by M. D. Massey
“Ja, Josef will get us safely past them. You wish for me to warn the others?”
I nodded. “The wind is blowing to the southwest, and based on what Kara has told me, it’s going to drop fallout a hundred fifty miles or more along Highway 287. So, don’t head back the way we came in—instead, take them east of here, then south, as far away as possible. If you have to, lie to them and tell them we have a vehicle, or that Kara is carrying me at vampire speed… hell, I don’t care what you tell them. Just make sure you’re not within twenty miles of the plant when that warhead goes off.”
“I will comply with your wishes. But, Scratch, I must know—do you intend to make this a one-way mission?”
I paused for a moment before deciding it wouldn’t do to lie to the old man. He didn’t deserve it, and I suspected he could smell a lie from a mile off anyway.
I smiled, but my eyes were hard. “Rabbi, I intend to give everyone in Texas a fighting chance by making sure those bastards are standing at ground zero when that warhead goes off. If that means I’m there too, so be it.”
The rabbi looked at me with sympathetic eyes, and he sighed. “I respect your bravery. There is no time to talk you out of this, so I will simply wish you good luck. And should the worst happen, I will let the others know of your sacrifice.”
He extended his hand, and I shook it. “Good luck to you as well, Rabbi. And wait for my signal before you beat feet out of here. You’ll know it when you hear it.”
He nodded and motioned to Josef, and the golem lifted the rabbi on his shoulders. “Farewell, jaeger, and good hunting.”
I watched them head away from me down the hall, to ensure they weren’t followed. Once they were out of sight, I gathered the materials I needed before exiting the building into one of the inner courtyards. From there, I snuck as far north as I could go, away from the southern side where Rabbi Borovitz and Josef would be making their exit.
No vamps patrolled these inner areas of the plant; whether it was out of laziness, arrogance, or incompetence, I couldn’t say. What I did know was that as soon as my distraction went off, they’d come swarming along with the zombie horde. Which meant I needed to be far away when that happened, hopefully at the rally point meeting up with Kara.
Putting all thoughts of failure out of my mind, I dumped the crap I was carrying on the ground and got to work. First, I cleared a space in the dirt, where I placed a scrap piece of metal ductwork that was about two feet in diameter. I poked a shitload of holes in the sides with my knife, then dropped a hundred or so rifle rounds in a neat pile in the center.
I examined my work thus far, wondering how much heat it would take to set the rounds off. I’d better make it burn hot, just to be safe.
I crumpled a bunch of discarded reports and inventory checklists I’d found and piled those in the center of the circle. I cracked another round open and sprinkled the gunpowder on top of that, then piled dried brush, grass, and half of an old wooden table I’d smashed apart on top of it all.
I cracked one more round open, sprinkling the gunpowder on a piece of paper that was sticking out of the pile. Finally, I pulled out a disposable lighter and lit it all on fire. The gunpowder went up quickly, setting the paper and kindling alight as it did so. Soon, I had a righteous blaze going inside the little fire pit. I carefully stacked a few more pieces of wood atop the fire, then hauled ass to go find Kara.
I was crossing the courtyard on my way back to meet Kara when I saw them. I’d forgotten that vamps had a keen sense of smell, almost as keen as ’thropes. When the gunpowder had lit, the scent must’ve caught the attention of one of the patrols, because now there were a half-dozen vamps standing on top of the nearby buildings staring down at me.
They were all model-thin and stunningly beautiful, unlike Kenny Powers and his friends. I noticed the young female vamp who had escaped standing behind them, her head lowered as she clutched her stump to her chest.
“What have we here?” a tall, attractive male vamp said. “A stray hunter, come to kill my brood? Or perhaps a foolish wanderer who decided to take shelter within these walls. One wonders how he got past the millions of zombies and ghouls outside.”
“He’s the one who cut my arm off, and killed Samuel and Victor,” Stump-Girl screeched. “I want him dead! Let me kill him, master, please?”
