There are no convenient wooden crates in this alley.

No convenient wooden furniture, either.

(An hour or so back, another crate got sacrificed to making as many makeshift stakes as River could fit in her coat pockets without impeding motion.

That's still a limited number.)

River's no Slayer, and these vampires have strength even the most adrenaline-charged human can't match. But she has speed to rival theirs, and she has skill, and she can fight.

And she fights hard.