Page 89 of Bound by Vengeance
The idea of beating and killing somethingflooded his system with adrenaline. Since learning about San Fran,he’d needed to unleash on something, and he might have hischance.
Then, his gaze landed on Vicky and hisbloodlust eased as his instinct to protect her became greater thanhis one to unleash violence. Stepping closer to her, he turned toface the tunnel ahead of them as Duncan crept toward them. Briannudged Abby behind him and toward Vicky.
This time, when Abby reached for her hand,Vicky took it. They held on for a second before releasing eachother.
“Savages,” Vicky whispered as she removed astake from an inner coat pocket and unhooked the crossbow from herside. Abby armed herself with two stakes.
Something clattered behind them. Logan andAsher both drew their weapons as muffled laughter followed theclatter. Asher turned his flashlight off as he crept into theshadows they already traversed.
Vicky kept her flashlight on and slid itinto her pocket, the denim material muffled the glow, as the stenchof decay became more potent. She had excellent night vision, butthe idea of being plunged into the darkness unnerved her. Besides,the Savages’ vision was as good as hers; the dark wouldn’t hidethem from their enemies.
The clacking of teeth from the tunnel aheadsounded more like one of those windup denture things than a livingcreature. Vicky knew a Savage was making that noise, but shecouldn’t help picturing a lipless monster ahead of them, gnashingits teeth together while it chewed on hunks of decaying flesh.
She shuddered at the mental image as sheaimed her crossbow at the tunnel ahead before turning to watchAsher fade deeper into the shadows behind them.
Nathan stepped closer to her, his chestpressing against hers as she stood with her back to the wall. Theyboth kept their arms extended and their weapons aimed at whateverenemy came from either direction.
Through their layers of clothing and flesh,she could feel the steady beat of his heart. The reassuring rhythmof his pulse lulled her until theneedto taste him struckher. Her head spun with the impulse; she almost swayed on her feetas hunger caused her fangs to lengthen. This was entirely the wrongtime and place, but it took her another minute to get her cravingunder control.
So doomed,she thought as her fangsremained extended.
Muffled laughter pulled her attention towhere Asher had vanished. Logan knelt on the concrete floor tenfeet away from them with his crossbow aimed into the shadows as awoman cried out.
“Hey, man,” a drunken voice slurred from thedark.
“Shut up!” Asher commanded.
“Not cool,” the drunk said, and the womanlaughed.
“Get out of here!” Asher hissed at them.
Then, from the shadows, two people staggeredforward with Asher following behind. The humans came to an abrupthalt when they spotted the group gathered within. “What the…?”
The man never got the chance to finish hisquestion as, from ahead of Duncan, a monster burst out of thetunnel. It may not be the hideous beast she’d imagined it to be,but Vicky had never seen a Savage who looked so…insane!
The saliva running down its chin mingledwith the blood coating its lips to create a macabre, pink beard.Its teeth clacked, clacked, clacked as it spun toward Brian andAbby before lunging at Duncan who punched it in the temple,knocking it to the ground. It landed there with its appendagesextended like a bug splattered on the windshield of a Macktruck.
Before any of them could react, anotherSavage leapt from the shadows, followed by another. Like spiders,the Savages tried to skitter up the tunnel walls before gravity wonout and they fell to the floor only to bounce back to their feet.And like spiders escaping an egg sac, there seemed to be an endlessparade of them. So far gone in their hunger, they were more likerabid animals than any rational being.
Shock held Vicky immobile for preciousseconds before her survival instinct kicked in. She fired hercrossbow at one while Nathan started shooting his gun. Some of theSavages shrieked as the bullets pierced their flesh, but only acouple of them dropped.
The human woman screamed and turned to fleeas three Savages raced toward her. Logan staked one, and Asherkicked out the knee of another, but the third pounced on thewoman’s back, slamming her onto the concrete.
The human male howled, and his hands flew upto the sides of his head. He tore out chunks of his hair as hestaggered away from the vampire sitting on his girlfriend’sback.
“Fucker!” Nathan threw aside his emptygun.
“Help her!” Vicky shouted at him.
Everything in him protested the idea ofleaving Vicky unprotected, but doing nothing went against who hewas.
“Shit,” Nathan snarled, and breaking awayfrom her, he shoved past the still howling man to race toward theSavage.
Another creature came at him from the sideas they swarmed over the tunnel. The shouts and grunts of theothers reverberated in the tunnel as they battled back theincreasing horde.
The Savage sank its fangs into the woman’sthroat as Nathan grabbed its shoulder and yanked it back. The vampspun on him, jaws snapping and blood spraying from its lips. Nathanhad never seen one so out of control before, but he didn’t hesitatebefore plunging his stake into the creature’s heart and shoving itaside.
One glance told him the woman was dead.Spinning back, horror filled him when he realized more Savages wereflooding the tunnel, and Vicky was lost within the swarm. There hadto be at least three dozen of them.
