Excerpt from the last newspaper ever published; a single page of type with no sports section or comics.

June Fifth, 2003.

The Pittsburgh Gazette

Today, the armed forces took a nasty blow from the enemy. Most AP wires are closed. Monroeville office remains open today. Sources there say the Vampires are out in full. Daylight has no effect, nor does garlic. The newer change-overs seem more mature and able to withstand the sun. Infantry unit 307 entered Liberty tunnels at noon and was soon defeated. A 97% fatality rate for the servicemen. Local law enforcement and military personnel dwindle as the creatures multiply. Government Agents try to find a weapon to use against these supposed living-dead creatures but remain pessimistic about the chances. Acting as Commander-In-Chief, former president Clinton said in a news-brief this morning that ‘Everything is under control. We are advancing. Soon we will have a serum. The citizens of the United States should stay as well hidden as possible until we can reverse this epidemic.’

In Canada, troops are retreating as…

"Daddy, tell me the story again," Evie pleaded, her dark green eyes wide and quizzical, her blond hair wind-strewn. "Please?"

Samual continued ratcheting hatch-bolts on the portside of his boat, the May-Mary, and pretended not to hear his daughter's request.

"Yea Daddy, I wanna hear it too," Adam chimed in. He had dark green eyes like his twin sister, but he sported long auburn hair. And at nine years of age, he was already as tall as his father.

Samual finished tightening the bolts, pondering where to begin. He knew his children would pester him until he either scolded them or gave-in to their request.

"Well kids, fetch your mother. She needs to help me tell the story."

"Yaaa!" both children yelled. They ran to the upper deck and across the gangway.

Samual replaced his tool kit into a canvas bag and ventured towards the Bridge. A few more small repairs and maybe, just maybe they could sail back to the Mainland. Florida was only a 12-hour cruise on this boat, and surely there were still some live people at the Port of Miami.

The Nassau Island that Samual McClaine & Family currently called home was running out of food. Not much more than three-day's worth of canned goods remained. All the hotels and grocery stores and homes were void of food since the invasion, Samual only found an untouched cache of 'goodies' by accident. In the calm, blue Atlantic water near the docks, he had found a half submerged blue van. Upon investigation, he found a driver in the early stages of decomposition; fang holes on his neck and tropical fish swimming around his waist.

In the rear of the van were several crates, some floating, some fully submerged. The markings on the crates said CARNIVEL CRUISE LINES GALLEY. He released the bond on the box nearest him, inside were empty plastic bags (presumable once full of ice), hams, and chickens, at least what remained of hams and chickens. The fish had nibbled most of it and the salty sea made what was left inedible. The smell was terrible.

The next box contained several cans of corn, different types of beans, and canned gravy. This had kept them alive for the last week, now they needed to find more.

As Samual reached the Bridge he saw Evie, Adam, and Sara crossing the gangway, holding hands, Sara in the middle flanked by the children. He didn't want to relive the memories of the last few weeks but felt it wise to let the kids know exactly what had transpired. Besides, Sara could tell the bulk of the story. She’s a better storyteller than I, he thought.

When the McClaine family had gathered on the bridge, Sara said, "Well, where do we start?"

"At the beginning, start at the beginning Mommy!" Evie said, her hair now stuffed under a ballcap. Her and her brother sat on the floor with eager faces covered in dirt.

Sara stood beside her husband, resting an arm on the boathouse-wheel. She began the story. "Back in the early days of Christianity, as people started forming religions based on God, others started groups that followed a darker power. Some were only a mockery or bastardization of 'good', others were downright evil. The worst of them, called Vampires, followed a man called Arichale. He was known by many different names over the years: Vlad the Impaler, Dracula, and most recently, Vice-President Cheney. Their goal was total inhabitation of earth." Sara paused to collect her thoughts.

Samual took the reins of the conversation. "Yea kids, they were bad, bad people. They infected other people with a bite on the neck. Saliva mixed with what blood they didn't drink and if the person survived, that person became one of them. They..."

Sara interrupted. "They remained a small, well hidden sect for over two-thousand years, hiding in caves and dark basements like scared rats. Their numbers grew slowly in that first two thousand years. Most of the Vampires lived in Europe, but in the early nineteen hundreds, they started spreading throughout the world.

