Thanks
to Scott, they are able to breach the tunnel and find some of the
captives. Tommy is among them. Someone drops a gas bomb, injuring
Tommy badly.
"Call
Margo," Kirk said as he watched the young man choke. "I
don't think....." He gulped, not wanting to admit that his
friend was dying.
Nero
contacted Margo's team leader. Meanwhile, the crouched by the young
human, guarding him against the others. So far, no one had found
their hiding place. A few more vampires struggled up the stairs
behind them, gasping and coughing. They had obviously been prisoners.
Their clothing was tattered and filthy. Many of them looked like
they'd been brutally tortured and beaten. For a vampire to show
damage, it had to have been horrific.
Margo
and Sandra joined up with Phillida and Drea before the assault on the
castle commenced. Phillida had a laptop propped on the trunk of the
car. Rapidly tapping keys, she frowned with concentration.
"Got
it," she said with an evil grin. "On my mark!"
The
vampire warriors fanned out around her. Drivers revved the cars as
the others assembled on foot. There was no visible fence, but they
knew that the barrier around the house was more effective than any
stone or wire. There were sensors buried in the ground. If someone
not wearing a special chip crossed the line, an ultrasonic sound was
emitted, disabling the vampire in question. The sound had been known
to kill humans.
Phillida
hit the button on her laptop. Signaling her warriors, she advanced
across the line. The cars surged forward, one vampire in each riding
shotgun, laid down suppression fire as the others followed. Screaming
like a banshee, Phillida led the charge.
Vampires
appeared at every window and at the crenelated turrets on top of the
castle, firing their weapons into the crowd. Many of their party were
hit, some killed, their bodies dissipating in the breeze. A whirlwind
of hatred, Phillida fired weapons with both hands, hitting everything
she aimed at. Margo did nearly as well.
Drea
wasn't as good as Margo, but she certainly was no slack. Sandra, who
was a crack shot, felt somewhat intimidated by the skill of the other
women until she remembered they'd all been alive far longer than she.
Advancing quickly, they made the relative protection of the
building's front. The opposition seemed to be concentrated on the
roof, though there could easily have been people waiting for them on
the first floor.
Moments
after they reached the door, Nero yelled that they were being
attacked from underground. Horrified, Phillida cased the area where
they stood. The earth looked as if it too had been disturbed.
"Fall
back! Regroup by the cars! I think they're under us!"
Heading
back to the vehicles, more of the warriors were hit. Margo, Drea and
Sandra dragged fallen comrades to safety. Phillida stood amidst the
raining bullets like Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now. And like
that fearless commander, nothing hit her. She pulled something from
her belt, tossing it over her shoulder toward the house as she walked
back to the cars. A massive explosion rocked the armored limos and
shattered the windows across the front of the castle. A huge, gaping
hole appeared in the ground.
"Flash
grenades in the hole," Phillida yelled.
A
dozen grenades landed in the hole. Screaming and howling followed as
the brilliant light took its toll. Once more, the assault team
stormed the house, finishing off anyone that got in their way.
"Margo,
where are you?" Kirk's voice held a note of panic.
"Coming
in the front now."
"It's
Tommy...."
He
didn't have to finish. She understood.
"Where?"
He
told her their position. With Phillida, Drea and Sandra running
interference, Margo made her way to the stairwell where they hid.
Phillida stood in the center of the great hall mowing down the enemy,
reloading as quickly as she ran out. Drea ran with Margo, knowing her
friend needed her more than Philly did. Sandra stayed with the
vampire leader, following her lead.
Margo
found the men hunkered down in the stairwell. Kirk and Oded joined
the melee while Nero and Clovis stood guard over Margo and Tommy.
Drea checked on Scott, reporting to Sandra that her fiance was alive
and well.
Margo
wasn't so lucky. She knelt by Tommy's side. His breath came in
labored gasps, his pulse, weak and thready, raced. His color was
terrible, pale and waxy. He was sweating, but his skin was cold to
the touch.
"Tommy!
Sweetheart, I'm here!"
"Margo,"
he gasped, trying to touch her face.
She
grasped his hand. "You're gonna be okay, Tommy."
"No,
I'm not, Margo. I got a lungful of gas. I can feel it eating
away...." He coughed up blood.
"Tommy,
no!"
"Turn
him," Nero said gently. "He'll live if you turn him."
"Tommy?"
He
couldn't speak, but nodded once. Closing his eyes, he raised his
chin, exposing his neck. Margo kissed him, then let her fangs grow.
Tears running down her face, she bit down. Tommy flinched, his body
sagging as she drained his blood. Quickly, she bit her own lip
letting a few drops of her blood trickle between his slack lips. For
a moment, she thought he was gone.
©
2019 Dellani Oakes
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