"My Lord, the prisoners are all assembled as per your instructions." The captain of the guard rose from his knees and began his report. "The cameras will be ready in five minutes."
"Excellent," Nero replied and turned away to view the proceedings.
The cameras had been his idea. Screens had been set up everywhere and they would pipe the feed all over the city. He smiled at the thought of the terror this massacre would instil in the cattle. The serum might take away their ability to act independently, but it didn't stop them from being petrified. Maybe this will make these rebels think twice before attacking their masters.
Harris hurried through the darkness toward the motor pool. A line of jeeps and trucks were parked neatly in three lanes, and he ran through them to the fuel dump at the far end. He shook a number of cans and grunted in satisfaction when he found one almost full. Then he slipped back between the vehicles. He laid a trail behind him, removed petrol caps and sprinkled petrol liberally around the whole area. When he reached the last vehicle he poured the remaining fuel in a line leading back to the fuel dump.
When he was satisfied he checked around the grounds for sentries and sneered when he saw that most of them had given up their patrols to view the proceedings in the centre of the camp.
Morbid bastards, he thought, and then slipped silently toward the barracks.
Tyrone Johnson could feel his heart thumping in his chest and sweat trickling down his face. He fought to remain still, but couldn't help pressing his left arm tighter against his side to ensure that the miniature crossbow was still strapped there. His eyes moved wildly from side to side while he took note of the each of the vampires" positions.
Jesus! They were terrifying up close. They moved with such grace and assurance that he began to wonder how a pitifully small crossbow could do anything but piss them off. Was Harris mad? Were they all mad? He could feel his muscles spasm in fear and he clamped his teeth tightly together to stop them chattering. He was convinced that they would smell his fear any second and set upon him before the others were in position but he forced himself to remain as still as he could. Jesus, how did he get himself in this position? He liked Harris, he really did, but he would have to have some strong words with the boy after this. If there was an after.
He had expected to be terrified being this close to the vampires but, now that he was here, he began to realise that there was something magnificent about the creatures as well, something so powerful that it was almost alluring, thrilling. Despite their evil, despite what they had done to him and to humanity as a whole he felt himself weakening.
Surely he would be better confessing to them, warning them and maybe they would allow him to live. Johnson felt himself beginning to move forward. In his mind he screamed at himself but his body didn't seem to take any notice. He knew they were evil, he had seen them slaughter his wife and his daughter in front of him while they laughed, but the compulsion to throw himself at their mercy was so strong that the images in his head couldn't stop him. He took one faltering step forward, helpless to resist their allure.
Suddenly, he became aware of a faint odour of decay on the wind and he stopped moving. The stink was like a slap in the face as the vampires" true nature came back to him. The compulsion was still there but now he was able to focus his hatred and fight against it. He felt a fire grow in the pit of his stomach and he fuelled it with memories of his family. He saw them scream as the vampires tore them apart and he felt his resolve grow. His teeth suddenly stopped chattering and he felt his control return. One way or the other it would end tonight. Either he would avenge his family or he would join them.
"Four minutes," Harris muttered to himself as he set the final timer and placed the charge in position under the barracks. Sweat rolled freely from every pore while the thralls moved about above him. At one point he could even see the wood of the floor dip dangerously close to his face when a guard stopped to warm himself against a radiator.
Harris thumbed the safety off his machine gun and rolled out from under the last of the five wooden structures along the western fence. He had no idea if all of the buildings were occupied but he couldn't take the chance. The facility may have been abandoned for some time now but there had been over a hundred thralls crawling over it all day trying to get it ready on such short notice and Harris wasn't certain how many had returned to the city and how many had stayed. He checked again for patrols and then made his way toward the assembled group in the forecourt.
The captain approached Nero and bowed low. "Camera uplink is now ready, my lord."
"Excellent," the vampire hissed and swept around to face his clan. "Come; let us show this rabble the price of resistance." And with that the vampires approached their terrified prey.
Johnson watched the vampires approach and slowly moved his hand toward his side. God, I hope the others are in position, he thought desperately, or this is going to be one short-lived act of defiance. He whispered a quick prayer and gripped his weapon tightly.
Just then a loud explosion shattered the silence. Four more quickly followed, so close together that Johnson thought it was one long thunder crack. He ripped the crossbow from its hiding place at his side and sent his first shot at the lead vampire.
Harrington heard the explosions and tried to blot out the scene of mayhem below him. All five of the buildings along the west fence had exploded and now burned fiercely. Thralls stumbled out of two of the ruined barracks covered in flames, screaming hideously as their flesh burned and crackled in the heat. An orange glow illuminated the camp. It undulated as the flames waxed and waned and gave the whole scene a surreal, hellish appearance.
The vampires recovered quickly though. Harrington saw one of them grab the captain and shake him violently. Harrington couldn't hear what was said, but the vampire screamed at the thrall and gesticulated at the burning buildings. The captain seemed to recover and gathered some thralls to investigate. Harrington took all this in from his position in the west tower and then aimed his crossbow at his target.
Bill Anderson saw his first shot bury itself in a vampire's chest. The creature howled and Anderson thought his ears would burst. Blood sprayed from the creature's chest and splashed the poor wretches around him. The vampire flayed about trying to grab the quarrel but it was too far imbedded. The creature howled in frustration and it dug its talons into its flesh as he tried to remove the source of its agony. Thralls rushed to help the vampire, but the creature was so frenzied with pain that it lashed out and its razor sharp talons tore them apart. Some of the thralls screamed and fell to the ground holding bleeding limbs, while others backed away until, finally, the creature collapsed.
