Chapter 32.2

Scott, the dark cloud of terror, slipped through the rocky soil and entered the asphalt of the police station parking lot. He needed to speak with the Sheriff but there was no way to know exactly where he was without the performance of a little reconnaissance. It was not like he could simply call him on the phone, cell service and even landlines were out at the moment.

Things had been bad in town when Scott floated through earlier. Burnt out houses, looted stores, and the constant presence of creatures that ranged from hideous to hilarious prowled the empty streets. It was hard to realize the level of devastation when he was holed up in his hideaway, but it was obvious the moment that he left the safety of his protected halls.

He felt no sign of pressure or a sense of energy that he might have felt when entering a sanctuary field. Was the area unprotected? He noted that there were only two police cars in the lot, and they both looked battered to the point of bare-recognition. They were dented and torn, the windshields were busted and one of them was missing a door.

Scott flowed upward into the walls of the station and began his search. Immediately, he could tell that something was wrong. He could sense life throughout the hallways of the station, but none of it was human. Four-legged monstrosities roamed the halls.

He did not immediately engage them, instead, he flowed into the ventilation system and began a room by room search. Soon, he came across something that caught his attention. He sensed human life in a room directly to his left.

The dark cloud of curiosity decided to wait there a moment to see what he could discover. It did not take long before he heard desperate whispers.

“Think they’re still out there?” asked one man, a uniformed officer who held his gun like it was the most precious thing in the world.

“Yeah, probably.” said a man in badly damaged riot gear.

“Fucking mayor, wouldn’t even pay to have the precinct protected.” said the first man.

The armored officer coughed a few times, and Scott heard a distinctive rattle. He had fluid on the lungs, probably internal bleeding. These people would not last much longer without help. Yet, how could he be sure that they were not part of the group that attacked his house? At least one or two of them were police officers.

As soon as the coughing fit ended a loud howl echoed from outside the door. Growls could be heard not long after, and hard scratching sounds revealed that the monsters suspected that prey resided on the other side of the thin barrier.

The uniformed officer growled angrily as well then activated his radio and spoke into his speaker mic, the cell service might be out but radio-to-radio communication worked as fine as ever. “Sheriff, they’ve found us! Doug’s getting worse, and I’m low on ammo.”

Scott listened as Sheriff Ansen’s voice reported over the radio. “We’re still fifteen minutes out. The bridge is down and we’ve been forced to clear one of the side roads.”

“Fifteen Minutes, Sheriff we might have three.” replied the man.

“We’ll pick up the pace. Keep your head down.” said the Sheriff.

“Right…” said the unnamed officer without speaking into his mic. What else could he do? The door was barricaded, but how long would that last?

“Roger…man.” said Doug with another cough.

“Doug, don’t talk. You need to rest.” replied Roger.

“No, no brother. We both know that…” Doug coughed several times in rapid succession before he continued. “Won-won’t help.” He wheezed a little then said, “I need you to do something.”

“What man? What’s so damned important?” asked Roger.

Doug fished around in his pocket for a moment then pulled out a dog-eared photo. “It’s my little girl… I need you to go tell her.”

Neither of them paid attention to the soft rumbling sound that echoed from the vent overhead. They had plenty of other noises and personal drama to take up their attention.

“Of course, but can’t you do it when you respawn?” asked Roger. They’d both died several times recently. Death was terrifying, but now it was also part of the job.

Doug shook his head. “I’m out, brother. No more tokens.”

“No more… Doug, dammit! Why didn’t you tell someone! We could have done something!”

“Done what? You know you can’t share those things.” said Doug in a raspy voice.

“That’s not the point, man!” exclaimed Roger.

“Just…” Doug gasped loudly and then wheezed a little before continuing. “Just tell her. Tell her that her daddy loves her, and that he’ll see her again someday.”

“Doug…” said Roger helplessly. They were both probably going to die here, but this was too much.

Both men snapped their heads upward when they heard a loud roar that sounded partially like a scream. They cried out in abject terror as a dark cloud flowed down swiftly through the ventilation system. What unholy monstrosity was this?

The men, trained veteran police officers, instinctively clung to each other in the face of this new arrival. Four-legged freaks were bad enough, but how did you fight against smoke?

Surprisingly, the flowing cloud of darkness bypassed them entirely and moved forward and then through the barricaded door. There was a brief moment of terrified silence followed by the desperate howls of the monsters outside.

They were no longer hungry beasts hell-bent on devouring their human prey. They now sounded like they were afflicted with mortal terror for their very lives.

Roger and Doug clung to each other still when they heard the terrified wolfish shrieks of the monsters that had clearly outclassed them earlier. It became obvious that the dark cloud was doing something to them, and the very thought of what it could be doing nearly made Roger vomit.

It did not take long before even those screams ended. Soon, the only sound that could be heard was the terrified gibbering of the hardened police officers as they awaited their fate. They did not have to wait long.

The darkness returned in a slow, sinister manner. It slipped through the door and moved sinuously around the cracks in the barricade. Slowly it converged at a single point. The most surprising thing of all occurred right after. The smoke coalesced into a humanoid form and then became a man, or something like a man, that was clad head to toe in glossy black armor that looked similar to a beetle.

The unholy apparition held an equally black and wicked longsword in his right hand. The officer’s eyes traveled from that sword up to where the monstrosity’s face should be behind his black helmet.

The hell-spawned demon placed his sword into a brown bag on his hip then inclined his helmeted head down as though he was looking at them. They could now see his eyes, blazing red cores of judgment that promised an eternity of pain for those who it took.

It was then that the demon spoke, “Pardon me. Do you have a moment to discuss your lord and savior, the Dark Cloud of Terror?”

Roger made a strangled noise in the back of his noise and Doug gurgled slightly in response. Both men slowly nodded their heads. They would have probably done anything asked of them after an entrance like that.