by J. C. Diem
All eyes watched us as we entered the yard. There were several buildings on Cole’s property and all were full of shifters and other creatures. Tents had been erected in neat rows and tables of food were dotted here and there. They were beginning to look like a real army.
We sank into the ground and emerged thousands of miles away. We didn’t encounter any problems when we broke the captives free this time. With each alpha that join us, my power increased and it became easier for me to break through Kurt’s mind traps.
Transporting the new recruits that we’d just freed to Cole’s property, I detoured to drop the dangerous captives off at the PIA prison. The guards had grown used to us appearing unannounced and let us in without question.
With that task out of the way, we tackled the last EERI compound. Using a blitz attack, we entered the base and wiped out all of the employees before heading to the basement levels. To my surprise, we broke the last batch of captives free and escaped from the building without being ambushed.
We returned to Cole’s house with our newest recruits, minus the ones that Ava had deemed to be too dangerous. My army was pitifully small in comparison to our enemy’s, but it was better than nothing. We now had a total of about two thousand people. Most were shifters, who were strong even in human form. They would be more than a match for demons when in their wereforms.
No new towns had been attacked by zombies so far. Kurt had to know that Viktor had been taken out of commission. Maybe taking Viktor out had tipped the balance in our favor. The faery would have to rely on his golems and demons to do his dirty work now. At least until he hunted down a new necromancer.
Now that we’d rescued all of the captives, we rested for the remainder of the night. Come morning, we would fight our first battle as a unit. Once again, I lay on the couch with Reece pressed up against my back. Neither of us managed to get much rest. What sleep I did have was plagued by bad dreams. I had a feeling that I’d forgotten something and that there was a danger that we hadn’t yet seen.
We were up early and took a quick shower before heading to breakfast. My father, Kala, Flynn and Sabine were sitting at the dining table. We joined them while Mark and Ava watched the news in the living room. Zeus was somewhere outside, playing fetch with one of my zombies. I had no idea how he’d managed to get my minion to throw the stick for him, but he was having a ball chasing after it.
As we ate, we listened to a reporter relaying that no new cities had been attacked during the night. Her cautiously optimistic expression fell when someone spoke into her earpiece. “I’ve just received word that our hopes that the attacks may be winding down might be premature.”
She listened again and the blood drained out of her face. “Apparently, strange pits have begun to appear in the ground in Washington, D.C. They are disgorging black skinned creatures with red eyes.” If possible, her expression turned even bleaker. “It seems that our nation’s capital is now under attack by a new type of monster. The President has been evacuated and troops are being sent in to attempt to stem the threat.”
“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” Mark said. “Jorgen is sending everything he has at the humans now. It’s time for us to step up and take him down once and for all.”
“We’ll need to load up on weapons and ammo,” my father said. “We’ll have to clear out some of your bases.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Ava said. “The PIA Headquarters has an extensive armory. It will contain everything that we need.”
“We won’t need guns for everyone,” I told her. “Only my zombies and the non-shifters will need them.” She looked puzzled and I elaborated. “The shifters will be weapons themselves.”
“But the full moon isn’t until tomorrow night.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Kala said with a forced smirk. “Lexi can force us to transform whenever she wants, remember? The freaky little faery isn’t going to know what hit him.”
I’d been worried that I wouldn’t be able to transport so many people at once, but having my zombies along boosted my power. Gathering into a large mob in the yard, we descended into the ground and came up near the PIA Headquarters. All non-shifters and my zombies followed Ava into the building. She led us down a flight of stairs to a gigantic armory.
My father’s eyes widened at the abundance of guns, ammo and other weapons that were on display. “I thought our armory was well-stocked,” he said enviously. “I’m going to have to talk to Mark about upgrading our supplies.”
I grinned, glad that he already considered himself to be part of our squad. I crossed the room to Cortez, who was delving into a cupboard and handing out ammo. Without needing to be asked, he handed me ammunition for my assault rifle and my Beretta. I filled the pockets of my cargo pants and stuffed extra ammo in my backpack.
