Demon Gate: Beyond the 9th Circle: The Rapture Was Just The Beginning. (10 page)

they came to the intersection of Las Vegas
Boulevard and Washington Ave. If they were
driving any other vehicle, they would have
rolled. I-15 was just over a mile away.
Spencer took a right on to I-15 and
headed north. The speedometer read ninety-five
miles an hour when Gretchen climbed down into
the Hummer.
“Alright, where are you taking us?”
Gretchen demanded.
“Away from Las Vegas.”
After passing through North Las Vegas,
they drove by Nellis Air Base towards Mesquite.
Gretchen stayed quiet in the back seat, only
glaring at Spencer on occasion. It wasn’t until the
I-70 junction that Vince decided to break the
silence.
“So where did you find her?” Vince
asked.
“Her name is Gretchen,” Spencer and
Gretchen said simultaneously. Spencer and
Gretchen looked at each other but Gretchen
looked infuriated before turning to look out the
window while Spencer recounted the story.
After a couple hours, a town appeared out
the Hummer’s right window. Fillmore, Utah.
Spencer was tired of driving and decided to pull
over and have a look around.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking a rest.” Spencer said as he shut
off the engine and opened the door.
Vince decided this was a good time to get
out and relieve himself. Gretchen wasn’t getting
out; she didn’t trust this guy she once looked at
as her hero. Spencer walked away wondering
how he would talk to Gretchen about his leaving
in Clovis.
Vince returned to the Hummer. “You
don’t trust him?” Vince asked dubiously.
“Why the hell should I?” Gretchen
demanded. “He left me to save his own ass. He
didn’t care if I lived or died.”
“Wow. It sounds like he really hates
you.”
Gretchen nodded.
“So, why did he leave when he could
have just killed you?” Vince asked.
Gretchen paused to ask herself a question
she had never thought to ask.
“We met three days ago at a truck stop
near Kingman, Arizona and since we met he
went from freaking out to borderline suicidal;
mostly about abandoning you,” Vince explained.
Gretchen looked at Spencer off in the
distance. “He seems fine now.” Gretchen
observed.
“Maybe because now he knows you’re
alive.” Vince suggested.
Gretchen started shaking her head. “No, it
doesn’t make any sense.”
“Ask him about it some time,” Vince said
before he turned at a noise. It was Spencer
returning.
Gretchen paused and recalled Vince’s
comment from Las Vegas. “What did you mean
when you said to Spencer ‘you were right’?”
Gretchen asked.
Vince smiled awkwardly. “When he first
mentioned you I asked if you were hot. He was
right, you are,” Vince said as Spencer appeared.
“It’s time to go.” Spencer said.
“I’ll drive.” Vince offered before
climbing into the driver’s seat.
Spencer climbed into the front passenger
seat. Spencer’s worry and poor sleeping habits
over the last week were quickly catching up and
he soon fell asleep. When Spencer awoke, a light
rain was falling and a large city loomed out of the
Hummer’s right passenger window. It was late,
maybe five or six in the evening; they hadn’t
made very good time.
“What city is that?” Spencer asked as
images from a seemingly dreamless sleep danced
in his memory.
“That’s Salt Lake City,” Vince replied
Gretchen saw Spencer’s mouth hang open
in awe.
“Is something wrong, Spencer?” Gretchen
asked.
Spencer was dumbfounded, he had seen
the city before, but he had never been there
before, how was that possible? “I’ve seen that
city before,” Spencer replied.
“Have you ever been here?” Vince asked.
“No,” Spencer half-heartedly replied.
Vince glanced down at the gas gauge.
“Damn.”
“What?” Spencer asked.
“We need to stop for gas, this thing
inhales gas,” Vince replied.
“Do you think it’s safe?” Gretchen asked.
Vince scanned the Salt Lake skyline;
several of the taller buildings obviously had
suffered damage a couple of them looked like
they were on the verge of collapse.
“For the moment. Time is precious, so
let’s not waste any,” Vince said veering off I-15
and heading into the city. After turning on to
North Temple, they headed east and found a
Maverick station.
“Damn, power’s out here too.” Gretchen
mourned as she pulled up to the gas pumps.
