by Michael Todd
“Thanks,” he said, taking the knife from her. “It’s funny—we have a new weapon, and it has brought back a renewal of my spirit. Now I don’t want to fucking hang myself in the shower.”
“That’s good,” Katie said. “We really don’t want to have to clean up a body in our own home. On top of that, I don’t think anyone ever goes in those showers. By the time we found you, you’d be bloated like Elvis on the toilet.”
“You are such a sweet girl.” Korbin chuckled and shook his head.
“I know,” she agreed, shrugging her shoulders. “I’m a doll.”
Korbin smiled as they began to move forward toward the doors. He held the knife up in front of him and it shimmered in the lights.
He looked at Katie, and Katie looked back at him.
“You better give me a good fucking building, boss,” she said. “I don’t want no bullshit broom closet.”
“I’ll give you my fucking personal quarters if this shit works.” He chuckled. “Here we go.”
Korbin turned and nodded at the team, then took a strong stance before pulling open the doors. Without hesitation the team moved forward into the room, slicing and stabbing their blades into flesh and firing their guns into the crowd of demons and Damned.
Korbin’s knife slid seamlessly through the smaller demons and their shrieks echoed through the room. It never got dull, and every cut was more accurate than the last.
Korbin looked around and nodded his head as the others finished up the hordes of Damned and demons. When he turned to the left he didn’t watch his corners, and slammed right into something hard and warm. He fell backward on his ass and shook his head, then looked up at the twelve-foot-tall demon in front of him, who was staring down at him with deep-red eyes and sharp teeth.
“Fuck!” Korbin yelled, digging his heels into the floor and scooting backward as fast as he could.
“I got you, boss,” Jeremy called, pointing his automatic weapon and emptying every last bullet into the beast’s chest.
When he was done he reached down and helped Korbin to his feet, watching in awe as the beast in front of them continued to attack and snarl as if the bullets in his chest were nothing more than bee stings.
The rest of the team finished off the minor demons and ran up behind the two of them. Eric threw his three knives as hard as he could into the demon’s gut as he reached them, then slowed down to stand by Jeremy.
“It didn’t even flinch,” the medic whispered.
Calvin stepped up with his machine gun, holding it strongly at his waist. Korbin nodded at him as he took aim and smiled.
“Take this, you ugly motherfucker!” Calvin yelled, spraying bullets at the demon.
When all was said and done, the twelve-foot-tall red-eyed demon had three normal knives in its gut and over fifty gunshot wounds from its neck to its feet. Blood oozed down the demon’s body, but his face didn’t change, nor did he flinch or groan at the wounds.
Korbin turned to Katie.
“I’m gonna use the new knife, but if it doesn’t kill it, you guys come at it with everything else you got,” he said. “Understand?”
“Got it, boss,” Katie answered, still staring at the huge sonofabitch and not really processing everything Korbin had said.
Korbin stepped forward, cracking his neck and snarling up at the beast. He ran toward the creature, then ducked as it swung its huge arm at him. He slid on his heels to its body and plunging the knife into its belly.
The beast screamed as it doubled over and grabbed its belly. The new knife didn’t kill it, but it definitely shocked the hell out of it. It was now in so much pain that the team was able to come at it with their guns.
The bullets still didn’t finish it, though, and Katie turned to Calvin, waving her arms in the air.
“I know the problem,” she yelled. “Its skin—it’s so thick that the bullets aren’t hitting anything major. Cover me?”
Calvin nodded and reloaded. Katie pulled a knife from her vest and tossed it to Jeremy, who looked at the beast and back at Katie and nodded. Katie pulled a small sword from her back and breathed deeply, then nodded at Jeremy.
The two of them took off at the same time, jumping over debris and dodging the beast’s attempts to grab them. They completely ignored the spray of bullets keeping the demon focused until they reached it.
Jeremy slid across the floor on his knees and sliced the demon’s hamstrings. The beast screamed and fell forward onto its knees.
All right, Pandora, give me some bounce, Katie whispered.
You got it, she growled.
Katie ran toward the wall as fast as she could and leapt over old piled-up medical equipment to angle off it. As soon as her feet hit the wall she arced upward, stepped lightly onto an exposed crossbeam, and dropped back down to land on the beast’s shoulders. She grabbed the top of the demon’s head with one hand and screamed as she sliced deep and hard into his neck with her new sword.
Blood and gore drenched her arm.
As the creature fell she jumped to the left and landed on the floor, looking back just in time to see the demon burst into a cloud of dust.
Korbin walked over to her and nodded.
“You can have whatever fucking building you want,” he told her, clutching his knife.
Katie smiled as she sheathed the sword on her back.
Chapter Thirteen
There was a dull feeling to the room, something in the air that quieted everyone on the team.
They carefully picked their way over broken parts, dead bodies, and interestingly enough to Katie, a beheaded Barbie doll.
She had expected a comment from Pandora about the large breasts on the doll, but the demon must not have been paying attention.
