“Hurry up and help me, you bastard, or there won’t be anything left for you to dine on.” Murdoc shouted, desperately trying to pull the mess that had once been his leg out from underneath the stack of metallic boxes. With each attempt, his leg only got more trapped until he couldn’t even squirm anymore. Instead, he was forced to watch the drooling hoard approach, their slow steps closing in.

“Vampires aren’t dissimilar from vultures. I’ll find some blood to pick at once they're done with you. But, if you were to say, agree to my contract, I would be happy to lend you a hand.”

“I can’t agree on behalf of all the group. You would have to ask them.”

“Hm, I suppose that’s a fair point. Well, will you agree? One source of blood is better than none.” He said, the pale man crouching on top of the fence, placing a hand over his forehead, peering at the corpses. “Might want to hurry it up. I’m fast, but even my speed has its limits.”

Murdoc wondered if this was an elaborate game of chicken. Would the vampire really let him die? Surely it wouldn’t do something so reckless? That’s at least what he initially thought. But once the undead were close enough to smell, the panic set in once more. He didn’t want to die, not like this.

“Fine, I agree. I agree. Just save me.”

The purple jacket of the vampire was left flying in the wind as he rushed forward, moving too fast for the scrappy jacket to stay on. In a flash, he had placed himself between Murdoc and the zombies, giving the human a wink before clawing his way through the horde. Each expert slice relieving the zombies of their heads until they were reverted to just being dead, rather than undead.

“There we go. Didn’t even break a sweat.”

The vampire walked up the fence, his feet seeming to stick to the metal as he climbed back to the top, retrieving his jacket before jumping back down. With his jacket back on, he approached Murdoc, leaning against the metallic box his leg was trapped under, putting an additional kilo of weight on it.

“Want me to take care of this, too?”

“Aghh… GET IT OFF.” Murdoc screamed and as soon as the words left his lips, the vampire flicked the metal box away, watching as it skidded along the grass, leaving a trail in the ground.

“Done. You know that was all a bluff, right? If you got yourself infected, I wouldn’t be able to drink your blood.”

“Yeah, you’re a real joker.” Murdoc scoffed, limping over to the fence, gripping the edge for support.

“Don’t be like that. If you had lived for hundreds of years, you would get a twisted sense of humour too. Now, about your leg. Want me to kiss it better?”

“What?”

“You know, kiss the booboo?”

“Just get me to a doctor already. We have one inside the camp. If you just help me over the fence, I can get some treatment. She might even save my leg.”

“You think that’s even a leg anymore? I wouldn’t look down. There’s nothing that resembles a human leg there anymore.”

Murdoc didn’t take the advice of the vampire, looking down at his leg, only to faint once he caught sight of the wreckage below. It was a mess and one that needed urgent care. As Murdoc collapsed, the vampire caught him, sweeping him up into his arms before jumping the fence once more, getting guns immediately pointed his way when he did.

“Relax, I’m returning a damaged good, I hope I don’t need a receipt for it.”

Hours passed before Murdoc woke up to the smell of pure alcohol. His leg burning but still having sensation. He sat up quickly, spotting the vampiric stranger and Dr. Melissa Brown. The pair stopping their conversation, turning their attention to the injured survivor.

“I can feel my leg? I can feel it. Did you save it?”

“Your legs fine, thanks to the man sitting across from me. Apparently, vampire saliva has a healing effect.”

“Yep, I spent all night licking that leg of yours. It’s kind of like getting the last bits of meat off a steak bone. Quite juicy and tender.” He teased.

When Dr. Melissa saw how pale Murdoc had gone, she gave him the truth, wanting to avoid giving him anymore unnecessary trauma.

“That was a joke. I actually collected a sample from him and created a salve from that. Honestly, I didn’t think it would work, but it seems our undead acquaintance was telling the truth.”

“I have no reason to lie, not when I need our partnership to be fruitful.”

“Partnership? I’m guessing he told you about their plan to turn us into human cattle?”

“Human cattle makes it sound so dirty. It’s just enough blood for us to survive. You get protection, we get blood. Everyone wins. It’s kind of like that frog and spider combination.”

“It isn’t entirely like that, but I see your point. What choice do we have? We nearly lost another person today and our food’s running low. We need people that can travel further into the city.” Melissa said, before turning to the vampire. “What should we call you?”

“Trent is fine. Ive had a few names since I was born, but I think Trent’s the easiest to say. So for simplicity’s sake, you can call me Trent.”

“Great. So, Murdoc, how are you feeling? You won’t be able to walk properly for a week or two, but you should heal up rather nicely. While you’re hurt, I’m going to have you assisting me with my medicine. I’ll need someone to help collect the vampire saliva.”

“Oh, goody. Guess we will see a lot more of one another then.” Trent smiled, earning a small scowl from Murdoc.

“Eh, can’t I just take my chances with the zombies?”

“I know it’s not an ideal job, but everyone needs to pull their weight, even those that are injured. It’s just for two weeks. Once you’re healed, you can go back to handling our storage.”

“Fine. Oh, and thanks. If you need some of my blood, I guess you can have it now.”

Trent looked at Melissa, wondering if the doctor wanted to inform him of the news or not. When the Dr remained silent, he just widened his grin, leaning back in his chair, tapping a spot on his neck. At first Murdoc didn’t know what he meant by the action, until he pressed a hand against his own neck, feeling a slight bruising.

“YOU DRANK FROM ME WHILE I WAS SLEEPING?”

“I got hungry. Don’t get mad at me, the kind Dr approved of it.”

“You did a lot to help us and it made sense to allow you to drink from the one person who wouldn’t notice it. This feeding will take a while for us to get used to, so I thought allowing him to feed on you would be the least painful option for now.”

“What about offering yourself?”

“I can’t look after my patients if I’m lightheaded. Now. Trent, is there anything else you need? If not, I suggest you contact your group and tell them we are open to negotiations.”

“I will do just that. Thank you for your hospitality. I’ll see you around, Murdoc. Maybe you can come see my mansion sometime? It’s to die for.” He laughed, despite no one else finding the joke funny. With that, he left, allowing Murdoc and Melissa to talk in private.

“He has a strange sense of humour, doesn’t he?” Melissa said.

“Guess that must have died too when he became a vampire.”

Melissa gave a chuckle before collecting her clipboard, looking over the list of things she needed to do today. After ticking off a box, she turned to Murdoc, handing him a small jar of painkillers.

“I have to go check our stock of medicine. Just take one of these if the pain comes back. If you feel you’re going to die, scream out for somebody. Ok? There’s some water by your bed too.”

“Thanks, doc.” When she left, Murdoc rested his head back into the pillow, staring at the top of the medical tent. After a few minutes of staring, he took two of his painkillers before closing his eyes, allowing himself to get some more rest.

     

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