by Michael Todd
The general grumbled. “But what could she be doing that is so important she can’t take a phone call? It’s not the middle of the night. We know she isn’t on a hot date, so she should be able to pick up the phone. Even if she can’t tell me what she is doing.”
Angie grabbed the coffeepot and poured herself a cup. “Right, and the government isn’t known for tracking phones without legal permission. Look, she’s focused, and doesn’t want to be found at the moment. To be honest with you, I can completely understand that. Sometimes, I’m so focused that I don’t want to be found. That happens more times than not these days. It’s a wild ride that all of us are going through, and we have to respect her need for privacy even if it inconveniences us.”
The general was not a happy man. “I’m sorry, Angie, but I just don’t agree with you.”
Angie slammed her cup down, splashing coffee everywhere. “I’ll make this very simple for you, General. You know as well as I do that Katie is not someone who can be ordered around. I hear her tell her own demon to go fuck herself more often than I’d like to admit. She’s not going to start taking orders from other people. That’s the whole reason she’s a merc and not a member of the armed forces. She is your equal, and it would behoove you to remember that. Frankly, I would suggest that anyone who thinks they can bark orders check their idiocy at the door. In this house, we won’t stand for it.”
The general snapped, “I don’t order Katie around. I simply do what we’ve always done. I make her aware of the job, and she takes care of it. I can’t very well fulfill my end of the deal when I’m constantly chasing her down. How can I do my job if I can’t get on the phone and tell her a portal opened near Korbin? This is ludicrous.”
Angie normally had complete control over her emotions. She’d been in an abusive relationship long enough to know what happened when someone lost control. A blowup like that hurt people both mentally and physically, and she didn’t want to be the cause of angst. But Juntto was in a butcher’s freezer, and his clothes were sitting on the table. And this entitled man had made her spill her coffee.
Angie took a deep breath and exploded. “I think every single one of you puts too much pressure on this woman. Before she was Damned, she was a regular person. She played volleyball, tutored kids, and went out for beer. She dreamed of a normal future and all that entailed. She was thrust into this life, and now the weight of the world rests on her shoulders. I think you need to take a step back and really think about what you’re doing to her. Give the woman a fucking second to do what she needs to do. We’re all gone in the blink of an eye, and even when we aren’t, even when we’re stuck in a freezer asleep, tomorrow’s still a fucking mystery. There are no fucking promises in life. There are no sure bets, and sometimes people don’t answer their fucking phones. Deal with it.”
The general fell silent, picking up on the freezer reference. He wasn’t aware that Angie was so invested in Juntto, but her outburst and the whole tone of the conversation now made sense to him. He cleared his throat and spoke softly. “We should both calm down. I know this war is weighing heavily on all of us, including Katie. And you.”
Angie wiped fresh tears from her cheeks. The general was right. “I’m sorry, General.”
The general understood. “The truth of the matter is you’re as tired as the rest of us, and your heart aches. War is hell, that’s for damn sure.”
Angie chuckled through the tears. “Yes, General. War is definitely hell. No one gets out of it without some sort of blemish on their soul.”
He took a deep breath. “Will you just do me a favor? As soon as you have contact with Katie, let her know there’s an emergency situation. Have her get in touch with either Korbin or me.”
Angie nodded. “Of course. I’ll do my best to contact her. I know she would want to know if something was going on with her team. If there’s anything I can do in the meantime, just call me.”
The general’s voice dropped an octave. “The best that we can do right now is pray, Angie. We need to pray that things begin to get better. If they don’t, our forces working on defeating the enemy may all fail in a spectacular show of lava, demon balls, and fallen angels. Personally, I don’t want to see that occur.”
Angie wrinkled her nose. “Especially the demon balls part. I don’t think that’s something that was in the training manual for this job. Had it been, I might have rethought taking the position.”
The general laughed. “You’re good at what you do. Don’t stop, because you’re part of what makes us successful. I have to go to a meeting, but I’ll have my phone on me.”
Angie nodded. “I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
They hung up, and Angie set Katie’s phone on the table. The screensaver came on and Angie smiled, seeing a hilarious photo of the two of them on the screen. They’d made superhero masks out of sheets and dressed up one night when they’d had too much wine and watched too much Batman. They’d ended up taking a flight across the city with Angie on Katie’s back. The next day, there were photos in the paper of them flying around with black sheet-masks tied on and capes fluttering in the wind. It was both funny and absolutely mortifying at the same time.
Angie needed to follow her own advice and not put so much pressure on Katie, especially when it came to Juntto. She wanted him back more than anything. Having him just down the street but cold and incapacitated made things almost torturous for her. Still, it wasn’t Katie’s role to be his savior. Hopefully, she would figure it out, but she had to try to be helpful as well.
She grabbed her coffee and the pile of Juntto’s clothes and headed to his apartment. She plopped them on top of his laptop and began to fold them. Life had to go on, no matter how badly she wanted it to stand still for her grief. Besides, if Juntto knew how she was acting, he would throw cheese-poof dust over her and swear in six different languages. He would do all that while standing naked in the living room. He would constantly be shifting from one character to another, swinging his dick around. He had gotten bad about that.
