Chapter 14# Daylight
Rachel and Eric were about to start climbing up the ropes after Jason, Salim, and Nick when suddenly, something jumped from out behind the waterfall. It was a person, no, not a person, it was a person who had been turned into a vampire like Joey and the Ancient One.
"Oh my God." Eric gasped when he saw who the vampire was. "Clarice?!"
Screeching at them, Clarice charged, pushing Eric aside to go after Rachel. Clarice grabbed Rachel and the two women went rolling towards a ledge. Eric ran over and grabbed Clarice, trying to pull her away from Rachel. Clarice struggled, sending Eric onto his back while he still tried to hold her back. Clarice was able to break out of Eric grip and turned over on top of him and tried to bite at him with her fangs, but Rachel ran over and kicked Clarice off of him. Eric backed away, Rachel trying to help him back onto his feet, but stopped when Clarice began to get up and charge at them.
Rachel kicked out at Clarice, sending her over the edge into the depths of the cave. Rachel helped Eric up and the both walked towards the edge and looked down, not seeing where Clarice's body fell.
"Damn it! Shit. I never should've let her go." Rachel said, regretting that she hadn't done more to help Clarice, especially knowing now that they could have cured her with Eric's UV light like they'd done with her.
"I never should've brought her here." Eric said regretfully.
Suddenly, the caverns began to shake and collapse again. Rachel and Eric quickly ran and climbed up the ropes, where the others were wait for them. They all ran through the temple as it was collapsing around them, eventually arriving back in the temple's throne room. They ran down the entrance hall to where Jason, Nick, and Eric had been attacked by Dar hours ago. Rachel pointed out one of the statues that was just high enough where they could throw a grappling hook up towards a hole that led back to the surface.
The five climbed the statue, onto it's hand, Jason helping Salim up on the final push of the climb. Rachel took the grappling hook and threw it up towards the surface, where it securely latched on and they climbed up back onto surface and into the safety of daylight. When they all got to the surface, they five soldiers stood there, completely tired, physically exhausted, and not knowing how the hell they made it through all that hell down there, but grateful to be alive.
"We made it!" Rachel shouted, relieved to be back in the light of the sun. "Soak up those rays, guys. Soak it all up."
Jason and Nick fell to the ground, Nick on his back and Jason sitting up.
"You still with me, buddy?" Jason asked, looking over at Nick.
Nick raised his hand, giving a thumbs up.
"We got two alive, very fuckin' ready to go home marines here." Jason said, laughing in relief.
Eric turned on his radio to call for pick up.
"Dropkick to Coyote Two. Radio check. Over." Eric said.
The radio was silent for a few second, making everyone think the signal hadn't gone through until a female voice spoke through the radio.
"This is Coyote Two. Solid copy. Evac units are being prepped. ETA five hours. Wait. Over." the woman over the radio said.
Everyone smiled with relief that in just a few short hours they would be the hell away from this place.
"We got back up again. We beat the enemy." Eric stated.
"I sure forgot how bright it is out here." Rachel said after having gotten use to how dim and pitch black it had been down in the temple and caves.
"Hello sunshine. Am I happy to see you." Nick said, feeling the same. "Oh, man. I can see for miles. Gonna really drink this one up."
"Man, I can't see shit it's so bright out here." Jason said, adding his two scents in on the brightness. "I tell ya, I ain't never been so pleased to see this sandbox. Woo! I love Iraq!"
Rachel took a moment to look down at herself, still covered in blood from that blood river she fell in.
"I need a shower, clean clothes, a comfy bed, and a cold beer." Rachel said.
"I have to say, I didn't peg our odds too high, but I'm happy to be proven wrong." Eric stated.
"Improvise, adapt and overcome. We fucking did it!" Jason shouted. "We're alive. We're fucking alive!"
"Not all of us." Nick said, thinking of Joey, Merwin, Clarice, and all the other soldiers they lost down there.
"We can't feel guilt for those left behind. We honor them by being alive." Rachel stated.
Salim looked around, taking in the brightness just as much as everyone else, especially the non-tension filled silence.
"It's so quiet." Salim said before thinking again of Zain. "I must return home to my boy. He must be worried about me."
As Salim said that, everything suddenly started to go dark. Confused, they looked up towards the sun and saw a black disk covering it.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Eric said, realizing what it was.
Right before the briefing yesterday, when Eric looked at the computer, it said there was going to be a total eclipse at 6:00 AM and it was 6:00 AM. An eclipse meant the sun and it's rays would be covered and if they were covered than that meant…
"Oh no." Salim said, realizing just what the eclipse meant.
