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  Slava waved for Jason to join them. As he approached, Jeanette slid over on the bench to make room.

  “We need you to settle something for us,” said the Russian.

  Jason sat beside Jeanette. “What?”

  “Ustagov thinks the Demon Spawn are developing the ability to think rationally.”

  “That’s not what I said,” the doctor protested. “I said I’ve noticed the Demon Spawn are starting to defend the portals, which will make our job that much harder.”

  “That implies they’re smart enough to know we’re attempting to close the portals,” argued Slava.

  “You’re assuming—”

  “The doctor’s right,” interrupted Jason. “The Demon Spawn have begun defending the portals.”

  An awkward silence fell across the group as everyone stared at Jason. Finally, Ian asked, “Are you serious, mate?”

  “Unfortunately, I am. The one in Paris had been left wide open.”

  Antoine shook his head. “If you remember, we got slaughtered in Paris.”

  “Because we had to fight our way through the city. Once we got inside Notre Dame, nothing stood by the portal to protect it. The Russians told me that after they nuked the portal in Red Square, nothing but Flesh Eaters came through until we closed the one in Paris, and then the dragons emerged to guard it.”

  Ustagov snapped his fingers and pointed at Jason. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

  Jason continued. “At Lake Baikal, three Golem blocked the tracks in front of the portal and tried to prevent us from reaching it. They would have derailed the engine if Sasha had not stayed with it and cleared the path with her minigun. The Demon Spawn realize we’re closing the portals and intend to stop us.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” said Haneef. “Every demon we’ve encountered has shown no signs of intelligence beyond that of a wild animal. How can they know what we’re trying to do let alone develop a game plan against us?”

  “They can’t,” answered Vicky, who stared at the floor. “Something with higher intelligence is directing them.”

  “You can’t be serious?” asked Slava.

  “Why not?” Vicky lifted her head and met his gaze. “I was raised a strict Catholic and always had faith that Heaven and Hell were real. That’s been proven, at least the Hell part. If we know there’s a Heaven and angels because we know there’s a Hell and demons, then if there’s a God and saints—”

  “Then there’s also a Satan and anti-saints,” concluded Sook-kyoung. “They’re the ones directing the demons.”

  “Exactly,” said Vicky.

  Gaston sat forward and held up his hand. “Are you suggesting that Satan or someone else is behind all of this?”

  Jason and Ustagov nodded.

  Gaston leaned back, despair distorting his features. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

  “What a surprise, huh, mate?” Ian leaned over and gently slugged the Frenchman in the shoulder. “Here we thought we were running around the world to close the doors so Hell’s zoo wouldn’t escape. Now we find out we’re fighting off an invasion from the Underworld.”

  “Is that true?” Jeanette asked.

  Ustagov shrugged. “There’s no scientific evidence to suggest that Satan has launched an invasion. However, you can’t dispute the fact that someone or something wants to keep the portals open.”

  “What about us?” Antoine asked. “Does this mean it’s over?”

  “Why would you ask that?”

  “There’s nine of us plus the Purgatoriati. There’s no way we can pull this off if Hell is throwing everything it has against us.”

  Jason paused before answering. He felt everyone’s eyes upon him, hoping for inspiration. As much as he wanted to say something that would rally his team, he did not lead that way. Honesty worked best, even if he told them what they did not want to hear.

  “I’m not going to lie to you and say this’ll be easy, or that some of us might get out of this alive. The chances are good we won’t close all the portals. This is not what you signed up for, so I won’t fault anyone who decides to call it quits and sets out on their own. You can take your horse, your weapon, and your share of the supplies, and I’ll wish you the best. Before you make that decision, ask yourself if giving up now is worth it in the long run. All you’ll be doing is buying some time. If even one of the portals remains open, it’ll continue to pour demons into our realm. It may take years, but sooner or later they’ll make their way to every corner of the globe, and humans will become extinct. It’s a damned if you do and damned if you don’t scenario, so if anyone wants to back out now, I understand, and no one will think any less of you.”

  “I’ll think less of me,” said Antoine. “I’ve been with you from the beginning, and I’ll stay with you to the end.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Sorry for doubting you.”

  “No apologies necessary.” Jason glanced at the others. “If there’s anyone who would like to drop out, now’s the time. I’m serious when I say there’ll be no hard feelings.”

  Jeanette reached out and clasped his hand. “You know I’ll stand by you.”

  “So will I,” said Sook-kyoung.

  “Maybe I’m insane,” said Slava. “You’ve gotten us this far. If anyone can pull this off, it’ll be you.”

  “It’s Allah’s will,” added Haneef.

  Vicky forced a grin. “Whatever the portal has to offer is better than what’s waiting for me back home.”

  “I’m a survivalist,” said Gaston. “This is the chance of a lifetime, so of course I’m in.”

  “I’m in,” said Ustagov. “I’d rather face a thousand ravagers than go back to Moscow and tell Colonel Krayevsky I left you.”

  Ian did not reply. Jason asked, “What about you?”

  “Are you serious, mate?” Ian laughed. “When was the last time you heard of an Aussie backing down from a fight?”

