Mac glanced at the crumpled note Joe had given him. It read, “Step one. Pick up food from cafeteria to-go counter. It’s under the name ‘Champ’.” He wasn’t surprised. Annoyed, maybe, but certainly not surprised. Joe probably hadn’t even learned his name, and where even was the to-go counter? Who even needed that at Cave-Inn? And was he underdressed in his khaki shorts and collared shirt? What if Olivia wore a nice dress and he came looking like a fraternity boy who had forgotten to wash his awkwardly beer-stained pants?

  “Then I will have successfully thwarted her,” Haley addressed him from the other side of the empty counter he was staring blankly at. She stepped around the high counter revealing a long, swishy, strapless evening gown in the same green he had seen her in last. She had even curled her long hair into large ringlets and wore a small diamond dangling elegantly from the velvety choker around her neck. “I know it’s not exactly pleats, but I think it all goes together nicely. Don’t you agree, Handsome?”

  “Would you mind staying out of my memories. And almost as importantly… this is not an emergency!”

  Haley pretended to check her painted nails which matched the dress quite flawlessly, “Really? Raised heart rate, obvious panic, the feeling of being lost. It’s an emergency. I’ll keep a close eye on you this evening.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t.”

  “The to-go counter is over there,” Haley pointed lazily.

  “Thank you,” Mac strode off in the direction she pointed.

  “See that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Haley placed what normally would have been a comforting arm across his shoulders as she walked with him.

  “Order for… Champ?” Mac addressed the zombie attendant.

  The zombie nodded and pulled out what looked to be enough food for six people from the warming station behind it.

  “That’s… a lot of food,” Mac commented. And how am I supposed to carry all that.”

  “Allow me to assist,” Haley offered graciously with a mischievous wink.

  “You’re evil,” Mac whispered a bit too loudly. The zombie scowled and turned away shaking its head.

  “But, you need me,” Haley countered.

  “Just this once.”

  “Was that a ‘yes’?”

  “Yes,” Mac practically growled before watching his arms gather and lift the food.

  “Why are we headed back to your room?” Haley asked as she swished beside him. “The beach park is that way.”

  “We need something to eat on,” Mac explained as they walked. “I’ll grab my bed cover and two emergency candles I found in the nightstand.”

  “They’re not even real candles.”

  “They’re still candles. Women can’t resist candlelight, even fake candlelight.”

  Haley raised a finger to speak and then decided to give him the oddest, and quite possibly concerned look he had ever received. Where did an AI even learn about that kind of thing? He wasn’t going crazy. Was he?

  He was talking to a computer program downloaded into his brain that disagreed with his life choices. Was there, honestly, any doubt?

  At least the AI was silent and simply glided almost playfully around him as Mac walked back to his room to gather the items he needed. What was she up to? Besides reminding him of that one girl he had crushed on back in high school. What had ever happened to her?

  Mac had always intended to ask the tall, fun-loving girl out on a date, but he had never managed to find the courage. As the AI twirled around him in the green evening gown, he was reminded of the school dance he… okay, both of them, had gone to alone. Mac could almost see her face on Haley as her hazel eyes looked hopefully back at him at the end of each long twirl. Wait a second… “Haley!”

  “What?” the girl paused in a twirl allowing the hem of the strapless gown to settle about her ankles.

  “What did I say about memories?”

  “Sorry,” Haley apologized and resumed her normal face. “You were just thinking…”

  “You know I’ll never see her again,” Mac admonished her. “If you are going to raid my memories against my orders, at least follow them through. She ran off with that… hairy jerk and never came back to school.”

  “I won’t do that again.”

  Did Haley actually look sorry? The familiar ringlets fell out of her hair with a realistic bounce, and she fell in step beside him, but she kept the gown and diamond choker. That was at least something. “Please, try not to kill the mood. I haven’t been on a date in… since… it’s been a while.”

  It was a short quiet walk the rest of the way to the beach park. Once there, Mac carefully tossed the bedspread over the artificial turf beside some fake evergreens. At least this way, they wouldn’t get poked… much. After setting the food bags out on the bed cover beside a watchful, but mercifully quiet Haley, he finally looked up and noticed the volleyball nets were set up in the sand pits, and a ball rested at the base of each pole.