“Not to worry.” Spencer remarked as he
climbed out and got to work. Within a couple
minutes fresh fuel was pumping into the
Hummer’s fuel tank, it would take some time to
fill the tank so Spencer reached for the weapons
cache on the trailer for the nearest weapon, which
was a P-90. After checking the clip he racked the
weapon and headed into the gas station. Their
food rations were getting low and he hoped to
find something edible in the store.
“Where are you going?” Gretchen
snapped distrustfully as Spencer pulled the glass
door open.
“Inside, maybe there’s something to eat in
here.” Spencer replied.
“What do you expect us to do?” Gretchen
demanded.
“Stay here and watch the Hummer.”
“What if more demons show up?”
Spencer looked at the guns they were
hauling and then to the 50 caliber gun atop the
hummer.
“Shoot.” Spencer headed into the store.
Before the glass door closed the rancid smell of
rotting bread, dairy and meat slapped Spencer,
but that didn’t mean there was no edible food.
The water and soda might be flat and warm but
still be good. There might be crackers and
assorted junk food loaded with preservatives
which would get them by until they could find a
stock of MRE’s or other food. He realized that if
they actually made it through, he would also have
to keep some seeds ready so they could sustain
themselves over the long haul.
Spencer managed to grab a small amount
of food and water before a loud gunshot ripped
through the air shattering half the windows in the
store.
“Holy crap!” Spencer exclaimed as half
the food and water he gathered clattered to the
ground when he jerked in surprise at the
unexpected noise. Spencer raised his P-90 and
charged out of the store to see what was going
on. A handful of demons had approached from
the west.
“They must have followed us,” Vince
shouted when Spencer emerged from the gas
station.
“Who cares where they came from; we
have to get out of here.” Gretchen interjected.
“How much longer until the fuel tank is
full?” Spencer asked.
“It should be full any second!” Vince
replied.
“We can’t wait any longer, we have to
leave now!” Gretchen objected as she repelled a
pair of demons with an M-16 and climbed into
the cab of the Hummer.
Spencer and Vince climbed in and
Gretchen started the engine. Pulling out onto the
street, Gretchen noticed a few hundred demons to
the west so she turned and headed east. They
made it a block and a half before a pile of demon
corpses were found outside a wall, most of the
gates into the fortified citadel were closed and
barricaded but one gate was open. A shape ran
away from the gate towards a building with an
elongated dome serving as its roof.
“Gretchen, stop, there’s something in
there.” Vince urged.
“I saw it.” Gretchen said steering the
Hummer toward the open gate, bouncing past the
curb and turning to allow access to the open gate.
The gate was two full feet too small to allow
passage to the larger vehicle.
“Inside! Let’s go.” Gretchen shouted and
all three survivors exited the Hummer and then
noticed the demons were nowhere to be seen.
Gretchen and Spencer lead the way into
the open gate over the corpses of at least a dozen
demons, one of which was a type of demon they
had not yet seen. It was blacker than black and
looked like a flying silver back gorilla. It had a
pair of charcoal black wings extending twelve to
fifteen feet from the hairy back. His skin was like
armor, scales covered his back, neck, arms and
most of his chest, the scales were the color of
hematite.
Spencer stopped to look while Vince and
Gretchen rushed through the gate. The demon
seemed to still be alive, but suffering. Spencer
gasped in fright and backed into the enclosure
raising his weapon as the demon slowly got up
and looked at him.
Gretchen and Vince returned to see the
demon try to move past its fallen comrades and
enter the enclosure only to react in pain and
terror like a vampire to sunlight. Finally, the
demon fled on its thick legs and went toward a
large building on the north side of the street and
disappeared around the east side. A wing dragged
behind it as it ran.
“You idiot, you let it get away!” A
woman who stood just under six feet tall was
inside the gate; she wore an olive green tank top
and Levi shorts. She was scowling and holding a
rather large gun.
“I’ve been looking for that thing for three
days!” The woman shouted.
“What the hell was that?” Spencer asked.
“That was a Fiend Lord,” The woman
replied.
“A what?” Spencer asked.
“They’re Prince class. These things are
nasty as hell, and damn tricky. Rumor has it if
you kill one you gain some kind of power.”
“What kind of power?” Spencer asked.
“If I knew I wouldn’t have said
some kind
of power
, would I?” the woman sarcastically
replied.
“So, what happened here?” Vince asked
pointing at the gate where the demon corpses
were rotting.
“Beats the hell out of me. I’ve been holed
up in this place since they showed up. I came out
a few days ago and found them there,” The
woman explained. “It might be because of the
religious nature of this place.”
