Rage

by Doug Burbey

  "Who all is in on the plan?" Shane glanced at the families enjoying a day in the sun. "Them?"

  "Not most of them. They think they are fighting the good fight. The ICER agency heads for most countries are on board. We can't afford to allow magic to get any more of a foothold than it already has. That is the reason for the Summit." His voice started to slur a bit and Shane cussed mentally lowering the amount. The man had incredible willpower and fought him.

  "We should go now." Toy's voice pulled him out of his reverie.

  "What?"

  "We should go. They'll notice. You won't learn much more."

  "Where can I find Kelvin? I need to talk to him."

  "He's already left. But he doesn't have any travel scheduled for a while." Barry struggled even as his eyes clouded.

  "What's his address?" That part hadn't been available online and Shane now had a burning need to talk to this guy. Barry said it slowly and Shane sat his beer down, putting it into memory.

  Toy rose, taking Shane's arm. "Barry, you should go home. You don't feel good. You drank too much with some friends. Have a good day." She turned Shane and in a causal walk headed away, even as he watched Barry out of the corner of his eye head away from them, stumbling a bit.

  Shane shifted his attention to Toy. "Why are you so helpful?"

  "Why shouldn't I be? They want to kill all of us."

  "We are all already dead. I don't want to save them."

  "I know. And it is meant to be. Some things aren't what they are."

  He just looked at her and resolved to watch her a bit more closely, maybe get some drugs to keep her asleep when he needed it.

  I might have to thrall her. I hate women, they never make sense.

  Chapter 35 - Doors are made for Busting

  Declan waited for the elevator to reach the 7th floor, staring at the glowing numbers slowly rising. Reaching down with both hands in a practiced motion he opened his heavy coat by clipping the sides to the hooks installed for such a purpose. This exposed the combat webbing he wore underneath it for an occasion just like this. He drew the stubby heavy barreled .45 ACP carbine from its sling, and dropped the magazine into his hand, glancing down to look at the round on top.

  Armor piercing would be bad here, it'd go right through a wall if I miss. But if I don't use it, and there are more than ring ones I'm not going to penetrate. Damn it, I'm screwed either way.

  He chewed on his lip for a minute and sighed, putting it away and grabbing the other magazine, the one with normal rounds that would mushroom on impact. He slapped it back into the weapon and ordered his webbing to make sure he knew where the armor piercing rounds were if he needed them.

  The elevator doors slide open with a small ping. He glanced to the left and right and confirmed the hall was clear before he stepped out of the elevator and turned left, inspecting the doors he passed by.

  Still not sure about this. I mean, sure you can open portals in buildings but who the hell does it in an apartment building? What sort of moron would want to be trapped with demons in a room? But then again, who the hell is stupid enough to summon demons in the first place.

  The door in front of him hummed with the energy of the portal behind it and he sighed.

  I'm never going to quit underestimating the fucking stupidity level of humans.

  Raising the carbine in the same motion as he raised his foot, he kicked sharply into the door lock with the carbine nestled into his shoulder.

  Ring ones, ring ones, just be ring ones. The familiar thoughts entered his mind as the door flew off the hinges and into the non-warded room.

  Damn, she was right. Some idiot was summing demons in his apartment.

  Caressing the trigger, two rounds slammed into the first target. A ring one though not a drone, it stood bipedal and hissed at him as he came through. His shots hit dead on and it collapsed to the floor.

  Turning, he continued to survey the room. Standing slightly more erect and leaning forward, the butt stock of the carbine stayed nestled tightly into his shoulder, as he took a cautious step into the room moving the weapon to the left and right. It seems clear. Moving quietly to his left, keeping the back to his wall, he slid his body around the corner training the weapon forward and reaching around himself in his mind. It was almost as if he could sense behind himself as his eyes searched forward for a target. The hall in front of him led to the small open exposed kitchen. A countertop blocked his view, so he glanced to his right to see an open bedroom door behind the potential hiding position in the kitchen and past the counter in front of him. His gaze locked onto the two demons crouching in the kitchen and babbling to each other.

