“I can’t let you kill one of ours in cold blood, Rainer!”
“No? What are you going to do about it?”
Marshall watched the intense scene, his rifle ready in his hands and his SA58 slung about his body. He looked over to the window where he knew Harriet was in position, but he couldn’t make her out, that was good. Out in the corridor he could hear a man making his way through the building and up the stairs, just as he had expected.
“Harriet, come in,” he whispered.
“I’m here,” she replied.
“Get the hell out of here, Rainer!” shouted Williams.
The Vampire’s men lifted their weapons as they could feel the heat of the situation rising, the Bishop’s men did the same. The situation was rapidly getting worse.
“Mr Rainer, this is our business to deal with!”
“No, it used to be, clearly you are incompetent.”
“Bill lifted his rifle, targeting one of Rainer’s men.”
“Harriet, you ready?”
“Yes.”
“Do not shoot the Bishop.”
“Alright.”
“As soon as you hear my shot, fire.”
Looking through the telescopic sight, Bill looked at the scornful face of Rainer as the Vampire was getting ever more furious with the Bishop. He squeezed the trigger, the high power round hit the Vampire square in the chest, knocking him off his feet, but with barely any sound from the rifle at all. A second later, a shot hit one of the Bishop’s guards in the shoulder. A hail of gunfire and shouting followed.
“Bug out, bug out!” said Bill.
He laid the rifle down, not wanting it to hinder his movement, taking his assault rifle in hand. Bill stayed low and made his way out of the back entrance to the building that led to the other alleyway to the yard, coming out just at the back of a ruined car. Gunfire sounded out behind him as he made a clean getaway. Reaching their truck, it was exactly as he left it, nobody else left insight.
“Harriet, come in, where are you?”
“I can’t move right now,” she whispered.
“You still in the building?” he asked.
“Yes,” she very quietly whispered.
He waiting a few moments, knowing he could not risk her position with any more conversation. The gunfire died down as he was desperately waiting to hear from her.
“Bill! Bill! They got me! Bill!”
The radio went silent.
“Harriet, come in!” shouted Bill.
There was no answer.
“Shit!”
Bill hit the steering wheel several times, he was so angry with himself for letting her get caught. There was no immediate way to help her, he fired up the engine and rode back to the lockup, desperately thinking about what he could do. His cell began to ring.
“Marshall,” he said.
“Bill, it’s Tommy. Do not go back to your lockup, I repeat, do not go back to your lockup!”
“Why what’s up?”
“Cops got a lead on it, they might even be there already.”
“Fuck!”
* * *
Harriet was dragged before Rainer who was standing furiously beside several dead men, bullet holes in his clothing. The Bishop was leaning against his truck, a bullet wound in his arm, one of his men was seeing to the wound. Two of the Bishop’s men lay dead and one of the Vampires was dead on the ground, a wooden crossbow bolt in his chest.
“Harriet? You were working with Marshall?”
She spat on Rainer. He punched her in the face in return.
“Get her in the truck, we’re leaving!” shouted Rainer.
“This was Marshall’s doing! He is playing us!” shouted Williams.
“No shit! I am heading back to Williamsburg Tower, get all the men you can together and get there immediately. He’ll be coming for this bitch soon!”
He climbed into his truck as his men threw Harriet into the back. Williams flipped open his cell.
“Bradley!”
“Yes, Your Eminence,” said Bradley.
“I want everyone we have at Williamsburg Tower in the next half hour, you have orders to shoot Bill Marshall on sight!”
* * *
Marshall stopped his truck by the side of the road. He’d lost everything once before, but it was dawning on him that he had more in his new life than he’d realised. Now it was all being ripped away from him again. He sat for twenty minutes, throwing ideas around in his head until he came to a simple conclusion; this was the night to end it all. He fired up the truck and floored the gas, heading for the city centre.
