David hissed and rushed forward. Smithy brought his handgun up.
Mass and the others fired their weapons.
David leapt up and tackled a burnt man that had been about to collide with Smithy. Being clumsy, the burnt man tripped and fell to the ground, where David proceeded to tear its throat out with his tiny claws. Afterwards, he looked up at Smithy with sadness in his eyes. “David bad.”
Smithy shook his head. “No, Dave good. Come on.”
Mass took up the front, and the group moved towards the paddock with the containers. They kept the burnt men at bay through speed alone, as they were incapable of moving faster than a stumble. A quicker threat was approaching though.
Smithy planted his feet and fired at the advancing primates, but they moved so quickly that he missed his first two shots. Soon he would be empty, so he decided not to waste any more rounds unless he knew for sure that it was worth it. He remained standing with his legs apart, handgun pointed ahead – and he waited. Waited.
The first of the three advancing primates broke from its mates and made a beeline for Smithy. It was close enough for Smithy to see the malice in its eyes, the flesh between its teeth. It picked up speed, a galloping beast that would not be stopped.
Smithy’s hands were shaking, and he fought to keep his arms raised. He closed one eye – then both eyes – and pulled the trigger. Smithy opened his eyes again and saw the primate tumbling towards him, burning off the momentum of its charge. It came to rest only inches from his feet. A bullet hole smoked between its eyes.
Smithy gasped. “I am awesome.”
The horde of demons were following Mass, Addy, and Tox, which left Smithy and David slightly removed from the fray. The demons had obviously assumed the primate would have been enough to take care of him and had kept their attention on the remaining prey. If Smithy wanted to, he could have probably made a run for it in the other direction and made it out of there. His hammering heart told him to do just that, as did a large part of his mind – but there was something inside of him that just would not let that happen. He wasn’t running out on the others.
But he did intend on running.
The demons had moved away from the coach and were getting further and further away as they stalked after Mass and the others. It was right there, unattended. Smithy looked down at David and grinned. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
David licked his cracked lips and blinked. “Day bright. Is nice?”
“Yes, it is, my little friend. The day is bright. Do you sense Crimolok? Where is he?” The arch demon was conspicuously absent and Smithy couldn’t see him with the other demons nor by the coach where he had been previously.
David placed two rotting index fingers against his temples and closed his eyes. “He is close.”
Smithy squeezed the grip on his handgun, reminding himself it was there. There was no sign of Crimolok, and only one place to go. He sprinted towards the coach, knowing this would be the only chance to make it on board. Eventually the demons would spot him out in the open and turn their attack on him. Maybe after Mass and the others were dead. He didn’t intend to see that happen though.
When he reached the side of the coach, he felt like he was about to get pranked. It couldn’t be this easy, could it? Then he realised his big mistake. Mass had Gemma’s key to the coach. “Damn it.” He punched the door, and it rattled and slid an inch to the side.
“Your wagon is open,” said David.
Smithy poked a hand into the gap and slid the door all the way clear. “Yeah, looks like it. Do you think this is too good to be true?”
David hopped up onto the bus and went into the aisle. He didn’t alert Smithy to any danger, so he tested his luck further and went up to the driver’s seat. There was blood on the steering wheel, and the windscreen was cracked. Maybe they’d managed to hit Nas with one of their shots. Maybe he had hurt himself when the bus had skidded. Whatever had happened, there was no sign of the hook-handed bastard – but his keys were still in the ignition. Smithy turned them and the engine rumbled to life.
David yelped. “Wagon is angry.”
“It’s just the engine, Dave. Have you never… Yeah, I suppose this is your first time on a bus. It’s okay. The wagon makes a noise, but it’s okay.”
David nodded. “Is okay. I sit down.”
“Yeah, I would do that, because I’m about to take this thing for a spin.”
