Wasteland in Red Square

by Josh Matthews

  “What now?” Jeanette asked.

  “Now we fight our way to the Hell Gate.” Jason tapped Iosif’s soldier. “How much longer until we get to the portal?”

  “You mean the vrata?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s about fifteen miles from here, so another twenty or twenty-five minutes.”

  “Damn,” Jason mumbled. He stepped over to the edge of the cabin and studied the horde.

  Father Belsario came up beside him. “We’re not going to make it, are we?”

  Jason shrugged. “I honestly don’t know.”

  ***

  Svetlana leaned out the cab window and gauged the distance between her train and the steam engine up front. She brought her head back inside and ordered Mikhail, “Keep a thousand feet between us and Boris. I want to be close enough to help if anything happens.”

  “Yes, Colonel.”

  Svetlana leaned out again, this time to check on her train. She noticed the four ravagers on top of the stock and command cars, and realized how vulnerable they were. “Boris, Constantin. Climb up on the coal tender and make sure none of the demony get to us.”

  ***

  The release of another cage distracted several ravagers attempting to board the prison car. Those not lured away were brought down by gunfire from the heavy machine gun. Haneef took his time and chose his shots, waiting until a Hell Spawn got near before riddling it with bullets. He lined up his sights on a fast ravager that rushed through the horde and headed for them. When it got to within fifteen feet, Haneef squeezed the trigger. Five rounds spurt from the barrel before a clunk sounded from the weapon.

  “Why’d you stop?” demanded Klimenko.

  “It’s jammed.”

  “Shit.” Klimenko pushed Haneef aside and detached the ammunition slide.

  Something heavy struck the side of the prison car. To Haneef’s left, three talons slid through the gun slit. He fell to his right, the tips missing his face by inches. Although the ravager could not see inside the prison car, it flung its hand wildly, hoping to wound something. Haneef felt around with his right hand for his FAMAS. His fingers brushed against the stock. He grabbed the weapon and rolled onto his feet.

  Before he could fire, the two guards had finished shackling a male prisoner into one of the cages to the left of the M1910. The prisoner screamed obscenities and kicked at them between the bars. One of the guards pulled the lever, opening the section of wall and tilting the floor panel. The cage slid out, bounced once, and toppled down an embankment. When it did, the demon attached to the outside of the prison car joined five other ravagers in chasing the cage. The guard pushed the lever back into the closed position.

  A ravager appeared in the opening, positioning itself between the door and jamb, preventing the former from closing completely. The guard jiggered the lever yet succeeded only in attracting the ravager’s attention. It slashed its hand downward, two of the talons slicing deep wounds across his face, opening the skin down to the skull and carving two long gouges in the bone. The third talon sliced across his chest and shoulder, nearly severing the left arm. The guard shrilled once and fell back against the wall, his body convulsing as it slid to the floor. The ravager pushed its way into the prison car.

  Haneef stepped forward. It swung its head toward him and snarled. Haneef shoved the barrel in the ravager’s mouth and fired two three-round bursts, blowing away the rear of its head. The demon slumped forward, its upper body caught between the door and jamb, its legs dangling over the rails. Haneef rushed over to the controls, leaned over the body of the still convulsing guard, and pulled down on the lever. The door opened, allowing the ravager to slide out. As they closed, Haneef noticed another ravager leaping toward the opening. He braced for death.

  A burst of machine gun fire caught the demon in the chest, throwing the carcass into another charging demon.

  “It’s fixed.” Klimenko waved to Haneef. “Take over. I have to help with the rest of the prisoners.”

  ***

  Luther drew his broadsword and jumped from the dining to the stock car. The three ravagers were more interested in tearing their way through the steel-plated roof and did not notice him. Raising the broadsword above his head, he brought it down across the nearest ravager’s back, cleaving a two-inch-deep gash from its right shoulder to its left waist. The blade had fractured its spine, but had not severed it. The Hell Spawn fell face down onto the roof. It tried to crawl back to its feet, yet could only flail its limbs due to the damaged spinal column. As it regenerated, it bellowed in pain, which attracted the attention of the other two demons.

