Endgame - Chapter 100

   By Monday, everything was done except for the bank. Panic lost his bet, and royally so. He was wearing his camera, so Merry would eventually see it as well. Even he couldn't miss this performance. Giggle hair flip constantly. She couldn't stop touching his arm. She gave him a quick walk through of most of the ground floor and the upper floor. Then when he wanted to see the basement, she showed him the steps and said she didn't do icky basements, to have fun.

   When he came back up, she was in the vault. The vault was actually a room, and it had a large table and chairs in it. The safe deposit boxes lined both side walls, while the back wall was a locked cage. She actually had what looked to be a bottle of champagne out, with two glasses. Panic excused himself to take a piss, and texted Merry with the prearranged "911" text.

   She was still talking him into how normal it was, to close a business deal with a glass of champagne… when there was knocking at the front door. The woman ignored it. When the pounding on the door continued, the woman excused herself, and went to see about it.

   It was Merry. Smiling. When she wouldn't leave, the woman unlocked the door and cracked it just far enough to tell the woman to go away. Merry simply walked through the now unlocked door like there wasn't another person barring it.

   "This, is private property. This? Is a private meeting. If you don't leave? I'm going to have to call the---"

   "Cops? Be my guest. My boyfriend's car is parked right outside. I knew he was looking at a new building. Pretty sure he's here, right?"

   Merry called out to him, and Panic responded to her at the door to the vault. Waving. Merry had fun watching the woman sheepishly explain everything. When Merry finally walked into the vault, she sauntered over and admired the bottle of wine.

   "Actually? It's champagne. It's a pretty standard thing, to close a business deal with a glass of champagne, you know."

   "Really? You learn something every day, don't you. Hun? You guys done now?"

   "What do you mean?"

   "Signing stuff. Handing over money. That sort of thing."

   "Oh, sure."

   "Well? I'll be going. Will you see me out?"

   The woman went to walk her out. When she unlocked the door to let Merry out, Merry just stood there. She leaned in, to give the woman the full effect of her presence.

   "Actually? You were leaving. Not me. The deals done? Then you're done too. The keys?"

   "He has the keys, they're in a box, on the tab---"

   "Well? Out you go then…"

   Merry simply grabbed her by the upper arm and helped her generously out the door. She paused long enough to bring her face in, and explain something to her.

   "If we need another piece of property? We… will call you. Do I make myself understood?"

   She squeezed her upper arm she still had a hold of to get her making the connection.

   "Now then. Your tip? Here…"

   Merry put half of a 100 dollar bill in her hand.

   "What's this?"

   "I'm sure you know where the diner is. It's a tiny little town. Your lunch is on me. One of the waitresses there? She has the other half to your tip. Enjoy a free lunch. It's the least I could do."

   Then Merry closed and locked the door, and walked back to Panic.

   "You even gave her a tip. How nice of you."

   "Yeah. Marnie at the diner? Has the other half to give her. It was Marnie's idea. She thought it would be funny to explain to her, that the woman who just caught her alone with a bottle of champagne with her man? Who that woman is."

   "How could Marnie possibly know about the champagne?"

   "I just texted her about it. Marnie thought it would be funny, to show her one of the videos floating around? Watch her shit herself."

   "Nice touch."

   "I thought so. Now. We might as well have a glass of champagne, before we get down to our business meeting. Someone, lost a bet. And it wasn't me."

   Later on, Buddy came down to okay the bank. The bank vault was just fine for storing guns, he was sure of it. He explained where the video cameras should go. When everything was done, they all went down to the diner, and enjoyed Marnie and a few other waitresses laughing about how that end had gone.

   When the weekend approached again, Panic called to set up with his friends. He had decided him and Merry would take a bus to Pittsburgh, then the local bus from the city down close. They simply had to pick him up downtown from where they lived, and give him a ride to his house, so he could pick up two of his vehicles.

   Everyone decided they would drop them off early the next day, so they could just spend the night and relax. The married couple had several kids, and a large two car garage that held everything except cars. An addition to the garage had the usual workbench and tools area, but what would have been where you parked two cars, was a kind of man cave sort of affair. Several couches and chairs, a large wooden table. Old fridges, microwave, counter-top… the works. It even had a pool table. Several TVs hung around, making it as much like a sports bar as they could.

   Merry and Panic decided to go get a pack of smokes, and a couple energy drinks. When Merry started to walk up to the gas station convenience store the long way, Panic stopped her.

   "We just go up this way. There's a trail. I grew up here, remember?"

   It really was just a minute walking in this manner. Merry pointed over, just before crossing the road to get to the gas station parking lot. She was indicating the bar over there. They had looked at it on the way in, they were advertising ax throwing. Panic voted no, and she cajoled him into it. The ax throwing was in a separate attached building on the one side. After playing at that for a little bit, Merry wanted to go inside the main part. Panic proclaimed he wasn't real big on bars, and she dragged him in behind her.

   Just making the door, they saw some guy take two steps and punt a cat through the air a decent distance. He laughed at the howling the cat made while airborne, and how it limped away and disappeared around the corner. Merry thought for sure Panic was about to hit him then and there, but he just stood and looked. When the guy kept pestering him what he was looking at, Panic simply turned away and said "absolutely nothing", then they walked in.

   They each had a beer, but after ax throwing the place didn't have that much to afford them in the way of entertainment. The guy that had kicked the cat, was at a corner table with his buddies, and they were starting to razz Panic. He ignored them as best he could, but they took this as a sign they could keep it up as long as they wanted to. The cat guy had taken to calling Panic by the name Peter. Short, he proclaimed, for Peter Puffer.

   They finally left. Panic walked off, then went around the building. The back was relatively deserted. The back door was open, and it was near the bathrooms. It didn't take very long, for him to see his "buddy" going into the bathroom. He went in, and politely offered the man outside, for a private talk. Merry was in the dark corner just inside the back door, and not noticed by a second man that came out behind the two of them and got behind Panic.

   Merry now came out, and stood there. Panic wasn't paying any attention to the second guy behind him, all his attention was focused on the cat guy. She called out to "watch out, there's another one" but Panic just said no there wasn't, there was only one of them. This caused both guys to start laughing. Panic, for his part? Chuckled along with them. When the guy behind him got one footstep too close, it started.

   Merry realized that she had never really seen Panic actually fight before. She knew he was good with weapons and tactics, and she knew he could fight, simply because he had been teaching her. She had never seen it before, though. She was prepared to go and jump on the new guy, until he was done with the first one, but it never got to that point. It was quick and brutal.

   When the guy got one footstep too close, it was over before it started. He lashed out with his left hand viciously chopping him in the throat. He smoothly came in with a big right hand immediately after the stunning throat chop, and knocked his head back violently with what would best be described as a sucker punch. He stepped and leaned into it and everything. He immediately kicked the guy in the crotch, and hard. While he was doubled over, he grabbed his head firmly and held it while he kneed him viciously square in the face.

   It really happened so quick, she almost didn't realize it. The chop was followed so closely by the punch, then the kick and finally the knee… it was almost like one attack. It couldn't have taken much more than a second. He turned to face the other guy again, who was starting to get all worked up. He no longer wanted to be close to his opponent though.

   Panic stuck his index fingers and his thumbs together, held down and out in front of him, and made a kissing sound. The guy finally got it. He was calling him a pussy for not coming in on him. The guy bellowed and charged in, like a bull. She honestly thought he was going to let the guy just tackle him, then at the last moment he simply raised his knee… and the guy ran into it full tilt, the way be brought it up suddenly at the last possible point. He went down hard now.

   Panic calmly walked up to him, and started putting his work boots to him. Thoroughly. He seemed to concentrate on his abdomen and ribs, but got a few to the backs of his knees as well. A couple to the head for good measure, before he walked over to the the first guy that had come up behind him, barely stirring on the ground. He got the same treatment. It was brutal. Merry had seen this before with the bikers, but not outside of that sphere.

   When it was over, and it really hadn't taken very long at all, he observed them to make sure he was satisfied. Just for shits and giggles, he pulled their pants and underwear down around both their ankles, and seemed done. Then he took Merry's hand and walked her away. Instead of walking out the front and over the overpass to get to the gas station, they cut down over the hill, and had to wait for a break in the heavy 4 lane highway traffic to cross over. They came up on the other side, actually quite near where they had started out. Then they walked to the gas station as they had originally planned, made their purchases, and walked back to the garage clubhouse.

   They rejoined the little party, and Panic seemed quite content with his energy drink. It wasn't too long, before the husband heard a beep and listened to his radio. He was a volunteer fireman, and got all the calls. He called another fireman on cell phone, and got the lowdown on the call. He recounted what had been found behind the ax bar out back. Two white males, unconscious, naked from the waist down. Beat up bad. Everyone laughed and went around the table, coming up with as humorous an explanation for this situation as they could think of.

   "Wait wait wait…"

   The fireman husband caught a police call. Drugs found on both of the victims. White powder, suspected cocaine.

   "Well, shit. You guys went to the gas station, you were right next to the place."

   Merry shrugged.

   "Really?"

   "Yeah. Right across the overpass. That's the bar this happened at. You didn't hear anything?"

   "No. You hear anything hun?"

   Panic shook his head no.

   "See? People wonder why I'd rather party at home, instead of going out."

   Without a sporting event, the main entertainment ended up being pool games and the dartboard. Most of the people were around their age, and most were couples. When the get together wound down and everyone started leaving, they were offered in for a place to sleep. Panic asked if it was okay if they just kept the fire going in the wood-burner, and stayed out here.

   "Suit yourself. We'll come get you for breakfast, you can get a shower and stuff, before we drop you off to get the cars tomorrow. Okay?"

   The wife chimed in.

   "Gee. We haven't seen you in… forever. Why don't you at least stay the weekend."

   "Merry? It's your call."

   "I don't care. They're your friends."

   The husband was tired and was going in, and said so. The wife said she'd be in, but she wanted to talk to them.

   "I already know he wants coffee. You too, Merry?"

   "Sure."

   "I'll be back…"

   She returned shortly with two coffee mugs, and said that Panic knew where to get the rest if they wanted it. She obviously knew Panic from way back, and just wanted to talk to him and his new girlfriend. Was he happy, where had he been, what was it like where he was, what was he doing now for work. Where did they meet. How did he get the cute scar on the back of his head. Where did he stay, what was it like.

   When she was having her last cigarette before retiring, she told Merry to watch how many energy drinks he had, or he'd stay up all night on the internet. Merry laughed, and let her know she had already noticed this.

