“Yes, ma’am,” Lily said.
“This isn’t part of the training, child,” Abbie said. “I want to be absolutely clear on that.”
“I’ll let you know if we see anything,” Lily said as she walked toward the kitchen. “Do you have a signal on my location?”
“Yes,” Abbie said. “They’re on their way now. Should be there within a few minutes.”
“Okay,” Lily said as she walked into the kitchen. She looked at Scott. “Go get Grung. Now.”
Scott darted toward the bathroom.
“Let me know if you need anything else,” Lily said to Abbie. “I’ll be informing the team. Baxter, out.”
“I feel better,” Grung said as he and Scott entered the kitchen.
“Scott,” Lily said, “what’s a poser?”
Scott’s eyes widened. “We’ve been infiltrated.”
“A poser, Scott. What is it?”
“Just a werewolf,” Scott said, “with the ability to perfectly replicate a human.”
“I thought all werewolves could do that,” Ellie said.
“No,” Scott explained. “Most werewolves are never fully human or fully wolf. They almost always show traits. It can be very subtle, but someone with proper training can usually spot a werewolf in human form. That’s why we were successful with the purge. It’s also why werewolves don’t often infiltrate our ranks.”
“But a poser,” Lily said, “can get past all security?”
Scott nodded. “They’re very rare, and usually very old and very powerful. If that was a poser outside, we’re in trouble, Chief.”
“Then we’re in trouble,” Lily said. “But help’s on the way. Should be here in a matter of minutes. And this guy’s on the run, so I doubt he’ll attack. We just need to hunker down and wait. When the reinforcements get here, they’re giving us weapons and we’re participating in the hunt for this bastard.”
“Cool,” Grung said.
Lily grinned. “Yeah. Pretty cool.”
“Shouldn’t we be quiet?” Ellie said.
“If that was a poser outside,” Scott said, looking out the window, “he knows we’re here. I think we’re pretty safe, though. Like Lily said, he’s on the run.”
“Unless,” Grung said, “he thinks killing us will slow down the search for him.”
“Um,” Ellie said, “how well can werewolves hear?”
Scott turned back to the others and said, “Very well. Matter of fact, I’m sure if there’s a poser outside, he can hear everything we’re saying.”
They all looked at Grung.
“Crap,” Grung said. “I just gave him advice, didn’t I.”
Two fur-covered claws burst through the window behind Scott, grabbed his shoulders and pulled him onto the street.
While Lily and Ellie shared a moment of shock at the sudden attack, Grung didn’t hesitate. He immediately sprinted out the kitchen door.
Grung’s movement jarred Lily and Ellie into action. As they ran for the door, Lily pressed the button on her belt that opened a channel to Abbie and screamed, “I hope that backup is almost here!”
If Abbie replied, Lily didn’t hear it. She made it to the back road just in time to see the werewolf fling Scott into a building. He slammed into the wall and fell to the ground, motionless.
The werewolf looked at Lily. Like the others, it stood on two legs, but it looked bigger than any of the other werewolves Lily had seen. This thing was at least ten feet tall. Its fur was black with streaks of gray.
Lily was blank, but it wasn’t terror or panic that caused it. It was the fact that she knew she was out of options. This werewolf was about to kill them all.
Starting with her.
The werewolf’s snout curled up into what looked like a warped smile.
Grung’s boot stopped the smile. He had managed to dash into the alley, climb onto a dumpster, leap toward the werewolf, and kick it square in the face.
The monster staggered back a step. Grung landed lightly on the ground and immediately kicked it again, this time in the crotch.
“Get Scott and get inside!” he yelled.
Lily quickly turned to Ellie and said, “Get Scott inside!” She then sprinted toward Grung and the werewolf. Before Ellie could protest, Lily added, “That’s an order!”
As she ran toward Grung, Lily was in awe. He was actually fighting toe-to-toe with a werewolf. Flipping, ducking, rolling, jumping, he managed to dodge all of its attacks.
