Hell Gate

by Josh Matthews

  “If ve make it that far,” said Reinhard.

  “Cut the crap,” Jason barked.

  Everyone snapped their heads toward him.

  “We’ve made it to within half a mile of our target, so there’s no reason why we can’t finish the job. All we need to do is toss the device into the Hell Gate and hope that it works. If it does, then most of us stand a good chance of making it back alive. If it doesn’t, well, life probably won’t be worth living anyway.”

  As inspirational talks went, Jason knew this wasn’t his finest hour. Not that it mattered. They were too close now to have second thoughts.

  “Mount up, people. We move out in five minutes.”

  Jason moved up to Neal. “How’s the arm?”

  “Hurts like a son of a bitch.” Neal unconsciously rotated his left shoulder. “Doc fixed it up as best he could, put a bandage on it, and gave me a local for the pain. He says there’s some necrotic tissue forming from the bite, but I should be fine.”

  “Good.”

  Haneef picked up his minigun from the floor and began to strap it on. Jason walked over to him. “You might as well leave that here. You don’t have ammo for it.”

  “I don’t have another weapon.”

  “I know. But it’ll only weigh you down.” He leaned in close so only his friend could hear. “Stay to the rear. If anyone doesn’t make it, grab their weapon.”

  Haneef stared at him. His eyes showed anger. After a moment, he realized Jason was right, and he nodded his begrudging acceptance. Stripping out of the minigun, he left the weapon on the floor.

  Eight minutes later, the group exited by the Louvre’s southeast door and made their way to Port Neuf.

  Chapter Fifty

  Only a handful of Nachzehrer covered the eighty yards between the Louvre and Port Neuf, and less than a dozen staggered along the bridge. The group avoided them with little difficulty. Only a few of the demons maneuvered close enough to pose a threat, and they were quickly disposed of. Within minutes, the group reached Ile de la Cite, crossed to the southern bank, and moved down Quai des Orfévres.

  Here the temperature was forty degrees hotter because of the lava. Sweat formed around Jason’s underarms and back, and beads of perspiration dripped down his face. He ignored the discomfort. He also ignored the sixth sense that welled up inside of him, growing with an intensity he had never felt before. Some of the sensations were familiar to him, belonging to the Nachzehrer. He had been able to suppress those and shove them into the background of his psyche. However, two auras were so intense they threatened to overwhelm his abilities, drowning out the Nachzehrer in an emotional orgy of anguish. Jason forced them down. He focused on the side streets ahead of him and the river to the south, watching for any sudden danger that might appear.

  They came to Petit Pont, the last bridge before the open square in front of Notre Dame. Jason motioned for the others to stop and waved them against the nearest building where they could not be seen. He and Jeanette inched their way to the end of the wall and peered around the corner.

  Lava poured out of the cathedral through the center and right portails, flowed across the southeast corner of the square and drained into the Seine west of Pont au Double. The heat had seared the cathedral’s front façade and burned the southern tower into a charred hulk. From this distance, the left portail looked fine, although it stood too close to the lava to risk entering Notre Dame that way. They would have to make their way to the cathedral’s northern façade and find an entrance. Crossing the square would be easier said than done. It stretched for more than three hundred feet with scores of Nachzehrer milling around. The distance was too great, and the Hell Spawn’s numbers too many, for them to make the run without being swarmed. They would have to fight their way to Notre Dame.

  What caught Jason’s attention was the pair of Hell Spawn that stood motionless in the center of the square. They were monstrosities, over thirty feet in height with massive torsos. The demons crouched on thick, muscular legs. Their bulky arms were almost as long as the demons’ entire bodies and dangled by their sides, with the knuckles resting on the pavement. Each had a bulbous head that merged with the shoulders, with no signs of a neck. There were no visible ears, noses, or throats, only a pair of coal black eyes on either side of a ridge that ran down the face and substituted for a nose. Their skin appeared dark red, almost as if the flesh had been stripped off to expose the underlying muscles.

