Chapter 12 - The Living: Part 3

“I’m not certain I’ll ever get used to being inside during a storm.”

Draki’s off-hand comment came after a particularly loud thunderclap rattled off the walls.

That storm was pouring down outside, the pattering of rain on windows occasionally punctuated by thunder. Amoc’s party had been escorted to a large building not far from the gates, and then into what appeared to be a conference room. Amoc could still feel the presence of Sam, the Garou they had met at the gate, nearby in the building. There were others out there as well, but they hadn’t made themselves known yet. So far their first meeting had all been very cordial, but Amoc was still feeling a bit on edge.

“Why’s that?” Amoc asked, welcoming the distraction from his thoughts.

“I would think it would be obvious.” Draki stated, as if it should be. “We’re built to be outside. When a storm came along, if we hadn’t already we’d simply take up a perch and turn to stone, and ride it out.”

“Right, of course.” Amoc realized.

“I’ve never spent so much time as flesh and blood.” Draki continued. “I can’t shake the feeling of vulnerability, even though I know inside a building is exactly where I should be in a storm, as a creature of flesh and blood.”

“Old habits are hard to break.” Amoc offered. “Especially when you’ve got nearly two centuries worth to break.”

“Are you calling me old and set in my ways?” Draki asked, entirely deadpan.

Amoc took a moment to study Draki. Gargoyles had never been as easy to read as humans, but Draki seemed strangely relaxed. His heart rate and breathing were steady, and only slightly elevated from having spent most of the day flying. Gargoyles are athletes of the highest order; possibly as much as Garou, but flying is still demanding work. There was nothing Amoc could read that said Draki was anything other than calm and collected.

“That was a joke.” Draki added, when Amoc failed to respond.

“Right.” Amoc stated, realizing he was still very on edge. “You were giving me the cold shoulder for quite a while.”

That got a rare bit of emotion to pass over Draki’s draconic features.

“Sorry.” Amoc quickly added. “Didn’t mean to spoil the moment. Just kind of amazed.”

“You’re not wrong.” Draki followed. “About the ‘cold shoulder’, as you say. I had to reevaluate some assumptions I had made… about you. After what you told us in Albany.”

That I was a Hunter.

“The months prior to that, the events in Canada…” Draki continued. “They fully conflicted with what I thought I knew. It took me some time to realize I needed to throw that all away and start over. There were a pair of times before that where I should have realized it… but that talk in Albany finally drove it home.”

“Well, I welcome more jokes.” Amoc stated. “Simon needs some competition.”

“Competition with what?” Simon asked from the other side of the room.

“Bad jokes.” Amoc bluntly stated.

“Hey, my bad jokes are of the highest caliber.” Simon replied, feigning offense. “Or would that be the lowest caliber?”

“You’ve got your work cut out for you.” Amoc stated to Draki.

“Clearly.” Draki replied, amused.

“Seriously, though, I’m glad to see it.” Amoc continued. “I don’t want expectations to ever get in the way of what we’ve got going.”

“I realize that now, both for myself and for you.” Draki concluded.

A flash outside the window was followed by a window-rattling thunderclap.

“Close one.” Amoc observed. “Didn’t know storms out here could be this angry.”

“This is where they usually are at their worst, coming over the hills.” Draki informed. “They lose a lot of energy as they move to the east.”

“D.C. was your home for quite a while.” Amoc remembered.

“Nearly twenty years.” Draki confirmed. “I spent time in New York and Chicago when I first came to the United States after World War II, then decided something a bit different was in order, and moved to D.C.”

It was easy to forget how long Gargoyles lived.

“How has country life been?” Amoc asked.

“It’s taken adjustment, no question there.” Draki replied. “But so has all of this.”

Amoc took a moment to focus on the compound around him, and noted not much had changed. The presence he recognized as Sam, the Garou they had met, hadn’t moved for a while. They were too far away to hear any conversation going on, so he could only guess what was taking them so long.

“Seems we’re going to be here a bit.” Amoc observed. “Didn’t have a chance to ask you what you saw while you were up there, if you don’t mind changing the subject to current affairs.”

“Not at all.” Draki began. “I’m fairly well convinced they haven’t been exaggerating about things being ‘rough’ here. I noted several places where the fence line has been repaired, and one that appeared to still be under active repair. Greenhouses that don’t look original to the compound appear to have plants growing in them, but they’re certainly not large enough to support a compound this size. Though I don’t have any notion of how many people are here. I saw some motion around the perimeter, but it’s hard to tell with the tree cover.”

“There’s a significant number of people here.” Amoc observed. “Hundreds. Haven’t felt this much energy in The Veil since the Apocalypse started.”

“You would know better than me.” Draki conceded. “But I can’t see where they would be getting enough food. The farms to the east were all heavily overgrown. Maybe they could supplement the greenhouses with hunting, but for hundreds of people? It would run any hunters they have ragged. On top of what I have to assume are undead attacks on the fence line, and this ‘Fenris’ group of Garou that seem to be some form of trouble…”

“It’s a lot to manage.” Amoc finished the sentence. “And now there’s this living flamethrower out there. Not sure I’m looking forward to telling them about that.”

