I woke up sobbing uncontrollably on the filthy floor of an almost empty warehouse. Sam was sitting about 20 feet away watching me, while the thug was sitting up against a wall trussed up and tied like a hog for butcher. Awake and terrified.

  I honestly have no idea how long it took me to get myself together. My brain was disassociating from reality pretty hard. It was almost like all the trauma I’ve ever experienced in my life was crashing in on me all at once, and let me tell you, I have a whole lot of trauma.

  Eventually, Sam cleared his throat and said, “So it was children.”

  “Yeah,” I replied softly. “Children.”

  “I wonder why Frank never told me that?”

  I looked over at him dully.

  "Do you think maybe Frank didn’t know?"

  I shrugged listlessly and patted my pockets looking for a pill.

  “How the hell wouldn’t he know Dru?”

  I sat back on my heels, squatting on the floor. I was too weak to stand up, what with about a billion pounds of emotional baggage sitting on my head.

  Eventually, I said, “When I came back to myself and was coherent enough to explain the events, I couldn’t remember what happened. Total blank. And in the reports of the event, there was no official mention of any children. Not a single report from a single eyewitness. Somebody was hiding the fact that Jo and Juan were torturing and killing kids.”

  “Well, Dru. It’s worse than that. Are you sure Frank wasn’t hiding this due to guilt or complicity?”

  I looked up at him and between ground teeth replied, “Not Frank. No way. I was crazy at that moment, but I believe that LT wouldn’t have anything to do with stuff like this.”

  “Good. And I agree. So that means somebody way higher up the chain of command was able to remove the evidence while you were in the middle of killing two Extras with your bare hands? Geez Dru, how many problems do we have with that scenario? You wanna start?”

  “You’re right. There’s no way. It makes no sense.”

  “Ha! Understatement of the century, my friend. And get this, Frank and I were able to get a look at that report of the incident, there’s no mention of Broadhead at all, yet they were there.”

  “So what the fuck? What are we talking about here? And again I have to ask, who the hell are you?”

  Sam sighed, looked at the floor for a few seconds, and took a deep breath. “Alright, I’m going to tell you some things, and I need you to keep an open mind about it. I mean a really open mind.”

  “I’ve spent many years of my life fighting with Extras, killing monsters. How open do you want my mind to be?”

  “More than that.”

  I dug my last pill out of my pocket and popped it into my mouth, dry swallowing it. “No promises. Start talking.”

  “Okay, Dru. I’m a Shaman of my Tribe in Alaska.”

  “Alaska? You lost or something?”

  He smiled. “No, not lost. Hungry. Austin has the best tacos in the world, the second-best smoked brisket, and breakfast burritos to die for. I love this town. Also, Frank was a friend and he and I were looking into some serious shit.”

  “Alright, maybe you need to back up and start at the beginning?”

  He smiled and his eyes gleamed with mirth. “In the beginning, humanity was stuck in a clamshell. Well, the guys at least. The ladies were…”

  “Stop. Stop. Stop. Are you always like this?”

  “Pretty much, but you’re right. This is actually terrifyingly serious.”

  “So stop with the sarcasm, and please get to the point.”

  “I am getting to the point, Dru. In the beginning, there were more than humans and Extras, there were actual Gods.”

  I kept my face neutral, “You don’t say.”

  “I’m serious, Dru. Frank knew. His father had met some of the last Gods right here in America." He met my eyes and held them, "In fact, you specifically wouldn’t exist if there were no Gods.”

  It got real quiet in the warehouse, and I itched to have my gun in my hand. “What do you mean?”

  “That thing you call a knack? It’s commonly called God-Touched. Are you a hundred years old?"

  I replied truthfully, "No."

  He paused and smiled before going on, "Then sometime back in your family’s history, before the Gods disappeared, a relative of yours drew the attention of a God and got gifted some skills.”

  “Bullshit. No way. This is ridiculous. Because I can shoot real well, you're saying there are Gods? I don't see any around.”

