by Michael Todd
“I’m Colonel Adams.” The man shook Katie’s and Damian’s hand before leading them past a building.
Katie jogged to keep up with him. She looked down the path they were walking and watched as a Blackhawk landed, keeping its engines running. She didn’t realize they would be taken somewhere so quickly, but she also had no idea where the general was.
“I’m your pilot,” he told them loudly as they got closer to the chopper.
“Where are we going?” Katie asked.
“We are going to an operation about twenty miles out of town. It started about an hour ago, and the team has already surrounded the place. The general is waiting there for you.”
Katie nodded and climbed into the back of the Blackhawk. After she buckled in she put on the headphones, and they lifted off the pad. When they had reached the correct altitude, they zoomed toward the incursion.
“Just relax,” the pilot suggested. “We will be there before you can write your name on a paper…legibly, that is.”
Katie grabbed her backpack and glanced at Damian, who nodded. They had their weapons on them, and both had their one bag. She wasn’t quite ready for an incursion, but at that point she didn’t have a choice. The general apparently didn’t play games. He was waiting for her there, and he would want to test the weapons right away. This was her life though; unexpected, always dangerous, and now political in nature.
“If you look ahead, you can see the plume of smoke,” the co-pilot told them. “That is where we are headed. One of the boiler rooms caught fire at the beginning of the incursion, but they report that the sprinkler system put out the blaze. We don’t think it had anything to do with the demons.”
Katie nodded and leaned back, holding onto the handle next to her head. As the helicopter reached the target they slowed and dropped onto a grassy area about five hundred feet from the building.
Damian slid the door open and jumped out. Katie folded the piece of paper in her hand and leaned forward to drop it into the pilot’s lap.
She smiled and winked at him before jumping out of the chopper and running after Damian.
“Oh, shit!” the co-pilot exclaimed. “She gave you her fucking number. Seriously, man, I have no idea how you do that. You said two words to her.”
“I guess I just got it that way.” He smirked.
“Are you gonna call her?”
“Hell, no! she’s one of those possessed fighter chicks. But shit does she have a nice pair of tits on her. It might be worth letting out the inner demon for that.”
“I would,” the co-pilot replied. “Fuck, I’d let anything she wanted out.”
“She’s probably a one-and-done, too,” the pilot mused. “You know, one of those girls who knows what she wants, takes it by the…dick in this case and gets hers, then no drama. Wipe your hands clean and walk off.”
“I’m already in love.” The co-pilot laughed.
They both looked out the window to where she was talking to one of the soldiers. They pointed toward the building and she nodded before glancing back at the helicopter. She smiled and her eyes flashed red as she blew them both a kiss before scurrying after Damian and the soldier.
“Be still my, motherfucking heart,” the co-pilot moaned. “I think I just came in my fucking pants.”
“That’s why you’re still single.” The pilot laughed. “You gotta finesse a woman; show her who’s boss. A girl like that secretly wants to be dominated. She doesn’t want to always be in charge. I would definitely do my best to show her who’s boss.”
“Open the note, man! See if she said anything,” the co-pilot demanded.
The pilot unfolded the note and laughed before looking down, then his face dropped and he tilted his head. The co-pilot looked confused, unsure why he was having that reaction. Finally, the pilot held up the paper—and on it was her name, neatly written five times in perfect cursive.
“Fucking hell!” the pilot spluttered. “How did she do that?”
“Thanks for letting me come down here and work with you for the day, man,” Calvin said as he looked around Joshua’s area. “And I have to say, you decorated this thing like a fucking pro. It’s like the Bruce Wayne man cave.”
“You like it?” Joshua asked. “A lot of this stuff is my family’s. I never had a place big enough to put it, so I kept it in storage. I have one of those brains that can remember details after seeing them just once, so I laid this out just like my father’s den was arranged when I was a kid.”
“You grew up playing next to a suit of armor?” Calvin laughed. “I grew up in the ghetto wishing I had a suit of armor—though I can’t really imagine myself strapping this baby on and heading to school. I would definitely have gotten beat up for that shit.”
“They could have tried.” Joshua laughed. “But I don’t think you would have suffered too much.”
“True.” Calvin chuckled. “But yeah…like I said, thanks. I really didn’t want to end up in the IT room again. Don’t get me wrong…Derek is my boy, but those computer servers and wires and boxes were driving me fucking mad.”
“At least we have the space now to do things like that,” Joshua replied. “I mean, I was really nervous to move. I am not very good with change. But when we got here and started to set the place up, I realized just how much room I was going to have. After we moved my dad’s stuff in and I started working—and still having space to move around—I realized how lucky I was to get to come to this place.”
“Agreed.” Calvin nodded. “The old place was great, but mostly because it felt like home. We needed to get bigger, and this was our chance. It was the right move to make, that’s for sure.”
“I have people helping me now too; people on the payroll,” Joshua told him. “They like working for me, and I like having them there. It’s a win-win for everyone. I wish things could have happened for a different reason, but I’m glad nonetheless.”
