Ch. 27: Big Boom

A.N.:

Sorry everyone. I meant to post this earlier but I couldn't get the chapter to be what I wanted so I have rewritten this several times.

So, the part where a certain hooded figure and Alma are talking in Latin, I apologize to anyone who can actually do it without Google translate. I personally cannot but I felt that them speaking Latin added a bit of creepiness to it. Just roll with it please.

Oh, and said hooded figure refers to himself as being more than one individual because what he represents comes in many different forms.

As I have just finished it and it is almost 4 in the morning, there will be errors. I will read it and correct the big ones. I felt that I have kept the chapter from everyone too long so I posted it as soon as I finished it.

Update: I think I got all the main errors.

Oh, and I really tried not to make it too religious but...I might have gone a little overboard. Open minds please hahaha.

Read and review if you want.

Alpha 1 asked as he walked up to stand beside me, "You mean overload the reactor by destroying the coolant coils?"

Turning to look at him, I replied, "Exactly. We sabotage the reactor and then get as far away from this place before it blows. This place's reactor will not provide the same amount of boom as the Origin Facility, but it is the only thing that we have on hand to do the job."

Alma explained, "Michael, it won't work."

I turned away from my friend to look at the queen of darkness before I replied, "I know. I'm not a moron. The girl survived a universe falling apart…a little nuclear blast and fallout isn't going to do shit."

She raised her right eyebrow for a moment before she asked with a genuinely curious tone, "So, why are we doing this?"

I replied, "It won't kill her, but it will slow her down enough for us to warn the world before it is too late."

She replied, "Oh, I get it."

Beside me, Alpha 1 asked, "So, how does that work with us not getting caught in the blast?"

I explained, "Delayed charges." He nodded in response. I turned and then walked over to the control panel. After unceremoniously moving the body of Carson out of the way, I looked at the bloodied panel. It was all in Russian but I knew enough to be able to find what I was looking for. I pressed a button and a keyboard slowly ejected near the bottom of the panel. The screen displayed a search engine and, using my left hand, I typed in, "система диагностики" or "system diagnostic".

A second later, the screen displayed a three-dimensional model of the facility and I scrolled through the sections until I saw the one that was designated "доступ реактор" or "reactor access". I announced, "Got it! Okay…so…son of a bitch…of course, the fucking reactor access is at the bottom level of the facility. Alright…" I looked away from the screen and back at the soldiers in the room. I said, "F.E.A.R. Team, secure the elevator. Juggernaut, go with F.E.A.R. and keep that elevator secured at all costs. Alpha 1, Point Man, on me."

They all, except for Point Man, The Sergeant, and Juggernaut, replied, "Roger that."

We exited the room and the F.E.A.R. Team, along with Juggernaut, returned to the elevator to keep it secure for our escape. Meanwhile, I led the way as we made our way to the reactor. The only way to access the reactor was a freight elevator that was more of a railcar than an elevator. In order to reach the elevator, we would have to go to the other side of the second floor, go down a flight of stairs, and then transverse the storage rooms of the first floor to the far end of the facility.

As I moved as fast as I could while maintaining a reasonable amount of control over my rifle, I kept hearing Akira whispering in a manner similar to how Alma had whispered to me in Fairport before the incident on Still Island. Soon after separating from F.E.A.R., I turned the corner to proceed down the narrow hallway beyond. However, when I turned the corner, I saw Akira at the far end of the hallway that had offices on either side of it. She smirked at me as I saw portals open up behind her.

Unlike Alma's portals, which resembled ripples on the surface of a body of fluid, Akira's portals resembled jet-black, jagged tears in the air. I halted and tightened my grip on my rifle as I steadied my aim. Alpha 1 stood beside me with his automatic shotgun at the ready. Point Man was too far out of my peripheral vision for me to see where he was. Moments later, out of the tears, six hellish black wolves emerged.

They snarled as they curled their lips, revealing their bloody curved canines. Their eyes resembled dying embers of coal that were desperately gasping for fresh oxygen. The stench of rot and decay began to fill the air because of the decaying bodies of the wolf creatures. Their bodies were covered with patches of dirty black fur but in the sections between the patches of fur, their skin was gone. Instead, yellowed bone and moldy flesh was visible. Around each of their necks was a rusty, spiked collar with jagged edges. In their chorus of snarls, I detected an underlining chorus of whining as if they were in intense agony. As one of them reared its head back and then shook it as its ears twitched slightly, I observed its neck muscles stiffen as if performing the movement caused the creature even more pain. That observation led me to believe that the spikes on the collars went inside the beasts as well.

