Dracula's Hunters

"I prefer to remain and protect those whom you would destroy."

- Dr. Abraham Van Helsing Dracula's Hunters are the main characters from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. They are all humans of varying occupations and physicality, and have been brought together out of necessity to combat the evil vampire Count Dracula, who has preyed on members of the group. They destroy Dracula's wooden coffins in London and chase him back to his native Transylvania. The odyssey climaxes in a terrifying encounter against wolves, gypsies, and ultimately the Count himself, who is slain moments before he can rise from his coffin as the sun sets.

Battle vs. Night of the Living Dead Survivors (by El Alamein)
Dracula’s Hunters:

Night of the Living Dead Survivors:

“My children, our odyssey is at an end.”

***

“Hey, Harry, mind giving me a hand with these boards?”

“Give me the rifle, Ben, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

Ben sat down, the Winchester rifle clasped tightly between his hands, the barrel pointing at the ceiling. “Harry, I’m not going to argue with you on this. I don’t know how long it’s going to be until more of those… those things come back.”

Harry Cooper fumed silently, his hands clasped into fists. Loosening one hand, he reached up and rubbed his bald head. He looked down as he sat on the sofa and buried his face in his hands. “I’m about ready to go back into the basement, Ben.”

“You know as well as I do that it’s a death trap!” Ben shouted, holding his arms out in anger. He grunted and put down his foot on the hardwood floor. Pointing the rifle at Harry, he said, “I’m done asking for permission. You’re going to go and board up the windows for me.”

“Come on, now, Ben; let’s try to work this out.” Tom walked into the living room from the kitchen with Judy hugging his arm.

“Harry is beyond reasoning,” Ben muttered, frustrated. “Perhaps you could give us a hand, Tom?”

“What should I do?” Judy asked, looking up at Tom with wide, fearful eyes.

“Go upstairs… Barbara needs looking after,” Tom replied, distracted, looking through one of the unboarded windows. “Hey… I think there are more of those things coming our way.” He walked over and peered through the cracked glass. As Ben looked away, Harry stood up and made for the rifle, but Ben recovered and pulled the gun out of Harry’s hands before he knocked Harry backward onto the floor.

“You watch it,” Ben threatened. “Next time it won’t be a little shove you get. Get back up and board that window. Tom, get your handgun.”

***

“Dr. Van Helsing, there’s a house up ahead!” Red-haired Quincey Morris eagerly plodded up the steep grassy hill, pointing his rifle at an abandoned two-story house. The windows were boarded and the doors blocked up. “We can break in and rest for the night. It looks derelict.” He turned to look back at his group, straggling behind him. “C’mon guys,” he complained, his Texan drawl sneaking back in through his excitement, “let’s get a move on!”

“Miss Mina, how are you feeling?” Professor Van Helsing asked pale Mina Harker, wrapped tightly in a black blanket. His deep eyes showed concern under his thick glasses. He reached up one knobbly finger and pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, squinting. Jonathan Harker kept one arm tight around his wife and helped her as she stumbled. Coughing, she looked up through sweaty, parted hair, and managed, “I think we need to stop and rest… for the night.”

“The virus is affecting her too greatly for us to carry on,” Van Helsing muttered to Jonathan. “We are stopping for the night.” Jonathan nodded wearily, exhausted.

“Jack!” Quincey shouted from up the hill. “Bring the Colt!”

Dr. Jack Seward, a wiry man with a thick beard growing around his mouth, jogged up as energetically as his American friend had. “Ready, Quincey?” Seward asked, drawing his revolver.

Quincey Morris winked, a twisted smile creeping across his face. He pulled the lever of his rifle down and slid it back into place, a satisfying click-click noise echoing in the open air. “Let’s go and kick down the damn door.”

***

“Aw, hell, Ben, those things are carrying guns!” Tom said frantically, looking away from the window. “We might be in for trouble.”

“Hold it, Tom.” Ben’s response was calm and steady. He kept his steely gaze on Harry as he spoke, continuing, “I think it could be some more normal people. We’ve never seen those things carry weapons before. Don’t go shooting when you don’t need to.”

“What should we do?” Tom asked, anxiety dripping from his voice, looking to Ben for leadership.

“Just keep a low profile,” Ben said. “I don’t know who those people are, but just because they’re not the flesh-eaters don’t mean they’re our friends. Mr. Cooper here is enough of a proof of that.” Harry frowned and sank deeper into the couch cushions, arms folded defiantly.

