That night, Dania slept like the dead. No one showed up in the middle of the night to stare creepily at her. No one screamed for help in the wee hours of the morning. No one even called her name until Jake hollered down the hall that her alarm was going off and could she silence it please?

So much for Hush's fascination with me, Dania thought as she eased out of bed and stretched her arms up over her head. Her spine popped deliciously, and she let out a breath… and smiled.

I feel good, she realized. My arm doesn't even hurt at all. Amazing what a solid night's sleep will do.

"Jake," she hollered as she grabbed her workout clothes and started getting dressed. "Meet me downstairs in ten. We're going for a run."

And that set the pattern for the next few days. No more monsters showed up to disturb their rest, so Dania and Jake would get up in the morning and go for a run, then head back to the cabin to shower and eat. Mornings were for combat practice with Machairi, and afternoons for schoolwork or hanging out.

All in all, it was pretty idyllic, or would have been, if Dania would have heard from Berto. She had a slew of missed calls from a Noimoire area code, but they weren't Berto's number, or any number she recognized, so she declined them all.

After four days of her messages going straight to voicemail and her text messages remaining unread, Dania started to worry. On the one hand, Berto had never ghosted her for that long before. He had his problems, but flakiness wasn't one of them…

On the other hand, Berto was an adult who could take care of himself. She needed to do the same.

So after her workout on the fifth day, Dania decided to explore the small detached garage that sat off to the side of the cabin's clearing. Berto was clearly busy, and they were out of milk and cereal. It was time to see what she could do to handle business.

The door to the garage was locked, but the wooden door frame was heavily rotted, and it yielded easily enough to Dania's well-placed kick. Judging by the skittering sounds that followed, several creatures had made themselves at home, but none of them stuck around to confront her when she flipped on the overhead light and looked around.

She did a slow circuit of the garage, taking note of everything she saw. A yellowed car cover lay draped over a hulking shape in the center of the concrete floor. Shelves and workbenches lined the walls, filled with bins of tools and small parts. Dania's eyebrows climbed up her forehead. There must be a fortune in random stuff in here… and it's all neatly organized and stuff too! What the hell, Berto? Why would you leave all this here?

With a shake of her head, she turned to the car cover and gave it a good hard yank. It slithered heavily to the floor, revealing a cool-looking old-school black pickup truck. A quick image search on her phone said that it was a Chevy C10 long bed.

"Ooooh, someone loved you," she murmured as she pulled the cloth away and kicked it to the side. The paint shone pristinely in the overhead light; not a single nick or dent to be seen. The chrome trim and bumper gleamed like mirrors. Dania leaned forward to peer in the windows at an interior so clean she would cheerfully have eaten off of it. She grinned at the 8-ball gearshift handle, and then froze as she noticed something.

The door lock stood up from the side of the door. The truck was unlocked.

With trembling hands, she lifted the door handle. With a deep thunk, the door swung open on hinges that let out a tiny squeal. Dania's pulse pounded in her throat as she eased herself behind the wheel.

Berto, did you know this was here? Is this yours? Where are the keys—

Her gaze fell upon the sun shade above her head. It hung down, as if something had been shoved up there. She carefully lowered it, and a set of two keys on a slim metal ring fell into her lap. The ring had an 8-ball charm attached to it, and Dania couldn't help but smile.

"Well, Berto," she murmured out loud as she picked up the keys and turned them over in her hand. "You said to make myself at home. I gotta get groceries, so I'm going to borrow 8-Ball here. I'll take good care of her, I promise." She ran her hand down along the dash toward the glove compartment, enjoying the slightly leathery texture under her fingertips. On a whim, she tried to lift the glove compartment latch, but it wouldn't budge.

"Hmmm," she said, frowning. "Now why would you be locked?" She juggled the keys in her hand until she gripped the one with the oval-shaped head. Dania didn't know much about old cars and trucks, but back in the day, she'd known an elderly neighbor couple that had owned an old Chevy, and it had had two keys: the round one for the door and the square one for the ignition.

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The round key fit the glove compartment lock and opened it with a pop. The panel lowered to reveal a small, but deep compartment that held several manual booklets, a small document folder that she assumed held the registration and insurance paperwork, and a thin plastic case with the word "Beretta" stamped on it.

"Ohhh… snap," Dania breathed. She removed the case with trembling hands and opened it to reveal a pristine Beretta 9mm nestled inside, along with two military-style fifteen-round magazines. She reached out to run a finger over the distinctive Beretta seal stamped into the grip, and a memory rose up behind her eyes.

Cold, icy, biting mountain cold stinging her exposed cheeks as she sweated under layers of clothing and body armor. She groaned, the sound lost under the pounding agony in her head and the high, buzzing whine in her ears.

Somewhere, someone shouted her name. She blinked, and the LT's face came into view.

"ELLIS!" he yelled again. She could barely hear him over the ringing, but the shape of her name was clear in his mouth.

