Dark Creations: Hell on Earth (Part 5) (25 page)

“Come here guys,” Gabriel said and the sound of a motor starting made her and Kyle jump.

She hurried toward the sound of his voice, toward the sound of a motor, and prayed it was not a lawnmower running.  When she saw a pair of all-terrain vehicles, she had to actively suppress the urge to clap her hands and twirl excitedly. 

“These quads are our ticket out of here,” Gabriel said and revved the engine.

Worry niggled at her brain.  She fretted about whether the gas tanks were full, whether they would have enough fuel to reach the town line, whether the other vehicle would run at all.  Too many what-ifs existed and plagued her, dampening the only true sense of hope she was feeling.  She refused to serve the rest of her time on Earth as a slave, as
Lord Terzini’s
slave.  She pushed her doubts to the back of her mind and anchored herself to Gabriel’s belief that they would leave.

“Grab the girls,” she urged Kyle.  “Get them on right away.  We don’t have a minute to spare.”

Kyle disappeared into the shadows and Amber straddled the other ATV.  She started the engine and waited for Kyle and the girls.  Kyle placed Jackie behind her then climbed on.  Hailey held tightly to Gabriel and one at a time, they sped off into the night.

Chapter 22

Shock tugged at Melissa, slowing her every movement like a mighty tide flowing against her.  She wanted to run as fast as she could, away from the advancing demons, but her body simply wouldn’t cooperate.  Yoshi pulled her along and all she could do was follow clumsily with legs that felt leaden despite the terror she was feeling.  She’d seen many terrifying things in the last few years, had seen the likes of Eugene and a being that had resembled a seven-foot fetus, both monsters in their own right.  But nothing could’ve prepared her for the golden-eyed creatures in the woods.  Nothing could have readied her for their ambush, and the fact that there were so damn many of them. 

Her mind began to whirl dizzyingly, refusing to accept what her eyes had seen, refusing to process it all.  Dozens of deadly eyes lying in wait, vicious monsters, all of them, sent to attack the farm.  The distance between the edge of the gravel driveway and the barn seemed vast, far greater than before.  And she knew that with each step she and Yoshi advanced, they advanced, as well.  Her lungs burned, squeezing the air from them with each ungainly move she made.  But they were not alone.  Her mind burned as well, burned with a question.  The question nagged at her reeling brain. She wondered where else the demons had attacked?  And Gabriel came to mind immediately.

Gabriel
, all she could think of was Gabriel.  Every part of her ached, worry permeated each cell in her body, throbbing with the need to know he was safe.  Had they attacked where Gabriel had gone to help the little girls, and Amber?  The question screamed in her brain unendingly.  Her heart began to pump madly and her T-shirt clung to her back, dampened with perspiration as her legs suddenly sprang to life.  She needed to uncover what, if anything had happened to Gabriel.  She would survive.  And she would find him, alive.  She would fight Amber herself if she had to, anything to protect Gabriel and bring him back to her.

Fortified with renewed strength, Melissa ran alongside Yoshi, determined to live, to have the future she’d planned to have.  All around her, men, Jack’s men, who had seemed like little more than a ragtag group of misfits when she’d met them, moved with certainty and purpose.  A single person did not direct them.  Their efforts were coordinated, their desire to live clear.  She felt a degree of inspiration from them despite the dire nature of the circumstances.  Everyone knew exactly what to do and where to go, as though they’d been planning for this moment their entire lives.  Armed men climbed atop roofs of trailers and Melissa suddenly realized that the trailers had not been parked haphazardly about the property.  They had been positioned strategically along its perimeter to afford the group an advantage. 

She saw many of them as she traversed the weedy terrain toward the farmhouse and barn.  When she and Yoshi reached the barn, light suddenly flooded the property.  The land had been blanched by massive floodlights similar to those used for nighttime construction on major highways.  Though she knew the sun had long since set, the farm glowed as though the midday sun shone above it.  But even daylight couldn’t drive the menacing shadows from the land.  It did not pale the dark forms that terrorized from the woods.  And nothing could fade the evil glow of their eyes. 

