'Not the vamps,' she said.
'They're not stupid. They know how to place a head shot; they did it on your friend back there. The vampires can't get to them before a bullet in the brain takes them down, at least temporarily.'
'But we're not going out through the door - are we?'
'No. But somebody has to stay and make sure they stay out until we're clear.' Pete gave her a brief, funny smile, and she was struck all of a sudden by how oddly cute he was. 'Odds are it isn't going to be one of the vampires. They like to leave humans for that kind of time-buying exercise.'
'Not true,' Jesse said. Claire didn't know where she'd come from, but suddenly she was there, standing next to Pete. It was gratifying that Pete evidently hadn't seen her coming either; he flinched the way Claire knew she had about a thousand times, out of sheer surprise. He sent Jesse an exasperated look. She recognised that, too. 'I'll take the last train out, Pete. You go and help get everyone else to safety.'
'Jesse-'
'Just go,' she said. 'And give me the gun. I can shoot, you know. I learnt when firearms were still as simple as powder and shot, and I've certainly survived far worse people than these.' She sounded utterly sure of it, as calm as if she was discussing a simple stroll in the park. If she took strolls with an assault rifle. She turned to face the door, and raised the gun and placed four quick, competent shots. 'There. That'll give them something to think about for a bit.'
Pete pushed Claire back toward the hole, where Shane was urgently gesturing; Myrnin was already gone, dropped down for Michael to catch, she assumed. Oliver was lowering Elizabeth down. 'Careful with this one,' he called to Michael. 'Don't want her bleeding out. We might need her later.' That sounded ... less than altruistic, although Claire hoped Liz didn't catch the reference.
She didn't seem to. She was so woozy she didn't even scream as she was dropped, or as she was caught.
And then it was between Shane and Claire. 'You first,' he said.
'Why?'
Shane and Pete exchanged looks. 'Seriously?' Pete asked.
'Yeah, she's like that.' Shane turned to her. 'Because you're my girlfriend, and I'm not going until you're safe. How's that?'
'Good enough,' she said, and then Oliver was holding her and dangling her like tasty bait over the abyss ...
... And she was falling
She somehow managed not to scream, though every instinct told her to; it seemed to take forever, but then she was landing in a strong pair of arms that cushioned her, expertly adjusted her weight, and settled her on her feet as neatly as if she'd just floated to a graceful stop. 'Shane!' Michael said. 'Jump!'
'I hate this,' Shane said. When Oliver tried to reach for him, he held out his hand in a direct refusal. 'Ready?'
'Ready,' Michael said.
Shane jumped. Michael caught him, and tossed him onto his feet as neatly as if it was a regular acrobatic act. Cirque du Soleil, only with vampires, Claire thought. Then again, how could anyone be sure those bouncy people weren't vampires already?
Pete wasn't that self-sufficient; he took advantage of Oliver's reach to lower him down, and seemed grateful to be on the stone floor of the run-off tunnel once he was safely landed. It was mostly dry, Claire realised; a thin, dark trickle of moisture ran down the centre, but it had been parched recently in Cambridge, unseasonably so. At least they didn't have to worry about keeping their heads above water.
Oliver jumped, and Michael stepped aside to give Oliver space to land; as with all vamps, he did it gracefully and effortlessly.
Above, Jesse's gun suddenly let loose with a murderous volley of shots, all growing louder and louder. And it was covered up by a much louder, more sustained roar of returning fire. 'She's coming,' Oliver said from where he was still supporting Myrnin, who was giving them a lopsided, loony grin. 'Be ready!'
Even with the warning, they weren't, and Michael had to scramble to get out of the way as Jesse dropped suddenly down the hole, red braid twisting and waving in the air as she plummeted. She was out of breath, the tip of the assault rifle's barrel was hot and smoking, and she was smiling as if she was having the best possible day of her life as she landed like she had shock absorbers for legs, rising smoothly back up to an unruffled, relaxed stand. 'Time to go, children,' she said. 'Now.'
