Something of the Night (34 page)

“Goddamn it,” Jacob spat. He
knelt down beside the vampire. “What can I do?” he asked, knowing the end was
near.

“Please,” the vampire said,
“take my hand.” Its remaining hand moved away from the stump. The jet of blood
had slowed to a trickle. Jacob quickly checked his hand for any cuts or
abrasions. He found none so took the soldier’s hand in his. It felt cold and
bony.

“Thank you,” the vampire
said, and his head slipped sideways as the last of his energy began to ebb
away.

“What’s your name, son?”
Jacob asked, forcing compassion.

“Jonas,” he replied quietly.
Then he forced himself upright and gritted his teeth. They were bright white in
contrast to his sickly grey skin. “No,” he said defiantly. “My name is Jason.”
He seemed to regain some strength, dragging the last threads of life from his
very being. “
They,
” - he nodded towards the vampires that raced all
around them - “They call me Jonas, but my name is Jason.”

“Okay, Jason. Take it easy.”

“I’m dying, aren’t I?” Jason
asked.

The tracker began to shake his
head, but the look of acceptance in the vampire’s eyes stopped the gesture
short. “Yes,” he admitted. “You’re dying.”

The vampire surprised Jacob.
He smiled, a soft genuine look of gratitude. “Good,” he said, “I didn’t want to
end up like the rest. Killing others so I could live. It’s not right. None of
this is right.” He looked around at the terrible world they found themselves
trapped in. “I won’t miss this place.”

“You’re going to a better
one,” Jacob told him.

“I hope so. God, I hope so.”

The vampire’s grip tightened
for a second. The last of his strength slipped away. His hand loosened and fell
into his lap. Jacob bowed his head for a second, offering the teenager a moment
of silent respect.

Then he stood and looked at
the figures around him, from one face to the next. What he found stunned him.
Most looked terrified. Not hideous, as he had originally thought. They ran from
one position to the next, either trying to take cover from the incoming shells
or ducking to avoid gunfire. They were uncoordinated and scared. Not an army of
evil bloodsuckers with no morality or sympathy in their veins, but a bedraggled
group of individuals desperately trying to survive. Ezekiel’s crazed ramblings
of peace for the two races now made sense. Why fight, when peace was the
obvious solution for both? Their chances of survival rested on them finding a
way to exist together. Not killing each other. In that second, Jacob reached
the same point that Ezekiel had. Peace between the two races really was the
only guarantee of their continued survival. They must end this confrontation
and seek a less destructive solution.

He spun around in search of
Elliot. The young tracker was nowhere in sight. Jacob took a deep breath. He
would have to leave the safety of his boy in Elliot’s hands. If he couldn’t
stop the vampires and humans from killing each other, then there would be no
future for his son anyway. He took one last look at the surrounding woodland
and made his decision. His son could be anywhere. Elliot had as much skill as
he did and, more importantly, a good head start.

Jacob headed towards the
front line. There, he expected to find the leader of the vampires, and possibly
the only man who could save what was left of the human race.

***

Elliot found himself stunned for a second. Dirt fell
out of the sky in a shower of mud and soil. A deep crater had been blown out of
the earth less than ten feet in front of him. He climbed to unsteady feet and
tried to gather his senses. The cries for help had vanished and in their place,
a continuous ringing sounded in his ears. Distant explosions reverberated
through the woodlands as the battle continued to rage.

The woods behind him lit up
and the trees before him jumped to life as they lurched out towards him with
skeletal arms. The flames of the explosions dimmed, the macabre shadows
retreated, and the trees once again became lifeless husks. One shadow, however,
continued to move. It was this very real threat that Elliot urgently pursued.
He bounded through the trees and closed in on the retreating shadow. Another
cry for help found its way through the darkness and its urgency spurred the
tracker on, making him dive headlong into the wooden labyrinth without caution.
His breathing became laboured, but between gulps of air, he heard the snap of
twigs and more muffled cries for help. Elliot looked up and saw the dark figure
slip gracefully between two large trees. The tracker changed his position and
headed to intercept. He tore past the tree to the right and charged down on the
dark apparition.

