[WingcommanderIV]

DEUS EX INFERNO
An original short story by: Andrew Geczy



Jenn brought her cigarra to her face and breathed in deeply. The light from the cig lit her face’s reflection on the windshield of her car. The faint outline of her smooth black skin shimmered like a ghost over the rain slick road.

She threw a glance at the balding businessman in the back seat. If she was a cab driver, he’d be a paying customer. Only she wasn’t driving a taxi, she was driving a cop car, and he didn’t have any say towards his destination.

“So Money laundering,” she half queried, in an attempt to spur conversation, “What does that even mean. I mean I got an idea, they explained it in Law school, but it didn’t all make sense you know. For one thing, where does the laundry come in?”

The man didn’t respond, instead complaining, “Could you not smoke that here? I’ve been trying to avoid cancer-causing chemicals.”

Jenn ignored him and continued, “That was just a joke you know, the laundry thing. I know it doesn’t involve a laundry machine, but still, why’s it so bad? Not that we arrest people for it all the time. Do you even feel any guilt?”

The man shook his head, “What? No. Guilty? Are you serious? Everyone does it. It’s how guys like me get ahead. The government doesn’t even care. They’re just making an example of me to appease the little people.”

The light turned green and Jenn started across the intersection, “Sucks to be you.”

“Yeah, it does...hey, what’s that guy doing?”

Jenn looked to her right just in time to see a car accelerating towards her. There was a loud crunch as his car hit hers, and then her vision was a wash of blinding white that quickly faded into black.

* * *

Before opening her eyes, Jenn went through a list of things to expect. Maybe she was in the smoldering ruins of her car. But if that were the case, she was sure to be in more pain then she felt. So maybe she was in a hospital with a friendly IV drip of morphine lodged in her arm. If that were true though, then she’d have to ask, what’s the damage? Are her legs gone, amputated from the calf down? Or was she impaled, and can never have children?

Slowly, she opened her eyes to find something quite contrary to every one of her expectations. What awaited her was a lush jungle. Huge trees stretched hundreds of meters into the air, while around where she lay she saw grass, bushes, vines, and all manner of shrubbery. It was like being in a Rambo movie. Only the guy sleeping beside her wasn’t Rambo, it was that annoying businessman she was escorting to prison.

“Good morning Honey, how did you sleep?”

The man’s eyes opened with a start, and he looked around in shock, “What is...is this a trick?” He scurried away from her, putting his back to a tree.

She got up and stretched her arms, “No, it’s a dream, and I’m about to give you a strip-tease.” She tried to see beyond the trees, but the foliage was too thick.

The man also tried to get a better sense of his surroundings, “I seriously doubt that. My dreams aren’t about women, they’re about money.”

Jenn turned to him sarcastically, “Oh my god, and you’re swimming in it, right? The money? I have that same dream.” She changed the subject, “I’m gonna try climbing a tree.” She started up one before even finishing her sentence.

The man watched her in protest, “Why?”

She yelled back to him, already a good ten meters up, “For sport. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Don’t go anywhere? We’re lost in a jungle!”

“If you spot a polar bear, you have permission to run.”

* * *

It took over twenty minutes before Jenn’s feet touched the ground again.

“What did you see?”

“Trees as far as the eye could see, but this is no Jungle.”

“What are you talking about?”

Jenn stopped to think how best to answer his question, “You can’t see it well through the trees, but if you look closely at the sky, you’ll see there isn’t one. There’s no clouds, or sun, just bright light.”

The businessman wasn’t convinced, “So?”

“So,” Jenn continued, “Listen, what do you hear?”

“I don’t hear anything...”

“Exactly,” she grabbed him by the shoulder and angrily pushed him into a tree, “I know you don’t spend much time outside your little billionaire bubble, but use that oversized brain of yours and think. Jungles are loud, and this one’s quieter than a retirement home. Where’s all the wildlife?”

The man tried to squirm out of her grasp, “So, what are you saying? That we’re trapped in some kind of greenhouse?” He laughed.

