"I could feel you coming," he softly said, and their stares locked as his fingers glided down her face and behind her neck, "I have felt your heart beating inside me since the night you let me drink from you."
Alex was practically numb as she felt his other hand swathe a tender hold around her waist, stretching it across her back. His mere touch drew her closer and he slowly tilted her head to move her shirt collar aside, while his palm ran up her spine. Their eyes remained on each other as Zeke closed in, until Alex finally let hers close and their cheeks barely brushed one another. The warmth of his breath steamed just below her ear, before his lips tracked lightly along her skin. Gradually, her arms slid smoothly around him, hindering him for just a moment. Then, his fangs pierced fast and deep, tightening her grip of him as he started to drink.
Hands spread and pulling, Zeke felt her blood run sweeter than ever. His hold brought her nearer still, wanting to relish each measured swallow, though he was careful of his consumption. Their bodies pressed firmly together, he finally released and quickly covered her wounds with his hand. The two of them had to linger there, holding tight, each trying to catch their breath. Zeke could hear her heart racing within him.
"Are you okay?" he whispered, and they lastly pulled apart.
The quiet was torture, but Alex nodded and promptly bandaged her neck.
"C'mon," she insisted, helping him to his feet, "We've still gotta stop that bastard before the sun comes up."
As Zeke regained his bearings, Alex picked up his sword and offered it back to him.
"I'll fight until this war is over," she said firmly, "I promise you."
Renewed, Zeke took a hold of his claymore and tightened his grip of the hilt, while Alex readied her bladed staff. Both were unmatched in focus as they approached the locked door.
* * *
With Bade and Will leading the rest of the combined forces, they scurried down the tunnels as more roars approached. Alas, they encountered yet another security door.
"This should take us into the northernmost wing," said Eddy. When he scanned his access card, however, he had to grumble, "It's not working. I gotta hack it."
Taking out his laptop, he worked as quickly as he could while the others stood watch. Lenn had tracked back down the corridor a ways, trying to listen for their enemies. As he paused, a swarm of Chimeras launched around the corner and he whirled out his cutlass blade without fear or hesitation. Cutting down the first one, his mates rushed in to help.
"Hurry up!" Will yelled at Eddy.
As blood splashed to the cool walls, Lenn's was the next to splatter, so the clan rightly took their revenge. Finally, the door slid open and they all dashed into the north wing before shutting the Chimeras away.
They were running at full speed down the passages when crashing gunfire mowed across their path, jumping them back before the entrance of the final hallway. Will and Eddy fired back at the Odin troops, while the clan only grew eager to get going.
Frustrations flaring, the teams looked in thrill to see Zeke dashing in from the opposite corridor, towing Alex along to keep up. Will then spied his leader with a grenade in her other hand and she was bringing the pin up to her teeth.
"Get back!" he hollered.
With him and Eddy laying cover fire, Zeke hurled Alex across the opening of the hall for her to toss down the grenade before they all dove for cover. The fiery blast shook the entire structure with a long, deafening boom. Once the ground settled, the teams peered around to see. Bodies and debris were everywhere, but the large steel door was still shut at the other end. With rifles aimed, the humans cautiously approached. All the guards had been killed, so they checked for any intact access cards. Finding one, the teams again split to either side of the giant door.
When the heavy steel slowly opened, they all kept still. An eerie quiet came from within the next room. So, Alex fired a single shot in check and ducked back as a barrage of bullets returned fire. She glanced over to see Zeke whisper to his comrades and he gestured her to wait.
In merely a flash, the clan of the First raced inside for the slicing of flesh and bone to sour the air. Afterwards, they stood stern as they scanned the red-stained foyer.
"It's clear," said Zeke.
Their guns and paces still vigilant, Alex, Will and Eddy found they had arrived within the grand entryway of a mansion. There were glossy wood fixtures and beautiful adjoined rooms. The décor alone was worth millions. Stalking through in silence, every room was empty and frustrations only grew. That was when they heard the revving sounds of engines firing up.
