Judgement Day (The Intern Diaries Book 5), page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Other Books by D. C. Gomez
Freebie
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Freebie
Connect with D. C. online:
Acknowledgments
About D. C. Gomez
Judgement Day
By D. C. Gomez
Other Books by D. C. Gomez
Urban Fantasy/ Young Adult:
Death’s Intern- Book 1 in the Intern Diaries Series
Plague Unleashed- Book 2 in the Intern Diaries Series
Forbidden War- Book 3 in the Intern Diaries Series
Unstoppable Famine- Book 4 in the Intern Diaries Series
~
The Origins of Constantine- an Intern Diary Novella
From Eugene with Love- an Intern Diary Novella
Rise of the Reapers- an Intern Diary Novella
Second Chance Romance/Romantic Comedy:
The Cat Lady Special
Middle School Novel:
Another World- Book 1
And a children’s series - Charlie’s Fable
Charlie, what’s your talent? - Book 1
Charlie, dare to dream! – Book 2
Click here to get started: https://bit.ly/2CfJpm7
Copyright © D. C. Gomez (2020)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-7333160-4-0
Published by Gomez Expeditions
Request to publish work from this book should be sent to:
author@dcgomez-author.com
For every reader who believed in a dream,
This book is for you.
Thank you for making the Intern Diaries a Reality!
“Isis, RUN!” Like I really needed Shorty to be yelling the obvious at me.
“What do you think I’m doing here?” I shouted in between ragged breaths.
“That pig is going to spear you to death,” Shorty continued with his less than helpful commentary.
“Pig? That thing is a miniature bear.” I leaped over a fallen tree stump while the wild boar rammed right through it.
Being chased by ghouls, zombies, vampires, and even demons was a normal part of my everyday job as Death’s Intern in North America. A wild boar trying to kill me was a new one. That miniature demolishing truck had a one-track mind. Right now, those two-hundred pounds of solid muscle were fixed on turning little old me into an Isis kabob.
“Isis, climb a tree,” Bob shouted more useless instructions.
“I’m carrying thirty pounds of gear. I’m not climbing anything.” I took a quick left turn around a tree hoping to lose the wild freight train, but he followed right behind me. “One of you, please shoot this infernal beast.”
“We don’t carry elephant’s guns with us,” Shorty yelled, and thoughts of choking him crossed my mind.
“Run back this way,” Bob shouted. “I have an idea.”
I grabbed the closest tree limb, using it to help me spin around. Bob and Shorty stood in the bed of Shorty’s new truck, a Ford F-150. If vehicles exploded in my vicinity, Shorty had a way of destroying transmissions at a faster pace. My legs burned from all the quick sprints in the middle of these woods, but I pushed harder. Bob and Shorty had rifles pointed at me. God, please make sure Shorty is wearing his contacts today.
“Isis, drop.” Bob did not have to tell me twice.
I slid down as Bob and Shorty opened fire on the deranged swine. Unfortunately, our new friend was not going down without a fight and kept on charging at me. Shorty unloaded another round, finally knocking the beast out. Too bad he fell on top of me, squeezing the life out of me.
“Help.” I squirmed left and right, but the boar had me pinned.
“Honestly, how many tranquilizer darts does it take to knock down a boar?” Shorty asked as he made his way towards me.
“How many did you fire?” Bob wiped the sweat off his sandy blond hair.
From my angle flat on the ground, Bob looked like a giant. He was a little taller than six feet, but next to Shorty, who was only five feet four, the height difference was overwhelming.
“At least fifteen,” Shorty replied.
“Plus my seven. Then roughly about twenty-two,” Bob confirmed.
“I’m glad that has been clarified,” I mumbled from underneath the beast. “But can you two please get this thing off me? It’s drooling all over me.”
I had no idea how I always managed to get covered in disgusting fluids during every mission. This was supposed to be a simple job: find a tree nymph and to talk to her. Granted, we did break into the Army Depot using fake government IDs courtesy of Katrina.
Katrina was War’s Intern and had access to every military facility, technology, and ID in the world. Minus the small breaking and entering, this was supposed to be easy. Instead, I was being pinned down by a wild boar in the middle of the woods.
“Boss Lady, you are going to have to jimmy out because we won’t be able to pull this monster off you,” Shorty announced, trying to pick up the boar by himself.
“Shorty, this thing weighs more than you,” I told him as I focused on slowing my breaths so I didn’t think about the comatose pig on me. “You’re hundred and twenty pounds is not moving our little friend here.”
“Give me a hand, Shorty,” said Bob, squeezing a log underneath one side of the boar. “On the count of three, pull Isis out. Ready?”