"I'm okay, sir," she gasped. He grabbed her by the shoulder straps of her chest plate and hauled her up, then threw himself at her in a hug, which she thought was weird.

Only it wasn't a hug. His face gaped open, spilling red and shocking white all over her hands and face as she slipped beneath his weight. Her back hit the ground again, and she only barely kept her head from slamming back against the dirt.

Someone somewhere screamed through the fading ringing. Not her name. Not any words she recognized. She shoved at the LT's body, trying to get out from under his dead weight. Something caught on her belt. She reached down, and her fingers closed around the butt of the LT's holstered M9 pistol—

Dania blinked and shook her head. Her head pounded with remembered pain and adrenaline and her breathing raced as if she'd just finished a run.

"You're okay," she told herself softly, hating the way her voice trembled. "It's just a memory. It was a long time ago. You're okay, you made it home. You're safe. You have Jake now. You're a nurse…and a deckbearer. That was another you, a long time ago. You're safe…"

"Dani?"

Jake's voice cut through her muttered litany. Dania looked up to see him silhouetted in the doorway.

"Hey, kiddo," she called out. She still sounded a little out of breath, but at least her words were strong. "Look what I found!"

"You okay?" Jake asked as he stepped in to the garage. Machairi followed close behind, his knives sheathed, but his hands hovering nearby.

"Yeah, just a bad memory. I'm okay. But come see." Dania swallowed and pushed the flashback to the back of her mind, turning her focus on the here and now.

"Whose truck is this?" Jake asked.

"Berto's, I think," Dania said. "Or maybe his family's? I'm not sure, but we're going to borrow it to go get groceries. But look what else I found."

Jake walked around to the passenger side and opened the door. Then he froze, his eyes going wide as he took in the pistol case sitting on the seat.

"Is that for me?" he asked.

"Probably not," Dania said. "It's a Beretta 9mm semiautomatic pistol. It was in the glove compartment. It's the same pistol I used in the 'Stan, so I figured I'd take this one and teach you on my Walther. The grip on this one is a little big, and I think the Walther's a bit more forgiving. But it uses the same ammo as my gun, so that's good news. I'll see if we can pick up some plinking rounds in town and we can get started."

"Cool!" Jake pushed the pistol case across the bench seat toward her, and reached up to pull himself into the truck. Dania stopped him with an upraised hand.

"Actually, kiddo, I think you need to stay here with Machairi. He kinda stands out, and I'll be a lot less noticeable if I'm alone. Just in case. I'm sure it's safe, but I really don't like that I can't get ahold of Berto. You'll be all right here for a little while, right? I should only be gone an hour or so."

"Oh. Yeah, totally," Jake said. Dania didn't miss the thread of nerves that ran through his voice, but she didn't know if he was nervous about leaving her alone after a flashback, or about staying by himself in this big cabin in the woods.

Of course, he wasn't alone, was he? Dania made eye contact with Machairi, who drew his twin blades and nodded solemnly. Dania couldn't help but smile. He might be a creepy little psycho pseudo-teen, but the card would keep Jake safe. She knew that with complete certainty.

"Perfect. Okay, do me a favor and go open up the big door, will you? I don't see an automatic opener, so you might have to muscle it a little bit. Then we'll crank 8-Ball here up and see how she runs." Dania shot a wink and a smile over to Jake, who nodded and closed the passenger door. While he went to open the big door, she closed up the pistol case and tucked it back in the glove compartment.

Light spilled in behind her as Jake shoved the garage door up. Dania put the square key in the ignition and twisted. 8-Ball roared to life with such enthusiasm, Dania couldn't help but grin.

"All right," she said as she put the truck in reverse. "Let's go handle business."

She tried Berto once again on the way in to town, to no avail. With an uneasy mutter, she hung up without leaving a message and continued on down the road. The nearby town was small, and judging by the number of "Closed Until May" signs she saw, mostly catered to summer vacationers out enjoying the idyllic woods and the nearby lake. However, there was a grocery store, a bank, a post office, and a sporting goods store that remained open all year round.

A few hours later, Dania had acquired a full load of groceries, several boxes of 9mm ammo, a couple of good hunting knives, and two fishing poles that had been on sale. She headed back to the cabin with a full heart and truck bed, and a plan to grill burgers for dinner.

Jake was on board, and Machairi even tried a burger, although he said he didn't need to eat. He reported that he found the experience, "interesting," and Jake and Dania both laughed themselves silly at Machairi's intent expression as he chewed.

Dania was still chuckling when she lay down in her bed, ready to fall into the deep, dreamless sleep she'd gotten used to enjoying. The woods were so quiet and peaceful at night, especially when the rising moon shone through the trees and into her big glass window. The silvery light cast deep, soothing shadows on the floor, giving her a sense of serenity and—

"Deckbearrrerrrrr… I have rrrreturrrrned. Forrr youuu."