Ch. 5-With the Lord's Help
"So you couldn't tell you had died?"
Errol gaped at me, his eyes watery. "I died? No…"
"Ya. From what you told me, I figure you were up against both an imp and an arch-vile. Imp is what you are now. The flame thrower is the arch-vile." I kept my tone low, conversational. I gave him some more of the steaming, gray entrée. "An arch-vile has the power to raise the dead. You and the imp had killed each other, and had started to fall onto the portal. The arch-vile, always there for his Hell buddies, resurrected the imp just as he hit the portal. His life giving beam isn't accurate to a dime, so you were both saved. And because you were in a mortal embrace, you were melded together." I took a bite from the graham crackers. "Monster and man, in the same body."
Errol shook his head slowly. "God no. This can't be happening to me." He looked to me, imploring me, but I couldn't be his savior. Not right then, at least.
"Come on," I said, standing up. "Sitting here feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to help you."
"What's the point?" he said, still sitting. "Ette's dead. I'm a demon. You'll be dead within the day."
I grinned. "Fuck that! I haven't been dragging my sorry ass around this place for this long just to die today. I got a home to go back to." I held my hand out for him, and he took it. "And so do you."
"I guess I could help you stay alive for a few more hours," he said and we both chuckled carefully.
I was concerned about finding the keycard to get us hopefully out of this part of Phobos. The more portals I survived, the closer I'd get to Hell, where I could set this mess straight, before it got to Earth. And many times the portals would be locked behind doors the military had originally constructed for security. The keys to every door would be found by a curious demon, and then thrown somewhere.
There were still some areas I had yet to search. A few miles past the man made structures we walked, and thankfully, with no playmates.
"How long do you think this would take?" asked Errol. "If, of course, we live long enough."
"Dunno, Errol. The moon's pretty big. We could end up teleporting to every damn inch before we leave." I grinned at him, enjoying his squirming face. "Then again, our next trip could be to the Devil's living room." I punched him in the shoulder, though not so hard as to puncture my fist with his spikes.
He grunted, but it was still a laugh. Kinda. Good enough for me. "At least I won't be alone this time."
We walked in silence for a while; I wanted to leave Errol alone with his thoughts. I know they are important to me. When we ran into trouble, he was there to help me, slashing, tearing, biting. He grew especially proud when he figured out how to shoot fire balls at monsters. I was grateful for the help. I could have died without it. We fought so many times that day, it's unreal. I know I must sound pretty casual when I talk about. Like it was nothing at all.
Well it sure as Hell wasn't.
Our friendship really was doomed from the start. I knew that. I guess I kept him around in case I was wrong. I am rarely wrong when it comes to danger, though. And, I spared his life because I could not bring myself to kill an innocent. That particular character flaw is what got me kicked out of Earth. I won't get into it now (loooong story), but suffice to say I was ordered once to kill civilians. I didn't. And I was punished. Bad dog. Of course now, being the hero of Earth, I don't have such living restrictions hanging over my head. But I'm still mad. It's the principle of the thing, dammit.
Anyway, it didn't take long for the man to give way to the imp. I first noticed that when we found the keycard.
I could see it sitting neatly on a stone platform, with a pavement walkway, very thin, reaching to it. On either side bubbled hot green chemical waste. This was all enclosed in a room behind an unlocked door. I dug in my backpack for the remainders of an old chemical hazard suit and strapped the shreds to the soles of my boots. With what I had left over, I covered the soles of Errol's feet, and we went for the key.
I hesitated before grabbing it. It was never this easy. So I kept my plasma gun ready (I was running low on bullets for the gattling gun) and grabbed the key. It glowed warm in my hand as doors flew open all around me.
Screams, snarls, the rapport of many a shotgun!
Errol freaked but I stayed calm, spraying the intruders with my gun, watching with a feeling of satisfaction deep in my gut the instant death I caused. Pistol bullets scratched across my clothes, one sank into my thigh. I howled, but didn't stop shooting. Blood from my forehead filled into my eyes, and I soon had to rely on my ears to locate the targets. For the first minute, as I got used to the loss of sight, I suffered. I got shotgun pellets in my forearm, fire blasts into my chest armor.
When the fight was over, I wiped the blood from my eyes, panting. Errol walked up to me. When he got closer, I saw he was snarling.
"Errol? What's wrong, buddy?" I stood up quickly. "Errol!"
He jumped at me, his eyes flashing red and blue alternatively, as if the colors were fighting for dominance. I couldn't dodge in time; he was on top of me, scratching, hissing. The force of his punch sent me falling into the pit of waste. The pain of the slime melting my armor into my skin blinded me, but I could still find the strip of pavement. But as soon as I embraced it, it sank into the pit.
Errol stayed where he was, howling at me, like a dog. The sludge was up to my knees, and a fire blast from behind pitched me forward, face down in the pool. As I desperately tried to shield my head with hands, I felt another hand pull my head up. "Son of a…" I began.
His act saved my face, even though at that moment he was not trying to help me. His rage was the only thing he knew, even with the flesh of his shins bubbling.
I ran. Wading, dragging myself through that thick fluid is not really running, but my eyes still felt like they were going to explode from the effort. I got to the other edge quicker than he; by the time he reached the middle of the pool, I guess he finally realized where he was. He screamed an started fumbling, like he was drowning.
Ignoring everything my brain was screaming at me, I screamed at Errol. "Get over here! Stand up! Just walk, take it easy!" I waved him over until he got to the edge, where I plunged my arms down and lifted him out. I tossed him a few feet away from me and fell to my hands and knees, where I panted, drool and slime slurping down my face. I could hear the monster shuffling to my side. My fists clenching, I turned.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "That wasn't me. It was him."
(-------------------------------------------------------)
"And still you didn't kill him? Wow!"
Flynn leaned back against the bar, feeling the booze but not succumbing to it. He had a glass of wine waiting for him to savor when he was ready. Tonight was not the night to get drunk. But perhaps just a bit calmer than usual.
However, it was his birthday in Australia. /I should visit my old platoon at the Martian Acclimatization Center./ He took another drink for that honor.
"I couldn't. I could still see the human in the monster. I wanted him to survive this. Get some medical help when we got back."
The girl smiled in a way that would have excited Flynn, if circumstances were different. She said, "You are such a noble man."