Chapter 14 - Dogs of War

Wolfe listened as his two cohorts continued to gloat around him. He just rolled his eyes at them. He had cared that she had unfortunately lost him the game, but it wasn't a concern anymore. The blaring lights and noises that he had found to be a comforting escape once was now nothing more then irritating buzzing. His master had ran off. He folded his arms as he waited for her to come back.

"Women problems I bet." Isaac had said. He doubted it. In fact he wasn't sure she was capable of those 'women problems' as Isaac had put it. After all, she was dead. Vampires could not bring life into the world. Only take it. At least he was pretty sure that was the case…

"C'mon Pete we wanna move on to the clubs…and the ladies." Isaac winked at him. Wolfe managed a half smile back.

"But ma-Seras. I don't know where she is." Isaac shrugged at him.

"Well she better hurry up. Can't waste the night stood here." Wolfe turned away from him and sighed dejectedly. He unfurled his arms and started off in the direction she headed in. The path she tread was quieter, he knew there was people this way before. But now they had left the area all together. Odd but he carried on. He spotted the ladies sign among the blaring lights. Was that where she went? He decided to go closer to the door…however he very well couldn't go in. Especially if she was not there. A blush came to his cheeks. He imagined screaming women as soon as he went in. Wolfe shook his head. This was serious business, he shouldn't be worried about embarrassing himself. He leaned close to the door. He had a plan. Next girl to go in he would ask if she could spot his master in there. Just as he had settled on his plan of action then none other then Isaac and Frederick ran up to him. Their cheeks puffed and red, as if they had just sprinted to catch up to him.

"What is it?!" Wolfe asked alarmed. Isaac motioned to Wolfe to follow him.

"Come on! Scramble orders!" Wolfe's face changed to serious. Only one reason that the Hellsing soldiers were to scramble. A vampire.

Jacob swished his glass in his hand. He held a wine glass in his gloved hand, the liquid sloshed around the rim. Ever eager to spill out the contents. He was sat in a quiet table in the corner of a bar. A smile lit his face, he was actually quite enjoying himself. The music wasn't too loud for his ears and the crowd was not as rowdy as many of the other bars. However there was no doubt in his mind that would change as the night wore on. It was still early. Beside him were two girls, the pair were two friends on a night out. He had engaged them in conversation and here they were at his booth. Soon they would be two more soldiers in his little war. For now they amused him as they each tried to steal his attention as they spoke to him and stroked him. He actually felt a stirring in his loins. He missed his dear wife. However he was sure that these two could perhaps entertain him this night.

He could hear the conversations of everyone in the bar, they were so loud to his ears. However he had thus far managed to ignore them. Yet suddenly he caught up a phone conversation.

"…scramble, you have your orders. The rest of the team will be waiting for you back at HQ." A male, older, voice piped orders from down the phone. The male at the bar responded.

"But sir, I'm out of town at the moment." The man whined.

"I don't care. Just get back here on the double." With a grumble the man pocketed his phone and left the bar. His stool screeched as he pushed off and then he jogged out of the bar, leaving a half pint of beer.

"Something's got Hellsing spooked." Jacob whispered to himself.

"What was that love?" One of the girls asked him from his side. He looked at her with a warm smile.

"Shhh…nothing." He glanced at the pair of them. "Now how about we go somewhere more private?" Both girls faces lit up at the sentence. The group rose from where they were stood.

Wolfe was now ready in his gear back at base. A regiment of soldiers, most of whom he knew stood awaiting orders from the commander. He stood in step with them. The others knew him and never even flinched when he was close. The commander was up front, with a clipboard. After a quick check of the troops his head went to the board.

"Right men. Reports are coming in fast. It appears to be one of the lesser undead. Of the Vampiric kind. Might be a fresh change. However precaution is always advised. The thing was sighted first at 'The Rodeo' arcade…" Wolfe blinked. They were all just there. There was no attack. He looked around. He was looking for his master…yet she never appeared at these scramble orders. Her orders came direct from Elena…. She was probably back at the manor by now. Yeah…that was it. Yet he could not shake his bad feeling.

"…she was seen heading into a few bars. No ghouls have been sighted yet, but detain all the people. They need to be examined…." Suddenly the commander put his fingers to his ear. He was hearing a communication. Then he dropped his hand. "Right we have a sighting right now. Team Charlie and Delta!" He barked at the men. "Secure and lockdown those bars! Team Alpha and Bravo! You're with me." At that last word the men scrambled into the outlying vans. Wolfe was with team Alpha when he wasn't with his master. He sat in place with the rest of the men in the truck. Located at the back, last to get in, first to get out. His fingers mindlessly played with the trigger of his assault rifle. Wolfe's face sneered inside the van. He still didn't like this. It was too…off.

Isaac and Frederick were also in Alpha team. And the two people he now considered his ex-friends. They didn't even look at him. None of them did. They were all on the job. And needed to focus. The van was in silence as it bumped along. The steady roar of the engine was a usual thing for him. But as the van tore down the road he knew that traffic was non-existent nowadays. Fuel was becoming rarer as time went by. The UK had exhausted all of its sources and trade routes with foreign countries was cut off. If they even still existed. So only military vehicles were allowed fuel, or whoever could afford the high price.

