Roman

“Oh, good grief,” groaned Valentine. “Check please!”

“Excuse me?” Duck asked from the front of the van.

“I did not come all this way to join a damn cult,” Valentine continued, trying to sit up more and flinching. I could see a nasty bruise already beginning to form beneath her deep red hair from where she was kicked, but she remained conscious despite the damage.

“Wait, we’re not a cult,” Ned said, and Valentine scoffed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sure you’re just a happy little community. Or maybe you call yourself a family. Either way, we are not sacrificing one of our own to spiritual nutjobs.”

“Now hold up,” I began, unable to keep the grin of amusement off my face. “Duck, I wish you’d stop calling it a sacrifice.”

“What am I supposed to call it?” he asked gruffly, but kept his focus on the road.

“Well?” Valentine demanded. “You have about twenty seconds before I’m taking my sister and getting the fuck outta Dodge.”

“We require a recruit,” I explained, and saw her relax, but just barely.

“Still sounds culty,” she noted, and I laughed. For someone who had just been on the verge of consciousness, she sure fired up quickly.

“A military recruit,” Ned said from his spot to my left. “We require you to sacrifice, er, volunteer someone from your group to join the Standing City’s militia.”

“Oh…”

“In exchange for the city’s protection, resources, and so on, we just require that you add to that protection,” I continued. “We’re not burning people at the altar here.”

“You really should change up your terminology, in that case,” Valentine scowled.

“See, Duck?” I called up. He grumbled something under his breath that made Angela thwack him on the arm.

“Most of our fighters are injured,” Camilla, who I’d determined was the sister Valentine was speaking about, said worriedly. “Uncle Sean and Big Greg… I don’t know if they’ll be able to get back into combat for a long time.”

“That’s fine,” Valentine said. “I volunteer.”

“Val!” Camilla protested.

“Now listen, we don’t have to make any decisions yet,” Duck said.

“No, we need to get our crew into the Standing City as soon as possible, and if that requires a recruit, I’m in,” Valentine argued.

“You have a concussion,” the other girl, Miranda pointed out.

“Yes, which will heal a lot faster than any of our crew’s injuries.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, and Valentine flicked her dark blue eyes to mine.

“Well, yeah,” she said, as if it was obvious. “Why wouldn’t I be? I have a battle axe.”

“I mean, sound logic,” Ned noted with an approving nod.

“In that case, welcome to the team,” I said, and she smiled a little.

“Thanks,” she said. “But I better not end up on a stake. I swear I will haunt this whole ass city if this turns out to be a cult after all.”

“Something tells me you’d be a terrifying ghost,” I told her, and this time, she really smiled.

“Damn straight!” she quipped, and tossed a red braid over her shoulder.

“We’ll still be spending the night at the holding camp,” Duck explained, drawing everyone’s gaze back to the front. “Your friend Todd here needs immediate medical attention, and it’ll be faster to get to where the rest of your party is located if we leave from the camp in the morning.”

We were pulling up on the camp as Duck spoke, and parked alongside the makeshift building. The truck doors opened, and everyone began piling out. Ned helped Miranda with her brother, who was just about unconscious, and I gave a hand to the others. When it was Valentine’s turn to slide out, she swayed on her feet.

“Need help?” I asked, and she frowned.

“Usually no, but fucking Dave Davidson kicked my soul out of my body,” she said.

“Lean on me,” I told her, and offered my arm. She took it just as she swayed again, and let me lead her toward the camp.

“Thanks,” she said, and shot me a smirk. “My knight in overpriced tactical gear.”

“Overpriced?” I scoffed, and she giggled.

“Don’t tell me you’re a diehard Under Armour kinda guy,” she teased. “Those fancy pants are only worth the cost if you looted them.”

“Well, what would you say if I did?” I wondered.

“I’d ask if you looked for 5.11’s first.”

“I did save your life today,” I reminded her, but I was enjoying the banter. In some way, I was glad she was the one who volunteered. In others though, I knew it was dangerous even for the best fighters, and that she may not last long in the Standing City’s militia.

“See, that was your first mistake.” She tripped over her feet as we entered the building, and I pulled her up, but I could tell she was fading. She blinked a few times to clear her head and furrowed her eyebrows. “I don’t like not being able to see straight.”

