The moon shone brightly in an otherwise clear sky. Its light illuminated the surrounding area and forced Tyrone Johnson and his two companions to retreat further behind the undergrowth.
"Bloody typical," Bill Anderson complained and received a withering look for his trouble.
The sound of shuffling feet reached them from further down the trail and Johnson risked lifting his head to get a better view. The trail led to one of the many guard compounds littered throughout the state from the days when the thralls had kept the humans locked up in camps. That was before they started using the serum all the time. This particular one wasn't the closest to the city, but it was the nearest that could handle the number of humans involved in this particular punishment. Johnson sighed with relief when the group came into view. If they had chosen incorrectly, a lot of people would have died. As it was, he hoped that they wouldn't all die anyway.
About a hundred yards down the trail Johnson could see five thralls striding confidently toward them. The humans behind them were, in contrast, frightened and shuffled awkwardly along the trail. The line was orderly, with three abreast, stretching as far back as he could see in the pale light.
"All right," he whispered as he turned to his companions. "When the guards go by we go. And for God's sake, remember to shuffle."
The first row of humans passed by and Johnson could see the look of pure terror in their eyes. Goddamned serum, he thought bitterly. Each and every human in that line was all too aware of what was about to happen, but was physically incapable of doing anything about it.
"Good, no vampires," he whispered and then the three companions slipped into the line and quickly fell into step with those around them.
Harris surveyed the scene below from his vantage point in a tree near the camp. A chain link fence reached some ten feet in height around the compound and culminated in a wicked spiral of barbed wire. The fence used to be electrified, but the guards had had it too easy for so long that they had become complacent. The fence had not been maintained in quite a while and current no longer flowed through it.
The overall shape of the compound was rectangular and measured some three hundred yards in length by two hundred wide. At each corner of the camp was a twenty-foot guard tower manned by at least one thrall. To his right Harris could see the barracks where the guards slept. Beside that was the motor pool, which housed some ten vehicles. Other buildings dotted the circumference of the camp. Harris could identify the armoury and mess hall easily enough, but the other buildings remained a mystery. Many of the buildings bore the look of neglect. This camp was too far outside of town and had been abandoned since the serum had replaced these prisons. Everywhere he looked Harris could see signs of recent occupancy, the thralls had rushed out here just that morning to prepare for the vampires" show tonight and he hoped that the thrall's unfamiliarity with the camp would work in their favour. To his left was the entrance to the compound, comprising of two huge gates flanked on either side by guard towers.
Harris shifted position. The pain in his stomach was from tension not cramp, so all he could do was ignore it while he watched the gates open. The guards led the doomed group into the camp and proceeded to assemble them in the large forecourt. It was early evening and, already, Harris could see the sun beginning to sink behind the horizon. Shadows grew longer inside the camp and a cold breeze seemed to herald the approaching darkness. Harris shivered. When all the humans finally past the main gates the thralls closed the huge doors and assembled the poor wretches into neat rows within the main courtyard. A deathly silence descended over the camp, as if the thralls too were nervous.
Harris looked at his watch. Three minutes, he thought. In the distance he could hear the faint rustling noises they had all come to dread.
The noise grew louder and louder until, finally, Harris could make out the outline of the approaching swarm. They came from the east and their ebony darkness filled the sky. They screeched and swooped at the assembled humans and added further to the terror of the pathetic group below. Each time they swooped into the compound the camp's lights illuminated their hellish features and Harris felt his resolve slip.
Twenty! My God, twenty of them, he thought in horror. What have I gotten us into?
One by one the creatures swooped down and began to change as soon as they touched the ground. Their wings seemed to shimmer and shrink back into their bodies with a cracking of bone that grated on Harris" nerves. Their faces were contorted into sunken, bone-ridged masks of terror and, as he watched in horror Harris could see the flesh begin to flow as if suddenly melting before reforming around the newly crafted features. Their hideous mouths, filled with sharp, over-sized teeth, seemed to crack and fold back in on themselves as flesh began to form over the new bone. Gaunt, angular cheekbones suddenly puffed out and became almost plump. Their bodies too, contorted and cracked as their long, animal forms were replaced with a squatter human frame. The guards dropped to their knees in supplication and Harris gripped his radio tightly, feeling the cold metal dig into his flesh as the abomination before him strengthened his resolve.
"Group Two, begin," he whispered into the mouthpiece.