'This way,' Oliver said, and strode off in his chosen direction. There wasn't much to do but follow. He dragged the still-reeling Myrnin with him. Jesse let them all go first; she stood staring up at the hole, ready to shoot any face that appeared overhead, but it seemed as if for the moment, their opponents were either baffled, or cautious, or both.
She was right behind Claire as they ran down the tunnel. No way could they run vampire speed, burdened by humans, but Jesse seemed to have practice in regulating her speed to an easy cruise; she didn't overtake Claire even when Claire had to slow down to avoid the dimly seen debris that littered the run-off tunnel. The bones of a large dog tried to trip her up once, and Jesse's pale, strong left hand grabbed her arm to steady her. 'Careful,' Jesse said. She sounded amused. 'Wouldn't want you to break a leg when you're almost safe.'
Claire knew there was no assuming safe until they were far, far away from here, and she started to say it - and then it was obvious, because the trap sprang shut.
Claire didn't really notice the dark offshoot tunnel as they approached it; the glow of streetlights at the end was much too alluring. It was only when a group of figures stepped out of it, into her path, that she was forced to skid to a halt. There were three of them facing her - two armed men, and one standing still in the centre who didn't fit the template she'd become used to seeing.
A man, but carrying something different. Bulky.
Jesse hardly paused at all. 'Trap!' she yelled, a sudden and shocking sound that echoed from the tunnel's concrete like thunder. At the same time, she pushed Claire out of the way, up against the far wall, to get her out of the line of fire.
As Jesse brought up her assault rifle, utterly unconcerned with being outnumbered, the figure in the middle raised that bulky, clumsy thing he was holding, aimed, and fired. Or at least that was what Claire assumed happened - there was no light, no sound, nothing but a shiver that went through Claire's nerves as if she'd stood close to lightning.
And Jesse gasped, dropped her weapon, and staggered backward, hands clapping to her head as if she'd been stunned. She let out a sharp, agonised cry, and suddenly dropped down into a crouch - a fear position, a child's futile attempt to hide from her tormentors.
She was sobbing.
And it hit home to Claire with a white-hot surge of rage what was going on. That was VLAD. Her VLAD, being used on her friend.
But it works, some ice-cold part of her said. The field test is successful. She told that part of her to shut up and die, and lunged off the wall, trying to get to the man holding her creation and pointing it at Jesse.
It was Dr Davis, and he looked elated. In fact, he was grinning in triumph.
Claire yelled in inarticulate fury, and lunged toward him. She saw one of the armed men standing next to Dr Davis turning toward her, and the barrel of his gun swung with him ...
... And then Michael was in the way, grabbing the gun and slamming it up with stunning force into the man's face. Her would-be shooter dropped like a sack of mud ... but then Dr Davis hit Michael point blank in the back with a shot from VLAD, and Claire, rushing at him, saw Michael's face go alabaster white, his blue eyes terrifyingly wide as he pitched to his knees.
Like Jesse, he curled into a protective ball, shivering. Unlike Jesse, he was making a hoarse, faint, screaming sound.
Myrnin was lurching toward Dr Davis, and he - through accident or design - fell before he could be shot. Behind him, though, came Shane. He'd picked up a thick, splintered length of tree branch, and he stepped up and swung it like he was planning a home run with the second gunman. Score. That one fell, too, as unconscious as the one Michael had clocked.
Dr Davis focused not on Shane, but on Oliver, the last vampire standing. Claire leapt over Michael's curled-on-its-side body and put all her strength into a shove on Dr Davis's shoulder as she landed.
It was just enough that he missed. But Dr Davis wasn't done, not by a long shot; he yelled, slammed an elbow back into her ribs, and simultaneously with the eruption of white-hot pain, Claire heard Shane yell, too.
Only Shane's cry was a warning. 'Reinforcements!' he said, and grabbed Claire's arm on the fly to shove her toward the exit. 'Just go, get the hell out of here!'
Pete, Liz and Eve were already gone, though if Claire knew Eve at all, she knew that Pete would have his hands full trying to stop her from plunging back in to defend Michael. There were more men pouring out of the tunnel, and Michael and Jesse and Myrnin were down, and Oliver was leaving ...