"It is so dry out here," Jessica fretted as she patted her face with a tissue. It would only dry her out more, but who was I to offer beauty advice? I was a soldier who slept in the dirt half the time. "Danny, can you get my cream?" It had been easy enough to bug their equipment. We could hear everything.
Dan, the camera man in a faded V-neck shirt and scarf, happily fetched Jessica's hand cream. It took every fiber of my willpower not to gag profusely over the comm system. This was the first mission where I was truly in charge, and I didn’t want to look that unprofessional.
“Your hair is fine," Dan insisted after Jessica paused to adjust it again. Their matching nose rings glinted all the way from here. "It's more than fine. It's beautiful."
She smiled at him. "Thank you. Let's do this." She sucked in a deep breath and steeled herself for Dan's countdown. The red light on their camera went on. Behind her, the immortal plane trees made a gorgeous and frightening backdrop on the screen.
"Welcome, everyone, to The Truth with Jessica. This season, I take you to the heart of the weird, the conspiracies, and the downright unexplainable. I’m attacking the subject of the Leftovers in today’s video. The truth is out there if you look for it." She delivered a mega-watt smile to the camera, to which Dan gave a thumbs up.
As much as I disapproved, I had to hand it to this flimsy-looking chick for doing a show in one of the most dangerous parts of the US. Colin had said that, according to her easily stalkable online profile, she was twenty years old. Apparently, she was shunning college to break into restricted government areas and film her stupid show. Of course, this footage wouldn’t matter if she got herself and Dan eaten before we could step in, and we were absolutely going to confiscate it afterwards, but still, she had guts. Too many of them.
Jessica pushed on. "I'm standing on the outskirts of the area known as the Leftovers near Salt Lake City. I've been granted exclusive access by an unnamed government agency." I fought a roll of my eyes. She hadn't been granted anything by anybody—besides an unwitting status as bait.
I had wanted to yank the two of them out immediately when the Bureau’s scanners caught them sneaking into the restricted areas for a second time, but Hindley, my lion of a direct supervisor, had seen it as an opportunity. She’d suggested we use them as bait—after all, bait made monsters easier to hunt. And once they had a good scare, we wouldn’t have to waste resources fishing them out of trouble once a week.
I hadn’t even been that amused. Amazing how leadership positions had pushed me into a newer, more mature place. I used to rag on Lyra all the time over being so serious, but now, I had a better idea of why; I didn’t want to watch these idiot kids get torn apart by monsters. I glanced briefly at my team. We had five members, including my former teammate and rebel, Colin. Judging from his occasional sigh at Jessica's monologue, I could tell that I wasn't the only one suffering.
Dan trotted after Jessica as she made a few dramatic steps back. For one moment, she twitched and stiffened. I searched for a sign of what had spooked her, but then her face relaxed into an easy smile. Probably just acting for her show.
I’d rejoined the Bureau after Fenton personally issued me an apology on their behalf and offered a promotion that came with a hefty paycheck. Before taking the job, I’d consulted Lyra about it. She and Bryce were starting their own company, and she’d invited me to join… but the thought left me restless. I wanted to find my own way, not tread in her footsteps forever. The subordinate role was starting to chafe, and Lyra said I could always try the job and leave if I hated it… but after so long without a paycheck, the Bureau job and the relative stability it promised was attractive.
The Hellraisers, the newly founded department that I’d joined within the Bureau, weren’t here to be babysitters. We’d earned the nickname because we were all itching for the hunt. We were here for the monsters that hadn’t stopped arriving in the Mortal Plane since the meld. I needed to keep my eyes on the prize.
I settled back down behind the ridge. Neither of the duo had spotted us. So much for finding the truth, Jessica. You can’t even spot the five well-trained professionals around you. On my orders, Colin had his sniper rifle trained on the tree line. If a monster darted out to grab Jessica, we would get it. I’d arranged each of my team members several yards away from each other, perfectly spaced to head down at a moment’s notice to extract these two morons.
"It's a true mystery that occurred during what many called the end of the world," Jessica narrated, looking more casual than ever as her thin mauve cardigan flapped gently in the breeze. It was chilly, but maybe she was tougher than she looked. "I was in my apartment in Sugarhouse when it happened. I nearly drowned when my own living room sank into a lake. Officially, the government says it’s over, and my apartment went back to normal, but we know there’s more to the story. What about Ogden? Whole neighborhoods there have lost contact with the outside world.
“And what are we to make of these strange sections of land known