“Are you doing stuff?” Calvin asked. “Are you getting out of the man cave and enjoying your free time? It’s important that you enjoy life, not just slave away down here making bullets and putting blades on sticks.”
Calvin noticed something that looked like Katie’s quarterstaff. He picked it up and twisted the end, jumping slightly as blades shot out of the sides. Joshua smiled kindly and carefully took it from him, pressing a button and retracting the knives. Calvin nodded in appreciation and walked away from the tools, not wanting to screw anything up.
“That is for Katie; it’s a specialty piece,” Joshua explained. “And yeah, I actually have friends and a life for the first time. Tonight we are going into town to gamble and eat at a cheap buffet until we explode.”
“Nice,” Calvin said. “You and the girls?”
“Yeah,” Joshua replied, stacking the finished weapons into the cabinet and pressing the button to lower it into the ground. “We figure it’s time to let loose a little.”
“Why don’t I tag along? You know, as backup,” Calvin asked. “Because I’m a standup guy like that.”
Joshua smirked and eyed him, having a feeling that the buffet wasn’t what he was concerned about. The girls were beautiful, but they were like sisters to Joshua. To Calvin, though, they were available. Joshua looked down at the papers on his drawing table. He thought it was funny how Calvin was; it was the first time he had really spent any time with him.
“All right.” Joshua smiled. “I think it would probably be safest if you came along—just as backup, of course.”
“Sweet,” Calvin exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “Vegas nights, baby.”
18
Katie blew a kiss at the helicopter pilot, laughing the whole time at the play by play Pandora was giving her about what they were saying.
She couldn’t believe how much of a douchebag the guy was, thinking she would ever give a man like him her number. She could smell the cockiness on him from half a mile away.
She caught up with Damian and the soldier, who were walking toward a small area with a tab
le. The general and the colonel were standing there next to the guy who had led the charge in Virginia.
“General.” Katie shook his hand.
“Katie.” He nodded. “And this is Colonel Jehovivich.”
“Nice to meet you,” Jehovivich offered, noticing the red ring in her eyes. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Hopefully all good.” Katie laughed nervously.
“So far,” the colonel replied with a fake chuckle.
She glanced at the soldier who was standing next to them. He had lost a couple of stripes since the last time she’d seen him, when he was leading their team to ‘the level boss’ who had kicked his ass.
He was no longer commanding the troops; he was strictly support. In fact, it didn’t even look like he would be in the fight. She held back a smirk, remembering how they had thrown him back into the room half-conscious.
He was lucky to be alive, but from the look on his face, he wasn’t too thrilled to be standing in front of her.
“This is a pretty big event,” the general began. “Not huge—not like the last—but bigger than most we’ve seen out here. It’s a tire factory and only half the workers were here today, so we were able to get all but one to safety. None of the demons have been touched. They are stuck inside, since we barricaded the doors from the outside.”
Katie looked at the soldiers holding a bar against the door. Whatever was on the other side was not happy; it kept throwing its weight against the door. The soldiers dug their feet into the gravel and pushed back. Katie sighed and shook her head before looking at the general.
“Could I have a word,” Katie glanced at the others, “in private?”
“Of course. Let’s step over here out of the excitement. Colonel,” he nodded to Jehovivich, “hold down the fort.”
“Yes, sir,” she agreed, obviously not happy at being dismissed.
Katie and the general walked over by two of the vehicles parked to the side, a military Humvee with the general’s flag on the back and a regular sedan that she assumed belonged to the colonel.
She put her bag on the hood of the Humvee and stared at the general. She was nervous, and she decided she wasn’t too fond of the idea of being in politics anymore.
“I know that for a very long time, much longer than I’ve been on the teams, the relationship between the Damned and the military has sucked,” Katie began. “Part of the reason for that is the fact that the Damned are treated as monsters. By the same token, though, I understand the Damned have treated the military with disdain when a normal human wasn’t going to make it.”
“That is very true,” the general agreed. “It’s a two-way street, though I have to admit that the prior leaders of this sector weren’t very open to working with you guys. I heard it all when I took the post, but luckily it went in one ear and out the other.”
Katie nodded and fidgeted with her bag. “Sorry, I don’t have much of a sales pitch for my stuff. I kind of fell into the business, and have been riding it by the seat of my pants.”
“That’s life in general.” Brushwood laughed. “Just when we think we have a good grasp on things, something else comes along and knocks the wind out of us.”
“I would have thought a man like you had it together.” Katie smiled.
“A man like me is really good at pretending,” he replied with a wink. “So, what do you have for me?”
She pulled the strings at the top of her bag and reached inside to pull out a white and clear plastic box with a yellow top. She put it down on the hood of the car and looked around, making sure that no one was close enough to hear. In reality this part should have been done in an office or somewhere like that, but they were where they were—and those boys weren’t going to be able to hold that door much longer.
“This case includes one hundred 9mm rounds that are going to make your demons stand up and scream in pain, if not die immediately. I’m not sure which is more likely.”
“Really?” the general exclaimed, opening the case and running his fingers over the bullets before looking at her. “And your company made these?”