They collided and all three
tumbled to the ground. The air in Elliot’s lungs exploded outwards as he landed
heavily on his back. For a few desperate seconds he lay there, struggling to
draw breath. He bent his head between his legs and forced his lungs to pull in
oxygen. His chest expanded and the rush of oxygen cleared his head. He looked
up to find a tall, lean figure standing over him. A hand rose and Elliot caught
the dark glint of gunmetal.

A shadow moved in the corner
of his eye. The little boy appeared and his short arms reached out towards the
weapon. “NO…
Please…
” his young lips cried. The figure flicked his
wrist, almost casually, and the barrel of the pistol dealt a glancing blow
against the boy’s skull. He dropped heavily into the undergrowth. His plea for
mercy died instantly.

Elliot jumped to his feet,
but the weapon was jabbed close to his head and the threat pushed him
backwards, against a tree. The figure stepped closer, keeping the muzzle close
to Elliot’s head. A thin, cruel face broke through the gloom.

“Move and I’ll blow your
brains all over the place,” Isaac warned.

Elliot’s hands rose. “Just
don’t hurt the boy.”

“I’ll do as I please,” the
lean vampire hissed. The look of hatred and spite confirmed his words. His eyes
held no mercy or reasoning.

“Where are you taking him?”
Elliot dared to ask.

Isaac’s eyes narrowed
suspiciously. “What concern is it of yours?”

“None,” Elliot replied, too
abruptly.

Isaac stood back, gathering
his thoughts. The lieutenant’s plan to overthrow Ezekiel’s reign had already
suffered a huge setback.

Earlier, he and Brother
Jeremiah had watched as the prisoners climbed to safety. Both had stood
twitching anxiously as their plan neared its conclusion. They expected the last
remnants of the human resistance to come fleeing from their hideout and drop to
their knees, begging for mercy. Instead a long convoy of trucks broke through
the darkness; Isaac’s secret army having done little or no damage to the
humans’ numbers. Then, to their horror and dismay, Raphael’s army appeared.
Jeremiah turned to his accomplice, ready to ask for guidance, but his questions
were drowned out by the scream of artillery. And then Jeremiah was no more.
Isaac blinked and the long-haired vampire had disappeared in a flash of fire,
along with almost half of his breakaway faction. In one second they’d been
standing, about to bask in their victory, and in the next, they were reduced to
less than ten men. More shells fell from the dark sky and the lieutenant fled
with the cries of his dying men in his ears. In a blind rage, he headed for
Ezekiel’s Airstreamer, intent on the vampire leader’s demise. But he arrived
too late, as Raphael’s missiles had already rid him of his hateful adversary.
Or so he thought. The little boy was dazed and wandering and Isaac had snatched
him up and carried him into the woods, intent on devouring the innocent’s soul
in revenge.

Now, he was hindered by the
human who stood before him. His skeletal finger pulled the trigger further. His
initial thought was to kill the human now, then devour the boy in ravenous
glee. Isaac’s finger relaxed. His eyes narrowed and then his thin lips parted
in a ghastly grin.

“There should be a witness to
my triumph,” he said, and stepped back. The gun, however, stayed pointed at
Elliot’s head. The vampire leaned to the side slightly and his free arm
disappeared into the tangle of undergrowth. His hand searched around before
reappearing with the boy’s limp figure clasped between his cruel fingers.

“What are you doing?” Elliot
asked urgently. The look on the vampire’s face had turned his blood cold.

Isaac’s jaws opened and a
deathly fit of laughter bled out. “I’m going to show you just how seriously I
take Ezekiel’s promise of freedom. I’m going to bestow the ultimate gift of
life. Death!” Isaac lowered his jaws towards the boy’s throat. The gun wavered
slightly and Elliot seized his chance. He catapulted off the tree before
throwing himself towards the vampire. They collided and the gun went off.
Elliot felt the skin of his chest sear with pain. He staggered back. Looked
down at his chest. A patch of blood was rapidly spreading outwards from a small
hole just above his heart.

