Trevor growled, "To Hell with you!"
"Gentlemen," Stonewall McAllister stuck his head around the corner of the Chevy. "I was wondering if you’d care to join us in a defensive position, or are you planning on dying today?"
"I am not retreating!"
The K9s barked and bit and dodged the weapons of the spider things. Tyr darted between the legs of one creature, causing it to twist and nearly topple. Yet the dogs only bought time…the drill-on-a-hose weapon skewered a Husky. Meanwhile, the group of Voggoth converts and their unwilling guest re-assembled by the bridge.
Above the sounds of hissing and popping organic air guns came an engine’s roar then squealing tires. A big, boxy ambulance painted red with a white Christian Cross stenciled on its side ripped around the corner and skidded to a halt in the midst of the battle.
A man surged from the ambulance cab; a stocky black man wearing a leather jacket over a black shirt. His face grim and angry, he looked next of kin to The Order’s clergyman, albeit larger and better armed.
Instead of a box of squirming slugs, the new arrival brandished a cumbersome M240-B heavy machine gun.
His voice boomed as deeply, if not more so, than woody ross’. "and the lord sayeth, look now; i myself am he! there is no god other than me!"
The machine gun sent a concentrated swarm of bullets into a spider-creature. A gooey, sickly, yellow fluid oozed from the wounds and the creature collapsed.
"I am the one who kills and gives life; I am the one who wounds and heals; no one DELIVERS FROM MY POWER!"
The newcomer’s entire body shook as he let fly more metal slugs at the remaining creature. More gooey mess. Another dead demon.
The Order’s cleric directed his followers to attack. The remaining six one-time-humans lumbered forward, some more enthusiastically than others. Dante, discarded for the moment, collapsed. The missionary fled.
Trevor’s idea of charging held new merit. He and his followers rushed the mob and opened fire, downing four of the enemy instantly.
The newcomer from the ambulance discarded his heavy machine gun and produced a. 357 Magnum revolver. He too closed on the remaining converts.
"And the Lord says, as surely as I live, I sharpen my flashing sword and begin to CARRY OUT JUSTICE!"
He aimed carefully at one of the minions with sickly blotches and blew away its head.
Trevor pointed his M4 at a woman. She looked clean enough, but had that vacant stare and waved a butcher’s knife.
"No, you fool! That one may still repent!"
Trevor held his fire. The ambulance-driving machine-gun-toting fellow holstered his revolver and produced a stun gun. He dodged the sleepwalking woman’s knife, zapped her, and steadied her wobbling body.
"Quickly, friends, move her to the ambulance."
Stonewall and Dustin obliged while Trevor and Jon raced to Jones.
"Dante, can you hear me?"
Dante-beaten and worn-coughed several times and opened his eyes.
"Do I…do I know you from somewhere?"
– The machine-gun Bible-quoting man went by the name of "Reverend Johnny". Despite the moniker, Johnny had attended no seminary, preached to no congregation. Instead, he was a successful New England surgeon before the end of the world.
As with them all, the invasion changed Johnny. He waged a crusade against The Order, chasing their missionaries, learning their ways, and wreaking havoc upon Voggoth’s minions.
Johnny explained what he knew of The Order at a meeting in the Command Center on the morning of October 22 ^ nd, two days after Sheila Evans' kidnapping. Stonewall, Shepherd, Nina, Danny Washburn, and Jon Brewer listened.
"They are an abomination upon this Earth. At first, I believed they were a parasitic life form. But now I suspect we are dealing with organic implants that first control the host’s mind then mutate that person into something new, possibly by re-writing their DNA."
Jon said, "You were able to save a girl yesterday but you killed others. Why?"
"There is time before irreversible assimilation. Sometimes a week, sometimes less. It depends on the individual's constitution. Once the blotches appear, that person is too far gone. However, before that point using one of The Order's own chemicals-an enzyme-can destroy the infection. It must be the correct enzyme. There are different batches."
Stonewall asked, "If I may, what were those gruesome beasts marshaled against us?"
"The Order uses organic technology. All of their facilities and tools are essentially grown. What you saw were biological machines. I call the ones from yesterday ‘Spider Sentries’. The Order’s clergy can deploy them hastily, as you discovered. They have many such demons. Many more horrid and more powerful. Fortunately, The Order does not have a strong presence in this area yet; just missionaries."
Jon worried, "Our weapons didn’t do much against them."
"Spider Sentries can absorb damage. Bullets will take them down if you concentrate your assault or utilize fire-based weapons. They don’t like a hot foot, praise the Lord."
Trevor walked in at a brisk clip saying, "Reverend, you should join us and stop wasting your time on a lone crusade."
Reverend Johnny widened his eyes and retorted, "That depends. What is it you intend? I have no desire to sit quietly and let Hell’s devils defile God’s green Earth."
"What do I intend? I intend to kill every creature that does not belong on my world. I will hang their rotting carcasses from signposts as a warning to others that this planet belongs to humanity. I am all out of mercy today."
Johnny cheered, "Praise the Lord."
Stone squared his eyes on each of his followers one after another. He burned his determination into them. Nina reluctantly-and even surprising to herself-averted her gaze not unlike a pack member bowing to the authoritative stare of the alpha wolf.
"Two good things came out of yesterday’s battle with The Order," Trevor explained. "The first, Reverend Johnny has joined us. The second came from Dante Jones."
Jon asked, "What did he tell you?"
"Dante was picked up by The Order after he escaped the Red Hands. He tells me there are four camps stretching along the Susquehanna banks northward. They have human slaves shuffling between the camps cutting trees, scavenging food, and the like."
Shepherd joined the conversation: "What about Sheila? Did he spot her?"
"No, but he gave me a general idea of where those camps are. Enough to go after her. We will bring her back to her home. I need someone to lead a rescue team."
"I’ll do it," Nina spoke as if it a foregone conclusion. "I figure three others-"
"No."
The room exploded in silence. Wind brushed across the glass of the windows. Nina’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open.
Trevor’s cold expression did not change but he delighted in her shock. He found some satisfaction in tormenting her; in being cruel to her: punishing her for having the same blackness in her heart that he found in his own.
"What?" She put a stiff finger on the table, "Listen, I’m the best person you got."
"No you’re not," Trevor spat the words at her (at himself?). "This is a rescue mission. I want her back alive. When we start killing again, I’ll call for you."
Her lip stiffened. What flickered behind her eyes? Not anger, no longer shock; not even damaged pride. Something else. Had his words hurt? Had those words punctured her armor?
"Jon."
"Yes, Trevor?"
"Put together a team. Go get her, Jon…I know you can do this. Bring her home."
– Brewer left later that morning with Dustin McBride, Shep, two men from Stonewall’s troop, and nine Grenadiers. According to Dante Jones, the Red Hands lived in four settlements close to the river north of West Pittston, each with a couple dozen tribesmen plus human slaves.
They drove the first part of the trip then waded into the countryside on foot. Early that evening they caught sight of the first camp nestled in a forest clearing a few hundred yards from the river. The team observed the tribe undetected.