Welcome To The Jungle

by Michael Todd

  “Very true, Korbin,” the general agreed, playing nice. “You are not under my command; you are a private citizen. However, I am standing on US soil, and there are foreigners—aliens if you will—who are attacking people on my watch. Can you understand why I would want to see the place for myself? And questions may arise. I am not the firing squad. I am just here to get to the bottom of things.”

  “There is nothing more to tell you beyond what was in that statement, sir,” Korbin replied. “This is actually not US government land. It is private land, bought and paid for by myself and our higher-ups; also documented with the government. We have gone through this time and time again, which was why we had the Senate hearing just five years ago—to determine the rules and regulations under which the teams operate.”

  “Well,” the general looked down at his cover, “it seems we are at an impasse, then.”

  “It seems that way,” Korbin agreed, standing tall.

  “May I take a look at the damaged buildings to the right of this one?” the colonel asked, interrupting the awkward silence.

  The three men looked through the open door at the buildings Katie and the big demon had destroyed during their battle to the death. The colonel apparently had a good eye for detail, and though the area had been largely picked up, Korbin didn’t want to show her. He knew it was clear of all evidence, though.

  Regardless, she had guessed what had likely caused the damage—which ultimately made her more dangerous than the general.

  “I am assuming they were knocked down by one of the…” she paused and opened a folder, “three large demons who escaped the portal.”

  “They were,” Korbin confirmed, glancing at Calvin. “It happened during a fight at the end of the battle. My team managed to take the beast down, but not without infrastructure destruction.”

  “Right,” she agreed. “But how did the buildings get so damaged? It would take brute force to knock those down. They are stone and cinderblock construction.”

  “To be honest, Colonel,” Calvin interjected. “Neither Korbin nor myself were part of that battle, so we can’t give eyewitness accounts. Those are in the file, and anything we added would be mere speculation.”

  “So, who was in that part of the fight?” she asked.

  “That would be Katie, Jeremy, and Eric,” Korbin replied. “Only Eric is here right now. Katie is taking care of business elsewhere, and Jeremy is deceased.”

  She grimaced. “I’m sorry. However, I would like to speak to Eric later.”

  “Of course,” Korbin replied. “Why don’t I give you a tour of the main area, and then we can move on to the unstable areas.”

  The general and the colonel both nodded, so Korbin and Calvin led them up to the main living quarters first. As Korbin talked about the battle and what had happened there, Calvin slipped off down the hall and snuck quietly into Eric’s room. Eric looked up at him in confusion, and Calvin put his finger over his lips. He inched forward and leaned down.

  “I think you should disappear for a little while,” he whispered, “to avoid any conflict or unnecessary questioning. When we go down to the pit, take the SUV and head into town for a bit. I’ll call you when the coast is clear.”

  “All righty,” he agreed, and Calvin slipped back out the door.

  Calvin caught back up with them before they even noticed he was gone, and they headed down to the training area to continue the tour.

  When they were done with that, they went back up to the living quarters to allow the colonel to speak with Eric. Calvin led her to his room and knocked on the door, but there was no reply. Slowly he opened it, and blessed Eric in his head when the room was empty.

  “That’s strange,” Calvin remarked. “He must have gone out.”

  “What’s that?” Korbin asked as he walked up.

  “Eric isn’t here,” Calvin told him.

  “That’s strange,” Korbin repeated, surprised. “I asked him to stick around. He must have had an important call or something take him away. Hopefully he will be back before you leave.”

  It was obvious that they were suspicious, but they kept their thoughts to themselves. Korbin was either a damned good liar, which was possible, or he really didn’t know that the man had left.

  The four of them headed to the ruined buildings and did a tour and checked one more time to see if Eric had returned before walking the general and colonel back out to the helicopters. Calvin and Korbin stood quietly until the choppers were speeding off, then Korbin dropped his hands and growled angrily.

  “How did they know all that?” Calvin asked.