Chapter 12
Marshall pulled up two blocks from the Williamsburg Tower, out of sight from those who were guarding it. He pulled out a pair of binoculars from the glove box and looked at front of the grandiose tower. There was no obvious police presence, likely ordered away by Rainer, as he had the power to do so. Outside the building were four guards.
Stepping out of the truck, Marshall swung open the tailgate. He pulled out a lightweight vest he used to carry the ammunition for his weapons, strapping it over his body armour. He pulled out his Melkor launcher, slinging it onto his back, followed throwing the SA58 sling over his shoulder. It was a heavy amount of kit to lug about, but he needed some serious firepower.
He lowered his body and crept along several cars. A number of passersby moved out of his way, but no one said anything. With the equipment he was wearing, he looked as if he was official. He got within fifty yards of the front of the building by using the parked cars as cover. He stopped as three vehicles rolled up outside the tower. Twelve soldiers from Kingston got out, his heart dropped as he knew they were there to help Rainer against him.
Movement off to Marshall’s right side caught his attention, he spun around to see a gun being lifted towards him, he immediately lifted his rifle and fired three shots into the man’s chest, killing him instantly. Rainer employed many human guards, all of them of dubious characters, he suspected there were only six Vampires in the building.
As he quickly turned towards the Tower, it was clear he’d been spotted. He took quick aim down the ACOG sight of his rifle, putting two guards on the ground before they could respond to the initial gunfire. The rest of the gunmen took cover behind the vehicles and low wall in front of the building.
“Shit!” said Bill.
This was not at all how he had expected the situation to go. Taking on Rainer and his men was one thing, but having to oppose Kingston’s firepower as well as just too much. He moved along to the next car and jumped up quickly, immediately targeting one of the guards and firing a single shot into his head. It was almost certain that all of the guards out front were human goons.
To his left he heard the roar of a V8 engine, a particularly familiar one. He shot a glance up the street just as his brothers’ cash truck was storming down it at twice the speed limit. As it reached him, the brakes slammed on and it slid sideways into position just two cars away from him. Tommy, John and Mason jumped out, all fully geared up.
“Bill, we’re with you!” shouted Tommy.
The three took up their places around the parked vehicles beside him.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Didn’t think we’d let you go it alone did you?”
“I told you to stay out of this!”
“Yeah well you’re not in charge anymore are you!” Mason shouted.
“We do this together or not at all, Bill,” said John.
“Alright, thank you, truly!”
“Give us a sitrep,” said Tommy.
“Several shots rang out as bullets struck the parked vehicles. Bill sprang up and fired several shots with his rifle before ducking back down.
“Williams has sent Kingston soldiers in to defend Rainer’s place.”
“Yeah we heard, that’s why we’re here. The Bishop has ordered every resource he has against you,” said Tommy.
“Rainer is mine, but I need to get into the building.”
“Alright, we can handle these guys, is there another entrance to this place?”
“Yes, but I can’t get to it with all this shit going on.”
“No problem, we’ll handle this, you get inside,” said Tommy.
“You’re sure? There’ll be hell to pay with the Bishop for this.”
“Fuck the Bishop, when he turned on you he turned on us all,” said John.
“Alright, let’s do this!”
Tommy took two smoke grenades off his belt and pulled the pins, tossing them into the street between them and the entrance. The smoke belched out as the gunfire continued to rage. Bill looked out to a side alley that led to a small entrance to the building.
“You ready?” shouted Tommy.
“Yeah.”
Tommy jumped around the corner from the van, firing bursts through the smoke towards the guards.
“Go!”
Bill ran out from the truck to the alleyway, his movements completely hidden from their enemies. He ran down the narrow alley, it was a dirty and disgusting place, filled with garbage and it stank of urine. He reached a fire exit door, but it had no way of opening from the outside. He stepped back from the door and lifted his Melkor, firing a shot. The door and wall exploded, filling the alley with shards of brickwork and dust.
