Gunshots rang in my ears and I bashed my head on my coffin's lid again. Gotta open the lid before bolting upright, I scolded myself. The lid rose, I rubbed my forehead, and looked straight into the barrel of the Casull. I just woke up, what'd I do already?
"Wakey wakey Freshmeat! It's time for your first assignment," Alucard dictated, "the freaks are waiting; get your weapons and go to the motor pool."
"Ok, I'm up already geez. You might want to see a doctor about that itchy trigger finger of yours," I quipped.
I grabbed a shotgun and a greatsword from the arms closet and hustled to the motor pool where there was an APC waiting with a platoon of soldiers outside.
"In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be thrust down into eternal damnation, Amen." The soldiers recited as one.
I jumped in and sat down. Mistress was standing at the front of the cab giving a briefing on the situation as the APC rumbled out of the compound.
"The targets are entrenched on the second floor of an office complex and are armed with an assortment of light weapons. There are two Freaks and an unknown number of ghouls. All civilians are presumed to be deceased or ghouls. Our objective is search and destroy; take no prisoners," Mistress dictated.
Mistress came and sat down across from me.
"I know you're probably nervous about this, but focus on the objective. Your enemy isn't human. Shoot for the head and heart; it's the only way to stop them," she ordered. I nodded and tried to prepare myself mentally. I've done things like this in video games countless times, but can I do it in real life?
The APC screeched to a halt and the rear hatch slammed open. I marched out with the platoon and into the building. At first there was nothing out of sorts inside, except for the place being an absolute mess. We advanced cautiously to the stairwell when a trio of ghouls sprang up and fired their pistols. One of the soldiers took a bullet in the shoulder before he turned a table over to use as cover. I raised my gun and tried to squeeze the trigger but it seemed to weigh a ton. The other soldiers opened fire and the ghouls dissolved into clouds of white dust.
The troops marched up the stairs while I was still staring at the remains of the ghouls. I felt Mistress' hand on my shoulder; in a soothing voice she said, "A great soldier told me that failure in your first battle means you'll live longer, so don't worry too much, just don't hesitate next time."
Bolstered by her words, I dashed up the stairs and rejoined the main body of the troops. We were in an area dominated by cubicles. Paper and bits of shredded office furniture littered the floor. Most of the lights were shattered, but enough were left intact that I saw the gleam of a gun's barrel in the shadows. Without thinking, I whipped the wall of a fallen cubicle between it and the rest of the soldiers. Bullets thudded into the thick material and deflected away from us.
"GET DOWN!" Mistress yelled.
We all dropped prone milliseconds before we felt and heard an explosive WHUMP. When the dust cleared, there was no trace of our assailant or of the six feet of wall behind where he was. I glanced back at Mistress and did a double take when I noticed the enormous gun in her hands. She shouldered it with ease and helped us up. I couldn't take my eyes off of her weapon.
It was maybe eight feet in total length, and must have weighed at least 75 pounds. She noticed me gaping and lowered the butt of the weapon to the ground, blushing slightly. The rest of the group marched ahead while I was still gawking.
"Mistress, that thing's huge! How can you lift that thing, let alone use it? It looks more like some kind of anti-tank cannon than a sidearm!" I babbled.
"It actually is a cannon; the 30mm anti-freak Harkonnen cannon. I was pretty amazed when I saw it too. Walter gave it to me, and it's–"
"–in-freakin'-credible," I interrupted.
"I guess so," she shrugged, "but now isn't the time to talk about this. Up those stairs, double time."
I took the stairs three at a time until I reached the second floor. I held my gun at the ready and examined the room. The other soldiers were nowhere to be seen. I saw someone dart behind a desk and I sprinted after them.
I saw something I didn't expect. A boy of about fifteen shivered in the corner. He had an 'I'm with stupid' t-shirt, a mop of dirty green-dyed hair topped his almost cherubic face. His eyes darted left and right Man, did this kid pick a bad day to come to work with his dad. I could see this kid was scared out of his gourd, so I tried calming him down.
"Hey kid, what're you doin' here? It's really dangerous, so run down those stairs and as far away from here as you can. Trust me, I'm not gonna hurt you," I cooed.
"Th-th-thanks mister, but I don't know where the exit is, can you show me?" he squeaked.
"Sure, here take my hand."
He got to his feet and I helped him to the stairs. As I got near, Mistress rounded the corner.
"What exactly are you doing?" she inquired.
"I'm helping this kid get outta here; it's not safe Mistress," I replied.
"Watch out! He's –"
Before she finished I felt the barrel of a gun against my back. I looked and saw an Uzi nestled against my shirt. I had a brief moment to think, Awww crap, before a stream of bullets ripped at my guts and I stumbled away before dropping to my knees.
"--A freak," Mistress finished.
"Aaagh! Well a fine time to tell me Mistress."
