My first priority was to get away from the convention center as fast as I could disentangle myself from the people around me. Something about the whole thing just didn’t feel right. Part of it was another big bout of imposter syndrome.

  Sure, I helped people. I liked helping people. I liked the thanks I got from doing it. Yes, I have an Ego. You could see it on my Character Screen or cast REVEAL STATS on me. But what had happened didn’t sit right. I felt like I didn’t deserve it.

  When I got home, I stayed in the car with the engine ticking as it cooled, not sure what to do next. The President was already on Marine One by now, headed for the airport and the next stop on her speech tour. Big, important things…nothing I had any part in.

  Running down my mental list of things I could do, I didn’t want to do any of them. “I guess I’ll just sit here and feel bad about myself.” The thoughts came out flat. The same familiar depression had crawled back in, just like after the accident. Months of doing nothing had started the same way.

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Hey Will. Got myself a problem or two I want your advice on.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [I just pulled into my driveway and nothing to do. I’ve got time. What’s up?]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Saw ya on TV with the prez. Nice gal for being a politician. Never thought anyone would let me that close to one as I was last night.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [Thanks. I know that feeling. She can be nice, but this morning, she was all business.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Saw that. Anyway, I think I got in over my head on a couple of things.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [I’ll help if I can. What have you got you can’t outrun on your bike or shoot your way out?]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Neighbors for one. Some of them’s gettin’ crazy in what they’re talkin about. They’re talkin’ online about takin’ over a small town. You got the army in Eddington. They ain’t goin’ near them.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [Are you saying the army has superior firepower to your friends and neighbors?]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Hell yah! I may have been a Ranger, but I ain’t that kind of stupid. Take on a squad, maybe. I hear they got most of a company campin’ out at your fairgrounds. Got a command unit in town. I ain’t messin’ with them. They can sat track me.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [Yeah. Roger that. They’re mostly good guys. They’re learning. I give them that much.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [I’ll let you know if that bunch starts doin’ something. They ain’t the big problem.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [OK. What else you got?]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [You know about the NeedLess commune? Out by Needmore Ridge and creek?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [Yeah. Bunch of hippies started it in the 70s. I know it’s still going. Most people didn’t think it would last.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Didn’t think it would neither. Mostly nice people and they grow some good weed. Usually have a few other things too. They’re willing to trade in hunting season. They ain’t all vegetarians.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [I’ve heard they grow good stuff. I haven’t touched it since some college parties, but I know people who do. What’s happening there?]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [They always had a couple of dark types. Satanist wannabes and worse. Now one of them is raisin’ the dead. They say he’s got a book that tells him how to do it. Said he’s pulled some skeleton types out of the old Meyers cemetery near them.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [That sounds like a Necromancer. They can do things like that. What’s the problem?]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [They say he said he’s going to spread the darkness everywhere. He’s got most of them following him and the rest scared shitless.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [Who is he and what’s he look like?]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Don’t know his real name. Calls himself Iago. Tall, little over 6 feet. Very skinny and long stringy black hair. Plays a mean guitar. He’s been there for years but one of those guys who stays in the background.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [I’ve seen the type. What do you want me or us to do? You can tell the Sheriff and let them handle it.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Thought about that. They grow too much to put up with him comin’ out and lookin’ round the place.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [Understood. Same question. What do you want us to do?]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Like I said. I got friends out there. I trade them a couple deer, some ducks, and other things that keeps me supplied for the year without having to spend for it. They got a meat locker that keeps stuff cold. The place runs on wind and solar. Totally off grid.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [You want just me, or other Irregulars?]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Don’t know. Not too many. Keep it small. Need Shadow. She can find out what’s going on bettern anybody I know. I know you and Blaze are a thing, but she’s FBI. Doubt they want any police types showing up. She might see something she’s supposed to report n do her job.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [I was thinking about that. What about Bhaarrt and Ingrid if they’re available? That gives most of the experienced people and you make 5.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Thinkin’ long those lines. Yeah.]

