Hell's Earth Part 1: Hell Come

Chapter Three: Blazing Rescue

          "You campers should have been a lot more careful. Getting caught out here without food and water is a good way of catching your death. I have to admit, though, using your clothes as a tent and gathering those cactus arms to get water was all ingenious." the three ambulances roared back to civilization. The clothes were tossed into a bag and lay next to Trina. "You and your friends are very lucky to be alive. God must surely be watching out for you guys. Cause if it wasn't for that pilot, you all would be buzzard food by now." They all eventually caved in exhaustion. Their eyes began to slowly refocus; they were greeted with a doctor hovering over them. "We're running a few final tests and we'll have you all out within the next couple of hours. They looked at each other with wide saddening eyes. Tears slowly ran down Trina's cheeks. The doctor gave them a clean bill of health and discharged them from Summerlin Hospital.

          After a long taxi drive back to the hotel they went to the bar for a few drinks. Trina broke the silence. "I'm sorry about Tao Ruben. I know you and him were close friends. I never meant for that to happen." Ruben took a long swallow of his coke and rum while Vincent was on his third Island Hurricane. "I know you mean well Trina but for now, let's just focus on our happy to be living party. Besides, his burial was all expenses paid. He died doing a favor for me. Not to mention I don't have to pay for either a cremation or a burial. I say we both got exactly what we wanted." He took another long drink from his glass. "I'm going to miss him." A tear formed and fell into his drink just before he took another swig. "If we want to avenge his death, we need to dig that gate back up and open it!" Both Trina and Vincent glared at Ruben. "If we want to find out what all this is really about, we have to do this. Let's face it, if this works, vengeance will be the tip of the iceberg. With this gate, we rule the world." Trina was ready to smack Ruben across the bar. "According to the engravings, if we try to open the gate the hell on Earth will be only the beginning. The devil himself will set everything on fire and roast our corpses over brimstone!" The other hotel patrons began looking and whispering over the odd trio. "Maybe we should continue this conversation in our room before someone calls the white coats." Vincent and Ruben paid for the drinks as Trina left a tip. Bethany saw Vincent ready to leave and quickly made her way to the bar. "Vincent, I'm so glad I caught you here! I have tried to call you but it kept going to voicemail. Anyway, I have had so much fun getting to know you that you're all I think about. I have decided that I want you to live with me and my kids and my sister. Her name is Irene. She and the kids would love to meet you and I think we could make this work. He looked at her and wanted nothing more than to tell her yes but he also wanted her to know the truth. Trina and Ruben moved to the far end of the bar. They knew where this was going and didn't want to interfere with the outcome. As Vincent finished his story, they saw her hands in her face crying uncontrollably. He had let her down the easiest way possible but the talk of Satan and his gate was too much. She got up and fled the hotel lobby. The car pulled away and he knew that was the last he would ever see her again.

          In a tipsy state, the trio stumbled into the elevator. This time, Vincent broke the silence. "I want to go back. I feel we should finish what we started and I think it would only be right!" Trina rolled her eyes. She spoke against Vincent and Ruben "No matter how we approach this, it will end in failure and eventually our deaths!" Again the group fell quiet. Ruben let out a heavy sigh then spoke up. "We can't do it if we aren't in agreement. If this is going to work, we have to work together." Frustrated Trina slammed her fist into the side of the elevator just as it opened onto the penthouse suite. "If this is going to happen we better have one hell of a fucking plan." Ruben smiled as he won the argument and managed to move closer to his ultimate goal. "Tao sent me the phone number of the cultists and I recorded the GPS coordinates where we found the gate when I arrived on my initial visit. I have already texted the leader of the cult. We have two weeks to unearth the gate and let the cultists do their job. They also have a team of mercenaries ready to escort us to the location so as our work is not interrupted and hopefully we're not killed in the process!" Vincent and Trina glared at Ruben as they found themselves surrounded by heavily armed men and women as they entered the main lounge. "You told us your phone batteries were dead! Are you fucking insane? We almost died out there and it was by sheer luck that the pilot managed to be flying around otherwise..." Ruben cut her off of her rant as her face began to turn beet red. "Guys, this is our armed escort. I contacted them while we were in the hospital and again during the taxi ride. We have agreed that helping to resurrect their hellfire leader from the gate of fire and brimstone is all the payment they need!"