As the wolves gathered around Akira, one of them gently rubbed up against her. In response, she began rubbing the beast's ears. While I held my rifle tightly, I said, "Akira, you don't have to do this. The me in your universe was consumed by his own anger. You don't have to follow him. That anger that you feel...it's not your's. It's your mother's. When you absorbed her energy, you absorbed her anger too. The pain is the only real thing that you feel. The pain that you have buried down so deep that it is starting to fester and rot you from the inside out. I know that pain…I have it too. I know that it hurts…I know what it is like to grow up with a father that would sooner beat you than love you and a mother who was too absorbed in her own fantasy world in her head to be a proper mother."

She tilted her head slightly and I felt a prickling feeling inside my head for a moment. Afterwards, her expression genuinely softened and she commented quietly, "You're…not lying."

I continued, barely being able to keep myself composed as my own pain flamed up, "Scars like that never heal…no matter how much you want them too…or closure that you have gotten. You feel so alone that you believe that you could slit your own throat in a crowd of people and no one would even look up. You hurt for so long that you start hearing those voices in your head…dark, evil voices…telling you that you should make everyone pay for how miserable you are…to make them know how it feels to be so alone, hurt, and scared…"

Akira interrupted me by saying with a voice that truly sounded like a little girl's and had no traces of a demonic edge to it, "And...and…the more you ignore the voices, the louder they get. You want to scream but no noise comes out. It gets worse and worse until you just want it all to stop." I nodded as I lowered my weapon and relaxed my stance. Beside me, Alpha 1 did the same.

I said, "Yeah…yeah…yeah…and you fantasize about how you are going to kill them enough to be able to list them in different orders. I know Akira…you know that I do…I can help you. It's not too late. You can live with us…we can be a family."

Her lips trembled ever so slightly for a moment before she said with a shaky voice, "P…pa…papa…"

I heard Alma gasp quietly. I said, "It's okay Akira…come on, please stop this. I also know that all it takes is someone who will listen to make the voices go away. In this universe, your mother listened to me and the pain went away. Let me help you." For a moment, her eyes changed back to how Amara's looked and I saw hesitation in her expression. Her wolves looked up at her as their bodies started to heal. At least for that moment, she seemed to be the innocent girl that she had once been.

However, soon, her eyes changed back to being pitch black and her wolves began to snarl at us once more. I raised my rifle back up and my stance changed back to being in a combat stance. The sound of mechanical clicking filled the air as Point Man and Alpha 1 both did the same in preparation. She said with her demonic voice, "Daddy, if I had met this version of you sooner, things could have been different. But…I'm beyond help now…you can't save me. Thank you for trying…when your time comes, I will make sure that you die quickly…you won't feel it."

I warned her desperately, "The Americans will send nuclear warheads!"

She smirked before she replied, "Not even the power of the atom can save you now."

Before I could say anything else, she dissolved into a cloud of ash as her wolves charged at us. Four of them ran side by side on the floor. One ran along the wall to their right and the other ran along the wall to their left. I activated my reflexes and aimed through my rifle's scope at the one running along the wall on the left. I fired almost twenty rounds before the beast finally burst into a cloud of blood and fur. I snapped my aim to the leftmost hellwolf and fired my remaining clip into the creature. My rounds hit home in the beast's head but it simply howled and continued charging.

Meanwhile, Point Man dropped the hellwolf running along the wall on the right and then started to fire at the next one. Alpha 1 blasted the two in the middle with his shotgun. His close quarters powerhouse easily dropped the two wolves and they burst into clouds of fur and blood. As the one that I had dropped ten rounds into lunged at me, I shouldered my rifle and drew my stainless steel Super Redhawk .44 magnum from its holster. The hellwolf's jaws opened and when it was inches from my face, I forced my magnum's barrel down its throat. I discharged a round and the creature burst into a cloud of bloody pulp at sprayed me and coated my HUD.

As the acrid, black blood ran down my glasses, I deactivated my reflexes. I looked over at the two men beside me and they motioned that they were okay. Keeping my magnum at the ready, I led the way down the hallway. As we proceeded towards the reactor, my com link activated and Captain Raynes informed me, "Sergeant, we have secured the elevator, but you had better hurry up because we cannot hold off these freaks forever."

I replied, "Copy that, Captain. Hang tight."

We made our way to the staircase that led to the first floor and after fighting through several more waves of hellwolves, we reached the narrow steps. After reloading my magnum with a speed reloader, I began my descent. Behind me, Alpha 1 commented, "I suspect that these wolves are going to be the least of our problems soon."

Keeping my magnum aimed dead steady, I replied, "I agree. We need to get this over with and get to the surface so we can contact the Replica battalions. This girl wants a war? We will give her a war." After descending the steps, we started to make our way through the storage areas.

