Standing up reminded me I wasn’t as young as I used to be, and I still was recovering from the accident. Also, the walking and running this afternoon didn’t help. Both legs hurt. It didn’t matter much yet, but it still mattered.

  “Until I can’t fight anymore, I’ll still help any way I can,” I swore to myself. It didn’t matter if I was the best person for the job. I just had to be the best I could be here and now, until someone else stood up and took it over.

  Right after pulling my key fob out of my pouch, I waved at Blaze, then made sure the other doors were unlocked and open. Blaze had taken off her jacket and slung it over her left shoulder, but the tac vest still said FBI on the front and back of its dark blue fabric cover. She waved back.

  “Spread out any gear you want to air out in the back. We’re off duty for a while,” I told her.

  “Thanks. It feels good to get it off,” she said, draping her jacket inside-out on the back of the front passenger seat, then removing her vest and spreading it open on the seat behind. “How was the interview with the reporter?” she asked, stretching, then settling into the front passenger seat.

  Standing up, I joined her in the front seats. The seats are more comfortable than the van floor. We kept the doors open for the early summer breeze. The day was warm, but the breeze was cool.

  “It went better than I expected. Maybe she’ll turn herself around and be helpful? I warned her to only use game names unless someone says otherwise.”

  “Good. I hope so. My name’s going to be all over the place real soon, if it’s not already. Maybe it’s a good thing I’m not going home tonight. But I’ll need to tomorrow. If I base down here, I’ve got things I need to bring back.”

  “And check in at the office?”

  “Yeah, that too. That’ll take the most time. All day, if I can’t get out of it.”

  “Promise them updates as you can make them and feed them info as you think of it or find something. Maybe that’ll help with not filing regular full reports?”

  She laughed. “I doubt it. The agency runs on reports. At least we can file them electronically and don’t have to type them out in triplicate, like my uncle did when he started.”

  “The wonders of advanced technology. I wonder if this game is some sort of super-advanced tech and everything, we do is just translated into making things happen? Or if this isn’t real and we’re just some part of a simulation or someone’s game? Or maybe…characters in a book?”

  “People are going to take it all those ways. What are our plans for tonight?” Baze asked.

  “Beer and brats at Andy’s place,” I answered. “That means everyone brings food and drinks. Also means we stop for food before the hoarders take everything. If the power goes out, I’ve got solar, so we’ll have electricity for a while. I had it installed five years ago. Still means frozen food gets used up first.

  “Does that mean I can charge my car?”

  “If you have a cable. I don’t.”

  “There’s one in my trunk. We can see if it works” she answered, stretching.

  “Remind me to try it later,” I told her. “Right now, food’s the most important thing.”

  That was the moment the wind picked up and blew through the open van doors. We both sighed in pleasure and relaxed in our seats. It felt good. The breeze and mood both didn’t last long enough and I went back to planning mode.

  “We can stack cans and boxes in plastic bins. I should get a few more. I also want to pick up things for enchanting. I leveled it up, so now I can make rechargeable Mana Batteries. That’ll help a lot. I burn through a lot of MANA when I’m protecting people. It’ll get easier since I upgraded my shields too. More defense for not much more MANA.”

  “I’ll help with that and bring what I have when I come back. I’m willing to help provide things if I’m staying with you. I don’t expect everything for free.”

  “Roger that,” I said, laughing. “I understand. I’ve got an extra ice chest or two if you want them. Bring back whatever you care about. Otherwise, it might not be there when you get back.”

  “Are you wanting me to move in with you? Isn’t this too sudden? We just met today?” Blaze asked, sitting in the front seat with a grin that stretched ear to ear. I held onto the steering wheel, pulling myself upright, trying not to laugh before answering.

  “If you want to be the FBI official in Eddington, you’re welcome to stay as long as you need or want to. As Blaze the Fire Mage with Nerves of Steel? Hell yah. I want you to be part of our team, as long as you still want to work with me…or us.”

  Power closing the back doors, we both belted in. I started driving. It was only a few minutes back to my house, but we had things to grab before the shopping run.

