Hellgate London - Exodus Part 41

Yesterday.Simon couldn't believe that had been yesterday. It seemed like only a few hours ago. "The balance wasn't right. We've got that corrected, but he wants the housings tweaked."

"Personally, I don't think we have days," Wertham said. "We're going to run out of resources for these people, get discovered by the demons, or get overwhelmed by refugees."

"If we have to wind the engines up, and escaping the city will probably mean that, they could leave us behind. Or self-destruct."

Wertham thought about that for the moment. "I can see the problem with that." His brow wrinkled. "But if we don't leave soon, we're either going to be discovered or we're going to have to leave people behind when we go."

Simon nodded. Neither one of those alternatives appealed to him.

"Sir? Excuse me, sir?"

It took Simon a moment to realize that the woman was speaking to him. He crawled from beneath the pulling engine and picked up the grease-covered rag lying on the ground. The rag didn't help cut the crusted grime on his hands.

The speaker was a middle-aged woman with a bandage over her left eye. Simon started to get to his feet.

"No, you don't need to get up now. Just stay as you are. My family and I just got here today." Simon tried to remember whichtoday it currently was, but couldn't.

"I didn't want to interrupt," the woman went on, "but I had to come tell you how much I appreciate what you're doing."

Simon felt embarra.s.sed. Somehow he never got too tired to feel that way. "It's not just me," he said. "There are a lot of people helping."

"I know." The woman smiled. "Truly, I do. But they say you're the one that started all of this."

Simon didn't know what to say to that, so he just nodded. He felt that was what his father would have done.

"I just wanted to thank you, you know. For caring enough about us to do this. If not for you, my three children would have died in that city, perished at the hands of those monsters."

We're not out of the city yet,Simon wanted to point out. But he didn't. Hope was the commodity they had the least of, and he didn't want to take it away from anyone because he knew it was a fragile thing, too. Most of them had come to the tube tunnel for a last few meals.

"Bless you," the woman said. "That's all I wanted to say." She took his grease-grimed hand in hers and squeezed. Then she walked away.

Simon stared after her for a moment, at a loss for how he was supposed to react. More than anything, he supposed, he was afraid. It was one thing to find strangers murdered in their homes by the demons, but if he lost these people it was going to hurt.

It's also going to be your fault that they're here to get caught,he told himself. He drank some water, then climbed back under the pulling engine.

"You doing okay?" McCorkleson asked.

Simon picked up a battery-operated drill and slid his safety gla.s.ses on. He started drilling holes for another support lattice strut.

"Yes." Metal bits struck Simon's face sharply enough to sting.

"Right or wrong, however this things turns out," McCorkleson said, "you've done all you could. The rest of it will just have to take care of itself." "I know."

"No," the old man said gently. "You're just saying that now. You don't know it yet. But you will." Simon hoped so, but he hoped most of all that everything turned out well.

"Clear!" McCorkleson yelled from the pulling engine's control center.

"Clear!" Simon yelled back. Three other men standing guard around the pulling engine yelled out the same, letting McCorkleson know that he was clear to engage the power.

The NanoDyne electromagnetic engines were charged by solar power or by cranking them with a special lever. The engines were about the size of scuba tanks and had been mounted just under the pulling engine's housing. Simon and McCorkleson had managed to put sixteen of them on the unit. He hoped it would be enough to move all the people depending on them fast enough to make their escape.

The engine shuddered as McCorkleson engaged the power. There was little noise as the engines created the magnetic lift that caused the pulling engine to glide up six inches above the rails. Even though the power to the tubes had been lost during the attacks over the first few hours of the demon invasion, the NanoDyne engines generated enough power to accelerate the pulling engine to unbelievable speeds on their own. That had been part of the attraction of the design.

The engines balanced out easily, each working well with the others. At the controls, McCorkleson grinned like a loon. Then he sat the engine back down on the tracks.

"She's as ready as we're going to get her," McCorkleson declared.

A cheer exploded from the men, women, and children lining the tube tunnel. Word was pa.s.sed along the line and further celebration came in waves.

"All right then," Simon said. "Let's get the cargo cars bolted up and see how it responds then. We'll get moving after full dark tonight."

Being inside the armor helped take away some of Simon's fatigue. The computer took over caring for him automatically even though he hadn't been taking care of himself. Once he'd climbed inside, the armor had tended to his needs, using slap-patches to chemically adjust his physical awareness back up to full alert. He'd pay for that later, he knew, but at the moment he needed the a.s.sistance.

