Phantom Pain (trilogy)

Angels

Chapter 4: Angels

The first thing I saw was that the main street was no longer empty. There had to be at least a thousand possessed clogging it.

The second thing I saw was a small huddle of humans near the overturned car. Their space shrunk with every passing second.

I let go, falling almost a story, into a crouch. Unsure of how I knew, I was suddenly positive that we faced a full legion. Five thousand demons had been sent to kill the Bishop, leaving after the job had been completed. We had drawn them back. I dove into the crowd, muscle memory kicking it. My light oozed from my pours, unfocused, almost useless, but it did provide me with a thin shield.

As I slashed my way through them, I realized that these could not all possibly be new bodies. That brought me to the frightening realization that legions of demons were maintaining possessed forms, moving as a physical army.

Dez was catching up to me, moving through the crowd in the path I had created, firing her gun more than using the short knife. I ducked, dropping two demons with the blade, and another with a kick. I had broken into the specialists circle.

“Holy shit!” One of the men stared at me, eyes wide.

“I guess Dez was right,” said Fara.

There were only six of them there, the rest a lost cause. They kept the perimeter well. Most of the demons had no weapons, and the specialists were all highly trained. Even so. This was a strategically horrible position.

“We have to get out of here.” I spoke to the group as a whole.

“No.” Drake's word was absolute. “This army has taken enough human life. We will hold this position as long as possible.”

I racked my brain, trying to find some argument, but it was pointless. These humans had honour comparable with any angel's.

“Fair enough.” I stabbed a demon stupid enough to have made a move forwards. “If we are going to fight, I say we do it right. Hole up in that shop over there, kill them at a choke point.”

“Agreed!” said Ricardo.

“Follow me.” I turned my back to the demons, hurriedly moving to the other side of the circle. “We're going to make a run for it.”

Before any more opinions could be raised, I dove head long into the throng. Fara was at my side. She had taken the other sword, and we cleared the path for the others. Those behind us were incredible shots. Every demon that fell from a bullet wound, seemed to have it buried in the centre of their forehead.

Arms up as we sprinted, we were making less and less progress. The demons seemed to have decided to take the zombie approach, hanging off of us, trying to drag us to the ground instead of attacking in a more skillful manor. Beside me, Drake had his feet knocked out from under him. The possessed piled. Keep moving—self preservation cast a nasty shadow. I ignored it. Grabbing the top demon on the pile, I hurled him at the others, knocking over at least three. With my sword, I hacked through the dog pile, offering Drake my hand.