I can’t believe I did that.
Her head was still a mess. Her feelings for Amanda hadn’t gone away, but it was likely she and Tosco were both going to die. She didn’t want that to happen without having kissed him at least once.
Or twice.
There were many she recognised on the platforms, including her recent friends from Kielder. Frank ran back and forth, barking orders like he was still back at the castle. Dr Kamiyo was comforting Scarlett, who had lost her pet demon in Klein’s initial bombardment.
Maddy leant over the wall with her handgun and searched for a target. She didn’t have to look for long.
The demons had made it to the wall. The only thing keeping them back now was the sheer number of corpses piled up in front of them. They stumbled and clambered over a field of flesh, unable to find their footing. Maddy took several shots at them, each round finding a target. There were too many to miss.
Crimolok made it to the crater Klein had created with his initial bombardment. The giant flattened everything in its path. Soon it would reach the wall.
Frank rushed by on the platform. He was too short to fire over the walls, but he excelled in his role as drill sergeant. She grabbed him before he could disappear. “Frank! Everyone is getting onto the boats. You need to get out of here.”
“Ha! No way, lass. My buddy Ted died for me back at Kielder. Now it’s my turn to die for someone else. I’ll be on these walls till they fall flat. My legs are too short for running anyway.”
Maddy laughed. There wasn’t an ounce of fear on Frank’s heavily bearded face. He was a warrior. “Then it looks like we’re going to be holding the fort together.”
“Just so long as you leave the big bugger to me.”
Maddy looked at the terrifying monster striding through the blackened crater. She shuddered. “He’s all yours.”
Tosco moved up beside Maddy and rattled off several rounds from his rifle. “I’ve got one more magazine,” he said, “then nothing.”
“We can always heckle them,” said Maddy, firing off the remainder of her clip. It was all she had left, so she tucked her handgun into her waistband and searched for another weapon. There were none to be found. All along the walls, men and women stood unable to do anything but watch or turn and flee. Portsmouth was almost out of ammunition. The howitzers had fallen silent too. The docks were full of frightened people running for the boats.
Maddy looked down over the wall and saw a throng of demons directly below. They were still clambering over corpses, climbing over each other like rats, but they were gradually making it higher. Without the constant barrage of gunfire, they were amassing faster than they were being pushed back. It was like looking down into an ocean of teeth and claws.
Frank continued running back and forth along the platform, shouting for everyone to fire whatever they had left. “We’ll fight ’em with our bare ’ands if we ’ave to. Who do they think they’re dealing with?”
Dr Kamiyo started leading Scarlett towards the ladders. He noticed Maddy watching and shook his head sadly. “There’s nothing more I can do here. I’m going to get Scarlett back to the boat.”
Maddy smiled weakly. “People are going to need you, Doctor, so go. You have time.”
Scarlett had stopped crying, but her eyes were swollen and red. All the same, she managed to give Maddy a polite nod that was really a simple goodbye. They would never see each other again.
“Demons on the walls,” Frank shouted. “Demons on the sodding walls.”
Maddy turned just in time to see a primate bounding awkwardly along the narrow wooden walkway. Tosco grabbed her out of the way and let rip with his rifle. Bloody divots opened up on the primate’s clammy chest and it went toppling back over the wall.
Tosco tossed his rifle and groaned. “That’s me empty. You okay?”
Maddy nodded. “Fine. I have my knight in shining armour with me, don’t I?”
“Always.”
Frank staggered backwards along the ramparts. “Ah, bloody ’ell!”
Two more primates had leapt onto the walls, knocking a pair of soldiers off the platform and onto the hard concrete fifteen feet below. Dr Kamiyo and Scarlett were forced backwards, their route to the ladders cut off.
“They’re trapped,” said Maddy. “We need to help them.”
Scarlett screamed as Dr Kamiyo stood in front of her with only a knife to defend himself with. The young doctor was brave, but he was outmatched.
Frank tried to get the demon’s attention by shouting obscenities. It didn’t work; they had their eyes on vulnerable meat.
“Get back,” Dr Kamiyo yelled, his voice wavering. “Please!”
Maddy picked up Tosco’s rifle, knowing it was empty. She turned it around and used the stock to strike one of the demons between the shoulder blades. The demon spun to face her, furious. Its fangs dripped bloody saliva. Maddy then swung for its head, but a swipe of its lethal claws sent the useless rifle cartwheeling over the wall and into the writhing mass of demons below. More and more were nearing the top of the wall, climbing on top of each other like acrobats. Maddy’s spine stiffened at the sight of them.
Dr Kamiyo grunted, swinging his knife at the primate and drawing blood from its arm. With a bloodcurdling screech, the demon leapt on Dr Kamiyo, knocking him down and pinning him against the wooden walkway. Maddy was forced back by the other demon, unable to help.
Scarlett screamed for help, screamed for Sorrow.
There was a whoosh of wind, and something dark shot up into the sky. Maddy could only make out a shadow, a bat-like shape streaking through the spotlights that criss-crossed overhead. For a moment she thought it was a new kind of demon – an abominable creature they had yet to see –