  A Nachzehrer wandered near the closest monstrosity. It lifted its right arm across its chest and swung out, slapping the Nachzehrer. The demon flew seventy-five feet across the square before landing with a thud against the pavement. A blue eddy of light flowed from the body and dissipated into the sky.

  “What are those things?” Jason asked under his breath.

  “Golem,” Jeanette answered.

  “I thought Golem were made of stone.”

  “They are, according to Jewish legend. The rabbis of Prague created the Golem to be the policeman of the Jewish ghetto and prevent anti-Semitic attacks. These demons are to protect the portals and to make sure the other Hell Spawn stay under control..”

  That explains the overpowering anguish he sensed. He pushed a strand of blonde hair back behind his ear. “How do you know all this?”

  Jeanette breathed in deep. “My uncle heard reports about them from Tokyo before the city went silent. The Japanese Self Defense Force studied their behavior and engaged them in combat. These Hell Spawn are incredibly strong and aggressive.”

  “It almost makes me miss the giant, slow-moving tarantulas.”

  “For all we know, they’re waiting inside.” Jeanette grinned. When Jason didn’t respond, she became serious again. “Sorry. I shouldn’t joke like that.”

  Jason peered around the corner again. “How do we get past them?”

  “According to the Japanese, they’re not very quick or agile, so avoiding them should be easier than avoiding the Nachzehrer. Their reach is long, so tell the others to give the Golem a wide berth.”

  Jason motioned for Jeanette to get back against the wall and then waved for the others to join them. He briefed them on what stood between them and Notre Dame.

  “So what’s the plan?” asked Sasha.

  “Cross the square and make our way to the northern side of the cathedral. There’s an entrance there. Once inside, one of us throws the antimatter device into the portal. Then we run like Hell is after us.”

  “Because it probably vill be,” added Reinhard.

  A few awkward chuckles passed through the group.

  Jason nodded. “Okay, this is what we came here to do. Let’s roll.”

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Both Golems spotted the group as they ran across the street and into the square in front of the cathedral. The closest lumbered toward them, legs bent and walking on its knuckles, much like a gorilla. As Jason approached the nearest Golem, he noticed that every limb or torso section was made of scores of corresponding human limbs stripped of their flesh and stitched together. Most disturbing was the monstrosity’s head. Hundreds of skinless faces stared out at him, each mouth contorted in a silent, soulful wail. The anguished aura peaked within Jason’s head.

  The second sentinel hovered in the background, judging where these puny things were going. It tilted its head, gazing at them with a sense of curiosity. Then it stepped to the right, trying to cut off Jason and the others.

  Attracted by the commotion, the Nachzehrer stared in the group’s direction. Upon seeing food, they moved en masse toward the humans.

  Jason suddenly realized that crossing the square would be more difficult than he realized. If they stayed together, half of them would be taken down before they even reached Notre Dame. “Split up!” he yelled. “We’ll meet by the north entrance.”

  Without hesitating, the others spread out. Jason made a dash between the Golems, hoping to sneak through the gap and draw their attention. Lucifer and Lilith ran beside him.

  Jeanette broke
to the right, trying to give the closest Golem a wide berth. It lumbered toward her as she ran past it. That put her dangerously close to the lava flow. A dozen Nachzehrer blocked her path, and five more approached from her left. They were less than ten feet away and closing in, threatening to trap her. Jeanette stopped and spun around, deciding to go back and circle around the square. She gasped when she saw the Golem behind her, its right arm raised across its chest, ready to strike.

  Sasha broke left and raced along the outer perimeter of the square where there were less Hell Spawn. Antoine and Sook-kyoung stayed close to protect her. A Nachzehrer staggered in front of them. Sook-kyoung raced ahead and launched into a roundhouse kick. Her foot connected with the demon’s head, sending it spinning backward onto the ground.

