He survived. How the hell did he survive?
Sorrow flared his wings and knocked the primate off of Dr Kamiyo just as it was about to tear into his throat. The force sent the doctor rolling towards the edge of the platform, but Sorrow snatched his ankle and yanked him back just in time.
Scarlett saw her friend was alive and lost her mind. “Sorrow! Sorrow, you’re alive!”
The demon took a step towards the girl, but the other primate leapt onto his back and caused him to stop. Sorrow merely reached back and yanked the demon away. Then, without mercy, he tore the arms off the demon like wings from a butterfly. The way he tossed the armless torso over the wall was chilling. Sorrow was furious.
Thank God he’s on our side.
The space between them now free, Scarlett threw herself at Sorrow. The demon embraced her, cocooning them both with his leathery black wings. “Ward, I feared the worst.”
“I thought you were dead, Sorrow.”
“Merely injured. Your allies hit me with crushing fire. It caused me great anger.”
Maddy winced. “I can’t believe you survived that.”
“How did you?” asked Scarlett, still hugging him, still sobbing with joy.
Sorrow pulled his wings back in and stood straight. “I was forged in flame. No fire may burn me.”
Tosco raised an eyebrow. “Good to know.”
Kamiyo got to his feet and rubbed at his arm. “Thanks for the save, Sorrow.”
“I am happy you live, Doctor, but you will die soon. Crimolok is here.”
As if to prove his point, a part of the wall thirty metres away crumbled as Crimolok strode right through it. Men and woman fell, shattering against the concrete twenty feet below.
People stopped fighting and ran for their lives.
Frank started shouting, but this time, instead of telling people to stand and fight, he yelled at them to get to the boats. Hundreds of people stayed to fight on the battlements while thousands fled. Maddy felt their fear. This was sheer terror.
Further north, the demons were massacring people. Their screaming was the only thing she could hear. All gunfire had ceased.
“We only have a few minutes,” said Tosco. His eyes were wide and unblinking. “They’re going to overwhelm the docks before everyone can get away.”
“The bastards,” said Frank, seething.
There was a sudden burst of gunfire as a large group of soldiers sprinted across the courtyard. Instead of running away, they were running towards battle. Maddy saw Colonel Wanstead among them, and when he saw her questioning stare, he stopped to explain himself. “Reserves. I wanted to keep something back in case the demons breached the wall. The children and the elderly are already safe, but there are still thousands trying to make it onto the boats. We need to buy them time.”
“Good work, Colonel,” said Tosco, nodding appreciatively.
“Yeah,” said Frank. “Bostin’.”
Maddy didn’t quite understand the reason in keeping reserves, but slowly she realised that these men would have just emptied their weapons into an endless sea of demons. Now they could deal with the demons that had made it past the walls. Smart move.
Someone handed Tosco a rifle. Then someone else appeared and handed one to Maddy. It was Sarah. “You’re still alive then?” she said.
Maddy nodded. “For now. Where have you been?”
“Got dragged into a fight nearby. I saw these fine gentlemen handing out guns and decided to tag along.”
Wanstead pointed to the broken section of the wall. “Attack those demons before they overwhelm the docks.”
Everyone roared like berserkers as thousands of bullets whizzed through the air and struck demon flesh. Even at this range, the assault was devastating. The demons fell in their hundreds, once again creating a barricade of their own corpses. Their progress through the broken-down wall slowed to a trickle. It brought time for people to break cover and race for the quayside. With any luck, they would find boats there waiting for them.
Crimolok stomped at another section of the wall, creating new gaps for the demons to flow through. The giant being seemed in no rush to end the battle. It looked like Crimolok was enjoying it.
Maddy savoured the feeling of a rifle bucking in her hands as she fired round after round. Sarah knelt beside her, once again showing inhuman accuracy and speed. It was as though the woman had been born with a high-powered weapon in her arms.
Wanstead waved at the armed men. “Fall back to the warehouses. We can take cover inside and try to keep them at bay for as long as possible.”
“We go inside,” said Tosco, “we’ll never make it out again.”
“I understand the consequences, Commander. It’s my duty to stay behind, but the rest of you should fight only as long as you want to. Get yourself back to the boats before it’s too late.”
“Maybe Sorrow can fly us out of here,” said Frank, half-serious.
Sorrow flapped his wings.
Everyone fought their way back towards the warehouses. Most of them had been cleared and organised, used for accommodation or supplies. The first warehouse they reached was full of bedrolls and assorted human belongings. Fortunately, it was empty of people.
Wanstead gave orders. “Set up at the windows. Don’t pick your shots, there are too many. Hit whatever you can as quickly as you can. Let them climb over their own dead to get at us.”
Maddy pulled aside a makeshift curtain that someone had put up over a broken window, then set her rifle against the sill. The demons came in their hundreds now. Soon, it would be thousands.
They’re like locusts. Biblical.
I hate them.
The warehouse was like the inside of a deafening drum as two hundred soldiers fired their rifles at once. Their combined assault pushed the demons back, injuring most but killing many. The beasts clambered and bumped into each other, their clumsiness slowing them down.
Sarah fired out of the window beside Maddy. “These things never get any less ugly, do they?”
Maddy chuckled. “Are you still trying to keep me alive?”
“A soldier