  Fuck. If they are communicating, they are ring two at least. This is not good.

  He could see spikes and carapaces over the edge of the counter. Both had the telltale brownish yellow-hued skin of humanoid ring two's, which meant headshots would work.

  Perfect, these bastards will go down easy. If this is all I'm facing today, then I’ll be done by happy hour.

  He moved around the corner, low and quiet, and opened up as soon as he had a shot. They spun but were too slow and the bullets slammed into them, blood spraying everywhere.

  Most likely staged here as guard dogs. But guarding what? Where's the portal and the mage?

  He moved further into the apartment where the hum of the portal emanated.

  A flicker of movement had him ducking and rolling in one motion.

  Don't get complacent dumb ass or you'll get your head ripped off.

  Declan took his next shot over the first demon's dead body. Another of the dull mushrooming rounds landed dead center into the demon's chest, dropping it to the ground.

  Declan shot again at the demon that had moved out of the room to his left and the bullets bounced off the hard carapace. This demon, likely a ring three, was huge and had to bend to make it through the door, which gave him the time he needed.

  He popped out the magazine, slapped in the expensive armor piercing rounds, and punched three holes into the head. A spray of blood went out the back side and he just hoped it didn't end up in an innocent bystander.

  Yeah but if this guy got out, a lot more people would die.

  Crouching even lower with the carbine nestled into his shoulder, he moved the barrel left and right sweeping the room with his eyes, his ears, and his nose. The stench of demons. Left in one place for more than a few minutes they left a telltale scent. It reeked in the confines of this apartment, but he also noted the mingling odors of dried blood, feces and rotting flesh. Somebody, or more than one somebody, had died here already.

  Cordy's intel said the demons were here but nobody just summons demons because they are bored. And there was a question of who died.

  Suspecting a mage was still cowering nearby, as the portal still made his teeth vibrate, he reached one hand up. He flipped up the back of his collar and heard it click into place as it attached to the grounding disk at the base of his skull, exposing the silver mesh underlay beneath his leather coat. It was an old habit that provided just a little additional protection against magical spells.

  I don't need that type of headache today. No headshots. Nope. I got beer in the fridge but not enough to dull that crap.

  Declan could feel the combat mode of his senses kicking in and drawing to him the smells of demon blood and gunpowder - all of it driving forward the urge to kill. Declan stood still for five seconds, letting his senses measure the environment around him for threats before taking another step. Listening for even the slightest out of place sound and breathing slowly in through his nose for the scent of more demons, his eyes searched for the glimmer of active magic. Nothing. Not a sound, not a smell, not a hint of near magic hit his senses.

  He had a decision to make. He decided to try one of the oldest tricks in the book. If he was dealing with a human it just might work.

  "Alright you stupid motherfucker, come out right now before I just shoot the living shit out of this whole place and leave you
to bleed out as a smoking corpse!"

  This taunt, to draw out what he suspected was an illegal mage, went unanswered. Still silence. Not even the rustling in the hallways that he suspected would occur, as the neighbors heard gunshots and curiosity got the best of them. They should have been peering into the hallway, opening and closing their doors, or calling the cops. Nothing. No sound at all.

  Something is seriously not right about this. Declan tapped his earpiece "Cordelia, ummmm. I think I may have a problem."

  Cordelia's voice came in distorted as if the signal was being interfered with. "What's going on Declan?"

  "This was too easy and too quiet."

  He looked around frowning.

  "It was a bust?" Cordelia's warped sounding voice responded.

  "No…" Declan looked towards the door as he felt the floor vibrate slightly, as if something very heavy was approaching from the hall. "It's not a bust, it's a trap."

  "What? We see no movement on the roof or surrounding building perimeter." Cordelia spoke into his ear.

  We? Who the hell is watching me and when was Cordelia going to tell me she has surveillance on me? What the hell…?

  Declan's thought was lost as he spun away from the exploding door just in time to be missed by the top half of the heavy wood panel and frame. A hunched over, mud brown creature shoved into the room.