  “I’ll tell you how,” Korbin snarled. “Either they have bugs here in our base, or someone I spoke to from the other teams updated the military. Either way you look at it, there are spies in the ranks of the Damned.”

  Katie breathed in the smell of the city. She was enjoying a stroll through the streets: listening to the cars honking, smelling the mixture of car exhaust and hot dog stands, and just being a tourist for a moment. Pandora was excited to be back, but was absolutely shocked at how different everything was from the last time she had been there.

  Katie still couldn’t believe that she had dated Edgar Allen Poe.

  You know what I don’t understand? Pandora asked. Why there is a damn Dunkin’ Donuts on nearly every corner?

  People like their donuts, I guess. Katie laughed.

  It’s like someone decided that those were the only donuts we were allowed to eat, and then they built one on every corner to make it impossible for the competition, she griped.

  Yeah, Katie replied. Welcome to the American way. Besides, you are just upset because you really don’t like Dunkin Donuts. If it were any other donut shop, you would be all about it. You would be in heaven, and I probably would have to talk you out of moving here.

  You are damn right I don’t like them, Pandora snapped. Sure, it’s round and it has a hole in it and it’s made of dough, but these are not high-quality donuts. They are not made by hand every morning. I read that the dough is shipped to them, and they just put it in the proofer and oven. While they are being lazy, there are hardworking donut-makers out there mixing and preparing every morning.

  You are really passionate about this. Katie laughed. I mean, it’s just a donut. I think I created a monster. Or worse, I created a donut snob. Katie thought for a moment. You are a damned donut snob, which I didn’t even think could be a thing.

  I don’t know what the hell you are talking about, Pandora retorted. I am all kinds of snob. Donut snob, sex snob, length-and-girth snob, Italian food snob, and the list goes on. I mean, I could seriously be a snob about underwear, hair, makeup, jelly, jam—which I still don’t know the difference between—toast, cars, and just about anything else, really.

  You seriously need to relax and just enjoy things. Katie laughed and bought another piece of pizza. For example, we are walking around tasting all the different slices. I am not a snob because the last place sucked; they just have sucky pizza—that’s on them. You can’t change these things, so why get so uptight and upset about it? I just move on to the next slice, and if it’s that bad, I toss it. Plain and simple.

  That is the exact definition of you. Pandora scoffed. “Plain and freaking simple.” If you don’t have standards for your pizza and for your donuts, what do you stand for?

  You know, there was a place I ate at when I was a kid that took pizza dough, rolled it into balls, deep fried it, and served it as donut holes, Katie told her.

  That is disgusting, and frankly, I am offended, Pandora shot back. Who were those people? I do have to admit though, I am more than enjoying our exploration of New York pizza. And don’t worry, it’s not going to your ass.

  Please stay away from my boobs too, at least for now, Katie whined. Like seriously…these things are getting heavy. They look great, but I’m gonna have back problems.

  Fine, the demon said, exasperated. I swear, you are the hardest person to please. I give you curves, a fla
t stomach, a perfect ass, and tits a plastic surgeon can’t replicate, and you still complain.

  Katie laughed and kept walking. She was looking ahead at a kid standing next to his mom, playing on his tablet, when suddenly a man in rough clothes with a long scraggly beard lunged forward and grabbed the tablet right out of the kid’s hand. The mom yelled, but no one else made any kind of move to help.

  Katie popped the rest of the pizza in her mouth and wiped off her hands as the guy ran toward her.

  When he got close enough she calmly reached out and grabbed him by the throat with one hand, using the other to punch him three times in the face. Before she let him go, she grabbed the tablet from his hands.

  “I’ll take that, thank you.” She dropped him to the sidewalk, where he lay unconscious.

  She nonchalantly walked up to the kid and handed him the tablet, then patted him on the head and continued past him like it had been no big deal.

  Pandora giggled.

  Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her as she walked away, having no clue what to do or what had just happened.