The sun seeping through the dust-coated windows created a washed-out eerie effect, something Korbin was all too familiar with. He checked to make sure his pistols were loaded and nodded at Calvin, who encouraged his teammates to do the same.
Korbin looked to his right and then to his left to count his soldiers, confirming that everyone was accounted for. They were standing steady and firm amid the piles of dust and bleeding bodies.
“May God have mercy on their souls.” Damian closed the eyes of the person he was kneeling next to before standing up, and Derek patting him on the shoulder as he walked by.
During the battle all they had registered was the anger and chaos. Now, afterward, when the demons were gone and the remains of their human hosts laid still in the aftermath, a feeling clawed its way into their minds, one that only a human could understand. They almost preferred killing demons who had completely taken over their hosts, because they turned to dust, leaving no bodies for the cleanup crew—and no nightmares for them.
Water dripped down the old walls of the hospital, and the pitter-pattering of the droplets was the only sound left—no more gunfire or inhuman screeches coming out of human mouths or cursing from every direction.
The echoes of the team’s battle cries had faded, but they lingered like ghosts from the past and haunted their steps.
Katie grasped her new blades with weariness on her face. She had become what Korbin had felt she would—the team’s anchor—and it was her strength that would carry them through what was to come.
Or so he suspected.
“I can’t believe in all that I didn’t have the opportunity to become infected,” Eric said, shoving his knife into the sheath on his belt. “Everyone else wanders into it, and I can’t beg for it to be done.” He kicked a piece of board, which rebounded off a wall ten feet away.
“Don’t pretend it is Christmas day every time there is a job,” Katie retorted. “And besides, this wasn’t the place for you,” she tried to explain, damping down her own annoyance. “Most of these demons were insignificant useless bitches.”
She looked at the area where the last demon had fallen. “The big ones? Well, they would have been too much for your body to handle anyway. They would have overcome your soul in a heartbeat
.” She lowered her voice. “I know where your head is, but you need to take a deep breath and wait for it. If you go running in full blast, you will end up useless to us and to the innocents you are so hell-bent on protecting.”
He flung an arm out. “As a human, it’s only a matter of time until I become useless to them anyway.” Eric scoffed. “This body can’t do what you Damned can, and I need that boost to get me through the tougher times. I can’t imagine what it was like at the last battle you guys had.”
Katie’s lips pressed together in annoyance. “It didn’t matter what you had in you then,” she snapped. “We lost a really strong Damned that day, so don’t overestimate our abilities.”
Damian listened to Katie speaking to Eric.
The medic had pressed a button in her with the battle comment, but she had taken it with grace and dignity as he had hoped she would. He turned and stared at Korbin, who was also watching Katie with his eyes narrowed.
Korbin looked at Damian, who answered his inquisitive look with a smile. Korbin shook his head, not knowing how to feel about a team member wanting to be Damned.
It wasn’t his choice to make, but it seemed like a waste of a life—and it definitely wouldn’t be smiled upon by the higher-ups. He understood the reasoning, but he still didn’t like it.
Damian didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with what Katie was saying, so Korbin figured it was all part of what Damian had told him—or not told him—earlier.
The doors behind the teams swung open and banged against the decaying walls. The tactical police force quickly swept into the room and surrounded the team with their guns raised. Korbin put his hand up to his team, signaling them to lower their own weapons. Korbin pulled out a small wallet and flipped it open, looking at the DEA agent who had just entered the room.
“Looks like a big one.” She looked around as she walked to Korbin, stepping over a body. She confirmed what was on his card and nodded, letting him know he could put up his wallet away.
“It definitely wasn’t small,” Korbin agreed, sliding his wallet back in his pocket.
“Thank you,” the DEA agent said, shaking Korbin’s hand and turning to the cops. “Weapons down.” She twirled her finger in the air. “Start a scene assessment and get a clean-up crew in here.”
She patted Korbin on the shoulder and nodded to the others as the team walked toward the door, their eyes tired and their bodies dragging. The team lead for the local police walked up to the DEA agent and stood watching as Korbin’s Killers made their way out the doors.
“They look like a bunch of killers,” he grunted to the agent.
She chuckled. “Yeah, but they’re our killers, so be happy. There isn’t a single person in this room who could have handled what they walked into today. You should be thankful you don’t have this stain on your memory.”
“I don’t understand.” The cop eyed the destruction.
“You don’t need to.” She sighed. “Just think of them as your guardian angels.”
The officer looked at her strangely, but turned and walked away. The DEA agent was one of the few who knew about Korbin’s Killers and the other teams across the country.
The cops didn’t know, and had no idea why they should let those seven people just walk right out of a mass murder scene like that. It had been her call, though, and they would just have to do their best to clean up the mess.
It created animosity, but the cops weren’t even sure who to be upset with.
In the end they would understand, and even come to appreciate the work Korbin and his team did.
For this moment, though, the teams would continue to walk in the shadows, receiving no accolades for their service—just struggling to stay hidden from the world they had left behind.
It wasn’t a life just anyone could tolerate, or a life really any normal person would want to have, but whether they were there out of necessity or by force, Korbin’s Killers had made the best of it.