"Oh no, please no." Nick said.
"No… Not again!" Rachel said.
Jason didn't say anything and just got his rifle ready. The black disk and fully covered the sun, leaving only slivers of light around it's edges. Suddenly, with a screech, a vampire flew straight up from out of the hole in the ground, it's form outlined by the eclipse behind it. The vampire glided back down towards the ground, landing several dozen feet in front of the five soldiers and screeched at them. Afterwards, dozens more vampires began to fly out from the ground, the darkened sky filled with their demonic screeching.
This situation was very bad and Rachel knew it; fighting these things down in the caverns was hard enough, but out here in the open, there was no way they could survive that kind of fight. She looked towards the village huts, they had run and get inside quickly if they any chance of surviving weather it was hiding or fighting off the vampires until the eclipse passed.
"Inside! Get inside, NOW! If we stay out here, we die!" Rachel instructed.
The five ran for their lives towards the huts as the vampires chased after them from both the ground and sky. They made it to the nearest hut, Jason kicking the door open and running down a short hall into another room.
"Shore up the defenses! Lock this place down tight!" Rachel commanded.
Everyone started grabbing tables, boxes, anything they could use and placing them against the windows, doors, anywhere the vampires could get in. Rachel heard vampires land on and crawl around the roof of the building. If those vampires broke into the house, it would be only a matter of time till they were slaughtered, but if they could hold out until the eclipse passes, the sun would start to kill the vampire and force them to retreat back underground, but how long would they have to last until that happened.
"How long until the damn eclipse passes?" Rachel asked.
"You tell me. I don't know shit about space." Jason said.
"Six minutes max! We just need to hold out." Eric said.
"That's way too long!" Jason said, not confident that they could even last a minute if and when the creatures broke into the house.
"I can't rush the damn moon!" Eric replied.
The vampires began banging on the house, tearing at the barricaded windows and the roof.
"They're breaking inside!" Eric shouted.
The vampires managed to tear a large hole in the roof of the building, above where Nick was standing. A vampire grabbed him and back to fly up, but Eric and Rachel noticed and grabbed Nick just in time before the vampire lifted him out of reach. The pulled with all their might, freeing Nick from the vampire's grasp. The vampires were starting to stick their heads through the windows, moments away from entering the house.
"Push those motherfuckers back to Hell!" Nick shouted, firing his rifle at them.
"Drive them back!" Rachel also, shouted.
Salim took his stake and stabbed at a vampire through a window to keep it from breaking in. Rachel's pistol's clip ran out of ammo and as she reloaded it, she realized that it was her last clip.
"Fuck! I'm almost out!" Rachel informed everyone.
"Shit. That's my last clip!" Eric said, also on his last clip.
"Anyone got any more bright ideas?" Rachel asked.
Eric looked around and saw two small supply crates that could have ammo in them against the wall. Eric rushed over and grabbed them, bringing them into the middle of the room. Eric opened them, but there was no ammo inside, only flares.
"Is this it, flares? Where's the ammo?" Rachel said, wondering just how the hell they we're going to fight back and survive with just a few flares.
"Light them. We can hold them off." Eric said, rationalizing that they had to work with what they had.
Everyone grabbed a flare, Eric grabbing two, and lit them, holding them in one hand while holding a combat knife in the other. The vampires finally broke into the house and began to surround the five soldiers.
"It's been interesting knowing you." Salim told the four Americans, knowing one way or another that this was their last stand.
A vampire lunged at Rachel from behind. She held her flare out in front of her, it's bright red light frightening the vampire. Rachel slashed at the vampire with her combat knife but missed and the vampire tried swiping at her with it's claws, Rachel backing up as it did. The vampire tried to lunge at her again, but Rachel jumped out of the way. The vampire fell onto the ground on it's back.
Rachel threw her knife at the vampire, the blade embedding through the vampire's hand and into the floor, pinning it there. Rachel rushed at the vampire with the flare, bit it grabbed her arms with it's hind claws, trying to toss her away. Rachel retrieved her knife from the vampire's hand and stabbed the vampire in the chest, twice, hoping to kill it and the parasite controlling this dead body. It didn't and the vampire just pushed Rachel back and crawled away. Eric waved both his flares at the vampire in front of him.
