by Michael Todd
They moved in and out of the ammunition building, their small claws scratching on the cement floor. Others searched the guard shack and the landing pad, but the team had been very careful not to leave even a shred of paper on the sands. One coyote scurried to the emergency hatch and began scraping around it faster and faster until his paws began to bleed.
He leaned his head back and howled loudly to catch the others’ attention. Suddenly, his body began to shake and twist, and his skin became tighter and tighter until the demon inside him ripped through his thin, furry flesh. Two sharp claws protruded from its front paws. The coyote howled, then snarled, then screamed as the demonic head burst through the coyote’s jaws. Its crooked back legs broke through the coyote’s bones until all that was left of the animal was a shred of bloody pelt hanging from the demon’s body.
He reached down and grabbed the hatch, opening the thing wide, then beckoned to the rest of the creatures, who ran, hopped, and flew to him. He pointed them down the shaft into the empty halls below. The demon slowly climbed in and hung on to the ladder, pushing the hatch door all the way open. He looked at the large moon emerging from behind the clouds and growled, his eyes flashing bright red as he descended.
The demons were going to find Katie and the team for Moloch. It was their quest.
Korbin sat back in the new base and wiped his face. The kitchen was still being renovated, so they had ordered pizza again. Nobody really minded. Stephanie and Joshua were across the table from Korbin, tired from the day’s work. Timothy had already gone back to his room, exhausted from having spent the day pushing diggers around the base and supervising the cable-laying.
“You know, things are a lot different now than they used to be back in the day,” Korbin mused.
Stephanie picked a piece of pepperoni off her pizza and ate it. “Oh, yeah? How so?”
Korbin sat forward and grabbed another piece of pizza. “For starters, we have to go to the incursions to wage war. Back in the day, your job was to defend. Your castle was built, every place had an army, and you were equipped to defend your city to the death.”
Stephanie grinned. “Castles? So you’re talking way back in the day.”
“Yeah. Way back in the day. You didn’t want them to get anywhere close to the top of your wall, so you built great big things. Now, we put up defenses where we are, and we have police, but demons can walk right into any city they want.”
Joshua nodded. “That’s true. If you were attacking someone else, it wasn’t to save the people inside the walls of that kingdom, it was to take over. Otherwise, the enemy came to you, and you had to defend the rights of your people and your city or kingdom. There isn’t any of that anymore. We live in a world where we hope that demons don’t come to our town, and then we chase the enemy, trying to hunt them down.”
Korbin took a sip of his soda. “Yep, it’s not the same.”
Stephanie winked at Korbin. “We can build you a moat if that will make you feel better.”
He looked up thoughtfully. “I’ve wondered if we could turn the tides, you know? If we could use our place to both defend and attack. They come to us, but we are ready for them. Then we turn it on them and attack them all until they are dead.”
Joshua thought about it. “That would mean us never leaving our castle. We would have to let them pretty much burn down the rest of the world and wait until they came to our doorstep. It would really only work if we somehow convinced every other country in the world to take it back to the Middle Ages.”
Korbin looked disappointed. “They did have some badass defenses back then. The big giant gates, the moats, the fire cannons.”
Joshua laughed. “My favorite is the hot oil. They had buckets at the ready all across the walls. In this day and age, we could come up with some hot-tar sprinkler system. It would just douse everyone. We could put them on the grass and the bridge too. Then, poof, light them up.”
Korbin giggled like an excited schoolboy. “And then load the cannons and just blow them up. Boom!”
“It would be interesting to watch Joshua constructing cannonballs out of the special metal,” Stephanie replied.
Joshua’s eyes went wide. “We would need several facilities for that.”
Korbin pointed at Joshua. “I feel like you already need more facilities. Have we gotten anywhere with the thought of expanding our manufacturing to more locations? Now that we’re connected to the military, I would think it would be easier to figure it out.”
Joshua shrugged. “To be honest, I kind of gave up on the thought. Besides General Brushwood, I haven’t met any leaders who are trustworthy. It’s been kind of a crapshoot. The general can’t always be there, and there are a lot of corrupt people in the government these days.”
Korbin thought about it for a second. “What if we didn’t do it on military installations? What if we did it through us and just placed them in different locations we felt comfortable with all over the country? We would run, manage, and secure them, and then we could exponentially up our production.”
Joshua leaned forward and wiped his hands. “Right, but think about it this way: if we hadn’t been the ones defending the last attack on our base, what was the likelihood we would have been able to save the armory? I think that the more locations there are, the better the chances of the process and weapons dropping into the wrong hands.”
Korbin pursed his lips. “I agree. We could never take that chance, and given the way they’ve been targeting multiple locations at once… Well, they could hit us in every location. We couldn’t possibly successfully defend multiple locations at once. We just aren’t big enough for that.”
Stephanie cleared her throat. “If you think about it, in the past we didn’t even have enough security on our own base. We didn’t always have the military support we have now. If you could imagine us fighting off all those demons on our own…that would be a shitshow for sure.”
