It wasn’t long now until darkness fell. They’d have to move pretty quickly. Sam made a decision. “Ok. We’ll spend the night in this place up here. I don’t know what it is but it’s better than nothing. Let’s pick up the pace and see if we can secure it properly.”
The others agreed, moving as swiftly as their exhaustion allowed. Shortly, but not nearly as quickly as Sam would’ve liked, they found themselves outside the two-storied structure.
“What is this place?” asked Olivia. Sam shook his head. He had no idea.
“It looks like one of the county storage depots,” said Mike. Everyone turned to stare at him.
“How do you know that?” asked Sue.
“I used to work for the county,” said Mike. “Sanitation.”
“Sanitation?” asked Sam.
Mike smiled slightly and shrugged. “Yeah. I was a garbage collector.”
“So, Mr. Garbage Collector, how do you propose we get in?” asked Olivia.
Sam had to concede she had a point. It was like Fort Knox. The front of the building was solid brick with only one heavy looking door. A wire fence with rolls of barbed razor wire atop it, ran from the sides, enclosing a large area around the back.
Mike eyed the building warily. “To be honest, I don’t know. These depots are designed to withstand vandalism and theft because they’re often unattended in the weekends. From memory though, some of them have skylights to let a little natural light in. Someone will have to get up there though. Good luck with that.”
“I’ll try,” said Sam, without hesitation. He liked to climb. He’d spent much of his youth climbing the rocks around Devil’s garden. He liked to think he’d been pretty good at it too.
No one argued or volunteered, but then, Sam didn’t see how they could. No one else was in any kind of condition to attempt something like this. He shrugged off his pack and Katana, re-strapping the sword to his back. Thus prepared, Sam assessed the structure. It was fairly impenetrable but he supposed that was the whole point. He could cut his way through the wire fence — he knew without doubt that his swords would make short work of it but then they’d be in the same predicament, without any way to get into the building itself.
Frustration set in. It wasn’t long until it got dark, and he really didn’t have time to waste. On the far corner of the building, he finally spotted something useful. It was a downpipe where rain run-off was siphoned from the roof. It also made the perfect climbing assistant.
He darted over to it. Testing it once for stability, he began to climb. It didn’t feel particularly strong but he didn’t really have an option. He moved rapidly, conscious that two of the securing brackets had already come loose but managed to make it to the roof without incident and sighed with relief.
It was essentially featureless. A flat, empty roof. Sam was about to climb down again in disgust when he found what he was looking for. On the far side of the roof, he could just make out a skylight. With no time to lose, he scuttled over to it. It had a metal grate over it, of course. And of course, the grate was made of iron. In order to get in, Sam would essentially have to destroy it. That would make the structure vulnerable to attack, especially from the skies — from Astaroth in particular. But there was no helping it.
He drew his Katana. Narrowing his eyes in concentration and focusing his energy for precision and power, he struck down. Once, twice. His blade cut through the solid metal bars almost without resistance. He removed the cut segments, ignoring the hiss of burning flesh and sharp pain as his naked flesh made contact with the iron. The skylight was operated by a simple latch. Using his telekinetic power, he willed it to move, smiling in grim satisfaction as he heard it snick open. He lifted it up and stuck his head in. It was dark, other than the weak glow provided by the skylight. No sound. Nothing moving. His senses detected neither human nor demon presence. The place was clear.
He wiggled through, feet first, dropping the last five feet to the floor where he considered the now gaping hole in the roof. It was far, far too small to allow an Astaroth access but it was a pretty obvious advertisement that someone had been here. He’d have to close it but he’d need help to do that. Later.
He was on a mezzanine floor. It had clearly been an office of some sort once, with windows opening on to the warehouse floor. It was now all but empty, with only a few boxes of files covered with a thin film of cinder and dust. It was very dark but Sam’s eyes easily made out the shapes of various machines and vehicles. Finding the stairs, he sped down them, taking them several at a time. On the ground floor, he found the main door. It was secured by a solid built-in lock. He was about to attack it with his sword when another thought offered itself. He simply turned the handle; to his surprise, the door opened. Even if it had been locked, he probably could’ve used his telekinesis to open it. He cursed himself for his foolishness. He’d basically destroyed the skylight above when he could’ve almost just walked in.
Outside, in the growing gloom, the others were waiting for him, huddling together in a pathetic cluster. They looked relieved when he opened the door wide and stepped aside to allow them inside. He secured the heavy door behind them, confident that it would withstand a few blows from even an Astaroth or Horned Demon.
“Everyone go around and make sure this area is secure,” he said. “Olivia, come with me.” He led her upstairs and showed her the skylight.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked.
“Stand on my shoulders,” he ordered. “Reach up and close the skylight. We don’t want to advertise our presence.”
He bent down as she clambered aboard his shoulders. He stood up straight and Olivia, using his head to steady herself, stood upright. As her hand rested on his head, he was conscious of her touching the horns on his head through the hood. He stiffened in alarm but quickly recovered, trying to appear completely normal. Olivia gave no indication she’d noticed, reaching up to quickly pull the skylight closed. She locked it with the latch but Sam knew that wouldn’t stop a determined demon from gaining access.
He helped her down. As her feet touched the floor, they made eye contact for the briefest of moments. Despite the gloom, Sam felt panic rise within his breast. It was just a matter of putting the facts together. If she considered the shapes she’d felt on his head along with a glimpse of his black irises — well, it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to put it all together. She looked at him strangely for a moment and then just as quickly, looked away. Tension filled the room. Sam could feel it, dreading what this was building up to. Waiting for her to cry out in alarm. The others would come running and then, well then, things would go as they usually did.
She looked at him again and the ghost of a smile crossed her lips. And then, just as suddenly as it had manifested itself, the tension was gone. Sam smiled back, trying to calm the rapid thumping of his heart.
Without a word, Olivia turned and led him down the steps. Downstairs, the others had gathered together, dumping their packs on the floor. It was almost completely dark now. The depot let very little light in even during the day. At night, which it now was, darkness was almost total.
Sam wasn’t concerned. He loved the night and could see almost perfectly. The others, he knew, would require the light far more than he, if for no other reason than a morale boost. He found his pack amongst the pile of packs and rummaged around, pulling out half-used candles, setting them down on their tiny spiked stands and lighting them with his kerosene lighter from his pocket.
As he worked, he reached out with both his human and demonic senses, searching for any indication of demons. They were out there alright. So far, all their activity was centered around the church, having just arrived from Hell. Soon though, he knew they would spread out, searching for any humans they could drag back with them.