“That’s one theory.”

He stopped struggling, and shook his head, “That would cost millions...” his smile faded.

Jenn pushed harder onto his shoulder, “And you just happen to be a millionaire money-launderer. So tell me, Bruce Wayne, How many other millionaires did you piss off on your way to the top?”

“None...I...well you know how it is. I live in a dog eat dog world. But we’re above kidnappings and this sort...You’re hurting me, stop!”

Jenn let go of him, and took a couple steps back, trying to control her anger, “One of your type has taken the term hostile takeover too seriously, and I’m stuck along for the ride. Great.” She punched the trunk of a tree as hard as she could again and again until her knuckles began to bleed.

The man came up behind her, “I’m sorry...but if it’s any consolation, I’m glad you’re here.”

Jenn nodded, “Yeah you are, because I’m gonna save your scrawny ass, and you’re gonna owe me your life, and give me tons of money as a reward, and I’ll retire early to some nice northern cabin, where I’ll spend the rest of my life relaxing and fishing and drinking beer. Come on. I saw a cave this way.” She started towards her right.

The man didn’t move, “A cave?”

“Yeah, there was some rock face about an 8 hour walk from here. I saw a cave in the side of the wall, way I see it, either that’s the way out or at least it’ll be shelter until we figure out where to go next.”

“8 hours...”

Jenn pushed aside a brush, and stepped through before turning, “Look, Mr. Trump, we’re flies caught in a trap. Either we make for high ground, or we stay here and wait for someone to come for us. I vote we move, so we move. So move!”

The man stumbled past her, and grumbled, “My name is Leslie.”

“Leslie?”

Leslie turned on her, “Yeah, you have a problem with that?”

Jenn pushed against his forehead and he fell over. Passing him, Jenn laughed, “Should have stuck with Donald.”

* * *

They walked for what felt like hours. All the branches, vines, and other wildlife that they had to contend with slowed them down. Jenn tried to quicken the pace, but Leslie had a hard time keeping up. He also had an annoying habit of trying to make conversation.

“So what’s your name?”

She ignored him.

“How long have you been on the force.”

“Seven years,” she answered bregrudingly as her coat got caught on a sharp branch. It was hot, and she was sweating, so she took her coat off, revealing her sleeveless black top underneath.

Leslie kept his shirt on, but she could see the sweat building up under his armpits, “So that makes you...what, 22?”

“Flattery will get you absolutely nowhere, mark my words. Try 29.”

He raised his hands reflexively, both to protect himself from her glare, and to shield his face from a vine that swung angrily towards him, “Sorry, it’s just...I don’t see a lot of...well black people.”

A bush scrapped at her leg, so she grabbed it and ripped it off, all while paying Leslie little mind, “I figured you’d have a bunch of them serving you tea, and tilling your farm.”

Leslie stumbled over a log, “Why is it every time a white guy says anything about a black person, they cry racist?”

Jenn laughed, “I wasn’t ‘crying’ racist. I just wanted to make you sweat...more.”

“Look, all I’m getting at is you’re young, yet you act so old and tough. I can only ascertain that something happened to you, something bad. Now it’s turned you into some kind of cynic.”

“Hey Dr. Phil, why don’t you stick to what you’re good at.”

He stopped, “I just want to know what happened.”

She stopped as well, and put her hands on her hips, “My name’s Jenn. That’s the last question of yours that I’m going to answer. So get your fat ass in motion, and keep this train moving, got it?” She pushed him ahead of her, and kept pressure on his shoulder so he wouldn’t slow down.

“I’m not fat you know. My mass ratio is actually...”

“Zip it before I shove a pine cone down your throat.”

* * *

They couldn’t have been walking longer than 15 minutes before they heard a loud scream.

They both stopped to listen, and heard it again. It was soft, and shrill, but echoed in the deafening silence.

Leslie caught Jenn’s eye, “It wasn’t me.”

