Tribulation (14 page)

Sam was still
formulating a plan when return fire echoed from nearby. The man on
the catwalk undulated under a barrage of bullets, screaming. He
slumped against the railing and plunged to the floor, landing with
an ominous thud.

Somewhat
mystified, Sam glanced in the direction of the return fire. A young
African-American woman – if Sam had to guess, he would’ve said she
was in her teens but it was hard to tell under all the accumulated
grime – was holding another machine gun in her hand. She looked
shocked but determined, staring with grim intent at the place where
the man on the catwalk had just been. Sam could see that her finger
was still pressed against the trigger but no more bullets emerged.
The magazine was empty.

Slowly so as to
not startle her, Sam moved towards her. With gentle hands, he put
weight on the barrel of the gun, lowering it so it pointed at the
floor. Suddenly, she became aware of him.

“I killed him,”
she stammered. “I had to kill him. He was like all the rest. He
deserved to die.”

Sam nodded,
trying to kill her calm. “Yes,” he said. “They all deserved to die
for what they did.”

She nodded back
vigorously and then looked down at what she was holding in her
hands. Her expression changed to one of confusion as if unsure how
she came to be holding the gun. It seemed she had just reacted when
the opportunity to avenge herself against her captives had arisen.
The cage was already open. All she’d had to do was pick up a
discarded weapon near a burning corpse, point and shoot. It was
almost instinctive.

Sam knew the
effects of shock when he saw it. It was important to distract her,
keep her busy and not dwell on the horrible reality of what had
gone on here. “What’s your name?” he asked.

“Olivia,” came
the weak response.

“Well, Olivia.
I want you to help me here. In fact, I need your help. I want you
to help me organize the others. We have to put these fires out, and
then I want you to take a couple of the more able and find all the
weapons, food and water you can get your hands on. Do you think you
can do that?”

Olivia nodded
ever so slightly.

“Good,” said
Sam. “Come with me.”

Concerned about
the impression and effect Yeth would have on these already
traumatized survivors, Sam turned back to Yeth, but the demon was
one step ahead of him. Conscious of his master’s will, Yeth was
already on the way out. Trailing sparks and fire, Yeth departed,
heading through the still burning remains of the wall it had
smashed through. Soon enough, he would find a desecrated church he
could use to return to Hell. Given what he knew about the growing
nature of their relationship, Sam felt sorry for any demon that got
in Yeth’s way.

Sam guided
Olivia towards the cage. Not nearly so brave as the girl, the other
survivors were only now moving hesitantly towards the bars. Sam was
suddenly aware that his hood was down; anyone perceptive could
easily see the horns jutting out of the messy black locks.
Thankfully, Olivia wasn’t really that aware of what was going on
and hadn’t noticed. He put his hood back up quickly, breathing a
prayer of thanks that no one in the cage had spotted them. It would
make his job of rescuing these people basically impossible if they
knew he was a demon, even partly.

There were a
good dozen people inside the cage, mostly young. That kind of made
sense to Sam. Most survivors he found these days were young,
possibly because they were fitter and stronger than older people.
And possibly because they only had themselves to worry about. Sam
very rarely saw parents with youngish children. Family groups like
that were mostly long gone now, either taken to Hell, converted to
worship of Satan or preyed upon by their fellow humans. The
youngest children – those completely innocent – had been taken with
the Rapture. Children over a certain age, usually around five, were
often left behind if they were non-believers. Escaping pursuit
whilst caring for young children was basically impossible. And as
for feeding them, well, a young person alone only had one mouth to
feed.

A little over
half were female and there seemed to be a variety of ethnicities,
although it was hard to be exact given they all seemed to be
covered in filth. Without exception, despair filled their eyes.
Even now, with salvation at hand, they seemed listless and defeated
as if the will to live had deserted them. Sam couldn’t blame them.
He had some idea of what they’d been through and they didn’t have
his resources to draw upon. Some of them displayed tell-tale signs
of disease – especially the bubonic plague which seemed to be the
most prevalent out of all the diseases at the moment. A few had
more advanced signs of it: their hands, especially fingers, were
turning black. Sam would have to get them urgent treatment when he
got them to safety. Left untreated, the disease was almost always
fatal within three to five days.

