Page 11

“I’m scared of the monsters,” another girl whispered.

Mom reached for her and settled the girl on her lap. “You don’t need to be afraid. Yes, the monsters the Gizzida created stayed, but Dawn has a big wall around it and guards, as do all the other towns. But best of all we have?—”

A boy shot to his feet. “Hunter Squad!”

Mom flicked me an amused glance. “That’s right. We have the very brave and well-trained soldiers on the security squads, especially Hunter Squad, who track down the monsters. They protect us and keep us safe.” She leaned forward. “Did you know the leader of Hunter Squad is my baby?”

The girl on her lap scrunched her face up. “A baby can’t be a soldier.”

“No, my baby is all grown up. Boys and girls, I’d like you to meet my son, Jameson, the leader of Hunter Squad.”

The kids’ heads all whipped around and I saw a sea of faces peering at me, all with their mouths open.

“You’re the boss of Hunter Squad?” a boy asked in awe.

I straightened. “I am. And I promise you, my squad and I do everything we can to keep the monsters away.”

“Do you have a carbine?” a girl asked.

I saw the warning look in Mom’s eyes. Right, no gory details. “Yes. We have lots of weapons we use.”

“Do you explode the monsters?” a boy asked, his face animated.

I cleared my throat. “The important thing is that Hunter Squad will always keep you safe.”

“Can you all say thanks to Mr. Jameson?” my mom said.

“Thanks, Mr. Jameson,” they all said in sing-song voices.

“Now, how about we draw some pictures?” Mom suggested.

“I’m gonna draw a big monster with huge claws.” A boy raced to the small tables at the back of the room.

Mom smiled and walked over to me. “Thanks, Jameson. I like to keep them informed without scaring them.” She hugged me again. “Dinner tomorrow night. Your father’s grilling.”

I winced. “He burns everything.”

She smiled, love on her face. “I know. So be there to make sure he doesn’t. Your brother and sister will be there, too.”

I hadn’t seen my siblings for a couple of weeks. “If I don’t get called out, I’ll be there.”

“Good. Love you.”

I leaned down so she could kiss my cheek. As she hurried off to rejoin the kids, I spun and headed down the corridor.

The kids seemed a lot more carefree than we’d been as kids. We’d done security drills, just in case monsters breached the walls or the Gizzida returned. In my early years, Dad had alwaysbeen alert, on guard. I still had memories of him wandering the house at night, checking that everything was okay. I guess after years of fighting for your survival, it took a long time for your battle readiness to fade.

Soon, I neared Hemi’s. I could hear Marc’s laughter half a block away.

“There he is,” Sasha said.

I turned a chair around and sat down, leaning my arms across the top of it.

“Here, J.” Zeke pushed a glass of beer into my hand.

“Thanks.”

There were quite a few people in Hemi’s, a good number of them agricultural workers. I took a long sip of the beer and savored it. Hemi had a good brewing team and they were always experimenting. They’d found a way to make the alcohol metabolize quickly and not leave any aftereffects.