You awake to the light of the late morning sun shining in your eyes and Goose violently shaking you awake. Instinctively you throw a punch, your eyes weld shut by your bed’s warm embrace.
“Yo Artemio, wake up. We got MPs down stairs, apparently one of the higher ups wants to talk to us.”
“Who the fuck wants to talk to us, is it about last night?” You say as you shoot awake.
“Don’t know just get your ass in gear before they break down the door to get us.” Goose says.
“Alright.” You say.
By the time the five of you stumbled out of the club and into the waiting jeeps the sun was high in the sky. By the time you arrive at the headquarters near the Bucket Hand Fountain refugee camp, it was noon.
As you are guided through the office building turned headquarters, Dyna turns to you “Alright, Arty, Goose you two know the drill. Sit down, say nothing, let me do the talking and don’t panic. That goes double for you two” pointing at Gecko and Bobby “since this is your first interrogation.”
After a few minutes of walking the MPs ushered you into an office on the fifth floor. Inside the office there sits General Edward Hawkins, yelling into his phone.
“What do you mean that shipment was redirected to Europe!?. Only half my men have Garands, the other half are using Johnsons and that's just the Chicago line, the boys in Minneapolis are still using Springfields from the last war! Don’t get me started on the western font, I’m hearing reports that they are using 92 Springfields and lever actions. Lever actions, what are they cowboys!? I don’t care what you have to do to fix this, just do it.” He slams the phone into the receiver before shifting his focus to you.
“Alright now on to you five. As you probably know shits fucked, the top brass is sending everything to Europe, leaving us with leftovers and what ever else we can scrounge up. Fargo is encircled, Duluth is in the middle of an evacuation, and the Martians are pushing hard through the north woods to cut us off from the lakes. And after last night I got to deal with witch politics. My best group of riders gets caught stealing witch panties on the same night their payroll gets stolen. Now that's where you five come in, you're going to be doing the mission B Company was supposed to be going on. You will be crossing enemy lines and drawing enemy forces away from the front.” He says.
“Sir, are you asking us to cross enemy lines and raise hell, outside of the chain of command?” Dyna asks.
“That's the long and short of it.” The General says.
“Will there be witch elements involved in this operation?” Dyna questions.
“Unclear at the moment, you will be made aware if you are going to receive support from witch units.” The General answers.
“Alright when do we leave?”
“You cross on Friday, gather your gear, we'll try and airdrop you supplies when possible but you'll be on your own.” The General explains handing Dyna a folder of papers.
“Sir, yes, sir” You all chorus out.
The MPs usher you out of the room and out of the building. Walking back to the club you are the first to break the silence.
“Guess we’re abandoning the club house now.” You say.
“Looks like it, Arty.” Goose says.
“Damn, I liked that place.” You reply, deflated.
“Yeah it’s a nice place, it still has nothing on the ranch though.” Bobby says, stretching his arms over his head.
“That ranch was fucking perfect.” Dyna exclaims.
“Yeah it was.” Goose says.
“So what are we going to do with all the shit we got?” Bobby asks.
“Gonna have to fence it I suppose.” Dyna says.
“That's going to be a bitch to do” Gecko asks.
“Yeah, Gecko it is, I doubt we're going to get a good price out of it on such short notice.” Goose says.
“Arty, you know anybody who would be interested in buying?” Dyna asks, turning towards you.
You quickly run through your list of contacts in your head. Billy Lee, Special Ed, Vinny, and Uncle Guido. You snort as you rule Billy Lee, he’s broke and useless. Special Ed’s good for explosives and nothing much else. Vinny’s just broke, but Uncle Guido got cash and the contacts to move all your stuff.
“I know someone who is willing to buy, but I’ll have to make the deal on my own. Dyna when we get back can you give me the lowest price you’d be willing to sell it for.” You say after making up your mind
“Easy it’s whatever you can get for it, I trust you can get us a good price.” Dyna says.
“Alright, I'll drive over there as soon as we get back.” You say.
The trip back to the clubhouse was a short one. What was a long walk back became a short ride back after Goose was able to talk a truck driver into giving you a ride back.
Once you get back you go into the garage and head straight for your motorcycle. A tricked out Indian 841 suited to fit your needs, extra large saddle bags, two front gun holsters, and a jury rigged abomination of a trailer hook for a small cart. Opening the garage door you set off for Guido’s.