His legs buckled and he fell
heavily against the tree.

Chapter
Fifty-One

Jacob Cain raced towards the front line. He zigzagged
over open ground, avoiding the many lines of gunfire, and reached the inner
column of soldiers unscathed. The deep line of vampires had started to break
down, holes appearing within their ranks as more and more shells rained down
from the sky. The screech of artillery was met by the screams of those who felt
the brute force of Raphael’s firepower.

Jacob pushed his way through
to the front. It wasn’t hard. Most of the vampires were falling back in a
desperate attempt to flee. The tracker broke clear to find a wave of solid
metal before him. Some of the armoured vehicles were pushing forwards, slotting
themselves between the rows of trucks, closing the line and halting the
advancing army’s progress. The front wave of attackers scattered in a spray of dismembered
limbs. The machinegun-fire from Ezekiel’s men cut them down like a scythe
harvesting wheat. But as quickly as they fell, others took their place, and the
onslaught was never-ending.

A group of vampires bearing
Raphael’s insignia swarmed over the jeep to Jacob’s right. The driver and
gunner were pulled towards a bloody death.

“There’s too many!” someone
yelled at his side. A face full of terror filled his vision. “Let’s get out of
here,” the soldier cried. He snatched Jacob’s arm and tried to pull him away
from the carnage. Jacob felt himself pulled suddenly along. A series of bullet
holes stuttered along the vampire’s back. The soldier fell forwards, taking
Jacob with him. Another line of bullets punched through the side of a jeep,
directly where Jacob had been standing, and the soldiers inside were cut to
pieces.

Jacob climbed to his knees
and watched as the attackers broke through the files of trucks and
eighteen-wheelers. They swarmed towards him like a legion of upright ants. He
pointed his weapon and dropped the first two. They fell to the earth and the
boots of their own comrades squashed them into the mud. Shots were fired in his
direction. The air sizzled all around him. He rolled to his left and fired into
their path. A vampire’s knee exploded in a shower of red pulp. The soldier fell
forwards and two more were brought down with him. Jacob squeezed off the rest
of his ammo, then turned and ran. With his shoulders hunched over, he cut his
way through the darkness and headed diagonally away from the ensuing horde. He
lost them in the dark, changed his direction, and headed back towards the front
line.

“Hold the line!” he heard.

Ezekiel was standing high at
the rear of a jeep, behind the smouldering barrel of a machinegun. The weapon
chattered and a dark wave of flesh was torn apart. The vampire leader’s face
was spattered with the blood of the fallen and his eyes had glazed over,
temporarily intoxicated by the bloodshed.

“Ezekiel!” Jacob yelled.

Jacob jumped up into the rear
of the jeep and grabbed the vampire’s arm. The stutter of bullets ceased
immediately. Ezekiel turned. His face sneered at this unwanted interrupter.
Jacob opened his mouth to speak, but the vampire’s fist silenced any reasoning.
The punch landed at the side of Jacob’s jaw and he toppled back, his foot
slipping over the back of the jeep. He fell, landing heavily on his back. For a
second the darkness threatened to close in all around him. He sucked in air
before climbing to a sitting position. Above, Ezekiel leered over him like a
demented ghoul. The vampire reached for the pistol in his waistband.

“NO… ” Jacob cried.

Suddenly, a deafening clap of
thunder sounded and the ground lurched upwards as a shell exploded directly in
front of the jeep. The driver and engine-block disintegrated in a shower of
flesh and metal. The jeep’s rear tipped upwards, throwing Ezekiel clear, and
then it somersaulted forwards, crushing the wave of attackers as it bounced and
spun, disintegrating in a deadly mass of wreckage.

Something heavy landed on Jacob’s
chest. He found the vampire’s dazed face above him. Ezekiel shook his head and
the red veil recoiled from his vision.

“You?” he said, now
recognising his captive.

“My boy? Have you seen my
boy?” Jacob asked.

The vampire looked back
blankly for second. Then his eyes widened with comprehension. “He’s
your
son… ” Ezekiel stated.

“Yes. Have you seen him?”

The vampire shook his head.
“He’s with Thalamus.”

