She stood, her ribs prominent underneath her skin and when she took a deep breath in, she released an animal shriek that caused me to shake in terror. Her canines were much longer than the average vampire and extremely pronounced. I slipped my silver tipped machete from the holster and could hear the metal slither against the leather. She moved towards me, crouched like she was going to pounce, arms extended like she could grab me and hold on. I dodged her grasp and struck, slicing her back, causing her skin to sizzle from the contact with the silver. In that moment I set the beast free, but remained in control. I could feel the heat licking its way through my body as I stalked to the crawler. She turned and yowled once more, and launched herself at me. Halfway through the air Gordon fired his gun that I hadn’t noticed he had removed from the holster, completely obliterating the creature’s head.
Brain and blood splattered over me, but I didn’t have time to be disgusted. Chase and Beth were still struggling behind me. I turned, extending my arm, and shot brilliant flames in the direction of the one Chase was fighting with, setting it on fire like a dried and broken Christmas tree. It screamed and fell to the ground, the flames reaching towards the ceiling and threatening to burn us. Beth had managed to pull out her gun, but the creature had caused her to lose her grip on it, it falling into the now vacant shelves and onto the floor. It was hidden and unreachable. I walked over to them without saying a single word, pulling the crawler off of Beth by the hair and arching its neck back at a painful angle. I placed my hand on its forehead and let the heat build as it tried to resist. I yanked its head back harder and let the heat out faster.
The crawler’s forehead was beginning to blister and sizzle, and then fall to ashes, its skull crumbling. The creature screamed and I could feel its bony fingers trying to pull my hand away, but I had more resolve. It stopped struggling once there wasn’t much of a brain left and I let the body slump to the floor with a soft thud, crumbling to act on impact. The crawler on the floor still ablaze was trying to stand, pushing itself up with its arms as the ceiling caught on fire and quickly spread. I walked over to it, machete still in hand. Once I was standing near enough I sliced decapitating it with one swipe. The dead blood that poured from it caught on fire, cleansing its evil with its contact. Maybe that was true.
Then I felt a rough and callused hand clasp mine and I turned to find Gordon there, the fire reflecting beautifully in his eyes. I was standing so close to the fire that I could swear we would burn up, but I knew the beast wouldn’t allow that. I could hear Chase yelling for us to go, but couldn’t tear my eyes from Gordon’s. He was so truly beautiful that I couldn’t breathe. Sweat was beginning to pour down my back when we heard even more crawlers making their way into the store from the back and moving in our direction. We needed to grab what we could and get out.
We ran towards the aisle where we had left the grocery cart full of stuff and I pushed it towards the front of the store, Beth and Chase following close behind with baskets full of what they were able to grab before all hell broke loose. We burst through the doors and began throwing things into the trunk of the car. Chase even went as far as to throw the loaded baskets into the bed of the truck for a quicker getaway. One crawler burst through the glass doors and launched itself at us. Gordon fired his gun once more. The body of the crawler jerked backwards and hit the side of the building with a sickening splat before falling apart. We now had just enough time to jump into the cars and peel out of the parking lot, leaving the place in flames behind us.
Chapter 8:
Jump the Gun
We sped away from the grocery store as quickly as we dared. The noise of the engines would draw the crawlers to our home, but thankfully we had the barrier. Even then, I was worried about drawing their attention. There would be those few seconds where the barrier would be down so we could enter, and that time could let a large number of them inside. After seeing them I was truly terrified. They weren’t what I had expected. They were worse. Yes, the beast had helped me kill them with ease, but that didn’t ease my terror. I pushed the gas pedal as far down as it would go, and made my way back to our home. Beth and Chase followed in the truck, the engine roaring over the bee –like hum of the car.
“Robin, slow down. The sound of the engine will draw them to us,” Gordon said. He was trying to stay calm, but I could hear the fear and tension in his voice. I knew it was a possibility, but I wanted as far away as I could get before they became a real problem. I looked in the rear view mirror and was shocked. A horde of them had decided to give chase, and they were gaining on us. It was an even more terrifying sight considering I was going almost one hundred miles per hour.
