Dog Days of Summer (Damned of the 2/19th Book Four) - Finished

Monstrous Realizations

The Red Barn Resteraunt & Lounge

Grand Mound, Washington

United States of America

8 August, 1986

2230 Hours

        I could hear the music when I pulled up, country music blaring clear out to the parkinglot. Friday night and the place was jumping. I recognized a few of the vehicles from High School, the paint jobs faded and more than a few of them dented up during the years since they'd graduated High School and I'd graduated Special Weapons training. I was 18, but I'd been in classes a year or two ahead of the majority of kids my age. I'd have graduated in 1984, but fate had interviened and sent me to Maximum Security Juvenile Detention and then the military while they had just continued on with High School. They had continued on with their lives, working on the family farms, at the local stores, or even trying their hands at college, while I had survived Alfenwehr and Atlas.

        We had nothing in common any more.

        The truck's engine pinged in the cool summer night after I shut off the ignition. Three men were by the side door, which led to the dance floor and the lounge/bar. I was familiar with the place, Jed having brought me there when I was younger so he could drink and not worry about us kids screwing stuff up. More than a few nights Ineda, Logan and I had sat out in the car till the early morning hours while Jed had sat inside and drank. Things had changed when Tiernan Stillwater had adopted Ineda and me, but I doubted the layout of the lounge had changed at all.

        My wallet only had about sixty bucks and the Mastercard in it, the rest hidden in a cubby back at my wreck of a house. Even if I got jacked for my wallet, they wouldn't get much and I'd still have a good war chest. Easily enough to buy some black market firepower up in Tacoma if worse came to worse.

        The three by the door watched me intently as I lit a got out of the truck, put on the baseball cap I'd found under the seat of the truck, and lit a cigarette. I could feel my nerves singing with adrenaline as the little lizard in the back of my skull caressed the big red button that would send me into a killing frenzy. My senses were on alert, the little lizard automatically keeping all the variables updated. I knew how big the dirt parking lot was, how many cars and trucks were parked in it, how far it was to the grass on one side and the road on the other, how far the grass extended and how high it was, and approximately how many people were inside the restaurant/bar.

        None of that showed on my face or in my stance as I got closer to the door. The three were straightening up, one of them nudging the one next to him with his elbow and all three snickered. I knew this game, and hoped they wouldn't try to play it out too far or I'd lose any chance at gathering intel. Part of me thought that a tactical retreat to return when they weren't at the door might be the wisest course of action, but I pushed that aside, knowing that backing up now meant that these three would mistakenly believe they'd intimidated me, which meant that if they were still inside when I returned they would figure that I'd make good Friday night entertainment.

        "You looking for something, four eyes?" The middle one asked. Now that I was closer I recognized him. Alex Stanford, a wise mouthed little punk in high school who liked to run interference for bullies bigger than he was. He hadn't changed much, still a skinny short little fuck with a belly full of the little man's problem.

        "Just a drink." I said, letting the hoarseness in my voice carry over. I was still about three steps away, one step from being in the light. I'd tilted my head to shadow my face, but obviously they could see my glasses.