Over my com link, I could hear the F.E.A.R. Team getting increasingly overwhelmed by the waves of hellwolves. I heard Captain Raynes say, "God damn it Chen, fall back! You're going to get yourself killed!"

I spoke into my com link, "Captain, report."

He replied, "We're in serious danger of being overwhelmed, Sergeant."

After thinking for a moment, I said, "I'm sending Point Man to even the odds."

He replied, "Copy that." I went to order Point Man but saw that the Origin Prototype had already left to reinforce the F.E.A.R. Team.

I remarked, "That guy doesn't miss anything. Alright brother, let's get to that reactor."

Alpha 1 replied, "Yes, sir. At your back."

The storage areas were filled with boxes of outdated mechanical parts and equipment that looked like they had not moved since the day that they were placed there. Seemed like the deeper we went, the heavier the air got. Meanwhile, I heard the sound of heavy mechanical pounding, like I had heard in the nightmare version of my old house. At first, I thought that it was just my mind matrixing random sounds into something that it recognized. However, it kept getting louder and louder. Meanwhile, the number of wolves kept increasing. Luckily, they did not seem to inherit their real world cousin's coordination and simply threw themselves at us in frontal attacks.

By the time that we reached the freight elevator, which was actually a huge platform that ran along a track located beneath it, the pounding had gotten so loud that it seemed to vibrate the air. Unlike in my old house, now, I could hear it more clearly. Now, it sounded more like hammering. It almost sounded like giants mining the rock of the earth around the facility. We boarded the elevator and I pressed the button at the center of the elevator. As we descended, the hammering got even louder.

Alpha 1 commented, "If I didn't know any better, I would say that the Titans are hammering their way up from Hell."

I replied, "I think that isn't as far from the truth as you would think." As we continued to descend, I holstered my magnum and retrieved my rifle. After reloading it, I held it against my chest.

When we finally arrived at the reactor core, I was shocked by what I saw. Instead of the four reactor towers surrounded by the clean sterile environment that I saw in the facility above, we had arrived at the mouth of a cave. The rock was molten at its core and glowed beneath its dark exterior.

Alpha 1 asked, "Sir, is this…?"

I replied, "I think it is. This isn't an illusion or hallucination. Alma!"

Alma materialized next to me in her clothed adult form as she looked at the surroundings. The fact that she was in her adult form confirmed that this was not a game anymore; this was serious. She only used her child form when the situation was not too serious and she could mess around or when she was so emotional that her mind retreated to where it felt safest.

After a moment, Alma commented, "Well, we aren't leaving the way we came in. Trust me on that. This place is meant to keep those who are sent here from leaving. We are stuck here unless…"

Anxious, I asked, "What?"

She smiled at me before she assured me, "Don't be afraid my love. I know my way around here. Come…there is someone here that owes me a favor. He will help us." She started walking away from me and into the cave. I motioned at Alpha 1 and he nodded back. With our weapons at the ready, we entered the cave and followed the raven-haired goddess. The air was hot and humid. Smoke billowed from the cave walls, causing me to cough occasionally when the path narrowed so much that I had to crouch down.

Eventually, we came to a large chamber. At the bottom, I saw thousands, if not millions, of humanoids standing in military style columns. They were clad in jet-black combat armor that vaguely reminded me of my own. Their faces were entombed beneath gas masks with crimson visors. With each breath, they emitted a strange black cloud through cracks in the charred rubber surface of their masks. They all held what appeared to be assault rifles that vaguely resembled charred Patten PK470 Assault Rifles. I stammered, "Oh my god…look at all of them…"

Alma whispered as she continued to walk ahead of us, her steps measured and full of confidence and power, "She seems to have put her memories of you to good use."

Trying to keep up with her pace, I asked, "Me?" I looked back down at the creatures and finally noticed the DoD symbol and the SFOD-D symbols on their armor. Looking back at her, I admitted to my companion, "I don't understand…"

She explained, "Deep down, I suppose all little girls think of their fathers as guardians. Akira is no different." Though I was certain that they knew that we were there, they did not attack us. Luckily, the path that we were following ran along the cave wall and we did not have to go down into the chamber floor.

Beyond that chamber, we came to the bank of a river of blood. There was a docked Vietnam War era PBR or Patrol Boat, River on our side of the riverbank. As we approached, a tall figure clad in a weathered black cowl materialized next to the boat. In his right hand, he held the shaft of a well-used scythe that still had a razor sharp blade. I could not see his face, but I had a good idea as to who he was.

A flash come over Alma and her body morphed into her child form. She confidently walked up him and stopped just before him. The hooded figure said with a cold yet rattled voice, "Tu! Stola rubra animam malam. Tu revertetur." (You! The red dress demoness. You return.)