“Not only that.” Joshua rubbed his hands over his face. “But can you imagine if the demons started using our weapons? Or if they got the ability to manufacture the bullets and use them against our side?”
All of them shook their heads, and Korbin tossed his crust in the box. “It would be the end of the war, in my opinion. We have Katie, yes, but other than her, we rely on having more advanced weapons than the demons. I can’t even imagine what the fight would be like with special bullets turned against us.”
Stephanie shivered. “I don’t want to think about it. We would be exterminated in three seconds by the hellbeasts. They would have no reason to even send as many as they do. They would just line up, fire, and be done.”
Korbin reached across the table and took Stephanie’s hand. “Let’s hope we never have to face that.”
Chapter Six
The news had really started to sink in with people around the world as more and more attacks happened in random places. The general populace had started to reach a breaking point. They were beginning to realize that the war had grown so large and so unpredictable that they could no longer sit out the action and think the mercenaries would save them. They had to take action and prepare their people for attacks.
If an incursion happened where they lived, they wanted to have a fighting chance.
All across the world, groups set up town meetings, all centered around the idea of bringing defense to the demons’ offense. The meetings were planned in the early morning since most incursions seemed to happen in the evening. Droves of men, women, and children came to learn more and give their opinions on how to fight back against the demons.
Videos of the war had been broadcast to all corners of the Earth ever since Incursion Day. The attacks had started in the US, but over time the rest of the world had seen more and more attacks. Demons waded onto the shores of every continent.
In a small town on the outskirts of London, they held the meeting at the high school gym. It was the only place large enough to hold the number of people who wanted to come.
The s
peaker took to the podium, cleared his throat, and read from a piece of paper. “Dear citizens, I am so glad you have chosen to come out and participate in this meeting. Every day we see a new place destroyed and ripped apart by the war—towns not much different than our own. We feel secluded from these terrors because we are so small, but that is no longer the case. In fact, we seem to be the ones that are under the most threat.”
Several of the people in the audience shouted, agreeing with the speaker. He put his hands up to quiet the crowd. “I will not lie: for the first few months, I did not allow my children to watch the news. The hit-and-run tactics of the demons were gruesome and unforgiving. However, as small villages all over the globe fell victim to these attacks, I found that the only way for me to truly drive home their serious nature was to allow the kids to view these terrible events. The world we live in is no longer peaceful or serene. We are under attack by creatures that do not belong here. I will not allow my family to perish during one of these attacks without at least equipping them and everyone else with the means to fight back. We will not die in vain.”
Everyone clapped.
The speaker gestured to a woman standing behind him. “To explore this more, I would like to turn the floor over to demonologist Eliza Dewberry.”
The woman was nervous, constantly fidgeting with her long mouse-brown hair and touching her glasses. She put a stack of notes on the podium and cleared her throat. “Hel… Hello, everyone. My name is Dr. Eliza Dewberry, and for ten years now I have been studying demonology. Obviously, a lot of new information has come out since Incursion Day, and my team and I have been sifting through it as quickly as possible.”
“How do we fight back?” someone yelled from the crowd.
Dr. Dewberry put her finger up. “This is an excellent question. After studying their moves, their strength, and the randomness of their actions, we have come up with a couple of options. Now, just so you understand, this is not simply my opinion. I sit on a panel of experts from all over the country. I know many of you want to fight, but as we’ve seen from the videos, it’s a futile gesture, followed by a brutally quick and painful death. So, to negate that, we are suggesting a system of shelters. These shelters will be prepared, readied, and manned twenty-four hours a day. There will also be Demon Sirens to warn you.”
“Like the old air-raid sirens?” someone yelled.
The doctor nodded. “Yes, precisely. When those sirens go off, you make your way to the shelters as quickly as possible.”
A woman in the middle of the crowd stood up. “But won’t that just put us all out in the open?”
Eliza pointed her finger. “Excellent question. We believe not. We were able to partner with local and international government, and they have a system created by Katie’s Killers that detects openings between worlds, often five minutes or so before the demons arrive. This will allow us to sound the alarms and, as long as you are prepared, enable you to make your way to the closest shelter. Obviously, this is quite risky, but we won’t survive in our homes, and we are not strong enough to fight back, so we have to look for better ways.”
A man in the front raised his hand, and Eliza pointed to him. “Yes?”
“And then what? We wait?” he asked.
She took a deep breath. “Yes. We wait. We wait for assistance, or we wait for the demons to go back through their portal.”
He nodded approvingly. “So, these buggers would be like post-apocalyptic demon shelters.”
“Absolutely. They would be fortified and stocked, and we would issue weapons to those responsible for protecting the shelters. This is a foreign enemy: creatures from a completely different world. We cannot stand in the streets with guns and expect to survive. We will create enough shelters from existing structures to hold the entirety of the town. Once inside, we will have a check-in system to help… Well, help us figure out who didn’t make it.” Her voice managed to grow even smaller somehow. “The carnage these creatures has produced is not easily forgotten. Oftentimes, identifying bodies has been difficult.”