Angie’s cheeks reddened and she laughed to herself, her giggles increasing in volume. She sat down in the chair and put her head back, laughing hysterically as she thought about him ranting as Arnie or Van Damme or Morpheus. It felt damn good to laugh, and she hoped it would continue, no matter what happened with Katie. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out to see Timothy’s name on the screen. “This is Angie. I’m alone, depressed, and laughing to myself like a crazy woman. Please leave a message.”
Timothy hissed. “Girl, do you know how many times a day I do that? If I’m crazy and you’re crazy, we’ll just go get some of the good pills and sit in a room together. We’ll leave all this bullshit to the pros.”
Angie smirked. “Right? When this is all over, you and I have got to take a vacation. We’ll try shopping, drinking, drinking, and drinking.”
“Mmmhmm, that’s what I’m saying.”
Angie tilted her head, smiling. “What’s up? I heard you’re having problems over there.”
Timothy waved it off. “Nothing we can’t handle. I called because the general texted me and had the same concerns about you. Figured I would call and see how your lonely broken heart is doing since you’re still lusting after the Iceman.”
Angie looked down at Juntto’s shirt. “Oh, you know—just planning out our future in an igloo with tiny, or not so tiny, frozen children pounding things with swords.”
Timothy cooed. “Aw, what a sweet little frosty Viking family you’ll have.”
“I always wanted scaly children.”
“But first, we have to unthaw your boyfriend. He would be an incredibly boring lay right now.”
Chapter Six
“I need six cases of ammo, but I want them to be stacked in the basement for now,” Korbin yelled to two of the girls from the armory. “We can’t have them out in the open. We don’t know what’ll happen or how fast it’ll occur.”
They gave him a thumbs-up and ran back to
the armory. Stephanie walked up next to Korbin and put her hands on her hips. “It’s insane how different these girls are now compared to when they worked for me. They were a crew of fragile little dolls before, and now they’re a brigade of GI Janes running the fucking show. That’s what I’m talking about.”
Korbin put his arm around Stephanie. “There’s that feminist spark I’ve been missing. I was starting to wonder if all the gardening and meal-making had twisted your mind.”
Stephanie pointed at him. “Let me just explain to you the root of feminism. None of this new-age man-hater bullshit; it means that as a woman I can do anything I damn well please without judgment or control, penis or no penis.”
“No penis. I’ve checked you out.”
“Shut up. If I want to be a gardener and housewife, I’m empowered to do so. If I want to run out into a sea of demons and rip their ‘nads from their bodies before slicing them in two, I’m empowered to do that, too.”
Korbin put up his hand and gave her a high-five. “Yaaass, queen.”
Stephanie laughed. “You sound like Timothy.”
Korbin shrugged. “Hey, sometimes you just got to embrace the other side of things.”
Stephanie smoothed the wrinkles in his shirt. “Before we know it, you’re going to be shopping with us. Turn into a real diva.”
Korbin gave her a side-glance. “I doubt that. I guess it all depends on whether we survive whatever the hell is coming for us. I feel it, Steph. I feel a surge of demons like I’ve never felt before. Something dark is brewing out there, and we’re undoubtedly the targets.”
Stephanie looked at the sky, which was starting to grow dark with cloud cover. “How’s the build-out coming along?”
Korbin looked around. “It seems to be going okay. Everyone’s busting their asses. Even if they hit us tonight, we’ll be better fortified than we were yesterday. Every extra minute we get to prepare is something else crossed off our checklist.”
Stephanie kissed him on the cheek. “Then let’s not waste it. I’ll get back to work. You make sure you’re stopping to eat, okay? It won’t help much if you’re weak when this thing comes to a head. Without Katie around, we’re going to need all the strength we can get.”
Korbin nodded and watched Stephanie walk back toward the main building. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out. “This is Korbin.”
The general’s voice was tired. “Hey, Korbin. How are things coming along over there? I know you guys are monitoring portals, but please know we are keeping an eye on things, too. The platoon I sent should be there soon, and they have some serious weaponry.”
Korbin squinted at the sun, which was beginning to take a dive toward the horizon. “We’re better than we were but not as good as we’ll be in another few hours. Just taking things one step at a time, you know? We knew this was a possibility from the beginning. Luckily we’ve been training for it.”
The general sighed. “Good, I’m glad to hear it. I spoke to Katie’s assistant, Angie. She said Katie was off doing something important and that she had left her phone at the condo. Apparently, whatever it is will be keeping her out of contact with us for the foreseeable future. I’m not too thrilled about that, but as Angie pointed out, I’m not her boss. I have to learn she’s my equal and is free to come and go as she pleases.”
Korbin smiled. “It took me a bit to realize that myself. I guess that was why she brought Stephanie and me back, General. She can’t be everywhere.”
The general wasn’t happy, but he knew Korbin was right. “I will learn to let it all go. Just gotta give me time to do it. I care about her too, you know. It’s not all business. She’s become like a daughter to me over the years. I want to make sure she, and Pandora, for that matter, stay safe. I can’t do that when I can’t get hold of her and have no idea where she is.”
