Juntto

by Michael Todd

  A loud rumble shook the ground beneath the demons’ feet. They paused in their meals and looked at their respective portals. While small demons continued jumping out, a larger portal began to tear open over the town. Heat billowed out of the portal, scorching the grasses and crisping the flesh of those dead or dying on the ground. Slowly, large demons began to grip the edges of the portal and pull themselves through into the cool air of Earth. Steam spiraled off their scaled black skin, and their mouths were stretched into terrible jagged smiles.

  One by one the giants leaped forward, running through the casualties. They swung their great arms from side to side, smashing into buildings small and large. When they found a human to devour, they would eat them, but in the meantime, destruction was the name of the game. They focused on the churches dotted throughout the town, slamming their giant fists into the steeples. Dust flew as the towers began to fall. The bells of the Catholic church were sent rolling loudly across the cement, taking out three people in their way.

  A loud explosion from a shotgun folded a smaller demon in half, and a middle-aged man in a plaid shirt reloaded his weapon. There was blood on his face as he ran through the streets, firing and reloading. He pointed his gun at every demon he passed, blasting some of the smaller ones’ heads off their shoulders. He slowed as he approached a large beast that was gnawing on a woman’s thigh. The man with the shotgun swallowed hard and racked a round. The demon saw him and growled.

  The man let fly, shooting the demon once in the side of the chest and once in the head. His bullets weren’t special metal, so the giant demon just swatted at the pain. He threw the woman’s leg to the ground and set his sights on the man in plaid. The man fumbled for more shotgun shells but he dropped them, and then it was too late. The demon lifted him and threw the man as hard as he could. The guy soared through the air, crashing into the side of a bank, then falling to the ground. He left a smear like a huge bug on the building.

  The whole town was in chaos, large demons smashing and small demons feasting. There would be no festival that day, or any day for a very long time if Moloch had his way.

  “This is Mariah Donaldson, interrupting your regularly scheduled program with continuing coverage of what is now being called the Cohasset Massacre. We’ll take you back to Skycam 8 for aerial coverage of the event. Viewer discretion is advised.”

  The screen switched to the footage with a reporter speaking over the images of the town. “This is Donald Hyatt on Skycam 8 flying over Cohasset, Massachusetts. There are large portals over the town now. We have reports of several huge demons destroying everything in their paths. The smaller demons are continuing to pull people from their homes as we watch. It’s a… What was that?”

  The image of the town shimmied side to side. The reporter could be heard mumbling in the background. “Oh shit. He’s throwing those boulders at us. Go up. Go—”

  The feed skipped and became fuzzy, but the cameraman kept filming. Below, three large demons were lobbing stones at the chopper. The helo swayed, successfully dodging them. Another boulder flew directly at the camera and the sound of the pilot and reporter screaming filled the helicopter.

  The feed froze on the face of a large demon with red eyes staring directly up at the chopper. The newscaster came back on screen, looking pale and worried. “We have lost footage from the Skycam, but we will check in and make sure that everyone is all right in just a moment. To recap the situation at hand: We have a major incursion happening as we speak in Cohasset, Massachusetts. Several portals tore open within minutes, spilling demons into the small town. There was a popular fall festival about to kick off, and we cannot know the true extent of the damage at this moment. Mercenaries are on their way, but these portal openings have taken everyone by surprise.”

  The newscaster put her finger to her ear and listened to her comm. “We are getting some statistics. The death toll is undetermined at this time, but we do know there are roughly 8,500 residents, not including the thousands who flock to the town during this season. Since the incursion occurred earlier in the day, unlike the normal nighttime attacks, we are hoping a majority of the people have gone to ground. Again, if you are in Cohasset, please take cover in any shelter you can find. Do not go outside.”

  Angie, Juntto, Calvin, and Katie rushed through the streets in a cop car driven by one of the locals. The car sped through the back gates of the airport and straight up to the hangar where their plane was kept. People were rushing around, loading the last of the ammo and equipment into the plane.

  They jumped from the vehicle and sprinted aboard the plane, then sat down in their seats and caught their breath. Even Juntto was breathing heavily, but more from the adrenaline pumping through him than anything else. Katie motioned to the flight attendant. “Please tell the pilot we need to take off as soon as the door is shut. We have no time to lose.”

  The flight attendant sprinted to the front and entered the pilot’s cabin, closing the door behind her. Cohasset, Massachusetts, was approximately two hundred and thirty-six miles away, and the plane had to get there as quickly as it could. They would need to land, then take a military chopper to the town. They would be cutting it close, but that was the best that they could do.

  “Rock and roll,” Juntto yelled, still dressed like Far Cry with his purple suit and white hair.

  Pandora sniffed as the plane took off. This is going to be a big one. Prepare yourself. Think Incursion Day.

  Katie shook her head. Every day is Incursion Day now.

  No one spoke during the entire ride. They were too focused on what they were going to have to do. When they arrived at the local Cohasset airport, Brock and his team were already there. They were checking their gear near one of the choppers, and Katie waved to them as they boarded. They knew what was ahead of them. She put on her headphones and waited for the chopper door to be shut before giving the pilot a thumbs-up.

