I look over at Delta, who seems like she’s tryin’ to pull herself out of the fog of whatever is goin’ on, but I can see that it’s a struggle. I’m not sure if I can keep us both safe, but maybe I can stall long enough to help her snap out of it.
I decapitate two more demons and then rush to her side. “Can you run?” I ask, lookin’ down to see blood flowin’ freely out of the gash in her leg.
Before she can answer, I squat down and wrap the arm that’s not clingin’ to her scythe around my shoulders and stand up. I lift her off the ground, surprised by the ease in which I do it, and I take it as a good sign that she holds onto her scythe and works to move with me as I aim us for the back door.
I debated hidin’ in the house for all of two seconds. It might buy us a little time, but the thought of demons destroyin’ this place just doesn’t sit right with me, so I opt for tryin’ to make a break for it the same way we got here—through the backyard.
“Alright, Delta, we’re makin’ a run for it. You just keep doin’ what you're doin’, and when you’re ready to pop us out of here, we’ll go. I got you until then, okay? I don’t know what’s goin’ on, but you just know that I’m here, I got you, and I ain’t goin’ anywhere.”
I half carry, half drag my newly-found sister to the back door and throw it open. I fight the need to gag at the heavy smell of sulfur in the air as I rush out to the backyard. I quickly head toward the part of the fence that’s bent at the top, figurin’ it’ll be the easiest place to get us both up and over, but another camo demon steps up on the other side of the fence, and I skid to a stop.
It smiles at me, and a long yellow tongue snakes out and licks its warthog-like fangs. Its eyes are the color of puss, and there’s no discernible nose on its face. It’s a thing of nightmares. Destruction and pestilence flow off of it in waves.
I spot more movement to my left, and I look over to see more of these disgustin’ things movin’ to surround the fence. I take a deep breath and set Delta back down by my feet where she falls to her knees, still trapped in her head, and I ready myself.
I try to stand over her without puttin’ myself in a position to trip over her as she works to pull herself from whatever horror she’s relivin’. I hold my scythe out like the threat it is as the demons bend their knees and then jump clear over the fence, landin’ twenty feet away from us with dirt sprayin’ up beneath their feet.
I’m not sure why, but advice my daddy once gave me when I was younger about bears and wild animals comes to the forefront of my mind. He told me to make myself as big as I can and yell as loudly and threateningly as I can to try and help scare them off before they can hurt you. So I do just that.
I square my shoulders and fill my lungs with putrid air, and then I bellow out a feral roar that causes goosebumps to crawl up my arms. The demons pause for a fraction of a second, and I have a heartbeat to think, holy shit, did that work? before they continue to close in. Damn.
Out of nowhere, I feel a hand on my thigh. I almost jump clear out of my skin, my mind demandin’ to know how somethin’ snuck up on us that fast, but I look down to find Delta’s watery and haunted gray eyes starin’ up at me.
She blinks twice and then gets to her feet, her face paler than usual, but her eyes no longer hold that wild, lost look in them.
Relief washes through me as she stands, scythe in hand, and grabs on to me. “I am so sorry, Medley, I’ll get us out of here,” she tells me shakily, emotion swimmin’ in her tone, and then I feel the telltale sense of weightlessness that happens when a demon pops you from one place to the next.
The only problem is that when the weightless feelin’ dissolves, we’re still in the backyard of her