Page 39 of Hell on Earth
“Makessense.”
The demon’s eyes bounced back and forth between us before he stormed toward us. He bent forward to lead with his shoulders as he sought to barrel us over. When he was within arm’s reach, Wren spun out of the way. The lower-level roared as I leapt into the air and swung my fist forward. He dropped his head to ram me with his horns, but I’d anticipated the action and lowered my hand to pierce straight throughhiseyes.
A grim smile curved my mouth as the lower-level opened his mouth to roar again. Before it could release a sound, Wren sank her knife through his neck until the blade burst out of the demon’s throat, effectively silencing him. The demon’s hands flew to his throat as Wren placed her foot in his back and tore herknifefree.
I would like nothing more than to cut this thing into tiny pieces for what he’d said and anticipated doing to Wren, but she couldn’t witness me doing that. She’d seen and experienced too much violence in her life already, and I wouldn’t expose her to any more than what was necessary. With a swing of my other hand, I sliced the demon’s head from hisshoulders.
Wren’s eyes met mine over the demon’s back as I pulled his head away. The body remained standing for a minute before slumping to the ground. When I retracted my talons from the demon’s eyes, the head thumped onto the ground. Wren bent, wiped her blade on the ground, and slid it into herholster.
“It’s a good thing most of them are so predictable,” shemurmured.
“That they are. We make agoodteam.”
“Yes,” she said, and I hid my surprise over her agreement as she rose. “Weshouldgo.”
ChapterTwenty-One
Wren
Hanging low over the trees before us, the sun touched the horizon as the first remains of a house came into view. Thick vines encircled the sagging roof and walls of the home like a snake choking the life fromitsprey.
All that remained of this town were the fragments of homes and the ghostly memories of those who had resided here. These streets had once been filled with neighbors like mine, who had baked pies, held cookouts, and kissed the skinned knees of their crying children. Now, they held nothing butbones.
There were so many of these abandoned towns in the Wilds that it was impossible to differentiate one from another if they weren’t marked somewhere by those who had already traveledthroughhere.
I hoped someone had come through this town recently and left some indicator that it was a safe place to stay. I knew where we were in relation to where we’d left the others, but they could have moved on already, and even if they remained in the same place, we’d never reach them beforenightfall.
We had to be somewhere safe before sunset. Demons didn’t strictly travel and hunt at night, but they moved around more once the sun set. With only the two of us, it wouldn’t be safe to camp out intheopen.
The browning grass surrounding the homes brushed my knees as I walked through it. The further out of the forest we walked, the more broken pieces of wood stood up from the crumpled remains of collapsed and burnt-out houses. In between the remains were the few structures that had managed to withstand bombs, fires, fighting,andtime.
Sunset streaked the sky with vibrant pinks, yellows, and oranges, but when I glanced back, I spotted black clouds creeping across the sky. A subtle shifting in the air and the growing ozone scent forewarned of a comingstorm.
Stepping out of the thick grass and onto the pitted road, Corson strode boldly down the street while my eyes darted around it. The further we traveled the road, the more homes remained standing, though most looked like I could push them over. The gravel crunching beneath our boots was the only sound in the growingtwilight.
“We’re going to have to find somewhere to bed down for the night soon,”Corsonsaid.
“Wewill.”
I halted to examine a stop sign. Signs were a favorite place for fellow Wilders to leave messages as few signs remained, and those that did drew the attention of others. The rusting sign post slanted precariously to the side, and in the center of the O in “stop” were two rectangles. Beneath the word stop and inside one of the rectangles was the number five. Within the other rectangle, someone had written #2-25.
The rectangles specified brick houses, but there were numerous brick homes on this stretch of road. However, when I counted five down from the sign in both directions, there was only one made of bricks while the other was a woodenduplex.
I didn’t look for the second house indicated by the #2; I’d be able to find it if it became necessary for us to retreat there. However, if the first house remained safe, there was no reason for Corson to know there were two safe houses in this town. We were all working together now, but some secrets had to be kept justincase.
“This way,” I said to Corson and walked toward the brickhouse.
Throughout the Wilds, there were at least fifty different Wilder groups spread across the land. In the beginning, there had been distrust between the groups, raids, and murders. Quickly, many Wilders realized that if they continued to fight each other, they would never survive the demons. Representatives from each of their groups met to write and sign a pact to work with each other. The agreement set down laws and punishments for the way rule breakers would be handled. Since then, the Wilders had become a symbiotic network throughout the Wilds, though a few factions kept mostly to themselves as they preferred to remain as hidden aspossible.
After I first approached Kobal, word had been sent out with messengers to let the other groups know I’d agreed to work with the demons and that they would be safe if they also came forward. Most of them decided to work with the demons once they realized they wouldn’t be slaughtered and that they needed help to survive what had escaped Hellthistime.
Randy’s group had always been one of the largest and strongest, but Wilders regularly rotated in and out of the various groups to travel to different areas or for other reasons. Over the years, and with all the various movement between groups, the Wilders had adopted a universal marking system no one would notice or understand unless they knew what it meant. The system was kept as simple as possible so people could remember it and so those who couldn’t read would still be able tounderstandit.
Turning onto the broken walkway leading toward the brick house, I picked my way over the chunks of rubble to avoid twisting an ankle. I clambered up the sagging steps of theporch.
“What are you doing?” Corson inquired frombehindme.
“Eventually, I’ll be going inside,” Ireplied.