  “Just to tell you, I’ve made a trip over there already. I’m going to drop you on the outskirts of town. Some of the larger demons took out a news chopper earlier. They have their eyes out for helos in the area,” the pilot warned.

  Katie understood. “That’s fine. I want to get a good idea of what I’m walking into before I do it anyway.”

  Pandora snorted. No crazy jumps from the chopper this time?

  I have a team to think about now. I gotta make sure they all get to the zone safely.

  Pandora sighed. We need to get them wings.

  As the chopper flew over the small town and circled around to land, Katie could see the massive amount of warfare going on in the area. The cops and local reserve units were on the scene blasting everything they could, but there were so many demons.

  The teams jumped out of the helo and ran toward the line of vehicles waiting to hustle them into town. Katie hugged Angie around the shoulders. “Keep safe. You got this.”

  She took off ahead of the vehicles, spreading her wings and flying into the carnage.

  20

  When they reached the town, the team jumped from their vehicles and raced into the fight. They loosed their weapons and began to blast any demon they saw. Brock and his team went to the right toward the cemetery, hoping to slaughter the demons as they flooded out of that portal. Angie and Juntto took Main Street. Calvin moved toward the art building, pulling his large swords from his back and slicing heads off as he ran.

  Above them, Katie circled to the hardest-hit area and landed. She pulled out Tom and Harry and fired, taking chunks out of the skulls of several large demons congregated there. More demons rushed into the hospital and were met by screams of panic. The demons were slowly picking away at the patients as they went through the floors. Katie’s heart fell when she heard the frightened shrieks coming from the place.

  Pandora was confused. Why are you struggling with this? What’s wrong with you?

  Katie breathed heavily as she jumped onto one of the demons’ backs, pulling its head to one side and jamming Tom in the thing’s skull. Th
e fiend’s head exploded. Nothing. Nothing is wrong. I’m just a bit more sensitive to the carnage today, I suppose. I’m getting tired of this bullshit. These demons think they can just kill our people. Eventually, this has to stop.

  Pandora quieted down. She knew Katie wasn’t talking about her, but she figured her attention was better spent amping Katie up as much as she could.

  The teams battled through the incursion, trying to take down the maximum number of demons in their initial sweeps. There were so many they could barely see down the streets, much less figure out who was where and who needed help. A serious extermination of demons was needed, but the portals were still open. More beasts took the place of those the mercs slaughtered.

  Brock walked along the street blasting his gun. He carefully stepped over the mangled bodies and random parts strewn everywhere. He stopped halfway down the street leading from the cemetery and stared at a kid’s lemonade stand that had been knocked over in the rush. Lemonade dripped to the ground, mixing with a splash of bright red blood and pooling in the grass. There were no bodies to be seen, but something terrible had happened there.

  Calvin ran through the tall grass behind the art center, slicing through the smaller demons chowing down their afternoon snacks. He stopped abruptly, staring at the tangle of pink lace and blood. He swallowed hard and gritted his teeth, slicing as hard as he could into a demon chewing on a small leg.

  Across town, Katie crept through the streets. This side of town had already been hit hard. She could feel every muscle in her body tingling as she waded through the carnage. She was too late to stop it. She had prepared herself for Incursion Day, but what she was finding was ten times worse. There were bodies everywhere, some frozen in fear, others shielding the children still lying in their arms. Her heart thumped so loudly that even Pandora could hear it, and the angel in her was begging to come out.

  There was too much destruction for the angel to be silent.

  She stopped as she turned the corner into a residential street. A group of small demons was huddled ahead of her, snarling and snapping at each other. She moved quietly, trying to see what they were surrounding. She stepped off the curb and caught sight of what used to be a body. The demons were fighting over it like crazed hyenas, ripping the flesh from the bones and attacking each other for every last morsel.

  “Like there isn’t enough to go around, you fuckers,” she grumbled to herself as she approached.

  She lifted her guns up and began to shoot, making sure to aim for their heads. The six demons tried to flee, but she took them down where they stood. In a moment there was only ash. She looked away from the mutilated body on the ground.

  Pandora’s voice was soft in her ear. Wait.

  I’ve seen enough.

  No. Listen.

  From her right, Katie could hear whimpering. Human whimpering. She tracked the sound through the yard to a small shed. Carefully, she reached for the door and opened it. Inside, a mother was huddled with her two young boys. The woman cowered in fear until recognition fell over her. “Help us.”

  Katie nodded and bent down. “You get on my back. Boys, climb into my arms.”

  Katie spread her wings outside the small shack, a beacon of hope in the carnage. She took the children in her arms, and their mother climbed between her wings.

  Katie’s wings lifted them over the town. She held the kids to her so they wouldn’t see the devastation below and flew to the hill where they had set up emergency services. She landed, and the mother embraced her children.

  Katie left them to fly back to the scene.

  She landed in the front yard of that house and took a step toward the sidewalk. Loud barking and wailing echoed from the back of the house. She burst through the gate and found that a hulking demon had cornered a Lab. Instantly her eyes flared. Maybe it was the children, maybe it was the blood all around her, or maybe it was the whining of the terrified dog, but Katie was furious. She flew through the air at full speed and slammed her fist into the demon’s head. She pulled out her short sword and grabbed the demon by the top of the head.

