Nothing had survived. Andy strode out into the plaza, purveying his carnage. “Is that it?” He spread his arms out, rifle in one arm, Julie in his other. “Don’t fancy it yourself? Are you scared?”

A zombie staggered into view. Andy trained his rifle on it, but paused. The thing was unmoving, as though it was listening to him.

“I’m not running anywhere,” Andy said. All around him, zombies wandered out of the shadows. Purple ink pooled in their eyes as he shone the beam of his headlamp on them. They watched him, heads limp on their shoulders. Due to his Agumentation’s Combat Conceptualisation module, Andy knew exactly how many rounds he had left in the magazine just by feeling the weight of his rifle–not enough to kill every zombie in the building, but that wasn’t his intention.

“The rooftop,” he said, following the same access passageway which he’d used earlier with Clara. The zombies followed him slowly, keeping their distance, then waited at the door as he climbed the stairwell to the roof. Outside, cold air kissed his face. He walked out onto the rooftop. As his ears recovered from the ringing–another perk which came with being a super soldier–Andy was surprised by how oddly quiet the night was. There were no engines outside, no gunfire. Only him and Julie.

Alert, his AI said over the fading tinnitus. Threat level: Severe.

“I need you to be quiet for a while,” Andy said. “You’re not going to understand this, so just shut up and let me do my job.”

Affirmative.

Andy propped his rifle against a ventilation pipe and sat down. He took out the cigar and lighter. What had the merc said? Chop off the end? Andy sliced through the roll with his combat knife, then took a drag, smacking his lips. It gave him a bit of a rush, but didn’t taste great. Smoking didn’t really suit him, you could only get so high off it, and constantly rolling cigs was a faff. But he’d made a promise to the merc, and he had a code. Andy dragged as much as he could take then blew a cloud. As the smoke dissipated, what replaced it was a deeper black than the night’s sky. A face appeared in the blackness, pale and baleful.

“I’ve got a request,” Andy said, taking another drag.

“Speak.” The vampire’s black wings shuddered as he spoke. His voice was resounding, as if resonating through its entire form.

“Bite me. Feed on me, or whatever. I want to be your disciple.”

“Thou art unsuitable.”

“Don’t say that, I’m really edgy, you know. I’d fit right in. Look, I even smoke.”

“Witless fool. Thy blood is squandered upon thee; a swine wallowing in wine. I shall ingest thy might, and thereby ascend to godhood.”

“Alright then, how about this?” Andy dragged on his cigar. “I won’t put up any resistance.” He patted Julie. “I won’t fight back. Take your time. But stay here, you know. Bit me, then cuddle me. Give me a bit of aftercare.”

In the car park below them, the rev of an engine broke the night’s silence. Clara must have found a vehicle. She was going to be safe.

“I will do with you as I please. Resist or not, the night is long, and thy endurance dwindles.”

“You know I can make this difficult for you,” Andy said. “Just spare my sister.”

The vampire appeared before him on a column of smoke. It stood nine feet tall, dressed in a regal black gown with a tall spiked collar. Eyes like two polished obsidian gems beheld him. It extended an arm, slender fingers ended in hawk-like nails.

“Fine,” Andy said. “Let me finish my cigar?”

The vampire flicked its finger, and Andy’s cigar went out.

“Got a light?” Andy asked.

The vampire grabbed him under the chin. Long fingers wrapped around his neck, fingernails pierced his spine. Andy winced and ground his teeth. The vampire pulled him to its chest then wrapped its jaws around his throat. Primal terror warred with Andy’s willpower. But this was no time for fear. This was his only chance to redeem himself for the terrible vampire pun that he’d made last night.

“That’s alright,” Andy said, wincing as fangs pierced his flesh. “I’ve got a spare.” He unpinned one of five frag grenades strapped to his chest. Beneath his shirt was the plastic bag full of silver jewellery. It would act as shrapnel in the explosion. Whether it harmed the vampire or not, he would never know. But by then, he’d be in pieces, and wouldn’t care.

Andy’s muscles squeezed and contracted as the blood was sucked from his veins, but he focussed on clenching the grenade’s safety catch. Every second could count–the longer he kept old vamps distracted, the more likely Clara was to escape. Black spots appeared in his vision. His Augmentation pumped steroids into his veins, but they were just as quickly drained from him. His mind flickered. He was close now, the pain was fading, the end was near. There was a profound sense that he was coming home.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The sound of gunshots pierced his numbness. Andy squirmed in the vampire’s grip to look towards the sound. Clara was on the rooftop, her pistol flashing with each shot as she strode towards them. Fear washed through Andy, more stringent than before. His sister had not fled. She was here, and she needed his protection. He couldn’t die.

Andy tore the grenade from his bandolier and tossed it aside. He drew the wooden stake at his hip and lodged it under the vampire’s armpit, stabbing the heart. The monster screamed and released its grip. As Andy landed, he shielded his face from the grenade’s explosion with his leather jacket. A control panel detonated nearby, shrapnell pelted his jacket like a handful of pebbles. Andy staggered upright and drew Julie, but then the ground slammed into him. His vision span. He tried to rise, but something smashed into his side, flinging him through the air. He crashed to the ground in a heap. The world was numb around him.