“So hallowed ground weakens them?”
Gretchen asked.
“No, it kills them,” The woman replied.
“Well except for the Fiend Lords, come on let’s
get to the shelter.” The woman lead the way to
the south east corner to a building designated
‘south visitors center’ pulling the door open she
lead the way inside and to the east end where a
promenade looked up at the massive multi-spired
building across the courtyard. Patrolling the area
were another half dozen people with guns.
“This is our little band of survivors. This
is Halley, Dan, and Jared from Los Angeles,
Brittany and Justin from Las Vegas, you
probably missed them by a couple of days,
Rodney here is from Ogden,” The woman began.
“And I’m Jessie; I’ve lived in Salt Lake all my
life.” Five of the other six remained at their post,
but the one introduced as Brittany approached.
“Where did they come from?” Brittany
asked suspiciously.
“We just got here from the ruins of Las
Vegas.” Spencer said.
“How did you survive?” Brittany
demanded.
“With guns, big ones,” Vince replied
offering a glance to Spencer.
“Well we’ve introduced ourselves, who
are you?” Jessie requested.
“I’m Spencer from Newark; this is
Gretchen from Belfast, and Vince from…”
Spencer paused; he had no idea.
“Eugene,” Vince replied.
“How long have you been here?”
Gretchen asked.
“I was here when a gate from Hell opened
up at the city capital building,” Jessie explained.
Spencer paused, lost in thought. “I want
to get a look at it,” Spencer said as he headed out
the same door they entered from, trying to find a
tall enough building to offer a decent vantage
point. There was a building almost thirty floors
tall to the east, by this time Vince had caught up
with Spencer.
“What are you thinking?” Vince asked.
“We’ll need the sniper rifles we got in
Vegas,” Spencer said, briefly hinting at his plan.
Spencer sped across the open courtyard to the
north entrance that opened to North Temple
Street. Spencer poked his head out over the
rotting demon cadavers to see if the street was
clear. There was no movement on the street, only
a faint roar in the distance.
Spencer leapt over the bodies and ran the
short distance to the Hummer to collect the pair
of rifles and ammunition.
Spencer thought the way was clear, and
what happened next he never expected. And it
lasted for less then twenty seconds.
“Spencer, behind you!” Vince shouted.
Spencer wheeled around to see the Fiend
Lord staring him in the eye at a distance of less
than ten feet and quickly closing. Spencer
dropped the munitions and reached for the sword
he had claimed from the fight on the tower and
swung, missing the Fiend Lord by a great margin.
The massive demon grabbed Spencer by the neck
and lifted him high before grabbing Spencer’s
free arm and beginning to pull.
The Fiend Lord released his grip on
Spencer’s neck when the sharp point of the
queen’s sword pierced the lord’s shoulder
between two scales. Spencer retracted the sword
and swung down hard on the only thing
connecting him to the Fiend Lord. The arm was
not severed, but it was badly wounded, the
wound stopped at the scales on his arm. The
Fiend Lord threw Spencer aside causing the
sword to clatter to the ground. The huge demon
turned and fled across the street, around the
southeast corner of the building and disappeared.
Vince ran to Spencer. “Are you alright?”
Vince asked.
“I think so.” Spencer responded.
“We should let Jessie know where this
thing is hiding,” Vince admonished.
Spencer still wanted to get a look at the
portal.
“You go,” Spencer said trying to catch his
breath and then pointed at the building to the
east. “I’ll be on top of that building.”
“You’re going alone? That’s crazy.”
Vince chided.
“Then come with me.,” Spencer said,
strapping the sword and scabbard to his back.
“Fine,” Vince agreed. “I must be out of
my mind.”
Spencer bent over and grabbed the 50
caliber sniper rifles and the ammunition before
Vince headed back into the courtyard to reach the
building by a safer route. But Spencer just stood
there. There was something about the building
across the street. It almost exuded evil, corrupted
by the demons of hell. He had one of those
feelings again.
Vince returned to call for Spencer.
“Spencer,” Vince called, “Are you coming?”
“Yeah,” Spencer said still studying the
building to the north. “I’m coming.”
Spencer and Vince headed through the
courtyard and emerged just over three hundred
feet from the huge building. Reaching the front
door, Spencer pulled it open and Vince followed