More gunshots snapped the air. Hannah fired and moved, fired and moved, until she reached the campfire. She scanned the tree line with her rifle, the calmest, most even-headed person there. “I think we got them all,” she shouted. “The dees are down.”
Strangers huddled together around a large campfire, and they stared at Ted and Hannah like they were aliens. Ted clutched his hammer, panting and snarling, desperate for another target, but there were none. Dark shadows lay scattered in the grass, but it was impossible tell demon from human. The woman he’d nearly brained stepped in front of him and startled him. Then she shocked him even more by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his stubbly cheek. “You saved us!” she cried. “You saved us!”
Hannah was grinning, but all Ted could do was groan.
13
DR KAMIYO
The bell stopped ringing, but the chaos remained in full swing. Kamiyo knew he couldn’t stand by and do nothing. For months, he’d avoided the demons at all costs. But this was different. He was the only person there with any idea of what they faced, the only person in the entire camp who’d encountered demons before, a veteran among civilians. Only a coward could stand by and do nothing. Yet, that was what he did for an entire minute, hoping somehow that this gathering of people would take care of things, that they possessed a contingency plan for this situation. Clearly, they did not. They had only planned as far as ringing a bell.
The children screamed and sobbed while adults fought not to do the same. Only a few had a mind to pick up weapons, or to try to corral the children into cover. Jackie was one of them, shouting at the other adults to calm down and stick together. She looked terrified but was a doer not a spectator. Fear didn’t control her.
Kamiyo knew demons could be killed, had witnessed people fight them in the early days and score victories. From his third-floor apartment, he witnessed a guy in a white shirt and red tie hold his own against a mob of demons with only a cricket bat. Then there had been a lone police officer who fled a corner shop by shooting his way back to his squad car. He eventually drove away unscathed, three dead demons in his wake. Kamiyo himself had killed a demon this very afternoon with only a frying pan. Now he wished he hadn’t left the weapon behind.
Kamiyo turned to Philip and told the man to go find himself a weapon, but Philip froze in terror. “M-My boy. Bray?”
“You can’t help Bray if we’re all dead. Arm yourself and defend this place. Now!”
Philip nodded and sprinted off.
Kamiyo tried to get his bearings. The danger seemed to originate from the castle. It was hard to see in the dark, for the blazing campfire confused his eyesight, but Kamiyo counted less than a dozen demons coming down the slope towards the camp.
“Fight back!” he yelled as he ran from the lake towards the cabin. Unarmed, he gravitated towards Jackie, now handing out broom handles, shovels, oars, and an all manner of other long, stiff objects. Kamiyo put out both hands. “Give me something. There’s enough of us here to fight back.”
Jackie’s face contorted. “There are less than ten adults. We have to get the children out of here.”
“We protect the children by fighting back,” said Kamiyo. “How have you not prepared for this?”
“We have! Why do you think I’m handing out weapons?” She thrust a fishing spear into his hands that must have been a prop from the cabin, for it was blunt and hollow.
Kamiyo gave the woman a steely look which she returned in full force. It wasn’t that these people were unprepared to defend themselves, it was that they weren’t battle-tested. Their resolve shattered the instant that bell had rung, and they needed help growing back their spines. If Kamiyo took down a demon, they would see the monsters were just flesh and bones. Not bogeymen.
But he was a doctor, not a fighter. A healer not a killer. Could he really take on demons with nothing more than luck to rely on?
No choice anymore. It’s time to stop running.
Kamiyo clenched the spear in his hands and hurried toward the campfire. He homed in on the screams to know where he was needed; first the terrified cries of children, and then the agonised wails of adults. Soon, he fought against a tide of bodies—panicked men, women, and children striking him from all angles as they tried to find safety. Kamiyo was the only one heading towards the demons, adrift in a no-man’s-land between safety and danger.
A pair of shimmering eyes spotted Kamiyo, and a demon launched itself in his direction. His terrified mind froze, but his body reacted well. He swung the spear and struck the demon in the jaw. The impact jolted his wrists, a sudden flare of pain that sent him stumbling backwards. When he attempted to swing again, he realised the spear had broken. It really was just a prop.
The demon collided with him, and he grappled with the demon just in time to keep it from slicing open his face. The stench of burnt flesh made his eyes water as he came nose-to-nose with the monster. The odour of its breath made him gag.
Kamiyo fought with all he had. This was the moment he lived or died, and with both arms busy, it left him with only one option. He aimed a head butt. Awkward and ineffective, it succeeded only in making the demon roar. The creature raised a jagged claw and prepared to open Kamiyo’s throat.
Kamiyo cried out, anticipating pain followed by death.
A gunshot fired. The demon hit the dirt, bleeding out from a massive hole in its