David moved up to the front seat directly behind Smithy, peering through the windows in fascination as the coach trundled forward in first gear. Smithy had never driven a bus before, and he was pretty sure you needed a separate licence. As it was, he swung the large vehicle around in a wide berth, worrying that he might smash into the various outbuildings and equipment lying around the fields. Several times the coach hopped up over debris or crashed down into ruts. Even at five miles per hour the journey was heavy going.
Smithy turned the large steering wheel until he saw the mass of demons through the cracked windscreen. There was no sign of Mass or the others, but he hoped with all his heart that they were still putting up a fight.
Just hold on, guys, because the cavalry is on the way.
Smithy stamped down on the accelerator at the exact same time that a sharp hook pressed down against his jugular.
“Turn this coach around,” said Nas, whispering right into Smithy’s ear. “Or I’ll slice your throat.”
Mass, Tox, and Addy made it into the paddock where the containers were. They were still locked. Were all those women still inside?
“Addy, get these containers open. I hate to say it, but if there’s anyone alive in there, they need to help us fight.”
Tox raised his shotgun. “My last shell. Wish me luck!”
Mass grunted. “Good luck!”
Tox took the shot and hit a burnt man in the chest. It was enough to drop the thing to the ground.
“I’m out too,” said Mass, now holding Honeywell’s shotgun like a baseball bat. “Smithy, how ’bout you? Smithy?”
Tox looked around and then frowned. “Shit, where is he? Did they get him?”
Mass ground his teeth and cursed. “Goddamn it.”
The demons finally caught up to them. Tox dropped the first by ramming his knife into its skull. He pulled it out again, but it took effort, and by the time he did, another burnt man had grabbed him from the side.
Mass swung his shotgun and cracked it off the face of a burnt man wearing a ragged apron. You didn’t see many of them in outfits, and he wondered if the man had once been a butcher. He didn’t think about it for long because there was a primate eying him from the pack. Honeywell’s shotgun had shattered, the stock barely attached to the barrel, so he threw it to the grass and beckoned the creature with both hands. “Come on, you chimp-ass motherfucker.”
The primate leapt and Mass caught it against his chest. The thing was heavy and strong, and it took all the strength he had to stay on his feet. He grabbed its arms to keep its talons from slicing him, and he rolled his head back and forth to avoid its teeth. Behind him, the sound of metal hinges was interrupted by Addy’s barking voice. “Okay, ladies, grab whatever isn’t tied down. If you ain’t out of this box in three seconds fighting for your life, then you’re going to be eaten alive. Come on! Move!”
Mass dared a glance to his right where he saw Tox bringing up his knife and slicing the throat of the burnt man he was fighting with. Then he kicked another that was too close and sent it back into the pack. He saw Mass was in trouble, trying to stay alive against the attacking primate, and he came right over. He raised his knife and planted it in the demon’s back. It screeched so loud that Mass’s temples throbbed. To shut it up, he grabbed the broken shotgun stock off the ground and planted the splintered end right into its open jaws, shoving it down past all resistance until it was buried deep. The primate toppled over dead.
The women spilled out of the containers, some holding weapons, others making a run for it. Tox, Addy, and Mass moved cl
oser, barely armed and barely standing. More than a dozen demons still approached. It was hopeless. They couldn’t kill that many demons with their bare hands. Unless…
“Get inside the containers,” Mass shouted. “Back up inside and form a wall. Whoever has anything sharp, make yourself known.”
Addy ushered the women back inside the containers. The few who had run for it were now screaming as the demons broke off and took them down, tearing into their backs and ripping out their spines. It was their own fault. The only people who got to live during the apocalypse were those willing to stand and fight.
Mass grabbed a broken mop handle from one of the women. Addy and Tox both had their knives. The three of them stood shoulder to shoulder in the opening on the container, restricting the demon’s abilities to surround them. The burnt men were forced to attack in pairs and threes, which allowed Mass, Tox, and Addy to fight them one on one. They took down the first three easily, throwing the burnt corpses to the ground and making it even more difficult for the remaining demons.
Maybe they could do this.
Mass turned to Addy, “Are all the women free?”
