All Hell Breaks Loose

June 14th

Who-gives-a-shit o’clock

Charles Hartford

Tired. Hungry. Devastated. I thought for sure that what we were doing would be a suicide mission. Why was I still alive? I couldn’t do anything except watch some of the best and bravest men and women I had ever met get torn by winged Demons and now I couldn’t even bury them. There was no way in hell I was going to dig through asphalt with my bare hands. Besides, some of them were in too many pieces. At best, they might be able to fit into an urn or have an open casket with a wax body.

I did the best I could to honor them. I fought my way through sweat, tears, and exhaustion to give their bodies at least some measure of dignity before I decided to join them. But, I couldn’t do that either. Not while I could still see that damn portal so clearly; That monument of callous defiance lording over the burning wreck of my home. Death would have to wait. I could kill every Demon between city hall and Oakland and still have a thousand people left to avenge.

I didn’t care what it took. I was going to make it to Oakland just underneath the portal just to show these bastards that Humanity wasn’t afraid. We were just pissed off. I gathered what I could carry, but that wasn’t much. An angel-touched shotgun with no shells, less than half a magazine for my SIG, no food, no water, no hope. Only a burning desire for capital V Vengeance as I said my last goodbyes to a lot of people who were taken from this world all too soon.

I walked in open defiance of the Demons straight down the middle of the streets. I was met with Hell-spawn after Hell-spawn, Imp after Imp, but I never stopped. None of them could see the writing on the wall, so I wrote it for them by scattering their brains across the pavement. They weren’t going to stop me no matter how hard they tried.

The only thing that had a chance of stopping me was exhaustion. It was a fresh new hell trying to put one foot in front of the other after spending the entire night scraping together a monument for the fallen. Dawn was coming now. I could see the first rays of sunlight creeping over the horizon as I crossed the bridge to Yerba Buena Island and onward into Oakland. The Hell-spawn kept accosting me by the hundreds. One at a time or ten at a time didn’t actually matter. They all met the same damn fate at the butt end of an empty shotgun that I was using as a club.

I passed by hundreds of destroyed and abandoned buildings and cars as I walked. These things used to be homes, businesses, livelihoods. Now, they were just empty shells of something that used to be. I passed by that damn fire truck too. It was a crumpled, smoking wreck that had been there since day one. There were no more city authorities or construction companies to come along and try to move it. At this rate, the damn truck would probably still be sitting there by the end of the year.

As I walked further into Oakland, the presence of Demons and Hell-spawn shrank smaller and smaller until it was barely noticeable. I didn’t expect that. I tried to make as much noise as possible as I dragged on, but at some point nothing seemed to work. I took a break and tried to listen to what was going on around me. Somewhere on the last edges of my sanity I could hear a fight happening. It was obviously very far away, since I could only barely hear the crackle of distant gunfire. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from and at some point I stopped caring. Whatever was going on drew away enough Demons toward the fight that they left the portal to Hell wide open.

After what felt like another thousand miles, I finally made it to the edge of where the portal hovered threateningly above the tallest skyscrapers San Francisco had to offer. I glared defiantly into the crimson abyss of Hell and saw a world that looked exactly like I had pictured it in my head. Fires raging taller than our mountains and ash taking the place of rain. Everything about Hell’s landscape and what little I could see of the Demon-made architecture on the other side seemed to complement their physiology. Enormous towers filled with empty archways allowing the Demons to fly to whatever height they needed. Jagged, smoldering mountains that looked like their sword-like teeth. Disgusting!

I shouted a challenge to the Demons I could see flitting around up above me, but no one listened. Not wanting to waste a bullet by shooting at the portal, I shouted the same challenge to any Demons or Hell-spawn nearby. Still, there was no one around. Whatever fight I could still hear in the distance must be serious if it was a damn ghost town this close to the portal. I searched my surroundings for some way above the buildings to try and get a better view, but I found something I never expected to find. A giant crystal jammed into the ground, but still over ten feet tall. Its surface was a violent red darker than blood and it glowed with a frightening, ethereal crimson light. As I approached I started to hear it humming too. A sound barely on the lowest edges of my perception; A horrible, discordant noise that sounded like a cross between a refrigerator and a dying giraffe. Despite having been rammed through a building, it seemed to be very deliberately place since it lined up damn near perfect with the edge of the portal way above my head. As I walked cautiously up to the strange discovery, I saw an enormous creature slither out of the shadows. It looked like a black and red cobra, but was easily the size of a fire truck. It hissed and cackled at me as I approached, but didn’t immediately try to attack.

“Sssplendid, mortal. I was just craving a little ssssnack,” the creature spat.

“You know, you’re the first Demon I’ve seen in about an hour,” I retorted. “What happened to all your friends?”

“My friendsss, as you put it, are busy sssssecuring our victory in thisssss world. Ssssoon they will have destroyed the last of your people’s pathetic resissssstance,” he excitedly whispered.

