Chapter 44: Holy Water Chariot

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Holy Water Chariot

Chapter 44: Holy Water Chariot

Freddy Krueger hit the asphalt hard enough to crack the road beneath him, and for several seconds even he failed to get back up. Vera’s infected immediately swarmed over his body, piling on top of him while severed hands and arms clawed at his clothes. One loose length of intestine somehow wrapped itself around his neck and began tightening like a grotesque rope.

"Get off me!" Freddy roared as he suddenly erupted with enough strength to throw several corpses aside. He forced himself upright beneath the writhing pile, tore the intestine from his neck, and scraped pieces of rotting flesh from his red-and-green sweater. His burned face twisted with pure fury as he glared toward Jason Voorhees.

"You ungrateful son of a bitch," Freddy hissed. "Fine. Go to hell." Instead of retreating, he charged straight at Jason and slashed with his bladed glove, finally abandoning any pretense that the hockey-masked killer was still his ally.

Several blocks away, Axel Vance watched the chaos shrink in the damaged rearview mirror of his Ford pickup. Freddy, Jason, and the infected had become one enormous street fight, which was exactly where Axel wanted them for the moment. "Let them tear each other apart," he muttered as he focused on keeping the barely functional truck moving.

The fire station was already visible ahead, but the pickup had finally reached its limit. The engine gave one last miserable growl, coughed twice, and died only a short distance from the building. Axel stared at the dead dashboard before slowly tightening both hands around the steering wheel.

"I swear Freddy is buying me another truck when this is over," Axel said. Paquita Sanchez’s grandmother gave him a sympathetic look and murmured that whatever spirits still watched over fools and heroes alike had clearly worked overtime keeping them alive. Lionel lowered his head and quietly apologized for everything connected to Vera and the outbreak.

Axel shook his head. "None of this is on you. We’ve got a dream killer, Jason Voorhees, your infected mother, and half the town falling apart at the same time." He opened the ruined driver’s side and added, "That’s not one person’s mistake. That’s just supernatural bad luck piling up."

Everyone climbed out of the dead Ford and hurried toward the fire station. The heavy exterior door was locked, and Axel had neither the time nor patience to search for somebody carrying keys. He stepped back two paces and studied the locking point.

Then Axel drove a side kick directly beside the lock.

THUD!

The metal door bent inward around the impact point, and the frame groaned loudly. Lionel and Paquita stared as Axel reset his stance and kicked the same area a second time. The lock assembly tore free with a sharp metallic crack, and the entire door slammed inward against the wall.

Axel walked through as though breaking into a fire station with his bare foot was completely ordinary. Lionel followed more slowly and whispered, "That is not normal police training." Paquita could only nod because she had no better explanation for what she had just seen.

Axel found the light switch and flipped it on. Several fluorescent fixtures flickered overhead before filling the garage with harsh white light, revealing a large red fire engine parked in the center bay. Its pump panel, hose connections, onboard water tank, and roof equipment made it look less like rescue equipment and more like exactly the weapon Axel needed.

"Oh my God," Paquita whispered. After everything happening outside, the heavy pumper seemed almost reassuring simply because it was large, armored by comparison, and designed to move huge amounts of water. Axel was already walking toward the driver’s side.

"Don’t just stare at it. Help me check the equipment."

Before they could spread out, a young man emerged from a side room while yawning and rubbing his face. He took one look at the strangers and said, "Look, there’s nothing here worth stealing, and you’re definitely not going to sell a fire engine without somebody noticing." His tone suggested he had not yet processed the broken front door.

Axel turned toward Lionel. "You told me the station was volunteer-run. Somebody actually stays here overnight?" Lionel nodded and explained that the town rotated younger volunteers through overnight watch because the engine and equipment were expensive and the nearest full-time department was too far away.

Axel walked toward the sleepy volunteer and pulled out his police credentials. "Miami Police. Emergency commandeering of the engine." The young man blinked once, looked at the broken door, then glanced toward the distant sounds of screaming and immediately became much more cooperative.

"Yes, sir."

Axel wasted no more time. He climbed onto the pumper, located the water-tank access point, opened it, and confirmed that the onboard tank was full. Whoever maintained the station had at least kept the engine ready for service.

