Chapter Eleven

          “So, what the hell just happen to Ted?” Vikki asked, standing toe-to-toe with Sergeant Mathis.

          Mathis answered stone faced, “He was possessed.”

          “What the hell does that mean?” Vikki asked, not letting up on the questions.

          “Look, sit down,” Mathis said, pointing to the open bench next to Jenna, “and I’ll tell you everything I know.”

          Vikki sat.

          “The weapon the military launched is a metaphysical compound. It was developed by Dr. Jack Edith...” Mathis began, instantly being cut off by Jenna.

          “I know him. Isn’t he the guy who was big in Demonology and paranormal research?” she asked.

          “That’s him,” Mathis answered, continuing to share what he knew about the weapon. “When he first pitched his project to the white suites in Washington, everyone thought he was crazy. He wanted to use the forces of darkness as a real military weapon–everyone got a big laugh out of that. His demonstration was to summon demons from hell and make a pact with them to destroy our enemies,” Mathis said, still stone faced.

          “And is this what happened? The missile somehow managed to summon demons?” Jenna asked, butting in again.

          “Of course not!” Mathis spat back. “Dr. Edith was a certifiable nut-job when it came to supernatural stuff. A few years after his theories on supernatural beings were discredited, he began working on this weapon. Somehow, the bastard managed to create man made entities.”

          “How the hell did he manage to do that?” Vikki asked.

          “I have no idea,” Mathis admitted. “The research team is currently working on that as well as a way to stop them. Right now, we know of at least twenty Demons running around–we don’t know how to stop them.”

          “Why not just ask Dr. Edith?” Ramon asked, chiming in as he stepped through the little door and took a seat next to the girl. “It’s his weapon, no?”

          “He died shortly after the missile detonated,” Mathis said. “Look, that’s all I know. Until we figure out what they want with the people they’re after, we need to keep Ramon as far away from them as possible. For some reason, they take possession of someone when they drink warm water. Ted drank from a water bottle then he passed out and that’s how I knew the creature got to him.”

          “How does it get into the water?” Vikki asked.

          “Beat’s me. We’re dealing with something that acts like a demon, talks like a demon, and even reacts like a demon–only, it’s not a demon. No exorcism can be performed to exorcise the demon; it has nothing to do with the balance of good versus evil. The only thing we know for sure is that it hides in water.”

          “So, we can’t drink water?” Jenna asked, already feeling the urge to drink.

          “You can, but if the water feels warm dump it,” Mathis answered.

          They sat in silence as Frost continued en route to their supply depot; building 228 was in his sights, so he pulled the truck off to the side and came to an erupted stop parallel with the building. The large two story structure had a wood sign picketed to the ground that read, Sonic Electrical, and a blue canopy extended out from the first story entrance, giving them shelter from the cloud.

          “Were here,” Frost said.

          “Copper, C.J.–go do some recon. Report back ASAP,” Mathis ordered.

          Copper and C.J. put their masks on and slipped out through the passenger's side door. Entering the building, the two men had their weapons drawn as they searched in all directions for movement–they slowly advanced forward into the dim building.

          “Frost,” Mathis called out, “get your shit together. If everything is clear we’re going to hold up here for a while. This place was cleared out earlier; we shouldn’t run into any trouble.”

          Frost detached the radio from the truck–the battery was now fully charged. Under his seat was a black bag. He stuffed the radio in it and zipped it up before gathering more things around him and inserted them into the bag’s side pockets.

          C.J. and Copper appeared at the opened door. “Clear,” they said simultaneously.

          “Okay, let’s move out. Copper, C.J.–take point,” Mathis ordered.

          Slowly everyone stumbled out of the truck and walked through the double pane glass doors. Inside, was a large open area with a reception desk directly in front of them. In the middle of the room were two couches–parallel to each other with a coffee table in the middle, and magazines were spewed across the top. The front desk was in the middle of the building; to the left and right of their position, was a long hallway filled with offices.

          “How do we get to the basement?” Mathis asked.

          Copper pointed to a map that was pinned to a nearby wall. It indicated there was a staircase that led to the second floor and the basement at the end of the left hallway–they walked in that direction, with their weapons trained in a fire position in front of them.

          The offices around them were deserted. Some had mugs next to the computers with coffee still in them. Doughnuts and other pastries remained half eaten next to them. Before they knew it, they were standing in front of the stairs.

