Hell on Earth Trilogy: The Complete Apocalyptic Saga

by Iain Rob Wright

The Yakuza waved an arm at the several hundred survivors behind him. “And you’ll have an army to help you.”

  Takao smiled. Before long they would be legion.

  Nancy Granger

  Lewiston, Maine

  Moving away from Brunswick had led them to Lewiston, where Nancy was glad to see a heavy Army presence on the near side of the river. The entire road was taken up with soldiers and they had been forced to abandon their car. It beggared believe that so many trucks and so many troops were able to assemble so quickly. She had always thought of the Army as being abroad, but the truth was that they were at home too—enough to get a lot of killing done. Perhaps things were not as hopeless as she had assumed.

  Although, until she heard from Kyle and Alice, things were as bleak as could be. And she couldn’t shake the memory of defeated soldiers retreating through her home town of Durham.

  Clark seemed to sense her anxiety and kept her from panicking with well-timed hugs and kisses. The feel of another person was surprisingly calming, yet she was upset by a desire to have her ex-husband hold her. Guy was a man of action and strength. He would know what to do right now, yet Clark seemed to have nothing other than sympathy to offer. He was a gentle man, a good man, but right now he was an ineffectual man. She missed Guy, and that brought her great turmoil.

  Yet, she was eternally grateful that her ex-husband was heading towards their children and not to her. If anything happened to Alice or Kyle she would no longer be able to live.

  “Can you believe all this?” said Clark, pointing towards a massive tank that probably had a girl’s name painted on it somewhere. Several soldiers sat on its sides as it rolled along slowly. “We’re going to kick those bastards straight back to Hell.”

  Nancy gave a grim smile, less confident than her husband.

  A soldier with a clipboard came racing over and barked loudly. “Out the way, we have troops moving through here.”

  “Back towards Brunswick?” Nancy asked.

  “Of course. The enemy are still there and we need to contain them before they get a chance to spread out.”

  “But they beat us back. I saw the men retreating.”

  “We were underprepared, ma’am, but now we know what we’re up against and will get the better of future engagements.”

  Clark waved a fist. “You go get ‘em, man.”

  The soldier was impassive. “Please head to Leeroy Jenkins High School if you need assistance. The refugee centre is being set up there.”

  “Refugee?” said Nancy. “We’re not refugees.”

  “Can you go home?”

  “No, it’s not safe.”

  “Then you are a refugee. Martial Law is in affect within the state of Maine, ma’am, and all civilians are ordered to either their homes or a designated refugee centre.”

  Nancy folded her arms, not quite sure why she was irritated. “And if we refuse?”

  “You’ll be arrested. Now move along.”

  Clark grabbed her. “Come on, hun. It’ll be the best place to be. We came here for safety anyway.”

  Nancy started moving, waiting until the soldier was out of earshot to reply. “I know. I just don’t like being ordered around by the military. They have no right to give commands.”

  “They do during martial law. Anyway, they’re about to risk their lives for us, so give them a break.”

  “You’re right. Come on then, let’s go to school.”

  Leeroy Jenkins was about half mile down the block, and when they found it Nancy covered her mouth in shock. There was barely room to move as even the front steps of the building were overflowing with people. The front lawn housed gurneys full of moaning people calling out to one of the small handful of doctors buzzing between them. Other casualties wandered back and forth in a daze, wounds ranging from broken arms to gouged out eyes. The smell of blood and urine bleached the air.

  “I feel sick.”

  Clark wrapped an arm around her and squeezed. “I’m sure these people will be okay. Things will get figured out.”

  Nancy turned on him. “Figured out? Clark, monsters are attacking the earth. People are dead and dying—children. My children are in danger.”

  Clark blinked as if hurt. Kyle and Alice were his kids too, biological or not. “I know, Nancy. Don’t you think I know? But what can we do except hope for the best?”

  “We need to do more than hope, Clark.”

  “You mean fight? Where would the sense be in that? We’re not soldiers.”

