Hell on Earth (mommablackrose & I)

[3ngag3]

"ATTEN-TION!"

These were the last words spoken before the Lid was opened. It was a good 10 to 12 feet of solid steel being pushed up revealing the desecrated world above. The small group of soldiers standing in a neat line had only heard of the world above, but this would be their first time seeing it. It was truly a terrible sight amongst human eyes, scorched earth as far as the eye could see, small traces of plant life, most of which had withered and died due to the dark clouds blocking out the sun and creating a crimson red sky. And not a single drop of water to quench the thirst brought on by the glaring heat. Already, the soldiers were beginning to sweat a bit from the mere sensation. It was truly hell up there and there were only the demons to blame for it all.

Yes, the Earth had seen more peaceful times. The ecomomy was prospering, technology was advancing in ways that were far beyond anyone's wildest dreams, and the races of the world were slowly drawing towards an everlasting peace. That was all until Doomsday arrived. The Earth seemed to crack open, shooting fire and brimstone every which way, torching all the forests and turning the oceans into rapidly rising steam. But this was small compared to what happened next. For it was when THEY came through from the chasms of the underworld. Demons by the thousands! Each one a scary and deadly as any human lore would tell you. They all had one goal in mind, the extermination of the human race and the establishment of their own unified society. 665 years had passed and they had all but succeeded.

All that was left now was Gaia. It was the last human stronghold buried deep below the Earth, far from the monsters that once dwelled in the very same place. Through countless years, the remaining humans built this place into a kind of utopia, but far from it. Sure, they could survive with the technology they had, but there was so much more that was still up above. That's where the Scavengers came in. They were essentially soldiers tasked with the retrieval of the lost human technology so that it could be used to further preserve the human race and one day mount a final attack on the demons to take back their surface home.

One of these soldiers was Leonard Bryant, age 18. As it had become a custom in Gaia, all capable men that came of age were required to join the military forces, either to defend the city, or become a Scavanger and go up above. When a soldier found out about the latter, they knew their lives were most likely forefit. Few who went above ever came back alive and fewer with the resources they were sent to find in the first place. But there were some perks to coming back alive. They would be hailed as heroes and more than likely be set for life. Money, power, women. These would be at the disposal of those who were strong enough to brave the torrid conditions of the surface world and if Leonard had his way, he would have plenty of women to take to bed with him once this was all over.

But the mission came first and as he looked into the crimson sky above, he knew it was either success or death out there. It made his stomach twist and turn in agony, even as the commanding officer barked out his final orders to his men. "Satellite reports have detected an abandoned research center in sector Gamma 12 which is 50 miles north of here. As you know, this is also where the city of Catharsis lies. Be on the lookout for any demon activity. The last group to venture out towards there were massacared by a demon of unknown class. If you do encounter any demons at all, you are to shoot to kill without prejudice. God knows they would do the same thing to you if they were in your situation. And lastly, just as I tell all Scavengers before you, that if you find yourself in a life or death situation, you must do whatever is neccesary to survive. With our dwindiling population, any survivor will be welcomed with open arms. Now, if there are no complaints, COMMENCE THE SCAVANGER HUNT!"

This last command was met with a roar of approval from Leonard and the rest of the Scavengers before they proceeded up the ramp and out into the barren wasteland above. As they did, the lid behind them slowly ground shut, leaving the soldiers to fend for themselves. Each one knew that the person next to them would have a slim chance of survival and that given the chance, they would kill each other if it meant coming back alive. At the same time though, they had to rely on each other to complete the mission and further ensure that the human race would continue on for just a little longer. Just this thought alone made Leonard nervous as he clenched on to his standard issue pulse rifle, one of the few weapons that could actually hurt the demons since normal bullets couldn't do a lick of good and were melted down into other useful materials.

 

[Temptrianna]

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs4/i/2004/187/f/6/The_Demoness_Averno.jpg ((dont know the code to do it like yours))

Roxyna walked the desolate ruins of a once great city back in the time of humans. She could tell by the carvings and intricate designs on the few pieces of the structure which remained that this place used to be beautiful in some senses. as it was there were very few humans left int he world and those who still lived stayed well hidden. only the stupid ones ventured above ground and none of them survived to regret that decision to try to best the demon race. As she continued to walk along, heading back to meet up with her brethren demons, she noted a slight noise in the distance. deciding to check it out she headed in the direction of the noise. She had already been out all day hunting and killing the few humans who had ventured out and gotten stuck in small areas of the quadrant she was in charge of clearing. maybe there was more around that she could toy with before she killed them.


((sorry its short, dad messing with the internet again so im on my cell phone replying with my data. so i may be slow. if i need to change anything please let me know and ill be happy to do so.))

 

[3ngag3]

The howls of the warm wind were the only things that could be heard as the small group made their way into the city of Catharsis. Much like every other major city around the world, there was little to be found in the way of life. The buildings were cracked and torn asunder. Time and age left most of them toppling at impossible angles while the moss and air ate away at the foundations. The vehicles that remained were nothing but metalic husks laid baren for the smallest of creatures to make shelters out of and even those were in short supply. For when the demons weren't hunting and consuming the flesh of their fallen human enemies, they hunted every creature down to the very rats that filled the sewers.