  “Thank you, Will. I hope that ‘nerves of steel’ part doesn’t stick. Fire Mage Blaze is fine. But people will challenge me over the rest of it. I don’t want to ever do that again. I already got texts from the office about it…calling me all sorts of stupid. They stopped after Chief Brown did it too.”

  She stuck out her tongue, and made a face. I laughed at her expression.

  “I worry about the people who won’t have the protection you two had. People are going to try it with Level 1 shields and die,” she said.

  “I know. The Darwin Awards are going to have a whole new category for idiots who remove themselves from the gene pool.” I added.

  “You know about them too? Not everyone does. Good. I don’t want an honorable mention either. Not for anyone in our guild,” she concluded.

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

  That’s when we pulled into the driveway.

  About twenty minutes later, we were on the road again in regular, dry clothing, with coolers, bins, and shopping bags in the back of the van.

  Two hours after that, we were back home, unloading almost $400 worth of groceries and supplies between us. Most of which weren’t the usual hoarders’ targets. There were lots of perishable meats, frozen foods, and $40 worth of bags filled with wooden beads, spools of cord and tape. Also: three packs of ten dowel rods and two dozen wooden handles that fit the dowels.

  We used some of the dozen or so large plastic totes I’d bought. That was just my haul. Blaze’s came to just over $150, mostly food she planned to cook over the next week or more, plus something to bring to Andrew’s party.

  As we were finally leaving the house, I heard a voice call my name.

  “Will. Will! Can I talk to you?”

  Looking right, I saw my next-door neighbor.

  “Ryan Whitford. Haven’t talked to him much since New Years,” I thought, but answered, “Hi Ryan. What’s up?”

  “You…you’re the one on TV. You led that battle at City Hall. I recognized what you were wearing. I remembered it from years ago when you had people over doing your medieval thing in the backyard. I told my wife it was you, but she wasn’t as sure.”

  “That was me. Tell her you were right.”

  “Thanks. The missus and me…we haven’t done anything with that pesky Character Screen thing except move it aside. Can you tell us what to take? We can’t decide. We never played those games.”

  “I don’t have time right now, but when I get back, I’ll come over and help. Short version? Stay Human. Don’t take anything else. Think about the skills you know. They carry over into the game. You get bonuses if you take them as professions or skills.”

  “If you don’t want to fight, take a Healer or support class like Mages. You two are retired, so physical combat isn’t your best choice. Ranged attacks, like Blaze has, keep you out of the fight. Mostly. If your wife takes a healing class, both of you will be in high demand.”

  “Blaze? Are you the FBI agent with fire they were talking about on TV?” Ryan asked.

  “Yes. Yes, I am. Nice to meet you,” Blaze replied, offering a smile.

  “Are you really bulletproof, like they said?” Ryan asked.

  “Only with Will’s help shielding me. Don’t try that on your own. You won’t be strong enough for quite a while. We’ll both help you later, but we have a meeting to get to. Will’s right…you two should take things that complement each other. It’s going to get worse, and we won’t always be here,” She told him.

  “It’s like Will keeps saying, you’ve got to do it on your own,” Blaze continued. “Talk to your other neighbors and work together to protect your neighborhood. Call 911 if something happens…or if you see creatures, that you’ve never seen before.”

  “We’ll talk tonight,” I told him. “I’ll come over when we get back. Right now, we’ve got a meeting to get to. It includes dinner, and we’re both hungry.”

  “Starving,” Blaze added.

  “Starving. Magic takes a lot of energy. I’ll come over when we get back. Three, maybe four hours, if we don’t get called away. Blaze, food and such in the back hatch,” I said, reaching into my pouch and triggering the van’s back hatch to open.

  “Yes, Warchief. By your command,” Blaze answered, laughing.

  Staring at her, I shook my head. “WoW and Battlestar Galactica? Really?”

  “Really!”

  Once the car was stowed and we were both belted in, we left the driveway and headed to the south side of Eddington for Andrew’s party.

  Sir Andrew’s place was a standard ‘80s suburban home: off-white, four-bedroom, two-car garage, with a basement. Small front yard, big backyard with scattered trees and a chain-link fence marking the lot’s back edge.

