Vampire Apocalypse: A World Torn Asunder (Book 1) (32 page)

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.

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.”