There was a sudden banging at the door, causing everyone in the room to jump. The wooden frame quivered under the heavy blows. Ben put a finger to his lips and whispered, “Harry, now is not the time for arguing. Upstairs. Molotov cocktails. Now. Tell Judy and Barbara to stay up there. Tom, with me.” Harry stood up and bounded up the stairs two at a time. Tom rushed to the kitchen and ducked behind the doorway, peering out with his revolver ready. Ben ducked behind the sofa and readied his Winchester.

***

“Damn thing won’t budge,” Quincey grunted on the other side of the door.

Dr. Seward stepped forward and planted his boot on the center of the frame in a heavy kick, splintering the door and sending it crashing to the ground. Immediately afterward, Ben fired off a blind shot through the dust kicked up by the falling door, missing, the round whizzing past Quincey.

Yelling, Seward raised his revolver and fired, running into the house. “We’ve got company!” Quincey roared to Van Helsing, who had caught up with the Harkers. Running in, he fired a shot from his Winchester and took cover behind a wall.

Harry Cooper leaned out the upstairs window and caught the Harkers staying outside off-guard with one of his Molotovs. The bottle smashed open on the grass in front of them, flames roaring high into the air. Mina screamed as Jonathan looked up in shock to see Harry readying another explosive cocktail. Jonathan shielded Mina behind him and, backing up, fired a shot from his revolver. Harry ducked back into the upstairs room where Judy and Barbara were hiding.

“What’s going on?” Judy asked, holding Barbara. “I heard gunshots downstairs.”

“There are some people trying to break in by force,” Harry shouted. “Stay here! Judy, make use of the Molotovs.” He stormed out into the upstairs hall and grabbed a claw hammer on a nearby nightstand.

Downstairs, Van Helsing had joined the gunfight. As the vampire hunters forced their way further into the house, Tom tried to retreat, turning and running to the back door. Quincey leveled his rifle and put a round square into his back, dropping him. Tom rolled over onto his side and raised his revolver, firing and putting a round into Quincey’s stomach, between the ribs. Doubling over in pain, Quincey dropped his rifle, and Dr. Seward finished Tom off with a .38 to the chest.

Ben shouted in anger, but outnumbered, he backed away and tore down the hall to the staircase.

“You’re okay, Quincey!” Dr. Seward mustered, clapping Morris on the back. Quincey staggered to his feet, his hand clamped tight over his wound, spurting blood between his fingers. He managed to pick up his rifle and look down the hall after Ben, who was gone up the stairs.

“Go, go!” Quincey spat, blood flying out from between his teeth. He sat down and coughed violently.

The Harkers stumbled in through the doorway. “There are people upstairs attacking us with firebombs,” Jonathan began. Seeing Quincey injured, he stopped and rushed to his friend. Quincey waved him off, spitting blood. “I’m done for,” he muttered. “Take my rifle. Go! Go!” Jonathan grabbed Quincey’s Winchester and gave him one sympathetic look before walking over to Van Helsing. “Who else is hurt?”

“Thank God no one else, Friend Jonathan,” Van Helsing said. “We killed one of the enemies, but lament! For not before Friend Quincey was shot! The rest are upstairs!”

***

Ben scrambled up the stairs after Tom’s death, shocked and terrified at these invaders. His Winchester slipped from his hands at the top of the stairs, and Harry Cooper pounced, snatching up the rifle in a second. “Harry, please,” Ben began to beg, but the angry older man swung the claw hammer down on Ben’s forehead. Ben sidestepped and slammed the butt of the rifle into Harry’s chest before he fired point-blank into the angry Cooper’s stomach. Harry dropped the hammer, stunned, and tottered down the stairs, one long stream of blood running down the walls.

“Ben?” Judy’s voice came from the bedroom.

“Judy!” Ben shouted back, rushing to the room.

“Where’s Tom…” Judy began, but Ben’s expression silenced her and she fell back on the bed, ashen-faced. Ben stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder.

“We don’t have time for this now,” Ben said. “There’s a whole group of invaders down there, and they’ve already opened fire on us. You need to be prepared to defend us too.”

Judy nodded miserably, looking across the small, dark room. Resting against the wall opposite was a wooden board with nails in it. Barbara shook violently as Judy got up and grabbed the plank. Ben nodded and rushed out into the hall, waiting.

***

Quincey Morris gave one final breath and died. Mina Harker sat next to his body weeping, but the men had gone up the stairs after Ben, past Harry’s body.

“That’s the one who was throwing firebombs at us,” Jonathan muttered.

“Careful,” Van Helsing whispered. “They’re likely waiting for us up the stairs.”

Dr. Seward crept up with his revolver, pointing it outward as he ascended. The upstairs hallway was quiet, but once Seward showed his head, the click-click of Ben’s Winchester was heard moments before Seward staggered back into the wall, his brains mushroomed out in the hallway.