  A Nachzehrer in a gendarme uniform emerged from a clump of trees and grabbed Sasha as she passed. She tried to break free but was hampered by the weight of the minigun. The demon hung on tight and plunged its mouth toward her neck. She raised her left arm, catching the Nachzehrer across its throat. This one possessed more strength than the rest, or maybe she was worn out. In any case, she would only be able to hold it back for a few seconds at best.

  Doc ran down the center of the square, clutching the saddlebag containing the antimatter device to his chestantimatter. He made it halfway across when a naked Nachzehrer swerved in his direction and lunged. Doc gasped, unable to fight it off with his one arm clutching the bag.

  A gunshot rang out from behind him. The Nachzehrer’s head jerked back as a bullet entered its forehead and blew off the back of its skull. It dropped to the ground as an eddy of blue light flowed skyward. Neal raced up beside Doc, the barrel of his FAMAS still billowing smoke. He grabbed Doc by the arm and pushed him forward, aiming for a spot where the Hell Spawn were fewest.

  Jeanette sprawled to the ground as the Golem struck out. Its hand swiped above her prone body and connected with the Nachzehrer surrounding her, throwing the horde aside with one blow. Bodies tumbled into the lava. Jeanette jumped to her feet before the last carcass hit the molten river and bolted forward. The Golem swung its arm back, missing her by inches. It lumbered after her, but she was already halfway to Notre Dame.

  Three Nachzehrer converged on Jason. He pulled his machete from its sheath, ready to take them on.

  Lucifer and Lilith leaped forward. They pounced on the outermost demons, knocking them down and tearing into them with fangs and claws. The Nachzehrer in the middle paused, its gaze switching between the fallen Hell Spawn, which gave Jason the time he needed. Swinging the machete, he sliced through its neck. Its head lobbed off and sailed through the air, allowing a blue eddy of light to escape. Jason shoved aside the decapitated corpse and continued toward Notre Dame. The werehounds released their prey and gave chase.

  Josh and Shane also made their way down the center of the square, more careful to avoid the remaining Golem than the Nachzehrer. Josh weaved among the Hell Spawn as if he was on the football field. Shane took a more direct approach, using his FAMAS to crush the heads of anything that got in his way. Reinhard, Ray, and Haneef stayed twenty feet to the rear, taking advantage of the path they cleared and covering their friends’ backs in case any of the demons circled around. With most of the Hell Spawn distracted, it took only a minute to reach the other side of the square. The nearest Nachzehrer was more than fifty feet away.

  Doc and Neal raced up, the former hunched over, gasping for breath.

  “You okay?” asked Josh.

  “I’ll be fine,” Doc wheezed. “I just need to catch my breath.”

  The group checked on the others.

  Sasha braced herself to be bitten by the Nachzehrer when the demon groaned. She opened her eyes to see Antoine’s machete piercing its face. The Nachzehrer’s grip loosened. It slid off the blade onto the pavement, leaving chunks of bone and brain on the metal. Antoine grabbed Sasha’s arm and dragged her along.

  “Keep moving unless you want to become one of them.”

  One by one, the group gathered around the front façade of Notre Dame. The twin Golem plodded toward them, still too far away to pose an immediate threat. The few Nachzehrer that got close were taken down with single shots to the head. Jason couldn’t believe their luck. They now stood in the shadows cast by Notre Dame’s twin towers. Only a short dash and they’d be inside the cathedral.

  When Jeanette joined them, Jason led the group around the corner.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  A handful of Nachzehrer wandered along the cathedral’s northern façade, so it took only a few seconds to reach the entrance. As they ran up the steps, Jason stopped the others.

  “Wait here.”

  “For what?” asked Doc. “We should push ahead while we have the chance.”

  “I want to check inside first. We don’t know what’s in there. I’ll only be a minute.”

  As the others formed a perimeter around the stairs, Jason rushed up to the heavy wooden doors, relieved to find that they were not locked. He pushed open the one on the left enough to slip through and entered Notre Dame.

  The stench nauseated him. A pungent odor of rot and decay mixed with brimstone assaulted his nose, making his sinuses water. He wiped the tears from his eyes and forced down the bile rising in his throat.