“Indeed.”

Amoc felt the presence of Sam start moving towards them.

“Though it seems I’m going to be doing that shortly.” Amoc observed, then said louder to the room: “They’re coming back.”

Simon, Marcus, Maggie and Ari looked over. Maggie made a pass at explaining to Ari while Simon and Marcus came over to stand with Amoc and Draki.

“Same plan?” Simon asked.

“Same plan.” Amoc confirmed. “Whatever they ask, we answer truthfully. We’ve got nothing to hide, and they’ve been accommodating so far.

“And if they decide not to be?” Marcus asked the pragmatic question as usual.

“Then I do what I have to, and all of you do your best to stay out of my way.”

Simon gave Amoc a look he knew well, that expression that said he was remembering exactly what a Garou was capable of; what his friend was capable of. Amoc didn’t enjoy seeing it.

“I don’t want to.” Amoc emphasized the point. “But you all come first, you know that. Even over another Garou.”

Simon simply nodded. Draki and Marcus were two stoic peas in a pod. Sam’s presence was close enough to be able to hear anything more they said now, so Amoc remained silent as they approached. After a few moments, they came through the open doors. Greg moved to have a seat in one of the room’s chairs.

Another clap of thunder rumbled off the walls outside.

“Hell of a storm.” Greg began. “But it happens in the Spring. Sorry that took so long. I value Sam’s advice, but well… he can be a bit distrustful. I’m sure you understand.”

“I do.” Amoc began, observing Sam’s reaction to Greg’s blunt admission.

The Garou named Sam was scowling, but that had been his expression entering the room. Whatever their talk had been about, it was clear Greg was still in charge, even if Sam didn’t approve.

“And I am prepared to answer any questions you have, truthfully and to the best of my knowledge.” Amoc continued. “I know how hard trust is to build, so I’ll start by being as open as I can be, and hope that I can lay the first brick in that trust.”

“I’d like that, so let’s start here: what are your intentions with us?” Greg asked, straight to the point.

“I hope we can work together.” Amoc answered. “It’s been my mission for some time now to try and find more survivors. Human and non-human alike, and combine our strengths into something fundamentally stronger than either side would be alone. We’ve always needed each other, it’s just we can no longer afford to stick to the old ways. It can’t be a one-sided relationship anymore.”

That got what Amoc thought was a hint of a reaction from Sam. Amoc badly wanted to ask how they had come to the arrangement they had here at Mt. Weather, but that would have to wait.

“Doesn’t sound like that was always your goal.” Greg correctly observed. “What changed?”

“I did.” Amoc stated simply, and prepared himself to dig up what was still a very emotionally charged history. “I lost myself completely to rage after the apocalypse. I wasn’t alone in that rage. Myself and thirty other Garou set ourselves on New York City, and for months we killed countless undead, but there were always more. And there were always less Garou every time we went out. I don’t even remember when it happened, but I just recall one day I was alone. I only knew that I was seeking Death, and it never came. I was absent from myself for a long time.”

Sam’s scowl was gone at this point. He and Greg didn’t appear to have expected what Amoc was laying out.

“Then one night, something different happened.” Amoc continued. “I was deep into what must have been a horde of a million bodies. I was convinced it was the one that would finally arrange my meeting with Death. Somewhere in that fight as I was really beginning to slow down from my injuries, the horde was suddenly pulled away by a yell and a flash of light. Looking for the source, I found Simon…” Amoc pointed to where Simon was sitting, “standing on top of a bus, a pure manifestation of rage, focused on keeping Death away. It made me angry. And that’s when it happened.”

“Some switch inside me was flipped.” Amoc explained. “The anger vanished in an instant, and I made a choice in that moment. I pushed through the horde, jumped on that bus, and gave Simon the window he needed to escape. We left Death behind in New York City that night, and watching the sun come up the following morning, I felt like I was seeing it for the first time. I felt like anything was possible, and I vowed to Simon I would fight for the living, all of the living, from that day on.”

“The others you see in this room.” Amoc motioned to Draki, Marcus, Maggie, and Ari, “Are here because of that vow. Because Simon brought me back from my absence. Because I chose to defend the living instead of fighting what was already dead.”

The rest of Amoc’s party gave small nods in agreement. There was quiet in the room for several moments.

“That’s… really something.” Greg finally spoke up, quietly. “We went through something similar, a long while back. A horde took half the town we came from. Took us a while to reckon with. Some of us still haven’t entirely, and there are other things, but well… we got unexpected help from people we knew. Or thought we knew.”

Sam looked over to Greg for a moment, that scowl coming back. Amoc guessed that Sam had been one of those people.

