by Michael Todd
“So what happened?” Katie asked, wide-eyed.
“Well, the sheer amount of lead we threw in the next thirty minutes probably cost the US government close to fifty K.” He chuckled. “But in the end we nailed the other side. They never even saw it coming. It was like a Hail Mary out of nowhere. There wasn’t one of us who didn’t get a hot casing in our boot or down the back of our shirt, but it was fucking amazing. None of our men ended up getting hurt after the start of the firefight.”
“Did you get to see the show?” Derek asked excitedly.
“Hell yeah, we did.” Eric nodded. “We hauled ass out of there, and only missed the opening credits. Jessica didn’t end up sleeping with Ivan, and the whole damn platoon sat there cheering and booing from the MWR tent. Was probably one of my best moments out there. We felt real again, you know? Like we were more than our guns. We were enjoying something that everyone at home was enjoying too. It made us feel normal, even if it was for only a minute.”
“Did you have many fights after that?”
“Right after that was one of the bloodiest battles we had ever seen,” he said, his eyes glazing over. “We lost thirty-two souls that day, and not one of us saw that day’s soap.”
“The sergeant stopped being an ass after that.” Eric chuckled. “He hadn’t been too happy with all the paperwork from the first battle. I’d do it again, though. It was nice feeling like a person again.”
“I hear you there,” Katie said, glancing at Derek. “I hear you.”
When the soap opera was over, Katie clapped her hands and shook her head. It was always exciting. She sat there in the chair for a moment while Eric flipped through the channels. All of them had a day off for the most part, so she really had nowhere to rush off to.
“You want to watch some baseball with us?” Eric asked, looking at her. “There’s a doubleheader.”
Katie held back a smirk while Pandora pretended to gag and puke in her mind.
“No, I think I’m gonna put some real clothes on and actually get some work done,” she told him. “Maybe next time.”
“All right,” he said. “We’ll be here.
Katie got up from the chair she was lounging in and stretched, then walked away without any more discussion. It wasn’t that she didn’t like sports—she had been an athlete in her former life—but baseball was about as exciting to her as watching grass grow. Instead, she changed her clothes and headed over to Joshua’s building to see how their efforts were going.
She leisurely walked outside and across the sand to the gate, which was already open, then went inside and down the main stairs. Joshua was sitting behind his desk staring down at two knives, and he looked up and smiled at Katie when she walked in.
“H-hey,” he said, standing up and holding out the knives. “Perfect timing. I finished these two knives for you.”
“Oh, great!” Katie chirped, taking them from him.
They were just as beautiful as the others, with shimmering metal, perfectly made handles, and steel butts. Joshua reached out and turned the knife blade-down, then tapped on the butt. Almost as if it had been magically inscribed, two cursive Ks vibrated with color. Katie ran her finger over the letters and smiled as she looked up at Joshua.
“You haven’t given me a name yet, so I put two K’s for Korbin’s Killers,” he told her.
“How did you…”
“Hang out here long enough, you learn a thing or two.” He chuckled, rubbing his hands together. “I’m really excited, though, that I’m able to cut my time down. I have been getting two knives a week done with this new machinery, which is more than I have ever done before. I know you wanted an increase in productivity, but so far this is the best I can do.”
“These are great,” Katie exclaimed. “I know these take time to make. It’s not an overnight process. How are you with the bullet idea?”
“At the moment?” he said, pulling out some papers. “Not very far with the idea at all. I am trying to figure out some technical things. The intrinsic energy of the metal is hard to control. I can’t just turn it off and on, and I’m trying to figure out how to melt it down without losing the metal’s properties. It’s beyond anything I can look up, and when these books my father left behind were written there was nothing even remotely similar to bullets. On top of that, even if I melt the metal down, I’m trying to figure out how I would spray the molten liquid.”
“Can you not just mold them into bullets?” Katie asked.
“No. Bullets aren’t a solid form like you are thinking, not with the energy involved,” Joshua replied.
She laughed. “This is all a bit above my paygrade. Just keep working on it. I’m sure it will come to you eventually. They are important, but I don’t want production of other things to slow down either.”
“Right. I’ll keep working at it.”
“Great.” Katie smiled. “I’ll check back in later.”
Katie walked back upstairs, slightly disappointed. When she reached the top, Mamacita looked over her shoulder and smiled as she accepted an order from FedEx. She checked the boxes in, signed for them, and closed the door as Katie walked over.
“Hey,” Katie greeted her. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought Joshua might need some help, and I dropped him off this morning so he didn’t keep parking that huge van in the driveway.” She looked Katie up and down. “You okay? You look tired.”
“I’m okay.” Katie sighed. “Just trying to get through the days and keep the business going. How are the girls?”
“They are all very good.” The madam smiled. “They ask about you and Joshua all the time. I have allowed some of them to come here with me and help out when needed.”
“Nice!” Katie smiled. “All right, I’m going to head into the office. If you need anything from me, you know where to find me.”