Master, eh? I should be so lucky. I centered my attention on the vampire she was addressing. He was maybe six-two, with black wavy hair, flawless Mediterranean skin, exotic grey eyes, high cheekbones, and the build of an Olympic swimmer. He wore a dark tailored suit, of a brand that I couldn’t recognize except to know that it had cost a lot in the pre-war era. Under the jacket he wore a white dress shirt, left unbuttoned halfway down his chest. Expensive black dress shoes and a gentleman’s cane topped off the ensemble; there was a small button where the cane’s handle met the shaft.
Sword cane, I noted. Man, what a walking cliché.
The vampire popped his cuffs and spun his cane with a casual grace, like Fred Astaire in Silk Stockings. My mom had used to love all those old movies, and I’d watched them with her to pass the time when she was at the ranch. The memory made me think of the vamp who’d turned my dad, all those years ago. Dad’s descent into blood-frenzied madness had destroyed Mom’s spirit, and she’d ended her own life the day after she’d put him out of his suffering. I’d laid them both to rest at the ranch, side-by-side, just like they would have wanted.
Those memories steeled my resolve, reminding me of how we’d gotten to this point in human history—scattered, hunted, and all but extinct as a species. An ember sparked inside my chest, an old hatred that I’d kept smoldering within since my parents had passed and everything had gone to hell in a handbasket.
And the assholes standing right in front of me were ultimately to blame.
Yeah, I’m going to see that you all burn to ash and dust.
The speaker gestured slightly at Stump-Girl, without glancing in her direction. “Hush, child. You don’t decide who lives or dies, who feeds or starves, or who we spare or sacrifice.”
The girl dropped to her knees and bowed low to the ground. “I beg your forgiveness, master.” Her voice shook as she spoke.
I decided to up the ante. It was apparent this vamp wasn’t accustomed to anyone talking back to him, so I figured I’d try to get his hackles up while my distraction was cooking. I drew my katana in one hand and pointed it at him.
“So, you’re the master of the Dallas coven?”
One of the vamps in the peanut gallery hissed. These pretty vamps seemed to hiss a lot, I’d noticed. Again, the master vamp quieted the outburst with a gesture, and the vamp who’d vocalized her displeasure hung her head.
Damn, but how they all fear this guy. He has to be their head honcho.
“I am,” the master vamp replied. “My name is Marduk, and you’d do well to fear it.” He pronounced his name like “Mah-ROO-duke,” trilling the “r” in the second syllable.
I cupped my hand to my left ear, as if I was trying to listen more closely. “I’m sorry… Marmaduke? Like the dog in the comics?”
He smirked, and his voice held genuine amusement as he replied. “No, you impetuous mortal. Like the Babylonian god.”
“Ah, I see.” I nodded sagely as I drew a line in the dirt with the tip of my sword. “Well, Marduk, I’m the guy who took out Piotr and Calypso. I take it they were your star students or some such, the way they strutted and crowed. Yet in the end they died, just like all the other vamps I’ve killed. I eighty-sixed the other two losers that crack whore of a bloodsucker was with earlier, and I’ll go down fighting before I let you assholes feed on me. So, draw that toothpick you carry inside that cane, and let’s see what you’re made of.”
He cocked his head to one side, pursing his lips as he nodded. “I applaud your composure in the face of certain death, human. And as you’ve made it this far, I can see how you might have caught my children unawares.”
The ancient vamp drew his sw
ord in one fluid motion, tossing the cane shaft that served as a scabbard to a nearby vamp, who caught it with ease. “But no matter—I’ll avenge their deaths by first teaching you how wrong you are to challenge me. And when your spirit is broken and you’re bleeding from a thousand wounds, I’ll allow the remainder of my children to fall on you and feed until you’re nothing but an empty husk.”
I spun my sword in circles to loosen up my wrist. “Well then, you’re a daisy if you do. En garde, bloodsucker.”
CLIMAX
The master vampire closed the gap between us in the blink of an eye, too fast for me to see. Instantly, the battle was on. He fought with a fencer’s skill, all panache and form, attacking from a dozen different angles. It soon became obvious that he was playing with me, as I was able to block most of his initial thrusts and cuts, and backpedal away to avoid the rest.