She stared him down, then heard the scream again, “It came this way,” she pointed to the write of their path, “Come on.” She crawled over a fallen trunk, and crept through the foliage.

Leslie dropped his shirt and followed her resentfully, “Yes, lets head towards the screaming.”

Coming towards a clearing, Jenn dived into a bush, and pulled Leslie down with her. They peered out to see a flaring campfire, and a small blond girl curled up near it in distress. They quickly recognized why.

A lumbering...thing stumbled into the clearing, carrying firewood on its tail. It had rubbery green skin, and walked on four legs, though its front legs looked more like arms, and had long claws protruding from its four fingers. Its face was very small and compressed, but its mouth hung loose past its neck. The creature threw the wood onto the fire, then took a long sniff of the girl.

Leslie gasped, “That thing is going to eat the girl.”

Jenn shook her head, “Not on my watch.”

Leslie looked to her in shock, “Are you kidding? That’s an honest-to-god monster out there, and you intend to fight it?”

Jenn turned to him in equal surprise, “You wouldn’t? That’s a scared little girl out there, and we have to do something.”

“Come on, your life is worth more than this.”

“Maybe yours is, but my net worth wouldn’t even pay off my car. Besides, that’s not a real monster. There’s no such thing. It’s probably a robot or something. Probably won’t even notice I’m there. I’ll just grab the girl and get out...probably,” she watched as the monster turned away to poke at the fire, “and now’s my chance.”

The monster turned its back to the girl, and Jenn sprinted for her. She never actually got to the girl, as quite to her surprise, the monster’s tail whipped around hitting her square in the stomach. She was thrown aside, into a tree. She didn’t even have time to catch her breath before the creature was on her.

The monster thrust its left hand out to pin her to the tree, and luckily she managed to squeeze between two of its talons. Still trying to regain her breath, she couldn’t move, or do anything but watch as the creature lowered its jaw around her head.

Its breath smelt like hamburger grease and rotten fish. If she hadn’t just had the wind knocked out of her, Jenn might have said a witty quip like ‘you need to change toothpastes’

Behind the creature, Jenn saw Leslie step out from the bush. At first she thought he was going to come help her, but to her dismay he turned to run instead.

He would have made it too, if he hadn’t tripped over the fallen tree trunk, and whelped in surprise. The monster turned towards him, and upon seeing his flight, charged after him.

Jenn sunk down the tree and rested her head against it. She was very nearly monster chow, and that wasn’t something one could easily shrug off. Noticing the girl watching her, she smiled faintly, “Hey little girl. I’m here to save you.”

She heard Leslie scream from nearby and sighed, “I guess I have to save him first.”

The girl got up and ran to her, “Don’t leave me!”

Jenn squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, “Hey, don’t worry kiddo. Look, I’ll put you up in this tree, where he won’t find you, and then I’ll go save Mr. Rogers, and come right back for you, okay?” Picking the girl up, she pushed up onto the higest branch within reach, “Just stay there. I’ll be right back. Promise.”

The girl clung to the branch in fright, and watched as Jenn backed away slowly, “Mommy promised she’d come back...I waited like a good girl, but she never came back.”

Jenn bit her lip, “Well I’m not your mommy. I’m a police officer,” she brought her badge from her pocket, and flashed it for the girl to see, “And police officers always keep their word. Okay?”

The girl nodded. Jenn pocketed her badge and grabbed a thick log from the campfire. With the end still aflame, Jenn broke into a sprint towards Leslie’s screams.

She didn’t have to run far to find him backed against a tree. The creature had him cornered, and it was clearly playing with him, crouched close to the ground, with its tail trailing behind it. Leslie wailed and moaned, as its tongue lanced out, licking him.

Jenn watched the tail wag left and right, and she shook her head, “This is going to be the stupidest thing I’ll ever do in my entire life.” She stomped down on the end of its tail.

“Hey Shiny,” It whipped around angrily, and peered at her mere inches away. Swinging the branch, she clipped it across its cheek and yelled, “I challenge you to a duel.”

