Chapter 45: Holy Water Cleansing the Ground

Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Holy Water Cleansing the Ground

Chapter 45: Holy Water Cleansing the Ground

The moment Axel Vance squeezed the nozzle handle, the limp fire hose snapped rigid under pressure. A thick stream of Holy Water erupted forward with the force of the pumper behind it and slammed straight into the leading edge of the infected horde. The first several corpses barely had time to react before white vapor exploded from their bodies.

The effect was devastating. Infected flesh struck directly by the stream collapsed and dissolved at a visible rate, while blue-green pus and rotting fluids vanished beneath the supernatural purification instead of spreading across the street. Axel swept the hose sideways and carved a clean path through the crowd as if he were washing filth from pavement.

Even zombies caught only by the spray suffered badly. Holy Water droplets burned holes through decaying skin and muscle, forcing the damaged bodies to stumble and collapse while smoke rose from their wounds. Within seconds, the street in front of the fire engine had become a supernatural pressure-washing zone.

Inside the cab, the young volunteer firefighter stared through the windshield with his mouth hanging open. Paquita Sanchez looked equally stunned because she had expected the hose to knock the infected down, not erase them. Her grandmother quietly clasped her hands and prayed for protection while watching Axel turn an ordinary municipal fire engine into something that looked built for an exorcist.

Lionel Cosgrove was focused on only one figure. Vera remained among the infected, stumbling forward despite being struck repeatedly by Holy Water spray. Dark holes opened across her face and arms whenever droplets touched her, yet she was clearly far harder to destroy than the ordinary infected around her.

"Mother..." Lionel whispered as he watched her continue advancing. Whatever humanity had once remained inside Vera seemed almost completely gone, but she was still the center of the nightmare spreading through town. Paquita quietly took Lionel’s hand while he stared at the woman who had controlled most of his life.

Axel had no time to watch the family tragedy unfold. He twisted his body, adjusted the nozzle, and redirected the high-pressure stream toward the most irritating monster still standing in the street. "Your turn, clown."

The Holy Water slammed directly into Freddy Krueger.

"No!" Freddy screamed as the water struck him from head to toe. Several infected bodies were still clinging to his arms and legs, making it almost impossible for him to move away before the full stream caught him. His burned flesh immediately began smoking.

The reaction was even worse than what Axel had seen with the infected. Freddy’s already ruined skin opened into dark holes while thick black smoke poured from his body, and the Holy Water seemed to attack something deeper than physical flesh. For the first time since being dragged into reality, Freddy looked genuinely terrified.

"You miserable cop!" Freddy shrieked while trying to shield his face with both arms. "When I get you into a dream, I’ll make you scream forever!" His threat became weaker with every second as the Holy Water stripped away the power sustaining him.

Axel gave him no answer. He simply shifted the stream again and aimed at Jason Voorhees. The pressurized Holy Water struck Jason squarely in the chest and immediately forced the massive killer several steps backward.

Black smoke rose from Jason’s entire body. Newly regenerated muscle began breaking apart wherever the water touched, leaving strips of exposed tissue that dissolved faster than they could completely heal. Unlike Freddy, however, Jason never screamed.

He simply kept moving.

Jason leaned forward against the pressure and took one slow step toward Axel. Flesh stripped from his body, regenerated, and was destroyed again in a continuous cycle, but the curse holding him together stubbornly maintained his overall shape. Every step left pieces of damaged tissue behind only for the Holy Water to wash those remains clean.

"You really are built different," Axel muttered. He increased the pressure as much as the nozzle allowed and braced himself against the recoil. Jason slowed further but refused to stop.

Freddy had been reduced to crawling by comparison. He spotted Jason fighting through the stream and immediately scrambled behind the larger killer, using Jason’s body as a shield from the worst of the Holy Water. "That’s it, big guy! Keep going!"

Jason ignored him.

Freddy pressed closer behind him and continued shouting. "Take out the cop and we can deal with the rest afterward!" His encouragement lasted until Jason suddenly reached one hand behind himself and grabbed Freddy by the collar.

Freddy’s expression changed instantly.

"Wait."

Jason lifted him off the ground.

"Oh, come on!"

The masked killer swung Freddy around and hurled him directly toward Axel.

Axel saw the incoming body and threw himself sideways. Freddy missed him by inches and continued flying toward the fire engine. He slammed into the side of the pumper with a heavy metallic crash.

