Vampires to the Rescue

  My wife and I saw a preview for the new season of American Idol on TV.  In the past, this show has been addled with allegations of clandestine rendezvous between judges and contestants.  Like you've gotta kiss a little butt to get anywhere in the competition.  That is why we thought it was so funny that the three judges this season include a man notorious for his big lips, a woman famous for her voluptuous rump and a man with a brown nose.  Subliminal message anyone?
  But that's not what I'm here to talk about.  I wanted to talk about the vampires in the Nocent books.  In my books, a vampire is still partly human until he kills his first human.  Then he loses his soul and becomes a full vampire.  Now, if you remember, in these stories, the vampires are the good guys.  That being the case, they can't kill anyone, but need to protect people from zombies and other threats.  I've had to come up with some creative ways for them to do this.
  In one scene, I have a person who has just escaped some zombies at a ski resort by getting on the ski lift.  The only problem is that there are more at the top of the mountain waiting to grab him.  A vampire on the ground has a handgun and aims it at the lunch-to-be's leg.  The vampire then puts his palm over the front of the gun and shoots the bullet through his hand and into the person's leg.  In this way, some of the vamp's blood gets into the person's bloodstream, turning him into a vampire.  Of sourse, the newly made vampire's bullet wound heals quickly.  Upon reaching the top, the new vampire can now fend for himself easily against the zombie horde.  Score one for the home team.
  In another scene, a person is swimming in the ocean and there is a shark nearby.  A vampire on shore sees this but is too far away to help personally.  Keep in mind that a shark can smell a single drop of blood up to a mile away.  Knowing this, the vampire cuts his palm and bleeds into the water.  If the shark can smell the blood, that means there's enough there to also have other effects.  The blood enters the person's body through mucous membranes in the mouth, eyes and nose and he is therefore, turned into a vampire himself.  Now, taking on a shark is easy work.  Chalk it up for the good guys, two for two.