  Mac went over to pick up a volleyball and bump it around a bit while he waited for Olivia. The note said he should have a few minutes before she arrived, so there wasn’t any harm in taking his mind off things.

  “Over to me,” the familiar female voice with the unplaceable accent called, causing Mac to completely forget what he was doing and look around for the voice. It shouldn’t have surprised him when the ball dropped onto his head and bounced off towards the golden-haired woman. She wore shortish jean shorts and a green tank that matched the eyeshadow above her… captivating golden eyes.

  “I’ll grab that,” she laughed gently as she reached down to pick up the errant ball. Her chipped and garishly painted fingernails grabbed Mac’s eyes as she held it like a crystal between both hands. “Is that the food I heard was promised?” she nodded at Haley and the bed cover turned picnic sheet.

  “Yep,” Mac replied with a goofy smile. “Are you hungry?”

  “I’m always hungry,” Olivia replied. “What did you hunt down for us?”

  “I haven’t checked yet. Why don’t you come over and find out with me,” Mac invited her over to the bedspread with the to-go bags on it.

  “Okay…” she replied hesitantly even as he knelt down on the bedcover to look into a bag marked “appetizers”. The fake candles were in there somewhere.

  Might as well start with the “wow” factor, Mac reasoned as he reached for the two small candles and brought them out with one in each hand. It was a simple flex to flip the switch on the bottoms simultaneously and then set them down on the cover.

  “Are you feeling a bit warm,” Olivia asked as she approached. “Your smile is… weird and you’re sweating.”

  Mac laughed a bit awkwardly, then tried a non-specific compliment. Those were usually safe. “Pretty girls can do that to me.”

  Olivia checked behind her then looked back at Mac with one large golden eye, “Uhmm… are you… seeing someone?”

  Haley turned her head and set an expectant gaze on him waiting to see how he would answer. The motion drew his eyes momentarily. “No, certainly not. I’m not… seeing anyone right now, not unless you count…”

  “Who were you just looking at?”

  “No one.”

  “Really?!” Haley raised her hands in obvious offense. This of course drew his eyes.

  Olivia was ready this time and she tracked his eyes… into the trees. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, never been better,” Mac lied horribly. “Why don’t you take a load off your feet, and we’ll find out what else the cafeteria sent.”

  “Are you implying that I’m overweight?”

  “Wait? What?”

  “You just said I’m carrying a load.”

  So, Olivia was a little overweight. At barely five feet tall, how could she not be. But it added to her charm, made her approachable, not that Mac was stupid enough to say any of that. “New Anglic is not your native language, right?”

  “My accent give me away?”

  “It’s a bit exotic, I’ve been all over the world, but I can’t place it,” Mac replied as he pulled out a container of fried cheese curds. The smell was so delicious, there was no need to even open the box. “You sound like you learned another language before it.”

  “Yes,” The golden-haired woman replied evasively.

  “Try these,” Mac offered up the container to Olivia as she stepped to the edge of the blanket then froze just out of reach.

  “That’s from the quarters, isn’t it?” Olivia pointed with a finger even as she hugged herself with her other arm.

  “These are from the cafeteria,” Mac continued to hold out the container to her.

  “I mean the bedcover,” Olivia gritted her teeth as she stood at the edge.

  “Of course,” Mac replied. “Where else could I find something like this? Come on. Have a seat,” Mac patted the blanket.

  Olivia turned her head again allowing one eye to drop back down to the cover then glanced back up at Mac.

  “Maybe I’m not as hungry as I thought,” Olivia held her ground at the edge of the bedcover. Just my stomach playing tricks on me.

  Of course, that’s the moment her stomach chose to growl and draw an “Oh, really” look from Mac. The fiend had done it to her again. She couldn’t go forward. That thing was… downright disgusting, and if she stepped back again…. Best not to think about that.

  “It’s been washed,” Mac motioned to the bedcover, but Olivia just showed the one hesitant eye glancing back and forth between the food and the bedcover.

  “I… I… uhmm. I don’t think you realize that I, ahhh…”

  Mac picked a medium size curd out of the container and expertly flicked the curd the short distance into her mouth.

  So, that was where Zach got it from.

  Olivia instinctively bit down and the wonderful flavor of the fried curd made her forget what she had been about to say. Was that drool going down her chin? Olivia reached up to wipe her pink lips with a tanned arm.

