Philip Simpson - Tribulation

Behind them, the Horned demon bellowed in frustration, built for power, not speed and unable to keep up with the truck. Sam turned and saw several of the survivors firing at the demons, keeping them off the truck.

Mike sped on through the flattened remains of the gate. He swerved wildly, guiding the truck onto the main highway, smashing his way through two abandoned vehicles. At last Sam turned around to face the front, satisfied that they would make it out safely. He could see Olivia’s expression and Mike’s face. Both were flushed with victory — but at what cost? Sam had already lost one of the people he had rescued, and another had died. How many would be left by the time they got to Columbus?

Sam needn’t have worried. The rest of the trip passed rather uneventfully. The snow plough was easily capable of smashing aside any obstacle. The Lemure struggled to get a grip on the on the solid metal sides, especially when they had to deal with a lethal barrage of fire from the gun-wielding occupants in the back. The only obvious weakness was from above but Sam kept a close eye on the sky and warned everyone when an Astaroth was near. A few of the great demons tried an aerial assault but had been driven off by the iron rounds. One Astaroth had even been destroyed.

Mike had been reasonably confident that they’d have enough fuel to reach Columbus. Even though Sam hadn’t had much time to fuel up the truck, it seemed that it already had some to begin with. Luckily. Mike was right, but he’d slowed down to conserve fuel as they neared the outskirts, just to be on the safe side.

In the back, the others had satisfied their hunger, using Sam’s pocket knife to open cans of beans and other assorted fast food, eating it cold. Despite the fact that they had lost two of their number, there had been almost a party atmosphere in the truck, a feeling that Sam hadn’t shared. He’d become somewhat pessimistic over the years with the belief that things seemed to go wrong, in spite of his best intentions and planning. Experience had taught him never to assume and he didn’t feel any sense of relief until they had actually reached the outskirts of Columbus.

It was almost dawn when the gates of the National Guard base reared up in front of them. The streets of Columbus were completely deserted. Apart from a few determined survivors, the only living humans in the city were in the base. A few demons, clearly wary of the Army base, made a half-hearted attack on the truck as it passed but Sam could see that they were too occupied with the coming dawn to pose any great threat. As soon as the truck was in range of the bases’ defenses, the demons drew back.

Sam got Mike to stop a hundred feet from the main gates. Spotlights played upon the truck from towers dotted around the perimeter. Sam walked towards the gate, hands above his head, passing a sign with ‘Beightler Armory’ written on it. Even though it had a fine layer of dust covering it, Sam could see that someone had made a recent effort to clean it.

The gate, like the one at the depot was made of heavy wire. It had been strengthened and reinforced by layer upon layer of razor wire that had been made especially for the base. Sam could smell the iron from where he was.

Sam had been here before and knew some of the men and their commanders, but he wasn’t about to take any risks. Some of the soldiers based here had very nervous trigger fingers. The first whiff of a demon and they wouldn’t take any chances. As Sam approached the gate, a bright light blazed down upon him, forcing him to squint.

“Stop right there,” said a voice. Sam did as he was told, keeping his hands where the soldiers could see them.

“Remove your hood so we can see your face.”

Sam hesitated. If he removed his hood, everyone would see what he was and that was a closely guarded secret at the base. He didn’t really fancy getting shot after all that he’d been through to get this far.

“I can’t,” he said.

Sam heard the tell-tale noise of weapons being cocked and readied. “Remove your hood or we will fire upon you.”

Sam sighed. He really didn’t have a choice as usual. His hand reached up towards his hood, slowly, ever so slowly, not willing to give the soldiers an excuse to squeeze off a few rounds at him. He knew all their weapons were loaded with iron.

“That won’t be necessary,” said a commanding voice that Sam recognized. “Soldier, shut off that light.”

The light immediately disappeared and Sam could see clearly all at once. The gates were open in front of him. An extremely solidly built man of average height and dressed in fatigues walked through the gates and towards Sam. It wasn’t until he got closer that Sam recognized him. Someone he thought dead years ago. Someone he had long thought he would never see again.

Adam.

For a moment, neither man moved or spoke. For Sam, a variety of emotions were competing for attention — elation and confusion being the primary ones. While he didn’t know for sure, Sam had long suspected that Adam had been taken to Hell, especially after what he’d discovered at Black Ridge almost three years earlier. And three years was such a long time. What on Earth had happened to him?

“Good to see you, Sam,” said Adam, smiling lopsidedly.

Sam couldn’t help it — he smiled back. “You too,” was all he could manage by way of response.

Adam moved in closer, his hand extended. Sam was about to take it when Adam suddenly lowered his hand and went for the hug instead. Sam didn’t know what to do or how to react as the extremely powerfully built man squeezed him in a massive, bear-like grip. It was all so foreign to him. It wasn’t often he was touched. In fact, the only times he’d actually had any affectionate human contact was from Hikari and Aimi. And Grace… but that was years ago. This was outside his realm of experience and if he was going to be honest with himself, slightly uncomfortable feeling. Although, saying that, a tiny bit of him was actually enjoying it. Not that he was about to show it.

Adam finally released him and stepped back and looked Sam up and down. “You look well.” Suddenly, he laughed — a loud happy bark that Sam remembered from Black Ridge. “Actually, no, you don’t. I’m just being polite. You look like your normal moody self but you’re still a sight for sore eyes.” He gestured at the gates and the armed guard that was even now marching through. “Sorry about this, though. I’d heard you were around and so I kept an eye out. Lucky for you. These guys probably would’ve shot you otherwise.” He winked and Sam and smiled again.

Suddenly, he became aware of who and what was behind Sam. All at once, his demeanor became all business. “I see your mission was a success. Don’t worry about them, my men will see to their needs and get the truck squared away. That snow plough will probably come in useful. It certainly did for you.” Adam paused, noting the expression on Sam’s face. He relented, appearing to read his mind. “All right, go and say your farewells. You might not get a chance later, especially after you hear what I’ve got to say.”

Sam walked back to the truck, his mind already whirling. Not only had Adam reappeared, but it seemed he also had some momentous news. He would have to be patient though — Adam did things in his own time.

Over at the truck, some of the uniforms were swarming all over it, presumably making sure no demons or demon worshippers were concealed inside. He found Mike and Olivia in the back of the truck with the others where they had been relegated to by the soldiers.