I gave Gordon a quick glance and then said, “I’m going to need you to put on your seat belt. Things are about to get hairy.”
Once I turned back to watch the road I heard Gordon turn in his seat and quickly buckle his seat belt, the metal click sharp and defined despite the engine noise. I couldn’t help but think, at that moment, that if these things were this fast. I could see why there wasn’t much of humanity left and I wasn’t even sure yet how far Lilith’s reach had gone. I wasn’t even sure if Beth or Chase knew, but what I had seen was enough to tell me she had one hell of a reach and that she wasn’t done yet. Then the driver’s side window exploded, raining small pieces of glass into the car and causing me to scream. The car swerved slightly but I fought to correct it as two gray arms reached into the car, pulling at me and scratching my skin. I hadn’t realized there was a crawler right next to me until it was too late. Gordon grabbed the wheel, helping me keep the car straight and avoid the abandoned vehicles and objects in the road.
The beast rose again, but I couldn’t let it out now. Not in the car where we would be engulfed in flames. I took one hand from the wheel, reaching between the seat and the center console where I kept a silver knife housed in a small holster. Gripping the wooden handle, I slipped it out and drug across the skin of the crawler, black blood oozing from the slice. The creature screamed, but refused to let go, digging sharp nails into my flesh and causing a few of the stitches on my arm to snap open. Warm, crimson blood began to pour from my arm as I screamed. Gordon took the blade from my hand, reached over me, and stabbed the crawler through its black and red eye. It let go of me, howling as it fell from the car and crashed into the ones behind him like a bowling ball knocking down the pins. He ripped his shirt and tore off a piece of the fabric to wrap around my arm until we could get it re stitched.
“Much better,” he said, a worried look in his eyes, but I kept driving. Then came the sound of squealing tires from behind us. I looked back in time to see the truck covered in crawlers and swerving dangerously and side swipe a parked car. Chase couldn’t miss the car jutting into the road, hitting it at top speed and flipping onto its roof, smashing a few crawlers underneath with a sickening twist of metal. I slammed my foot on the break, nearly hitting my forehead on the steering wheel and put it in park. I wasn’t about to shut if off when we had to make a quick getaway.
“Beth,” I yelled, letting the beast come to life. I pulled the machete out from the sheath, twirling it in my hand with a flourish and running towards the overturned truck. Crawlers were everywhere, some still bringing up the rear. How was I going to get them out of this?
I could hear their screams as the windows of the truck were smashed. I couldn’t help but yell as I ran towards them. Gordon pulled his pistol and began firing. He only had a few shots left. We would have to depend on my blade and our combined powers, if those would do any good against the creatures. I knew my powers would burn them to a crisp and as long as I took out the head it worked, but what if I just unleashed on their entire body? Would they continue to live until the head was gone? I still wasn’t sure how it worked. I had so many questions, but first things first. I was going to pull Chase and Beth out of that car and make it home safely no matter what it took. The noise I was making drew a few of them away from the truck, but it seemed like the flood of them was endless.
I slashed the blade as I ran into them, hacking the heads off as many as I could. They fell to the ground in ashy piles just like vampires but with more of a human scream then demonic. That was going to take some getting used to. Hot sprays of black blood littered my skin and clothes as I hacked into them, but I didn’t care. Not as long as we could all make it out alive. The beast inside of me was raging and beating to be free. I knew what that would mean. I knew that the beast would have one singular objective and that would be to kill all crawlers. It would aim and unleash hellfire on the truck, cooking my friends inside. That was not an option.
There were only a few left to kill until I could reach inside and pull Beth out of the driver’s side, and I would let Gordon handle Chase. Both of the windows had been smashed in the crawler’s pursuit of them so now I was also watching for shards of broken glass in the door. I raised the machete above my head and brought it down onto the head of a crawler, splitting it down the middle, sending a lick of heat through the blade. Before it turned to a pile of hot ash I saw the two halves separate, gore and brain falling away to the sides while some of it stuck to the blade. I kicked the body away, hearing the nauseating sound of bone grinding against the metal.