To my confusion and amazement, Alma replied, "Etiam. Habeo." (Yes. I have.)

The hooded figure was silent for a moment before he said with a slightly more confident tone, "Habebamus sit dispositio. Qui facis misericordiam in nobis. Ut dimittam vos." (We had an arrangement. You have mercy on us. We release you.)

Alma replied, "Hoc non est dequod." (This is not about that.)

The figure asked, "Quid huic hic negoti est tibi?" (What is your business here?)

Alma answered, "Akira Wade."

Beside me, Alpha 1 asked, "What is happening right now, sir?"

I replied, "I think Alma is talking to the Reaper."

Alpha 1 said, "I thought so."

The figure asked my goddess, "De novum bulla?" (The new boss?)

Alma asked, "Akira parvum meum occidiveterem hominem?" (My little Akira killed the old man?)

He replied, "Etiam." (Yes.)

She said, "Tu non sonus beatum." (You do not sound happy.)

The Reaper replied, "De illum foetum consilia mortalead invadere regnum. Iens ut est operatio mea intolerabilis." (The brat plans to attack the mortal realm. My work is going to be unbearable.)

Alma nodded before she said, "Facere possumus tunc negotium." (We can do business then.)

The hooded figure asked, "Quid struis?" (What do you propose?)

She replied, "Mitte ad commoventem nos reducunt regnum mortale. Akira mos subsisto Nos. Opus erit minus intolerabilem." (Send us back to the mortal realm. We will stop Akira. Work will be less unbearable.)

He raised his skeletal left hand up presumably to his chin as if he was contemplating my goddess's proposal. Alma quickly added, "Et multiplicabo in vobis politici. politici scio te oderunt. Quod amor in tormentis. Voluptas enim omnia. Etiam?" (I will send you politicians. I know you hate politicians. Love to torture. Pleasure for all. Yes?)

The Reaper lowered his left hand from his chin and extended it out in front of him. Alma extended her left hand out and the two shook hands in agreement. With the deal made, the Angel of Death raised his scythe into the air and then brought it straight back down. He tapped the surface of the dock twice with the end of the shaft and a bright light overpowered my vision. When my vision returned a minute later, I found myself back in the elevator. Moreover, I saw that we had arrived at the reactor core. The four towers of the reactor loomed before me just as they should have before.

I looked around and saw Alpha 1 to my right and Alma to my left. I asked my friend, "You okay?"

He replied, "I believe so, sir."

I nodded and turned to look at Alma. She smiled up at me in response. I asked her, "What the fuck just happened?"

She smirked before she replied, "It seems Akira has promoted herself to Ruler of the Underworld. I guess she figured that she could trap you there."

I said, "I got that part already. I'm talking about that little conversation between you and the Reaper."

She replied, "Oh, that? It was nothing. This probably isn't the best time to explain."

I said, "On the contrary, I would really like to hear it now."

She sighed before she replied, "Fine…if you insist. Well, as you recall, I died after Armacham pulled the plug on my life support." I nodded in response. She continued, "Like anyone else, Death arrived to take me to that place. However, I was so angry about how I had been treated during my life that I fought back and overpowered the Grim Reaper. I made it very clear to him that I was staying in the mortal realm or bad things were going to happen to him. I showed him that I was in no mood for his bullshit. I showed him what happens when you try to tame Alma Wade. Before I could finish him off, he offered me a deal."

Terrified, awed, and disturbed by how casual she was in telling me that she had not only defied Death, but that she had also overpowered the Reaper. I asked, "What was it?"

She explained, "The deal was that I would stay in the mortal realm. In exchange…" She smirked at me as her eyes burned with raw power before she finished, "He got to live." My mind was a blank for a moment as I tried to process what she had said.

Finally, I asked, "What are you? You were a human once…right?"

She smiled before she replied, "Oh Michael…you give me too much credit. He is not omnipotent or anything. He is just doing his job…just like you. There are those who maintain order and balance. Psionics like us are exceptions to their rules. We are the Olympians, and they are the Titans."

I nodded and started to make my way to the control panel for the reactors. Alma walked next to me in silence for a moment. After a minute, she asked, "Do you really think that there is a chance to stop Akira now that she has all of the Underworld under her control?"

I sighed before I replied, "I don't know. I want to think so, but this is beyond anything that I could have imagined. That girl is going to lead all of Hell against Sparta and the world…I have serious doubts that we can stand against that. Got no other choice though so I guess we will just have to find a way."

