Damnation

by Ken Barrett

  “Isn’t there something we can do?” the woman protested. “Some of us found weapons, so we can help you if we stay.”

  “We came all this way to get you out of that camp,” Rose said. “We’ll stop their army, but even if the worst happens, well, my brother and I can run really fast.”

  “You two are wonders,” the woman said. “I’m sorry we didn’t appreciate that earlier.”

  “That’s ok, anything new and different is scary at first,” his sister replied. “Now please hurry. We’ll catch up to you later.”

  Liam peered around a large rock at the strangely silent enemy camp. “Why aren’t they coming after us?”

  Rose waved to the fleeing prisoners, then joined him behind the boulders. “Maybe they think everyone got away?” She frowned and bit her lip. “But this doesn’t feel right; Adar must be up to something.”

  “Wait,” he whispered. “I see some kind of procession; it looks like they’re heading toward the gallows.”

  “That isn’t good.” Rose climbed to another opening in the rocks and watched as a crowd of red-robed priests marched up the ramp to the lip of the scaffold. The clerics stood at attention and waited. “Another group is coming. I think we should leave; something really bad is about to happen.”

  “If we run now, Adar will send his army after our people. We can’t let that happen.”

  Rose sighed. “Yes, you’re right.”

  The second group of priests arrived at the gallows moments later. They marched in a tight rectangle surrounding two horribly scarred figures wearing white. “That has to be Adar and his partner Todecca,” Liam stated.

  The red-clad priests, all armed with laser rifles, formed a row at the front of the gallows. The two figures in white struggled up a set of stairs and hobbled out onto the platform behind the upright stanchions. At the rear of the procession, the Scarred Faithful swarmed from their barracks and massed in a sea of black uniforms.

  “Demons, we finally meet,” Adar’s raspy amplified voice bellowed from their compound and echoed from the canyon walls. “The Stickman told us you would come.”

  Beneath his white robes, Adar’s body was bent and withered, with one arm shortened and his hand permanently tightened into a claw. He walked with a pronounced limp, his back was humped and crooked, and he appeared to be blind. Beside him, Todecca stood straight, but her figure was reduced to a withered skeleton wrapped tightly in dead brown skin. Liam had seen corpses in better condition.

  “You will now come forward and bow to me,” Adar stated.

  “That won’t happen!” Liam shouted. “You’ve done horrible things, and it’s time for that to stop.”

  Adar laughed, then stiffly turned his fragile body toward his guards. “Bring the sinners up here.”

  Keith and Denise were pushed through the crowd. Their green Tribal Army uniforms were torn and bloody, and angry pink burn scars covered their skin. Both seemed weak, and were probably suffering from starvation; they walked with their heads down and frequently stumbled when pushed toward the gallows platform by their tormentors.

  “Damn you!” Rose shouted as she started to rise.

  “Don’t.” Liam grabbed her and pulled her down behind the cover of the rocks. “They’ll shoot you.”

  “Rose? Is that you?” Denise asked in a weak voice.

  “We rescued your baby!” Rose shouted. “He’s safe.”

  Denise lowered her head and the sound of her sobs whispered across the distance between them.

  Liam desperately wanted to call out to his former partner, to say something, anything, but his breath caught in his throat and his mind collapsed into a confused yet urgent silence. “Denise,” he whispered.

  Adar waved his good arm toward his acolytes, and several stepped forward. The priests pulled the bound hands of Keith and Denise up over their heads, then lifted and hung them from the stanchions. The men then poured a clear and overly sweet-smelling oil over their heads, then shoved them forward to dangle over the charred pit of bones below.

  “This is your last chance demons,” Adar taunted. “Come forward and bow before me, and I will spare these two sinners.” He reached to the side and was handed a burning torch.

  Liam jumped to the top of the boulders. “I’m here, and you can have me, just set them free.”

  Rose stood on a nearby rock. “Fuck that! You’re not going to let them go, are you?”