  Jason stood in the northern transept across from where it connected with the nave. The Hell Gate stood off to his left in the area reserved for the choir. The moment he saw it, memories of CERN raced through his conscious. This portal measured seventy feet in circumference, with the lower portion buried in the floor. Everything within five feet of the outer edge of the portal had disintegrated as a natural result of its formation. Most of the plate glass windows near the portal had been shattered, and the choir stalls had been ripped apart. Extensive damage to several of the support columns on either side of the cathedral caused the upper balcony to sag. Like at CERN, this portal also shimmered as if gazing through a layer of water.

  The landscape on the other side of the Hell Gate looked gray and barren, contrasting sharply with the blood red sky. Raging infernos burned in the distance and lit up the horizon. Within the light of the fires stood a dark outline of what appeared to be a city. Nachzehrer stretched as far as he could see, although none of them seemed interested in crossing to this side. The biggest danger was posed by four Golem that stood on the opposite side of the portal and faced inward. These monstrosities were spread out one to two hundred feet from the portal and could pose a problem if they tried to stop the group.

  A stream of lava flowed through the right side of the portal and across the nave, burning its way toward the front of the cathedral where it cascaded through the southern and central doors and into the square. The intense heat had scorched the interior. Across from Jason stood a mound of charred wood, which he assumed had once been the altar. The only portion his people could walk on was a strip along the northern wall thirty feet wide that paralleled the lava flow and stretched from the front of the cathedral into the Hell Gate, providing a small footpath through the portal. The temperature approached one hundred and thirty degrees because of the molten mass oozing past him. More than a hundred Nachzehrer milled around inside the cathedral, packing the space not rendered impassable by the lava. Jason cursed under his breath. They had made it this far only to fail within site of the portal.

  Before any of the Nachzehrer noticed him, Jason slid back outside and closed the door.

  “What’s it like?” asked Doc.

  “We’re screwed.” Jason couldn’t hide the depression in his voice. “There’s over a hundred Nachzehrer inside.”

  “Fich!” Reinhard cursed. Antoine punched the stone column.

  “We’re not going back after coming this far,” said Jason. “We’re just going to have to fight our way through them. Doc, when we rush in, you and Neal head straight for the portal and plant the device. The rest of us will hold them off for you as long—”

  “Let me go in and take care of the Nachzehrer,” interrupted S
asha.

  Jason could not believe what he heard. “There’s too many. You won’t be able to take them down by yourself.”

  “I know that. But I can distract them and lead them away from the portal.”

  “No.” Jason shook his head so that the strands of blonde hair waved across his face. “It’s suicide.”

  “It’s the only way.” Sasha’s voice had a tender edge to it. “I’ll buy you enough time so Doc can close the Hell Gate.”

  Jason started to protest but stopped. He knew Sasha was right. The mission could succeed only if she led the Nachzehrer away long enough for Doc to get close to the portal and use the device. He also knew it would be the last time he saw Sasha. He wanted to say something profound, to tell Sasha how he felt about her, to explain why he had acted the way he did. There was no time. He boiled down eight months of emotion toward Sasha, the woman who had been his first love and his comrade in arms through the apocalypse, into two simple words.

  “Be careful.”

  “I will.” Stepping up to Jason, Sasha placed her hands on his cheeks, leaned forward, and brushed her lips against his. She kissed him long and deep. It didn’t feel like anything he had felt before. Sasha sighed contentedly into his mouth. When she broke the embrace, her eyes locked on his. “I’m doing this for you. I love you, Jason.”

  Before Jason could reply, Sasha became all business. “Antoine, Shane, Ray. You’re with me. Stay close. We’re going to send these Hell Spawn back where they came from.”

  Rushing past Jason and flashing him a loving smile, Sasha entered Notre Dame with her suicide team.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Sasha moved into the northern transept and assessed the situation. They only had one chance of getting out of this alive, as slim as that would be. She waited for the others.