by Heath, Joel
Pulling the trigger the queen’s head vanished in a
puff of blood and gore and the body dropped to
the ground. The two remaining queens leapt from
the building at a distance of three hundred feet.
Their path would carry them several hundred feet
up the tower, it wouldn’t be enough to land on
top, but it didn’t have to be, their claws dug into
the side of the tower as they raced to the summit.
The two remaining queens would reach the top of
the Stratosphere Tower in seconds and Spencer
knew it.
He tossed the grizzly aside and went for a
machine gun sitting nearby, racking the weapon
he made ready to fight a battle he did not expect
to win.
“I don’t mean to be a downer, but we
have to take off their heads. How are we going to
do it with these?” Vince asked.
Spencer looked for the sword he had kept
from the battle site outside Shreveport Louisiana
just a few days earlier but it was too late, the queens reached the top and leaped over the
restraining railing as they landed atop the tower. As they unsheathed their swords, they
charged at Vince and Spencer who responded
with a high rate of gunfire from their M249
machine guns. These at least slowed the approach
of the queens.
“Where’s the sword?” Spencer shouted. “What sword?” Vince asked.
One of the queens had finally succumbed
to the gunfire and dropped her sword. Spencer
had depleted his clip, so he resorted to using the
gun as a blunt weapon and clubbed the other
queen before reaching down and grabbing the
dropped sword.
The queen that had dropped the sword
was stunned, but still made the effort to shriek,
enraged that a mortal had stolen her sword. The
blade seemed to turn against Spencer and swung
at him despite being in his hand. Vince had
finally exhausted his clip and quickly grabbed
new ammo in shaking hands. The sword in
Spencer’s hand began slicing the air wildly of its
own volition.
“Watch it, Spencer.” Vince chided as he
finished reloading. The queen tried to call the
sword back, but Spencer wouldn’t let it go. She
shrieked again, her shriek seemed to call the
sword to her. Spencer noticed the other queen
was coming for him.
“Vince, cover me, I’ve got a plan.” Vince opened fire on the attacking queen
and Spencer released the sword, as he did he
drew his Glock, took aim and fired a single round
at the other queen aiming right for her eye. The
gunshot served only as a momentary distraction,
but it worked. The queen was not able to catch
the sword and it plunged into her chest. Spencer
ignored the stunned queen and approached the
wounded queen.
“Let me get that for you,” Spencer offered
indignantly then pulled the sword from her chest
and lowered the blade to the queen’s neck and
sliced a swift, brutal cut that severed the black
neck, her head rolled away.
The remaining queen had regained
enough of her strength that she retreated. Seeing
that five other queens had been killed and their
assailants were unscathed, it was either run or
die. Spencer searched for the grizzly, he was
going to finish off the sixth queen, but it was
nowhere to be seen.
Vince went to the edge to check on the
demons that were trying to knock the tower
down, their efforts were still ongoing, but the
impacts were far less substantial. They seem to
have been distracted by the death of so many of
their leaders.
Spencer heard what sounded like a gun
shot ripping through the air and went to the edge
of the tower to try to identify where the shot
came from. In the distance he saw what looked
like a large military truck, a Hummer sitting parked as though it were ready to head north up
the Las Vegas strip.
“Vince, it’s time to leave,” Spencer
suggested as he gathered up the machine gun and
strapped the new sword across his back then he
and Vince quickly reloaded their M249’s before
heading out. “There might be other survivors.” Vince and Spencer headed back into the
tower.
“How are we going to get down? There’s
no power,” Vince objected.
“Maybe there’s an emergency evacuation
stairwell,” Spencer said optimistically.
Spencer and Vince headed into the tower and
quickly did find an emergency evacuation
stairwell and thundered down the hundreds of
steps.
Half way down Vince asked an obvious
question. “Aren’t we getting out of the frying pan
and into the fire?”
“If we stay we’re dead any way.” Spencer
replied. “Best to get out while we can.”
The bottom steps were coming into view
and the door to the outside loomed ahead.
Spencer and Vince made ready for an onslaught
that would likely lead to their deaths, but after
smashing through the door they saw that most of
the demon army had fled. A small handful still
remained, they quickly converged on the door
way that Spencer and Vince just emerged from
and were cut down by machine gun fire. Vince looked around. “There are no
queens around,” Vince observed.
“We did just kill five of their queens,
maybe the sixth split while she had a chance.”
Spencer reminded.
“Leaving her soldiers to die?” Vince
questioned.
“No honor among thieves…or demons for
that matter.”