“I’ve got no reason to hide this from them.” Greg replied to the unspoken objection from Sam. “Same as he’s got no reason to lie about that. You can’t buy or force the kind of trust I see in Amoc’s people. You said it yourself, he’s not one of them, and what I’m seeing right now tells me that ever louder. He’s someone that thinks like you do.”

Thinks like Sam does? What does that mean?

“It would seem so.” Sam conceded, scowling slightly less.

Greg turned back to Amoc. He took a moment before he resumed speaking.

“We weren’t here when the apocalypse started.” Greg began his own retelling. “We came from a town in West Virginia called Elk Valley. Tiny bump in the road kind of place. But we knew each other, and when the world went dark, we banded together to try and survive. We got taught a pretty hard lesson on that when a horde ripped through the town a few weeks on. Took nearly half of us with it. We tried to recover, set up defenses, organize defense plans, but most of us still among the living, myself included, realized we had no hope in hell of surviving. That’s when three of our own stepped up one day and said ‘by the way, we’re werewolves.’”

Greg’s story filled in some blanks on what had happened in more rural areas of the country. The undead still came, it just took longer. And those that had survived this long likely had help.

“Sadie, you’ve not met her yet, was the one that showed us what they are.” Greg continued. “Changed right in front of me and John, our mayor. Not going to lie, I don’t remember all of what happened in that room. Sam said it was a kind of delirium that happens in humans that see werewolves. But it went away with time, and we’ve come to rely on them. But I’m getting ahead of myself.”

So they beat me to the realization, and by quite a long time. Just who are these three Garou?

“A few months after the first horde, another came for the town.” Greg returned to his story. “Our Garou friends tried to pull it away, but these undead were persistent bastards. We barely got through it. Depleted our ammo stocks, lost a barricade, and Sam got cut up pretty bad. I knew then Elk Valley couldn’t be held. It was painful to realize, for a lot of us it had always been home, and some felt they’d rather die trying than abandon their homes. I’ll be honest, a seventy mile hike through the foothills with undead around us and no defenses sounded insane, but what choice did we have? We were dead if we stayed. I realized I’d rather say I died trying than I died defending a pile of boards and nails.”

“The town came around to that sentiment.” Greg continued. “It was rough getting here. We lost some people on the way. Sam, Sadie, and Ben… Ben’s the third Garou, you spoke to him on the radio, they didn’t sleep for a week keeping watch and pulling undead away from our march. We made it, though we found Mt. Weather completely abandoned. I have no idea why. It’s not been easy here, but it’s a hell of a lot harder for the undead to get through a blast door than some flipped over semi trailers. This of all places should have had people in it… but there was nothing.”

I was talking to a Garou on the radio and never knew it. And he’s not wrong… why would anyone have abandoned a fortified bunker in the apocalypse?

“So… that’s our story, more or less.” Greg wound it down. “We’re surviving here, for the most part, but I’m not going to lie and say it isn’t touch and go some days. Because it is. Having another Garou on our side would go a long way. Your flying friend there…” Greg nodded to Draki, “would also be most welcome. Especially now. There’s things going on to the east that started a few days ago we don’t have a good read on. It all started with that giant beam of light, which was in the direction you came from. You had to have seen it.”

No secrets, nothing hidden. Maybe not all of the truth just yet, but we need to build that trust.

“Simon and I were at ground zero.” Amoc flatly stated.

Eyes went wide on Greg’s side of the room.

“Do you know what it was?” Sam asked, before Greg could reply.

“Life.” Amoc explained. “A stream of it. I don’t entirely understand how it was done, but it was sent here to try and balance out the apocalypse. The world is out of balance. Ground zero of what started the apocalypse happened in Washington D.C. Something there massively tipped the scales over to the side of death, and created the undead. We were on our way to try and figure that out… and then that beam happened.”

“How do you know this?” Sam asked.

“I’ve seen it, in visions.” Amoc explained. “Draki is a Guide. He helped me through those visions, and that’s what led us to figure out where it all started. We still don’t fully understand how it was done, but we know for certain that the balance of life and death was off, probably still is off… but life has started fighting back. Ari over there…” Amoc pointed to Ari. “I think is part of that. What does he read as, to you?”

The question was for the other Garou in the room, Sam.

“Human.” Sam confirmed. “Maybe. I’m not sure. He hasn’t made sense since I first saw him, because he’s clearly not human.”

“Right, he isn’t.” Amoc confirmed. “He’s new. To this world. Maybe to any world, I’m not sure, but we found him the morning after the beam, and I’ve never encountered anything like him before, I can’t figure any other way to explain it.”

“What about him, Simon, right?” Sam pointed to Simon. “I see a human, but I don’t read him as one.”

Simon looked to Amoc, his expression concerned, but he offered no objection.

“Like I said, Simon and I were at ground zero.” Amoc replied. “It changed us both. Simon more than me I think, but it remains to be seen what the extent of those changes might be. Simon was human before that. Now he’s something new, like Ari. As for me, well… I fought a horde of a few thousand bodies in Quantico and didn’t even feel winded afterwards. That’s never happened before.”