  The ravager at the far end disappeared over the edge, dropping down between the stock and first baggage car. The ravager in the center spun around to face Luther. It crouched, twisting its head from one side to the other as it sized up the threat. Luther raised the broadsword beside his head, waiting for the demon to attack. After a few seconds, it snarled and lunged. Luther slashed down with his weapon, slicing into the demon’s right shoulder. It shrieked and jumped back, dislodging the blade and ripping away flesh and muscle. The ravager backed up to the end of the car, crouching again and examining its wound. Luther knew he had seconds before it healed. Lifting the broadsword to chest level and holding it horizontally, he charged.

  Three talons scraped against Luther’s lower right leg. A bolt of fear shot through the Purgatoriati as he expected to be mauled. The crippled ravager had not yet fully regenerated and could only tear at his cloak. Still, it presented a threat that needed to be dealt with. Luther repositioned his broadsword so it pointed down and plunged it into the ravager’s skull, twisting the tip so that it scrambled the demon’s brains. Lifting it out of the shattered skull, Luther swung the blade vertically, using it like an axe to decapitate the Hell Spawn.

  By now the wounded ravager at the far end of the stock car had regenerated enough to lunge again. Luther didn’t have time to raise his weapon, so he dropped and rolled into the demon. It tripped and sprawled onto the roof. Both human and demon struggled to their feet. Luther rose first and swung his broadsword in a wide arc toward the ravager’s head. The demon raised its left arm to block the blow, only to have the blade slice off its hand below the wrist. It cried out. Enraged, it jumped at the human. Luther swung his broadsword in the opposite direction. The blade connected with the ravager’s abdomen, slicing through until it struck the rib cage. The force of the blow knocked the ravager to one side. It toppled off the roof and slammed into the tundra, the body tumbling down the embankment.

  Luther steadied his footing, raised the broadsword into the attack position, and scanned around him, searching for the third ravager.

  ***

  Sook-kyoung heard a fourth body land on the roof followed by a scuffle.

  “What’s going on?” Vicky asked.

  “Why don’t you go up and find out,” Gaston chided.

  “No!”

  “Both of you, shut up.” Sook-kyoung listened as one of the ravagers scrambled over the edge of the roof. Her eyes followed the noise, focusing on the door at the far end. A moment later, a pounding came from outside. “Shit.”

  “What?” Vicky asked.

  “I got it,” said Gaston as he pushed past the two women and rushed to secure the lock. He got within ten feet when the jamb gave way. The door sailed down the length of the car, slamming into Gaston and knocking him to the floor. The ravager jumped through the opening and landed on the door, pinning Gaston beneath it. It cupped the back of Gaston’s neck in its left hand and lifted his head, its fangs inches from his face.

  Sook-kyoung switched her FAMAS to single shot mode, aimed, and yelled. When the ravager lifted its head, she fired. The demon shifted to one side so that the round thudded harmlessly into its shoulder. Before Sook-kyoung could shoot again, it lunged. She ran backward and tripped over a pail of food. As she fell, the ravager plunged on top of her, squatting on her legs and pinning her chest to the floor with its right hand. Raising its left hand, it
aimed its talons at her face and thrust. Sook-kyoung placed her FAMAS in front of the demon’s hand, deflecting the attack. Its talons dug into the floor beside Sook-kyoung’s head.

  “I could use some help here!”

  Vicky stood at the other end of the car, frozen in fear. A wet patch formed around her crotch.

  “Snap out of it!”

  By now, all the horses were in a state of panic. The one beside Sook-kyoung kicked at its stall in a desperate attempt to escape. Its hind legs shattered two of the slats, showering the ravager’s face with shards of wood. The demon swung its head in that direction. Sook-kyoung yanked her FAMAS from under its hand and slammed the weapon as hard as she could across the side of its head. The blow merely angered it. The ravager knocked the weapon away, pinned both her arms, and leaned into her face. Opening its mouth, the demon roared. Sook-kyoung screamed back, both out of terror and in defiance.

  Watching her friend about to die snapped Vicky out of her fear. Firing her FAMAS at this range would catch Sook-kyoung in the crossfire. She looked around for another weapon, and found it in a pitchfork stuck in a mound of hay. She grabbed the handle and held it in front of her. “Hey, asshole.”

