by Derek Gunn
Nero felt the prickly sensation of the light, but his skin was much tougher than the newer vampires. He looked up and saw Harris near the top. The frustrations of this whole debacle consumed him and he screamed at his hated foe. That man had done this and he would pay.
Heedless of the pain that seared through him, he continued up into the light and forced his body to grow and mutate while he shot upwards. His wings expanded until they reached across the entire tower. His features changed, his lips drew further back, teeth grew and his skin became scaled to protect against the light.
The few fires that had appeared on his body grew smaller and went out as the tougher skin covered the exposed flesh. He grinned grotesquely as he neared his prey.
Harris hurried as fast as he could. The sweat on his palms made him slip occasionally, but slowly he neared the top. He looked down and saw Nero approaching with the speed of a freight train. He glanced quickly upward. He still had some twenty rungs to go.
Too far.
He felt the wind from the vampire’s wings draught past him as it loomed closer.
Fifteen rungs.
And then he felt a searing pain in his back when Nero slashed at him. His grip loosened and he almost fell. Blindly, he reached upward and felt cold metal with his right hand. He gripped frantically and swung precariously from the ladder, while he flailed his left hand out to steady himself. He knocked against the wall and used the momentum to grip the rung more tightly, and finally got his other hand onto the ladder. He heard a deep laugh and closed his eyes while he braced for another blow.
Nero laughed and swung a killing blow at the helpless human, but, suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down and saw a long wooden spear protruding from the centre of his chest, left of his heart. Puzzled, he glanced upward to locate the source of this latest attack, and then felt himself lifted away from the human and hauled out into the sunlight.
Harris saw the creature rush past him and disappear out over the lip of the tower. Relief flowed through him. He gathered up the last of his energy and hurried onward.
Steele strained as he levered the vampire out into the daylight. He planted the end of the spear against the tower’s edge to support the weight of the creature, and sent it sprawling down to the ground below. Freed of the spear, Steele quickly wrapped his hands with his jacket, gripped the outside of the ladder and shot down to the ground below. He used his legs to slow his descent and quickly turned to face the vampire while it still struggled to its feet.
“You!” Nero shrieked. He disdainfully ripped the spear from his body and threw it at Steele, who pivoted to the side. The spear embedded itself into the tower wall and quivered slightly as it remained in place. The sun had moved higher in the sky and its heat bathed the adversaries. Small pockets of flame began to appear over Nero’s body again despite his armour.
“That must be painful,” Steele commented with a grin as the flames continued to spread slowly.
The blue flame that licked over Nero’s flesh created the impression of an aura around him. Flesh puckered and flaked blackening one minute and then turning pink as new flesh formed, boils suddenly erupted on his skin and then burst. The creature’s healing process created new flesh beneath that, before it too began to burn and then heal. The process was agonising, but not fatal to the ancient vampire, who looked at Steele balefully.
“I told you before, human,” he hissed “this pathetic light is not enough to kill one as old as I. You will die for this.”
He launched himself at Steele, slamming into his chest and taking both of them to the ground.
The proximity to the flames burnt the very air in his throat and Steele gagged when he attempted to draw breath. He tried desperately to pull away, but was too late. The creature grabbed him and the flames seared his arms before the creature threw him across the clearing. In a blur the vampire had crossed to where Steele lay and reached down for him. The other humans watched the two figures struggle in shock. They were completely at a loss to explain what was happening.
Rodgers shook himself from the paralysis and ran to help Steele. He had no idea who the man was; he had already been at the base of the tower when the survivors had descended. He hadn’t said a word, just stood waiting until the last of the party had jumped to the ground. Without a word he had pulled a wickedly sharp spear from the ground beside him and proceeded to climb to the top. He obviously knew Nero, but he was human, and that was enough for Rodgers.
Rodgers took off his jacket and wrapped it around his hands while he ran. He grabbed the vampire. His hands burning even through the heavy fabric, but he wrenched the creature off the struggling human heedless of his scorched flesh.
Nero spun in a blur and backhanded Rodgers, sending him crashing against the tower wall. The distraction had been enough, however, and Steele took the opportunity to power upwards and overbalance the vampire while he slid out from under him.
Rodgers lay gasping for breath at the base of the tower when Harris jumped the last few feet to the ground beside him. “Go, help him,” he croaked.
Harris ran at Nero, caught the vampire low and carried him away from the blond stranger. They tumbled toward the rest of the group. Rodgers pulled himself to his knees and noticed that the others had begun to join the fray.
Dan Harrington was the first to reach the vampire. He swung at the creature. Nero reacted far too quickly though and easily dodged the blow. Then he reached forward and grabbed the overbalanced human by the arm. The creature turned him around and pulled him tightly against his chest to use as a shield. Flame seared into Harrington’s back and scorched his neck where the vampire held him. The other humans backed off.
