10-30 Chap 1 redux Moose42's MHI Fan Fiction *Spoiler Alert*

[moose42]

Chapter 3
Road Trip

I quit my job and let my brother take over my apartment. I hit the local gun stores and bought an M1A Scout squad rifle and ordered a Sage aluminum stock, and a sweet red dot sight. I picked up a few more magazines for my Springfield 45 XD. I was told Hunters could carry whatever they wanted as long as it was in .45auto, so I also packed my full size 1911. Just for the heck of it I tossed my AK-47 in the back seat and covered it with some luggage and bags of junk-food. The money from killing the Chicken-Bat from hell was sure burning a hole in my pocket. I burned about four thousand dollars at various gun stores.

I told my parents I had decided to go back to school and had enrolled in Alabama State University. That would keep them ignorant of my working for an elite paramilitary undead killing outfit. I loaded up my old Dodge Dakota with my luggage and firearms and hit the road. I had almost twenty five hundred miles to go from Boise to Cazador, Alabama, somewhere near Montgomery. This epic road trip gave me time to think about what the heck I was getting myself into. I was told by Stan Adams that all the new hunters would be put through hunter basic training, which consisted of Army like calisthenics, firearms training and classroom work on evil monsters.

A couple of times when I stopped to fill up the thirsty V8 underneath the hood of my truck I almost turned back to Idaho. Monsters were real and dangerous; I had learned that well enough and I absently scratched the pink scar on my calf. Thankfully my legs were just about healed up, I just hoped my muscles would hold up during all the running I knew I was in for. I wasn’t the world’s fastest runner but I had run in a half marathon last year. I wouldn’t scare any Kenyans but I could hold my own.

I continued down the road, I was driving through a sparsely traveled section of US highway 6 in Utah, between no and where, watching the miles in my odometer fly by when up ahead I saw a stalled vehicle on the shoulder up ahead. The hood was up and a young gal was standing in front of the vehicle. I slowed down as I passed and she looked up at me with an exasperated look on her face. What the hell, I had planned this trip so I would make it to Birmingham at least three days before my newbie training course was to start.

I stopped my pickup and backed up about thirty feet and came to a stop about fifteen feet in front of the dead vehicle. It was an old 80’s Ford Taurus, and by the looks of things it didn’t look like it would be moving soon. Nobody else was in the car, all the available passenger room was stuffed with personal belongings; it didn’t have a front license plate.

I hopped out of the vehicle and made sure my T-Shirt was covering up my pistol. “Nice place to have a breakdown.” I called to the young woman, man she was pretty.

She watched me warily, her deep brown eyes trying to burn a hole through my forehead. She was wearing tight fitting blue jeans and a loose white T-Shirt with the words “Hippies Smell” on the front. “Tell me about it!” It was about 105 degrees out with no shade for miles.

I smiled, “So what happened to your car?” I asked.

“I don’t know I was driving along and the engine started making horrible noises until it quit and black smoke started shooting out the tail pipe!” I could tell she was having a bad day.

“Well let me take a look.” I crawled down beneath the front bumper and saw the contents of the oil pan spilling out onto the pavement. Not good, time to break the news to the damsel in distress. I stood up, pointed my finger at the engine like a gun and made a gunshot noise. “Sorry ma’am we had to put it down. I’m afraid your engine threw a rod and punched a hole in the oil pan.”

A string of obscenities that would make a drunken sailor blush issued forth from her mouth. “Shit, how am I going to get to...” she paused for a moment, “get to college now?”

“I could take you to the nearest town where you could rent a car.” I offered.

“I can’t afford that, I spent almost all of my money on that Ford POS.” She looked at me with a bit of disdain, “And I don’t take rides from strange men, no offense.”

“None taken, but you are about 80 miles from the nearest town, and my truck has working A/C.”

She looked at me for a moment, trying to judge my character I guessed, “Where are you headed anyway.” She asked.

“I am going to Alabama and you?”

She looked as if I had just slapped her. “That’s where I am going too.”

“Well what the coincidence.” I said slightly shocked. Sometimes fate drops something amazing right in your lap. I felt like it had dropped a pallet of bricks on me.

The dark haired beauty held out her hand and said “Name’s Katherine, friends call me Kat.”

I stood there shaking her hand like a blubbering idiot for a moment. “Well Kat, my name’s Martin, people call me Marty or Moose.”