“Lily, get inside!” he yelled. “I can’t keep this up for more than a few seconds!”
In that moment, Lily understood. Grung wasn’t trying to fight this thing. He was keeping it busy long enough for the others to get to safety.
He was sacrificing his life to save the lives of his teammates.
No, you’re not, Lily thought as she scanned the street for anything that could be used as a weapon.
There was nothing.
Well, shit, she thought as she sprinted toward the monster.
At the same time, Scott and Ellie came running from the apartment. “You picked the wrong area to hide in, furry!” Scott yelled. Apparently, his flight across the street had left him bruised but not broken.
Knowing she wouldn’t be able to reach the thing’s head, Lily took a running slide toward the werewolf. Her foot slammed into the side of the werewolf’s knee.
The wolf staggered half a step, then turned and roared in her direction.
With a powerful leap, Scott smashed it in the side of the head with the table-leg he was carrying.
Ellie slid between the wolf’s legs, climbed up its back and wrapped her arms around its throat. “Leave my Grung alone!”
With almost no effort, the werewolf reached back, grabbed Ellie, and threw her to the ground. In the same moment, it kicked Lily in the face and swiped a claw across Scott’s chest.
With the other three Day Soldiers now sprawled on the pavement, Grung looked at the beast and smiled. “Now I have my second wind.”
The monster’s attack was inhumanly fast. It swept in, closed its jaws around Grung’s wrist, and flicked its powerful head. Grung flew across the street and slammed into another wall.
The wolf turned back to Lily, its snout covered in blood.
It held Grung’s severed hand in its teeth.
“No,” Lily whispered.
Scott sprinted across the street, removing his belt as he ran. He slid in beside Grung and immediately looped his belt around his wrist, pulling the belt tight to stop the blood from gushing out of the wound.
“Abbie,” Lily screamed into her mic, “where’s my damn backup!”
Her voice went silent when the werewolf wrapped its claw around her throat and lifted her into the air.
Ellie grabbed Scott’s table-leg from the ground and swung toward the wolf. It blocked the attack effortlessly, then grabbed her neck with its other claw and lifted her into the air.
Lily’s efforts to breath were futile, and she could see the same was true of Ellie.
It was over.
Fighting despair and unconsciousness, Lily was overwhelmed with the magnitude of her failure. Her and Ellie were about to die. She looked at Ellie and tried to say, “I’m sorry,” but no sound came out.
Blood exploded from the werewolf’s right eye.
It dropped Ellie and Lily then fell straight back, slamming onto the pavement. Within a few seconds, it was a man.
A dead man.
Blood poured from the hole that used to be his right eye.
Rubbing her neck, Lily just stared at the dead man, shocked and confused.
“That’s two you owe me, kiddo.”
The voice came from Lily’s earpiece, and it was a voice she knew well.
Lily turned around and looked up. A figure stood on the roof of a nearby building. He was holding a rifle.
“Leo!”
Lily wanted to climb the wall of that building and hug him for an hour straight. She wanted to tell him how badly she missed him and how often she missed him. She wanted to thank him for – yet again – saving her life.
She wanted to do all of those things.
Instead, she fainted.
Chapter 12
Healing
“I can’t believe I fainted.”
Lily sat beside the table, watching the other soldiers walking up and down the street. She took a sip of her hot chocolate and sat it on the table. “Sorry I’m late for our meeting.”
Leo chuckled. “You have a good excuse,” he said. “So how’s the training?”
“Horrible,” Lily said. “And the worst part is, we’re only half-way through. We literally live on the streets. And Sister Abbie is incredible, but she seems to delight in making me look bad in front of my team. And she and Scott are convinced I have some magical power called the touch.”
Leo nodded. “We learned about that. You totally have it.”
“Whatever,” Lily said. “I think I’ve pretty much proven they were wrong on that one.”
“So you’re a squad leader, huh,” Leo said. “I gotta admit, I’m not surprised. You’ve been bossing me around for over a decade.”