  “Pretty tasty, right?” Mac popped a second curd into his own mouth. “Want another one?”

  The golden-eyed woman could only nod. She caught herself just before she could raise a foot and step onto the accursed bedcover. But, those curds were so flaming good. Olivia opened her mouth a bit inviting Mac to flick another one to her.

  It bounced off her cheek, but she caught it expertly with the hand not still holding the volleyball. Mac smiled at her as she chewed in near oblivion to anything else. With Olivia’s eyes closed he was able to shoot a glare at an innocently whistling Haley for the interruption.

  “Just bring me my box,” Olivia urged Mac with a pleading smile even as her feet remained rooted at the edge of the blanket.

  “Say, ‘ahhh’.” Mac edged a little close to the edge of the cover still on his knees with a warm cheese curd in hand. The smell wafting up from the box could unfairly be described as tantalizing.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Haley rolled her eyes and shook her head in disgust as she watched the spectacle.

  “Just give me my flaming box,” Olivia weakly attempted to command the human, still unwilling to even stretch her arms out over the mite-infested bed cover.

  “Ahhhh,” Mac insisted as Haley made gagging faces to the side of him.

  Whatever, fine, the golden-haired woman opened her mouth. But, if he didn’t get his fingers out of the way, he was going to lose them. Wow, those cheese curds were good. She instinctively opened her mouth for another. At least the others hadn’t shown up. If they saw her taking food from a human’s hand…

  “Hey Olivia! Hey Mac,” the vampire’s voice called from behind her. That bite didn’t quite make it down. She dropped the volleyball and pounded her chest. It burned.

  “Hello, Natalia. What are you and Grist doing here?”

  “Real funny, Mac,” Natalia replied, “Is that the food we were promised? You and Olivia weren’t going to eat it all without us, were you?”

  Olivia patted her chest and motioned for a drink. It seemed like Mac understood. He started checking through the bags. She nearly dropped to her knees on the blanket, but thought better of it and turned to face her accusers as she dropped to her knees. That would get her out of the most serious of her three predicaments.

  Then, there was a thump on her back and the treacherous cheese curd made a final desperate bid for survival and leapt out of her throat to the artificial turf. The next thing she saw was a huge hand reach down and pick up her half-eaten curd. Then, the troll popped it into his mouth.

  Was nothing sacred? The golden-haired woman wondered even as she rubbed the soreness from her chest.

  “Yum,” Grist commented as Olivia looked up in disbelief. “You got more of those?”

  “Yep, sure,” Mac commented. He looked like someone had punted his kitten as he stood up and reluctantly walked the box over to them. Olivia was going to have to… share. “But seriously, what are you two doing here?”

  “Real funny, Mac,” Natalia punched him gently in the arm before popping a curd in her mouth. Only now did Mac realize she was wearing a reasonably-modest black bikini top and tight athletic shorts. She had a four-pack located rather noticeably between them. Maybe she had been taking it easy. “These are really good,” the vampire mumbled before she even swallowed and immediately reached into Olivia’s box for another one.

  “Hey, those are…” Olivia stood up quickly to her full height, which still left the dark-haired girl looking down at her.

  “I’m sorry, Olivia,” Mac left her box in Natalia’s conniving hands and crossed back into the forbidden ground with the food in the center. At least there were a few layers between it and the blanket. He pulled out three more small boxes, “I think I have one for everyone.”

  Olivia smiled predatorily as Mac handed her a box just for herself. That meant she had stolen some of Natalia’s.

  “I’m sorry Natalia,” Mac traded her an unopened box for the one they had been munching out of. “I’ll take that one. You should have your own.” The dark-haired girl actually blushed. Wait a second. That meant… Mac had fed her from his own provisions. This just kept getting worse. When Olivia found Joe Campbell, she was going to have some strong words. This setup had been his idea.

  “If you’re just going to let those get cold,” Mac offered as she stared off into space.

  “Mine,” Olivia objected and popped two into her mouth at once.

  Grist grinned at her then turned the box upside-down into his mouth, chewed possibly three times, and swallowed. “Not bad.

  It wouldn’t be wise to accept the troll’s challenge, so Olivia purposely ate a third curd from her box and made sure to enjoy it.