We arrived at the console and I used my left hand to input the command to lower the coolant coils. The coils became exposed while blue arcs of electricity filled the air. Alpha 1 withdrew several timed charges of C4 plastic explosive. I ordered him, "Set the charges to detonate in exactly thirty minutes. That should give us enough time to get clear of the blast zone."

As he primed the charges, the armored veteran said, "Sir, you haven't exactly explained how you plan to get these charges to those coils without getting electrocuted." He finished preparing one and I raised my left hand. As my hand was enveloped by a red aura, I lifted the C4 charge up into the air. As I guided the charge through the blue arcs, Alpha 1 commented, "Oh…right."

One-by-one, I placed the charges against the coils. When the final charge was in place, I motioned to Alpha 1 before I said, "Ready…go!" I activated the timers, which began to count down in perfect synchronicity. We ran back the elevator and began to head towards the first level of the facility.

As we got closer, my com link activated and Captain Raynes demanded, "Where the fuck are you, sergeant? We cannot hold them off much longer!"

I replied, "Charges set and armed. We are headed towards the first level."

He said, "You sure took your time…just get your asses over here so we can get out of here."

I informed him, "Unexpected complications. Just be glad that you didn't have to do it."

He replied, "Yes, I am sure that you will be amazing us with your stories later…Chen four more to your right…look, just hurry up Becket."

The transmission ended and I looked down at Alma, who was casually examining a ball of fire that she had conjured in the palm of her right hand. As I watched, she willed the flames to change different colors and take on different forms like a rabbit and a blue butterfly. For a moment, I lost track of time as I watched her. She was always so casual about her abilities. She never seemed to grow tired of having to help me. She was the Olympian, not me. I was, at best, Achilles.

Alma lifted her head up slightly. I caught the smirk on her face and became suspicious that she was about to do something. Suddenly, she turned to face me as she threw the ball of fire at me. Instinctively, I raised my left hand up to protect my face and waited for the agony of burning flesh to rip through my arm. However, moments passed and yet I did not fell anything. Confused, I lowered my hand. When I did, I saw that I had caught the ball of fire and it was now burning harmlessly in my left palm.

I studied the flames for a moment before I focused my energy on them. To my own amazement, under my will, I made the flames turn green, blue, black, and purple before I let the natural color of the flames return. Attempting to go one step further, I focused intently on the flames and they began to form into a different shape at my command. After a moment, a miniature boar made of flame snorted loudly and stomped its front left hoof.

Alma walked close to me as she commented, "A boar…hmm…interesting. I was expecting a lion…but now that I think about it, a boar makes much more sense." She raised her left palm up close to mine and I willed the boar to jump to her palm. As the red-orange boar jumped towards Alma's waiting palm, it changed into a dark red jaguar. She gazed at the animated creature for a moment before allowing the flames to dissipate. When they had, she gazed up at me and smiled for a moment. Afterwards, she said, "Stop doubting yourself. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. I know watching me can be intimidating but I have had years of practice. Sure, I have more power than you…but, most of the stuff that I do you are capable of too."

She put her left hand in mine until the elevator arrived at the first floor. She removed her hand and we made our way towards the F.E.A.R. Team. As we neared them, I saw dozens of hellwolves charging at the men. Juggernaut was holding down the center, Point Man was holding down their left flank, and the F.E.A.R. Team was holding down their right flank. I opened fire on the wolves and together with Alpha 1, we carved our way through the snarling hoard and reached the elevator. Retreating at a steady, uniform pace while keeping up our wall of lead, we entered the elevator and I pressed the button.

We began to ascend. Lieutenant Chen said with a cocky tone, "Shit, that all she got? I got plenty more left in me."

I snapped, "Lock it down specialist. Akira has taken control of the Underworld. She has turned all the souls into twisted reflections of her own psyche. I've seen them…fucking millions of them…we have to warn the outside world before it is too late."

Captain Raynes replied, "The Underworld? I thought that it doesn't exist in our realm."

I replied, "It doesn't."

Lieutenant Chen asked, "So, how exactly does she intend to unleash her army of hellspawn? I mean, those wolves are one thing, but an army of damned souls is another. The amount of energy that she would need to transport that large of a group of beings is mathematically unfeasible."

I said, "It doesn't matter how she is going to do it. What matters is that we are ready for her." Before anyone else could say anything, suddenly, the elevator shook and the sound of muffled explosions filled the air.

My com link activated and Morales said, "About time man! We have stepped in the shit here. Hurry up so we can get out of here."

I replied, "Copy that, Manny. We are in bound." I looked at the men around me and said, "Okay, our only way out is the C-130 and Wolf Pack at the airport. When we reach the surface, we need to get to our transports and haul ass to the airport." They nodded in response.

As we neared the surface, Alpha 1 informed me, "Fifteen minutes, thirty-four seconds, sir."

