“Yes?” the speaker beside the door buzzed.

  “It’s Amaranth,” I said, gripping the envelope in my pocket. “Here to pick up two bottles of wine, six breadsticks, and two building blocks.”

  “A moment.” I sighed and crossed my arms, tapping my foot. “Place the money in the mail slot.” I did, then waited until the door opened and I was given my box of goods.

  I turned around and headed back without delay, a wide yawn stretching my jaw. It was an early morning, but that was the best time to do something technically illegal. ‘Technically’, like I wasn’t buying guns off the black market for cash. Whatever, my team needed them. Cops were armed, after all, and they were doing a hell of a lot less than us.

  “Welcome back,” Joy greeted me as I opened the back door of Zeke’s car, shoving the box inside. “Got everything?”

  “Should have,” I replied, climbing in the back, buckling my seatbelt, and taking off my scarf. “Zeke, let’s go.”

  “Got it boss,” Zeke said, turning the engine over.

  “So what is it?” Joy asked as I took the box on my lap and dug my knife from my pocket. I cut the tape and pulled open the flaps, digging inside and withdrawing an object.

  “Merry Christmas,” I said, handing her a sleek, black pistol. Her eyes widened as she looked from me, to the gun, and back. “What? You said you wanted one, right?”

  “I was...um, I didn’t think you took that seriously,” she said hesitantly. “Are you sure I should have this? I don’t really know how…”

  “I’ll teach you how to use it, don’t worry,” I reassured her, offering a smile alongside the weapon. “It’ll be fun. Besides even if you don’t bring it when we go on patrol, should probably still have protection.”

  “Yeah, that’s fair,” Joy said, gingerly taking the pistol and examining it.

  “It’s not going to bite you,” I teased, drawing my own and looking it over. “I got us three magazines each and two-hundred rounds of ten millimeter. I got us Glock 20s, same gun the BBPD uses.”

  “Why’d you get a cop gun?” Zeke commented as he drove.

  “Familiarity,” I replied, shrugging. “I know it pretty well which makes teaching Joy easy, and means I don’t have to learn a new pistol. Plus if they find villains or gangsters shot up with guns like this, I don’t know, maybe we won’t be their first suspects.” I felt like a monster, thinking that way, but…that was just how things were. Wasn’t my fault it had got this bad.

  “That makes sense,” Joy said. “Ten millimeter, that sounds kind of big. Aren’t most guns in like, nine or something?”

  “Big for a pistol, I guess,” I replied, shrugging. “Nine mil is like, a standard pistol cartridge; the Beretta I had used it. But we’re fighting Brutes and shit. BBPD and the PRT both use ten mil pistols because of that, and I kind of agree. Look at Thurisaz, you know?”

  “Yeah, that’s fair.” she said shakily. I reached over and gripped her shoulder, squeezing it gently.

  “It’s okay, really.” I put my pistol back in the box and gingerly took hers away. “Feels like a lot, but we really do need it. Look what Werwolf’s been doing, look at the weapons they’re stacking up. This isn’t even parity, but I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

  “Good point,” Joy said, sounding grim. “God, it’s crazy right?”

  “Shit, life’s crazy,” Zeke said. “I’ve been strapped since I was in junior high and I wasn’t going out chasing Nazis.”

  “It’s a little crazy,” I agreed. “But Zeke’s right, all we can do is be prepared.”

  “Yeah,” Joy sighed. “Just wish he wasn’t is all.”

  We shared a laugh as Zeke pulled into Papa’s driveway. I closed up the box and got out, following my friends into the house and kicking off my slush-covered boots. The warm air inside smelled sweet, and I found a smile creeping on my face as I joined Joy on the couch.

  “Well, guess I’m opening a present,” I said dryly as I began unpacking the box. I placed both pistols on the table, along with the six magazines, and two boxes of ammo. “Wow, just what I always wanted.”

  “You’re a goof,” Joy said, giggling and elbowing me. She watched as I began disassembling my pistol. “So this is how you fix it?”

  “Just take care of it,” I corrected. “Clean it, oil it, I guess if a part was broken you could replace it too.”

  “Damn, looks like y’all been hitting the Christmas sales,” Papa commented, walking into the living room with Zeke and sitting in his armchair. Zeke sat next to us, grinning. “What you get?”

  “A couple Glocks,” I said. “Simple, effective.”

  “Can’t go wrong with the glizzy,” he said, nodding. “Ran an auto 18 for a while.”

  “We’re using 20s,” I replied, pulling apart the second pistol. “Need to hit harder, not more often.”

  “Shit I can handle the auto,” Zeke interjected. “I pulled that MAC from the shop, remember?”