  Sam was staring at me intently. After a few seconds, he sighed with a wry smirk and said, “If you say so, Dru. As far as the world knows, all the Gods are gone. Have been since the mid-1900’s.”

  I shrugged incredulously, “Come on, Sam, what are you trying to sell me here?”

  “I’m not selling you shit, white man. The last Gods to leave Earth were our Gods. Gods of the First Nations peoples, like mine. They were the last to go for some reason. But there are many Extra’s who were alive long before they went and know for a fact they existed. And many God-touched humans like you wandered the earth being heroes and villains of extraordinary abilities. Less now, of course.”

  "I shrugged him off, "God touched heroes?"

  "Heracles, Gilgamesh, Beowulf… " here he hesitated and looked at me again, "others."

  I had to ask, “So where are these Gods now, then? Where’d they go?”

  “Nobody knows for sure. All we have are theories and guesses based on the few hints the Gods left us. They unfortunately faded one by one until the last one…Tia was her name…well… its ideas and explanations were less than reliable.”

  “Less than reliable?” I repeated.

  “Yeah. At the end, they were scatterbrained confused beings, half childlike and half…kind of like Alzheimer's, I guess? They were “fading” - their words, not mine. This world had changed at a fundamental level and they didn’t…fit…anymore.

  “All we know for sure is that the last gods of Europe and Asia to leave were the Gods and Goddesses of War, while the last indigenous Gods of America to leave were Gods of Death. ”

  I looked at him and waited for more.

  “Honest, Dru, I’m forced to guess here, but Quantum theory has offered some fascinating directions to look into. Those of us who are doing so think that Gods didn’t actually exist within our universe. I mean, that much is a pretty safe bet as almost all Gods live…lived in a special land or place, right? Heaven, Asgard, Tir na Nog, a mountain you could climb but still not find the Gods in like, Olympus, Jade Mountain, Kunlun, or Fuji?”

  I nodded, “Alright. For argument's sake, let’s assume my mind is open and I accept this as true. So what?”

  “So bear with me here. If Gods used to be able to manifest on Earth, but something changed gradually to lock them out, what was it, and why did the Gods of death and war last the longest?”

  “You got me, Sam, why did they?”

  “We don’t know! But we can certainly guess at one thing. Those European and Asian Gods of War? They all disappeared within three years after World War One ended. Pretty much all the other Gods but about half dozen American Gods were long gone by then.”

  “So you’re saying…what?”

  “I’m saying maybe the world changed until it wasn’t habitable or hospitable anymore for the Gods, but that our behaviors as a species had a strong effect on how good or bad it was for individual Gods.”

  “Sam, you’ve lost me. Why do I care about this?

  “Because some Gods thrived and existed in cultures that engaged in human sacrifice. And Dru? Sacrificing innocents has always been believed to be the most effective sacrifice.”

  “And nothing is more innocent than children,” I said.

  “Nothing is innocent at all except for children. And sacrifices go straight to the Gods.”

  “As in, maybe they actually disappear from existence and physically go to the Gods? Bullshit!”

  “I admit it’s far-fetched. If the Gods were that close to returning, I think we’d see lots of obvious signs. No, I think those poor murdered children were right there, but people were unable to see them. Or the Broadhead operatives.”

  “How the fuck does that work? You’re talking out of your ass now, Sam.”

  “Oh man, you still don’t get it. I know far more about this than anyone alive today.”

  “Because you’re a Shaman? Of some little religion up in Alaska? Give me a fucking break!”

  “When Gods intervene or their believers are powerful enough, we get back into that Quantum realm of supposition and educated guesses, but my guesses are good. Trust me.”

  “Trust you? I don’t know who the hell you are!”

  “Dru, if the world once changed to become inhospitable to Gods, it can be changed back. I, and a few others you don’t need to concern yourself with right now, believe that there is a group trying to make the world hospitable for Gods again.

