Death's Stigma (NanoWriMo14)

Chapter 25

"Nadia, wake up. Come on snap out of it." Grim pleaded.

"Grim? What happened? All I could remember was..." She trailed off.

"She got into our heads and was forcing us to relive our worst memories."

"Can we just go home now?" She asked.

"Yeah, let's go home." Grim left the gym and went to leave the school. The mirror spires started to collapse and a cry of joy echoed through the halls. A door that had been blocked by a series of small spire burst open and a dozen or so kids ran out. "Shit." Grim muttered to himself.

"Look it's a grown up." One of them yelled and they all ran towards Grim. He got a glove out of his pocket and slid it over his disfigured hand. They surrounded him and all started talking at once. He put a finger to his ear and turned on his microphone.

"General Wheeler, can you hear me?"

"We read you Grim."

"I need an armored transporter at the elementary school. I handled a problem there and freed about a dozen kidnapped children."

"I can send the transport, but I don't have the resources to send a squad of guards with it."

"I can handle that, just send it ASAP."

"It will be there in ten minutes." Grim looked at the kids and kneeled.

"You kids okay." He asked.

"I'm scared." One of them said quietly.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you guys get back to your families as soon as possible." He let them crowd around him until the transport rolled up to the front door. "Every get into the big truck so you can go home." A soldier helped usher them into the back.

"It's an honor kid, you saved my buddy when his squad was trapped at the high school."

"The same, it takes guts to come into the city knowing what is waiting for you. I'll handle any demons that try to stop you, you guys just haul ass out of here."

"You got it, roll out!" He yelled as the back of the transport sealed up. It peeled away and Grim blurred alongside it. It could only go about thirty miles an hour but it bulldozed through cars and bits of rubble. The first of the demons were already coming for it. Grim used the transport to spring board onto an apartment building and kill a trio of hell hounds. He flew in front of the truck and slammed feet first into a stony rhino creature. He punched it's head into fragments with his scaled hand and took after the truck.

He killed every demon following the truck but once it reached the scorched field that separated the city from the military blockade a swarm of flying demons decended from the sky. Grim jumped onto the back of the truck and drew his new pistols. He fired into the flock, flashes of fire igniting multiple creatures at once. Both guns clicked empty and he holstered them. He launched himself of the back of the truck and into the birds.

"Myst get ready for a new addition." He grabbed the string from his pocket and felt it absorb into his hand. He reached the center of the swarm and activated his new ability.  A demon swooped down to attack the defenseless Grim. It phased through him and was split in half. Grim was above it as the copy he made started to fade away. Demons started to rain from the sky as they killed them in droves. The soldiers around the perimeter fired into the cloud as well, breaking it down with sheer firepower. Grim created shadow copies to trick and attack the swarm. He dove out of the cloud to avoid being shot and threw up his hood. A small group of soldiers started to move towards him. He sheathed Nadia as someone came out of the circle.

"I'm Terra Jones with Channel 6 Action News, could I get a few words from you." He pulled up his mask as a camera guy followed her out and he tensed a little. "The outside world has no idea of what has occurred over the last few weeks, anything would be helpful." Grim felt bad for those glued to TV's hoping to hear news of their families."