As you know, thanks to the zomboyaschik, the morning starts with coffee. Wits say that the morning begins not with coffee, but with a morning trip to the toilet, completely vulgar remember the morning erection. Although the latter, well, in no way can concern more than half of humanity, there are jokers.
The morning at the vampire camp began with HUNGER.
And again it is worth clarifying. Yes - first of all, the most responsible of all, at the first signs of dawn were convinced that the sky was still densely covered with clouds, and only then came the feeling of all-consuming hunger.
Having got out of the dugout and looked at the sky through the branches of trees, Alexander was surprised to find that a couple of dozen people were hanging around near his habitat. Several girls from the accounting department, drivers, several people completely unfamiliar to him - apparently from among those who had a rest in the sanatorium.
- Igor, what's going on?
The driver who called out to him was frightened at first and then embarrassed.
- Well, we ... this ...
To the entrance to the dugout, a girl accountant, I think Julia, came up sharply. Or Light.
- We want to eat. And you have a whole bear here.
- So there is no blood in it.
Alexander did not pretend not to understand what kind of food he was talking about. The people were determined and extremely tense. They needed help, not ridicule. Finding his bearings quickly, he shouted into the passage of the dugout.
- Seryoga, Oleg, Semyon. Come out!
Soon all the inhabitants of his temporary home crawled out.
- Wow, what an animal, when did you manage it?
- At night, but now not about that. People need blood. You see how they look. We must go hunting! Take your weapon, you don't need bows.
From afar, he noticed Alexei Gennadievich walking towards them.
- Sasha, what is it you have here? - clearly from afar began his boss.
It was evident from his face that hunger or, more precisely, THIRST tormented him, but he was embarrassed to talk about it and could not as easily as the accountant declared that he wanted to "eat".
- This, Alexey Gennadievich, is a bear that I killed at night. And the guys and I will go hunting now. Please organize people so that their blood consumption is civilized and without chaos. There are plenty of animals here. And by the middle of the day, I think we will have time to feed everyone. You just need to be patient a little. We will bring animal carcasses to the center of the camp, where everyone gathered together ...
Oleg approached Alexander and handed him a spear. The vampire held it in his hand and then firmly tossed it aside.
-I will work with a mace, stunning animals. You will wear them, while the girls, with the help of Evgeny and Kostya, will take the skin off the bear. Gennady will make sure that there is order and if someone decides to get food before children and women, he will forcefully ensure that everything is right. So?
Gennady nodded confidently.
"I'll go with you, an extra pair of hands will not hurt," Eugene took the spear that Alexander had thrown earlier.
He shook his head and sharply grabbed the man by the elbow, roughly pulled him aside, and whispered directly into his ear.
- Watch how this asshole organizes people, he is also hungry! That's why I'm leaving you three here.
Evgeny nodded understandingly and twirled the spear in his hand even more decisively.
- I'll do everything.
*****
It was the strangest hunt he had ever heard of. No, of course, Sharik's hunt from Prostokvashino was even wilder, but this one could well compete with her.
Two elk, a roe deer, a family of wild boars, and one more bear. All of them were caught, stunned, or killed with strong blows to the head and carried by the assistants to the camp. Nobody counted Zaitsev at all. It was latently found out that the corpses of the soldiers they left in the forest disappeared. All that was found was a fire pit and gnawed bones. Human. The goblins did their best. Without becoming to touch anything and trying to cover up his tracks, Alexander returned to the camp.
- Yes, where are you going with your mouth! They say to you in Russian, put your hand out and that's it. The blood will be absorbed through the skin! The effect is the same if you drank it with your mouth!
Gennady taught another vampire the intricacies of their absorption of food.
In this scene in its various versions, Alexander observed each time, returning with the spoils to the camp. Therefore, now he did not show interest and immediately approached Eugene.
- The bear was divided between ours?
