SNAFU: Heroes: An Anthology of Military Horror Read online

  “Now!” he yelled, as the blood-and-brain-splattered insectoid-looking creature twitched about, trying to free itself.

  Riley’s Mossberg boomed again, blasting the thing to kingdom come.

  When it was over, Olsen stepped forward and nudged one of the pieces of exoskeleton with his foot.

  “Is that...?”

  Cade was nodding grimly before Nick had even finished the sentence. “Yeah, it is,” he said, as he wiped the gore off the end of his blade and then redrew his pistol. “We need to get off the street; the noise is going to attract more of them.”

  But it was already too late.

  Figures were emerging from the shadows all around them, each and every one a new and different grotesquerie as the demons inhabiting the once-human forms reworked the flesh they’d stolen to suit their individual needs. Tentacles instead of arms. Multiple sets of legs instead of the usual single pair. Eyes and mouths and drooling snouts replaced the villagers’ once-tranquil features. In many cases there appeared to be no rhyme or reason for the changes aside from the need to pervert the original form and design, exactly what Cade expected from anything that crawled up out of the infernal realms.

  A glance told him that his team was outnumbered by at least four to one. If they didn’t get out of there quickly, they were going to be in serious trouble. Seeing that none of the demons had reached the vehicle yet, Cade made his choice.

  “Start withdrawing back to the SUV,” he told the others, even as he lifted his pistol and began firing.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Most of the supernatural creatures the Order regularly fought against were split into a hierarchy of classes based on their difficulty to kill. The demons Cade and company were facing now were no different. The Order might classify this particular breed as a minor variety, since they could be affected by ordinary firearms and regular melee weapons, but that didn’t mean that defeating them was a walk in the park. They were still demons, after all, and Cade kept that foremost in his mind as he pulled the trigger of his Mark 23 three times in rapid succession, putting all three bullets into a circle the size of a half-dollar in the center of the nearest demon’s face, dropping it in mid-stride.

  By the time Cade turned to take up another target, his companions had joined the fray. The staccato chatter of the MP5s being used by Olsen and Duncan was punctuated repeatedly by the boom of Riley’s Mossberg and it was music to Cade’s ears as the demons before them were cut down one after another. In minutes the street around them was filled with the dead and dying. The demons were fast, yes, but the combined firepower of the Templars was enough to temporarily keep the creatures from closing the distance.

  And that was all Cade was hoping for.

  He checked to be sure the way was clear and then turned, shouting to his men as he did so.

  “Back to the SUV! Move, move, move!”

  They piled into the vehicle with Cade and Riley in front and the other two in back. Duncan was still pulling his door shut when Cade threw the truck into drive and stomped on the accelerator. The tires spun for a moment in the snow before catching hold and then they were off, bouncing over the body in the middle of the road and racing off down the street.

  The demons gave chase, howling in anger and clambering over the bodies of their own dead to pursue the Templars.

  Inside the SUV, Riley and the others switched out the magazines of their weapons then reloaded the empty ones they’d just removed, while Cade drove. He made several turns at random, driving deeper into the heart of the village, doing what he could to put some distance between themselves and their attackers.

  In their altered forms the demons were fast, much faster than the average human, but they weren’t a match for the 300-horsepower engine under the hood of the Expedition Cade was driving. He gained a slight lead – maybe 200 yards, if that – and it might be enough to lose the demons if he could stay out of their line of sight.

  At the next corner Cade cut the wheel hard to the right and took the turn without slowing. The SUV rocked, whipped around and Cade was still gunning the engine when a barricade appeared out of the darkness ahead of them; there was furniture piled at least ten feet high and across the entire road.

  Cade’s reaction time had been honed by years of fighting the supernatural and could honestly be said to be near instantaneous, but that had very little effect when fighting the inertia of a 6000-pound vehicle moving at forty miles an hour. Still he tried, slamming both feet onto the brake at the same time and pulling back on the steering wheel as if that might somehow keep them from ramming into the barrier. It didn’t, of course, but his efforts slowed the vehicle enough to keep from severely injuring those in the front seat as the truck hit the barrier at twenty-five miles per hour, crumbling the front end and deploying the airbag into Cade’s face with an explosive whoosh.

  The impact stunned him; for a minute he couldn’t remember where he was or what he’d been doing or why it was that all he could see was white.

  Then Olsen was there, slashing at the airbag with one of his knives and dragging Cade from the front seat, shouting something urgently over his head to someone on the other side of the vehicle and it all came back to him – the mission, the dead man, the attack by the protean demons. Cade shook his head, like a dog shedding the water from his fur after a good swim, clearing the remaining fog from his mind, and then he took stock.

  The SUV was nose-deep in the tangle of wooden furniture and discarded appliances that had been used to form the roadblock. Steam poured out from under the crumpled hood of the SUV and what looked like a tractor axle was jammed through the grill and into the engine compartment.

  There goes our transportation.

  On the other side of the vehicle, Duncan was helping a groaning Riley out of the front seat, while doing his best to keep looking behind them in the direction from which they’d come. It was the expression on the younger Templar’s face that caused Cade to turn and look back.