He took a
breath and began to speak, conscious that time was once again
against him. It was only a matter of time before other demons came
to investigate what was going on here. Sam was also under no
illusions that one or more of the demon worshippers had escaped and
raised the alarm.

“I want you all
to listen to me. Your lives depend on doing exactly what I say. At
present, you are free and alive. Try to stay that way. I want you
and you and you,” he said, stabbing fingers randomly at some of the
less feeble looking survivors, “to go with Olivia and find whatever
food and water you can find. Get some bags or backpacks to store it
in.” Sam had given up the thought of putting out the fires. They
were spreading and would soon be uncontrollable. They simply did
not have time. He had to prioritize. He was also having second
thoughts about putting Olivia in charge. The look in her eye told
him everything he needed to know. At present, she wasn’t capable of
anything much.

“You three,” he
said, pointing at two sturdier men and a woman, “come with me.
We’re going to find as many weapons as we can carry. The rest of
you, get yourselves ready to travel. We’ll be leaving in five
minutes.” That was all the remainder was capable of from the look
of them. Some of them were so weak and malnourished, they were
struggling to stand.

Sam was
suddenly conscious of the fact that it was the longest speech he’d
ever made. It was good to be speaking to people again, even under
such dire circumstances.

To her credit,
Olivia took her crew and immediately had them spread out to check
every area in the warehouse. Sam knew that while the demon
worshippers survived mostly by eating other humans, they must have
a backup supply of tinned or powdered food hidden somewhere.

Gathering his
three recruits, he instructed them as to his requirements. They
were to look for any weapons that appeared functional. Some of the
rifles and shotguns caught in the direct blast of Yeth’s breath
were partially melted and useless. The others might lack
ammunition. Ammunition was key. Without it, the guns were just so
much dead weight, and dead weight was the last thing Sam needed
when some of these people were struggling to hold up their own
bodies. And they’d have to move fast. If Sam was going to get them
where he intended, he couldn’t delay.

To Sam’s
concern it was more like ten minutes before Olivia and the others
returned. The fires were spreading, filling the building with harsh
smoke. Some of the weaker prisoners were already on their knees,
coughing. But it was worth the wait. Between them, they carried
several backpacks, stuffed with supplies. Sam shared the packs out
amongst the more robust members of the group. For his part, Sam and
the others had found four useable rifles, three shotguns and one
pistol. All the guns had ammunition, just not a great deal of it.
He distributed the guns according to who was willing and capable.
Those who hadn’t been given a task had more of less got themselves
ready and assembled outside the dreaded cage. Finally, he addressed
them once more.

“Good work. But
that was the easy part. When, we leave, expect demons. They will be
attracted by the fire and the misery and death they can sense
inside. Those with weapons, choose your targets carefully – ammo is
limited.” He surveyed the group one last time. They didn’t look
like much but they were in far better shape now than they had been
a few minutes earlier. At least now, they were free.

“Right, let’s
go.”

Going out the
same way as Yeth was impossible. Almost that entire wall was now on
fire. Sam had no choice but to lead them out the main doors. He
knew it was risky but he really didn’t have much of a choice. He
gathered them together as a tightly knit pack, stressing the
importance of staying together. As they moved, Sam positioned those
with the weapons on the outside of the pack. Those who were weaker
and unarmed were clustered in the middle.

They exited the
main doors without incident. There were many mounds of ash nearby
and Sam silently thanked Yeth. His Hellhound must have taken care
of these demons waiting in ambush.

Sam moved as
swiftly as he could, assisting where he could to hurry the weakest
along. Behind them, the warehouse, what had once been a place
devoted to the worship of his father, blazed like a beacon in the
night sky. Yeth might have taken care of a few demons but others
would come.

