Chapter Two: Evangeline (Part 2)

WARNING: BATTLE SCENE (includes blood and gore: read at your own risk)

"On the day I walked into the rain, I saw something weird. It was like… like a bright, colorful light floating in the air by the park. I walked up to it, you know how curious I am, and I touched it. The next thing I know, I'm in some dark room tied up next to a boy." I sigh, remembering what happened to him. I don't even know why they did it. I don't even know how he got there. Jake is slowly spooning yogurt into his mouth as I speak. Despite his failure to look at me, I know he's listening.

A bit into my story, I come to the worst part of all,"When it came time to fight, I accidentally got swept up in it. I was in the Studies part of the war, but when I was visiting my friend who was in the army..." I flashback to my last battle in the Place…

"Go, go go! Get your asses out there, girlies! This battle ain't gonna fight itself!" Major Colonel screamed, waving his arms around wildly. We could all hear the bombs dropping outside. They weren't from the enemy though, it was us. 3 am wake up call again, but the difference this time was…

I wasn't not supposed to be there.

I was just visiting my friend, Kayla, the actual soldier. I was a strategizer, not a soldier. There were sort of four departments of attack that the world formed: the Studies, military, medics, and, finally, management. Since the beginning of the apocalypse, the entire world had gathered in what used to be California of the United States. Africans, Asians, Koreans, English, and more, all of us banded together, and still not enough to stop this monster. I'd never seen it before this battle.

I tried to explain my situation to Major Colonel, but he just screamed in my face,"Get out there! I don't care for your excuses!" My lower lip quivered in fear, but I went to the back of the room and put on some extra gear. A war helmet, camouflage cargo pants, and a black tank top under an oversized camouflage jacket. There were also tinted goggles, probably to prevent getting mud in your eyes. A tiny, non-visible, tear rolled down my cheek. As much as I had wanted to help in this war, fighting was never something I'd wanted to participate in. I was definitely afraid. Too afraid, but not a coward. A coward would desert right now.

I joined the single file line near Kayla, her long blond hair sticking out from her uniform was the only way I could tell her apart from the others. She shot a what-are-you-doing-here look at me. I could see the worry under the annoyance. I just lightly patted her shoulder.

It was a short hike around a few mountains to reach the battle zone. Since I was behind everyone, I couldn't see anything until we stopped and stood in a shoulder-to-shoulder line. I gasped, a lump forming in my throat. Blood, everywhere. Men, women, and teenagers were scattered around the field, some less injured than others. Some… dead. One soldier close to our line had everything below his waist either blown or cut off, but somehow he was still conscious and scooting towards us. The absolute agony in his eyes killed me inside. His helmet was battered and his coat was tied around his waist to attempt and slow the blood flow, but it wasn't working. His arms were obviously tired, still… he kept pulling along the ground towards us, getting closer. He stopped a few feet from Major Colonel and flipped over onto his back. His chest had a huge gash on it and his arms were cut and scraped down to the bone in most places. He flipped back over and one of the girls in our line with short black hair turned and puked. I just stood and stared, eyes wide in horror.

His voice came out a hoarse croak,"Please, help me." I stepped a toe out of line and Major shot me a look that could kill. He adjusted his goggles on his forehead and cocked an eyebrow at the man. The man on the ground stared into Major's soul,"Please, do this as a last wish." He slid a gun to Major and everyone gasped. Major glanced at us all, I could tell he was hesitant. He had a heart in there, even if it was frozen in miles of ice. In the end, he picked up the gun and bent down to the man,"Your sacrifice and your squad's sacrifice is greatly appreciated. Your death is not in vain, Soldier Chestnut. I will personally talk to your wife and make sure she keeps the kids out of the room."

The man let out hopeless, wailing sobs that made every single one of us, even Major, cry. That man right there, he had a heart and a will to live and a family, yet, he was willing to die to protect his family and an entire country of strangers. I cried for him and vowed never to forget him, even if I eventually got back to my time. Major hoisted the gun up, lip quivering and eyes leaking tears. The man closed his eyes, smiling a sad smile. I knew then that he was content with dying if it saved his family. It didn't in the end though. The monster would destroy the entire base, and his wife and three kids would be killed. I only heard that from Geon, though.

BANG!

The shot echoed through the valley and the man went still. He died with a smile on his face, thinking about his family, the ones he loved. At that moment, I thought back to Jake. Not Mom or Dad. They weren't my real family. Only Jake.

None of us had that much time to grieve or think about what just happened because it was then that we heard big, stomping footsteps. The steps of an army of darkness and devastation. I tightened my grip on the borrowed black gun. The person who wore this uniform before me was murdered in the last battle. I would kill this monster. For Chestnut, for Jake, for Kayla, for Major, for everyone left in the world.

