by Michael Todd
This shit is nuts. I can’t believe I now work out like this. I thought my volleyball coach was hard on me back in the day.
Shit, from the way you smashed out those burpees it looks like you had a wimpy bitch for a coach.
She walked over to where she’d left her water and took a good long sip, then put the cap back on it and looked out over the valley. A hawk screamed above her.
I wonder what it’s like to be a bird?
I don’t know. I’ve never been one.
When you come back to Earth, can you inhabit anything?
Pretty much, although you rarely find a demon who wants to be in anything other than a human. There is not enough power in being an animal, while if you’re a human you get to enjoy luxuries you don’t find in hell. You may already know this, but demons like food, money, clothing, and all the commercial aspects of human life. All the things your churches call frivolous.
Yeah, well, I like em’ too, but not as much as most demons.
I know. Pandora groaned. It’s like pulling teeth to get you to buy a new bra.
I just think there is more to life than stuff.
Like what?
Katie thought for a moment. Relationships, kind gestures, and doing for those who can’t do for themselves. Then there is seeing places—traveling and visiting all the wonders of the world. You are only here once, I think, so why not see everything you can. Fall in love, be alive.
I like where you are going with that. The only problem is, you do none of those things.
Well, I was planning on it before you came around, but things changed. I’m sure one day I will have the chance to do that stuff. I mean, look at Stephanie and Korbin. Neither of them thought they would ever have a chance at love again, and they found it.
Pandora snorted. A lotta good that does. They fell in love just so one day they can watch each other die at the hand of a demon. I’m telling you, if Stephanie goes first Korbin will finally lose it and go postal on someone.
Maybe it won’t always be that way. Katie shrugged. I’d like to think that the two of them will have a chance in the future.
That’s what fuels you humans: hope.
Yep, and the hatred of demons. We like revenge; it makes for a good storyline.
Hey, we have that in common. I love revenge. Unfortunately, so do the rest of my kind—like my husband and my shithead brother. Those are the assholes you gotta look out for. They have some deep-seated centuries-old shit going on in their heads. Talk about holding onto a grudge! Those boys are the captains.
Katie flipped her staff over in her hand with a smile. That’s why we are training—so I don’t have to worry about facing them. So that facing T’Chezz will be a walk in the park.
Pandora snorted. A walk in Central Park at midnight with pigtails and a shiny purse.
Katie laughed, then turned when she heard something in the distance. She shielded her eyes from the sun and squinted out into the sand dunes. A plume of dust rose into the air behind one of the off-road vehicles as it sped toward them.
Pandora reached out with her mind.
It’s the general. Seems like it’s going to be a big-reveal sort of day. He wouldn’t be coming here to wish you well and bring cakes and tea, by any chance?
No. Friends or not, Katie gripped her staff tighter in her hands, we aren’t going to be put into R&D, Pandora.
Huh, you got that right. Forever free, bitch.
10
Four soldiers ran in rank up the steep incline of the trail. They were dressed in full fatigues, their boots laced tight and their packs on their backs. These four men were hard-nosed full-on beasts, and in order to stay that way they trained harder and longer than most in the Army, or anyone else in their group.
Their nine-mile run that day was coming to a close, but they were ready for whatever would happen next.
They had been on hold since their last assignment, patiently awaiting their new orders.
MSG Jeff Morris, head of team operations and Intel NCO, kept the group in cadence as they ran up the steep hill. A larger company was running toward them.
These guys were fresh out of boot, running in their Army-green PT gear. They stared at the four with awed expressions but passed without acknowledging them.
Here ran legends, none of them really belonging to any company except their own. They were sent in on the toughest and darkest assignments, sticking together from chow to battle.
Once the booters had passed, Morris cleared his throat starting their running cadence over from the beginning.
“Above the land,
Across the sea,
We’re everywhere,
We need to be.
We’re brothers of,
A special kind,
A better band,
You’ll never find.
Band of brothers,
That’s what we are,
Fighting evil,
Near and far.
Band of brothers,
That’s what I said,
Baptized by fire,
Scarred by lead.
We’re lean and mean,
And fit to fight,
Anywhere,
Day or night.
When bullets fly,
And rockets fall,
We’ll stand our ground,
And give our all.
We’re on the move,
We’re on the march,
We’re diggin’ ditches,
And breakin’ starch.
When you hear,
Our battle cry,
You better move,
And step aside.
Band of brothers,
That’s what we said,
Mess with us,
We’ll shoot you dead.
Band of brothers,
Trained to kill,
If we don’t getcha,
Our sisters will.”
By the end of the cadence all four men had reached the top of the hill and slowed down to fall out of formation.
Morris patted SFC (P) Matthew Brown on the shoulder, giving him a nod.
The guy was more than satisfactory in appearance: always pressed, always neat, always on-point. He was the group’s weapons specialist and often knew more about military arsenals than the companies that built them.
Next to him was SFC Eli Davis, the comic of the group. Compared to the rest of the Army he was serious as hell, but with the guys he cracked the jokes that kept the mood light.
