Julia had plenty of nails, but was running out of boards. Done properly, each of these windows would be completely boarded up, but she had to settle for three boards each, with one of them artfully placed at a diagonal that seemed hurried when in fact she had spent three minutes with a protractor to align each one.

She'd argued with the others on whether the boards should be placed outside or inside, and they'd settled for inside, because although the zombies seemed more able to push them in then pry them off, it was better to be able to fix them while defending. She kind of wished she had screws.

She finished just as the sun was setting. The keening wail arose as she returned the hammer and box of nails to their stockpiles. She ignored it. If you couldn't hear the moaning as well, they were still a ways off.

The floodlights sprang to life. The zombies didn't avoid them the way they did sunlight, but it seemed to slow them down. She picked up her crossbow from where she'd left it. Somebody had gone around during the day and retrieved most of the bolts. She hated when that job came up on the chore wheel. The bolts weren't even sticky, Tarquin did a better job of cleaning them then some of the crew.

She climbed up to the roof and gathered at a post with the rest of the night crew. They'd already pulled up the ladder and were handing out the polearms. Bullets were for emergencies only.

The moaning was audible now. Lots of moaning, it was a big horde.

Tarquin stood on an old milk crate to address the crew. "Places, everyone. You know the score. Bounders first, ignore the shamblers. Shout if you see any Climbers. Julia, you're on task to point out the herd leader. This is a big group, if we can get them squabbling amongst themselves, all the better."

Julia took their pair of binoculars and began scanning the horde. None of them seemed to be directing it, but there was always one in some sort of charge. Get them and the horde would lose its cohesion. With a horde this size, the leader would probably be a Climber.

As she scanned them, and yelled to the others. "The group is avoiding the outer traps. They're going around the kill zone in front of the gate and headed right towards that weak spot in the fence. Whoever's in charge of this group is a smart one."

Tarquin was holding the rifle. "Just find them and tell me who to shoot."

As the Bounders reached the fence, the first crossbow bolts flew. All of them struck flesh, the crew was getting good. The Shamblers all continued churning around in their horde, slowly making their way forward.

Julia continued her search with the binoculars. "Something seems off."

Tarquin looked through his rifle sight. "Yeah, and the wailing just stopped."

The horde seemed to split in two. Julia could see zombies flying into the air and smash into clumps of others. A different wail arose among them as the horde turned and began to shamble away. The Bounders ran ahead, abandoning the rest. The Shamblers continued to fall. Soon there was only one figure left.

Julia could see it clearly in her field glasses. A single blood-splattered figure, walking slowly over the mounds of dead zombies, approaching the compound. It hesitated briefly at the edge of the floodlights, then walked slowly to stand a few dozen yards from the building.

One of the crew loosed a bolt. "Damn it, Hold, you idiots. I wanted to see what this thing was," Tarquin shouted. The figure hadn't fallen. It held the bolt in one hand, where it had caught it.

"One. One crossbow bolt, ah, ah, ah." The figure's laugh was distinctive. "Do not fire another. I am here to offer my help against the corrupted ones."

"Who are you?" Tarquin was pointing the rifle at him.

"I am your savior. A True Child of the Night. One who Hungers. Allow me to approach." The figure didn't wait. They rose up in the air and floated onto the roof.

Tarquin kept the rifle pointed at them. "You didn't answer the question."

"I am one of the Vampyr. Did you not pick that up from the black cape? I mean it's a bit stereotypical, but it really does help with the flying." The figure's cape looked like they had picked it up at a Spirit Halloween store.

"Do you have a name?"

"Call me Lord. Call me Master. Call me Draco, I don't care. Put the gun down, it wouldn't do you any good. I have come to offer you a deal. A simple one. I protect you from the corrupted ones. You feed me. There are enough of you here that none of you need die. It has been getting very hard to find uncorrupted humans and I hunger greatly."

The crew looked at one another. They were tired. They had been tired for weeks. None of them showed fear of the vampire. Julia could tell what decision they would make.

Tarquin grew bold. "You don't like the taste of zombie blood, eh? 'Cause we got plenty of that."

The vampire wrapped his cape around himself. "We cannot feast on the blood of other vampires."

[More writing at r/c_avery_m]