The arrival of the gunship kicked everyone into gear. The plan was to rest up in the hospital and go out during daylight, but the Apache circling on station afforded them additional options. Now, that plan has changed, they own the night sky, and they plan to capitalize on it.

Dan was aching to go back to his house and check on his family. Hank wanted to help him but couldn't because he wanted to help as many people as he could.

Word spread that Hank was in contact with the chopper, and everyone was itching to be brought back to their homes. He had to decide then, so Hank gathered everyone in a room to tell them the situation.

“Alright. Listen up.” Hank looked over at the gathered men and women. There were more of them than he initially thought. Hank counted at least two dozen people crowding the room. "I'm going to have to lay in some ground rules. There are only three of us in one armored car. We are tired. We have been moving, fighting, and doing our best since this shit has started. The chopper outside is an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, which means that they will not be carrying people inside. Instead, they will patrol the area and kill as many hostile creatures they could find." Hank declared and was met with a few murmurs, which he waved down.

"Unfortunately, It will not be enough. We have been out there, and I could say this as a fact, I bet you have seen it for yourselves too. But this gives us an opportunity as the chopper pilots agreed that it is in their mission to help us and assist in any way they can. They will stay on station around the hospital and provide support when needed. We will have the priority here. Unfortunately, they have not given us any exact information about when more help will be coming. They could only say that help is on the way.”

“Something is interfering with the radios, which limits communication to line of sight only. This means that we can talk to them if we can see them. We will be leaving one of our radios here for you to be able to call for help. The frequency has been set. Just lean out the windows and talk to them. Their callsign is Castle-3 and Castle-4. As for us, we plan to capitalize on the presence of air support and go out there to get more firepower, as we have expended most of our ammunition."

A low rumble erupted. People were talking to each other, which Hank had to wave down once more. "Since I cannot stop you if you decide to leave, I can only urge you all to stay here. You will not be left without security however, two men of note will stay here. They are elite bodyguards often tasked with protecting VVIPs. We will be leaving them with enough ammo to keep you safe."

“Did you just say that we could leave?” One man asked from the crowd.

Hank nodded. “It means that I will not be stopping you if you decide to go out there. But that would also mean that you're going to be on your own if you get trapped or get broken down. I repeat, I recommend that you stay here, but I will not stop you if you really need to go. Does that answer your question?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I got it." The man nodded.

People were looking defeated, looking down. Most had decided that it would be suicide to go alone. "If it is any worth to you, we will be going north of the city, towards Greenhills.”

“Why there?” Another man asked. Hank studied him, the man looked to be on the heavy side, but he could see that he was also on the 'strong fat' category along with a shiny gold watch strapped on his wrist.

"I live there," Hank answered.

A murmur erupted again. Causing the same guy to ask once more, “You want to go home? While telling us to stay here?”

“We can go to your house if you think you have more guns and ammo than I do. And if you’re willing to let us use them. I have at least ten thousand rounds of ammunition of different calibers in my house, and with everything that is going on and what we plan on doing, I expect it all to be gone in about two days. Any other questions?"

Everybody quieted. A woman in the crowd raised her hand and quickly retracting it back, clutching her purse as every pair of eyes looked her way. “I live in pinewood. Can I go with you? At least partway?” She asked meekly.

"You can. We will do our best to protect you until we turn to Greenhills, but after that,” Hand shrugged, “you’re going to be on your own, Ma'am. Sorry.”

"I understand. But I think I'll go." She said with determination.

"Good luck," Hank said to her then to the others. "Any more questions?" He waited. No one raised their hands, “Good. We’ll be leaving in thirty minutes." He said, then looked at the woman who raised her hand, "You can still change your mind, Ma'am. Make your decision then."

The people talked among themselves while others left the room. Hank waited for a bit, entertaining questions and personal requests but remained firm in his previous statements. He couldn’t afford to do anything else, as it was the best card they could deal with.

A man then approached their group, the one who questioned why they were going to his house. "There is no other way around this, so I'm going to have to say this straight." He said first, pulling out a fat stack of bills. "I'm willing to pay you five thousand dollars cash for you to get me to Riverside. I got two grand on me, and the rest I have in my house. It will only take you ten minutes, and you can get on to whatever you want to go." He said.

