For Whom The Bell Tolls

by Michael Todd

  “I don’t know, I think a MOAB would send that message loud and clear.”

  “Doesn’t matter now,” one of the soldiers replied, nodding at the mobile command post where the screens were set up. “Looks like this bitch made it to the news already. We can’t bomb a town while everyone watches. That window of opportunity closed. We need to focus on the task at hand.”

  “That’s right. We need to get in there and exterminate the demon scum and save anyone we can. I don’t know about you, but if their eyes glow my guns are gonna blow.”

  “Hell yeah, man.”

  The feeling was the same all across the field as the men locked and loaded their weapons. Their focus was intense, and they were ready for an entirely new level of battle. National Guard brothers and sisters had died, and the ones who were left weren’t in good enough physical or mental shape to do any good. These men were damn well not gonna let that happen to the rest of them. They had seen the videos and watched the carnage, and they knew how these bastards operated.

  They were ready to start mowing them down.

  Trenton stood on the killing ground in town, staring at the bodies with a smile on his face. He looked up the hill, finally realizing that what he called “the spectators” were growing in number and it wouldn’t be long before they started pouring into the city.

  He and his team had done their job. They had taken the town hostage and opened it up for a major demon incursion. He hoped that, no matter how it turned out in the end, Moloch would be proud of them. They had definitely redeemed themselves after the hotel incident.

  The Damned mercs were now racing through the streets and shooting down demons wherever they stood. He clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes, remembering his fallen teammates. This was the perfect time to exact a little bit of revenge; to make them hurt like he and his team did. Katie and that priest were out there somewhere—he knew it. It was time he hunted them down and really showed them who was boss. There were new mercs in town, and they were stronger than before, more motivated than ever, and now they had an army behind them.

  It was no longer one squad against the world. This battle was just getting started.

  15

  The general heard choppers approaching and stepped out of his mobile command post. Half a dozen helicopters cleared the ridge and landed in some fields in the distance. Some of the choppers were military but the others were private, which told him that the other merc teams had finally arrived. He shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand to watch as teams from all over the country jumped out and ran toward town with their weapons strapped to their bodies and their game faces on.

  Amy stepped out of the chopper with her relatively green team right behind her. She nodded at the New York teams as they ducked under the rotors and made their way down the hill. Ella stretched her arms over her head, looking around to meet the eyes of the military. She smirked, knowing it was the first time most of them had seen even one of the merc teams, much less the majority of them.

  She made her way through the troops, nodding as she approached the perimeter. She glanced at the droves of demons and patted the gun at her side. Charlotte came up next to Ella and looked toward town, avoiding Ella’s gaze.

  “Looks like they pulled out all the stops.”

  “Katie and her crew down there?”

  “I saw Calvin, so I am assuming they are.”

  “Good, and who are all these people?”

  “From what I can gather from overhearing the general up there,” Charlotte nodded toward Brushwood surrounded by the merc team leaders as he briefed them, “it’s a special ready response team, all human, no damned, but trained in fighting demons. They will be going in there with you guys, or at least a part of them.”

  “Ahh.” Ella nodded. “Fresh meat. I like it! It’s about damn time they stopped sending just any old soldier in there to get his head chomped off.”

  A soldier standing close glanced at Ella, who gave him the biggest smile she could muster. “No offense. Good seeing you, Charlotte, I’m gonna go get my briefing so I can get down there and start making dust.”

  Charlotte nodded and Ella walked toward the mobile command post. She looked different, she felt more confident, and the guys were definitely keeping their eyes on her. Her tight spandex pants, laced-up boots, and midriff-revealing tank top gave her a sense of badass bitchiness, which was just how she liked it. Her body was muscular and tight, especially after all the health food her demon Melneck had her chowing down on.

  She chewed her gum loudly, smacking her lips as she sashayed past the soldiers, then lowered her gold-tinted aviators to show her red eyes and winked. One of the soldiers wolf-whistled and she smiled with the gum squished between her teeth.

  “Look me up later! I get horny after I fight!”

  Her team approached, laughing at her response to the soldier. They slung their arms around her and led her toward the command post.

  “Time to rock and roll. You ready?”

  Ella smiled and pulled out her pistol. “I’ve been ready for a very long time.”

  Melneck coughed. Damn right you have, but remember what I taught you. Use your brain. Let our powers surge, but don’t go down there getting all showy. I don’t want to have to reattach a limb today. That shit would be difficult even for me. Ain’t nobody wants a one-armed warrior.

  Shit, haven’t you seen Rose McGowan in that movie? Her gun is her fake leg and she kicks ass and takes names. Strap a grenade launcher on me and I’m good to go.

  Call me crazy, but I don’t think that would actually work.

  Ella rolled her eyes. Always a naysayer.

  Ella’s team headed down the hill and rolled into the town hot. They looked at the carnage, shaking their heads, but that shit didn’t even faze Ella anymore. She poked at a leg just lying in the street with a bite out of the calf.

  These demons are wasteful little bastards.

