Old Friends

“Do you think these guys might be…might be the ones who bit me?” he asks. It’s my turn to be quiet while I think about the implications of that. “Maybe, I don’t know. Could’ve been anybody I guess. The fact that the Paladins saved you before full infection took place means it must’ve been a casual night. Why, you want a crack at them?” I ask back. “Yeah, maybe. I just…I didn’t ask for this either, man. Just thought it might make me feel better about all this. Just hit the asshole,” he responds. I find myself thinking about which gangs were raging around lately and realize again, it could’ve been anybody. The kid taps my shoulder and suddenly I spot a vampire walking towards the warehouse from down the street. And who should it fucking be but Dingo himself, my old pal? What was that cooze doing screwing around here? He was ex-Enlightenment like me, but he’d never been the sharpest marble in the bag of them. Again I found myself wishing I knew what was going on. Ferris wasn’t being straight with me, Mills hated my guts, and most of the force now knew me as the ex-vampire who punched that guy. They wanted information, now I had a chance to get it. I looked at the kid and picked up the radio. “Ferris? Mills?” I asked. “I know that guy out there. I’m going to go see what he’s up to,” I say. The kid looks at me like I’m nuts. “But you’re human now! He’s still a vampire, won’t he kill you?” he says. I shrug and shake my head. “Naw, me and Dingo go back. I don’t think he’s coming over to Sunday dinner anytime soon, but he’s not going to slurp me right off the bat,” I reply. I wait a couple of minutes for there to be a response on the radio but there isn’t one. Can they hear me? Is it tuned to the right frequency? I glance in the binoculars and see that Dingo is smoking a cigarette. If I don’t go up to him soon I’m going to miss my only chance to see what this whole mess is all about.