“I guess we aren’t strangers anymore, but be warned I can kick some serious ass if I have to.” I didn’t doubt it.

We spent the next five minutes moving her belongings from the dead Ford to the back of my pickup. I hadn’t really brought that much stuff. Besides a couple of gun cases, my emergency kit and two duffle bags there was plenty of room in the back of my truck for her stuff. I was surprised when I saw what had to be a gun case in her trunk, but I shouldn’t have been surprised because her shirt said “Hippies Smell” I was falling in love already.

We put her dead car in neutral and pushed it off the shoulder it rolled down the embankment and hit a pile of rocks with a satisfying crash. I shut the tailgate, closed the lid on the camper shell and in moments we were on the road again.

***

It was great having someone in the front seat to talk to as the road flew by beneath us. We talked about Alabama, Kat said she had just enrolled in Alabama State University, so I had to hurry and make a new story up. I wasn’t about to try and lie about attending a school and not even know what majors they offered. I told her I was moving down there to start a new job. People did that all the time right? I just hoped she didn’t probe too much into what kind of job. Thankfully she didn’t.

Soon the sun began to hover low in the horizon. Denver was still almost 200 miles away. The mysterious girl named Kat, had fallen asleep in the passenger seat. Either she was really tired or she wasn’t afraid of me. I hoped she believed in the second option. I had never really been much of a ladies’ man. I didn't even know where she was from since her car didn't have plates. She unconsciously rolled toward the door and muttered something incomprehensible.

I yawned as I tried to clear the cobwebs from my eyes. It had been a long day behind the wheel and I would be glad when I found a place to stay for the night. I looked at the gas gauge and saw the needle bouncing between Empty and one half. Dang it, I really should have gotten that fixed before I left on this trip.

I looked up and saw a green sign that read “Exit 87 West Rifle Next Right.” I pulled off at the exit, and headed toward the town looking for a gas station. Not too far off the freeway I found the glowing neon sign I was looking for. I pulled up to the pump and turned off the ignition. Mine was the only vehicle at the whole station.

Katherine woke up and mumbled, “Where are we?” her face had a red mark on it where it had pressed up against the glass.

“Rifle Colorado, the truck needs gas.” I said as I opened the door. She nodded and unbuckled her seatbelt. I started filling up the truck and went over to wipe the dried remains of several species of insects from my cracked windshield.

Kat, hopped out and wandered into the gas station, as she headed into the station I couldn't help but notice how nice those jeans looked on her. I stood there scrubbing a stubborn splat of green goo when a riced up Honda pulled in the pump behind me. I could feel the loud thump from the cars sub-woofers as it pulled up, thankfully when the ignition turned off the noise quit.

I looked up and saw a scraggly group of Hispanic gang banger wannabes pile out of the small car. I immediately went to “yellow alert.” The tallest punk saw me by the side of my truck and must have noticed the amount of luggage in the back end of my pickup.

He swaggered up a few feet from the back of my truck and hollered. “Hey ese, what you got in your truck?”

I figured I would throw him off balance. “Bodies.” I replied as emotionless as possible.

A second punk wearing an over-sized un-tucked shirt and yellow banana had just joined his comrade. “Did that dude just say bodies?” he looked at his leader uncertainly.

The first wannabe laughed, “Na this cabron probably got a nice computer or TV, he looks like he's movin'.” He said as he looked at my plates. He pulled out a butterfly knife and whipped it open.

I didn't like where this was headed so I pulled my AK-47 out of the back seat of my truck.

“ESE you should know better than to bring a knife to a gunfight!” I yelled menacingly. They didn't run, they just stood there, I was confused I had expected them to haul butt away from me but they just seemed stunned. I pulled back on the charging handle and let it fly forward making a loud metal on metal clang as the bolt slammed a round into the chamber. I shoulder the rifle and pointed it at the punk with the knife.

A third member of their strange posse standing by the bright yellow rice burner yelled. “That dudes got an Aaay Kaaay!”

They scrambled back to the ricer falling over themselves as they all tried to get in the car at the same time. I could have shot each one of the idiots three times and still had a few rounds left over by the time they were able to speed away.

I laughed nervously as I watched them go. This was the first time I had ever pointed a firearm at another human being. My adrenaline was pumping more than the gas. Just then I remembered that Kat was in the service station, she would probably freak out seeing me stand here with a Kalashnikov rifle in my hands.

