Demons 3 Draft 1 CH 26 (Patreon)

We reach the tower with only one casualty. One of the men who helped us. The soldiers took the weapons off the fallen men and continued. The expected protest as killing doesn’t start. Gregg points to their dead companion and offers to let them go. They don’t leave; they show the same determination as the soldiers in the following battles. Ultimately, our opposition isn’t prepared to deal with trained soldiers with the support of a demon and me.

Gregg is confident no one sounded the alarm as we enter the tower, but his expression is grim as he looks the way we came. Leaving the city will not be this easy.

The door to the stairwell opens as we approach and guns come up as a scientist I recognize exits, with seven children in two and one baby in his arms. He looks at us in Dismay.

“Are you serious?”

I jump over everyone and to the front before this can escalate.

“Look,” the scientist says, “I don’t want trouble, I’m not part of this.” The grumbling comments behind me indicates none of the soldiers believe him. “We’re leaving. I am done with that woman and her experiments. If Jimmy is so in love with her, I’m just going to take the children and find another place to work.”

“That’s not happening, Doc,” Gregg says, and the tone in his voice worries me. The rifle is pointed at the scientists I stand in front of. “Move or take the bullet,” he tells me.

I level my gaze on him. “Are you going to kill him in front of the children? Are you going to kill the children too?” nothing but their scent is different. Gregg can’t know what they are. He can’t be so angry that the human drive to protect children is gone.

He looks down and his expression changes, some of the anger vanishes. “We can’t just…” he trails off, fighting with himself. “Damn it, he’s the enemy. What are children even doing in this building?”

“Families are everywhere,” I tell him, and hope it’s enough for him not to consider what else is here, what kind of research the scientist engages in. If he suspects the children are not fully human, he could decide their deaths are warranted.

“We can’t let kids go out,” one of the soldiers says. “With the bodies, we left on the way here, it won’t be long until this place is a war zone with this building in the middle of.”

“Then more reasons for us to leave now before it starts.”

I face the scientist again. “You won’t make it far enough.” I go through our options. None of them good. “You need to stay here and hide.” I indicate a doorway. “In there. We’ll get you on the way out and we’ll escort you to a place you’ll all be safe.”

“Don’t go making promises you can’t keep,” Gregg says, and I ignore him.

“What if you die?” the scientist asks. “Who’s going to help us?”

“We will not die,” Claws state, next to him. “Derick and I will protect you and guide you out of the city.” He rumbles contentment, happiness, comfort, and the children calm down.

Gregg’s cursing grows louder, but the scientist looks at the door, then herds the children towards it.

I look at some of the men. “Some of you need to stay behind and protect them.”

“I’ll do it!” Florent volunteers, Taros joins him, already looking ill from the fighting that took place. Four of the others join them.

“You’re cutting down our forces for kids that aren’t our problem,” Gregg growls, and he shoves me out of the way to enter the stairwell. “Boost up!” Immediately he curses and backs from the closest soldier as he pulls the vial’s needled out of Gregg’s leg. “That’s the meaning of this Diniz?”

“You’re the best fighting we have, Sir. Giving us your boost was a stupid decision, and you can fucking court martial me for it when we get out of this.”

Gregg is in the man’s face. “Oh, you better survive this, because you can be sure I am going to drag you in front of a disciplinary board, am I clear?”

“Crystal, sir.”

With a snarl, he enters the stairwell, and not even one of the three floors needed to reach the lab later. We encounter resistance. They are better prepared than we are to fight in a stairwell. There’s too many of us to be effective. The stairs are not large enough to allow Claws to reach the opposition before the fighting is over. We lose another man to stray gunfire. The soldiers take injuries, but under the effect of the boosts, it simply enrages them into fighting harder.

We make it down to the third floor without losing anyone else. And head to the lab without encountering resistance. I see Amanda through the open double door; she points in our direction and she sees me. Her eyes go wide, then she disappears as hybrids rush into the hallway. My satisfaction at seeing the fear in those eyes doesn’t last long as men too large for their skins reach us and we are all busy.

We spread out as much as we can in the large hallway, and one of the hybrids is on me. The punches he lands stagger me back and a bone cracks despite my black skin covering that part of my body. He barely reacts to my punches, and I cover my fists with sharp edges and spikes to manage to draw blood. He has me against the wall, striking over and over, and the few strikes I get in aren’t effective.

A black hand covers his head and slams him against the wall until he stops moving. The soldiers put bullets in the last of them. Gregg grins at me, a malicious thing filled with superiority.