  We believe this group founded Broadhead Securities back in the 1970s to try and bring back the Gods of War, but it simply wasn’t working for some reason. Now we’re afraid they’ve switched tactics and are trying to bring back other Gods through focused sacrifices and different actions instead of general “battlefield offerings”.

  “What other actions are we talking about here?”

  “Well, we’ve been watching and researching Broadhead for years now, and they have - through lots of shell companies and business acquisitions - begun trying to make the world a little more “viable” for the manifestations of Gods, and we believe it’s working. We think making actual old-fashioned sacrifices like what you saw are the final steps in actually trying to call back a few specific Gods.”

  “Why the fuck would Broadhead want that? What does bringing back Gods do for them?”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Well, Dru. You’re not going to like this, I don’t think, but Broadhead Securities is run by a religious order. And that religious order used to be quite powerful when their Gods were real. And they’re true believers. It’s the worst-case scenario - true believers that miss being the boss.”

  A sick feeling spread in my stomach. “I’ve had some bad run-ins with religions and the religious before, and I’m Irish. There’s a little history of religious conflict there.”

  “You have no idea…well, maybe you do, but this is worse. Dru, Broadhead Securities is essentially the modern Druid religion. They want their Celtic Gods back, and they’re willing to bring all the Gods back to make that happen. Do you have any idea how fucking bad that would be? To have a dozen pantheons of gods suddenly return to Earth? It’d be the end of days for humanity, maybe the whole world.”

  It was at this point the guy we had tied up in the corner tried to kill us both.

  A frenzied screaming brought my head whipping around as our bound and gagged prisoner started thrashing madly trying to break free of his restraints. It was crystal clear this lunatic was trying to get to us and it was equally clear he meant to murder us.

  But Sam had done his work well. The poor bastard writhed and twisted screaming himself hoarse through the gag and rubbing his wrists and ankles into a raw, bloody mess.

  “Is…is he going to stop?” I asked

  “You know, I really don’t think so.”

  We watched for several minutes but his frenzied thrashing didn’t let up a bit.

  “This is amazing,” I said. “What’s wrong with him, and how is he still going? I’m getting exhausted just watching him.”

  At that moment, his eyes bulged, rolled up into his head and he sighed out a breath before collapsing.

  Sam looked at me and said, “Did he just die?”

  “Son of a bitch. I think he did.”

  We looked blankly at each other for a few long seconds.

  “Well fuck,” he said. “This is bad.”

  “What the hell just happened?” I asked.

  “I think we witnessed the levels Broadhead goes to ensure loyalty and commitment to the program. I think that poor bastard was compelled to kill us both as soon as he woke up and heard us talking about the real Broadhead connection to Druidism.”

  “Compelled?”

  “Conditioned. Mind fucked. Brainwashed. A fucking magic spell. Something.”

  “A…wait…what? Magic spell?”

  “There’s more to this world, etcetera etcetera. Go with Brainwashed. It’ll be easier on you.”

  “Seriously, who the fuck are you?”

  He hesitated, “You should keep calling me Sam.”

  “Fine. Sam, you seem to know everyfuckingthing going on, so what next? What are we going to do about these bodies, and how are we going to find Frank?”

  “Find Frank? Frank’s most likely dead Dru, you know this. We need to stop Broadhead.”

  “Whoa whoa whoa, stop right there Sam. I’m here to find Frank or kill the bastards who killed him. First step is finding out where he or his body is. That’s my job, that’s what I’m going to do.”

  “For fucks sake Dru, that’s not right. Frank was a good guy. I liked him. But we’re trying to stop a literal Armageddon brought about by literal Gods.”

  “What do you mean we, Kemosabe?”

  “Oh fuck you, white boy. This is no joke.”

  “Well Sam, then you get your ass to work and call me when you find Frank’s body. I’ve suddenly realized that if you’re correct, and these guys condition their own soldiers to berserker suicide to prevent people from finding out what they’re doing, killing these asshats is going to trigger an escalation and they’re going to most likely go scorched earth. That means all loose ends and a lot of collateral damage. That means Sarah is now in the crosshairs. I’m going to go get her right now.”

