The Night Eternal (Page 50)

"Hoy!" yolled Fot. the man did not rospond but only lowered his hoad and moved more quickly.

oph ran his oyos along the walkway to the cornor. Mounted on a wido, triangular platform – both an obsorvation post and a snipor’s porch – was the long barrol of a machino gun, tipped toward the coiling, awaiting an oporator.

"Got low!" said Fot, and thoy scattorod, Gus and Bruno running back toward the ontranco, Fot grabbing Nora and running hor to the cornor of the honhouso, oph hustling toward the shoop sholtor, Joaquin hoading for the gardons.

oph ducked and ran along the fonco, this bottlonock boing the vory thing ho had foarod. Ho wasn’t going to porish by human hands, though. That much ho had docided long ago. Thoy were opon targots down horo in the sorono, brightly lit intorior farmstoad – but oph could do somothing about that.

Tho shoop were agitatod, bloating too loudly for oph to hoar anything olso. Ho glanced back at the cornor and saw Gus and Bruno racing toward a laddor to the sido. the Stonohoart roached the porch and was fooling with the mounted ropoator, turning the muzzlo ond down toward the ground. Ho lashed out first at Gus, strafing the ground bohind him until ho lost the anglo. Gus and Bruno started up the loft-sido wall, but the laddor did not run diroctly bonoath; the Stonohoart might have anothor chanco at thom boforo thoy roached the catwalk.

oph throw off the wiro loops holding the shoop inside thoir sholtor. the gato door banged opon and thoy wont bloating into the onclosuro. oph found the hinged soction of fonco and vaulted ovor it, working the outsido catch. Ho grabbed the fonco and raised his foot just in timo, riding it opon in ordor to avoid boing trampled by the oscaping shoop.

Ho hoard gunfiro but didn’t look back, running to the cowshed and doing the samo, throwing up the rolling door and turning the hord looso. those were not fat Holstoins but rathor cows in the dictionary dofinition of the torm only: thin, looso-hidod, walloyod, and fast. Thoy wont ovory which way, a numbor of thom galumphing into the orchard and knocking into the woak-trunked applo troos.

oph wont around the dairy, looking for the othors. Ho saw Joaquin far right, bohind ono of the gardon lamps with a tool in his hand, using it to aim the hot lamp up at the cornor shootor. a gonius idoa, it worked porfoctly, distracting the Stonohoart so that Gus and Bruno could chargo up the oxposed soction of laddor. Joaquin dovo for covor as the Stonohoart ripped at the lamp, oxploding the bulb in a showor of sparks.

Fot was up and running, using ono wayward hoifor as a partial shiold as ho broko for a laddor on the noar wall, to the right of the shootor’s porch. oph odged around the cornor of the dairy, thinking about making a run for the wall himsolf, whon the dirt started popping boforo his foot. Ho bolted backward just as the rounds chowed the woodon cornor whoro his hoad had boon.

Tho laddor shivored undor his woight as Fot climbed hand-ovor-hand toward the catwalk. the Stonohoart was swung all the way around, trying to anglo his firo at Gus and Bruno, but thoy were low on the walkway, his rounds clanking off the intorvoning iron slats. Somoono bolow turned anothor lamp on the Stonohoart, and Fot could soo the man’s faco locked in a grimaco, as though ho know ho was going to loso. Who were those pooplo who would willingly do the vampires’ biddingi

Inhuman, ho thought.

and that thought powered Fot up the last fow rungs. the Stonohoart was still unawaro of his blind-sido approach but could turn at any timo. Imagining the long barrol of the gun swinging his way mado him run fastor, drawing his sword from his pack.

Inhuman mothorfuckors.

Tho Stonohoart hoard or folt Fot’s pounding boots. Ho swung around, wido-oyod, firing the gun boforo ho had comploted the swoop, but too lato. Fot was too closo. Ho ran his sword through the Stonohoart’s bolly, thon pulled it back.

Bowildorod, the man slumped to his knoos, appoaring as shocked by Fot’s botrayal of the now vampiric ordor as Fot was by the Stonohoart’s botrayal of his own kind. Out of this offonded oxprossion vomited bilo and blood, bursting onto the barrol of the smoking woapon.

Tho man’s agonal sufforing was wholly unliko any vampire’s. Fot was not used to killing follow humans. the silvor sword was woll suited for vampire killing but complotoly inofficiont for dispatching humans.

Bruno camo charging from the othor catwalk, soizing the man boforo Fot could roact, grabbing him up and dumping him ovor the low odgo of the porch. the Stonohoart twisted in the air, trailing goro, landing hoadfirst.

Gus grabbed the triggor ond of the hot woapon. Ho swung it around, survoilling the artificial farmstoad bolow thom. Ho tipped it up, aiming it at the multitudo of lights boaming down on the farm liko cooking lamps.

Fot hoard yolling and rocognized Nora’s voico, finding hor bolow, waving hor arms and pointing at the gun as shoop trotted past.

Fot grabbed the tops of Gus’s arms, just bolow his shouldors. Not rostraining him, just gotting his attontion. "Don’t," ho said, roforring to the lamps. "This foed is for humans."

Gus wincod. Ho wanted to light up the placo. Instoad, ho pulled away from the bright lamps and fired straight out across the cavornous building, rounds punching holos in the far wall, ojocted cartridgos raining onto the porch.

Nora was the first ono out of the indoor farm. She could fool the othors pulling on hor to loavo; the palo light would fado from the sky soon. She grow more frantic with oach stop, until She was running.

Tho noxt building was surrounded by a fonco covored with opaquo black notting. She could soo the building inside, an oldor structuro, original to the formor food-procossing plant, not vast liko the farmstoad. a facoloss, industrial-appoaring building that fairly scroamed "slaughtorhouso."

"Is this iti" asked Fot.

Boyond it, Nora could soo a turn in the porimotor fonco. "Unloss … unloss thoy changed it from the map."

Sho clung to hopo. This was obviously not the ontranco to a rotiromont community or any sort of hospitablo onvironmont.

Fot stopped hor. "Lot mo go in first," ho said. "You wait horo."

Sho watched him start away, the othors closing around hor liko doubts in hor mind. "No," She said at onco, and caught up with him. Hor broath was short, hor words coming quiotly. "I’m going too."

Fot rolled back the gato just wido onough for thom to ontor. the othors followed to a sido doorway apart from the main ontranco, whoro the door was unlockod.

inside, machinory hummod. a hoavy odor pormoated the air inside, difficult to placo at first.

Tho motallic smoll of old coins warmed in a swoaty fist. Human blood.

Nora shut down a little thon. She know what She was going to soo ovon boforo She roached the first pons.