  Shit, a Soldier demon.

  The calmness in the thought itself was reassuring. Where there should be fear and panic, there was only awareness. The battle sense flooded through his body like a wave of energy, pumping through his heart and into his veins. His mouth filled with the taste of copper. Pupils dilated and took in every detail of color and movement. Muscles twitched under his skin, as if carrying an electrical charge. His mind raced to process his surroundings so quickly, it was if time had slowed. The primordial fight or flight instinct took him in.

  Fight. Fight and kill. Pulsed in Declan's brain.

  The heavy wooden panel smashed into the wall behind him even as he rolled and oriented himself on the imposing demon. Stroking the trigger of the carbine, he released three rounds into the face of the approaching demon soldier. The first round missed, but the following two rounds penetrated above the creatures armored chest plate and passed through tendrils dangling over its mouth into its softer flesh underneath. A loud screech burst from its mouth. Unfortunately it didn’t slow its advance as it plowed through the hall headed directly for Declan.

  Subconsciously Declan recognized the screech as a challenge for supremacy or death. Magic and poisoned blood coursed through him, pushing his body to respond to the challenge for supremacy. The battle sense raised his heart rate and surged adrenaline through his body.

  Shit, shit, shit. Need armor piercing.

  He quickly hit the magazine release of the carbine with his thumb, dropping the nearly empty magazine of normal rounds onto the floor, while he simultaneously reached his hand upwards for the magazine of armor-piercing rounds in the chest pouch of his combat webbing.

  The soldier demon lashed out viciously with its claw-tipped right arm, attempting to eviscerate Declan. He leaned backward and slammed the magazine into the grip stock of the carbine as he felt the demons claw sliding across the side of his coat. He heard it penetrate the outer layer, stopping at the wire mesh beneath.

  The demons extended arm attack exposed a vulnerable point in its armor, so Declan leaned slightly to his left and aimed the muzzle of his carbine underneath the demon’s extended arm and just above its segmented side torso plates. He pumped four of his armor piercing between the exposed joint and into the chest cavity of this other realm monstrosity. Before his mind could process his next move, the demon's arm flailed backward violently slamming into Declan.

  The blow knocked Declan off his feet and onto his back on the floor. Rolling as far away from the demons next attack as possible, he heard the demon stumble as he pushed himself up onto his knees and raised his carbine. The demon swung its body around towards Declan. Lumbering unnaturally, it stumbled on its huge legs as it attempted to maintain its balance as sprays of blood pulsed out of its side.

  "All right, drop already you shit!" Declan shouted, more to himself than the threat in front of him. He shot another round into the demon's tendril covered mouth. This time its head snapped backward, with an accompanying audible crack before it collapsed to the floor in a crash of blood and demonic flesh.

  Slowly moving forward in a crouch, he kept the muzzle of his weapon pointed at the now still demon's bleeding mouth. Reaching out with the tip of his boot he tapped its leg.

  "We done here, asshole?"

  The demon did not move. Standing up straight Declan released the magazine catch dropping the mag into his hand quickly, counting his remaining rounds before returning it back into the weapon.

  Well shit, this is not good. Now I've got to…

  Declan's thought was interrupted by the shouts of a human voice immediately, followed by the rapid hammering of large caliber automatic gunfire. Quickly taking cover behind the kitchen counter rail with his back against the apartment’s outer wall, he touched his earpiece as the hammering of sustained automatic gunfire continued out in the hallway.

  "Cordy, what the fuck is going on? I just had to take out a damn full on soldier demon that busted ass into the apartment! Now I swear I'm hearing an M240 going off in the hallway!"

  "Stand by DK. That's your backup." Cordy's voice now came in clearly but barely audible over the machine gun fire, human shouting, and demonic screeching coming from the hall.

  "Backup? I have backup? What the hell!" Declan propped flat on the floor as 7.62 rounds start punching through the hallway walls and into the apartment at chest level. "Cordy, cease-fire, cease-fire damn it! Your backup assholes are about to kill me!"