Greg and Simon shared a glance of their own.

“It would definitely explain some things.” Sam said to Greg.

“Hell, we’re in this deep.” Greg commented, then continued. “Two days ago something went down in the east, maybe fifteen, twenty miles out. We’ve got a pretty good view out that way. There was a big fire. Way too big to be some gas tank falling over or something else coincidental. Sam went to see what happened. He found bodies, freshly burned. Tracks that didn’t make sense. And no sign of any undead. In fact, we’ve not seen a walking corpse since that beam of light. It’s like they all just vanished.”

Gabriel’s flamethrower. And the lack of undead on the road.

“He knows what it was.” Sam observed Amoc’s reaction.

Greg looked to Amoc expectantly.

“Not exactly.” Amoc corrected. “But I think Gabriel was there. He described a fight to us. Between Garou and some kind of living flamethrower. Said that it may have killed some of the Garou, and definitely killed a bunch of humans. He escaped, and then found us on the road.”

“Shit.” Greg swore. “You think that’s maybe why they haven’t picked up in two days?”

The question was for Sam.

“They don’t always want to talk to us, but they have been really quiet.” Sam offered. “If they’ve lost Garou… they don’t have bunkers to hide in like we do.”

“They, I assume, are this Fenris group you mentioned before.” Amoc interjected.

“Right, well… might as well give you the last piece of our story.” Greg began. “Yes, Fenris is what they go by. They came here some time after we set ourselves up on Mt. Weather, maybe a month after that, they showed up, hundreds of humans in tow, no idea how they managed it or where they came from, but they set up on a peninsula in the river to the west, built a wall along a narrow point of land, and established their little kingdom.”

Greg’s Tone said this relationship clearly wasn’t a good one.

“Sam says there’s twelve Garou in their group.” Greg continued. “Maybe a thousand humans. They work them hard. Like slaves. We don’t like them and they don’t like us, but we stay out of each other’s business and that’s how it’s been since they built their wall.”

A dozen Garou. A thousand humans. They’ve made themselves kings. Gods, maybe. There were always some Garou that wanted to rule over humans that way. Now that there aren’t any consequences…

“They don’t like their slaves running away.” Greg resumed, an angry edge clear in his tone. “And we don’t have the means to tell them no, so if one comes running to us, we send them back. So you can maybe understand how Gabriel being in Mt. Weather complicates things.”

Gabriel had been taken away separately when they had come to the building. Amoc hadn’t questioned it. Now he was wondering if he had just started a war.

“I had no way of knowing.” Amoc tried the excuse, but it sounded thin even to his own ears.

“You didn’t.” Greg allowed. “And you didn’t start anything that wasn’t already brewing, if that’s what you’re thinking. That said, I’m going to ask you to do something that’s going to require a lot of trust we haven’t earned yet. You’ve talked to Gabriel, you’ve seen the mark. I know you Garou can smell a lie at a hundred paces, so you know I’m telling it like it is. If they’re hurt, there’s a bunch of people that are going to suffer, and whether or not we send Gabriel back to them isn’t going to matter. This may be our only chance to get them to concede.”

“What are you asking me to do?” Amoc already knew the answer to the question.

“Support us when we go over there to find out what happened.” Greg laid out his request. “Bring your tanks, your air support, and yourself.”

“We’ll need to run this by John.” Sam was apparently taken aback by Greg’s sudden aggression.

“He’ll approve it.” Sam dismissed the objection, and turned back to Amoc. “I don’t expect an answer now. We’ll set you up with housing and food, and you can sleep on it. Talk it over with your people.”

“I’ll do that.” Amoc stated.

“Good.” Greg approved. “Housing unit A is empty right now, if you wouldn’t mind escorting them there, Sam. I need to talk with John.”

“What if I say no?” Amoc asked, before Greg could get up to leave.

“They have a Garou child.” Greg bluntly replied.

Amoc’s mind froze on the words.

“I know you’re worried about your future.” Greg continued in a softer tone. “We all are, but I’ve heard it from Sam, Sadie, and Ben, so I know it has to be going through your mind too. You’re wondering if you’re going to be the last generation. Like you said, we need each other.”

And with that revelation, Greg got up and left the room. Amoc was still too frozen in place to say anything else.

“Come on.” Sam was standing next to Amoc now. “Storm’s let up, I’ll show you the housing.”

“You’re outcasts, aren’t you?” Amoc asked Sam.

They were walking on an overpass that connected the two halves of the compound, bisected by the road they had come in on. The housing units were on the west side of the mountain. So far Amoc hadn’t noticed anyone else walking around, but it wasn’t clear if the storm was entirely done just yet.

“That’s one word for it, yeah.” Sam confirmed.

“I couldn’t explain how you figured it out so early on.” Amoc explained. “Garou are fighters. That’s what we teach, what we do. Anyone that thinks differently has to go somewhere they can’t do any harm. And you saved hundreds of lives because of it. All I succeeded at doing was getting a lot of Garou killed.”