  Todecca’s shrill cackle echoed across the open space between them as she stepped forward and plucked the torch from Adar’s hand. “Of course not! Here is the price of denying the Stickman.”

  “Drop that fucking torch. If you burn our friends, my brother and I will kill you all!” Rose shouted.

  “We are thousands, and you are but two,” Todecca’s high pitched voice wailed. “I call on our Scarred Faithful to come forward and prepare to burn these demons to dust! The Stickman commands it!”

  Barracks doors throughout the compound flew open and another wave of scarred black-clad fanatics flooded the already packed streets. They lifted their weapons and waited in silence for Todecca’s orders.

  The skeletal woman hobbled forward to stand between Denise and Keith with her torch held aloft. Her face stretched horribly as she attempted to smile. “It’s time for you to die,” she said, and with her next command, the entire Scarred Faithful Army shouted in unison and charged.

  Chapter 26: Stickman

  Liam fired his laser rifle ahead of the charging army, and the escarpment at the edge of the compound erupted into a mote of boiling rock and soil. The headlong rush of the Scarred Faithful faltered, then hesitated, and finally stopped. Those in the rear lines continued to push while those at the front fought to retreat, creating chaos.

  “Go!” Todecca shrieked. “Those that burn in the Stickman’s service will be rewarded in heaven! Go and pave the way for those that follow. Kill the demons! Kill their followers! Kill them all!”

  “Stop!” Liam shouted from the top of a large boulder. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Go back to your homes and let us go. We’re no threat to you, all we want to do is live in peace.”

  “No! That cannot be allowed.” Adar stepped to the edge of the gallows platform as his scarred face stretched into a hideous grin. “All this was foretold by the Stickman; this final battle is part of his plan. There can be no peace until all those that deny our God are dead.” The deformed man tried to raise his arms overhead but only succeeded on one side. “The Stickman came to me in a dream and showed me this very moment. Our victory is ordained by God; first, we will torment the demons and crush their souls, then they will fall easily before us.”

  Rose abruptly fired her laser into the rear lines of the enemy army, where a few Steamboat captives had been left behind. As they struggled through the crowd, several soldiers tried to stop them. “Let them go!” Rose screamed. “If you don’t, I’ll blast the shit out of all of you!”

  “Our Scarred Faithful are willing to die for us,” Adar stated.

  “Maybe,” Rose replied. “But I’m pretty sure they’d rather not. What’s the harm in letting our people leave? You can always go after them once you get past me and my brother. Just a little delay and your entire army will survive.”

  The enemy ranks had fallen into confusion as those at the front resisted their orders and tried to slip through the lines to get away from the molten ground, while those in the rear struggled with the last of the escaping prisoners.

  “To burn is to enter the kingdom of heaven!” Todecca screamed. “Martyrs are always rewarded by the Stickman. My children, you must go forward and vanquish these demons as is the will of our God!”

  Liam’s skin prickled and his breath grew short. He didn’t want to experience what was coming, murder was wrong no matter how noble the cause. And yet, he couldn’t let the evil of Adar’s new faith spread. Violent and intolerant beliefs were often contagious, sickening everyone they touched.

  He looked on as the captured survivors fought their way
through the crowd. Something had to be done to save them. After taking careful aim, he fired his L80 over the heads of the army. The streak of white light sizzled through the air and a section of the rear cliff near the cave entrance exploded. “Let them go!” he demanded.

  “No!” Todecca’s amplified voice briefly silenced the turmoil within the Scarred Faithful ranks. She smiled, then reached out with her torch and set first Keith and then Denise on fire.

  “No!” he shouted. “Put them out! I’ll surrender and you can do anything you want with me, just let them go.”

  “The weak-minded are so easy to manage.” Todecca’s cackle reverberated through the camp.

  Denise and Keith shrieked in agony as flame rippled upward and across their burning skin. Their hair caught fire, and when they gasped in pain, the blaze swam through their open mouths and invaded their lungs.

  “Save them!” Liam begged. “Someone from Steamboat, save them please!”