Anderson took aim at a second creature, but his eyes could not match the speed with which it moved. One minute it was 10 feet away and the next it had torn the crossbow from his grip. Anderson smelled the foetid breath and offered up a final prayer when, suddenly, the creature jerked upright and collapsed at his feet. Anderson stared unbelievably at the corpse and then noticed the quarrel sticking from its back. He looked up to see Sarah Harrington in the East tower and waved briefly, but she had already reloaded and moved on to her next target.
Anderson shook himself, looked around, and then dove to the ground as bullets shredded the air where he had stood. He rolled to where his crossbow had fallen, reloaded and once again joined the fray.
Harris watched the chaos from the motor pool. Six vampires were dead and twenty or so thralls were either dead or injured, not counting those in the barracks. Quite a few of them had died in the confusion created by their own masters" over-reacting. The vampires were creatures secure in their strength and they had been taken completely by surprise. They had not reacted very well and that played into the rebels" hands. Harris saw the captain of the guard gather up five thralls and approach the burning buildings behind him. Harris has intentionally positioned himself with his back to the flames so that anyone approaching him would be facing the fierce light of the flames and would be blinded on their approach. When the thralls came level with his position, he lit the trail he had laid earlier and ducked low behind the vehicles to exit out the back of the motor pool.
Seconds later another round of explosions ripped through the night. One after another the explosions continued as cars and trucks were thrown high in the air with awesome force. The captain stopped his patrol, shocked by the unexpected blast. Within seconds shrapnel from the machinery flew outward and shredded them to pieces.
Johnson was having trouble picking out a target. The vampires were too fast that as soon as he lined up they had moved on again. To complicate matters further the prisoners were trying to get to safety, but their drugged bodies were so slow that they only got in the way. He watched in horror as one of the creatures stopped and savagely ripped the throat of a helpless prisoner. Johnson shouted with rage and pulled the trigger on his crossbow. The quarrel caught the vampire in the chest and buried itself deep into its heart. The creature went down screaming, but Johnson had no time to gloat.
Suddenly machineguns roared and bullets tore into the prisoners all around him. The thralls had recovered from their initial shock and, unlike Johnson and his colleagues, they didn't care who they hit with their fire.
Johnson dived for cover and cried out with pain as a bullet ripped into his shoulder. He cursed his luck; that made two bullets in as many days. All around him bodies danced grotesquely as bullets pumped into the unfortunate prisoners. Johnson ignored the pain in his shoulder and groped for a grenade at his belt. He pulled the pin and threw it at the largest group of thralls. He didn't wait to see the result, but instead continued to pull grenades from his belt and throw them until all four explosives were gone.
When the rage had subsided he looked around and frowned at the silence that had descended. Most of the thralls were dead, their bodies mangled by the force of the explosions, but some still stood. Bullets ripped into the ground all around him, but there was no sound.
I've gone deaf, he thought, and looked about him, seeing people run, fall and die in total silence. Everything seemed to move much slower than normal.
And then everything went black. I've gone blind, he thought frantically. But then the darkness moved and he looked up to see a vampire looming over him. He felt the teeth bite deeply into his neck and rip the flesh. The pain was ferocious and then he felt the warmth of his own blood as it poured down his neck and chest. He could hear a sickening slurping sound as the vampire fed. He struggled frantically but the creature had a firm grip on him and seemed not to notice his furious kicking. He felt his strength begin to ebb away and it became harder and harder to resist. He had so wanted to kill more of them he thought weakly as his head swam with the loss of blood. The creature suddenly stopped and drew him level as he looked at him. The creature's face was covered in blood, his blood, and it pulled its lips back in a grotesque parody of a grin as it mocked him. The last thing Johnson saw was the creature's look of triumph freeze as he pulled the trigger for the last time and sent the bolt deep into its black heart.
"Ten of the clan dead!" Nero stared at the chaos around him. "And by mere mortals. Impossible." Then the realisation hit him. "The cameras! The cattle will see."
Bullets flew everywhere, but it was the wooden bolts that sent icy fingers of fear through him. They may be far faster and more powerful than the humans but if those bolts struck them in their hearts they would die as easily as the humans. He sent out a high-pitched scream, inaudible to human ears, and gathered the other vampires to him. He pointed at the towers around the compound and the group took to the air. Nero strode over to the camera, killing anyone in his way regardless of whether they were thrall or prisoner. The heady scent of blood filled the air and the lust pulled hard at him, enticing him to abandon all reason and gorge himself on those around him. But he knew that would be the way to death. First he had to deal with those humans in the towers. Then he could feed.
Once the camera had been destroyed he changed and took to the air.
Kelly felt his heart quicken when he saw the vampires change and take to the air. He gripped the axe tighter, raised it above his head and brought it down savagely to cut through the taught rope. The branch that had been held in place by the rope snapped back with ferocious force and sent a hail of sharpened stakes into the air toward the vampires.
Nero screamed in agony as a stake ripped through his left wing. The rest of the group was above him, and he saw the hail of stakes pass through them moments later. Four vampires dropped like stones ahead of him. Stakes covered their bodies and they changed as they fell to the ground. Three others staggered as they began to lose height and spiral downward. Nero himself began to falter as incredible pain shot through his own wound. The area around the injury stung savagely and he knew that the humans had used silver coating on the stakes. The wound would never truly heal and the pain would serve to remind him of his carelessness for eternity.
He looked up and saw the remaining members of the clan fly through to safety. He called to them to abort the attack on the towers. They were too few in number now to continue here tonight. He took one more look below at the camp. Fires raged out of control and bodies littered the ground. >From below, the sounds of cheering filled the night.
"Celebrate for now!" he said. "I misjudged you once. Next time I will be ready and I'll feed on your bones."
With that he looked for his companions and limped after them.