James Axler – Gaia’s Demise

“Exactly. And it makes no difference if we use all the ammo. Can’t haul the chain gun or the cannon along. Both are too heavy.”

Tilting back his fedora, J.B. gave a twisted grin. “That 25 mm cannon will level the forest in a few minutes. We’ll have enough logs for an armada of rafts.”

“Even better,” Ryan said. “Doc, we have enough rope?”

“Certainly, and sufficient canvas for tents.”

The tents would cover the supplies on the raft and keep them dry, and would hide exactly what the companions were hauling from observers. Many folks would eagerly risk death for the chance of getting their hands on a working blaster.

“Sounds good,” Ryan decided. “Dean, cut more trees. Keep going till I say stop. Doc, you’re on sentry duty with me. Here!”

Doc caught the AK-47 and checked the longblaster, while Ryan chambered a round into his Steyr SSG-70. “Krysty, stand ready with a LAW. Shoot on sight. Mildred, make lots more coffee and stew.”

“I’ll dig a shallow pit to hide the flames.”

“And I’ll start removing the tires from the LAV,” J.B. said, pouring a fresh cup of coffee while it was still warm. “Attached to the bottom of a raft, they’ll triple our buoyancy. Which means that much more ammo and food comes along for the ride.”

“Excellent.”

“One good thing about this,” Krysty said, walking closer out of the darkness with the rocket launcher resting on a shoulder.

“What’s that?” Ryan asked. As far as he was concerned, they were standing on the gallows just waiting for the noose.

“At least we won’t be encountering any land mines.”

“Hopefully. Okay, let’s move with a purpose, people!” Ryan ordered. “It’s a race against the clock now.”

Chapter Five

Falling…forever falling… Down through infinity he plummeted, the burning stars swirling around and around, comets lancing out to pierce his naked flesh with white-hot heat. Red blood erupted from the ghastly wounds, then froze solid from the horrible cold. Desperately, he tried to draw a breath and scream from the terrible pain, but there was no air, only the incredible cold and endless falling. Hurtling at unimaginable speeds, faster and faster into a void beyond comprehension.

A meteor raced by, twisted faces trapped in its fiery tail. The faces looked deep into his eyes, and he couldn’t turn away. Shame filled his tormented soul as more faces were presented in a hellish pageant. A litany of crimes. Some wept for clemency, others raged in bestial fury, while a few simply stared with the utter emptiness of acceptance. Fire engulfed him, and he entered the faces, shattering the skull bones and plunging into the morass of living brain tissue like a surgeon’s scalpel.

Now he was swimming in blood, rising bubbles filled with nightmarish scenes. Animals stood before him on display, and opened their own chests to spill their beating organs on steel tables under harsh lights. And none of them had hearts, only clocks, bloody clocks ticking softly inside their dying bodies. He ordered them to go away, then pleaded with hot tears flowing down his cheeks, to no avail. The animals died in droves, only to be replaced with men in chains, their knowing eyes damning him for the monster he was.

Wailing, he clawed at his face to stop the visions, fingernails gouging into his eyes. But his hands were ghostly things, phantasms of ethereal flesh, and there was nothing he could do to stop or even slow the grotesque litany. The clothing of the men melted away, their hairy bodies becoming the supple flesh of beautiful women. Long flowing hair, full breasts, only the best. An endless parade of naked woman whipped and humbled, chained supine on the terrible table as the silver knives removed their skin and flesh. Eyes staring, clocks for hearts! Impossible beings gruffly laughed behind him and placed cold hands on his own bare flesh. Revulsion filled him like acid, and he tried to vomit, but could only convulse, muscles writhing, limbs flailing.

Then a special face filled his vision, expanding to fill the ocean of blood until the mouth was a door that opened on a dead man hanging by his own belt in a filthy underground cell. Not my fault! The silent words echoed in his head as the beating of his heart changed into the ticking of a clock, the noise building into a deafening crescendo until shattering the universe into a million shards of tinkling glass that fell away in a molten rain.