  “What else have? Grist still need food,” the troll addressed the human.

  “I guess we can play after we eat,” Natalia shrugged, “It will be better while it’s hot.”

  “Agreed,” Olivia seconded the motion.

  “Come, have a seat on the blanket. The fake turf won’t poke your legs this way,” Mac invited them.

  “Is this your bedcover?” Natalia commented as she sat down cross-legged beside Mac. “And those are… the safety candles from the night stand. Nice touch. It’s like a real picnic… except we’re underground, sitting on fake turf, beside a lake filled with creatures that nearly killed or possessed us. I’m glad they didn’t have to put Eighty-eight down.”

  “I’m sure he is, too,” Olivia added from where she stood almost a step back from the disgusting blanket. Those parasites were hardly a step up from mites.

  “I’m glad someone appreciates it,” Mac said to the air then laughed as Haley dodged away in a panicked roll as Grist nearly sat on her. The scowl she directed towards the troll now sitting beside her only made Mac laugh harder.

  “Which bag for Grist?”

  Mac slid the troll his own bag, “I do need to use the blanket later. Take your time, no one here will take it from you.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Olivia threatened not quite playfully. “One of those bags is mine, right?”

  “This one, probably,” Mac reasoned and slid the bag out from the others but still on the bedcovers.

  “Can I have it?”

  “Sure,” Mac leaned over and edged it a little closer.

  Olivia raised a hand tentatively, closed her eyes, and spoke very deliberately, “Please… bring me my bag.”

  Grist checked the distance then flipped the bag expertly to land the handles over her outstretched hand leaving the bag hanging almost motionless beneath. “You good?”

  “Where did you learn to do that, Grist?” Natalia asked as Olivia stood stunned with her bag of food hanging from her hand.

  “Do what?”

  “The… flippy thing with the bag,” she twirled a finger.

  “Not hard, just think first. Use small move,” the troll explained as he opened his own box to see the greasy mound of food inside.”

  “Carefully, Grist,” Mac raised a hand in warning, fearful of what might slide out.

  “Would you like a spoon?” Natalia offered.

  “Spoon?”

  “Trolls don’t use tableware,” Mac explained even as two arms wrapped around his chest and a familiar ultra-light weight draped itself over his back. “It can be hard to tell the difference between it and the food.”

  “You’re ignoring me,” Haley commented into his ear, causing him to miss Grist’s humorous reply. It had to be humorous because Olivia was smirking as she set her bag down on the fake turf.

  Haley huffed then pretended to swoon in his lap. She opened one eye to see if he was looking. Of course, he wasn’t. Nor was anyone else. They couldn’t see her, or hear her. That was rather inconvenient. There had to be something she could do to fix that.

  “Whacha got in there?” Natalia asked as she leaned against him to see into his bag, her dark hair tickling his nose. Haley rolled out of Mac’s lap to avoid being so close and decided to just lay across the spot Olivia had declined with her head propped up by a hand.

  “Probably the same thing as you,” Mac gently pushed her head away from his neck with a palm. Even as she swiped the bag for herself.

  “Then you won’t mind having this one,” she teased gently as she scanned the contents a bit more thoroughly. Did Olivia just huff?

  “Go ahead,” Mac surrendered graciously as he pulled the final bag not marked “desert” over to himself.

  “Oh, this looks interesting,” Mac opened the largest container with the main course. “Is this mutton?”

  “Definitely,” Olivia replied before taking a bite of her own. “My favorite. Although, yours smells a bit on the rare side.”

  Mac cut it open with a plastic knife to find a very pink center. That’s right, he must have Natalia’s meal. Which meant that heartless Joe Campbell had planned it this way. “You want to trade?” Mac offered Natalia as the juices flowed out of his meat.

  The vampire cut a slice from her own slice of mutton to find it medium done. “No. I’m good,” she replied.

  So, if that really was Natalia’s meal, that meant somewhere in the bag should be a small vial. Mac searched around a bit out of courtesy to at least offer her that, while Haley looked on curiously. Only he couldn’t find the vial. Might well eat the mutton before it got cold, assuming the cooks had done more than scare it with the mere sight of a grill. He cut a full piece off and was about to put it into his mouth as Haley looked on expectantly. Why was she so…?