Imperceptibly, the group that drank the blood of people with him became "his own" for him, in contrast to the other two groups - the one that had already openly supported Alexei Gennadievich and the other, mostly consisting of a "gray" mass of undecided.
- Yes, as you asked. I followed. All ours, - this word Eugene singled out in intonation, - have eaten their fill. We keep the rest on the minimum soldering. We give blood so that the thirst will pass. Gennadievich and his people were generally fed hares.
Alexander nodded. It was the right decision. Soon after they began to consume the blood of different animals, it became clear that not all animals are equal, some of them are more equal. Or rather, the blood of stronger animals not only satiates better but also makes the drinker stronger. Simply put, a woman who drank the blood of a bear, without any problems will win the one who drank the blood of a hare. Still, of course, there was the factor of the amount of blood drunk, but the former businessman made the right decision. It is unclear how all this gimmick with confrontation in power will end in the future when some did not want to recognize any other opinion except their own, and the latter did not want to obey stupid orders, and they were actively pursuing their policies. For a long time, this situation could not continue, and it was worth keeping the enemy on "low-calorie food" just in case. So far, in this whole situation, Alexander only regretted that they got here without a general. Viktor Andreevich was a man of iron will and strong charisma, no problems with command and power would even arise here.
- I did everything right. Do you think there is enough food? Or else to go?
- Enough. Rest.
- I'm not tired.
"You'd be tired, you've consumed a whole bear down one throat and fell asleep."
Looking at the contented, smiling face of his ally, Alexander smiled himself.
- I have a young growing body, I need a lot.
Eugene whinnied loudly.
- Go already from here, "growing organism". And if you want to do something, go to the girls, take the skins from them, and at the same time take them that boar over there.
Gennady had just carried the carcass indicated by Eugene away from the makeshift dining room.
- Will be done!
Throwing up his hand in a buffoonish greeting, Alexander walked in the direction of the stream, "forgetting" to take the boar's body. Then he stopped and came back.
- I examined the place of yesterday's fight. Goblins had been there that night and taken away the bodies, and one was eaten. I studied everything carefully. Whoever looks there, will assume that their people fell into the clutches of the goblins and were eaten. They will not follow in our footsteps.
This time Alexander went in the right direction and had already brought the hog with him.
Eugene once again grinned at him and, turning around, caught a glance directed at him, full of hatred. Olga Victorovna. Bowing his head in a slight bow, he walked into the middle of the camp. Since their hasty move was postponed, there was still much to be done and much to be organized. This Alexei Gennadievich of them, although he showered with strange ideas, knew the organization of something by the teeth and had to help him.
Now, different brigades were engaged in logging, women were weaving wattle from rods. Unfortunately, all this enthusiasm lacked not only skills but also knowledge. The blood of animals saturated the camp and gave people strength, but so far only nine people drank the blood of people. People needed Eugene's advice. The second such advisor was Konstantin, who turned out to be an extremely reasonable and intelligent guy. Together they acted as a kind of think tank, and Aleksey Gennadievich ensured that what he had invented began to be realized and worked. Now, in connection with changes in plans for an early change in habitat, it was necessary to make adjustments to the work of people.
*****
Alexander, having dragged the dead boar to the girls who were engaged in butchering and skinning carcasses, decided to go to the stream and wash a little. It smelled of such a heterogeneous cacophony that at the time it was time to participate in the competition - the most vomit smell. Near the brook, three girls unfamiliar to him were found at once, who was busy organizing a dam. At first, all three looked at him rather angrily but quickly recognized that the main earner had come. Their looks changed from anger to mercy and even some kindness.
- Do you drink or wash?
- Yes, I want to rinse.
- Then you are downstream, there is another dam, you can splash in it, here you can only drink, - one of them said sternly.
Apparently, not the first dozen times they had to explain to people the new rules for using the stream. Such a division was very useful given what happened to the very first spring that was found in this world.