If he was coming at me for real, I’d already be dead.
A curious tilt of his head and the slight twitch of an eyebrow told me I’d surprised him by fending off his attacks, half-hearted or not.
“Your skills are crude, but I see you do have some training,” he said. “There are so few warriors left in this world, so few humans who are worthy of the gift.” He shook his head slightly, and his eyes grew almost sad. “It will be a shame to have to kill you. A warrior such as you could have served me well.”
“I’d die first,” I growled.
“As you wish,” he replied. Marduk whirred past me, and suddenly I was bleeding from a shallow cut across my cheek.
“Oh come on, not the face,” I quipped. “I was just getting used to the scars on the other side.”
He looked at me with the curious detachment of a child preparing the pull the legs off a bug, just to see what would happen. “Fearlessness in the face of death is indeed a commendable trait. However, you’ll not be in good humor for long, I’m afraid. Again, such a shame to have to kill you.”
He flitted around and cut me dozens of times, too fast to see, much less block. Each cut was scalpel-clean and just deep enough for blood to flow freely, without causing a debilitating injury. It was clear that he intended to do exactly as he said, to bleed me from a thousand cuts and break my spirit. My clothes soon dripped with blood, and I began to feel the first signs of shock.
I feigned being weaker than I was, hoping for an overconfidence that I might capitalize on. I had to get at least one good stroke in, after all. Marduk was within attacking range and his guard was down, so I stepped forward and swung at him with everything I had. Despite the blood loss, it was still probably the quickest I’d ever moved in my life.
The master vampire casually leaned away from my cut, allowing it to pass him harmlessly. Determined to keep him occupied as long as possible, I unleashed a flurry of cuts, thrusts, and slashes, attacking with combinations that would have felled any human and most supernatural creatures. Yet he moved only slightly each time, just enough to make my attacks miss by mere centimeters.
And while adrenaline fueled my efforts, all that movement caused my wounds to bleed even more freely. My arms grew heavy and my legs numb; I began to grow lightheaded and dizzy, and my heart beat faster due to blood loss. I staggered forward and swung at him one last time with the same result as before. I stumbled to my knees as his final, desultory evasion caused me to lose my balance.
Come on, Scratch, don’t die just yet. Gotta give the rabbi a fighting chance to get back and warn the kids and Sledge, and give Kara time to set up that bomb. Just a few more seconds—there!
Rifle ammunition cooked off in the distance, and even with the rumble of millions of feet outside the plant and the moans of all those walking dead, the sound split the night like thunder. Pop. Pop-pop. Pop-pop-pop! As the rounds went off, the moans of the dead grew louder and louder, and the ground began to rumble as thousands of shamblers drew toward the disturbance.
The walls of the plant began to groan against the force of thousands of agitated dead who were desperately trying to find the source of that noise.
Moments before, all eyes had been on me, the blood bag the coven was about to turn into a snackpack. Now, some of the vamps were distracted by the gunfire, while others were looking nervously at the throng of dead outside the plant. Never one to miss an opportunity to slay the undead, I drew my sidearm and shot two of the closest vamps in the head, just before I collapsed completely.
“Man, that felt good,” I rasped.
Marduk’s eyes snapped to the two vampires I’d killed, then to me. “Enough!” he shouted, moving forward in a blur and knocking my weapons from my hands.
I cackled drunkenly, dizzy with blood loss. “That’s two more down, Marduk. Seems like you’re in desperate need of a recruitment drive. You sure you want to feed me to your kids?”
His lips curled into a snarl. “I grow tired of your insolence.” He pointed at Stump-Girl. “You, go see if you can put a stop to that gunfire.” The girl nodded and sped away into the night.
Marduk gestured to the rest of the coven. “The rest of you may feed.”
More than a half-dozen vampires fell on me like crows on ripe corn. The lot of them began licking and sucking at my wounds, tearing through my clothing to get at what remained of my warm, fresh blood.
Seconds later, the lot of them began gagging and coughing. They retched and convulsed as their mouths and tongues turned black, smoldering and bubbling as if they’d ingested acid rather than heme and plasma.