  “Crap. You’re right. Sarah is a potential threat and loose end now. Alright. I’m going to clean up here and go reach out to friends to see where we might look next, but Dru…”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t kid yourself. You’re in this now. You know damn well Broadhead is the villain. You know they’re the ones who killed Frank.”

  “We still don’t know he’s dead.”

  “Fine. But when we find the body, by your own words, your job is to kill these sonsabitches. And I need you to realize there’s a bigger reason to kill them, and it’s going to be harder than you think. Don’t piss me off and lose me as an ally. You’ll need me before all this is done.”

  “Now you do prophecy too?”

  He smirked, “Always have,” and walked out of the warehouse. Over his shoulder, he yelled, “Go save the damsel in distress and all that Campbell shit, but don’t take too long!”

  That’s when I realized this guy doesn’t know as much as he thinks. Sarah would tear him a new one if he ever said that in front of her. Plus Joseph Campbell wasn’t as smart as he thought…Monomyth my ass.

  Smiling, I jogged out to my stolen truck and climbed in. As I pulled out of the parking lot I dialed Sarah and she answered on the fourth ring.

  “Mr. Dru?”

  “Hey Sarah, you need to grab a go bag and get out of the house ASAP. We were right. Broadhead is the bad guy and they tried to kill me.”

  “What? Oh my lord, where are you, and what happened?”

  “No time right now. Get essentials, get in your car, and drive. Drive. No toll roads, no GPS, and turn off your phone. Turn it on and call me every fifty-five minutes, you got that? Fifty-five minutes. Not forty-five, not one hour.”

  “Wait…”

  “No Time. Get going!”

  “Dru…”

  “Sarah, are you listening? I said…”

  “Shut your mouth for a second! Sweetie, I’m at work! I have to shut down, make an excuse, tell my staff, and drive to the house to pack before I can leave.”

  “Shitshitshit. No, don’t do that. Don’t go home. Go from work to the closest ATM, pull out all the cash you can and then drive. Turn off the phone as soon as you hang up and don’t turn it back on until you call me…” I checked my watch, it was a little after 4pm. ”at 4:55pm. You got that? I’ll answer all your questions then.”

  “Okay. I hear you. Call you at 4:55. I’ll head out towards the Hill Country. No toll roads.”

  “Perfect. Goodbye. And Sarah?”

  “Yes?”

  “Be safe.”

  “You too.”

  I hung up the phone and drove south on I35 while looking up “Hill Country” on my phone. Damn. It’s pretty much everything west of Waco, Austin, and San Antonio. But there was a place west of Austin called Fredericksburg that seemed to be central to the traffic of that area, so I decided to head that way. I figured we could coordinate our meet-up during our phone calls.

  I drove to Temple, then west. Eventually, my phone rang. It was 4:55 on the dot.

  “Sarah?”

  “Mr. Dru.”

  “Listen. The next call will be at 6:22 pm exactly. We’re going to keep our phones off and call at random times until we meet. Tech is apparently the enemy's tool, not ours. Fill me in on your situation and tell me where you’d like to meet. I’m outside of Lampasas and planning on heading towards Fredericksburg.”

  “That’s a great idea. I’m heading out Route 1431 towards Marble Falls. I’ll get there before you, but not way ahead of you. What on earth is going on?”

  “Broadhead went after me and I took out six - no - eight of them.” I amended as I remembered Jase and Sean died today too. I heard a sharp intake of breath over the phone.

  “You killed them?”

  “Hell yes, I did. They tried to kill me first, though. Hey listen, do you know a guy named Sam? Friend of Franks, Perhaps?”

  “Sam? No, why?”

  “Because he helped me and said he and LT were involved in something with Broadhead. I don't have time to discuss it on the phone, but I will fill you in when we meet up.”

  “Okay. What’s going on right now? Why am I driving around?”

