The base chow hall wasn’t quite what I’d expected. Instead of the high school cafeteria that I’d envisioned, it was actually a little more like a buffet line with cooks to make custom ordered burgers, omelets and other easy items. The seating area was a little more like a restaurant as well, with individual tables and a relaxed atmosphere. If it hadn’t been for most of the people wearing uniforms, I might not have guessed it was actually a military chow hall.

After getting our food, Rebecca led us to a large table in the back corner that was engraved with the Angel Squad logo of wings and a halo. “We have our own reserved table,” Nicole told me, as if I hadn’t guessed that from the logo.

“Is this to keep us separated from everyone else?” I asked quietly.

“Not really,” Rebecca told me with a chuckle. “Otherwise they wouldn’t let us use the cafeteria at all. Surprisingly, it was meant as a sign of respect for the way we fight the demons.”

The mention of demons made me remember my earlier talk with Colonel Roberts, and of course, the demon that had caused my current situation. Ever since then, I’d had several nightmares where I saw Dom being killed by that monster…and Nicole being sliced up. In a few of those dreams, it had even come after me directly and made me wake up in fear.

“I…I couldn’t fight those things,” I said, feeling almost ashamed at that. Compared to my new sisters, I felt like a coward. “I’m not a soldier.”

“Neither were we,” Rebecca pointed out, though there was no accusation in her voice.

“I used to be a receptionist,” Nicole reminded me with a smug look. “I mean, I was hired for my looks more than anything. Rebecca had been a cripple and Dani had been a muscle bound oaf.”

“Who are you calling an oaf?” Dani asked, not really looking offended.

“The point is that none of us was qualified for anything like this,” Nicole continued. “In fact, you’ve got more experience dealing with dangerous stuff than any of us did.”

“Then why did you start doing this?” I asked, feeling a little confused.

All three of them were silent for a moment and then Rebecca carefully said, “We saw with our own eyes how dangerous demons could be…and when more of them started to appear, we all wanted to help.” She gave me a wry smile as she continued, “It didn’t take long for us to realize that even without any experience, we were the most qualified people to fight demons. We can get close when others can’t and we have a much better chance of surviving.”

“The rest is training and experience,” Dani told me grimly. “We can get you those.”

Rebecca put a hand on my shoulder and told me, “We’re not trying to pressure you or anything. In fact, it might be nice having someone available to patch us up who isn’t thinking of dissecting us.”

“If Merrit is such an asshole,” I asked, “why is Roberts letting him be your doctor?”

“Politics,” Dani answered with a snort of disgust.

Rebecca scowled before saying, “Some people in the government wanted a viral expert here to keep an eye on us…just in case. Since they needed to justify his presence, they made him our doctor.”

“Trust me,” Nicole added with a roll of her eyes. “We’ve complained. But try arguing with a bureaucrat…”

Just then, I noticed someone else was coming straight towards our table, a petite woman with auburn hair and glasses. She was holding a tray of food and smiled towards us.

“Hey,” the newcomer said, pausing to look at us. “I heard there was a new angel…”

“This is Monica,” Rebecca said, gesturing towards me. Then she told me, “This is our friend Julie…one of the helicopter pilots who plays taxi for us.” She grinned at that and Julie didn’t seem offended.

“Nice to meet you,” Julie said, staring at me for a moment before taking a seat beside Nicole. “I saw you when you were brought here…” She gave me a sympathetic look and added, “It’s hard to believe how different you look.”

I winced faintly at that and muttered, “Try to imagine it from my perspective.”

“I’m sorry,” Julie apologized, as though afraid she’d accidentally insulted me. “I guess this is really hard on you.”

“A bit,” I admitted with a sigh. Then I gestured to my new sisters and gave her a reassuring smile, adding, “I probably would have freaked out if it wasn’t for them.”

Julie nodded at that and gave me another sympathetic look. Then she hesitantly said, “At least you didn’t turn into a demon.” I knew that she was trying to remind me that things could be worse, but I’d already reminded myself of the same thing numerous times. “I can’t even imagine how horrible that would be.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, thinking about Dom and the fact that he’d been lucky to die from his injuries. If he’d actually survived that, he would have become a demon himself. I shuddered at that. That really would have been a fate worse than death.

“I hate it when they still look human,” Nicole said quietly. “You can see who they used to be and…”

“Yeah,” Dani agreed with a sigh. “I hate it when they were kids.”

The table went silent at this new topic since it was so depressing. “How do demons even get to develop?” I finally asked. “I mean, it took about a week for me. I’d think they’d turn themselves in at the first symptoms, or that people would notice… I mean, why can’t we get these people before they even turn demon?”

“The demon strain isn’t as stable as the angel strain,” Rebecca reminded me, looking grim. “The infection spreads faster…changes them faster.”

“A hell of a lot faster,” Dani added with an expression that matched Rebecca’s exactly. “The first symptoms are usually extreme pain and surges of aggression. Most go postal almost right away.”

“Yavich,” Rebecca spat out bitterly. “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve always thought he might have tried making it so his version would augment a soldier’s aggression on the battlefield the way it did their physical abilities. And if the demon strain took that too far as well…”

I nodded in understanding and finished for her. “That would explain why every demon is psycho.”