"Move it!" Will yelled and ran through the house toward the whirling helicopter blades.
Into a parlor lined with glass doors and stone pillars, Bade suddenly grabbed and hauled him back just as bullets showered into the room. As the humans gave back blanketing gunfire, clan members darted out to slay the guards posted outside. Advancing out of the north end of the house and into a majestic garden, the flora was still fast asleep as a faint sunlight barely began to brighten the sky. They ran for the tall hedges as more shots popped off, but the First warriors leapt out to come down on their rivals with gracefully carving blades.
Bounding high into the air, Zeke spotted a trio of vehicles parked at the start of a dirt road. A helicopter and its spinning blades were at the west end of the pasture. His clan pounced on ahead, cutting down any armed guard they saw. With Alex leading her boys to the edge of the clearing, assault rifles battling loudly back and forth, Zeke felt her heart give a jump.
"He's getting away!" she screamed.
The helicopter then picked up from the ground and howled over their heads as it sped its flight off across the waking sky. Enraged, Alex ran out from her cover to fire madly at the Odin troops. That was when the SUVs finally started to make their escape.
With a growl, Bade leapt daringly onto the roof of the farthest one and thrust his gladius swords down through the pair of soldiers in the front seats. Jumping off before it spun and flipped, the next truck swerved to get around it, but Fitz and Quin slammed onto its hood. Plunging their blades deep into the engine with impossible might, they both sprung out of the way as it crashed. By then, the last one was frantically trying to flee, so Will fired two precise shots to blow the rear tires, sending it into a fishtail at high speed. They lost control and collided with a broad tree, throwing the driver and passenger over the airbags and through the windshield. The remaining guards jumped out with their guns ablaze, but the whole clan assailed with ruthless swords to slay them all in an instant. Zeke then dragged the last of their enemies out of the truck – a cowering man in a white coat, splattered with blood. He brought his claymore to his neck when Alex hurried over.
"Wait!" she hollered.
He backed away as she ran to them and she hurled an angry punch to the scientist's face, throwing him to the ground. Before he could shake away his daze, Alex hauled him back to his feet and slammed him against the truck.
"You're Cray's assistant!" she yelled at him, "Your name's Reed!"
"How do you…?" he trembled and asked, "Who are you people?"
"Take a real good look," she scowled.
The battle had since gone silent and the others were closing in around them. The man froze to see both human and First… together.
"Where is he going?" demanded Alex.
"It's useless," he dared to say, despite his pain. "Phase Two has gone into full production. We have dozens of facilities, all bigger than this one." The shock flushed to her face gave him a laugh, "You'll never stop him."
Then, a tiny crunch rattled behind his teeth and he pursed his lips to spit on the ground at their feet. He was sadistically pleased when she looked down. All she found was a plastic capsule, now broken and emptied of its poison. With a growl, Alex tightened her hold of him and gave his body another slam.
"And your friends," he said, weakened, "Will be extinct before you know it… Alexandra."
At that, he suddenly choked, just as his last b
reath faded with the breeze. Alex released him and he flopped dead to the ground. No one could move.
Just then, they all turned to the bellows of rumbling engines, now hustling up the road at the opposite end of the field. Father Koen waved to them from the window of one of the trucks. That was when the first sliver of daylight crept over the trees. The sun was about to breach.
"We must go," Zeke lastly said, "I will find you."
Alex turned to catch her stare with his, but it was only for a moment. Then, he and his clan blurred and vanished from sight. The wind gusting, her words were left to teeter on her tongue.
The cavalry pulled up around the only three humans left behind and Father Koen jumped out to see it written all over their faces. With blood and death spread around the somber fighters, they all realized their battle against Odin had grown beyond their meager grasps. Still, they knew they had to press on, had to keep their weathered boots moving only forward. They would have to fight harder, fight smarter, fight as if the world depended on it… because it did.
This war was far from over.
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