   "Well, he knows where everything is. If you need anything? Just ask him."

   "If I do get my laptop out, is the internet password still the same?"

   "Hmm. Yeah, pretty sure."

   "Well, I'll see you in the morning, for breakfast. Merry? It was nice meeting you. And you? Be nice to her, she seems really nice."

   "Yeah, sis. Thanks. I never thought of that. Huh. Being… nice."

   The wife addressed Merry, smiling.

   "Is he nice to you?"

   Merry smiled dramatically and nodded her head, while draping her arms around his shoulders for visual emphasis.

   "All right. I'm going to bed. I'll see you two in the morning, for breakfast."

   Everyone said goodnight, and the wife walked back out with her now empty coffee cup. As soon as she was gone, Panic got up and ran over to the door, and peeked.

   "The hell are you doing, hun?"

   "Making sure the last of the normies are gone. Now? I have the garage to myself."

   "They seem like really nice people."

   "Oh, they are. For normies? Honestly, top tier."

   She watched him with seemingly detached amusement. He brought in more wood, and carefully put it next to the wood-burner to dry out. He fluffed the fire, and loaded it up. He got out a coffee pot and a small bag of coffee, from the back of one of the many old cupboards over the long counter-tops. He got his laptop out of his big military travel duffel. He slid it out the plastic protective sleeve, and got his collection of cables out. He selected first one, then another, and finally had what he wanted and plugged his laptop into a hand-sized device.

   "Ha. Same old password…"

   "What are you doing?"

   "They have two internet connections here. When I stay over here? I usually stay in the basement. I plug in directly to the main router, with the cable internet connection. At night? That gives me first dibs on connection speed. Now, out here? Slower connection. So, they have a dedicated 5G puck device here. It's supposed to be just for the TV's out here, but… I know the password. Now it's mine."

   "And why are you so excited, to get fast internet."

   "Because. Remember, we asked JG to look into the security recordings, at the hospital?"

   "Yeah."

   "I got an email on my phone account. To check my server."

   "Oh. They got some footage?"

   "They got footage. JG said, the tech guys actually got interested in it, and… it kinda became a thing. Now, it's the weekend. The IT guys, like to have fun on the weekend. JG's with them. What time is it, anyways?"

   "Party started breaking up at 9:00, by 10:00 the last ones left. Your… sister wanted to have coffee and really meet me, until 10:30. When's breakfast?"

   "The weekend? Probably around 8:00… maybe even 9:00. And, that's late for them."

   "Why are you so concerned about time, hun?"

   "Because. JG and the IT guys took some interest in the video. They're gonna work on it. For fun. I don't wanna miss this. I'm like a little kid on Christmas eve."

   "Panic?"

   He was still absorbed in what he was doing.

   "Yeah?"

   "I want a minute of your time, dear."

   "What…"

   Merry raised her voice a little.

   "Walk over here, and look me in my face."

   He stopped what he was doing, and came over.

   Merry pointed next to her on the couch.

   "Sit."

   He sat.

   She smiled and put her arm around him, and drew him in.

   "Good boy. Now just listen to me. For one thing, why do you think I had you stoke the wood-burner, when it was already warm enough to sleep. Hmm?"

   He shrugged.

   "We both like being warm, ever since w---"

   "Yes, we do. But I'll let you in on a little secret. I wanted to be able to walk around half naked. Okay?"

   He nodded.

   "Good. I wanna see the video of the old woman too. I just don't understand this… preparing for an all niter with the tech crew. Shh. It's fine. Now… will you do me a favor?"

   Another nod.

   "Thank you. You think we're allowed to move furniture around a little? Think they'll mind?"

   "No."

   "Then can we move these couches together? It'll be more like a bed."

   "Oh. Sure."

   "Great. Now, let's see about some kind of schedule, we can both live with. I mean, I wanna see the damn security footage too, but… what's going on there. Speak."

   "There's… something weird about the security camera footage. JG's more or less a video expert? He's confused. He's got the techs interested now, too. It's… some kind of…"

   "Oh. Let me guess. A fucking puzzle of some kind."

   "Yeah. The techs are each gonna do a different… analysis of the video, then post their video cuts on it."

   "Like what?"

   "Possible time code manipulation. One's doing composite and shadow analysis. Another one's making sure it's all the same source feed."

   Merry smiled and rubbed his hair and head gently.

   "Oh. I get it. Now… is there any of this, that you think you're… better then they are at it? I mean, if you have some specialty… that's fine."

   "No. I doubt it. It's just… they're doing it for me and you. I figured the least I could do, was stay up a little, and chat with them. They're doing us, the favor."

   Merry patted his head.

   "Okay. I understand. Now help me out here. I want some attention tonight, too. Understand?"

   "Sure."

   "No, you don't."

   Merry took her belt and dangled it in front of him.

   "Remember your little real estate date? Uh huh. What did I do, when I won my bet. I didn't do what I said I was gonna do, did I? No, I didn't. I thought I was being very nice. Did you enjoy it?"

   "Definitely."

   "Uh huh. I Thought you would. Now. Didn't I say, that a week later, that the loser got to be the winner? Or is your memory that short."

   "But… that's Monday night… this, is on---"

   "Shh. It's been moved up. Understand me?"

   "Oh. Gotcha."

   "Now. That's better. Now? We're both on the same page. Is… until midnight, enough time to see them getting the video started?"

   "Sure."

   "Good. Then? Well, you know what I want done. We don't have to be up, till 8:00 or 9:00. We can get some sleep, say… 4:00 or 5:00, is that long enough?"

   "Yeah. We can grab a couple hour nap tomorrow, watching a movie in the basement theater."

   "Now… isn't that better? We have a plan. Everyone gets what they want, everyone's happy. I just don't plan on walking around naked and being ignored all night. So… let's put the couches together, and get some blankets. You? Keep the fire stoked. Then? I want one of those energy drinks, too. I'm going to get some of that leftover food out, they said we can have. You sure they don't care?"

   "Oh. Not at all. The dogs will end up with the leftovers, if we don't eat it."

   They were both distracted by a light clicking sound and motion. The cat had come through the kitty door. The cat lived in the garage.

   Panic kept the fire stoked. Both Merry and the family cat seemed to like it. Merry, for her part, endeared herself to the cat by getting out the disposable aluminum trays of food. One was the soft roasted pork they had already tasted, and the other was some kind of sliced potato casserole. Butter, bacon, cheese… and whatever seasonings.

   Merry produced her surprise for him.

   "Remember, when we went through the edge of Virginia, coming back up north? Mommy got to stop at her little store?"

   "Oh yeah. You going to get into some of that jet fuel you bought?"

   Virginia had gone "full recreational" for smoking pot. Naturally they had picked a few things up, since they had traveling money on them anyways. Panic hadn't known about this one purchase though.

   Merry stuck a vape pen in his face, after sitting it on charge for about 15 minutes, to make sure the little light was green.

   "Just give me a regular smoke…"

   She shoved it back in front of his face.

   "Shut up and try it."

   He took a nice, long pull. Then… Merry clamped her hand over his mouth and pinched his nose shut for several seconds. When he twisted in her grip, she giggled and released him, and he exhaled the big, flavored cloud.

   "Christ, you're like a little kid tonight."

   A minute or so later, though, he started looking around. Smiling.

   Merry laughed over her shoulder from the stove, where she was slowly warming up the food.

   "Uh huh…"

   "Holy shit, that vape pen… hits like a tank."

   Merry smiled and nodded.

   "That's why I only shoved one into you. I found out by accident, that if you play with it, and take 2 or 3 big ones? Mistake. It made me take a nap."

   Panic asked if she wanted an update, and she did.

   "Well, I guess there's video of the old woman I described. She's real. I'm not crazy, right?"

   "No. She's showing up on video, according to JG, an---"

   "You haven't seen it yet?"

   "I was waiting for you. The basic video is up."

   "Run it."

   "I thought I was going to fool around, and try to screen cast one of these big screen TVs…"

   "Do you know how to do that?"

   "Not really. I thought it would be easier, I'm not getting instant results. I obviously need to study it more."

   "So? Just play it on your laptop…"

   "Well, okay. I was trying to do the screen, but… here goes. Yeah… it's still the only video up on the link he gave me…"

   JG or someone else had made a short, technical intro. It was just text on the screen. File name, explanation, what camera it was on, and the time and date start and end. Little diagram of the hallway and floor area appeared as well. Then the video started. The camera was all the way back up almost to the nurse's station. One nurse was appearing and disappearing down the hallway a good bit. Obviously going from room to room on some kind of rounds schedule. She wasn't appearing lazy, but she wasn't running around either. In between her room to room hallway usage, Merry clearly stalked down the hallway, from start to finish, and went in the chapel at the far right end of the hallway.

   That nurse using the hallway did her thing several times. During one such hallway crossing, a small woman in black appeared. From the gait it certainly would appear to be an old woman, if you had to guess. She separated from the nurse, she went in the chapel as well, Merry pointed and nodded, this jibed with she talked to a nice old lady, a nice old lady who had made her inadvertently feel better. After the interspersed nothing, nurse, nothing, nurse theme for a short time? The old woman came back out.

   The old woman got to about the same amount of hallway as she had appeared at, when the nurse came out with her back to that end of the hallway moving a cart, and seemed oblivious to the old woman standing there quietly. Next thing you knew, you had lost track of the old lady. The video stopped, and some text told you that there would be replays, highlighting what had just transpired without any cuts in footage.

   The old woman seemed to sort of magically appear behind the nurse, and go down to the chapel. Replayed several times at differing speeds, it became obvious. Then the replays of the old woman in black coming back out the chapel and walking back up the hallway, again replays at varying speeds showed how she sort of disappeared.

   Merry looked at Panic.

   "Okay, it's weird. But, she's real, so… I'm not crazy."

   "I can see what the fuss is about. The tech boys got interested in the video, and are trying to figure it out. I wondered what JG meant in the email. Now I see it."

   "All right. I can see what all the fuss is about. I could see where it'd be interesting to watch video checks the techs use to come in, see how it stacks up. If it's some kind of hoax or not."

   "Well. Do you, wanna eat first, or… after."

   "You sure are revved up tonight."

   Merry shrugged.

   "I don't know why, but I find it slightly romantic, to be somewhere new. Alone. The only way it could be any better? If no one knew where we were, it… makes it even more romantic for me."

   Merry stood behind him seated in front of her. Touched his shoulders and head gently.