Rodgers could see the vampire smile and then, without warning, he traced a claw gently across Harrington’s neck. A thin red line appeared under Harrington’s chin, and then a few trickles, and finally a deluge poured from his throat. Rodgers looked on helplessly as the creature leaned down and viciously ripped into Harrington’s throat before he discarded the body. The flames that had raged all over the creature’s body suddenly began to flicker as he drank and then they died.
“Noooo!” Sandra Harrington screamed as her father crumpled to the ground at the creature’s feet.
Rodgers could see her glare at the vampire with pure hatred. Suddenly she ran at Nero. Her reaction was so quick that neither of them had expected it. She crossed the short distance in a blur and slammed into the creature, her momentum enough to overbalance the vampire and force it backward.
Rodgers ran after her and tried to get her to break off, but she was oblivious to everything around her. The creature’s skin still hissed from the heat of the flames, but she pummelled the vampire, heedless of the pain as her skin was scorched with each blow. Rodgers gained on them and saw the spear lodged in the wall scant seconds before the two slammed against it. He fell to his knees as they both screamed in pain and the spear tore into both of them.
Harris ran after the struggling pair and howled when he saw the spear rip through Sandra’s back.
She cried out once and then slumped forward against the creature. The vampire bellowed when the spear penetrated its heart. He wrenched the woman away from him and sent her flying backward. Harris saw Sandra driven back and jumped to catch her body and ease her to the ground. He looked down at the blood pouring from the wound and placed his hand against the flow, vainly trying to stop the gushing fluid.
Tears ran down his face, and then the blond stranger appeared at his side. He forced Harris away while he examined the wound. His hands ran knowledgeably over her body and then he tore strips from his own clothes and began to pack the wound.
Harris looked at her face. So pale, he thought and then felt himself being helped to his feet.
“Come on, buddy, let him work.”
He looked up in a daze and saw Rodgers. Blood covered the left side of his face and an ugly bruise had already puffed up the cheekbone, giving him the appearance of a chipmunk. Harris glanced
down, saw an axe swinging from a loop on Rodger’s belt and, without a word, grabbed the weapon and turned to face the struggling vampire.
The creature lay back against the tower wall with the spear protruding some six feet outward. He was slumped forward breathing hard and laboured through his torn chest while small fires begun to appear over its body again. The creature looked at Harris.
“So you’ve come to gloat, human.”
“Actually, no,” Harris replied and raised the axe.
The creature saw the weapon; Harris saw fear cross its face as the axe descended. Again and again he raised the axe and brought it down on the vampire. Blood spurted and flesh tore until, exhausted, Harris slumped to his knees and the bloodied axe fell from his grasp. The vampire was a bloody mess, sunlight had not yet killed it; the spear through the heart had not been enough to send this ancient creature to hell, but the combination of these things had overloaded its healing ability and, finally, it had begun to die.
The sun had grown in strength over the last few minutes and the creature screamed when its flesh began to melt from its face. Flames flickered over his body and grew in intensity. Flesh blackened and peeled away from the bone. His eyes popped, the liquid within burst in flame and seared into the creature’s brain. Its mouth opened to scream, but its tongue shrivelled in the heat, and all Harris could hear was a dry rattle before its body slumped forward on the spear and the flames consumed the remains.
Rodgers came forward and touched Harris on the shoulder. “It’s over, come on,” he urged.
“Just a second,” Harris replied. He rose to his feet and approached the blackened corpse, raised the axe one more time, brought it down on the exposed neck and severed the creature’s head in one fluid strike. The skull fell to the ground at his feet. He raised his boot, brought it down hard on the skull, and shattered the brittle bone.
“Just to be sure,” he nodded at Rodgers and allowed himself to be led back to the group.
“She was lucky,” Steele began. “An inch lower and she’d be dead. As it stands, it’ll be a while before she’s up and around. She lost a lot of blood, so her body will have to replace that before she can really heal.”
“Thank you,” Harris leaned forward and shook Steele’s hand. “Who did you say you were again?”
“The name’s Steele.”
“Harris,” the other replied.
The two men smiled at each other, but Steele could see the suspicion in the other’s eyes.
“You, ah, knew him?” Harris fumbled the question and nodded toward the creature’s corpse. The man was obviously human but Harris was still uncertain where his loyalties lay. Where had he come from and how did he know the vampire master?
“Yeah, I used to work for him.” Steele met Harris” glare evenly as if daring him.
“Why the sudden change of heart?” Harris asked as he stared into the man’s eyes trying to determine how much he could trust this stranger. He had saved both Sandra’s and his life and for that Harris was willing to ignore quite a lot, however, the safety of the community was more important.
“Well, a colleague of mine showed me that there’s a difference between existing and living. I decided to try living.”
“Good for you,” Harris pursed his lips as he considered the man in front of him. He raised his eyebrows as if suddenly making up his mind about something. “Any plans?” Harris ventured.
“No, not yet. You?” Steele replied.
“Oh, I thought we’d clear up here, then go into town and start weaning the rest of the city off that damned serum. After that we’ll move on to the next city, then the next. After that, who knows?”
“That’s a mighty tall order,” Steele commented as he studied Harris with equal interest.