Korbin shrugged. “I’m sure that if you wait long enough, you’ll spot her on television somewhere. Those reporters don’t give her any leeway.”
“Man, they’re relentless, although I don’t blame them for taking pictures when she’s flying around drunk in a floral cape in the middle of the night. Not one of her prouder moments, I suppose.”
Korbin laughed, turning back toward the building. Before he could reply, his face fell, and he stared at the sky above the main building. The air was shimmering and wavy, just as it had been before when he’d watched a portal open. His gaze shifted to Stephanie and then to the front door as it flew open. “General, I’ll call you back. I think it’s happening.”
He turned off the phone as Calvin bolted out of the door, waving his hands in the air. “Portal! Right over us! Take cover!”
Stephanie started running for the building as the sky cracked open and a great tremor shook the ground. She stumbled and fell as a blast of heat hit her hard, taking her breath away. The portal split wide open above her, and all she could see was eternal darkness.
Korbin took off, yelling to Stephanie, “Get out of there!”
Stephanie shook off the trance and got up, running to the hatch and locking it behind her.
Korbin turned to Calvin. “Lock down the armory and get into position.”
The alarm was already blaring as Timothy rushed for the main building. He needed to be at his desk to properly oversee their defenses; namely, to turn on all the weapons that were controlled remotely. The soldiers took their positions behind their weapons. With a great mechanical whirring, the retractable cage slammed down over the armory. Joshua and a large number of his team were standing in front of the building with various armaments.
There was a sound like thunder, and demons began falling from the portal above them. Stephanie ran out of the building with her guns drawn and stood next to Korbin. “Here we go. Fuck these bastards.”
Calvin cocked his weapon. “Come to Papa. It’s been a while since I had some fun.”
The demons scaled down the main building, a grotesque horde that came running across the base toward the group. Korbin threw down his arm. “Now! And don’t fucking shoot us!”
Calvin, Korbin, and Stephanie yelled a battle cry as they took off toward the demons. They fired their weapons into them before slamming into them head-on. Stephanie took careful aim and fired shot after shot, hitting demons right and left and filling the air with demon dust. When her magazines were empty, she holstered her guns and grabbed her knives. She crouched and suddenly sprang forward, deadly blades flashing around her as she cut the throats of four snarling demons. She pulled her knives back and another demon swiped at her, slashing her across the shoulders. She hissed, and her eyes flashed bright red. With lightning speed, she stabbed the demon in the throat. She pulled the knife out and watched the demon fall, spitting on its body as it turned to dust.
Korbin blasted the crowd of demons with a shotgun, pumping the weapon after every shot. The spray of pellets struck several demons at once, taking them down in hissing, writhing heaps. A fat beast ran for him as he reloaded his gun and Korbin kicked the demon in the stomach. It stumbled backward but recovered, then bared its teeth and roared. Korbin narrowed his eyes. “Okay, fucker, you want to do this the hard way?”
He let his shotgun fall to the ground, and from sheaths on his back, he pulled twin swords. Korbin slashed them, raising one in front of his face and dropping the other low. “Well, come on, then. Show me how low those balls really swing.”
The demon growled and lunged at him, managing to get a talon deep into his shoulder. Korbin winced and his swords flashed, cutting off the demon’s hand. The beast wailed and stepped back, leaving his claw stuck in Korbin’s shoulder. Korbin yanked the demon’s hand out of his flesh and threw it to the ground. He raised his swords to finish the job when a shot rang out. The demon’s head exploded. Joshua blew the smoke from his large-barreled pistol. Korbin nodded to the young man, and they fought on.
They fought hard, slashing through demons at every turn. Every fighter was gashed and struck and bloodied in the process. Several of the soldi
ers were taken down, and more were being carted off by Joshua’s girls with extremely serious injuries. The demons just kept falling from the sky above them.
Calvin ran up next to Korbin, creating a circle of dead demons around him. “Sunny with a chance of fucking demons? This is fucking insane. We need to get that portal shut.”
Korbin looked at their defenses, but the weapons had either been taken out or mangled by the demons. “We need more weapons. We need something to blow right into that portal to close it, but we can’t take the chance of opening the armory.”
The portal was shimmering and wavering from the heat it was producing. Calvin holstered his weapon. “What if I took a shit-ton of grenades and launched myself up there? That would blast the hole shut.”
Korbin shook his head vigorously, then his eyes went wide and he raised his weapons and shot three demons approaching them. Calvin didn’t flinch, just courageously held his head high. “Not a chance, buddy. We aren’t losing anyone else today. There has to be something we can do; something that can launch explosives up there. Not everything could have been damaged that quickly.”
Just then, the sound of tires crackling over gravel echoed behind them. The extra troops sent in by the general were arriving, looking hard as hell and ready to go. The troop carriers came to a sliding stop, and armed men flooded into the base. They laid down covering fire, shredding waves of demons as they came.
A middle-aged man with a scar down his cheek jumped from the troop carrier and put on his lid. “Korbin?”