   "So. Last time, surprised you?"

   He nodded.

   "Hmm. What did I tell you. Sometimes, the girl cat and the boy cat love each other very much, so the girl cat will sometimes groom the boy cat. Down there. Did you enjoy it, huh."

   He smiled and nodded.

   "Did you like having your girl cat on a leash, while she groomed you, hmm?"

   "It was fun."

   "Good. So I won't hear any complaints then, now that it's your turn, will I?"

   He leaned his head back on her lower abdomen. Shook his head no, and smiled.

   She put her belt around his neck slowly, and ran the free end through the buckle and pulled. It had holes all the way down the length of it, as a design. She buckled it with two fingers tight slack around his neck for a safe fit. Then tugged him over to the two couches shoved together, making a sort of pit for their clothes, change of clothes, and the room's available blankets and pillows. She had previously given him almost an hour and a half of leashed grooming time as a treat, and now almost a week later she claimed her ninety minutes of fun time back. When she saw her time was up, she slowly and gently undid the belt and lifted it off him.

   "You, can have all the cuddle time you want, later. Keep the fire hot, so I can walk around in my shorts. She knew Panic liked her short, loose workout shorts. Some soft, shiny, quick drying modern miracle fabric. He liked staring at them, she liked them in general, and they were handy. He came back over to stare at her getting "dressed", just in case someone popped in to smoke in the middle of the night. She added a little, loose, comfortable thing for a shirt. It was meant to go over a sports bra, which by itself was public wearable. It was basically an oversize T shirt cut down to just cover the sports bra. Some, anyways.

   Without the sports bra underneath? It was what Panic called "scandalous". She put on a series of slow, changing faces for him while he stood at the foot of the two-couch nest they had fashioned. She had some of her jewelry on for him, and among it was her ankle chain. She dangled and wiggled her ankle, making the chain dance. It was their private in joke. She was hypnotizing him with her ankle chain.

   "As much as I enjoy your faces… they're fake."

   She nodded, biting her thumb. Trying her best to give him the sexy brat look. Finally she looked up at him and it melted away, leaving her blank face behind it. She raised her fingers in claw like fashion and said "rrrr". For Merry, this was right up there with sex. Getting to walk around half naked was intimate enough, but getting to walk around with her real face was positively sensual.

   "Will you… keep the fire hot? I'll check on the food. It's not that late. 12:30. You? Have plenty of time to play a little with your… video friends."

   He looked over at her moving around, while he checked the state of things on the laptop. The cement floor of the double garage and then some was covered haphazardly with throw rugs and chunks of rug. She would hop daintily from carpet to carpet, to avoid the cold cement. The air was warm enough, but there was no heating up cement on the ground in winter.

   "Anything come up yet?"

   "Not really. JG uploaded a… it's called a time code analysis."

   "Is there a version for me to understand it?"

   "Yeah, sure. There's two time codes. There's the video time code, the one you see on the screen. There's also another time code. Every frame has a sequence number, and a CPU clock code embedded in it. He ran a program to check that. Not one frame has been added or omitted."

   "That's not it? They're done…"

   "No. There a little chat box, the guys said JG's running a shadow analysis now. Should be up soon."

   "What's that."

   "He's going to make a rectangle, that represents the hallway. What we see in the video. He'll put light sources into it, and add a few objects. That'll let us see the shadows get calculated. If the cart the nurse is pushing makes the same shadow digitally, as it makes in the movie? The model works. Then… he'll check the shadow of the old lady. Make sure she's not a digital enhancement. Someone else… is checking… video hash codes."

   "And that is…"

   "It's supposed to be a quick security code. The dots on the screen in random locations, add up to be a certain code, per set of frames. That's another video report coming up. And… someone's pulling background."

   "Background?"

   "Hospital blueprints. Who was working that floor at that time. The hospital data department said, and I quote… that they were told to be friendly and cooperative with the FBI staff, unofficially. And that, seems to have led to a… memo. From data department to data department."

   "Is the memo up?"

   "Yeah. It's up right now as a sticky on the temporary chat room the boys made for tonight."

   "You going to read it?"

   "If it doesn't keep you from getting the food out, I will."

   Merry came over and came in as if to kiss him. Instead, she had a big warm piece of the soft, roasted pork they had taken a liking to. It had simmered on the lowest possible setting. She was holding it in her mouth, though. He came in for his half, making a little de facto lip smack of a kiss, before they both bit the chunk of soft meat in half.

   "Mmm. Didn't we just do bodily fluids, dear?"

   "We did. Do you mind?"

   "Not at all. You know I like it."

   "Memo?"

   "Here goes. It's from… one of the head IT guys in the hospital, to the FBI's data department. Hey guys, we were told to be unofficially as helpful as possible. You asked what the deal was with the old lady. Basically? This isn't the first time this has happened. I'm sort of embarrassed, educated professional to educated professional, to admit this to you. This is Allegheny Trauma's own… hospital ghost story. The old woman in the video? She has a name. Staff calls her Dirty Gertie. I've been through this enough times, me and the IT staff already looked into her background, but you're free to do your own research, if you think we're making it up."

   Panic looked up at her.

   "Should I continue?"

   "Wow. A real ghost story. Hell yeah, keep going."

   "I didn't wanna scare you, Merry."

   Merry made a face.

   "Do you believe in ghosts?"

   "No, I don't."

   "Me neither. I don't scare easy. But… it makes it fun. Go ahead."

   "Another piece of meat then…"

   Merry smiled and leaned down, grabbing a chunk of the soft pork with her teeth, and repeated the no hands sharing.

   "Every time this happens, the patient always calls the old woman Gertrude. Allegheny Trauma has a central, older, cement building. The rest of the main building was built around the original when they added on. The chapel is renovated, but it's the original chapel, donated by part of the wealthy steel family that built a lot of the important buildings around Pittsburgh back then. Gertrude was a member of that rich family, but for reasons of her own… chose to marry a regular guy, instead of a member of society, as was expected of her. That's why Gertrude's name on the chapel dedication plaque, isn't the same name as the famous rich family's name. Most sightings, or meetings of Gertrude, happen near the chapel."

   "That's it?"

   "No. There's more. Gertrude had the nickname among friends as Dirty Gertie, or just Gertie. Apparently when she was with friends, she would have a couple of drinks and tell risque jokes. So, friends called her Dirty Gertie. She fell in love with a local guy, who worked in a machine shop. Who was also a fireman. Friends accused him of marrying for money, but… he surprised everyone when he kept working as a machinist and a fireman. While regarded as a good machinist, his local fame came from being somewhat of a local celebrity in his own right… saving people and pets from structure fires. He was something of a local hero. When you see paintings of an old time fireman, saving a young child or a family pet? You're basically looking at what he was in real life. Apparently, he helped pioneer, through his wife's family connections and money… modern fire equipment."

   "The husband was repeatedly offered the job of fire chief, and always turned it down. He didn't want being chief to keep him from what he saw as his main job. Saving people and pets from fires. Gertrude herself, along with her husband… could clearly afford a much nicer life than they gave themselves. Instead of a small mansion like all the other heirs of her family built for themselves, Gertie and her husband built a nice house but nothing outlandish, in one of the nice upper middle class districts. They were some kind of heroes to the common people, living like this. They were known for inviting regular people to big social events."

   "Here's the end. If you wanna hear it."

   "Sure…"

   "The husband developed a lung condition, but kept working as a fireman. They were both in their early 50s. The husband one day, didn't come back out of a big fire. Apparently, he wrapped a young girl and her little dog up in his fire coat, and tied it shut around them, and lowered them out of an upstairs window. Apparently, that was the last anyone ever saw of him. They think they found his remains two days later. Gertrude never fully recovered from her loss, and refused to move out of her house she had shared with him. She withdrew from most public life. She continued the rest of her life, to support fire departments and push for better equipment. She worked for charity after that. The chapel that was renovated, was her chapel she donated to the hospital, that would later become known as Allegheny Trauma."

   "Wow."

   "She spent her last years and days, working by consoling people who had a loved one in the hospital. Apparently, in every story where someone meets her? It's always the same. Old woman, friendly. Dressed in mourning black. Practically unknown outside of the hospital, staff always hears the same general story. The old woman was friendly, and made me feel better. No one can ever find the old woman afterwards, though. When video surveillance finally came to the hospital, staff was excited to get to see if she was real. Half the staff, seems to think it's just a story, or some kind of hoax. Half the staff seems to think it might be her. Hospital management doesn't want publicity for this. We're a hospital, not a circus side show. Please be discreet."

   Merry pulled out a chair at the table and sat down. Like a kid, one foot drawn up onto the seat, with her chin on her knee.

   "All I know is, she made me feel better."

   "What do you have to… say about all this."

   "As… a psychology student? Or… as me."

   "Both."

   "As a therapist, I'm taught not to poke fun at religion. Whether I believe in it or not. As long as the person believing in something, it seems to make them feel better? I'm to leave it alone."

   "And you personally?"

   "Normally I don't put much stock in ghost stories. I think, that after enough stories go around? People can't wait to put their own, perfectly explainable situation… to fit into the story. It helps perpetuate it. That said… I didn't know any of this. I wasn't… trying to fit meeting some nice old lady into… some narrative."

   "But… Gertie made you feel better."

   "Yeah. You have to understand, honey. After everything we'd been through, and you're fine? Out of nowhere… you fell over. You're having seizures. I couldn't help worrying. What if you didn't come back. What if you came back… drooling. I mean, you're not my meal ticket, Panic. What you give me, what you really give me? It has nothing to do with any of that. Gertie said, she had a hero for a husband, and that's what it's like to have one. They get hurt sometimes. But…"

   "But what?"

   "But… she said it feels good to walk around with one, a husband like that. The way people look at you with him. She said… money can't buy that."

   "I'm not a hero, hun. Not sure there's any such thing. There's just… people that can come out on top, from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If we don't die? People use that word. That's all."

   "Yeah. And, to those villagers down south. What were you, to them?"

   "Just people, from the outside world. Trying to come in and help."

   "You know you guys might as well have been wearing capes, to those villagers. And what about that guy you jumped off the bridge to get him. How do you think he thinks of you. You ever really talk to him?"

   "Yeah. Once. He said he really has trouble understanding, risking your life. For someone you don't know, for no pay."

   "What did you tell him?"