          Carefully the team walked down the metal steps. At the bottom, they were stopped by a closed door. Without second guessing, Copper swung it open, revealing a security room–computer panels and monitors were lined up on the wall and a row of seats lined up the far wall, and next to them were lockers. In the middle of the room was a table with ammunition and gas jugs piled on top. The fire team quickly began stocking their weapons with rounds and filling their empty vests with fully loaded magazines–Copper found three more magazines with the special blue rounds in them.

          “Go ahead and take a seat,” Mathis said to the three standing survivors. They sat down and Jenna crossed her legs, still trying to be lady-like. Mathis glanced at the lockers. He walked toward them and opened a door to reveal a security uniform hanging from a coat hanger. A clear, plastic bag hung over the garment signifying that it had just come back from the cleaners. He snatched the pants and handed them to Jenna. “See if these fit you.”

          Jenna eyeballed them. “Yeah, they should be fine. Where can I change?”

          Sergeant Mathis stared at his unit. Instantly, they all turned away from Jenna–Ramon did the same from his position. “You have privacy now,” he said as he turned his back to her.

          Jenna quickly put on the pants. They were a bit too big, but manageable. “Thank you,” she said in a sweet voice.

          The radio inside Frost’s bag began to squawk and muffled screams blared out of the speaker. He quickly fumbled with the bag until the handheld part of the radio was in his hand.

          “Quick reaction force! QRF!” the voice on the other side of the radio yelled.

          Distress call, Mathis thought.

          “All possible units report to the area around building 250. Repeat, all possible reinforcements report to building 250,” the voice continued over rifle fire and explosions.

          The fire team stared at Sergeant Mathis who was thinking about whether he should abandon his current orders and answer the QRF.

          “Push them back,” the radio said.

          Another voice said clearly, “Oh, my god, help! They’re all around us!”

          Mathis stared at the three remaining Bakker & Sons employees–they stared back puzzled.

          “Anyone, please answer!” the radio squawked again.

          Mathis took the radio in his hand, “This is Shadow Team, we hear you–on route to your location over.”

          The team heard the order and finished gathering their things. They knew they were going to help their comrades, but they still needed to hear it from the Sergeant.

          Ramon, Vikki, and Jenna sat in shock. They were taken from one building only to now be abandoned in another–one that they were not familiar with.

          Mathis turned to face them, “We’re answering this distress call. Manpower is needed to fend off an attack. You’re safe in here–this building was cleared out earlier. Don’t worry, we’ll be back soon.” He handed Ramon another handgun with two magazines. “Get them in the head. If you find one with silver eyes stay away from it. In fact, don’t leave this room until we come back understood?”

          Ramon took the weapon and examined it nodding his head: yes.

          “Move out, men,” Mathis ordered, and the team opened the door and stepped out. Mathis lingered for another moment; the older man was very tired and really wanted to enjoy a rest, but duty called and on this day, it was always a matter between life and undeath. He stared back at the Bakker & Sons employees as he edged closer to the door. Guilt was starting to get to him, but there was a distress call. Finally, Mathis sighed and walked through the door letting it close behind him.

Chapter Ten

          The truck vibrated as it drove over pot holes on the road, shaking everyone in the truck. Hunter, C.J., and Copper watched Sergeant Mathis as he stared at Ted’s motionless body.

          “Ramon, get in the passenger seat next to Frost. Hunter open the door; we’re going to have to throw him out of the truck.”

          Vikki and Jenna gasped in shock at the sergeants words.

          “We can’t just throw him out into the street,” Vikki said.

“We have no other option–he’s already possessed by the Demon and he'll soon wake up and go after Roman.” Hunter began untying the straps that kept the door closed.

“Me?” Ramon asked, spooked. “Why does it want me?”

“We’ll explain later, just go up to the front. Now!” Mathis ordered.

Ramon ran through the miniature door and took the seat next to Frost. Hunter had the door half way open, Copper and C.J. dragged the body closer to the slightly opened door, and Mathis had his weapon trained on Ted’s body–he prayed that he wouldn’t have to fire. Discharging his weapon in such an enclosed space would deafen them all, but being deaf was a lot better than being dead.

Copper knelt down to finish pushing Ted’s body through the door, which he almost accomplished when his eyes flew open. Copper jumped back in fright as Ted’s newly obtained, ruby red eyes looked straight at him.

