“Reload and fanout,” Murphy ordered. “Find that third man.”

Only after loading another five shells did he look over the scene. The ground near the private was soaked in blood, and ash. But all around him there were spent shells and cartridges. I’ve only seen this much brass at the shooting range.

“Found him, Sir,” Sergeant Simmons said.

The Sergeant was amongst the first Canadians to reach the front lines. The fact that he was pale and nearly whispered said much about the grisly discovery.

Murphy closed his eyes and shook his head. A single vampire managed to kill four of his men in the span of five minutes. We got lucky…

The only thing he knew for certain was that their Commanding Officer would need to be briefed. This was the first time they encountered the enemy behind their own lines. This won’t be the last…

The projectile was slow and left a wide arc in its path. However, the vampire took the round to the chest and a bright flash of white light left everyone blinded.

“Burn in hell,” Murphy said.

The white phosphorus flames spread out over the body as though this man was kindling. Within seconds the vampire was engulfed and dropped to his knees.

Murphy’s hands were shaking, with all that excess adrenaline needing an outlet. Still he pulled himself together. We’re not out of the woods yet.

Both shots tore through the Private’s back and struck the vampire. The effect was two fold; the first was obvious, preventing the creature from healing further. The second reason was purely about preventing the young lad from suffering. I’ll never forgive myself for this.

This led the men to renew their fire and fortunately Sergeant Ryan’s team from below came up to join in the fray. The vampire was being assaulted from three directions, but he was still standing.

The trouble that reloading risked an attack and no one wanted to chance it. That was why the first weapon to go click without a bang was immediately noticed by everyone.

“Reload—(ing),” Private Willis said before being silenced.

The vampire moved like a blur and tore out a chunk of the Private’s neck. Before anyone else could react he had latched on to feed from the blood spurts.

The man was already dead, everyone knew that but their morality led to hesitation. Murphy clenched his jaw and pumped back his weapon twice while holding down the trigger. 

Four… Five…

Despite numerous strikes it was still standing upright, although sluggish in movements. Murphy spotted those fangs and froze for a minute as the memory of what happened that fateful evening. Not now!

He bit the inside of his cheek to further refocus his thoughts and fired another round. 

Three.

“Reload—(ing),” Private Willis said before being silenced.

Their only chance was to keep firing until they ran out of ammunition or it dropped dead. Therein lay the problem, sustained and continuous fire was a challenge for a section armed only with weapons with a limited ammunition capacity.

Nevertheless Murphy pulled back on the forend to pump and fired off another round. All round him the men kept firing, and several rounds struck the creature through the chest, arm and legs. 

Two…

“Vampire,” Murphy said over his shoulder and heard the word being passed down.

He distanced himself from the wall and circled around the corner with his shotgun leading the way. It did not take long for him to find the threat, a vampire hunched over and feasting on a rifleman. Where’s the third?

A good question but there was no time. He lined up the forward bead and pulled the trigger. The weapons roared to life sending a volley of buckshot at its target. Given his range it only grazed the vampire’s leg.  

One…

They approached from both sides of the church, meaning they risked crossfire if careless. Murphy kept a brisk pace while ensuring the steps of the man behind were audible.

When halfway to the rear a soldier was thrown clear from the cover. He knew by the way the man moved that he was dead before hitting the ground.

“Vampire,” Murphy said over his shoulder and heard the word being passed down.

Everyone brought their weapons to the ready, and sure enough in the distance they spotted an orange glow. As soon as the source came into focus a rifleman fired off a shot and extinguished the light.

Two other shots came from behind the church. The fact it was a trench gun gave him reason to worry. They shouldn’t be within our perimeter.

Murphy clenched his jaw as he heard screams from the other side followed by more gunfire. This time from a pistol, and since two of his sergeants were already looking at him he motioned for them to circle to the rear. Just in case he kept a team in place.