I dove for the gun, picking it up and pointing it at the soldiers, hands shaking. The man who had dropped it laughed at me. “Safety’s on, girl. But I bet you don’t know how to turn it off. Why don’t you just put it down now? Give it here.”

He was right, I had no clue how to turn the safety off. Hell, I didn’t even know where the safety was. My gaze flicked from the cold metal gun in my hand to the sight of Jai sprawled out on the dirty cement floor. He was so still. Why wasn’t he moving? He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t drive us here in the middle of the town and then just die, leaving me here with these people.

It was a selfish though, but I couldn’t help it.  “There’s no way I’m giving this back to you.” I tossed the gun onto one of the shelves behind me and stooped down to pick the scythe up. “You’ll have to come get it.” My hands were shaking, so I wrapped them more tightly around the handle of the blade. They had to have more guns, right? They were soldiers. Was I being really stupid challenging them like this?

“Just shoot her,” the gunless soldier glared at hawk-faced man. “Pull out your gun and…” he reached for his companion’s hip and grunted when hawk face elbowed him away.

“Get off me. She’s just a little girl. Thanatos…”

“He can deal with her later. And she's not a little girl. He’ll understand…” the soldier gestured at me, “she’s dangerous.”

I wasn’t listening to them anymore. They weren’t aware of it, but there was someone approaching the gas station, walking at a slow, careful pace towards us. The soldiers had their backs to the windows, obviously totally confident that no one would challange them.

I got a good look at the new person while they were arguing.

It was a woman. She had short, stringy brown hair and sharp, pale features. Her face was set in determination. She was dressed in dirty blue jeans and a leather jacket. She stepped through the door of the gas station, and even though she was wearing combat boots, she was very very quiet. She carried something in both hands, and when she got closer I could see it was a shot gun.

I was still staring at her when she shook her head at me, and I flicked my gaze away from her quickly, suddenly scared I would give away her position. She was coming to help me, wasn’t she? She had to be.

“Alright,” Hawk-face was saying patiently. Just put down the blade, okay? Thanatos really isn’t that bad of a guy, you’ll like him.”

The stocky red-headed soldier snorted, and Hawk-face shot him a look. “You’re not helping things.”

I couldn’t help it, my eyes were drawn back to the woman as she got closer. I don’t know what I expected her to do. Maybe warn them to stand back, or tell them to leave before she shot them. She didn’t do either. She stopped several feet away from them, leveled the shot gun and squeezed the trigger.

A thunderous crack echoed around the room. Hawk-face’s body jerked, and he looked down at himself in shock. There was a fist sized, bloody hole in his stomach, and dark liquid began to leach into the rest of his shirt. He clutched at the wound and then slumped over sideways, face white and slack.

The soldiers turned around just as the woman pumped the shotgun again and leveled the barrel at them. One soldier dove for Hawk-face’s gun, grabbing it from his friend’s holster. To my shock the red-headed soldier went for me.

Later, when I thought about it, I realized he could have been going for the gun on the shelf behind me. Either way, it didn’t matter. Panic moved me, and I brought the scythe up, flailing wildly at him. There was a meaty sounding thunk as the blade bit into the soldier’s shoulder, and the vibration went up both my arms. He fell back screaming, clutching his arm, blood bubbling from between his fingers.

I realized instantly that the impact I’d felt had been the blade hitting his bone, and I doubled over, head spinning, stomach heaving. I’d nearly cut off his arm. I’d felt his bone vibrate the blade.

He was screaming now, high-pitched and frantic, and it was the sound that did it more than anything. I was violently sick, half of it on my own shoes, retching until there was nothing left in me. The room was blurred, spinning in circles. I was going to fall if I didn’t sit down.

I tried to prop myself up against the shelves, facing away from the soldiers and the woman.

I could hear her move behind me. Her boots on the tiles, the grit crunching underneath them as she walked further into the store. I heard her speak, voice low and intense, “Put down the gun, soldier. Is it really worth it?”