Raising his hands in a soothing gesture, Alexander smiled and walked along the bank of the stream downstream. A hundred and fifty meters later, the sought-after dam was discovered. The spill of water and its depth allowed several people to simultaneously take water procedures, but now there was no one here. Taking off his clothes, the man plunged into the clear ice water with great pleasure. Yes, not a bath and not a shower with a bath, but still better than nothing. The feeling of bliss was not spoiled by any mud raised from the bottom, or fallen leaves, or the icy water of an essential mountain stream.
Having relaxed, he just lay with pleasure submerged in water for a couple of minutes. If we forget about the circumstances in which he was, then Alexander at that moment with all responsibility would call himself a happy person. Deciding that further idleness was harmful - he was still asked to take his skins, and there was enough work in the camp, he got up and, as it sometimes happens, his thoughts switched.
Right now, for some reason, he remembered the bear killed at night. And even more precisely, how, in obedience to his desires and thoughts, blood was simply sucked out of the animals with great speed. Wow. Coming out of the water, he squatted on the shore and began to watch how the water surface calms down after him. Memory helpfully threw him pictures of other people's memories. Magicians.
Here comes a boy, dressed in a light caftan and boots, outwardly the usual son of a clerk or a wealthy artisan. But the sign! Crossed Lightning and Sword! Future paladin! Magician! He needs to bow! He's still a jerk, of course, and he would have hit him with bream, and not bowed down, but he can't. And you bow, looking at his smug face. I give birth to a man who was lucky to be born with abilities, but he could now clean up shit after pigs in the master's yard, a small bastard.
Alexander shook his head. Yeah. He somehow did not take into account the presence of magic in this world until now. What if…
The man stretched out his hand over the water surface and, concentrating, ordered the water to form a tunnel under it. The surface of the water went in circles, and after a couple of moments, Alexander observed a real whirlpool, which, in obedience to his desires, either picked up speed, then became very slow.
- Your mother!
Deciding to continue, he ordered the water to rise to his hand and soon, with a kind of aesthetic sense of satisfaction, looked at a rare phenomenon - a water tornado. Or it would have been better to call it a tornado, a tornado, it does not seem to be water. Deciding not to bother with the terminology, the man stood up, at the same time stopping support for the miracle he had created. The water fell back into the dam, and a light was already smoldering in the guy's hand. A small flame, like a candle, burned directly in his palm. Alexander even felt the warmth emanating from this fire. Another desire, supported by a clear mental command - and now a ball of fire was already blazing in his hand. The fire did not dance with tongues, like on fire, it nodded, trying to devour itself and being within the clear boundaries of the sphere. But the heat from this ball was such that the hand began to burn. Having made a small swing, he threw the ball to the side, it began its flight, but after flying about a meter, it disappeared without a trace, simply disappearing into the air.
Looking around, Alexander scratched the back of his head in bewilderment.
- Hmm, and if so.
The mind has drawn a picture of fiery hell - walls of fire below, falling fire from above. And all this at a distance of about twenty meters from him, exactly in the place where the gaily murmuring stream made a turn and hid among the trees. Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. Stopping trying and straining, he tested his abilities once more, and a small light fluttered merrily on the tip of his index finger. You don't even need any strength.
- Maybe the water is interfering?
Quickly choosing another point of application of his magical powers, Alexander again imagined a fiery hell. The chosen surface was perfect - a lot of dry wood and no water. But, no matter how he strained, and no matter what details his mind painted, decorating this local Armageddon, nothing happened.
- Well, okay, I didn't want to.
Approaching his clothes, folded five meters from the water, he easily made the pants jump into his hands.
- Well, just a Jedi.
Following the pants, their fate was shared by the shirt, and then the jacket. He no longer played with footcloths and sat down with his ass right on the ground, calmly wound them on his feet, and put on his boots. The magic was strange, scanty, cut off, but it was, and now it was necessary to find out - is he the only one so special or all newly-minted vampires have similar abilities? The chance of survival in this world started to differ from zero. It was necessary to urgently discuss this with comrades-in-arms, and the main thing was not to forget to grab the skins. And then Olga, despite all his strength and the revealed magic, kicks him in the ass.