  He could hear them coming, could hear that shrieking-howling cry that ground at the guts, but thankfully, the road behind them was still clear.

  There was still time.

  Olsen appeared in front of him, MP5 in hand. Cade was relieved to see the duffel bag that contained their swords slung around the sergeant’s shoulder.

  “You good?” he asked.

  Cade nodded.

  “Another day in the life, huh?” Olsen grinned; he was always happiest when in the thick of things. “If we hurry, we might be able to get inside one of these buildings,” he said, pointing at the storefronts on either side.

  But Cade disagreed.

  “No. If we get caught on this side of the barrier we’ll have nowhere to go if we need to retreat. We’re going up and over and then we’ll find shelter,” he said, pointing at the barricade behind them. “Get going. Duncan will help Riley. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “You’re the boss,” Olsen said, then cheerfully slapped him on the shoulder and moved to comply.

  Cade meanwhile rushed around to the back of the SUV and grabbed the nearest of two spare jerry cans out of the rack attached to the outside of the rear doors, shaking it and then casting it aside when he realized it was empty.

  Come on, come on.

  He grabbed for the second and was rewarded with a healthy sloshing sound from inside the can, which brought a smile to his face. An emergency roadside kit was stored in the same rack as the spare gas cans and Cade took that as well. Turning, he hurried after the others.

  The barricade was built well and it didn’t shift too much under the men’s weight as they clambered upward. Cade paused at the top, giving the others a few moments to get down the far side. When they were safely off the barricade he unscrewed the top of the can and poured the gasoline onto the barrier on either side of where he stood. Tossing the empty can aside, he quickly unzipped the emergency road kit and took out the flare stored inside.

  Cade glanced back down the street and saw the first of their pursuers
, a sleek dog-shaped creature with three legs on each side, come charging around the corner. He didn’t wait around to see any more. Igniting the flare, he climbed down the far side a few feet before turning back and tossing the flare onto the gasoline-soaked furniture at the top of the barricade. There was a loud whoomp and the gas ignited with a flash, flames racing across the length of the barricade and rising six feet into the air.

  That should make them think twice. He turned his back on the flames and hurried down the other side. As he hit the pavement a terrible shrieking cry sounded from above him. He spun, simultaneously drawing his gun in one smooth motion, to find the six-legged demon standing at the top of the barricade, engulfed entirely in flames.

  Cade shook his head; the demons might be hard to kill, but apparently they weren’t all that intelligent. While the thing was preoccupied with the flames writhing around its body, Cade put a bullet through its skull and then watched in satisfaction as it tumbled out of sight back down the opposite side of the barrier.

  Time to get moving.

  The street ahead of him was empty, however.

  His companions had disappeared from sight.

  Frowning, Cade headed onward. He knew he couldn’t stay near the barricade. The fire would only burn hot for so long; the minute it fell to manageable levels the hellspawn would pour over the top and begin pursuing them anew. He needed to be out of sight before that happened.

  The buildings had seemed unwelcoming before he knew the town was infested with hellspawn; now they were downright ominous. Every hard-to-see corner and darkened shadow were potential hiding places where a demon might be lurking and Cade quickly discovered that he couldn’t keep his eye on all of them at once. His adrenaline was pumping from what he and his men had already been through and it took all his restraint to keep from putting a bullet through Duncan’s head when the young sergeant popped it out of the door of a nearby butcher shop as Cade hurried past.

  “Commander! This way!” Duncan called softly and Cade needed no further urging to slip past him into the darkened interior.

  The shop was small, fifteen feet square, if that, and the smell of twenty different kinds of meat assailed him the moment he came through the doorway. For a moment the location seemed an odd one for his teammate to choose, but then Cade recognized the genius behind Olsen’s choice – the hellspawn would have a hard time tracking them over the smell of all that meat.

  Olsen stood by the deli counter, looking nonchalant as he took bites from a stick of hard salami, but Cade had known him long enough to know that Olsen wasn’t any happier about their current situation than Cade was. Riley had a bandage around his forehead to deal with the gash he’d sustained in the crash, but Cade was relieved to find him otherwise healthy and ready to go.

  Turning to Olsen, Cade asked, “How are we doing?”

  The other man grimaced. “Not great, but we’ve been in worse scrapes in the past. We’ve got enough ammo for one, maybe two more major firefights. After that we’re down to swords.”

  Cade nodded; that was about what he’d expected. They came here to investigate, not to face off against a horde of demons all on their own. They simply weren’t equipped for it. If the entire village was infected, that lack of ammo was going to be critical before too long.

  “This place have another way out?”

  “Yeah, there’s a back door that leads to an alley running behind the building, which in turn curves back around to the main street about three doors down from where we are now.”

  In other words, it wasn’t going to do them that much good from a tactical perspective. Still, Cade felt better knowing that they weren’t trapped in a rabbit hole with no way out.

  Before Cade could say anything further, Duncan called from the front.

  “Here they come!”

  CHAPTER THREE

  From his position at the front of the butcher shop, Sergeant Sean Duncan watched through a narrow opening in the wooden shutters covering the main window as the creatures they’d faced off against less than fifteen minutes earlier poured over the still-smoking barricade and came in search of them.