The soldier’s voice was shaky. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with, lady. My boss…”

“I know you’re boss, and I have a message for him. Tell him the guardians are back. Tell him we’ve got what we need to stop him. Tell him that, soldier, and I’ll let you live.”

“He’ll let the soul suckers have me if I do that,” the soldier whined. “Come on, lady…he’ll kill me.”

“I’ll kill you too,” her voice was perfectly level when she said it. She could have been discussing the weather. “And a shot gun blast is a hell of a way to die, buddy.”

“Fine, I’m going.”

“Leave the gun.”

I heard the clatter of metal on the tile as he dropped the pistol. That was good, he was leaving. I leaned more heavily against the shelves, breathing deeply, trying to shake off that dizzy, sick feeling. My body was shaking uncontrollably.

Footsteps getting closer. Her voice again, “Jai? Jai buddy, come back to me now.”

Someone moaned, and then Jai spoke. His voice was enough to make me sag in relief, though I still couldn’t move. “I’m fine. I’m okay. Just a bump. Oh man, you really did them in.”

Her voice was flat, amused. “You’re surprised?”

“No. Hey…Kali?”

More scuffling, and then Jai was suddenly behind me. I felt his hands slip under my arms, prying me gently from the shelves. “Kali, are you hurt?”

“No,” I swallowed the bile that kept trying to rise up my throat, catching a glimpse of the angry red gash on his head. “But you are…”

“I’m fine, the guardians heal fast.” His bright eyes searched my face anxiously. “You’re alright.”

“They didn’t…” I paused, movement catching my eye. The soldier I’d hacked at was sprawled in the middle of the tiles, lying in a wide, red pool. He struggled feebly as his life continued to bleed away.  There was a flicker of white showing through the torn flesh of his shoulder. Bone.

 I doubled over again, stomach heaving. Jai hung onto me, supporting me so I wouldn’t crumple to the floor. Luckily there was nothing left to come up.

“Hey,” his voice was soothing. “Hey, it’s okay, you were just protecting yourself. He was going to kill you. Hey, Kali. Come on…”

But I couldn’t come on. I wasn’t cut out for this. I wasn’t meant to fight people and hack limbs off with a sword.  What was I even doing with these people?

I was practically hanging in Jai’s arms now. If he let go I would have hit the floor. He pulled me closer, letting me burry my face in sweatshirt. I was disgusted with myself. I was shaking all over and probably smelled like throw up, I should have pushed him away but I didn’t.

The girl finally spoke, and again her voice was flat. “So this is her.” She didn't sound impressed.

“It is,” I could feel his low voice rumble his chest as I pressed my cheek to it. He sounded guarded, like he wasn’t sure what the woman would do now. “This is Kali.” He leaned away a little bit, talking to me now. “Kali, meet Manda.”

So this was Manda. The girl with the plan. I could sort of see what Jai had meant when he’d said she would have a plan. She seemed like the type of woman that would know what to do in every sort of circumstance. She certainly hadn’t hesitated to take out our attackers.

“Nice to meet you,” I mumbled.

Manda didn’t even look at me, she was still staring at Jai. Her expression was stony. “This is our Lady Time. This…teenager. This kid.”

“Manda…” Jai’s voice held a note of warning.

I stared at her, shocked. Lady Time?

She tilted her shotgun up and rested it on one shoulder casually. “This is the mighty Lady Time, a hormonal teenage girl.”

“Manda!” His voice was angry now, and I could feel his arms tighten around me almost protectively.

Her eyes widened. "She doesn't even know yet? You didn't tell her?"

"It was a lot to take in for her..."

“How do you know it’s her?” She said abruptly. “How do you know you haven’t got the wrong girl?”

“Don’t be a fool. Of course it’s her. You felt her just as much as I did. If you hadn’t felt her you wouldn’t be here.”

She shrugged. “I felt it, but I don’t have to like it. What now?”

Jai shifted. “Now…well, now I figured you’d have a plan.”

“Me? Isn’t it enough that I busted in here and saved your asses?” Manda shot me a cross look, and I stiffened. “Teen Queen here wasn’t going to kill them, so I had to. Isn’t it her turn to come up with a plan? Where’s our fearless leader?”

