Soldiers of Fame and Fortune Full Series Omnibus: Nobody’s Fool, Nobody Lives Forever, Nobody Drinks That Much, Nobody Remembers But Us, Ghost Walking, 12 Book series...

by Michael Todd

  JB smiled. “Well, not right at that moment, but two weeks later Gabrielle was checking her bank balance and found that a large sum of money had been deposited. She went to the door to tell me, and there was a note on the floor. ‘Thank you, Gabrielle, for saving my life. You are a true friend. Sincerely, Wild Bill.’ I never saw her again. Everybody thinks she died, but I think that’s nuts. I think she did whatever she could to stay away. The Zoo beat her, and she knew it.”

  Chapter Ten

  Holly put her arms out. “Is that it?”

  JB chuckled. “That’s it. That was the last time she was positively identified here in town. Ever since then, it’s been up and down. Sometimes people think it’s her. Sometimes people claim it is, but they are never sure.”

  Dan laughed. “It’s like Bigfoot—there’s always a blurry picture off in the distance.”

  JB smiled. “Yeah, except this chick could kick Bigfoot’s ass.”

  Holly put her lower lip out. “But I want more.”

  The guys at the other end of the bar cheered. “Us too. That’s our favorite story, and we never get to hear it.”

  JB stood up and clapped his hands. “I’m sure I’ll tell it again one day, but I literally have nothing left to tell you. She would have to walk back in that door right now for it to go on.”

  Just then, the door slammed open and everyone went silent. They all stared into the dark entranceway as the boots clapped against the hardwood floor. Holly’s eyes went wide, waiting for the mystery person to appear. Old Man Hubert walked in with his long gray beard and bowler hat, and when he saw them looking at him, he froze and stared at everyone. “What? What did I do?”

  Everyone booed and threw their hands up, turning back around. Holly let out a deep breath and leaned back on her stool. JB chuckled and waved Hubert over. “Don’t pay them any attention. They thought you were someone else.”

  Hubert shuffled up and sat down. “I hope for that every morning, but here I am, old and rusty.”

  Holly giggled. “And handsome!”

  Hubert smiled. “I like her.”

  JB laughed and poured the old man a shot. “We just got finished talking about Wild Bill Hickok.”

  Hubert nodded. “That’s a good one. She was one tough lady. Still wonder what happened to her. Nobody ever saw her again after she went into the hotel that one day, except you and Gabrielle.”

  Holly narrowed her eyes. “You said nobody ever positively identified her, but you never said you had never seen her again.”

  Several of the guys perked up and looked at JB. He laughed nervously and put his hands up. “Now, now, you’re clutching at straws. I told you, she left that morning. Nobody else has seen her, and they think she died. Personally, I don’t think she did. I don’t think she survived that night in the Zoo just to leave here and keel over, but who knows? I could be wrong.”

  Holly looked at him suspiciously. “Why don’t you think she’s dead?”

  JB turned to put the bottle back on the shelf. “Oh, I don’t know. She doesn’t or didn’t always work the Zoo. It was a testing place for her. Her job took her around the world. It’s just, the Zoo was the first place that could probably have taken her out. I would rather think of her as the one who survived and got away.”

  Holly let it go and sighed. “Well, I guess I got my money’s worth, then. Thank you for that story, JB. And by the way, what was that part about Gabrielle and—”

  JB winked as he cut her off. “It was my pleasure. I have to take care of my patrons now.”

  He walked down the bar to help some mercs at the end. Holly picked up her drink and slurped the last bit in her glass. Dan looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “How is that absinthe treating you?”

  Holly raised her eyebrows. “I have to admit, I am feeling pretty good. Pretty good indeed. How about you? Do you think Wild Bill is dead?”

