The Regulators - 02 (39 page)

When my breathing had finally calmed down enough to hear
other sounds above it, I became aware of Dudley and Javie firing their silenced
rifles outside the window in an effort to prevent more vampires from entering
the sanctuary. The dog was tearing at a grey hand the grasped at the windowsill
despite the machine gun fire. It wasn’t until Dudley swung his machete that the
hand disappeared.

We were withstanding them so far. We were still in our
castle, so to speak. The battle had not yet been lost, but I knew that we
wouldn’t last the night. The vampires were unstoppable. I remember looking
towards the General and watching as he surveyed the damage. His face gave away
nothing. It was just as cold as it had been when I first met him, but for just
a brief moment I saw his great shoulders sag. I saw the way he slowly bent and
retrieved his tomahawk off the debris covered floor. I saw this and understood.

He expected us to lose.

He knew the strengths of our enemy, and he knew that the
chances of us lasting through the night were very slim. He knew that it was
just a matter of time before each and every one of us fell beneath the terrible
claws and snapping fangs.

He knew all this and still he stayed.

It was all over in a moment mind you. I was the only one
watching him at the time. I doubt anyone else saw what I saw, much less
understood what I did. Still, I wondered about him. I wondered about a man
willing to stand with a group that was surely doomed. I even felt just a little
inspired by him.

Everything was quiet outside.

The cold night air was penetrating my clothing, and I
realized that the only way to keep warm was to keep myself moving. It was
uncommonly cold outside, but judging from the grey skies earlier, a cold front
wasn’t really surprising.

I aided the injured and gave prayers to those we had lost.
It was hard to keep my spirits up. I had never actually seen battle wounded
people. It was hard to not simply sit down and give up. I did what I could. I
even stitched up deep cuts across one child’s back as he proudly announced that
he wanted to be a Regulator when he grew up.

Finally, when our wounded had been tended to and our dead
had been gathered up, I began to hear the moans of the zombies once again
coming from outside the church. I wasn’t terribly alarmed because I knew that
they could never breech our walls, but the Regulators had all gathered at one
window and were talking excitedly.

“I’m not exactly sure what I saw,” Dudley said.

“Tell me one more time anyway,” the General said.

“It looked like the vampires were carrying something,”
Dudley said. “That’s all I know. They were moving pretty fast.”

“How many of them did you see?”

“Four or five.”

“Where were they going?”

“They were going to both sides of the church,” Dudley said.
“What do you think is going on?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” the General said.

“The moans,” I announced and all of them looked at me. “Have
you noticed that we can hear the zombies again?”

All of them tilted their heads and cocked their ears until
they also began to hear the anguished moans coming from outside the walls.
Then, I watched as each of them looked questioningly to their neighbor.

“I have no idea,” the General said.

“Do you think they gave up?” Georgie asked.

“No,” Dudley said. “I saw them carrying something.”

“Could they have been carrying zombies?” the General asked.

“Why would they be carrying zombies?” Dudley asked.

“I’m not…”

The General wasn’t given the opportunity to finish. The
first zombie crashed through the window on the opposite side of the church and
rolled right next to a young woman. She shrieked in alarm and tried to scramble
away from the monster, but it was too late. The zombie had attached itself to
her leg and began to tear off huge chunks of muscle right through her jeans.

I rushed over to help her. I bounded over the demolished pews
scattered across the room as I pulled the starter cord on my chainsaw. I revved
the motor and I struck out immediately when I was in range. The zombie was
destroyed, but once the motor was cut off on my chainsaw I began to hear the
sounds of breaking glass. I even began to hear the diabolical ‘snick’ sound as
the guillotine blades dropped on bodies.

I turned and I saw pieces of zombies before three of the
broken windows. I saw that the guillotines had been triggered. Then, I saw the
flimsy blades break apart and fall to the floor as more zombies were thrown
into the church.

“
So the vampires were
using zombies to set off the traps
?”

Not just to set off the traps. They were using the zombies
to attack us as well. Once a guillotine had been triggered, they broke it apart
and began throwing zombies through the broken windows.

Glass began to break on both sides of the church. We were
under attack from seemingly everywhere. I can’t really say how the others fared
during these moments. I lost myself in the heat of battle. I think that’s
probably the way it is sometimes. I was so concerned with killing the zombies
that were rampaging inside my church that I don’t really know what was
happening around me.

Should I have paid attention to everyone else? Could I have
saved lives if I had abandoned my weapon and tried to provide aid? I just don’t
know. I believe that I did what I could. I believe that my actions which were
strictly offensive must have saved lives, but I will never be sure.

I was everywhere and nowhere. I heard a zombie scream and
ran towards its source. I struck them down one by one. I heard screams all
around me, both zombie and human. I felt the bitter chill in the air. I slashed
and I cut. I made a path through the dead. Not a single one of them got by me.
Not a single one of them escaped my attention.

Surely, others were also fighting. Every now and then I
could hear orders being given, and I could hear the sounds of metal colliding
with flesh and bone. The church was a warzone. Our enemy was fearless and so
was I.

I had long since given up on fearing the zombies. They did
not chill my blood even slightly. I had faced them many times and every single
time I came away triumphant. We were finally having a fight that I could
understand.

I was in the thick of things from the very beginning. I
didn’t mind at all. I was glad to finally have an enemy that I could destroy by
myself. Or maybe that isn’t completely accurate. I would like to amend my last
statement. I was glad to finally have an enemy that could be defeated.

I don’t know when the vampires began to enter the church.

I shouldn’t have been surprised that they did. The zombies
triggered our traps and even cut down our numbers slightly. The way inside was
wide open and had no defenders. The vampires simply walked inside.