In the distance, she heard a sound, a low rolling that echoed through the trees.  Faint at first, it grew louder fast, and more distinct.  Like innumerable hooves beating the earth beneath it, the noise thrummed through her in time with her heartbeat, a pounding that sounded as though hundreds of horses were galloping forth, racing toward them.  But no horses were headed their way, just wicked horsemen of the apocalypse of mankind. 

Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her chest as she saw the first of them approach.  Massive manes of golden hair that matched their amber eyes billowed in the breeze and impressive paws with long, lethal talons tore at the ground with each stride they took, rushing toward the farm.  The beasts charged at full speed, roughly forty of them in all. 

“No
t yet!” she heard Jack scream from somewhere above her.  “Not yet!”

She had no idea what Jack was commanding the others to do, or not do, rather.  She looked questioningly to Yoshi whose skin had turned an unhealthy white, but his eyes remained fixed on the horror approaching.  Alexandra, Daniella and Ryan stood behind him.  All of them wore the same expression. 

The beasts were so close she could see saliva dangling from their sizable jaws and terror rocketed through her, jolting her system as if lightning had passed through her.  The thunderous clatter grew deafening, the sight, a nightmarish phantasm. 

“Now!” Jack shouted and Melissa felt her heart pitch dangerously.

The beasts were less than sixty yards away when explosions erupted from the ground beneath them.  The blast was blinding, a brilliant yellow-orange flash of fire.  It quickly dissipated and tan limbs could be seen raining to the ground in gruesome chunks.  At least five of the monsters lay dead on the grass beside the gore.

“Again!” Jack ordered and another round of bombs detonated.

Dirt sprayed in every direction and more furry limbs fell in the field.  Melissa did not know whether to cry or begin clapping and hooting, as elation collided with dread.  She watched as the beasts paused, stopping for a moment, unsure of what to do.  They seemed apprehensive about where they stepped, padding anxiously and looking to their paws. 

Capitalizing on their hesitation, loud shots ripped through the sky, three of them whizzed out to their front line.  She saw one fiend fall followed by two more.  She looked up toward the shots and saw Ed perched on the pitch of his roof.  An enormous sniper rifle had been mounted on a stand and he stared through its scope, picking off the creatures one by one. 

Several had stood motionless, gazing down at the fallen in their fleet.  For a moment, she thought they’d retreat.  But that moment passed quickly.  They regrouped and continued to charge, only more cautiously.

“Oh my
God,” Daniella gasped.  “This can’t be real!”

Melissa reached around Yoshi and took Daniella’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.  Tear
s streamed from her friend’s eyes and Ryan wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close.  She turned and saw that Alexandra wept silently.  Melissa felt guilt attach itself to the overwhelming fear she was feeling and begin to crush her resolve.  She had endangered them.  She was responsible for the fright and panic they were feeling.  And if they were lost in this battle, it would be her fault.

“We need get the hell out of here.  We’re just waiting to be killed out here in the open,” Yoshi said as she was about to suggest the same.

More gunfire burst forth, popping and whirring nearby.  The shots were coming from overhead.  On each trailer, a gunman stood discharging his automatic weapon.  Ranks of beast tumbled to the ground severely injured or dead.  But many still pressed forward.  Melissa saw one slip through between two of its lifeless comrades and leap atop the roof of a trailer.  A tortured, bloodcurdling wail rang out and all of them knew what had happened.

“No, no, no!  This can’t be happening,” Daniella covered her ears and sobbed.

Alexandra bent and buried her face in the space between Yoshi’s shoulder and neck.  “I can’t do this,” she muttered. 

Melissa had been so focused on her friends, she didn’t notice the burly shape approaching.  Joe dashed toward them with several rifles slung over his shoulder.

“Get the girls in that trailer,” he pointed to the trailer closest to them as he called to Yoshi.  He then handed weapons to Yoshi, Ryan and Alexandra and began leading them, his gun pointed outward as his body swept vigilantly from side to side, poised to kill anything in their path.  When they reached the trailer, Joe opened the door and ordered, “Anything comes in here, shoot it!”

