Maddy was lucky to be alive.
What the hell happened?
Sarah was on the ground nearby. She got to her feet groggily and Maddy gasped when she saw the left side of her face. It had been torn wide open. Blood gushed down her shirt.
“Sarah, you’re hurt.”
She fingered at her face gingerly and winced. Then she shrugged. “I was never that pretty to begin with. What the hell happened?”
Maddy opened her mouth to reply but men’s screams cut her off.
Tosco grabbed Maddy and Sarah, pulling them back and cursing. “Look out!”
Crimolok stared down at them from outside the ruined warehouse, a cruel grin spread across his face.
“Oh, yow’s the big bastard that caused all this, are ya?” Frank clambered from beneath a pile of bricks, remarkably unhurt. He was furious. “Do yow know how many good people have died because of you, ya bloody piece of shit!”
Maddy called out. “Frank, what the hell? Get away from there!”
Frank pointed a stubby finger at Crimolok, having to crane his neck upwards. “I’ve had enough of this. All this death, all because of this gobshite!”
Maddy looked up at Crimolok, staggered by the sight of something so massive. Nothing on earth had ever existed like the thing standing before her right now. She didn’t know if Frank’s words bothered Crimolok, but the giant’s face contorted in anger.
Maddy called out again. “Frank, get away from there. Move!”
Frank continued shouting obscenities at Crimolok, red-faced and enraged. He didn’t care about anything except venting his fury at the abomination that had wiped out billions of people. Maddy understood his anger. She had almost died for hers too.
Frank didn’t move out of danger. He was hysterical with rage.
“Use your legs, you fool.” Colonel Wanstead appeared from the rubble and raced towards Frank. He grabbed the smaller man and tossed him so hard that he went airborne.
Crimolok stomped a massive foot and Colonel Wanstead disappeared in an instant, crushed flat like an ant beneath a work boot. Brick and cement shattered, sending up clouds of clogging dust.
Frank scrambled through the debris, trying to get to his feet. Maddy helped him out of harm’s way as demons slashed their claws and snapped their jaws, desperately trying to get themselves free of the rubble. Some managed to climb out, and they immediately went on the attack, focusing on the men and woman still trapped or too injured to move. A few dozen soldiers were still able-bodied, but they exited the warehouse in terror, no longer willing to fight now that Crimolok had arrived. It was useless.
Sarah pointed to a section of the back wall that had crumbled. “There! Everyone get through the gap.”
Maddy shoved Frank, almost knocking him over. His ranting had stopped; he was oddly vacant. Whatever fury had possessed him was gone. He was broken.
Tosco reached the gap in the wall first, but he waited for the rest of them. Maddy made it there and helped Frank through, then went herself. The gap was narrow and tight rather than a massive hole, which would make it harder for the demons to follow.
Tosco still remained on the other side of the gap. Maddy reached a hand through the gap and yanked at his arm. “James, come on!”
He passed through and joined her on the outside, but he quickly turned back. “Sarah, hurry!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Sarah appeared at the gap, her face covered in blood. She slipped one leg through while Maddy grabbed her arm. She had almost made it through when her eyes went wide and she grunted. Her body stiffened, half in and half out of the gap. Maddy pulled at her, but she wouldn’t move.
“Sarah, come on!”
Sarah opened her mouth and blood spilled from between her lips, mixing with that already covering her face. She looked like a ghoul, a lost, frightened ghoul.
Maddy cried out. “Sarah, please!” She pulled harder, yanking at the woman’s arm hard enough to almost tear it off at the shoulder, but instead of moving forward, Sarah fell back into the warehouse.
Maddy lunged, tying to hold on to the other woman, but the only thing she could see through the gap were demons. Hundreds of them.
A primate leapt into the gap, claws swiping at Maddy’s throat. Tosco pulled her back just in time. His expression was grim. “We have to make it to the boats.”
Maddy understood. There was no one left to save. She started running, tears staining her cheeks. Behind her, Crimolok was destroying what was left of Portsmouth.
