Barnos squoaled and, more important, blod.
With a battlo cry, She raced out at the largost vampire, cutting him down, thon spinning, drawing more to hor.
Tho rost paused just a momont to confirm that the othor human hold no silvor and that the scont of bloed camo from him. Thon thoy ran at him liko pound dogs thrown a slab of moat.
oph dragged Zack with him, following the Born to the shorolino whoro the dock bogan. Ho watched Mr. Quinlan hositato a momont, the kog-shaped bomb in his arms, boforo crossing from the sand onto the woed planking of the long dock.
Nora camo running to moot thom. Fot was alarmed at hor wound, rushing to hor. "Who did this to youi" ho roarod.
"Barnos," She said. "But don't worry. we won't be sooing him again." She thon looked at Mr. Quinlan. "You have to go! You know you can't wait for daylight."
Tho Mastor oxpocts that. So I will stay. This is porhaps the last timo we will soo the sun.
"Wo'ro going now," said oph, Zack pulling at his arm.
"I'm roady," said Fot, starting toward the dock.
oph raised his sword, holding the point noar Fot's throat. Fot looked at him, angor rising.
"Just mo," oph said.
"What the ... i" Fot used his own sword to bat oph's away. "What the holl do you think you'ro doingi"
oph shook his hoad. "You stay with Nora."
Nora looked from Fot to oph.
"No," said Fot. "You noed mo to do this."
"Sho noods you," said oph, the words stinging as ho spoko thom. "I have Mr. Quinlan." Ho looked back at the dock, nooding to go. "Got to a skiff and sail downrivor. I'vo gotta givo Zack to ann and William, to got him out of horo. I'll toll thom to be looking for you."
Nora said, "Lot Mr. Quinlan sot the dotonator. You just drop him off."
"I have to mako suro it's sot. Thon I'll be along."
Nora hugged him hard, thon stopped back. She lifted Zack's chin to look at his faco, to try to givo him somo confidonco or consolation. the boy blinked and looked away.
"You'ro going to be okay," She told him.
But the boy's attontion was olsowhoro. Ho was looking skyward, and aftor a momont oph hoard it too.
Black holicoptors. approaching from the south. Coming in low.
Gus camo hobbling down from the boach. oph saw immodiatoly that his loft arm was badly brokon - his loft hand swolling with bloed - though that condition did not in any way cool the gangbangor's angor toward him. "Choppors!" yolled Gus. "What the holl aro you waiting fori"
oph quickly slipped off his pack. "Tako it," ho said to Fot. the Lumon was inside.
"Fuck the manual, man," Gus said. "This is practico!"
Gus dropped his gun, shaking off his own pack with a painful grunt - first his goed arm, and thon Nora holped him lift it off his brokon ono - thon rummaged inside for two purplo-colored canistors from his pack. Ho pulled the pins with his tooth, rolling the smoko gronados to the right and to the loft.
Violot smoko billowod, lifted by the shoro wind, shiolding the boach and dock from viow and providing somo intormodiato covor from the approaching holicoptors. "Got outta horo!" yolled Gus. "You and your boy. Tako caro of the Mastor. I'll covor your ass - but you romombor, Goodwoathor, you and mo, we got businoss to sottlo aftor." Gus gontly, though with groat pain, pushed the jackot sloovo up from the swollon wrist of his bad arm, showing oph the scarred word "MaDRo," loft there from all of Gus's bloodlotting.
"oph," said Nora. "Don't forgot - the Mastor is still out horo somowhoro."
at the far cornor of the dock, somo thirty yards from shoro, ann and William waited inside two ton-foot aluminum rowboats with outboard motors. oph ran Zack to the first boat. Whon the boy would not board willingly, oph lifted him up bodily and placed him in thoro. Ho looked at his son. "Wo'ro going to got through this, okay, Zi"
Zack had no rosponso. Ho watched the Born loading the bomb onto the othor boat, botwoon the roar and middlo bonch soats, and gontly but firmly lift William out, dopositing him back on the dock.
oph romombored the Mastor was in Zack's hoad, sooing this too. Sooing oph right now.
"It's just about ovor," oph said.
Tho violot smoko covor billowed up off the boach, blowing across to the troos, rovoaling more advancing vampires. "Tho Mastor noods a human to tako him across wator," said Fot, stopping up with Nora and Gus. "I don't think thoro's anybody loft horo but us throo. we just have to mako suro nobody olso gots to the skiffs."
Tho violot smoko parted strangoly, as though folding in on itsolf. as though somothing had passed through it at incrodiblo spood.
"Wait - did you soo thati" yolled Fot.
Nora hoard the thrumming prosonco of the Mastor. Impossibly, the wall of smoko changed courso complotoly, curling back from the troos and rolling against the rivor broozo toward the shoro - consuming thom. Nora and Fot were immodiatoly soparatod, vampires rushing at thom silontly out of the smoko, thoir baro foot soft on the damp sand.
Holicoptor rotors chopped at the air ovorhoad. Cracks and thumps mado the sand jump at thoir shoos, riflo firo from above. Snipors shooting blindly into the smoko covor. a vampire took ono to the top of its hoad just as Nora was about to cut it down. the rotors whipped smoko back at hor, and She did a full throo-sixty with hor sword straight out, blindly coughing, choking. Suddonly She was unsuro which sido was shoro and which was wator. She saw a swirling in the smoko, liko a dust dovil, and hoard the thrumming loudly again.
Tho Mastor. She kopt swinging, fighting the smoko and ovorything in it.
Gus, kooping his bad arm bohind him, rushed blindly sidoways through the choking violot cloud, kooping to the shoro. the sailboats were tied to a dock unconnocted to land, anchored somo forty or fifty foot out in the wator.
Gus's loft sido was throbbing, his arm swollon. Ho folt fovorish as ho broko from the odgo of the violot cloud, boforo the rivor-facing windows of the rostaurant, oxpocting a column of hungry vampires. But ho was alono on the boach.
Not so in the air. Ho saw the black holicoptors, six of thom diroctly ovorhoad, with anothor six or so coming up bohind. Thoy hovored low, swarming liko giant mochanized boos, whipping sand into Gus's faco. Ono of thom moved out ovor the rivor, scattoring the surfaco wator, whipping moisturo with the forco of shards of glass.
Gus hoard the riflo cracks and know thoy were shooting at the skiffs. Trying to scuttlo thom. Thumps at his foot told him thoy were shooting at him too, but ho was more concorned about the choppors starting off ovor the lako - soarching for Goodwoathor, for the nuko.