by Michael Todd
He looked around for his drink. “Truth is, things are different,” Damian told her, grabbing his coffee from his desk and taking a sip. The aroma reminded him of the good things in life; things that were worth saving.
“It’s been a lot more intense lately, almost out of control. Not that it was simple before, but it wasn’t anything like this.”
“Yet here we are.” Stephanie sipped her brew. “And now we have to figure out where to go next. Things kind of took a serious turn with the attack on Amy’s Assassins. I feel like everyone is running around like chickens with their heads cut off.”
“We are,” Damian sighed. “But the important thing to figure out is where we go from here. It won’t do us any good to focus on the others until we have control over our situation. I know Korbin wants to help everyone, but that will be impossible unless we can function on our own.”
“So what’s our first step?” Stephanie asked.
“Well, first and foremost, not to diss Derek’s memory, but we desperately need an IT guy. They are the foundation of our operations. They give us intel for future incursions and a map of the issues in the area. We use that for black ops, spy work, and almost everything else. Unfortunately, none of us who are left have any clue how to work all that stuff. Korbin knows more than us, but he can’t run it full-time. He’s the leader. We need to find someone who can tackle it like Derek could.”
“Either someone Damned or willing to work with us for life.” Stephanie shook her head. “That’s a needle-in-a-haystack kind of person. What about New York? They have a double-sized team. Can they spare someone?”
“No,” Damian replied. “They have a double-sized team with a triple-sized threat area. They can barely afford for one of their team to go to the bathroom, much less come out here to help us. What about you? You seem to know a lot of people, and you have contacts everywhere.”
“Yeah, but most of those people are manual-labor or illegal-activity contacts.” Stephanie shrugged. “Or the occasional businessmen or women who want an outlet, who will speak the right words, or moan at appropriate times. Even on the mile-long list of names I have, finding someone that fits the bill for what we need might be impossible.”
“We’ll need to keep our eyes peeled, then.” Damian looked around before running a hand through his hair. “Intel is almost more important than the battle itself. With the demons hunting us at every turn like lions stalking prey, we could find ourselves backed right into a bloody corner.”
Chapter 2
Calvin tossed his bags into the back of the helicopter and climbed in, closing the door and nodding to the pilot as he put on his headset. He buckled in and looked at Katie.
She was fiddling with the bag of chips in her hand and smirked. “What? I’m hungry.”
“Did you ask Dad if we can eat in his multi-million-dollar bird?”
Katie looked at Korbin with a chip halfway to her mouth. “Dad?”
He ignored her as she tossed the chip into her mouth. “You guys ready?” Korbin asked, shaking his head.
“Sure thing, boss,” Calvin replied. “Not flying us today?”
“Not quite done with my lessons. I figured, unless it’s an emergency, I won’t risk your lives.”
“We appreciate that.” Katie tossed another chip into her mouth.
“Okay, so I haven’t had a chance to watch the show lately. What’s been going on?” Korbin asked.
“Oh my God!” Katie shouted, a tiny piece of chip flying out to hit Calvin on the cheek. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” She reached over to brush the speck off Calvin’s cheek. He shook his head as Katie turned to Korbin in excitement. “There was a portal to hell in the last one. All I kept thinking about was whether they would find my car.”
“Of course, they didn’t,” Calvin interjected. “But Luther found out that Esmond, the new ‘chauffeur’ for the richie-rich white folks, is actually a hell-demon…or so they call them.”
“Slightly redundant, don’t you think?” Korbin rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, but these people don’t know they’re real,” Katie replied earnestly. “Besides, they are just trying to come up with something inventive. They don’t realize that they’re surrounded by it all day long.”
“Their producer is probably a demon.” Calvin smiled and looked out the window. There was a house fire below. “Damn, you don’t think that has anything to do with—”
“No,” Korbin interjected. “Probably just someone who forgot to turn off the iron. I know our world is nothing but demons, but these people have no clue.”
“True,” Calvin replied, turning back to Katie.
Korbin wanted the conversation to stay on the soaps. He wanted them distracted from the news of the conference call long enough to calm the nerves that he knew they felt.
The sudden news of a hell-demon “Damned” group was shocking even to him, and he had seen a lot of shit in his day.
On top of that was the new alliance between the military and the mercenaries, something that was more than a touchy subject. If a team member hadn’t been around for the past dramas they had definitely been told about them, and it had created an animosity that Korbin feared wouldn’t be squashed just because—in the face of a new type of demon—everyone wanted to begin to cooperate.
“I think this is all a good thing.” Calvin eyed Katie to check that she wasn’t going to spit any more chips at him. “Maybe with the military on our side we will get a little more support. I mean, think about the compound battle forever ago—what would have happened if we’d had a couple badass helicopters there.”
“Ok, I can see that.” Korbin pursed his lips. “And I have to admit, Katie might have helped by reaching out to the military when she did. Otherwise we might still be separated by the past, and we definitely need their intel right now.”