“That it is.”
“There might be pockets of thralls left in the city,” Steele ventured.
“We can handle them,” Harris smiled, “now that there masters are dead they won’t be as confident.”
Steele looked over at the bedraggled band of humans dubiously. There were fifteen in total, all injured to some degree. He looked back at Harris and something seemed to pass between the two men. Steele smiled. “I know a shortcut.”
After a second Harris grinned. “I thought you’d never offer.”
Both men laughed and turned back toward the small group.
Epilogue
The city was eerily quiet. It was strange approaching it in late evening after so long. Harris had almost forgotten how beautiful it was to see the sun sink below the horizon without fearing that the darkness hid something malevolent and terrifying. It was strange not to associate the oncoming darkness with fear and death. He watched now as the sun’s fading light drew back on itself as the shadows chased the last, pale fingers of light across the city and he sighed heavily.
The city stank of death and decay. The buildings, once tall sentinels of majesty, now seemed to slump as the shroud of darkness seemed to weigh heavily on them. Streets, once vibrant arteries to the city’s heart now lay empty of life but clogged with rubble and abandoned husks. This city had died long ago, he thought. Even before the vampires it had been dying. He could see the stains of pollution on the walls of every building, like a cancer corrupting and spreading, un-noticed in the bustle of life before the oil had run out and before the vampires had come. We did this, he thought sadly. We’ve been on a steady decline for a long time.
“Penny for them.”
He started as the voice shattered the silence and the moment was gone. He drew his gaze away from the cityscape and forced a smile.
“I was just thinking that maybe we do deserve all this, he waved his hand expansively.
“You don’t really believe that,” Steele replied as he settled himself beside Harris and looked out over the darkening cityscape. “If you did you wouldn’t fight so hard to get it all back.”
“I don’t think I would like it to be quite the way it was, I mean look how quickly it all fell apart. That had nothing to do with the vampires. That was us, plain and simple.”
Steele pursed his lips as he turned towards Harris. “Humanity isn’t all bad.”
“No, I’m not suggesting it is. But we lost something along the way.” He slumped into silence and the two men watched the last of the light disappear. Behind them men and women shuffled impatiently as they checked their weapons, settled gear or whispered nervously as they waited for the darkness. “I mean,” Harris suddenly continued, “once the power was gone the world went to hell. Do you remember the riots and the panic that followed the announcement of fuel rationing? Whole economies were wiped out overnight once the oil fields were nuked. Millions were out of work and suddenly the balance of the world shifted. Suddenly countries that had never achieved greatness through technology became dominant. Countries that had never played on the world stage were suddenly thrust into positions of influence and they just weren’t ready for it.”
Harris sighed. “I mean how long was it before slavery came back? A month was it? Jesus, civilisation was just a veneer. It took less than a month before we reverted back to barbarism.”
Steele nodded as thoughts of his sister flooded through his mind. He was all too aware of man’s propensity for evil. “But through all of that there were still those who stood up for others. There always will be, you know, Peter. People like you and those around you.”
Harris looked over at Steele. He knew so little about this man, other than he had worked for the vampires and had somehow remained unbitten and uncontrolled for the last two years. No mean feat, Harris thought as he studied Steele. I wonder what he had to do to earn that position. He had obviously used his skills against humanity but, despite his association with the vampires, Harris could sense no evil about him. Most of the others in the community tended to shy away from him. Oh, they were glad that he had helped against Nero and that he had managed to save Sandra Harrington, but they did not trust him and, if the truth be known, they were afraid of him.
Harris didn’t blame them either. Steele had an air of about him that screamed confidence. He had sat in on Harris’ss briefing for tonight's assault and had made only three comments. Harris was intelligent enough to realise that those three small changes would save many lives and would greatly improve their chances of success. He would never had thought of them either and he was reminded again about how unqualified he was to plan military engagements. He prayed that Steele was all he appeared to be. As a community they needed someone with his skills and personally, Harris needed him to sanity check his own plans. But was he what he appeared to be or was he a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
He studied the man, trying desperately to see the answer in his eyes but all he could see was a sense of loss greater than anything he himself had ever experienced. There was a story there that he must hear and understand before he could fully trust this stranger, but, for now, the man had proved himself more than capable and Harris could detect no duplicity about him. And that would have to be good enough for now. “But is it really worth it? I mean …” he lifted the weapon in his hands, “is this our future? The thralls in that city were human once and now they rape and abuse people who were their neighbours not too long ago.”
“You will find some good even among the thralls if you are prepared to look.” Steele smiled, “though admittedly that would be the exception.”
Harris snorted in derision. “And now we have to go in there and take their power away. These bastards who actually keep the vampires safe during the day. I mean what kind of person can do that? Most of the people behind us are already wounded or have never even held a gun. How can I ask them to …?”
“But they are here regardless, Peter.” Steele interrupted as he glared at Harris. “They are here for themselves, not for you. They chose to come with you for their own reasons. If they die then that too is their decision, not yours. They might follow your example but they are here for their own reasons.”