When I look up through hazy eyes, I get my first view of him twenty yards away. My initial reaction isn’t terror or shock. It’s awe. Joe is enormous. He’s clad in body armor from head to toe, and his face mask is a metal shield with narrow slits and war paint. Across his Kevlar chest is a necklace of bear claws. At his waist I see the stainless steel metal claws, waiting to be unleashed.
