Chapter 40: The Bear of Wall Street

“No way,” said Serenity, glancing about rapidly if about to cross a busy street, then striding right up to him. “No way am I going to let you go in there alone.”

“You’re out of ammo.”

“So let’s resupply. James, if you’re going in, there’s no need to do it this second. Think, yeah? All those Nemesis 2’s will be there in half an hour’s time.”

But I want to go now, he almost said.

“James, there’s another angle to this,” said Bjørn, moving up to the front of the protective circle. “What if our ka-tet bond doesn’t extend that far? You’d be depriving all of us of the incredibly amount of experience you’re about to accrue.”

“Yeah, for real,” said Denzel. “And come on man. Are we in this together or not? Was all that talk about being a team just hot air?”

James sucked on his teeth. Another Nemesis 2 ashed against his back, causing everybody to flinch.

Bjørn raised his arm and turned to the others. “Show of hands who wants to resupply and go in with James.”

Serenity, Becca, and Denzel immediately raised their arms. Joanna hesitated then nodded, did the same. Jason rubbed at this jaw, sighted up and down the street, then grimaced and raised his arm too.

“Yadriel? Sarah?” Bjørn’s tone was gentle. “You in?”

Yadriel scowled, averted his eyes, then shrugged. “Whatever, fine. I’m down from some free XP.”

Sarah’s face could have been carved from driftwood. “I didn’t make this far by taking unnecessary risks. My circle won’t last long in there.”

Serenity whipped her bullpup up and shot a Nemesis 3 that was coming at them from the side, blasting its porcelain mask aside.

James knew he could apply pressure either way, convince her to come, convince her to leave. But he felt frozen, torn by his own desire to go alone and his loyalty to his crew.

Bjørn picked up the slack for him. “As you are, sure. But if you keep raising your Arete as we level, your circle will grow proportionately powerful. That’s the entire point. We’re about to earn more power through James’s aura than we can imagine.”

Sarah wavered, her frown deepening.

Bjørn turned and pointed at James as if he were on the witness stand and Bjørn the prosecutor. “James said we have to take risks if we’re to stay ahead. That’s my language. My entire career was based on intuiting which were the right risks to take, which would pay off the most. I’ve a sense for this. And I’m telling you now, Sarah, that I have no desire to throw my life away needlessly, and that I’m confident that we’ll come out of this smelling like roses.” Bjørn smiled, the expression impossibly charismatic and wolfish on his shaggy face. “Don’t you want to find out what comes after Supplicant?”

Sarah’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Becca and Serenity shot down three more Nemesis 2’s.

“You using your power on me?” asked the homeless lady.

“Scouts honor I’m not.” Bjørn raised his hand. “What do you say? Ready to make the smart bet?”

“You must have made a lot of money,” said Joanna, tone admiring.

“Lady, you’ve no idea.”

“Fine.” Sarah drew herself up. “But it’s not because of your fancy words. It’s because I’m willing to trust James to see us through.”

Everyone turned to stare at him.

“I’ll do my best. You know that.”

“Then let’s get more ammo,” said Serenity, her mag dropping out of her bullpup. “I’m almost out. Yadriel, help me collect my mags.”

“Why me?” protested the kid.

“It’ll help you build character. Now hurry.”

A few minutes later they moved back down the avenue, Golem and the other two Hydra teams following after. With ammo almost out they mostly just hoofed it, James running intercept as best he could but ordering everybody to form a column so that they’d attract as little attention as possible.

And just as before, the Nemesis 2’s ignored them and streamed toward the hive.

James radioed in for more ammo, and Richard told them they’d have to wait, as Jessica’s negotiations to acquire more 556 NATO rounds had stalled out. Red tape was holding things up, and the military was wisening up to the fact that ammo was becoming a precious resource.

After an hour of waiting inside an abandoned and mostly picked clean Duane Reade, James lost his patience. “This is going to take all night. Let’s run an experiment. You stay here, and I’ll move toward the hive. Let’s see how far we can go before we lose our connection.”

“No,” said Serenity with a saccharine smile.

“Yo, this is just like the zombie movies,” said Yadriel, who was trying to figure out a way to roll up the security barrier that someone had locked down over the pharmacy counter. “Or like Covid. Remember how all the toilet paper disappeared?”

Denzel had requisitioned a pack of Oreos. “How long you all figure the power’s going to stay on?”

