at his remaining thrall guards. Everything was falling apart. Suddenly his Sergeant burst through the door. He was drenched and his face was deathly pale.
“Sir,” he gasped as he stumbled forward. “It’s the vampires. They’re here.”
Harris heard the thrall Sergeant and cursed. He had just been about to reveal his position when the Sergeant had come in, but now the room was in turmoil and everyone was on edge. He was likely to be shot before he could make himself heard unless he could create a diversion. He looked back at Atkins but the scientist was looking in terror at the controls.
“Oh my God,” he gasped. “It might already be too late.”
Suddenly Atkins ran forward before Harris could stop him and rushed to the control panel.
The thralls turned toward him and one of them fired before Harris rushed forward and shot the thrall who had fired. Others now fired toward Harris and he fired back to keep them off balance. The noise was deafening in the small room and bullets ricocheted dangerously. Despite the panic in the room, Harris shouted as he tried to make himself heard over the bedlam.
“He can fix the plant!”
He saw Carter shout for the thralls to cease-fire and, for a moment, everyone stood and looked at each other while the red light continued to sweep relentlessly around the room. A few of the controls on the panel had been hit by stray bullets and their exposed wires sparked ominously. Behind Harris pipes spat steam viciously into the room from where they had been damaged by bullets. Shit, that won’t help any, Harris thought as he looked at the thralls. Everyone in the room stood still as if rooted in place as they looked nervously around them. Everyone except Atkins. He worked furiously at the panel as he muttered under his breath. He clicked switches, pushed levers and continued to mutter all the time. Harris wondered idly if he was praying.
“Can I know who you are?” Carter asked as he kept his pistol trained on the human with the weapon.
The human looked at him and grinned. “Captain Carter, I assume.”
“It’s General, actually,” he sneered back, “but you have me at a disadvantage.”
“It’s not the first time,” the human responded and Carter had to force himself not to pull the trigger. “You!” he shouted over at Atkins. “You by the panel. Can you fix it?”
Atkins ignored him and as he dashed around the room.
“I’m speaking to you,” Carter raised his voice.
“Leave him alone if you don’t want to whole plant going up,” the other human snapped at him and he found himself lost for words for a moment. He knew he had to regain the upper hand but he could not afford another mad melee.
His embarrassment was spared by the door behind him suddenly being ripped from its hinges. All eyes turned toward the door in time to see Von Kruger enter and look about him.
“Ah, the gang’s all here, I see, How convenient.”
Harris saw the vampire and knew that any hope of reason had just died. He dove for the corner and slid behind a generator. Bullets followed him and slammed into the metal while he huddled behind his meagre cover. He released the cartridge in the XM8 and groped behind him for another. He checked for the patch of tape that marked it as one of the ones containing the ‘special’ bullets and slammed it home.
“No, no,” he heard Atkins shout over the gunfire. “You’ll hit the…”
Harris rushed out from the cover just in time to see the scientist slump forward and fall to the ground. He poured fire at the thralls and saw two of them clutch at wounds and howl with pain. Harris rolled toward Atkins and caught a brief glimpse of the vampires ignoring the bullets as they calmly approached the thralls. Bullets slammed into them but they pushed though and swiped at the thralls with their vicious claws. The smell of blood filled the small room and the red light cast an eerie blood-hued glow on the whole scene like something from hell. Suddenly a klaxon screeched into life and more steam began to emerge from other points where bullets had lodged in the piping. It was like a mad Hammer movie with mist swirling around them all. But this mist was caused by es
caping steam that was better served cooling the plant’s core.
Harris put three bullets into one of the vampires and rushed toward Atkins. He had to see if the scientist could pull the core back form the brink…or was it already too late? He was too occupied to notice that the gunfire had stopped.
Carter watched in horror as his men were torn apart by the vampires. They were unstoppable. Suddenly two of his men were hit by bullets from the human’s weapon and they went down screaming. He frowned. He had seen his thralls take far worse hits that that and still laugh it off. And then it hit him.
I have to get that weapon.
Von Kruger watched the carnage around him and savoured the rich scent of blood in the air. He let his brood handle the thralls as he sought out the human. He saw the human roll from cover and shoot at one of his brood. Suddenly the vampire stopped and began to clutch at itself. A cry ripped from its throat as it began to tear at its flesh in great chunks as it tried to rip the bullets form its body.
Von Kruger ignored the vampire. He had to disarm that human. He was the only real threat here.
Harris rolled Atkins over and saw the blood pumping from chest. It was too late. Around him the red light was joined by a screeching wail that grated on his nerves. Pressured steam gushed from pipes that had been damaged by stray bullets and the room began to fill with steam.