by Michael Todd
“What the hell is a proper demon?” Baal chuckled.
“Who fucking knows? I like the Americans. Full of lust and greed; they always know exactly why they are there, and have no problem just rolling right into the torture.”
“Hopefully, we will have a few more to feed our bloodlust soon.”
“Mhmm, yes,” Moloch replied, rubbing his hands together.
They walked to the edge of town and watched as the last of the humans was destroyed, ending the incursion. Baal put his hand to his chin and furrowed his brow.
“What about Stonehenge during the tourist season?”
Moloch shook his head. “Thought about that one, but there really aren’t that many people and it's too obvious. It would be like setting Vatican City aflame. We need a place teeming with people, and I want it to have internet access. This right here does no one any good if the other humans can’t see it. It’s like that old human saying: ‘If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?’ If the demons kill an entire village but no one witnesses it, did it even happen? I looked at that YouTube thing, and the guy’s video had over a million views before they yanked it. By that point, though, it had gone viral.”
Baal tried to hold back a laugh. “Too bad the kid couldn’t see it.”
Moloch laughed loudly and patted Baal on the back. “Good one. We need a good place to spread fear. Somewhere the information will spread wide and fast, and people will actually care that it happened. Hmm...”
They stood there watching the demons start to enter back into the portals and head back to hell. Moloch racked his brain trying to think of the perfect spot, wanting attention but not so much that they would call out the mercs. He put his finger in the air and smiled.
“I know just the place, I had fun there in 1461...”
Moloch opened the portal, and the two stepped out onto the battlefield that had hosted the Battle of Towton in 1461, where the Houses of York and Lancaster fought for the English throne. Henry VI had been overthrown, not that it made much difference since the two houses passed the crown between them for years after. Moloch thought human politics had been so much more entertaining back then. The town was near the village of Towton in Yorkshire, the perfect place for a deadly battle to the finish. This incursion, though, would be less of a battle and more of a bloody rampage through the town and off to other parts of England.
“This, Baal, is the site of probably the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil, and it will now be the site of the bloodiest massacre in the history of the world, videoed and shown live on the internet. What better way is there to sow fear into the hearts of millions?”
Chapter Twenty
The alarm went off in Timothy’s room, Mozart flowing over the airwaves to gently wake him up. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head before reaching over and turning it off. He pulled the covers off and shuffled into the bathroom. As he performed his morning ritual—applying moisturizer, flossing, and putting serum on his hair—he thought about the project and wondered how it did overnight. He didn’t have high expectations, or really any expectations at all. It was the first test run, and those never turned out well.
He dressed carefully in a pair of khaki chinos, a collared black shirt, and black loafers, spritzing a bit of cologne on just for his own pleasure. He hated smelling bad, and he knew that with the office strewn with trash and leftovers, it wasn’t going to smell good in there. He made his way down to the kitchen and started the coffeemaker, flipping on the television and watching the first few minutes of some stupid early morning infomercial while waiting for his coffee to be brewed. He giggled at the host as she swooned over some celebrity and switched it off when he heard the coffeemaker hissing.
Timothy hummed as he filled his tumbler and added just the right amount of milk and sugar. He twisted on the cap and took a small sip, letting out a deep breath. He smiled and flipped off the machine and headed to the IT room. When he walked inside, he flipped on the light and stopped, grimacing at the mess around him.
“Guess I know what I’m doing today.” He picked a pizza box up from the floor and took it over to the pile of cans around the empty trashcan. “I’m not playing in the NBA anytime soon.”
He sat down at his computer and set the coffee on the table, pressing a couple of buttons and rolling his chair over to grab the reports out of the printer’s tray. He leaned back and crossed his legs, going over the numbers and activity from the night before. He flipped to the page for England and scanned down, his finger stopping midway. He furrowed his brow and looked up at the screen, which was hovering over Russia. He looked back down at the paper and shook his head in surprise.
“That can’t be right. There is no way this thing was accurate the first time around. The IT gods are messing with me.”
He slid over to his computer and started bringing up the different reports from the past night. He read through them several times, checking the system to make sure all the settings were correct. He took a deep breath and shook his head, pushing back with his eyes wide with alarm. The reports all said the same thing, and the screen was showing the bright yellow spot, flashing the alarm he had silenced the night before.
“Holy shit, it can’t be!”
He grabbed the office phone and dialed Katie’s number while at the same time grabbing his cell and sending a text message.
“This is earlier than even I get up.” Katie groaned. “And I literally have an alarm clock from hell.”
“Girl, prepare to get your ass to England. Not joking. This is not a test. Call you soon with more details.”
“Wait, wha—”
Timothy hung up the phone and finished his urgent text, panting with excitement. He put the cell down and rolled up to the screen, scanning out and then back in over and over. He couldn’t get the exact location, but he knew something big was definitely going down. His heart was beating wildly. Although a threat like this was a bad thing, he was kind of excited that his program had worked the first time around. He had figured it would take months to even calibrate for New York accurately. He just hoped the general wasn’t too pissed. England wasn’t really in his jurisdiction.