  The army ranks were still in chaos, fights were starting to break out among them. At the rear, the last of the frightened captives pushed their way through the crowd. In the turmoil, no one had heard his plea. In a panic, his mind spun through a million possibilities. He had to save Denise, but how? Her skin had already blackened, cracked, and blood bubbled as it wandered down her body. She should already be dead, and yet, she still screamed.

  The Scarred Faithful finally brought their weapons to bear, and railgun bolts flew through the air, falling like rain around them. Liam and Rose painted the sky with white fire, vaporizing most of the projectiles before they reached the ground.

  As they fell back toward the field of boulders, Liam saw that Keith and Denise were still writhing in pain. Their lungs were burned away and their throats were scorched, and yet they still struggled against their inevitable end.

  It was too late to save them, but he could at least end their pain. It went against everything he believed in and all that he wanted to be, yet still, he raised his L80 and fired. As the gallows shattered and blew apart, the life of the woman he loved ended beside the man she had chosen over him, in a blinding white flash.

  *****

  Railgun bolts continued to slam into the stony ground as he took cover behind a massive granite rock. He leaned his forehead against the boulder and took a ragged breath. He had just killed the woman he loved, even though it had been an act of mercy, he doubted that he could ever forgive himself.

  “You did the right thing Big Brother,” Rose said while coming up beside him. “We’ll feel their loss and blame ourselves for it later, but we have some crazy shit to deal with right now; are you with me?”

  He nodded, then peeked between a gap in the boulders. Adar and Todecca had survived the gallows destruction by retreating behind the scaffold ruins, where they were surrounded by several rows of red-robed priests. Beyond them, he saw no sign of the former Steamboat captives. “Did any of our people escape?”

  “A few, their army went crazy when you blew up the gallows,” she said. “In the confusion, some got out; they’re on their way up the canyon now.”

  “I wish I hadn’t done that,” he mumbled.

  “I’m glad you did,” she replied. “You ended their suffering. I knew it had to happen, but couldn’t make myself do it. You’re stronger than I am.”

  He shook his head. “Not usually, but maybe sometimes.” Railgun fire continued to pummel the huge rocks around them, and every now and then he heard the hiss of laser fire. “Looks like we’re in a pretty big mess.”

  “Will we survive?”

  He considered the possibilities. “If we run away now, we’ll be fine, but the survivors will be caught and killed. That won’t be the end of it though; the Scarred Faithful will push on and meet the hundred that left Steamboat with us, and our friends won’t stand a chance.”

  “And if we stay here and fight?”

  “It’s murky,” he answered. “There are too many branches in the way things could go.” Thoughts of Denise drifted through his mind, and her ghost was urging him to not only save the former prisoners but avenge her death as well. What was done to her wasn’t right, the wrongness of it created a vacuum that pulled bloody visions of revenge from deep within his soul. He was tempted to give in to that raw hunger. Maybe Adar was right, and he really was a demon after all.

  “I guess we’ll have to take our chances then.” Rose’s eyes sparkled with malice as she slipped into a gap between the rocks and fired her weapon.

  Liam found a protected spot near her a moment later and joined the fight. He blasted the ground ahead of their advancing army to create another trench of burning rock, and as they fell back, he again created another line of fire they were afraid to cross. He continued drawing molten lines in the earth with his weapon, pushing the army back further and further. It wasn’t enough though, a raging hunger within him demanded revenge.

  He didn’t want his sister to see what he was becoming. “Rose,” he said as the Scarred Faithful retreated up the escarpment and back into their compound. “You should take off now. I’ll hold them here while you get the survivors safely up the canyon; we’ll meet up again with the hundred from Steamboat.”

  “That’s not happening, so shut up.” She gleefully aimed her weapon higher and obliterated all that was left of the gallows in a storm of pale fire. “They need to die,” she uttered. “All of them, and I’ll make sure that happens.”