   "I told him, what I tell anyone. When the right thing to do, is easy? You're not proving much. When it just so happens that the right thing to do, costs you? That's when you know you're doing it for the right reason. I told him if he really thinks he owes me something? Just remember it, and when the time comes… go the extra mile for someone else. Even when it costs you. I told him, that's the only way to get that feeling."

   "What feeling?"

   "The feeling, that you actually made a difference."

   She had walked over and put her arms around his shoulders from behind, while talking.

   "See? That's what Gertie was telling me. Don't try to talk me out of this, hun. You got to have your moment. The cold air, at your park? This one was mine."

   They watched for a while, they drank energy drinks, they ate together. Every now and again, they had a big pull off of Merry's new super vaping pen. Because Merry had gotten serviced earlier, she made sure the time was right and they had a quickie. They were looking at the second video posted up, when Panic looked up and looked around.

   "Someone's here."

   "Really? It's late."

   "I'd guess it was the oldest boy. He was out with his friends."

   "Hmm. Should I put some more clothes on?"

   "I know I don't mind you running around the garage like this. I doubt a teenage boy will mind it much either, to tell you the truth."

   The slight noise of someone coming home, came from the street and down the driveway. Then into the house quietly. A short time later, they could hear the back door quietly working again. Instead of the cat door banging open, the teenage boy appeared in the doorway.

   "I figured you were here."

   Panic waved, sitting there at the far end of the table.

   "Why?"

   "Coffee machine still on, this late? That's only when you're here. Where the hell have you been? You usually come and stay over once in a while. Everyone wondered what happened to you."

   "Part vacation. Part work."

   "Oh. You got a new job? I heard you quit delivering."

   "Yes and no."

   "What's this?"

   "This… has a name. This, is Merry."

   "Hi Merry."

   "Hi…"

   "Merry? This is Tyler. The oldest boy. So… were you out at some big party?"

   "Eh. Video game party. Everyone else in bed already?"

   "Yeah. Just me and her up."

   "You guys made leftovers?"

   "Yeah."

   "Any left?"

   "You know where the plates are. It's your house."

   He had a paper plate of the potato casserole, and not hardly any of the pork.

   "Do you, uh…"

   "Do I have any? Yeah. You out?"

   He nodded and smiled.

   "Well. Go get us a coffee, and I'll see what I can do about that."

   He returned with three coffee mugs. They each got one.

   "So. What are you doing?"

   "Analyzing some video. No biggie. Pretty boring stuff. You can come look."

   Seeing the video of people going down the hallway, indeed, seemed pretty mundane to him.

   Merry handed him her super pen.

   "Ooh! Is this…"

   "Yeah. It is."

   "What kinda…"

   "It's fucking jet fuel. Don't get nuts."

   Merry smiled, and watched as the youngster had a big pull, held it in. Then had one more before waiting to see how it went. It didn't take too long. He was sitting back at his coffee, smiling.

   "Whoa…"

   "Like I said. Jet fuel."

   "I'm not… interrupting anything, am I?"

   Merry giggled.

   "Like what?"

   "Uh huh… I can see the little… love nest you two made over there."

   Merry shrugged.

   "We're done. For now."

   He giggled.

   Panic asked him what he thought.

   "Of what?"

   He pointed at Merry, standing next to him.

   Merry smiled gently, and turned around in place once for him. Then shrugged.

   "She's cute."

   "Thanks. Why don't you stand up, and walk over to her. You can give her that blue coffee mug, that's the one she was using."

   He did. When he got right in front of her and held out the coffee mug to her, he looked her up and down.

   "Holy shit."

   "What… am I no longer… cute?"

   "Not that… just… never mind."

   He went and sat back down, and tried to concentrate on his coffee.

   "It's all right, I was just messing with you. She's a big girl, isn't she."

   He nodded.

   "What are you doing, let me guess… video games. It's the weekend."

   He smiled.

   "It is, the weekend."

   The back door made a quiet noise, then the cat door popped open and the cat sprinted in, followed briefly by some noise outside, in the cement patio area. After the door again, the mother appeared and came in.

   "I wondered where you got to. I heard you come home."

   "You left the coffee machine on, mom. I figured he was out here."

   "Yes. He is. I see you're drinking coffee, too. You plan on staying up all might, playing video games?"

   "It's the weekend."

   "Just do it quietly. And don't bother them all night. They need to get some sleep too."

   The mother pointed at Panic's coffee mug, Panic waved his hand at her. He got an energy drink out of the refrigerator.

   "Sorry to bother you two. I try to wait up for this one to get in. Then I have to let the dog out for the night. You… go get a shower, and get to your room. Don't wake the whole house up."

   He waved goodbye and said thanks on his way out and into the house. When he was gone, the mother decided to have her coffee, and have a cigarette.

   "You didn't give him cigarettes, did you? I'm trying to keep him from really getting started smoking. We let him do the vaping thing."

   Panic chuckled.

   "Speaking of vaping… we gave him a couple hits off of the… Merry has a happy pen."

   The mother giggled too.

   "Oh Christ, look at you."

   "What?"

   "Your neck. What are you, 16 again?"

   Merry smiled and looked around, feigning embarrassment. Panic just chuckled and smiled.

   "Yeah. Sometimes, it feels like I'm young again."

   "And what the hell is that…"

   She walked over, sipping her coffee.

   "What?"

   "Don't you what me, that's a new one."

   Panic had his shirt off. She had homed in on his shoulder. She was running her finger over where he'd been grazed.

   "Oh, that. Looks worse than it was, trust me. Not a big deal."

   "Uh huh. Not going to tell me, are you."

   "I'd rather not. It's not important."

   The mother looked up at Merry standing there. She stood up and regarded her. She smiled.

   "You're big."

   She went back over to finish her coffee and her cigarette.

   "Sis? Don't tell everyone, but… one of these days, you're going to probably notice me, and her… in the news."

   "Are you in trouble?"

   "Nope. Nothing like that. Just don't freak out, when you see it. That's all. Okay?"

   "Sure. So… what are you doing for work now?"

   "Oh, that. Actually? I'm a… greens-keeper for a gun range. North central part of the state. I helped put it together, and… I stay there, too."

   "You live on a gun range now?"

   "Yeah. Kinda cool. I can get up early in the morning, and go shooting all day if I feel like it."

   "You live there now?"

   He nodded.

   "I'm like the… greens-keeper. Range-master, too. I kinda run it. Yeah, I get my own cabin to stay in."

   "Is it a lot of work?"

   "Not unless I feel like it. Most of the hard work's done now. I'm also… uh… putting together having my own gun shop. You know, to go with the range."

   "You? Are going to own a gun shop?"

   "Sure. Why not. I gotta do something to keep out of trouble."

   "Did you make sure she likes it there, living in a hunting cabin, on a gun range?"

   "She's standing right there, you could ask her, you know."

   "I like it just fine. I was a waitress in the city, and I like it better, trust me. I had to live in one of those motel room apartments, and… the cabin's bigger than my apartment was."

   "Please tell me, you made him fix it up a little…"

   Merry smiled.

   "It's fine. We also got a… 40 foot RV trailer. He said it'll tide us over, until he can fix up the apartment, over the gun shop."

   "You got a building?"

   Panic shrugged.

   "I got an old building for taxes. Maybe after I get settled in some, get some of the gun shop worked on. You guys could come out. Little mini vacation, if you want."

   "Well, sounds fun for you, and my husband. I'm sure he'd have fun playing with his AR with you there. What about the kids? They'll drive us nuts."

   "It's on the state game lands. There's a tiny little town there. Kids can go… hiking. Fishing. Canoeing, kayaking. I could even arrange some horseback riding, too."

   Merry piped up.

   "People come in, just to stay at the bed and breakfast places. There's a lot of little mom and pop shops. You know, get away from it all."

   "Hmm. Sounds like my husband might like it. The boys might like it. My daughter? Will hate it."

   "So? Leave her at home."

   The mother snorted laughing.

   "Leave a teenage daughter at home alone? Uh uh. I said she'd probably hate it, I didn't say I wouldn't bring her. She hates everything. She'll be fine. I can watch her sit there and be miserable, while everyone else has fun. Christ, we all went to Ocean World, the big one in Florida one year for about ten days? All she did was sit around on her stupid phone. I'd complain more, but, a lot of the kids are like that now."

   With her coffee and cigarette done, the dog walked, and her kid in the house… the mother got up to leave.

   "Have fun, but don't stay up too late. Breakfast will probably be around 8:00 or 9:00. I doubt the kids will bother you any more. Good night."

   The mother went in, and other than the cat going in and out now and again, they were left alone, and this time likely for the rest of the night. Nothing came up on the video, though they periodically checked. Merry carefully sealed the little aluminum trays all over again, and put them away. She made sure she left some of the soft pork roast out for the cat, on it's own paper plate. The cat seemed to like to sit where the mother smoked a cigarette and drank her coffee. The cat was obviously used to being allowed to go on the table out in the garage if they left something out.

   Merry and Panic had a quickie right before their late bedtime. They eventually went back to their cuddle time they had previously missed. Merry insisted on talking to him, falling asleep the way she liked to. By the time they stirred, it was morning out. Little slivers of light came from around the garage doors. It was still warm enough in the garage, given the snow outside, though it was more comfortable to be fully dressed once out from under the covers.

   There was a knock at the door, and it was the mother and father. When they were sure everything was decent, they came in. They each had two coffee mugs, and they each drank theirs and left the other for each of the guests. The mother had one of her cigarettes. She didn't really smoke that much, that often, but she seemed to enjoy it when she did.

   "So. Meathead. Your sister's telling me you're trying to own a gun shop."

   Panic and her had sat up in the little couch nest they had made.

   "Yep. I run a gun range, too."

   "Sounds like fun. You think it'll make money?"

   "It's the only gun shop for more than an hour in any direction. I should get by. It's not really to make money though. It's to… enhance the reputation of the gun range."

   "I didn't know you had that kind of money."

   He stretched and sat up, and rubbed his face with his fists.

   "Couple grand to go through the paperwork, to have a gun shop. I had a few bucks stashed away."

   "No, but your sister here, is telling me you bought a building for the gun shop."

   "Ah. It's an old building. Got it for a song, on taxes. We wanna have a little apartment, over the gun shop."

   "Well, I hope you do okay."

   "Thanks. But… I'm sure we'll be fine. The shop only has to pay for itself, to keep the lights on. I just want the shop for myself, really. Success? Would be determined in this case, by getting the range, onto the shooting circuit."

   "The shooting circuit?"

