14

You turn away from your victim and and start toward the factory once again, your bloodlust sated now that your body is fully mended. The disturbing memory the mortal had conjured within you is already fading into background noise out of necessity—you have to return to the fight.

"No!" they cry desperately from behind you. "You can't just leave me here!"

"I won't harm you further," you state flatly.

"It hurts!" they howl. "Please!"

You stop for a moment, wracked with indecision before continuing to the factory. "You'll feel nothing soon enough," you say, not entirely unkindly. "Make your peace and then join your companion in the afterlife."

They're silent then, though whether due to blood loss or accepting the inevitable, you cannot say.

Next

Your newly mended legs carry you over the stony grit with remarkable strength, your renewed sense of vigor immediately apparent as you tread uneven terrain. The crashing churn of the nearby dam might largely mask the sound of gunfire if you didn't know to listen, but sporadic bursts indicate that the battle is still in full swing. You round a large pile of dirt, approaching the building from the rear when you hear a guttural shout of warning from within.

The factory abruptly explodes in a fiery conflagration, showering you in an avalanche of brick, wood, and concrete debris. You stand still for a moment, stunned and rooted to the spot before your bestial vampiric instincts overwhelm you and you flee the fire heedless of other, more mundane concerns. It takes several minutes for you to wrest control back and turn yourself around; you grind your teeth as you force your feet to carry you back toward the demolished building, your unnaturally strong aversion to flames screaming in the back of your mind. The air itself smells burnt, and your eyes sting from the clouds of disturbed dust.

That maniac Ward must have rigged the place to blow. The shock wears off when you see that the flames have already burned out—the majority of the building was built of metal and brick—and you try not to cringe as you wade into the wreckage, gun held at the ready. Someone in your group must have survived; they can't all be destroyed.