Marc ran towards the vampires who were now being riddled with bullets. To ease the threat, he raced past them as though a blur, shooting them both in the head. One more was visible, but Apples had them well in hand.

The growing symphony of gunfire confirmed that Charlie was now involved. He caught sight of Posey and Lever as he approached the church.

Their tactics were interesting but nonetheless effective. They approached from where Duff was mounting heavy resistance. As soon as the men reloaded, they closed the distance and engaged.

This was not his first time under fire. The man of war rolled as he landed and found his footing quickly. No one was firing, so he reloaded at the expense of blood, before turning the corner leading back to the street.

Two vampires caught sight of him, but hesitated. This was the first sign that the situation shifted in his favour. The tide came rolling in as additional, machine gun fire joined the fray.

Apples were now on station, and Marc suspected that Charlie was not far behind. These detachments left their lines twenty minutes after Duff. They proceeded to hold their position roughly three-hundred yards away within an abandoned trench line. Once they saw the light, it was a race against time.

“Now, it’s time to repay the favour,” Marc said.

The men reacted as expected. They turned towards the threat with their weapons at the ready. Upon spotting their lone adversary, the men advanced on him two by two.

Zero…

Marc sacrificed some blood to reach the wall at speed. He counted down from three after holstering his pistol. On the count of zero, he grabbed the grenades and pulled down hard enough to tear off the pins.

With time against him, Marc pushed himself as fast as his vampiric body could handle. He launched himself through the shattered window. Just as gravity asserted itself there came a blast from the other side of the wall.

He waited from inside the home, the blown-out wall gave him an ideal view of the street. These vampires appeared to be smarter, because they were not running into the fray. They also kept their spacing and moved in as though advancing on an objective. I’d guess that these were soldiers not too long ago.

When directly ahead of him, Marc positioned himself as though in a duel. This would minimise his profile in case of return fire.

Without hesitation, he fired every chambered round, in rapid succession. The two lead Huns dropped like rag dolls, and another three visibly stumbled. I just knocked on their front door.

To his left, near the outskirts of town there came more boots striking hard-packed ground. He spotted another eight vampires, none of whom were from his side.

Marc had to delay, but he also needed to play it smart. The man of war holstered his revolver, sheathed his sword and grabbed two grenades. They were shaped like a small pineapple fitted with a metal spoon and pin.

He saw an old coat hook on the wall and smiled. From the hook both grenades were left dangling from their pins. Ready, he took out his service weapon.

Sawyer must have understood as he went the opposite direction. The aim was clear, seek and destroy the stragglers.

Upon reaching cover, he replaced the spent rounds in his revolver, snapped it back into place and waited. Gunfire was loud but readily filtered out by a disciplined mind. That was a curse for a young vampire because they were easily overwhelmed by external stimuli, forcing them to master this skill. Otherwise, a bullet will cure them of it.

He heard the faint heartbeats of Murphy’s support team, and several from Duff. That was not what he was looking for.

One minute…

All the while Duff was actively engaging several targets. There was heavy, machine-gun fire intermixed with trench guns. Given the number of vampires Marc spotted before contact, he half-expected things to quiet down.

Instead, a Hun slipped through the debris of an alley hoping to escape the hail of gunfire. Gilpin caught up, lunged at him with vampiric speed, and tore the man’s chest open using his claws. That’s going to leave a mark…

“I’ll go clockwise,” Marc said, without waiting for acknowledgement.

He dipped his sword arm as though the slash had been effective. His opponent smiled, as if someone injected a concentrated dose of courage straight into his veins.

When the Kraut tried to leverage his advantage, Marc hit the man with the hilt of his sabre. It was enough to stun him, giving Sawyer the chance to finish him off with a combination of bayonet charge and gunfire.

Piercing the heart was not generally fatal for vampires. However, it could freeze the victim for a period, especially if recently turned. Sawyer’s target never had a chance to move… again.

Marc dodged a swipe of claws, cutting through the fabric of his tunic along his sword arm. He used this opportunity to slice and free his opponent of his head. Just like that we have the numerical advantage.

Sawyer twisted his rifle to free the bayonet from the victim. Now both circled the remaining Hun, who was teetering on the edge of panic. That might have made him more dangerous, but Marc learned how this game was played long ago.

Two minutes…

Silent as a predator ought to be, Sawyer approached them from the rear with his rifle at the ready. When Marc nodded, Sawyer fired a shot at point-blank range sending a spray of brain matter and bone into the air.

Whereas Marc fired two shots at the talker. The first hit true, right in the middle of his eyebrow while the second penetrated nearer to the base of the skull.

Both moved in near synchrony, Marc attacking with his sabre while Sawyer did so with a combination of rifle fire and bayonet charges.