The Outbreak

"The closest military force diverged from the original route and is about to clash with the ghouls heading north." A confused analyst spoke up looking at the information on his screen.

"Are they going to attack them? If they do, wouldn't that be blatantly declaring war on the vampires?" Another one spoke up, her voice shaking as if she could see the future where ghouls were at her doors and she couldn't resist.

"The Director tried to stop them, but the Senate demands a sample of a living subject so they decided on this plan." Kira turned her phone off and walked to the screen that showed the approximate location of the military and the estimations of the ghouls.

"Then if they fail? There are over five hundred people in that Battalion who could die..." Kira looked at the analyst who shut his mouth and looked at the screen.

"There's still a few minutes before they meet, and the ghouls don't have ranged weaponry, as long as the Battalion keeps their distance, they have a chance." Wolf One looked at the screen and offered his insight.

"There's at least a thousand ghouls at the forefront they'll face and thousands more behind. They have a limited window and if they exceed that, they'll incur too much losses."

Irene looked at her phone that vibrated on the table and saw another unknown caller, and thinking about the last time she answered, she hesitated, then accepted the call while gesturing for quiet.

"Hello again~ I didn't expressly say the ghouls were untouchable in the truce, so what you're doing is quite fair." Orissa's voice came from the phone, and everyone grimaced because how could she know what was happening unless she had eyes watching the situation.

"But~ I need them, so can I ask you to take a step back and not attack them pretty please~?" Her voice seemed to be pleading, but they knew she would never plead with them for anything.

"We want a sample to run tests on and we need one of the ghouls for that." Kira answered earning a low hum from Orissa. She clicked her tongue in annoyance on the other end.

"Go find a dead one then." Kira looked at the screen and realized there was less than a minute before the two sides clashed. Even if she wanted to delay them, she simply couldn't.

"I can't, and the dead ghouls don't have much research value." Kira heard Orissa's side fall silent for a moment before her voice sounded again with a hint of mockery.

"I'm terribly sorry then. Interestingly enough, there was a Noble Vampire coming over, so I asked him to assist the ghouls. I'll apologize for your little army in advance." Orissa's voice faded and the call ended, leaving everyone staring at the screen on the wall.

"Is Noble Vampire a classification they use? If so, what was the level of the vampires that were killed previously?" Kira mumbled as the two forces overlapped on screen.

"Um... Kira, the ghouls who were attacked seem to be retreating, but the ones behind are still moving. Soon, the Battalion won't be able to deal with those numbers."

"Can we contact the commander? A powerful vampire is likely to appear there." Kira called the VPA Director and asked in a hurry to the latter who grunted in affirmation and put her on hold to talk to the Secretary of Defense.

"Kira? I understand your concerns, but the Battalion deployed has four tanks and two helicopters acting as support, I don't think a single vampire can pose much of a threat to such a force." The Secretary of Defense spoke calmly, feeling that he had prepared well enough.

"Orissa called again, and she knew that the ghouls were about to be attacked, and she still sent a vampire out. With all due respect, I don't think she would send someone under her to die a pointless death sir." Kira spoke quickly but clearly but the analyst shot up with a stunned expression.

"The Battalion has lost twenty people in almost an instant!" The room fell silent and even the Secretary of Defense on the phone was quiet because he had access to the live feed of the skirmish, and what he saw made his throat dry.

He sent the link to Kira's phone and who had someone connect it to the screen and a forested region ending in a grassland came into view with soldiers and vehicles standing guard facing the forest shown from a drone's viewpoint.

"I don't se-" Irene stared with wide eyes when a pale figure flew from the forest and smashed into a vehicle, but the figure wasn't dead and still tried to crawl towards the nearest soldiers who didn't hesitate to shoot it full of holes.

"They can't fly or jump that far from what we know. Was it thrown?" Two more streaked through the air and smashed down, this time, one hit a vehicle and another smashed two soldiers half to death and before they could recover, the ghoul had already bitten one and maimed the other.

"This shouldn't explain how twenty people died that quickly." Kira studied the screen carefully, but the answer eluded her as a few more ghouls flew into the Battalion's encampment causing a bit of chaos.

"How big were the ghouls in Sapphire City Kira?" The Secretary's voice was grave and carried a hint of disbelief. He could see the feed, but he also had reports that told him what happened to the twenty soldiers.

"About the size of a normal person. Why?" Kira frowned because something flew through the air, but this time, not at the miniature army, but at a helicopter still in view of the drone.

"Is that a tree?" Irene mumbled as the helicopter who didn't have enough time to perform any evasive maneuvers was directly smashed with the tree and sent spiraling to the ground, going up in flames on impact.

"What is that thing?!" A pale figure left the treeline and walked to the Battalion's location, but the creature wasn't an average ghoul but something nearly five meters tall with lanky limbs and long claws.

"It's a ghoul." One of Kira's people spoke because it broke into a run, charging at the men on the ground who opened fire at it, but it didn't slow it's pace at all and kept running.

"It's highly resistant to bullets and can run at speeds above thirty miles an hour. They're in trouble." Wolf Two sighed when the ghoul rushed into the assembled soldiers, and it's bloodthirst and savagery were put on full display in an instant.

It's two meter long claws swept out, reaping soldier's lives like grass, but it didn't stay still and kept jumping around, slashing and biting while making sure it stayed out of the barrel of the tanks nearby trying to aim at it.