  The air was warm, with a soft May breeze that carried the earthy scent of faint traces of woodsmoke. Insects buzzed and chirped in the underbrush at the back edge of the yard, their chorus rising and falling around the evening and flickering firelight.

  The sun was about to set behind a deep indigo sky streaked with wisps of cloud. The few streetlights on that street would be on in an hour or so.

  A circular stone firepit sat out back with a brick walkway that led to the house. That’s where people had gathered around. The scent of grilled meat reached us as we rounded the house as did the crackling from the fire.

  An hour later, we and most of the Irregulars were sitting around the firepit with one of Andrew’s homebrews in hand and full bellies. The label read Black Squire. It showed a Black man in armor like Sir Andrew’s, helmet under one arm, beer bottle in the other. I told Blaze Andrew named it in honor of his former squire who’d taught him home brewing and was now a knight with squires of his own.

  This beer was his masterwork for an SCA Laurel in Brewing. Technically, that made him Master Sir Andrew, but most of us just called him Sir or Earl. He’d been king once, so he could add Count or Earl to the rest of the alphabet soup that trailed behind his name. It was a good, dark beer. He had other lighter ones for folks who didn’t like heavy brews.

  Shadow sat beside Bhaarrt, headwrap off, beer in hand. She looked more at ease now with people knowing the Black woman behind the ninja mask. No one said anything about her age, and I hoped to keep it that way.

  Bhaarrt had his cuirass off and was wearing just his overalls. I spotted a few blood spots on them that probably weren’t his. Chief Brown hadn’t arrived yet, so no one official could tell her not to drink. She was an Irregular, a party member, one of us. That’s all that mattered.

  Most people had finished eating when Chief Brown arrived. He looked tired.

  “Chief, grab some food and sit yourself down. I’ll get you a brat and a beer. You look like you need it,” Andrew told him. Then asked his preference in beers.

  “Thank you. I do.”

  A few minutes later, we’d made space and found him a chair. He was finally relaxing with the rest of us. The fire was low. It was more for atmosphere than warmth.

  “I’ve got news. Some good, some bad, and some…I’m not sure which it is. Eddington is now famous. Expect people from the capital and Washington here tomorrow or the day after. Some just want a photo op with the heroes of Eddington. The feds want to dissect everything you did so they can replicate you and your powers. That’s the good news.”

  He took a sip, then continued.

  “The bad news? We’ve got info about the University. It’s bad. Many students, staff, and faculty who were on campus this morning are in the stadium…just sitting there. Reports say the Chancellor sent out emails and made phone calls to get people there for some big announcement.”

  “It looks like it was a trap. I called our guy out at the airport who has a helicopter. He and Sergeant Torres flew over campus. I think we have another Madam Boudoir situation.”

  Silence fell over the backyard.

  “Do you know what they’re doing, besides holding people?” I asked.

  “No. They didn’t fly directly over the stadium once they saw the people. Torres didn’t want to take the chance. He sends his regrets, but he’s handling things at the station right now.”

  “What do you want us to do about it?” I asked, though part of me didn’t want to.

  “I don’t know. You’re the Warchief. You come up with the answer. As long as it doesn’t involve getting mind controlled again, I’ll approve just about whatever you say. Just make sure it’s mostly legal,” he added.

  He made a point of not looking at Shadow and her beer when he said that. However, he smiled at her when he looked back and saw Shadow raise her bottle in salute to him, before taking a sip.

  We have music again. When I saw this video of a group from Wisconsin, where else with a name like that. I had to include it. Let me know what you think of it and them.

  It's nice to have some rest and relaxation after a strenuous day. Too bad it won't last. It gets worse from here. How bad? Bad. Real Bad. The author has to torture his main character bad. And then it gets worse. And we introduce more new people.

  Let me know what you think about the story so far and the Battle of Eddington.

  Musical interlude

  C.W.A. "Beer Wit Da Brat" Cheeseheads With Attitude

  I have a if you want to ask questions, make suggestions, or just talk about the story.