Free Vampire Apocalypse: A World Torn Asunder (Book 1) by Derek Gunn

housed some ten vehicles. Other buildings
dotted the circumference of the camp. Harris could identify the
armoury and mess hall easily enough, but the other buildings
remained a mystery. Many of the buildings bore the look of neglect.
This camp was too far outside of town and had been abandoned since
the serum had replaced these prisons. Everywhere he looked Harris
could see signs of recent occupancy, the thralls had rushed out
here just that morning to prepare for the vampires” show tonight
and he hoped that the thrall’s unfamiliarity with the camp would
work in their favour. To his left was the entrance to the compound,
comprising of two huge gates flanked on either side by guard
towers.
    Harris shifted position. The
pain in his stomach was from tension not cramp, so all he could do
was ignore it while he watched the gates open. The guards led the
doomed group into the camp and proceeded to assemble them in the
large forecourt. It was early evening and, already, Harris could
see the sun beginning to sink behind the horizon. Shadows grew
longer inside the camp and a cold breeze seemed to herald the
approaching darkness. Harris shivered. When all the humans finally
past the main gates the thralls closed the huge doors and assembled
the poor wretches into neat rows within the main courtyard. A
deathly silence descended over the camp, as if the thralls too were
nervous.
    Harris looked at his watch.
Three minutes, he thought. In the distance he could hear the faint
rustling noises they had all come to dread.
    The noise grew louder and louder
until, finally, Harris could make out the outline of the
approaching swarm. They came from the east and their ebony darkness
filled the sky. They screeched and swooped at the assembled humans
and added further to the terror of the pathetic group below. Each
time they swooped into the compound the camp’s lights illuminated
their hellish features and Harris felt his resolve slip.
    Twenty! My God, twenty of them,
he thought in horror. What have I gotten us into?
    One by one the creatures swooped
down and began to change as soon as they touched the ground. Their
wings seemed to shimmer and shrink back into their bodies with a
cracking of bone that grated on Harris” nerves. Their faces were
contorted into sunken, bone-ridged masks of terror and, as he
watched in horror Harris could see the flesh begin to flow as if
suddenly melting before reforming around the newly crafted
features. Their hideous mouths, filled with sharp, over-sized
teeth, seemed to crack and fold back in on themselves as flesh
began to form over the new bone. Gaunt, angular cheekbones suddenly
puffed out and became almost plump. Their bodies too, contorted and
cracked as their long, animal forms were replaced with a squatter
human frame. The guards dropped to their knees in supplication and
Harris gripped his radio tightly, feeling the cold metal dig into
his flesh as the abomination before him strengthened his
resolve.
    “Group Two, begin,” he whispered
into the mouthpiece.
     
     

Chapter 6
    “Group two, begin.”
    The words broke the reverie of
the four companions as they stood quietly together. Harrington
looked at each of his group. Sandra stood to his right. He had
argued strenuously against his daughter coming tonight, but, in the
end, it had been futile. John and Amy Stone sat to his left and
held hands so tightly that their skin had long since turned white.
He looked at each in turn. No words were spoken. None were needed.
The group stood, embraced silently, and melted into the
darkness.
    John Kelly heard the radio
crackle and knew that the time had long passed for changing their
minds. They were committed. He always felt nervous just before an
attack. His stomach would twist, his hands would shake
uncontrollably, and pain would shoot through his body. Normally he
would hide his nervousness and keep his hands in his pockets or sit
alone and pretend to go over the plan one last time. Tonight,
though, he was