A.L. Masters's Blog: A.L. Masters' Witty and Insightful Perceptions on the Living and the Dead...and Mutant Creatures, page 3

Haitus, Day One

9am: Drank coffee.

9:02am : Worked on The Salvation Plague, Book 7.
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So far, I suck at this hiatus thing.

Taking a short writing hiatus...

No worries- The Salvation Plague Book 7 and The Hell Zone Book 2 will be delayed a bit, but they will be published.

I do not have a publishing schedule at this time, but I will post periodic updates and, of course, I will send out an email announcement to my mailing list when they become available for purchase.

Don't forget about the SALE coming this weekend! Some of the top, bestselling authors in the post-apocalyptic genre have banded together to provide you with nine series starters for only .99 each!

I am also offering an Amazon gift card to one lucky reader on my mailing list. Join my mailing list today at https://www.subscribepage.com/almasters and watch for my special, one-time only email for a chance to win!

Have a wonderful summer!

A.L. Masters

Super Sale Coming Soon!

I'm delighted to announce that a limited-time sale is coming soon to the world of apocalyptic fiction!

Some of the top, best-selling authors have decided to offer their books at a hugely discounted price...and they have invited me to join!

I'll be sending an email to my mailing list on August 12th announcing the books and the authors...

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!

I'm also offering an Amazon gift card to one lucky U.S. reader. Watch for my email on August 12th for details of the sale and for entry instructions.

Happy reading!

Extremis is here and Monstrum paperback coming soon!

So excited for my newest release, Extremis!

Follow Det as he struggles with his own trauma during his final days. As time passes, he begins to realize that something isn't quite right (an understatement, if I've ever heard one).

He joins up with an equally freaked-out cast of characters and they all battle the foulest things that they never wanted to encounter.

Are they demons...or something else?

Gotta read to find out, and it's only the beginning.

Also, I'm excited to say that Monstrum will finally be available in paperback within the next few days, so for those of you who have been asking, it's coming!

Summer Update

Not really an update, but it has been a while and I wanted you guys to know that I'm still immersed in writing both the new Hell Zone series and the 7th Salvation Plague book. They are both action-packed in their own unique ways and I won't be surprised if I develop adrenal fatigue before I'm finished.

I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your extremely kind emails and enthusiastic responses to the books. It's so motivating and I really appreciate it.

Extremis, the first book of the Hell Zone series is anticipated to be finished and ready for publication first, with Invicta following after. I am really trying to keep at it and finish these before fall because I know you are all looking forward to them.

My mailing list subscribers will be the very first to know when these new titles are released.

As always, any questions, comments, or concerns, don't hesitate to shoot me an email!

Contemplation of a Hell Zone

Wondering what a Hell Zone is?

It's a place where the boundaries are thin and the devils don't stay put. Wandering spirits, souls without bodies and bodies without souls, breach the barrier and slip heavily into the world. It's a place where reality becomes warped and ragged, and the things wallowing in your mind aren't always yours.

Fragile minds don't fare well on the unstable grounds and volatile firmaments of a Hell Zone.

At least that's what Detlev has learned...

The first book in my new Extremis series, Hell Zone, is coming this summer.

Monstrum mini-update!

First round of editing is finished!

Monstrum may be coming sooner than expected. Stay tuned and watch your inbox!

Wondering about Halvorsted's past?

A new snippet from Monstrum just posted on my Instagram account. Sten discusses his clan's past.

https://www.instagram.com/a.l.masters...

I do have plans for a Halvorsted novel that will please the Team Sten/Tor fans.

Have a great weekend!