  Katie gritted her teeth and looked it in the eye. “Don’t fuck with the dogs.”

  She sliced the demon’s throat, and it turned to ash. When she opened her arms, the dog rushed to her. She flew to the top of the hill where emergency services were gathered. One of the boys she had just saved was still standing there looking down at the city. Katie landed in front of him, and he yelled with joy. “Benji. Thank you!”

  The dog whimpered and licked the boy’s face. Katie sighed and took off again, ready to find as many survivors as she could.

  Juntto laughed as he pulled a demon’s skull in half, the brains and blood oozing down in globs to his feet. “That’s what you fuckers get for playing against me on Halo. Calling me fucking names? Who’s a fucked-up noob now?”

  Juntto knew the demons weren’t actually the ones playing him, but he could use that as an excuse to get all his anger out. He faced another demon with a huge overbite. “You, demon! I shall name you LIckmyBalllzzz and imagine you are the pain in the ass who mocked me during my second time playing Destiny!”

  He cracked the demon over his knee and ripped him apart at the waist, throwing the pieces to the ground. He shifted right, plowing through a group of the fiends, swinging his huge hands. Demon parts splattered against houses and into yards. Juntto’s ragged laughter could be heard for blocks. He didn’t even need any weapons; he had his hands to break the necks of every beast he came across.

  As he wiped the black goop from his cheek, he spotted a demon trying to make a break for it. “Oh, fuck no, little shit-goblin. You’re mine.”

  He ran full speed, soaring over a privacy fence and landing right on top of the demon. The two of them tumbled wildly across the ground and came to a skidding halt in someone’s backyard. He reared his fists back and began to beat the demon senseless. He knew it wasn’t going to kill him, but he wanted to inflict a little pain first.

  When the demon had all he could take, Juntto pulled a knife from his belt and stuck it into the demon’s chest, zigzagging down its sternum until its intestines flopped to the ground. The demon squealed and burst to ash, leaving Juntto laughing, covered in blood and dust. He went to step forward and stopped.

  In the center of the backyard was a swimming pool, but instead of beach chairs, float toys, and blue water, it was a charnel pit. The water was red with blood, and the pool was stuffed with human bodies and pieces of bodies. On top was a young kid with long blond hair. He was stout but muscled—like a Viking.

  Something inside Juntto snapped. He gripped his fists tight and raised them in the air, screaming wordlessly at the top of his lungs. Lightning shot across the sky above him.

  He lowered his arms, breathing heavily.

  The frost giant kicked the fence down and left the backyard to find his prey. “Every last one of you will meet Juntto’s wrath.”

  Calvin kicked the door to the art center open and lifted his gun, looking right, left, and overhead. He had killed about fifteen demons outside, but there had to be more fiends lurking in the shadows inside the building. The art center was relatively unscathed compared to the human blood splattered across the artifacts. Small scratches could be seen on the floor, left there by demons’ claws, but everything else was as it had been just moments before the incursion. In fact, it was so still in there it was almost creepy. It sent chills up Calvin’s spine.

  He carefully opened the door to one of the back hallways and began to search. He looked into each room, making sure there were no demons hiding there. Every room was clear. Finally, Calvin stood staring at the last door at the end of the hallway. He crept closer, paused, and pressed his ear to the door. He could hear slight movement and quiet whispering. That was when Calvin realized he had found survivors.

  “Open the door. My name is Calvin. I’m a mercenary,” he shouted.

  The door slowly opened, and Calvin let out a breath. There were at least twenty kids and
a dozen or so adults hiding in the dark room. Calvin put his hands up and calmed them down. “I want you all to stay in here. I’m going to close these doors and then barricade you in. When the demons are gone I will come back for you, okay?”

  They all nodded and an older gentleman reached up to take Calvin’s hand. “Thank you, young man. We are in your debt.”

  Calvin closed the door behind him and pushed desks, cabinets, and anything else he could find down the hall, stacking them all tightly against the door.

  The sounds of scratching behind him gave him pause and he spun, his guns out. Six demons stood in front of him, now snarling and screeching. One stepped forward and Calvin pulled the trigger, blasting half its head off. “Back up, motherfucker.”

  The other demons lunged, attacking Calvin ferociously. He kicked a demon in the chest and then shot it between the eyes. He emptied his magazine, taking down three more. They dropped hard and turned to ash, clearing Calvin’s way to the last one. The beast turned to run, but Calvin shook his head.

  “Where do you think you’re going, little fucker?”

  Calvin jumped forward and grabbed its ankles, slamming it to the ground. He climbed up and straddled the demon, then looked into its beady red eyes. The demon bucked, swinging its arm and slicing Calvin across the cheek.

  Calvin put his hand to the wound, his eyes flashing red. “Oh, hell no. That is my motherfucking moneymaker.”

  He grabbed a dagger from his belt and kept stabbing the demon in the throat until the thing’s head was almost completely severed from its body. He spat into the demon’s ashes and sheathed his dagger. “Fuck with a man’s face, and that’s what you fucking get.”