The impact bent Freddy backward across part of the pump panel. Pain shot through his body as he slid down the side of the engine, but his eyes immediately landed on the hose connected to the discharge outlet beside him. A vicious grin appeared across his burned face.

"There you are."

Freddy raised the four blades of his right-hand glove and slashed down.

The hose split open.

Axel’s nozzle instantly went dead.

The pressurized stream disappeared from his hands, and the empty line collapsed across the pavement. Freddy pushed himself upright and laughed despite the black smoke still rising from his body.

"There," Freddy said smugly. "No more little water gun."

Then something behind him erupted.

A much larger stream of Holy Water blasted from the open discharge where the ruined hose had been connected. The pumper was still running, and the valve remained open, so water continued pouring from the engine under pressure even though Axel’s attack line was useless. Freddy slowly turned toward it in disbelief.

"What?"

Axel stared at him.

"It’s a hose, genius."

Freddy’s expression twisted.

Axel pointed at the truck. "The pump controls the water. Cutting the line doesn’t magically empty the tank."

Freddy looked personally insulted by the explanation.

"You smug little—"

"Axel!"

The warning came from inside the cab.

Axel turned.

Jason had already recovered from the stream and was advancing again.

The damage caused by the Holy Water was still visible across his body, but regeneration continued working underneath the ruined flesh. Jason’s hockey mask remained fixed toward Axel while his huge hands tightened into fists.

At the same time, another problem was developing near the remaining infected.

The survivors had stopped spreading across the road.

They were gathering around Vera.

Axel narrowed his eyes as several infected stumbled close enough for Vera to grab them. Instead of directing them toward Freddy or Jason, she opened her mouth and tore directly into the nearest corpse.

She began eating her own infected.

One body disappeared into her grotesquely enlarged mouth.

Then another.

Vera’s frame began swelling as she consumed them. Her shoulders widened, her limbs thickened, and the ruined flesh across her body expanded at a visible rate.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," Axel muttered.

He let the useless hose fall.

Then he pulled his shotgun from behind his back.

Jason continued coming toward him.

Vera continued growing.

Freddy was still beside the fire engine looking for another opportunity to sabotage something.

Inside the cab, Lionel watched all three threats at once. His hands were trembling because every glimpse of Freddy dragged him back to the nightmare boiler room and the memory of those blades cutting through him again and again. He was probably more frightened of Freddy than anyone else still alive in the street.

Then Lionel noticed the severed hose.

He looked toward the storage compartments along the fire engine.

A replacement line was still inside.

Lionel swallowed hard.

He knew Axel could not hold off Jason, Vera, and Freddy forever without the Holy Water stream. If Freddy damaged the pumper itself before Axel restored the hose, their strongest weapon could disappear completely.

Lionel turned toward Paquita. "I’m going outside."

Her eyes widened. "No, you’re not."

"I have to reconnect the hose."

"Lionel, Freddy is right there!"

"I know."

That was exactly why his voice was shaking.

Lionel forced himself to look at her. "Lock the doors after I get out. No matter what happens, don’t come after me."

Paquita immediately reached for his arm.

Her grandmother gently stopped her.

Paquita stared at the older woman in disbelief. "Grandma!"

The old woman looked directly at Lionel. "Go, child. You can do this." There was something in her expression that suggested she understood far more about Vera’s ritual than she had admitted earlier.

Lionel hesitated only a second longer.

Then he pushed open the passenger-side door and jumped down.

Freddy noticed him almost immediately.

"Well, look who finally climbed out of Mommy’s lap."

Lionel ignored him.

He ran straight toward the open pumper discharge.

Holy Water was still pouring from it in a heavy stream.

Lionel stepped close enough to soak himself from head to toe.

The water ran across his clothes and skin while a faint cooling sensation spread through his body. He had no idea how much protection it would actually provide, but after seeing what Holy Water did to Freddy, any advantage was worth taking.

"This should help," Lionel whispered.

He hurried toward the equipment compartment along the side of the engine.

His fingers grabbed the latch.

He pulled it open.

A rolled backup hose sat inside.

Lionel reached for it.

Pain exploded through his back.

His entire body locked.

He looked down slowly.

Four metal blades had punched completely through his chest.

Lionel’s breath caught in his throat.

Behind him, Freddy leaned close with a delighted grin.

"Good try, mama’s boy."

Freddy twisted the glove slightly.

"But a little Holy Water isn’t going to save you from me."

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