Katie’s War

by Michael Todd

  Juntto smashed his fist in his palm. “And when the sun rises, its light gleaming off our blood-spattered cheeks, we will feel the glory of a war no man should have survived. We will stand in the spotlight of all these fucking nerds, and we will reign as champions. There will be no stopping until we have broken the backs of those standing in the main arena, thinking no one could be as good as them. You have to become the warrior, see through his eyes, beat the living fuck out of Roshan at every chance. Get there before the other team does.”

  Juntto shook his head, looking around him. “We are not the weak ones here. They are. We should walk with our chests out and our shoulders strong. We are the team that will show this arena what DOTA 2 was really meant for. We will teabag our enemies and grind our balls into their faces.”

  Angie cleared her throat loudly. “Okay. That was a great speech, Juntto. We’re all pumped.”

  One of the kids stood with his eyes wide. “And slightly terrified.”

  Juntto shook his head. “All I’m saying is, we’re the warriors who will take these teams down. And we will wear the victory on our faces.”

  The three guys looked at each other and started cheering. Angie chuckled and shook her head, just glad no one had shit their pants. Juntto had a weird way of scaring the bowel movements right out of people. She slapped him on the shoulder. “Good speech, although I don’t know if the world needs a bunch of teenage Junttos running around.”

  Juntto smirked at her. “The world always needs that.”

  11

  Greg Chaps, who was a high school history teacher, stood at the window of his classroom as the last of the students ran out to the curb, climbing intto his parents’ car. There were no after-school activities that day. It was finally Christmas break. He smiled, watching the car drive off.

  “Mr. Chaps?” an older woman asked from behind him.

  He turned around, smiling at the principal. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She smiled back kindly. “We’re all heading out. I think you and Ms. Wentworth are the only ones left. Are you leaving soon, or are you going to do some work?”

  Greg glanced down at his desk. “I’m going to do some work. I’ll lock up and set the alarm when I’m done.”

  She grinned. “Very good. Have a nice holiday. We’ll see you after the break.”

  Greg nodded. “You too! Merry Christmas.”

  He stood there with his hands in his pockets, watching until she disappeared around the corner. He gave it a couple of seconds and then walked to the doorway, peeking around the corner. The principal and the remaining teachers headed out the front door, laughing and giggling in their terribly ugly Christmas sweaters. When the door had latched behind them, he rubbed his hands together and hurried over to the desk. He slid open the bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle of vodka and two glasses.

  Carefully, he poured two drinks, then added more to each. He twisted the top back on the bottle and locked it back in the bottom drawer. He straightened his sweater vest and pushed his hair out of his face. Clearing his throat, he picked up both glasses and walked out of the room and across the hall to Ms. Wentworth’s room. He stepped in and stopped, lifting his eyebrows. There she was, in a red skirt, white blouse, and heels, on her tiptoes erasing the remainder of the problems from her whiteboard.

  He waited until she was done and cleared his throat. She quickly turned around and giggled. “Oh, Greg, you scared me.”

  He chuckled. “Didn’t mean to do that. I came over to see if you would like a drink.”

  She looked toward the door. Greg shook his head. “They’re all gone. I told them I would close up.”

  She smiled and walked over, taking a glass from his hand. “If that’s the case, then yes, I would love a drink.”

  She scooted back, sitting on the edge of her desk, and he stood in front of her. Nervously, he looked around the classroom at all the posters she had put up. “This is a nice way to decorate. Very motivational.”

  As if she had switched gears, the math teacher stared right at him, crossing her legs. “You know what else is motivational?”

  Greg’s eyes shifted back to her. She reached up and began to unbutton her blouse, and he swallowed hard. “What’s that?”

  She unbuttoned another button. “That we have found ourselves all alone again in this big school. I think a rerun of last time would be perfect.”

  He stepped toward her and grinned. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

  Just then, there was strange scratching followed by a loud screech that echoed down the hall outside the classroom. Both teachers looked at the door, narrowing their eyes. The math teacher clutched her blouse closed and grabbed his sweater vest. “What the hell was that?”

  Greg shook his head. “I have no idea. It sounded like a dying cow.”

  They slowly crept toward the door, stopping and peeking around it. Down at the end of the hall, the air wavered like a heat wave on pavement. They waited for something to happen, and suddenly, a rift tore open, blasting hot air right at them. Their hair blew back, and her shirt whipped open.

  She screamed as snarling demons began jumping from the portal and running wildly down the hallways. Greg grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into the room, slamming the door. He looked around for a way to block the door, but there was nothing besides furniture. The school rooms didn’t lock from the inside. That would be a student’s dream.

  He ran up to her desk. “Help me push this in front of the door. We’ll barricade ourselves in.”

  Shaking, the math teacher ran over and stood next to him, ready to push. Another loud crack rang out, making her jump into Greg’s arms. A portal opened in the classroom and they held their breath, waiting for something to come through. Katie and Pandora, wearing their angel armor, emerged from the portal. They looked at the teachers and Katie nodded, turning her head toward the sounds of the demons in the corridor.