The only reason I noticed them was because I was soon
fighting them. I went from zombie to zombie to zombie to…vampire. I didn’t even
have time to be afraid. The monster was simply before me. His bottom jaw had
grown to enormous proportions. His savage teeth snapped at my face. His cold
hands grabbed a hold of me. He easily swatted my chainsaw aside. I heard it
clatter to the floor. As soon as the little motor died, I heard the screams all
around me.

This time, the screams were only human.

The grip of the vampire was very similar to being caught in
a vice. I could not escape as his horrific teeth came closer and closer to my
neck. I struggled of course. I struggled for all I was worth. I couldn’t get
away. The General’s dog came to help me. She ripped and tore at the vampire’s
leg, but it was to no avail. I was going to die and when that became apparent,
I averted my gaze. I didn’t want to see the lifeless eyes.

People were running in all directions. Not all of them were
running away mind you. Most of them were actually trying to fight. It saddened
me that after all we had gone through, there would be no light at the end of
the tunnel.

I had failed.

I felt the teeth begin to press into my neck.

“STOP!”

The voice…I didn’t know where it had come from, but it
penetrated every nook and corner of the sanctuary. It was a compelling voice. I
wanted to listen. I felt the teeth pull away from my neck. I was released from
the vise-like grip. I became aware of my surroundings and noticed that the
entire sanctuary was still and quiet.

The vampires were withdrawing.

I watched the beast that almost ended my life join his own
kind and walk through the shattered front door of the church back out into the
cold night air.

I could hear the labored breaths of hundreds.

Nobody moved. We simply stood in our places and watched the
broken front door. I assumed that we were about to face yet another horror
intent on ending our lives. I was wrong. The voice came again.

“Guardian,” it called. “Guardian, come outside and meet with
me.”

“Go fuck yourself!” the General shouted in response.

“Guardian, I can’t tell you how pleased I was to find you
here. I thought for sure that you had left the city. In turn, I was going to
massacre all those you left behind, but imagine my surprise to find you waiting
for me at the very first place we came to.”

I watched as the General came forth from the crowd of
people. He was covered in gore. Obviously, he had been fighting, and, as the
gore was not his, I’d say that he had been fighting well. His team followed
closely behind him. They were also gore spattered.

Once the Regulators were in front of all of us, I saw the
General motion for everybody but his team to fall back. He didn’t want anyone
close to the broken front doors. The crowd obeyed his wishes. All of us
scrunched back towards the altar.

“Guardian,” the voice said. “Come and talk to me. If you
agree to my demands, I’ll let all of the innocents live. You have my word.”

I saw the General turn and look at his nephew. Dudley shook
his head furiously. I watched the General sigh heavily and walk through the
broken front doors and out into the dark and frozen night. The dog wanted to go
with him. It was Dudley that restrained her.

I’m not sure that I like the General. I find him rather abrupt,
rude and somewhat cold. However, I respect the man greatly. I regret that the
people have a need for him, but I pray for him every single night.

And I’ll tell you this as well: I believe in him. If I ever
had a friend or a loved one in danger from some dark evil whether it was a
zombie or a vampire or whatever ever else lurks in the night, I would want the
General to be the one trying to save them.

I believe in him that much.

Jaxon

My next meeting with
Jaxon was a bit of a somber one as we discussed the events in the church.
Despite the lack of options, it had been very difficult for him to accept the
losses. In total, twenty seven-men and women had been killed by either vampires
or zombies. The wounded numbered at forty-three with varying degrees of damage,
none of which were life threatening
.

“
Father Monarez told
me about the voice that stopped all the fighting. Was it the Master vampire
?”

Of course.

“
What did he say to
you when you went outside the church
?”

He said he wanted to fight me. If I didn’t agree to fight
him, he was going to continue the attack until everyone was dead. He also
informed me he was holding Hardin, Miriam, Ivana and a bunch of other
behind-the-scenes-type folks hostage.

“
Did you agree to
fight him
?”

Yes, I did. He wasn’t giving me much of a choice. It wasn’t
exactly a fight that I wanted. I wanted to kill him, of course and I would have
done my best to do it even, but I certainly didn’t want to fight him on his
terms. That sounded a lot like suicide. I would have preferred to chase him
down with some rocket launchers and flame throwers.

“
Where was the fight
supposed to take place
?”

The fight was to be held in the Sun Bowl the following
evening. None of the remaining survivors were allowed to leave the church. All
of them were commanded to stay put until the human foot soldiers of the
vampires came to collect them. They were to become the audience that would
witness my death. After I or the Master was dead, everyone would be allowed to
leave peacefully and Hardin, Miriam, Ivana and the others would be released.

“
What about your team
?”

My team was to leave the area at daybreak. The Master
vampire did not want them in attendance because they may be tempted to help me.

“
You actually agreed
to all of this
?”

I didn’t have much choice. We were losing. I was watching
people die. The fight was too stacked against us. They all would have been
killed.

“
Did you trust the
vampire to keep his word
?”

Hell no, but by accepting him at his word, I borrowed us
some time to plan. I mean, the boys weren’t exactly happy when I told them all
the news. In fact, they were downright pissed at me. I didn’t give them a lot
of time to yell at me though. There were wounded people that needed our help.

I kept catching Dudley giving me dirty looks as we all
cleaned up and bandaged the wounded. I knew he wanted to have a word with me. I
just planned on avoiding it as long as possible. I also had people boarding up
the front door and all the broken windows. The place was freezing cold.

Finally, when everything had been cleaned up and all the
wounded had been taken care of, Dudley came over to me.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked.

“I just gave us the best chance of survival that we were
going to get,” I answered. “The vampires were going to tear us all apart. Now
we have time to plan.”