  “We don’t need it,” I doubled down. “Zeke we need to hit bad guys, not spray randomly.”

  “I ain’t spraying,” he countered, leaning forward. “I’m a decent shot, c’mon, back me up Papa.”

  “Better than Jeep, but that ain’t saying much,” Papa said with a dry chuckle. “You kids hanging around here today?”

  “If that’s okay,” I said, starting to put one of the pistols together.

  “Is it cool if I hang out too?” Joy asked.

  “No prob, just bringing some boys over,” Papa said. “Christmas tradition and all that.”

  “Oh shit Papa, you rolled up the tree?” Zeke said, excited.

  “Not yet, gonna call them up in an hour,” he replied. “Made some cookies in the mean time, help yourself but leave some huh?”

  “I’m good,” I said, shrugging. “Going to show Joy how to work with this thing. Come here, I’ll show you how to take it apart…”

  “...and Jeep took off like zoom!” Zeke exclaimed, drawing a laugh from Joy and I. “I never seen a guy run like that, pig got left in the dust.”

  “That boy got legs,” Papa drawled, glancing up from the table as a knock echoed through the house. He waved his hand when I reached for my pistol. “Don’t sweat, it’s the boys.” He rose from the couch and went to the door.

  “Ay, Papa my man!” I heard a familiar voice boom. “How you doing?”

  “E-Z, Jeep, come on in,” Papa said, walking back and heading down the hall. “Cookies on the table, ain’t the good stuff so don’t sweat.”

  “Cool,” E-Z said, walking into the living room and smiling at me. “Hey it’s the leprechaun! How you doing?”

  “Leprechaun?” I said, arching a brow. “What’s that mean?”

  “‘cause you’re little and drink,” Jeep said, laughing and reaching out a hand. “What’s good shorty?” I took it and fumbled my way through a complex handshake, drawing chuckles from everyone.

  “Merry Christmas,” I said flatly, sitting back down and fiddling with my pistol.

  “Yo, name’s Jeep,” Jeep said, offering a hand to Joy. “You come ‘round here often?”

  “I’m Joy, Lia’s friend,” she said, getting a much easier handshake than me. “Hey, Lia, gimme my gun?”

  “Sure,” I said, grabbing it from the table and handing it to her, locking eyes with Jeep.

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  “Loud and clear,” he said, raising his hands.

  “I’m E-Z, old friend of Papa’s,” E-Z introduced himself, setting his bulk down in the loveseat with a sigh. Jeep squeezed in next to him, on what little couch was left. “Zeke, how you doing kid?”

  “Alright, alright,” Zeke replied, grabbing a cookie. “Looking forward to the—”

  “Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas to all the good little gangsters,” Papa said, walking out of his room with a Santa hat on. He held up a long, fat, greenish-brown cylinder that seemed to be covered in dust. “Delivering one Christmas tree.” Zeke, Jeep, and E-Z all cheered, and Joy clapped along with them.

  “That shit looks beautiful,” E-Z crowed. “What you roll in there this year?”

  “Some OG Kush, a little Afghan hash, and rolled up in all the keef you can smoke,” Papa said, presenting the massive joint like it was fine art.

  “Puts a tear in my eye,” Zeke said, faking a sniffle.

  “That thing’s going to kick your asses,” Joy said dryly. The guys shared a chuckle.

  “No better way to spend Christmas day than to ve-ge-tate,” Jeep said. “What’re we waiting for? I still got my coat on!”

  “You coming?” Joy asked as everyone rose. “I know you don’t smoke, so no pressure.”

  “Ehh, I’ll join you anyway,” I replied, grabbing my gun and quickly loading it before I slipped it into my belt. “Maybe I can bum a cigarette off Papa.”

  “That shit’ll give you cancer,” she commented as we walked to the door and got our shoes on.

  I just gave her a look as we headed outside, getting a giggle. Well, at least she knew it was a dumb quip. Fortunately Papa was in a generous mood and offered a cigarette before I could even ask. I thanked him and lit it with his lighter, then passed it back so they could light up their own. The smoke burned my throat, but I was getting used to the feeling.

  Despite the earlier snow, the weather was pleasant. Cloudy, but not too cold, and the dusting of snow made everything look scenic. Papa’s was a bit of a run-down neighbourhood, but pretty safe in my limited experience. Probably just because of the people I’d encountered, and the people I knew, all things considered.

  But that was why I had my gun. I could rely on my powers, of course, but they literally only went so far. Besides, it was a bit more of a universal ‘fuck off’ than even the noble middle finger couldn’t quite match. And if things escalated, well, it was a way to deescalate things a little more permanently.

