“We’ll take things slowly. If it looks like an area is hostile, we’ll move into cover and try to find the way via our own devices. Let’s hope this group in the forest is large enough to have taken care of most of the threats. Wishful thinking, I know.”
Maddy trudged along the pebbly beach. “Being hopeful never hurt anyone. Maybe we’ll find a fully stocked bar at the end of this beach.”
Everyone chuckled, and it brought a little warmth to Maddy’s mood that she had managed to spread some mirth. Wickstaff was dead, yes, but she – and other people – were still alive. It wasn’t the end of the road for her yet.
Might as well laugh while I can.
They reached the end of the beach and found a sandy ditch abutting a narrow country road. A large green sign peeked out from an overgrown hedge and seemed to indicate a roundabout. A roundabout was a good starting point. Maddy pointed. “I say we head that way.”
Tosco pointed his rifle left and right, surveying both directions. “I see no reason to disagree. Everyone, keep your eyes open and don’t engage unless I give the order. We don’t want to announce our presence.”
One of the sailors ducked, alerting everyone and causing them to do the same. Even Maddy crouched and produced her handgun. What had the sailor seen?
Tosco crab walked into the ditch at the side of the road. “What have you seen, Taylor?”
The sailor pointed. At first Maddy saw nothing, but then she spotted movement in the hedges near the road sign. Everyone sighed with relief. Some even chuckled. Maddy joined them in their quiet laughter, but not because of anything funny. It was because of what had spooked them.
The zebra had no business roaming the English countryside, but in a world full of demons, watching it stride casually from one side of the road to the other felt like a good omen – a sign that nature was reclaiming the land and refusing to be corrupted.
“I guess there must have been a zoo nearby,” said Tosco, lowering his weapon and grinning.
Two more zebras appeared to join the first. Maddy stood in awe for several minutes until they eventually disappeared back behind the hedges. It was only Tosco tugging at her arm that got her moving again.
“Come on, we need to go.”
She nodded. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Damien hacked off a branch and threw it onto his sled. He estimated around thirty in the pile now. It was getting harder to pull his load.
The chippies can make a hundred arrows with this lot. Not bad for a day’s work.
After all the fighting, it seemed incredible that he was doing something as mundane as collecting sticks, but he knew it was merely a calm before the storm. He was here for a reason. The fighting would begin again soon.
It’ll only stop once one side has been destroyed.
Damien pulled the sled through the treeline into the open meadow. He heaved his way towards the castle, which was more of a modern art structure these days. Various timber platforms and wooden shacks surrounded the ancient keep, many built into the stonework itself. People scurried around like busy worker ants, working together for a common cause, something the old, self-serving world had been in short supply of. One good thing to come out of the apocalypse was the demise of greedy corporations and wealth-obsessed consumers. People were just people again: neighbours, friends, farmers, and builders. If mankind survived, it had a chance of staying pure like this, but Damien feared it would quickly resume its trek along the rapacious road of progress.
Perhaps things would be different this time. Mankind now knew, unequivocally, that there was a Heaven and Hell. In fact, if mankind had been better behaved, Hell’s army would have only been a fraction of its current size. The invasion might not have even happened. Humanity’s sinful behaviour had stocked the enemy with troops.
Damien spotted his people – those he and Nancy had brought from Indiana – and headed over with his heavy sled. Sorrow could make himself useful and take the sled up the hill to the castle for him. While Damien was lean and healthy, his previous life of working at a bank had created a specimen averse to hard labour. Perhaps, once the memories of his previous life had fully faded, he would evolve, but right now he still pictured – and longed for – the days of sitting behind a computer screen sipping hot cappuccino. Mankind might have found purity, but that didn’t mean you stopped missing all of the sin.
Sorrow noticed Damien approaching and smiled – which was an obscene gesture for a demon. His jagged fangs dripped saliva, and his leathery wings ruffled at his back. “Path walker,” he boomed, “how do you fare?”
“I, um, fare well. How are you, Sorrow?”
“I fear for the safety of my ward. The enemy seek to tear Scarlett limb from limb and feast on her organs. I do not like that.”
Damien wiped sweat from his brow and looked around for Scarlett, who wasn’t there. “Yeah, well, it’s not all about Scarlett, you know? Everyone’s life is at risk.”
“It is most definitely all about Scarlett. She must live.”
Damien nodded. There was no point arguing with the demon. He was programmed like a Terminator to care only about his objective. Luckily, a side effect of Sorrow’s objective included killing any demons that showed up at camp.
“Why did you come here if you want to keep her safe?”
Sorrow’s wings unfurled, creating a breeze. “I brought Scarlett to this Earth to save her life. On her home Earth, there is a curse upon her. A curse that will give her less than one year to live. She is a being known as the Spark – a padlock placed upon the magics of the world – but here she is just a
