Mass battled his way to the front of the bus, then wasted no time leaping out onto the road. The rush of sound and sight was overwhelming. Men screamed. Demons wailed. Guns fired and bullets ate flesh. The stench of blood and smoke corrupted the air. Limbs from both sides littered the ground like a scene from a horror movie. Mass’s boot came down on something soft, and when he looked down he saw a chewed-off nose. Next to it was a string of sinewy meat that might have been the remains of a brain.
Smithy grabbed Mass by the arm and pulled him away from the bus. “Keep moving, remember?”
Mass raised his Benelli and opened a hole in a demon’s chest. The burnt man continued standing for a moment before collapsing backwards. Smithy started popping shots from his handguns, hitting targets like he was at a fairground. Addy took out demons left and right with her shotgun. Slowly, the other Vampires converged on their location, and they became a team again.
The wall around the docks was twenty feet away. The driver had parked them almost on the doorstep. Mass looked for him, wanting to bring him in and keep him safe, but he was already dead. His body lay slumped against the bus’s front tyre. The driver had been one of the first out of the door. The guy had been one brave bastard.
Men fired from atop the wall, trying to clear a gap in the line of demons large enough for the two hundred survivors to get through. Thomas led his men in an assault, ordering them to concentrate their fire in the right places and hold their line at all times. He was in his element, and Mass had to admit the old man had courage. It was easy to see why men followed him.
The fighting raged on and men fell in their dozens. The demons were everywhere. The wall was right ahead, only a stone’s throw away.
“We’re not gonna make it,” said Mass. “Damn it, we’re so close, but we’re not gonna make it.”
Smithy still fought beside him. “What should we do? Make a run for it?”
Mass thought about the gate, and his chances of making it there. Could he run now and manage to reach it? More likely he would be dead before he made it half a mile.
More gunfire erupted. It came from behind them, lighting up a shadowy side street. Demons fell in droves, blindsided.
Cullen appeared with the other remaining Urban Vampires. They unleashed hell, putting to use the heavy weaponry Wanstead had supplied them. The demons were hit from three sides, forcing them close up. It made hitting them even easier, and within seconds, a gap appeared in the centre of their ranks.
“Come on,” said Addy. “There’s our ticket.” She turned to Mass, taking her eye off the fight for a single second.
Mass called out a warning, but it was too late.
A primate lunged for Addy’s throat.
Smithy shoved her aside and filled the primate full of bullets. He popped off shots with both handguns until the thing was lying in a bloody puddle on the floor, then he blew away the smoke from his barrels. “You can thank me later, sweetheart.”
Addy looked sick, but she nodded. “We live through this and I’ll thank you twice.”
Smithy blushed, but they all got moving. Cullen and the others fought their way in from the side while Thomas led his surviving men from the front. The men on the walls fired continuously, working to keep the gap open. More demons came from the ruins.
Guards threw open a small gate in the wall. If any demons got through, Portsmouth would spring a permanent leak. They could only afford to open it for a matter of seconds, and only while the demons were kept at bay.
We need to move.
Mass hung back and secured the rear as the first group made it through the gate. Thomas disappeared inside with them, surviving yet again.
Cullen and his team reached Mass and they formed up into a team of over twenty. Cullen gave Mass a wink. “Looks like I came just in time.”
“We wouldn’t have made it without you. Cheers.”
“Don’t mention it.”
The demons began to recover. One of Cullen’s men fell as a primate pounced on him. Mass took the demon out with his Benelli, but it was too late to save the Vampire. “Get inside before they close the gate.”
Everyone sprinted for safety, forgetting the fight and focusing only on reaching the gate. The question was whether the guards would wait long enough for them to make it through.
Thomas stood behind the guards, a smile on his face as he patted them on the back.
Crimolok reaches the edge of the city, where the buildings and pathways give way to the sea. Floating vessels wait there, perhaps unreachable, but there are still enough humans left in the city to feast on. Blood stains the city of Portsmouth and it will never again see the sun. Night falls, and this time it will be everlasting.
Humanity’s last battle has arrived. Once Portsmouth falls, God’s power will finally be at an end. Too few souls remain to keep his barrier in place. The tipping point has been reached.
Only one last push is needed.
And then the universe shall burn.
16
Men screamed for mercy as the gate closed on them, but Mass and his team had made it through. For a moment he had feared Thomas would betray them and leave them stranded outside the wall, but he hadn’t done so. A dozen or more had been too late, though, and they now wailed to be let inside. Their pleas ended seconds later.
The fighting continued atop the wall, men slapping in new