  She ran toward the door. Pandora sauntered across the room, staring at the teachers with a smirk. “You guys were going to bang on the desk just now, right?”

  Katie growled. “Pandora!”

  Pandora winked at the teachers. “Right, I have to do some work, but maybe we can hang out when I get back.”

  The general paced his office floor, his hands behind his back and his mind racing. There were many things going on, and he hadn’t left the base in four days. He was starting to wonder if he would ever get back to his house and have a few minutes to himself. He had given up on trying to leave because every time he did, something would happen and he would be drawn right back in.

  As soon as the thought went through his mind, the phone rang. He had let his secretary go home for the night and was fielding the calls himself. He hurried over to the phone and picked it up. “This is General Brushwood.”

  The voice on the other end let out a deep sigh. “Oh good, you’re still here. This is Rogers in tracking. We were afraid we would have to send someone to your house.”

  The general sat down. Sending someone to his house was never a good sign. “No, I’m here. What’s going on?”

  The guy shuffled through some papers. “We’re sending the info to your system now, but there are multiple incursions happening.”

  The general clicked on his screen and looked at the bright red circles forming everywhere. “Jesus. I’ll get someone right on it.”

  Rogers called before he could hang up, “Sir, we have other information as well.”

  The general tapped his fingers on the desk. “Yes? What is it? Spit it out. Time is of the essence.”

  Rogers swallowed hard. “We’ve been informed that Katie has shown up all over the country. She is taking care of all of them. We’re not sure how she is getting to these places so fast, but we can only assume it’s some sort of rift. Even she can’t fly that quickly.”

  The general thought about it for a second. “All right, good. I want to be informed if anything changes. Send someone to my office with updates every twenty to thirty m
inutes, and call if there is a sudden change. I’ll get in touch with Juntto and put him on standby, just in case we need to send him in as backup. You know the drill.”

  “Yes, sir,” Rogers replied.

  The general hung up the phone and rubbed his face, looking up at the screen. He narrowed his eyes, thinking about what he had just been told about Katie. She wasn’t that fast, and there was no way she was going through hell that many times. “What are you up to, young lady?”

  He might never know, but all he cared about at that point was getting the incursions under control. If he sent in the military, Katie might back off, and she did the bulk of the work when it came to those things. He wished she would just continue working with him. It would make the guesswork a little easier to swallow.

  His phone rang again.

  The general groaned and picked it up without looking at the caller ID. “General Brushwood here. Don’t tell me things have changed already.”

  A familiar voice came over the phone. “Things these days seem to change by the second.”

  The general sat up in his chair. “Captain Leveau. I apologize. I thought you were the control room. What can I do for you?”

  The captain spoke with a French accent and without much emotion. “The World Council has gotten word that there are multiple incursions going on all over the world. We wanted to find out how this was being handled.”

  The general shut his eyes, knowing they would not like the answer. “I have been informed that Katie has appeared all over, putting out fires. I have both the United States military and our other team ready to go in at a moment’s notice. Things are being handled, though.”

  Leveau cleared his throat. “We all know how the council feels about Katie. We don’t trust that she will comprehensively and efficiently take care of the infestation without prejudice. She does in fact have a demon inside her that she works very closely with.”

  The general tightened his fist. “Katie has never given any of you a reason to believe she would betray this country or the rest of the human race. And by making the assumption that she is, you are ultimately saying that I am involved. Be careful where you tread, Captain.”

  Leveau took a deep breath. “We are simply trying to come up with the best and most efficient way to handle the problem without causing too many deaths and too much property damage.”

  The general shook his head. “Right now, property damage is the least of my worries. Seeing these incursions end swiftly is the most important thing, and Katie has a track record of making that happen.”

  Leveau kept his voice flat. “She has also been known to cost lives. That is why I am calling at the request of the council. We were hoping that you would have put the DDF on notice as well.”

  The general wrinkled his forehead. “I’m sorry, but the what?”

  Leveau paused, acting as though he was surprised the general didn’t know. “The DDF. The Demonic Defense Force, of course.”

  The general slowly leaned forward. “I have absolutely no idea what that is. This is the first time I have heard that name.”

  The captain’s voice changed, nervous now. “The World Council authorized the DDF to work all over the world, including in the US.”

  The general stood up quickly. “They do not have the authorization to make choices for this country without my express consent. I was not given any information on this new team, nor was I part of the vote. This is absolutely preposterous. I want every bit of information you have on this Demonic Defense Force, and I want it right now.”

  Katie grunted as she pushed the cafeteria doors closed and turned around, staring at a large group of demons. Katie and Pandora had managed to trap a bunch of demons in the school cafeteria. Luckily, the only two people left in the building at the time were the two teachers in the classroom they had portaled into.

  Pandora looked at Katie and put her hands on her hips. “Okay, honey, you ready for this?”

  Katie breathed deeply. “Yeah, I think so. Are you?”

  Pandora laughed. “Not yet. My ass is taking cover. I don’t need you turning me to ash. I’ll be behind the line.”

  Katie nodded, watching Pandora skip happily across the floor to the lunch line. She put one hand on the counter and jumped over, ducking behind the counter. Before Katie could start, Pandora popped back up with a hairnet on her head and a spoon in her hand. “Watch out, bitches. The lunch lady has something hot for you today.”