Just then the landline rang, and he rolled over to pick it up. “Timothy speaking.”
“This is General Brushwood, and I would like you to know I am not even in the office yet, even though I get there insanely early. You texted me. What is it?”
“Man, you people are grumpy.” Timothy sniffed. “Look, I know we have things to talk about, and you’ll understand after I tell you, but you are going to want to stay focused here. There is something huge, and I mean MASSIVE, happening near the top part of England.”
“Can we be a little more specific in like all of that?”
“There is a massive surge of energy, bigger than the one here in Brooklyn, and coming from the top quarter of England. Before you ask, I can’t tell you exactly where. This thing wasn’t even supposed to be working yet. And no, I don’t know off the top of my head. It’s not like we take England’s geography in tenth grade or something.”
“No, even I don’t know where that could be. Okay, I’ll have my people start looking at it, though nobody has called me about it so far, so either your work is flawed or my people are slacking big time over there. Then again, it was the night crew, and I worry about them at times.”
“Night is when it all happens. You should have the good people work then.”
“Office politics, Timothy. Those who are more valuable don’t want the graveyard shift.”
“Well, hell I need to work there. I have the all-the-time shift.”
“There’s only one of you.”
“Yeah, well, maybe we should hire some people here. I am only one lady, and I can only get so much done.”
He could almost hear the general rolling his eyes. “Hold on, I am going to connect us with command. I want you to explain to them what you are seeing and where in that vicinity to look. It’s quicker than
sending them to hunt for a needle in a haystack.”
“Okay.”
The general put him on hold for a moment and clicked back over with the supervisor on the phone. Timothy went through the list of results on the readout, letting her know exactly what they were looking at. The numbers were up and then down, and then boom…they hit the roof and hadn’t come down since then. Not to mention that the images were showing a gate that spanned a pretty good distance.
The woman took down all the information; he could hear her typing on the other end. The general stayed quiet, letting them do their thing until they were finished. “Ellen, how long until we have those results?”
“I don’t know, sir. We are working on it now.”
“All right, keep me abreast of the situation. Timothy, I’ll call you as soon as I know anything. You might want to put Katie on notice.”
“Already did, while I was sending you a text.”
“Good.”
They hung up and Timothy sat there for a moment staring at the pulsing yellows and reds on the large screen in front of him. He put his hand to his mouth and destroyed his manicure. He hated to wait. He hated that technology hadn’t come up to speed with everything else, and that in dire situations all they could do was wait. He could have gone into his system to see if he could tweak it for a better location, but if he did that he might ruin the whole thing and not be able to get it back. His only option was to sit there feeling helpless.
He picked up his phone and fidgeted with it, looking up at the time and then the screen about every five minutes. He tapped his foot and then got up, crossing his arms and pacing the room. He knew it might be hours, but that was a damn shame, especially since if it were in the US he could already have picked up the exact location. Hours could mean the difference between mass casualties and none.
After about forty minutes of him going crazy, he threw his arms in the air. “Fuck it. If this is going down, we are going to be ready. If not, then we just did a lot of work for no reason, but no harm, no foul.”
Joshua stood in the armory looking down his checklist for the day. They had a ton of weapons to get through, and twice as much ammunition than in previous months. The recent surge of demons had pushed them to their limits and they were again struggling to keep up with the demand, not to mention the house stash that had to be kept full at all times in case of a call.
“Where am I today?” Chelsea asked Joshua.
“Oh, um....you are on ammunition packaging.”
“Oh, good. I love that area.”
Joshua smiled as she bounced away to start work. The women had just gotten there about an hour before, and were going through the shift change lists for the day. They worked like a well-oiled machine, which Joshua was thankful for. He wasn’t sure he was ready to handle a huge business and a troubled staff at the same time. All the women gathered at the front for the normal morning discussion where Joshua went over any must-knows and upcoming special orders. Everything was in its place, and all was right with the world.
Well, not all. But for Joshua, this was as good as it got.
He cleared his throat and put his hands in the air, quieting the women. “Morning, ladies. So, today is just like yesterday. No new orders, but the ones we have are stacked to the brim. As usual, priority lies with federal orders, and once those are packaged and shipped we move on to retail orders. The retailers know there can sometimes be a delay, but let’s not get behind if we don’t have to. We don’t want a snowball effect to occur. We may be the only company out there with the product, but that doesn’t mean we should have shitty service. I will be in the lab putting the finishing touches on the newest batch of metals before they go through the system. If you need me, you know where to find me. And as always, be safe and be quick.”
The women nodded and talked loudly and excitedly to each other. The rumor of Stephanie’s return had run through the factory like wildfire. Joshua looked at the desk in the corner, hearing the phone ring. He sighed and walked over to answer.
“I’m assuming that since it was the house ring, this is Timothy.”