   "Bench-rest shooting. We made the range, with an eye towards hosting one of the bench-rest shoots. 100 and 200 yards. Having a dedicated gun shop? Really enhances that."

   "Oh. I guess that makes money then."

   "Mm. I keep trying to explain this. That should get the gun shop, mentioned in the shooting magazines. When the bench-rest shooters come through? All the gun writers come through too. Instead of… professional sports? It's… professional shooting. Now. When the gun writers and all these pro shooters write articles about the event? The gun range gets noticed. The gun shop gets noticed. I'm not trying to get rich. I'm trying, to have a range and a gun shop that people read about in the gun rags."

   Merry stood up, and stepped easily over and down, out of the couch nest. She stood on her tiptoes, as she stretched and came to life.

   "He's been talking about maybe having shooting lessons, too."

   "Shooting lessons?"

   "Yeah. Target shooting. Defensive shooting. Lessons."

   Everyone had idle breakfast chatter for a little while, then they were told to come in and get a bath, before the kids were up and downstairs yet. Panic got a quick shower, then it was Merry's turn. All while breakfast was getting made. Merry was done with her bath, and was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, listening in. The daughter, true to her mother's description of her, had her face buried in her phone. She ignored everyone and everything around her. Except to say something snide. In this case, she was giving the raspberries to Panic, sitting next to her.

   When the father politely explained how her "uncle" was going to open up a gun shop, she laughed at him.

   "First of all, dad… he's not my uncle. He's some… weirdo that comes over and either stays in the basement, or out in the garage. And a gun shop? Sounds like a stupid idea."

   "Hey sunshine. Maybe you shouldn't be so rude to company. Watch your mouth."

   She never looked up from tapping her smart phone to even look back at him, before being dismissive and smart alack-y.

   "Why. You going to beat me up? Right. I didn't think so."

   Merry was standing right behind her, and put both her hands down onto her shoulders and gave a little squeeze.

   "You should be more worried about me, little girl. How old are you, anyways."

   "I'm 18. And if you're dating him… you must be a weirdo too."

   "Well. You're 18, huh? You're an adult now. You can say whatever you want, hmm? And let me guess… men can't lay a finger on you."

   She didn't even look up from her phone tapping.

   "Yep. You got it."

   Merry tightened her grip on the little girl's shoulders.

   "Well. First of all? I'm twice your age. You should be polite to your elders. Not to mention? That's my boyfriend sitting there. If you wanna say rude shit? Do it when I'm not in the room. And remember, honey… being 18? Also means you're just old enough I can put my hands on you. Anytime you piss me off. Like now, for instance…"

   Merry went to grab the phone out of her hands, and she made a "pffft!" noise, and moved it away from her grasp. Merry giggled, and grabbed her wrist firmly. She brought it up to her other hand, and forcibly pried the phone out of her grasp. While the girl was protesting, she let her see her holding the button down, and the phone shutting off.

   When she turned around and started to get up, irritated at being treated like this, she stopped short of standing right up, as she had initially intended. Ignoring Merry's presence hadn't been a completely wise endeavor, because she had no idea what she was standing up into. She did now, however. Her face showed it. Her eyes about bugged out, her mouth hung open, and she nearly froze still as a statue when she saw the woman she was giving smart lip to.

   "That? Is my coffee getting cold. That? Was my dish got put out for me. That, is my boyfriend you're sitting next to, running your mouth like a spoiled brat."

   The girl tried to recover, with a nervous smile.

   "So…?"

   Merry grabbed her by the upper arm, and bodily walked her over to sit on the other side of the table. After "helping" her sit in her new seat, Merry picked up the kitchen chair, with her in it, and lifted it up and scooted it under the table. Quite easily. Merry stood on her tiptoes, and just managed to plop her shut down phone up on top of the highest kitchen cabinet. Then, she stretched and sat down next to Panic.

   "Am I in trouble?"

   The mother was smiling, and the father was chuckling.

   "Not at all. That? Was fun to watch. What's the matter, little girl… why aren't you running your mouth some more, huh?"

   "Dad!"

   The mother cut in.

   "Oh, piss off. We told you to be polite to company. We just didn't tell you why."

   Merry had one of Panic's big T shirts on, but she still had her workout shorts on. The little girl eyed her. Merry knew what it was. It wasn't so much how tall she was, it was that she was proportional to her height. Merry smiled and simply stepped her leg over the back of the kitchen chair to sit down in it.

   Everyone else was happy and talking through breakfast, except for the daughter. She just ate, stared at her plate, and wouldn't say a word. When breakfast was over, she tried to get mom to get her the phone back. She smiled and asked the husband.

   "If you can get her to give you the phone back? You're all good."

   Merry went and got the phone back off of the cabinet top for her, but had a little fun holding it up. Out of her reach. Yanking it up every time she jumped up to snatch it. The brother Merry had met last night, seemed to in particular get a kick out of this, and kept laughing at her. When she finally got her phone, she grabbed it and stomped off upstairs to her room.

   "Sorry about that."

   The father laughed it off.

   "No, I enjoyed it. Do it some more. She was going to hide in her room on her phone all day anyways. It's no loss."

   The rest of the day was pretty lazy. They watched a movie or two in the garage game-room. Another couple came over. The boys shot some pool. They watched another movie or two. Eventually, the night ended more or less as the first one had. Everyone left, and they had the garage to themselves again. The oldest son appeared again, and they gave him a couple hits off of the happy pen. He assured her how much fun it was, to see her "manhandle" his sister.

   The oldest boy looked around.

   "What?"

   "I don't know. I'm wondering if I'm gonna get ran out of here, like last night."

   He smiled and snickered, to let them know he didn't mean it exactly like that, he was overstating his position for humor. Yet still, he was stating it.

   "You're… trying to stay out here. To talk to us."

   He nodded, if a bit sheepishly.

   "About what? You're a little old for the birds and the bees. You damn kids, seem to know more about sex than the adults, anymore. Internet and all."

   "No. I'm fine that way."

   "What do you want?"

   "It's two things, really."

   "Well?"

   "One thing, my mom told me to ask you. The other? my dad told me to ask you."

   "Christ, kid. I'm not married. I don't even have kids of my own. I'm not exactly sure I'm an expert on anything. Besides. You have decent parents. I'm trying to imagine, what you can't talk about with them."

   "You know I have… trouble. With the other kids. Mom said, I should ask you about stuff like that."

   "Why not your own dad? He gets along with almost everyone. Just about everyone likes him. Honestly, I'd think a guy like him, could give you better advice than a guy like me."

   "That's where mom came in. She said, when you were younger? You… had trouble with the other kids."

   Panic chuckled.

   "That's putting it mildly. Yeah, your mom's not remembering wrong. In fact? She might have even… sugarcoated it a little bit. Now, all kids pick on one another. It's a normal thing growing up. You ever notice, some kids get picked on by everyone? All the time? The weird kid. What do you kids call that one. We used to call that… the weird kid. The loner."

   "Abuse unit?"

   Panic held his hand out to Merry.

   "What?"

   "This talk is going to require me to have a cigarette. Please?"

   Merry smiled and put the pack of smokes out on the table, and laid the lighter by it. He slowly fussed with one. Drew it out of the pack slowly. Packed it carefully by hand, throwing it and catching it simultaneously on the table. Smelled it, as if it were a fine cigar, then carefully lit it.

   "Yeah, kid. That was me. What about it? I was young. I got over it. Ancient history."

   "How did you change it?"

   "Shit. You want the truth."

   "Yeah. You always seem to tell the truth. You might make a joke about it, you might do some silly dance, but… you refuse to give the popular answer. So… how did you change it?"

   "First off, that was a different time. And, what works for one person? Could easily backfire and make someone elses situation worse. There's no right answer, that works for everyone, all the time. You have to understand that."

   "Okay. What was your answer."

   "Violence. I felt like, I just wanted left alone, and… people, almost everyone? Kept coming, and picking on me. I felt like, if I didn't let them? Someone would beat me up. So everyone could keep always having fun with me. I started getting violent. I beat an older kid down with a chair, in first grade. Then? I was never allowed to fight. For years. By the time my parents realized what was going on? It was almost too late. The problem had gotten much worse. And here I was, I couldn't fight back."

   "So…"

   "At every turn? I escalated the violence. Learning to fight? It doesn't happen over night. You don't just… lift weights for a year or two. You don't just take some self defense course. Stuff like that, that worked for… I'll call them the normal, or… the popular kids? Didn't work for me."

   "Violence… worked?"

   "The more violent and unpredictable I got? The more I got what I wanted. Which was just to be left alone."

   "That's what you wanted?"

   "Where I was at, it was the best alternative. I just wanted left alone."

   "That worked?"

   "Sort of. It took a few years, but… I slowly got what I wanted. Which was simply left alone. In today's world, I'm not sure you can do that. You'll end up in juvey. In jail. You get sued. The world will shove you full of psych drugs, and they'll make you take it."

   "And that doesn't really work."

   "Oh. It works. It works for everybody else. Just not the person having the problem. Whether it's even really that person's fault or not."

   "You make it sound so…"

   "What? Dark and grim? The truth is, life… our society. It was designed, so nine out of ten people, can do good, or at least get by. Maybe 19 out of 20. Your mom, your dad? They're part of the 19. You can't expect one of the 19 people, to understand the odd man out. You have to be realistic about it."

   "But… you're popular at parties here. You tell jokes, you're funny. You fit in."

   "You're seeing, I don't know. 20 years of work? Yeah. If everyone gets a spot on the team? Good for them. I had to fight for my spot on the team. Every now and then? I'm prepared to fight for my spot again. The other animals, and that's all us humans are, deep down… the other animals? Sense I'll fight for my spot, if you try to push it. They either know it, or someone else told them, or… they just sense it, like an animal. Human beings act an awful lot, like a cross between shaved chimpanzees, and a pack of wild dogs."

   "But… I see you. Parties. You make jokes, you do funny dances. You make everyone laugh. You're funny."

   "Hmm. Am I really funny? Or, are you just seeing the comedian."

   The oldest boy furrowed his brow.

   "Comedians? Are funny."

   "Funny people? Are having fun, being silly. Are you sure you're not just seeing a comedian. Being a comedian? That's a job. You have to work at it. It takes years to learn how to do it, even a little bit. A real comedian? Can be having the worst day of his life, the worst year of his life. He still goes out there, stands up, and makes everyone laugh."

   "I just thought you were funny."

   He took another cigarette out, and went through the ritual again, before lighting it and starting to smoke it again.

