Vamps shot her a glance. “You got a problem with the colour of my skin, sweetheart?”
“What? No, of course not! But I have little time for louts and layabouts.”
“Fair enough. Whose digs is these, anyway? Where am I?”
Jackie huffed. “You’re in Kielder Forest Park.”
The young man stared at her blankly. “Come again, sweetheart?”
“We’re in Northumberland,” said Kamiyo. “Just south of the Scottish border. You sound like you’re from London.”
“Innit! Brixton boy, born and bred. Furthest north I ever been is Birmingham—got a cuz in Sutton-Coldfield. How’s the fight going up here?”
Kamiyo folded his arms. “What fight?”
“The Army, bruv. Are they taking it to the demons? General Wickstaff got things tied down in Portsmouth, but no one knows what’s happening elsewhere. Communications are whacked out.”
“Who’s General Wickstaff?”
“Leader of Portsmouth. Bitch is like Braveheart, ‘cept with tits and shit.”
“What are you talking about?” Jackie demanded. “How did you find us here?”
“I went through Hell, luv.”
“I think we can all empathise with you there.” Kamiyo wanted to keep things from getting argumentative, and Jackie had obviously taken a disliking to the young man. “Vamps, can you follow my finger, please?”
“Yeah, no bov, bruv.” Vamps did as asked and followed his finger. His pupils were of an equal size, responsive and alert. In fact, Kamiyo was sure the young man only needed rest. Even now, he was smiling like everything was fine. A pair of gold fangs glinted briefly in the candlelight, and the young man’s nickname made sense. “So how am I looking, Doc?”
“I think you’ll be just fine. A few more questions and I’ll let you get your rest. I still don’t understand how you ended up in the lake.” Or how you seemed to turn into a demon when I first reached you. “Can you tell me how you got there?”
“I went through Hell, bruv.”
Kamiyo squinted in confusion. “That’s the second time you’ve said that. What do you mean exactly?”
“I mean I went through Hell to get here, bruv. Like, literally.”
Jackie groaned. “What are you on about?”
Vamps shook his head at her and chuckled. “We turned things around in Portsmouth cus we learned how to close the gates.”
Kamiyo’s eyes widened. “You know how to close the gates?”
“Just walk right through ‘em, innit? Soon as something living passes through a gate, it explodes like a nuclear bomb. Best thing is that the shockwave takes out every demon in a five-mile radius but leaves everything else sound. Makes the giants weak too. We took ‘em all down in the South. Then we decided to take the fight to the demons at their source. A gate popped up right in the middle of our base in Portsmouth. We had to close it, and I made up my mind to go through. Don’t remember much of what happened afterwards. Next thing I know, I open my eyes underwater not knowing up from down. Thought I was finished. Nuff respect for saving me, Doc.”
Kamiyo studied the young man, searching for signs of delirium, but while the patient spoke madness, his words were fluent and articulate. He seemed wholly sane on the surface of things. “So, how did you end up in the lake, Vamps? You almost drowned the both of us.”
“Must have got spat out of a gate underwater. Only way in or out of Hell I know is through the gates. Shit is trippy, like going through a carwash stoned.”
Jackie sneered from the doorway. “Are you saying there’s one of those gates at the bottom of our lake, and that you came out of it?”
“Yeah, sweetheart, that’s what I’m telling you. For real and shit.”
“Rubbish!”
“It’s the truth,” said Kamiyo, surprising them both. Jackie glared at him like he was insane, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t shake the image of that glowing light beneath the lake. “When I leapt into the water, I saw something beneath the surface. Something bright. It could’ve been a gate.”
Jackie waved her arms theatrically. “You think we wouldn’t have known there was a gate beneath our lake all this time? We’ve been here for months.”
“Must have been inactive,” said Vamps. “The gates are all linked to the seals that bind Hell and Earth together. God placed ‘em here at the dawn of time, innit? The landmasses were different back then though—Pangaea and shit. Guess some seals ended up under water after the continents shifted. The demons probably don’t activate ones in unsuitable places.”
Jackie was smiling, but it wasn’t because she was having fun. It was a mocking smirk. “So why did it open tonight, huh?”
Vamps shrugged. “I must have opened it from the other side. Don’t remember what went down in Hell exactly, but I know it turned sour.” He rubbed at his head again and exhaled wearily. “Look, I don’t mean to abuse your hospitality, but I need to get back in the ruck. If I can’t get to Portsmouth, then I need to know whose end I’m in so I can help out here. I didn’t get a look at this place. How many soldiers you got? Any coppers?”
“One soldier,” said Kamiyo. “And according to her, she’s the last—around these parts, anyway. Whatever fight happened up north, the demons won. There’s nothing left.”
Vamps appeared to grow tired suddenly, his shoulders slumping. “She-it. So, what is this place? Police? Militia?”
“It’s a Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme,” said Jackie. “We’re at a camp in the middle of the forest. Until tonight we’d never encountered demons or other survivors. Now you’re all crawling out of the woodwork like lice. Doesn’t fill me with confidence.”
Vamps stared at Jackie, still weary, but vital enough to show genuine surprise. “For real? We’re hidden in the middle of a big-ass forest? Damn, you niggas won the apocalypse lottery. So how ‘bout you—” He grabbed his head again, groaning.
“Are you okay?” Kamiyo moved forward and eased the young man backwards into the couch. “You should lie down and rest. We’ve talked enough for one night.” He turned to Jackie.