“Well, aren’t you the smart one. Here’s the deal… I need you to ship everything we have in the house stash out the doors. Katie is going to need it, and need it fast. Put it out on the airfield, and when the time comes, we will have someone pick it up. Sound good?”
Joshua fumbled with his clipboard as Timothy dropped the bombshell on him. “Yeah. All hands, got it.” His heart hammered and his head swam as he tried to process the unexpected interruption to his morning.
He hung up the phone with a shaky hand, and just about remembered to breathe. He sucked in another breath, then another until the dark spots in his vision faded. He clenched his jaw, angry at his loss of control. “Get it together,” he hissed. “Katie needs you.” He grabbed the receiver to the intercom and mashed the button as he brought it to his mouth. “Attention. All hands. All hands. This is not a drill. All house items are to be moved to the airfield immediately. I repeat, all house ammunition and weapons are to be moved to the airfield immediately.”
He hung up the receiver and ran over to the area that housed the supplies. He fumbled with the keys for a moment, then slid the flat key into the slot and typed in his code. The door clicked, and he groaned as he pulled it open, the adrenaline dump his body was dealing with robbing him of his strength temporarily.
He stepped to the side as the women filed in and out of the room, then went in after them and grabbed a pallet with the pallet jack and moved it through the factory toward the airfield. They moved fast, unsure what was going on, but if all of it was called for then there was something really big about to go down.
Part of Joshua was jealous. He wished he could be part of the action, but then again, he still had nightmares about Incursion Day. And from the sound of it, this was building up to be even worse.
They worked hard, first stacking all the pallets in the pick-up area and then going back and pulling out the stack of duffel bags stowed in the locker and stacking the cases of bullets inside. The women had practiced it many times, so they were strong enough to carry the duffels without help even though Joshua was struggling to get one out there. They ran back and picked the locker dry before Joshua grabbed the checklist from the vault’s wall and went out there to go through each piece and make sure they had everything. Not only was it a good to know, but if it were a military operation, they would be able to invoice the government for everything.
Joshua spent the next hour going over the inventory of each duffel, pallet, and case to pass the time and quiet his tumultuous thoughts. He already knew exactly what was there, since he did inventory once a week. It just gave him something to do while he waited the endless hour until Chelsea stuck her head out the door and yelled for him, shaking the phone in her hand.
“Joshua! The general is on the phone for you.”
Joshua nodded and checked the last box on his list, a feeling of relief coming over him. He took off across the sandy base and snatched the phone from her as he reached the door. He held his hand over the speaker as he stepped inside, breathing heavily. He sucked air in through his mouth and out his nose several times before putting the phone to his ear.
“General, what can I do for you?”
“I need you to get busy packing everything that you can and place it on the airfield.”
Joshua raised an eyebrow and looked at the clock. “Yes sir. It’s done.”
“Timothy got you to move, didn’t he?”
“Yes, sir, about three hours ago. I just finished the final count of everything.”
“Good. The plane will hit there in about thirty minutes. I don’t need any help loading. There will be plenty of guys. Just make sure you are there to give us the invoice. These things are easier done all at once instead of billing later.”
“Yes, sir,” Joshua replied. “Anything else?”
“No, son. Thank you for rushing.”
“Not a problem, sir.”
>
Joshua hung the phone up and looked at the women, who were waiting for his instruction. “All right, ladies, you did a fantastic job. The plane will be here in thirty minutes. I will handle the rest of it, so go back to work. We now have to add replenishing the house stock to our list. Chelsea?”
“Yes?”
“I want you to take this house list, and you and two of the girls pull from our stock and get the vault filled. Make sure to mark off what you take so we can account for it. Eliza, I need you to go through once they are done and redo our daily task list. Prioritize according to what we have and what our goals are. I need to know what has to be manufactured daily to meet our orders.”
“Sounds good.” She nodded, taking the clipboard from him.
“The rest of you, continue to pack and organize the new materials coming out of production.”
They all nodded and headed off in different directions. Joshua leaned back against the post and shook his head. His initial reaction aside, there was something satisfying about moving at full speed, knowing you were the driving force behind the ability of an army to kill demons.
They were part of something bigger, and that was what Joshua had wanted all his life. He wanted to know he’d made a difference when he went to bed at night. With his metals, countless lives would be saved out there on the battlefield.
He just hoped it didn’t cost too many mercenary lives in the process.
Chapter Twenty-One
Katie stuck the last of her guns in the holsters and adjusted the belt on her hips. It felt a little tight, but she wasn’t in the mood to argue with Pandora over it. The general had just called and confirmed that Timothy’s information had been correct. They had to get moving if they wanted to get there before the entirety of England descended into a complete shitshow. She walked out of her room and almost bumped into Calvin. She looked him over. He looked so…Calvin in his tight green t-shirt, army pants, and boots, with his weapons strapped to him. She couldn’t help but smile at having him back where he belonged.