I exhale and leave. Ah the foot soldier, a role I thought was fantasy at my age. A man shouts, “Help!” I turn and a tall man, dirty and singed suit, he grabs me, “The governor!” I grab him, “What's going on?!” A team marches up as he pants, “The children! They’re trapped behind enemy lines!” One of the guys push me out the way, “Where?” He gulps, “The demons are attacking the Hotel Summit!” I look up, Demons? A soldier turns from his radio as tanks quake through the rubble around us, “We’re all going in!” Soldiers hop on tanks and I do the same.
The tanks tear through the rubble as men and women run away from the sounds of firefights, explosions, crumbling buildings, from the sudden quakes from below us. I look up and fire flies at a nearby building. Demons on our left! Corner building! The turrets turn to the building, men and women jump out or run away from the windows, explosions from our cannons, the quakes help us level the building to the ground. A man blows fire out his palms, he glides towards us. I look to my right, soldiers let loose bullets into him. He falls and splats against the pavement. I clench my teeth, He wasn’t a threat!
A woman screams at us, waves her hand and rock levitates, a large rock crashes against a tank, I cover my eyes as rock scrapes against me. I open my eyes, her body lays torn apart. No bullets even hit her. Corner apartment! Hostiles! We turn as the earthquakes come back. I look up and a building comes straight for us. I hop off and hug the tank with my back. I cover my head and the building cracks and crumbles above me. Dust envelops the streets, I climb out and shadows get hit within the dust, flames whoosh through, blades and screams. A guy roars towards me- I jerk the barrel of my gun to his head, he yelps as I pull the trigger, yet he still claws into my arms. I headbutt him, force him back and stab him in the throat.
The dust clears, large black claws, sharp teeth, wide mouth. I grab his jaws and spread them open. Soldiers yank him off me, shoot him till he doesn’t move. The agent laughs and pulls me up. “Demons, huh?!” I pant, “They don’t seem it!” I look down at our dead, their throats with a big bite missing. “That one thing took a whole squad out!” I shake my head as we keep moving on foot, “But they’re people!” “You call that thing a person?!” I sigh, It seems it’s not so easy now, to say that.
A tank busts through a building and stops before us. A man hops on the machine gun and waves at us, “Come on! You’re sitting ducks!” The agent taps my shoulder and what's left of the team hop on. I chase after them and we go prone on the back, watching the windows, rooftops. The agent shouts into the radio, “This is Abrams 11A! We are at- 23rd and main!” Abrams 11A- Get off of that street! Heavy resistance!
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
In the corner of my eye, something zooms past. I jerk my rifle towards it, nothing's there. Another soldier shouts, “Something's on us!” I look up and a man smiles in a window. “I don’t like the look of this!” More and more look down at us from windows. “Gun it! Go go!” I jump as something cracks between my legs, a large black spike. The tank clacks against the ground and it’s engine roars, black spikes come flying at us, a man falls off the tank and the demons zoom in and bite into him, he screams as another man gets pulled off the tank. I pull my feet in as a demon swipes at me. He leaps on and I kick him off. The agent shouts and I grab his arm, He hands me his radio, “Eighth and Main! Big hotel!” My grip fails as he gets ripped off the tank. Damn it!
A whole bunch of em’ leap from the rooftops, they splat onto the tank and they start rising. I fire into them, but they just won’t die. They reform and charge towards me. I stand and get on the tank's machine gun, cock the bolt back. "Come on, you bastards!" I pull the trigger and smile, the power of the gun kicking back. Only part I don't miss, the bullets tear into these demo-people, they all squeal and roar at the pain as they fall off. We pass a broken down tank on fire as I speak into my radio, “How safe is the Hotel on Eighth and Main!?” Abrams 11A, turn around! “We gotta move in! I still hear shooting near that hotel!” Turn around! Rendezvous with the line! The tank turns around and I sigh. I have to jump, don’t I?
I leap off and they scream from the rooftops, Abrams 11A? “We’re headed back!” Good! “But those people need help!” Who is this? “Diesel Jaggentide! Can’t stop me!”
Demons hop down and I start running, fast as I first did, track team, hell week, the PT! Turn around soldier! You won’t make it! My old age feels odd now. Even with all this power, they still gain on me. I’m no match for them. That’s an order! The shooting dies down fast and I slam my feet to the ground. They need me right now!
I pant as they leap past me like wild animals on four legs. To hell with you then! I take an alley, stray demons try to catch me as I pass, they kick off walls and scratch at my back. I’m just barely dodging these things. Demons hop down in front of me, bricks extend out the wall, I don’t even think and just take the new set of stairs.