“Yes, sir,” Katie replied. “We have a secret way of making weapons—I’m sure you’ve heard of it—and the metal inside those is toxic to demons. When the bullet goes into the demon’s body—and they only have to penetrate the skin by a quarter of an inch—the bullet balloons, releasing the toxic metals. Now, I don’t know a lot about human anatomy, much less demon anatomy, but I know it works. The swords and knives we have been using have been a godsend, and the cross that our priest uses has taken down some of the largest demons we have seen thus far. These bullets are pretty much guaranteed to at least knock demons right on their asses.”
“And you haven’t tried them yet?”
“No, sir. This is their debut on the demon scene.” Katie smiled. “I figured since we had to try them out anyway, why not do it together? Make a peace offering, and kill some nasty-ass demons in the process? It’s not every day you get to watch your work in action.”
“No, it’s not,” he agreed, picking one up and holding it in front of his face.
The bullet shimmered, just like the swords and knives. The metal was on the inside, but he could sense it. He put the bullet back and looked at the door where the soldiers could barely hold the brace in place.
“Okay, what is your tactical suggestion?” he asked.
Katie looked at him in shock. She hadn’t expected him to ask for her advice on the situation. Most of the military folks she had met were too full of themselves to reach out and learn more about what they did. She wiped the shocked look off her face and shrugged her shoulders.
“It’s not really my style to tell someone how to run their op,” she demurred.
“I understand that one.” He smiled. “I know that we, as military leaders… We tend to get pretty protective of our strategies. For some it’s pride, but I know that for most it’s the fact that every man on our team is under our protection; they are our responsibility. I guess it’s kind of the way Korbin feels about his team every time he sends them in somewhere. Losing someone is hard, but losing someone you were responsible for is ten times worse.”
“Understood.” Katie nodded.
“Still, I am not familiar with this kind of weapon, and since it came from your hands I’d like to have your input on how you would set up the men.”
“I’d position two shooters with these bullets,” Katie pointed at two locations, “and two with regular rounds close by, and a third to the side with a sword.”
“A sword?” the general asked, holding back a chuckle. “I’m sorry, I don’t think the military has provided swords in a century.”
“I didn’t think about that. That’s all right, I have one. We make those too, out of the same material as the bullets…just for future reference.”
“Right. I will keep that in mind,” he replied with a straight face, realizing that she wasn’t joking. “Tell me this, though: why a sword when we have so many guns?”
“Well, the rounds may kill them; we don’t know yet,” Katie explained. “But they will fry their brains long enough to cut off their heads. Cutting off the head is a really good way to stop a demon. There is no question if they are dead at that point, although you will know they aren’t in any case if they don’t turn to dust or back into their human. Anyway, if you cut off their head with one of our swords, you are doing two things: you are saving ammo, whether regular or special, and you are stunning them again so that while you are slicing through they don’t reach out and claw you in the gut. See, these bullets are like gold, or even more important than that. Maybe water in the middle of the desert. This shit is rare.” She shook her head. “No joke.”
“How rare?” the general asked.
“Right now? Very.” Katie tapped the yellow and white box. “It’s taken us over a year to make these, General.”
He looked down at the box and back up at her. “Is this the first batch?”
She nodde
d and waited for him to speak. He realized at that moment that this whole thing hadn’t been a game.
That Katie and Korbin’s team were actually entrusting them with their secret weapon; brand new technology that could change the way they hunted demons.
She was giving them the opportunity to be on the same playing field—or at least closer to the playing field—as the mercenary teams were. She had given him a weapon that could be used against her, and she had done it without hesitation.
He took a deep breath and turned to the troops, calling two of the soldiers over to collect some of the rounds. He looked back at Katie, and she nodded and slipped the rest of them back into her bag for safekeeping. She handed the bag to Damian and winked before pulling two short swords from the sheaths on her back. The colonel, wide-eyed, stepped back and shook her head. She acted as if she had stumbled into a bad movie.
She only wished it were that simple. Katie lived in a world she didn’t recognize sometimes, and the colonel lived in a completely different one.
She went home every night, cooked dinner, and put her feet up. When work was done, so was she. Katie had forgotten how that felt.
On that day, though, she was gonna bring her world right to the colonel and the general, then stand back and watch the aftermath.
She hoped the colonel could take a fucking joke.
The general, before setting up, decided to take the special bullets back from the soldiers and give them regular bullets. He instructed them to shoot to wound if a demon got out, since he wanted to see the full power of the bullets he would be firing.
He looked at Katie who was crouching to the side, one sword over her shoulder and the tip of the other in the dirt at her feet. She nodded at him as the door began to bow. The men with the brace had stepped aside; they knew there was a demon thirsting to get out.
They stared at the door for some time until the banging stopped. Katie slowly stood up and looked around her, knowing demons were smarter than that, and sure enough, a loud crash suddenly rang out. The demon had jumped through the window, sending glass flying everywhere. He landed on his feet, one hand on the ground, looking at the soldiers surrounding him. He snarled and barked when he caught a glimpse of the general at the other side of the walkway by the Humvee, who was standing there cool as a cucumber.