“Jack!” shouted Jonathan. Enraged, he pulled out his Kukri and leaped into the hallway as Ben, startled, tried to work the lever. As Harker closed the distance, Ben shoved the rifle up into his opponent’s face and knocked him back. Ben held his claw hammer out in front of him, painfully aware of how short his weapon was compared to Harker’s massive knife. Jonathan stepped forward and with one mighty slash cut Ben’s arm through his sleeve. Falling back, Ben roared in anger and recovered, twirling the hammer in his hand menacingly. Harker maintained eye contact and slowly approached his foe, waiting for him to move. Ben swung the hammer down and landed a heavy blow on Harker’s shoulder, but Jonathan grabbed his fighting arm and plunged the Kukri into his stomach. Ben shouted in pain and slumped over to the ground, his leg shaking uncontrollably. Harker pulled the knife out and with a second swing decapitated the zombie slayer, sending his head rolling off his shoulders to fall in his lap.

“Come on!” Harker shouted. “It’s clear!” Van Helsing started up the stairs with Seward’s revolver, carefully reloading a bullet in each of the cylinder’s empty slots. “There’s just one room down the hall, and we’ll have cleared the whole house.”

Mina's voice carried shakily up the stairs through her sobs. "Jonathan? Are you okay?"

Harker looked at Van Helsing, who kept a grim face and put a finger to his lips. Taking a deep breath, Harker leaped into the room and pointed his rifle up at Barbara, sitting stunned on the bed, only to have Judy step forward and swing her nailed board up, disarming Harker. Jonathan stumbled back and hit the wall as Judy raised the board high over her head. She slammed the board down but Harker rolled aside and the nails embedded themselves into the wall. Judy struggled to pull the board out, and in her battle frenzy she tore the improvised weapon out and made a second desperate swing, eager to avenge her boyfriend's death. Van Helsing stepped into the room as Jonathan Harker hacked with his Kukri, slicing off the top of the wooden board. Judy kicked Harker in the stomach and he dropped his knife, the weapon skittering across the floor to rest in the corner, the blade glimmering in the dying sunlight.

Judy and Harker locked eyes for the briefest of moments before the zombie slayer threw the board aside and made a desperate dive for the Kukri, scooping it up in a triumphant moment of elation. Her victory was short-lived, though, as Harker had picked up her wooden board and brought the nails home into the back of her head. ] Judy dropped the knife as quickly as she had picked it up, and knees buckling, collapsed in a bloody heap to the floor. Van Helsing looked over at Barbara and pointed his revolver at her. "She's harmless..." Jonathan muttered, slumping onto the floor, exhausted.

Mina appeared in the doorway, soaked in blood. Van Helsing looked away from Barbara and rushed over to help her into the room. "Miss Mina!" he exclaimed, concerned. "Are you hurt?"

Mina's eyes frantically roved the room until they rested on Jonathan, who stood up and walked over, putting his arm around her. "You're okay..." Mina breathed.

Van Helsing repeated his question more forcefully to snap Mina to her senses.

"Oh... of course..." Mina replied, dreamily. "It's... it's not my blood." Suddenly, coming around, she sat upright and burst into tears. "Poor Dr. Seward's down there, dead!" Jonathan miserably patted her shoulder, staring off into the distance.

Van Helsing looked up at Barbara again, who stared at him incomprehensibly. "Are you the men Ben was waiting for?" she muttered, rocking back and forth. "Ben was waiting for some men, was he waiting for you?"

"There is no hope for those who have lost their minds," Van Helsing choked. He pulled the hammer back on his revolver and pointed it at Barbara's forehead. A tear slipped out of the corner of his eye and trickled down his rough face, disappearing into his beard. "My child..." he managed, crying openly, "I do this out of love." He fired the revolver into Barbara's head and the broken woman was instantly at peace.

Van Helsing looked down and over at the Harkers. Out the window he could see a band of gypsies driving a wagon loaded with a coffin. They were approaching the house as quickly as they could, before the pink sunlight faded into blue-gray nightmarish darkness.

"My children, our odyssey is at an end."

Expert's Opinion
Dracula's Hunters triumphed in this fight thanks to their teamwork and ability to create working combat tactics against competent foes. The Night of the Living Dead Survivors weren't able to function well together, and ultimately were overwhelmed by hordes of mindless zombies, while the Dracula Hunters were able to defeat their foe and end their fight in victory. Combine this with the superior close-ranged weapons of the Dracula Hunters, and the vampire slayers took a landslide triumph in this rematch of sorts against their zombie-killing foes.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.