My sniper rifle was inside the pack, but I doubted I’d get a chance to use it today. My talent as a sharp shooter wasn’t why I’d been chosen to lead this army. Even if I managed to get Kurt in my sights, shooting him wouldn’t do any good. He’d just heal again. Nothing as mundane as bullets was going to take him down. According to the faery, nothing on this planet could kill him. I hated to admit it, but that didn’t bode well for our chances of winning this war.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Loaded up with gear, we left the building and joined the rest of the group out in the yard. I hadn’t been to D.C. before, but some of my zombies had. They steered me where we needed to go. We emerged on a long grassy strip of land between the tall, thin needle of the Washington Monument and the domed Capitol building.
My undead soldiers immediately took up defensive positions. In the distance, we heard the unholy screeches of demons as they chased after their victims. The griffin had been re-formed and it was already back in action. It flew among the tens of thousands of birds that clogged the sky. The oracle and her small flock made sounds of distress as they realized the birds were being used to kill humans.
Cats, dogs, cows, reptiles and spiders now crowded the city. Even from several blocks away, the noise was overwhelming and it seemed to be heading our way. Within minutes, we would be surrounded by Kurt’s army.
“You’d better keep back, boss,” Kala said with a smirk and started to undress. “You might be immortal now, but you’re still kind of weak and puny. Besides, you wouldn’t want to get your suit dirty.”
Mark narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t argue with her. He would do what he could to help, but he didn’t have our ability to shift into a monster.
My dad stared at Kala for a long moment as she disrobed then I caught his eye. “You’d better strip off, too,” I said. “Unless you want your clothes to be torn to shreds.” He was so new to being one of us that he hadn’t had his first change yet. Being forced to transform was going to be a hell of an introduction into our way of life. With the full moon tomorrow night, he’d have changed the old-fashioned way, but I couldn’t wait until then. I needed him to join us now.
Startled, he hastily pulled his t-shirt over his head. Kala had trouble tearing her eyes away from him, but she resolutely looked away. Reece turned and winked when I admired his muscular butt. I was the only shifter who wasn’t going to change. I needed to think clearly and my werewolf had a tendency to lose her temper too easily.
Mark stepped up beside me and pulled his gun. The now naked shifters moved to the front ranks with my zombies behind them. The non-shifters were at the rear, ready to fire their weapons or to use whatever skills they had that could help us. “Is everyone ready?” I asked.
“Bring it on,” Kala replied in anticipation as humans began streaming from between the buildings towards us. Delving into the shifters minds, I triggered their transformations. The park became full of canines, felines, bears, rats, foxes, birds and one gigantic snake. Sabine assumed her true form and slithered over to join Flynn.
Believing that they’d run into a trap, the humans shrieked even louder. Splitting into two groups, they s
treamed around us on two sides, heading towards the Lincoln Memorial.
Ignoring the beings that would normally be our prey, Flynn slithered towards the horde of demons that were chasing the humans. With a hiss, he spat toxic and acidic venom on the front ranks. While they shrieked and clawed at their melting eyes, his tail whipped around to crush half a dozen of them to death.
Sabine targeted a group and began to sing. Her body swayed in time with her tune and the imps stared at her, mesmerized. A small group of wererats crept up behind them and attacked. The hell spawn were torn to shreds in seconds and I had to revise my thought that the rodents’ fighting skills were lacking.
With a roar, Kala threw herself into the fray and my father was right beside her. Together, they tore into the red eyed imps. As directed, they decapitated them to send their souls back to hell.
Leanne lumbered forward and her werebears were right behind her. Far larger than the rest of us, their gigantic paws and wickedly sharp claws sliced their enemies to pieces. Rage fueled them, turning them into formidable foes.