He was their engineering specialist, and he could do just about everything they thought of when it came to structures, bridges, and combat support.
Except how to build a bridge out of nothing but sand and a few drops of water from their canteens in Iraq one time. It caused them to walk an extra five hours around the obstacle while everyone bitched at him the whole time for not producing a bridge out of his backpack.
Under their breaths, of course.
Last but not least, wiping the sweat from his forehead was MSG Michael Wilson, the medical specialist. He kept the guys alive, and because of that, he was the most important member of their team.
He was protected at all times, even just out and about on leave. He kept it together with a sense of calm most people didn’t have, especially when it came to stitching people back together and pulling bullets out of limbs mid-fight.
They were a lethal team.
The four men eyed a guy jumping out of a jeep and heading up the hill.
Davis spat to the side as his breathing evened out. “Bet you he’s coming here to grab Wilson for sticking his pecker in the wrong hole.”
Brown sighed. “Told him that tree was a waste of time. Nothing but splinters.”
“It was an elm, and it was as smooth as if someone had sanded it with 800-grit sandpaper,” Wilson shot back.
The young guy was panting as he climbed.
Davis chuckled. “You might have to deliver a little mouth-to-mouth when he gets here. And I’ve heard tell that there is a new
colonel who has three daughters…last name ‘Elm.’”
Three of the men chuckled. Wilson just shrugged.
Finally the time had come. “Master Sergeant Morris,” the private barked, standing at attention.
“Yes, PFC, at ease.”
He nodded to the men. “Colonel Browder wishes in to see you his office right away, Sergeant Brown, Sergeant Davis, and Master Sergeant Wilson. He has your reassignment.”
“Thank you, Private.”
Morris turned back to the guys with a smile on his face, knowing what that meant.
It was time for action. Time for them to see more than just the backside of the base. These four men were war heroes who had dedicated their lives to the Army.
The last thing they wanted was idle time on base, just waiting around until the shit hit the fan. But they couldn’t have expected what the colonel was about to tell them.
They stood at attention in a row, their covers under their arms as they waited for the colonel to put them at ease. Colonel Browder looked up at the men and stood, then paced back and forth in front of them. He turned and looked Morris in the eyes, waiting for him to flinch, but he didn’t. None of them ever had.
“You are some of the best soldiers this Army has.”
“Thank you, Colonel,” Morris replied.
“And for that reason, you are being sent on an assignment unlike anything you have ever faced. In fact, none of us has. It has been top secret for a long time, but now we are facing it head-on. You boys will be joining an elite group fighting the worst threat ever to reach our planet. Are you ready?”
“Yes, sir,” Morris and the others barked.
“Good. At ease, boys. Let’s have a chat about demons…”
The colonel chuckled at the looks of shock on their faces.
Katie poked her head into Korbin’s office and gave him a winning smile. He leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms over his head, knowing she was up to something.
She sauntered in with her hands behind her back and looked at him. She had been awfully smug since her conversation with the general.
He ran a hand across his mouth. “All right, spill it. What’s this about? I know you want something.”
She pointed to herself. “Me, want something? That never happens.”
Korbin raised an eyebrow, which caused her to laugh.
“What is it?” he pressed.
“Can you get on the intercom and call everyone to the living area? I think we need to do some soap operas and bonding. It’s marathon time, boss.”
Korbin rolled his eyes and groaned and Katie gave him a stern look.
“Don’t act like you didn’t get into the soaps. I forgot to record them and went in to set the timer, only to find you had done it for me. Besides, everyone needs a morale boost.”
He leaned forward in his chair. “You know something we don’t?”
Pandora urged, Tell him.
She nodded. “Pandora says Moloch doesn’t get involved unless it’s going to go wide. We need to have some fun; enjoy ourselves a bit before the shit hits the fan.”
His eyes narrowed, then, “I agree with you.”
Katie chuckled, which made Korbin raise an eyebrow. “That wasn’t all she said, was it?”
“No.” Katie laughed. “She said, ‘It’s time for sugar popcorn, chicken nuggets, and finding out if that bitch in heat got her ten inches from Keven or not.”
Korbin smirked as he picked up the phone and pressed the intercom button. He shook his head and cleared his throat before speaking.
“Damian, Stephanie, Eric, Calvin, and Timothy: please report to the lounge for some fun and relaxation, per Katie and Pandora.”
Katie leaned forward and whispered, “Tell them to hook up the snacks.”
He added, “Katie says to bring the food. That is all.”
Katie smiled and stood up, waving for Korbin to follow her. “Come on, bossman. The popcorn is hot and ready.”
They walked through the tunnels and into the lounge, where they found everyone waiting for them. Stephanie sat up on her knees and waved Korbin over, snuggling up to him when he plopped down on the couch next to her.
Katie took her normal overstuffed chair to the right of the television, and Calvin was on the couch smirking at the lovebirds. Eric was in the other chair with Timothy sitting on the floor to the left of him, and Damian was in his normal spot in the back.