I stood up shakily and felt the bullets ooze out of my wounds as they healed. Kewl! That's awfully convenient, I thought. My hands gripped my shotgun and I took aim at my assailant.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to shoot a guy in the back!" I spat.
The kid snarled and leapt for my throat. I squeezed the trigger and the barrel hurled a cloud of buckshot directly into his skull. The short range made the blast devastating. The kid's head simply exploded an instant before his body turned to dust.
"W00t! Head shot!" I crowed.
In the middle of my victory dance, Mistress said, "We've still got that other freak to deal with; let's go."
Nodding, I stowed my gun and followed her. Glancing back, I noticed the arrow on the kid's 'I'm with stupid' t-shirt had been pointing in my direction. That's rich.
I volunteered to take point. Before the group had gotten far, a veritable throng of ghouls shambled out of nowhere. Gunfire rang in the enclosed space, punctuated every so often by the BOOM of Mistress' Harkonnen. I drew my sword and rushed at the blank-faced monsters.
I didn't see the need for finesse or clever maneuvers, so I just swung madly. The ferocity of my comrades' and my attacks had the ghouls destroyed in a matter of minutes. Examining the carnage, I saw that three of the Hellsing soldiers were wounded, one of them rather seriously, and Mistress' uniform had a few bullet holes.
"You dare to destroy my servants? Such insolence!" a voice roared from nowhere. "My brother and I will erase you from all existence! Ray, get over here!"
"If you're talking about the other freak, he's been silenced," Mistress announced, "you're the only one left so come out and we'll make it quick."
A scream of hate ripped at the air and another young vampire dropped down from the stairwell. Another leap carried him from the stairs directly at Mistress. The Harkonnen blasted him to dust before he was within ten feet.
"Sweep the building for any remaining ghouls and report in," Mistress announced.
When the building was declared clean, we marched back to the APC, the wounded who couldn't walk being carried. The rear hatch closed and the massive vehicle lumbered away right ahead of the first sirens.
The ride back was silent except for the occasional groans from the injured soldiers. A few of my comrades gave me the thumbs-up and congratulated me on my success. When the APC returned to the compound, I helped carry the wounded to the medical area and headed back to my chamber.
The bolt on my door clanged into place and my eyes drifted to the table where a bucket, its sides dripping with condensation, waited. I looked inside and was unsurprised to find a pint of medical blood. Only then did I realize that the sight of the wounded men's blood had ignited my hunger. Almost against my will my hands dug the ice away and grasped the packet greedily.
I ripped the top off and shakily tipped the bag against my lips. The first taste was like nothing I had ever known. Divine ambrosia would have paled in comparison. Any semblance of manners crumbled and I shot my neck back as far as I could, never letting the blood packet leave my lips. Blood splashed down my front but I didn't care. All I could think about was the indescribable sensation.
When I could open my eyes, I discovered that I had fallen to my knees and was staring at the stone floor. I slowly raised my head and saw a booted toe tapping on the ground to my left. Looking up a little more, I saw that boot belonged to Alucard.
"Congratulations, Freshmeat. You've accepted what you have become, much quicker that I thought you would. Now all you need to do is learn how to use proper utensils." Alucard grinned.
I stood up and wiped my mouth with my sleeve. Boy, I'm glad Mistress didn't see that. I glanced behind Alucard and was dismayed to see not only Mistress, but Sir Integra as well.
"At least we don't have to worry about two anorexic vampires," Sir Integra mused, "but I didn't come here to discuss your diet. Officer Victoria's debriefing was quite informative. Your performance was far above my expectations; especially for a Yank. I didn't think you would silence a freak singlehandedly on your first assignment."
I wasn't sure whether I should be flattered or offended.
"Though I would have expected you to be able to recognize a freak when you saw one. You shouldn't make a habit of being shot in the back; it's a bad example for the other soldiers," she admonished.
"I'll keep that in mind," I whispered sarcastically.
"Normally I would wait before doing this, but I will have Walter begin crafting your custom weapons. He does truly marvelous work," Integra offered.
I could practically see the sparkles in my own eyes.
"Reeeeeeeaaaly? Sweeeeeeeeet."
"Ugh, Freshmeat, shut your mouth, you're catching flies," Alucard spat.
"Master, you don't need to be so cruel to him," Mistress protested.
I got a strange thought. "Mistress, Alucard is your master; does that make him my grandmaster? And what about Sir Integra, is she my great-grandmaster?" I asked.
Both Alucard and Integra smacked me upside the head.
Integra pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Now that that has been said, dawn is approaching. It's time you must rest, good day."
Integra left with Alucard in tow. Mistress stayed behind. "I've not really had a chance to thank you for what you did that day," she said, "but I appreciate it. Even though it was completely unnecessary; that bullet would never have hurt me."
My eyes widened in disbelief. "You're saying that me taking the bullet for you was a total waste? Awww man, that's just ducky."
"Well, Sir Integra was right; it is getting to sunrise. You should turn in."
I nodded in agreement and she left without another word.
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