Jacob mirrored the vampire’s
gesture. “No, he isn’t,” he responded. “Thalamus is dead.”

Ezekiel’s large hand thrust
out to catch Jacob by his jacket. “What?”

“He’s dead,” Jacob repeated.

“Bastard!” Ezekiel spat.

Jacob gripped the other’s
hand. “Not by me,” he said. “The trailer took a direct hit.” And then he
surprised himself. “I’m sorry,” he added, with genuine conviction.

Ezekiel read the human’s
sincerity. “He died… quickly?”

“Yes,” Jacob lied.

“Good,” Ezekiel said. He
climbed to his feet then held out his hand. Jacob took it. “We must find your
boy,” Ezekiel said.

“No,” Jacob disagreed. “We
must defeat Raphael, or my son won’t stand a chance. None of us will stand a
chance!”

“But we can’t just leave him,
for them.” He gestured towards his own men. “They don’t understand,” he said.
“Life has to be cherished.”

“My nephew, the other
prisoner, he’ll take care of the boy. We need to take care of them.” Jacob’s
bloodied finger pointed to the opposing army.

“Okay,” Ezekiel agreed. “But
how?”

“Follow me,” Jacob ordered.
He moved away and dropped to his knees, next to a fallen soldier. His hands
moved over the corpse in a blur.

“What the hell are you
doing?” Ezekiel asked, drawing alongside.

“Looking for these,” he
explained, and offered his hand upwards. A round grenade appeared, clutched
between tight fingers.

“What good are they?”

“Trust me,” Jacob said.

The tracker jumped to his
feet and crouched over the next body he came to. “Help me,” he urged. The
vampire dropped over a third body. His examination proved fruitless. He moved
to the next body and came away with two more grenades. After a quick search,
they had amassed an assortment of both frag and smoke grenades.

“It’ll have to do,” Jacob
commented, splitting them two ways as best he could.

“What now?” the vampire
asked.

“Follow me,” Jacob ordered
for a second time.

With the leader of the
vampires in tow, Jacob headed towards the first line of attackers, heading
deeper into battle, rushing headlong towards the line of enemy soldiers. The
dark mass of a tank filled the night with its threatening bulk. Smaller pieces
of darkness split away from the main body as vampire soldiers broke from cover.
Jacob picked off the one at the front with a headshot. The dark phantom dropped
instantly to the earth.

Ezekiel halted the rest with
a spray of bullets. He swept the machinegun in a tight arc and cut the legs
from beneath those that threatened.

“Hurry!” Jacob called.

Ezekiel looked towards the
tank as flames burst from its snout. The shell cut its way through the
darkness, scorching the air as it went, before tearing its way into the rear of
a transport. The impact took the transport from existence. Now, just a twisted
heap of metal remained, as flames with a white-hot centre rose towards the sky.
The flash of fire reflected brightly off the dark belly of the low clouds.

In desperation, Jacob fired a
shot at the giant metal beast. The bullet ricocheted harmlessly off its
armour-plating with a pathetic
ping.
In the next second, an entire
platoon of soldiers materialised before them, as if pieces of darkness had been
formed into substance and the night had given them hatred and purpose. They
appeared from behind the tank, swarming around it in a rush to reach them.

“There’s too many,” Jacob
shouted, squeezing off the last of his ammo. He heard a cry of agony and the
sound bent his lips into a macabre grin.

Ezekiel dropped to his knee
and pulled the machinegun into his shoulder. The weapon kicked up dirt in front
of the ensuing horde. Readjusting the barrel, he brought down the front line.

And then the weapon fell
silent.

“Christ, I’m out!” he cursed.

“Me too!” Jacob said.

The dark forms began to close
in all around them. Jacob searched around desperately for a fallen weapon. He
found none. Behind him, he heard a sputter. He turned and saw thick white smoke
escaping from the vampire’s hand. Ezekiel threw the smoke grenade at the rush
of bodies. A large cloud of mist pumped out and blew towards the right flank of
soldiers, offering Jacob and Ezekiel a veil of cover. However, the left rank
kept coming and the tank rumbled ever closer, the earth trembling under it.

