When Damian finally arrived at the New York base it was with much relief. The trip had gone about as badly as he expected it to. Mayor Collins was insufferable the whole trip. The man complained about everything. The seats weren’t comfortable, the meals were not up to his standard, the soldiers didn’t stay close enough to ensure protection, the soldiers stayed too close, and they smelled! If there was any less discipline among the rank-and-file Damian was sure the troops would have hung the toad from a tree slathered in BBQ sauce for whatever monster could stomach the little bastard, and Damian would have gladly helped.
Mayor Collins constantly attempted to engage Damian in conversation. The only problem was that the conversations felt more like an interrogation. The man kept probing about his trial, background, which the man seemed to imply was surely criminal in some capacity. Anything and everything about the system and its interactions that the mayor could think of. What was the extent of the physical changes? Did it make him more durable? What privileges was Damian granted? Damian volunteered himself to go on scouting and hunting missions just to get away from the man.
There were only three things about the trip that Damian was genuinely happy about. The first was his new coat that Big Lu dropped off for him before he left for his own portal. It was a black leather duster with silver accents, on its outer surface Lu had used silver thread to sow patterns into the coat. The patterns he sowed in were Celtic in origin and if Damian wasn’t mistaken it was a subtle reminder from Big Lu that he did something stupid, and it wasn’t being forgotten. The back of the duster had a large deer skull with antlers that curved into a half-moon shape, sitting between the antlers was a Celtic sacred neck torque, a rigid open ended neck ring, and a Celtic knot emblazoned on the skull. The arms were entwined by serpents that spiraled from the shoulder to just above the wrist. The heads of the serpents had ram horns on their heads, and their mouths were open, prepared to bite. The inside of the coat was lined with Tlanuwa feathers that gave the supple leather a slight rigidity and protection similar to a bullet proof vest. Damian loved the thing and if he had time would have tracked down a wide brimmed fedora to complete the classic Van Helsing vibe the coat and crossbow gave him.
The second bout of good fortune and probably the best one, was the amount of people they were able to evacuate to base cities on their way. They stopped by a total of ten small communities along the way and were able to convince a total of five thousand people to relocate to a safer location. A good third of that number were kids below the age of seventeen. There were tears of joy that pored down the faces of people who were finally able to leave small doomsday shelters and high school buildings and move to a place where they had a chance to get news of loved ones. The fourth community they visited had even run out of food and were terrified of what would have happened should the military not have shown up. Not everyone from the communities were willing to leave though. Men and women who had lost everything and could no longer muster the will to care if they lived or died, elderly who were too stubborn to leave the homes they raised their children in, and those who knew they didn’t have much time left.
The last thing that put a smile on Damian’s face was the young Tlanuwa perched on his arm. The bird had hatched on the second day of their journey and grew to the size of a condor by the third day. He decided to name the bird Bronze, on account of the color of its feathers and the fact that Tlanuwa were also known as copper birds. The little bird seemed to love her name and was extra cuddly after he gave it to her. Much like her mother Bronze’s feathers were a warm metallic brown color that ended in crimson tail feathers. Her talons gleamed with an edge sharp enough to pierce steel, something they found out when the bird threw a temper tantrum when she wasn’t allowed a mouse snack and landed on top of one of the buses. Her talons immediately managed to pierce through when she stamped her foot in indignance at Damian telling her that she would ruin her appetite if she ate right then. When she reached her current size, the system deemed her mature enough to slow down the accelerated growth and claimed she was now combat ready. Damian could only agree with that assessment as when he took her on a quick hunt to check if that claim was true, Bronze not only managed to rip the throat out of a wandering snallygaster, a dragon/bird highbred in Maryland, but her wing tips sliced through the trees she flew past forcing Damian to dodge away quickly or be crushed.
Reaching over to pet Bronze’s head Damian swept his gaze around the parking lot they were in and his gaze landed on a group striding toward him with purpose. At the head of the group was a small but well-built man that seemed to be in his early thirties. He had vaguely Hispanic features and a deep tan that spoke to the amount of time he spent outside. He only came up to Damian’s lower jaw but the presence the man exuded made him seem like a giant. To the right and behind the man were two suits, one gangly the other obese, who were carrying briefcases and huffing and puffing while trying to keep up with their party leaders quick and purposeful pace. On the left were three people who looked like they were just walking off a construction site. They were covered in concrete dust, metal shavings, some kind of waste water, and a sheer level of done with your shit that Damian didn’t think he would ever manage. When they reached him, the Hispanic man reached out his hand and introduced himself.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“You must be Damian, I’m Commander George Hernandez, formerly of the U.S Navy. Behind me starting from the right,” he gestured to the two suits, “are Thomas Halowitz, mayor of the civilian side of the U.S Forward Command Base New York. Next to him is Arthur Manfredi, and the elected representative of the civilian counsel that assist the mayor in keeping this place running.”