“Yeah.” Sam agreed. “Funny how that works, isn’t it?”

There was no sympathy there. No apologies for the lost. Sam wasn’t much for people, that was clear, but there was more to it than that.

“I was a mentor.” Sam continued. “Taught a lot of young Garou how to be good killers. The curse of being good at that meant I got older while a lot of those Garou I mentored never came back. I walked away from it, gave up my true name, and moved to Elk Valley to try my hand at art.”

“Art?” Amoc asked, surprised.

“Don’t act so shocked.” Sam replied. “There’s plenty of other things we’re capable of. I think you know that well enough now.”

They had crossed the overpass and were headed for a staircase that seemed to cut a corner off the switchback road that wound down the mountain inside the compound.

“Yeah.” Amoc admitted. “Yeah, it took way too long to figure out.”

“What were you, then?” Sam asked. “Been a long time since I’ve been able to talk to a normie.”

Normie? That’s not going to last long.

“My family ran a power solutions business in New York City.” Amoc answered. “Supplied a lot of systems for our rural friends.”

“City slicker.” Sam commented. “Rare breed, your lot, but always in demand. Especially the kind that can live in a city the size of New York. That couldn’t have been all you did, though.”

Sam should know. I need to trust him before he’ll trust me.

“No.” Amoc confirmed. “When they tested me on silver, they found I was immune. I was groomed to be a Hunter not long after.”

Sam had been about to take the first step down the staircase, but froze dead in his tracks. Amoc had expected a reaction from the admission, Hunters not always being the most welcome guests, but this was something more than that.

Sam turned to face Amoc.

“You were a Hunter.” Sam repeated, flatly. “An immune Hunter.”

“Yes.” Amoc again confirmed.

Everyone else had stopped behind them. Amoc could feel their gazes on his back. Sam remained silent for several long moments before finally speaking up again.

“Your kind was the reason I walked away from mentoring.” Sam bluntly stated, as if Amoc was something other than Garou.

“I don’t…” Amoc tried to respond, but Sam raised a hand for him to stop.

Sam took a deep breath before resuming.

“That’s a story you’ve not earned yet.” Sam continued. “But… I have to assume you’ve changed, because we all have, and because I can’t see you making it this far if you hadn’t. You clearly have people that trust and depend on you. No Hunter I ever met would have been capable of that.”

There is definitely more to this story.

“I have tried, really I have.” Amoc stated. “It cost me a hell of a lot to get here, and I don’t think I’m close to paying off my balance, but I use what I am for the living.”

Sam let out a deep, resigned sigh.

“Fucking sense of irony The Veil has, I swear.” Sam resumed. “We’re misfits, the three of us. We left our world behind by choice, because we didn’t want anything to do with it. I’m the best fighter we’ve got, and that’s not saying much. We’ve managed so far on pure Garou physicality and raw luck. The truth is…” Sam paused, clearly struggling with the words. “The truth is we could use a Hunter.”

The words were clearly not something Sam wanted to say. There was a history there.

“Shit, I can’t believe I'm saying this.” Sam said while looking up at the sky, then back to Amoc. “I would have gladly taken another warm Garou body to help us out with the hordes, which was all I was hoping for from you. But an immune Hunter?.” Sam shook his head before continuing. “I’m realizing we’re the ones that need you to trust us, and you don’t really need us for anything. I hate it, but there it is.”

Things must be tough indeed, if Sam is willing to set aside whatever grudge he’s clearly holding against me.

“How do you know the child is Garou?” Amoc asked the question, remembering Greg’s words.

Sam took a moment to respond. Likely trying to figure out his motivations, Amoc thought.

“They showed it off to us like a trophy.” Sam explained, clear disdain in his voice. “Made sure one of us was there to see it at our last meetup. Newborn, only a few months old, but the impression was there. It was Garou.”

“And if they can’t defend themselves anymore…” Amoc came to the obvious conclusion.

“Yeah.” Sam confirmed. “If the undead weren’t suddenly missing, they’d probably already be dead. And I don’t count on them staying missing forever.”

“I’ll help.” Amoc stated.

“You’d better.” Sam replied. “For all our sakes, for our future, and to pay off that debt you owe.”

They stood there at the top of the stairs for several moments. Sam let out another deep sigh.

“Come on, unit A is just down this first flight.” Sam turned and started down the stairs.

Housing unit A was a fairly nondescript building that looked like it could have been a hotel in any other setting. Going inside confirmed it, as the rooms and hallways were laid out in exactly the same way. Power, running water, and climate control were all still functioning as if nothing had changed. Sam informed them that the compound had fully independent and redundant systems for all of it, which made sense given the purpose of Mt. Weather had originally been an evacuation site for the government.

