Chapter 14
One of the first keys to survival in a bad situation is organization, or as Earl liked to say, “Keep your shit together and you’re less likely to choke.”
Milo had completed his inventory of all our available equipment. It wasn’t nearly as good as I’d hoped. Sure, all of the Hunters had been armed, but very few had been loaded for bear. My team was the only one that had come in directly from a mission with a full load-out. Our Hunters who had road-tripped in had quite a bit of gear, but the ones who had flown in were minimally armed, though after the lesson of the Christmas party, you’d be hard pressed to find an MHI member who travelled anywhere without at least two guns and their armor. The Hunters from other countries were worse off, with most of them having been dissuaded by all of the bureaucratic hoop-jumping, though many of them had found some crafty way to arm themselves locally immediately after Stricken’s challenge. A few had even been able to do it legally.
We had no heavy weapons. We had almost nothing left as far as explosives. The ammunition supply would be sufficient for maybe one decent engagement, and we were sorely regretting all the silver .308 we’d wasted on a nearly empty gas station. Cooper had been given the assignment of improvising some explosives, so he had drafted a few other Hunters, some of the staff, and even one of the strippers Holly had invited, and was teaching them how to make IEDs. Hotel security had one arms locker that they were very proud of, but which was relatively lame by our standards. Mitch had claimed its contents for his staff who were guarding the casino’s vault.
Trip and I had gone back out on patrol. There weren’t nearly as many of us wandering around now. Rumors were spreading like wildfire amongst the trapped guests, and it had started getting really heated. One tourist had lost his temper and taken a swing at one of the Brazilian Hunters, who had promptly choked the fellow unconscious. It is never smart to get into a wrestling match with a Brazilian. That had gotten a few more people riled up, and so now all of our more diplomatic Hunters were occupied babysitting.
This whole situation was really bugging me, but there was one thing in particular that was eating away at my calm. We took the elevator up to the roof to check on my wife’s team. Team was a real overstatement, since basically Julie had grabbed anyone who had brought a rifle with a high-magnification scope and stuck them where they could get the best view. I knew she had collected four people, two who didn’t speak any English, and an orc that wouldn’t leave his helicopter.
We’d procured a key card from Mitch that let us access the areas that were normally restricted. It was windy and surprisingly cold on the roof. The morning sun was a pale globe over the desert. Las Vegas was a different animal in the early sunlight; a big, lethargic, sleepy, decrepit, sleazy animal that had stayed up too late drinking the night before and woke up grumpy. Since the Last Dragon was one of the tallest buildings in the city, Julie had a commanding view of the strip from here.
I spotted my wife at the far corner of the roof. She had her back to us, and was braced against the railing, watching something far below through her scope. I wanted to talk to her alone. “Do me a favor and check on Skippy,” I told Trip. “See if there’s a phone up here and he knows to answer it if it rings.”
“Does Skippy even know how to use a phone? Guess I’ll find out.”
Julie heard my approach and quickly turned to see who or what was coming towards her. Relief flooded her face. She was just as jumpy as the rest of us. “Hey. Glad you’re here.”
“You should keep somebody close by to watch your back,” I chided her. “Remember what happened to Hugo.”
“I’m not stupid,” she answered as she slung her M-14, her manner suddenly defensive. That usually only happened when I was right, which wasn’t very often. “I’ve been doing this longer than you have.”
“You pulling rank on me, dear?”
Julie frowned. That had been a cheap shot, though as MHI’s business manager she did outrank MHI’s accountant. “I’ve only got four people and a really big area to watch.”
“Then I’ll go ask for some more,” I answered gently.
“Fine.” Julie relented. “Sorry, I’m touchy is all.”
“Me too.” I took a spot next to her at the railing. Looking over the side made me dizzy, but it didn’t seem to bother her any. Her dark hair was loose and blowing in the wind. There was something I was worried about, but I wasn’t ready to broach the topic yet. “Anything new and exciting?”
“There are snipers on the casino’s other rooftops. They’re watching us right now.” I looked around but couldn’t see anything. “Don’t bother. They’re pretty well hidden. Down here,” Julie pointed to the right, “is the pool and the gardens. You might want to have the staff lock those doors, because people are still wandering out there looking for a way out, but I’m not seeing any of our patrols, so I don’t think we knew that part was still open. Oh, and I know where Presumptuous Trout went.”
“Huh?” It took me a moment to realize that Julie had decided to jump on the bandwagon and start making fun of Paranormal Tactical too. “Those jackasses? Where?”
She nodded at the barricades on the street. “Stricken has hired some contractors to work security.”
“Son of a bitch.” I didn’t have the scope, so would have to take her word for it. “What douchebags.”
“The word that came to mind for me was whores. Other than that, from here I can see in the windows to the conference center and walkway over the concourse. I saw Earl walk through there a minute ago, looking madder than usual.” Somebody had already given her a brief summary, but I told her all the details from the grim conversation with Stricken. “So do you think the science experiment in that containment unit was the thing that’s supposed to end the world that your dad has been trying to tell us about?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it doesn’t feel like it.” Sure, the symbol had been there and all, but it had felt new, whereas the occupant of the unit had been there for decades. It was more like the symbol had been used to wake it up. “Here’s hoping it’s not. We’re not ready. But honestly, it’s the instigator, but I don’t think Hugo’s Nachtmar is it.”
“Good. I’ve got plans. I’m getting my hair done next week.”
“Thanks for not yelling at me for procrastinating murdering my dad to prevent Armageddon.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. We don’t know what’s going on yet, and besides, your dad’s probably delusional.” Julie quickly changed the subject because we both knew he probably wasn’t. “It’s been pretty quiet up here. The only things I’ve seen through the windows down there are people angry about being stuck in quarantine.”
“How can you tell?”
“On twenty power I can’t exactly read lips, but I can certainly read body language. The situation’s getting rowdy in there, which is why I didn’t ask for any more help up here. I figured we needed all the Hunters we could get inside.”
“Speaking of being needed inside…”
“I knew you’d get around to asking that eventually.” Julie knew me far too well. “You want to know why I volunteered to be out here, on lookout duty that anybody else could do, instead of being my usual diplomatic, take-charge self, herding cats downstairs?”
“Pretty much.”