The elevator arrived at the warehouse and I said, "You heard the man people. Move your ass!"

We ran out of the warehouse and were greeted by the sight of a blood red sky that lit up the area with a red glow. Hoards of hellwolves were attacking the Bradley and the Dark Signal APC. Bravo 2 was operating the grenade machine gun on the APC while Foxtrot 813 and Morales were on top of the APC's hull as they fired their assault rifles at the creatures. Meanwhile, the Bradley was firing its turret-mounted cannon. Upon seeing us approaching, Morales jumped down to the ground and entered the APC. Seconds later, the massive diesel engine thundered to life and the APC's lamps illuminated the area with their soft blue light.

As we neared the transports, we were suddenly thrown off our feet as the ground shook violently. I scrambled to my feet as I heard the sound of the asphalt and concrete cracking. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see the left most warehouse disappear into a giant sinkhole. Out of the sinkhole, what I can only describe as a bat-dragon-looking beast with leathery black skin and wings, alligator-like snout with rows of railroad spike type canines, and piercing white eyes emerged and gave off an ear-shattering shriek as it flew up into the air.

I started shooting at it as I yelled, "Get to the transports!"

My rounds penetrated the beast's hide but failed to do enough damage to distract the abomination from the two armored vehicles. It soared into the blood red sky until it came to a hover just below the cloud line. Then, it shrieked once more as it dive-bombed toward us with its taloned claws and mouth opened. From behind me, Alpha 1 yelled, "Sir, look out!" He tackled me and forced me down onto the pavement just in time. Morales managed to drive the APC out of the way just in time, but the Bradley was not as fortunate. Before our eyes, the dragon creature grabbed the vehicle with its massive claws and carried it off.

Alpha 1 helped me to my feet and I nodded in gratitude. Doing a quick head count, I discovered that there were now more operatives than there were seats. After dodging a lunging wolf, I yelled, "F.E.A.R. Team…" I dropped twenty rounds into the wolf and it exploded into a cloud of fur and blood. I continued, "Take the place of Point Man, Alpha 1, and myself in the APC. Go now!" As I used my reflexes to dodge yet another wolf, in my peripheral vision, I saw the F.E.A.R. Team hesitate. After Alpha 1 blasted the wolf so I could reload, I yelled, "Get the fuck out of here or I will kill you myself!" While Point Man, Alpha 1, and myself fought back-to-back against the ever increasing hoard of hellwolves, the rest of Dark Signal and the F.E.A.R. Team entered the APC.

Moments later, the APC's hatch closed. The engine roared as the massive tires squealed as they struggled to find grip on the asphalt beneath them. Then, the APC found purchase and Morales maneuvered the APC away from the facility. As the massive vehicle rocketed off into the hellish landscape, Morales said through our com link, "Becket…you know you can't reach the airport in time on foot. I saw some abandoned civilian vehicles on the way in. Those are your best bet. Hey…okay…okay…we just passed an old police cruiser. Looked like it hadn't been sitting there that long. It is sitting at the corner of the intersection about a block from your current location. Don't you dare die on me, man."

I replied, "You know me, I always find a way. Just concentrate on getting the teams to the airport in one piece. We'll be there in time."

He said, "Better be."

The transmission ended. In danger of being swallowed up by the converging hoard, we began to make our way to the police cruiser that Morales had seen. As I stomped in a wolf's neck with my right boot encased foot, I spoke into my com link, "Delta 1, respond."

The leader of Wolf Pack replied, "Delta 1 here, sir."

I ordered, "Get the C-130 ready for immediate takeoff. Dark Signal APC is in route. Alpha 1, Point Man, and myself are currently in the process of locating means of transportation. The facility's nuclear reactor has been rigged to detonate in exactly nine minutes twenty-three seconds. You will need to give yourself four minutes of flight time to escape the blast zone. Don't wait for us."

He replied, "We will wait until the last possible second, sir. Good luck."

The transmission ended and I focused all my attention on getting to the cruiser. After I killed two wolves with a single clip, I muttered, "Damn it that was my last mag." I placed my rifle on my back and drew my magnum from its holster. As my body was enveloped by a red aura, I yelled with my demonic voice, "Come on you bastards!"

Still moving with my two allies, I saw two wolves hone in on me. They lunged at me at the same time from the left and from the right. One handing the revolver with my right hand, I obliterated the first hellwolf's skull with a single round. Shortly afterwards, I was coated by that one's blood and fur cloud. Meanwhile, I grabbed the other wolf by forcing my left index and middle finger into the wolf's two eyeholes while simultaneously forcing my thumb into the soft flesh of the wolf's bottom jaw. Holding the wolf's skull like a bowling ball, I used the trick that Alma had shown me in the elevator and ignited the wolf. Throwing the burning hellwolf off into the huge pack of its siblings, I yelled with my darkened voice, "I'll kill you! All of you!"