“Take a nap,” Mamacita called, picking up a box and walking carefully across the stone floor in her heels.
Katie shook her head and walked over to the office, plopping down in the new chair. She sighed and looked around for a moment, then opened the books. As she looked down at the numbers, her heart sank slightly in her chest.
They had already spent a shit-ton of money.
Even with the infusion of capital from Korbin, she was going to have to start offsetting the costs—and she had no idea how to do that. The company was going to run out of resources, and that meant they weren’t going to make as many weapons as they needed.
Chapter Two
Katie dragged her feet through the doors and into the main building. The last thing she wanted to do was go to Korbin and tell him about the issues with the company, but she didn’t have any choice. They needed to get things under control or they would be up Shit Creek with no way to make the weapons, much less create a viable business out of it.
She had gone through too much already to get the company going, and she wasn’t going to chicken out now.
When she reached Korbin’s office, she knocked on the open door.
“Katie,” he said, shuffling some paperwork as he looked up at her. “What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to see if you had a minute to talk about the company.”
“Not right now.” He shook his head. “I have to jump on a conference call with the other team leaders. I’ll call you when I’m available.”
“Thanks.”
She closed the door behind her as she left and headed back up to the main area, smiling kindly to Damian as she passed his quarters. She didn’t feel like talking with anyone else, and she wanted to put the new knives in a package for Korbin.
She figured if she was going to go to him for a favor, she should probably take something as a peace offering.
Or bribe.
“Katie,” Calvin called from behind her, “you got a package from eBay.”
Oooh, what is it? Pandora asked excitedly.
“Thanks,” Katie turned and walked back, picking the package up from the table.<
br />
She turned without a word to Pandora or the others and took it back up to her room. When she got inside with the door shut she set the knives down on the dresser and opened the package, pulling an old dusty book from the wrappings.
It was a historical book, one that was over two hundred years old. Katie had found it on eBay and hoped it would give her some more information on what she was facing.
What do you want that thing for? Pandora sniffed.
I want to see if it has any more information on the Seventy-Two, Katie answered. I want to know what I will be facing in the coming days, especially with your brother on the hunt for my meat sack, or so you keep calling it.
I don’t know why you don’t just come to me, Pandora said. I can tell you all about them if you would just ask.
Could I really believe you? Katie asked. You don’t have the best record of telling me the truth and this is too important for me to have doubts.
Point taken, Pandora said.
There are two ways I can look at this, Katie said. I can trust that your boost alone is enough to kill him, or I can assume that it is going to take more than that to keep my body safe. I have to go with the latter of the two, especially since my soul is depending on it. I don’t want to be wrong about this, you know? I want to be able to feel comfortable that I can run into this T’Chezz character at any point and know I can handle myself with him.
I get it, Pandora said. How about I do this: I won’t give you any information, but I will tell you if the book is wrong on something. It’s much worse to face an enemy you think you know about and be wrong than to have no idea. If you know nothing, you will be open to whatever happens.
All right, Katie said. That sounds like an acceptable deal.
Katie got up from the bed and walked over to the dresser, putting the book down and opening it to the first page. She grabbed the two knives off the table and started to box them up. Carefully she wrapped each knife in tissue paper and placed them, one on top of the other, inside of the box.
She didn’t want to be too girlie about it, but she wanted it to look as nice as possible since she was going to pretty much be asking for something in return. She glanced over at the first page of the book and skipped through until it reached the part about the seventy-two.
So, the first demon they talk about is Asmodeus, Katie said.
Oh, lord, Pandora giggled.
It says here that Asmodeus is the orgy devil of sensuality, Katie said, a slight blush on her cheeks. It is said he is also immensely spiteful and protective of his lovers. It says that he uses his allure, his sexual allure, to bring his victims to him. Some he keeps as sexual slaves of sorts and the others are usually enemies or blood lust.
Asmodeus is definitely alluring, that’s for damn sure. Pandora snickered. He is like the ultimate ladies’ man, and I’ve had my fair share of fun with him. Not so much with his asshole tendencies, but I digress.
Okay. Katie sighed. So, he is the most charming being I could ever meet but, in the end he will swallow me whole.
After you swallow him, Pandora agreed.
Enough! Katie interrupted. I get the picture. So, beware of any romantic or lustful feelings I may have toward someone. Got it. Noted.
It would be the most passionate feeling you have ever felt, Pandora said. Like your shit is on fire or something.
That sounds like what you get when you sleep with one of the guys from the pub, Katie said, amused by her joke.
Humans are weird, Pandora groaned. Okay, who is next?
Before Katie could move forward Korbin came over the loudspeaker, calling her to his office. She finished up with the box of knives and closed the book, stashing it in the top drawer of her dresser.
I guess we will pick this up later, Katie said. After I sell my soul to another kind of devil.
Korbin sat at his desk waiting for Katie to come down, wondering what she wanted to talk about. He could tell by the tepidness in her voice when she first came to his office that she didn’t want to be there to talk about whatever it was bothering her.
