The Purging

Shattered Universe

CHAPTER 3

“Twenty four hours Ben! Twenty four fucking hours! That’s how much time you said we had. You didn’t say five minutes Ben, you said twenty four hours!” screams a frantic Juanito, banging violently on the dash board.

“How the fuck was I supposed to know? I wasn’t the one who set up the website. That’s not important now. Be cool Juanito, we’ll survive this. I’ve got your back’” replies Ben, stepping hard on the gas and swerving to avoid a dead body lying in the middle of the road.

“Be cool? Be cool?! Who are you kidding? That mother fucker has our home addresses Ben. You might not have a family but I do! I’ve got Lita and the kids at home. He’s gonna kill em’ all!” With what they'd just witnessed at the airport, Juanito shudders to think of what the charred vampire they were chasing would do to those closest to him.

“That’s only if he gets there before us Juanito and he won’t. I promise.” Turning a corner at breakneck speed, a vampire darts out in front of the car. Ben stomps down on the gas pedal and accelerates right into the growling bloodsucker. The car makes contact at full speed and the vampire’s crushed body sticks like glue to the front bumper. The fleshy hood ornament takes multiple swings at the car's occupants from its perch. Juanito takes hold of his cousin's shotgun and fires a round into the creature's jaw. The unwelcome guest is dislodged by the blast. It's lifeless form now nothing more than a smear on the asphalt, vanishing in the rear view mirror.

Despite making great time, disaster strikes only a few blocks away from Juanito’s house. An intersection has been completely blocked off by the twisted wreckage of a multiple car pileup.

“No, no, no!” Juanito’s voice is hoarse with desperation. He punches the dashboard as hard as he can and turns to his cousin.

“We gotta grab the guns and ditch the car! We can go the rest of the way on foot.” replies Ben, throwing open his door. He runs around to the trunk and hastily slides all the weapons and ammo he can fit into a duffle bag. Unable to wait, Juanito takes off on foot as fast as he can towards his house. Ben slings the bag over his shoulder and follows closely behind.

Cutting down an alley, Juanito runs across a vampire feeding on a pair of homeless men. The less than discriminating diner hears him coming, and tosses aside its meagre meal so that it can focus its attention on the new, much juicier target. It bounces back and forth off the walls of the alleyway, deftly dodging the bullets being sprayed from Juanito’s AK-47. The distance between them is closed in seconds, and it lands hard with both feet directly on Juanito’s chest, slamming him to the ground. With Juanito lying winded at its feet, the vampire goes straight for his pulsing jugular vein. Teeth just millimeters from their target, Ben rounds the corner and opens fire with his pistol. A bullet catches the vampire square in the nose, splitting the face down the middle and sending it skittering up the wall. The wounded monster scales the side of a building and retreats into the night.

Ben tries to raise his cousin back to his feet, but the damage from multiple attacks has taken its toll on Juanito’s battered body. Blood bubbles out of his mouth and his right shoulder hangs limp and dislocated. Knees shaking, eyes welling up with tears, he looks at Ben and says, “I’m not gonna make it man. Just leave me here and go save my family.”

Ben responds with rage and conviction, “Don’t you fucking give up on me! Just pull it together and focus.” One strong pull wrenches Juanito’s shoulder back into the socket. Ben slides his arm around Juanito’s waist and lifts him up. They continue on shoulder to shoulder down the alley. The weight of the duffle bag combined with his companion becomes too much to handle, and Ben has no choice but to toss the extra weapons aside.