The other Hunters were gathered in the cafeteria. I had never seen most of them before. They were an interesting crew. Most of the heavy suits of armor had been ditched as soon as was possible, and the Hunters were trying to get in the small bit of relaxation that they could. A few had not taken theirs off yet, mostly the ones who had been lucky enough not to be splattered with undead juices during the day's activity. In addition to the infamous horned happy face there were several other team logos present. Some were cartoonish: a fire-breathing warthog, Scud the Disposable Assassin, Samurai Jack, and one that appeared to be a cross between a shark and an octopus. Others logos were more serious: a skull with vampire teeth and a knife through it, a highly stylized dragon, crossed Kalashnikovs, and a version of Munch's "The Scream." All of the patches were black and olive drab green.
Some Hunters were eating, scarfing down whatever calories were available. A large group were clustered around the TV watching the news as more reports trickled in about the worldwide panic caused by the missing five minutes, but the majority of the Hunters were cleaning their guns or sharpening edged weapons. Someone had plugged in a CD player and was playing classic rock.
"Earl!" a ponytailed man in a Harley Davidson tank top shouted. "Hey, everybody! Harbinger's here!" The Hunters dropped what they were doing, jumped up and crowded around us, many of them asking questions.
"Calm down," Harbinger boomed. "As soon as everybody's here, we'll have a full debriefing. Status? Who're we missing?"
The biker-looking fellow started to tick off names on his fingers. Apparently he at least knew everybody. "Nobody called in any casualties today. Most of these vamps never knew what hit them. We stacked up piles of the bastards. Boone is here, but his guys volunteered to be perimeter security for now. VanZant, Paxton, and Mayorga's teams called in and are on the way. Eddings just crawled out of some mine, said he didn't get the message to pull out before dark. So they should be last ones in."
"Didn't get the message, my butt," Julie said angrily. "You don't stay in a vampire hole after dark."
"Crazy bastard," Sam said with admiration.
"Where's my… the Boss?" Harbinger asked.
"Called about fifteen minutes ago. Him and the Newbies kicked some serious ass up in Forestdale. They're coming. The Boss sounded really happy on the phone."
"No surprise. He hasn't got to kill anything in years. Thanks, Phillips." Harbinger slapped the man on the back. He raised his voice so that all of the assembled Hunters could hear. "You scumbags best not have eaten everything. I'm starved."
"Fred's making up some dinner-he used to be a chef you know-but right now there's pudding cups in the fridge," said one, as he spooned Dorcas' precious chocolate into his mouth.
"You poor condemned fool," muttered Sam under his breath. For that Hunter's sake, I hoped that Dorcas had had a chance to use up her daily quotient of violence against vampires.
"Whoa there, chief. We're dying here," the man named Phillips interjected. "Rumor has it that you had something to do with that five minutes. What was up with that?"
"Where'd you hear that?"
"It was all over the Feds' encrypted channels. Something about a demon massacre in Natchy Bottom," a female Hunter said. I loved the fact that breaking into the government's secure communications did not cause anyone to bat an eye.
"Yeah, man, that was some freaky shit," said a short man. "Whole world is going crazy out there."
Most of the others nodded in agreement. In the background the news video was showing huge crowds of demonstrators gathered in front of the White House. The scrolling information across the bottom warned of the condition-red terror warning, and the declaration of martial law across the Southeastern U.S.
"Well, I'll address that. But I'm going to wait until everybody's here. I'm tired and I ain't telling that story more than once." He pulled out a cigarette. Three other Hunters whipped out lighters. Every person in the room respected or admired Harbinger far too much to argue. "Somebody scare me up something hot and made out of cow. And that's an order." He leaned in, lit the end of the cigarette from one of the proffered lighters and inhaled greedily. "It's been a hell of a day."
I agreed fully with that sentiment. Harbinger's team dispersed, greeting and conversing with old friends. I dropped my bag of gear on the floor and went to scrounge up something to eat. I was starving, exhausted, sore, aching, and missing a considerable amount of blood from the leeches and thumbnail-sized ticks. However, I was still a gentleman.
"Julie, can I get you something from the kitchen?"
"Hang on. I'll come with you." She set her equipment next to mine, and hurriedly made her way through the double doors. I followed, stomach rumbling, already salivating at the smell of something being fried. I stumbled zombielike in the direction of precious food. But Julie grabbed my hand, led me off to the side, waved quickly at the few Hunters cooking and scrounging, and pulled me through a small side door into the hallway.
"What's up?" I asked, glancing back longingly toward the kitchen. At my size and level of physical activity, I had to eat 4,500 calories a day to keep from getting cranky. She led me quickly up the stairs to the top level. I had not been up here much. I followed stupidly.
"We died today."
"Yeah, I've done that a couple of times. It don't get any easier."
She stopped, glanced down the hall to make sure we were alone. Satisfied, she turned and looked me in the eyes. "It really makes you think. Coming that close. Doesn't it?"
"I suppose," I answered, slightly embarrassed.
"You saved us. I don't know how you did, but you're something special. I can't explain it."
"You're the special one. I've known that since I first met you," I told her sincerely.