  “Thank you. I appreciate this.” Jason pointed to the vat. “What’s for dinner?”

  “Ian’s cooking,” said Gaston. “So, you’ll probably want to eat one of those Russian MREs.”

  “No, you wouldn’t,” said Slava. “They’re as tough as shoe leather, only not as tasty.”

  “I’m a good cook, mate.”

  Gaston shrugged. “All I know is that since you’ve been cooking, we haven’t run into any Demon Spawn.”

  Jason sniffed the vat. “Ian, what are you making?”

  For a moment, Ian didn’t answer. Finally, he mumbled, “I’m heating up some of the Russian MREs.”

  Gaston and Slava gave each other a high five as the others around the campfire chuckled.

  “Piss off,” said Ian as he suppressed his amusement.

  “It could be worse,” said Slava. “You know the old saying. The best army in the world is where the MPs are British, the mechanics are German, the chefs are Italian, and it’s all organized by the Russians. The worst army is where the MPs are German, the mechanics are Russian, the chefs are British, and it is all organized by the Italians.”

  Everyone burst out laughing, except Antoine who looked back and forth at his friends. “I don’t get it.”

  This made the others laugh harder. Even Antoine chuckled, although he was not certain why.

  Chapter Four

  The night passed uneventfully if somewhat restlessly. Jason wanted to give his team plenty of time to clear Harbin, so he woke everyone before dawn so they could eat and pack early. They set off shortly after sunrise. Jason and Father Belsario took the lead. Despite the latter’s objections, Jason had insisted the cleric ride with him on one of the extra horses, refusing to have the leader of the Purgatoriati walk beside him. Father Belsario reluctantly agreed. Ustagov stayed close to the two men, navigating from the Russian-language map. Lilith and Lucifer plodded alongside their master, constantly alert for potential danger. The rest followed in single file at fifty-foot intervals. Everyone remained on edge, not knowing what dangers lay
ahead. Other than a herd of deer grazing along the side of the tracks, they saw no signs of life.

  A few hours later, they approached the Harbin city limits. A pair of chain link fences separated the tracks from the surrounding neighborhoods. After a few hundred feet, the fence became a retaining wall. A quarter of a mile ahead, the tracks disappeared into an underpass.

  “Maybe we should go back,” suggested Father Belsario.

  “Why?”

  “We’re being funneled into a confined space. If the Demon Spawn attack us, we’ll have nowhere to go.”

  “We don’t have to worry about that,” said Jason.

  “How can you be sure?”

  “I’m not sensing any presence. Not even a hum. There are no demons for miles around. I’m not even detecting humans.”

  Father Belsario cocked his head. “I didn’t think you could detect human auras.”

  “I’ve been working on it. I’m able to sense benevolent presences, like the werehounds and your people, and can pick up severe emotional responses if they’re close by.”

  “I hope you’re certain about this.”

  “I am.”

  Shortly after, they reached Harbin West Railway Station. A single train sat on one of the lines. Jason led his horse up the ramp onto the platform. Scores of suitcases lay spread around, some tossed aside, while others had been opened and their contents rifled through. Smaller articles of clothing lay scattered around where gusts of wind had carried them. There were no signs of a panic or a struggle, no bodies or blood, no shattered glass or debris. Reaching the stairs in the center of the platform, Jason and his team maneuvered their horses up the handicap access ramp to the terminal. Here they found a similar scene. Suitcases littered the floor of the cavernous waiting hall, many opened and rummaged through. The only signs of complete chaos were at the food stalls along either wall. Refrigerators and food dispensers had been cleaned out. Containers, cups, napkins, utensils, and anything not edible covered the floors.

  Ustagov brought his horse alongside Jason. “The last train out of Harbin never left, so everyone took what they could and set out on their own.”

  “To where?” asked Father Belsario.

  Crossing the terminal, Jason led his team out into the courtyard in front of the station and stopped by the handicap access ramp leading to the lower level and the Xinhua International Shopping Center. He motioned for Ustagov to join him.

  “What’s up?”

  “Where do we go from here?”

  The doctor unzipped his winter coat, slid out the map from the inner pocket, and studied it. He pointed south to a large thoroughfare. “That’s Zhongxing Street. It’ll take us to the main road to Shenyang.”

  “Then let’s move out.” Jason maneuvered his horse to face the rest of his team. “I’m not sensing any Demon Spawn in the area, or anything that could pose a threat. There still could be packs of wild animals, so stay alert.”

  Jason exited the courtyard, proceeded down Xizhan Street, and veered left onto Zhongxing Street. As the team made its way through the banking district, Jason silently studied the surroundings. Other than assorted small wildlife and the occasional stray cat or dog, he detected no indications of life in the city. In fact, nothing had lived here for months. Litter blew through the gutters. Several cars and trucks had been abandoned, most pushed against the sidewalks, a few left in the middle of the road. A bus with a flat tire sat at an angle against the curb, with discarded luggage around it like at the train station. Farther ahead, they passed a block lined with shops. Even here the chaos appeared minimal. Clothing and electronic stores remained as they did the day their owners locked the doors. Only the food and drug stores had been looted, people taking the necessities to survive. In many places, nature had begun to reclaim civilization. Cracks along the streets and sidewalks brimmed with grass and saplings, as did windowsills and flat roofs. Everything not overrun was coated with a thick layer of dirt and dust.