Sneak Peek of Monstrum, Book Six of The Salvation Plague Saga

Chapter One
Reunion

Jared

“I took Red back down to the base. I think we’ve got most of them torched, but there will probably be some stragglers.” Tor said, bringing an incredulous Red along behind him.
“They reproduce!” Red yelled at Storm. “The freaks reproduce!”
Storm and Kate looked startled, and more than a little disgusted.
“Gross,” Kate muttered.
“They replicate,” Tor corrected.
“You have to burn them, all the pieces, or they’ll regenerate,” Jared added. “It’s a real downer.”
“And you know this how?” Kate asked, with a confused look at Storm. ‘We haven’t seen it.”
“Because we saw it. When’s the last time you sat and watched a mutie for twenty-four hours or so? I’m guessing never, or you would have known this by now. It’s old news, Katie-bug.”
“Don’t call me that,” she murmured. “Mom used to call me that.” She sighed. “Jar, we need to talk about Mom.”
“Yeah, like the fact that we have a new dad now? That’s freaking weird, let me tell you. Imagine shacking up with some dude at her age,” he said with a shudder.
“Jared, what the hell are you talking about?! Mom’s dead! I watched her die,” Kate said, springing up.
The Gundersons pulled their swords out threateningly at her abrupt action, and then Kate’s soldiers scrambled for their weapons.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake! Calm down!” she said pacing.
Everyone slowly went back to their tasks, but Jared knew everyone was watching.
“Kate, listen to me. I don’t know what you saw, but Mom is alive. She showed up at my house after the stadium fell. I moved her and the others in my group over to Papa Anderson’s community.”
Bradley covered his face and looked at his feet while Anna snorted.
“Jared, I swear that I am going to send you home if you don’t stop being stupid.”
“Uh, I don’t think he can stop that. It’s who he is,” Tor pointed out helpfully.
Jared scowled at him. “Thanks, Tor. You’re just lucky Anna is tired right now, or your ass would be toast,” he said, squeezing Anna more closely to his side. She smiled at him, and he got caught up in her beauty all over again. Even wearing the stinking, hideous clothes and not showering for a month, she was still breathtaking.
“Jared! Answers. Now!” Kate snapped.
“Harry Anderson and Mom are shacking up at Rolling Hills. She sent me out here to find you and bring you home.”
Kate walked off and Jared couldn’t imagine what was going through her head.
She’d thought their Mom was dead?! Is that why she left home?
The big guy walked over and grabbed her arm. He whispered something in her ear, and she nodded before coming back over. Jared noticed that the man didn’t release her arm.
“Jurgen, can you take Stew, Bradley, and a few of Kate’s men to release the other prisoners? Bring them here,” Jared ordered as Kate and Storm watched warily. Storm gave him a look but motioned for a few of his guys to go along.
“I’m not sure I like you ordering my men around,” Storm finally said.
“Bradley and Stew are my men,” Jared snapped, serious for once. “They stay with me.”
Red seemed to be in a state of suspended disbelief, and the guy called Storm just looked…blank. He shot Jared a look but didn’t say anything. Jared wasn’t sure he liked his sister hooking up with a man like that. He looked cold, and more than a little insane.
“Kate, are you sure you want to be with that guy?” Jared asked, needing to be sure. “He looks like he eats cereal from the skulls of his enemies.”
“You’re one to talk! You’ve hooked up with an oversized, Scandinavian black metal band,” Kate spat.
“Yeah, but I’m not sleeping with them,” Jared pointed out. “Well, I mean, technically we all sleep together, and sometimes there are instances where—”
“Stop talking,” Tor sighed.
“Anyway. You tell me if you have any problems,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Storm. “I’ve got a clan and I’m not afraid to use them.”
Red snorted and Tor growled.
“Red, please,” Kate begged.
“We all obviously need to catch up and get on the same page, but first we need to get Colonel Clausen up here. I wouldn’t put it past the OGF’s to have some hybrids in reserve,” Storm stopped and looked around. “Where’s Kim?”
“She went to get Joe and Wes,” a woman said, walking into their inner circle. She was pale and had a bloody bandage around her arm. She looked at Jared and held out a hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you…too much probably. I’m Dana.”
Jared shook. “Well, most of it probably isn’t true.”
“How’s Patricia?” Kate asked, looking around worriedly.
“She’s holding on, but she needs a doctor.”
Storm looked around. “Red, take Warren’s two squads and whoever Jared can spare. Clear the hospital and transport our wounded there.”
“Roger.”
Jared stood as people started walking out of the tunnel entrance. They squinted at the bright light of day and most of them were so pale…it was obvious they’d been underground for a long time.
“Which one is Clausen?” Jared asked.
Storm came forward and met the man in the lead. Jared joined them. The man was haggard-looking and scruffy, but he had an air of command that Jared recognized. He reminded him of his dad.
“I guess I have you and your people to thank for ending this thing,” Clausen said, holding a hand out to Jared.
He shook it and smiled. “We had help.”
“Well, let me have an hour to shower and eat and we can get to work. We’ve got problems that can’t wait.”

