The zombie cyborgs screamed and charged on their skeleton alloy legs. John blasted three of them down while his girls punched them up close.
One zombie landed on John's back and bit his shoulder. John sucked in the pain as he grabbed the zombie’s face and threw it to the floor. He raised his left metal foot and stomped the creature’s skull into a puddle of red mush.
Alexia sliced all the zombies down with her purple energy blades, leaving a bloody mess on the floor. Guts and mechanical parts spread around her feet.
“We better keep moving before more shows up,” Alexia suggested.
John nodded and aimed his mini-gun at the doorway ahead. “Through there I guess.”
They approached the door and found a panel coated in demonic symbols.
John pursed his lips. "Can anyone read this damn thing?"
Tiara shoved through Lena and Kara. "Let me see."
Next to John, her yellow eyes on her mask, studied the symbols. "This is an elevator. It will take us anywhere inside the base."
John grinned. If they can go anywhere, then they could reach the beacon without wasting time. But how could he tell which floor had the beacon? "Good, but can you work it?"
Tiara studied the panel until she pushed the top button. "That should take us to the top floor.”
“Is the beacon up there?”
Tiara shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”
The doors opened, revealing a dark circular chamber. More demonic symbols gleamed on the walls. The demons truly admired their unholy language.
Tiara pushed a black button, and the elevator ascended to the top floor. After it stopped, the doors opened.
The squad stepped into a large chamber with an open ceiling, revealing the open red sky. The lighting still flashed within the dark swirling clouds of horror.
At the center, a red diamond shaped stone object levitated over the metal floor, glittering in red demonic runes. No doubt it was the relic that sent Earth straight to Hell.
John grinned. "Alright! Let’s blow that sucker so we can save the world!"
"Let me try to shut it down." Tiara approached the beacon across the chamber. When she touched it, a red bolt blasted her back from the relic.
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She hit the floor, smoking in her armor.
John and the other women rushed toward her. He kneeled and helped her up. "Jesus! Are you okay?"
Tiara removed her face mask and coughed. She smelled like a roasted hot pepper. "I'm fine… I had worse pain before…"
Alexia glanced at the floating relic. She threw one purple energy ball toward it. Another red bolt around the relic deflected her attack to the floor, leaving a black mark.
She grimaced. "Some kind of defense shield must be protecting it."
"It is a spell protecting it," Tiara corrected as she stood up and placed her mask back on. "We have to kill the spell caster to undo it."
John glanced around. "So, who is the spell caster here?"
A sharp laughter echoed throughout the open chamber. It crawled through John’s skin and bones like ants.
From above, a pinkish blob hovered down toward the squad. It appeared to be an obese human, or what used to be a human. Half of his grotesque body mounted on a hovering platform with four rocket thrusters on each end. His arms were mechanical, with clawed hands and two cannons on his shoulders. A metal plate covered his head over his noseless melted face. His eyes glowed yellow and his lips barely showed his yellowish fangs.
The thing smiled with a crooked grin. "Ahhhhhhhhh, long time no see, John."
The werewolf's blue eyes widened in shock. "Dr. Lazarus?"
Although the fat zombie cyborg has a bubbling tone from his fat throat, John still recognized the madman's voice. “I thought your ass is suffering in Hell!”
The doctor raised his lips, showing his rotten fangs in full. "They gave me a job, John. Hehehehehe. Once I showed them my work, they promoted me to build their undead army. Men, women, children… All of them became my beautiful creations."
Lena glared at him. "You sick, twisted bastard!"
Dr.Lazarus glanced toward the zombie girl. His grin grew wider. "Oooooooooh, there's my sweet baby. Did you miss me?"
Lena hissed under her breath. "Fuck you!"
John twitched after what Lena said. That girl rarely spoke the F-word unless she saw the person again who ruined her life.
Dr.Lazarus clicked his tongue. "Now that isn't nice to say."
"How do you know who I was?" John asked.
“I can scan your identity,” the creature tipped his metal forehead. “If you were a werewolf before, I would have enjoyed ripping you apart.”
John pointed his metal claw up. “Not if I rip your ass apart first!”
Dr. Lazarus chuckled. “I have no ass.”
“Then how do you take a shit?” Kara asked with a small grin.
“HAHAHAHA! How funny! It will be more funny when I tear you all apart, limb by limb!”
Tiara stepped forward. “I do not understand why my kind would accept a damned soul like you to assemble their army."
“And why a demon like you is hanging around with those monsters? Shouldn’t you be on Hell's side?”
Tiara’s eyes glared. “My kind abandoned me a long time ago. Freeing the Earth from Hell will be my vengeance against them!”
Dr. Lazarus shook his head. “You are on the wrong side, dear. None of you will save this world from eternal damnation! Because I will protect this relic by killing all of you! And your bodies will become my new killing tools for my masters!”
“In your fucking dreams!” John morphed his left arm and aimed his mini-gun up toward the freak. “We’re taking you out so your fucked up nightmare will end!”
Dr. Lazarus twitched his metal claws. “Even if you do, I will return and slaughter you before you gain the chance to escape Hell!”
"We'll see about that, after we kill you!" Lena shouted.
Dr.Lazarus hovered back near the relic and aimed his cannons at John’s squad.