Mathew’s alarm started to ring from his phone and he groaned in annoyance reaching for it.

“Turn that shit off Mat. Fucks sake.” Leo said as he rolled over and put a pillow over his head.

Mathew hit the stop button, but didn’t quite yet get out of bed. He yawned and started to drift back to sleep when his backup alarm started to blare. A pillow to the face from Leo was the last thing required to wake him up all the way.

Looking outside, it was still night out. “Leo, remind me to never agree to anything that involves waking up before the sun does.”

“Mathew, literally four months ago, you had the divorce case involving the six secret wives, you and I both slept in the office for an entire week to figure that out.”

“Ah, I do remember that man. He never told me the secret to having them never meet in person.” Mathew said as he started to get dressed.

“Well one thing was for certain, never get in a car wreck, and don’t have all six of them as emergency contacts in your medical paperwork.”

Mathew nodded in agreement. “Very true, I'm off to go and get sweaty and possibly die. I leave all my belongings to my first born son, don’t forget.”

“Pft, yea. The day you have a child is when hell freezes over. You hate kids.” Leo said, apparently accepting he too is now awake.

“Well with enough magic, maybe it can come true. The Bible doesn't mention it, but Dante’s Inferno does mention a frozen layer of- '' Mathew stopped as he said that and looked back at Leo. “Shit, is Heaven and Hell real now? Or...more real?”

Leo mulled over the idea. “On one hand, I hope so. On the other hand, I hope not. Let’s agree and say nothing changed at all.”

Mathew nodded. “Agreed.”

----------------------------------------

Mathew walked up to the gate where he saw Captain Henderson and two others waiting. “Good, I’m not the only one late.”

“Well, Mathew, so glad you could join us. Did you get your coffee and toast on the way or something?” Henderson asked.

“First off, I hate coffee. I drink tea. Secondly, there is a serious lack of tea shops here on the base. Thirdly, yes. I did get toast.” Mathew said with a smile. It paid off to find where food was served the day before.

Henderson didn't respond but went back to looking for the rest of their group. Mathew looked at the two people standing. One was a tall lanky guy who had gear similar to Mathew’s but included an additional handgun versus a rifle. The second was the lightest packed of them all. Only sporting a single handgun. He looked to be in his teens.

“Drafting children now, are we Captain Henderson?” Mathew asked, looking at the smaller person.

“Hey, I might be small, but I am an adult.” He said with a faux bravado.

“How old are you really?” Mathew asked.

“Not even dinner first? Have you no class, Mathew?”

“Damien, there is our scout. He has two unique skills, and will be the second most important member of our team.” Henderson said.

Mathew raised an eyebrow. “I take it you are the first?”

Henderson shook her head. “Nope, I’m the third most important. We are waiting for number one right now, the lazy bastard. I haven't decided who we should sacrifice to demons if we come across any between you and Steve-O there.”

Steve-O waved and in doing so gave Mathew bad vibes. “Guy reminds me of the sleezy ones I’ve dealt with in the past. The guys who lock their wives in the homes claiming it’s for their safety, or worse, their kids.”

Mathew took the moment to look at what Captain Henderson was carrying. Which was standard for whatever Soldier, or Airman (Mathew couldn’t be bothered to remember which branch had what certain titles) in every movie would wear, with an addition of a sword.

“So, plan on dueling King Aurthor there?”

“It’s part of our secondary goal. Plenty of people have weapon based skills, but nothing related to guns yet. Command wants to see if [Swords] is a skill or not.”

Mathew narrowed his eyes. “I assumed we were not getting into any fights? Why do you need the sword? Let someone else learn it.”

Henderson glanced back at Mathew. “Don’t plan to fight, and I will keep my reasons to myself, thank you very much.”

Mathew shrugged, not caring in the slightest in the end. That’s when he saw an Airman running over to them. A giant red plus was on his helmet, showing he was a medic.

He saluted Henderson. “Senior Airman Brown reporting, Ma'am. Technical Sergeant Phillips sent me to replace him.

“Dear gods, why did he send you?” She questioned.

“I have the second highest [First Aid] skill, I also am Level 2 from acedently treating wounds of refugees who were injured. Plus he wanted to have everyone be an expert at the skill. To quote him ‘I want every piece of shit who can stop bleeding to have the [First Aid] skill to rank Godly 999999’ by the end of the week.”

Mathew pocketed that bit of information away into his pocket. Henderson’s eyes widened. “Gaining experience through application of non-combative skills? Good work. You are our medic.” She pointed at everyone. “Mathew, Steve-O, and our point scout, Damien. You've been in combat before?”

“No Ma’am. I was actually two weeks out from my deployment before, well,” He gestured vaguely around him. “This.”

She nodded. “Alright, you know your job. The rest of you, file in. Damien, you are our point. Don’t stay within sight, but don’t go too far. You have your radio, so report anything you find that is deemed to be reported. Rest of you, please don’t shoot me in the back.”