It reared its head and, to Jenn’s surprise, answered, “I accept.”

“Holy shit.” Jenn almost dropped her arms in surprise, but quickly raised up the log, as the monster reached down for her. She battered its arm away, and it stepped back again. It was then when she noticed a wide burn on its cheek, and an equal sized one was forming on its arm.

She waved the flaming log in his direction, “Things aren’t getting too hot for you, now are they?”
The monster swung its tail at her, which she managed to duck, but she didn’t see its right arm swing in right after. It hit her and sent her tumbling into a bush. The bush caught fire from her torch, but she managed to scramble out before getting burned. Getting up, she turned to see the fire quickly spreading.

Turning back to the beast, which had dropped onto its hands again, she waved the torch, and attempted to grin. She couldn’t quite force the smile, as her body was still quaking with fear, but she managed to let off another quip in its stead, “You wanna guess what you and Paris Hilton have in common?”

The creature pulled itself upright and loomed over her like a hunter surveying its prey.

This time the grin that spread across her face was a sincere one, “You both were better off on all fours.” She swung out with her torch, hitting one knee, and then the other, before rolling away.

The creature let out a shrill scream as it toppled forward and into the fire. It immediately started to convulse and melt away, until there was nothing left but the flame.

Once she was sure the thing was gone for good, she turned to Leslie, who was still catching his breath by the tree, “As for you, you’d best keep your distance from that thing next time. Otherwise, I might have a hard time telling who’s who.”

“Maybe if I knew you were so skilled at monster slaying, I would have been more willing to help rescue the girl.”

Jenn turned away, and made her way back towards the clearing. Dropping the torch, she massaged her face and neck softly. The last five minutes were like a big haze to her. She killed the monster. She wasn’t sure how, but she’d acted on instinct and everything had just worked out.

Leslie followed behind her, “So we’re convinced that it was a monster right? Not a robot?”

Jenn rolled her eyes, and waved him away, “Genetic research gone wrong or whatever. Who cares?”

Leslie stopped at the entrance to the clearing and folded his arms, “A huge greenhouse, robots, and genetic research. How rich and crazy do you think my enemies are? Not all billionaires are like Dr. Robotnik or...or The Kingpin.”

“No. Some are like you.” Jenn lifted the girl from the tree, and placed her lightly on the ground.

The girl looked at her in amazement, “You came back!”

Jenn crouched down to her level, “Police officers always keep their promises. What’s your name?”

The girl looked around nervously, “The monster will come back...”

Jenn shook her head, “No he won’t. I promise. Could you tell me your name?”

“Police officers always keep their promises?”

Jenn nodded warmly.

“Jaina.”

“That’s a very pretty name. My name starts with a ‘J’ too. It’s Jennifer.”

“I like your name.”

“And I like yours. What happened here, Jaina? How did you get here?”

Jaina instinctively sat down and began to rock back and forth, “Mommy left me.”

“Where did she go”

“She said she’d come back, but she didn’t come back. Never come back.”

Leslie interrupted, “This is a waste of time, Jenn. We should go.”

Jenn stroked Jaina’s hair, and spoke softly, “How long was she gone?”

Jaina started to sob, “Hungry. Had to nap.”

“How many naps did you have. Can you count them on your fingers?”

Jaina shook her head, “Not enough.”

Jenn exchanged a look with Leslie who shrugged.

Suddenly Jaina jumped forward, and threw her arms around Jenn’s neck, “You won’t leave me, will you?”

“No, I promise I won’t leave you. Come on.” Jenn picked Jaina up, and put the girl on her back. She then turned to Leslie, “Do you remember which way we were going?”

Leslie crossed his arms and smiled, “Ha, for once I get to save the day.”

Jenn glared at him, and he faltered.

“I...um...dropped my shirt back on the path we were taking, just back this way.”

* * *

They found where they’d come from, and continued forward. They walked for many more hours, mainly in silence. After a while Jaina fell asleep on Jenn’s back. It was around this time that Leslie started to ask questions.

