Vampire Apocalypse: Fallout (Book 3) by Derek Gunn Page B

knew that their only chance to survive as a race was to
gather together in sufficient numbers so that their community could
survive. They would all die if they stagnated and remained a small
community. But he cared deeply about those who were still helpless
in the hands of the thralls and the vampires and she knew that the
community’s banishment had hurt him more deeply than he cared to
acknowledge.
    She then remembered the faces of
those they had saved as they had come out of the effects of the
serum and she began to feel her resolve harden. The vampires were
vicious bastards; their cruelty and complete disregard for their
prisoners were repulsive. The fact that they had once been human
themselves only made them more abhorrent. She would fight them with
her last breath no matter what the others thought. The people they
had saved were scared and easily manipulated by ruthless people,
and they would deal with those later. For now, they had a job to
do. She took a deep breath and walked past the ruined door and back
into the Cave with a resolve that filled her with a purpose she had
not felt in some time.
     
     

Chapter 7
     
     
    Tanya Syn woke to the worst
hangover she could ever remember. For a moment the pain seemed to
be all that there was. Somehow everything else seemed to be
missing. Memories, thoughts and feelings - all of them were gone.
But the pain was there, demanding her attention and overpowering
her senses. She knew it must be a hangover and that it must be the
worst she had ever had, but other than that, there was nothing. Her
brain wasn’t working properly. It was as if someone had steeped it
in treacle overnight and all her thoughts were stuck in the thick
syrup. She opened her eyes and quickly shut them again as light
stabbed at her and burned through her skull.
    She brought a hand to her aching
temples. At least, she thought about bringing her hand up, but she
couldn’t feel any movement. She felt panic begin to build within
her and her heart began to thump faster. What the hell is going
on, she thought with rising despair?
    She forced herself to calm down.
She had drunk too much, that was all. In a few minutes the pain
would ease and she would be able to get up and take something for
the pain. Her heart began to slow a little as her logic began to
penetrate the fog of pain. All she had to do was wait a little
longer. Suddenly, there was a scream to her right and she jumped
and opened her eyes in shock. Light flooded in again and seemed to
burn like hot lasers but she kept them open regardless. At first
all she could see was an out-of-focus blur, as if she was looking
through a window streaked with rain, but, slowly, it began to
clear. The pain didn’t relent at all but now she used the pain to
force her brain to work.
    The first thing she noticed was
that she was lying on hard tarmac. Why would I be lying on the
ground? Where am I?
    Suddenly a flood of memories
gushed through her bruised head and her heart stopped in shock. She
remembered the vampires, the killing and panic in Los Angeles as
the city prepared for the inevitable attack that had already swept
through the rest of the country. She finally remembered her own
name, and then she remembered her children and she felt a scream
build within her like a volcano.
    Pain flooded through her but the
scream would not be denied, and she unleashed a cry as forlorn and
filled with despair as the one she had heard moments ago. As she
screamed she was dimly aware of more screams beginning around her.
She tried to move, to search for her children, but her body would
not move and she was forced to look down at the ground as her body
convulsed with pain and despair, helpless as the last few months
began to play out like a movie reel.
    As her mind began to slowly
shake off the effects of the serum her overriding thoughts were for
her two children. Jillian and Mark had been with her when the
vampires had come but she had no memory of them after she had