It was mid afternoon when you arrived at Guido’s. Knocking on the door you are met by Giovanni, one of your uncle’s guards.
“Hey Giovanni, can you tell Guido that I’m here to see him.” You say giving the large man a wave.
“Arty, so good of you to stop by. I’ll tell the old man that you're here.” He says, warmly ushering you in.
He leads you through the house and into the living room and ushers you to take a seat. After a few minutes Uncle Guido walks into the room.
“Artemio my favorite nephew, what brings you by? Are they feeding you enough in the army?” He says giving you a hug.
“I just got a new assignment. There’s going to be an offensive to take back the other side of the river and I’ve been assigned to the vanguard.” You say.
“Good, lead the charge like I did when I was in the Arditi during the last war. Scared your grandmother half to death when I did that, couldn’t stand the thought of her son running off to the old country to fight. Thank god she wasn’t a witch or else she would have chased me down and dragged me back home.” You uncle says reminiscing.
“Yeah that sounds like nonna. I remember her staring down a pack of angry witches when we were kids after they thought me, Nick and the rest of the neighborhood boys were peeping on them.” You say with a chuckle.
“Well, were you?” You uncle asks.
“Nah, not that time we were playing cowboys and indians that day. Wasn’t close enough to the stream to see anything when they came after us. Nick pulled out the crybaby act when we reached Nonna’s back porch and she took care of the rest. Still got an earful about it after they left though.” You explain with a nervous chuckle.
“I’m just surprised you made it there at all, those woods are a maze if you're not following the creek.” Your uncle says.
“I just followed my gut and the signs, they are there if you know where to look.” You say.
“You always say that.” Your uncle retorts.
“Well it is true, but back to why I came here. I got a lot of cargo that needs to be taken care of since we’re being sent across the river. I was wondering if you would take it off our hands?” You ask.
“Depends, what's the price?” Uncle Guido asks.
“We are supposed to be air dropped supplies when they are available, I would like them to be available more often.” You say.
“I’ll see what I can do, it won’t be regular, but those planes will have extra something something on them for you.” Uncle Guido offers.
“Thanks Uncle Guido.” You say.
“No problem kiddo, I’ll send guys over tonight to collect the stuff.” He says.
With your business finished up with Uncle Guido you head back to the club house. The roads are lively considering last night's bombing raid, with little to no damage done to the streets traffic isn’t that bad. Driving past the lake you see the flotilla unloading evacuated soldiers from Duluth. The skies over Lake Superior are contested airspace with the squids sinking any ship that’s without an escort. And it shows, the lakers are covered in scorch marks with parts of crashed Martian bombers sticking out of a few of them.
The ride back to the clubhouse is smooth and uneventful. As you pull up you see a German soldier standing outside in a ridiculous cowboy style outfit. You mutter out a “What in the goddam'' before pulling out your flask and taking a big swig. Said swig may or may not have lasted a good thirty seconds or more. Once you finish your swig, you realize that he has noticed you.
“Howdy, I am Obersoldat Lukas Von Schuchardt and I am looking for the Insane Gamblers.” He says in heavily accented english. An accent that is an unholy combination of German and Texan.
“First thing first, how do you know that name and why are you looking for us?” You quickly whisper, your eyes shifting up and down the street.
“I have transfer orders to join you for Operation Brushfire. And as for how I know your name.” He says pulling out a pair of newspapers, one headlining The Insane Gamblers Strike Again and the other Outlaws Escort Refugees Away From Martian Invasion.
“I knew that was going to bite us in the ass sooner or later, so what's with the outfit?” You say, gesturing to the cowboyified Wehrmacht uniform.
“Oh that I wanted to be a real American Cowboy just like Old Shatterhand, that's also why I requested to be transferred over here.” He explains. Twirling to show off his crime against fashion.
“I am not going to ask how you got transferred over here, I’m just gonna get you inside and hand you off to Dyna,” You deadpan as you lead him around back to the garage and head inside. Inside you find Bobby hard at work tuning up the bikes.
“Hey Arty, who's the new guy?” Bobby asks.
“We got a transfer, German, I’m taking him to Dyna to be sorted out.” You say, walking towards the stairs.
“Alright, what does he drive?” Bobby asks.
“A Zundapp KS750.” The German says
“Is that the one with the machine gun in the side car?” Bobby asks.