  “Christ I’m a mess,” I sighed, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

  “What’s up?” Joy asked, cocking her head.

  “Just my brain,” I said, pointing at my temple and rotating my finger. “All fucked up, how I think and stuff.”

  “Shitty,” she said, taking a puff off the joint and coughing hard. “I know the feeling.”

  “Yeah?” I asked as she puffed again. “What do you mean?”

  “Just, I dunno,” Joy shrugged. “Thinking about fucked up stuff right?”

  “I guess, yeah,” I said, nodding. “Got a fix?” She pursed her lips, then held out the joint. I laughed and held out a hand to refuse. “Yeah, no, I’ll take my chances.”

  “Ohh, this shit’ll chill you out girl,” Zeke said, sprawled in a lawn chair Papa had unfolded on the patch of a front lawn. “For real, I can’t think at all, let alone about fucked up shit.”

  “Amen cuz,” Jeep said, taking the joint from Joy and smoking.

  “Thanks but I’ll—”

  The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as the sound of an engine grew louder. I turned my head away from the house, scanning the road. A plain, blue sedan was driving slowly up the street. It did seem particularly suspicious, but I found myself with my hand on my gun.

  “Lia, is everything o—”

  “Fuck you race traitor!”

  Joy shrieked and dropped to the ground as gunfire erupted from the car’s windows. I drew my pistol and returned fire as its wheels spun in the slush. The rear window shattered and holes peppered the trunk as it drove away and I dashed after it, continuing to fire. My gun clicked on empty and I swore, tucking it back into my belt and racing to the house.

  “Shit, damn, motherfuckers!” Papa bellowed, clutching his arm. He was bleeding badly, but Joy was already on the case.

  “What the fuck was that?” Joy demanded as she pressed down on Papa’s wound.

  “Motherfucking driveby,” E-Z spat, drawing his own pistol. “Zeke, Jeep, you good?”

  “Apart from my goddamn high being blown,” Zeke said, rising from the ground. “Lia?”

  “Those fucks better be bleeding in their back seat,” I growled, head swiveling as I kept watch on the street. Sirens began echoing in the air and I swore viciously. “No, no, no shit. Joy, inside.”

  “Why—” She stopped when she saw the look I was giving her. “Yeah, okay, inside. Papa, let me give you a hand.”

  I watched their backs as they headed inside, hoping I wouldn’t be outed for trying to protect my friends.

  “They just rolled up and started blasting,” Jeep spoke into the microphone. “We weren’t doing nothing, just chilling out front. They yelled something then the bullets started flying.”

  I turned my head from the TV and stared at the window of the living room. He was just out there, talking to the news crews that had been haunting the street for the last hour. He and E-Z had been running interference, keeping the news crews and cops from poking around too much.

  Inside I’d been fuming. A fucking attack on Christmas day of all times. It seemed random, but I hadn’t stopped turning the few, frightful seconds over in my head constantly. ‘Race traitor’, they’d said before shooting. Could it seriously be Werwolf operating this far outside their usual territory or just a bunch of racist douchebags?

  I had no clues, and no way to really find out. At the same time though, I had a pretty good idea. This general area had been run by the Travelers, and later Grue when they’d vanished. Since they were all gone for one reason or another, that apparently left this place ripe for the picking. It was enough to make my blood boil. These fuckers were coming into my neighbourhood now, shooting at random people who weren’t even involved.

  “Ah, motherfuck!” Papa exclaimed as Joy clicked her tongue.

  “Hold still,” Joy said firmly. “Almost done.”

  “Could have let me smoke some more,” he complained as she stitched up his arm.

  “You can have some after,” she retorted, biting the thread to cut it. “I don’t think you want ash in your bullet wound. Lia, can you grab some fresh gauze and a bandage?”

  “Got it,” I said, rising from the couch and tucking my pistol in my belt.

  I retrieved the medical supplies from the bathroom, then sat back down on the couch. Papa’s wound hadn’t turned out to be that bad, a simple shot through that hadn’t hit the bone or required surgery. Of course that didn’t mean Papa wasn’t in pain, but he was way tougher than any of us.

  “Goddamn vampires, I swear,” E-Z grumbled as he and Jeep came inside. “My man gets shot and they all like ‘ohh this is such a bad ‘hood, why don’t you leave’, like bitch please.”

  “Ain’t like it was us doing the shooting either,” Jeep said, shaking his head as he kicked off his shoes and came into the living room. “Yo Papa, how you feeling?”

  “Like I ain’t smoked enough,” he replied, batting away Joy’s hands once she’d tied up his arm. “Zeke, grab my shit would you?”