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [OK. It won’t be until after lunch. Let me contact them and see if they are available and when.]

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [K. Thanks. Talk later. Bye.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PokerRun] [Bye.]

  “And here I thought I was going to have a quiet afternoon where I could get some work done.” I sighed as I let myself into the house. “Food and coffee first, then I’ll contact people.”

  By the time I reached out, I learned Bhaarrt and Ingrid had to work until late afternoon. They could help only after that. Shadow was the opposite…she had to work tonight. That left us a thin window of maybe two hours. Or somewhere around that.

  When I chatted with PokerRun again, he didn’t hesitate. “Let’s do it. You can scout the place and I’ll back you up.”

  So we would. Fast as we could.

  I’d pick up Shadow first, then swing south for Bhaarrt and Ingrid. If I had to, I’d bring Shadow back to Eddington in time for her shift…or try to.

  Pickup was the same intersection as last time. I rolled up, powered both side doors open, and waited. A moment later, I felt the van dip…she wasn’t heavy, but I still noticed. I closed the doors when I heard her seatbelt click.

  Then I pointed us toward Bhaarrt and Ingrid’s. Then it would be a long stretch of two-lane blacktop cutting south through farmland into the forest out to Needmore Ridge. I could almost smell the air thick with the sweet-green smell of May corn sprouting in wet earth.

  “Thank you for doing this. I’ll do my best to get you back wherever in time.”

  “I know you’ll try,” she said as she shimmered into view behind me. “We ain’t seen nuff of you in a while. You tryin’ to move up? Hanging ‘round with the President and all. You ain’t got time for us little people no more?”

  “It feels that way sometimes. I don’t miss the battles, but I miss the rest of you. Hell…you were all strangers a few days ago, and you’re right. We’re drifting apart again.”

  “Yeah. You and Blaze and me and Daryll and Sally. We’re all wondering when you two are gonna make being a thing official?”

  “I, uh, ah, well…” I stuttered. “We ain’t a thing. At least not that kind of thing. We’re friends. Roommates. That’s all.”

  “Uh huh. Right. We got eyes, Will. I know you got them gentleman blinders on, but the rest of us don’t. When you two gonna be friends with benefits?”

  Good thing she asked right when I stopped at a red light. My face probably matched it.

  “I, uh, don’t think of her that way. That would be taking advantage of her. I’m not going to do that.” I half-stammered as I eased the van forward again.

  “Yep. We was right. She won’t say nothing neither. She denies it just like you did.”

  “Look. It’s like I told her the first day. I’m not going to upset someone who could burn my house down. I don’t want her that mad at me…or just set me on fire.”

  “In other words, y’all don’t want her to light your fire? We all think it’s too late for that.”

  Shadow’s laugh was warmer when she let it out naturally. I wasn’t sure if she meant the teasing or not, but it didn’t matter. We were already pulling up to Bhaarrt and Ingrid’s.

  They came out together, Ingrid with her new spear. The shaft was painted white. She handed it to Bhaarrt before she climbed into the passenger seat beside me. Bhaarrt got in the back with her spear after I opened it up.

  “Nice spear you got there,” I told her.

  “Thanks. Between Daryll and Andrew, they made it for me. They’re working on a winged helmet. We think it’ll pass game rules. If not, a Valkyrie warrior can use it.”

  “I look forward to seeing it.” I turned us south again, their gravel driveway crunching under the tires before we found blacktop.

  “Sally, you was right,” Shadow said. “They got it bad for each other. They jus’ won’t admit it.”

  “We do not got it bad for each other,” I almost shouted. “We like each other, but there’s nothing going on between us and there won’t be.”

  All three of them laughed at me.

  “OK. Laugh if you want, but we have something serious going on. If PokerRun’s worried, I’m worried. We’ve got a Necromancer raising skeletons and maybe other undead. You guys know the NeedLess Commune?”

