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He pulled out his cell phone. He'd charged it up for the weekend trip. He hit a button and the display lit. Wimpy illumination, but it would have to do. With the MM-1 in his right hand and the phone in his left, he pushed through into the darkness...
Which swallowed the feeble glow from his phone. He took a step forward and heard glass crunch under his shoe. One or more of the draculas had smashed all the battery-powered lights. He couldn't see shit. He had no idea what was lying in wait.
Okay, new plan.
He backed into the stairwell again and pulled off his backpack. He pawed through his backup ammo for the MM-1 until he came to his one and only M583--a white star parachute flare. He removed the empty from the drum and inserted the flare. Problem solved.
He'd fire this baby down the hall. It would light up when it hit the far wall and give him forty seconds of 90,000 candlepower illumination to get the lay of the land.
Yeah.
He stepped back into the dark, raised the launcher, and thought he heard a noise. He hit a button on his phone and--
"Shit!"
A dracula, jaws agape, was four feet away and closing fast.
Clay pulled the trigger. The white star round hit the thing in the face, smashing through his teeth and into the back of his throat, lifting him off his feet. As he staggered back, the flare's little twenty-inch parachute popped out of his mouth and opened. The four-second delay ran out and the flare lit, illuminating the inside of the dracula's head like a paper lantern. Clay could see the brain boiling before the skull exploded.
The flare rolled free, revealing half a dozen draculas lying in wait. A trio of those leaped on their fallen comrade while the other three charged. Clay let the lead pair get close and put them both down with one round, then laid out the third with another. They weren't dead, but they were disabled, and that was as good as being goners, because their buddies were already on them, chowing down.
Now what? Could he sneak by the others without wasting precious ammo? The flare glare revealed a sign next to the stairway door. A floor directory. He spotted the word Pediatrics. Shit, it was on Two. He was on the wrong damn floor.
He slipped back into the stairwell and headed down.
Sha
SHE stood by Clay's suburban, watching the dark, blocky mass of the hospital. A faint, faint glow lit some of the windows, probably backwash from the emergency lights in the hallways, but for the most part it looked dead and deserted. But looks were deceiving. She knew it crawled with--what had Je
She prayed for his safe return. Yes, she was going to break his heart when he did, but she wanted him back. Because somehow the world seemed a better place with Clay than without him.
Ten minutes ago the army had roared in and heavily-armed soldiers had piled out of their trucks. A large black trailer had followed the soldiers into the lot but had parked away toward the rear. The people who had emerged were civilians.
And then something scary: The army set up spotlights at the emergency entrance, around the main entrance, and at each stairwell exit. Then they'd positioned soldiers with flame throwers at each point. Looked like they'd been convinced it was contagious. She'd expected officialdom to scoff at the stories of what had gone on in the hospital, but she guessed the recording Clay had insisted on making had convinced them.
Well, she'd never said he was a dummy, just not on her wavelength.
Just then, to her right at the corner of the building, flames lit the night.
Screams echoed, died.
Her heart stumbled over a beat. That was the door she and Clay had used to escape, the door he'd re-entered. They wouldn't have burned him by mistake, would they? No...those screams had had an unearthly quality. Had to be draculas trying to escape the building. Still...
Clay
On the way down, he passed the dracula he'd shot near the third-floor landing, still where he'd left him, still hissing and twitching its talons.
"Yo, Twitchy. How goes it?"
He passed him and continued down. As he approached the door to the second floor, he heard a raw buzzing coming from the far side. Almost sounded like--
The door blew open and the sound assaulted Clay. He almost fired at the shape plunging through when he recognized Randall and his chainsaw.
"Shit, Bolton! I almost--"
"Watch your mouth," he said. "Got kids with me."
And sure enough, four kids crowded into the stairwell behind him, followed by Je
"Oh, Clay," she said. "Am I glad to see you."
Clay nodded. This was going to be easier than he thought.
Randall was staring at the MM-1. "Whoa. What's that? Looks like a pregnant Tommy gun."
"Let's hope we can get out of here without using it. There's an exit door just two flights down. Follow--"
A noise below, like a door slamming open, then a blast of firelight and hideous screams. Clay pelted down to the next landing and saw two flaming draculas writhing on the floor, screeching as they burned. Black, oily smoke rose, filling the stairwell. He hurried back up.
"What happened? What's burning?"
"A couple of our friends."
"What?" Je
"Don't know, don't want to find out. We need to find another way."
"Another way where?"
"The roof. I saw a TV helicopter. I'll call it down to pick us up."
"No TV copter's going to hold us," Randall said.
"The kids, then. The kids, then us."
"Yes!" Je
Clay didn't necessarily agree with that, but the roof held their best chance.
Randall hesitated a second, then nodded. "Okay. I'll lead. But..." He was staring at Clay. "You came back...to a place like this. Why? A man like you...why?"
A man like you? Clay was going to tell him to fuck off when he remembered. "Magnificent Seven, right?"
Randall's mouth twisted as he nodded.
"Oh, don't tell me," Je
" 'I'm afraid you've misjudged me,' " Clay said.
Randall did the pistol point. "Magnum Force."
"I'm telling Sha
Randall gave him an appraising look. "You said you'd be back and here you are. Either you're as stupid as everybody says I am, or you're some kinda guy." He stuck out his hand.
Clay shook it. "The safe bet is stupid. Man, you look just like I feel."
Randall barked a laugh as he started limping up the steps. "Aliens again. You're all right, Deputy Dawg." He turned back to the kids. "I'm go
The kids stayed behind Randall and Je
"You're not staring at Je
Well, when not checking behind him, yeah, he was. Nice butt. Not going to tell Randall, though.
"Would if I could, but this smoke..."
The draculas below had stopped screeching--at least Clay couldn't hear them over Randall's idling chainsaw--but apparently they continued to burn. Foul, stinking smoke thickened in the stairwell.
"I think I'm going to throw up," one of the boys said.