***

“So, they transported the refugees to California? How?” he asked.
“Not sure. I was underground the whole time,” Clausen said, standing next to the window. It was cold, but he seemed to not want to let the sky out of his sight.
“Primarily by land. They couldn’t trust the pilots,” Kim spoke up.
Jared wasn’t sure what to make of Kim. She was a vigilante—a tracker— and therefore she was immediately suspect in his mind, but he would give her the benefit of the doubt. He wouldn’t want people judging Stew just because he was a creepy mutie.
…which reminded him of Hugh and Drew.
He needed to see if Hugh could run the perimeter of the base and make sure there wasn’t a battalion of muties massing on their borders, and Drew…he hoped he was free and happy somewhere.
“…pilots of their own?” Sten asked, clutching his side where he’d taken several swipes of the hybrid’s claws in the general’s office…well, the fake general’s office.
“They are low on personnel. Their hybrids are good worker bees, but they don’t have many in skilled positions for some reason. The OGFs seemed to have decided not to bolster their forces with their own human troops.
“OGFs?” Anna asked.
“Old Government Forces,” Kim answered.
“So, we need to get some GEOINT on their location. Send out our assets and get a good overview so we can plan out the Op,” Joe said.
“Can we get a satellite out there within the next few hours?” Clausen asked Kim.
“Maybe. I’m not sure of the state of our TOC since the firefight,” she said.
“Go check it out. Take Joe and Storm. Jared, I need your men to handle base security. Link up with whoever is left and cover every checkpoint. Kate, I need you to coordinate activities while we work on reestablishing a chain. Some of the others are going to need some downtime before they’ll be fit for duty,” Clausen said.
Jared looked at Bradley and he nodded, knowing immediately what Jared wanted. He and Stew left the bloodied office. Personally, Jared thought that a lot of the former prisoners were going to want revenge, not R&R.
“I’m going to clean up and I’ll be over in about an hour,” Clausen said, looking at his clock. Storm nodded and everyone began to leave.
“Jared, Kate, I need to speak with you both before you start your tasks,” Storm said, coming up behind him and Anna in the hallway.
Everything was still and he pulled them into a nearby room.
Anna crossed her arms and they waited for him to speak.
“I think we should keep our outpost operational,” he murmured to Kate. “In case there’s trouble in the future.”
“What outpost?” Jared asked.
“COP Victory,” Kate said with a smile. “A little place we holed up while the base was occupied. We ran ops out of there. It’s a good place.”
“We could use the hotels and we still have food and supplies. I think we could move some of our people there to hold it. As long as we don’t linger on the streets it should be safe from aerial reconnaissance. They won’t be looking there and even if they do, they likely won’t care about a small group. I’m thinking they have bigger things to worry about right now.”
“We don’t tell Clausen?” Anna asked.
“We don’t tell anyone except our immediate inner circle,” Storm said. “Our people, Sten and his core leadership, and your people.”
Jared nodded. “It’s a good idea. Let’s get going on that. Figure out who to send and when. We’ll need to stagger their leaving, so they don’t draw attention. I can send Stew out to get a feel for the place before we start,” Jared said.
Storm nodded. “It’s a plan.”
 


