My Immortal The Vampires of Berlin (21 page)

The squad drifted past burning buildings as explosions and gunfire rang out all around them. Berlin was in ruins. The debris of war littered the water, including many burned and mutilated bodies. Still, they managed to find levity in their journey.

“Is the dog-paddle your primary combat swimming technique?” Sebastian asked.

“When I joined your half-assed squad, I didn’t realize that I needed aquatic capabilities,” Axel replied as he struggled to swim.

“I didn’t say it was going to be easy.”

“You didn’t say it was going to be impossible either.”

“Don’t worry, pilot. We’ll get you some swimming lessons when this is all over,” Wolf said.

“Asshole,” Axel replied with a smile.

Wolf pushed the decapitated body of a Russian soldier away and grabbed a tree that was floating in the river. The men draped Eva across a thick branch, keeping her head just above the water. “With luck, we’ll pass right through the Russian lines. Then we’ll make our run for the airfield,” Wolf explained, not quite believing his own words.

Just ahead, a searchlight cut through the fog and swept across the river. The beam got closer and a huge explosion gave the sky a momentary orange glow.

“They’re searching for us,” Axel said.

As if on cue, the searchlight swept right towards them. Unfortunately, Axel and Dieter were on the wrong side of the tree—there was nowhere for them to hide.

“Get down!” Wolf yelled. The men took a deep breath and dove underwater as the intense beam closed in.

47

As the bat descended through the clouds, a flare flew through the air below and reflected on its underbelly. Suddenly, the creature changed direction. It had detected something just below the surface of the swirling water.

Dieter held his breath as the searchlight illuminated the water around him. Just when he thought his lungs were going to burst, the water went dark again.

He shot to the surface and gasped for air. Dieter immediately realized that the others were gone. He looked for them, but the smoke and fog that cloaked the river limited visibility to a few meters. Then reality sank in. He was alone.

Suddenly, there was a huge impact in the water, like a meteor. Then he heard something swimming incredibly fast, right towards him.

Dieter turned towards the splashing noise.

“Axel?” he shouted, desperately hoping to hear a response from his friend. But it wasn’t his friend—something was swimming towards him faster than any human being could possibly move.

The kid aimed his rifle into the fog and screamed. “Help! Help me! Mother! Help me!”

48

Yuri swept the searchlight across the river. He was exhausted, but there was no point in trying to sleep. Tok and the others would drink. Then they would fight until one or more of them were bloody. Then—and only then—would they would sleep. That’s what always happened.

“Yuri, come drink with us!” Tokolovskii yelled.

“Get over here!” Pavel added.

“I heard something in the river!” Yuri yelled back. “I need to stand guard. We could be ambushed!”

Tokolovskii knew that Yuri was avoiding him. “There is nothing in the river except dead bodies,” he shouted back. “Take the fish out of your big ears and come drink with your crew. This war isn’t going to last forever.”

49

Wolf and Axel swam through the dark water and searched for Dieter. Suddenly, they heard him cry out. “Mother! Mother! Help me! It’s going to get me!”

Axel freaked. “That was Dieter! That was him! I heard him! Dieter!” The pilot was on the verge of hysterics.

“Calm down!” Wolf said. “Don’t panic! Keep your voice down!”

“But I heard him!”

Wolf slapped Axel across the face. “Get a grip, pilot. I need you to not lose it right now—we’ll find him.” Axel was capable of causing extreme chaos when he was riled up. Wolf knew that he had to keep him calm at all costs. “Take a deep breath.”

Axel took a few deep breaths.

“You okay?

Axel nodded.

With the situation momentarily under control, the men looked for Dieter. A few minutes later, they found him; a bloody chunk had been carved out of his neck.

And with that discovery, their most immediate threat was no longer a Russian searchlight and the situation was no longer under control. In fact, the river adventure had just changed categories from miserable-but-potentially-survivable to irreversibly-fucked-up-and-hopeless.

“Stay calm,” Wolf said. “We’ll get out of this.”

“I’m okay,” Axel replied. “But I have one question.”

“What’s that?”

“Do vampires have aquatic capabilities?”

Then it was Wolf’s turn to lose control. “What do you think we’re dealing with here, a fucking house cat?” he shouted. “Look at his shredded neck! I think it’s obvious that vampires don’t give a rat’s ass if they get wet!”

With Wolf no longer playing the role of the voice of reason, Axel’s world was turned upside down. He had felt safe in the water. The knowledge that they were still vulnerable to the vampires pushed him over the edge.

Axel screamed and fired his rifle into the fog. “Arrrghhhhh! Arrrghhhhh! I will murder them! Arrrghhhhh!” Exactly five shots later, the roar of gunshots was replaced with the click of an empty chamber.

“I’m out of ammo!” Axel cried.

Of course you are
, Wolf thought.

50

Eva woke up. Sebastian was relieved until she spoke. “
They are coming for me
,” she said ominously. A split second later, something grabbed his leg and violently pulled him underwater.

Sebastian struggled to see his adversary through the murk as the searchlight swept across the surface. Then he saw Dumitra—her teeth were clamped onto his leg.

His lungs burned as he fought desperately to get the vampire off of his leg. As his blood filled the water around them, he kicked her nose as hard as he could. The blow from his combat boot knocked Dumitra’s head backwards and enabled him to get away.

The two figures surfaced, gasping for air and fighting desperately as the searchlight and flares illuminated the river around them. Dumitra threw a devastatingly powerful punch, but Sebastian dodged the blow and grabbed her arm. She then pivoted and bit down on his forearm like a bear trap, trying to reach bone. As their eyes met, Sebastian bared his fangs. Stunned by the realization that he was also a vampire, Dumitra released her grip. “You are one of us!” she cried.