Heaven And Hell

The Birds and the... Airbase?

John awoke next to the texan, tired after last night. Nature had given them the role of a couple and given them the... hormones necessary last night. John got dressed, limping slightly but otherwise fine, and relit the fire to heat up 2 of the cans they had found while scavenging about a week ago. John was quite thankful for the heat proof gloves (With fingers!) they had found during their scavenge runs, as they would be useful for holding the cans to eat and to make sure they didnt overcook or burn. He used his knife and stabbed a few holes in the top of them both to make sure they didn't explode and wake the texan.

"So peaceful..." John muttered, glancing at Tucker with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Since Tucker was asleep, John decided to try and practice controlling his newfound power. He did his best to focus it to one arm, the tips of his fingers slowly changing from flesh to appearing like a space of the night, a glitch of reality on his hand. After a bit more channeling, the rest of his hand looked like space as well.

He drew his knife from the sheathe once more, allowing the power from his hand to flow into the knife as well. The knife did the same as it did when Lucifer was egging him on, the blade detaching from the handle but still being connected by a blue rope of energy. Now that it was more focused instead of raw, white steam did not rise from it, and he could see that the rope is not a rope, instead being a finely linked, incredibly strong chain. Images of space dust and nebula fields rolled across the blade slowly.

John smirked, stopping the flow of power, and watched as the chain shortened quickly and the blade clicked back into place. John inspected where it connected, and no matter how closely he looked he could not see any sort of seam or crease where it had been originally detached from the handle. Satisfied, John put the knife back into the sheath. Beside him, a very tired Tucker sat up and stretched, his spine crackling slowly and his interlaced fingers popping over his head. Tucker rolled his neck as well, a modicum of pops and cracks emanating from it.

"Next time, we're sleeping on soft ground." Tucker muttered. They had spent the night on top of a large plateau with sheer sides so the Demons couldn't climb up and get to them. However the plateau, while a good 12 square foot by 12 square foot in size, was also made entirely of stone. Tucker thought that it had probably used to be a small shed that had been turned completely to stone during the initial slew of corruption, since worn smooth by wind, due to it sounding hollow inside.... if you could manage to hear past the foot thick stone.

"Agreed. Beans?" John asked, handing over a thermal glove and a can of beans.

"Nothin better for breakfast, 'cept grits 'n' eggs. 'N' bacon. 'N' black coffee." Tucker smiled and gratefully accepted the can and glove, slipping on the glove first so he didn't burn himself.

They ate in silence, both well aware of last night and happy that it had happened, although silently agreeing not to bring it up. They heard the howls of the Demons coming from a distance, just as they finished their food, a surefire sign that they had been spotted. Tucker, now dressed, picked up his claymore and used it as a brace to stand up against, his legs asleep although that'd be fixed pretty soon as he shifted his weight around on them and got the blood pumping. John stood as well, his leg wide awake and ready to put in work.

And they would have worked, had they not heard the familiar howl of a Vulcan XH558 bomber coming in fast and low. They were frozen in place, unsure of what was piloting it, due to its paint job being the same as those that were Corrupted. Some Corrupted aircraft had human pilots, a symbiotic relationship between the pilot and the now living aircraft having been formed. Then they realized the direction it came from. The east. The demons were coming from the north.

Then the howl died down as the aircraft slowed to make sure their bombs landed on target, and the scream of a singular stuka was heard as well. They looked to the east quickly enough to see a third aircraft, an A-10, unleash its GAU-8 against the first line of demons. The Stuka divebombed and used it's gun and bombs against the second row of demons, and the Vulcan used it's bombs to CTRL-ALT-DEL the last row. The aircraft made another pass and wagged their wings at Tucker and John before disappearing across the horizon.

John looked at Tucker as Tucker looked at John in complete shock. They had never before seen the emblem on the planes, nor had they ever even known that there was a functional airbase anywhere anymore.

Tucker eventually broke the silence. "Well, obviously they're friendly. We should 'ead the same way they did. May take a hot minute but we'll find the base eventually."

John replied, "Agreed. They may hold the key to finding Rin and the Doc, or maybe Kolgod, Ghypsy, and Blackie. Either way, it'll be better than dealing with trying to survive out here." He smirked. "Maybe we can find a cot too. Hope it doesn't squeak."

Tucker laughed and clapped John on the back. "Just don't get too wild or it'll squeak regardless. My neck still hurts where you bit me. Your teeth are sharp as a demon's."

John chuckled too. "I'll take that as a compliment."

They started walking towards the airfield, holding hands but also resting their other hand on their weapons, should a demon come by. Outside of that, they were just the happiest (and gayest) couple of the apocalypse.