  Dan rolled his shoulder and looked at the wall, even though the woman wasn’t on it. “Oh, I don’t know. Many years have passed, and you really don’t know what kind of long-term effects one of those bites or the elixir given to her would have had on her body. I think if the bite didn’t take her down, or something connected to it, there is a very good chance she is still alive. If she did die, I don’t think it was for a very long time after she left here that last time.”

  Holly’s eyes shifted upward. “But what about the reports of a woman helping people?”

  Dan shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  The guy down the bar looked at them. “Personally, I think they saw her ghost. I think she lingers here in the spirit world.”

  Holly blinked. “So, you think her ghost led them around the Zoo fighting animals and then helped them get out safely?”

  The guy shook his head. “I mean, why not? Thirty years ago, if I had told someone aliens would attack and then humans would kill themselves off, you would have laughed at me. I don’t think at this point I am willing to say anything is impossible.”

  Holly shook her head. “Yeah, I guess.”

  Dan smiled at Holly. “You don’t believe in ghosts?”

  Holly smiled. “I am a scientist. I don’t believe in anything that can’t be proven by either seeing it or demonstrating it using math. Now, don’t tell my mother that; she would have an aneurysm. But I struggle to believe in anything that can be proven false.”

  Dan nodded his head. “Yeah, like alien missiles coming to Earth and blue goop that can make you live forever.”

  Holly pursed her lips. “When I see a ghost with my own two eyes, I will come to you and eat my words. But until then, there is nothing that goes bump in the night except for me stubbing my toe trying to get a damn glass of water. It happens every time. I could be in an empty room, and I would figure out a way.”

  Dan leaned his head back and laughed. “I like it when you drink absinthe. You are fun.”

  She wrinkled her face. “And I’m not without it?”

  “Ehhh,” he said before bursting into laughter. “I’m just kidding.”

  Holly slapped him on the arm and giggled. JB walked up and raised his eyebrow. “Now, look at the two of you flirting.”

  Dan shook his head. “No, that was punishment. Punishment for sticking my whole damn foot in my mouth.”

  Behind them, Paula’s voice rose in the air. “Okay, Midge, you keep talking shit. Your height isn’t the only reason we call you Midget.”

  Midge stood up. “Okay, your dick is so small you could fuck a Cheerio without breaking it.”

  Several people laughed, and Paula rolled her eyes. “Nice of you to believe in truth in advertising. Your dick is so small you could fuck a pasta strainer.”

  Midge faked a laugh as the crowd erupted. He put his hands up, quieting them. “Your dick is so small it looks like one of those California raisins.”

  The crowd booed, throwing napkins and peanuts at him. Holly put her hand over her mouth and giggled, finding not just the joke but the whole thing funny. Paula cleared her throat and smiled condescendingly. “Your dick is so small, I bet you can make it disappear just by breathing in and out.”

  The whole bar erupted. Several of the guys jumped from their chairs, yelling loudly, laughing, and doing laps around the bar. Dan lifted an eyebrow and shook his head. “I swear, the average IQ in here is room temperature, and it’s cold today.”

  Holly shrugged. “I think it’s fucking hilarious.”

  Midge clenched his teeth and growled, plopping down in his chair. “I won’t say my retort.”

  Paula’s mouth fell open, and she shook her finger as she walked over to him. “Oh, hell no. That is not how this goes. You cannot punk the fuck out like that on me. Just because you are embarrassed for your eenie-weenie tic-tac dick does not mean you can start something and not finish it.”

  Midge sighed and motioned for her to come close. He whispered something in her ear, and everybody tried to hear. Paula stood up and tilted her head to the side. “Well, hot damn! Fuck, I can’t beat that.”


  Everyone pointed at Paula and laughed hysterically. “You got punked by the little man. You owe him a drink.”

  Paula’s face grew red and she narrowed her eyes, tossing her cleaning rag down. She stomped across the bar, pulling a five out of her apron and throwing it toward JB. He chuckled and grabbed the whiskey off the shelf, pouring a shot and handing it to Paula. She stomped back, slamming it down in front of Midge.