The next day, rumors said those who had been at the battle were “D squad.”
Whoever the fuck that was.
Katie stared out of the window of the plane as they lifted off and climbed into the sky.
It was always a comfort to Katie when the plane took off. It meant for that little bit of time, while they soared through the clouds, Katie could relax, lean back, and stare out at the world below her.
She had grown to understand the world around her in a different way since being Damned, and though hard to comprehend at times, it created in her an even fonder feeling toward it—at least from the safety of her airplane seat.
When the plane had reached cruising altitude, some of the team leaned back to relax while others threw on their headsets and destressed to the classical music Korbin had playing on the in-cabin radio. Katie was about to grab her headphones when Korbin walked up and looked down at her with his normal serious face.
“May I sit?” he asked, glancing at the empty seat across the narrow aisle.
“Of course,” she said, watching him take a seat and lean back in the chair. “What’s up, boss?”
Korbin looked at her. “I guess I am just curious as to what possessed you to purchase that company.”
“I don’t know.” Katie sighed. “When I was in school I figured I would eventually get an MBA and go into business, maybe run my own company. When I saw how amazing his stuff was I figured it was my chance, and the product would actually mean something.”
Yeah, painful fucking jabs in the ribs, Pandora growled.
“So I just went for it,” Katie said, ignoring Pandora.
You are going to be all for it until someone stabs us with one of those damn swords, Pandora growled. And I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if it was your bestie Korbin. He looks like he’d love to put a knife right in your gut.
Don’t be ridiculous, Katie snapped. He is the leader of this team and the only reason you and I have a nice warm bed to sleep in and enough money to buy fancy hand-sewn Italian bras, and are part of something bigger than ourselves. If you don’t like me finding ways to make my job better and more effective to the outside world, then just stay quiet.
Bitch, Pandora griped. Where are my damned soaps?
“Well, this is no normal company, Katie,” Korbin replied, lifting his new knife from the sheath on his chest and letting it drop back in. “This is something the everyday person wouldn’t understand. You are going to need some help, and I mean legal help, with this stuff.”
“Who is going to be coming after it?” Katie’s eyes narrowed and a confused look came over her face. “The other teams?”
He shook his head. “No. They will definitely want in on some of the action, but the government isn’t going to want to pay for it,” Korbin told her. “The government doesn’t like paying for weapons, so they usually either figure out how to make the weapons themselves and give juicy contracts to large defense contractors, or they take the company right out from underneath the owner.”
“What?” Katie sat up. “How can they do that?”
“What could you do if they did?” Korbin chuckled. “Run around yelling about how the government stole your magic sword company? That is how the guy on the corner with the God sign is made.” He looked at her seriously. “They would tear you apart and leave you in the gutter, if they didn’t kill you first. Sure they have your back when you are doing them a service, but when you are done?” He shook his head. “That’s it.”
“So what are we talking here?” Katie asked. “A really good underground legal team? I mean, are there legal teams who work with magic swords and demons?”
“There are,” Korbin said, nodding. “Just like the DEA, we have friends in all kinds of different places, including some not attached to the government for our own safety. But at a minimum, I would start out by playing defense and hiding the shit out of the company.” He scratched his chin. “While we can keep the tech to our team for now, first time we do a multi-team operation,” he tossed a hand u
p, “the cat’s out of the bag.”
“Great.” Katie sighed, leaning back in her chair. “I buy my first company, and it’s going to become the weaponry railroad.” She thought about options for a moment. “Is there anywhere on the base that would be good to hide it?”
He nodded. “We will have to pull the blueprints when we get back. I’m sure there is somewhere we can accomplish what we need to do,” Korbin answered. “Until then, though, we have to keep these on the down-low. We can’t go flashing them around, not even to the other teams. If they find out we have something like this and aren’t sharing, they might go to the higher-ups and report it.”
“We will have to secure them in a different place than our team weaponry room,” Katie said.
“Agreed,” Korbin replied. “Maybe some sort of hidden chamber, so that we don’t have to travel far when a call comes in.”
She eyed him for a moment. “Why are you helping me with this, Korbin?” Katie asked, turning toward him. “I’ve gotten the impression—especially lately—that you don’t trust me. I mean, it didn’t take a genius to figure out your little test at the office.”
Korbin grunted and sighed as he looked her in the eye. “I’m a natural pessimist, Katie,” he explained. “Anytime I don’t understand something—well, I usually don’t like it. I have known since the first day we picked you up that there was something different about you; different from any Damned I had ever met. I thought I would eventually figure it out, but I haven’t yet. Damian, on the other hand, acts like he has a very good grasp on what it is, but he won’t tell me.”
“It was accidental,” Katie admitted. “I didn’t even realize I was different until our first battle.”
“Well, whatever it is, I am sure that one day I’ll know the answer.” He opened a water bottle he had been carrying. “And when I do, there is a good chance I will have to make some sort of hard-ass decision.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Katie said. “But if anyone can make a decision like that, it’s you. You care about the world and the people in it, and your decision would be based on that. Not personal feelings.”