  Mac’s eyes dropped down to the dark red piece of mutton on the end of his fork. Maybe he should skip on the main course tonight. The potato soup looked pretty hearty. He could fill up on that and the veggies.

  “You not going to eat that?” Olivia asked as he set the to-go box down.

  “Nah. The cheese curds filled me up, already,” Mac dodged.

  “Pass it to me,” Olivia demanded.

  “I… I don’t think you want this,” Mac replied politely

  “I love mutton,” Olivia replied hopefully. “Pass it here,” she tapped the artificial turf between her and the blanket.

  “This one is different,” Mac worked to dissuade her as he picked up the box to put it back in the bag.

  Olivia turned one eye curious towards him. “This was Natalia’s piece,” Mac put a lot of emphasis on the vampire’s name and winked at the golden-haired woman willing her to understand.

  “What you got in your eye, Mac?” Grist asked. “Grist can get it out for you.”

  “Just pass me the meat,” Olivia tried again, “It’s not like I… never mind.”

  “Hey Olivia,” Natalia looked up from her box after swallowing, “I don’t think any of us know anything about you?”

  “Yes,” Olivia replied as if that settled it.

  “What did you do before you started working for HeHeHe?”

  “It’s a bit complicated. Some of this and that,” Olivia demurred.

  “Grist want know. Please tell what this and that?”

  “Things.”

  “Things?” Mac challenged. “What kinds of things?”

  Olivia plastered a fake smile on her face as she searched for a reply.

  “It can’t be any worse than my job with the mortician,” Natalia volunteered.

  “You employed a mortician?” Mac turned fresh eyes on Natalia.

  “I made up the bodies for burial,” Natalia explained. “I would do the hair and make-up to sort of bring them back to life. It was really quite peaceful until the side hustle I did for the local zombies started getting out of hand. They come at all hours of the night and leave little bits in your carpet.”

  “My neighbors were getting pretty annoyed by so many zombies hanging out in my yard at all hours of the night moaning and shuffling around waiting for my shift to end.”

  “Why not just do that full time?” Mac asked logically. “You must have had plenty of business.”

  “The catch about working with zombies is that most of them are slaves and they can’t show up during normal hours.”

  “So, what did they pay you?” Grist asked.

  “Not much. They could barely cover the cost of my supplies. Although, every now and then they brought me some interesting items that I could pawn.”

  “Interesting items?” Olivia asked.

  “I admit, I got a bit nervous about a golden pocket watch, but I needed rent that month after my car got fixed, so I just rolled with it.”

  “When I brought in a set of wedding rings to pawn the next month. The police came sniffing around the next day, which was killer, because I used to always sleep during the day.”

  “Well, of course,” Mac offered supportively.

  “I admit, they were nice rings,” Natalia continued. “That’s how I first met Miss Hafliff. Shortly after that, my customers started bringing me all kinds of… expensive items. I couldn’t really say no, and my house was starting to look like a thieves’ den. You just can’t sell that kind of stuff all at once, or the pawnbroker starts asking tough questions. Working as a mortician, people might think I was stealing more off the body than the occasional stick of gum or candy bar from a coat pocket. Then, I would lose my actual job. I didn’t think anyone would believe me if told them the truth, and if they did, then they’d probably make it hard on my customers, who I was just trying to help live a little.”

  “When HeHeHe made their offer, it was hard to refuse,” Natalia added.

  “What did you do with your hoard?” Olivia inquired deliberately innocently.

  “I put it all outside one night and asked my customers to remove it while I took care of the other customers. I did sell a few of the lesser items in the next town over to buy some old luggage and a few things to wear,” Natalia admitted. “What about you, Olivia?”

  “I… I used to work in… upper management,” Olivia replied hesitantly.

  “So… you just stole from people legally?” Natalia tried to make it sound better than it came out.

  “Not exactly,” Olivia popped a bite between her pink lips to give her time to think before her next reply. “Corporate takeovers, demolition jobs, surprise adoptions, that kind of thing. I enjoyed working with the kids whenever I could.”

  “So, you sniffed out a more fulfilling job at the Future Center,” Natalia reasoned.

  “You could say that,” Olivia smiled, grateful for the easy out.