Just then three shots rang out inside the convenience store. I looked up and saw a body fall to the floor behind the counter. What the hell was going on? I shouldered my rifle again and pointed it at the door. No movement for what seemed like an eternity.

A man came running out of the store his face covered in blood. He didn't have a weapon that I could see so I lowered my rifle. He came straight at me a blood curdling inhuman sound, escaped his lips. His eyes were like those of an animal, I hesitated not knowing what to do. It was too late, he was upon me in an instant and he slammed me back onto the hood of my truck. The crazed man swung his fists wildly trying to crush my head in. I rolled toward the front of my pickup and placed the barrel of my weapon to the his chest. I jerked the trigger three times, damn that was loud.

The monster fell to the ground but instantly was trying to get up again. His lips curled back in a snarl like a rabid dog. I placed the front sight on his head and fired again. He fell to the ground and remained still. I looked back at the store scanning for more threats, nothing. I walked fast to the store with my rifle in hand pointed in front of me. I was probably making a bad move, but I had to find Kat.

I reached the front of the store and looked inside, a large man was lying face down in a pool of spilled beer near the counter, and I didn't see anyone else in the store. I opened the door, with one hand and looked around, it was empty. “Kat are you OK?” I called, no response, but maybe the ringing in my ears was blocking out the sound. I slowly entered the store, cheese puffs, beer, and candy bars had been spilled all over the floor.

I had no idea what I was doing, but I decided to go left and work my way around the store. I went down an aisle of car accessories, a couple of pints of oil and air fresheners had been strewn about the floor. I came to the end of the row and swung around by the beer cases. Nothing. My heart pounded as I moved, I began to breath heavily.

I called out again “Katherine, where are you?” Only the humming from the coolers answered. I prayed that the cops wouldn't show up, because they would probably shoot me thinking I was the aggressor. I slowly walked by each aisle, some were normal others had product strewn across the floor like a college kids dorm. I came to the entrance to the bathrooms, the hallway had two single use bathrooms on the right side of the hallway and a maintenance closet at the end. The door to the women’s restroom was closed.

“Kat, you in there?” I called.

A frightened voice called out, “Marty is that you?” her voice trembled, but man it was good to hear her voice.

“Yes, I was attacked, and I shot what appeared to be a zombie.” I tried to hide the fear and adrenaline in my voice. “Who did the shooting in here?” I asked.

“I did,” she called, “I dropped the zombie by the counter.”

“Did you see any more?”

“Two more, probably the one that attacked you and the one in the...” I didn't get a chance to hear the rest of what she said; I was grabbed from behind, and thrown into a display of crispy puff cereal. I lost my rifle and the former gas station attendant started kicking me in the face. I put up my hands to block helplessly I tried to reach for my pistol as my head bounced off the hard floor. Two rapid shots rang out followed up quickly by a third, and the beast fell limp beside me.

“Thanks!” I gasped.

“What!” Katherine yelled back, firing a pistol in the hallway was deafening.

“Let’s get the hell out of here!” I yelled as I crawled to my feet. I retrieved my rifle and we ran out to my pickup. Thankfully I had enough presence of mind to pull the fuel hose out of my truck and grab the receipt. I turned the key and we were gone. A few blocks from the store I realized I was doing fifty miles an hour in a twenty zone. I slowed down to a more reasonable speed. Just then two police cars swiftly drove past us heading for the gas station.

I got on the interstate and we headed toward Denver.

[AZMARK]

I think I've heard some of that before.

[Jennifer]

I'm enjoying it. I think you're having fun with the creative expression. If you were trying to be published, I'd tell you to work on something original. As it is, have fun with it.

[moose42]

I think I've heard some of that before.

Yes I had to shamelessly steal the gas station standoff.

So do you guys want more or are you tired of my crap.

[Dedicated_Dad]

Bring it on.

Good practice - right?

DD

[AZMARK]

I think I've heard some of that before.

Yes I had to shamelessly steal the gas station standoff.

So do you guys want more or are you tired of my crap.

SURE!!! And the team names already been decided - THE IRISH MOB.

[moose42]

Chapter 4
Get Out of the Dodge

I had to put the truck on cruise control to keep from speeding. My head hurt and my mind was racing, faster than the truck. Kat sat in silence in the passenger seat; obviously she must have felt the same way. After a few miles I figured we both needed to talk.

“Thanks.” I offered.