“We’re trapped,” Jacob
moaned, understanding there was no escape. But then, just before the soldiers
had them in their sights, a sudden line of tracer-fire cut through the
darkness. In their droves, the soldiers fell, clutching at shattered limbs or
holding in exposed innards.

Jacob and Ezekiel ducked for
cover. Jacob chanced a look over his shoulder, and in the distance he saw the
flash of gunfire as Ezekiel’s men launched a full onslaught on the advancing
army. Seizing their chance, they half-ran, half-crawled towards the tank,
becoming instantly lost in the chaos of battle.

“THIS WAY,” the vampire
called. He changed direction and headed deeper into the white, drifting cloud.
As he took a few steps closer, Jacob felt the earth beneath his feet quake. The
tank emerged from the haze like an iron nightmare breaking through the fog of
sleep.

“Jacob – DOWN!” he heard. He
dropped to the mud as series of bullets whistled over his head. A soldier burst
through the curtain of mist and homed in. A second shape appeared, but this one
moved to intercept the first.

Ezekiel raced forwards,
leaping over the tracker. He slammed his fist into the soldier’s face. Its jaw
bent into a comical grin and, with legs buckling, it fell backwards and out of
sight. Ezekiel helped Jacob to his feet. They turned. The wide snout of a
cannon protruded through the smoke. The tank’s tracks shuddered to a halt. The
cannon swung towards their heads.

“Oh … no. We’re in deep shit
now,” Jacob groaned.

Fear
rooted them both to the spot. The stench of diesel
fumes hung heavily in the air. Something clunked noisily, deep down at the base
of the cannon, and Jacob and Ezekiel listened with sickening dread. The tank
appeared to shudder. In the next instant, Jacob became a blur of motion. Ezekiel
had a second to see a grenade clutched between the tracker’s fingers. A short
rattle of noise followed as the grenade worked its way to the base of the
cannon.

Ezekiel understood instantly.
He jumped forwards, throwing both himself and the tracker to the ground. The
darkness behind them lit up in a blinding flash of fire. An incredible wave of
heat washed over them.

Jacob turned his attention to
the tank. The cannon had been ripped apart right down to its base and the
turret looked bent and misshapen. A small hatch opened on top of the distorted
turret. Two charred hands appeared. They grew into arms, then something
blackened and hideous climbed free. The tank commander wavered before toppling
over, his legs burnt beyond recognition. Jacob watched with sickened wonder as
the charred remains continued to pull themselves clear. The vampire’s misery
ended quickly. It lay twisted and motionless, surrounded by a black sward of
scorched earth.

“Let’s go,” Jacob said,
quickly moving away from the smouldering remains.

Ezekiel followed.

They crisscrossed the
battlefield, now having to avoid Raphael’s soldiers, the constant threat of
gunfire from the remaining humans who were trapped above them on the tight
trail, and the onslaught of Ezekiel’s own army. Somehow, amazingly, they
reached the rear of the next tank unscathed.

“You ready?” Jacob asked,
crouching behind the heavy armour-plating, taking cover from the bullets that
whizzed by. He chanced a look over the side. The humans above fired towards the
approaching army with everything they had. Hang on, he thought to himself. He
ducked back and then scanned the skies above. Where the hell was Black Bird?

“What are you looking for?”
Ezekiel asked over the cacophony of battle.

“Nothing,” Jacob replied.
“But don’t leave my side. No matter what.”

Ezekiel’s eyes narrowed with
suspicion. “Why?”

Jacob grinned. “Trust me.”

They waited for the gunfire
to break before quickly scooting around the side of the tank. The entire
vehicle jumped back and another missile tore through the night, heading for the
trapped convoy. The noise was deafening. Jacob threw his hands to his ears. He
shook his head, but the world around him had become confusing and distorted. He
felt himself pulled along, around to the front of the tank. A second later, a
barrage of bullets zipped off the side of the tank, directly where he’d just
been. The moment of disorientation passed and he heard Ezekiel speaking into
his ear.