“This Nachtmar wanted to scare me, wanted to break me, maybe? I don’t know. Assuming it even thinks like we do at all. But if that was what it was going for…Big mistake on his part.” Trip took a long drink of the Coke. “What just happened only reaffirmed my faith that I’m doing the right thing. When I was a normal guy, a whole bunch of innocents died because I didn’t have the skills that I do now. We plowed through more zombies in five minutes than I had in two hours back then. How many times have we saved the day, Z? How many innocent people are alive because we did our job?”

Trip was a true believer. It was going to take a lot more than revisiting his past to shake him. “We’ve saved bunches.”

“We’re the good guys. We’re the heroes.”

“Damn good-looking ones, too. I knew you’d be okay.”

“Eternal optimists.” Trip chuckled. “But I’ve been thinking. If this Nachtmar could do that with what I had in my head…My experiences are nothing compared to what some of these Hunters have been exposed to. What’s going to happen when it gets to someone like you? I mean, come on, you’ve been to hell.”

“It wasn’t really hell. It was more of an infinite dimension of eternal suffering populated by awful beings beyond comprehension. Totally different.”

“Uh-huh…”

I tried to laugh it off. “Motherfucker can’t handle what’s in my brain.”

Trip often chided me for swearing too much, but at least I could make him laugh. “I’m just glad Holly isn’t here. I mean, sure, she’d be valuable, kick butt, take names, and all that, but you know…I’m glad that no matter what she’ll be okay.”

I understood exactly what he meant. Holly was one of us. We’d stood back-to-back surrounded by the forces of really pissed-off evil many times, kicked the crap out of it, and managed to walk away, but it was nice to know that no matter how bad things turned out in here, at least one of us would live on. I held out my soda and we clinked Coke cans. “Amen to that. Reminds me of something, though…” I got up with a grunt. “I need to talk with my wife.”

“Want company?”

This was going to be weird enough by myself. “Naw, it’s cool. Finish your lunch.”