“You people relax to soap operas?” Timothy raised an eyebrow. “Don’t get me wrong, I love me some drama, but I did not see this coming.”
Eric patted him on the shoulder. “Just go with the flow, man. Go with the flow.”
Katie started the first missed episode and relaxed with a bowl of bright purple sugar popcorn and a plate of chicken nuggets.
She was introducing Pandora to the wonders of honey mustard and had already gone through three packets.
Everyone quieted down as the opening credits faded to a view of Maria, who stared at Keven lying in her bed with a white sheet covering his guy parts.
Timothy snapped his fingers. “Ohhh…that is one hunk of a man!”
Katie giggled as the actors talked about the portals to hell and all the drama they had been through. She looked around the room at the family.
It had changed, but she was happy that she still had one that was intact. She’d had to learn that in their world things changed on a regular basis. You either got used to it and went with it—or you fought it, only to find yourself miserable and alone.
She didn’t want to be miserable and alone. She wanted all the small pleasures in life she could find, and the six people in that room were exactly that to her.
She looked over her shoulder at Damian, who was intent on the screen as he popped a piece of popcorn into his mouth. He glanced at her and winked.
She turned back to the show and relaxed into her chair, laughing at Eric’s and Timothy’s side commentary. On the screen, Maria had transitioned from admiring her new lover to arguing with him in a cemetery somewhere. Then a portal to hell opened behind them and out walked Josephine, Keven’s wife—the woman he thought had died two years before.
“Oh, hell no,” Calvin exclaimed, sitting up and throwing his arms out. “Push that bitch right back into that damn hole, Keven, and be done with it! She was a real piece of work to begin with. You are free, homie! Free to be with your hot Spanish Mamacita.”
Stephanie looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“Not you,” Calvin replied with a laugh. “The one on the screen.”
Timothy narrowed his eyes. “Mamacita?”
Stephanie shook her head. “Long story. I’ll tell you when we do our nails tomorrow. Too long and torturous for right now.”
“Mmmhmm.” Timothy shook his head and pursed his lips. “Like a regular soap in this place. Who knows what secrets will pop out next? Somebody gonna tell me Big Scary Man over there likes kittens.?”
Katie laughed and looked at Calvin, who just shook his head. Everything was right in the world.
Even if it was just for that one night.
Moloch flexed his muscles as he stepped out of the portal, and looked at Trenton and his team who stood by awaiting his instructions. He walked over to the guys and stared one at a time into their glowing red eyes. Trenton nodded, his hands clutched behind his back.
“Have you been training?”
“Yes, Moloch.” Trenton lowered his head. “We are ready for whatever you want to send this way. We have prepared for all scenarios we could think of.”
Moloch growled, “Good.” He raised his hands to tear through the air and rip open a new portal, and through the haze was a back alley in a very small town. They all heard children playing in the background. “Go there and sow death, destruction, and pain.”
An evil smile moved over Trenton’s lips as he relayed the command to his team. Their eyes glowed brightly and they began to breathe heavily, their shoulders tense and their teeth clenched. One by one they steppe
d into the alley, and as the last one crossed the portal slammed shut behind them. Trenton looked at each of them and nodded in approval.
“Behind us was a battle lost, but today begins the war. No survivors, unless Moloch tells us to stop.”
The mercenary demons took off screaming, grabbing anyone they came in contact with. The shrieks of the innocent rang out through the small Wyoming town as the team killed or maimed all they could find.
Trenton held back, wearing an evil smile as his team taunted the townspeople and laughed as they ripped them limb from limb.
A young boy scrambled out of the library doors and across the street, hiding around the corner in an alley. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911, sobbing with fear as he put the phone to his ear.
Suddenly one of the demons came from behind the boy. He grabbed him by the back of his neck and lifted him easily, dragging him out of the alley. Nearby humans screamed and attempted to get to him, but they were put down hard and fast by the team. The kid thrashed, dropping the phone to the ground, and the demon laughed loudly his eyes glowing brighter and brighter.
“No!” the kid screamed.
The Enlightened had no compassion. He killed the kid like any other human he encountered and discarded the body.
The boy lay in the slowly-filling pool of blood that washed the street, no longer able to hear the tinny voice of the operator from cellphone beside him.
Trenton walked down the block with his team following him.
The door to the grocery store opened and Brock came running out with his mother in tow.
“Stay there,” Brock yelled to his mother as Trenton stood triumphantly on the sidewalk. His hands were covered in blood, and he laughed as one of his team ravaged several older people next to him.
Brock curled his hands into fists and stomped toward him with his anger and his demon’s combined. His eyes flashed red as he approached Trenton and shoved him backward. Trenton kept his smile firmly in place, not flinching as Brock threatened him.
“Who the fuck are you? Leave these people alone!”
Trenton broke a piece off the metal bars that formed the cart return and walked toward Brock, gripping it tightly. He could see the red in his eyes, but it was obvious he wasn’t on their team.