   "I am now. It used to be a job. Something I had to learn to do. To… earn a spot on the team. When you can't be a member of the team, and you really want it? Being water boy, or… a third string scrub that just shows up for practice, and knows he'll never get put in the game… well, that's preferable. But yeah. After a long time? I wasn't faking being funny any more. It… kinda became… me. That's how I became the funny guy. Didn't you ever hear, that clowns are some of the saddest people, under all the greasepaint?"

   "So, you learned to be funny. To… fit in. I thought you said you used violence."

   He inhaled deeply, held it in, and blew it slowly out his nose, then gave a little grin.

   "Violence? It works. Kinda. Sorta. It ain't the only answer. If the only tool you have in your toolbox, is violence? That's not good. Being a comedian. The ability to make people laugh. That, is another tool. There's other tools."

   "Like?"

   "Being nice to people, that you seem to get along with, even a little bit. I learned that if I go overboard, being quiet, being polite, always being helpful? It… helps, a little. You see your mom ask me to carry something for her? Clear the dishes and make sure they're sitting under water and soap in the sink? You see me watch your dad carry something in? No. I jump up and help."

   "Does that work?"

   "It's another tool in the toolbox. You have to be careful. A lot of people will just use you. They'll take all the cream, and give you nothing but spoiled milk. Than act like you owe them. Fuck those people. You find someone else to be nice to. And that brings up another tool. Loyalty."

   "Mom says you're as loyal as a dog."

   "I am. Loyalty is no joke to me. When it gets back to me, that someone sticks up for me, when I wasn't around? Especially if it costs them, if they catch hell for it. I reward that. Most people are only so loyal. I go all the way. And again, the same people that will take the cream and only give you the spoiled milk? They'll misuse your loyalty. I get the fuck away from them."

   "How do you pick your friends?"

   "Sure you heard this before. There's acquaintances? Then… there's real friends. If you think you have more than ten friends in this world? You just have a bunch of acquaintances. Real friends? You don't have to ask them for help. They already came running. Real friends, won't leave your side, when the chips are down. Goes right back to fucking loyalty."

   "Seems like a lot of work to go through. Most people don't… spend this much work at it."

   "Like I said. The reality is, and it's not good, it's not bad… it just is… society is designed, so 19 out of 20 people, can do good, or at least get by. You can't realistically expect the world to change for you. You have to carve your niche out. Well, for someone like me, yeah. For the 19… well… life was made for them."

   "You're not… mad about this?"

   "No. Why would I be. I got mad when I was young. Doesn't do any good. Now, studying things, figuring out things to try? More useful. Nothing seemed to work for me, that worked for everyone else. Just be yourself… yeah, like I never thought of that."

   "Your answer is… to be violent. Funny. Loyal. Helpful."

   Panic took another smoke out, and spent more time going over it. Merry thought it reminded her far too much, of Uncle Mikey, toying with a piece of candy before popping it in his mouth. The ritual.

   "Violence, was the first tool I ever found. Being a comedian? The second tool I put in my toolbox. I slowly learned the others. Now, maybe 20 years later? You're looking at the end result. Violence, is now one of my last options. If I even need it at all anymore."

   "Dad says you're… not violent, but…"

   "A quiet tough guy?"

   "Yeah. I guess. Mom, though…"

   "What's your mom say I am."

   "She says, underneath it all? You're just a bookworm. One of the genius kids in school."

   "Yeah. It's how I started out. I kinda went full circle, and ended up right back where I started. Because? I like it. I learned how to take care of myself, so I could enjoy being who I am. A spastic geek. I refuse to lie, be fake, and pretend things are, when they clearly aren't."

   The kid just sat there, cogs turning. Trying to take it all in.

   "Don't ever forget Karma, kid. Karma rules all."

   "Really?"

   "If you walk around, all day, every day… just kicking people in the shin, and laughing at them when they're hurt. What will happen eventually?"

   "Well, eventually someone will come along, and kick you in the shin. Then everyone will stand around and laugh at you."

   "That's Karma. It's just common sense. Now, Karma takes a long time to work, sometimes. But… the longer it takes Karma to catch up with you? The harder it fucking hits you. Seen it a million times."

   "Really? Seems like… people that suck, do better."

   "And when Karma comes for them? They don't just get taken down a peg or two. They can fall to the bottom."

   "What about you?"

   "What about me."

   "You were… violent. You said it yourself. You escalated the violence, at every turn."

   "I did."

   "So… you're scared now, that your Karma is waiting on you?"

   "No. I'm not. The world was shitting on me. People that didn't pick on anyone else, even picked on me and enjoyed it. It was a fun game. The more violent I got? That was just their own bad Karma, coming back at them. When things got a little better? I dialed the violence volume knob down a notch. Started playing with the bass, the treble, the mid-range. Until I liked listening to the song of life. I ended up, finally, with the violence turned down to almost nothing. Remember this. Violence? Is a temporary solution, at best. It's like wrapping duct tape around a leaking pipe. It kinda works, but… the other tools I mentioned? The rest of my toolbox? That… replaces the leaky pipe."

   "Don't take this the wrong way…"

   "Go ahead. You're fine."

   "You… kinda sound like my one buddy's grandpa."

   Panic laughed.

   "That? Is probably because I do. You know I was adopted, right?"

   "Yeah. You make jokes about it."

   "Well. My parents were 20 years older than all the other parents. I have… older values."

   "But… you don't sound like the other boomers."

   "That's because I always sought out the oldest people I could. I wanted to know what they thought. How they saw things. What their values were. So… a lot of my… values? Are gonna sound a lot more like someone's great grandpa."

   "At least you don't give me that speech…"

   "What speech?"

   The boy put on an older male's voice to be funny imitating it.

   "You gotta just go in there, and give people a firm handshake. Look them right in the eye, let them know you're a person they can depend on. You need to just pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Why, When I was your age…"

   Panic laughed.

   "Why, when I was your age? I was already married. Had six kids. Owned my own house. Pumped gas part time, while I put myself through college. You just need to stand right up to bullies, and punch them in the nose, then they'll be your friend."

   "Yeah… that bullshit."

   "Well. Shit doesn't work like that anymore. I'd like to add one thing to all this, if I could."

   "What?"

   "Money. Yeah, you need money. To live. If you live your whole life, just making decisions based off how much money it makes you? You won't always make the best decisions. You can't be a homeless bum, either. You have to figure out where to draw the line."

   "Where's that?"

   Panic snickered.

   "I think most people, pick money too much. Myself? I'll admit it, I almost never picked money, and sometimes I should have."

   "You have a house. You have a couple cars. Couple bikes…"

   "My house? Is a big, old, shitty house. In a shitty town. Yeah, people make fun of it. I don't care, it's fine for me. My cars? All used. My bikes? Used. I worked on them, and fixed them. To make them useful. So I can have more things. If you only knew one thing about me, I'm sure you noticed, I honestly don't care what other people think. At all."

   "Mom says, you walk to the tune of a different drum."

   "I do. Now then… this was your mom's thing, to ask me all this. What was your dad's thing?"

   "Oh. Ask about… being in the service."

   "It's not for everyone. I don't think people should enlist, just because they don't know what else to do."

   "It's a job. You get an education."

   "Yeah? And unless you pre qualify for something you actually want? You can end up with a job you hate. You can easily end up with an education? To do something, you don't want to do for the rest of your life."

   "Really?"

   "I won't lie. The service? Its designed, for… maybe not the 19, but… it's designed around… most people. You think things are bad sometimes now? Wait till the same kind of person, has two stripes, when you have one. We had a saying. Joining the service? Doesn't really make people, it doesn't change them. It just brings it out more. An asshole? Becomes a bigger asshole. If you have a problem? You'll either fix it, get over it… or the service will run right over you. It's not… the magical fix-all, the boomers remember."

   The boy put the voice on again…

   "You'll learn something about life, boy. Yank them boot straps up quick!"

   Panic laughed.

   "Yeah. Find out about life? You can find out about being dead quick, too. Country's at war, and has been for a lot of years. Not just the guys with guns get killed, either."

   "Would… you join today?"

   "Honestly? Not sure. I do know, I wouldn't be as quick to sign up. If I had everything to do over again."

   "What would you do."

   "Honestly? Don't know. To me, the world's getting worse, not better. What sort of worked for me, years ago? It would probably take some different formula, today. Now then. Can I make a… summation. I want to wrap this up, and reinforce the important idea."

   "Sure."

   "The two most important things, to me. One, is the non aggression principle. Thou shalt not initiate force, against another. I try not to violate that rule, and… if someone violates it, consistently? Well… it's not my fault what happens. Karma, too. The non aggression principle, and Karma. Other than those two, what I would point out. Any one thing, say… karma. Or, the ten commandments. I don't care what code it is. As long as it's a good code, and you're following it? That's good. When you take several of the codes, and try to use all of them? That's great. I found that, once I had enough tools in my toolbox? I hardly ever needed violence."

   "Well, thanks."

   "Hope I helped."

   "Maybe. I don't know. I'm gonna go in, and join my friend's game."

   "Give 'em hell."

   They both said goodbye to him, then they had some of the new leftovers, after finishing what was left of the old ones. Then, they went and laid down again. After talking into his neck a bit, Merry asked if they were leaving tomorrow.

   "Yeah. Parents go back to work on Monday. Tomorrow's Sunday. We'll get a ride to my house, and go pick up my truck and my other car."

   "Why don't we get a ride to where you keep your cars?"

   "Because. No one needs to know where I keep my cars. It's walk-able."

   "You keep the location of your used cars, a secret. From people in general."

   "Yes."

   "Why?"

   "Several reasons. One, first and foremost. If you have multiple vehicles running, someone always wants to borrow one. It's uncanny. I don't like loaning vehicles out. Also? I didn't buy and fix up my used vehicles… so I could sell them cheap to people around me, that are looking for a deal. So, they're not for sale at any price, normally. I keep them secret, yeah. I don't mind helping someone fix their car, let them use my tools, half do it for them… but it gets old. People start wanting to bring over project cars, and dump them… uh uh. So yeah, once again? No one knows I have a garage somewhere, cheap."

   "I'm allowed to see it? I'm touched."

   "Allowed to see it? I'm going to hand you the keys to my little truck, when we're done. I figured you'd drive this one little compact car. Front wheel drive. I'll mainly load up the truck with stuff I want."

   "I have to drive the truck, then."

   "No. Not if you don't want to. I'll have my little car, that's already at camp. We'll have another little car, good on gas. And the truck. You can drive any one you want."