“And you were worried.” Katie scoffed. “I told you it would be a good thing. One of these days you are going to trust me.”
“I wouldn’t have allowed you to go if I didn’t trust you,” Korbin replied. “It’s them I don’t trust.”
Calvin spoke up. “Well, we will all have to learn to try…for right now, anyway.”
“Do you have any idea how long it will take Joshua to create more rounds?” Korbin asked. “ We are going through them like water and you gave two cases to the general, who we all know will be wanting more very soon.”
“Right now we have another two hundred,” Katie answered. “But if we have more situations like this, we are going to have to come up with some sort of a deal to have someone else use our metal and build the rounds themselves. It’s one thing for Joshua to create the metal, it’s a whole other thing to hand-make these bullets. He is struggling to do that and continue to make weapons—he’s working nineteen hours a day. I can’t ask him to work anymore. In fact, I think he needs some rest.”
Korbin nodded. He didn’t like that solution one bit—allowing someone from the outside anywhere near their precious metal.
He wasn’t sure there was anyone he could trust who wouldn’t ask questions or become curious. They couldn’t allow it to get into the hands of the wrong people; it might devastate their efforts, and they certainly didn’t need their own weapons used against them.
Which was the bigger risk.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Korbin replied finally. “I’m still not happy putting the military on our ‘friends’ list. I don’t need them to turn on us when they think they don’t need us anymore.”
“It’s a risk, sure,” Katie agreed. “But right now the alternative leaves us six feet under.”
Damian sat in the pew in his sanctuary quietly contemplating the past few weeks.
There had been such a change in the way the demons were fighting; the way they banded together, their size, and their resilience. It was reminiscent of the passages he often read in the Bible of the end of days.
He knew there was a bigger fight brewing, and he was concerned that even someone
as capable and powerful as Katie wouldn’t be able to withstand what was coming.
He felt the need to do something about it, not to just sit back and wait for another attack.
He looked around. There was no intel coming from their base due to Derek’s death, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be proactive.
He stood and left the sanctuary, pulling out his cell phone as he took the elevator to ground level. Cell service in the tunnels was spotty, and he needed a breath of fresh air anyway.
Once he had gone outside, he scrolled through his numbers to find Father Avery’s contact information. He was the priest he and Katie had found half dead in the small church during one of their more brutal incursions. He dialed the number and pulled the phone to his ear.
“Damian,” the priest answered in a jolly tone. “It’s so good to hear from you.”
“You too, Father, I apologize for not calling sooner, but I wanted you to get rest and get better.”
“It’s all right. The sisters at the hospital told me you called every day to check on me,” he replied.
“How have you been doing since then?”
“I’ve had to make amends for the horrible situation that unfurled, to both the church and to God,” Avery stated. “The guilt has burned inside me every day. Probably the other priests are tired of my sulking. Fortunately, though, I am back to serving God and the congregation. Regrettably, the other priest—the one who had the demon in the first place—was excommunicated. There was nothing we could do. It riddled many here with guilt for not seeing the signs.”
“You shouldn’t put that on your shoulders,” Damian replied. “God was there, and while you may not have seen his signs, you were distracted because you were helping others. That can be forgiven, I promise you. Sometimes we do the work of twenty men, but we are still only mortal.”
“That is the truth,” Father Avery replied. “What can I help you with today?”
“I was wondering if the church had any intel regarding the new strategies the demons are using?” Damian asked. “There have been some alarming attacks; things that make us think an uprising may be on the horizon.”
The phone was silent long enough that Damian considered asking if he was still there.
“That is very distressing indeed,” Father Avery finally replied. “But no, I have not heard anything of the sort in recent meetings. That, of course, doesn’t mean the church isn’t aware of anything, but they may not be disseminating the information to us. I will look into it. I have some friends higher up on the food chain who may be able to shine some light on the subject. Is it bad?”
“There was an organized attack about a week or so ago that left one dead and three in critical care,” Damian responded. “They were said to have been almost like us, only fighting the opposite side.”
“Damned?”
“Yes, a group of humans damned just like us,” Damian replied. “ It could have been completely random, but with our losses here we are currently struggling to get any intel.”
“I’m sorry for all the lives lost. We will say a prayer.”
“Thank you,” Damian said, letting out a deep breath. “The tides seem to be shifting.”
“They always do,” the other priest replied. “Throughout history, they have ebbed and flowed. Sometimes the current is strong and sucks us under, and other times it is a beautiful swim.”
“Very nicely put.” Damian smiled. “Other than that, how is the church? How are the others after the battle there?”
“We are still rebuilding, and we lost a lot of precious old historical items, but they are just things. We can move on without them. As far as the people, the press has slowed down, though there is still talk of the ‘rogue shooter’ they have pinned it all on. I feel bad about the lies, but I know it is in the best interests of the community. I just hope God agrees with that when I reach the Pearly Gates.”
“A man like you should never question that,” Damian stated firmly.
“Thank you. And how are things with you?”
