The gunshots rang out almost in unison, taking Stiles and his allies by surprise, and at least six of the huddled undead fell in reply, their torsos perforated with fatal doses of silver. But the gunmen were still unseen; no one could tell where they had fired from, and a wave of confusion and panic swept through the rest of the creatures. They turned on each other in a mad scramble to get away without knowing which way to go. The mystery guns barked again, and this time Stiles could see the two cones of muzzle flame in the darkness. Charlie and the others—it had to be them! They had outflanked the vampires and hemmed them in on two sides, firing from a distance so the spread patterns were larger and encompassed a greater target area. After even a short barrage the mob was halved in number. The remainder pawed and trampled one another in blind panic as the rain of silver forced them back toward the Shady Rest, up onto the porch where they broke down the door and rushed inside . . .

The house! Stiles’s jaw dropped. How could they get past the cross on the door and Ida’s . . . Oh, Lord. “Ida!” he yelled, starting after them.

“Stiles, wait!” Bean’s voice managed to slow him. The deputy hurried out of the shadows at the yard’s edge, the Remington under his injured arm while he reloaded with his one good hand. He called out, “Hubert, they’re coming your way!” before turning back to the soldier. “Ida’s gone,” he said. “Right after you went outside. Just gave out all of a sudden. It was only a matter of time after that. We decided to make our move while they were preoccupied.” He started toward the house but then caught sight of the two bodies near the front porch, one a smoking piece of charcoal and the other still burning. “Bailey . . . Danner was still upstairs when we snuck out the back. I didn’t know that he had this in mind.” He looked apologetic for a moment, then gestured furiously to the other side of the lawn and continued the pursuit. Jessie answered his call and followed along as fast as she could, the Mossberg still smoking in her hands and the Uzi pistol slung over one shoulder. Bean yelled back to Delbert, “Watch the front, boy!” before he and the woman disappeared around either side of the house. Almost immediately there was more gunfire.

Del looked at Stiles. “Well? Aren’t you going to help them?”

“In a minute,” Stiles said. “I’ve got to be sure first.” Supporting Billie, he headed across the yard to where Nathan Danner had finally collapsed.