“Maybe they have to have a queen in
close proximity to withstand our weapons.”
Vince surmised.
“Maybe,” Spencer said half-heartedly, he
was focusing on getting out alive. Spencer
headed for the loading dock where he had left his
GTO and sadly found it had sustained significant
damage.
Spencer dropped the M249 in the back
seat and dropped into the driver’s seat, Vince
waited outside the driver side door as Spencer put
the key into the ignition and turned. The car
started but it started to whine.
“Get in; we have to leave, NOW!”
Spencer urged as Vince got into the passenger
seat. “My car isn’t going to last much longer,
those damn demons must have done something to
her.”
As they pulled out of the loading dock,
Vince poked the barrel of the large machine gun
out the window to deal with any demons that
would risk an attack. Spencer turned onto the Las
Vegas strip and headed north to where Spencer expected to see the Hummer. Passing the pawnshop they raided the previous day, they
realized the Hummer was no where in sight. “Where the hell did they go?” Spencer
asked.
“There!” Vince shouted when he caught
the sound
of a large truck. Spencer turned his
head to the right to see a desert camouflage
Hummer with a large weapon on top. The
Hummer disappeared too quickly to see the
driver so Spencer sped to the next street and
turned right hoping to catch the driver’s attention
but the Hummer passed before Spencer came
anywhere near it. It was too late, the Hummer
was a good thirty yards away and the GTO was
starting to smoke.
“We’ll never catch them now.” Spencer
said.
“Like hell.” Vince said as he racked the
M249 and fired several shots at the buildings
ahead of the Hummer. The military vehicle
rocked to a dead stop and a single person climbed
out, an M-16 assault rifle in hand. It was a
woman; her red hair flowed in the breeze as she
high ported the barrel of her weapon. It was
Gretchen!
“You!” the woman shouted when she
realized who she was looking at. “I should leave
you here to die!”
“Gretchen?” Spencer asked in relieved
awe.
“You leave me in New Mexico, and I’m
alone for three days surrounded by Hell. That’s
all you can say?” Gretchen shouted.
Vince looked at Gretchen, then back to
Spencer. “You were right.” Vince commented,
and then looked back.
“Look you guys, we have to get the hell
out of here. We took out five queens: one
escaped and took her army with her. More are
sure to come.” Vince explained.
“You got other weapons?” Gretchen
asked.
“Lots of them.” Vince assured. “But our
car died.”
Spencer was still in shock that Gretchen was still
alive, but made the effort to come back to reality. “There’s no time to fix it. We’ll load your
gear and get moving.”
Gretchen turned around and drove back to
the GTO to unload. Her jaw about his the ground
when she saw the guns loaded onto a trailer that
Spencer towed behind the GTO.
“You weren’t kidding,” Gretchen
commented.
Spencer and Vince unhitched the trailer
and hitched it onto the Hummer, then started
moving the contents of the GTO onto the trailer.
As they finished loading the last of the weapons
and supplies, a demon dropped down from the
roof of an apartment complex. Spencer reached
for his M249 and fired at the demon who
dropped, stunned.
“He’s not dead, Spencer,” Vince
observed.
“Damn it, his queen must still be nearby,”
Spencer guessed.
“Too late, we’re getting the hell out of
here,” Gretchen said and reluctantly directed
Spencer to the driver’s seat as she headed for the
gun turret on top of the military vehicle, Vince
got into the front passenger seat, and the
Hummer sped away. Spencer glanced into the
mirror and saw that the one demon was joined by
several hundred demons.
“Gretchen, if you’re going to use that gun
it had better be now!” Spencer shouted. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep your shirt on,”
Gretchen griped as she primed the 50 caliber
Gatling gun. A single pull of the trigger and the
multiple barrels started to turn and spew massive
shells toward the oncoming demons.
“They’re still coming, can’t you go any
faster?” Gretchen shouted while she held the
trigger down.
“Vince, how well do you know Las
Vegas?” Spencer asked.
“What do you want to know?” Vince
replied.
“Where’s the nearest road out of here?” “I-15, turn left on Washington Avenue,”
Vince directed and Spencer took a hard left as
they came to the intersection of Las Vegas
Boulevard and Washington Ave. If they were driving any other vehicle, they would have
rolled. I-15 was just over a mile away.
Spencer took a right on to I-15 and
headed north. The speedometer read ninety-five
miles an hour when Gretchen climbed down into
the Hummer.
“Alright, where are you taking us?”
Gretchen demanded.
“Away from Las Vegas.”