The train was ready as they could make it. They'd packed the s.p.a.ce with as many supplies as they'd had on hand, which had been precious few, then packed the pa.s.senger cars. In the end they'd had to add one more than they'd antic.i.p.ated, but McCorkleson was confident the pulling engine would have the energy to get it moving.

Only one problem remained, and Simon had left it in place on purpose.

When the power had been cut in the tube, one of the trains had gotten stranded out in the main tunnel. It sat now, blocking the access tunnel of the spur where the out-of-service pulling engine had been stored.

Simon and McCorkleson had located a fuel-powered engine that was used to haul broken trains to service areas. Thankfully it had been functional.

One of the other men who had tube experience climbed into the engine and powered it up. The ripping roar of the ma.s.sive engines filled the tube. Other than the possibility of running out of fuel, the sound was another reason Simon had wanted to use the NanoDyne engines. The NanoDynes were nearly silent.

Running loose through the tube and the city, the sound from the fuel-powered would have been a siren call the demons wouldn't have been able to ignore. As it was now, the only sound the train would make would be the pa.s.senger car wheels turning on the rails. There was nothing they could do about that risk.

Slowly, by fractions of an inch at first, the stalled train started moving northeast, toward the Edgware Road station.

"Simon," Wertham called over the HUD. "Yes."

Wertham was stationed at the northeast end of the rail where it emerged from the Underground for a time. On its route through London, the train ran above ground intermittently. Simon had guessed they were going to be at their most vulnerable during those times.

"We've got trouble. A group of demons has just entered the tunnel here."

Fear stirred within Simon, fighting off the effects of the drugs the armor had put into his system. "Have they seen you?"

"Negative. But there's no way they're going to miss hearing that locomotive. I can hear it up here without the suit's audio booster."

Panic started to rise inside Simon. He fought it back and tried to think clearly. Even with the drugs in his system making him sharper and more clear-headed, it was hard.

But all they could do was proceed with their plan. It was too late to turn back now.

"We stay with what we're doing," Simon said. Then he called to the Templar, bringing them to him, and started running northeast, toward the end of the Paddington tube and the demons. If they got lucky, they could attack the demons and create enough confusion to allow the dead train to be pulled clear and allow McCorkleson to ease their escape train out onto the main track.

Then it was just a matter of surviving long enough to escape.

Simple, really. But he had to force himself not to think of the people he might lose. Or that they might fail.

Simon checked his weapons out of habit, then he began to run.

Forty-Seven.

Stop the car," Warren ordered.

The driver applied the brakes and brought the SUV to a halt near the Edgware Road tube station. It sat in the middle of other midsize buildings that lined Edgware Road and Bell Street. The broken windows were dark but the skies were still light gray from the evening sun sinking in the western skies.

"What are we doing here?" Naomi asked. She'd acted somewhat reluctant about coming, but she had. Warren wasn't sure if she was there because she wanted to be, because she was curious, or if she was there to spy on him for Tulane, who had stayed behind. Warren didn't think it mattered, nor did he think he cared.

"The man who took my hand is here." Warren opened the SUV's door and stepped out into the falling snow.

"How can you know that?" Naomi stayed on his heels.

"Because I saw him here," Warren replied, focused on the strong impression that quivered inside his head. "Because I canfeel him here now." He started walking, crossing the shattered debris that littered the area in front of the tube station.

Naomi followed him, pulling her coat tight against the freezing wind. "What are you going to do?" "What am I going to do?" Warren snorted mirthlessly, not believing that she couldn't figure that out.

He'd lived with images of his stepfather beating him for years before the man had shot himself. During his recovery, he'd been haunted by nightmares about the knight that had taken his hand. The old fear had returned, and he knew the only way to rid himself of it was to destroy what he feared. "I'm going to kill him."

"By yourself?"

Warren looked around, feeling a little uncertain when he saw that the Cabalists and the security people had remained with the car. He started to call out to them.

"There were a lot of them the last time we crossed their path," Naomi said. "Do you think the handful of security guards we brought with us are going to be able to stand against them?"

Frustrated, Warren gazed at the tube station. He hadn't thought to bring more people, and he doubted he would have gotten more volunteers.

Don't worry,Merihim said.You don't need them. I will give you an army. "I'll go alone," Warren said, answering Naomi's question.

"You didn't come here to die," Naomi accused.

"No." Warren continued across the rubble. Suddenly he was aware of others' eyes on him. Feeling threatened, he glanced around and saw shadows moving along the edges of the buildings.