“The doctors will help with that,” I said, and led her to a cot. “I’ll send a medic over. Wait here.”

She nodded, still squinting to try and keep focus, and I turned to find one of the doctors. A few of them were gathered around Todd, working fast to get him a transfusion and disinfect his wounds, but the field medic was free. I got her attention from where she took notes about Todd’s condition and led her to where I’d left Valentine.

My stomach dropped a little when I saw her lying down with her eyes closed, and the medic rushed off to get some supplies. She looked pale as death, and I saw some blood caked in her hair from the blow. If I’d been able to get my hands on Dave, I’d have beaten him to a pulp for doing that to a member of his group. To any human left alive for that matter. But the Grabber had taken care of him.

“Hey,” I said, shaking Valentine lightly. Her eyelids fluttered, giving me some hope that whatever damage she’d sustained wasn’t too much, but she didn’t quite awaken. When the medic returned, I moved aside and let her work, but inside I worried. If she was this incapacitated, then I wasn’t sure how she would join the militia. But moreso, she’d come all this way to get her crew to safety, and might not get to see it to fruition.

I found an empty cot for myself and tried to get some rest. There was no use pacing around. We would leave first thing in the morning to rescue the rest of Valentine’s party, so some sleep would be helpful. At least six of them had made it this far. That was already more than the last few groups to arrive.

I awoke, not realizing I had ever fallen asleep, to the medic shaking me.

“Yeah?” I asked, and sat up straight. “Any news on the injured?”

“They’re both stabilized,” she told me. “Todd will be fine. Valentine too. I gave her some drugs and bandaged her up.”

“Did she wake up?” I wondered, and the medic smiled.

“Yeah,” she said, “and she has a message for you.”

“Oh?”

“She told me to tell you not to take her axe.”

“I think it’s still in the truck,” I thought aloud.

“Maybe, but she wants to make it clear. It’s hers. She found it.”

“I’ll bring it in,” I decided, and headed out to the truck. I had my trusty dual blades, she had her axe. I understood the attachment to your weapon, especially if said weapon had saved you from certain death. Valentine’s was heavier than expected, and covered in black demon blood, but she had wielded it well for her size from what I had seen. I made sure to prop it up where she would see it when she woke up, and then headed back to my own cot to sleep.

The next morning, we left just before daybreak. Camilla had given us a map with the rest of the group’s location marked on it. Considering the condition of several members, we opted for the more risky method and drove. Demons were attracted to man-made structures, and on regular circumstances we would have hiked out, had half their crew not been injured.

We took two trucks, Duck, Ned, and the camp’s lead doctor, Paul in one, and Angela and I in the other. On a regular day, Ned and I would be back in the city outskirts, where we and the rest of the militia lived, trained, and guarded in case of attacks, but we and the others were occasionally called out in scouting parties to help survivors reach safety. Usually, we didn’t bring back many survivors, if any at all, but this time, it looked like we would be extra fortunate.

The house was silent when we reached it, the windows all still boarded up, and the front door closed. Nearby, a stack of recently burnt wood and ashes sat. A funeral pyre by the looks of it. When we knocked, an older woman opened the door and let us in.

“Did they make it?” she asked, worry etching her features. I nodded, and she sighed in relief.

“Six of them,” I told her, and stepped in the house after her.

“Six?” she wondered. “We sent seven out.”

“Dave didn’t survive the trip, but I’ll let Valentine tell you about that one.”

“I knew she’d do it,” the woman said, a hint of pride in her voice. “You can call me Mama Homes, by the way.”

Mama Homes led us through the house to where they kept the injured. The smell of blood hit me when I walked into the room, and the doctor pushed past me. I saw a few people on beds with makeshift bandages, some awake, but two unconscious, and stepped back out.

“We need to get them to the camp,” I told Duck. Behind me, a few children whispered and pointed. It had been a long time since we’d had child survivors arrive in the city.

“We’ll start loading the trucks immediately,” he agreed. “We don’t wanna be driving after nightfall if we can help it.”

Most of the party was able to load into the trucks on their own. We tried to cram all the uninjured into one truck so we could lay the few in critical condition across the seats. One of them, Greg, could walk, but was fighting a severe infection. Sean was the one we were most worried about though. Paul worked his best to stabilize him as we packed up everything and prepared to leave, but he didn’t seem confident.