“Jah” The German replies.
“Nice, pull it in and I’ll take a look at it” Bobby says.
The two of you pull in and head upstairs. The place is a mess of half packed bags and opened stashes. You find Dyna and Goose in the main room, going over a map of the plains.
“Arty, who's the kruat?” Dyna asks.
“He’s a transfer, sent to us for the operation. He drives a Zundapp that means he can carry some extra weight.” You explain.
“Alright I’ll get him taken care of, you and Goose should go over the maps and find us a route.” Dyna says standing up and taking Lukas into another room as you sit down at the table with Goose.
“What did you and Dyna figure out already?” You ask.
“We’re going to be crossing at Davenport and making a run across the lines after that we got nothing. If we stay close to the Mississippi we can get artillery support and can call in bombing runs, but we can get boxed in easily. We could swing north and give Duluth and Fargo some room to breathe, but that's where the bulk of the Martian armor is and we are going to be cut off from support there.” Goose explain.
“What about going west and hitting Oklahoma or the Dakotas?” You ask.
“We could do that. But we’ll still have the same issue of supplies and from what I heard about the western front it's closer to a frontier than a front line. Nobody knows where the frontline is out there, the Martians move through an area, set a few ambushes and then are not seen for weeks. There are no battles out there, just skirmishes. My guess is that they’ve gone nomadic and they are just making enough noise to prevent a counter offensive.” Goose continues.
“Makes sense, the bulk of their forces are probably focused on crossing the Mississippi and knocking out our industrial base. They don’t want us to know that the west is basically empty, so they have these highly mobile units fuck shit up along the frontier to make it look like they have more troops that they actually do have. Brilliant, fucking brilliant.” you say.
“Alright Arty, so what’s the route?” Goose asks.
You take one long look at the map and say “We go west to Des Moines, go south through Missouri and then cut west across Oklahoma. This way we can wreck their rear lines and when they pull forces off the front to reinforce it, the bombers come in and wipe them out as well. If we don’t die we could probably pull a lot of squids off of the Lower Mississippi and Dallas lines.”
“That's going to put us in the middle of the Albuquerque Amarillo Corridor.” Goose notes.
“Yes it will. We will be smack dab in the middle of the enemy’s largest undefended supply line. If all goes right we’ll be wrecking convoys until the squids wisent up and start escorting the supply convoys. When that happens we have a choice between running to Texas or Colorado but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.” You say.
“I’ll pass it on to Dyna, but you should start packing. It's your turn to make dinner tonight and since its our last time to get a good meal in a while” Goose says.
“I’ll go all out, just keep Bobby out of my kitchen, that boy can’t cook for shit” You joke as you head up to your room to pack for the operation.
Packing your things you come across an old photograph from the gang’s heyday. Out of the 35 members only five remain, many died, many more stabbed you in the back to form their own gangs. Either way very few survived the invasion. Snapping yourself out of it, you quickly finish packing and head back down stairs to start dinner.
Entering the kitchen you beeline it to the freezer and set the steaks to defrost. Then you start on the sauce, browning the sausage and sautéing the garlic, you add the tomatoes and spices and let it sit.
“What do you need, Dyna?” You say, moving to prepare a plate of antipasto.
“How do you always know who it is every time someone enters the kitchen?” He asks.
“I just know.” You say, focusing on making the plate.
“So what’s with the route?” Dyna asks, leaning against the counter.
“Ride hard, ride fast, turn south at Des Moines and then raise hell in Missouri. Loop around south west through the Ozarks and then were home free on the plains.” You say, turning to face Dyna.
“The Ozarks, why not break west through Kansas?” Dyna asks.
“Somethings not right about it, every time I brought my hand over it my gut flared up in pain. The last time it did that was in Sioux City.” You say.
“Sioux City was a mess.”
“You could say that again.” You reply.
“So what’s on the menu for tonight?” Dyna asks.
“Streak, gnocchi, salad, anything we can’t take with us really.” You explain.
“Enyoki?”
“Gnocchi, it's good I’ve made it before. Also some guys are going to be coming by later to pick up everything we can’t take with us. And hey don’t pick” You say swatting Dyna’s hand away not before he grabbed a piece of gabagool.
“How much is your uncle paying us?” Dyna asks.
“It's a trade, the stuff here in exchange for you know actually having supplies in our supply drops.” You say.