  The ravager lifted its head. When it did, Vicky drove the prongs into its eyes. It howled in agony. Vicky lifted the pitchfork, forcing the demon to stand. It flung its head around, trying to break free. Vicky drove the prongs deeper into its head until the tips scraped against the back of its skull. She moved forward, directing the ravager around Gaston and toward the rear of the car. The ravager shuddered and occasionally took a desultory swing at her. When it began to regenerate, Vicky would twist the prongs around, reopening the wounds. After several seconds that seemed like an eternity she reached the opening. Vicky shoved the ravager through. It toppled backward, bounced off the baggage car, and fell onto the tracks where the wheels ground up the carcass. Vicky took several steps back until her feet stumbled against the unhinged door. Keeping her eyes on the empty jamb, she knelt down and shook Gaston.

  “Are you, all right?”

  “I think so,” he replied.

  Sook-kyoung joined them and helped Vicky lift the door off Gaston. He stood and moved his arms and legs. “Nothing’s broken, but I’m going to be sore in the morning.”

  Sook-kyoung handed Gaston his FAMAS. “Let’s hope we live that long.”

  ***

  Lucifer and Lilith circled around Neal and Ustagov, their gaze fixed on the command car roof. Every time the ravager moved, its talons scraping against the metal, the two werehounds growled. Melnikov stood off to one side, his AK-47 aimed at the ceiling.

  “Do you think it’s scared of them?” Ustagov asked, motioning to Lucifer and Lilith.

  “I hope so,” said Neal.

  “Don’t count on it.” Melnikov followed the scraping of talons to the end of the command car. “If it was scared, it would have run away by now. It’s trying to find—”

  Talons punctured the roof and ripped along its surface, creating three long gouges. The talons tore through again, this time perpendicular to the first set, creating a hashtag pattern. A moment later, the ravager crashed through the weakened section. It scanned the car, searching for a target. Ustagov grabbed Neal by the arm and shoved him toward Svetlana’s quarters. Melnikov raised his AK-47 as the ravager lunged.

  Lucifer dove into the demon. He pushed it against the wall, his horns, and the spikes around his shoulders digging into the ravager and holding it in place. Its talons raked against his back, but could not penetrate the scales. The Hell Spawn grew frantic, bellowing and thrashing to break free. Lilith moved in for the kill. Slinking up on the ravager’s right, she plunged her scorpion-like tail into its chest, injecting it with paralyzing fluid. At first, the fluid had no effect. The ravager screeched and flailed its talons at Lilith’s tail. After a few seconds, the Hell Spawn grew sluggish, and the shrieking tapered off into a whimper. Its body went limp. Lucifer inched away, prepared to attack again if the ravager reawakened. Lilith removed her stinger. As Melnikov walked up to the ravager, the werehounds moved aside. The captain raised his AK-47 and fired ten rounds into its head, shattering its skull and splattering brains along the wall.

  “Do you need help down there?” Matthews knelt by the gouged-out section of roof, peering down into the command car.

  Melnikov shook his head. “We’re fine. Stay there and let us know if any more ravagers are coming.”

  ***

  Four ravagers closed in on the lead engine. Sasha stepped away from the cab to get a better line of sight, shifting her gaze from one to the other. All four lunged at the same time. One aimed for the front of train and two for the tender, while the fourth headed for her. Sasha would have to time this perfectly. She fired a three-second burst into the nearest ravager. The hail of bullets shredded the demon, showering her in blood and pieces of body parts. Without wasting time to wipe herself off, Sasha spun to her left as the second ravager landed on the walkway. Rather than charge, it rushed toward the front of the engine toward the antimatter device. Sasha fired. A dozen rounds tore into the demon’s back, dropping it to the walkway. Despite its wounds, it clawed its way toward the device. Sasha kept up the barrage until the ravager stopped moving and rolled off the train.

  Sasha did not notice the ravager on the roof of the cab until it pounced onto her back.

  ***

  Father Belsario had started to crawl through the hatch to help Sasha when the two ravagers launched themselves at the tender. He jumped back inside as the first landed on the coal and lunged at those in the cab. Jeanette pulled Iosif out of the way. Vladimir attempted to duck as the ravager swiped at him, but the bottom talon sliced through his head above the eyes.