I started to ignore him as I continued moving forward. As I got closer and closer to the crystal, everything seemed to get hotter. The crystal seemed to be giving off heat like a campfire without smoke. The arrogant snake-bastard still made no moves to stop me and I silently promised myself to make him regret that. After dragging myself along for what felt like an eternity, I was finally close enough to the crystal that I could just reach out and---

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you, pathetic mortal,” the snake hissed. “The Resonation Anchor could easily dissolve your entire soul and it would be a most painful death for you.”

Maybe it was just my inner child finally coming back to life after dying a hundred times in the last couple of weeks, but the more he kept talking about how dangerous it would be to touch the crystal, the more I wanted to smash it. So I did. I took the butt end of the angel-touched shotgun that had been covered in the blood of so many wretched people and Demons alike and I hit the crystal as hard as I could. Wham! With the first hit, the crystal cracked and snapped with a terrible sound that reminded me of shattering bones. The spiderweb patterns of all the strength I could muster began to weasel their way up to the very top of the crystal. As I followed the path of destruction up to the sky, my heart skipped a dozen beats. That godforsaken portal to Hell that hung over my home and the bodies of my friends and family began to snap close with a thunderous roar. That was all it took?! These Demons never stood a chance.

As the shock wave rattled against whatever windows were left in the area and my ears began to bleed, the snake Demon charged at me and wrapped around my entire body. I didn’t care. The damage had already been done. I could finally rest in peace. But, not today. The last shred of self-preservation I had started to kick in. I struggled against the suffocating strength of the gigantic creature around me and finally managed to grab my pistol and pulled the trigger as quickly as I could. One shot grazed my leg, two shots went into the snake’s body, and as he recoiled in pain the last two shots I had went into its head. With that, the damn beast was dead, but my work wasn’t finished. I still had a few hundred more people to avenge.

***

Hector “Smalls” Hernandez

Honestly-I-stopped-keeping-track-of-time-a-while-ago

June 14th

I don’t think I’ve really slept in the last few days, but I didn’t feel tired anymore. Yesterday I had no legs, no family, and no hope. At least today I have my legs back thanks to Evan. We’d been fighting together for so long now that the dawn’s early light was starting to peek over the horizon. It has been one hell of a fight that whole time. We’ve been completely surrounded by Demons and Hell-spawn for hours. There were plenty of badasses with and without guns on our side, but none of them could really compare to what Evan was doing. Maybe it was just the fact that he had wings and could fly really easily, or his longbow that was really an awesome laser gun, or maybe it was because he finally stopped giving a shit about hiding his powers and whenever someone on our side would get injured, he would just point at them and they’d get back up. Evan never gave a shit about the Hell-spawn. Dealing with them was our job. The rare times when Evan would be on the ground and the Hell-spawn would charge at him, he would just flick them aside like they were ants or flies or some shit and then fly back up into the sky to continue dealing with the massive swarm of flying Imps and Overlords that were coming our way.

As the sun started to show its face and the air around us started getting warmer with the morning, something amazing happened. Everything came to a standstill as we watched with eyes wide when the portal closed. Then about half of us got knocked over as a massive, thundering BOOM roared over the bay area.

“Holy shit,” I shouted. “Evan! What just happened?!”

Evan crashed down on top of a raging Hell-spawn and casually blasted three others as he shouted a response. “I don’t know, but it looks like an opportunity has presented itself. We’ll have to make our last stand in Oakland and make sure the Demons can’t get the portal operational again. Quickly! We need to get there as soon as possible!”

“Wait,” I shouted back. “What about Mariah?”

“Reluctant though she may be, she is more than capable of defending those under her care. And besides, the bridge crew should be here soon. We can’t afford to lose this advantage!” Evan replied.

Exasperated not only by the change in plan, but also in how long we’d have to continue fighting, I ran back inside and shouted for Mariah. It didn’t take long to find her.

“Smalls, what the hell just happened?” She asked.

“Crazy story, the portal to hell just closed and we don’t know why. We’re gonna hightail it to Oakland now and try to keep it that way. Do you think you’ll be good here?” I asked.

“I’d like to think I’ll be fine. Besides, the Demons are all mostly after Evan anyways,” Mariah sighed. “and, Smalls, in case I don’t see you again, good luck.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “hopefully it doesn’t come to that. I’m sure we’ll be fine. We’ve made it this far, right?”

I dashed back outside to join the crowd and found them patiently waiting for me while holding back a horde of thousands of Demons and Hell-spawn with their bare hands and whatever bullets they had left. As soon as Evan saw me, he started to lead the charge toward Oakland. Even though I felt like we were running as fast as Usain Bolt, my goddamn tiny legs could barely keep up. Evan, on the other hand, was getting more and more frustrated by the second. Our fastest pace was being slowed down by hundreds and hundreds of Hell-spawn while Evan barely looked like he was moving at a light jog when he flew. Not even ten minutes went by when Evan crashed back down into the ground again and shouted back at the group.