“You think your uncle will come through?” Dyna questions.
“He will, he won’t back out of a deal, not with me.” You say, confident in your uncle's influence.
“Good, that's one less thing to worry about.” Dyna says.
“Yeah foraging is going to be a bitch, especially getting gas.” You say.
“At least we can do some hunting in the Ozarks.” Dyna responds.
“Yeah it's gonna be just like old times.” You says with a grin.
“I’ll drink to that” Dyna says, grabbing a bottle of wine and pouring two glasses.
“Alright, here's to old times and new ones” You toast.
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Your toast is interrupted by the sound of breaking windows coming from the bar room.
“GOOSE! What the fuck is going on out there?” The two of you yell out as you run to the bar room. Shattered glass litters the floor and a brick stand in the middle of it.
“It's those cunts from B company.” Goose calls out, leaning against the wall looking down into the street, drink in hand clearly unamused.
“Arty I thought you said the MPs got these guys?” Dyna asks, taking cover by the window.
“We can hear you up there. It's kind of hard to punish somebody when the evidence and arresting officers get blown up in an air raid. I know it was you who set us up and I’m gonna kick your ass!” A voice from below shouts out.
“Fuck off Richardson, you can’t prove shit.” You shout to the mob below you before turning to Dyna. “Psst hey Dyna why don’t we just.” You make a machine gunning motion “them?”
“No, I don’t want to deal with any bodies today.” Dyna says
“Alright, we're doing this the old fashioned way then.” You confidently say with a smirk.
With that you let out a war cry and with a running start jump out the destroyed window. Delivering a flying kick to the head to one of the goons as you land.
Richardson cries out a quick “Get him.” as you steady yourself. The rest of B company charges at you. You doge left then right, throwing in hits wherever possible, letting out a guttural laugh as you go. You get grabbed, headbutt the guy holding you as well as the guy in front of you.
As you distance yourself from the group you hear Dyna call out “ART YOU DUMB MOTHERFUCKER” as he and the rest of the boys rush out of the club.
You charge back into the fray, fists flying as you doge and take hits from all sides. You manage to take out five men before you are tackled to the ground. Throwing a punch you are able to knock the guy out but as you look up you see a boot flying towards your face.
You lay there for a second catching your breath staring skyward as your vision regains focus. As your sight clears you see a pair of embroidered pink panties, you let out a snort laugh alerting the witch standing above you to your presence. She lets out a loud shriek giving you enough warning to roll out of the way of the flurry of kicks aimed at your face.
Jumping to your feet you see the witch collapse in embarrassment and another witch charges at you yelling “Die pervert”. You can tell this one has super strength by the sheer power of the punches she swings at you. With her last punch she over extends herself and you manage to throw her into the ever growing melee behind you.
“He took out Jenny!” One of the witches yells, pointing at you.
“That bastard peeked at Rose’s panties and made her cry, let's get him.” Another growls, entering a fighting stance.
Turning back to the alley you see a squadron of witches, familiars out preparing to avenge their crying comrade. You quickly contemplate your chances facing off against them and liking your odds better in the melee behind you, charge back into the fray.
Dodging, tanking and dealing out blows as you make your way through the brawl, you come across Dyna.
“Dyna, we got a bunch of angry sparkles joining this fight.” You say, standing back to back with your leader.
“We can take em.” Dyna chuckles dodging and countering a punch aimed at his face.
You hear a cry of “THUNDER PUNCH!” followed by the crash of thunder as five men go flying from an enchanted punch.
“You still think we can take them, Dyna?” You ask with a chuckle.
Before you can hear what his response is you are hit in the back of the head by something wet and slimy. Turning around you throw a punch into the Martian. You threw a punch at a Martian, you landed a punch on a Martian, there are Martians in Chicago, there are Martians in Chicago and they decided to join this street brawl, this Martian is also wearing a dress. You can hear the record scratch as you mind attempts to comprehend that information.
You were not the only person to notice the group of Martians fighting their way through melee, as the rest of the crowd slowly starts to notice the non-human additions.
The squids seem to recognize their predicament and square up and close ranks around one of their number readying for a fight. They haunch themselves low, raising their front tentacles in front of them in a mockery of a boxers stance.