Shorty marched around the pig and grabbed both of my hands. Bob angled the log over a rock while Shorty and I waited for the signal.
“One, two, three.” Bob pushed as hard as he could, which gave me just a few inches to wiggle out of the beast with the help of Shorty.
“Got her,” Shorty exclaimed as Bob dropped the boar back down.
“Thank you so much,” I told the guys as I took a deep breath, the air filling my lungs like a refreshing cup of lemonade on a hot day. “I think I’m safer with the supernatural community than with nature.”
“That is saying a lot considering we spend the majority of our time breaking up domestic disputes.” Shorty pulled me to my feet as he spoke, and at five feet nine inches, I looked like an Amazon woman next to him.
Bob brushed the back of my shirt and clumps of dirt fell off. I ran my hands through my hair, picking out twigs and leaves. My normal silky black hair was matted with mud and all sorts of debris.
“Where is she?” Bob scanned the woods that were suddenly a little too quiet.
“Natalie,” I said, moving slowly away from the boar. “Please come out, we are from Reapers.”
We glanced around the woods waiting patiently. When dealing with supernatural beings, patience was essential.
“Maybe she left,” said Shorty, stepping over the pig.
“She couldn’t. That’s the whole reason we are here,” Bob explained, eyeing the treetops.
“I’m here,” a soft child-like voice answered.
We looked around the clearing but couldn’t find anyone. Bob wandered over to the right and I went left. Shorty climbed on the bed of the truck to search.
“Where are you?” I asked, walking in circles.
“Here.” The voice came from a tall oak tree in front of me.
Shadows extended from the oak, taking shape in front of me. I jumped back a few feet as the shadows formed into a girl. She was the same material as the oak, but her face was soft with green eyes the color of the leaves.
“Wow.” Shorty whistled from the truck.
“A true dryad. Impressive.” Bob was our resident expert on supernatural creatures and knew all their official names.
Bob was a man of many talents, and probably the only one that read every book Constantine gave him. Constantine was the guardian of all the Death’s Intern, a five-thousand-year-old talking cat. He was also an evil dictator who was still mad at me for losing my Intern manual and never actually reading it.
“Hi,” I told the shaking little nymph. “I’m Isis, and this is Bob and Shorty.”
“I know,” she replied, her eyes not on us.
“We have been shouting for the last twenty minutes, so I’m sure the dead know our names by now,” Shorty added from the truck.
“Thanks Shorty.” He really was full of wisdom today. “We got your message and here we are.”
Being one of Death’s Interns came with many responsibilities. One of the major ones that nobody explained was, if I ever decided to settle down in one location for more t
The shifter worked at the depot. What he never explained was the reason he was out in these woods doing installations on a Sunday. The industrial facilities where the civilians work were located at least twenty minutes away, closer to the highway.
“Trees are being cut down and the animals are going wild.” Natalie glanced around with big, green tears rolling down her cheeks.
“I think some of this area is marked for harvesting.” We had passed several areas with trees chopped down on our way here. “I’m not sure how we can help.”
“Make them stop.” Natalie sobbed uncontrollably.
“What?” Shorty looked around the area. “How?”
“Natalie, sweetie.” I moved slowly towards the dryad. “This is outside our jurisdiction. We have no control here.”
“We are going to die.” Natalie’s tears changed from green to brown.
I held her shoulders, and it was like holding a tree trunk. There was nothing soft about her.
“We? Who else is here with you?” I asked her in a gentle voice.
“My whole family.” Natalie turned to face the trees behind her and six other nymphs appeared
“Okay.” That was impressive, but too bad my vocabulary failed me at that moment.
Natalie’s relatives were all over six feet tall and were technically called nymphs. True dryads were spirits from Oak trees. Two of them looked like young trees while three were almost ancient. A young female was the only one that resembled Natalie.
“Why are you here?” Bob asked Natalie, keeping an eye on her family.
“We were transplanted here,” Natalie answered, keeping her gaze locked on us.
“Can you leave?” As exciting as it was being back at an Army post, we were in the middle of the woods. Did it really make a difference what woods they were staying in?
“We can only go so far.” Natalie kicked a few rocks with her feet.
“We can help,” Bob jumped in. “If we transport you somewhere else, would you be willing to move?”
Natalie peered back at her family, and they all glanced at each other before one of the ancient trees nodded to us.
“Great.” Bob smiled widely.
“Natalie, excuse us for one minute.” I dragged Bob towards the truck. “Exactly how are we moving tree spirits out of these woods, and where are we taking them?”
“Bringle Lake Park,” Bob answered a little too quickly for me. “It’s a growing area and nobody is going to be harvesting those trees anytime soon.”
“You know that Lake has crocodiles,” Shorty added from the truck.