The girls greeted him with friendly smiles. Now they were engaged in butchering moose carcasses and their skins. On numerous bonfires meat was dried, several children watched it, under the supervision of a gloomy man. The veins were handled with special care by Maria - the ropes that could be made from them were now very valuable.
- Got something to take to the camp?
- Take the bearskin. Only while your bear was scrubbed, but finished to an acceptable state - tomorrow, if anything, she can hide behind, - Olga got up and stretched, - In general, it's a pity, we spoil so many good skins, this our pseudo-fake is killing them.
- Yes, we are not going to sew clothes from them. This is a material for covering and nothing more.
- I understand, but the peasant's vein does not allow us to calmly observe our barbarism.
Neither the soldiers nor the vigilantes knew exactly how to make skins. They just saw it. People also did not have such skills. Therefore, the skins were stripped, stretched, scraped off, hastily dried by the fires and rubbed with ash, and then washed well. It turned out frankly bad, but at least some capes were needed now. Taking the skin rolled into a roll in his hands, Alexander was about to leave, but then a new thought occurred to him and he stopped.
- What is it, Sash? - the guy's body movements did not hide from Olga's eyes.
The same standing and thinking just shook his head.
- No, nothing, we'll talk later.
You shouldn't have distracted the girls from the work they needed by telling stories about their new abilities.
He found Eugene and Konstantin in the very center of the impromptu camp. They actively argued with Aleksey Gennadievich about the need to observe camouflage and demanded that people cut down trees as far as possible from the camp. The latter strongly disagreed with wasting time on the delivery of the necessary materials and bent his line to continue using the resources at his fingertips.
The participants in the dispute were no longer at all shy in expressions. It was clear that this was not their first skirmish for today.
- Well, look, you. Several trees were felled right in the center of the camp to build a hut for you, - Evgeny frankly yelled, not caring that the sensitive hearing of the vampires made this quarrel the property of all people in the camp, - And what's good? Yes, you have a great hut and an open area where you can land a helicopter!
The "headquarters" hut was great. Three trees at once, which were approximately on the same line and at a short distance from each other, were felled. Moreover, they were cut not at the base, but a height of about two meters and pushed in one direction, preventing the trunks from finally separating from such high stumps. The tops of the fallen trees were lifted and placed on spears. Thin poles were thrown between the trunks, twisted with twigs, and twigs and spruce branches were thrown over. It turned out to be a real house with a large internal area, in which Alexei Gennadievich and his inner circle were located. In addition to Olga Viktorovna and the chief accountant, the "confidants" also included the head of the transport department, the director of the sanatorium, and a dozen other people. All of them were comfortably accommodated in this truly cyclopean hut, which quickly became the headquarters of the entire camp. It was here that people were forced to go to solve problems, get directions for work, and so on. In addition to Alexander's entourage, no one grumbled much about Gennadievich and the ways he ruled. Everyone understood that someone should be in command. Well, why not this one and not be the boss, whose orders they used to carry out in recent years. Once in a difficult situation, people calmly endured both arrogance and rudeness, so inherent in a deputy general manager in his past life on Earth. He believed that no one except him was worthy to rule. It seemed that Aleksey Gennadievich did not at all try to change his usual pattern of behavior, although the circumstances had changed dramatically, and he was sure that he was the only one - the true leader. People were in no hurry to dissuade him, now there were more pressing matters, which they decided under his leadership. Only a small group of upstarts constantly questioned both the authority and power of Alexei Gennadievich.
- You told us all that there are no helicopters! How is this to be understood, young man ?!
- But what does the helicopter have to do with it, you old donkey! You must understand, we are vampires! You drank blood recently.