  “What about your family?” Mac asked, completely oblivious to Natalia now leaning against a shoulder. “Do you have brothers or sisters?”

  “Why don’t we talk about that over our desert, after some volleyball,” Olivia suggested evasively as she palmed a ball. “Joe said you would teach me to play….”

  “That doesn’t surprise me,” Mac dead-panned before shaking his head.

  “I’ll be on your team, Mac,” Natalia volunteered as she put a friendly arm around his shoulder.

  “He’ll be on my team,” Olivia countered quickly even as Mac carefully removed the vampire’s arm.

  Natalia was about to counter, but after seeing the determined look in her golden eyes simply added, “Okay, it’s me and Grist, then. You done eating yet, Grist.”

  “Grist take time. Make no mess. Wait, please,” the troll responded politely as he carefully flipped a roll into his mouth.

  “Olivia, you and I can bump the ball around a little bit while we wait for Grist. Come on over to the sand,” Natalia invited her surprised rival leaving Mac to keep the troll company.

  “Like this,” Natalia demonstrated a wrist bump for the shorter, golden-haired woman. Olivia mimicked the move surprisingly well, but the ball still bounced off to the side. The dark-haired vampire quickly stepped over to pick it up and demonstrated again.

  A few minutes later Olivia seemed to be getting the hang of it, her golden curls bouncing with each careful hit, and Natalia just… bouncing more than Mac expected. It might be wise to turn his attention to Grist before he dug himself a hole he would never escape. Then again, that would be watching a troll eat… Better just keep his eyes on the short woman wearing the safely modest tank. He might even get a few laughs that way.

  Mac wasn’t wrong, but Olivia was picking it up fast. She was more athletic than she looked. Mac munched on a piece of bread while he watched the women warm up. It wasn’t much longer that it dawned on him that he should participate, if he didn’t want to look like an idiot, later.

  “Send one this way,” Mac requested.

  Olivia cast a suspicious eye at him after hitting the ball back to Natalia.

  “Oh, come on. I’m on your team. You want to win, don’t you.”

  Olivia weighed the question with a wavering of her head and graciously sent the next bump in his general direction.

  Mac had to dive for it, but clean missed it.

  “Can that actually work?” the golden-eyed woman asked with a side glance. Her green eye shadow really worked well for her.

  “Can what actually work?”

  “The thing where you fall down and try to hit the ball.”

  “It’s better to hit the ball before you hit the ground,” Natalia explained. “Where are you from, again?”

  “I came from headquarters,” Olivia answered uninformatively. “Grist, are you done yet?”

  The troll shook his head negatively as he carefully chomped around a piece of fruit.

  “Let me try that falling down thing,” Olivia demanded as she motioned with her chipped nails.

  Mac bumped the ball to her, permitting her to fall awkwardly where she stood. He tried not to wince as he heard the wind go out of her lungs when she dropped flat to the sand, at least the ball had the courtesy to bounce off her extended arms and then off to the side.

  “Are you okay?” Mac asked as Olivia rolled onto her back and struggled for breath like she had been underwater.

  The golden hair woman seemingly ignored him in her continued battle for oxygen.

  “Do you need air?” Mac offered.

  “Not… yours,” Olivia wheezed weakly in reply. “This… is new.”

  “Breathe girl,” Natalia urged as she knelt down beside her. “That looked like it hurt.”

  Olivia leaned her head to the side and looked up with one eye, “You might… want to give… me room.”

  “It’s… not working…” Olivia added a moment after that.

  “Just relax,” Mac urged as he collected the ball. “And don’t dive unless you have to, next time.”

  “Thank you… Mr. … Obvious.”

  “See, you’re breathing better already.”

  “That was… not pleasant.”

  “First time to have the wind knocked out of you?” Mac asked as he tapped the ball to Natalia.

  Olivia forced herself up with a grunt, but she was obviously still struggling. “Yes. My turn.” HeHeHe did seem to hire some tough ones.

  When Grist finally finished his meal, Mac was surprised to find the troll didn’t need the traditional hose down or even the large wet wipe in the desert bag. That was an impressive display of control.

  “Grist do this,” the troll pounded his chest leaving Mac to worry how much this would hurt. Hopefully, Olivia would be okay. Well of course she would. She had just stood up before fully recovering her wind. She should be fine… should.