A loud bang pushed the hatch down to the floor. One possessed man dropped, landing to the middle of the elevator.

He hissed at Lena until she grabbed the back of his bald head and slammed his face into the wall, splattering his skull apart. Blood and meat splashed across the wall.

More demonic prisoners dropped laughing. John transformed his arms and blasted his Gatling guns at them.

After he painted the floor red, he stood beneath the open hatch and blasted up. Screams echoed as blood sprinkled down. John kept blasting until the screaming stopped.

“I thought the bloody collar is supposed to shock you!” Copper shouted.

John tipped the collar by the tip of his gun. “Must be broken, but I still want it off.”

He stepped beneath the hatch and looked up. Those creatures should be gone by now. Well, they used to be humans who terrible things in their past. While demons possessed them, John no longer considered them human. Only bloodthirsty demons who want to consume anything they see.

John lowered his guns until a fat man landed on him from the hatch. The possessed scratched John’s face while trying to bite his face. His breath stench of raw meat and metal.

Lena grabbed the fat man’s back, but he back kicked her away from him. Her back slammed against the wall and another possessed landed in front of her. She wrestled with the skinny possessed while he snapped his raw yellow fangs at her.

The fat possessed squeezed John’s neck. While gritting his teeth, John pushed the demon’s face back. However, the fat man wouldn’t stop.

“Get off him, you fat bastard!” Copper aimed his laser pistol and shot the fat man’s brains out.

John pushed the fat corpse off and jumped to his feet when he saw the other possessed choking Lena. He grabbed the possessed’s neck and pulled the possessed’s head off, along with his spine attached.

“Grow some spine!” He dropped the head and approached Lena. “Are you okay?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Lena cleared her throat. “I’m fine.”

A bell ringed and the elevator doors opened.

“About bloody time!” Copper hovered out of the elevator first.

The hallway looked quiet with gray walls and a white shiny floor. No alarm was going off on the level. It may look clear, but nothing could stop the demons from arriving.

“This way!” Copper hovered down further and stopped near a silver double door. He entered the code on the panel and hovered back as the doors opened.

After Copper hovered in, John and Lena followed him.

The room looked like a tech center instead of a security center. Power generator pillars stood around a computer desk. Two blood-covered human torsos laid on the panel without heads and arms. Just leftover meat.

John looked around. “Where is the device?”

Copper hovered toward the desk. He placed the guns down and opened a drawer beneath the desk. “Here it is.”

From the drawer, Copper picked up a round device with a red button on it. “This will unlock the collar.” He held it toward John. “Hold it near the collar and push the button.”

John took the remote. “Is that it?”

“No, you flush it down the toilet next. Of course, that is it! Using the bloody thing isn’t rocket science!”

“Jesus, just chill the fuck up.” John pointed the remote at his neck. He pushed the button, and the collar fell off his neck. He rubbed his neck. “That feels better now.”

Lena approached a cabinet and opened it. She found two rifles, a shotgun, and a few explosives. “Sweet!”

She took the shotgun and examined it. “This is a pulse shotgun, capable of sending people flying!”

John stared at the weapon. “It will be good to blast away a shit ton of freaks.”

Copper took the plasma rifle from the cabinet. “I’ll take this one. You can have the bloody pistols.”

John chuckled. “I thought the pistols suited you.”

Copper clicked his rifle. “Fuck no! People will take me seriously with this thing.”

The robot was right. If they encounter bigger freaks, they would need bigger guns to survive. Fortunately, John could shoot down anything with his gun arms.

Through the door, a shadow appeared, hissing.

John glared at the figure. “Now what!”