  Eat a whole human and leave the leg? That’s not too wasteful. In my day we would devour the brains and—

  All right. Ella grimaced. No need to rehash old war stories. I get the picture. You were a badass human-eating fool, yadda yadda.

  I had manners, and never left carnage in the streets like this.

  Well, now you fight on the other side, so get used to it. I’ll stick with my greens before biting into one of these things.

  Perfectly fine with me. Human is an acquired taste, and I was never too fond of it.

  Because you’re not really a demon. You’re like some weird hybrid.

  Either way, shut up and focus! You’ve got hell to lay down.

  Don’t have to tell me twice.

  One of the Enlightened crept from the shadows and looked around the playground. He still had smears of little boy from earlier on the front of his shirt. He wanted more. He loved to take out the kids; they were the most annoying of all. God’s little children were nothing but nuisances to him. They were loud and obnoxious, smelled funny, and always stuck their noses where they didn’t belong. The demon was finally in a position to do something about it, so while everyone else was out searching for more people to kill he was searching for the kids.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are! I won’t hurt you, little ones.”

  His eyes gleamed red as he carefully stepped through the playground, his boots crunching on the gravel. On the other side of the bushes, Korbin and Stephanie stood guard over the school. The students had been taken to a safe area, but no matter how “safe” people thought it was it wouldn’t keep the demons from breaking through. They had to figure out how to get them out and get them to the perimeter without any casualties.

  “Maybe they are safest there, and we can lead the demons away,” Korbin whispered.

  Stephanie put her fingers to her lips and peered through the bushes. On the other side was an Enlightened, and Stephanie knew she had heard his voice before. She stared at him for a moment, seeing the blood across his shirt.

  “I know that voice,
” she whispered.

  “Maybe on the speaker during the hotel fight?”

  Stephanie shook her head, gritting her teeth. “No, that’s the motherfucker who killed that boy on the 911 call we listened to before heading over here. Fuck that! He’s going down.”

  Korbin and Stephanie slowly stood and the demon merc growled, drool running down his chin and his skin slightly distorted because the demon inside him was getting stronger. None of the other Enlightened had let their demon take control like that, but this demon seemed to have a special taste for the young.

  “Oh, look!” the demon growled. “A little older than I had hoped for, but hell, why not?”

  Stephanie and Korbin fired at the demon, but he moved faster than any human could, rolling to the side and growling loudly. His hands morphed into claws and his skin turned dark and scaly. Stephanie shook her head and ran forward, jumping high to avoid his claws as he slashed at her. She landed on his back and began to pound his skull with her fists.

  The demon bucked, throwing her through the air toward Korbin and the two of them fell to the ground. The demon stood back up and grew taller. His chest heaved with anger as he walked toward them.

  Stephanie looked at Korbin and raised her eyebrows. “How about a little teamwork to get the job done?”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  Korbin and Stephanie stood up and ran toward the demon. As they got closer, Korbin slid down on his knees and Stephanie leapt into the air, using his hands as a springboard. She landed on the Enlightened’s shoulders once again and Korbin tossed her his short sword. The demon growled and reached back to pick her off while stomping and kicking at Korbin. Stephanie caught the sword and dipped behind the demon’s head out of his reach, then thrust the short sword into the demon’s head.

  She jumped off and rolled across the ground, coming to a stop on the ground next to Korbin as the demon thrashed and screamed in pain. Stephanie took out her pistols and Korbin his rifle. They both aimed at the demon’s head and smiled as they fired two rounds each, taking Trenton down to nothing but dust. The short sword clanged on the gravel of the playground and Korbin stood up, then helped Stephanie to her feet.

  “Damn good team.”

  Stephanie nodded. “I would say you are right on target with that one. Best team besides Katie and Pandora.”

  Korbin smiled and turned toward Stephanie. “I like your hips better.”

  Stephanie smiled and leaned in to give him a kiss, but before their lips could touch Timothy bounded through the bushes and slammed into Korbin. He was out of breath and pointing behind him. He swallowed and finally got out his words.

  “Incoming!”

  Three demons ran out of the bushes after Timothy, one with a knife in his side and the others growling ferociously, and Korbin and Stephanie sprayed the demons with bullets. The three demons stopped in their tracks and turned to dust almost instantly. The knife fell to the ground and Timothy walked over, picking it up and flipping it over in his hand.

  “Nice. Thought I lost this one.”

  Korbin and Stephanie looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Oh, did I interrupt?”

  Stephanie laughed and put her arm around Timothy’s shoulders. “Glad to see you’re still alive, buddy. And your hair looks fabulous.”

  “Thank you.” Timothy preened.

  “Now let’s go kill us some more bitches.”

  “Yass, girl, let’s.”

  Stephanie and Timothy headed back toward the town. Korbin rolled his eyes and put his short sword back into the harness on his back. He sighed and hurried after them, realizing how much things had changed.

  He wouldn’t have it any other way.