A hand reached through the falling ash. Beth’s. I finally made it to her. I grabbed and pulled while she pushed with her feet and once she was up we began to back away from the wreck. Beth had a gun now and was firing, blowing each head she hit to smithereens. She must have had some special bullets in those; I would have to ask her about. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Chase and Gordon backing away from the car, Chase firing a very large shotgun and Gordon icing the demons down. Chase would then shatter their heads with a well-placed round and then random thuds as they hit the asphalt.
Beth also had a smaller version of the shotgun in her free hand. She swung it towards a crawler, pulling the trigger and splattering the ground with brain and bone. The crawlers were all moving towards us now, some running and some crawling along the ground like spiders. One that used to be a young woman pushed herself from the ground on all fours and jumped towards me with a deafening scream, mouth wide open and large fangs barred. Her black and red eyes bore into me and everything was moving in slow motion. Beth fired the shot gun, but missed. Only a few of the pellets hit the creature, but she kept coming, black blood pouring from the small holes the shot left. I lashed out with my machete, barely nicking her skin and only managing to slice a nice gash in her shirt. She landed on the ground in front of me. I then felt a hand slide painfully across my face.
I could feel two long scratches stinging on my face and the blood run down my cheek in small rivulets. I cried out and fell to the ground. She had hit me harder than I thought and I could almost see stars. I heard someone call my name, but I wasn’t sure who it was and could barely tear my eyes away from the ground. Someone called my name again and then someone was on top of me, trying to bite me. I turned over tucked my legs in, and kicked out with my feet, connecting with the crawler’s midsection. She fell backwards onto the ground as she hissed. I could hear gunshots in the distance but it was like I had tunnel vision. I could only see the crawler in front of me and everything was still going in slow motion. The beast wanted complete control and now it was okay to let it have it. I climbed on top of the creature, veins glowing with bright and warm energy, and placed my hand over its heart. It was struggling against me and trying to bite me, but I was stronger. This was what I was made for.
I let the heat pour through me even as it struggled, clawing at my arm and somehow managing not to leave a single mark. I could see the energy swirl through my veins and then down into the palm of my hand and into the chest of the creature. I wasn’t sure if this would work, but the beast seemed to think so. Beth and Chase had said it took decapitation, but what about hellfire straight to the heart? You never know. The warmth flowed through me and the release of it put me in near ecstasy. I leaned my head back and pushed the power through my hand and into the creature’s heart, not even bothering to look at what was happening. I opened my eyes and looked a t the sky and could see the remaining crawlers backing away through my peripheral vision. Their hands were shielding their faces and they were scuttling away.
Seeing this sent a thrill through me and I could feel the vibration of the beast purring, spreading through my veins and bones and boiling my blood. The creature was still screaming and struggling beneath me and when one scratch opened up on my skin, I could feel the heat rush to the open sore and a slight tingle as it closed almost instantly. I felt invincible as well as indestructible, and nothing felt better than this. I knew for certain the beast was healing every open wound the crawler was creating, even rushing to the wound from the bullet graze. I had a feeling I would be pulling the thread of my stitches out completely before the day was over.
Then I heard the growl escape from my mouth and felt it rumble in my throat like it was begging to be set free. It was a caged animal so I let it out. Once I began to feel the creature crumble beneath me I turned my attention to the crawlers trying to back away from the light coming from within me. Their thirst for our blood kept them there, but the intense light was causing them to back away, but just barely. The blood and animal instinct kept them here.
