Free First Job (Chronicles of the Moonshine Wizard) by Phillip Drayer Duncan Page B

would even do against a vampire, but it at least had some knock back power. He just had cheap store bought buck shot, nothing special. He had heard about a dwarf in Eureka Springs that specialized in making rounds to fight supernatural creatures. He had been meaning to look into that, and was now wishing he had.
                  The Boss touched his small ear piece. The whole team had them except for Bert. It was how they communicated. He wasn't sure if it was because he was new, or because they knew that his magical energy would probably zap it. Regardless of why he didn't have one, he was left in the dark unless they specifically wanted him to know something.
                  The Boss gave a light nod to Rogue and her hand wrapped around the door handle. She moved it slightly and nodded back. He whispered something into his communicator and gave Rogue another nod. She jerked the handle and swung the door wide open. The Boss stepped forward with his shotgun barrel leading the way. Rogue stepped in behind him with her giant revolver and held it over his shoulder. There was a crash from the back side of the house, and Bert knew that the others were in the house as well. Bert was the last in, standing awkwardly behind Rogue and the Boss making sure not to cross their lines of fire.
                  The Boss pulled a small round light from his belt and stuck it against the wall. It flickered to life, allowing them to see into the room. The Boss waved at him to close the door. Bert complied and stared at the dimly lit living room.
                  The inside of the house didn't look any better than the outside. The walls were gray and dust covered. There were holes all over the walls, and where there wasn’t, only yellow stained dry wall remained. They were in a living room with sparse ancient furniture, disregarded relics from the many years it had obviously been since the house was livable. Ancient wooden plank floors creaked with each step they took, making it impossible to move in stealth.
                  The Boss held up his hand, and they stopped. The house was disturbingly quiet. There was the occasional creaking groan as the wind picked up, but that was it. Bert would have expected to see some kind of wildlife having made its home in the abandoned house. There wasn't even the sound of a cricket's chirp however. That, he understood, was a sign that it was likely not as abandoned as it appeared.
                  Bert shifted his weight, the floor creaked beneath him. Both Rogue and the Boss shot him an angry glance. He mouthed sorry, and the Boss went back to looking around them. Rogue shook her head at him.
                  Bert stared at the darkness of the entryways that lead deeper into the house. The house had looked pretty large from the outside, but the pitch black of the inside made it seem massive. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The darkness was so thick; Bert felt it would crawl out and embrace them all as it swallowed them whole.
                  A light smacking sound, followed by more light, pulled him from his dark thoughts. The Boss was moving forward with his shotgun out in front of him. The light on the shotgun lead the way. Rogue was only a step behind him, still holding her weapon over his shoulder and using her free hand to pull lights from his belt to smack on the walls. She would switch between the ones on her own belt and his, ensuring that the numbers didn't dwindle on either. As more lights went up, the shadows were pushed back into a blue ambiance.
                  Bert realized that he was falling behind so he began marching forward to catch up. The floor was loud and terrifying, and he feared that he would either fall through or be scolded for making too much noise. Neither happened, and he fell in behind Rogue.
                  Bert felt useless, and that only inspired the