Stop,Merihim said. Warren did.

"Demons," Naomi warned quietly as she drew back. "They're all around us."

Recognizing the demons as well, Warren felt a worm of fear slither through him. There were Darksp.a.w.n, Imps, and Gremlins in the hunting pack. Above them, a dozen Blood Angels clung to the sides of buildings. Warren couldn't help wondering if Merihim had intentionally set him up to get killed.

No,Merihim said.I didn't betray you. I brought you an army. These serve me. Just call to them and they'll be yours.

Why aren't you here?

This is your battle. I have my own. Tonight you can prove my investment in you, or you can die. Either way, I'll know what I need to about you and your abilities to be part of my plans.

"Warren," Naomi said softly. "Maybe we can get back to the car." She put a gentle hand on his shoulder and pulled. "Come on. Before they rush us."

In the next moment, the demons broke free of the shadows and came running at them.

Warren wanted to run, but he couldn't move. Naomi yanked on his shoulder twice, then she abandoned him and ran back to the SUV.

Command them,Merihim encouraged.

Fear ran rampant through Warren. It was the most familiar emotion he had. All his life, it had been his constant companion. Fear had driven him to live a small life, to take abuse from people he'd offered friends.h.i.+p to, to be taken advantage of by people who were nowhere near as smart as he was. Fear had chased him to bed at night and awakened him with a pounding heart in the morning.

To command them,Merihim said,you must first command yourself. "Warren!"

The demons came on, gnas.h.i.+ng their teeth and waving their weapons. Miraculously, none of them had yet opened fire.

The SUV door closed behind Warren. He heard the sound and immediately recognized it for what it was. Then he heard the engine accelerate over the din of demonic growls and knew that they were pulling away. By then it was too late to run because the demons were on top of him.

"Stop!" Warren said, feeling his heart pounding in his chest.

The demons, dozens of them, halted immediately. Two of the Blood Angels flapped their wings and came to agile landings atop the Edgware Road tube station canopy. They eyed him with cruel interest.

Warren felt their hunger and excitement and knew that they scented his blood and l.u.s.ted for the taste of it. Forcing himself into motion, he walked toward the demon pack. The fear was frozen inside him, held in place by the fascination he got from seeing the demons standing before him. They s.h.i.+fted as he neared them, making room for him to walk among them.

They didn't like him. Despite his ability to command them, Warren knew they'd tear his throat out in a minute if they were allowed to. Merihim controlled them through fear, Warren felt that, and he was the demon's favorite.

They hate you for that, too,Merihim said.And the day you fail me, I'll let them have you.

Warren almost grew afraid again, especially standing in the middle of all the demons. But he kept himself strong. Whatever fortune had favored him so far, it had brought him to this point. If he had powers as the Cabalists seemed to agree, and the way his stepfather had died bore that out, then he could somehow reach more deeply into that power.

I can learn and get stronger,he told himself,and I will. I won't live in fear of anyone.

Merihim laughed.Go carefully, whelp. Ambition is a good thing, but it can border on insolence.

Warren ignored that, enjoying the feeling of power he got from knowing he controlled the demons around him. "I'm hunting a man," he told them.

The demons listened, but many of them growled and spat, eager to be running and chasing prey. Warren pictured the armored knight-the Templar-in his mind. "I want this man. And I want him dead."

More of the demons s.h.i.+fted, anxious to be moving.

"He's in that tube," Warren said. He pointed at the Edgware Road tube station entrance. "Find him and bring him to me."

Immediately the demons turned and charged toward the station. They tore down the doors and raced inside.

Warren followed them, running after them, moving with a demon's speed and knowing that too was part of Merihim's gift. Dark antic.i.p.ation filled him. He couldn't wait to see the look on the Templar's face when he wreaked his revenge.

Braced and ready, worried that McCorkleson and the others wouldn't get the train onto the tracks in time, Simon stood with his sword in one hand and his Spike Bolter in the other. Wertham was to his right. The other Templar, and there were forty-three of them now because more of the Templar had abandoned High Seat Booth's command, stood in a ragged line behind Simon.

All of them had wanted to help clear the city of survivors as much as they could before they concentrated on battling the demons. None of them were convinced that the Houses yet had a plan for dealing with the demons. Most of the ones who had taken up arms with Simon had lost family and friends at St. Paul's.

In the distance, lit up by night vision, Simon saw the first of the demons as they came into the tube tunnel. Wertham ran ahead of the pack, reaching the Templar easily.