  “Yeah,” Bhaarrt said. “I did some work out there three, four years ago. They had a big rusted out metal freezer they salvaged. It wasn’t in good shape, but I welded patches on it. They replaced the wiring and coolant, and it worked. Are they the problem, or is someone going after them? Are they having spawn trouble?”

  “We’ll get more from him, but he thinks one of their people took Necromancer and’s raiding a cemetery for corpses. Thin guy, Satanist type, calls himself Iago. Plays guitar.”

  “Maybe I remember him,” Bhaarrt said. “I kinda recall a guitar player like that from four, five years ago when I first got to Eddington. He thinks that’s the one?”

  “Yeah. We’ll find out more when we meet him. Should be just a few more minutes. Next turn, then about a mile.” We all went quiet as I turned onto a road were PokerRun should be waiting.

  We pulled up behind a Harley parked at the roadside. Cornfields stretched green and wide on both sides, a thin breeze rippling through the rows. The rider wore a camo rifle bag across his back, big enough for a pair of scoped hunting rifles. Another scabbard sat strapped behind his right leg. For PokerRun, it almost looked light. He held a folded map in his left hand.

  [PokerRun:] [William of Brinsford] [Bout time y’all got here.]

  I slid the van doors open, and after greetings were out of the way, he got to business.

  “Here’s the deal. A friend of mine who lives out here said one of the NeedLess folks came banging on her door last night. She had a hell of a tale. Short form is one of their people turned on them. Calls himself Iago.”

  “I’ve met him,” Bhaarrt said. “Met him once when I did some work for them. Creepy guy. Skinny, long, stringy black hair. Black nail polish. That kind of guy.”

  “That’s him. Crazy as shit, but mostly harmless…or so they thought. Did his share of work, but nothing more except play guitar. That place has always been a haven for fringe people.”

  “What else did she say to your friend?” I asked.

  “Sumpthin’ about him raising the dead from a cemetery, waving a book around, saying his time had come. Sounded like he was putting a spell on people, cult leader style…Jim Jones kinda thing.”

  “When you told me earlier, I said it sounded like someone took Necromancer. Fits. Some of the Satanist types went that way. Morticia took Witch. She tries to look the part, but she’s decent.”

  “She is,” Shadow said. “Talked to her some last night. She legit wanted to be a witch and now she is.”

  “What else you got for us?”

  “I scouted early this mornin’. It was quiet, too quiet. But I saw sumpthin’ I never seen outside a movie…walking skeletons at the front gate and the main hall. Usually there’s people around by then. Not a soul.”

  “I take it you didn’t go closer?” I asked.

  “Nope,” he said flatly. “Like I said, I ain’t crazy like some Marines and Rangers I knew. I’ll help keep ‘em from gettin’ themselves killed, but I’ve never been the out-front kinda guy.”

  “I’m glad you’re who you are. I shouldn’t need to ask, but…do you have a spot you can watch from while we go in?”

  He laughed. “I wouldn’t a called you if I didn’t. Here’s your best way in….”

  He spread the map across his Harley’s black leather saddlebags, pointing out routes, cover, and where he’d be on his terrain map.

  We talked a few minutes more before heading back to the van. He mounted up, kicked the Harley to life, and roared off, gravel spitting up in a rooster tail behind him.

  “He does like to make an exit,” Bhaarrt said.

  “You’d do the same,” Ingrid answered, slipping an arm around her husband. “That’s part of why I didn’t want you to buy that bike you’ve been lusting after. At least you chose me, you big ogre.” She stretched up and kissed him.

  “Aren’t they cute?” I stage-whispered to Shadow.

  “You should see them at home. It’s worse,” she whispered back loud enough for them to hear.

  “OK. Load up, folks,” I said, reopening the van doors.

  Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild (Easy Rider) (1969)

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