He gestured to the other three on his left, “These are the other members of the civilian counsel and heads of the various public works projects that keep the city running. Travis Galloway, head of urban development and housing, Virginia Floyd, head of the dockworker’s union, and Freddy McClain, head of the sanitation department.”
They each stepped forward and shook Damian’s hand as they were introduced, keeping a wary eye on Bronze as they did. Damian spoke up before the meeting could turn into an awkward starring contest between their group and his new bird. “Pleasure to meet you Commander, as you already know I am Damian, and this lovely lady,” he gestured to Bronze who preened at the praise, “is Bronze, my bonded animal companion through the system.”
Commander Hernandez gave the bird an appreciative and wary glance, “She’s a magnificent specimen, what breed is she, I’ve never seen something like her?”
Damian gave a smile, “She is a Tlanuwa, a mythical bird from Cherokee mythology. Her feathers are metallic and offer a measure of protection in addition to being extremely sharp.”
Mayor Thomas stepped forward at this point and cleared his throat with a nervous expression on his face, “I’m sorry to interrupt and you are likely tired from your travels, but we need to discuss the timeline and exact location of the portal clearance with you. I wish we could give you some time to recover and prepare but High Command is giving us a strict deadline to get you there. Your fellow Inducted arrived yesterday and is eager to both meet with you and get started on the portal.”
The mayor appeared sincere and as if he hated that he had to act as the one to speed things along. The others in his group gave the man a sympathetic look, Travis even walked over and pat the distressed man on his back. Turning to the others Damian raised an eyebrow in confusion as Travis led the man who was starting to hyperventilate away. “Is he alright? He seems a bit to distraught for something so simple.”
It was Arthur who spoke up, “Don’t mind him. The poor man was never cut out for this kind of work. He has crippling social anxiety and likes to focus on getting things done as quickly as possible, so he doesn’t have to interact with strangers for very long. If you interact with him long enough, he tends to calm down and had an easier time. We had hoped that with all of us coming with him he would be more relaxed.”
That confused Damian even more, “How did he get put in charge of the city then?”
Commander Hernandez answered him this time. “Thomas was the best qualified candidate and one I asked to be put in charge personally. I knew him from before the integration; we grew up together. He’s incredibly smart and damn near incorruptible, mostly due to the fact he can’t talk to people he doesn’t know well long enough for them to even try. He entered the public sector after he got out of college and got hired by the New York City mayor’s office. They let him work from home once they realized his issues and that his work efficiency tripled when he could email people instead of talking to them. Inside of three years working for the mayor’s office the man had become indispensable as he was liaising between every department, making all their work and policies move like well oiled machines. When the integration hit the only person the other people in the office would follow was Thomas, even though seventy percent of them never met the man.”
Damian whistled, “Competent and not a tool bag, I’m damn jealous of your guys’ leadership. Our mayor spends most of his time complaining and holding up necessary projects for reasons only he knows.”
The others gave a laugh at that and the conversation flowed smoother from then on. Eventually Thomas returned having calmed slightly and proceeded to fill Damian in on the situation. Strangely enough the man seemed to calm further when Bronze hopped over to him and allowed the man to pet her. The portal was located near Lower Manhattan, specifically between Chinatown and the Civic Center area. While they couldn’t drive in, they spent the past week setting up a bunch of improvised bridges along the rooftops, between the various skyscrapers that still stood in the city.
Damian and his partner would use them to sneak their way past the wandering hordes of monsters that inhabited the area and access the portal. Once they were in the military would start bombing the area to clear out the monsters so their exit from the scenario would be smoother. The operation was set to begin on the following day, and Damian was eager to meet his partner and start discussing strategy. He was led to a hotel that was converted into public housing and was brought to the sweet his fellow Inducted was staying at.
The one to open the door was a small but fit women in her twenties with fiery red hair and emerald, green eyes. She stood about five foot four inches tall and gazed up at Damian with a slight smile on her face. When she spoke up her voice had a pleasant Irish lilt that complemented her melodic voice. “Well look who finally decided to show up. I’ve been waitin on you for a whole day, ya damn bogger. It’s rude to keep a lady waitin ya know, Damian, but it is mighty grand to finally meet you. I’m Catherine O’Clair and I look forward to working with ya.”