  “Got it Papa,” Zeke said, rising from the couch and heading down the hall. He returned a moment later with a tray, some green weed nuggets, and a black cylinder. “Shit, can’t believe we lost that beautiful tree.”

  “Better than taking one to the dome,” Papa said flatly, fiddling with the stuff on the tray. I soon realized he was rolling up another blunt.

  “You need to put your arm up in a sling,” Joy said. “And probably stop using it so much for a few weeks.”

  “That can wait a few minutes,” he said. “Assuming you don’t have objections to me blazing up now, doc?”

  “I’m not a doctor,” she retorted, then sighed. “Whatever, guess I could use it too.”

  “You think that was Werwolf?” Zeke asked as he sat next to me. “I mean you heard—”

  “I did,” I cut him off, nodding. “And yeah, think it’s pretty likely.”

  “We gotta get them back,” he said, voice dangerous. “They shot Papa, he ain’t even involved!”

  “Oh we fucking will,” I growled. “Not sure how yet but they’re going to pay.”

  “Spray ‘em up, lay ‘em up,” Jeep said, punching his hand. “Just like they did here, show them what a real shooter can do. You got a whip now Zeke, we can go right now.”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “We have to be precise. Maybe if we knew where they hung out, but since we don’t it’d be practically random. We’ll figure it out though.” E-Z was staring at me, giving me a weird look. “What?”

  “Y’know never heard how you got into this game,” he said, crossing his arms. “You talk it up, but what do you really know?” My eye twitched.

  “I didn’t see you shooting back, asshole,” I spat. “You want to know how I got in?”

  “Lia hey—”

  “My mom was a rat Nazi fuck,” I continued, face ablaze as I ignored Joy. “And I’m personally going to scrub out her legacy. I know fucking plenty, and I hate it.” I stared at the ground, nose crinkling at the scent of weed. A fat, smoking blunt appeared in my field of view. I glanced up and saw Papa staring at me.

  “That’s some shit kid,” Papa said. I couldn’t read his expression, but he didn’t sound angry. He sounded almost...sorry for me. “Here, first hit off the tree. You earned it, saving our asses back there.”

  “I don’t—” I sighed and scratched the back of my neck. My heart was still pounding and I felt like I was inches away from a panic attack. Everyone was staring at me with a mix of expressions ranging from concern to amusement. “Oh fuck it,” I snapped, swiping the blunt and taking a puff off it.

  “How you doing Lia?” Joy asked, getting a giggle from me as she scratched my head.

  “Goood,” I drawled, staring at the ceiling. “God keep doing that, please.”

  She chuckled and her fingers dug deeper into my scalp, drawing the most pathetic noise I’d ever made in my life. How did something so simple feel as incredible as this? I couldn’t focus on anything outside my head in Joy’s lap and her fingers running through my short hair.

  “Told you you needed it,” Joy said lightly.

  “This shit’s fire, Papa,” Jeep said, coughing hard.

  “Seems more like Nyquil,” Zeke joked.

  “Glad you boys’re enjoying,” Papa said, sipping from a styrofoam cup. “Ahhh, shit that’s good.”

  “Pass the lean would you?” E-Z said, reaching out. Papa pulled his cup away, shooting E-Z a glare.

  “Man I’m busted as shit, get your own,” he said, taking another drink.

  “Lean, like on a fence,” I mumbled.

  “Something like that,” Joy chuckled.

  “Man I hope I got one of those fuckers,” I groaned, rolling on my side. “I did good, like ‘bang bang’ you know?”

  “You did good,” Joy confirmed, rubbing my neck gently. “Probably saved us a little.”

  “Was like you weren’t even afraid of bullets,” Jeep added. “Like you could just slide between them.”

  “That’s ‘cause I’m bulletproooof,” I said, raising my arms victoriously. “Can’t touch this, doo-dodo-do bap bap!” I clapped my hands, giggling as the look on Joy’s face shifted.

  “That stuff must be really good,” she said, glancing at Papa. “She’s really out of it.”

  “Naaah I’m fine,” I said with a shake of my head. It made me feel a little dizzy, but it was fun, so I kept shaking it as I talked. “And these guys are cool. You’re cool right E-Z? You gave me a hen.”

  “A wh— oh the Henny.” E-Z burst out laughing, slapping his belly and making it jiggle. “Yeah, yeah I did.”

  “Yeah Henny that’s it,” I replied. “Anywayyy, don’t worry about me, I’m great.”

  I clung to Joy as she continued scratching my head, shutting my eyes and humming happily. With friends like these, our enemies didn’t stand a chance.