The helicopter was much faster than I would have expected, but that shouldn’t have surprised me. It was some sort of advanced model using the latest technology which could travel at the speeds necessary to get the 1st DSU to our mission location as quickly as possible.

I was sitting in the helicopter beside my sisters, wearing the same lightweight black armor that they were. I also had a small back pack that was currently sitting on the floor between my feet, containing some emergency medical supplies which I hoped I wouldn’t need to actually use.

As I stared down at my pack, I made a mental note to read up on the kind of injuries and treatments that could be expected of people fighting demons. Of course, there would definitely be a lot of lacerations, broken bones, and other trauma injuries. Now I wasn’t just an EMT but the Angel Squad medic, which meant that I’d have to step up my skills a bit more.

I looked up, glancing at each of my sisters and then the four other soldiers who were riding with us. There were two identical helicopters traveling along with ours, providing transportation for the part of the 1st DSU that would be working to contain the current demon threat. I couldn’t help but feeling both excited and nervous. This was the first time I was deploying with my sisters. I just tried not to think about how dangerous this was going to be.

“We’ll be coming in for a landing in a few minutes,” Julie called back us.

Morgan, who was one of the soldiers in the helicopter with us, elbowed Reese who was sitting beside him and said, “To think…we could have been assigned to the third DSU and we wouldn’t have these lovely angels to accompany us on our missions.”

Dani absently flipped them off but didn’t look at them otherwise. I just chuckled, knowing that Morgan and Reese had a much higher chance to survive with Angel Squad. There were three demon suppression units in the country, but the first was the only one with angels working with them. Nicole had told me that when the second and third units had been started, they’d tried splitting the angels up between the units, but the angels had absolutely refused.

Two minutes later, the helicopter landed in the middle of a city park while the other two helicopters landed nearby. “The local SWAT team has been trying to keep this contained,” a voice came into my ear over the radio. “They still have some snipers set up and will continue to back us up. You all know your jobs so get to them.”

Soldiers began to spread up and take up their positions. Some of the soldiers would form a perimeter to keep the demon contained while others would go in search of civilians that needed to be escorted out…or quarantined. And of course, there would be those who actively dealt with the demon, though Angel Squad took point on that.

I had the bag of medical supplies on my back and was holding the gun I’d been given, some sort of short rifle that Dani had jokingly called an elephant gun. It fired large caliber rounds that were supposed to be able to put a demon down quickly.

“All right girls,” Rebecca told us grimly, “Let’s get to work.”

This demon outbreak was in the middle of a city which was bad news. A city meant that there were a lot of people around to get hurt, and just as bad, a lot of people who could inadvertently become infected as well. The only good news was that the demon hadn’t been spotted in a residential area but in a manufacturing section that was filled with a lot of warehouses.

A local cop who was dressed in SWAT gear came towards us, saying, “I was told you ladies are taking the lead on hunting this thing down.” He gave us skeptical looks and I couldn’t really blame him. We didn’t look all that impressive and he had no way of knowing about our enhancements.

“That’s correct,” Rebecca told him. “Do you have some information for us?”

“We’ve had eyes on it off and on,” the cop said, gesturing down the street. “The last time it was seen, it was going into that cluster of warehouses. We’re pretty sure it hasn’t left yet.”

“Good to know,” Dani said.

“There’s one more thing,” the cop added. “One of our snipers got a clean shot on the demon, but it didn’t stop the thing. Still, that might be why it hasn’t made a run since.”

“Ah hell,” Dani added.

Rebecca looked to the cop and explained, “If it’s injured and bleeding, it could be leaving a trail of contamination and drastically increasing the chances of infecting someone else. We’ll have to let the cleanup crew know to be extra thorough with this one.”

“When aren’t they thorough?” Nicole asked wryly.

My sisters and I started for the warehouse with four of the soldiers following close behind in order to give us backup. My heart seemed to race more with each step, and though nearly every instinct screamed for me to turn and run away, I continued moving along with my sisters. I reminded myself that I knew what I was getting into when I volunteered and there was no way I’d back out now.

“Man up and deal with it,” I quietly told myself. “Or woman up…”

We spread out a bit and moved forward carefully, looking everywhere for any sign of the demon. Rebecca paused and gestured to the ground, pointing to a trail of blood.

“At least this will make it easier finding the demon,” Nicole said.

The unenhanced soldiers who were with us backed up, looking nervous. They were each wearing thin rubber gloves and plastic face masks to help protect from infection, but they didn’t want to take any more risks than necessary.

“Fuck this shit,” Mason muttered. “I am NOT getting infected with that shit.”

“You guys hold back,” Rebecca said. “If its bleeding all over the place, the risk to you is too high…”

“We’ll be here in case it tries making a run,” Reese stated grimly.

