I gripped my blade and took one deliberate step forward.
With piercing shrieks, the rabids flung themselves at me, a pale, chaotic swarm. Howling a battle cry, I lunged to the edge of the road and met the first wave with flashing steel, cutting through limbs and splitting bodies in two. Claws slashed at me, tearing through my coat, into my skin. Blood misted on the damp air, both mine and the tainted blood of the monsters, but I didn’t feel any pain. Roaring, I bared my fangs and surged into the wave, splitting them apart. Everything dissolved into a chaotic blur of blood and fangs and slashing limbs, and I lost myself in complete, savage destruction.
A scream drew my attention to the van. Zeke was pulling Caleb out the side door, when a rabid clawed its way out of the earth next to the van and slashed at them with curved talons. With one arm, Zeke swung Caleb out of its reach, bringing the machete down with the other. The blade struck the monster’s skull, burying deep, and the rabid jerked away, twitching. I started toward them when suddenly, through the trees, the earth roiled, and another wave of monsters erupted from the ground. Eyes blazing, they gave chilling wails and flung themselves at the van.
“Zeke!” I screamed, cutting a rabid’s head from its neck, even as the claws ripped a gash in my sleeve, “get them out of there now!”
“Go!” Zeke bellowed, and the tiny group of six humans scrambled over the tree and took off down the road. Silent Jake led them, clutching the ax he’d picked up from our last stop, but the others were either too small or too old to carry weapons. Zeke hovered by the van, waiting until everyone was gone, before turning to flee, as well.
A rabid came hurling out of nowhere, slamming into him before he could move, pinning him to the hood of the van. Jaws snapping, it lunged for Zeke’s throat, but Zeke’s hand shot out, clamping around its neck, holding the teeth away. The rabid hissed in fury and ripped at him with its claws, tearing at his chest, and for a horrible moment, I flashed back to that night in the rain, where I had died, holding the monster away from my throat while its claws tore my life away.
“Zeke!” Breaking away from the horde, I started toward him. But Zeke brought his foot up, kicking the rabid in the chest, hurling it away. His blue eyes met mine through the rain.
“Help the others!” he spat, as the rabid bounced to its feet with a hiss and sprang at him again. It met the blade of a machete, slashing across its face, and lurched back with a shriek, blood pouring across its eyes. “Allison!” Zeke spared me a split-second glance. “Forget about me—help the others! Please!”
I watched Zeke bring his weapon up, the front of his shirt drenched with blood, watched the rabid close on him, and made my decision.
Whirling, I sprang after the rest of the group, catching up to them just as a pair of rabids lunged for Bethany, cutting them down before they touched her. But the circle was closing in; everywhere I looked, rabids were coming at us, leaping through the trees and rising out of the ground. Several jumped forward, but I sliced them apart before they reached the rest of the group. Still, it was only a matter of time before numbers overwhelmed us.
From the corner of my eye, I could see them, huddled together. Teresa and Silas had the kids between them, sobbing, and Jake stood behind me with his ax, silent and grim. Zeke was gone. The rabids were coming, wave upon wave of them. There was nowhere left to go.
Run, my vampire instincts whispered. The rabids don’t want you; they want the humans. You can still get out of this alive. Run now!
The circle of rabids closed in, hissing and snarling. I glanced behind me at the small group of humans, then turned to face the sea of death, edging forward from all sides.
Zeke, I thought, swinging my blade up one last time, this is for you.
Baring my fangs, I roared a battle cry and lunged forward.
Light pierced the darkness, sudden and blinding. The rabids froze, whirling around, as a monstrous vehicle roared through the crowds, crushing bodies and flinging them aside. It skidded to a halt a few feet away, and several uniformed humans leaned out over the top and sent a hail of machine-gun fire into the mob.
Rabids shrieked and howled as the roar of bullets joined the deafening cacophony, tearing through flesh, shattering concrete and making dirt and trees explode. I cringed back with the others, huddled as close to the truck as I could, hoping a stray bullet wouldn’t hit anyone by mistake. Rabids pounced toward the vehicle but were cut down before they reached the massive tires, twitching as they were riddled with holes. There was a shout, and something small flew through the air, thrown by one of the humans. A few seconds later an explosion rocked the ground, sending rabids flying.