Dr. Collins had stepped through the wall and was now checking the floor beyond. The dead man's voice sounded in Shadow's mind. "It's clear."
In response, Shadow kicked at the door that led from the stairwell to 63rd floor. The lock snapped under the impact and the door ripped off it's hinges.
Suddenly all hell broke loose.
A burst of automatic gunfire ripped into Shadow. He threw himself back out of sight again.
Hundreds of bullets slashed through the doorway into the wall of the stairwell.
The sound was deafening. Even so, Dr. Collins' laughter boomed in his ears. The spirit joined him as he sat bleeding from a score of wounds.
"You fucking asshole!" Screamed Shadow.
Dr. Collins was cracking himself up. He doubled over, seemingly struggling for air (Even though he was a ghost and he didn't really breath anymore), cackling like a witch.
"It's not funny. You're supposed to be helping me."
Dr. Collins wiped the tears from his eyes. "Oh relax, you're immortal."
"They can still blow my god-damn head off! What good am I to you then?"
Dr. Collins nodded. "Valid point."
Shadow examined the damage. He had been hit 16 times. The wounds began to heal almost instantly. After all these years, he wondered how much lead was floating around in his body.
He looked back up at Collins. "How many?"
"Four. They all have Uzis."
"Fuck."
The gunfire ceased.
Dr. Collins peered through the ruined doorway. "Oh. One of them's coming now."
Shadow got to his feet.
A pale face appeared - level with the barrel of Shadow's Smith & Wesson M&P45. He squeezed the trigger and the head imploded. Shards of bone and brain painted the wall of the stairwell red and the body dropped like a robot who's batteries had run out.
Shadow caught the corpse, hoisted it up like a shield and bolted through the entrance.
He hit a wall of lead, the body rocking in his grip as it absorbed all the damage. A scan of the room revealed a large foyer area, with several soft couches placed around a low but wide square table. He caught a glimpse of a shooter near the elevators and pumped two rounds into his face. Agony tore through his right leg and he stumbled. Shadow dropped the body, threw his weight onto his good leg and dived for cover behind the closest couch.
The firing stopped for a second as the remaining two Vampires reloaded.
Dr. Collins knelt next to Shadow. "They ripped your leg up pretty good."
Shadow nodded. "Let's even the score."
He dropped onto his belly and spun round to face the couch, his chin touching the floor. He saw two sets of feet slowly heading toward him. Drawing his second gun, he took aim and opened fire. He blew away everything below their ankles before they dropped, screaming.
Shadow struggled to his feet, grunting against the pain even though the muscle and bone was re-knitting.
The vampires tried to bring their Uzis to bear, but Shadow dispatched each of them with three shots to head, removing their skulls from the jaw up. He let out a sigh and dropped onto the couch directly opposite the big black double doors that led to the main rooms, waiting for his leg to become functional again.
"Nice work." commented the spirit, staring down at the formerly undead corpses twitching uncontrollably.
Shadow ignored him and ejected the clips from his guns, loading up fresh ones. He flexed his right leg, straightened it, brought it back down. The pain was dissipating. It was about right. He stood and limped to the big black doors.