After passing through North Las Vegas,
they drove by Nellis Air Base towards Mesquite.
Gretchen stayed quiet in the back seat, only
glaring at Spencer on occasion. It wasn’t until the
I-70 junction that Vince decided to break the
silence.
“So where did you find her?” Vince
asked.
“Her name is Gretchen,” Spencer and
Gretchen said simultaneously. Spencer and
Gretchen looked at each other but Gretchen
looked infuriated before turning to look out the
window while Spencer recounted the story. After a couple hours, a town appeared out
the Hummer’s right window. Fillmore, Utah.
Spencer was tired of driving and decided to pull
over and have a look around.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking a rest.” Spencer said as he shut
off the engine and opened the door.
Vince decided this was a good time to get
out and relieve himself. Gretchen wasn’t getting
out; she didn’t trust this guy she once looked at as her hero. Spencer walked away wondering how he would talk to Gretchen about his leaving
in Clovis.
Vince returned to the Hummer. “You
don’t trust him?” Vince asked dubiously. “Why the hell should I?” Gretchen
demanded. “He left me to save his own ass. He
didn’t care if I lived or died.”
“Wow. It sounds like he really hates
you.”
Gretchen nodded.
“So, why did he leave when he could
have just killed you?” Vince asked.
Gretchen paused to ask herself a question
she had never thought to ask.
“We met three days ago at a truck stop
near Kingman, Arizona and since we met he
went from freaking out to borderline suicidal;
mostly about abandoning you,” Vince explained. Gretchen looked at Spencer off in the
distance. “He seems fine now.” Gretchen
observed.
“Maybe because now he knows you’re
alive.” Vince suggested.
Gretchen started shaking her head. “No, it
doesn’t make any sense.”
“Ask him about it some time,” Vince said
before he turned at a noise. It was Spencer
returning.
Gretchen paused and recalled Vince’s
comment from Las Vegas. “What did you mean when you said to Spencer ‘you were right’?”
Gretchen asked.
Vince smiled awkwardly. “When he first
mentioned you I asked if you were hot. He was
right, you are,” Vince said as Spencer appeared. “It’s time to go.” Spencer said.
“I’ll drive.” Vince offered before
climbing into the driver’s seat.
Spencer climbed into the front passenger
seat. Spencer’s worry and poor sleeping habits
over the last week were quickly catching up and
he soon fell asleep. When Spencer awoke, a light
rain was falling and a large city loomed out of the
Hummer’s right passenger window. It was late,
maybe five or six in the evening; they hadn’t
made very good time.
“What city is that?” Spencer asked as
images from a seemingly dreamless sleep danced
in his memory.
“That’s Salt Lake City,” Vince replied Gretchen saw Spencer’s mouth hang open
in awe.
“Is something wrong, Spencer?” Gretchen
asked.
Spencer was dumbfounded, he had seen
the city before, but he had never been there
before, how was that possible? “I’ve seen that
city before,” Spencer replied.
“Have you ever been here?” Vince asked. “No,” Spencer half-heartedly replied. Vince glanced down at the gas gauge.
“Damn.”
“What?” Spencer asked.
“We need to stop for gas, this thing
inhales gas,” Vince replied.
“Do you think it’s safe?” Gretchen asked. Vince scanned the Salt Lake skyline;
several of the taller buildings obviously had
suffered damage a couple of them looked like
they were on the verge of collapse.
“For the moment. Time is precious, so
let’s not waste any,” Vince said veering off I-15
and heading into the city. After turning on to
North Temple, they headed east and found a
Maverick station.
“Damn, power’s out here too.” Gretchen
mourned as she pulled up to the gas pumps. “Not to worry.” Spencer remarked as he
climbed out and got to work. Within a couple
minutes fresh fuel was pumping into the
Hummer’s fuel tank, it would take some time to
fill the tank so Spencer reached for the weapons
cache on the trailer for the nearest weapon, which
was a P-90. After checking the clip he racked the
weapon and headed into the gas station. Their
food rations were getting low and he hoped to
find something edible in the store.
“Where are you going?” Gretchen
snapped distrustfully as Spencer pulled the glass
door open.
“Inside, maybe there’s something to eat in
here.” Spencer replied.
“What do you expect us to do?” Gretchen
demanded.
“Stay here and watch the Hummer.” “What if more demons show up?” Spencer looked at the guns they were
hauling and then to the 50 caliber gun atop the
hummer.
“Shoot.” Spencer headed into the store.
Before the glass door closed the rancid smell of
rotting bread, dairy and meat slapped Spencer,