   "Merry couldn't realistically afford a car in the city. You're telling me, I get my pick of three of them?"

   "Four, if I pick something up and get it working."

   "If the car situation seems taken care of?"

   "It is."

   "Hell. Can I put an order in for a dirt bike? I grew up on one. I can obviously drive street bikes, but… almost all my time was on dirt bikes."

   "I thought I mentioned, I have a couple dirt bikes in my garage. A couple of street bikes, too. Like I told you, though. It's all Japanese machinery. I don't own any American or Harley's or anything like that. All rice burners."

   "I'm allowed to beat on one of your dirt bikes when the weather permits, up at camp?"

   "Sure. I'll bring another one, and do it with you. That'll be another trip, though. Anytime we bring the truck up, so I can grab a few things? We can take home a dirt bike or a street bike. There's just snow maybe coming, so. I figured another time."

   "I get to play with dirt bikes and street bikes, like the three cars? I feel like I'm wearing my little tiara when I was a toddler. You treat me like a princess."

   "None of the cars are expensive, or impressive to be seen in. My bikes are the same way. We can take the bus to Pittsburgh, and the local bus to come down and through my town my house is in."

   "Why did you have your friends pick us up then?"

   "I wanted to spend the weekend with them. I haven't seen them in a long time. I'm not going to see them very often, for a while. If you liked visiting there? I figured when we do come to my house for a week or a weekend, we can stay there, most likely."

   "I like staying in the garage. It's fun."

   "So is the basement, once you get used to it."

   "I still can't believe you're going to give me three vehicles to pick from."

   "Yeah. It's the imperial star-fleet. But seriously, the things work and run, they're just not eye candy. I picked everything up for a steal, and fixed it."

   "Would… it interest you, that the boys. And when I say the boys, I assume you know of whom I speak, right?"

   He nodded.

   "If you want… stolen bike parts."

   "Eh. All Harley shit. I'm a Jap bike man."

   "Well, that's just it. They call it hot rice, stolen rice burners, get it? They ain't worth much. Or, you can get hot Harley engines and frames. To hear the boys talk about it though, you have to really know someone, who really knows what they're doing, to change the numbers of a Harley."

   "I actually know a guy, believe it or not."

   "Well. Once I'm at the bar again? I can put the word out, for hot bikes and bike parts. If you think you want them."

   "Well. It's not a violent crime. I'm expected to be a low level criminal. Just happening to buy and sell some used machinery? Sure. Why not. I just have to be careful with the whole gun shop thing."

   "You seem to get along awfully well, with the guy that inspected you."

   "And that? Is because of Uncle Mikey and his friend. I can't count on that level of service, if some random ATF asshole shows up for a surprise inspection, and starts acting like a dick."

   "Actually, from what Mike said? That… field inspector guy or whatever he's called. He'll most likely be who you see once in a while. You'll probably know beforehand, even though you're technically not supposed to know when a surprise inspection is coming. From what I gathered bullshitting with Uncle Mikey."

   "Well. Let's try to get some sleep. Maybe it won't snow, or it won't be bad."

   In the morning, the mother woke them up with her morning cigarette and coffee. She once again brought two more coffees out for them. They got a bath and had a sort of family, buffet style breakfast again. Nothing concrete ever did develop around the video on the server. In the end, depending upon your point of view going into it, it either couldn't be disproved, or couldn't be proven.

   A mild but steady snow came by the time they got dropped off. Panic insisted they were walking around town anyways, it would be easier to just drop them off downtown. Merry and Panic walked around to a discount store and a junk store, as well as stopped for a snack in a little diner. They finally toted their rucksacks and stopped at an old gas station. It was all old cinder-block, not modern cementitious masonry units. The windows and doors had all been cinder blocked up as well. A big, solid steel door and a metal roll up door were the only entrances. Someone had put a metal roof on it somewhere along the line, she figured it was him or a friend had helped.

   Other than a tiny office space, bathroom and janitors closet, it was just a big, open block room. She saw the small pickup he had talked about, and the other front wheel drive car he was going to take with them. There were a couple of dirt bikes and a couple of street bikes, lining a back corner and wall. The cars and trucks were all painted a sort of battleship gray. The bikes tended strongly to be all black, with whatever matching colors for the tank and side pieces. The dirt bikes and the street bikes both ranged in size from fairly small to fairly large, in appearance.

   "So. What about the snow. It's not too bad here, but… we get near the mountains, where we cut up north? It's looking pretty heavy in places."

   "I see that. I also see, the temperature's holding steady, and there's very little wind. It's not gonna freeze, in the next couple of days. We'll be home at the range by then."

   "But… I don't drive that much. I try to be careful when I drive. I don't know about a trip in snow, I t---"

   "Just watch, honey."

   There were four tires in the back of the pickup. The metal tool box that went from side to side was away from the cab, and 4 tires were in the space created. He climbed up and hauled all four down. He went and got two different floor jacks, and an electric impact gun had him switching the four tires on the truck, for the four tires in the rear. Within a slow, unhurried half an hour… the truck now had 4 spiked tires all around. He lined metal gas cans from one side to another, up against the work box, which was after the tires. He took the battery tender off, and a few other things. He had things like extra blankets, work clothes for winter, boxes of food and water containers.

   He swapped the four tires on the compact car Merry would be driving, again for spiked tires all ready to go on rims waiting. He put two regular tires snugly into the trunk of the compact car, and added the other two regular non spiked tires to the back of the truck.

   He went over the CBs mounted in either vehicle, and checked and tuned the antennas. He was used to doing it, so it wasn't a long procedure. When he was finally satisfied, he had Merry drive in front of him, and talked to her on the CB, cajoling her to just put it in low, and just go steadily up the steep, windy hill to his house. When she finally did it, she was surprised how the car simply chugged slowly and surely up the hill, as sure footed as a mountain goat. Front wheel drive, combined with four spiked tires seemed a great combination.

   The cat was outside, posted up on guard in the middle of the road long before they approached. The cat knew the vehicle sounds, and danced around. They went into the house, and Panic slowly decided what he wanted to pack up and take with him. He had stacks of big plastic totes, and filled them up and stacked them neatly into the back of the truck. He added weight in storage totes tightly packed to Merry's back seat and trunk as well, though not nearly as much as the back of the truck.

   Merry wanted to take the other hill down in the snow. Panic cajoled her into low 1, and to simply steer without hitting the brakes very hard, down the hill, easily. Letting the transmission keep the car going slow, not braking and sliding. He directed her up the river road two lane and to the next town, so she could get used to going slow and steady and feel trustworthy as long as she went slow.

   They drove around for a while, doing nothing in particular, letting Merry get more and more comfortable. The cat rode with Panic in the truck, and he tended to follow her a short distance behind, talking her through it on the CB. When the roads were bare, he had her go the posted speed limit, and they convoyed in the slow lane. He didn't want to ruin the spiked tires unnecessarily. Once they got half way to the mountains where they had to exit the toll road heading back home, the spiked tires really showed their stuff when going slow and steady in the two feet of snow in places.

   Navigation to their neck of the woods was inordinately easy. The got off the toll road before the mountains on the correct road. Then, they simply turned off and followed the mountains, keeping them on their right, all the way up to Wrightsville. The two lane road they followed had a different name every so many miles, but in truth all you had to do was when the road veered away from the mountains, and another continued on alongside them? That's the road you took, no matter what the name or number of the road.

   They pulled off once off of the toll road and into the country, and Panic loaded up both tanks to the gills, and every metal gas can as well. They took frequent breaks for bathroom stops, snacks, or just to stop and have a smoke and relax for a break. Mr Fuzzy was apparently used to riding in the truck with Panic, and had his own litter-box on the floor. Panic quickly cleaned it out, as Merry laughed at the cat watching him tend to his every whim, sitting on the back of the passenger seat. His little buddy got the engine ran for him, so he would be warm anytime he went inside and left him. He never left the truck, without bringing back something for the cat to inspect, if only a little piece of beef jerky at every gas station.

   Merry looked in the rear view mirror once, and saw the cat laying up on the dash, obviously enjoying the defroster used for cab heat. Both the truck and the car had not only a CB installed and tuned, and the wiring tucked away neatly… they both had a cheap scanner tucked under each dash as well. The CB's had their own speakers, as well as small speakers just for the scanners. Local cop and emergency calls buzzed in and out of the speaker, when she got bored and wanted to try it. They both heard about a closed road due to an accident, and rerouted around it instead of getting caught and wasting more gas sitting still.

   They finally hit town in the wee hours of the morning, and bounced slowly down the snow covered trail to the cabin and trailer. Panic went in first, and three point turned his truck around in some snow covered grass and underbrush to make generous parking spaces for the two additional cars. The cat stayed in his truck, while he carried all his sealed plastic totes into the cabin and trailer, one at a time. Mr. Fuzzy watched with particular interest, Bitty Kitty buzzing around.

   He finally got out and followed Panic around, close on his heels. Bitty Kitty stayed close to Merry's workboots and jeans. The cats didn't get along in the slightest. Bitty Kitty ended up guarding Merry, and Mr. Fuzzy ended up guarding Panic, anytime all four of them were in the cabin. They were tired, but camp breakfast would be coming soon, and they decided to wait for that before taking a nap and seeing if the cats would settle down.

   With no other options that seemed to work well, Merry took Bitty into the trailer, and the newcomer Mr. Fuzzy stayed in the cabin with Panic. The trailer didn't have a kitty door yet, so Bitty Kitty was left alone in a warm trailer, while Panic and Merry set off for the bunkhouse and breakfast down the snowy trail.

   The small orange striped cat caught up with them walking down the trail. He had wasted no time discovering the kitty door, and Panic explained he was used to being able to get in and out of anywhere he was staying. Everyone greeted them, and it was getting close to the second hunting season. Trophy hunters were rotating out for "meat hunters" who wanted doe. Having a new cat, suddenly replacing "Killer" for breakfast, was a novelty.

   Mister Fuzzy ended up getting served by Panic. Sausage, bacon, a scrambled egg and sausage gravy. He even got a saucer full of coffee creamer. After a description of the long, slow, spiked tire drive… everyone said their goodbyes and they walked back to their camp. To have any relative peace, Bitty Kitty had to be kept in the nicer, newer trailer. Mr. Fuzzy grew accustomed to staying in the cabin with Panic. They each took turns sleeping in the other's "house", and joked about it. It took a couple weeks, before both cats could stand to be in the same cabin with the two of them, with a minimum though not insubstantial amount of felid chicanery.