Letting the grenade launcher drop to his side, Marshall took his rifle in both hands and stormed through the burnt opening in the building. A guard was running towards him with a handgun in both hands, he was wearing a security uniform. Marshall didn’t stop to question with the man, he lifted his rifle in mid stride and fired three shots into his chest.
There was no time to reason with any disillusioned human who confronted him, if they worked for Rainer they were the enemy. He could see an elevator up ahead, approaching it with rifle still held up at the ready. He took the bend in the corridor, two guards running towards the sound of the gunfire. One got off a shot, narrowly missing him as he fired two bursts, killing each of them.
Bill hit the elevator button and the doors opened immediately, he stepped in and pressed for the top floor. It was a luxurious lift, entirely mirrored and cleverly lit. He dropped the magazine from his rifle as the lift went briskly up through the immense tower block. He pulled out a magazine from his vest and slammed it into the rifle, cocking it ready.
Waiting impatiently, Bill could feel his heart pounding. He hated Rainer and everything he stood for, but now he had a new feeling. Since the deaths of his entire family, he had felt nothing but the desire for revenge, but now he could feel the desperate desire to save Harriet. It was dawning on him more every second how much he felt for her. Never could he have imagined he could befriend a Vampire, but now he found himself as in love with her as he was his wife. He could not bear to lose her as well.
The lift pinged as it hit the top floor and the doors swung open. A shotgun rang out in front of him, the shell slammed into his chest, knocking him back against the mirrors of the lift, cracking them instantly. As the man racked the shotgun, Marshall lifted his rifle, firing on auto, riddling his attacker with bullets. The man’s shotgun fired in the air as he dropped to the floor dead.
Marshall walked out from the lift with his rifle held high and at the ready. He acquired his first target quickly, firing before they could get a shot off. He quickly turned and fired at his next target. Bill jumped against the wall, quickly surveying the situation around him. From his memory of the layout that Harriet had given to him, he knew that Rainer’s personal bar was just around the corner, with a large open plan room.
Pulling out a flashbang from his belt, Bill pulled the pin and tossed the grenade around the corner. The room filled with light, shortly followed by rapid gunfire, both from those who had avoided the blast as well as the blinded ones. Marshall waited for ten seconds, until those firing had emptied their weapons.
Dropping his rifle to his side, he picked up his revolving grenade launcher, he jumped around the corner with the mighty weapon held high. He could see several men desperately trying to reload, one of them was familiar to him, it was Anton. He aimed the Melkor directly at the Vampire and pulled the trigger, his body exploded and sent blood spraying about the room. As the other men shuddered with the impact of the bloodied remains of their friend, Bill turned the weapon on them.
Marshall pulled the trigger, and then rapidly fired two more times, obliterating the room before him. He dropped the Melkor to his side and picked up his rifle, storming towards his victims. Four of them were dead, two were still breathing, one a Vampire, the other human. He aimed his rifle at the human, putting a bullet into his head.
Drawing out his machete, Bill hacked down onto the neck of the wounded Vampire, killing it instantly. He immediately sheathed the huge knife and picked up his Melkor. He swung out the chamber and dropped out the six spent grenade cases, loading in the last five he had. He picked the assault rifle back up and continued to the far end of the room. It was a stairway leading to the roof of the building.
As Bill took the bend of the stairway he was hit by several bullets to the chest from a .45. The pistol bullets stung on impact, but barely stopped his raw determination, the vest he was wearing taking the worst of the impacts. He lifted his rifle and fired on auto, riddling silver bullets through the vampire’s legs and into his groin, dropping him in pain.
Marshall stood up and walked up the steps, standing over his victim, Meyers, another of the Coven who had done him so much wrong. He drew out his wooden stake and drove it into the vampire’s chest as he screamed out.
He reached the top of the stairs and peered around the wall, there were three men barricaded at the end behind some furniture. The brickwork beside his face fragmented as bullets pounded it as he narrowly avoided their shots. It was a narrow balcony, with further steps at the far end leading to the main part of the roof.