“No, there’s another six chained up at the back. Who knows how many are in the other container.”
“Get them free. We need everyone ready to go if a chance comes along. Remember the code? It’s 1-1-3-4.”
Addy broke from the front of the container and shoved through the women to the back of the container. A few seconds later, she swore. Then she swore again. “It’s not right. 1-1-3-4?”
Mas shouted back over his shoulder. “Yeah. 1-1-3-4.”
“It’s wrong.”
Tox started shaking his head and laughing, even as he lashed out and tried to slice a burnt man with his knife. “The bitch gave us the wrong number. Wow, she was really something, huh?”
Mass groaned. Running was still their best option if the chance arose, but how could they do that if it meant leaving half a dozen innocent women to starve to death in a metal box? Not that there would even be a chance to run now that they were backed up inside the container. The demons still outnumbered them, and his legs were now trembling as if they were empty of blood. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest.
Tox kicked a burnt man back and slipped. He fell to one knee and then rose slowly. “I… I can’t keep going much longer. My body is giving up on me.”
Mass threw a sluggish punch at another burnt man and also slipped. His legs were so numb. “I know. Just… Just keep fighting until you can’t any more.”
Addy rejoined them at the front, ramming her knife into a demon’s skull. It twisted and fell, taking her blade with it. She groaned and raised her fists. “Shit! Now I’m bound to break a nail.”
The demons parted and Vamps appeared in their centre. No, thought Mass. Not Vamps. Vamps is gone. This is a monster. Crimolok.
Knowing he had neither the strength nor stamina to get out of there alive, Mass tried and go down with a win. He burst out of the container and rushed at Crimolok, planning to tear the monster’s eyes out and leave it blind and defenceless. Maybe that would give someone else a chance to deal with him.
Before Mass could make it even halfway, the demons closed in on both sides, crashing down on him like the Red Sea. He got struck from all sides and fell to the ground, covering himself and praying for a miracle.
I tried my best.
The demons didn’t tear him apart. Crimolok moved forward and stood over him, laughing. “Your friend cries out for you. He begs you to end his pain.”
Mass lifted his head, stared at the monster wearing Vamps’ face. “Fuck you.”
“Come on, don’t you want to use your last breath to try to save him? Try to kill me, worm. Amuse me.”
“That’s what you want. No, you can rot inside my friend’s body. He might be in pain, but I know Vamps will be pissing himself laughing knowing you can’t do a goddamn thing to get free.”
The growling was low and guttural, and Mass felt it in his chest. At first he thought it was coming from Crimolok, but it was further away. And getting closer. He didn’t realise what it was until the very last moment.
Oh shit!
Mass clambered up and threw himself back towards the containers. He turned just enough to see a large coach ram into the mob of demons and send them flying. Several fell, crushed underneath the tyres. Crimolok disappeared from view, lost in the chaos. Had he been hit? Killed? What would happen if he had been?
The coach skidded to a stop, barely missing Mass’s outstretched legs. He shuffled back on his butt and flinched when hands grabbed him from behind. Addy and Tox were still alive. They had him.
“It’s Smithy,” said Tox, beaming. “I really love that kid. Let’s get on board.”
The door to the coach slid aside and Smithy appeared on the step. He didn’t look glad to see them. In fact, he looked dismayed. Someone poked him in the back and said, “Move!”
Smithy stepped off the coach, revealing Nas and a shotgun behind him. “He wants the girls,” Smithy explained. “If we put the girls on the bus, he won’t hurt any of us.”
Mass was too weak to do anything. He had an arm around both Tox and Addy, and he couldn’t let go. “Do you not see what a monster you are? Cam told me you used to be a good man. A father.”
Nas flinched. “You do not talk of such things. My journey along God’s path has been difficult for a reason. Only through loss can we understand true strength.”
“Then I should be strong enough to crush you,” said Mass. “And you can be sure that I will. I won’t let you get away with this.”
“Just put the girls on the coach.”
Addy sighed. “Let’s just do it. At least they’ll be alive and away from this place. We aren’t going to make it.”