“So, why’d you do it?”

“Do what? Save your miserable hide? Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“I meant the girl. Why risk your life for the girl.”

Jenn didn’t want to answer, “Does my being human count for nothing?” What right did he have to question her like that?

But he persisted, “I think there’s more to it then that. I’ve dealt with a lot of people, and I’m pretty good at reading them.”

Yeah there was more to it, and what part of she didn’t want to talk about it did he not understand. Of course, if he hadn’t distracted the monster, even by accident, she’d be dead.
What would it hurt to tell him, “When I was a junior officer, still in my first year, I was called with my partner to intercept a bank robber. We got to the bank just as he was stepping out, carrying a gun in one hand, and using a little girl as a shield. We tried to get on either side of him, hoping for a clear shot...but it was no use. My partner tried reasoning with him, but must have said something wrong. The guy pulled his gun on my partner, and I had to shoot. I thought I had a clear shot, and I...just had to...I shot. Only my shot wasn’t as clear as I thought.”

“That doesn’t sound like it was your fault.”

Jenn tried to shrug off painful memories that threatened to resurface like a scuba diver out of air. She could feel her eyes water, and tried wiping her tears away, “People will use a gun cause they think it’ll give them power and control, but they don’t know...Once you pull that trigger you’re more powerless than your victim. It’s all a lie. The bullet is the one in control.” She took a deep breath and stepped through a particularly big bush, and into a clearing.

They were at the foot of the mountain. To everyone’s surprise, stairs were built into the mountain, leading gradually up to the cave.

Jenn motioned to the stairs, “This proves it. Definitely not naturally formed. After you, loser.”
Leslie watched the cave but it seemed very non-descript, other than a faint glow from within, “Should we be...stealthy or something?”

Jenn sighed, and started up the stairs, “You can try.”

It didn’t take long for them to reach the top, but the sight that awaited them in the cave wasn’t one they expected.

It was like a large wide tower that stretched straight up and down far further than they could see. There was a winding staircase leading up the tower, and entryways leading to floors of fire. Jenn and Leslie backed away from the cave, just as a grey skeletal creature walked out of the cave towards them.

Leslie slid behind Jenn and Jaina, and Jenn raised her fists, waiting to see what move the skeletal creature would make.

The creature looked mostly like a human skeleton, except for a small tail, and a red fiery glow from in its chest which reverberated through it’s body and skull. Its mouth opened and it spoke quite politely, “Are the three of you checking in?”

Jenn didn’t know how to respond, but figured she should keep the tone of conversation pleasant, “Where are we?”

The skeleton cocked it’s head, and looked her over, “Haven’t you figured it out yet? You’re in hell.”

What? Jenn was lost for words, but Leslie couldn’t help but exclaim, “Hell?”

“Yeah, right. Newcomers. Okay, where to start...” the skeleton scratched its chin thoughtfully, “Okay, so it turns out the Catholics had it right. You know the whole brimstone and fire thing, pray to god, or you’re gonna burn thing. Yeah, that’s all true. Now you’re name,” Leslie pointed at himself and the skeleton nodded, “Yeah, you in the back there. You’re name is Leslie Mayborn, and your primary offense was greed. You were so worried with your material things, you never even considered the after-life, so now you get to burn.”

Jenn interrupted, “But...”

The skeleton stopped her, “Jennifer Tannel. Murder. You killed someone and by taking someone’s life, you get to burn in hell.”

Jenn nodded, “I get why I’m here. But what about the girl?”

The skeleton seemed to slouch, “It’s a sad thing, religion. It’s like one big war, and sometimes there’s casualties. Jaina Heathor...her mother was Jehova’s Witness. Because of that, Jaina was never baptized. So thanks to original sin, she has to burn.”

Jenn couldn’t process it. None of it made sense, “That’s not fair...she’s just an innocent kid!”

“Don’t blame us. Demons didn’t create hell. Humans did.”