Sooner then expected the vans stopped. Wolfe heard the front doors of the van pushed open, so he did the same. He and a soldier opposite him pushed on the heavy doors, they opened easily and swung wide to birth the troops. His van was at the entrance to an ally way. It was dark inside, only sparse lighting from half working streetlights overhead. The shadows were long and sharp on the walls. A familiar stench hit his nose. The smell of blood. Just as he had expected. Just as all the soldiers had expected. Yet he still didn't like it. Torches from the men lit up the dim ally way. Blaring light down the tight space. Three figures appeared in the gloom. Two standing females and a fallen male. The two women were small, one was breathing heavily as if from fright. Yet she seemed relieved to see the men. Her hands shot to above her face to try and block out some of the bright light. Her long dark hair whipped around her shoulders. The other was an unknown. She clearly flinched when the lights cascaded down on them. Yet her head and face was hidden under a raised jacket, pulled taut above her head, she had turned to face the wall, making an effort to hide herself. A blood stain ran down the wall close to where the small hiding girl was standing. Wolfe breathed in the scent now. It was a mix of scents, yet he could only make out the smell of blood. It was so powerful in the ally it blocked out all other smells. One was of a male. Unknown. He didn't care. The other was the scent of a vampire all right. Yet the blood was not from a wound, it was why he was struggling to place it. It was old blood. It didn't ring true to any of the members here. As if someone else was here…yet that didn't explain the smell of vomit mixed in with the blood stain. The blood on the wall was fresh, still it leaked down the wall. He creased his eyebrows in concentration. He deduced the blood may have been the vomit of the vampire, in that case it would not carry the scent of any vampire here. Only adding to his feeling of wrongness….

He knew this looked bad to the soldiers. Looked like an open and shut case. A man lying on the floor and a dark blood stain, with one of them obviously not fond of the light. Yet Wolfe did not want to raise his weapon. His eyes were better then his colleagues….and this was just wrong. The soldiers next to him were yelling, trying to get the women to kneel on the floor with their hands in the air. The dark haired woman opened her mouth as if to speak, when all of a sudden the man on the floor moved. The guns levelled out to the male. A groaning noise rose on the wind. The moves were slow and sluggish. He rose to his feet, his eyes were empty and drool slavered down the side of his mouth. A ghoul!

"Open fire!" Wolfe heard someone shout. But he didn't comply, his weapon didn't move as he caught other movement too quick and subtle for his comrades. The jacket over the other woman moved, and a single crimson eye looked at the first woman in panic.

He watched as both the ghoul before them was shot to pieces, and the apparent vampire who created it pushed the dark haired woman behind her. Bullets ripped through the flesh and muscle of the zombie. Once living flesh and blood poured to the floor in gushes. The jaw was ripped clean off, an eye fell to the floor. A crack sounded as the leg was too wounded to support it, it faltered. Yet Wolfe was surprised when the ghoul did not charge them. It only stood there, then the groaning continued as it raised its arms to either side of it. Was it….was it protecting the women? That was wrong…

However the hail of bullets could not be stopped by a wall of flesh. The corpse soon fell to the floor. The blood pooling about it, far too much for a ghoul. As if the corpse had never been drained.

The bullets from the men stopped. Wolfe's ears kept ringing at such close proximity to the weapons. But at least the oddly behaving ghoul was dead. Nothing good has ever come from those things. He looked back up to the vampire and the woman. The woman was lying on the floor, her face was angled toward them. A look of surprise plastered onto her face. Yet her eyes were lifeless, a bullet had found its way to her forehead. The wound bloody and dripped her life fluid down her once perfect face. A hand wound its way to her shoulder. The vampire's hand. The hand shook as the holder realised the woman was dead.

"No…" The female vampire spoke, barely a whisper. But Wolfe heard it. It had sounded just like…no it couldn't have been. Yet the vampire stopped holding the jacket up above her head. She let it fall. Blond hair, blond spiky hair came into view. That same face…oh god. Why didn't he see if before! It was Seras! He opened his mouth in shock, he didn't understand why she was there. What was going on?

"What did you do!? Why?! Why?! She was only trying to help!" He watched his master rise from her once defensive position over the girl. She shouted at the men. Many of them recognised her as the Hellsing vampire. And they faltered. Yet that did not stop her onslaught of words. "You disgusting dogs! Pigs! That's all you are! You stupid, stupid….aargh…" Wolfe could see the rage on her face, she pointed at the men in pure fury. This was clearly a misunderstanding which had ended a life. A tragic mistake that no one could take back.

"Get Elena down here now!" Someone shouted near the back, Wolfe guessed it was the commander. His voice was strained and uneasy. The men close to him glanced around at each other. Clearly not sure what to do now. Before them Seras could now be seen in the light. The blood vomit was also staining her top, it was indeed her who had made the stain. Yet again he guessed the men saw it differently.