“I’m sorry, but this is taking too long. As reckless and dangerous as it might be, I’m going to fly ahead and try to draw away most of the flying Demons. Follow your hearts and you should be able to find me easily when you arrive.” Evan said. Without another word, Evan took off back into the sky and casually flew into the distance leaving our ears ringing with the staggering thunder of a sonic boom.

“Damn! He’s really been holding out on us, hasn’t he.” I said to no one in particular.

“Yeah, no kiddin’,” Malcolm responded. “Looks like we’ve got a hell of a run ahead of us, boys. Let’s get the lead out!”

***

Charles Hartford

About-ten-minutes-after-I-blew-up-the-portal o’clock

June 14th

The streets were so barren. Buildings were crumbling, cars were smoldering, and the pavement was all but destroyed. After I killed the snake, I limped through the smoking wreck of the city to see if I could find more of those damn crystals to smash. I honestly thought there would be more Demons, but an eerie silence hung over the world as I walked. Hell, I might just be going deaf after that explosion. Then I heard a second explosion, then a third, then...no, these were sonic booms tearing across the morning sky. I looked up to see what would be causing them. There were no fighter jets anymore, but sure enough I saw Evan the angel flying across the sky being chased by a dozen or so other Demons.

There wasn’t a whole lot I could do, but I shouted at the sky in Evan’s direction nonetheless. To my surprise, he started to make a beeline straight toward me as soon as I did. Within a matter of seconds he skidded to a hard stop on my street and started firing shot after shot from his bow. I limped over to nearby cover as Demons started crashing down around us.

“Evan,” I shouted. “I’m out of rounds. Got any ammo left?”

Evan didn’t say anything in reply. Instead he turned to face me with an intensity I hadn’t seen in him before. He pointed a finger at me and everything started to change. My leg stopped bleeding, I stopped feeling tired or hungry, the world became brighter, and I felt like I could see further. Whatever he did was certainly a good thing, but it couldn’t help the fact that I still had no bullets. I got grabbed from behind by an Overlord twice my size and out of instinct I smashed down on his hand. His armor buckled and his wrist snapped in what had to be the second biggest surprise of today. Another shot from Evan drove a hole straight through the Demon’s chest.

“What the hell did you do?!” I shouted to Evan.

The air around us started to grow quiet as the last of the Demons coming after Evan died. He quickly scanned the sky to see if he had anymore pursuers before addressing me. “I’m done hiding, Sergeant Hartford. If I’m going to defend your world, it’s time for me to step out of the shadows and actually do it.”

“Well, what the hell changed? Because, a week ago you had given up hope when most, if not all, of your soldiers were killed.” I asked.

“I met a few people that changed my mind along the way,” Evan sighed. “Obviously, that includes you as well. I could not have made it this far without your help. And, despite all that has happened in that same time, I’ve recently come to the realization that the tenacity of your people is not something to be ignored. It may simply be because you were never anything more than collateral damage in the Holy War between my people and the Demons, but the simple fact that your people have held on and even thrived in the face of utter destruction is a future brighter than I could have hoped for.”

“So, what changed your mind?” I asked.

“A young man, a valiant woman, and a couple of aging, but steadfast warriors,” Evan said. “However, I’m growing more and more confused with each passing minute. There is undoubtedly a massive horde of Demons trying to prevent our success here in San Francisco, but Azronuur, my counterpart in this invasion, disappeared shortly after our conflict a few hours ago and is now nowhere to be seen. What could he be planning?”

I could hear Hell-spawn approaching in the distance mixing in with the sound of my own heartbeat. “Just what the hell did you do to me? I can hear everything now and I snapped a Demon’s arm in half like it was a twig.”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t ask your permission beforehand,” Evan apologized. “But desperate times are upon us and desperate measures must be taken. I have imparted a fraction of my power to your soul. This will allow you to fight without rest for a substantial amount of time and, as you have already seen, push your physical limits far beyond where they normally rest. Since my people have failed your world and I may be all that’s left, I’ve resolved to raise an army of people like you, Hartford, that are more than willing to lay down their lives to save what is left. They are the Oathbound, counterpart to the Hell-spawn. If you do not wish to have this power, I can respect your decision, but I will absolutely try to change your mind.”

“I made it this far without it,” I snarked. “But I’m not about to turn it down.”

I took a deep breath of the burnt-out ruins of my hometown. It smelled like shit and heartache as it brought back feelings of regret and powerlessness. I couldn’t save my friends or family from this. No one could have seen this coming. We had a lot of work to do and all the heads of state from here to D.C. were probably dead, but we’d pull through. I hoped we would anyway.

“So, what’s next?” I asked.

“We may have a long road ahead of us, Sergeant Hartford, but if we walk it together, I believe we can succeed,” Evan replied. “Will you walk it with me?”

“Hell,” I chuckled. “Do you even have to ask?”