  Father Belsario did not have room to use his broadsword, so he bent over and body checked the ravager, pushing it toward the edge of the platform. At the last second, the demon reached out and dug its talons into the walls of the cab and the accompanying tender. The cleric did not have the strength to dislodge it, and the demon could not risk releasing its hold to attack the human. Iosif grabbed the shovel from the tender. He drove the blade into the demon’s neck, slicing three inches into its throat. The ravager still could not be pushed out.

  “Get out of the way,” warned Jeanette as she raised her FAMAS. Belsario and Iosif jumped to the side. Jeanette emptied half a magazine into the demon’s arm, severing it above the elbow. With nothing left to support it, the ravager tumbled out of the cab.

  Jason missed all of this. He had been focusing on the second ravager to jump onto the tender, preparing to take it down. Instead, the demon vaulted over the roof, tackling Sasha from behind and pinning her to the walkway. Because of the ammunition backpack, it could not get to her. Jason hurried through the hatch. Raising his weapon above his head, he charged the ravager and slammed the stock against the base of its skull, hoping to snap its spine. He succeeded only in infuriating the demon. It spun around and lashed out with its right hand. Jason stumbled back, the talons missing his face by inches. When he fell onto the walkway, the FAMAS dropped over the side. The ravager lifted its left arm to slice open Jason.

  Sasha rolled onto her side and raised the minigun in front of the demon’s arm so it could not attack Jason. It snarled at her. Jason took advantage of the opportunity. He grabbed the handrail, placed his legs between the steam engine and the ravager, and twisted his lower body to the right, knocking the demon’s legs out from under it. The ravager crashed onto the walkway and rolled off, its talons digging into the metal at the last second to prevent it falling. It kicked with its legs, trying to get a foothold. Sasha aimed the minigun at its head and squeezed the trigger. The gun whirred but nothing happened. The ammunition belt had come unfastened during the melee. Sasha kicked at the ravager’s claw, catching it with the heel of her boot. The demon slid back a few inches, enough that its legs became intertwined with the drivers. The drivers ripped the ravager loose and flung it under the massive steel wheels, which ground the demo
n into pulp.

  Jason stood and helped Sasha to her feet. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m immortal, remember.” She stepped over to him. “The ammunition belt came loose. Help me connect it.”

  “Okay. You keep an eye out for ravagers.”

  It took Jason a few seconds to reattach the belt. As he finished, Sasha mumbled, “Oh dear God.”

  Jason followed her gaze back toward the train, not prepared for what he saw.

  ***

  Haneef had lost count of how many ravagers he had taken down or how many had abandoned the chase to go after the prisoner cages. He figured another fifty or sixty, probably more, still bore down on the train, as well as the wounded ravagers that would regenerate and rejoin the fray. The number surrounding the prison car increased steadily.

  The guards had shoved another prisoner into the last cage on the starboard side, a young man so frightened he offered no resistance. When the guard released the cage, it slammed into a ravager, ricocheted off the train, and then across the tundra where five more Hell Spawn went after it.

  “We’re done here,” said the guard.

  “Fill the cages on the other side,” Klimenko ordered. “We have to get these things off us.”

  “How much ammunition do you have?” Haneef asked.

  “Not enough. We never expected this many demony.”

  As if on cue, five ravagers bore down on the prison car. Haneef took aim at the nearest one. The ravagers diverted away from the prison car and raced forward. After a few moments, Haneef could no longer see them through the firing slit. Neither could Klimenko. The Russian leaned back and yelled up to Barzukov.

  “What’s going on?”

  He got no answer.

  Getting to his feet, Klimenko stepped over to the cupola and shook Barzukov by the leg. “Didn’t you hear me? What’s going on?”

  Barzukov sat still, his gaze fixed out the window toward the front of the train. After a few seconds he mumbled, “Vy dolzhny byt’ chertovski shutish’.”

  ***

  Slava and the other Russians in the third sleeping car had maintained a steady stream of fire against any ravager that came near. Despite the horde swarming around the train, only a dozen or so had attacked, all of which had been dispatched. Without warning, forty Hell Spawn descended on the sleeping car at once, jumping onto the roof or clamoring onto the starboard side, digging their talons into the walls and clutching the bars over the windows. Throughout the car, gunfire increased in intensity. Slava and Yuri each took down a ravager, only to have others take their place. At least none of them would be able to break through the barred windows.