Dani just snorted. “Maybe, but I always figured that just having that much pain from your body and brain changing at once would drive anyone fucking crazy.”

“Can we please talk about something else?” Nicole abruptly asked. “I don’t want to talk about demons while I’m trying to eat.”

Julie nodded agreement with her and added, “I prefer not to talk about work during lunch.”

“Sorry about that,” Rebecca said, giving a forced smile.

After this, the conversation quickly changed directions and Nicole was asking Julie about her romantic interest. “Has he asked you out yet?” Nicole watched Julie with an eager grin.

Julie blushed at that and shook her head. “No,” she admitted quietly. “I don’t even know if Rich is interested in me like that. I mean, what if he only thinks of me as just being a friend?”

I was a little startled at that since I’d always thought that guys were the only ones who were afraid of getting caught in the friend zone. That just made me look at Julie again and consider whether or not I would have dated her. She was a bit shorter and smaller chested than I liked, being petite but cute, but she certainly wasn’t ugly and I knew a lot of guys would have been happy to date her.

“I don’t know you very well,” I said awkwardly, “and I don’t know this Rich guy at all. But as someone who knows how guys think…”

“They don’t,” Nicole blurted out with a giggle, earning quick glares from both me and Dani.

“Well, you might have a point,” Dani conceded, then gave me a shrug. This time it was Julie who laughed.

“Anyway,” I said, giving Nicole a mock glare. “Maybe he doesn’t know you’re interested in him and is waiting for some indication. Guys can get pretty nervous about being turned down.”

“That’s true,” Dani agreed, then quickly added, “Though I never had that problem.”

“True,” Nicole teased him. “But you were too dumb to take a hint.”

“You might have to ask him out,” Rebecca added with a grin.

Julie looked almost shocked at the suggestion and immediately protested, “But I couldn’t do that.”

“You fly helicopters into demon zones,” Rebecca pointed out with a chuckle. “I think you can handle asking a guy for a date.”

“You’ve got that right,” Nicole nodded her agreement.

“Thanks,” Julie said, staring down at her food and blushing brightly.

Once we were finished eating lunch, the five of us all left the chow hall together. Julie was with us, still talking about boys with Rebecca and Nicole. I listened in, feeling vaguely amused by the conversation since I’d always wondered what girls said about guys behind our…behind their backs. Dani looked amused as well, though she kept giving me odd looks, perhaps because the two of us shared the perspective of having been on the other side.

As soon as we’d stepped outside the building, Dani pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and lit one. From the look on Julie’s face, she didn’t appreciate the smell any more than I did.

Then a voice called out, “Hey Dani…” I looked up and saw two men in uniform coming towards us, both looking mostly at Dani. One was an athletic looking Hispanic guy while the other was a stocky white guy.

“Jimmy,” Dani greeted the Hispanic man. Then she nodded to the white guy. “Pete.”

“You still coming to the poker game tomorrow?” Jimmy asked her while Pete took turns looking at the rest of us with an appraising expression. There was a bit of curiosity in his eyes as well so I wondered if he was trying to figure out who the new angel was.

“Of course,” Dani agreed with a grin. “I need to earn some extra spending cash.”

“Someday I’m going to clean you out,” Jimmy warned her.

“Maybe,” Dani responded. “But it won’t be tomorrow.” Then she hesitated for a moment before gesturing to me. “This is Monica. I just might bring her along, if she’s interested in playing that is.”

“I’ve never played poker before,” I lied, trying my best to look innocent. “Is it difficult to learn?”

“Not at all,” Pete answered, his eyes locking on me with an almost predatory gleam as he obviously imagined cleaning out my wallet. “We’ll be happy to teach you.”

Pete and Jimmy continued into the chow hall a minute later and Dani leaned over to whisper into my ear, “You can trust them to watch your back, but you can also trust Pete to try getting into your pants whenever possible.”

“Let’s see,” Rebecca mused. “What should we show you next?”

“How about the obstacle course?” Nicole suggested with a grin.

Rebecca and Dani both responded with identical grins which made me a little nervous. “Not bad,” Rebecca agreed, giving me a thoughtful look. “It’s about time you found out what your body can do.”

“I guess I’ll leave you guys to it,” Julie said with a chuckle.

A moment later, I was suddenly surrounded by beeping noises that seemed to be coming from everyone else. Almost as one, everyone pulled out their cell phones and scowled, including Julie.

“We’ve just gotten a demon alert,” Rebecca explained.

“Bad timing,” Nicole complained.

Rebecca gave me an apologetic look and said, “I’m really sorry but we have to go now.” She hesitated a moment and asked, “Can you find your own way back to Heaven?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, looking at my new sisters and feeling worried. They were going to go and deal with more demons while I was staying behind. I couldn’t help but feeling a little guilty for that.

“We’ll be back before you know it,” Nicole exclaimed giving me a hug.

“Good luck,” I told them as they began to run off. “And don’t you dare get hurt again.”

“We won’t, mom,” Nicole responded with a laugh, waving back as they left me behind.