Both Amir and Carson dealt heavy blows with their blades while Curtis was nowhere to be seen. Angel bit down on one of the bloodsucker’s leg, shaking her head viciously. The sound of flesh on flesh and grunts echoed in the tunnel. One of the bloodsuckers leaped at me again and I rolled on the ground, throwing my rifle aside and pulling out my blade to slice into his stomach from below. Blood sprayed onto my face as I crawled, turned and got back to my feet in a ready position with my blade before me.
The female vampire let out an inhuman growl as she slowly straightened and turned to look at me with rage.
“Tsk, tsk. If you wanted to play with blood, human, you best not bet against one that consumes it,” he taunted as he came at me again faster than before.
I jumped to the left but wasn’t able to dodge his claws slicing through my shoulder. Hissing, I turned and swiped the blade upwards, cutting into her neck, but the wound was superficial. Angel jumped toward us but the vampire twisted around and landed a hard kick into her ribs, sending her flying against the tunnel walls with a loud yelp.
Curtis finally came into view as he crawled over to her location.At least he was good for something.Hearing my dog hurt, fueled my growing anger.
On all fours, the vampire leaped and grabbed a hold of my neck in a tight grip, threatening to close off my windpipe. She lifted me off my feet into the air and I struggled to pull in breath. Just then, Angel leaped and tore into her waist making her cry out in pain.
A blade flew in the air and went through the side of her neck to the hilt, throwing her off balance just enough to loosen his hold. I coughed and flexed my abs, bringing my legs up to wrap around her head and twist, taking us both down to the ground. I wrapped my arm around her outstretched one and jerked until the loud sound of a crunch filled my ears. With a smile I elbowed her face and knocked her out.
Vampires were far stronger than us but that didn't matter. We wouldn’t go quietly into the dark night. With all of the deaths I had witnessed in my thirty-four years of life it wasthemthat should be afraid. My morality slowly slipped through my fingertips as I pressed my thumbs into her neck wound, then slammed my hand on the back of the hilt, burying the blade into the ground beneath her as she laid sideways.
Another vampire made their way in my direction with Amir on his tail. I got to my feet, crouched down before he reached me and landed a hard kick between his legs. The bloodsucker fell over, covering his crotch with his hands.
“Kick them in the nuts!” I yelled out, instructing my newfound comrade of their weakness—what seemed to be their only weakness. It was an idiotic move on my part as they now knew what we had planned and avoided the nut shots—well, everyone except the one laying in the dirt in pain. Angel bit his face and jerked her head back, ripping off a piece of his nose. He cried out in agony, shooting his hand out to grab her but she skittered away just far enough, turned and aimed her next bite right between his legs.
I trained her well.
The vampire screamed as he punched Angel in the head but it didn’t dislodge her, only made her bite down further and jerk her head left and right with a menacing growl. When he was finally able to dislodge her, she ran back to my side as he fell to his knees.
“Vik! Watch out!” Carson called out.
I turned around to see what he was talking about but was too late when one of the bloodsuckers climbed the walls, crawled in my direction and scored a punch straight into my face, breaking my nose. Blood sprayed and dripped into my mouth as I tried to regain my bearings. Angel barked and snarled as Amir grabbed the vampire’s shirt and pulled him off the wall.
I staggered a moment when Angel was kicked again, harder than the first time. Carson lodged his blade into the bloodsucker’s pec but it didn’t take him down as the bloodsucker landed a blow into jaw, sending him careening into the wall. With only two vampires left alive, we were still out matched at this point.
One of the bloodsuckers went for Curtis, purposefully aiming for his weak leg. The vampire grabbed hold of his limb and threw him against Carson, knocking him back down.
Grasping his leg, Curtis heaved a painful breath. “Fucking vampire cheap shotting son of a bitch!”
The remaining two vampires surrounded us, laughing maniacally and sending a chill up my spine. I looked around for a strategic plan of escape but our backs were now to an exit point. I didn’t realize our fight moved us in a different direction, further away from the hole we came through.
“I have an idea,” I whispered to my comrades beneath my breath. “It may kill us or it may save us, but anything is better than being food.”
I removed my extra handgun and slowly backed away from our enemies. Angel barked as they hissed back at her. Amir was in front of Carson who was assisting Curtis to stay on his feet. With a last minute decision, I shot the ceiling several times, emptying my magazine and causing the ceiling of the tunnel to break and collapse.
“Run!” I yelled, moving beside Carson to help bear Curtis’ weight from the other side.
The roar of rocks and debris falling behind us drowned out the screams of the vampires as dust filled the air and our lungs. More of the ceiling collapsed than I could have anticipated and we all dove right before the entire section of the tunnel completely caved in, sealing the tunnel forever.
My shoulder throbbed in pain, hurting like hell and I could barely breathe because of the cloud of dirt that surrounded us. I coughed several times like Curtis did when we initially found him. Even my poor dog was now coated in a dust of brown and sneezing. We were a little worse for wear, but we were alive. And we needed to move.
I wasn’t entirely sure if that collapsed tunnel killed the vampires but it did buy us valuable time that we were not going to waste.
“Look, you old coot,” I started. “We have to get moving before those Leto's catch back up to us. I know those stupid bloodsucking cocksuckers are pissed.”
I was tired and this mission trip was a bust. We hadn’t yet made it to the destination when this distraction came along.
“They sucked your cock? That had to be interesting,” Curtis chuckled and began coughing once more.
“I can leave you here, asshole, or we can get moving. Which one ya wanna do?” I asked him jokingly, making light of this fucked up situation.
“I’m about to leave your ass here for the vamps,” Carson growled as he got to his feet and dusted himself off with a scowl. There was a cut beneath his eye caked in dirt.
“Let's go,” Curtis answered. “And just because you saved my ass doesn't make you special. My ass has been saved by a lot of people.” Upon his next hacking cough, I noticed blood in his mucus.