Chapter Two
A New Mission

Kate

“I don’t like this place at all!” Meg said, scowling at the chow hall. “It’s riddled with g-men!”
Kate looked around the innocuous room, seeing base personnel leisurely eating their lunches. “They’re just soldiers, and most of them weren’t even in when the shit hit,” Kate explained. “They aren’t feds.”
“I don’t like the way they’re looking at me. Seems suspicious.”
“Meg, you’re wearing sunglasses and a trench coat indoors and carrying a large briefcase. You are the suspicious one here,” Kate said, taking two trays and carrying them to the table nearest the wall.
“What’s in that case that’s so important anyway?”
She took a bite of the chowder and pretended not to hear. Kate rolled her eyes and ate a piece of the roll. The food was better than before. Jen had taken over control of the chow hall after the old cook was eviscerated in the coup. She had petitioned Clausen for some helpers and luckily, he knew of a couple of culinary specialists that had been down in the cages with him.
It had been a month since they took back the base, and things were only just beginning to run smoothly. Their comms had been destroyed by the hybrids in the TOC and Kim said their software had been wiped, but with the help of some of the tech specialists, they were able to repair it.
They didn’t have satellite data online yet, but they were able to get some drone footage out west. Clausen, Kim, and Storm were analyzing that now.
“I don’t know about you, but I can’t eat in here,” Meg said, scraping the last of the chowder from the bowl. She slung the briefcase onto the table and unlocked it using the combination dial. Kate had to stifle a snicker as Meg scanned the room before shoving the rest of her food into the case. Kate didn’t catch what else was in there, and she wasn’t sure that she even wanted to know.
She just hoped it wasn’t some kind of bomb. It wouldn’t surprise her a bit if Meg was planning a little terror campaign. She needed to tell Anna to speak with her, maybe get that Gunderson dude to keep tabs on her.
“Alright, let’s go. I need to get back to the office anyway.”
They pushed their way through the line at the door, and Kate felt a bit anxious. She still wasn’t used to being around so many people. With Jared’s group, and hers, and the prisoners they had freed, there was at least a battalion-sized element operating out of the base.
It made them a prime target for the OGF.
After their retreat to Victor, and the establishment of COP Victory, she valued security more than ever, and in those days of hiding out in the mines, she had realized that the base had been too lax on security.
They’d been cocky and arrogant to assume their intel operations were superior and that their surveillance couldn’t be manipulated from the outside. Perhaps they were wiser now, but they were also weaker. She hoped they got the tech back online soon.
Outside, the day was cloudy and cold. Snow flurries drifted down lazily and covered the grassy surfaces. Their food stockpiles were still diminished. They would need to remedy that soon, before people started going hungry. Nothing would destroy morale and cohesiveness more than starvation.
“I’m going back to my house,” Meg said. “If you see Anna, tell her to send the Gundies over this evening. I have chores I need done.”
“Okay. You need a ride?” Kate asked.
“No. I’ve made arrangements,” Meg said, pointing at a mysterious black truck parked nearby. The windows were tinted, and she couldn’t see who drove. She could only see a pair of gloves on the wheel.
Interesting…and worrying.
Back at headquarters, Kate took a deep breath before she walked into the building. She wasn’t ready to hear bad news, and the fact that the hybrids had taken Allen, Rob, Molly, and Johnny—some of the civilians from the airport— meant that something bad was going to happen to them, if it hadn’t already.
She yanked open the door and the others looked up from their coffee and papers. They had been waiting for her.
“Meg,” she said, and they nodded in weary knowing. Everyone had heard of Meg.
“Let’s get started. We don’t have much time.”
Clausen’s words sank in her gut like rocks, and she pulled out her notepad, knowing that there was going to be a firehose of information headed her way.
“First, we’re desperately low on food. The infestation that we had in the Springs back in November seems to have been recalled back to their rally point, assuming they have one, and there are supplies there waiting to be transported here. I want a full platoon over there tomorrow clearing that part of the city and arranging transport for those supplies,” Clausen told Storm.
Storm nodded and made notes.
“Next, we’ve got to consider the fires to our north—”
“What fires?” Anna asked.
“Wildfires in the dead pine forests. Radiation most likely killed the trees and all it took was one flash of lightning or one OGF airstrike to cause them to go up. I wouldn’t put it past them to conduct a campaign like that,” Clausen said grimly.
Anna looked at him, then Jared and the rest. “Burn us out?”
Storm nodded and everyone else was silent.
The OGF would destroy whatever they needed to take out the Cheyenne Mountain Guard, and probably any other holdouts on the continent.
“So, food supplies, fires, what else?” Kate asked, moving the meeting along.
