11 11. Laurence, the ex-military strategist

Currently, Dexter's skin was subtly red as he breathed heavily. His vision started flashing red once more, and he shook his head to clear the sensation.

'I need... more blood,' he thought. Then, he looked at the large garbage bin where he had left his bag and let out a sigh.

Soon enough, Rina, Zain, and Leo walked towards him. Leo, in particular, looked very pale and weak, and his walking steps were unsteady.

"Are you okay, Dexter? You're as red as a tomato," Zain remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry; it's just a rare skin condition. The sun is dangerous for me," Dexter explained, his eyes closed as he continued to see flashes of red.

"I have an umbrella here." Zain reached into his pocket and pulled out a wide umbrella, surprising only Dexter.

"How did you...? What?!" Dexter was thrown into disarray.

"Well, this trouser is also a Heavenly totem. The pockets are extremely huge, but they look small," Zain explained as he handed the umbrella to Dexter.

Dexter was stunned and really wanted one of these treasures but didn't know how to get them.

As he reached out his hand and touched the umbrella, he immediately heard a loud thump from Zain's hand, and his eyes flashed red again, but he quickly closed them and took the umbrella.

"Are you okay?" Zain asked worriedly.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Just got a little something in my eyes," he said as he fought back the urge to reach out to Zain and drain the blood from his body.

Leo, on the other hand, decided to stay outside. He slumped to the ground and sat beside the building, resting his back against the wall.

"What happened?" Dexter asked, noticing that the other two were acting as if it were normal.

"I just used all of my spirit energy. Nothing much," Leo replied with a shrug.

Dexter nodded in understanding as he shifted away from Leo and opened up his umbrella before standing up.

As Zain was about to pull the door open further, Dexter saw something shine at the corner of his vision, and his eyes shone.

"Look out!" He jumped and pushed Zain to the ground with him, and a banging sound echoed in the surroundings, followed by the sound of metal hitting against metal.

Leo was shocked as he looked at the door handle, which now caved in with something sticking out and steaming.

At that moment, Dexter and the others turned to see a group of people coming from a nearby building.

There was a man on top who jumped down from a seven-story building, causing the floor to crack. He had a sniper rifle in his hand and was dressed all in black, resembling a military man. In fact, all of them wore black military uniforms and were armed.

Seeing the approaching men, Dexter couldn't help but feel nervous as he got up and helped Zain.

'I doubt that I'm able to dodge bullets. I'm only as fast as a train,' he noted as he decided not to engage.

"More humans. And these ones can fight," the one with a sniper said. He was brown-skinned with grey eyes, and his muscular appearance made him appear even scarier.

"We're sorry that we just have to claim a station you worked hard for, but we need the resources," he stated, pulling out a Glock 27 pistol from his pocket and pointing it at Dexter, making his heart race with fear.

Although he was a vampire, the horrifying scenes of people being shot in movies and other sources were deeply ingrained in Dexter's soul.

Leo stood up and moved toward them and finally stopped in front of Dexter, Zain, and Rina.

"We found it first," Leo said as he brandished his sword while staring coldly at the four military men.

The men looked at Leo with ridicule and laughed lightly, but Dexter moved toward him.

"Calm down. You don't know their skills, how they fight, or even where they come from, looking so neat and organized," Dexter whispered in Leo's ear, and the boy calmed down.

Dexter stumbled backward again as he felt the bloodlust creeping in.

"Good. Head in, boys. Take whatever is useful," the man with a sniper said as he gestured for his team to raid the station. They immediately entered, receiving angry gazes from Dexter and his team.

"So, I'm Laurence, an ex-military strategist and also a sharpshooter," the man approached them.

"We're not happy. You guys are robbing the place we fought for," Zain walked in front of him and stared into Laurence's eyes.

Laurence laughed a little and corrected Zain, "We have actually been watching this station for three days and recently just went back to get support. As we saw you guys already fighting the vicious dogs, we decided to wait," he explained.

"Well, now it feels like we've worked for nothing," Rina mumbled with a pout.

"Hmm," Laurence wondered how he could make it up to them. "How about you guys come to the small camp not far away? We plan to head to the military base beyond Serene."

"Wow, that's where we're also going," Rina's eyes lit up at the prospect of being with more real people, real humans.

Laurence furrowed his brows as he looked behind Leo.

"Why are you spacing out?" Laurence asked, and Rina, Zain, and Leo looked back to see Dexter moving backward slowly.

"Oh, I'm just feeling a little dizzy," Dexter held his head with a smile as he looked down. 'These guys, just give me two minutes to drink some more blood. Is that so much to ask?' Dexter thought with a bitter smile.

After a few more minutes of listening to Laurence's advertisement of their camp, they finally agreed to go to the camp, especially as they heard that food would be distributed to normal people. Dexter grabbed his bag and entered into a truck that was just brought to take things back to the camp.