The ceiling of these tunnels was high enough for us to stand straight with a few feet to spare. Who was using these tunnels and for what purpose?
Randomly choosing a direction, I called Angel back to my side. “Angel, let’s go this way.” I flicked my head to the right and the guys followed my lead. We entered the right tunnel slowly, my flashlight only bright enough to illuminate a few feet ahead of us.
These were probably vampire tunnels, it would be the only explanation since they see better in the darkness than humans did. If that was the case, we were all in trouble. Vampire tunnels this far into human resistance territory to the west?
After about thirty minutes, Angel stopped and the hairs on the back of her neck rose.
“What the fuck was that?” Amir whispered. “Do you hear it?”
We all slowed our breathing and listened intently. I watched as Angel’s ears flicked back and forth. Taking a few steps forward, the subtle sound became louder and louder until we could finally make out that it was a voice.
“Help me…,” it came again.
“Sounds like a fucking trap if I ever heard one,” Carson growled.
“It’s not like we can just turn around. Might as well see this tunnel to the end,” I told him. The healer in me couldn’t turn back. The call for help pulled at my soul as if it was a marionette and I was a puppet on its strings.
The light in my hand landed on a moving object and I quickly swung the flashlight back to the area to illuminate it. It was a man, leaning against the dirt wall. Moving my light down, we all saw that he had been severely injured, the smell of blood and wet dirt going up our noses. His leg was severely broken and disfigured. A man-made tourniquet, made from his belt, was tied around his thigh to slow the blood loss. His blonde hair was darkened by grime and blood until it hid the original color. His blue eyes stared at us weakly as he slowly lifted up an arm in our direction. There was no telling how long he had been here suffering. For one thing, he didn’t smell of rot or necrosis. I couldn’t smell infection either—not yet.
“What's your name, soldier?” Carson asked, coming to stand beside me.
“I’m Curtis, and I have been here since the motherfucking vampires jumped me. I hid here, hoping they wouldn't find me,” he coughed and it looked like it took all his energy out of him. He wiped his face and looked at both me and Angel. “Honestly, now that you guys are here, I may just live to tell this story after all.”
We all chuckled softly.
“Well, it's your lucky day you old tough son of a bitch, my name is Vik and I'm going to get you out of here.”
I crouched down and grabbed him beneath his arm, lifting him onto my shoulder. I grunted under his partial dead weight but gritted my teeth through it. We all continued to walk back down the tunnel with Angel trotting ahead of us. She made for a good alarm system, her ears picking up any possible threats around us.
This is going to be a long walk.This guy smelled like shit and was heavy as fuck but I didn’t say anything. The crunching of pebbles and dirt beneath my boot was lightly echoing in the tunnel from the extra weight. We walked for an indeterminate amount of time, I had lost track when my thigh muscles began to ache fiercely.
When Angel stopped, we all did. Her ears perked and she silently remained still, staring into the darkness of the tunnel ahead. The hairs on her back stood up and a low rumbling grow emitted from her. Something was there. I slowly slid our new companion down to his feet.
“Shit,” Amir cursed.
“Isn’t it always the way?” Carson deadpanned.
“Can you fight Curtis? I know you’re hurt but we’re going to need some kind of backup if my assumptions are correct.” He looked at me curiously. “There are vampires headed this way.”
“Shit,” he said nervously. “I can lean up against the wall or be at your back.”
This wasn’t looking good. His eyes bored into mine, full of unrestrained fear. He knew he would be of no help, he was only going to be a hindrance if he wanted to make it out of here alive.
I was going to make sure that none of us died today.
Just then, three bloodsuckers emerged from the shadows. Each and every one of them had distinctive red tinged hair, revealing their clan.
Fucking Letos.
Angel lowered her front and growled loudly. We got into fighting positions, pulling out our weapons and aiming directly at them. Angel began to bark and I let her. There was no point in hiding in silence now. This was going to be a showdown.
The first one glared with both hate and hunger. “The idiocy of humankind never ceases to surprise me. Do you all have no self preservation?”
The second broke out into a menacing grin. “Apparently not. They willingly walked into their own tombs down here. Every one of you will die, starting with that noisy fleabag of a disgusting beast.”
We weren’t going to make it easy for them. No one was turning today even if it meant a fight to the death. They better be ready for hell.
The third vampire slowly began to circle us. A female with eyes full of bloodlust. She was the first to leap at us. Angel dodge and snapped her jaws in the air, missing the vampire’s body. I slammed her head with the butt of my rifle as the rest joined the fray.