“I sent a couple of ODA teams from our resident Special Forces unit out to California. I needed real eyes-on out there. I needed that intel. Drone footage and satellite data can only give us so much…” he trailed off and lit a cigar while he looked out the window.
“What happened?” Storm asked.
“They changed trajectory for some reason. One of the helos went down at Yellowstone,” he said sadly, listing the GPS coordinates. “We have visual on the wreckage. The other is nearby, untouched.”
The room was silent as they all digested that.
“That wasn’t on the flight path, was it?” Joe asked.
“No,” Clausen affirmed.
“Then they diverted for another reason. When was the approximate date of the crash?” Joe asked.
Kim spoke up. “We don’t know for sure. I took their tracking systems offline when the GF hybrids took over. I was trying to keep them alive. If I had to guess, I’d say they went down about six weeks ago.”
“Damn,” Storm said, rubbing his jaw. Kate put a hand on his thigh in support. Even though he didn’t know those guys, they were in the Special Operations community, and she knew it was a blow to him and to Clausen, who had sent them out.
“They aren’t necessarily dead,” Jared said, breaking the silence. “It’s a hard world out there. It took us two tries and a hell of a lot of fighting to get here.” He sat back. “We had to hole up numerous times, backtrack sometimes, hide out…they could be doing the same.”
“But why haven’t they taken off in the chopper?”
“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t bury them just yet. They might have had survivors and too many to transport in one Blackhawk. Or maybe the pilots are KIA. Send a team of us out there and we’ll see what we can see,” Jared offered.
Tor nodded. “If anyone can find them, my people can. Best trackers in the country.”
“You know, that might not even be an exaggeration anymore,” Kate said. “Well, except for Kim,” she said with a smirk.
“I meant human tracker,” he muttered. “Not a m—”
“That’s my wife you’re speaking of,” Joe warned in a low voice and Tor closed his mouth.
“Back on target,” Clausen called, and they all looked back to the map. “Jared’s offer brings me to my final dilemma. California.”
Kate felt exhausted just thinking about it all. She hadn’t slept well in weeks. She’d been anticipating nighttime attacks and the strange winter stillness didn’t help things. Summer seemed like a lifetime ago, and though it had been extremely hard, it hadn’t seemed so…barren and depressing as things were now.
She felt a tap on her knee, and she looked up. Storm gave her a quizzical look and she shook her head. She was fine. She just needed time. It was hard being switched on all the time. She now knew why military deployments generally had time limits.
“I want you guys to choose two squads and go out to the crash site. Find out whatever you can. See if you can locate our missing men or their bodies. Then, proceed out to California. I can give you the last know location of General Hatch, my liaison at Fort Bragg, California. At last contact, he had moved his people up to a camp near Whiskeytown,” Clausen informed them.
She was puzzled. “Why send us?”
Joe spoke up. “Because our people have more experience outside the wire than the 11 Bravos and 31 Bravos that we’ve got providing base security. Of course, I won’t be going, but I’ll be here advising and sending what intel I can.”
“And because we’re the best,” Red said with a smirk.
“The best of what’s left,” Jared retorted with a raised eyebrow at Red, who he still hadn’t warmed up to.
Red glared at him, then shot Kate a look, as if she was personally responsible for her brother’s existence.
“What’s the timeline on this op?” Jared asked, wrapping an arm around Anna. Kate wondered if he’d allow her to go. Kate hadn’t spoken with her very much, but she wasn’t that impressed so far. She seemed kind of…timid.
Perhaps she had hidden depths, but she couldn’t understand how she had made it through all the stuff that Jared had told them about. Those kinds of things would take a courageous and daring person, and Anna just didn’t quite give off those vibes. She would reserve judgment until she saw her in action… if Jared allowed it.
“I’d like you to move out in one week. Joe, Kim, and Storm can get the most up-to-date imagery and work out the details. We’ll meet back here for the op order the day before.”
He looked at his watch. “We’re finished here —unless there are questions?”
“What’s our transport?” Storm asked.
“CH-47. It’ll be a three-to-five-hour trip, depending on the weather, with one stop for refueling. You take care of my pilots. We’re running short.”
Kate stood and everyone closed their notes and prepared to leave when Jared spoke up again. “I want you to put our two proposed squads on that food run to the Springs. We need to learn to maneuver together and be effective. I haven’t done any missions with anyone other than my people and there are bound to be conflicts that we’ll need to resolve.”
Storm looked impressed and Kate thought what he said was true. They already had personality conflicts and being out on a real op together was going to be rough if they didn’t reconcile their differences beforehand.
“I think that’s wise. Your squads can take the run the day after tomorrow,” Clausen said. “I’ll give Joe the details.”
“Colonel? Would you come to Christmas dinner with us?” Anna asked, surprising Kate. It was a thoughtful gesture and one that nobody else had thought to ask. He probably had nobody. She felt bad about it.
Clausen smiled for the first time. “I’ll be there. Thanks.”

