Suburban Vampire: Redemption, Book II: Leviathan

Chapter 54

Zed, in werewolf mode, returned from shredding a gap in the ranks of the vampire army. "There are too many of them!" He cried.

"We cannot hold them back," Laura said as she dropped her submachine gun and drew the Hanjo Masamune. "We've got to fall back, Jeremiah!"

Kevin Ellis had run his Saiga empty and was now engaging the vampires with his warhead-loaded SIG 220. "I'm almost out of warheads!" He said.

"Very well," Jeremiah said. "Fall back to the bridge!"

Gaylord Weems decided to take action, crossing the bridge and waiting for Jeremiah's team to join him. "Go on," Gaylord said, "I've got this, even if temporarily."

"Very well. Kevin, help me cover the retreat. The rest of you, fall back to the redoubt position!"

Kevin and Jeremiah stood guard with Gaylord as the others ran across the small bridge. Gaylord stabbed the walking stick into the ground and raised his hands. "You all may wish to cover your eyes for this," he said. "Et lux solis!". His hands began to shine brightly, and white rays of pure light shot forth, causing the vampires to shrink back in fear. Some of the vampires began to sizzle when the rays hit them. "Ah ha! Eat sunlight!"

"How long can you keep that up?" Jeremiah asked.

"Not long! And there is a side effect!"

Jeremiah began to smell smoke. The wood planks below Gaylord were starting to combust. "I see. Perhaps you should now cross the bridge as well?"

"Right. Good idea."

Gaylord grabbed the walking stick. Jeremiah, Kevin, and Gaylord retreated to the other side of the bridge, which began to burn. "Oh great," Tim said, "how are we gonna get back across?"

"I don't think that's the most pressing concern right now, O'Neill," Grace said.

The vampires began grouping at the bridge, but could not cross. Gaylord lifted his hands once more. "Et lux solis!" he said. Nothing happened. "Oh, damn it. I have to recharge."

Kimiko drew Kusanagi. "I draw the sword of my ancestors today. I ask for good fortune, and that I may die with honor!"

"Um, Kimmy?" Zed said. "Yeah. You could have left out the whole 'dying' thing."

"Dudes!" Bernie said. "Look! They can't cross the bridge with it being on fire! That might buy us some time!"

"Uh," Tim said.

"Yeah," Grace said, "so let's start planning on a defense!"

"But--?"

"It's clear we have a bottleneck here," Laura said, "we can just hack them down with the magical swords."

"Uh, guys?"

"Right," Jeremiah said, "exactly like the Spartans at Thermopylae. A bit before my time, but only by a few hundred years."

"Guys!"

"Oh, you had to mention Thermopylae, didn't you?" Gaylord said. "That did not work out well for the Spartans!"

"Hey! Guys!"

"The Spartans held off the Persians for three days!" Jeremiah said. "And bought the Greeks time to prepare their defenses!"

"Guys!"

"What?"

"Uh, look!"