Vampocalypse (old first draft)

Chapter Seventeen

"Well, I'll just- er- dig in then," Hector said, holding the nasty little blood-bag up awkwardly.

I grimaced.

"Sorry." He turned away.

I heard a pop as the bag was punctured.

"It's kind of gross, but what's a vamp to do?" Wren shrugged. "On the bright side, he doesn't have to drink every day."

"Really? The superior vamps drink daily," I said, trying to ignore Hector's less-than-inconspicuous slurps.

"Those vamps indulge, because they can. They really don't have to. They can go days, some even up to a week without it. And they don't have to take enough to kill either. A pint or two is enough."

"They don't kill them... They just. . ."

"I know," his boyish features darkened. "They use them. They keep them like prisoners and drain them little by little. It's disgusting."

He was right about that much, but I doubted he could imagine the full extent of how horrible they were. He was used to being around tame vampires, like Hector. Even Max didn't compare to the sinister heart of, say, Starsky.

"Those are the very kind of vamps that used to kill, though," he went on. "That's why they made that place. They needed to fix their mistake."

"So I've heard. What about this place? What goes on here?"

Wren started to answer, But Hector slipped next to us, discretely wiping his mouth on his sleeve, and took the reigns.

"Revolution. We're trying to make a better world."

A perk, indeed. Hector seemed overall energized, as though he'd drank an entire pot of coffee in one hefty gulp. He even seemed healthier. His eyes had a brighter glow - as bright as the superior vamps' eyes and just like a feline's in the dark. His slender, slightly sallow face had filled out, a fact that made him look younger. My guess was that he was about eighteen when he was altered into what he now was.

"And what steps are you taking?" I asked.

"For starters, we want to wipe out some of the problem."

"Deaders?"

"Yes, but more importantly superior vamps. They handled it all wrong in the beginning. Instead of imprisoning humans, they should have lessened their numbers. If we wipe out just half of them, everything will be significantly better."

"But the deaders... that's why the superior vamps multiplied their numbers in the first place, right?"

"Right, and instead of that they should have worked on a cure."

"A cure?" I shook my head at the ridiculous thought. "There's no way. You can't cure what they are." I shivered.

"Wrong," Wren said. "Well, sort of wrong. You met Jun, right? Dorky, lab coat, glasses?"

"Yeah?"

"He's a genius. He made a cure of sorts. The closest to one. . ." Wren said.

"It's not really a solution so much as a prevention. It isn't for deaders; it's for humans. A vaccination. They take it and when they die, they won't come back to join the ranks of the insatiable undead," Hector explained.

"All we have to do is focus on wiping out all of the deaders and at least half of the superior vamps," Wren said.

"How are you going to do that?" I asked.

"Up until a few days ago, we had no solid plan. I went to the compounds to get information, to construct a plan. Then I met you and everything changed," Hector said.