  “I lost to a fucking leprechaun. Never in my fucking life have I lost to a fucking leprechaun. I don’t even know what the fuck to say to that,” she grumped, walking away.

  Everybody settled back down and Holly put her arms up, stretching high. “Well, folks, I think I need to be heading back to my place. I have another story to get down on paper, and I’m not sure if this absinthe is going to help me do that or make me pass out. What do I owe you, boss?”

  JB waved his hands at her. “Get out of here. You paid enough today. Will I see you tomorrow?”

  Holly stood up from her stool, feeling slightly wobblier in the knees than she thought she would. She smiled at JB and nodded. “I’m sure you will.”

  She patted Dan on the shoulder as she headed out of the bar, making sure to focus on her steps so she didn’t weave. She opened up the front door and the cool night air hit her in the face. The sun had just gone down, so it wasn’t as cold as it would get out there in the desert quite yet. It was actually the perfect temperature for a careful and easy stroll home.

  As she walked, she smiled at almost every person who passed by. Some of them were taken aback by it, not knowing how to react, so they just stared her down. Others tipped their hats or said hello in a friendly voice. Holly smiled as she headed toward her new place. She stopped for a moment and looked at the sky, holding onto the metal post of a makeshift stop sign. The sky seemed to spin for a moment, but when it stopped, she gasped, realizing that it was the first time she had looked that closely at the stars.

  Instantly Wild Bill came into her mind, and she wondered if that was how the sky had looked when she was lying in the sand the last night she was seen in town. She wondered what she’d thought about. After years of fighting bad guys, being super-secretive, and basically having only one friend, a voice in your helmet, you would think it would be profound. However, as Holly stood there staring at the big open sky, she realized that when you lived a life that stressful and that powerful, when you were lying there on the verge of death, your thoughts were probably pretty simple if you thought about anything at all.

  She smiled, tilting her head back down, nodding at a couple of mercs walking by. She giggled to herself and continued down the block. She was excited that she was heading upstairs to her very own apartment. No more bad hotel coffee, no more scratchy blankets, and a feeling of finally being at home, even if it was only for a little while. That was something she hadn’t felt in a long time, even in New York. She lived there because she loved the city, but she had never felt at home there.

  When she arrived at the Armorer, the garage doors were shut and it was silent. Holly reached forward and jiggled the handle of the door, but it was locked. She sighed and dug in her pocket, pulling out the keys.

  “Black for front door,” she whispered as a guy walked by.

  He lifted his eyebrow, and she shook her head. “No, I... That’s not what I meant. See, my key is black, and this is the front door... Oh, for fuck’s sake, never mind.”

  “Mmhmm.” The guy chuckled as he continued past her.

  She shook her head and opened the door, locking it behind her. One step at a time, she dragged herself up the stairs, narrowing her eyes and sticking her tongue out to try to get the next key out and ready. After a few tries with that door, she got it open and swung it wide, putting her arms in the air. “Home, sweet home.”

  She tossed her keys on the desk and kicked the door shut behind her, then sat down on the end of the bed and bounced for a moment. She stopped and thought to herself, It’s only seven. Where in the world did Amanda go?

  Holly pursed her lips and took out her phone, but then decided to leave her alone. The last thing she probably wanted was her new tenant keeping tabs on where she was at seven o’clock. Holly tapped her fingers on the mattress and looked around the room before staring at her laptop. She knew full well there was no way she would sleep unless she buckled down and got the amazing story of Wild Bill Hickok out of her system. It was probably the best one yet.

  She got up and walked into the bathroom, reaching up and pulling her hair out of its ponytail. She pulled off her boots and shorts and walked over to the closet, opening it. She smiled as she pulled out her favorite college sweatshirt and a pair of baggy sweatpants. It was going to be cold in the desert that night, and she was all alone in her apartment. Fuck it.