It was fortunate that Leonard was not born in those times. Being sheltered in Gaia was perhaps the best thing for him. For back then, living on the surface in fear that they themselves would one day be wiped out was truly a hell on earth. At least if he were attacked here, there would be the possibility of an escape. No human would want to be here for an extended period anyways. He almost wished he were on guard duty back underground, safe and sound, but once the allure of fame and fortune came to him, he abandoned all thought and concentrated on the mission. "How far to the target destination?" He asked a soldier walking in front of him. "It's about ten more miles give or take. Hopefully, the place hasn't been taken over by demons already." This response gave the young man a bit of hope. And even if there were demons occupying the target destination, they would be low class and easy to eliminate. God forbid some S ranked demon decided to come out and cause some havoc.

It was about five miles in and the eerie silence of the abandoned city was shattered by the sound of broken glass in the distance. The soldiers stopped in their tracks to investigate. Like with all disturbances, the Scavangers took a defensive position, creating one large ring and moving accordingly. The demons, crafty as they were, knew how to ambush their prey effectivley and with this circular rank, the soldiers would be safe this way. Several tense moments ticked away as the sound of crashing metal could now be heard. It was coming closer and closer to their position and before long, Leonard spotted something in the distance.

It was a minidemon, D class. They were small, four legged creatures that usually foraged in packs, though strangely enough, this one was alone. Leonard knew if it had spotted them, it would call out to its brethren and in packs, they were quite dangerous. With his pulse rifle in hand, the soldier took aim at the creature and just as their gazes met, he pulled the trigger. The shot had hit its mark causing the creature to cry out in pain before dying on the spot. He though he was satisfied then, single handedly avoiding a disastrous situation. But as he would soon learn, the situation was anything but. The sound of the dying minidemon and the echo of the pulse rifle had indeed brought attention to the others. Their yellow eyes began peeking from the shadows, looking upon their prey with vicious intent. "You idiot Leonard! What have you done?!"

 

[Temptrianna]

Roxyna heard the sound of one of the human soldiers pulse rifles and nearly hissed as she also heard the sound of a minidemon being killed. moving fast and steathily she moved forward towards the assault. it took her mere minutes to close the past as she used her wings to fly most of the way. landing on top of a pile of rumble which might have once been a 100 story building, she peered at the circle of soldiers angrily at them taking down one of her own kind. noting the others nearby she let out a loud demonic howl to summon the others to converge upon the group of humans as she once again took flight and swiftly dove to attempt to snatch up the one who had fired his rifle which the others were badgering now.

 

[3ngag3]

Leonard's mistake was clear to him now. Had he kept his trigger finger silent, the soldiers might have had a chance to find shelter while the thing went off to find its brethren. Instead, they came to the sound of its death and surrounded the Scavengers, leaving them with no hope for escape. The only way to salvation now would be to fight it out with them while they made their way to the target location. Once the first minidemon roared and charged, the others followed suit prompting the soldiers to open fire. It was a deafening mix of howls, screams and gunfire as the two sided fought one another.

Despite being better armed and trained, the soldiers found themselves slowly overwhelmed by the numbers game. While they only counted as 10 individuals, the minidemons counted in the hundreds, maybe more. When the first soldier fell, it became clear that their circle tactic was not working and they began to scatter in hopes of survival. One by one, of course, they were picked off. While a few got behind some cars and tried to provide cover fire, others were not so lucky as the minidemons tackled them and ripped them to shreds. The human flesh would make a fine meal for those that earned it and those who didn't seemed to fight one another for the tasty morsel.

Leonard, on the other hand was doing surprisingly well for himself despite being out in the open. But underneath it all, he was so scared out of his wits that he didn't even think to hide. All he could do was shoot and shoot at whatever came at him. He had the luck of his fellow soldiers covering him from the rear, but even they couldn't protect him all the time. When one of them jumped on the young man's back, he grabbed it by whatever openings it had and slammed it to the ground before stepping on its throat with a swift stomp.

The battle raged on seemingly forever for Leonard. It was then he heard a howl unlike anything he had heard before. It chilled him to the bone and amidst the chaos of battle, he looked around to see where it came from. That's when he locked eyes with her. He didn't need to be told that this demon was far beyond their capabilites. To the humans, she was an S-Class demon, one posessing not only far superior strength and abilities, but higher intelligence as well. This was proven by the fact that the minidemons, who seemed to act more upon instinct, looked up to the woman and considered her their master right there and then.

Leonard could soon hear the screams of his partners as the minidemons surrounded and picked them off from their cover areas. It became clear that he wasn't going to survive himself unless he made a desperate move. And the only one he could think of involved abandoning the team. Just like the motto, after all, survive at any cost. And with that, the young man took a grenade from his belt. It was a specially designed smoke grenade meant to disorient the powerful senses the demons posessed. For minidemons such as these who caused chaos wherever they went, the confusion would be enough for him to get away not only from them, but the one that was now leading them and possibly to the target area and safety.

Turning towards the direction of the target, he dropped the grenade behind him and made a run for it. And it was a good thing he started too, because the S-Class demon was already descending upon him. He looked up just in time to see her and that's when the grenade went off and created a plume of thick smoke in the area and hopefully concealing Leonard's presence. The young man took off running, his pace doubled his efforts to get away from his pursuer, jumping vehicles, concrete and cracked earth. He continued to fire away, this time into the smoke, hoping he would hit her and discourage her from chasing him. He continued until the charge on his gun ran out, an unfortunate turn, but with his combat shovel at the ready, he could fend off any attackers that came.