I reached my hand out and let some of the warmth divert to it, the light thrumming with each heartbeat. I could feel it flowing into my eyes and becoming hotter and hotter as I let the beast take even more control over my body and faculties. It was like I was seeing what was happening, but couldn’t control my body. It was possession, but this type of possession was one that I was okay with because it would save our lives. The crawlers were huddled around the overturned truck and, since no one was inside, I could finally do what needed to be done and kill them all. The beast growling, or was that me? Was the sound audible or was I the only audience? At that moment I wasn’t sure how much I actually cared. I could hear Beth yelling and the gunshots behind me as well as Gordon and Chase’s shouts. Even though I was emitting such a bright light some crawlers were still brazen enough to go after them.
Fire poured out of my palm and towards the truck. It was covered in and surrounded by crawlers and each one of them lit up like a dried up Christmas tree, black smoke rising high into the sky as they burned. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the swirling fire that engulfed them and I felt the beast curl up in contentment inside of me, but I was still unwilling to relinquish control. I now knew I would have to fight it to get it back and I wasn’t sure how much fight I had left in me. Maybe it was enough to get my body back. I fought to take control back from the beast ravaging inside of me. It wanted control and it had gotten it, but now it was time to give it back and it wasn’t going to like it.
I closed my eyes and let myself imagine the beast, sleek and red, burning with an internal flame that I possessed when I unleashed its power. There was a flashing light in the center of its chest that mimicked its rhythmic heartbeat. Its eyes were the color of bright embers with flecks of a fiery orange floating in the irises like gold, and I could swear the irises flowed like hot magma inside. It wasn’t just sizzling, it was bright. I could imagine us struggling for control, but it was something I could feel. I could feel the fear and the rage as well as the suffocation of being held under by this beast that threatened everything. I could see myself holding it under water, the light inside of it dimming to a dull glow.
Then I could breathe again, and as I took a deep, shaking breath I could feel my entire body cooling like lava colliding with the ocean. I could see steam coming off my skin like I had truly been struggling in the water with that other part of myself. I looked down to see the ashy outline of one of the crawlers and the smoldering fire in front of me, enveloping the truck and the crawlers like a wild animal. The crawlers were all either burning to ambers or running trying to put themselves out and failing miserably. Their shrieks ripped through the air and as I looked around at the carnage I saw a few pairs of eyes look from around curtains and even peek
through front doors just to see what had happened. I didn’t think there were any people left besides us, but they were surviving. The city wasn’t as dead as I thought, and I couldn’t describe the relief I felt.
Humanity wasn’t dead just yet.
Chapter 9:
Humanity Found
As I stood, looking towards the eyes peering out of a few homes lining the street in our immediate vicinity, I knew I had found what was left of us; what was left of humanity in this broken city. It felt like breathing in deeply for the first time after being submerged and near drowning. That perfect moment of breathlessness as you took it all in. I could feel the heat from the flames of the torched crawlers on my skin like a thick blanket. The creatures were still active, some running, some on the ground, all burning. The truck was still ablaze and I could still hear the cries and gunshots of my companions, but once I had seen those piercing eyes I couldn’t look away. Everything was still moving in slow motion, not daring to move any faster in case I’d miss something important.
One pair of eyes were that of a child, so terrified of the flames behind me that she wouldn’t risk coming out from confines of the house. I wanted to run to her, wrap her in my arms, and whisk her away to a safe place, but I knew there wasn’t one to be found. Even in our cocoon of energy we weren’t safe. It would run out at some point. Then the door swung open just a few more inches. This was just enough to see a pale and slender woman holding the beautiful child’s hand and trying pull her back into the darkness and the safety of the closed door. I didn’t want to tell her there was no safe place, but I couldn’t. There was nothing left for us.
She struggled against her mother and then finally gave in as I watched her fade into the darkness of the house. In that moment I felt like I had suffered a great loss, but I hadn’t. The child was just beyond that wooden door. Alive. Breathing. Human. Nothing like the creatures screaming and running around me, engulfed in hellfire and turning to ash as they ran. I could smell soot and smoke in the air, and the sky was beginning to turn gray. It was almost like the loss of these animals caused the weather to change.
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