by Captain Sammitch, Sonhaven, thedoctor, GoozX and T5
A crowd of people had formed at the edge of the natives' shantytown. Most of them weren't lucky enough to have been rescued by MBL Consulting and were seeking shelter among the penniless, and currently equally vulnerable, natives. They figured they were relatively safe, a bit higher in elevation than before, as the village was nestled a third of the way up the slope of the volcano. But nobody could be sure how long their luck would hold out.
"MOVE!"
The crowd parted like a seven-ten split on a Friday night at the alley. An ancient army-surplus Jeep roared through the break in the crowd, with a dazed yet determined Phil Smith at the wheel. An enraged Ton-Ton was almost keeping pace, spitting his fury in a stream of imprecations in his native tongue. Phil couldn't get the damned Jeep past twenty on the formerly dirt road, which was now nothing more than a really long mud puddle. But he knew for sure he wasn't going to make it on foot. And he had to find the others, because he knew they were in trouble.
The blinding rain was making driving nearly impossible, but Phil, still bleeding and battered from the hammering the waves had dealt him, was hellbent on finding the rest of his team.
As if mocking him, the headlights died, plunging Phil into a near-black night, with an enraged native hot on his heels and an uncertain fate ahead of him.
In the apartment complex, Tayden heard the cries from the outside.
"Listen," he said. "We are not invalids. Those men may be dying out there. I've seen these things before. For lack of a better way of putting it, they are corpses with demons inside. I know you have all heard the stories about how to defeat them, but it's not crosses or archaic symbols that keep them at bay... it's the faith in what they stand for... you just need to believe!" Tayden stopped speaking and smiled.
Just then, someone in the crowd yelled, "They risk their lives for us, man... It's time to return the favor!"
Someone else followed suit. "Yeah, let's do this!"
"I'll bend my bow to your will, sir!" said another. Everyone just looked at that guy. "Come on, I just always wanted a reason to say it... geez."
Tayden stood up and said, "Come with me."
The crowd ran for the door, ready for action. The first wave ran and pushed against it. They were stopped dead in their tracks. The rest of the group rammed against them, not knowing that the door wouldn't open.
"What is it?" one of the group asked.
"The door," another answered, "it's locked." The group let out a collective sigh. Tayden felt that there were a few things that he was going to have to get used to.
Dirk Bell was making his way back to his room and to his weapons cache. He didn't have much that would kill a vampire, but he had plenty that would make them think twice about messing with him.
As he searched his room, he noticed something. The tarp that he had put over the hole was flapping about. It was possible that the wind knocked it loose, but it would have made it completely come off. It was as though someone had put it back. "Oh, Christ! Give me a break," he said as another vampire was making his way toward him.
With catlike reflexes, he scooped up the sonic rifle into his hands and let off a blast. The vampire was pushed back through the hole and out over the surrounding buildings and back into the storm.
"Anticlimactic, but effective." This had proven one thing, though: the attack wasn't helter skelter. Someone found a weak point and infiltrated it. That took planning. That took brains. The group he had handled so far didn't possess them. Someone, or something, else was behind this; and that someone had a purpose.
Outside, things had gotten worse. Vampires, creatures of the night, had stormed the outside of the complex. Blood was flowing down the street, a river of crimson deepening in color as the seconds passed.
Priest's white shirt was stained with blood. He wiped his face as another creature jumped at him. Catching the creature by its neck, Priest tightened his fists. Priest moved one hand up onto the creature's head. With one swift pull, the creature was in two. Priest had lost his weapons in the struggle. There were just too many of the creatures.
He heard a click and quickly turned. One of the creatures had his weapon. He smirked as the creature pressed the trigger. A blade flew out of the handle, taking off the vamp's hand. The creature staggered back.
Priest picked up the weapon. "Energy pulse, seventy percent."
Priest turned the weapon on himself and fired. He gritted his teeth at first because of the pain. Dropping his weapon, his body mass increased by one-hundred percent. With a grin, he towered over the creature. He lifted the vampire off the ground and pounded him into the ground until there wasn't enough of the creature left to regenerate. Rage was overtaking the usually peaceful man.
A rumble filled the air. Without notice, a truck slid off the road and hit him, and both went crashing into the brick wall of the complex.
The words, "I will do what I must," echoed in the man's head.
Smoke rose from the wreckage, and a hand broke through. Priest pulled his body out of the rubble. He was hurt, but knew that he must fight on.
And suddenly, out of the blue, the magnificent UFO hovered over the apartment complex, and the heroic shout of, "MBL assemble!" was heard as Eurostar, Ameristar, and Chance appeared from within and threw themselves into the fray of battle.
Chance saw two vampires actually staking each other by mistake and laughed. Eurostar helped Priest with a vampire that tried to kiss his neck. Ameristar armed with hammers and stakes went forth and started to turn the tide, and Ameristar wondered, "Where did these creatures come from?"