Tags: Horror, vampire, Vampires, War, apocalypse, Armageddon, undead, Apocalyptic, End of the world, postapocalyptic, permuted press, survival horror, derek gunn
to light large campfires each evening to patrol their territory. This strain on their limited resources left the thralls irritable and difficult to control. Von Kruger’s thralls, on the other hand, had plenty of power; in fact, they particularly enjoyed lighting their state line to such an extent that the immediate area sharing the state line with Michigan was lit up like daylight. Their barracks were warm—however, their food levels were very low. They also had a surplus of fuel as they had stockpiles that they had hoarded before Von Kruger had annexed the nuclear plant which were not as critical now. They delighted in offering these supplies at exorbitant prices to their neighbors. Ever since the vampires had taken over, the thralls had lived off the huge food stocks that all the states had hoarded during the energy crisis before the vampires had come. The thralls did not see past their immediate needs and lusts and animals had been left untended, fields remained unploughed and all the time the stocks grew lower. Some of the more intelligent cabals had seen the potential disaster and had set their human captives to work, but, for most, it wasn’t until the stocks had become dangerously low that they had even thought of food production. Recently there had been a scramble to find humans who had knowledge of farming and animal husbandry that would be able to coax food from a neglected land, and a search had begun for any animals that may have survived in the wild. Indiana had a dangerously low human population. Von Kruger had to curtail their feeding habits to the extent that his vampires were complaining of being hungry. Many of the humans were tapped for their blood too often already, and many were dying from a combination of disease and exhaustion. A breakout of cholera last year had taken nearly a third of their already low human population. Von Kruger had been one of the few vampires to see the oncoming food shortages and had set his remaining human population to work some months before. They had already tilled fields and gathered a growing animal base to feed his thralls and his dwindling human food supply. They had quite a surplus of food now but a dangerously low population to maintain it. This left an interesting balance of power between the two cabals; Wentworth had an impressive army that could threaten the whole area but had no power, fuel and little food to feed his surplus of people while Von Kruger needed people badly to continue to safeguard and produce the food surplus he had developed. He also needed more humans to tend his power station or risk the plant shutting down or even becoming dangerously critical from a lack of careful attention. It seemed to Harris that if left alone both parties might come to an agreement that would cater to both their needs. However, Harris judged that it would not take a lot to nudge both parties along a more direct and physical confrontation and he and his team planned to make sure that peace and cool heads did not win out. The resultant fallout would be enough, he hoped, to allow the humans the chance to add to their own dangerously low supplies and growing requirements, and at the same time save as many people as they could in the resulting confusion.
Chapter 2
Once the vampires disappeared from view Harris rose to his feet and brushed the powdered snow from his clothes. The ten other figures hidden along the ledge struggled to their feet and rearranged their equipment in silence. They all wore Gore-Tex “Windstopper” fleeces and, although they were cold from lying on the ground, they remained dry underneath. Breath plumed out from all the figures and created a small fog that the early breeze swirled around them, creating an almost mystical vista as they stamped their feet and rolled their arms, trying to generate heat back into their frozen joints. Harris looked over the group. He had chosen this group carefully. On one hand he needed the experience of the