“If you need anything, pick up a phone and dial zero.” Sam explained. “You’ll get the watch office. They’ll handle it. And just in case I need to say it, you’re guests here. You want to wander around, fine, just stay inside the fence line, is all I ask.”

“We won’t complicate things for you more than we already have.” Amoc assured Sam.

“Thanks.” Sam continued. “Also because I’m going to bring Ben and Sadie by later, so we can all introduce ourselves.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Amoc concluded.

Sam gave Amoc one last look, shook his head, and turned to leave the building. Amoc watched as he exited through the door and turned to head back up the hill.

“Not much of a people person is he?” Simon asked, after it had been long enough for Sam to be out of earshot.

“Compared to most Garou interactions I’ve had, that was downright civilized.” Amoc replied.

“Misfits?” Simon asked, using Sam’s own term for them. “He called you a ‘normie’. Took some willpower to not laugh at that.”

“I was, at one time.” Amoc corrected. “I don’t think Sam has changed much at all. And the people here are very likely alive because of that. I’ve got a good feeling about him.”

“Yeah, me too.” Simon agreed. “So we’re going to go with them?”

“I think so, yes.” Amoc confirmed. “We’ll build that trust, and go from there.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Simon concluded. “Now if you don’t mind, I’ve not had a shower in three days.”

“Such suffering, don’t let me stop you.” Amoc joked as Simon disappeared into his room.

Amoc was glad some days that the Garou sense of smell wasn’t quite as sharp in human form. When the odor remained, Amoc decided he should probably make use of a shower as well.

We really have been lucky, moving from one pocket of civilization to another.

The thought went through Amoc’s head as he scrubbed off the grime of several days of travel, as well as a lot of oil and grease from the LAVs. Other survivors, like Maggie’s group, hadn’t had such luxuries. At night the world plunged into a kind of darkness it hadn’t experienced in a thousand years. No electricity, no running water, nothing.

Amoc shook the thought as he shut the shower off and toweled himself dry. Hanging up the towel and stepping into the main area to grab his clothes, Amoc found Miriam standing in the room.

“Oh my.” Miriam began. “Who takes a shower in the middle of the afternoon?”

“I swear you Witches do this on purpose.” Amoc stated, resuming walking over to where his clothes were laid out. “Half the time you show up like this, I’m undressed.”

“Well, you know what they say about Garou and clothes.” Miriam recounted the well-worn joke about clothing being a Garou’s only true fear. “And my sister Martine might actually say it was perfect timing.”

Miriam, of course, was not actually present in this room. Amoc wasn’t entirely sure how it worked. It was just something Witches could do; project themselves to other places. Amoc continued dressing.

“To answer your question, someone who hasn’t showered in three days.” Amoc explained.

“Oh the hardships.” Miriam’s tone was dripping with sarcasm. “Seems you’ve found another oasis in this world. You’re not in Washington D.C.”

“Mt. Weather.” Amoc again explained. “There were some… events that led us here.”

“Indeed.” Miriam was intrigued. “Before I ask, I will get to the point of my visit. I’ve fixed the flaw in Albany’s bubble. It will no longer cause unintended dreamwalking. I even believe I can replicate it, but that will require finding my coven.”

Amoc paused in the middle of dressing. That had happened much faster than he expected.

“That’s incredible.” Amoc was genuinely amazed. “Wait… your coven. You said the name Martine… Simon mentioned a Martine.”

“You’ve seen her?” Miriam interjected before Amoc could continue.

“Not in this world.” Amoc continued. “Simon went traveling.”

“Oh my.” Miriam was more surprised this time than when Amoc had walked out into the room naked. “That explains a few things.”

Amoc finished dressing by pulling a shirt over his head, and dove into the short version of the story.

“A few days ago, he traveled to another world, met another version of me there, and Martine.” Amoc retold Simon’s account. “He said they stopped the apocalypse there, but had to do something about the world’s balance. So Martine fixed that by sending it all here as living energy.”

“Incredible.” Miriam concluded.

“I’m sorry it doesn’t help you find Martine.” Amoc apologized.

“It may, actually.” Miriam began. “Such a feat was one of her theories. Martine will have felt it the same as I did. She’ll come. Which means I should head your way, immediately.”

“There’s also new things happening.” Amoc continued. “One of them is a sentient being we found. Simon named him Ari. He seems friendly, though he’s just kind of a blank slate. There’s also something less friendly that sounds a lot like a dragon, wandering around between here and D.C. It may have killed a number of Garou. I know you can manage just fine in the old world, but things are changing out there. Because of Martine’s infusion, I’m very sure of it.”

That got Miriam’s attention. It was rare to see a Witch caught off guard.

“The warning is heard and appreciated.” Miriam replied. “I won’t let my attention waver while I travel. Thank you.”

“If we’re still here, feel free to drop by.” Amoc concluded.

“Oh I’m certain we’ll be meeting again, sooner rather than later.” Miriam replied. “And Amoc… there aren’t many pleasures left in this world, but dropping in on a nude Garou is one of them.”