“For what?” she looked over at me.

I glanced over at her, “For saving my butt. That zombie thing was going to kill me.”

She blushed, I quickly put my eyes back on the road. “Just consider it a 'you owe me'.”'

“OK I figure that makes us even.” I chuckled.

Her voice took on a bit of fire “Even? I saved your life all you did was give me a ride.” I couldn't argue with that.

“We should call someone.” I stated as a matter of fact.

“Yeah right who?” she rolled her eyes, “If we tell people that we were attacked by man eating zombies in a gas station they will toss us in the loony bin.”

“Not everyone would.” I stated in all seriousness. I pulled out the business card that Stan had given me and handed it to her. She took it and gasped.

“No freaking way!” she sounded surprised.

“Kat, monsters are real. I am on my way to start training to become...”

She cut me off. “I know that blockhead!” Surprised I looked over at her and she held up two of the same business cards. “Stan recruited me too.”

I didn't know what to say, it was an awkward moment. The roar of the tires over pavement, and the wind slapping the windshield was all I heard for a while. “Well Kat, give him a call and let him know what happened.”

She whipped out her phone and called. Excitedly she related the whole story of the zombie attack, and how she had killed two of them and I had gotten one. I could tell he was obviously surprised that I was with her when she then told him about her car breaking down and my 'rescuing' her. After a few more moments she hung up the phone.

“Well what did Stan say? I asked, it was horrible only hearing one side of the conversation.

“He told us to find a hotel in the nearest town and get a good night’s sleep.” I raised an eyebrow. “Not like that you pervert!” I laughed, “He said it isn't safe to drive after an adrenaline spike and crash.” I had noticed I was driving a bit erratically, my hand shook every time I took them off the wheel.

“Then what?” I asked.

She looked disappointed, “We are to continue on to Alabama for training.”

I understood perfectly, he didn't want to send newbies back into the fight, and get themselves killed. “So I guess they will be sending a professional team in to clean up any additional zombies.”

“Exactly.” she said, “What's the next town?”

***

We pulled into the parking lot of a cheap motel “The Good Nite Inn.” I walked up the counter and realized by the look on the face of the guy behind the counter I probably looked almost like a zombie myself.

“Yes can I get two rooms please?” The clerk snapped out of it and started typing on the computer.

“Just one room.” Katherine said as she entered the office. Both the clerk and I looked up at her, “Just make sure it has two beds!” She demanded as she set down her suitcase. She mumbled something about perverted men.

I opened the door to room 42 and flipped on the lights, it was your typical cheap motel, brown shag carpet and ugly flower print comforters on the twin beds. I brought a duffle bag and my rifle case, as did Katherine.

“So what do you have in there?” I asked. She must have thought I was talking about her suitcase until I pointed at her long gun case.

“Oh I have a Remington 870 and an AR-15, and yours?”

“I've got an M14 clone, and my AK-47.” I said as I opened my case and pulled out each rifle and learned them up against the wall next to the bed. “So why the single room?” I asked.

Kat rolled her eyes as she picked up her suitcase and headed toward the bathroom. “Stan thought it best that we stay in the same room in case any zombies showed up during the night.”

“I guess that makes sense.” I said as I rubbed my sore jaw. I had a splitting headache.

I flipped on the idiot box while Katherine showered. I channel surfed and stopped at each news channel looking for a report of a massive zombie outbreak that never appeared.

Kat came out of the bathroom wearing an over-sized t-shirt as a nightgown; she was back lit as she stood in the doorway, her curves with silhouetted against the fabric. I couldn't help but stare for a bit too long.

“Take a picture Moose!” she growled.

I blushed “I wasn't... I mean... umm... sorry.” I grabbed my duffle bag and fled into the bathroom. Stupid stupid stupid. Why did I always screw up when it came to women?

I showered and changed into running shorts and a t-shirt, it felt good to get clean again. My cheek had swollen up bad where the zombie had decided to try tap dancing on my face.

I came out of the bathroom and Kat sat on her bed watching the news. She was engrossed in the news story. On the screen was security camera footage from the convenience store. It showed Kat in the middle of the store shooting at a store clerk who was mostly out of the frame. If I hadn't known any better it looked like a robbery gone bad. Suddenly the security camera footage abruptly stopped and the channel displayed the test pattern. A startled news caster came one the air after a few moments and apologized for the interruption, he claimed that their playback unit had just failed and destroyed the security camera tape. We looked at each other and back at the newscast. Then they moved on to sports.

