The trip back to Arlington National Cemetery thankfully took much less time than it had the first go-around. There was absolutely nothing there opposing them as they ran back towards it; Alain could only assume the Demons and Lilith herself were still massing in the heart of the city.

That could only mean that all the people in the city of DC were already dead, but there wasn't much time to dwell on that, disturbing as it was to think about.

Eventually, though, they made it back to the cemetery. The first thing Alain noticed were the rows of rifles leveled at the three of them from behind layers of sandbags, along with the muzzles of Gatling guns and field artillery pieces as well. The second was the sheer number of additional people who'd arrived.

"This is new…" he muttered as he looked around. When they'd first left Arlington, Colonel Stone had only had a few hundred men here, but now Alain could tell just by looking around that the number had grown exponentially.

If what he was seeing just in this sector of the cemetery was any indication, then there had to be thousands more troops here scattered about, having taken defensive positions all around.

"Father," Alain announced, getting Salvatore's attention. "Did some of Stone's reinforcements arrive already?"

"A few, yes," Father Salvatore confirmed. "He was still trying to get an accurate headcount, last I checked, but estimates so far, between the actual soldiers and the armed civilians who made it here, plus the few other priests and Tribunal members who've come from nearby to help… around twelve-thousand, give or take."

Alain's heart skipped a beat as the number registered in his mind. Twelve-thousand people fighting alongside them was certainly a large number, and yet it still wasn't enough. Lilith had half a million at her beck and call in total. That number may have been capped by the portals serving as a limiting factor, but the fact remained that her numbers absolutely dwarfed theirs even despite that, and to make matters worse, more Demons continued to flow into the city of DC with every passing moment. Even just a quick glance over his shoulder was proof enough of that – every couple of seconds, DC would light up with dark purple, a sign that another portal had just opened and that yet more Demons were stepping foot into the city. The thought caused him to wince.

"Where is the Colonel?" Alain asked, looking around. "I have to see the-"

"Smith!"

At the sound of Stone's voice, Alain turned and found him marching out from behind a nearby tent. He was flanked by the rest of Alain's friends, all of whom seemed downright amazed that he was still alive. Alain didn't waste any more time – he took Sable by the hand and rushed over to where they were all standing. To his relief, nobody was injured. They were all still soaked in blood, though he could tell it was a result from the crimson deluge pouring down on them rather than any wounds anyone had sustained.

"You're okay," his mother said, relief palpable in her voice. "Thank God…"

"What happened to Cleo?" Father Michaelson asked. "Is she-"

"Dead," Sable reported. "Alain and I saw to that well enough."

She gave Alain's hand a gentle squeeze, which he was quick to reciprocate. Danielle let out an exhale.

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"I won't ask for the gory details, but… you're sure you dealt with her?" she asked.

Alain nodded. "Yeah. Speaking of which, I'll need medical-"

Colonel Stone cut him off by thrusting a pack into his arms. Alain took a look inside and found it was full of medical supplies. He gave the Colonel a questioning look, but the older man simply crossed his arms.

"They told me you were taking on Cleo with just Sable to back you up. Figured it'd be pertinent to be prepared for when you got here."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess…" Alain muttered as he withdrew some bandages from the pack and began to carefully wrap his wounded arm. He was mindful to keep the layer of bandages relatively loose, so as not to impede his aim. Truthfully, the frostbite had started to get better over time, though it still hurt enough that he felt compelled to do something about it.

"Give me a status report, Smith," Colonel Stone urged. "What is it looking like in town?"

"Grim," Sable acknowledged. "Lilith is still regaining her power after we wounded her so severely. Cleo has been dealt with, of course, but she was never the real threat, just a distraction. Lilith continues to draw breath and keeps opening up more portals to let her forces in; I would wager that anyone who hasn't already left town is already dead."

"Unfortunately, probably a safe assumption…" Heather muttered.

