Page 6 of Hell on Earth
I turned away as that reminder lodged firmly into place. It hadn’t taken much time to learn what Corson’s earrings meant. The civvies at the wall were eager to gossip about the demons residing in their midst, except for the queen, River. Few knew much about the queen of Hell, and those who did remained silent about what she was and what she could do. I’d heard rumors that she was Lucifer’s daughter, one where she was an angel, and some whispered she was a witch, but no one confirmed any of those rumors. I suspected the demons enjoyed the numerous tales floating around and that they’d probably started someofthem.
The civvies spilled every juicy detail they had on the demons. I’d also learned the civvies didn’t call us Wilders but had different names for us. Some considered us lunatics, others called us savages, and some believed we were stupid to remain in the Wilds instead of retreating to civilization or evacuating when the governmentcommandedit.
However, after everything we saw on the day the gateway opened, Randy didn’t trust the government enough to come forward when, a year later, they swept through near where we were in search of survivors. When the Wilders learned the government and demons had teamed up to work together, it only confirmed that the government couldn’t be trusted. Other Wilders had never encountered the rescue parties and had chosen not to travel tothewall.
Talking with the civvies, I’d quickly realized that Corson had made his way through a fair amount of the women, and this was only one small area of the wall. The king and his closest advisors moved around the extensive wall often, and they’d traveled the wall on the other side of the world too. Corson had probably likely worn earrings from the women he’d met while traveling too, which would have been alotofwomen.
Stretching all the way around the United States, the immense wall blocked the outer states from the central states. Those outer states hadn’t been as severely affected by the gateway opening, the release of demons, and the nuclear bombing thatfollowed.
Thankfully, Hell absorbed the nuclear fallout before it could spread across the land. Otherwise, I might be sporting a tail or third eye, or some other radiation deformity. The only concerns I had about fashion were if the clothes fit me, did they blend in with the trees, and were they warm? But even I wouldn’t have appreciated having to cut holes into my pants to slip my tailthrough.
Or I could have been killed outright and ended up like so many others I once knew. I’d lived in Kansas, close to the gateway when it all started. It wasmyhome, myfamily, my town that wasdevastated.
I was only eight when everything I knew changed, but I stopped being a child that day. I barely recalled the good of my childhood, and I rarely thought about the people I’d lost or the things taken from me. It was easier not toremember.
The child I’d been never would have survived in this world. On the day the gateway opened, her existence was burned away as surely as if the bombs had fallen onherhome.
I shifted the deer on my shoulders and hurried faster through the woods to get away from Corson. Unlike at the wall, there was nowhere for me to hide from him anymore, nowhere to lose myself as we camped together these last couple of weeks while moving deeper into theWilds.
We’d abandoned the two vehicles we left the wall with on the fifth day of travel. It was much easier to go undetected on foot in the woods than in a truck on the pitted roads. Finding gas was also difficult, if not impossible out here. Travel may be slower on foot, but it was safer, and my feet were used towalking.
We were about ten miles from the gateway now, if the markings I’d seen along the way and my calculations were correct, and they almost always were. I hadn’t lived this long by not learning how to navigate. I could thank Randy for that too, but then I could thank Randy for almost everything that made me who Iwasnow.
But even without the markings and my ability to navigate, I would know where we were. I walked faster as the memory of what we’d traveled past yesterday shoved to the forefront of my mind. I’d never forget what I’d seen there, but I would spend the rest of my life trying. Unfortunately, no matter how fast I walked, the memorystalkedme.
ChapterFive
Wren
“You might want to slow down. We haven’t explored this area much,” Corson said frombehindme.
I glanced back at him, my gaze running over his narrow face and lean body. He moved with the grace inherent to all demons, including the giant, lumbering ones. With Corson, it seemed more natural as his body moved like water rippling over rocks, effortless in itsfluidity.
“I don’t recall asking for your insights, demon,” I retorted, but I was irritated with myself for being reckless in my need to escape him and my memories. The last time I was in this area, it had been safe, but even before the seal creatures escaped Hell, places were always changing in the Wilds. What was once safe, might not be safe an hourlater.
I’d never been reckless before Corson strolled into my life, not in these kinds of situations. I wouldn’t be alive if I wasn’t cautious. I’d watched countless others die because of their stupidity or irresponsibility, and I wouldnotbe one of them because of somedemon.
Easing my pace, I focused on my surroundings as I decided firmly against looking at him or acknowledging him again. I searched the shadows and inhaled the familiar aroma of rotting leaves, dirt, and animals. I’d lived in the Wilds for enough years to pick out the various scents in the differentareas.
We were more north than I normally would have been at this time of the year. It was the custom to head south when the leaves started to turn. The humans surviving in the Wilds had become like birds over the years. Not only did we start migrating and flying away when an enemy approached, but if cornered, we also turned on them and pecked out their eyes until they died. I’d always preferred going for the eyes rather than flying away, but I also knew when toretreat.
Going south was going to have to wait a bit for us this year though. After some discussion between the demons and Wilders, we’d determined to return to the gateway before moving south and deeper inland. The gateway was closed now, but the king believed many of the things that escaped it might go back to it. It was a place they knew, and the remnants of the power of Hell may drawthemback.
As we traveled, we’d remarked and remapped the land while hunting our enemies. Besides our group, there were other factions of demons, Wilders, and civvies working around the country to map out different areas and destroy any enemy residingthere.
The Wilders were used to the constant moving and mapping of terrain. The various groups of Wilders knew much of this area. When those groups encountered each other, they openly shared their knowledge, but things had changed now that more enemies wandered ourcountry.
Areas we’d once believed relatively safe weren’t anymore. The Wilders had become nomads over the years, but the demons who settled into the Wilds after the gateway first opened had mostly stayed in certain areas. Those demons sometimes roamed, and there were always rogues to watch out for, but we’d mostly had an idea of where they were… we nolongerdid.
Out of all the groups sent out from the wall, we were the only one that would travel deeper and deeper into areas of the Wilds evenIdidn’t know in search of the remaining fallen angels. The other groups would establish a perimeter between us and the wall that would hopefully offer more protection for thecivvies.
Having more than one team moving inland had been a hot debate while we’d still been at the wall, but in the end, it was determined that too many teams pushing inland could attract the attention of the things we hunted. It would also put more lives at risk for a mission that might turn up nothing. The angels could be anywhere in theworld.
Our group was also the only one with a demon who could communicate with the other groups telepathically. Malorick kept in touch with the other groups, letting them know our position and if it was safe for them to travel through certainareas.
The crunch of a stick drew my gaze to the right. I searched the shadows as the breeze caused the tendrils of hair that had worked free of my braid to tickle my face. I didn’t hear Corson move, but I felt the warmth of him against my elbow when he steppedcloser.
I buried the thrill going through me at having him so near. My hand went to the gun at my side; I rested my palm on the handle as I listened to the scratch of a squirrel’s claws against the oak tree to my right. The branches shook when the animal flew from one limb to another and scampered down the next tree trunk. My hand fell away from my gun. The squirrel wouldn’t be moving with such reckless abandon if a predator wasnearby.