I crossed my arms and angled my chin towards my chest as I waited to hear Bob’s solution for that little problem.
“One, maybe two,” Bob offered. “Besides, it’s better than wild boars.”
“Let’s say the lake is a feasible location, how are we transplanting them there?” I looked over my shoulder at the seven nymphs.
“Same way you would move a tree. In a container.” Bob gave us a movie-star smile.
“Are you making this up?” I had no way of confirming his theory.
“It’s easy. We got this,” Bob announced.
“Fine. What are we going to use to move them?” Easy was not a word I would use in this situation.
“I got buckets,” said Shorty.
“Do you normally carry buckets in your truck?” This time I turned my glare on Shorty.
“You never know when you’ll have to move trees around.” Shorty imitated Bob’s million-dollar grin. I threw my hands in the air and stepped away from their madness.
“Natalie, we think we have a plan,” I announced to the little dryad.
“Here you go Boss Lady.” Shorty handed me seven five-gallon buckets, all white.
“But we might need your help,” I told Natalie, my eyes falling to the buckets before landing on her family again. “I have no idea how we can get you moved in these.”
“That’s simple. We can magically shrink the trees we are bonded to and then we are joined with them for the move,” Natalie told us, and her family all nodded in confirmation. “But we must hurry. We only have a few hours after we do. If we are not rooted quickly in our new location, we will perish as the trees expand in the small containers.”
“Easy,” I repeated.
There was never anything easy in my job. I rubbed my temples to make sure this insane plan had a happy ending.
“Shorty, get some men over to Bringle Lake and have them find us a location to plant three grown trees,” I ordered. “Just make sure they don’t hurt any of the current trees there. We need the hole dug out by the time we arrive.”
“Yes, Boss Lady.” Shorty pulled out his phone and made the call.
I had no experience running a city, but at least I wasn’t alone. Shorty was the leader of the Underground, which was originally made up of transient and street people. Now they were informants, employees, and the backbone of Reapers. Under the training of Bob, the Underground was a force to be reckoned with. If anyone could pull off strange missions in a short period of time, they could.
“Shorty, please tell me you carry shovels in the truck as well?” I really didn’t want to dig these poor trees up by hand.
“Underneath the back seat,” Shorty replied.
Bob rushed to the passenger side of the truck and grabbed the shovels.
“Natalie, we have never done this before, so you will need to walk us through it,” I said.
“We can do that,” Natalie complied. “First thing, prep all the buckets with enough dirt before we move the trees. Then we can start the transplant.”
Goosebumps ran down my back. The idea of transplanting actual living beings was a bit terrifying. I looked over at Bob, who was rolling his sleeves up in preparation. At least one of us was excited.
“Boss Lady, holes will be ready in forty-five minutes,” Shorty announced.
“Perfect. It will probably take us that long to get over there from here,” I told Shorty, taking off my jacket. “Grab a bucket Shorty, we need to hurry.”
Natalie was an incredible teacher and transplanting was not nearly as scary as I imagined. It took us roughly thirty minutes to get all the nymphs back inside their trees, and in small enough sizes to fit in the buckets. Once all the saplings were secure, we had to arrange them neatly in the bed of the truck to make the trip to town. I was covered in dirt from head to toe. We were ready to head out, trying to find a way to maneuver around our friendly swine monster who was still passed out.
“Freeze,” a man shouted.
“Not good,” whispered Shorty.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” I told him.
Shorty, Bob, and I turned around slowly to face a young military police officer holding a gun in front of us. He looked too young to be an officer, but I had soldiers in my unit younger than him. Age was not a qualifier for talent. The officer looked competent, and his hands were steady.
“Hi officer,” I said with my hands in the air.
“I need back up,” the officer said over a radio. “I have trespassers and they are armed.”
“We can explain,” I said softly, not making any sudden moves.
“Isis, we need to go.” Natalie picked the worst time to appear out of her tree.
“HOLY. JESUS. CHRIST!” screamed the poor officer.
“Sorry dude.” Bob shot the poor kid and he dropped like a sack of potatoes.
It was a blessing the only bullets we used were tranquilizers or we would have a lot of injuries in this town.
“Should we go?” Shorty asked still holding his hands up.
“Can you handle a high-speed chase through an Army installation carrying seven tree spirits?” I asked Shorty, pointing at our precious cargo.
Shorty drove like a bat out of hell on a regular basis. A high-speed chase would not be a problem for him. Keeping the poor nymphs in the back would be almost impossible, though.
“I wouldn’t recommend it; you won’t make it out of here alive.” Two officers sauntered from the same direction as the now-fallen officer. “Lieutenant, please take the newbie back to the car.”