The grin on Miriam’s face was wicked. Before Amoc could reply, she vanished. Amoc shook his head.

“Definitely on purpose.” Amoc muttered to the empty room.

True to his word, Sam arrived at their housing unit shortly after sunset, with Sadie and Ben in tow. Like most Garou, they looked rather ordinary in their human forms. Sadie was perhaps a bit more stocky than one would expect, and wore her hair short. She also wore a sweat-stained t-shirt and jeans, and had oil-stained hands that suggested mechanical work. Ben was relatively well-kempt in comparison.

Ben was also significantly younger than Sadie and Sam. The older two Garou were both senior to Amoc, and Ben was younger, putting Amoc somewhere between them. Garou ages could be difficult to figure, as they all tended to age fairly slowly. Being able to regenerate from injuries and damage, as well as having a near total immunity to disease and sickness, meant that they could live a very long time. Not that many did. Garou life was violent, and few ever got to see old age.

Amoc led the group over to the building’s common area.

“So, this is the Hunter, come to save us.” Sadie began, taking a seat on one of the sofas.

Sadie was definitely sizing Amoc up. Ben’s look was one of curiosity, Amoc felt.

“Amoc, this is Sadie.” Sam began the introductions. “She’s an acquired taste.”

Sadie gave Sam a look. This was clearly a well-worn relationship.

“Ben you met on the radio a few days ago.” Sam introduced the younger Garou.

“Good to meet you, finally.” Amoc replied. “I’m hoping we can work together from here on out.”

I sound like I’m interviewing for a job.

“Well I’m not going to say no to someone with your skills.” Sadie replied. “Especially an immune. Never thought I’d be glad to see a boogeyman.”

It had been a long time since Amoc had heard that name.

“What does that mean?” Simon asked. “Why did you call him that?”

“How much have you told him?” Sam asked, before Amoc could respond. “About our world?”

Simon looked over to Amoc. Simon didn’t know; ‘boogeyman’ wasn’t a word Amoc had ever brought up in his talks on their world.

“A lot, and that started well before the event a few days ago.” Amoc explained. “But there’s always more. And it’s not like we’ve had a lot of downtime in our travels.”

“It’s what he is.” Sadie replied, plainly. “Garou have one weakness: silver. And your friend there doesn’t have that weakness. Assuming he’s telling the truth, that makes him one of the most dangerous things in our world.”

Sadie then looked back to Amoc.

“So we need to know we can trust him.” Sadie continued. “And I brought something to do that.”

Amoc realized where this was going as Sadie put on a glove and reached into a bag she had been carrying. She produced a very old looking knife, carefully held it by the blade, and offered the handle to Amoc.

“You want us to trust you?” Sadie asked. “Here’s how it starts.”

“Is that what I think it is?” Simon asked, wariness in his tone.

“Oh yes.” Sadie confirmed.

The blade was silver plated, Amoc had no doubt of it. It was old and unadorned. Silver blades were crafted in secret, and new ones didn’t show up often. Most Garou were afraid to even carry one, for fear that it might be used against them. Even immune as Amoc was, he didn’t keep one. If he thought a silver weapon would be needed, he knew where to get one. At least, he used to. He didn’t want to ask where Sadie got this one from, though.

“Why would you give that to me?” Amoc asked.

“Because trust is a two way street.” Sadie replied. “Knowing what you could do with this, if you’re telling the truth, I’m going to give it to you anyway.”

Amoc carefully took the knife from Sadie, holding it in his right hand. He tested the edge with a finger; it was quite sharp.

Everyone in the room looked on silently as Amoc pressed the sharp edge of the blade into the palm of his left hand, and quickly drew it across, leaving behind a bright red gash. Blood rushed out of the laceration, and Amoc momentarily had an irrational fear of getting it on the floor.

He held his cut palm up for the room to see. No one here was squeamish, and they all watched as the blood flowed down his hand… and then stopped as the wound began to close. The pain of regeneration was actually worse than the injury itself, and Amoc couldn’t help a small grimace as the wound fully closed.

“I’ll be damned.” Sadie exclaimed. “We’ve got a genuine boogeyman in our presence.”

“Assuming the Hunter part is also true.” Sam countered.

“You believed it pretty well already.” Sadie replied. “Not like lying about being a Hunter would get you anywhere now. Plus you know as well as I do that immunes didn’t get to do anything else.”

“Yeah.” Sam conceded.

Amoc wiped the knife clean, held it by the blade and handed it back to Sadie. She took it and returned it to the bag it had come from.

“So… Simon.” Sadie began, finally using Simon’s name as she turned to him. “Answering your question, your friend here was the kind of Garou that other Garou were afraid of. Along with every other thinking non-human with any sense. Think about what a boogeyman to another Garou is and that will give you an idea of what he was to us. Then think about what you know he is now, because none of that matters anymore. Do you trust him?”

“With my life.” Simon replied.

It was reassuring to hear Simon say it without hesitation.