The street is bathed in a tense silence as both sides wait for the other to make the first move. Then it happens, a scream from the left and man charges in, then another and another, soon the entire mob is charging towards the encircled Martian's. The Martians swing their arms like whips in an attempt to keep some space between them and the mob but it does not stop you.
Goose is the first to collide with a Martian, barreling through it and delivering a right hook right at the one behind its face. You call out to Dyna as you grab a Martian by the tentacles. Coming up from under it Dyna delivers a blow to the under carriage that leaves it twitching on the floor.
“Now they're mad” You cry out dodging a swing from a Martian Death Stick.
“No shit” Dyna says, dodging a flurry of tentacled jabs aimed at him.
“Should we draw and shoot them and get this over with or do you want to keep this going?” You ask, getting tired of being a punching bag.
“Arty draw your knife, let's keep this fair.” Dyna says, drawing an obsidian knife.
You nod and draw your own obsidian blade. The two of you tear into the Martians, their blood running through the street. You witness a witch punch a hole through a Martian and another get torn limb from limb. Needless to say, the eight remaining Martians didn’t last long.
Standing atop the carnage, you turn to Dyna and say “So, what's with the sparkles?”
“Fuck if I know. You think they were hunting the squids?” Dyna speculates, putting a hand on his chin.
“Could be that, or they could be hunting Richardson, could be hunting us.” You say looking upon the gaggle of witches gathered around a certain point of the carnage. Your gut drops as they pull a child out from underneath a dead Martian and the glow of a healing spell lights up the street.
“Fuck, hey sparkle what's the damage?” You say as you jog up to the downed witch.
A soft voice answers you “Nothing I couldn’t handle, but she’s going to be out of it for a while. You know a place where we can let her rest.”
“Yeah, let's get her inside.” You say as you go to carry the girl. “Alright, easy now kid, I'm going to get you inside.” The kid mumbles something incoherent and snuggles into you as you adjust your grip.
The eldest of the group, a tall blond with flowing hair walks up to you. “She likes you.”
“Uh what?” You say, your half concussed brain trying to catch up to your actions.
“Ruth, she likes you. She usually tries to fight us off whenever we try to carry her.” She says motioning to the girl in your arms before ruffling Ruth’s hair.
“Yeah I know what you mean, sweet as can be when awake but as soon as they fall asleep they try to kill you.” You explain as you walk towards the clubhouse.
“Ooh, let me guess you had to babysit your younger sister?” The witch asks.
“Brother, sister, cousins, nieces, family friends, the whole nine yards.” You explain
“Sounds like my job, just without the politics.” The witch says with a wave of her arms.
“Yeah on the plus side it made me a very good cook, in fact I just started on dinner when this whole thing broke off.” Your eyes widen and your gut drops as you come to the realization that you left the stove unattended during the brawl. “I just started dinner as this whole thing broke off.” You whisper softly in realization. “FUCK!! I left the stove on.” You yell out as you sprint off into the clubhouse.
“Hey wait up” The witch calls out as she runs after you.
Bounding up the stairs and into the club room you deposit your cargo onto one of the couches and run off into the kitchen. “Oh thank god, nothings on fire.” you say as you resume working in the kitchen. Pulling out a few more steaks to defrost you get to work on the gnocchi.
Without looking up from kneading the gnocchi dough you call out “The liquor cabinet is over there, also I can see you. You do know there is a fully stocked bar up front, why are you sneaking booze from back here?”
Your only response is a pair of startled yelps, the crash of pans and the sound of someone running into the wall.
“God dammit” You mutter as you turn to see two of the witches collapsed on the floor clutching their heads. “That's what you get for sneaking around, kids.” You exclaim as you walk over to the older of the two.
“How did you know I was there?” She whines, clutching her bruised head.
“The master of the kitchen knows all who enter his domain, sparkles.” You say as you help her to her feet.
“I call bullshit!” Her companion cries out, rubbing the large welt on her head. “There is no way in hell that that’s possible.”
“It sounds like you're just mad that you got caught. Say sparkle of the doorway, what do you think of my so-called impossible power?” You say turning to face the witch standing in the doorway.
Noticing the new arrival the two witches stiffen. “Maria this isn't what it looks like” the older of the two starts before being drowned out by her younger companion. “Lieutenant Colonel D'Angelo, we were just going to offer our help to” she fumbles out realizing that she doesn't know your name.
“Corporal Barrea” You butt in.