Priority Alert: Mutation detected. Emergency antibodies activated.

Andy tried to rise, but was too dizzy to go further than his knees. He touched his neck. There was no sensation in his face, but no blood on his palm. He felt more drunk than he’d ever been in his life, and sick. Sick to his core. The urgency to act appeared and vanished. He tried to grasp it, but it sifted through his fingers like sand. His Augmentation’s powers flickered and faded. There was no omniscient Combat Conceptualisation module mapping the rooftop, no Killer Instinct except his own, and it faltered, like wading through a bog, his mind was clogged.

Clara bore down on the vampire, two ultraviolet lights in her hands like sabres, burning away the black smoke of the vampire’s mantle. Strands of her blond hair escaped her ponytail, bristling before her face. The vampire raised its arms to defend itself, but Clara cut into them. Sparks showered from the impact as though Clara had taken a welding torch to the vampire’s corporal form. The vampire screeched and lunged. Clara ducked beneath the blow and stabbed the monster in its chest with both bulbs. They shattered on impact with a rupture of smoke. The vampire staggered back as Clara drew two more bulbs from her rucksack. As she clenched them, their inactive grey shells lit up, blazing blue. She lunged and struck the vampire in the face. The monster flailed, whipping its black cloak up in defence, retreating before her onslaught. It leapt backwards, gliding through the air, and landed in the shadows. Its jaw dissented like a hatch and it screeched, a piercing sonic wave. Clara winced and covered her ears. The ultraviolet sabres faded as she dropped them.

Andy watched the fight happen through a haze. He had a sense that Julie was nearby on the rooftop, but he couldn’t tell where. His powers were malfunctioning. He’d lost too much blood.

“Here,” a voice said, low but feminine, strong and sweet. Andy turned his head but couldn’t see in the dark. He reached out and felt the tug of a lover’s allure in his hand. “Hold me.”

The vampire swooped in for an attack. Clara stuck her hands out in defence, and a flash of lightning burst from her palms, blue at its centre like a taser. Andy couldn’t believe his eyes. What sort of device was that? The electricity shot through the vampire, arching its spine. Drawing its cape, the vampire darted aside, shifting through the shadows in an instant, flanking her, extending both claws to strike. Clara drew two more bulbs from her backpack and they flickered to life just in time for her to intercept the strike. The vampire seized the ultraviolet bulbs, smoke billowing from its searing flesh. Arching its back, the monster grew twice in size, pushing down upon his sister. The light went out as the bulbs shattered in its grasp. The vampire’s jaw descended like the mouth of a coffin to engulf her. Clara’s face disappeared into the dark.

Suddenly, Julie snapped into Andy’s hand. The rest was instinct. Andy aimed down her sights and blew the vampire’s jaw off its hinges. Black smoke coalesced around the wound, reforming the jaw. Andy aimed down the iron sights and fired again, blowing its face apart. The vampire’s form shifted like a storm cloud as blue electricity shot through it, then Clara burst out beneath it and drew her final two bulbs from her backpack.

She swung them in bright arches, chopping into the vampire’s shoulder. Sparks erupted from the impact, but she held the bulb steady, cutting through his flesh like a power tool sawing through steel. The vampire clawed at her face, but she deflected the blow with her other bulb, severing the claw at its wrist. Clara drove one of the glowing blue bulbs into the vampire’s stomach. It sank into his ashen flesh, a yellow fire erupting in its core. Its imposing presence deflated like a balloon until all that was left was the pale husk of a decrepit man. It knelt, sparkling blue bulb dug into its chest, and snarled up at Clara as the skin peeled away from his face, revealing the skeleton of its jaw and the pointed canines which had pierced Andy’s neck.

“Wench,” it hissed. “Thou art inferior.”

Piss off,” Clara grabbed the vampire under its jaw, raising its skull to the moonlight. “Suck on this.” She jammed the bulb down its throat, like plunging a hot poker into a bucket of water, it screamed and hissed in a burst of sparks and vapour. A burning like erupted inside the vampire’s skull, penetrating its dark purple eyes, lighting it up like a halloween pumpkin. Clara withdrew the second bulb, jutting out of the vampire’s ribs and drew it across its neck, then began sawing. Smoke bellowed out the neck wound as Clara slowly tore the vampire’s head free of its shoulders. Finally, she dropped its limp body to the rooftop. The corpse erupted into flames. Clara tossed the head onto the pile, then stowed the last of the bulbs in her backpack.

She strode over to Andy, breaking into a run as she spotted him kneeling, barely upright, and lifted him into her arms. “Are you okay?”

“Suck on this,” Andy repeated. “Of course… It was so obvious, all along.”

“Stay with me,” she said. Her voice trickled over Andy, pleasant, but without meaning. His vision span.

Priority Alert: DNA compromised. Mutation detected. Emergency protocol initiated. Shutting down.

The lights went out. Thoughts vanished. Andy plummeted into a void.