“Well that’s good enough for me.” Sadie stated, her tone almost casual. “What about you, Ben?”

Ben had been silent for the entire interaction so far, Amoc realized.

“I’ve got a good feeling.” Ben replied. “I think we should give him the chance.”

“I think that settles it.” Sadie concluded.

The rapid fire succession of events wasn’t entirely unlike Garou meetings of old. The less time together, the less likely they would be discovered. Decisions were made quickly and with little debate. Some habits die hard.

“How does this work?” Amoc asked, then quickly clarified the question. “I mean, your relationship with everyone here. I would say it’s not what I expected, but, well… expectations aren’t worth much now.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Sadie replied. “I’m guessing you mean why do we take orders from Greg? Why aren’t we like the Fenris fuckers ruling our own little kingdom?”

“That’s one way of putting it, yes.” Amoc confirmed.

“Because we were never ‘normal’ Garou.” Sadie explained. “We’re not killers. We’re not fighters. We just wanted to live our lives how we wanted to. We knew these people for years before they knew what we really were. We were productive community members… well, some of us more than others.” Sadie gave Sam a sideways glance. “So when the apocalypse came and it was obvious they were going to die with our hands tied behind our backs, we made a choice to tell them. And to us the only right way to help was to take orders. Do what we were asked. I wouldn’t have trusted us with any other option. Still wouldn’t.”

“It’s been a learning experience.” Sam added. “Obviously there’s no precedent for any of this. Most everyone here has gotten used to the relationship. John and Greg, basically our two leaders, they’re good people, but still people. Still, we’ve said no to them a few times. But they had their reasons, and we always hashed it out in the end. Some here still don’t trust us. Some may trust us too much. But it all mostly works, as complicated as it is.”

Amoc could only imagine. A dozen people were one thing. Hundreds were something else entirely.

“How can we help?” Amoc stated the question for all three Garou.

“Right now, by going with us to find out what’s going on at the Fenris compound.” Sadie stated. “Sounds like that may happen tomorrow.”

That was fast.

“Like I said earlier, I don’t trust that the undead are going to stay missing.” Sam recounted. “So if they’re unable to defend themselves anymore, the sooner we get over there the better.”

“And either way that goes, after that we’re going to need a lot of help.” Sadie added. “Much as it hurts Sam to admit, we’re going to need to learn how to fight, properly. Only so long we can keep going on raw strength and luck. Then there’s everything else. Food, construction, facilities, and just trying to figure out how to better fortify this place.”

Guess it’s time to bring up Miriam.

“We can definitely help with all of that.” Amoc confirmed. “Maybe more than you think. When we were up in Albany, we found a very unique situation. And someone that understood it. Albany was defended against the undead by a bubble of wild energy. I met a Witch that came to study it, and to find her coven. She visited me earlier, said she had figured it out, and was coming here because of the event a few days ago. She thinks she might find her sisters here. If she does, she intends to replicate the defense.”

Eyes were wide on both sides of the room. They had not expected that particular revelation, and Amoc hadn’t had time to bring it up with his own people.

“Fucking hell, a coven coming here!” Sadie exclaimed. “Greg is going to love that. You trust this Witch?”

“I trust she knows her future is tied to ours.” Amoc replied. “And I know what I saw and felt in Albany.”

“A Witch-created anti-undead field would make things a hell of a lot easier.” Sam offered. “And what have we really got to lose?”

“Wait just a second…” Simon interjected. “Visited you how? Miriam was in Albany and on foot, last we knew.”

“I don’t know how it works, but they can appear to people they’ve met, as a sort of projection.” Amoc explained.

“Fucking hell…” Simon swore.

“Yeah, it's kind of spooky.” Amoc stated.

“I’ll give you this Amoc.” Sadie began. “You sure as hell made things interesting around here again.”

“Yeah… that seems to be my thing now.”

“Well none of that’s happening tonight.” Sadie began, then turned to Ben. “It better not. Ben, you want to bring the cooler in?”

“Sure thing.” Ben replied as he began walking back towards the front door.

“What’s this?” Amoc asked.

“You think we were just going to come over here, chat, and then leave?” Sadie asked. “Like I said, we’re not normal Garou. We brought food, Sam and I are going to cook, and you’re going to sit back and just enjoy being among the living. The watch knows where we are if they need us.”

Amoc was genuinely in awe.

“Thank you, but you really don’t have to do this.”

“Yes we did.” Sadie asserted. “I mean that literally. You can’t go five feet outside the fence without tripping over a deer, they breed like rabbits. We have more meat than we know what to do with. It’s only fruits and veggies that we have problems with, so we’re going to be a bit light on the salad course. Doesn’t matter to us carnivores of course, but humans, well… let’s not talk about future problems anymore tonight.”

“Thanks, really.” Amoc replied. “Been a long time since I met a bunch of Garou and it wasn’t just business.”

“Well you never met us.” Sadie concluded.