Hank could only shake his head. "Sorry, sir. I understand that you’re distressed by the current situation, and I know that you’re desperate, but I cannot risk my men and my friends just for money. Please don't make this harder for the both of us, and I'll forget we never had this conversation."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

The man deflated. He grimaced and clutched his hand over his chest. He looked defeated as he left the room with not another word said. Hank gritted his teeth, looking away to catch Elena staring at him.

Seeing as she was caught, Elena approached and declared, “I’d like to come with you.”

"You’re safer in here than out there. We’re not going out to take a walk in a park." Hank replied.

"I'll be much more useful with you than in here. Besides, I didn't make the deal with them. I made it with you." She replied.

“Now hold up. I'm not the guy to go back down on what he promises. Not now, not ever."

"Come on, man. What's she gonna do?" Doug asked.

“You didn’t see it. This girl is the real deal. She knows her way around a knife.” Dan replied, looking at Hank in a way that told him, 'I have something to tell you.'

“I’m going to be straight with you Elena, I may have agreed to keep you safe, but that didn’t mean that I have to babysit you. I still got a job, and you come second, but you really insist, we would have put restraints on you to keep you away from fiddling at stuff in our Bearcat. It's non-negotiable, and it's all up to you."

“Then I accept." She said, not even taking a second to consider.

"Take this time to get your rest," Hank told everyone present. Then to Dan, “Let’s talk about something.”

Hank led the way away from Elena. They found a spot near a group of people discussing loudly whether they would try and break out while there was still a bird in the sky with the other man saying that they should just stay and wait for help to come.

Dan rubbed his nose, covering his mouth. "It could be her," Dan whispered low. The conversation nearly drowned his voice for anyone trying to eavesdrop, while his hand denied anyone trying to read his lips. "It's gotta be her. Hoss wouldn't let someone sneak up on him unless it's some harmless-looking girl."

"But that doesn't explain why she would do it," Hank replied.

“Could be anything.” Dan replied, “She could be lying about everything. Gain our trust and get inside…”

"We can't be sure. She could just be caught up in this bullshit like us.”

“We can’t be too safe.”

“You want to kill her? Off some suspicions?”

“She could be planning something right now.”

"No. Not right now, no. We'll find out whatever we can from her. Then we'll decide if she'll end up being a danger or help. But not before then. You got my word on that."

Dan sighed and looked away. “If you’re both right, then that means that Hoss' murderer is still out there."

…

'Something’s is getting fucked up.’ Hank thought to himself. The Apache was busy shooting at something. The thumping of its 30mm cannons thundered along in the distance.

The firing stopped, and Hank waited for a minute to let the Attack helicopter make another pass. Hoping that it would be looking their direction, Hank opened the door, and everyone present filled out and into the parking lot.

The parking lot was silent, save for the sounds of shoes hitting the pavement. Civilians that couldn't be convinced otherwise ran to their cars. There were a few of them, the guy who tried bribing Hank was among them, and he went to his truck then drove out the parking lot.

Hank wished them good luck, "Load up." he then ordered as he looked over his group, and they made their way to their vehicle.

Thankfully, the sky was clear, and the full moon allowed enough light to make out the road even with the car's busted headlights. Hank popped the door open and rode shotgun while Dan sat on the driver’s seat. Dean was on the back, opposite Elena.

She was bound with one of their handcuffs but didn't seem to be concerned by it. This bothered Hank for a bit as she still didn't know whether she was sincere about her deal with him or just looking for an opportunity to present itself.

He shook his head, he tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but his years running the streets and his past experiences made him expect the worst out of people.

With the last door slamming closed, Dan turned on the keys, and the engine roared to life. It had been a reliable beast since the department had acquired it and has not failed them yet, despite being burned and shot at.

"Let's go," Hank said, and Dan drove the Bearcat out of the parking lot, heading straight north.

Thankfully, the road north was relatively clear, only forcing Dan to nudge a few cars off the way wide enough for cars to pass through. The woman from before was following them in her sedan as they slowly make their way up north.