As the vampires fell away from me, I wheezed out a weak but satisfying laugh.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. My blood is poison to the undead.”
The master vampire looked around at the scene before him in utter disbelief. “What magic is this? Did you ingest silver, or did the druid cast some spell or curse on your lifeblood?”
With no small amount of effort, I lifted my head so I could look him in the eye. “See here, Marmaduke. I don’t know any druids, and I sure as hell didn’t let anyone cast any hoodoo on me. This is one-hundred percent modern science, pure and simple.” I laughed again and dropped my head back to the ground, keeping my eyes on him so I could see his reaction. “Oh, this is rich.”
Marduk looked around at his dying coven with frantic desperation in his eyes. “Tell me how to reverse it. Tell me how to save my offspring!”
I reached up and wiped a drop of blood from my eye. “You’re talking to the wrong individual there, Count Chocula. I don’t know a damned thing about how this stuff all works. And the only person who does is hundreds of miles away. Good luck finding them before your kiddos all croak.”
Marduk hung his head. The rounds had stopped going off, but the dead were beginning to crawl over the walls to get inside the courtyard. When they finished their rampage, the plant would be in shambles, that much was clear. And Marduk might have some of the materials he needed to bring more of his kind over from across the Veil—but who would carry his plan out, now that nearly his entire coven was dying or dead?
Sure, he might have had additional vamps back in Dallas, and he could make more from whatever humans he kept as cattle. But I had a feeling all his remaining heavy hitters were now choking on my blood.
Too bad I didn’t manage to trick him into feeding on me as well, I thought.
Yet none of that would matter shortly. If everything had gone to plan, the rabbi would be heading south with the kids and Sledge, and Kara would have already set the warhead to go off. I might have been dying, but Marduk and the entire horde of deaders would be one giant ash heap within minutes.
Marduk raised his head again, and he glowered at me murderously as he took a step toward me. “You will pay for your treachery, and it will be no easy death.”
I had no illusions about what would happen next. This guy was going to rip me limb from limb in the most literal manner possible, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. Kara, I hope you got away safe.
Then he was standing over me, transformed into something that was a bit of a cross be
tween a higher vamp and a nosferatu. His brow and cheekbones protruded, his jaw was thicker, and his skin had taken on an ashen color. I noted also that his fingers were tipped in claws now, and his teeth had elongated. His eyes were dark red orbs, the color of old blood—all except for those silver irises and the black pupils within.
Truth was, I was ready to go. I looked up at him and shrugged. “Well, I suppose there are worse ways to die. Fire always scared the shit out of me, and drowning. Being dropped into a vat of acid, now there’s a nasty way to die. Nah, believe me, you won’t get the satisfaction of hearing me scream.”
“Then know this: I will hunt down every last person you care for, everyone you love. The woman Piotr turned. The child. The alpha’s son. The scientist. All the people you’ve helped during your short, miserable existence. They will all be destroyed, and your legacy will mean nothing.”
He meant it, too. I sighed. “Let me get this straight… you intend to kill me, and then go after everyone I love? What will it matter then? Shit, I’ll be dead and gone, oblivious to whatever the hell you decide to do. Seems like what you really want to do is keep me alive, so I can live to see all that come to pass.” I lifted my hands up in supplication. “But hey, you’re the immortal vampire master. Don’t let me tell you how to do your job.”
He shook his head. “I’ve been on this earth since the dawn of civilization, hunter. Do you think I don’t see through your feeble attempts to manipulate me into sparing you? No, it’s time for you to die, and I’ll take great comfort in knowing that your final thoughts will be of pain, mingled with regret over how you’ve damned those you love.”
He knelt beside me and grabbed my wrist. I struggled against his grip, but I might as well have been arm wrestling with Godzilla. With his other hand, he grasped my pinky finger firmly and plucked it from the socket like he was plucking a petal from a flower.
I stifled my scream. Despite being dizzy with blood loss, it hurt like hell to lose that finger. “Ah, damn you, you motherfucker!” I growled.