Bill lifted up his Melkor, he was not prepared to waste any more time, he breathed heavily, sweat dripped from his face. His desperate need to save Harriet had removed all fear from him. Gripping the two vertical grips of his grenade launcher he leapt around the corner, firing three grenades, one after the other. The barricade disappeared in a ball of smoke and dust.
Marshall didn’t stop, running forwards into the debris. One of the defenders was a Vampire, his body ruined by the grenade, but he was still breathing. He pulled out his machete and finished the creature off. He knew that there was nowhere left for Rainer to run. Bill lifted his rifle and ran up the stairs onto the rooftop.
As he lifted his rifle to shoot, he realised that Rainer was holding Harriet in front of him as a human target. He hesitated as Rainer fired his pistol, a Colt Python, the round hitting Bill in the upper left arm and passing through his body. The impact and pain forced him to lose the hold on his rifle, he jumped behind a small wall as two more rounds struck the brickwork around him.
“Hey, Bill! Still alive, Bill?” shouted Rainer.
Marshall pulled the strap of his rifle over his shoulder with his right arm, his left being too weak to do anything useful. He cast the weapon aside, it was no use to him now. He drew out his Mateba and clicked the hammer back.
“Why do you have to keep coming after me, Marshall? You killed my man, I killed your family, an eye for an eye, your bible says that!” shouted Rainer.
“But I killed a monster! You know what he was doing!”
“To humans, who cares!”
“And I kill Vampires, you mean shit to me!”
“Except for this little one here!”
Bill sneaked a look around the corner, Rainer was holding a broken table leg in his hand that was wrapped around Harriet, the tip was jagged and sharp. The Vampire noticed him looking from over the wall, he fired, missing Bill’s head by a fraction.
Down in the street he could hear the gun battle continuing between his three friends and the Kingston soldiers, as well as any employees of Rainer. He prayed that they were okay, but he thanked God for their help. He knew there was no way t
hat Rainer could be allowed to leave the rooftop alive, but his feelings for Harriet were blurring his judgement. Harriet was important to him, but Rainer was an evil in the land and had to be stopped at any cost.
“Come on, Bill! Can’t stay here forever, you let me leave with your girl here and I’ll let you live!” shouted Rainer.
Marshall thought hard about the situation in the few seconds he had. It suddenly dawned on him, the fact that he so often forgot. Harriet was a Vampire. It was a difficult and often he’d had to remind himself, as nothing about her would suggest as such. He lifted up his Mateba Revolver in readiness.
“Bill! I am getting tired of this! You have ten seconds to give up and let me pass!”
Marshall jumped up from his position, firing almost as quickly as he was up and above the wall. Rainer fired in the same moment. Bill was hit in the chest, the impact of the round making him recoil slightly, he quickly reacquired his target, firing three times. Rainer’s last shot rang out, narrowly missing him, as Marshall fired off the last rounds in his gun, the last bullet striking Rainer dead centre in the head.
The Vampire Lord fell down unconscious, Harriet beside him. Bill ran up to the two, cradling his wounded arm. He holstered his pistol, drawing his wooden stake in readiness. As he approached Harriet sat up, she had blood trailing from the side of her head and shoulder.
“Jesus, Bill, that hurts like hell!” shouted Harriet.
“I couldn’t have killed you!”
It was yet again another painful reminder that she was one of them, one of the vile blood drinkers and she despised the fact. She turned over and looked at Rainer, he was flat out on the floor, the silver bullet knocking him unconscious. Bill sighed in relief as he sat down on a chair, just feet away from the body of his nemesis.
“That’s it, we did it,” said Harriet.
“Almost, the bastard is still alive, or partly at least.”
“What will you do with him?”
“You let me worry about that.”
Judge of the Damned (Vampire Storm, Book 1) Page 18