“Awhile yet,” said Becca, tone cool from the doorway where she was watching the street. “The grid’s delicate. The government and military know that. They’ll make sure a crew remains on site at key locations no matter what happens. Same with the water supply.”

James took a steadying breath. “Well, the power’s on now, so you guys can hang tight and enjoy the break. I’m going in.”

“James, wait.” Serenity stepped up and grabbed his arm. “Come here.” She pulled him aside, further into the Duane Reade, down the aisle where toothpaste and deodorant were stocked. “What’s going on with you? Why you needing to throw yourself into this suicide run?”

“Why?” James wrestled with his own impatience with the question itself. “For all the right reasons, Serenity. There are people in there right now getting fed into that cocoon. I could make a difference. I have the power now.”

“There are way too many people out there for you to save,” Serenity said quietly, running a hand down his chest, straightening out the lapels of his black and gray ice jacket. “But there’s only one of you. We’ve agreed you’re going in. We just need more ammo. Wait for us.”

James grimaced and turned away.

“James.” Her voice was insistent. “This isn’t like you. You’re calm and steady. But now you’re like a junky being told to wait before his next fix. What’s going on? You know the right move is for us to go in together.”

James bit his lower lip, glared out over the aisles, then sighed. “Look.” But he didn’t know what he wanted to say. Why did he need to get in there so badly. He stared down at the gray carpeting. The need was real, an imperative, but he didn’t understand it. Serenity was right. An extra few hours to ensure his survival and the leveling up of his new crew was worth it. Yes, people were being hurt, but there were thirty-one other symbols out there. He couldn’t save them all.

But wasn’t it worth rushing in if he could save an extra handful, even?

James’s frown deepened. No, he realized. This war was a marathon, not a sprint. If he tore around trying to do his reckless utmost forever, he’d get himself killed. And much as he didn’t feel special, he couldn’t deny the role he’d taken on. The calamitous effect it’d have on the new DRC.

“Look,” said Serenity softly. “I think I understand. It’s a chance to help. A chance you didn’t have, years ago.”

James’s skin goose pimpled, and a wash of rage flooded through him. A week ago he’d have - what? Rejected anybody who thought they knew that part of him, knew what he felt, why he did what he did. But now? He felt the great weight of the Arete on his soul, the enforced clarity it gave him. How it didn’t mitigate the pain, the fury, but how it made him aware of his reflexive response, and in noticing it, disarmed its control over him.

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“And I’m hardly one to preach good behavior,” continued Serenity, pausing only to laugh bitterly at herself. “But c’mon. Bonnie and Clyde, right? Nothing good will come from your breaking this partnership. Give us a few more hours. Just… wait a bit more. I promise it’ll be worth it. Trust me?”

James sighed and hung his head. “Yeah. All right. I trust you.”

“Good.” Her relief was obvious to him, but neatly hidden under her smile. “’Cause that means I get to do some quick shopping. A girl’s got to take care of herself, and hygiene’s the first thing to go when the apocalypse hits.”

“Knock yourself out.”

“Oh, don’t get high and mighty. You need some deodorant, too. Here, I’ll grab you some stuff.”

She headed to the front of the shop, grabbed a basket, and then disappeared down an aisle.

James wandered up front. Sarah was grabbing bags of peanuts and Reese’s Pieces and shoving them inside her voluminous denim jacket. Joanna was working her way through some track and field stretches, while Jason was seated cross legged, hands on his knees, eyes closed.

“Smart kid,” said Bjørn, moving over to join James. “Says he’s taken up meditation because of his heart. I think we should all do the same.”

James considered the other man. He was perhaps just a little younger than him, later 30’s, but his self-possession, the now wrinkled but expensive suit, and his rugged, handsome looks made him feel the same age. “You’re probably used to stress from your old job.”

“Different kind of stress.” Bjørn leaned on the cashier counter. “There’s a difference between watching a run on a stock and watching a run on your Circle of Protection. Still.” Bjørn considered. “Some overlap, I suppose. Either you have the mental fortitude to handle the stress, or you don’t.”

“And you do?”

“So far.” Bjørn considered him with renewed interest. “What’s your story, James? You came out of nowhere to lead this movement, whereas the angel investors and start-up gurus and visionary CEO’s and all the other leadership types I know have fallen into hysterical obscurity. You’re educated. You speak well, though I’ve noticed you fall into a street accent at times, which is fascinating.”

James’s face flushed. “I do?”