“It isn’t the same this time.” Jai said quietly. “You know that. Thanatos…did something. Your senses are dull if you can’t feel it. She doesn’t remember.”

“I can feel it,” Manda said stiffly. “It feels…wrong. I don’t like it.”

I had had enough of this. Finally I pulled away from Jai, crossing my arms and glaring at both of them. “Stop it! And what the hell is she talking about Jai? What's Lady Time?"

"I'll tell you later. On the way out of here."

I glared at him. "For all I know, you two are asylum escapees. But whatever the plan is, let’s get on with it. And you have more explaining to do!"

The corner of Manda’s mouth quirked ever so slightly. “Well at least she’s got a voice.” She turned for the door. “Come on, it will be a tight fit in your crappy little truck, we’ll take mine. It’s specifically designed for soul suckers.”

Jai and I followed her out into the parking lot. When we spotted her vehicle he stopped and let out a whistle, and my mouth dropped open. Manda hadn’t been kidding. What she was driving looked like something out of the transformers cartoons. Maybe at one time it had been some kind of jeep, but it had been outfitted as a fully armed vehicle now. It had been painted black, and a giant silver grille was attached to the front, almost like a shovel. There was mesh on all the windows, and a row of nasty looking spikes on the sides of the vehicle and one on each hub cap.

I couldn’t help looking from the jeep, to Manda and back again. She suited her vehicle completely. She yanked the driver side door open and threw her shotgun onto the middle seat. “Get in a buckle up. You can sit in the back, Shirley Temple.”

I didn’t say anything, even though I felt like whacking her on the head for that one. She was too scary. Gaurdian or not, I had a feeling that wouldn’t make me exempt from getting wacked back. I was willing to bet her right hook was more devastating than mine.

“Horace next?” Jai opened the back door for me. He actually had to half lift me into the back of the jeep, since the thing was so jacked up. I scrambled onto the leather seats, kicking my sneakers against a couple of plastic boxes on the floor as I climbed in.

Jai’s voice was cut off as he slammed the door behind me. For a second it was only me and Manda in the car.

“What’s in the boxes?” I asked.

“More ammo,” she said shortly.

Then the door on the passenger side opened and Jai jumped in, effectively putting an end to our awkward conversation.

Thank God for that.

“Horace, geeze. I have no idea where he is. You I’ve been keeping track of. You’ve blasted your way through half a dozen cities.” He grinned at her. “I keep hearing rumours about the “sucker killer” woman. You’ve made yourself a reputation.”

“Target practice,” she scoffed. “Takes out some of the rage when you’ve got something to kill.”

I made a mental note never to piss her off. Manda was starting to scare me more each time she opened her mouth.

Jai popped open the glove compartment, rummaging around until he found a map. “Yeah, well. You’re easy to keep track of, but Horace. I haven’t heard a thing about him since…well…”

“Since we screwed the whole thing up?” Manda’s voice was bitter.

“Yeah…that…” Jai glanced back at me. “You comfortable back there, Kali?”

My curiosity was practically killing me, but I was sort of afraid to ask. Manda sounded like she’d been about to spit nails just talking about it. “I’m fine,” I said quietly. What were they talking about? Did they mean me? Letting Thanatos take me?

To my disappointment, Jai turned back to the front. “Have you heard anything from Horace?”

“Last time I saw him he was in Toronto, trying to drink it all away,” Manda said. She cranked the wheel sharply, sending us around a corner so fast that I slid across the seat.

“Put your seat belt on, kid.” Manda ordered.

I grumbled, but I did as I was told, glaring daggers at the back of her head. So we were going to Toronto. I was no expert on geography, but I was pretty sure that would take at least three of four days from Victoria. Three of four days with Manda.

I pressed my lips together tightly and stared out the window, watching the ruins of the city fly by, occasionally wincing when Manda slammed on the breaks, or a soul sucker didn’t get out of the road fast enough and rebounded off the grille with a heavy thud. The sound of Manda’s wicked laughter always followed shortly after. “Ten points!” She crowed.

I sighed. This was going to be a long ride.