“Demon!” Copper managed to yell before the Demon wrapped his hand around his throat; everyone jumped back at the sudden movement. The Demon’s grip tightened around his throat, making it hard for him to breath–Mathis hesitated to fire his weapon. Vikki and Jenna were ghost white and sat breathless toward the back of the truck.

“Move and I rip his throat out,” the Demon said, getting to its feet.

The Demon and Sergeant Mathis stared at each other. “Let him go and we’ll give you the one you want,” Mathis negotiated, looking down at Hunter. He was close to the Demon, a good distance to knock it off balance. The Demon didn’t hesitate to let Copper go and the soldier fell to the ground gasping, taking in deep breath of air.

Hunter rapidly pulled the chain on the door and it rose to the top–he kicked the Demon on the left side of its knee. The creature bent sideways briefly, yelping in pain–it looked down at Hunter who held onto the chain. Mathis dashed forward and kicked the Demon across the chest and the creature flew out of the truck with force, smacking to the ground. Black goo dripped out of its mouth as it lay on the ground, arms akimbo; Ted’s face was now covered in road rash.

Hunter quickly began to release the straps and close the shutter door.

“Wait,” Sergeant Mathis ordered. He stared out at the Demon, who was slowly getting up to its feet. A large bolt of lightning shot out of the sky aimed for the Demon. When the bolt made contact, a large bubble appeared around the creature and a brilliant purple light show danced around the creature as the bubble got bigger and bigger.

Sergeant Mathis watched, dumbfounded at the sphere in front of him. It seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, but that might have just been from the truck’s advancement forward. “Hunter, closed the door,” he said and the shutter door continued falling until it was closed.

The Demon, still incased in its bubble, blinked as the truck sped out of sight. The sphere around him began to subside and it slowly collapsed on itself. The bubbled morphed into a baseball sized ball that he cupped in his hand and he shot the purple ball of light into the air. The cloud sucked it up as it became part of the storm again.

* * *

          Mr. Jake Lafferty found himself lying in a puddle of disgusting, murky water–his eyes slowly opened. He had no memory of what had happened, but the physical pain that his body went through was still present. The Demon hadn’t fully regenerated the man’s body before leaving it and taking possession of Ted. The old vice president wore only a black pair of Armani dress pants and was bare-chested and shoeless; Mr. Lafferty rose to his feet and searched his surroundings.

“Where am I?” he whispered, his words carrying into the air.

Panic and alarm ran through his system as he realized he was outside. The dark cloud above him hummed quietly and stalked his every move. He wasn't far from the Bakker & Sons building, so running and panicking, Mr. Lafferty made his way back toward the building and took one step through the doorway. He paused in shock as he stared at the mangled and spoiled remains of the lightning victims that were spewed across the floor–the walls were black and covered with a soot like substance. He heard a loud crash coming from outside, which scared him causing him to advance further into the building.

Stepping over severed limbs, Lafferty made his way down the devastated hallway–the smell coming from the bodies made him gag. No longer able to control his nausea, he regurgitated inside an office through a broken window. One body lay disgorged inside the office which made him vomit more and black sludge and his breakfast came rushing out of his nose and mouth; he backed away and continued heading down the hall. He didn’t know where he was going, he just wanted to get somewhere safe. He turned right at the end of the hall, passing the keypad he'd once used to alert the lightning victims to his presences. He cursed Jenna for suggesting they get in contact with the creatures. She couldn’t have known, he thought.

Making his way down the hall, he came to the warehouse doors. Not remembering how or why he was outside and shirtless, Mr. Lafferty walked in. The room looked safe and secure–he headed for Jesus little corner office.

As he walked toward the office, a familiar moan blared from inside the room. Lafferty froze. Stumbling out of the doorway came Jesus, the former maintenance manager. A confused look washed over his darkened face as his gaze turned wildly to Lafferty–he backed away slowly and began searching around for a weapon.

“Stay back, Jesus. I’ll have no problem killing you,” Lafferty warned.

Jesus didn't listen to the warning and continued advancing forward, moving slowly, each step seeming to knock him off balance. Outstretching his arms toward Lafferty, Jesus moaned, exposing his black gums.

An empty pallet lay on the ground a few feet behind Lafferty. He bent down to lift the wood, but it was too heavy for his fragile frame; crying in pain, Mr. Lafferty abandoned trying to raise the pallet. His brain began to thump inside his head, but he ignored the ache and continued searching for a weapon. Just like Jesus, Mr. Lafferty was now shambling around the room, trying to keep a good distance between himself and the monster.