   Merry enjoyed the laid back winter lifestyle of the camp. She poked Panic into taking her hiking and walking, because she was terrified of getting "soft" and "big" bodied, like her aunts all were. She missed Skykid who didn't come in for the hunting season, but Robbie made it. Apparently, his masonry work tapered off in the dead of winter, and a couple or even several weeks of "meat hunting" suited him just fine.

   Merry never said a word when the two of them took night vision and crossbows out after dark, and returned with does most times they did. They quickly skinned and band-sawed the meat up, over and over again. No one really noticed they had an early morning ritual down at the barn. George surprised them once at the barn, and he laughed at their faces being "caught".

   "Told you before, Panic. My grandpa would have approved, my grandpa would have been doing it with you two."

   Rob was excited to check out the bank building now that Panic had it, and he laid out plans for the spring to get things off to enough of a start, that Panic could have the public in. Panic set the surveillance up to run to a portion of "his" own server at the FBI basement, and put money aside for self insurance. Him and Rob were like two little kids to buy a few guns, have them shipped to their own FFL, and basically play.

   They weren't back for very long, before Merry and Panic knew they had been putting something off. Merry's first appearance at the local biker bar, since her disappearance and attempted murder. Merry swore she didn't feel there was going to be any problem, but Panic insisted on being prepared. One of the things he was able to buy, was law enforcement supply only materials. Him and Rob decided it would be both fun, and legal… if Panic were to buy a crate of flash-bangs.

   Basically small powered civilian hand grenades lacking the shrapnel, he ended up buying two crates. The first crate, was an assortment of tear gas, smokers, and indoor or regular sized flash-bangs. The second crate, was an assortment of the oversize outdoor equivalents. It was perfectly legal for him to buy them, and it was not against the law for him to test his purchases, and see how they performed.

   Merry found it quite a novelty to go alone, late at night with Panic, to the bank building. They wanted a place to put their cash they theoretically didn't have, in a safe space. A bank vault, and further in safe deposit boxes, was a fun trip. Merry was getting back regular deliveries on her deal she had made. That went into a separate safe deposit box.

   Rob and Panic stopped in one Tuesday evening to the biker bar. Rob went in first, and was recognized. Everyone was friendly. Panic followed in shortly afterwards, to a bigger greeting. Again, everyone seemed friendly, and eager to hear any news about Merry. After sitting there quietly, nursing a pitcher of beer… Panic finally texted Merry he thought things were doing well.

   She got a friendly mob, and ended up sitting in between Little Robbie and Panic, at the bar. The boys both still had their winter field jackets on. Merry found who she was most interested in talking to, and took her guys with her, to sit with him alone at a table in the back, off by themselves.

   Panic and Rob sat quietly, while the big guy explained how freaked out he was when they finally all heard through the grapevine. That their little barmaid was arrested for attempted murder, along with her cousin from the donut store. He claimed they were absolutely flabbergasted, when they found out Merry had been the target. Another ranking member got waved back, who added to the conversation.

   "Christmas? We're fucking embarrassed this happened, to tell you the truth. I don't think I'm stretching it much, when I tell you… she's lucky she's behind bars. Because if we could get a hold of her? She'd probably disappear."

   Merry finally said okay.

   Panic asked if it was rude of him to ask something, about all this.

   Both ranking members said no, that was fine.

   "So… everyone gives me their word. This was personal. This wasn't any kind of… club related business. Wasn't even a personal, off the books kind of thing. Right?"

   Both men swore it wasn't, and invited Merry to look at what national officers had privately emailed them about the whole situation. The man who "ran" the little barmaid as an earner, was honestly about as apologetic as he could be.

   "All right. Again, I'm not trying to be rude… but… I just want this out in the open."

   "Sure, sure."

   "Someone made a move on my girl. While we're at it? They tried to kill me too. By all rights, I should have been killed right along with her, then I wouldn't have been able to help her like I did. Can you boys even imagine how pissed off you'd be, if someone almost killed your wife or girlfriend, and tried to kill you too? I mean, pissed off doesn't really cover it. And yeah, I might be just a teensy bit paranoid. I mean, if you can appreciate that and all."

   "Yeah. I could see that."

   "Well, like I said. Out in the open about it. It's well known, that Merry has special permission, to work with the pigs, to put the DC cops in a cage. I'm working my own case, and while I don't broadcast it… I'm obviously working with the pigs, on my case. It's a murder case, and not one single person in the case even owns a motorcycle, let alone a Harley or flies colors."

   The first ranking member raised his hands, and smiled.

   "I know this. Not a problem, as long as it has nothing to do with any members."

   "Yeah, well. When someone tried to kill me and my girl, in my own house like they did? I'm not ashamed to admit, that I used my connections with the pigs, to get the job done quick. Just wanted to make sure that wouldn't be a problem later on down the line. Just saying."

   Both ranking members looked at one another, and shrugged.

   "Not a problem. You, are not a member. You, are not bound by our rules. As long as… whatever you get into, has nothing to do with us? Hey. God bless. So… we all good? You boys wanna take your coats off, and stay and have a drink?"

   "Actually, myself and my friend here, we should probably go out to the truck and get out of our coats."

   "What, you're packing? It's not a big deal. Half the guys in here are packing. No one cares."

   "It's not like you think. Trust me."

   "Hey. We don't care if you have a sawed off shotgun pistol on you. Trust me, we've seen it all."

   The other ranking member corroborated his opinion, then they both actually got curious what they were packing under their coats. They all owned guns, legally or illegally. Naturally, there was a certain amount of "gun owner" innocent curiosity. Finally, Panic and Rob relented to the interest.

   Panic went to the front door, and Rob went to the side door. Panic took out a little handheld radio, and popped the transmit several times. The one member with Panic, curious to see, and the other standing equally interested, at Rob's side.

   "Go ahead."

   "All clear. Stand down."

   "You sure?"

   "All clear. Stand down. I'm sure."

   Rob did the same.

   What sounded like a couple of off road vehicles nearby in the brush started up, and clearly went off. At least one had been on their side of the road, and they could see it cross the road a ways down, and over to the range side of the road. The driver paused and waved at Rob, who made a big, slow wave back.

   "Please tell me those weren't pigs."

   Panic grinned.

   "Perish the thought. Just friends. People I trust."

   Panic's member walked out with him to the truck, and Rob joined him. Panic once again reminded the man, that he wasn't to get alarmed. When Panic and Rob took their field jackets off, they had soft webbing harnesses on. They both looked to be snugged and fitted. They each had a semiautomatic handgun under each armpit, and several extra oversize clips arranged neatly under the holsters. That wasn't what attracted so much attention, as what else they had.

   Both of them had what certainly appeared to be grenades down the shoulder straps, the handles slid down into pockets in the webbing.

   "Jesus… you guys brought what, smokers? No… tear gas."

   Panic and Rob looked at each other and shrugged. Rob answered him, though.

   "Some of them are, yeah."

   The guy started chuckling.

   "No, seriously. You… you don't actually ha---"

   "Rob? We might as well each do one. Come on… out back…"

   They locked up the harnesses in the cab of the truck, and each stuck a single handgun and click fit holster over their belts. They also each carried a single "grenade" in with them.

   They went around back, and Rob asked where they should toss them. Someone indicated the aging burn barrel. Rob shook his head.

   "I don't know…"

   Panic looked around.

   "Hey. Can you get two guys to make sure there's no cars coming? Don't wanna scare any ordinary citizens driving by, huh?"

   Rob suggested everyone get back, or better yet watch from inside the bar, but, no one would have it. Most guys were peeking around the corners. Rob finally announced it…

   "Fuck it. Fire in the hole!"

   He had yanked the pin out, and tossed the now live grenade into the metal burn barrel, then rotated his body around the corner, and clapped his hands over his ears. Panic did the same, but just inside the side door, and kept himself totally out of the door frame.

   In the intervening several seconds, most of the bikers followed their example, and naturally a few were still craning their necks around the corners to watch. Rob snapped his fingers in the silence, followed immediately by a big, booming explosion. The burn barrel split a bit, and opened up like a balloon. The light of the explosion was apparent inside the barrel that listed up slightly, and all manner of debris came out in all directions.

   Mostly ashes, mixed with bits of charred wood and dirt, struck everything in sight. Most of the people craning their necks instead of following Rob's and Panic's example, got a double eyeful of ashes blown into their faces under force.

   Guys ran around screaming about the burning. Rob and Panic calmed them down, and Merry walked them to the sink in the back.

   Panic grinned at the guy that was accompanying him start to finish, and pulled his pin and tossed his in the drainage ditch across the back of the bar. He turned his back to it, and clapped his hands over his ears. The explosion could be felt, and dirt and tiny debris rained down.

   "Like I said. Some were smokers, some were tear gas. Most of them weren't."

   "Well. Glad we're all friends here. I guess you were ready if things went… wrong. I'm afraid to ask…"

   Panic shrugged as if it was the most normal thing in the world to explain.

   "Ah. We each toss two smoke, and two tear gas, followed by the real ordinance. We each post up outside one of only two doors. Pick off the stragglers. Kinda routine."

   "Plus, you had guys waiting in the woods."

   "Help mop up. Alternate exit strategy if we needed it."

   "All right. July 4th is over, let's have a beer, right?"

   Everyone was either joking and making nervous laughter, chit chatting about the demonstration, or trying to be friendly. Merry rolled up several hand-rolled cigarettes and passed them around for the guys to enjoy, explaining to one of the members that she had a pound to slowly get rid of. That if anyone wanted a small sale, they were to see her for it. She was emphatic about "no colors, no loud bikes" coming out to the camp, as it was well populated on the regular by cops and military guys that used the range constantly.

   "You know? I think, I'll just text you, if that's all right."

   "That works too. 40 a cut, for members. Citizens pay 50. I won't be meeting any new faces."

   "You, uh… coming back to work at the bar?"

   "When the trials are over, I planned on it. I got pigs stuck up my ass sometimes, until it's all over."

   Merry had to explain her new deep voice, and showed off her tracheotomy scar she would carry with her forever. She glossed over how she had died and seen her own dead body, and how Panic had to take a knife to her throat, to open her up to get air. The guys in on that conversation were respectfully silent, and nodded their heads. It somehow made the entire situation and demonstration they had just witnessed, make a whole lot more sense.

   Rob and Panic stayed and slowly finished their pitcher, then Merry went back to the camp with them.