He looked up as Katie came out of the elevator and walked toward his now open door.
“Hey,” he said. “Have a seat.”
“Thanks.” She sat down. “I brought you something.”
He watched as she pulled a box from her lap, which was tied closed with a ribbon.
He took it from her and smiled, pulling the bow off slowly and carefully lifting the lid. He stared down at the blue tissue paper and carefully picked up the two pieces, unwrapping each separately.
Inside, there were a pair of very beautiful knives, hand crafted by Joshua, with the same glimmering texture to them. He could already imagine himself using them on a demon.
“These are very expensive knives, as you are probably aware,” Katie said.
“Yeah.” Korbin nodded, shaking his head. “They are beautiful. Joshua does amazing work. I am glad to see that he has been able to sit down and get some work done.”
“Me too,” she said. “That being said, I think I need some help—your help—with the business.”
“Me?” he said, putting down the knives and leaning back in his chair. “What’s going on? What’s the issue?”
“Well, I looked at the books this morning, and to be frank, we are hemorrhaging money,” Katie explained. “I guess between the start of the company, training, and this new threat that just seems to be growing with the infected, I haven’t been paying the kind of attention to what Joshua is doing as I should be.”
“All right,” Korbin said, pulling his eyebrows together. “What kind of help are you looking for?”
“I just need someone to go over the books,” Katie replied. “To make sure everything is being done as efficiently as possible. We all know there are always places we can trim expenses, and I need to know where we can do that with what we are ordering and paying out for. I may have knowledge, but I lack experience in this area and I think that you could help—and not be too intimidating to Joshua at the same time.”
“Are we sure we can trust Joshua?”
“Yes,” Katie said, nodding. “Definitely. The thing is, he is doing what he thinks needs to be done, but he is a blade maker. He isn’t a businessman in any sense of the word. I’m sure he orders just like he assumes he should. I doubt if he knows that everything is negotiable with the quantity of supplies we are ordering, for example,.”
“All right, I understand.” Korbin rubbed his chin. “So basically, he goes in and orders whatever he needs to perform his job, most likely from the same people he ordered from before. He assumes the price is the price, and that is it.”
“That is what I believe,” Katie admitted. “I also worry that he won’t know how to handle profits, not that we have any right now. I don’t think he will understand that profits need to be distributed among different sectors of the company. He will most likely just put that money back into supplies, like a vicious circle.”
“And we will continue to think we are operating at cost.” Korbin nodded. “Where do you keep your books?”
“Right now there is only one. The guys built me an office on the main floor of the building next door, and I keep them in there so Joshua has access to them when he does all his ordering and accepting of packages.”
“Do you think he can be trained, or do you think we will have to have someone else do the negotiations and ordering?” Korbin asked.
Katie thought for a moment. “Probably the latter,” she finally answered. “He is a good kid, but he has serious social anxiety. I think trying to push him to negotiate with these suppliers—some who are really pushy—will only make things worse for him, and therefore for us.”
“Right,” Korbin said. “Okay. Sure, I’ll look at the books with you.”
“Thank you, Korbin. And you don’t have to wait for me to be there—just whenever you are available. During the day the office is open, and at night just grab the key from me or Joshua if he is still there. I really a
ppreciate this.”
“Not a problem,” Korbin said, glancing at Eric in the pit below them. “Why don’t you suit up and go work out with Eric. He has been going at it for hours.”
“Absolutely.” She nodded, then got up and walked to the door. “And thanks again.”
Korbin just smiled, feeling good about helping her out.
Eric could feel the sweat rolling down his forehead as he pushed the weights over his head and lowered again.
He growled as he pushed back up. The muscles in his arms and back quaked under the pressure. He didn’t know if it had anything to do with the demon inside him but he felt damn strong now, ready to take on whatever the fuck came his way.
He was pumped to be Damned, pumped that he could use the same sick sons of bitches that killed his comrades to kill the aforementioned sons of bitches. He was pumped to have that extra boost, but he wouldn’t misuse it.
“You are looking buff.” Katie was leaning against the wall. “Don’t overdo it, or you will hurt yourself.”
“I feel amazing,” Eric replied, glancing at her. “Like I could tackle a bull.”
“Wait till it starts talking to you all the time.” Katie chuckled. “You just need to be careful, that’s all. Its ultimate goal is take you over, and when that happens there is no going back. That’s when we have to make a really hard choice.”
“That won’t happen.” Eric racked the weights and stood up. “I’m tougher than that. I won’t let it take me over.”
Shit, there isn’t even a very big demon in there. Pandora sniffed. And the thing is terrified still—or maybe that’s just because we showed up. Either way, the thing is not giving him anything extra, really.
Let him be, Katie told her.
It’s hard to ignore him. He has such a hard-on for you that you would think Asmodeus was inside him. Pandora chuckled. His muscles are going to deflate, and we’re gonna watch him spin around the room like a fucking skin balloon.
Where do you come up with this shit? Katie asked. “Skin balloon?”