"According to witness accounts and old newspapers, they came to America in 1909. The Old West has stories of gunslingers that were impervious to bullets and in Salem, there were tales of witches that wouldn't burn."

Samuel then added, "Over the years the government kept most of the incidents quiet, but a few cases of 'bitings' made it to the press. Still no one believed it."

Sara resumed. "Until the Holy Wars of 2003 that is. After the treaties were signed and the war criminals were imprisoned, more and more reports of vampirism surfaced. Within a month, US soldiers that had fought Afghanistan soldiers were fighting vampires, side by side. With Cheney in command, all the battles were lopsided loses. He ordered troops into deadly traps and somehow managed to wipe out most of the armed forces before he was discovered. We don’t know what happened to him though, the radio had quit by then."

Samual said, "Regular bullets had no effect and bombs only destroyed the land, not the monsters. The Vampire War started in April and by the third week of June, over half the population was either dead or infected. That’s when the Vampires decided to start blood-farms. The bigger cities, like Los Angeles and New York, were used like pasture fields. The remaining humans were corralled into the center of the cities, fed food high in protein, and milked for their blood. This lasted about two weeks. A strange new strain of HIV spread then, wiping out the humans. Then, with no more fresh blood, the vampires became hungry. They tried feeding on large mammals but the composition wasn’t right, they weren’t getting the right blood." Samuel said.

Sara continued, "After a week of ruling the Earth, the Vampires started dying from starvation. They attacked each other trying to get nourishment. It was no good though, there was nothing left to eat. One week later, the entire vampire population was history."

Adam had a quizzical look on his face. "How did we survive, Daddy?" he asked.

"Oh, by being in the right place at the right time, by being lucky, I guess." Samual saw a gull light upon a buoy; it was joined by another. He was about to continue when Evie spoke.

"How come I never saw any vampires, Daddy?"

"You did. One almost snatched you as we were leaving the port. Your brother too. If Mommy hadn’t grabbed you both by the shirt collars, you guys would now be dinner for a vampire."

"Sam, you’re scaring them talking like that," Sara said sternly.

"No he’s not Mommy, but why don’t I remember the monster grabbing me?" Adam asked his father.

"Everyone was in shock, I guess you kids were too. Maybe that’s why you can’t remember." Samuel said. What the hell, he wasn’t a child psychiatrist, how would he know why they had no memory of those events. He sure did. He remembered quite well; the dock-worker with bloody fangs and matted hair, the way he stumbled like a drunk until he got a whiff of food, then running smoothly like a cat. The way his hand reached for the children faster than a striking snake, Sara reeling them in just in time. Yea, Samuel remembered vividly the incident that almost took his children away.

"I still don’t understand Daddy. Why weren’t the people on other boats getting killed? Why did the monsters leave us alone?"

Sara answered for Samual. "We don’t know either honey." Sara wondered that herself. All other boats within radio range had sent SOS messages, and all the transmissions ended the same way; a scream, then radio-silence."

Sara continued the story. "We left the coast of Florida when the invasion reached full force, just before they took over the state. We were between Florida and The Bahamas while the war raged. We listened on the short wave as cities fell and the Vampire population rose. Then our ship’s engine failed. We were adrift for the entire time. When your father finally revived the engines, we came to this island. There were no people left alive. Even the dogs were dead." Sara turned away from her family. She didn’t want them to see her cry.

Samual knew she was done talking for a moment or so. He watched as the two seagulls began fighting. Then, to him at least, it looked like one gull bit the neck of the other. He turned away from the sight, thinking his imagination was running amok. "When we arrived on the Island, I found food and enough supplies to fix the boat. Tomorrow we set sail for Florida. When we get to the States, we’ll look for other living people. Surly the whole human race isn’t gone."

Evie giggled, then was joined by Adam.

"What is so funny?" Sara asked. She noticed a worried look on her husband’s face. "Why are you children laughing?"

"I hope all the people aren’t gone," Adam said, his fangs growing over his bottom lip. " I’m really getting hungry."

"Me too," Evie said. Her fangs were petite compared to her brother’s.