The end of the hall is now closed, metal doors slid in place, something similar to the maze, and I realize the walls are also like them. The implication that even this level can change configuration worries me, but it’s too late now. I run to the door and make a blade I slam in the seam, punching through. Claws joins me, flowing his skin into the gap I create. He has more strength in it and he pulls it apart so I can slip a hand and add my strength to his.

Amanda looks at the opening door. “No! You’re dead! You, Sarge! kill him, kill all of them!”

A form moves, rushes us as enough of a gap forms I can slip through, but I get the sense of gray body armor and this new attacker tackles me out of it and back into the hall. I land on my back, kick the man off—Dark gray skin, black hair, brown eyes. He seems familiar, but humans don’t come in that color.

I’m on my feet as he comes at me again. The body armor is military, the same kind as Gregg and his soldiers. His skin is shades lighter than my black skin. I block and strike, he parries and punches my side. Hard, but not as hard as the other hybrids. His eyes are filled with determination, his scent is… strange.

I hear the hammer come down, and my attacker isn’t in front of me anymore. The bullet hits my chest and barely manages to stay on my feet. My skin is intact, not irradiated. No more gunfire.

The man faces the soldiers, Gregg in the lead, gun pointed at the hybrid, but trembling. Claws stays back and before I can ask why no one is attacking, Gregg provides the answer.

“Cline?”

The hybrid looks confused, and if I ignore every cue I rely on to identify people except the way he looks, I recognize him too. Cline is the soldier who was taken to the maze this morning, why he wasn’t in the cells. He killed the demon he was pitted against, didn’t make it out of the building.

“I—” he says, seems to have difficulty finding the words. “I’m Sarge.” He doesn’t sound confident. “Do… do you know me?”

The change in Gregg is instantaneous. No doubt, only anger.

I move.

“No.”

Pain in my shoulder as I stand before Sarge. The warmth of blood flowing down my arm. The black of my skin catching up to the wound, covering it.

“Move, or I will kill you too.”

“You can’t kill him, Gregg.” I question his ability to do so. Sarge’s confusion is the only reason he didn’t move before the shot. Once he gets over it, sees us as the enemy again, I doubt anyone will be able to shoot him. He is faster than I am.

“That’s my fucking job. Killing demons and abominations like the two of you. You get a pass because Fallon ordered me to, but that thing doesn’t get to live.”

“Do you know me?” Sarge asks, the question soft enough I doubt anyone but me and Claws hear it.

“Yes.”

I didn’t exist for days after the process that made me. Jason told me that. Sarge can function in only hours. He has a sense of someone being there. I was no one. Empty of personality until Jason built one for me; and kept on fine-tuning it until I was a person.

“Then move,” Gregg orders.

I do. I rush the man and even boosted, I have his gun in my hand before he can react; before he bowled into the other soldiers, I take the magazine out, eject the bullet from the chamber, and drop the gun. It hits the floor at the same time Gregg does.

“He’s a victim,” I tell him, before turning to face Sarge. “Amanda did this to you against your will.” Claws is at my side, facing Gregg.

“She said I volunteered.” He touches his chest. “I was hurt protecting her and the others here. That making me like this was my reward for doing great work.”

“She lied. Humans do that.”

“Why?” he presses a hand to his temple. “Why would she do that? I’m a soldier, I remember that.” He looks around me at the others. “I fought with others. We’re here for…” He closes his eyes. “She said we were her to protect her, that the enemies attacked. Everyone but me died, I was hurt.” Hand on his chest again. “I was going to die too, but she saved me.”

“You came here with us,” I tell him. “To bring her back to the people she works for. Who pays for her research.”

“Derick,” Claws says. “Something is happening, I sense something.”

“Why did she leave? No, she was taken. By us?” He grabs his head with both hands. “I don’t understand.”

“She’s a sociopath,” Gregg says. “She doesn’t care about anything but her and her research. You and the rest of us are just things for her to use or remove from her way. If your demon’s right and something’s happening, we don’t have the time for this. I’ll deal with the three of you after this is over, but you better keep them under control, because if either of them gets in my way. I am putting a bullet in your head first.”

“Can you accept that things are more complicated than what Amanda told you?” I ask Sarge, ignoring the threats. Once he nods, I continue. “Once this is over, I’ll explain things as best as I can, you’re not like me, but we’re both her creations. Until then, I need you to help us capture her so we can return her to the people she works for.”

He nods and settles.

Grumbling and cursing, Gregg walks around Claws. “Someone blow that fucking door open!”