Shining in Crimson: Empire of Blood Book One (A Dystopian Vampire Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the compass, a pair of camo pants, and a white T-shirt in the backpack before making his way for the door. He stepped around the shattered glass strewn on the floor. Making sure he was alone, he waited outside the door for any trace of sound other than the wind. Then he faced the direction he had already confirmed with the compass to be south and began to walk. As he wandered his way down the back alley behind the store, lighting his way with the flashlight, he thought about the city. It surprised him that the Empire hadn't come in and milked the place for all of its valuables. It was all completely useless to the vampires. Remembering what he learned as a child about the city before it and its original inhabitants were given to the vampires, Hank imagined what kind of treasures might still lay untouched. He was sure a greedy man would already be dead in his position. Behind the other buildings along the alley, Hank saw nothing that surprised him. Most had small dumpsters and miscellaneous trash lying about. A small motorbike lay behind one of the buildings, missing its front wheel. Underneath it, several cockroaches scurried.
    He hadn't heard a scream in some time. But he learned years ago never to rely on his own sense of time. It had failed him too often before. The farther he went, the trashier everything seemed to be. At the end of the block and to his left, he could see what had probably once been a scary neighborhood to live in. The beam of his flashlight reflected off a bent, graffitied stop sign as he looked the block over. Given the low light of the neighborhood, he figured it couldn't hurt to try that way. He was still pissed the army surplus store didn’t have any maps of the city. He was afraid to go anywhere well lit, like a gas station, that might have one. So, he figured his best bet would be to keep the lights of the city behind him, keep going in one direction, and hope that eventually he would be safe. Not even knowing if he would find anything to point out the city limits, however, didn't give him much confidence. As he walked down the dark street, it surprised him to find some of the houses still had lights on after all these years. Then he remembered he wasn't the first person to run loose through the city since the war. The thought that others might have made it this far and hadn't survived gave him chills, but he tried his best to shrug them off.
    Shining the flashlight at some of the houses, he walked along the dimly lit road. There was very little to see. Just old houses with heat-worn paint. The yards, or rather what was left of them, consisted of dusty ground with the occasional patch of short red and brown weeds. He continued on to the next block and then the next without incident. The only sounds were the echo of his footsteps. Eventually he started to calm down for the first time since he had been caught. For the first time in a week, he found himself able to let his thoughts wander. He found it ironic he had been condemned to die in a state once famous for legalized prostitution, considering the crime he was guilty of. He was more angry that the "prostitute" ended up being a morality cop than ashamed for what he had done. He looked up at the night sky and noticed that as he walked farther from the center of the city, more and more dim stars became visible. He was glad it didn't seem as though it would rain. But then again, this being his first visit to Nevada , he had no idea how often it rained here or how badly it could.
    After walking about ten blocks or so, Hank found a knee-high concrete barrier at the end of a yard and sat down. He slipped the backpack off and reached inside, feeling around until he found the two thermoses. The first one he grabbed was red. He stuffed it back inside and grabbed the other in its place. He pulled the thermos out, unscrewed the lid, double checked it was water, and took a big drink. The water was warm but refreshing none the less. He was beginning to feel