The road ahead cleared up as they got farther away from the city center. Hank looked to the back of the car to see Elena sending stealthy glances around. She made an effort to keep a shell of composure, but Hank could see that she was scoping everything out.

"I'm going to the back," Hank said and got off his seat and ducked his head for him to avoid hitting the ceiling. “Dean, give Dan some company out front.”

"Got it," Dean replied, getting off his seat to ride on the front.

"I have a lot of questions I'd like answering, and I know you have yours too," Elena said as Hank sat opposite her.

"An answer for an answer, huh?"

“Yes.”

“Alright. I’ll bite. On one condition, we can choose not to answer a question.”

"I agree. You can go first."

She said.

"What are you?"

"I am a halfling. Born of an elven mother and a Human father." She answered.

"Does that explain that uh..." Hank pointed to his ears.

"Yes." Elena continued. "You saved me. How did you get past the brood mother and its hordes of young?"

"Easy. We killed them all."

“How?”

“Using that.” Hank pointed at the minigun resting on the car. It was tied down securely between the seats for transport. It was a pain to remove and put back again, which was why they never bothered to take it out of the car.

"And this." He raised his rifle, pointing the end of the barrel to her. He flicked off the safety and put his finger over on the trigger. “My turn. One of my men got killed with his throat slit, almost decapitated. Why should I not think it's you and not kill you right now?" He asked.

Hank watched as her reaction barely changed. "Because it was not me, and we are looking to exact retribution on the same person. The one that killed your man was the same person who betrayed me and left me to die."

"What's your proof?"

"I don't. But you finding me in my condition should be enough to convince you of the other. Do you think I, with what you already saw, that I'm in danger from some magical creatures? No, I am wearier of people that can think and could track me down."

“They why did you just kept his death to yourself?”

She paused. “I don’t know. Maybe because I put your man- “

"It's Hoss. His name is Hoss. He's a good man." Hank interrupted, 'a bit of an asshole sometimes, but still a good man.'

"-Hoss' death on my conscience. My second in command killed him in front of me, disregarding my orders to reduce killing to the minimum. My turn?”

Hank nodded.

"I've seen that used once, and it's quite effective. So, why haven't you killed me already?"

"I'd rather not answer that," Hank replied.

"Were here." Dan declared as he stopped the car. Hank lowered the rifle and looked out the viewports where he could see his front porch.

Hank looked over to Elena. He had seen a lot of men and women throughout his years of law enforcement and had his experience of liars and honest folk. None of the look he could see in Elena’s eyes had any trace of deceit or desperation but of cold determination aimed at someone that was not him. He had to make a decision now, he only hoped that it was the right one.

"Here," Hank said, taking Elena's cuffs and unlocking them.

"Do you trust me now?"

“Not yet, but I'd rather have you run away."

“Trust me. I won't."

Hank didn't answer. Instead, he hopped out and led the way to his house. Looking around, it looked clear. He then fished out his keys and unlocked the door. It clicked open, he reached for the handle when he felt something was wrong.

The smell hit him first, the strong scent of a still-lit cigarette. Someone is in his house. Hank slowly turned the knob then pushed the door open with the barrel of his rifle. Creeping inside, a familiar voice called over to him, "Hope you don't mind me bumming in your house for a bit."

Hank spun around and pointed his rifle at the figure sitting on the couch. The man squinted at the bright light pointed at them while holding a beer with one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. The man looked at his mirror image if Hank had decided to let his beard grow to a lush cover and a slicked-back hairstyle compared to his close-cropped hair and shaved face.

“Harley. How the hell do you always pop up whenever there’s trouble?” He said, then to the others waiting outside the door. "Come one in. It's just my twin brother."

"I see uh, you're bringing your work home, huh?" He said pointing over at his still dirty uniform.

“Bad time Harley.” Hank snapped.

“Oh, I disagree. But lucky me, now that you’re here." He said, raising his glass and sipped with a grimace.

"You're drunk. What are you on about?" Hank asked when he noticed the blood on his side. He looked out to see Dan just coming up the landing and called,

“Dan! He’s wounded.”