“He must have been almost directly in the blast,” Paul said as we started our drive back. “It’s amazing he held up this well.”

“He held on for this long,” Greg told us in a pained voice. “If anyone can make it, he can.”

“That’s what we’re hoping,” I said, though I wasn’t convinced. I’d seen enough people die from lesser injuries to know the odds were stacked against him.

“He’ll do it,” Greg said, and leaned his head back against his seat. “He’ll do it for the girls.”

---

Sean Scott lived, but just barely. The initial group was taken into the city before we returned to the camp with the second, and when we did, there were two extra medical personnel waiting to help. Minor injuries were treated by the field medic while the lead doctors worked to save Greg and Sean. They stabilized him with low hopes of survival the first day, but within the next twenty-four hours, he was already awake and talking. Another three days after that, we were able to take him and the remaining few members of the party that had remained at the camp into the Standing City, where Valentine and Camilla were waiting for him at the gate.

“Uncle Sean!” Camilla cried upon seeing him, and flew into his arms. He hugged her, and then added Valentine to the embrace when she approached behind her sister.

“I knew you’d make it,” he told them. “I knew you’d get us all to safety.”

Ned and I watched from a little ways back. Our turn on the scout team was over, and we’d return to our homes and the rest of the militia. We’d only stayed out longer to secure the survivors. Our last task was to get the final three from the “super party,” as people were calling it, back to the city, and now it was complete.

“Hey!” Valentine called, and walked over to greet us. Her head injury appeared to be healing up well, but it was harder to see with her hair down. Instead of the double French braids I’d see her in before, her waist-long red locks were free, falling down her back in damp waves. She must have gotten new clothes, for in place of the tattered outdoor gear she was in before, she now wore a low, loose-fitting tank top and a pair of skinny jeans. She looked to be in much better shape than when we’d first met. She looked great.

She also still carried her axe.

“Woo, talk about a glow up!” Ned said, his crude words mirroring my thoughts. “You looked like a corpse a few days ago.”

“I know, right?” Valentine said with a laugh. “Thanks, by the way. For dragging us down the mountain, but mostly for him. He’s the only family my sis and I have left.”

“It’s our duty,” I said, and she smiled lopsidedly.

“Ah yes, just duty,” she poked. “Saving humanity is such a drag.”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Ned drawled, prompting another chuckle from Valentine.

“When do you start training?” I asked. She definitely wasn’t in fighting clothes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if her concussion had her out of combat for a while.

“As soon as I’m cleared,” she said with a frown. “They said it could be a few weeks before I can do combat training, but I can do other stuff until then.”

“Like what?” Ned wondered. Valentine adjusted the shoulder strap she’d gotten for her axe.

“Like agility exercises, light working out, getting used to my axe’s weight, going to trainings on demon weaknesses…” She shrugged. “I’m not really sure, honestly. I’m supposed to report in on Friday to get my schedule and house. Does everyone get houses?”

“We do,” I nodded. “Yours will be somewhere in the outskirts of the city, where all of the militia lives, but your sister and uncle will get places too. We take care of our people here. Hence the sacrifice.”

She rolled her eyes but a grin played at her lips.

“I swear, if this does turn out to be a cult, there better at least be some killer orgies.”

“Valentine Scott!” her uncle scolded from where he stood with Camilla. Ned’s face was red from choking down laughter, and I knew I wasn’t doing a great job either.

“I’m sure we could arrange something,” I told her, and she raised an eyebrow before turning back to her family. She tossed a wink over her shoulder as she walked away, and the three of them headed off to show Sean around the city.

“Valentine’s hot,” Ned said once she was gone, and I punched him on the shoulder

“She’s a recruit,” I scolded. “She hasn’t even proved her training yet.”

“What’s that have to do with her being attractive?” he asked, rubbing his arm.

“It-- touché.” He was right, and she was.

“Wanna get food?” he asked. I nodded, realizing I hadn't had a proper meal since we were called out.

We decided to meet up with a few others from our usual group. I knew we’d be bombarded with questions about the super party and the new recruit, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to share everything with them yet. They’d find out soon enough, and so, Ned and I decided we would tell them everything about the trip.

Everything, except one little detail.