The whole room nodded, talking back and forth. They loved the idea.
Time was the only thing against them. The shelters had to be completed and stocked before the next demon attack. And who knew when that would be?
The alarm went off bright and early, even before the sun had risen. Katie yawned and stretched her arms overhead, then smacked the button on the top of the radio. She had almost forgotten what it was like to wake up to an alarm rather than Pandora’s constant nagging. Incessant beeping or incessant bitching? Katie wasn’t sure which one was worse.
Pandora yawned, just waking up herself. I’m not usually one to complain about this, but remind me again why we are up before the sun?
Katie sat up in bed, breathing in the smell of coffee from the kitchen. We’re heading to the base today, remember? We have to get the boys up and going so we can catch the jet.
And Juntto?
Katie walked across the room to pull on her clothes for the day. She had already packed the rest of her things. As far as I know, Angie helped him pack last night. He will probably need a wake-up call.
Just then the sound of Juntto’s deep laugh echoed through the house. Katie wrinkled her nose and stuck her head out of the door. From her room, she could see into the kitchen. Sure enough, there was Juntto munching bacon and drinking coffee as Angie prepared the rest of breakfast. Katie ducked back into her room. I feel like Angie is taming the dragon.
Pandora scoffed. Impossible, unless she castrated him or something.
Katie started dressing. Maybe it was mental castration. All I know is, the more laughter, the better off we are.
I guess.
He’s not murdering anyone.
He can laugh and murder at the same time. I’ve seen it.
Katie finished getting ready, pulling her hair back into a ponytail and putting her two smaller pistols in their holsters. She had packed Tom and Harry, figuring they wouldn’t be necessary on the plane ride. She collected her things and took her bags to the door, where the concierge would pick them up.
As she set the bags down, there was a knock on the door. She opened it up to find a smiling Brock .
Why, hello. Morning wood, anyone?
Katie gestured for him to enter, and Brock winked at her. He was followed by the rest of his team, half-awake and half-hungover.
Oh, and the boys too? Don’t mind if I do.
Katie laughed internally and ushered them into the kitchen, where Angie was dividing the last pieces of stuffed French toast between a heap of plates.
“Good morning,” Angie chirped. She waited for a moment and then gave Juntto a side glance.
Juntto sighed. “Good morning, humans.”
Angie smiled proudly, like a kindergarten teacher who has just heard her students recite the ABCs.
The soldiers halted in the middle of sitting down at the table. Angie giggled and put the carafe of OJ on the table. “Juntto is working on manners. He figured it would cut down on paperwork.”
Brock gave her a questioning look. “Paperwork?”
“Paperwork.” Katie nudged him in the side meaningfully. “You know. It’s a terrible thing.”
Brock caught on. “Oh. Right. Absolutely.” He looked at the other guys, who immediately started to mumble about the trials of paperwork.
“Shit, yeah.”
“Hate the stuff.”
“The last dude who gave me paperwork? I punched him right in the dick.”
Katie glared at Eddie, who fumbled for words. “I mean, I did that, and I just got more damn paperwork. It’s, like, never-ending. Terrible. Yeah.”
Juntto nodded in grave agreement. They all sat down together, human, Damned, and frost giant, and ate breakfast.
The concierge had the SUVs packed and waiting by the time they got down to the first floor. Katie looked in the direction of the condo and sighed. “Hopefully it’ll be okay until we get back.”
Angie heard a mour
nful note in Katie’s voice; her tone was different than it normally was. She gave Katie a big hug before she left, but somehow, she wasn’t reassured.
“…it doesn’t feel pity or remorse.”
Katie leaned her head back and looked at Juntto. He was sitting in the seat across the aisle from her on the plane. “They’re talking about you.”
Juntto narrowed his eyes and cleared his throat, the words of the Terminator coming from him. “You are terminated.”
Everyone chuckled except Turner, who hushed them, having never seen the first Terminator. The ride to the base was pretty long, so they drew a movie name out of a hat and put it on to pass the time. Pandora was completely bored by it. I don’t know why we couldn’t have watched Batman.
Katie rolled her eyes. Because you’ve watched all of them a thousand times.
And I’ve learned so much from them, yet you still won’t let me be who I am meant to be. I am…Slut Girl!
Katie shook her head. Still no. Nice try.
You know you want to be my sidekick. I’ve seen your moves.
I’m nobody’s sidekick.
What about Brock over there? Eh?
Hmm.
See? You’ve got a little Slut Girl in you, too.
They sat laughing at the terrible special effects. Juntto was completely enthralled by the unstoppable bad guy, of course. When the movie was over, they were close to the base. Juntto stood up and stretched. “I am done with Van Damme. I think it is time to go Terminator.”
Angie stood up and got in Juntto’s face, crossing her arms over her chest. “Oh, hell no.”
Brock leaned toward Katie. “She’s about to go angry shopper on his ass.”
Angie put up her finger. “You better change into a shape that fits those clothes, or I’m taking you to Walmart to get your replacements. You’ll be fighting in sweatpants and Dickie overalls.”