“I was a squad leader,” Lily said with a sigh. “I’m pretty sure after yesterday’s disaster, I’ll be reassigned. Or discharged altogether.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Leo said. “Your team survived a no-weapons fight with a werewolf. And not just any werewolf. A poser.”
“Barely,” Lily said. “And we wouldn’t have if you’d arrived five minutes later.” She looked down the street in the direction of the facility hospital. “And Grung paid a heavy price for our survival.”
“That guy is a hero,” Leo said. “And the Day Soldiers takes care of its heroes. There are plenty of things he can do with one hand.”
“Except,” Lily said, “the one thing he trained his entire life to do. Which reminds me, I really should get back to the hospital.”
“How long are they letting you guys stay out here in the real world?”
“We’re going back tomorrow,” Lily said. “Considering everything that happened, Abbie decided to give us two days of rest. I’m assuming she also needed that time to see if she can find a replacement for Grung.”
“What time?” Leo asked.
“Evening,” Lily answered. “No promises, but I can try to meet you here for lunch before we go back in. Say, noon?”
“I’ll be here,” Leo said. “If you’re not, I’ll understand.”
Lily looked at him for a few seconds, then said, “I really needed this, Leo. I wasn’t going to come. I felt like I should stay by Grung’s side, but the team insisted. They know how important you are to me.”
“Ditto kiddo,” Leo said.
Lily cocked an eyebrow. “You seem different.”
Leo laughed. “Good way or bad?”
“Good,” she answered. “It’s like you’ve found your confidence. I always knew you were great. It’s nice to see you recognize it too.”
Leo looked mildly embarrassed. “It’s hard to find that elusive place between confident and cocky, but I think I found it.”
“I’m envious,” Lily said. “I came here thinking I was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Four weeks later, and I’m not sure I belong here at all.”
“It’ll come back,” Leo said. “It’s just growing pains, Lil. That’s all.”
“I hope so,” Lily said.
Leo leaned forward. “And for the record, sliced bread has nothing on you.”
Lily laughed. “I really need to get back.”
“One last thing,” Leo said. “Why did you faint? You’re not exactly the fainting type.”
“Leo,” Lily said, “we’ve faced a lot of crazy shit. Werewolves. A whole town of vampires. But you know what’s weird? Last night in that alley was the first time I’ve ever thought I was going to die. I knew I was about to die. And when you swooped in and saved me, I guess I just… I don’t know. I was just overwhelmed.”
Leo shook his head. “I still can’t believe he got through security.”
“Yeah,” Lily agreed. “Abbie said he’s been a Day Soldier for three years. Worked his way up the ranks and eventually got transferred here. She thinks the scariest part isn’t that he infiltrated the Day Soldiers. It’s that he tried to steal complete schematics of the entire facility. She thinks it means they’re planning a full scale assault.”
“Scary stuff,” Leo said.
“Yeah,” Lily said as she stood up. “Now, seriously, I gotta go. But not until I’ve had a hug.” She pulled Leo to his feet and wrapped her arms around him. “I owe you my life,” she whispered.
“You owe me nothing,” he said. “Now go. Be with your team. If you can make it back tomorrow, I’ll be here. If not, I’ll be at your graduation.”
Lily kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, buddy.”
“Back at ya,” he said.
***
Leo watched Lily jog away. He sat back down at the table and continued to sip his coffee.
After a few minutes, Enrico came up to the table and sat in the chair Lily had been using. “So that was her, no?”
“That was her,” Leo said.
“She is very pretty.”
“Yeah,” Leo said. “She is.”
“Are you ever going to tell her you love her?”
“She knows,” Leo said.
Enrico smiled. “You know what I mean. She is more than a friend to you.”
“I’m perfectly content with our relationship,” Leo said.
This made Enrico laugh. “That is bull, my friend.”
“No, it’s not,” Leo said. “A year ago, I really wanted more. But now, I realize that what we have is far more special than some silly romance.”