  “Neither is Guy, but he’s doing something.”

  Clark shook his head. “Jeez, Nancy. I know you’re hurting, but jeez.”

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I just hate being a witness to all this. I feel so powerless. I…” She started sobbing. “I just want to hear their voices again. I want to hear them so badly.”

  Clark held her again. “Alice and Kyle are okay. I know it. Let’s just go inside and try to find out more.”

  They pushed through the mass of bodies and made it into the school’s main building. Inside, the misery was just as pervasive. There were less injured people, but the shell-shock had taken its toll on just about everyone. It was like walking through an army of ghosts—expressionless faces and faraway stares.

  A woman reached out a hand to Nancy as she passed, tears wetting her cheeks. “My daughter? Have you seen a little girl named Samantha? She has on a pink scarf and a My Little Pony T-shirt. We were in Brunswick. I… lost her.”

  Nancy dodged the woman’s hand and shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. We came from Durham.”

  The woman turned away sobbing.

  “That poor woman,” said Clark.

  There were no soldiers in the school, but several men and women wore name tags and held clipboards. Each one of them gave a direction, which Nancy and Clark followed until they were inside the school’s gymnasium. The bowels of Hell.

  Maybe it was the sporting atmosphere of the basketball courts, but the temper inside was manic. People shoved and fought one another as if one opposing teams. Women screamed and men swore. What they were fighting over was unclear, but it was obvious that things were quickly heading towards chaos. A teenager, only a few years older than Kyle, was kicking an older man on the floor and yelling at him for being a bitch.

  Nancy looked at Clark imploringly. “Do something!”

  “Like what? It’s nothing to do with us. Let’s just keep our heads down.”

  “That man needs help.”

  “Not our help.”

  Nancy looked at her husband as if her were a stranger. Her mouth fell open but she didn’t talk. Instead, she shoved Clark aside and went to help the man herself. She shoved the teenager aside, catching him enough by surprise that he stumbled. He raised a fist but stopped when he saw she was a woman. Least he had that tiny amount of honour.

  “Leave him alone, you animal,” she growled.

  The teenager looked down at the old man and sneered. “This fucker used to shag my mum before she caught him cheating on her.”

  Nancy stood between the older man and the teenager. “And you think that because things are chaotic you can take advantage and attack him?”

  “Yeah, that’s exactly it.”

  “Well, you can’t. If we all turn on each other, we’re screwed. Just because the police are busy right now, doesn’t mean the laws don’t apply.”

  “Look around you, lady. There is no law anymore. I can do whatever the fuck I want. Who’s going to stop me?”

  Nancy took a step towards the teenager. “I will.”

  The youngsters chuckled. “Good luck with that. Think I can handle one bitch.”

  “And her husband,” said Clark, moving up beside her. “I might not look like much, but you wanna see me go when some little fuckwit threatens my wife.”

  The teenager glared, glanced at the older man still moaning on the floor, and then huffed. “Watch your backs.”

  Clark went to hold Nancy as the teenagers stomped away, but she ducked and
went to help the injured man. “You okay, sir?”

  It obviously hurt him to talk, but he clutched his ribs and nodded. “Yes, thank you. I understand the boy being angry. What he said is true.”

  Nancy helped the man to his feet. “Doesn’t give him the right to hurt you.”

  “Thank you for helping me. Nobody else seemed to care.”

  Nancy looked around at the other people, some of them watching but most too possessed by their own situations. “I can’t believe people are acting like this. Don’t they understand what’s going on?”

  The injured man nodded. “I think it’s because they understand very well that they are acting like this. What the boy said is true, the rules don’t matter much right now. We’re going to be as much a threat to ourselves as the monsters.”

  Clark sighed.

  Nancy shook her head. “I won’t let that happen.”

  The injured man offered out his hand. “Name’s George, and if you need my help just let me know. I’m from Lewiston, and I know some of the people here—evidently.”