  Harbin reminded him of so many of the smaller cities and towns they had encountered in France and Russia that had not been destroyed or ravaged by Demon Spawn, but merely had been evacuated before the flood of demonic hordes. The world had been shattered, and the opening of the interdimensional portals had disrupted billions of lives. How many people died as the demons spread across the globe, and how many died from disease or starvation in the ensuing months? How many were still alive? How many would be alive when they closed the last portal, if the team made it that far?

  Sadness tinged Jason’s soul when he thought about this being his mother’s legacy.

  Dr. Lisa McCreary had been the driving force behind Project Discovery, the joint attempt with hadron colliders in Russia, China, Japan, and the United States to generate more antimatter at one time than had been attempted before. She had described the project as an effort to advance the field of science significantly; in truth, she had ignored those who had warned against the possible consequences, hoping to make a name for herself in the scientific community. In that she succeeded, although not in the manner she had hoped. The generation of so much anti-matter at once created an electromagnetic pulse that destroyed the world’s electronics in a matter of seconds and destabilized the borders between Earth and Hell, opening portals connecting the two. Each supercollider created a one-way entry portal into Hell while simultaneously punching out a one-way exit portal at another location. The latter were the most dangerous because they allowed hordes of Demon Spawn to spill out and spread across this realm. Until the portals were closed, the planet faced the possibility of being overrun by demons.

  The entry portals concerned Jason for only one reason—the one at CERN in Geneva had sucked his mother into Hell.

  At first, Jason had taken on his mother’s guilt for opening the portals and allowed it to consume him. He saw his chance for redemption when his friend Doc developed anti-matter devices, football-sized steel containers containing frozen particles of anti-matter that, when thrown through an exit portal, would interact with the matter in the portal and snuff it out. Jason agreed to accompany the team that would test the device on the portal in Paris, hoping that by doing so it would clear his name. In time, Jason realized his motivations were wrong. He did not have to clear his name because he had done nothing to tarnish it. Nor could he clear his mother’s name because her vanity and arrogance had resulted in the apocalypse, and nothing anyone could do could erase that sin. After their initial success in Paris, Jason organized this expedition to close the remaining portals because it was the right thing to do. He had a chance, as slim as it might be, to restore the world to some semblance of order. Jason could not live with himself knowing he enjoyed a demon-free France while the rest of the world was ravaged. Only time would tell if he would fail or succeed, or if he would die trying. In any case, he woke every morning with a clear conscience.

  However, even though Jason’s mother bore the responsibility for what had happened, that did not mean he planned to abandon her to the Underworld. Jason had contemplated this decision since closing the portal in Notre Dame and cutting off his mother’s attempt to escape. He had suppressed his guilt by rationalizing that there had been no other options, yet privately, for weeks afterward, Jason had questioned his reasoning. Was being trapped in Hell his mother’s punishment for the destruction she had caused? Was this divine retribution for her sin, or a Faustian price she needed to pay for her arrogance? In any case, it did not matter. She may have caused the apocalypse, but she was still his mother. Once Jason had saved the world, he hoped to save her as well. He only had to figure out how.

  After traveling three miles, Ustagov raced up beside Jason. He held the map in his lap, balancing it on his knee with his right hand. “Zhengyi Road is up ahead. If we take that south, it’ll put us on the main road to Shenyang.”

  “You’re sure about that?”

  The doctor nodded. “Once we get on that road, it’ll be clear sailing all the way.”

  “I doubt it’ll be clear sailing,” s
aid Jason.

  “What about it, Father?” Ustagov asked. “Maybe you could pray for it.”

  Father Belsario shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way, my son. God gives guidance to the faithful. He doesn’t interfere in the affairs of man.”

  “Sort of like ‘hope for the best and prepare for the worst’?” asked Jason.

  “Precisely.”

  “That’s how I’ve lived for the past year. Let’s hope it continues to work.”

  At the intersection with Zhengyi Road, Jason turned right and led the team south. With luck, it would take a few weeks to find and close the portal. He hoped they would be able to travel for a while before being detected.

  * * *

  From his position on the top floor of the China Construction Bank’s office building, Deng watched through his binoculars as the horsemen exited the train station and proceeded down Zhongxing Street. He counted eleven people on horseback and two on foot, plus two large dogs. Except for one young woman, none of them were Asian. He found their presence unusual since no one had ventured into this region since the arrival of Bai three months ago. Even more bizarre, he had not seen Westerners since the shìjiè mòri, or what the West referred to as the End of Days. Deng wondered if these were the ones the stories talked about, the travelers with the ability to deny Hell access to this world. It didn’t matter. Qiang wanted to be warned of any outsiders who entered the area; it was why he had posted lookouts in abandoned towns and cities throughout the province.

  Deng observed the outsiders as they made their way along Zhongxing Street. The group did not set up camp, search for survivors, or loot what few supplies remained. They seemed interested only in passing through, which was confirmed when the horses turned onto one of the major roads leading toward Shenyang.