There were demons scattered all about the grass. Many were still, but some were moving. Before long, enough would recover that they would once again attack. Mass turned to one of the frightened women and sighed. “Get on the bus. We’ll come for you later, I promise.”
The women hurried onto the bus, moving to the back and huddling together. They were broken creatures, willing to do whatever they were told so long as they were not hurt. Mass wondered if they could ever become people again. Harriet had managed it somehow.
“What about the girls in chains?” asked Addy.
Nas sneered. “Animals yet to be broken. You can keep them.”
“No! You leave them here, they die.”
“So be it. They are of no use to me.”
Addy shook her head. “Please. Let me free them and put them on the coach. They’ll behave, I’m sure. If you’re really a man of God, you wouldn’t leave them to die.”
Nas glared at her with his one good eye. He nodded curtly. “Fine. The combination is 9-1-2-1.”
“9-1-2-1,” Addy muttered. “Okay, great.” She hurried into the back of the container and unlocked the chains. The women there rubbed at the ankles with relief. “Get in the coach. We’ll rescue you later.”
Mass thought the women might argue – clearly higher spirited than the morose women already on the coach – but they eventually formed a line and headed on board.
“What about the other container?” Mass enquired. “Are there any women inside that one?”
One woman just entering the bus turned back and shook her head. “We all huddled together in the same one. Everyone is here.”
Mass nodded. Okay. The women were all safe. At least they had achieved that much. With any luck, they would overpower Nas and leave him in a ditch somewhere at the side of the road.
Some of the girls on the coach screamed. “There’s a demon inside.”
Smithy half turned, the shotgun still at his back. “That’s just Dave. He’s with me. Come on, mate. Get off the bus.”
David scampered along the aisle and then hopped out onto the grass. He looked confused.
Nas shoved Smithy forward and stepped back onto the coach. He kept his shotgun pointed, ready to sho
ot him in the back.
Mass glanced aside and saw burnt men getting to their feet. There was also a primate with a broken leg. Once Nas and the coach left, they would be back to square one. Mass was too tired to run. Too tired to fight.
Smithy had a pissed-off grin on his face. “Hey, Mass, you want to know something?”
Mass frowned. “What?”
“This guy really knows how to push my buttons.” It made no sense, but, rather than explain it, Smithy threw out his arm and struck a red circular button beside the coach’s door. It slid shut with a hiss and knocked Nas’s shotgun aside. Addy leapt forward and grabbed the barrel, snatching it out of Nas’s hands. Then the tables turned.
Addy held the shotgun in her hands, and Nas, sensing he was well and truly screwed, grabbed the door and forced it shut, keeping a shield between him and the shotgun. Smithy grabbed the door and tried to force it open, but the two of them reached stalemate.
Several burnt men were on their feet, slowly coming around to face Mass and the others. “We need to get out of here.”
“Yeah,” said Smithy. “On this goddamn coach. Open up, you piece of shit.”
“The world will never be yours,” Nas cried. “Heathens! You are forsaken and you do not even know it. This world has been reclaimed.”
“Shut up,” said Smithy. “You’re a dickhead.”
“We need to move,” said Mass. He was still leaning on Tox, but since Addy had moved away from him, it was getting harder and harder to stay standing. The best he could hope for was to limp out of there. But it would have to be now. They didn’t have time to fight to get the door open.
Smithy swore, and he looked like he was about to give up, but he was then startled by Nas’s face hitting the glass. Behind him, the women who had been shackled were beating at him with their fists. It forced him to let go of the door to defend himself.
Smithy finally yanked the door open and Nas toppled off the steps and into the mud. He immediately went to get up, but Addy hit him with the stock of her shotgun. Blood trickled from his forehead and his eyes rolled about in his skull. He lashed out at her with his hook, but missed and ended up burying it in the dirt. Addy pointed the shotgun at his head, but Mass reached out to her. “Don’t waste the ammo. We might need it.”
Hell On Earth Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 134