Mass found it mildly amusing that he was travel sick. Such a silly thing to worry about on his way to throw himself through a gate into Hell, but he was miserable with nausea all the same. He had taken to breathing deeply, concentrating on keeping the contents of his stomach on the inside.
“You okay?” Smithy asked, raising his voice over the din of the rotor blades. “You don’t look good.”
“I’m fine. Just battered and broken like everybody else.”
“I’ve never had a helicopter ride before. It’s loud!”
“That’s because you’re not wearing your ear protectors,” said Mass, nodding at Addy, who was sitting quietly on the front bench wearing hers. At the rear of the chopper, the undead Damien sat beside Angela. The thrumming of the cabin seemed to relax everyone.
“Neither are you,” said Smithy. “Too manly to put them on?”
Mass smirked. “What’s your deal, Smithy? Before I met you, I had thirty Vampires, every one of them a total badass, but none as calm and collected as you. Other than the lame jokes, you’re a fucking warrior, man. Tell the truth, were you a secret agent before all this?”
“Ha! Nah, I was… well, I wasn’t much of anything, really. I didn’t really think about anything beyond the weekend. I treated life like a laugh most of the time.”
“So what changed?”
Smithy shifted in his seat. “I dunno. I kept surviving at first because I was desperate to find other people. It terrifies me, the thought of being lonely. The worst. I suppose I take risks because I would rather die myself than see everyone around me die and leave me on my own again.”
Mass saw the fear in Smithy’s eyes. It was clear that loneliness frightened him far worse than any demon. “You’re a good bloke, Smithy. I wish I’d known you before all of this. Look after Addy for me, okay? She’s not as tough as she acts.”
“None of us are.” Smithy glanced at Addy, unaware of their conversation due to her ear protectors. “So, this trip you’re taking is one way then?”
“It is for me. I wish there was another way, but this is my mess and I need to clean it up. I killed Vamps. I set Crimolok loose.”
Smithy pulled a face. “Get out of it with that shit, will you? How long do you think Vamps’ body would have held out? He was rotting from the inside out, man. Crimolok was getting free eventually. All you’re guilty of is speeding things along. Besides, if we let our friends suffer, then what’s the point? We’re fighting for the survival of the human race, aren’t we? Well, part of being human is giving a shit about other people. You did the right thing, Mass. Stop beating yourself up about it. It’s getting old.”
Mass’s tear ducts erupted and he was suddenly sobbing. He couldn’t remember the last time he had let his emotions go, but he made up for it now. Whimpering sounds he wasn’t proud of kept erupting in the back of his throat and he couldn’t keep his face from scrunching up in misery. He went to turn away, but Smithy lunged and pulled him into a hug. “It’s okay, big guy. If ever there was a time to cry, it’s now.”
Addy noticed the movement and turned her head. She saw Mass’s tears and immediately threw off her ear protectors and came over. She joined in with the hug, the three of them holding each other without saying a word.
Mass missed his friends; not just those he’d lost, but those he was going to lose. The future no longer existed, causing a massive hole to grow inside of him. There was only one thing to do now: close the gate.
I guess I always knew I would en
d up in Hell. Brixton boy till the end.
“I think we’ve found it,” said the living Damien, who’d been leaning over the back of the pilot’s seats and staring out of the cockpit. His friends, Steph and Harry, were with him, holding hands and silently awaiting their destination. They were an odd bunch.
Mass wiped away his tears and headed up front, holding on to the ceiling straps to keep from falling. At first he saw only the night sky, but when he managed to look down at the ground three hundred feet below, he saw the gate. It lit up everything around it, but not in a beautiful way. It was like staring at a nuclear reactor ready to explode.
Against the autumnal trees and green fields of the Wessex Downs, the gate was an unnatural blight on the scenery. It shimmered and popped, more like a flame than a lens, and every now and then it would shift in such a way that you got a glimpse of what lay beyond. Mass knew he was looking straight into Hell.
