Chapter 4 : Fight on hold

The screaming followed them through the streets. Wilds. Dozens of them. Maybe more.

Sera sprinted beside Jonas through the frozen ruins above the subway station, boots slamming hard against snow-covered asphalt while icy wind tore through abandoned buildings around them

Behind them, the station entrance exploded. Concrete burst outward into the street.

A body flew through the cloud of debris and crashed against an overturned bus hard enough to bend metal.

Husen, still alive. Of course.

The ancient vampire rolled once across the snow before rising immediately, blood dripping from his mouth, and silver burns still smoking faintly along his throat.

Three wilds launched after him seconds later. Husen moved instantly. One lost its head. Another smashed through a car windshield.

The third he caught by the jaw and slammed face-first into the pavement hard enough to crack ice beneath it.

Sera kept running. Not her problem.

Jonas grabbed her arm sharply. “Faster!”

The wilds behind Husen shrieked louder. More shapes poured from the subway entrance.

Too many. And they weren’t scattering randomly like normal. They moved together.

Hunting. Tracking. They never saw them move in such a way

*****

Snow blasted sideways across the streets while ghost dawn slowly brightened the poisoned clouds overhead. Pale grey light spread through the ruined city, warning survivors to find shelter before ultraviolet radiation intensified.

Jonas spotted the building first. “Pharmacy!”

The collapsed storefront sat half-buried beneath snow and rubble, windows shattered but walls mostly intact. Good enough.

The two hunters rushed inside immediately. Jonas shoved debris against the entrance while Sera moved toward the broken windows, knives already drawn. Outside, wilds flooded the streets.

Grey bodies crawled over abandoned vehicles and ruined sidewalks in snarling waves. And in the middle of them, Husen fought like something dragged straight from nightmares. No hesitation. No wasted movement. Violence wrapped in elegance.

Wilds tore toward him from every direction while blood sprayed across the snow around his boots. He moved impossibly fast between them, dark coat whipping violently in the wind as claws and silver flashed through the storm.

Sera watched him rip one creature apart barehanded. Then another. Then another.

Jonas noticed her staring. “We’re not helping him.”

“I know.”

A wild suddenly shrieked and pointed toward the pharmacy. Then, several more turned. Sera’s stomach dropped. “Jonas.”

Too late. The creatures charged the building.

“Move!” Jonas barked.

The first wild smashed through the front window seconds later. Glass exploded inward.

Sera met it midair with silver through the throat. Another climbed through immediately behind it. Jonas fired a UV round directly into its chest, violet light bursting across the dark room.

More screams echoed outside. Too many. The barricade shook violently. Sera slashed another feral across the face while backing deeper into the pharmacy. “We need another exit!”

Jonas kicked over a shelf, blocking the rear hallway. “Back door!” The front entrance exploded inward.

Five wilds poured inside together. Sera’s knives flashed silver beneath flickering emergency lights while Jonas fired point-blank into snarling bodies lunging through broken shelves.

One creature grabbed Sera’s arm. She buried a blade in its eye. Another slammed into her side hard enough to send both of them crashing across the counter. Rotting teeth snapped inches from her throat. Sera shoved desperately against its jaws.

Then the wild suddenly disappeared.

Husen tore it off her and threw it through the wall hard enough to shower the room in concrete dust. Sera hit the floor hard and immediately grabbed another knife.

Husen stood between them and the entrance now, blood covering one side of his face while wilds snarled outside the ruined storefront.

“You followed us?” she snapped.

Husen ripped a wild's spine out casually before answering. “You happened to choose the only intact building nearby. Very inconsiderate.”

Jonas raised the rifle instantly. “Back away from her.”

Husen glanced at the weapon.

“You two really enjoy threatening things stronger than you.”

Sera attacked before he finished speaking. Knife toward throat. Husen caught her wrist immediately.

The movement dragged her directly against him. Cold hands. Hard grip. Her mind suddenly brought the moment of their close proximity. The way his face was too close to her mouth, and she felt the cold air creasing her skin. She shook her head immediately and continued her attack.

Blood and snow clinging to his coat. His eyes narrowed slightly. “Really?”

“You think I forgot the subway?”

“No,” Husen replied smoothly while twisting her wrist just enough to force the blade aside. “I think your timing is terrible.”

Jonas charged from the side with a silver blade. Husen shoved Sera backwards and ducked beneath the strike, grabbing Jonas by the coat before slamming him into the wall. The pharmacy shelves rattled violently.