  She slowly lowered herself back down until she was out of sight. Katie stared at the counter. “Now are you ready?”

  The spoon came flying over and bounced across the floor. Pandora stuck her thumb in the air. “Fire away. Hehe, get it? Fire. Yeah, I’m ready.”

  Katie chuckled, shaking her head. She didn’t want to do this whole thing. It exhausted her, and if it didn’t work, she would have to rely on Pandora not only to keep her safe while she was out of Katie’s body but to destroy the rest of the demons. She trusted Pandora, but this was a nerve-wracking decision. She shook her head, knowing it didn’t matter. She needed to know if she could do it.

  She shut her eyes and pulled the energy from her wings into her chest. The heat was building inside of her, and light began to glow from her face and fingertips. She opened her eyes and looked upward, bright light streaming from her swirling blue eyes. She clenched her fists and pushed her breath out hard, sending the heat with it. A shockwave of blue fire erupted from her chest and blazed across the cafeteria floor. It happened so fast that the demons couldn’t even begin to run. When it engulfed them, they screeched, sending echoes of demon death through the entire school.

  Katie dropped her shoulders and coughed, waving her hand in front of her face to clear the smoke. When she looked across the cafeteria, all she found were giant piles of dust. She had managed to kill every single one of them with a single blast of her fire.

  She walked forward, stepping around the piles and looking up and around to make sure none of them had gotten away. “Pandora? Are you okay back there?”

  She stepped toward the lunch counter, then stopped, not hearing so much as a breath. Katie looked back and forth. “Pandora?”

  Fear shot through her stomach at the thought that in the midst of practicing to kill demons, she had killed hers. She walked to the counter and began to lean over it, afraid of what she would find. Suddenly, Pandora jumped up from behind the counter, slapping a whisk against the metal surface. “Scared you, didn’t I? You thought you smoked me, but I’m not that easy to get rid of.”

  Katie grabbed the hairnet and Pandora put her hand on her head. “Hey, now I’m in violation of food safety regulations. No extra helping of mystery fucking meatloaf for you, young lady.”

  Katie shook her head and put her hand on the counter. Pandora put the whisk down and walked around to Katie’s side. “How ya feeling?”

  Katie shrugged. “Tired, but not dying.”

  Pandora nodded. “You’re still on your feet, which is a big step above last time. And damn, you kicked ass. You killed every last one of them. Definitely keep that in your pocket. Maybe we can practice again another day. You might be able to do it without it draining you.”

  Katie yawned. “Mmhmm. Another day.”

  Pandora put her arm around Katie’s shoulders as they walked toward the doors. “Let’s go find those teachers and see if all the horror didn’t drive them right into lustful groping and fondling in the math room. We could join in and finish this day out with a little rodeo.”

  Katie rolled her eyes. “No, thank you. I just want to go home. Leave those two be. They’re probably shitting themselves right now.”

  Pandora wrinkled her nose. “That’s disgusting. I mean, some people are into that. I’ve seen Two Girls One Cup, but it’s not my thing.”

  Katie stared at Pandora. “Please do not make me puke in the lunchroom.”

  Pandora giggled. “Fine, party pooper. See what I did there? Let’s go home.”

  Katie tried to concentrate, but she w
as so tired. “I don’t think I can open a portal by myself. I’m too weak. I’m going to need your assistance.”

  Pandora put out her arms and cracked her knuckles. “I’m here, lady. Take my hand.”

  Katie looked down, realizing Pandora was wearing rubber gloves. Pandora laughed. “Ha! Sorry about that. I was just exploring.”

  She took the gloves off with a snap and tossed them over her shoulder, then took Katie’s hand. They both concentrated hard and opened a portal. It wavered for a moment, then steadied itself.

  Pandora looked at Katie and raised an eyebrow. “Careful, now. Don’t shut this thing on me.”

  Katie frowned. “Come on, let’s see what dimension this thing sends us to this time.”

  Katie stepped through, and Pandora followed her. “Maybe it’ll be a dimension of math and history teacher porn. I might just have you leave me here if that’s the case.”

  Pandora had one leg in and one leg out of the portal. Had there been anyone in the cafeteria, they would have seen Katie reach back through, grab Pandora by the front of her shirt, and yank her in. The portal slammed shut behind them.

  12

  Wilson and his team sat around the hotel room, their gear out in front of them. The men were chatting quietly, but they didn’t talk about the fight at all. To them, when a job was over, it was over, and it was best to forget it had ever happened. The so-called battle at the IA meeting had been more like a massacre, but to them, it was a clean and easy ending to that specific mission. They liked clean and easy endings. They had one more day to fight and one less mission to die on.

  Wilson hoisted himself out of the chair in the corner and walked between the team and their belongings. He held his hands behind his back, looking at the supply of ammo. “I want each of you to do an ammo call out. I know you don’t use guns, but you carry the ammo for Red and me, and we want to make sure that if there comes a time where you need to use your weapons, we know exactly how much we have.”