“Sure. Maybe it’s a defensive thing. It probably doesn’t help to sound educated on the street.”

“I’m not educated. Not like you mean.”

Bjørn’s smile was vulpine. “But you know what I mean.”

“Yeah.” James exhaled, crossed his arms, looked away. “Guess I do. I’m just a guy, Bjørn. Not a big hot shot like you. Used to be an EMT, back in the day, but a family tragedy I don’t want to talk about ended things as I knew ‘em, and for a while I just drifted.”

Bjørn nodded, his gaze piercing. “Cometh the hour, cometh the man. I’ve hired hundreds of people over the course of my former career, James. I like to think I’ve an instinct for talent, for that intangible spark that differentiates one promising candidate from a hundred others. I’m not blowing smoke up your ass when I say you’ve got it.”

James snorted. “Maybe you’re not as good a judge as you think, Bjørn. I’d have made a terrible investment banker.”

“Oh, I know. You’d never have made it past the preliminaries at my firm. But that’s not what I’m talking about. Anyways, this is just a long-winded way of saying I’m glad we’re on the same team.”

“What about yourself?” James looked Bjørn up and down. “Can’t be too many guys like you on Wall Street. Why the rough beard? You can afford a razor, can’t you?”

“Sure.” Bjørn smiled his wolfish smile. “It’s branding. I had something of a notorious start to the business. After the big crash of 2008 I was let go from my firm and started ConvenantWealth. I’ve since grown it to be one of the largest private equity firms in the country, with a portfolio in the hundreds of billions.” He paused, considered. “Well, it was as of a week ago.”

“Impressive,” said James, not really caring.

“I remember you.” Becca rolled around on her shoulder to stare at Bjørn. “You were featured in GQ, right? The Bear of Wall Street?”

“I might have done a fashion shoot with them, yes,” allowed Bjørn.

Becca’s dark blue eyes glittered. “Wasn’t your firm behind the gutting of Leapfrog Shoes? And Play It Again Toys. And -”

“Private equity is a dangerous business,” laughed Bjørn. “The rise of e-commerce giants like Amazon created a challenging retail environment for smaller businesses. ConvenantWealth and our partners merely tried to help.”

“Sure,” said Becca, eyes narrowing. “I’m not judging. It’s a jungle out there. The world needs predators to keep things in check.”

“Well.” Bjørn smoothed down his suit. “I suppose that is especially true now.”

Becca grinned and raised her rifle. “Isn’t that the truth.”

The pair of them held each other’s gaze, and even James noticed the sudden tension in the air between them. He stepped away, and neither seemed to notice.

Wanting solitude, James moved out into the street. Occasionally a Nemesis 2 passed by, and he’d ash it, but their concentration had vastly diminished.

Finally, an hour or so later, a new hatchback pulled up before their location and one of Jessica’s new assistants hopped out. Crimson Hydra stepped out onto the street, and Denzel and Jason helped the lady pull out six army green ammo cans out of the trunk along with a bunch of magazines and two large exterior frame hiking backpacks.

“That’s almost 5,000 rounds,” said the assistant, who’d introduced herself as Maliya. “We’re getting them shipped in from Jersey, but logistics are collapsing, and Jessica said Major Hackworth isn’t able to give or sell ammo to us.”

“We’ll make do,” said Serenity, sitting cross-legged beside a can and grabbing some mags. “Give me a moment while I load these up.”

Everybody pitched in, and soon both Becca and Serenity had ten loaded magazines which they placed in their vest’s pockets or dumped into backpacks along with another three ammo cans each.

“Gotta love this increased Strength,” said Becca with a wry smile, slinging her heavy backpack over her shoulders. “Ready when you are, boss.”

“Same,” said Serenity, shrugging her backpack on, checking her vest, then bringing her Tavor up. “And now we’ve got enough ammo to have a real party.”

“Best of luck,” said Maliya. “Star Boy asked that you radio in just before you hit the perimeter.”

“His name is Richard Stokes,” said Serenity. “C’mon.”

Maliya laughed nervously. “He’s pretty insistent.”

“It’s never going to happen,” said Serenity, turning to James. “Right?”

“In this world we live in?” James took up his axe. “I guess anything is possible. Everybody ready?”

Yadriel took a big bite from his king-sized candy bar. “Ready.”

There were murmurs of assent all round.

Almost James considered trying to warn them off again, but he saw resolve in everybody’s faces. “All right. Then it looks like we’re all going in. Let’s go.”

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