  Finally a cop ran up, trying to figure out why the man was on the sidewalk. The mother told him what had happened, and everyone pointed in Katie’s direction. For a moment Katie was nervous, but the cop looking down at the perp, shrugged, and nodded.

  Apparently he thought the man had gotten exactly what was coming to him. Katie was just glad she could help.

  You could be a vigilante in this town. A real superhero, even, Pandora suggested. You could wear a mask and call yourself “Donut Girl.”

  Nope, nope, nope. Katie laughed, tossed her napkin in the trash, and walked around the corner.

  17

  “Melvin,” Ella squealed happily as he entered the training center. “It’s been a while now. Go on anymore hot demon dates?”

  One of the guys off to the side snickered.

  “Great, now you are making fun of me too,” he growled, walking up to Damian and sticking his hand out. “How are you doing, Damian? Long time no see.”

  “Haven’t been out this way in some time.” He smiled as he returned the handshake. “Good to see you, and thank you for saving this one’s fragile ass.”

  “Hey, I’m not fragile! I just need some work, that’s all,” Ella grumped.

  “That’s a bit of a change of heart.” Melvin chuckled. “Las Vegas push your mind into the right place?”

  “Nah, that happened last night when I got to see an exorcism,” she told him, moving her arms around like a stupid version of Frankenstein’s monster. “The demon was all crazy, teeth bared, snarling, and cursing everyone in the room. It was awesome.”

  “All right then.” Melvin laughed. “I don’t know if I would describe an exorcism as ‘awesome’ but whatever gets you motivated, I suppose.” He turned his attention to Damian. “Did the infected live?”

  “Yeah,” Damian answered, leading them onto the floor. “She is a bit the worse for wear, but one of your guys watched her till she woke up and got her bandaged. Told her she had gotten hit by something, and he brought her home. She was a little confused, but she ended up settling down.”

  “Good, then I call it a success,” Melvin remarked, turning to Ella. “Now, what are we going to do with you? I see you’ve acquired some workout clothes…”

  He looked down at her shoes.

  “Although you apparently don’t like tennis shoes,” he finished as she wiggled her toes in her boots. “No matter, we can work with that.”

  The guys in the gym took her to the side to show her some basic protective moves, feeling it was most important to understand how to protect herself. Melneck monitored her movements, giving her pointers here and there on how to turn her body, position her hands, and move her feet. It looked to Damian and Melvin like she was doing well, but she was having trouble with Melneck’s instructions.

  If you would just fucking slow down, I would be able to understand you, Ella griped.

  Slow down? He scoffed. Do you think the demons are going to slow down when you are fighting them?

  I know they won’t, but could I at least learn the technique before you start hounding me? she grumbled. There are no demons here to fight right this second.

  I personally think this is a waste of time. He sniffed. I would start you off in some Tai Kwon Do, get the muscle memory down.

  That discipline is just for show, Ella argued. I need something like Jiu Jitsu for fighting. I don’t need useless techniques.

  First of all, Tai Kwon Do is not useless. It’s the most-used martial arts style in your puny little world, Melneck informed her. And secondly, Jiu Jitsu will do you no good unless you can get those demons on the ground. Sure, the small ones you can, but what about the big ones? You’ll never get them on their backs. You could probably use the rolling techniques for faster movements, but the rest will be a waste, and might even get you killed.

  Then what do you want me to do? Ella asked. Because boxing isn’t going to work. I need a real combat technique—something that is down and dirty—because these guys, they don’t play by the rules. If I do, I’ll get myself killed. I mean, I’m small and lean, and I can move pretty fast.

  All right, all right, Melneck said, thinking. I know! I should have thought of this first. Krav Maga will be your best friend.

  Sounds like a food. Ella snickered.

  Far from it, though you might not like the training. It was created by the Israeli Defense Force for close combat. It’s down and dirty, all right. Kicks in the nuts and, pokes in the eyes. The training pushes you to your limits and then past them.