Axel placed one hand against the stored water and pulled the Blessed Bible free with the other. Paquita and Lionel watched from below without understanding, while the old woman’s eyes widened as she realized exactly what Axel intended. He was not going to fill a few bottles.

He intended to consecrate the entire tank.

Axel drew a slow breath and began reciting scripture.

The difference was immediate.

A bottle barely resisted him, and even a utility tub had been manageable, but this was an enormous reservoir containing hundreds of gallons of water. Psionic Power poured out of Axel in a continuous stream as the Holy Water specialization spread through the tank inch by inch.

Sweat formed across his forehead within moments. His arms began trembling as the spiritual demand continued increasing, and darkness occasionally crept into the edges of his vision. Still, Axel kept reciting because stopping halfway would waste both time and power.

[Holy Water Lv.1 — 886/1000]

The water below him gradually changed in a way no ordinary eye could see. Psionic Power continued spreading throughout the tank while Axel’s breathing grew heavier. Every successful section of the conversion pushed the specialization closer to its limit.

[Holy Water Lv.1 — 946/1000]

Axel gritted his teeth.

His body had handled gunfights, killers, and supernatural monsters more comfortably than this. Converting such a massive quantity at once felt less like using an ability and more like deliberately draining the batteries from his own soul.

[Holy Water Lv.1 — 999/1000]

"Axel!"

Lionel’s panicked shout came from the entrance.

Axel opened his eyes and looked toward the street. Far in the distance, a moving mass of figures was approaching the fire station, filling nearly the entire width of the road. Vera’s infected formed the majority of the horde, while Jason and Freddy were still trapped in the middle of the chaos and continued attacking everything around them.

The sight was disturbing even from several hundred yards away. Zombies staggered forward in uneven waves while occasional bodies went flying whenever Jason struck something, and Freddy’s bladed glove flashed between the crowd whenever he managed to clear space. Somehow the entire disaster was drifting toward the station.

"They’re coming!" Lionel shouted.

Axel closed his eyes again.

"One point."

He ignored everything else and poured the last of his available Psionic Power into the tank.

The world seemed to tilt beneath him.

His hearing dulled, his vision narrowed to darkness, and his entire body shook as though he had not eaten or slept in days. The last thread of spiritual energy finally entered the water.

[Holy Water successfully created.]

[Holy Water Lv.2 — 1/2000]

Axel almost collapsed.

For the briefest moment, he felt as though absolutely nothing remained inside him.

Then another notification appeared.

[Holy Water Lv.2]

[Specialization Bonus: Psionic Power +0.2]

[Psionic Power: 1.4 → 1.5]

A cool wave immediately spread through Axel’s body.

The empty sensation inside him began refilling as the level-up restored his Psionic Power, and his trembling gradually eased. Even so, the memory of what complete depletion felt like remained painfully clear.

Axel rested one hand against the side of the engine and drew several slow breaths. "Yeah, never doing that at the last second again." From now on, large quantities of Holy Water were going to be treated like strategic supplies and prepared well before he needed them.

He jumped down from the top of the pumper and pointed toward the volunteer firefighter. "Get in the cab. Start it and pull into the street." The young man looked beyond the broken station door, saw the approaching horde, and did not waste even half a second arguing.

The diesel engine roared to life.

The fire engine rolled out of the station and stopped in the street with its pump system ready. Axel immediately opened one of the side compartments, pulled free a length of hose, and connected it to a discharge outlet while the volunteer helped engage the pump.

Paquita’s grandmother stared at the machine and slowly understood what Axel had built. The pumper was no longer carrying ordinary municipal water. Every gallon inside the tank had become Holy Water.

Axel dragged the hose several yards forward and attached the nozzle. Behind him stood a mobile reservoir containing more blessed water than he had ever created in his life, complete with a powerful pump capable of throwing it with far more force than any bottle or bucket. The entire fire engine had effectively become a rolling anti-supernatural weapons platform.

The infected horde was getting closer.

Jason’s hockey mask occasionally appeared above the crowd.

Freddy’s furious shouting carried down the street.

Axel planted his feet, raised the nozzle, and aimed directly at the approaching mass.

A grin slowly spread across his face.

"Time for some purification."

[500 Power Stones → +1 Bonus Chapter]

[10 Reviews → +1 Bonus Chapter]

Enjoyed the Chapter? A review helps a lot.

P1treon: Soulforger (20+advance Chapters)