He followed a
trail that he’d plotted out earlier, one that involved the least
amount of exposure. He looked up, always conscious of the threat of
flying demons. The sky was lightening in the east, filling Sam with
relief. Dawn was on its way.

He’d timed this
carefully, making some rather rough assumptions about how long he’d
need in the warehouse. He’d got it almost right. Disappearing
through the desecrated churches that acted as their gateways,
Demons went back to Hell during the day. Just in time for Sam and
the other survivors to make their escape. It would’ve been easier
in the day for him to attack the warehouse, but Sam himself was
weaker during the day, and if he’d been a bit slower, a bit weaker…
he hated to think.

He led them
down an alleyway. A few more turns and they’d be back at the
clothing store where his own pack awaited him. It was a good place
to rest too. Safe. Or as safe as safe could be these days. Even
though he could sense that some demons were already returning to
Hell, others were still lurking. Hunting them. He just had to hold
out for a few more minutes.

Sam got to the
end of the alley and turned to make sure the others were behind
him. It almost got him killed. Distracted, Sam had failed to
properly notice the dark shadow above him. As he exited the alley
and turned, the shadow plummeted directly for him, four darker
lines of black extended in front of it. At the last second, Sam
sensed its approach and knew he’d made a mistake. This one was
finally going to kill him. He brought his swords out in a blur but
knew it was probably pointless. A two thousand pound Astaroth
descending like this with all its weapons beaded on Sam was way too
much inertia to cope with. He couldn’t block that. There was no way
Sam could retreat either, not with the other survivors blocking his
way. He set his teeth and locked his swords out in front of him.
For the second time that night, he resigned himself to go down
fighting.

Once again, he
was destined to be disappointed. The Astaroth was almost upon him
when the roar of nearby guns almost deafened him. Four rifles,
three shotguns and a pistol opened up, more or less at the same
time. Directly at the Astaroth. It didn’t even have time to vent
its rage. One second it was a massive shadow hurtling down at Sam,
the next, he was being showered by the creature’s remains as they
fluttered down upon him.

He turned and
made eye contact with the survivors, especially the eight holding
smoking weapons. He nodded his thanks. Words were unnecessary. They
were even now. Perhaps he’d misjudged these people’s will to live
after all.

He looked up in
the sky again. Dawn had come and with it the dull gray light which
was what approximated daylight these days. The sun hadn’t been seen
on Earth for three and a half years now, hidden as it was behind
the thick angry blanket of cloud that was a constant during
daylight hours.

More
importantly, it marked an important change. The demons were gone.
They’d made it.

He led the
survivors back to the clothing store. They were safe. For one more
day at any rate.

State Highway 71

“
If one falls down,
his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no
one to help him up!”
Ecclesiastes: 10

H
e let the survivors sleep for a few hours. They
obviously needed it and most, including Olivia, appeared to be
suffering physically and mentally from their ordeal.
Understandably. Sam himself didn’t rest. He didn’t feel the need
and besides, he was too worked up after their successful escape to
rest. Instead, he paced around for a bit, restless, unable to stand
still for a second. Like a cat on a hot tin roof. Sam smiled to
himself. That had been one of Hikari’s expressions. For a moment,
the thought of the diminutive Japanese man uttering those words
made Sam feel inexplicably happy.

The moment
passed. Sam’s mind returned to more pressing matters. Like getting
these survivors to safety. And safety, unfortunately, was over
fifty miles away In Columbus. The Ohio Army National guard station
there was the only military base that Sam had found still
operational. How they had survived, Sam didn’t know, but the fact
that they had gave him hope. Where one could survive, others could
too.

Sam wasn’t
completely unprepared. He’d planned for this eventuality, hoping
that his goal to free these survivors would be successful. It was a
rough plan though and not something that would withstand a great
deal of unanticipated problems. If something went wrong, he really
didn’t have a backup. Much like his assault on the demon
worshippers. But this time, he wouldn’t have Yeth to help him.