  Nancy shook the man’s hand and smiled. “I do need your help, George. First, I need you to find me a phone. Then, I want you to gather all of the people you know that don’t want to attack you. If I’m stuck in this mess for a while at least, then I am going to see people behave.”

  “What are you planning, Nancy?” asked Clark.

  She looked at her husband and wished he was stronger. “If the police are gone, then we will just have to police ourselves. Time to stop being a witness and start being a doer.”

  Clark did not look happy, but George smiled.

  Cheese Burger

  New York

  “Hey, a cheese swiss. Nice!” Jim reached into the deli counter and plucked out the 6-inch sub. His fellow Cheese Burgers were munching on bagels they had found in the ovens. The owner of the deli had run off when the attack on New York started. The Cheese Burger comedy troupe had been filming a skit outside at the time, and it had been a stroke of luck that the owner had left the door wide open, because it had provided refuge when an army of demons came marching down the avenue hours.

  The skit they had been performing was a prank based around fake interviews with passers by. Sully had been in the middle of asking a young Brooklinite whether or not she would hold his pet goldfish while he performed his sound checks when the city had erupted. The irony was they had been intending to film beside the gate in Central Park, but the volume of people made it impossible. The streets elsewhere had been pretty deserted, but they had a schedule to keep so they went with it and kept on working. Filming outside the deli had saved their lives because Central Park had been a bloodbath. They watched the whole thing on Mitch’s tablet until it became clear that the horror was about to show itself first hand. Most of the horror seemed to be happening in Manhattan, but there were plenty of monsters elsewhere it seemed.

  When T had seen people screaming at the end of the street, he had bid the group inside the deli. There, they had locked the doors and pushed a heavy glass counter in front of it. Fortunately, the shop was narrow and the single window was frosted. The horror passed them by without notice, flowing through the streets for hours and hours until, finally, things had gone quiet. Night fell and day began. Now they were less scared and more hungry.

  Jim pulled a face, his bulging eyes popping out above his aquiline nose. “Stale. I can’t eat this.”

  Sully, the chubby one of the group shrugged his shoulders. “Better than starving, man. You shouldn’t waste food.”

  “This isn’t food. It’s like something on the bottom of my shoe.”

  “Think we should head out now?” said Mitch nervously.

  T shook his head, greasy long hair bunching out behind each ear. “We’re safe here. Why leave?”

  “Because I don’t want to live in a deli,” said Sully,

  “Especially one with stale subs,” said Jim. “I can’t live like this.”

  There was silence for a moment, and then Mitch crept up to the window. It was impossible to see clearly, but there was no movement outside the panes. The street outside seemed to be deserted. “I think it’s over now.”

  Sully moved up beside Mitch at the window. “Where would we go?”

  “Head for the nearest precinct. I want to see cops, you know?”

  Jim laughed. “Last time T saw cops they cornholed him.”

  “Ohh,” said T. “There’s no cameras running now, man.”

  “Oh yeah. Sorry, man.”

  Mitch slumped up against the counter pushed up against the door. “I need air. I can’t stay in here any longer. Been longer than twenty-four hours.”

  “Pity, Todd left,” said T. Todd was their cameraman and had run off instead of holing up. “We might have been able to get some footage. Your face right now is newsworthy.”

  “We’re professional clowns,” said Mitch. “Not reporters.”

  “I guess. So are we doing this?”

  Sully nodded, but looked like he might throw up. “Out of all of us, I’m the slowest. If we see monsters, you’re gonna leave me.”

  Jim nodded. “Pretty much, yeah. It was nice knowing you, buddy.”

  Mitch started shoving at the counter. “Help me move this.”

  The Cheese Burgers got to work and managed to shoulder the counter aside enough to open the door.

  Jim shoved Mitch in the back. “Go on, Mitch. See if the coast is clear.”

  Mitch sighed, but did as he was told. He opened the door a tad and put his eye against the gap. “I… I think it’s safe.”

  “Are you sure? Maybe you should go outside and shout a bit.”

  Mitch looked at Jim. “Yeah, no thanks.”