  "Well just hold on for a second, DK. Don't get all pissy on me, I'm a little busy just now."

  Oh crap.

  Declan kept his carbine pointed in the direction of the large jagged hole that used to be an apartment door as he tried to melt his body lower into the floor when the hallway gunfire abruptly ended. Now at least three separate discernable voices can be heard shouting inside the hall.

  "Clear right." Voice number one.

  "Clear left." Voice number two.

  "Make double fucking sure those targets are down!" Voice number three.

  The hammer of a three-second burst of sustained fire rattled the walls of the hallway.

  "Confirmed. Clear right." Voice number one yelled.

  Choppy three and four-second bursts followed, from where Declan assumed the second voice was located in the hallway.

  "Oh yeah, I'm now double fucking sure we're clear on the left again Sir." the second voice calls out.

  "OK, let’s start processing for cleanup folks." The third voice calmly shouted in what Declan recognized as the ‘command voice’. "And, make sure that shithead is zip-tied and gagged tight!"

  "Yes, sir." A previously unheard fourth voice responded.

  "Mr. Kenner? I'm Mr. Penx. Ms. Bennett asked us to drop by and lend you some assistance." The third voice said from the hallway. "I'd prefer if you did not shoot any of my team, particularly myself. Do you mind if I come in?"

  At the mention of Cordy's name, Declan pushed himself up from the ground with a grunt and stood, keeping the counter between himself and the doorway. He quickly exchanged his armor piercing rounds for a full magazine of conventional .45 ammunition.

  I think they’ve already let everyone in the area know something went down here. I don’t need to add to the drama, and I sure as hell don’t need ballistics tracking back to me.

  "Welcome to the neighborhood, Mr. Pink, although from the sounds of it the building manager is not going to be thrilled with your visit. Come on in, but slowly with hands out please."

  Mr. Penx rounded the corner of the hall, into what was left of the wall where the doorway stood just a few minutes previously. He kept his hands held out from the side of his body. A
M240L short barreled, belt-fed, 7.62mm medium machine gun hung down across the front of his torso body armor. A standard government issue 10mm Glock was on his thigh. His entire uniform was patterned in a relatively old urban camouflage mix of greys and light black. The patch on his sleeve designated him as a member of the International Cooperative Element Responders (ICER) - Tactical. His name tag reads ‘PENX'.

  Well, if you have to take down a demon with conventional rounds that two-forty Mr. Penx is toting would be a nice bit of kit to have handy. Shit. Now I got gun envy.

  "It's Penx, Mr. Kenner, not Pink. Papa, Echo, November, X-Ray."

  "Penx huh? Well, that's a bit better I guess. I thought you just drew the really short straw in the government spook name picking contest, ending up with Mr. Pink."

  "Don't be an ass, Mr. Kenner. A simple thank you would suffice and Penx is my real name. Ben Penx."

  "Sure, it is, Pink. First off, how about you tell me what the racket out there was about and then how you happened to be babysitting me." His voice low and angry as his hands tightened around his carbine. He leaned against the counter trying to look relaxed and nonchalant as rage battled with his control.

  The mix of adrenaline and rage bubbling through his system, and the desire to shoot this person who had come into his territory, ate at him. It made him dangerous in a way that he didn’t need now.

  “Give me a second,” he growled out, while raising a hand. Penx fell silent as Declan grabbed a vial of Reset out of his pocket and lifting it, slammed it into his neck. The drug washed through his system, clearing both the exhaustion and the rage that told him to keep killing, to drain the blood and use it.

  “Thanks. Now, you were saying?”

  Penx nodded at him, his face neutral. "Well, Mr. Kenner, as it looks like we won't get a polite ‘thank you’ from you, I will just assume you are appreciative of the fact you are not dead right now. While you were taking care of the soldier in here, we were able to take out the additional two ring-one demons and their handler." His voice had a sardonic formal quality that Declan smirked at.