"I had the same reaction. I just couldn't explain it at the time."
"Really?" That took me by surprise.
"Yes. Really. Look, I know this is sudden, but what you said back there… in the swamp… right before you… you stepped in front of me…" I thought of the alien spear that I took for her piercing my heart. "Did you mean that?"
"I… uh… well…" I stammered, afraid to answer truthfully.
She responded quickly. "Because if you didn't, I totally understand. It was a really intense moment… and I don't want to move too fast… or anything like that. And there has just been so much going on… with my family… and…" She did not mention the missing Grant, but the look of guilt was obvious on her face. "It's just happened so fast, and I wasn't expecting anything like this. There has been something about you, ever since we met. And then when Grant abandoned you on the freighter… We fought about that. I couldn't believe he did that to you. And then he disappeared, and I know how I feel about you, and I should feel guilty because he's probably dead or worse, and so much has happened, but you're here, and I just don't know-"
I cut her off. "I meant it." I screwed up all of my courage. Compared to this moment, vampires, werewolves, undead, gargoyles, demons, giant sky squids-they were nothing. I would rather face legions of monsters than have her reject what I was about to say.
I held both of her hands as gently as a brute like me could manage. Her expression was unreadable. "I love you," I stated simply.
She did not respond immediately. I felt a nervous weight form in my stomach, threatening to drag me through the floor. I swallowed involuntarily as all of the moisture left my mouth. Finally she smiled, a little smile at first, and then gradually it spread into a wide grin.
"Me too."
"Really?" The weight lifted. Lightning crashed. The heavens opened and choirs of angels sang.
"Yes. Now quit squeezing my hands, you're gonna break them."
I hurriedly let go. "Sorry."
"No problem." She leaned in close and we kissed. Her lips were warm and soft. She broke away and nodded her head toward one of the doors off to the side. "That's the room that I use when I work late and end up sleeping at the compound." Julie sounded slightly short of breath. "I figure that we have a little while before the other teams get here and anybody notices we're gone."
Dinner could wait.
I had not thought that anyone had seen us slip quietly back into the cafeteria. I had been as stealthy and nonchalant as was possible. Julie had winked at me one last time and moved off to coordinate with the other teams and take care of business. The room had almost filled with Hunters, and only one team was still missing, but was due at any moment. My gear had been pushed to the side. I picked up my bag, spotted my friends sitting at a table in the back of the room, and made my way over. The cafeteria had taken on an almost party atmosphere as Hunters who had not seen each other in months or years were reunited.
"Hey, dude. What you been doing?" Trip said, sliding over so I could have room to sit.
"Uh… nothing."
"Whatever," Holly said as she pushed a plate of now lukewarm pasta toward me. "We saved you some food… Stud." She winked evilly. "Best eat. Keep your strength up." Very few things slipped past Holly Newcastle.
"Thanks," I mumbled and immediately began to eat. The meal was delicious. "Wow, they sure did use a ton of garlic."
"The guy that cooked it, Fred, said that it might help when we fight vampires tomorrow," Trip explained. "Maybe they won't want to bite us if we stink like garlic."
Holly snorted. "That's just an old wives' tale. Vamps aren't scared of garlic."
"Hey, up until yesterday night we thought them turning into fog was just a myth too," I answered. "So until then, load me up, baby."
The final team arrived with a flourish. They were beleaguered and their armor was still splashed with undead fluids. Their logo was Smoking Elvis. Their leader waved to the crowd.
"Sorry we're late, but we killed twenty bloodsuckers. Let's get this party started." Shouts of "Showoff!" and "About time!" rose from the Hunters. But it was all in good fun.
"Will somebody hose these guys off? Damn, Eddings, your crew smells like vampire shit!" Sam bellowed.
"Love you too, Sam," he shouted back.
Harbinger cleared his throat. "Get your guys cleaned up, and grab some grub. We need to have a meeting." At that, the newcomers immediately complied. The rest of the room went back to its heated conversations and raucous laughter. Holly watched them go. After a moment's hesitation, she sprang to her feet and ran after them, grabbing the team lead by the arm.
"Excuse me?" she asked as he turned around. I was close enough to hear the exchange over the noise of the room. "Are you the team out of Las Vegas?"
"At your service." Eddings bowed slightly. "I don't think we've met, miss?"
"Newcastle, Holly Newcastle. Yes. Yes, we have met." She surprised all of us by embracing the filth-coated Hunter, hugging him tight, and holding him there. He looked bewildered. Finally she let go of him. He studied her curiously for a minute.
"Ahh… I remember now. Wow. Good to see you. You look a lot better. You've gained a bunch of weight," he said that as a compliment. "You must have put on thirty pounds."
"Thanks," she answered proudly. I looked at Trip and shrugged. That was not something I was under the impression you could say to Holly, or any woman for that matter, without getting shot.
"Earl told me he was going to try and recruit you. I'm glad to see you took him up on it. How do you like Monster Hunting?"
"Honestly, I hated it at first, but I felt like it was something I just had to do. Face my fears, you know…"
"Yeah. I understand that, after what you went through."