By that time, we had reached the police cruiser. Alpha 1 said, "No good, sir! The tires are riding on the rim." Just when it seemed like we would die there, a loud eighteen-wheeler horn vibrated the air. We turned to see Alma waving at us in front of Alice, the massive off-road heavy-duty pickup truck that my mentor had been working on. Not wasting time by questioning providence, we ran to the waiting truck. Alma kept the wolves back by surrounding us in a ring of fire.

I reached into my vest pocket, and withdrew the keys that my mentor had thrown me. I pressed the unlock button and the truck gave off a click as the door locks unlatched. Point Man climbed into the back right seat and closed the door. Alpha 1 climbing into the seat behind the driver seat as Alma sat in the passenger seat. I sat down in the driver seat and quickly analyzed the setup of the controls. The transmission was a five-gear manual so I reached down to ensure that the truck was in neutral but I stopped when I saw the note taped over a red button.

It read,

Told you I would get her to you in time, boy.

Since you are mechanically tone deaf, shift when the RPM is around 3000.

The red button is for emergencies only…it's a 10 lbs. tank of nitrous oxide.

Suggest that you haul ass if you intend to catch your flight.

I don't mind scratches or dents but bring her back intact okay?

Get moving.

I laughed with my normal voice since the red aura had dissipated. I removed the note and placed my right hand on the shifter nob. It was in neutral so I pressed in on the clutch with my left foot as I moved my right hand from the nob and inserted the ignition key. I turned the key and the truck rumbled to life. The instrument panel lit up and the headlights and fog lights automatically turned on to illuminate the dark, red city streets. Behind me, Alpha 1 said, "Seven minutes fourteen seconds, sir." Swiftly, I returned my right hand to the shifter nob and shifted into first gear. Working the clutch with my left foot and the gas petal with my right foot, I got the truck to start moving forward.

Running through the wall of flame, I accelerated as I turned the wheel to the left. Keeping my eye on the RPM, I navigated down the city streets as the hoard of wolves attempted to keep pace. As the truck reached twenty miles per hour, the tachometer needle reached 3000. Pushing in on the clutch, I shifted into second gear.

As the surprisingly nimble behemoth roared from the industrial section into the residential section, I asked Alma, "So…why does the Reaper talk in Latin?"

She replied, "I'm not sure to be honest."

Swerving to dodge a parked car, I asked, "Could…you teach me?"

She giggled briefly before she replied, "Sure."

Alpha 1 called out, "Sir, the dragon thing is back! Coming in on our six." I looked in the rear view mirror and sure enough, the beast was soaring through the red sky behind us. I shifted into third gear and the truck's diesel engine roared as the speedometer was at sixty miles per hour and climbing rapidly. A shriek filled the air as the beast dive bombed towards us. I cut the wheel to the right and the truck plowed through the glass display window of a shop front.

As the truck demolished everything in its path, I navigated Alice through the interior of an inside mall shopping center. Over the sound of shattering wood and glass, Alma commented, "I didn't know Russia had shopping malls."

I replied, "They didn't before. Money makes the world go round even in countries like Russia."

The squealing of tires filled the air as I drifted the massive truck around the outside of the food court. Alma pressed her face to the glass before retracting and commented, "Oh, Taco Siren! We should do tacos later."

I replied, "You don't have a stomach."

She pouted and muttered, "But I like taco. I want taco. Taco, taco, taco, taco, taco…"

I gave in and said, "Alright, we will do tacos later. Nothing like tacos to welcome the end of the world."

The truck exited the mall through the steel doors of the main entrance. Not even slowing down, Alice continued to towards the airport. As the air traffic control tower came into view, Alpha 1 informed me, "Sir, five minutes eleven seconds." I navigated Alice towards the main entrance to the airport. As we neared the complex, I saw the C-130 in its final position for takeoff at the end of the runway. Alpha 1 informed me, "Four minutes fifty seconds." I pushed Alice a little more and we reached ninety miles per hour.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the winged beast shrieked as it dived at us from the front. I swerved and with nowhere else to go, I plowed through the tall barbwire fence that surrounded the runway. As Alice roared down the paved surface of the runway, the C-130 began to increase the power to its engines. I asked into my com link, "Delta 1, is the rear cargo bay door still open?"

He replied, "Affirmative. Get onboard and we will takeoff."

I replied, "Negative, Delta 1. Begin takeoff and leave the door open."

He said, "Sir, that door isn't designed to…"

I interrupted him, "You have your orders soldier."