“They are okay. Just settling into a new place and getting my sanctuary set up,” Damian replied. “No one attends here, and I have put my other outreach projects on hold while we are going through all of this. Still, I find peace there, and I do what I can for the others. Sometimes it feels like I’m alone, but when I remember where I came from and how I got here, I feel that I am where I’m supposed to be.”
“You certainly are,” the other priest said. “You are always where you are supposed to be, even if you can’t see it at the time. Things can get stressful, I know, but remember your vows and remember your purpose. There is no one better suited for the job.”
“I appreciate those words, and I won’t keep you,” Damian said. “Thank you for taking my call.”
“Any time, Damian, and I will get back to you with that information as soon as I hear,” Father Avery responded.
“Thank you, Father,” Damian replied and pressed End.
He stood there for a moment and thought about the scene that day at the church, and a shiver went down his spine.
He feared it wouldn’t be the last time he would see something like that.
The staff stood back from the helicopter pads as two helos began to land. On the right was Korbin’s Eurocopter X3, sleek, white, fast, and on the left was the military Black Hawk. Normally the Black Hawk would have been a sight to see—a vehicle of precision with excellent fighting ability—but next to the Eurocopter it looked like a giant piece of heavy metal.
“I feel like the general is checking his package right now.” One of the airmen chuckled.
“And finding himself at a loss.” Another outright laughed. “If I were the general, I might just order a takeover of the X3 so I wouldn’t feel like I had to compete with something like that.”
“Nah,” the first replied. “My junk is big enough to compensate. I’d just stand up straight and laugh at the expensive, beautifully designed, makes-me-want-to-weep Eurocopter.”
“Ha-ha. Sounds like you have a case of chopper envy, my friend.”
“Or penis envy,” the third airman said with a smirk. “I, on the other hand, have neither. Mine is so big they’d need both those choppers to get me off the ground.”
“That’s not what Jennings said after your last date.” The first airman laughed.
“Nah,” the second guy said, ignoring the banter. “The Black Hawk is superior in so many ways. It’s meant for combat. It’s heavier, so you can mount way better weapons, and it won’t go down from a little gunfire. The X3, you put a turret on there and that bitch is going down from the weight.”
Just then Katie stepped out of the X3 with a look of determination on her face and her hair blowing wildly in the wind. Her outfit was skintight as always, and her breasts looked to be larger.
All three of the airmen’s jaws dropped and the second guy began to chuckle.
“Okay, there is no fucking way you’re going to find such a hot babe coming out of a Black Hawk. That’s it…your copter wins hands down.”
“I wonder if that comes standard when you buy one, because if so, take my fucking money,” the third guy said. “She can hold my Johnson in her lap.”
The first snickered. “If she has tweezers.”
---
Katie looked down at her boots, noticing the scuffs on the toe. She had forgotten to clean them after the last fight, but she didn’t care. She was just headed to a meeting. If they didn’t like her boots they could suck it.
I’m sure one of those hot little numbers would like you to suck it, Pandora cooed.
Katie flicked her eyes to the three airmen talking on the sidelines.
Mmmm, that tall one is pretty scrumptious, Katie replied.
All three are pretty scrumptious with those tight uniforms, big muscles, and good-boy smiles, Pandora purred. I’d take all three of them at once if I had it my way.
Good thing you don’t, Katie mumbled as she followed Calvin and Korbin toward
the general.
The general stood next to Colonel Jehovivich and two men wearing black suits, black glasses, and black ties.
Katie lifted an eyebrow at the two men, wondering when the aliens had attacked, but didn’t comment. She figured they wouldn’t get the “Men in Black” reference anyway; the sticks were too far up there.
She followed them through the base and into a secure room set up with keypads, eye scanners, and the lot. Apparently what they were about to discuss was anything but casual.
Chapter 3
Damian returned to the chapel to think about his call and reflect on the things the priest had discussed with him.
He’d never felt right for his current position, but no matter how unusual a religious figure he was, his path had always been in God’s hands. He still needed to find a balance, although that was something he’d been trying for since becoming Damned.
“Damian,” Stephanie called over the base’s intercom. “There is a potential possession going on in North Las Vegas.”
Damian looked at the neon cross on the wall and smiled, then stood and pressed the intercom button.
“Who made the call?”
“The Ghost Hunters?” she said, unsure. “They said they know you.”
“Yeah,” Damian replied with a sigh. “I had a call with them a few months back; one of Katie’s first. I’ll be over in just a second.”
Damian thought about that possession as he headed out: how Katie had taken down a giant demon, they’d seen walls that bled, and that the ghost hunters had been infected on the scene.
It had definitely not been the most fun possession call he’d ever had. He could peg that callout as the beginning of all the crazy shit.
He walked into the office and nodded at Stephanie. “I’m going to take Eric with me as backup. Can you call him?”
“Right here, dude,” Eric said, walking around the corner. “I heard the call over the speakers.”
“Good.” Damian strode toward the door, waving a hand over his shoulder. “Stephanie, you hold down the fort. Eric, let’s go.”