  Brushwood watched from the top of the hill as the mercs entered the town, already putting a hurt on the demons below. For the first time since he had arrived on the scene he let himself feel a small hope that maybe, just maybe, they could win this battle. Their main help had gotten there, and he had his hundred to take with him into the town. The rest of the RRF would hold the line until the Army arrived.

  Surely if thirty or so mercs could create that much demon death his hundred could take a huge chunk out of the rest.

  He ran back over to the mobile command post, where Jehovivich was giving the last commands to tighten the perimeter. The general pulled off his uniform coat and strapped his holster around his waist. She lifted an eyebrow at him, having seen that Rambo-like look in his eye before.

  “General, what are you doing?”

  “I can’t just stand here and watch. I’m leaving you in charge. When the Army arrives, reinforce the perimeter; close it in as much as possible. No demons get in or out of this town, do you understand me?”

  “I’m sorry about this, sir.”

  “About what?”

  The colonel took off her jacket and strapped on her weapons. “You aren’t going in without backup, and I’ve worked beside you long enough to know that you trust me more than the rest of these people.”

  The general eyed the colonel for a long moment, and finally he nodded. “I am proud of you, Jehovivich. You have some real balls. Now, let’s go kill us some demons before the mercs get them all.”

  The colonel smiled. “Hooah, sir.”

  They left the mobile command post and ran over to where the new hundred recruits were lined up to await instruction. The general shifted his gun belt and stared at the soldiers.

  “We are the elite—”

  “Hooah!”

  “We are the biggest, baddest Army on the planet.”

  “Hooah!”

  “We are demon killers, and there isn’t anything we won’t do to ensure that every last one of those motherfuckers gets sent back to the depths of hell where they belong!”

  “Hooah! Hooah! Hooah!”

  “Ready your weapons, ladies and gentlemen. We are going in.”

  The general marched the troops across the perimeter, calling a halt at the edge of town. The remaining two hundred RRF and the state troopers watched the perimeter for any escaping demons. They stood tall and stayed ready for anything as the general and his troops marched toward the battle. Brushwood smiled, feeling like a Civil War fighting general leading his troops into battle. He raised his gun into the air and fired, and the soldiers yelled war cries and ran past him into the town to take down every demon in their paths.

  Jehovivich came up beside the general. “You ready for this, General?”

  “I’ve been ready for this my whole life, and when it’s all over I’ll retire to some nice sunny island and guzzle drinks made from coconuts.”

  A demon raced out of the hardware store, stopping when it spotted the general. His eyes glowed brightly and his face writhed as he ran toward them. The colonel raised her pistol, but the general stayed her hand.

  “Allow me. I would like to have the first kill.”

  The colonel nodded and stood back as the general aimed at the demon. He waited until the beast had almost closed the gap before pulling the trigger and hitting the demon right between the eyes. It turned to dust, which blew into town.

  The colonel nodded again. “Nice shot, sir.”

  “There’s more where that came from.”

  “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s show them what the Army is made of.”

  The general smiled. “Hooah, Colonel.

  16

  The news reporter shuffled the papers in front of her, unable to fully understand what she was about to report on. When the music came to a stop she stared at the cameraman, who pointed his finger at her.

  “We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this unbelievable breaking news. I am Jessica Lang, coming to you on this beautiful Tuesday afternoon with some shocking footage. I have to warn you, some of the images you are about to see are extremely graphic.”

  The screen changed to the images Charlotte had sent: carnage and smoking buildings, blood-smeared streets, and a somewhat foggy view of demons running around the streets.
<
br />   “These images, as well as eyewitness testimony from a reporter in the field, were sent to our sister station WXBQ just moments ago. There seems to be some sort of battle going on in this small Wyoming town. Here is a live recording from just moments ago.”

  The reporter put down her pen and waited as the broadcast was played back for viewers. A woman walked up and powdered her forehead. The rest of the studio was stone-silent and no one else moved as the reporters watched the footage.

  “We have not confirmed these reports or the reporter who sent them in, but we dispatched a chopper to survey the area. We are going live to Tim Richardson in the chopper. Tim?”

  “Jessica,” the reporter yelled over the sound of the chopper blades. “The skies have been cloudy around the area, so we haven’t been able to get a good look at the town from where we are. Below are two military aircraft, several helicopters, and what looks like soldiers forming some sort of perimeter right outside of town. It’s obvious that something big is going on here, although we cannot confirm what it is just yet.”

  The scene switched back to the newsroom. “Thank you, Tim. We will check back with you as the story develops. We have been able to locate the alleged reporter’s Facebook page, where she has steadily been uploading images and reports from ground zero.”

  The screen scanned through Charlotte’s updates, the more gruesome pictures blurred by the station.

  “One of the Facebook updates the reporter posted reads, ‘So many military, and more on the way. The specialists are on the ground, but no survivors have been found yet.’ There is nothing on any of the posts, though, that specifically talk about the perpetrators of the attack. There have been speculations that terrorists are to blame for this attack, and News 7 has our military liaison standing by to comment. Lesley?”

  The scene switched to a blonde woman in a business suit standing in front of the White House. She adjusted her earpiece and held her mic in front of her.