Demons were flooding out of the gate, a line of ants from up high but an army of death on the ground. Getting to the gate would be impossible, even with their weapons. The pilots had already informed Mass that the helicopter was an old US Coast Guard rescue chopper. It had no guns, cannons, or missiles, only a winch, harness, and high-powered searchlight. At a push, the pilot had said it could paint a target for something else to shoot at – but they were on their own in this.
“So what’s the plan?” the undead Damien yelled from the rear of the helicopter. “Are you going to leap out of the helicopter Mission Impossible style, or are we going to land and have ourselves a ruck?”
“There are too many demons on the ground,” said Mass. “The best bet is to go down on the harness.”
Angela wore a disapproving look on her face. “That puts a lot of trust on the pilots. What if they screw up?”
“Then he goes splat,” said undead Damien with a grin. “Embarrassing way to go.”
Mass looked at everyone. “Who has a better plan? I’m all ears.”
“I don’t,” said Harry. “Seems the right call to me.”
“Anyone else?” said Mass. “Like I said, I’m all ears.”
“And biceps,” said Angela. “If I were twenty years younger, still alive, and not gay, I would let you use me for a workout. That aside, I don’t want to see you throw your life away in vain. We have to make sure you go to Hell, sweetheart.”
“Cheers. Look, the gate is massive. If I go down on the winch, it should be easy to swing me into it from above. The demons below won’t be able to reach me.”
Smithy shook his head. “You sure you want to do this? We get this wrong and you’ll be forever known as piñata boy.”
Mass shook his head, realising he was going to miss all of the lame jokes. “What’s to lose? Crimolok will destroy the universe if I do nothing.”
“Good point. Okay, so we’re going to do this then?”
Addy nodded. “Sooner we do it, the sooner we give everyone at Portsmouth a chance.”
Mass had to swallow his guilt. He couldn’t tell them that it was all over for the people of Portsmouth. Crimolok might not be able to destroy the universe, but he would remain in Portsmouth, angry and determined to exterminate all that he could.
Mass exhaled, another wave of sickness washing over him. “Somebody show me what I have to do.”
One of the pilots left the cockpit and helped Mass get into the harness. It felt secure, which was good, even though he intended on swinging to his death anyway. He gave everything a tug, making sure the equipment would hold him. He’d lost a little muscle mass recently, but he was still a thick piece of meat. “Okay,” he said once he was satisfied, “I’ll leave the manoeuvres up to the men with the pilot licences, but the plan is to swing me until I pass inside the gate, right? From what I’ve seen, that’s all it’ll take. I’ve seen plenty of gates close, and it’s always instant. Soon as a living soul passes through the lens, kablooey.”
“Let’s hope there’s not a brick wall on the other side,” said Smithy.
Mass realised that his hands were shaking. “Okay, let’s do this before I lose my nerve. No goodbyes, no advice, let’s just get it done.”
There was a moment’s silence. Even that was more than Mass could bear. He grabbed a handhold and pulled himself over to the sliding door. He looked at Addy and gave a nod. She yanked open the door, letting in the wind and forcing everyone to hold on.
Mass moved into the opening and stared at the ground below. It felt like they were barely moving, almost floating above the earth. The helicopter descended gradually, the trees, buildings, and wrecked cars slowly getting larger in the glow of the gate. The mass of demons got larger too. There were thousands of them down there.
The gate was huge.
Mass placed his toes over the edge. His stomach was in knots. Acid burned his throat. The wind lashed at his cheeks. It was time to jump.
Any second now.
Just jump, man. Get it over with.
Okay. I’m going to jump. Watch me jump.
It’ll be fun.
Just jump. One step, that’s all.
This is embarrassing.
“You sure you want to do this?” Smithy asked. “Like, are you one hundred per cent sure that you want to jump? Stick a needle in your eye sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure! I have to do this. I’m not going to change my—”
Something struck Mass between the shoulder blades and shoved him through the door. As he fell, he realised that Smithy – the sonofabitch – had pushed him.