  He shuddered as they surged forward.

  Duncan had joined the Echo Team only a few weeks earlier and in that time he’d already seen enough of the horrors roaming the dark corners of the world to make him long for the quiet days he’d spent on the Preceptor’s security detail. It didn’t matter if they were at home or abroad; somehow Commander Williams, Cade, always managed to get them into the thick of things, and more often than not the creatures they encountered seemed to come straight out of someone’s nightmare. Tonight’s foes were no exception. Duncan knew the world was full of such things – he was a Templar after all – but he had discovered that knowledge and first-hand experience were two different things. Since facing off against the necromantic Council of Nine in the swamps of Louisiana, Duncan had come to learn just how little that knowledge prepared you for the reality of the twisted, perverted creatures that called the darkness their home.

  Duncan alerted the others and then stepped back to give Commander Williams a chance to look out at the street and the creatures it now contained. The thought that just a pair of flimsy shutters and a few panes of glass separated him from those things out there made him more than a little uneasy, but he did his best to conceal it from the veterans around him.

  If they can deal with this, so can I.

  Still, it took all his nerve to stay silent and still as the creatures flooded down the street in search of them. A few paused in front of the building as if sensing the men were hiding inside, one going so far as to come right up to the door. Duncan kept expecting Commander Williams to give the order to evacuate through the rear door – an order he would have willingly followed if it took them away from the freakish things outside – but it was not to be. Cade merely put a finger to his lips, signaling for them to be silent, and waited for the intruder to give up and leave before he went back to watching the creatures pass by outside.

  Eventually – it felt like hours later to Duncan – the street was empty and Cade signaled the all-clear.

  The butcher shop and its contents did the job; the shutters hid them from view and the creatures hadn’t been able to smell them over the hefty scents of the meat and cheese that filled the shelves. The creatures might be back and there was no telling what they would do when they discovered the Templars had escaped their wrath, but for now, they were safe.

  Duncan broke the silence first.

  “What the hell are those things?” he asked, gesturing toward the window and the street beyond.

  The gesture wasn’t necessary; everyone in the room knew what he was referring to. After a moment, when it didn’t look like Cade was going to answer the sergeant’s question, Riley chimed in.

  “Protean demons.”

  Duncan frowned. “Come again?” he said.

  He’d spent most of his time in the Order on the Preceptor’s protection detail. He was pretty well-versed on the typical threats a knight had to face but he’d never heard of such a thing. For all he knew the big master sergeant was making it up just to mess with the new guy.

  But this time it was Cade who answered instead of Riley. The usually reticent commander spoke softly from his place by the window. “Chimeras. Changelings. Flesh-twisters – they have a lot of names. What they’re called isn’t as important as what they are - hellspawn.”

  Cade turned to face him and Duncan could see anger, rather than fear, burning in his eyes.

  “Somewhere out there,” – he waved a hand toward the village outside the window – “is a summoning circle. Squatting in that circle is a class three, maybe even a class four demon that broke free from those who summoned it and it has apparently decided to stay here. To do that, it needs more power, so it is sending out its drones to corrupt anyone they encounter.”

  “Corrupt them how?”

  “The drone burrows inside the victim and attaches itself to the individual’s brain ste
m before spreading along his or her spinal column and nervous system. Once in place, the victim becomes an extension of the demon, just like the drone. The two have effectively become one, transferring the power inherent in the victim’s spirit to the demon. As it gains more victims, it gains more power and therefore becomes stronger. Wait long enough, let the demon gather enough power, and it can grow to the extent that it is virtually impossible to kill.”

  The explanation did nothing to bolster Duncan’s confidence; in fact, it had the exact opposite effect.

  How were they going to stop something like that?

  Cade didn’t seem to notice his discomfort. Turning to Olsen, the commander said, “Get on the phone to the commandery in Nurnberg. Tell them we need at least three combat units, preferably with incendiaries and flame throwers if at all possible, plus whatever manpower it is going to take to close off every road within a twenty mile radius of Durbandorf. I want a blockade thrown up around this place and I want it fast. No one gets in or out without my say so, understand?”

  “Roger that,” Olsen said, as he pulled a satellite phone from his pocket and began dialing. Duncan didn’t hear what was said, however, for Cade turned to address him and Riley next.

  “Riley, I want your eyes out front. Those demons might not be the most intelligent things on the planet, but even they have to eventually figure out that we didn’t go far. Give a signal the minute they head back in this direction. Duncan, you’re with me; we’re going to check the second storey for anything that might be useful in dealing with this mess.”

  What Cade expected to find in the butcher’s apartment was anyone’s guess, but Duncan dutifully followed behind him just the same as they ascended the back staircase.

  They found the lights off upstairs and decided to leave them that way, not wanting to alert their pursuers to their location with a sudden burst of brilliance in the dark. Each man carried a small but high-powered flashlight on their belts and they pulled them out, shining their beams around the interior. The living quarters on the second floor were small by anyone’s standards; a bedroom not much larger than a walk-in closet, a bathroom containing a sink and a toilet, neither of which looked like they’d been cleaned at any point in the last six months, and a living room/kitchenette combination.