“Cover-up?” She asked, as she turned off the television. I could only assume so, I nodded. My stomach gurgled, and she laughed a cute girlie laugh. “Are you hungry?”

I tipped the Chinese restaurant delivery guy and grabbed the greasy paper bags from him and closed the door. We sat at the little table in our hotel room and tore into the Styrofoam containers. Mmm sweet and sour chicken with fried rice, I nearly drooled. I shoveled in a few mouthfuls; oh it was good to eat something after the adrenaline crash from earlier.

“So how did you wind up getting recruited by MHI?” I asked.

Katherine swallowed a bite of moo goo gai pan and replied. “I had a run in with a couple of imps, back home, in Oregon.” She took another bite of Chinese food and looked like she didn’t want to talk about it.

I finished my fried rice and leaned back in my chair. My eyes were getting heavy. It had been a long day.

Kat finished eating, tossed down her plastic fork and asked, “So what’s your story then?”

I quickly related my encounter in the crawlspace with the Cockatrice. She listened intently soaking up every detail. I tried to down play the whole thing but Kat wasn’t buying it.

“So let me get this straight you basically killed the beast with your bare hands?” she looked confused “Why didn’t you just shoot it?” she asked dubiously.

I sighed, “I figured there was nothing to worry about except spiders and cobwebs down there so I didn’t bring my pistol, I didn’t want it to get messed up as I crawled through the dirt.”

“So it bit you?” she asked. “Where?”

“Here,” I said as I pointed at the ugly scar on my calf, it was a ragged slash of scar tissue still pink and tender. I explained the excruciating pain and the sudden paralysis that I had experienced. She yawned.

I looked at my watch it was already one o’clock in the morning. “Holy crap it’s late!” I groaned. I moved over to my bed and tossed my watch on the night stand. I turned around and Kat was right behind me, I was a bit surprised. “What?” I asked.

She grabbed me in a big bear hug and squeezed me tight. “Thanks.” She said a slight tremble in her voice.

“For what?” I asked as I returned her hug. Her slender form felt somehow fragile in my arms. I towered over her; I was a head and shoulders taller than she.

“Nothing.” She said as she pushed me away, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” I replied a bit stunned.

***

I had disturbing dreams of zombies chasing me down an alley. I came to the end of it scrambled like a trapped like rat as they tore me apart. I awoke with a start, sweat ran down my face. The dream had been so vivid. I looked over at Kat, she was fast asleep how I envied her. I picked up my watch, it was only 5:30am, great. I rolled over on the lumpy mattress and tried to fall back asleep. After a few minutes of futile sheep counting I pulled out my journal, and flipped on the reading light.

Met a wonderful woman yesterday, I scribbled. Katherine… I paused; I didn’t even know her last name. She is beautiful, and packs a pistol, even if it is a Glock! I found her stranded by the side of the road in an old broken down car. We ran into some zombies in a gas station. She saved my butt. She gave me a hug last night. I don’t really know anything else about her other than she is going to be one of my co workers.

I closed my journal and stuffed it back into a pocket of my duffel bag. Kat must have heard me rummaging in my bag, she stirred. “Marty? What time is it?” she groaned.

“Not quite six.” I replied.

She sighed, “Too early you big lug. Go back to bed.” With that she rolled over and covered up her head with the ugly blankets.

An hour later we were on the road again, we stopped at the local grease franchise for a to-go breakfast and we let the pavement fly by. The trip was boring and uneventful, but each time we stopped for gas I insisted we stick together just in case. We made it to little Rock Arkansas a little before midnight. On the trip I learned her Last Name, it was Kennedy. No relation to the political dynasty thankfully.

The next day we made good time and arrived in Montgomery at about four pm. We both weren’t due to show up to the MHI compound until Tomorrow by 10:00 am so I insisted we go shopping in Montgomery for anything we might have forgotten or didn’t have.
“But Marty, I don’t have hardly any money remember. Plus I have everything I need.” She complained.

I handed her a wad of cash and said “Here now you do.” She didn’t take it. “Consider it a gift.” She scowled at that, “Fine a loan then. You can pay me back when you get your first paycheck.” Reluctantly she took the wad of bills and stuffed it in her pocket.