  Well, I’m probably going to be tired for the rest of my life anyway, Ella bitched. I might as well be tired and able to kick the shit out of someone.

  “So, I think I know what kind of fighting I want to learn,” Ella told Melvin.

  “All right, whatcha got?” he asked.

  “Krav Maga. It is combat-oriented, will push me to my limits, and best of all, it will make me a badass fighter.”

  “Hmm…” Melvin walked around her. “I like that idea, though I don’t know if you can handle it.”

  “I got this,” Ella assured him confidently.

  “All right.” He shrugged, keeping the smirk off his lips. “We’ll train you, but I need to get my teammate Cody in on this, since he is the martial arts specialist. Some of the other team members in the New York area can come help train too. I like your motivation. Keep it up!”

  Ella smiled at Damian and he winked, proud that she had started to come around.

  As Stephanie sped through the desert, there was nothing on either side of them but sand and sun. They were headed to the new property, and Joshua was excited but also nervous to see his new home.

  Joshua glanced back at Avery, one of Stephanie’s girls, who was sitting in the back of the car. He was taking the forced time off as a good thing, just relaxing and helping wherever he could. Stephanie turned left through some broken-down gates and headed down a long-paved road. Ahead in the distance were the buildings, painted to blend with the sand. They were of a plain style, but large.

  “This was an old ICBM base back in the day,” Stephanie explained.

  “What is ‘ICBM?’” Avery asked.

  “Intercontinental ballistic missile,” Joshua answered. “They were big weapons, or rather are big weapons, and we built bases specifically to assemble, test, fire, and control them. This looks like it was one of the older ones.”

  “It was,” Stephanie said. “Older, I mean, but at the same time it is pretty badass. I bought it after they decommissioned it years ago. I guess when you come from a cult like I did, you always assume that the future will be bleak. I wanted a place I could come to and be safe from everyone and everything. In my mind, there was nothing safer than a military installation that provided security for a weapon like that. This one was completely off-grid. The government never let anyone know it was out here.”

  They pulled up in front of one of t
he big buildings in the center and got out of the car, looking around them.

  All of the remaining buildings were in reasonable shape on the outside and there hadn’t been a ton of trash left behind. There was more than enough space to build whatever they wanted. Stephanie stared up at the bright blue sky, closing her eyes and enjoying the sun for a moment.

  “I spent some time here cleaning it up a few years ago, and every three months I come back to make sure it’s still in working condition.” Stephanie looked at Joshua and Avery. “We will need to do more with it. I can tell you that it has functioning generators and water systems that provide power, heating, and cooling; the basics. I suggest we figure out if Amazon delivers here for the rest of it.”

  “What about the machines?” Joshua asked.

  “Well,” Stephanie said, pointing into the distance, “over that way there are some pretty good cement slabs from the buildings they took with them when they left. I think it would be a good area to place the machines on their pallets until we lay the foundation for the manufacturing building. That’s supposed to happen in three days, with a seven-day drying time. We can’t put anything at the new place until the cement has cured.”

  “Okay…” Joshua looked up at the sky, thinking about the weather.

  “I can tell you are worrying about them.” She smiled. “Maybe we can get some supersized tents to cover them.”

  “It should only take a week or a week and a half for the power company to come out and run some of the grid that we need,” Joshua said.

  “The power comes within three miles of here, I think, since the old cables aren’t efficient anymore.” Stephanie peered into the distance. “It is going to cost a pretty penny to get them to run it the rest of the way. I never needed it, since I assumed power wouldn’t be available when I really needed to come here. I was planning for a doomsday scenario, not a vacation home—or a place to house a demon-killing team.”

  She laughed, thinking about how much her life had changed.

  Just months before she had been sending in clients for Avery to “take care of,” and now she was overseeing a huge paramilitary installation. She was glad, though, to have put that part of her life behind her.