Colonel Stone shook his head. "Can you give a rough number of how many Demons she has already?"

"Hard to say," Alain grunted. "Enough to overrun the whole damn city, that's how many. In any case, it's more than you've got here. How many men would that be, by the way? Father Salvatore estimated twelve-thousand."

"That's about right," the Colonel admitted. "Believe me, I've been on the telegram non-stop since you all left for town the first time, trying to arrange for additional reinforcements to get here. I've got thousands upon thousands of men converging on DC all at once – basically every Army unit on the East Coast is making their way here now, and I've even got a few warships pulling into Chesapeake Bay, courtesy of the Navy – but it's going to take at least a few hours before we start to see any kind of serious numbers come to back us up. Until then, we're on our own."

"We don't have a few hours," Sable insisted.

"Believe me, I'm aware. But this is just what I was able to throw together on extremely short notice. We're going to have to hold out until they can all get here."

"And the entire time we're stuck just trying to stay alive, Lilith continues to gather more power," Father Alex growled. He crossed his arms. "This is bad."

"I'm aware, but that's the best I can do," Colonel Stone lamented. "At this point, it's going to take a miracle for us to even survive this, let alone emerge victorious."

"Then it's a good thing God enjoys providing miracles," Father Michaelson noted. "Perhaps we'll be on the receiving end of one in due time."

"I hope that you're right, especially given that Az is gone."

At the mention of Az's name, Sable winced, then looked down, biting her lip as she did so. Alain reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up enough to give him a grateful look before turning back to the Colonel.

"...What's your plan here, then?" she asked softly. "We need to hold this position, obviously. Do you have anything in the works for how to do that?"

"I've already set up defensive perimeters," Colonel Stone noted, motioning to the lines of riflemen and sandbags that had been set up around the cemetery. "Thankfully, the first few units that showed up raided their armories, and brought plenty of heavy weapons with them. I've got a few dozen Gatling guns and artillery pieces each scattered about, overlooking all the possible points of approach. Plus I've got enough ammo to keep them all constantly running for damn near a week. Really, the concern isn't gear or ammunition, rather it's sheer manpower."

"I can imagine," Alain noted. "The Gatling guns, mortars, and artillery will shred anyone who tries to approach directly, but what about any Demons that come from the air? Your encamped gun teams will be easy prey for them."

"I'm putting a team of shotgunners in along with each big gun," the Colonel noted. "They should be able to take care of any flying Demons easily enough. My plan is for the mortars and other heavy artillery pieces to be set up in the center, where they'll be most protected and most able to rain hellfire down on the advancing Demons. I figure, we protect the artillery pieces, and they can make mincemeat of not only anyone who's advancing, but also tear the ground up a good amount and use it to slow the rest down. The Gatling guns are set up just beneath them, and I have them arranged so that they have overlapping fields of fire, just in case one goes down, that way the others can immediately pick up the slack. Everyone else, I have settled in behind sandbags, armed with Krag rifles and several hundred rounds of ammunition each. Additionally, one of the local churches was generous enough to provide vials of holy water and some consecrated ammunition as well. And for good measure, I even got lucky enough to have a team of two Whitworth riflemen among the men who first answered the call, whose rifles have telescopic sights on them. They should be able to take out any long-range targets of importance easily enough."

Heather let out a low whistle at that bit of information. "Whitworth rifles, huh? Never thought I'd run into any out in the wild during my lifetime…"

"First time for everything, I suppose," Alain noted. "Well, I'll give you this, Colonel – I certainly feel a lot better about our chances now than I did when I first showed up here."

"Good to know, I guess," Colonel Stone answered. "Hopefully, that sense of optimism spreads around like wildfire. The men are worried; they think we're walking into an absolute slaughter. I don't have the heart to tell them they're probably right."

Alain offered no arguments to the contrary, only a silent prayer that the Colonel, even with all his wisdom and knowledge about warfare, was wrong about it.

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