Insurgency by Alex Shaw Read Free Book Online Page B

bring one of my men to be experimented upon? I have a better idea.” The Afghan held up his hand and a younger man moved from the side of the room and crouched by his leader’s shoulder. Ghulam Ali whispered in the boy’s ear. The fighter left the hut and returned pushing a man who had his arms bound behind his back. “This traitor is a spy for the Americans. You may experiment upon him.”
    “Very well.” Dratshev stood and removed a cigar shaped container from his coat pocket. This he opened to display a miniature automatic syringe-gun. “I need his neck.”
    The captive seemed confused to hear Dratshev speak his tongue. Ghulam Ali nodded and the traitor was pushed towards Dratshev. Ghulam Ali continued to smoke his pipe, but now his eyes were wider with interest. The ‘spy’ was just under six feet tall, his face was full of fear as he looked up at the taller Russian. In one swift movement that the assembled audience all but missed, Dratshev plunged the needle into the Afghan’s neck and depressed it one click. A metered amount of a vampire blood based serum shot directly into the jugular vein. The Afghan’s eyes rolled back, his eyelids snapped shut then opened to reveal red pupils. Dratshev pushed the man away.
    Ghulam Ali stood. “That is it?”
    “That is it.”
    The Afghan regarded his captive who was now breathing heavily and rolling his head. “How do I know it has worked?”
    “Shoot him in the head.”
    “What? You want me to kill him?
    “No. I want you to shoot him in the head.”
    “Crazy Russian.” The warlord bent down and picked up his AK47. He pointed the rifle at the cowering man. Paralyzed by fear and two days of beatings, the captive made no attempt to move merely turned his head and hunched his shoulders. Ghulam Ali depressed the trigger, the sound deafening in the mud hut as a single round hit the man in the chest. The impact sent him stumbling back against the wall, blood seeped from the entry wound but he did not fall.
    “I said in the head.”
    Ghulam Ali’s nostrils flared, no one gave him orders. He depressed the trigger again and a round hit the spy in the middle of the temple. The top of the head all but disintegrated. The corpse left a blood trail on the wall as it slid to the floor. Dratshev stood emotionless as every other eye in the room stared at the dead traitor. Suddenly its feet twitched, then the body moved and the man started to sit up. Ghulam Ali’s mouth fell open as he saw his vampire’s head slowly rise. He watched as the gaping hole started to close. Within a minute the wound had started to rebuild itself. The man stood and touched his head in disbelief.
    “That was a 7.62 round at close range; if it had been further away the injury and recovery time would have been less.”
    Suddenly the spy moved his arms and easily broke the bonds holding them. He swung at the nearest fighter, sending him crashing to the floor, he reached for the man’s weapon but Ghulam Ali fired. The vampire stumbled but remained standing, a broad smile parting his face and he started to raise his newly acquired AK47. Ghulam Ali switched his own rifle to fully automatic and unloaded the clip into the vampire who jerked as the rounds hit him and he fell. “You have now given me an immortal prisoner!”
    “What were you going to do with him?” Asked Dratshev.
    Ghulam Ali replied as once again the spy started to twitch. “Put him to the sword as a traitor to the Afghan people.”
    “Then do so.”
    The Afghan warlord collected his Pulwar from the corner of the room and held it above the vampire. As the vampire started to rise Ghulam Ali swung the sword severing the head. The body went limp. “This is against Allah and all that we Muslims hold holy!” The Afghan’s face softened. “You are truly the devil, my Russian friend. This transformation, is it permanent?”
    “Until the head is severed.”
    Ghulam Ali took a step forward and glared intently at Dratshev. “A quarter of a