We continued on with half our numbers being left behind. It was just Angel Squad now, but the others didn’t seem worried about it so I didn’t say anything. Instead, I just kept looking around as we followed the trail of blood into one of the warehouses. There were huge shelves and stacks of pallets, providing plenty of places for a demon to hide. But from what I knew of demons, they didn’t usually hide for very long.

As soon as we turned a corner, we saw it. There was blood splattered everywhere, far more than a single demon would probably be able to contain. However, that was explained by the three human bodies that were dismembered and scattered about. And in the middle of the mess was the demon.

The demon looked like a giant rat and was the size of a grizzly bear. It was crouched down in a pile of entrails and things I didn’t even want to think about, eating what had once been a human being. I immediately turned and emptied my stomach.

“Oh God,” Nicole gasped in horror, looking almost as though she was going to puke as well which made me feel better.

At that, the demon stood up on its hind legs, revealing that that its proportions were still somewhat human. I noticed that it was holding something in its arm, though I couldn’t make out what it was. Nor did I have time to look more closely as the demon suddenly charged straight at Dani.

“Look out,” Nicole cried out, but Dani had already jumped to the side, avoiding the demon’s attack.

Rebecca and Nicole both opened fire on the demon, blowing it full of large holes. The demon let out a loud roar, though whether of pain or rage I couldn’t quite tell. Then it leapt at Dani again. This time she fired a single shot at his head, diving to the side in the process. The demon’s body collapsed right where she’d been standing, but the spray of blood that had been thrown up in the air caught her right across the front.

“Shit,” Dani exclaimed, looking down at herself in disgust. “I HATE getting demon blood on me…”

I stared at the demon’s body in stunned disbelief, hardly able to believe how quickly that was over. There had been less than ten seconds between the time we saw the thing and its death. It might have been a real letdown if I hadn’t been so relieved it was over.

“I…I didn’t shoot,” I whispered, suddenly feeling ashamed. My sisters had been counting on me to help…and I froze. Between that and my puking…

“Are you okay?” Nicole asked me with a worried look.

“I froze,” I blurted out, angry at myself. “I puked and then I just stood there like an idiot…”

“It’s never easy,” Rebecca told me gently. “And the first time is always the hardest.”

Rebecca didn’t say anything more, but I was sure she was disappointed in me. I knew they all had to be. After all, I was extremely disappointed in myself as well.

After a moment, I pointed to the giant rat creature and said, “I didn’t think animals could become demons.”

“They can’t,” Rebecca answered grimly. “But sometimes the demon strain will take animal DNA it comes in contact with and integrate it into the demon…”

“This isn’t a newbie,” Dani said, kicking the demon’s body. “With this amount of mutation, I’m guessing this demon was about half a year old.”

I stared at Dani and then the demon, understanding what she meant. One of the files Hannah had given me had been a report on demon physiology, a report which talked about how unstable demons actually were. Even after a person went demon, the demon strain would continue to slowly alter their bodies which meant that the longer a demon lived, the less human they became.

After a moment, I saw that when the demon had been killed, it had dropped whatever it was that it had been holding. It looked sort of like a green and slimy football. I pointed to this and asked, “What is that thing?”

“No idea,” Dani answered with a scowl.

Rebecca crouched down and looked at it but didn’t touch. “I’ve never seen something like this before.” The tone in her voice made it clear that she didn’t like this at all.

“I just called the cleanup crew,” Nicole said. Then she looked to me and added, “They’ll start the decontamination process. The CDC will be here soon to quarantine the area and finish cleanup.” And though she didn’t say it, I knew that the CDC would also take care of anyone who might have come in contact with the demon strain.

The cleanup crew arrived a couple minutes later, all dressed up in full body biohazard suits that looked bulky and awkward to work in. Several of these protected soldiers began to bag up the demon’s remains while others went around with what looked like flame throwers, spraying sterilizing foam on anything that might be contaminated. That would help kill off the virus and to keep the worst of the infection contained.

Dani stood off to the side, having been stripped of her demon blood splattered armor and being cleaned up with the sterilizing foam. She stood there with an annoyed look on her face, though I had a feeling this wasn’t the first time she’d been forced to go through that humiliation. I was also pretty sure that if I stayed with Angel Squad, it would only be a matter of time before I got the same treatment as well.

When it came time for us to leave, I climbed into the helicopter with my sisters, not feeling as though this had been a victory. The demon had killed innocent people and nothing could bring them back. It was hard to even hate the demon for this when it had been just as much a victim of the harkon virus as they had been. And of course, there was the whole matter of my freezing when Dani had needed my help.

“Never again,” I whispered to myself with grim determination. I silently promised myself that I was never going to fail my sisters like that again.