That git!
Mass’s stomach lurched into his throat as he became weightless. He screamed like a terrified baby. Why people had ever jumped out of helicopters for fun, he would never understand. Nothing was fun about falling.
The rope won’t catch me.
I’m going to hit the ground.
Mass’s free fall was halted by a sudden, painful jolt. The seams of the harness bit into his groin and armpits, threatening to cut him into pieces. He swung back and forth in the glare of the helicopter’s searchlight and twirled round and round. Bile leapt up into his mouth, and he spat it at the demons a hundred feet below.
That went well.
Now comes the hard part.
The cable was short, only ten feet long. The rest of it was still coiled around the winch. Once the helicopter got low enough, the pilots would extend the cable.
Then they’re gonna swing me around like a vinegar-soaked conker.
Fuck my life.
Vamps, Rave, Ginge, if you can see me now, you better not be laughing.
The gate was directly below. Mass strained his neck to get a look at it. It popped and hissed angrily, almost like it was aware of what was happening. The demons looked up to the sky and screeched. Somehow, they knew Mass was there, dangling in the sky two hundred feet above their heads.
Look all you want, bitches. Unless one of you has a jetpack, you ain’t getting this sirloin.
Mass had been given a radio. It was secured inside a pocket at the front of the harness. It crackled and Addy’s voice came through. “How you doing down there, mate?”
“Just hanging out. Everything going to plan?”
“We’re going to lower you down in front of the gate. I’ll stay on the line.”
Mass’s stomach lurched again as the cable unwound. At the same time, the helicopter descended. It was like free falling again, but this time he had more trust in the harness and the winch.
There was nothing to do but wait, so Mass filled the awkwardness by whistling. It was something he used to do a lot when he was bored as a kid.
Addy chuckled over the radio. “What is that? Lady in Red?”
“Was the first thing that came to mind. Got any requests?”
“We Are the Champions?”
“Seriously? All right, then.” Mass whistled the bits he knew and then fell silent. The gate was right below him now, just slightly ahead. Another ten metres and he’d be directly in line with the top of it. It was almost time.
Am I actually going to go through with this?
Yeah, and that’s why I’m so fucking terrified.
The demons beneath Mass thrashed wildly, reaching up at him despite him being massively out of reach. He felt like a chunk of meat being dangled above a horde of alligators.
“It’s go time,” said Addy. She sounded sad. “Still time to back out.”
“Just do what you have to do.” Mass reached up and switched off the radio. No goodbyes. No regrets.
Above him, the helicopter swayed to one side, swinging Mass on the cable. At first it was like being dragged, but then the helicopter swayed back the other way and Mass was swinging upwards like a child at a playground. The cable creaked and the harness cut in to his groin once more, but he held on tightly and reminded himself to breathe.
The helicopter swayed back and forth, back and forth. Mass was a pendulum cutting through the air. It was exhilarating, nauseating… and terrifying.
The helicopter banked, and suddenly Mass was swinging towards the gate. His eyes burned from staring into it, assaulted by colours and images that made no sense. A howling wind seemed trapped beneath its surface and it gave off a throbbing heat. It was a portal straight to Hell, and he was swinging right towards it.
Mass closed his eyes.
And passed through the gate.
Maddy slumped against a pile of pallets. She had nothing left. No more energy. Those still alive had been pushed right back to the docks, and the only things keeping the demons at bay were the ship-mounted weapons. Several boats had stationary machine guns, and some were able to direct their lighter cannons at the demons racing from the ruins. It would only keep the enemy at bay so long, but at least it gave people a chance to get onto the boats.
No one was trying to play hero any more. Even Frank had joined the evacuation queues. No one wanted to stay back and hold the line. People just wanted out of there before it was too late.
“We’re almost there,” said Tosco, standing beside Maddy. He was clearly unwilling to leave her. “Just a little longer.”
Hell on Earth- the Complete Series Box Set Page 167