That got a chuckle out of Brown and Steve-O.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Steve-O chose then to attempt to put an arm around Henderson’s shoulders. “So, where can a guy like me get one of those pretty blades you have there Mrs, or is it Miss Henderson? I wouldn’t mind some private lessons with you. Getting all hot and-”

It all happens in a blink of an eye. Steve-O was on the ground, and had said sword blade pointed at his neck. “Touch me again, and you can see what I can do with my blade, which I promise you is bigger than yours.” She smiled, then realized what she said.

Steve-O on the other hand, chose very smartly to not acknowledge the reference, and just nodded with fear on his face.

“You are here, so you stay out of the way of others who are more important than you, got it? Touch me again, or any other woman, and you won’t have hands.”

Mathew cleared his throat. “Captain Henderson,” He chose to use her rank, and be very polite at the moment. “Are we traveling by foot, or vehicle?”

Henderson stood up and put the sword away. “Foot. Forest is too dense for a truck. I trust none of you to drive smaller personal quads either. Plus we are preserving gas as much as possible. So we hoof it. We are going to be going in a shallow spiral around the base and outwards for several hours. At which point we made a straight line back here before dark.”

Everyone nodded. Damien held up a hand. “What if we come across other survivors, or worse, monsters?”

“We will direct them which way to go, if they need help then we play it by ear. As for monsters, we either fight or run. Preferably the latter. To steal a quote from a nerdy friend, ‘This isn’t the noob zone. Level 1 Goblins won’t just pop up for an easy kill’.”

Nobody else had any more questions, and were soon heading off into the forest. Damien took off ahead and soon was lost in the foliage to where nobody could see him.

“Are we sure it’s a good idea to not be able to see him?” Steve-O asked hesitantly.

“He’s within shouting distance at the least. Plus if anyone can ensure he doesn't get seen, it’s that kid. He has a skill that makes him hard to see, funny enough it’s called [Stealth]. He also has another skill called [Running].”

Mathew shook his head. “No need to figure out how he got those skills.”

Henderson nodded. “I hate to say it, but it didn’t take long before sicko’s started to cause mayhem around the world. Damien’s dad was one of them, at least that’s what he said.”

“So, where was everyone before they, you know.” Brown asked and made a hand motion involving the wigglings of his fingers. “Appeared back in their rooms.”

“I was already in my room, asleep.” Steve-O said. “I thought it was a crazy dream until I could open my menu again. My roommates were all freaking out.”

“I was heading home from work.” Mathew said. “Was shitty too, because I left my nice car behind.”

Everyone looked at Henderson. She eventually noticed and sighed. “I was overseas in South Korea, only there for a few months. I was surprised to suddenly be at my desk, then suddenly be in my old apartment where another person was. Luckily I knew the girl, another Airman who was stationed here at this base.”

“That must have been weird.” Mathew said. “Why did you appear there? Instead of your bed in Korea?”

She shrugged. “I think it’s where you felt your home was for yourself. So if your childhood home is more homey than your college dorm room. You would appear there, regardless of how long you were in that dorm room. At least, that is the running theory. So far, it holds up.”

“Geek Squad?” Brown asked.

She nodded. “They are the ones in charge of figuring everything out about our off brand magical world. My job is to focus on the real stuff. Like finding people and saving lives.”

Mathew smiled to himself at the Geek Squad joke. Something to use and poke Zack with when he required his advice and/or help.

“So, what kind of work did you do Mathew?” Steve-O asked.

“Divorce Lawyer.”

Brown and Steve-O let out a wince. “Oof, got any rough stories?”

“I have dozens. Depends on what you are looking for.”

“How many involved the wife getting away with more than half, when she was the reason for the divorce.” Brown asked curiously.

“More than you would like to know.” Mathew responded.

“How many of those wives were your clients?” Henderson asked

Mathew looked back with a smile. “All of them.”

“Ouch, didn’t you try to be nice or help the other guy out?” Brown asked.

“Not my job, unless they paid me to.” Mathew said matter of factly.

“You took bribes? Shit, maybe you are the sacrifice to demons.” Steve-O Said.

“I’m sorry, Demons?” Brown asked, apparently missing something important.

That’s when Damien’s voice came from Henderson’s chest. “Uhh, rodger rodger, check check, come in. Can you read me? Uhhh, over?”

Henderson rolled her eyes, “Damien, it’s a radio, not a toy. It works just like a phone. What’s up?”

There was no response. “Damien hello?”

“Oh, you didn’t say ‘over’ ma’am. Over.”

Mathew could visibly see Captain Henderson hold down her rage. “Fine, what did you find, over?”

“Got a group of people. Based on how loud you guys were, I am to your left a little ways. Back toward where the main road is. Over.”

“Damien, didn’t I give you a compass? Use it please. Otherwise the whole ‘left’ and ‘right’ will be confusing. Over.”

A short pause. “South, maybe a little west? Over”

Henderson nodded. “Roger that, we are on our way. Over.”