Cole, Aiden and Nina’s packs and the oracle’s birds all joined the fight and my zombies waded in after them. The non-shifters and Mark fired their weapons. Standing a little apart, Ava’s face was a study of concentration as she manipulated small pockets of weather. Sudden rain squalls and mini tornados tore through our enemies.
Some of the non-shifters took her cue. Shouldering their weapons, they unleashed their innate talents. All were elemental wielders. Lightning blazed from Ava’s clouds, blasting the hell spawn apart. Fire bloomed and tore through their ranks. The ground trembled as small, isolated earthquakes hit our foes, tossing them around like toys. The rain squalls increased in intensity and volume.
One by one, the hell spawn were eradicated. As their bodies fell, their souls were ejected, creating a thick haze. With one group of demons defeated, we headed towards the buildings where the humans had fled from. Imp souls wafted past us, drawn to the nearest hell pit.
The griffin saw us approaching and swooped down to attack. Launching themselves into the air, the oracle and her flock flew to surround the stone golem. Their talons did little damage, but they weren’t trying to kill it. Their job was to distract it.
At a glance from me, Zeus began to grow. Shadows gathered around him and his eyes glowed crimson as he transformed into a wraith hound. The oracle raked her claws across the griffin’s eyes. Momentarily rendered helpless, the stone monster fell. Its eyes regenerated and it flapped its wings frantically, but it had fallen low enough for Zeus to leap into the air and clamp his teeth around its leg. With a yank of his strong jaws, he pulled it to the ground.
Waiting for it to hit the earth, Flynn slithered over and spat venom on its eagle-shaped head. The golem gave an enraged squawk as its head became detached. Pulling the pin on a grenade, Mark sprinted over and tossed it into the griffin’s mouth. I knew he wouldn’t be able to get clear in time and my zombies felt my panic. Kendricks rose out of the ground, grabbed Mark and disappeared into the earth just as the grenade exploded. He appeared beside me with my boss in his arms a moment later.
“Thank you,” Mark said to him shakily. Kendricks nodded and darted back into the action. Mark might be un-killable now, but I didn’t want him to be blown apart. Damage like that could take time to repair and we didn’t have any time to spare.
“You know, if Kendricks had still been alive, he probably would have just let you die,” I said.
“I’m certain he would have,” Mark agreed. His suit was disheveled, but he still looked like an agent from his short hair to his once shiny shoes. “He never liked me and the feeling was mutual.”
With its head shattered, the golem lost its hold over the birds. Milling in the air in confusion, they were taken over by the oracle. She redirected them to attack the demons and they obeyed. We needed all the help we could get, which meant sacrifices would have to be made.
My nemesis was somewhere in the city, overseeing the carnage. I could almost picture him gnashing his teeth and stamping his little feet in a tantrum that we were decimating his minions. I only wished the golems could be permanently defeated. Jorgen would reclaim his pieces of soul and renew his minions. Both the golems and the demons would just keep respawning to come at us again and again. We could be locked in this war for a very long time.
₪₪₪
Chapter Thirty
As the battle raged on, I lost count of how many demons we defeated while we hunted for the golems. They were a never ending tide of scarlet-eyed killing machines who were intent on destroying all humans. While we took them down whenever we came across one, they weren’t our main targets just now. We needed to rid the city of the animals that were running rampant and that meant targeting their masters.
Just severing the golems’ heads wasn’t enough to break their link to their minions. Blowing them up seemed to do the trick. It was my hope that by driving the animals away, the golems would have to go hunting for new servants to control once Kurt resurrected them.
We targeted the spider golem next. Mark stayed well back from the battle this time. His phobia was still strong enough that he couldn’t bring himself to help. With a pack of weredobermans distracting it, I did the honors and scaled the arachnid’s back. I blasted a hole in the base of its head and placed a grenade inside. Stone flew in all directions and its head crashed to the ground. Another grenade reduced it to pebbles. The spiders that had been swarming through the city melted away into the shadows now that the golem was no longer controlling them.
