Hunters of the Infernals

Max and Mags put the last demon to rest, and already it was disintegrating. Max turned to face the state trooper still standing there with a look of shock on his face and gun drawn out, frozen.

"It's okay, officer," Max told him as he slapped a hand on his shoulder. "You can put away your cannon now."

"What the hell happened?" groaned Trooper Talso. He turned wide-eyed to Max and then over to Maggie. "I don't know what just happened?"

"It's done," replied Max. He knelt down and sifted through the ashes. He turned to Mags and asked, "Any more visitors?"

"No," Maggie replied. She was standing, her eyes closed and her head tilted off to one side as if listening to an mp3 device. "They took the hint."

Trooper Talso stared at the both of them in disbelief. He holstered his gun, but he really didn't know what he was going to do. He had been tailing these two because he had received a tip that they might be hooked up to a terrorist faction.

"Someone please explain?"

"The sooner you forget about this the better off you'll be," Max told him. He sifted through the ashes and found what he was looking for.

Hands of Fate

Max frowned and continued puffing away at the cigarette. He looked at his cards again and then glanced at the chips by his side; he fingered a blue chip and flicked it into the pot. 

"I'm in," he said. He took two cards out of his hand and threw them at the dealer. Frank shuffled two more cards at Max. 

"It took you awhile to decide," Frank said.

"Well, you can't rush unless you figure out the odds," Max replied. 

"Well, that's not what you did the other day," Goner said as he plopped down in the chair beside Max. "You went with guns blazing, before figuring out the odds."

"That's different," Max said. He looked at Goner and gave him a wink.

Hope Eternal Springs

"Can you hand me another beer, Max?" Angst said. She leaned against the counter; she wasn't sure what they were supposed to do. The three of them had been sifting through the contents of the store, looking for things to ensure that their stay here was as comfortable as possible.

Max reached behind him and pulled out a warm can of Coors from what was supposed to be a cooler. Suki looked at the counter of sodas and beers and she was deciding on what to have to quench her thirst.

"Can I have one?" Suki asked Max innocently. Her eyes were focused on the can of Coors that Angst had.

"Nope," Max replied as he handed her a soda. 

"Meanie." Suki gave him a mock snarl, then she took the soda.

Angst popped the tab and took a sip. The liquid was not too bad at all. Warm. But not too bad.

"So what's the game plan?" Angst asked Max.

"Not too sure at the moment," Max replied. He fished out the last cigarette from the pack and put it to his lips.

"Can I have one of those?" Suki asked.

"Nope," Max replied as he lit his smoke.

"You guys are no fun at all," Suki said.

Prologue: Non-Sequitor

The police cruiser pulled into the lot and flipped off the siren. Two officers got out and made their way to the library. Both of them had their hands hovering over their holstered guns. Not because it was warranted but a force of habit imbedded during police training.
 
They were responding to a 911 call that a passerby had called in. The dispatcher said that the caller thought there was a fight going on within the library.

"What's going on?" Sgt. Davis asked his partner. Davis was the younger of the two; he had been patrolling now for the past two years.

"Don't know," Officer Metcalfe answered. She was veteran, having been on the force for 10 years now. "We shall see in a few moments though."
 
The doors to the library were off hinged as if they had been blown outward. 

"This is Officer Metcalfe," she said into her shoulder as she keyed the mic. "Send back up."