He replied, "Roger that, sir." The C-130's engines thundered to life and the giant cargo plane began to make its way down the runway. I waited until it had passed us before I cut the steering wheel hard. Alice made the turn but the wheels on her left side left the ground and she came perilously close to rolling over. However, luckily Alpha 1 and I had a combined weight that was greater than Point Man's. Alice righted herself and I floored the accelerator.

I shifted into her final gear as she neared one hundred and ten miles per hour. However, even with her seemingly impossible speed, by the time that we neared the lowered ramp that was giving off sparks as it dragged behind the aircraft, the C-130's speed was causing the cargo plane to begin to lift off the ground. Delta 1 was forcing the aircraft to remain on the runway as long as he could but we were rapidly running out of runway. I called out, "Hold on!" I activated the nitrous oxide system and Alice's speedometer crept up to one hundred and thirty miles per hour but the tachometer was getting dangerously close to redlining.

At the last possible second, Alice's front wheels found purchase on the ramp. I yelled, "Alma!" A red aura enveloped Alice's exterior and I down shifted her to her "granny low" gear as her speedometer nearly instantaneously dropped to zero miles per hour. Using the raw torque of the diesel engine, I drove the behemoth up the ramp. The instant that her back wheels touched the ramp, the C-130 took off from the last inch of the runway. Over the sound of Alice powering her way up the ramp, I heard the sound of metallic scraping as the bottom of the aircraft's hull brushed against the top of the barbwire fence. Just as Alice was three-fourths of the way up the ramp, the overloaded joints gave out and the ramp fell from the airframe.

The back end of Alice dropped back through the hole, but her back wheels managed to find purchase against the airframe. Alice's skid plates protected her vital areas and I managed to get her to brute force her way up the rest of the way into the cargo bay. As soon as we were clear of the hole, risking their own lives, the F.E.A.R. Team and the other members of Dark Signal rushed to the side of the truck. I do not honestly know how, but they somehow managed to get her secured to the cargo bay. With her own power no longer needed, I cut off the truck's engine.

As I slowly exited the truck, Morales asked, "Damn man, you got a death wish?"

I replied, "It worked didn't it?"

Manny shrugged before he commented, "Nice truck. Where the Hell did you find her?"

I replied, "An old friend let me borrow her."

He said, "I am not going to pretend to understand what that means but I am glad you made it, man." Before I could reply, a loud explosion rocked the air and I looked back through the opening to see the giant mushroom cloud of the facility's reactors detonating. The C-130 shook violently for a moment as it weathered the shockwave. Soon afterwards, the aircraft corrected its course and we all made our way to safer areas of the cargo plane.

Several hours later, I bit into a hard-shelled taco as I watched the beginning of the end of the world on the world news. Beside me, Douglas complained, "This is horrible…fucking Sweden fell before Poland! Poland! I lost to Poland!"

Foxtrot, with his helmet off, bit into another taco before he said with a voice that was slightly reminiscent of Fettel's except that it was deeper and devoid of an ego, "Don't be a bitch Holiday. You lost the bet. Pay up pussy."

The Delta Force Operative groaned before he slid a brick of C4 to Foxtrot, who picked it up with his left hand as he continued to hold his current taco with his right hand. He placed the C4 charge in a neatly arranged pile of his winnings from the bets going on amongst the Spartans about which country was going to last longer than another.

Amongst the Spartans, the only currency that was worth betting with was ammunition and weapon attachments. I personally found their current bets about peoples' lives to be in poor taste but I knew that I needed to let them have their fun because they would need the memories of fun to last them through the trials that awaited us all. Next to me, Alpha 1, with his white ceramic mask lying on the top of the table that we were leaning against, ate his tacos in silence like I was as we both mentally prepared ourselves for the coming storm.

Suddenly, we were both torn from our mental withdraw by a smiling Amara covered with taco remains running towards me as she said, "Daddy!" I freed my left hand and lifted her up so she could cling to my neck as she rested her head against my left shoulder. Alma materialized in front of us with a similarly taco particle covered dress and face.

She smiled and giggled for a moment before she said, "I like taco!"

I smiled slightly as I savored the closeness of the two main reasons that I had the courage to face the coming terror. I heard Stokes complain, "Damn it! Mongolia fell before Kazakhstan!"

Jin taunted, "Pay up ho."

Stokes replied, "Honey, I will bitch slap you."

Jin asked, "You want to fight Delta brat?"

Morales said, "Yes please. Chic fight!" His joke caused the entire room to erupt into a chorus of laughter. Beside me Alpha 1 laughed slightly and Alma, Amara, and I joined him. Come what may, we would face it as a family.