  “Well, now that Broadhead is moving overtly, I believe they have decided that there’s too much exposure to them and too many people asking questions. I’m pretty sure you and I are on a list of people they intend to make dead. And Sarah, these guys move fast.”

  “Okay.”

  I was impressed. “You seem pretty calm about this if you don’t mind my saying so.”

  “Well, I’ve been thinking, now that I’ve met you. If my husband told me to get you, he must have been worried about violence of this sort. So I’ve been kind of mentally preparing myself for it.”

  “Damn, rich and smart. Frank sure can pick ‘em.”

  That got a small chuckle out of her as I had hoped. “Bless your heart, but you know I picked him. Thank you for the thought." She changed the subject, "Why did I need to get cash? Are they so connected that they can trace my credit cards?”

  “I have no idea, but this Sam guy told me they were pretty well tied into the networks of law enforcement. We can’t take the chance yet. So how much did you get?”

  “Well, my bank has a withdrawal limit on the bank card, so I went into the bank lobby. It was a short hop from work. I took out five thousand dollars and afterward drove to the nearby sports store and made a purchase - five hundred rounds of 9mm ammo and another two thousand dollars in Visa gift cards, so we’re pretty set for a few days.”

  I could tell she was smiling. “My god you’re a genius. But why so much ammo?”

  “You mean besides the fact that I'm a Texan? I wasn’t sure what gun you had, but I was sure you had one, and my pistols are all 9mm. So last night I packed a small bug-out bag and two pistols into the car but didn’t have much extra ammo to go with it. I figured if you didn’t have a nine, you could use one of mine if needed.”

  “You did all that based on a lunch conversation?”

  “No, sweetie. I told you, I did that based on some thinking about my husband, you, and our current situation. A southern lady believes in being prepared.”

  “I take it back, you’re not a genius. You’re Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius!”

  A genuine laugh this time, “And you’re old. Who even quotes Road Runner cartoons anymore?”

  “Alright, let's get off the line now. Turn off the phone until 6:22, at that time we’ll see where we are and plan our meetup.”

  And that’s exactly what we did. When we finally met up, it was dark and Sarah had booked a double hotel room under an assumed name and paid in cash at an old hotel in Fredericksburg run by a sweet old German lady who assumed we were a couple out for an adventure in – I swear I’m not making this up – Texas Wine Country.

  We went into our room, and I told her the whole story of my encounter with Broadhead from the time I entered the building until I called her on the road. When I was finished, we were both exhausted and famished, so I took a shower while she ran out to get food from a restaurant across the street. I was clean and dressed by the time she got back and the food smelled incredible as she took out a German food feast.

  “Wow! German food and Texas wine. So not what I expected.” I said laughing as I stuffed a bite of some heavenly potato-based side dish-looking thing into my mouth.

  “Oh, yeah,” she said, “There’s a strong German immigrant history here. It’s pretty much the identity of this town. Take a look out that window, there are six German restaurants and three breweries on this street and all of them are excellent. I grabbed a Wurst sampler for us and a few sides. But if I'm being honest, I’m not sorry I didn’t get any Texas wine. ”

  “Is the wine bad?” I asked.

  “No, but it's not going to set your world on fire either, and when in a German town, eating German food…” She said as she reached into a bag full of clinking bottles “...one really should drink the German beer.”

  “Yes!” I pumped my fist into the air as she pulled out a dark, Schwarz bier brewed locally and handed it to me. I popped the top and took a deep pull as the delicious nectar flowed down my throat and into my stomach.

  “Ahhh…This hits that mythical and long-sought-after 'spot'.” I said, patting my belly.

  We ate the rest of the meal in silence as our hunger took precedence over talking.

  When we finished the meal, I broached the subject that had been weighing on my mind since I realized Broadhead would be after Sarah. “So what are we going to do about you?”

  To her credit, she didn’t ask me what I meant, she simply started talking. “I already told my higher-ups that I was taking a week off to help authorities in their search for my missing husband and to spend time with family. They understood, and I figure I can stretch it out a few days past a week if I have to.”

