I didn’t know that sitting and doing nothing for six hours could be so exhausting. The plane ride was exciting at first, feeling the inertia of the take off and seeing the city that I grew up in get smaller and smaller, but then there was nothing to do. It was the first time I’d ever been in a plane; I didn’t know I should bring my own entertainment. After a little bit, I leaned over Kesstel’s shoulder to see what he was reading. It was US history, specifically about what had been going on in the last twenty years around the Las Vegas region. How, after the fight with monsters destroyed the pipes between Lake Mead and the water treatment plants, the people were forced to abandon the area. Not only that, but the transportation of food had stopped since monsters attacked anything that moved. What few trucks could make it there definitely didn’t have enough supplies for two and a half million people. Very few people made it out of that desertous area.

Kesstel was still reading the detailed report, but I lost interest after an hour and went to look out the window.

The landing was more hectic than the takeoff, apparently because there wasn’t a lot of room for the plane to land. After that, the party of one hundred were sorted into two dark blue buses labeled ‘Greyhound’ on the side, Kesstel and I still sitting next to each other. Since Eden was the largest Gate city, forty percent of the party was from Eden, and the rest of the party was split evenly between the two other parties. I recognized a couple of the other people sitting behind me — unfortunately, in some of the cases. But I ignored all of that and looked out the window when the bus started.

I didn’t think there would be anything to look at in the desert, and for the most part, there wasn’t. But I did notice that there was a bit of … charm? Or was it beauty? I couldn’t help but stare at the amazing patterns on the tan and red rocks as we drove through a narrow gorge, the road bending and twisted with a man-made cliff face on one side and the Virgin River on the other. There were even some geological features that were so cool looking that I bumped Kesstel to get him out of his report and pointed them out.

What made everyone pause was when we all drove past a cave at the bottom of the gorge. There were monsters in that cave, but the buses didn’t stop to take care of them. Our first priority was closing the Las Vegas Portal. Then we could take care of the monsters outside of the area.

The gorge opened up to a bland, pale brown colored desert. We drove past several abandoned houses and settlements, but it was all just the same thing over and over again. In the end, my eyes drooped and I couldn’t resist leaning my head on Kesstel’s warm shoulder. The bus smelled old and dusty, as if it hadn’t been used in a very long time, and the seats were stiff and a little coarse on my bare arms. For all I knew, it could have been abandoned in St. George until a couple days ago, and it was fixed up just for this trip. But Kesstel smelled good, like spicy, earthy soap. It made it easier to relax in the unfamiliar environment, around all the people who I would have kept my guard up around, otherwise.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, Kesstel nudged my forehead with his chin.

“Hey,” he said softly in my ear. “We’re almost there.”

I blinked awake and sat up. Luckily, I couldn’t feel any crusties on my cheek, so in theory, I didn’t drool in my sleep, right? I glanced at Kesstel’s shoulder just to make sure. After making sure that everything was okay, I looked out the window ahead of us. Kesstel stuffed a snack in my hand and I absentmindedly ate it, the cheesy cracker becoming an afterthought as I took in the scene before me.

In its heyday, Las Vegas was known as the Entertainment Capital of the World and the Neon Capital of the World, along with other nicknames. I’d seen pictures of the bright lights glowing in the desert at night. The glam and flare of the casinos and the amazing shows that left people in awe. Even the parts that weren’t attached to the Strip still had a Vegas flare.

None of that applied to the city that was coming into view. There was nothing but desert for miles until the flat land turned into pointy mountains in the distance. What little vegetation there was, growing between the cracks of the interstate, was rough and bare desert plants, easily smashed under the bus tires. Sand drifts were piled up along rusted cars abandoned on the roadsides. Most of them showed traces of old monster attacks, and some even had parts of aged, chewed up skeletons hanging out of the smashed windows and missing doors. I guess it was a little messed up, seeing those sights and not even being bothered in the slightest, but no matter what I felt, they weren’t going to come back to life.

A pile up of broken cars blocked off a bridge on the interstate, forcing all the buses to stop. I leaned against my window and watched as a Mage in dark green robes stepped out of the front bus. She waved her hand and the rusted cars were tossed into the air, dropping debris, ruined luggage, bits of dry skeletons, and clothes as they went. The cars dropped over the side of the bridge and landed in a loud, messed up pile on the road below. As soon as the way was clear enough to get through, she climbed back onto the bus and we moved forward.

“I thought there would be more monsters,” a man muttered from the back of my bus. “Isn’t that why we’re here?” He’d barely finished talking when everyone on the bus stiffened.

I looked up to the metal ceiling as the presence of a lot of monsters closed in from above.

The bus driver slammed on the breaks and the bus lurched to a stop, the tires skidding on the uneven, broken road and leaving the smell of hot rubber in the air. The lead bus breaked just as fast. The vehicles had barely stopped moving when something — several somethings — smashed onto the top of the buses.

The steel over my head bulged toward me, but I didn’t bother to look up. My eyes were locked on the bus beside us.