A flood of screeching, yowling cats swarmed towards us, driven by the chimera. Its lion head roared a challenge while the goat head that was growing out of its back bleated. Its tail whipped back and forth with the snake head hissing and dribbling venom.
Accepting the challenge, Cole, his lions and his bevy of female felines raced to the attack. They ignored housecats and targeted the stone creature that was controlling them. The chimera breathed fire, but Ava doused the flames with a torrent of rain. She looked exhausted, but was determined to do her part. She’d gathered the other elemental wielders around her to coordinate their attacks. All of them were showing signs of weariness. Using their magic constantly was sapping their energy to alarming levels.
The werefelines circled the chimera as the domestic cats swiped at them with their claws. The golem was so similar to them, yet so different. It dwarfed them in size, but they showed no fear as they launched themselves at it.
Despite their ferocity, they didn’t have the means to take it down alone, so I sent one of my zombies to assist them. An undead Containment Squad agent threw himself onto the golem’s neck and fired an entire clip into the base of its head. The goat’s horns gored him in the side, but he ignored the wound and stuffed a grenade into the hole.
Cole and his werecats scattered as my minion rolled off the golem and hit the ground. He sank into the earth as the explosive went off. Emerging again, he was whole and unharmed, but the chimera was in two pieces. Ava strode forward and gestured. Roots burst out of the ground to wrap around the golem’s muzzle before it could breathe fire on anyone. My zombie used another grenade to blast its head apart.
As soon as it disintegrated, the cats that had been futilely trying to kill us milled in confusion. With their backs arched and their fur fluffed out to make them look as threatening as possible, they stood their ground instead of fleeing. Felix, the only werelion with a dark brown coat rather than a tawny one, roared at them. Hissing and yowling in terror, they broke and ran. I sensed his mental chuckle as he loped after his pride.
The ground rumbled beneath our feet and I thought a golem was about to erupt from the earth. Instead, a herd of cattle rounded the corner and thundered towards us. The minotaur sprinted along behind them. With the head, legs and feet of a bull and the body and arms of a man, it was a fearsome sight. Its horns ran red with the blood of its victims. The cows and bulls beneath its control were maddened with the need to trample or gore
.
We’ve got this, Leanne said to me. She and her bears burst out from an alleyway. Barging into the minotaur, they brought it down. Bellowing in rage, the golem lashed out with both fists. Bruce Delgado and one of the female bears were thrown several yards. Hitting a building head-first, the female didn’t get up. Bruce roared his grief at losing a friend and waded back into the fray.
Struggling to regain his feet, the minotaur came face to face with the bestial park ranger. Baring his fangs, Bruce stepped in close and wrapped his arms around the stone monster’s neck. Its screams were muffled by his thick pelt as he strained with all of his might. Leanne and her bears held the golem still as its head was wrenched from its shoulders. With a roar of triumph, Bruce hefted his trophy up high then smashed it on the ground. It disintegrated and the cattle instantly lost their drive to do murder.
I exchanged a startled glance with Mark at Bruce’s show of strength. Neither of us would forget this in a hurry. I was glad the werebears were our allies. I wasn’t sure who would win in a fight between a wolf and a bear. We were faster, but their strength was unmatched.
Zeus’ hollow bark warned me that danger was approaching. The ground rumbled again and the hydra burst out into the open. Rearing into the air, its five heads were riveted on me. Hissing menacingly, it slithered in my direction with malevolent intent. Kurt Jorgen was aware that we were hunting down his stone servants. He’d sent one of the remaining two to target me.
At that thought, the Cerberus erupted from the ground to flank me. Dogs howled and barked in the distance, rapidly drawing closer. Reptiles would no doubt be on their heels. I couldn’t do anything about the reptiles, but I wasn’t going to allow myself or my allies to be torn to shreds by canines.