  Rage suddenly consumed him, and it felt delicious. He jumped to the top of the highest boulder and brought his L80 to bear on the barracks at the north side of Adar’s camp. Without a thought regarding the guilt or innocence of anyone inside, he fired. The stone buildings blew apart like leaves on a windy day. Smoking rocks flew high into the air then fell like rain on their enemies.

  He spread his arm wide and laughed with gleeful rage. “See me!” he shouted. “You wanted a demon. Here I am, and I will kill you all!”

  *****

  Adar stepped out from behind the guard barracks near the center of camp. “We have you now!” he shouted. “You have shown us your true face at last!” He waved to a group of priests standing near the entrance to the underground caverns. “Call all our forces. Armageddon is now. The future of all humankind rests on us. Kill the demons, no matter the cost. With their deaths, the Stickman’s prophecy will be fulfilled.”

  “Fuck you!” Rose shouted from the top of the boulder beside him and fired her rifle at the guard barracks and the empty cages that were behind it. “This is for Keith, you evil son of a bitch!” She then turned and used her weapon to blow apart the stone buildings at the south side of camp.

  Their enemy shot back, and a railgun projectile struck her shoulder. She staggered briefly, and when she straightened up again, her body had completely healed, the only sign of injury was her torn clothing.

  A steady stream of red-robed priests carrying laser rifles charged out of the cave entrance. They fired their weapons over the heads of their comrades, but even though windage and gravity had no effect on lasers, their aim was poor. Streaks of bright orange light flashed across the sky as more priests climbed out of the caverns.

  Liam fired on the advancing lines of the Scarred Faithful. Their black-clad bodies vanished, instantly converted into pale clouds of superheated gas. His hatred of them refused to loosen its grip, and his heart grew lighter with each of their deaths. He smiled as he cut down their advancing lines, killing so many that a soft white cloud began to form over the battlefield.

  It was a bloodless war. The heat of his laser instantly cauterized wounds, and those that took a direct hit simply disappeared. But their deaths were too easy, and he wished for a more lingering and painful end for those that attacked Steamboat, killed his friends, and murdered the woman he loved.

  Her betrayal had created an itching torment deep within his soul, and he thought that nothing could ever be worse, but he was wrong. Even though he was left alone, the world had been a better place with her in it. But death was final, all that was Denise
was gone forever. Any contribution she might make to the lives of others, including her son, would never be.

  Without thought, he continued to use his weapon to slaughter the enemy and destroy their homes. Everything was on fire, even the stones had been reduced to bubbling magma that ran and flickered with orange flames. The people he shot usually vanished, but occasionally an arm, leg, or a head would fly high into the air then fall back to earth with a dull wet sounding smack. None of that bothered him; the enemy had earned their hideous deaths by the atrocities they had committed.

  Rose had jumped down from her position at the top of a boulder and was slowly making her way forward, blasting everyone and everything that came into her path.

  Liam dropped down and walked through the bubbling molten landscape to join her. He was struck in the shoulder by a laser blast, his body quickly rebuilt itself but his shirt and sash caught fire and was blown away. There was no injury, only distraction, as his power levels dropped momentarily while his body repaired itself. He continued forward, using his weapon to blow his attackers into a foul-smelling haze.

  Beside him, Rose also took a hit. Her shirt vanished in a ball of fire and her body reformed instantly. His sister had never been a particularly modest woman, and so continued forward without giving her exposure much thought. She blasted the enemy with a long burst, sweeping her laser side to side, incinerating line after line of the Scarred Faithful.

  Adar and Todecca, still protected by a wall of priests, had retreated to the cavern entrance at the far end of the compound. “Draw their fire!” Adar commanded. “Their weapons have a short battery life, and soon they will be defenseless. We will take them then!”

  The burned man was wrong of course. Their modified lasers would continue to fire until either their internal components failed or the batteries died in six thousand years, whichever came first.

  Together, he and Rose moved deeper into the enemy camp. Their weapons shattered buildings and blew the fanatics apart. Thoughtless murder was becoming easy and seemed without consequence; humans had short lives anyway, so how could reducing them further matter?