ARMAGEDDON

6: Malice

I was heading down the trail with Malice, seeing old and huge machines in the distance. The closer we were to the gates, the more the machinery became more prevalent. There was hydraulic tubes that were covered with rust. What looked to be a pipeline of some sort was also covered with rust, but somehow the whir and click of machinery still pounded through it's iron veins.

"What is all of this?" I asked.

Malice spread her arms out at all of the machinery and said "A long time ago, Sheol was not like this. These machines came from a once great civilization, more advanced than someone like you could imagine. These machines make the microprocessor look small in comparison. This technology powered all of the nine circles.."

"But what happened to it all?" I asked Malice.

"They fell. All of these demons were separate factions, and they decided to try to invade Heaven. God, feeling threatened, wiped the slate clean here in Sheol, decided to have it be a place of punishment for the wicked. The first Hell Walkers came from Sheol, before the Cataclysm ruined this place." said Malice.

"So why do I need to open the gates for you?"

"My plan is to try to restore Sheol to it's former glory, with me at the throne." said Malice.

"And what about Earth?"

"That mud ball? I can assure you, I have no interest in you humans. Your kind does just fine killing each other, you don't need my help. Other powers here in Sheol want Earth, however. Most of demon kind hates you humans. They are jealous of you. The demons are like abandoned children, their Father abandoned them and their Father loves the human race instead. They want a world of their own again." Malice said.

We kept walking for what felt like forever.

I asked "How long have we been walking for?"

"Who knows? All concept of time do not exist here in Sheol. Time itself withered and died, just like everything else here. What passes for two centuries here, could be two minutes on Earth." replied Malice.

We eventually reached the gates, but I had to ditch my respirator.

Malice said "We need to get to the control center ahead, but the gates need a blood sample from a Hell Walker. That's where you come in."

We were near the entrance to the ancient control center of the gates. I could see the gate doors more clearly now. The gate doors were the size of skyscrapers, looming menacingly over the plains of Hell, like a long dead and forgotten monolith, abandoned by its creators. I could see people melted into the metal of the doors. These people cast in metal seemed to be silently screaming in torment. Malice described it as a structure made of tormented souls. I felt it getting harder to breathe. Before Malice and I headed into the control center, I found a bloody and gory skeleton slumped on the ground near the entrance.

Next to the corpse was something useful. A Glock 9mm, with a full magazine inside of it, and six other magazines. I picked the pistol and the ammunition up and I had a puzzled look on my face. Malice shrugged.

"There were others that tried to help, but alas, they were ripped in half..."

I remained silent. We were walking down an ancient rusted out corridor, and it would have been pitch black had Malice not used her Hell Sword to light the way. I suddenly collapsed to the ground with a coughing fit, and Malice sighed.

"Oh right, I forgot. Humans can't breathe very well in Hell. Living ones at least."

I felt Malice's fingers cradle my chin, her molten skin somehow not burning me. She pulled me towards her, and kissed me right on the lips. Tongue and everything. I was going to protest, but then I realized I could breathe again.