- But what I drank - does not concern you! Get the hell out of here and don't distract me from my real work. Because of you, I cannot help all these people.
- And they will not have to help if, by your grace, they burn out in the sun, protection from which you build, baring entire sections of the forest from trees, which in themselves are natural protection!
- Yes, so that some brat would teach me, me! Who are you anyway ?!
Then the conflict only flared up. Unfortunately, Olga Viktorovna managed to come up and everything turned into a completely obscene scene. Alexei Gennadievich, spitting saliva, was simply dragged away from Eugene, who was restrained from active actions by Konstantin.
- Satisfied, bastard? - Olga Viktorovna threw to Alexander standing aside.
He just shrugged his shoulders and with a nod of his head called Zhenya and Kostya to follow him. They silently walked to the dugout, where they found Sergei and Gennady, for some reason sitting around the fire and chatting about all sorts of nonsense.
- Why, there is no more work?
- Have a rest, chief! - Sergei was clearly in a cheerful mood.
- Well then, follow me, I'll show you something.
The serious tone immediately repulsed the urge to joke. In complete silence, the group of men left the camp and went deep into the forest.
- Have you noticed that there are magicians in this world? - Alexander asked his first question when, in his opinion, they moved far enough from the camp.
- And then! - Konstantin answered first, - Paladins, shamans, druids, necromancers, witches, sorcerers, priests - yes, in general, who is not in the memory of the soldiers. But especially in all of them, attention is focused on paladins - warriors capable of using personal magic.
Everything was the same with the memories of both soldiers and vigilantes. People are military and simple, they were first of all familiar with the military use of magic, where those who were called paladins played an important role. People who were incapable of "real" magic, but had "personal" and chose war as their profession. Fighting with conventional weapons, such fighters were capable of some magic tricks, the same as those that Alexander got up at the dam - to pull or push the enemy, blind, block the blow, heal himself. Such a simple arsenal of techniques, however, was the envy of ordinary warriors, since it made paladins very serious opponents. In addition to them, there were those who, in the memory of the locals, were referred to as "real battle magicians." Among them, the elemental magicians stood out - mainly fire, ice, and earth. But there were also more "exotic representatives", such as shamans, who, with their power, subjugated animals and modified them, making them completely obedient to their will. Or necromancers who did the same thing, but with "dead material". "War machines", obtained in such a way that shamans, necromancers, possessed enormous power, but required a large expenditure of energy.
Having decided not to talk further, Alexander stood facing all his friends and lit a small light in his palm. Without stopping at the achieved effect, he stretched out his second hand and created a tiny tornado on it. Having been allowed to evaluate what he saw, he simply stood for a while, and then directed both the fire and the tornado upward. Having flown a short distance, they, as expected, disappeared.
- And what was that? - Sergei was the first to come to his senses.
- Magic! I just want something, and by representing what I want as accurately as possible, I make it work.
To prove his words, he lifted a stone from the ground, cleaned it of moss, and threw two pieces of a once single stone into the hands of two comrades standing opposite. Smooth, as if polished surfaces indicated the place where the stone had recently been one whole.
- I just imagined that I was cutting it with a laser, but without visualizing the effect. Try it!
Sergei immediately stared at the piece of stone in his hands and gave a sharp cry, dropped the piece, and put his finger in his mouth. The air smelled of blood. When he took out his finger, everyone saw that the tip of the index finger was missing, and the wound itself had a very even cut.
Looking at this, Konstantin stretched out his half of the stone in the palm of his hand with a cut-up and stared at it. A second later, a small light lit up on a flat surface. Then, from the center, the light moved to the edge, circled the stone along the perimeter of the cut, and returned to the center, where it broke off the stone and hovered in the air, three centimeters from the surface.
Without saying a word, Sergei and Eugene lit a fire at their fingertips.
"I hoped that it would be so," the young man sighed with relief.
- How exactly is "so"?
- That we are all magicians. I'm not alone.