“Yes. We were just going to offer our help in preparing dinner to Corporal Barrea here and then he startled us.” she says sheepishly, tapping her index fingers together.
“Is that so because to me it looks like you two little trouble makers got caught trying to sneak alcohol again.” She says slightly raising her voice as an aura of intimidation engulfs her as she walks up to the two girls. “Now you two do remember that if you were caught trying to sneak alcohol again that Colonel Colfax gave me permission to punish you, but those welts on your heads are punishment enough. She says as she runs her hand through the older one's hair, the intimidating aura brushed off like it was nothing. Redirecting her attention towards you “Now on to your question.” she says while cupping her chin “While male talent has been theorized, what you’re describing is the sixth sense of a master. The uncanny ability of chefs, mechanics, engineers, and craftsmen to tell when one that does not belong enters their workspace.” she says
Flustered by her earlier display you mutter out a “Yeah that's about it.” as you set a timer for the gnocchi dough. “Girls, can you help me carry these out?” You say gesturing towards the plates of antipasto.
“Alexis and Shannon would be delighted to help you carry them out as an apology for sneaking around. Won't you girls.” Maria says, grabbing the shoulders of the two witches. They each squeak out a “Yes mam” and go to bring out plates.
As soon as the girls are out of the room Maria turns to you “We never did do a proper introduction, I am Lieutenant Colonel Maria D’Angeleo of the 43rd Magical Training Wing. And thank you for saving Ruth.” she says, extending her hand for a handshake.
“Corporal Artemio Barrea'' you say as you accept her handshake.
“So, do you know what was up with the Martians that we fought earlier? Were they some sort of commando team or just a few schmucks that were shot down?” You ask as you make your way over to the counter to bring out an antipasto plate.
“That’s something I don’t know. All I know is that they kidnapped Ruth, stole her straight out of the coven. We were tracking them when we came across your street brawl.” She explains. “What was with that by the way?” She asks.
“Long story. So you’re telling me that the Martians kidnapped a witch from inside a coven? Right after there was a panty raid and a squadron’s payroll was stolen?” You question, quickly changing the subject.
“Yeah, MPs can’t secure shit.” She says.
“Amen to that.” You say.
Maria’s eyes widen as she processes what you said. “Wait, how do you know about the raid and the heist?”
“General Hawkins was bitching about it to us when he was giving us our orders.” You explain leaning against the counter.
“Oh, what does he have you doing?” Maria asks.
“Suicide mission across the Mississippi, I personally believe that he just wants us gone.” You say.
“Yeah I heard talk about that on our end, the matrons are playing politics and haven’t signed off on it though.” She explains.
“Yeah that sounds about right, now let's join the rest of them. It's gonna take a little while for the dough to rise and I don’t want to spend it cramped up in here.” You say as you take your trays of antipasto out to the club room.
Walking into the club room you observe the group before you, the late sunset bathing the room in a warm orange glow. Your guys are beaten and bruised but victory is the greatest pain killer. Goose much to your annoyance is telling the girls the yacht story and guessing by their laughter they are loving it. Spotting that no one has claimed the position behind the bar yet, you make your way over there. Placing the trays on the bar you call out.
“Bars open people, what do you want?” You shout out to the room.
“Coke”
“Shirley Temple for me”
“Get me a Fanta”
“Arty, the usual for us.” Goose calls out.
“Beer”
“I’ll have a Beer”
“Can I get some Bourbon”
“I’ll take a Coke”
“An old fashioned for me”
“You got ginger ale?”
“Make that two”
“You got sake?”
“Coming right up.” You call out as you get to work. Pulling out bottles and filling mugs, you know the bar like the back of your hand.
Placing the beers and sodas on the table you start on the cocktails, the Shirley Temple was easy enough just mixing ginger ale, lemon juice and grenadine syrup together. As you make the old fashioned you notice one of the witches intently watching you work. Grabbing one of the cherry stems, you once again attempt to tie the stem into a knot with your tongue. Placing the old fashioned onto the counter, you stick out your tongue to show the girl the loosely tied cherry knot, much to the girl’s amusement.
“How did you do that?” she giggles out.
“Something my father taught me from his bartender days. There’s no real method to it, you just have to practice.” You say as you fill a small bowl with cherries and pass them to the witch.
As the young witch dragged her friends into the neigh impossible task. You place the last of the drink orders onto the counter and get to work on your own drink.