  “Well, “ I replied, “That’s good, but we need to figure out exactly what we’re going to do. I don’t see any way else to put this, but Broadhead is huge and if they want you dead, they’re going to kill you if you stick around. They’re going to kill me too, unless we figure this out. I mean, they’re huge, have multiple offices worldwide, and have a rather terrifying reach. On the other side of this equation is you, me, and a lunatic not named Sam.”

  “Dru, I understand what you’re saying, but they can’t be all-powerful, and they still have to operate with deniability here in public. This isn’t a war zone. It’s Texas. My house is in a suburb of Austin. It’s one thing to attack you on a nearly deserted road at an abandoned warehouse. It’s another to attack two well-armed people inside their home in a wealthy neighborhood."

  “True”, I replied. “So you’re saying we should head to your house? I'm not sure about that. I mean, sure, maybe we don’t find ourselves in the middle of a Hollywood gunfight, but they’ve got to be staking out your house.”

  “I’m sure they are, but if we can sneak in or get in and out fast, there are a few things I’d like to grab that can be beneficial to us.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, I’ve got basics I’ll need like clothes, but that’s not vital. I’ve got more guns, more ammo, burner phones, laptops and tablets.”

  “Wait…burner phones?”

  “Focus, Mr. Dru. I’ve got lots of unlocked phones and tablets - I tend to collect models of phones and stuff because of work, and many are sitting at my house - unlocked and available.”

  “Oh. That makes sense. I was worried you were actually 007 or something.”

  “Don't be silly, no.”

  “Ok. Well, honestly I am not sure that’s important enough to return for. We don’t need a lot of guns. In reality, we only need an AR and a pistol - maybe one big rifle… and a couple of shotguns…” I looked up to see her smirking at me. “Oh alright. The phones and computers will come in handy, but don’t waste time with clothes. In and out as fast as we can. We can buy what we need to wear. Now, do you have a way to avoid their people who will most definitely be sitting right outside your house and most likely driving around the neighborhood looking for your car and my stolen truck?”

  She grinned. “Well, first of all, that truck stays where it is when we leave. Also, did you notice what was sitting on at the corner next to the Rockbox theatre a few blocks away?”

  “No. What?”

  “A Ford pickup for sale. $3500. That’s a cash sale for sure.”

  I smiled. ”Is it a four-wheeled drive?”

  She smiled right back, “It sure is. And unlike most Austin trucks, this one is a work truck. Nondescript.”

  “Fucking Perfect. So we call the owner up tomorrow morning and buy the truck?”

  “I called him three hours ago. Told him I’d meet him at nine in the morning tomorrow.”

  “Are you sure you don’t do this for a living?”

  “Pretty sure, sweetie.”

  “I’m not so sure,” I joked. “Where do you want me to sleep? I think I should settle down and get some rest. Tomorrow promises to be a hell of a day.”

  “It’s a double. Pick a bed and go to sleep. I’m taking a shower before bed, but you’re right. We need rest. Tomorrow we’ll avoid the stakeout by sneaking in from the back - my house butts up against a green space. We can park about a quarter mile away and go in the back door.”

  “Sounds easy”, I replied.

  “Like you said before, this isn’t a movie, so we can sneak in, load up, and get out. Right?”

  “Piece of cake.”

  About 30 minutes later I was in bed and starting to suffer some serious painkiller withdrawals when Sarah came out of the shower and got into her own bed. I had to ask something that had been on my mind since she went into the bathroom. “Sarah?”

  “Yes?”

  “What’s a green space?”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  She mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "Yankee," and continued louder with, “It’s a cross between a park and a temporary pond. It’s undeveloped land that acts as a flood plain in big rains, but it is usually dry, open fields and used by the neighborhood as a play-space, soccer field, or makeshift baseball diamond.”

  “Oh. Thanks.

  "Sarah?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not sure how to ask this…but…”

  She let out an exasperated sigh and rolled over to face me. “Yes?”

  “How many guns do you have?” Her answering smile warmed my heart.