Melissa did not know how she still stood.  Her legs felt as though the bones that supported them had liquefied and powerful tremors shook her body. 

“I-I-I can’t do this,” Alexandra stammered in a faltering voice.  The rifle she held shook as violently as Melissa’s insides.  “Someone take this,” she said and held the gun out for one of them to take.

Daniella shook her head.  “I can’t,” she cried.  “I just can’t.”

Melissa reached out and took the rifle from Alexandra.  “I’ll take it,” she said in a voice far steadier than she felt.

She gripped the cold metal tightly, willing her hands, her entirety
, to be steady.  She closed her eyes for the briefest of moments and pictured her father and Gabriel on the night Eugene had attacked her home, she channeled their bravery, their ferocity, when faced with a threat to those they loved. 

With each deep breath
she took, and with each image that flashed in her mind’s eye, her resolve grew stronger, her hands more stable.  She would take Joe’s advice and shoot anything that entered the trailer.  She would protect her friends.

She opened her eyes and glanced out a grimy window.  Bullets sprayed from rooftops and monster after monster dropped.  She realized she’d misjudged Jack’s men.  The organized effort they were involved in proved that they were well-equipped to handle battle.  They were soldiers through and through.  Hope began to edge its way into her core.  She began to see survival as a possibility. 

The loud crash of a heavy object landing on the roof of their trailer upended any fleeting confidence she’d felt, and pure fear singed her skin.

“Oh my
God!”  Alexandra shrieked. 

“It’s on the roof,” Yoshi said and raised his gun high, aiming it at the ceiling.

Several thuds thundered overhead.  Everyone gathered toward the center of the trailer, looking to the ceiling, waiting.  A shot rang out and silence followed.  Melissa felt her friends relax slightly and they began to exchange glances of cautious optimism.  Then a shriek pierced the air around them followed by a loud thump near the side of the trailer.  Melissa turned her head to the window, toward where the crash had sounded.  For an instant, the dirty window offered a grubby view of the battlefield, but was quickly filled with a man’s face, Ace’s face.  His features, a mask of agony, included a mouth opened in a silent scream and eyes wide with terror.  He stared through the pane at them and Daniella’s screams offered him a macabre voice. 

But within seconds, he disappeared, his body pulled up, out of sight. 

“What the hell is happening?” Alexandra asked frantically through sobs.

The gruesome sound of tearing and crunching above them
, followed by a cascade of blood pouring over the window where his face had appeared seconds earlier, answered her question and instigated more screams. 

Black spots appeared in Melissa’s field of vision and she felt faint.  With one hand, she reached for a countertop while the other clutched the rifle.  Her stomach heaved angrily and vomit burned the back of her throat.  She swallowed hard as the unmistakable pop of gunfire overhead tormented her wooziness.  She looked up and felt the trailer tilt.  She did not know whether it was her dizziness or the actual trailer rocking.  Her eyes strayed to where the blood had drizzled and saw a large shape pass before it.  She let go of the counter and rubbed her eyes with her fingers and waited for another scream or another grisly image to appear, but it did not.  The trailer grew still, save for intermittent sniffles.  In fact, the entire wor
ld grew quiet.

“Are we dead?” Alexandra asked with her eyes squeezed shut.

“I don’t think so,” Yoshi said to her.

Alexandra opened one eye and peeked.  “If Daniella’s here with us, I know we’re not dead ‘cause she isn’t going where I’m going,” she said seriously and cast her eyes to the floor.

“We got them all!” Jack’s voice boomed and made them all jump.

Melissa searched every face in the room, too afraid to smile or celebrate for fear she had not heard what she thought she’d heard.  When a small smile tugged at the corners of Yoshi’s mouth, she felt a wave of relief pass through the trailer. 

“Did anyone else hear that, or am I hallucinating?” Daniella asked worriedly.