Scanning the shelves before settling on a bottle of rum, you get to work on a dirty shirley. Mixing the rum with ginger ale and grenadine syrup, you get a cocktail with a deep dark red color.
Placing your drink down onto the bar, you survey the lively scene. The girls were still huddled around the bar trying to tie cherry knots, none of them being able to tie it off. The older witches were gathered around a table with the guys playing cards but you can't see what game, but you're not sure. Pushing another bowl of cherries to the girls you make your way towards the card game.
“Hey Dyna, deal me in.” You say taking a seat.
“It's poker Arty, what's your ante?” Dyna says, dealing the cards.
Grabbing a handful of chips, you set them up in front of you and toss two into the center. “Twenty dollars.”
A chorus of chip clacking follows as everyone antes up.
Your cards aren’t bad but they aint good either. You got a jack, two fives, a nine and a three. Tossing out the three you observe the other players at the table.
Goose, well you could never get a read on Goose. Dyna’s hard to read until you learn his tics, then he's an open book but Goose always appears to be the same cocky motherfucker no matter what is going on. Gecko, he's got a good hand if that grin is anything to go on, same with Bobby. Compared to you the girls are not faring as well, with both Patty and Shannon getting bad hands and their lack of poker faces showing it. Maria on the other hand has this smirk on her face that radiates sadistic desire. The new guy’s sitting this round out after accidentally folding instead of matching the ante, but you can tell something has made him uneasy.
Dyna deals out the second round of cards, you get another five. Gecko and Bobby are still smirking, Patty is beaming and Shanon’s face is pale, Maria looks like she is going to rape someone, Dyna’s grinning and Goose is not giving a fuck.
“I’m in for another thirty five.” You say throwing a twenty, ten and five piece into the pot.
“I’ll match that Arty, Call.” Dyna says.
“I Call” Goose says.
“I’ll raise another twenty five.” Bobby says, throwing some chips into the pot.
“I’m out, that’s too rich for my blood.” Gecko says, folding.
“I’m still in this.” Patty declares throwing her chips into the pot.
“Nope, I’m out” Jenny says, folding.
“Fufufu” Maria laughs “I'm in.” tossing the chips into the pot.
You, Dyna and Goose throw your chips into the pot.
“Alright, drop your cards.” Dyna calls out.
Dyna lays down two pairs, jacks and sevens. Goose has four nines.
“Alright try to beat this.” Bobby says, dropping down a dead man's hand. “Read em and weep”
“Not so fast.” Patty calls out before placing her cards onto the table, it's a straight. “Try these cards, boyo.”
“Patty, Patty, Patty are you not forgetting about somebody.’ Maria says, laying down her cards as Patty blanches. It's a royal flush.
“Traitor” Patty cries sobbing, fruitlessly wailing at Maria.
“My winnings, my fucking winnings, gone.” Bobby mutters bemoaning his victory, stolen out from under him.
“Woohoo way to go Maria.” Jenny cheers.
You, Dyna and Goose just laugh.
“I’m in for another thirty five.” You say throwing a twenty, ten and five piece into the pot.
“I’ll match that Arty, Call.” Dyna says.
“I Call” Goose says.
“I’ll raise another twenty five.” Bobby says, throwing some chips into the pot.
“I’m out, that’s too rich for my blood.” Gecko says, folding.
“I’m still in this.” Patty declares throwing her chips into the pot.
“Nope, I’m out” Jenny says, folding.
“Fufufu” Maria laughs “I'm in.” tossing the chips into the pot.
You, Dyna and Goose throw your chips into the pot.
“Alright, drop your cards.” Dyna calls out.
Dyna lays down two pairs, jacks and sevens. Goose has four nines.
“Alright try to beat this.” Bobby says, dropping down a dead man's hand. “Read em and weep”
“Not so fast.” Patty calls out before placing her cards onto the table, it's a straight. “Try these cards, boyo.”
“Patty, Patty, Patty are you not forgetting about somebody.’ Maria says, laying down her cards as Patty blanches. It's a royal flush.
“Traitor” Patty cries sobbing, fruitlessly wailing at Maria.
“My winnings, my fucking winnings, gone.” Bobby mutters bemoaning his victory, stolen out from under him.
“Woohoo way to go Maria.” Jenny cheers.
You, Dyna and Goose just laugh.