Never take a woman shopping! Three hours later I understood what married men always complain about. The one bright spot was she had forgotten to bring a swimming suit, and she modeled four different suits for me. She jokingly called me a pervert because I had to pick my jaw off the floor a couple of times. Hey I couldn’t help it Kat really is a knockout.

She had her own set of scars from her Imp encounter. Jagged red lines ran from the front of her shoulder around her arm and halfway down her back. Kat was a bit self conscious about them until I told her they looked like cat scratches.

“Meow.” I joked and curled my fingers like claws. She grinned, what a pretty smile.

We arrived the next morning at the road leading to the MHI compound. A horned green smiley face told us we had come to the right place.

“Are you ready for this?” I said nervously.

“Bring it on.” She said with no emotion.

With that I drove up to the gate.

[Dedicated_Dad]

...SURE!!! And the team names already been decided - THE IRISH MOB.

I'm in for 2 if you can get 'em embroidered...

DD

EDIT: I'm enjoying the read. Others can beat it up for you - I just want to say "thanks!"

[moose42]

Awesome patch Azmark, did you make that or "borrow" it?

Chapter 5
Monster Hunter International

We drove up to the gate and stopped as the guard held up his hand. He was a young tall black man carrying a polymer sub machinegun. I rolled down the window and said hello.

He looked at my Idaho plates and exclaimed, “Man you have come a long way!” He glanced down at his clipboard, “Martin Miller I presume? Why didn’t you catch a flight?”

I nodded “Yes I’m Martin, and I hate flying especially with firearms, it’s a pain in the butt.” I shook the guards’ hand.

He looked in the car and saw Kat. “My name’s Trip, and who’s your girlfriend?”

Kat turned red, “Hey I’m not his girlfriend, I’m Katherine Kennedy, a new Hunter too.”

The guard looked slightly embarrassed, “Sorry, it’s just new trainees don’t typically travel together.”

I butted in “So where do I…”

“Park?” he finished my sentence for me, “Up in the lot on the left next to the main building, be sure to sign in at the front desk.” He waived us on through the gate.

We parked in the lot next to an old brown beat up Volkswagen Bus. Kat looked at it and just shook her head. Man it felt good to be able to stretch my legs. The scars on my legs ached; I really hoped we didn’t have to run today.

We wandered into the lobby of the fortress like building and found the front desk. A little old lady watched us come in; she smiled as we came up to the desk. “Well aren’t you a cute couple.” She said in a cheerful voice. “Welcome to Monster Hunter International! Which one of you is here for the new hire training?”

Kat must have figured it wasn’t worth arguing with the grandmotherly woman. “We both are.” She stated proudly.

“Oh dearie me you remind me of myself when I was younger, that’s the spirit girl!” The sugar in her voice was getting irritating. “Sign in here.” She placed a well worn clipboard with an attached pen on the counter. We both signed our names and I handed the clipboard back to the odd old lady.

“Well Miss, Kennedy, and Mr. Miller, welcome to MHI my name is Dorcas.” I was caught off guard by her name and snickered. All the sugar in her voice vanished, it was replaced by smoldering ire. “Think that’s funny do ya boy?”

“No Mrs. Dorcas.” I looked down at my boots.

“I’ve got my eye on you Mr. Miller now SCRAM before I get mad and smack you up side your head with this here clipboard.” I retreated to the drinking fountain. Memories of my iron handed third grade teacher, Mrs. Baker came flooding back to my mind.

I watched the two women as I took a drink. Dorcas said something to Kat and they both laughed.

“What was that about?” I asked as we walked down the hallway.

Kat smirked, “Nothing.” I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere so I let it go.

We passed by a wall covered in silver plaques. Hundreds of them lined the wall. “Kat, look at these.” I said somberly. We both stood in front of the memorial and looked at the hundreds of names.

As I was about to turn away a plaque caught my eye. “Roy Lee Miller 1935-1993” I gasped. It was my grandfather, the picture of him was younger than I ever remembered but his smile was just the same.

“What's wrong?” Kat asked. Then she saw the plaque I was staring at. “Marty was that your grandfather?” I nodded somberly, tears began to well up in my eyes.

“I had no Idea, I always thought he worked for the power company.” I managed to choke out. “One time he came home badly burned, so bad he needed skin grafts, he told us it happened on a power pole when the wire he was holding hit high voltage lines.” I wiped my eyes and turned around. I was determined to know the truth.

