Demon Hunters: Last Class

Episode 44: Toni- The End of The World

The only two boats left at the pier were rusty old clunkers, but there was just enough space for everyone, and beggars can't be choosers. Brute and Tucker helped load crates onto the deck of the larger of the two. Inside was everything we could salvage from the ruins of the school. Everyone carried bags, stuffed with whatever we were able to scavenge on our way to the coast. Three dozen kids, filthy and broken. It was my childhood all over again.

The trip had taken us two days; ferrying the wounded, carrying supplies, and feeding the little ones. More people joined us. Some were hunters who walked all the way from the city. Others just saw us and followed, unsure of what to do. A lot more people merely shut their doors and watched us from their windows. We made a frightful procession: kids, a big blue man with horns, an even bigger man who looked carved from a tree trunk, and bodies on stretchers.

They probably felt safer indoors.

The hellspurs were giant barbs that acted as portals for Hell's armies. When they burst out of the ground, they played havoc with electronics. The power grid failed as did all the cars with electric starters. Those who got out called the invasion a massacre. As Anaraxx had warned, more hellspurs appeared in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Before the power went out, a YouTuber said he'd seen a small one rising out of the river a few towns south of us.

I shook my head and ducked back into the empty storefront we'd been using as a shelter all morning. The younger kids huddled together, listening to a story from one of Black's books. They looked up at me as I passed, small faces full of fear and pain. The Institute was gone and they couldn't go home. They were Nena's... our responsibility now.

Nena and her newest student, a girl named Bijou, tended to the wounded at the back of the building. There was no power, but the water still ran and someone had found a hot plate. They cleaned, bandaged, and used a bit of mystic healing. Nena had pushed herself to near burnout until McBrennan and Perdy physically forced her to rest. Sleep never came. Nena Jefferson blamed herself for the lives lost.

Lyric slept in the far corner, oblivious to what happened that night. Her half charred babydoll rested on her chest. Beside her, was a sad little girl with adorably pinchable cheeks. She watched me for a while then patted Lyric's hand.

"I lost my doll, but she found it," the cutie said. "It's burnt up, but she can hold onto it for now."

"What's your name, kid?"

"CeCe. Ms. B-Ko calls me C-Ko, but I think that sounds weird."

"It does. Why are you back here with Lyric?"

"She looked lonely."

"She is. Stay close to her, okay, CeCe? I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay. Be careful outside. Those ink monsters might come back."

We locked eyes for a while, her little brown face so earnest in its sudden fear. I wanted to hug her and tell her the nightmares weren't real, but she was a student of the JISL, technically my upperclassman. She knew the truth. Not only were the nightmares real, but they were winning.

I sighed and kissed CeCe on the forehead. Lyric owed this baby a new doll.

Leaving out the back, I found an old man rooting around in a dumpster. He froze when he heard me, and followed my movements with cagey eyes. Smiling, I pointed to the street.

"We're handing out food in the front."

"There isn't a lot. I'll see what I can forage so there will be enough for everyone else."

I nodded.

"Try the dumpster behind the restaurant two blocks that way. I think they're still open. Their trash will be fresh."