 
Chapter Three
Christmas


Anna

Anna looked around the overly decorated home and felt both thankful and disturbed.
She and Jared had moved into a home on Paisley Drive, right near the mountain. The home was worth a million, at least back in the old days…now it was free for the taking. They had chosen it because it was so close to Norad Road and because it had six bedrooms. Sten and Tor had taken the two bedrooms on the opposite side of the house. Bradley had taken a room in the middle. She and Jared had the other. They had turned the extra bedroom into a war room.
She couldn’t help but think of Fletch every time she went in there.
It should have been his. He should have lived. She spent more time than she probably should thinking about their harrowing experience in the woods and then on that awful boat. She thought about all the times he saved her life and she saved his. He’d been with them from the beginning and losing him was like losing family.
That’s what they were. Family. She clenched her jaw and blinked away the tears. She wasn’t the only one who had lost someone. They all had. She could only hope they were at peace.
The rest of the Halvorsted people had spread out along the neighboring streets. The Gundersons had grumbled about sleeping in someone else’s house and so they had taken over a fire department nearby. She had visions of the Gunderson brothers appropriating the firefighters’ turnouts and shuddered.
She hoped for everyone’s sake that there were no fires.
She liked the house well enough. It was luxurious after the cold, dark cage she had been in. Sometimes she was still surprised to wake up here, with the freedom to move around and eat whenever she wanted. She didn’t, of course…she was rationing like everyone else. There was no electricity or hot water shortage, and she was glad the hybrid imposters had to keep up appearances. They’d kept the water and waste systems up and running, along with the power plant.
She wasn’t sure how much longer it would last, but she would enjoy it while she could and leave the worrying to Colonel Clausen.
She put her bag on the table as she came into the foyer. She had gone to the commissary, which was their supply distribution site. She had picked up their rations for them, along with a few other necessities. She was searching for one of the guys to help her bring the stuff in, but it seemed as if she had stumbled into Christmas Town instead.
She looked around, nonplussed at the extravagant garlands that seemed to choke every single stationary surface. She heard cursing farther in the house and she was almost scared to go in.
“Um, Jared?” she called.
“Yeah, babe?” he shouted back, but it sounded strangely muffed.
“Come help me with the groceries!”
“No can do. Call Bradley!” he answered. He sounded further away now, and she rolled her eyes.
She finally found Bradley sitting grimly in the kitchen with a Santa Claus mug full of coffee and staring at a gingerbread house kit without seeing it.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed. The guy obviously needed a hug. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah…well, I mean, the world is wrecked and we’re fighting a war against some kind of hybrid army, but I’m okay. I was just thinking about Fletch and Stew, and how things aren’t the same anymore. I feel like I lost them both. Stew is still Stew, I know, but it isn’t the same as having him be…”
“Human?” she asked gently.
“Yeah. I mean, it would be easier maybe if he was more like Kim. She looks almost like us and she and Joe are still married and everything, but Stew is just scary as shit, even though he’s on our side. Plus, he has Hugh now. I don’t know.”
He sounded depressed and she didn’t like it. She wished there was something she could do to make him feel better.
“At least we found your guys here, right? You have them and I know that Stew still considers you his best friend. I heard him threatening Jared the other day when he and Hugh caught Jared spying through their kitchen window,” she confided.
“Yeah?” Bradley asked, perking up a little.
“Yep. He said—” She lowered her voice in a terrible approximation of Stew—" ‘Brad is my best friend and I know that he likes you, so I won’t slaughter you, but I’ll be watching your every move’.”
Bradley chuckled.
“Apparently, he said it in that creepy demonic voice too, which I know is total BS. He can talk normally if he wants to. I overheard him talking to Kim once at the TOC. He’s been creeping us out this whole time for funsies.”
Bradley grinned. “Good old Stew. Why was Jared spying?”
She scoffed. “He was trying to catch them eating again.”
Bradley shook his head and refocused on the gingerbread house kit. “You know this thing expired in 2004?”
She cringed.
“I’m supposed to build the thing. Jared’s orders. He wants us all to have the most Christmasy Christmas ever.” He sipped his coffee and rubbed his head. “Oh, did you need help?”
“Yeah, let’s get the groceries in and we’ll excavate whatever is left in that box,” she said, looking skeptically at the gingerbread kit.
On the way back through they passed Tor and Sten, who both seemed to be wrestling with a Christmas tree that was twice as big as they were—and losing. They looked extremely put out, and their hair was all tangled up in the branches, so she said nothing.
It was hard to keep a straight face, but she managed…until Jared came out of the basement dressed as tactical Santa Claus.
He had the fake beard and mustache pulled down around his neck and the red top tied around his waist. He had on his tactical ballcap with the Jolly Roger patch velcroed onto the front, a gift from Kate. The Santa pants were held up with a thick pistol belt, which was something they all wore. It was a standard part of getting dressed now. His tan boots just completed the picture and she and Bradley could help the borderline hysterical laughter that threatened to draw in every mutie in a fifty-mile radius.
Jared glared at them and went back to hauling decorations.