Bending over, you rustle the young witch’s hair. “You have a nice nap kid? You woke up just in time for dinner.”
“Wait, dinner? How long was I out for? Where’s Patty?” She asks.
“A good while kid and Patty’s over there.” You say leading her into the club room
“Oi look who just woke up. Also, dinner’s ready.” You yell out to the room.
You hear a cry of “RUTH” and before your eyes could recognize it Patty has engulfed the small girl in a crushing bear hug.
“Ruth, where’s Rose, she was watching over you?” Patty asks, still fussing over the girl.
“I don’t know…” She trails off, eyes glazing towards the ground.
“Ruth, I know when you're lying.” Patty says, standing up putting a hand on her hip.
“Okay…. It happened again.” She mumbles out.
Patty mumbles out a “God dammit Ruth.” before continuing. “Alright sweetie it's ok, I know you don’t know how to control your strength.”
The glow coming from the couch she was laying on is enough to tell you what happened. “Kids got super strength?” You ask.
“Yup, I’ve seen her punch through Martian fighters.” a voice says from beside you.
“Damn” You say.
“She doesn’t have any control over it yet, so any time her magic activates she’s a rampaging gorilla.” The witch says.
“Sheesh, that bad?” You ask.
“Yep,” The witch says.
“Well there goes having her help out setting the table.” You say.
“Yeah too bad, guess you’ll have to do it yourselves.” She says, trying to walk away.
“Oh hell no missy, your commander said, you’re helping me so you are. Now get to it.” You say grabbing the witch by the collar and directing her towards the kitchen.
“You three over there, I’m going to need your help getting dinner out.” You say to a chorus of ground coming from the girls. “Hey, do you want to eat or not? Because it's gonna be cold by the time I’m able to get it all out.”
“Girls do what he says, they’de make us do the same at the coven for worse food. So suck it up if you want to eat.” Patty calls out from behind the girls as she walks past them into the kitchen.
“Alright then let's get to it.” You say as you follow Patty into the kitchen.
The others make quick work of setting the table as your band of conscripts brought out the food. The energy around the table was quiet as the girls dug into the food, mouths too busy eating to carry conversation . As for the food itself, you think you did alright, but the noises coming from the girls beg to differ.
“This is so good!” One of the girls squeals out, her familiar coming out in her enjoyment.
“Barbra, your familiar is showing. I know the food is good but you have to have control over your familiar if you want to be a witch.” One of the witches says.
“But Feliciana, it's sooo good I can’t control myself.” The witch with her familiar showing says.
“I know it's good but please control yourself.” Feliciana says.
“Okaayy.” Barbra says.
And with that all semblance of calm died in a surge of laughter.
“But seriously Atreimo, this is really good. Where did you learn to cook?” Patty asks.
“My mother got me started and everything else came from here and there.” You say.
“Bullshit, you have to be professionally trained! This is better than what we have at the coven and those are professional chefs.” Jenny exclaims.
“Well as I told Patty, my mother taught me how to not burn myself and the rest was trial and error.” You reiterate.
“Opie always said that you use a little too much spice when you experiment though.” Dyna says.
“Opie couldn’t handle his spice period, he thought black pepper was too spicy.” You say pointing your fork at Dyna.
“Yeah that's Opie for you, the only spice he could handle involved that shotgun of his.” Dyna says.
“You think he made it out alright?” You wonder.
“It’s been two years without so much as a letter, he’s either ran off and abandoned us or his luck finally ran out.” Dyna says, returning to his meal.
“Yeah” You say softly.
“Wait, whose Opie?” Jenny asks as Patty shoots her a look.
“Arty you want to field this one? The two of you rode together before our little thing formed.” Dyna says.
“Yeah I got it. Opie was one of the founding members of this little group of ours. We rode out west together, met up with Walker and Goose and the rest was history. We got separated when the Martians landed in Sioux City, never found out what happened to him. I mean he would sometimes disappear for weeks at a time but he always came back.” You explain, feelings from the past coming to the forefront of your mind.
“I’m sorry Jenny brought that up.” Patty says, apologetically raising a hand.
“It's alright, I’m not bothered by it.” You say as you survey the table, faces dark at the thought of ones lost. “Now how about we stop looking so down and let us drink and be merry, for TOMORROW WE RIDE!” You shout as you raise your glass to the sky.