The vampire grabbed him and threw him against the wall, pushing him back with it's hind claws as he tried to rush back towards it. Eric fell to the ground and the creature tried to stomp onto his face, but Eric rolled out of the way and waved his flare at it's face, scaring it away. Nick slashed his knife at the vampire he was facing, managing to graze it's abdomen. The vampire used it's hind leg to push Nick back, who fell to the ground, but rolled out of the way before the vampire could stomp on his chest. Nick stabbed the vampire just under it's sternum and waved his flare close to the it's face as he maneuvered himself behind it.
The vampire sharply turned around, but as it did, Nick shoved his flare into it's face and repeatedly stabbed it in the face and then in the back of it's head as it sunk to the ground and waving his flare at it as it retreated. Salim tried to stab at a vampire with his combat knife, but it grabbed his arm. The vampire used it's other arm to grab onto Salim's shoulder and force him to the ground. With Salim on the ground, the vampire reared up and tried to come down on him with it's claws, but Salim held up his flare, which frightened it and caused it to fall onto it's back. With the tables now turned, Salim got up and tried to stab down at it with his knife, but the creature grabbed onto his chest with it's hind legs to keep him back.
With a shout of defiance, Salim shoved his flare into the vampire's face. The vampire pushed Salim back and retreated. Jason ducked under the claw swipe of a vampire coming at him, slashing the vampire along the side and slashing at it's hand as it tried to reach behind itself at him. The vampire turned and kicked Jason to the ground. As the vampire got on top of him, Jason stabbed it in the face.
The creature reeled back with a screech. Jason got up and stabbed it the face again as he also held his flare towards it's face. The vampire tried slashing him with it's claws again, Jason again ducking under them, stabbing the vampire in the back and pushing it to the ground. Jason got on top of it and began to stab it in the back of it's skull. The vampire threw him off and retreated back out of the house with the other vampires the others had managed to fight off.
Another vampire charged at Rachel, furiously slashing at her with it's claws while she also tried to slash it with her knife. The creature managed to grab Rachel by the neck with it's hand and tried biting at her with it's fangs. Rachel stabbed the vampire in the neck and it threw her against a wall, Rachel losing her knife and her flare. The vampire back Rachel into a corner and it reared up with a screech, ready to deliver the final blow. Just before it could however, sunlight began to shine through holes in the side of the building.
The light hit the vampire and it soon burst into flames. Seeing this, the rest of the vampires that had made it inside the house, retreated outside where other vampires either retreated back into the hole unground where the sun did shine while other vampires burnt in the light of the sun as the eclipse passed. The five soldiers stood there for a moment, hearts racing and in disbelief they had just managed to survive the hoard of vampires. They all allowed themselves to drop back down to the ground again to catch their breath, knowing that it was all over for real this time. They all stayed there for a while before Salim got up. He remembered the woman Eric spoke to over his radio said they would arrive in five hours to pick them up and while Jason and for the most part, the others had accepted him as one of them, he doubted the rest of their allies would show him the same kindness if he stuck around.
Besides, he had his son that he very much wanted to see again and to tell him how proud he was of him.
"I need to see my boy." Salim said.
As Salim got up, he picked up the iron stake he had used to kill so many vampires this night.
"A souvenir." Salim said lightly.
Rachel and the others nodded as Salim made his way out of the hut.
"Salim. Wait!" Jason called out, following Salim.
Salim stopped and turned towards Jason.
"Good luck, brother. You wish Zain a happy birthday for me." Jason said.
Jason than held out his hand and Salim proudly shook it.
"Thank you, Jason." Salim said. "Goodbye my friend."
Salim stepped out of the hut and into the sun. He took a moment to admire both it's light and it's beauty before he began to make his way home to his son. Hours later two helicopters arrived in the village, Jason, Rachel, Eric, and Nick waving them down towards them.
"Thank God. We made it." Eric said gratefully as the choppers landed.
The four rushed towards the chopper, wanting to get as far away from this place as soon as possible.
"We got four survivors. Returning to base." the piolet reported as it took off.
As the helicopter took off, making it's way towards base, Rachel and Eric look across from each other and smiled. Despite all the hardship they had faced throughout the years, they knew that after everything they had faced tonight that they could face the future and make it work together. Next to each of them, Jason and Nick counted their blessings, grateful that they had made it out alive and silently made a prayer for those that hadn't. Other than that, they four also thought about just what they would say when they would give their report on what happened. Vampires, aliens, alien vampire, no body was going to believe it and it was going to take a lot of explaining to do and no doubt, CENTCOM was going to have to do something about what was left of those vampires.