  “Come on,” said Sully, clutching himself nervously. “Let’s just do this.”

  They took a moment to ensure that nothing came, and then filtered out of the deli and onto the street. New York was quiet, which was highly disturbing. New York didn’t do quiet. While several vehicles lined the street, no taxis fought for lanes and no pedestrians bunched up against the crosswalks. The shops on one side of the street were empty, and the brownstones opposite were still. Were people hiding out, or were the Cheese Burgers the last men in the city? Should they have run like everyone else?

  The sight of bodies lining the street said no. Hiding out in the deli had saved their lives.

  “Everyone is dead,” said T, running his hands through his greying black mane. “I think I’m gonna puke.”

  Jim pointed at a mess at his feet. “I think this old lady did a duke before she died.”

  Sully put his hands on his hips and doubled over. “Yeah, I can smell it. She was screaming for help when it happened. Everyone was. We just hid and listened to everyone die.”

  “Thank God, right?” said Jim.

  “I need to call my moms,” said Sully. “Is anybody’s phone working yet?”

  They all checked and shook their heads.

  “No cell coverage in New York City,” said Mitch. “Not good, right?”

  Jim shrugged. “Brooklyn. We wouldn’t have a problem in Staten Island.”

  Sully pointed a finger. “Don’t disrespect Brooklyn, yo. They have the best pizza here.” Then he re-noticed all of the dead bodies and bent back over to gag.

  T patted him on the back. “Just think of it as like when we stranded you on that trash barge. You were puking hard then but you got a handle on it eventually.”

  Sully nodded and straightened up. “They’re all human. None of these bodies are the monsters that came out of the gate. Did we even fight back?”

  “No, we hid,” said Mitch.

  “I mean the Army, or whatever. Did they put up a fight?”

  Jim nodded towards the skyline currently smoking from a hundred fires. “I’d say we did. We all heard the planes last night. They were bombing the bejesus out of Manhattan.”

  “Let’s hope they got Wall Street,” said Sully.

  Jim raised his long nose. “You’re just s
aying that because you’re a poor Mexican.”

  “I’m not Mexican! I’m Puerto Rican and Cuban.”

  They stepped down off the pavement into the road and started in the direction they thought safest. Heading out of the city was probably wisest. A few block down, they heard the sound of vehicles. Each of them panicked at the sound after so long in silence, but when they saw who it was they sighed with relief.

  “It’s the boy’s in green, fellas,” said Jim.

  The Army approached. Just a small line of troops and a couple of trucks, but it was a wonderful sight. It had started to feel like they were completely alone. Like the whole world had died.

  “Hey, Mitch,” said Jim. “I dare you to be the little Chinese Guy on Tiananmen Square. Stand in the middle of the road and raise you hand to stop them all.”

  Mitch giggled. “They’ll shoot me.”

  “I’ll give you twenty dollars,” said Sully, seemingly glad to pretend like he wasn’t surrounded by corpses.

  “Me too,” said T.

  “Oh, come on, guys,” said Mitch. “I don’t wanna die.”

  “I’ll give you a hundred dollars,” said Jim.

  Mitch shook his head. “Oh, man.”

  They all watched, trying to stifle their laughter while Mitch strolled into the centre of the road and put up his hand. The small convoy ground to a halt, the lead truck stopping just a few feet from Mitch.

  An officer climbed out of the front passenger seat and approached. “What are you doing, sir?”

  Mitch went bright red. “I… Oh, boy. I was just protesting against the inhumanity of war. I’m very very sorry. Please don’t shoot me.”

  The officer lowered his eyebrows at Mitch and stared at him for several moments. Then his face lit up and he smiled. “Hey, you’re those guys from TV, right? The ones with that Prank show. Diabolical Prankers.”

  Mitch nodded. “Yeah, that’s us.”

  The officer patted Mitch on the back hard enough to send him off balance. “The boys love you guys. They always have your show running in the mess. Lightens everyone’s spirits. Wish I could say there will be chance for you to film more of them.”