The army of darkness marched through the valley, closer and closer and closer. When they came into focused view, the breath was sucked from my lungs. It couldn't be!

I saw a face that I recognized. My gun fell to the ground and by the time I had fumbled it back into my hands, my comrades were already fighting and dying in battle. The army of darkness consisted of one human and hundreds of demons, maybe thousands. How were we, a small squadron of teenagers, expected to defeat this?!

"WHEN IS BACKUP COMING?! TOWER, THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!" Major was screaming at his radio. I was frozen in place. We were supposed to be fighting with others, but they failed to show up. We were getting slaughtered.

The girl who puked was engaged in a fight with a demon who had her almost pinned. Suddenly, the demon grew a fifth arm and slashed downward, slicing her head in half. Brain matter spilled everywhere and she didn't even get a dying scream. The demon, covered in blood, just casually got up and moved on to another soldier in our dwindling troops.

Two other teens, a boy and a girl, were fighting one demon when two more came up behind them with razors for fingers. They didn't need to do anything special since all the demons did was grab the two teens and they were gone. Arms severed and bones visible. Their dying faces were contorted into horrible screams of pain and cut up with dark blood spattered everywhere. We hadn't even killed one of the demons before our troop of 15, including Major, was down to three. Myself, Kayla, and Major Colonel.

I blinked, taking in the scene, and Major was suddenly dead. Two left. My eyes glazed over to the one human not being touched in this chaos. How could this person command these demons? Why would they do this? I used to know them, but I definitely didn't know this person in front of me.

Kayla yelped and my head snapped around to look for her. Ten demons surrounded all sides of her. All snarling with bloody, yellow teeth and red eyes. In synchronization, as if practiced, they raised their scythes and everything slowed down in my mind. My entire world was ending, or at least the world that mattered to me. I sprinted forward, not slowed down though everything else seemed to be. I was a mere foot away when all of them brought their scythes down onto Kayla. I screamed, arm stretched out. She looked back at me, tears in her eyes, then she was silent, collapsing to the ground. After swinging one more time, they retreated to their master, ignoring me for some reason. I dropped to my knees, gaping, mouth wide open, at the horror scene in front of me. She didn't look human anymore, just a pile of ripped up flesh, broken bones, and thick red blood. I scooted forward, still screaming and sobbing in sadness and anger. I hugged what was left of her head to my chest and sobbed, entire body shaking. I still, to the present day, couldn't describe what I felt in that moment.

Anger. Sadness. Agony. Pain. Longing. Revenge. Hatred. Love. Brokenness. Hopelessness. The list went on. I stood up, shaking in my rage.

This human, a master of hundreds of demons, was dead to me. Never again would I love or like them. Never again would I communicate with them in peace. Never again. I bellowed in rage, head tilted to the red sky. The demons turned to me as I screamed for an entire minute. Picking up a large, black machine gun, I hoisted it onto my shoulder, entire body trembling. The demons screeched in surprise and flung themselves at me, but not quick enough. I pulled the trigger. Round after round after round of bullets flung into the air, disintegrating demons. They definitely weren't regular bullets, no, they were specially made to do this kind of damage. It took 10 bullets to put down one demon which is probably why I couldn't get through too many before they got to me.

Kicking and punching and slicing, they wailed on me, not holding anything back. What did the human race do to them? Their master strolled up behind them, signaling them to stop with a mere wave of the hand. They parted as their master drew nearer. Everything ached with pain, even my heart, but I gathered up saliva and spat on his foot. The master stopped short of me and swung a foot into my face. Blood spurted from my nose and mouth, a tooth suddenly feeling loose. The demons jeered and the master bent down, removing my goggles and hat then suddenly falling backward and beginning to hyperventilate.

"You! I thought you were dead!" The master stopped, examining me for a moment,"Evangeline? Is it really you?" The demons looked from him to me, probably noticing terror emanating from one of us. I could clearly hear hurt in his voice. Was it me who made him this way? My fault? I wanted to change it, even if I had no idea what happened. I nod once, my face probably showing all of my rage and hatred for him. The evil person who just slaughtered everyone in my squadron suddenly disappeared as he picked me up and carried me bridal style, setting me outside the base. I should've kicked and punched him. Killed him, screamed at him. Yet… all I could do was cry. I hadn't seen this person in such a long time and everything was still hurting. My leg was definitely broken and I had a black eye. It hurt too much, so I didn't resist, no matter how much I wanted to.

The medical ladies found me outside camp and quickly took me back that day, nursing me back to health.

"You sort of know the rest. I found another colorful light floating in midair and somehow knew it would take me back here. The world I already knew. That's why you and the others found me with bruises and a broken leg and stuff," I finish my story and Jake was absolutely silent. It seemed like he hadn't breathed through the entire thing.

He blinks once and the question that comes out of his mouth actually surprises me,"Who was the man controlling all of the demons?"