"She's gone rogue! Shoot her! Shoot her!" A frightened voice shouted in the crowd of men. Wolfe jumped in shock at the shout. He opened his mouth to try and stop them. Yet a single shot rang out from a rifle. Wolfe watched in horror as the bullet whipped through the air and pierced the shoulder of his master. Her body was jolted back from the blow. Her face was blank for a second, and then her head slowly swung to her wound. The silver seared her flesh as the smell of burning came to their noses. Wolfe knew that didn't hurt her enough to stop her. Only to anger her more. Sure enough a low growl rumbled through the ally. Her face twisted to that of a feral predator.

"Stop it! Don't! She's a fri…an ally!" Wolfe desperately pleaded with the men around him. He knew what was about to happen and he tried in vain to stop the slaughter. Yet as Seras took a step forward toward the men. Another shot rang out. Punching into her stomach. His master slumped forward slightly, before picking herself back up and heading toward them. Ever so slowly. As if it didn't matter how fast she moved. This only served to horrify the men. More and more shots rang out, even as Wolfe tried to stop them. He shook a comrade even as he ignored him. What were they doing?! No! "Master! Please stop!" He yelled out to her in the ally. His voice was drowned out by the guns, but she heard him. Of course she heard him. Her eyes locked onto his. And for a brief second he thought he saw…disappointment? Sadness? He couldn't place it before her eyes were lost to the feral playground once more.

Suddenly the cracks from the guns were ceased, Wolfe looked back to the men in the hope that the had come to their senses. But no, they were reloading. He tried once again to reach them. "Stop! She won't hurt you!" Nobody even looked at him. He even looked right into the scared face of Isaac. He was reloading…even he…The familiar click of magazines were loaded and levelled out at his master once again. Sweat covered his face…what could he do? He didn't know what to do to help! This was hopeless! Suddenly Wolfe found he had jumped into the line of fire, as if on instinct. He raised his arms to the side, mimicking the ghoul that was now dead. Forgotten on the floor.

The guns didn't fire again, did it work? Wolfe had closed his eyes when he had jumped. Expecting to be shot as well. He opened them tentatively, the men stared in surprise at his actions. Maybe it had, he didn't dare turn to his master. Lest he lose eye contact with the Hellsing soldiers. But he caught movement in the crowd. Someone was moving slowly, but steadily. His arms aimed his rifle low, his head was lowered. Wolfe couldn't tell who it was or what he was doing….wait! He figured it out just as the crack from the shot was heard. The silver whizzed through the air and sliced into his shin. Wolfe cried out from the sheer pain, it felt as if his muscles were melting inside his skin. The flesh burning and peeling off around it. It was such severe pain, how did his master stand it?! Wolfe could not help but keel over at his wound. His teeth gritted in such pain. A yell of rage screeched out from behind him, he just about managed to rage his head. Even his blurred vision recognising what was happening.

A figure leapt clean over his crippled form and plunged into the men. Like a knife gutting into the stomach of the enemy the form struck deep. He knew it was his master. The world appeared to slow as he watched her. It was almost beautiful in form, like a dance. The way she sliced through the men as if they were as flimsy as tissue paper. Blood sprayed the walls and floor of the ally as she destroyed team Alpha and Bravo in her fury.

"No…stop…" He weakly spoke, yet no one heard his plea in the din of the dying. Bile rose to his throat, and his jaw opened as blood splashed to the floor. His eyes grew heavy as his head fell forward. Too weak to stay awake any longer. He listened for a moment longer as screams of fear rang out as his master tore away arms and sank her fangs into any waiting neck too close. As the rifles rang out, their silver peppering both her and each other in the panic and confusion. The noises were starting to grow quiet…it was hard to hear now. His hand pushed against the floor in a vain effort to stay awake. But his strength left him. He fell to the floor with a crunch and blacked out.

Elena stared out of her window into the night. The clouds overhead, the moon peeked out from behind one to glimpse the world below. There was still nearly a week to go till the full moon. She hoped that the werewolf business was all over and done with. She didn't want to have to deal with those vile beasts again any time soon. She sighed and took a swig of the coffee that was held loose in her hand. The bitter taste helped to calm her frayed nerves. That and the bright lights which lit the room. Everything was fine, the night was a quiet one for a change. Any problems would come tomorrow, today was a day apart from the rest. Where she could just think about something else other then monsters and the extinction of the human race as they knew it. She took another swig of her hot coffee, suddenly the phone rang in her office. She nearly choked on her coffee as she struggled it down. A few drops fell onto her top much to her annoyance. Worry flared up in her gut as the phone rang, her nerves heightened expecting bad news. She quickly placed the mug of coffee onto the desk and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

Another one done. Hope you all enjoy.

Isn't it typical that as soon as you sort out something in your life that has been going downhill for the past few years that something else that you thought was fine in your life falls dramatically apart? Isn't life great like that? As if we are all little pieces in someone's game and we are being prodded and poked to see how we will react? …

Yeah anyway, thanks to my reviewers as always. You keep me writing through my pain.