***

“You couldn’t get a bird?” Tor asked, staring at the stack of canned hams. “Weak,” he taunted.
“Says the guy wearing Crocs,” Jared retorted.
“They’re comfortable!” Tor said defensively.
Sten cringed at him and shook his head. “I love you Tor, but sometimes I wonder about you.”
“If you wanted turkey, you should have gone somewhere else for Christmas,” Jared said, pulling up the Santa pants that he refused to change out of. “As for me and my house, we shall serve the ham.”
He cracked open the Dak.
“Is that even really ham?” she asked.
“Pretty sure it’s sodium-laden, mechanically separated, processed-pork product and water, but close enough. Besides, it’s better than what Hughwart is eating for Christmas dinner.”
“Hughwart?” Anna asked, not really wanting to know.
“Stewart and Hugh. Like Brangelina, but way less famous and not hot,” he explained.
“What are they eating?” she asked him.
“I don’t know, but it left stains on their clothes that even that Oxyclean guy couldn’t get out, if he was still alive.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Now, who wants the glutes?”
“I think I’m going to Hughwart’s house for the next holiday,” Tor grumbled.
“Shut up and be thankful for the food. I want to have one final, good Christmas before I shuffle off this mortal coil,” Jared said, slicing into the meat.
Anna passed around the bowls. “We aren’t going to be shuffling off any mortal coils, Jared. I’d appreciate it if you would be more optimistic.”
“Well, we survived this long, I guess.” He shoved a chunk of the ham onto her plate.
“Wait, you aren’t even going to fry the stuff?” Clausen asked, recoiling from the plate.
Jared looked stumped. “Why would we want to do that?”
“He’s being an idiot on purpose to irritate you,” Kate said. “Trust me. He’s been doing it for as long as he’s been alive.”
“That’s true,” Anna joined. “I’ll get the griddle and we’ll fry this up.”
She heard obvious sighs of relief from most of the assemblage.

***

Later, after the ham had been fried to an acceptable level of crispiness, Jared picked up his glass and raised it in a toast. Everyone went silent in the packed house.
Anna prepared herself for something outrageous but was touched by the abnormally serious sentiment.
“To the living, who we protect. To the dead, who we mourn. To the missing, who we are going to find.” Everyone raised their glasses when another voice spoke up.
It was Sten.
“And to the people responsible, who are going to pay. Måtte Djevelen ta dem!”
The Halvorsted people gave a roar, and everyone drank. They didn’t need to know the translation. It was quite obvious that it meant nothing good for the perpetrators of the world’s downfall.

New Sneak Peek of Monstrum, Book Six!

Vindicta now has a new sneak peek of the newest Salvation Plague novel! To be fair to those who have already purchased Vindicta and would like to read the sneak peek, I've decided to include the first chapters in my next blog post here.

So, without further ado...see my next blog post.

Sorry in advance for the horrible formatting of the Goodreads preview. In my defense, I am HTML-challenged and taking these few moments away from writing to get this posted. I hope you'll forgive me.