End Days

As it turns out we weren’t so bad after all…

“Command, we need back-up now! Command! …Command, come in!” the man yelled in the microphone of the radio console, eyes widened in panic. 

“Sarge, we can’t hold out much longer! Where is that air support?!” screamed one of the four soldiers raining fire beyond the darkness. 

“Running low on ammo here, Sarge! We need to move out!” added the other one, switching magazines.

The massive man exhaled deeply, closing his eyes in desperation. 

They came from the north; we suspected Russia after all the sighting reports… But before we could intervene, the entire world was overwhelmed. Humanity was becoming extinct…

“Harry, search for another frequency,” the sergeant said with little hope in his voice. “Satellite’s still up so… We can just hope someone hears us.”

“Yes, sir!” the radio operator said, scanning for a lock on any random transmission.

“Just our luck, eh, Sarge?” a small yet focused soldier asked, smirking ironically and cutting down three small creatures that were dashing towards their position from the pitch black emptiness. In the red flare light, the narrow Parisian alley looked like it was fading into the vastness of space. Only the bloody horizon could be seen beyond that… and the demonic forms, horned or winged or spiked, emerging from the darkness. “The sky is clear for once and we can’t evac”, the young man added and yelled “Suck it, bitches!” standing up and firing a grenade from the rifle’s launcher mod. 

The alley lit up from the explosion, revealing smaller, more agile devils, clinging to the walls of the buildings left and right.

“God help us,” the sergeant muttered at the hellish sight.

Seems, until then, we DID co-exist in some sort of harmony. Monsters of the night we were, but we were their monsters, and they our fearing humans…

“Sarge, I got something!” Harry yelled, raising the radio microphone in the air in a victorious gesture.

The large commander grabbed it immediately and the words rushed out of his mouth like a mantra that he repeated over and over before:

“This is sergeant Ezekiel Chase of the Delta Tango team! We are under attack – all other the teams have failed to hold position and we are about to lose ours! Paris is lost! I repeat: Paris is LOST! We require IMMEDIATE evac! Please, whoever receives this, help-“

“Tell your team to take cover, sergeant. We are locking onto your position in… 6, 5, 4, 3, 2-“

“Everyone hit the ground!” Zeke yelled and they all hit the ground, in the middle of the reinforced nest, as a bright light and a quake shook the entire street. A split second after, the boom of the explosion shattered all the windows of the houses nearby and concrete debris fell from the rooftops. 

Zeke shook his head and through the blurry distorted vision he could make out Harry’s face calling his name.

“Sarge! Sarge get up!” he cried out, looking excited and terrified at the same time. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins at an alarming rate. “Sarge, I hear a chopper! Get up!”

The sergeant stood up with effort. The propeller of the helicopter sounded like it moved in slow motion and it didn’t seem like it was coming for them – it was just hovering 50 meters away from them, above the alley.

“What are they waiting for?!” he screamed, shaking involuntarily one of his soldiers. “Hey! We’re here!” Zeke added, waving his arms frantically. 

The two side panels of the large chopper opened and four small objects fell down. For a moment it was just dark, but then they ignited into bright white beacons. The sergeant grabbed the radio:

“What are you waiting for, damn it? It’s clea-“ his words stuck in his neck, he tried to swallow the dust he had inhaled from the explosion. Beyond the white lights, at least half a dozen Behemoths were advancing towards their position and their M16 rifles seemed useless against the tusked beasts.

“Keep calm, sergeant,” the voice beyond the transmission said reassuringly. “Take your team and fall back 100 meters-“

“Sir, that is a terrible choice for the L.Z. The plaza is in the open. There’s no-“ Zeke tried to protest.

“The plaza is clear! Move your team now, soldier!” 

“How can he-?” Harry asked puzzled, looking at the pitch black darkness. 

“It doesn’t matter! We don’t have any choice!” the commander said and gestured his team to fall back. “Move!”

No, our humans, our planet, our rules… There were forces there, beyond the fabric of reality, that no man could match. But they made one mistake: they forgot we’re here too!

The chopper turned for a moment and six silhouettes leapt out. In mid air, Zeke saw as he was covering his team’s retreat, they changed, growing into huge monsters, landing on all fours. He watched, frozen in awe, the heavily armored werewolves. The white one, who seemed to lead them, howled and they dashed into the darkness. A hand shook his shoulder, pulling him back; it was Harry: “Come on, Sarge! We have to get out of here!”

They both dashed for the plaza where the chopper hovered a meter above the ground. Through the door, a man in a dark military uniform leaned and extended an arm. He recognized the voice: “Come on, soldier! We’re late!” He smiled and his small sharp fangs gave him away, if not his unnatural blue eyes screamed monster.

“Wh-who are you people? What are you?!” Zeke yelled, hesitating.

The man leaned a bit more, holding out the arm: “A.D.! Now get in! We need to go!”

The sergeant pondered the offer for a moment, but he saw his entire team strapping in behind the man in black. He grabbed the arm and felt like a feather when he was pulled in with surprising ease. The door slammed behind him and the helicopter rose quickly.

“What about those guys out there?!” he screamed at the man through the noise of the propeller. “Your team!”

“They’ll be fine!” the man shouted back, still smirking.

“Not to seem ungrateful, sir!... But who are you?! What’s A.D.?! Did command send you?!”

The man patted his shoulder and shook his head: “No, soldier! We’re Armageddon Division! We’re here to save your sorry butts!” 

Zeke watched in shock as the man chuckled, fixating on his fangs. His terrified glance turned to his team who also seemed nervous. 

“Look!” the vampire shouted and pointed out the window at the white lit alley. 

As he looked down, he couldn’t help but burst into laughter; the werewolf squad was ripping through flesh like it was paper. The armored white werewolf was standing on a pile of dead demon corpses, holding one’s head up at the chopper. 

“Have to say” Zeke told the vampire “you’re about the last creatures we’d have expected to rescue us!”

The bloodsucker nodded back at him: “We’ll take it back, don’t worry! We’ll take it ALL back!”