Enrico cocked an eyebrow and looked at his friend suspiciously. “Do you really believe that?”
“What I really believe,” Leo said, “is that you should shut the hell up.”
“Okay, my friend,” Enrico said with another laugh. “Okay.”
***
Lily could hear Grung’s voice as she walked toward his hospital room.
“I’m telling you,” he was saying, “it’ll work.”
“No.” It was Abigail’s voice. She sounded exhausted.
Lily rounded the corner and entered the room. Grung was sitting up on the bed. Ellie and Scott stood on one side of him, Abbie on the other.
“Abbie,” Grung said, a hint of desperation in his voice, “don’t do this to me. I’m right handed. That bastard took my left hand. And this design will work.” He was holding a piece of paper in his hand.
“No,” Abbie said again.
“What you got there?” Lily asked.
“A weapon design,” Grung explained. “It just snaps over my arm. It’s a wooden stake, but it’s spring loaded. One press of a button, the stake flips over and a silver blade comes out. I could do major damage with it.”
“I’m sorry, Grung,” Abbie said. “Truly. But your time with the sneakers is over. Your heroism saved the Legion from getting some important information, and more importantly, you saved the lives of your friends. Your sacrifice won’t be forgotten here. The Day Soldiers will reward your service—”
“That’s crap.” The pain in Grung’s voice was overwhelming. “Getting a desk job is not a reward. Abbie, I can be a valuable member of the team. I know I can.”
“This isn’t a negotiation,” Abbie said. “We didn’t accept you into the Day Soldiers because we thought it would bring you personal fulfillment. We accepted you because we needed your skills to help save the world from darkness.”
“And I’m telling you,” Grung argued, “I can do it better than anybody else you select for this team.”
Abbie turned to Lily. “I d
o hope you’ll back me on this.”
Lily looked at Grung, then at the others. “Ellie? Scott?”
Scott stared at Grung for a long moment, then said, “I believe him.”
Ellie nodded. “If he says he can do this, I believe him.”
“Grung,” Abbie said, “are you seriously willing to risk the lives of these three people just so you can feel better about yourself?”
“See,” Grung countered, “that’s where you’re wrong, Abbie. All due respect, I’m not doing this to make myself feel better. I’m doing this because I know I can do it. I’m doing this because I believe, with all my heart, that my team still needs me. If I thought for one second I’d drag them down, I wouldn’t be asking this. If I’d lost an entire arm or a leg, there would be no question. But I lost my left hand, Abbie. That can be turned into an advantage. I’m a fighter, not a hacker. A permanent weapon attached to my arm will contribute to my ability to fight.”
Abbie again turned to Lily. “Your thoughts?”
She’s putting this on me, Lily thought. She looked at Grung, then at Scott and Ellie. Finally, she turned to Abbie and said, “I think he can do it.”
Abbie took the piece of paper from Grung’s hand and started toward the door. “I’ll take this to our engineers.”
Stunned, Lily said, “Wait. You’re doing it based on my opinion?”
Abbie stopped and turned around. “This is your team, not mine. I’m just here to give you survival skills. If you really think this crippled young man is what your team needs, I’ll make it happen… even if I think you just sentenced your team to death. And make no mistake, child, this is on your shoulders, not Grung's. If your team is killed because Grung can’t do his part, I hope you’ll remember in that horrible moment that their deaths are because of your decision, not his disability.”
She turned back around and left the room.
“That was harsh,” Scott said.
“Yeah,” Lily said, “and frankly, I’m a little fed up with it.”
She ran into the hallway and saw Abbie walking toward the elevator. “Wait,” she said.
Abbie stopped and turned around.
“What is your problem?” Lily said.
“I think keeping him on your team is a mistake,” Abbie said. “I will not lie about that.”
“Then why the hell don’t you overrule me?” Lily asked. “I’m a kid. I’ve never done this before. You have the experience. Why do you punish me for giving my opinion?”