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CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

CHANCE

I could’ve laid here with her cradled beneath my body all day, but screams coming from outside made it clear that would not be an option. We were up in an instant, throwing on our clothes. I could see her clarity coming back as her eyes sharpened out of the blood haze.

“Where are my weapons?”

I pointed to underneath the chaise where I’d kicked them earlier. She reached down and quickly strapped her holstered pistol to her waist and grabbed the rifle. We made quick work of getting dressed and headed for the door. I slapped a few vampires on the way out and called out orders for the rest to get dressed and follow.

Outside the scene was chaos. Guaramen were rapidly firing at an onslaught of creatures. Unlike the last settlement where the creatures were mostly on all fours, the majority here were on two feet. Long, sharp talons came from their fingers. They were fast, far too fast for natural law. I leveled my rifle at a beast roaring toward a group of cowardly guaramen who were fleeing with no sense of discipline or sobriety. I fired once, twice, three times. All straight to its chest. It stumbled back, black blood oozing from its chest, before righting itself and looking at me. It smiled as it healed itself, scales covering its open wound in a matter of seconds. It roared and began to race toward me.

I fired again, aiming for its head and missed. It jumped and landed a foot in front of me. Its left hand swiped for me and I lunged right, but its right talons managed to graze my shoulder before sinking deeper into my abdomen. Blood seeped in its wake. I could feel its talons digging deeper as it looked straight into my eyes. Its irises were fully dilated, and all thoughts became murky. I was staring at a pool of black blood, and somehow, I was not afraid. My body was relaxing, my muscles slowing down and my adrenaline dissipating.

Holland screamed and lunged for the monster. She was atop the thing; her left arm gripped its throat for balance as she stabbed its brain with her dagger. Repeatedly, she buried the blade into the creature.

My senses came rushing back, pain raged from my side. I fell to the ground as the creature roared and began thrashing, trying to dismantle Holland. I needed to help her, but my wounds were deep. I looked around the yard for my rifle, it lay ten feet away. I began to crawl toward it, demanding my body not give out. I was built for this. I trained for this. I would not fail.

I grabbed the firearm and aimed up at the creature, finger just about to pull the trigger when it fell, lifeless. Holland jumped off its back as it crumbled and swiped black blood from her face.

“Dale, we are not prepared to take them. They aren’t dying when shot. We need to evacuate. Now.”

I looked around the yard and saw swarms of these creatures taking down armed guaramen left and right. Our few men were doing a good job of keeping the vast majority at bay while they backed up to the pub, but the creatures were overwhelming. It was a slaughter. A series of cries came from the vineyard as hundreds of black and grey bodies jumped and ran through the vines. We needed to leave, and we needed to do so now.

“Retreat!” I shouted as I stumbled to my feet, adrenaline once again coursing through my body. Holland kept up with me, step for step. We headed for our men.

A loud lumbering scream erupted as dozens of armed guaramen poured from the B I would be dead in seconds.

A sickly thud sounded as the creature’s projectile altered and it fell in a pile just inches from my body. A club was lodged in its back. Carran stood behind it, heaving heavily.

“Get to the circuit!” he shouted as he picked up my fallen, broken blade and dug it into the jugular of a beast nearby. I tried to get to my feet, but the pain in my stomach was too deep. I stumbled. Dux Carran ran over, yanked his club free, and then scooped me up, throwing me over his shoulder like a damn child.

He swung at beasts, taking one after another down, clearing our path to the circuit. All the while, I dangled helplessly from his shoulder like a fucking rag doll. I could see the circuit approaching. We were almost there. Dux Carran made a run for it. As I swung from his back, I could see swarms of black and grey blurbs engulfing the settlement, grabbing the dead vampire bodies and feasting. Some were even throwing the dead over their shoulders and returning back to the vineyard.

A large humanoid creature jumped atop the pub, just like the other settlement, and howled. An eerie return of screeches and howls followed. Several creatures were charging us. They weren’t more than a hundred yards behind. One unlucky soldier fell, disappearing in the herd of creatures. We were the last ones, the furthest back, and next target for these things.

Carran huffed. “Hold on, kid!”

Before I could respond, he jumped, and we were airborne before landing inside a metal can; we made it to the circuit. The doors screeched shut as the train shuddered before jolting forward. Creatures screamed in the distance, their cries marking the beginning of something terrifying.