Sera lunged again. Husen caught her second knife, too. For one brief second, all three of them froze in close quarters among shattered glass and overturned shelves while wilds screamed outside the building.

Husen looked between them with visible annoyance, then toward the windows. The grey light outside brightened further. Ghost dawn. Ultraviolet radiation would intensify soon. Vampires couldn’t survive direct exposure once the poisoned daylight fully rose. Husen released Sera abruptly.

“Temporary hold.”

Sera blinked once. “What?”

The vampire pointed toward the windows where pale daylight slowly strengthened beyond the storm.

“You can continue trying to kill me after sunrise.” He gestured toward the screaming wilds outside. “Currently we have a larger problem.”

Another wild smashed against the front wall hard enough to crack concrete.

Jonas looked toward the brightening sky uneasily.

“We can’t outrun daylight.”

“No,” Husen agreed calmly. “And you definitely can’t outrun that.” The wilds outside multiplied by the second.

Dozens circled the pharmacy now. Watching. Waiting. Sera lowered the knife slightly but didn’t back away.

“I can’t believe I’m agreeing with a vampire I actively want to kill.”

Husen smiled faintly despite the blood covering him. “To be fair, I also wanted a quieter evening.”

Jonas groaned. “He jokes during everything.”

“It’s a coping mechanism,” Husen replied.

“You’re the problem!”

“Also true.”

Another crash shook the building. Sera swore sharply and stepped back at last.

“Temporary,” she warned.

Husen inclined his head politely. “Wonderful. We’re allies now.”

“We are absolutely not.”

“Mm. Coworkers in a deeply hostile environment, then.”

They moved quickly through the pharmacy toward the rear storage rooms while wilds clawed and screamed outside the collapsing storefront.

Husen walked behind them now. Sera noticed immediately. Probably intentional. The vampire was giving them space. Or giving them the illusion of space. Neither option comforted her. Jonas kept glancing backwards with his rifle half-raised the entire time.

“You try anything,” he warned.

Husen looked genuinely offended. “Jonas, if I intended violence, you’d already be dead.”

“That isn’t reassuring.”

“It wasn’t intended to be.”

The rear storage area sat mostly intact beneath collapsed ceiling beams and old supply crates.

No windows. Good protection from daylight.

Sera immediately shoved heavy shelving against the hallway entrance while Jonas checked for secondary exits. Husen remained near the centrer of the room, watching them both carefully.

Still too calm. Even wounded.

Silver burns scarred his hands and neck visibly now, though several cuts across his face had already healed completely.

Ancient monster.

Sera hated how impossible he felt. She shoved another crate into place aggressively.

“You could help.”

Husen glanced toward the barricade. "You seem emotionally committed already.”

“You are unbelievably irritating.”

“So I’ve heard.”

Jonas returned from the back hallway frowning. “No exit. We’re trapped here until sunset.”

Wonderful.

Now, she was trapped underground with an immortal vampire she’d stabbed multiple times tonight.

The apocalypse somehow found new ways to ruin her life daily. Outside, the wilds continued shrieking around the pharmacy.

Scratching. Pacing. Waiting.

Husen’s expression darkened slightly while listening. “They shouldn’t still be here.”

Sera crossed her arms. “What does that mean?”

“Wilds lose interest quickly. They hunt movement, sound, and blood.”

Jonas frowned. “So why are they waiting?”

Husen looked toward the barricaded hallway. “Because something is keeping them here.”

Silence settled heavily across the storage room. Sera felt unease curl coldly through her stomach again. The same feeling from the subway. Wrong. Everything about tonight felt wrong.

Husen suddenly leaned against one of the shelves slower than before. Sera noticed immediately. The vampire hid weakness well. But not perfectly.

Blood still soaked through his torn coat from the silver wounds she and Jonas inflicted earlier. He caught her staring.

“You look disappointed I’m injured.”

“I’m deciding whether finishing the job is worth the effort.”

“Romantic.”

Jonas sat heavily atop one of the supply crates while reloading UV rounds. “We should’ve left you in the station.”

Husen considered that. “Yes. That was probably the smarter decision.”

Sera frowned slightly. No arrogance. No smug remark. Just honesty.

That unsettled her more than the flirting. The room fell quiet except for distant scratching outside the barricades.

Then Husen spoke again softly. “They weren’t attacking you in the subway.”

Sera looked toward him immediately.

“The wilds.” His eyes lifted toward hers. “They were following me.”

Jonas scoffed. “Why would wilds hunt an ancient vampire?”

Husen's gaze darkened slightly.

“That,” he replied quietly, “is the question currently ruining my week.”