Mr. Lafferty came to a corner wall and looked straight ahead–staring back at him was a glass panel that held a red axe. Next to the axe was a miniature fire extinguisher, one used for small fires and overheating machinery. He reached for the extinguisher and pulled it off of the wall. Using the butt of the red cylinder, Mr. Lafferty smashed the glass and shards fell to the cold floor, some hitting his bare feet.

Jesus was now within reach of Lafferty and managed to place his arms on his shoulder. A soft moan flowed out of Jesus’ throat that sounded like he said, Help me.

The sound of Jesus’ cry and the feel of his hands made chills run up and down Mr. Lafferty's spine. He quickly swung around, extinguisher in hand, and struck Jesus on the side of the head. The impact left a dent in the side of his face, and dark blood and teeth flew out of his mouth and arched in the air. The creature staggered to the side and tripped over some boxes that lay scattered on the floor. Mr. Lafferty quickly spun around and snatched the axe from its resting place. He faced the beast that was once Jesus; it had difficulty getting up to his feet, but Lafferty approached, axe in hand.

Jesus moaned again, this time it was clear that he breathed, Please, help me.

Mr. Lafferty paused with the axe in his grip; Jesus finally rose to his feet and stood stationary. They shared a glance before Jesus made the first move. He slowly began to walk toward Lafferty with his arms outstretched, and not knowing what else to do, Mr. Lafferty let the creature approach.

“Are you still in there, Jesus?” Mr. Lafferty asked, but the beast kept walking toward him.

Jesus exposed what was left of his teeth–he was within reach of Lafferty. Again the creature moaned in the same eerie, air-filled voice. Without much warning, the creature lunged for Lafferty, his breath making its way to his nostrils. The smell of death and decay was potent in the air. Mr. Lafferty used the long handle of the axe to stop Jesus mid-stride and kept the monster at bay. He thrashed and attempted to sink his teeth into any piece of exposed flesh he thought he could reach. Lafferty raised his leg and kicked Jesus off balance, leaving a bloodied footprint on his tatter clothes. His feet, cut by the glass on the floor, squirted blood around the area, but he didn't feel any pain–adrenaline had taken its time, but had finally kicked in.

Raising the axe above his head, Lafferty brought it crashing down on Jesus back, severing his spine and he wiggled on the ground like a worm being hooked as bait–blood began to ooze out of the wound on his back. Lafferty raised the axe again, hitting the same spot and more blood began to pour out. He retracted the axe and took a deep agonizing breath; Jesus’ body no longer moved. Mr. Lafferty’s nerves began to calm when suddenly another moan left Jesus’ diaphragm. The creature began to trash and wiggle in any direction possible–it’s severed spine not letting it get back up. Mr. Lafferty headed toward the creatures head, axe raised high. He roared as he brought the pointed edge down on Jesus’ head, squishing it like deflating a balloon. Panting hard, Lafferty withdrew the axe, bringing strands of brain with it. He shook the axe, trying to dislodge a black strand of brain matter from the edge and the piece of flesh nudged off, hitting the floor with a smack. Mr. Lafferty’s nausea returned, but there was nothing left in his stomach to regurgitate.

Looking at Jesus’ lifeless body, the animosity he'd once felt toward the Hispanic immigrant was gone–he apologized softy to the corpse. Knowing that Jesus was a religious man, Mr. Lafferty did him the favor and said a prayer.

Blood continued to gush out of his foot wounds and he spotted a small white box with a red cross on the front.  As the adrenaline began to leave Mr. Lafferty’s system his feet and body aches returned, and using the axe as a makeshift cane, Lafferty limped toward the box. He quickly took out alcohol wipes and gauze to treat his foot and leg wounds–his feet felt better once the bandages were applied. He felt sweat beginning to run down his face and a burning sensation ran down his face as the sweat trickled. Using a spare wipe, he rubbed it on his face and excruciating pain followed where it touched, and he began to panic.

Mr. Lafferty ran inside Jesus’ former office, where a small mirror was pinned on the wall in front of the desk. He stood in front of it and knelt down to see his face–in horror, Mr. Lafferty stared at his reflection. Half the skin was gone and a bloody, pus filled face stared back at him.