We were early, only two other trainees were waiting in the cafeteria slash meeting room. One of them had his nose in a book, the other looked like he was trying to get a few minutes shut eye before training began. I was about to sit down in the back row when Kat walked right up to the front row of seats and sat down. I shrugged, she must have gotten straight A's in school. I sat down next to her and tried to avoid looking anyone in the eye.

Trainees arrived over the next twenty minutes until we had about fifty, people, mostly male but there were a few women in the group. I sat looking at the floor when I heard a commanding voice tell us to quiet down and listen up. A strong imposing man wearing a leather bomber jacket addressed us. I had a strange feeling I had seen him before. It bothered me and I studied his face, but I couldn't figure it out so I figured I should start paying attention.

"Hello. My name is Earl Harbinger. I'm the Director of Operations here at MHI. Welcome to our new Hunter orientation. Let's get one thing straight right off the bat. We hunt monsters, it's our job. Every one of you has had a run in with some creature of the dark. It is this darkness that we fight against. In the coming days I would just ask for one thing. Keep your mind flexible. Don't get caught up thinking that monsters aren't real, because if you can't believe in them, you can't fight them." Harbinger commanded attention, and we all were giving him all of it.

“Monster Hunters International has a long proud history going back since 1895. If you are to join the ranks of Hunters you have a heavy burden on your shoulders to not disgrace the names of those who came before you.” Was he looking right at me? I wasn't sure. My mind was racing I was having a hard time concentrating.
Before I knew it Earl quit speaking and asked for questions. Nobody moved even though if they were anything like me they had lots of questions.

I raised my hand. I could feel all the eyes behind me trying to bore a hole in the back of my head. “Do you have records on every fallen Hunter?”

Harbinger looked a bit puzzled, this obviously wasn't a regular question. “Most of them, what's your name?”

“Miller, Martin Lee Miller.” I said trying to keep from choking up.

I could tell he knew instantly who I wanted information on. “Well Miller, we can talk later in private.”


***

We had been brought to the barracks and told to quickly stow our gear and change into workout clothes. The first order of business was the physical fitness tests. They wanted to know how well we could run, do push ups and sit ups. I had just finished tying my running shoes and was about to leave the barracks when Harbinger put a hand on my shoulder and told me to wait and join the others later. The other recruits left the barracks and hit the track.

“Have a seat.” He pointed to a stool next to my bunk, and grabbed another from the neighboring bunk. He sat and crossed his hands behind his head. “Roy Miller was one of the best Hunters I ever had the pleasure to work with.”

I had trouble forming a response, the pain of his sudden death that I had spent the last sixteen years burying in the back of my mind and been wrenched to the front. Harbinger could tell I was dealing with these inner demons and we sat in silence for what seemed an eternity. Finally I pulled myself together enough to say one word. “How?”

He leaned forward his voice dripped with somber tones one uses to reverently speak of fallen comrades. “We were doing a job in New Mexico, Carlsbad Caverns. One of the caves was infested with vampires, and wights. Everything was going well we had killed three lesser vampires and dozens of wights, when we disturbed a master vampire. He killed two of our team members before we even knew he was there.” Harbinger closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

“Your grandfather managed to stake the beast in the heart. But it only slowed the master down. Roy fought with it hand to hand and managed to cut its head off.” he paused. “But not until it had mortally wounded him. He bled out before we could get him back to the surface.”

I sat stunned taking it all in. “At least he went out with his boots on, and killed the bas***d.” I realized where I had seen Harbinger before. “You spoke at his funeral, didn't you?” He nodded. “You haven't aged a day.”

Earl reached into his jacket and pulled out an old Ka-Bar knife, Its leather had become dark with age, it was well worn but still serviceable. He handed it to me. “Roy told me as he lay dying that I was to give his trusty old Ka-bar that he carried in Korea to the grandchild that followed in his footsteps.”

I reverently held the knife in both hands, tears welled up in my eyes, I pulled the knife from its sheath and examined the well worn blade. It had nicks in the blade and parts of the finish had worn off for years of hard use, but it still had many years of fight left in her. I flipped it over and saw the initials RLM etched into it. “This is the blade he used to kill the vampire isn't it.”

“Yes.” he said somberly as I re sheathed the knife.

“Grandpa I won't let you down.” I said as I reverently placed it in my footlocker.

[AZMARK]

I found it online back when the mob story first was told, don't know who it belongs to just liked the way it looked.