The Night the Vampires Came

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

We arrived in Miami just as the sun dipped below the horizon. We rode in silence after the incident at the checkpoint. Jack took over the driving responsibilities from Holly. Since the radio was broken, he hummed show tunes to himself. It was driving me insane.

Although Holly periodically sighed and flipped her hair in irritation, neither of us stop him. Silence wouldn't have made things any better. There was traffic heading out of the city, toward the interstate and the airport. There were several flashing signs telling us to head away from the shoreline. A haphazard evacuation route was set up. A sign made of cardboard duct-taped to street lights with the words "God has forsaken us," spray-painted on it came into view. Driving down the block, I saw a man hanging from his mansion's balcony, a noose made of bedsheets around his neck.

"Let's stick to the highways," Holly muttered.

"The police might force us to turn back," Jack replied.

"Let them try," Holly said. She was insistent. We were not evacuating tonight. We continued to Miami.

Jack didn't fight. He continued to hum show tunes, a cheerful one this time, from Mamma Mia. Holly and I sighed in unison. But that only encouraged him to hum louder. If anything, it was soothing to have something to direct my irritation toward. My mind kept replaying the cracking of the vampire's ribs as I drove my knife into its chest. I couldn't stop thinking about the snarl on the creature's face, those sparkling teeth, and that curled tongue.

Then when my mind finally left the vampire, it would turn to Holly. The sight of her standing over the body with the shovel in her hands. In my memory, I saw her brown hair falling over her shoulders, her chest heaving under her fuzzy sweater.

Who thought she had it in her?

All this time, I thought she was some Queen-bee bimbo who was more concerned about her straight perm and her perfectly manicured nails to do any dirty work.

Also, where the hell was Jack all that time? Was he cowering in the car? It made me want to strangle him from the backseat. Just goes to show you, if you wait for a man to come to save you at the end of the world, you'll be vampire chow.

The future was most definitely female — that was, if we had a future left.

Miami was under more than just military lockdown. The police force and national guard had barricaded off South Beach. There were heavy-duty checkpoints going in and out of the city.

Holly reassured us that her boyfriend Andrew would offer us a place to crash for the night. He had a house that was about four blocks off Ocean Drive. Just like our phones, hers couldn't get a signal. Even so, Holly reassured us if we continued to drive to the coast, it was going to be safe there for the night.

Ever since the Blight Storm took a deadly turn, measures were taken to protect Miami in every direction. There was a military barricade safeguard the city from all sides. As for the beach, there were tents set up all along the water to prevent any unwanted guests from washing up. Megawatt beams were set up all around the city to ensure a safe evacuation at night. Although Jack assured me that not all vampires feared the light, I supposed the military was betting on the fact that at least some of them were.

"See those circus tents?" Jack asked, pointing at the white tips in the distance as we approached along the highway. "The Levarsi is here. They're an international society to protect humanity from the vampires."

"So, they're going to keep us safe?" Holly snorted. The night felt unnaturally cold for autumn. She had pulled her sweater sleeves over her hands to stay warm. Nervously, she picked bits of piling wool from her sweater and left it in balls around the car seat. My dad wouldn't like that if he were alive. He was a clean freak when it came to his car.