  When she was comfy and had brewed herself a hot cup of drip coffee, she sat down at the beautiful old desk. Smiling, she opened her laptop, cracking her fingers in front of her. She put her hand on her chin for a moment and looked at the sky, thinking hard. “Okay, where do I start?”

  She remembered what JB had said when he started to tell the story and put her fingers on the keys. “William Paula Hickok, aka Hickok, Wild Bill, Wild Billie, or just plain Billie. No matter what you called her, she was a badass woman who called the Zoo’s bluff and almost lost…”

  Author Notes - Michael (Todd) Anderle

  January 2, 2019

  THANK YOU for not only reading this story but these Author Notes as well.

  (I think I’ve been good with always opening with “thank you.” If not, I need to edit the other Author Notes!)

  RANDOM (sometimes) THOUGHTS?

  Two thoughts.

  First, I just changed the date (at the top of these Author Notes) and had to change the “2018” in my template, to “2019.”

  I wonder how many times I’ll screw that up here in 2019 before I bother to do the smart thing and change the template?

  Why don’t I go change the template right now, you think? Well, because if I stop and go do that, I’ll forget what I’m writing here in the Author Notes and God knows, in an hour I’ll probably be on artstation.com looking at artists.

  I bounce around like a squirrel on crack in a thunderstorm.

  Somehow, stuff still gets done.

  Ok, so second item: I LOVE WILD BILL!

  I wrote the first couple of paragraphs of this character and sent the notes to Lee Barbant (who helps with the Apocalypse Paused series) and then thought to myself…

  Nope, I’m keeping this character.

  The more I thought about this operative, who is as at home gutting a pig as dancing in a ballroom, the more I had to know about her. The way that we find out more about a character, as writers, is to dream up and write stories about them.

  Then, of course, poor JB is sick… And I’ve come to love JB too much to let him die without a fight.

  But, who is going to fight for him? Well, Holly, of course, but who else?

  The Ghost…

  HOW TO MARKET FOR BOOKS YOU LOVE

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  AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

  One of the interesting (at least to me) aspects of my life is the ability to work from anywhere and at any time. In the future, I hope to re-read my own Author Notes and remember my life as a diary entry.

  I’m presently lying in bed. It’s 5:42 AM in Sydney Australia as I type this. The room is lit only by the glow of my laptop screen.

  Fortunately, Judith has the face-mask from our trip over here to place over her eyes if the light bothers her.

  The bed is comfortable, but I fell asleep at something like 8:30 pm last night. Going west into other time zones isn’t as harsh to me (I’m something like ninete
en hours’ difference from the time zone I am accustomed to living in.)

  Going east? That’s a bitch for me. I’m all messed up and haven’t figured out a way to go to Europe without needing two or three days to get my sleep schedule back.

  West, however, only means I wake up SUPER early (4:00 this time) and then sometime in the middle of the day, I need a nap. At fifty-one years old, I’m kind of taking the nap requirement as a given. Hell, as a young thirty or forty-something, I would take twenty-minute naps after lunches due to the desire to sleep off the carbs.

  I just figure it is a similar situation.

  Then again, if I didn’t drink so much Coke, I probably wouldn’t have sugar crashes. So, perhaps I should think about all of my consumption and not just blame it on age.

 

  Blaming it on age seems so much easier.

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  Ad Aeternitatem,

  Michael Anderle

  Ghost Walking

  Soldiers of Fame and Fortune Book Five

  Chapter One

  Holly ran her hands across the beautifully-etched desktop in her new apartment, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, then coughing. The annoying thing about living above the shop was the constant wafting scents of burning metal and grease, although it was nothing a few candles brought in from New York couldn’t fix.

  She opened her laptop and continued typing the story from the day before, a tale that was too improbable for her to fully wrap her head around. She was actually glad at that moment for her eidetic memory; otherwise, she would have only remembered the dramatic parts. This story had been saved as, No One Remembers but Us: An Unbelievable Badass.