As the window rolls down, I can smell gunpowder and sulfur. I can hear people within the city starting to shout, demanding to be let out.
“Papers,” one of them says to Loki.
“I only have my identification. If you explain to me what the papers are, I’d gladly find them for you,” Heimdall says.
The soldier leans in and grins menacingly. He’s looking for one reason to deny us entry. Any will do.
“Look, asshole. I need your work papers, now. If you don’t have those, you’ll have to follow me into customs where we’ll be obligated to conduct a search,” the soldier says.
Work papers. Great. None of us have any of those. We’re absolutely screwed.
“A search?” Heimdall asks. “Surely, that’s unconstitutional…”
Unconstitutional. Like the constitution matters anymore.
The soldier's dreaded words resound loudly within the car: “Step out of the vehicle.”
They grab Raven's wrists and twist them behind her back. She screams, but it's caught short as another soldier holds her mouth.
"Let her go!" I shout and lunge against the door.
They surround us.
A weapon is pointed at every window, every door. My eyes lock with Raven’s. She sees the position we’re in and tries to run toward us, but is almost immediately forced onto the ground.
She forces her mouth away from the man's hand. “Ash! Run!” she cries.
A barrel is pressed against my forehead. “Step out of the vehicle. Now.”
“You don’t understand,” I say. “Lucifer… he’s going to end the world.”
I sound so stupid. I sound completely insane.
The soldier looks at me like I’m a crack-head. He barks, “I’m not going to tell you again. Step out of the vehicle. Hands above your head. You are being detained.”
Oh, Jesus. Oh, Odin. Oh, the gods be damned!
I’m pulled out of the car. Forced onto the pavement, next to the woman I love. The asphalt scrapes against my face. So many people are shouting that it’s hard to make sense of what the hell is going on.
We’re all about to be cuffed until huge explosions rumble the ground. The soldiers let go of my hands and stumble back, allowing me to see what’s in front of me.
Shockwaves reverberate the city. One by one, skyscrapers plummet.
More chaotic screams come from within the dying metropolis.
The attention of the soldiers is turned away as a swath of purple energy explodes from the ground. The three of us stand as the soldiers take fire at the onslaught of devils that climb out.
Unfortunately, their guns are no use against the wicked. The bullets simply ricochet off of their bodies, exploding right back at their station. Only our weapons seem to do the job.
We jump inside the car and head toward the most dangerous place on Earth.
Plowing past the militarized checkpoint, we get a better picture of what is happening inside the city. People are running through the streets, doing their best to hide from the army of the dead. Flies and insects swarm above and around the car. A few cling to the outside as others smash and smear into the windshield wipers.
Heimdall turns and asks, "How far are we?"
"It's just around the corner," Raven shouts.
I take her hand as we roll through the financial district. It's a completely different place now.