John turned to Richard, “Where the hell have you been?”
“We were caught up,” said Richard, smiling. “There’s something wrong with your communicator,”
“Same with yours,” John said, keeping his sword trained on Daniel. “Make room,” he commanded. “We have to go to the third level. That’s where the Rebels are.”
“Or so says this cousin of mine,” Alex said, with the point of his massive sword against his double’s neck. “I think that’s quite enough,” Alex said and pulled his sword closer to Erik’s neck. “You can show your true self now.” Suddenly Erik’s face changed. His nose elongated and his eyes stretched out. His mouth became thin and his chin turned pointy. His hair straightened and shortened and his stature grew to almost twice that of Alex’s.
“No way!” Richard said. Erik gave him a ghastly glance.
The elevator opened and they went into the recuperation chamber where there were a hundred or so scientists checking up on the Rebels. The guards inside instinctively formed into a defensive position, with their swords out. “No one move,” John said, as they entered.
Nikolas and the others were almost finished. They were in hibernation now and had returned to their normal state.
Alex said, “When they’re finished, let them go and take those things off of them.” He pointed to the restraints around their necks. Two guards volunteered to go and take them off when it was deemed safe by the scientists, who had to unlock them with a code. This took longer than expected and Alex realized they were just stalling. Suddenly, two guards teleported into the room. They held out their swords to John’s and Alex’s heads.
“Let them go,” one of them said.
Alex did as he was told and let go of Erik. Then, in a fluid motion he turned around and swung his sword at the guard. The guard parried and stood his ground. Daniel and Erik caught the swords the new guards threw at them.
The battle had begun.
The fighters accompanying the large tanker entered the atmosphere first, in order to seal off and provide protection for the tanker. The rains disrupted their vision, so they initiated the infrared windshields. The generals readied themselves for battle and looked out the window of the tanker. They wondered how the vampires could have built such a huge structure covering the entire Atlantic. This meant they had been planning the war since the beginning.
“This,” General Hopkinson sighed, “is incredible.”
“Yeah, well...I guess this is why John told you to go to the western front,” Romsky said.
“We’re going to need someone there instead,” said Hopkinson, pointing to what remained of Africa. “I’ll go there.”
“You’d better check with Howe,” Michio said. He turned to Singh and Chang. “Are you ready?”
They nodded.
“Then, let us go,” he said and the trio unbuckled themselves, and headed for the transports which would take the allotted men to the Vatican library.
“John,” George said, pressing the small button of his earpiece, and tuning into John’s frequency. “I have to tell you something.” He could hear blasts and sword fighting in the background.
“Well, now’s not a good time.”
“It’s urgent. I’ll be short. I don’t think they’ll come from the west, John. It’s too damn far. I’m leading the troops to northern Africa. Is that fine?”
“Yeah!” Then came a large explosion and a pause, but he could still hear breathing. After about ten seconds, he said, “If you think that’s good, then do it! Just make sure they don’t get any reinforcement; that’s all. And send the five hundred allotted for me and Richard. Quick!” The frequency jammed, but Hopkinson was lucky enough to hear the last statement. He looked over to the soldiers sitting behind him. He called one of them over and said, “Send this message to the five hundred. We need them to be at the Atlantic; Richard and John need help!”
The soldier saluted and left to do his bidding. Romsky got up and opened a large canister. The Russian took out his armor and gear.
“Come on,” George said, “we haven’t much time.”
The transport ship diverged towards the Vatican library, deploying a hundred fighters in the air. The fighters circled around the clouds way above the Vatican. The transport silently sped down into the forest and hovered three feet off the ground. The three Generals dropped down along with their men.
The Vatican was completely different from what it had been in Pre-WWIII times. Long ago, it had been the home of the leader of the second largest religious group on the planet. Now it was an impenetrable fortress where the ancient secrets of the vampires were hidden. Access remained granted only to Erik, Daniel, and the Elder Council. The Library itself was a large, square building, about ten stories tall and gray in color. To look at, there was nothing extraordinary about it. The most striking thing was the heavy security around it. There were electric fences and barbed walls around its perimeter, and heavily armored guards stood patrol 24/7. In total there were three hundred guards. Another one hundred guards stood fifteen feet in front of them. Since most of Europe was now full of forests hiding secret buildings, this library, far from the original spot of the Vatican and Rome, remained hidden in the enveloping shadows of the trees. Places like Rome, London, and New York were full of metal, iron and glass. They were inhabited by millions of people who ran the economy of the Vampire Confederation.
Singh, Nakashima, Chang and their troops hid in the forest, behind trees and bushes. Through his communicator, Singh whispered, “Wait for my command. When one of them comes close to the forest, shoot him down. We don’t need any silencer; let it be as loud as possible so we can distract the majority of them. Once that’s done, move towards the central gate and we’ll ambush them. If we’re lucky, they’ll move inside the forest to investigate and that will give us a better chance of getting in quickly. All we can now do is wait.”
Meanwhile, the fighters, still hidden by the dark clouds below them, waited for the command to strike.
*****
The splattering rain created deafening, rapid sounds as the fighters descended faster to get a better view of the giant base. Already, the prescribed units for John and Richard scurried about as their transport hovered above the slippery surface and ran towards the entrance.
Colonel Justus for now took charge of the men sent for John and Richard. He ran fully armed, blinking frequently under the rain as he led his men. The entire platoon activated their protective lenses to shield their eyes from the water. He turned on the communicator and tuned in to John’s frequency. “General Howe,” he said, “I have the reinforcements with me.” Stopping four meters short of the entrance, he glimpsed around the place to see if there was any danger. There were only the remains of the massacre where the ground was black with ashen rainwater. “Tell me what to do.”
All he could hear were explosions, John’s shouts and the clash of metal as he slung his sword around. “Level five.” The frequency jammed up.
“Come on!” Justus yelled and they marched towards the entrance of the base. When he reached the threshold, he narrowly missed a beheading when a large axe flew by him, scraping his chin. “Attack!” was the only word that came out of his mouth as he stood there in shock. The soldiers used flares to light the now darkened room and saw that hundreds of vampires, all sticking to the walls, in order to create an ambush, were glaring at them with fiery eyes, baring their long fangs, and hissing spitefully.
The vampires flew off the walls and glided towards the soldiers, knocking them down and pushing them off-guard. The ones still standing grabbed their semi-automatic silver proton Uzis and fired at their enemies. As the vampires flew down for a second attack, they were caught in the fire and disintegrated. Those who were lucky enough to survive fell to the floor. They ran at lightning speed, dodging the bullets and attacked those who were reloading. They grabbed a hold of them, ripped off their helmets and dug their fangs deep into their necks, feasting on what must have seemed to them like ambrosia. It had been so long since any of them tasted human blood. The sacred life-fluid splattered across the floor as they gorged on their prey.