The monsters were a disgusting combination of a bat and a mosquito, with bodies as large as a medium sized dog. Their limbs ended in lobster like pincers and their ugly faces were elongated to long, swordlike points. Leather wings beat at the air as they dive-bombed the buses, stabbing at the tops with their noses. According to my System, they were called Stirges, most of them ranging between levels 40 and 50.

Hundreds of them swarmed the air, spilling out of a huge, battered white and gray rectangular building off the side of the road. The Stirges took turns, attacking the buses, leaving dents on the metal and cracks on the reinforced windows.

Suddenly, a sharp point stabbed through the ceiling right above me.

Kesstel reached out and grabbed the nose, stopping the proboscis a foot from my head. His mouth slanted in an angry line.

At the tip of the monster’s mouth, I could see a hole, opening and closing, and dripping clear liquid. I jumped out of my seat and flattened against my window so that the liquid didn’t touch me. Wherever a drop landed, smoke drifted up as the material of my seat melted away.

The monster banged on the ceiling and shrieked, but no matter how it moved, it couldn’t get its mouth out of Kesstel’s grip.

With a jerk of his wrist, Kesstel snapped the long point in half with a loud crack. More clear liquid and black monster blood rained down on my seat.

The monster screeched and jerked back out of the hole, leaving a foot of its proboscis in Kesstel’s hand. It didn’t have time to clear the opening before I lunged up and thrust my crystal-steel blade into the hole Kesstel just made in its face. The monster died, spilling more liquids down, completely ruining my seat.

While that happened, the rest of Hunters on the bus weren't idle. Hunters evacuated the vehicles in a flash and started to attack the monsters. We were outnumbered, but every Hunter attack cut down a Stirge. The monsters dropped to the ground, one after another, their black blood tainting the red dirt.

Kesstel stayed on the bus and pushed the jagged piece of metal back into place where the monster had jabbed through the ceiling. I went to the doorway and watched. It was impressive to see the synchronized moves of the teammates working together, their moves limpid with years of practiced coordination. Other Hunters were obviously working together for the first time, trying to kill monsters without injuring the person next to them. The longer they fought, the more fluid their movements became, matching the Hunters around them. Magic flashed and metal glinted as black blood and monster bodies rained down.

I jumped out of the bus and joined the fray, using this moment as practice for my Throw and Critical Hit Abilities. I was fast enough, and the other people were distracted enough, that I doubted anyone saw anything strange. As it was, when the monsters finally stopped spilling out of the battered white and gray building, no one asked me why the monsters I killed disappeared.

Breathing heavily, I stood and put my kindjal away.

A Hunter next to me with a long cut on his shoulder turned to his teammate and smacked him upside the head.

The teammate yelped and stumbled a couple feet forward. “What was that for?” he whined while he rubbed the back of his head.

“Couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you?” the injured Hunter complained. “Just had to jinx it all before anyone even got their armor on!” He turned his head and scowled down at his injury. “It’s not like Healers have endless MP.”

It took me a second to realize that the teammate was the guy in the back of my bus who’d complained about the lack of monsters. The injured Hunter wasn’t wrong either. There were very few Hunters with armor on right now. Most of us were all in comfortable clothes, sweats and loose-fitting wear, for the long ride. Some of the Hunters were even barefoot on the blackened red sand.

The pig teammate whined and scowled at the injured Hunter. “I didn’t know this was going to happen. You can’t blame me.”

“Hell, no. You jinx everything,” the injured Hunter insisted. “Its only your insanely dumb strength that gets you out of it. Just keep your trap shut, and everything will be fine.” He humphed in irritation, but his hand was gentler when he patted his teammate on the back. The two men walked toward the group of Healers moving through the party.

“Alright,” a loud voice shouted over the crowd’s talking. “Since we’re stopped, we might as well talk now.”

I recognized Blood Sword’s voice and shifted until I could see him through the crowd. A second later, Kesstel appeared at my shoulder.

I glanced at him. “Nice of you to finally show up.”

He nodded his head to the side in a dismissive manner. “They didn’t need my help. I wasn’t the only S to sit this fight out.” He nodded across the way to the other bus, and a woman stepped down from it.

I blinked, recognizing Miranda Johnson from the Redding Gate. Her shorts showed off her long legs, and her loose shirt only emphasized her thin, model-like frame. As if she could feel my gaze, she looked towards me. Her soft brown eyes met mine for a second, before she looked away with disinterest. Her gaze landed on Kesstel. She paused and her eyes narrowed for a second. Then she stepped all the way down and walked over to stand by Ben Saito.

The six S’s in charge stood together with Blood Sword in the middle.

He lifted his hand and a holographic map of Las Vegas appeared over everyone’s head. “Alright then,” Blood Sword said. “As you all know, Las Vegas and the surrounding areas have been divided into three. Each team will take a third and each team will be divided, according to your team leads, into groups of ten. If there is a problem with your group, take it up with your team lead. Drama is for the TV — leave it there. There’s going to be enough things in that city trying to kill us. We shouldn’t have to worry about watching our backs from our own people too.” He looked around at all the Hunters.

I couldn’t help but glance over to the right. Two regretfully handsome, square faced men stood just ten feet away, surrounded by a small group of Hunters. The moment I looked over, Blake, Mark, Penny, and President Price all looked in my direction.