Chapter 15

I sat at my desk, working diligently on keeping the system from crashing. Simultaneously, the Processors tried their best to get all of the people before them sorted. There had been a massive landslide, and there were currently over a thousand people being sorted. And we weren't even the home office for this incident. All of the Psychopomps had been called out to the field on this one. The Processors were all called in and were working overtime. The tech department had their hands full, trying to keep everything running smoothly.

Just as things were starting to slow down, an alarm sounded in the building.

"Shit. We've got another one," the guy at the computer beside me, Barry, said, frowning in frustration.

"Another one?" I inquired. I had been at home studying with Thanatos when we were called in, so I had no idea what the alarm meant.

"Another mass exodus. A tsunami in Japan this time," Barry said, looking over the screen before him. "We're gonna be here even later. I hope you like coffee."

I nodded my head and turned my attention back to my computer. I wondered how Thanatos and Charon were holding up. When we had gotten called in for the landslide, Thanatos left immediately. Charon had instructed me to head to the tech department and help keep the servers running. That was the last I'd seen of either of them.

A stout young man ran through the rows of desks bringing each technician a fresh cup of coffee and taking their dinner orders.

We really are going to be here all night. I thought to myself as I ordered a veggie burger, my eyes not leaving the computer screen. Ever since I started reaping the souls of animals, I'd stopped eating meat. Thanatos explained that it was a side effect of reaping. For some reason, none of us had been able to look at meat the same way ever again.

* * *

"How're you holding up?" I looked up from my screen to see Thanatos sitting on the edge of my desk.

"I'm doing okay," I said, fingers still flying across the keyboard. Looking the man over, I slowly stopped typing. Thanatos' shaggy hair was a disheveled mess. His eyes were sunken in. And fatigue was written across his entire being, from his eyes to his slouched posture. "You look like shit. Maybe you should head home and get some rest." I gave him a concerned look as I spoke.

"Gee, thanks," he said with a chuckle. "I'll head home when you're done."

I opened my mouth to protest but was stopped by Thanatos shaking his head.

"No protesting. I'll be fine, Andy. I promise."

"If you're sure."

"I am."

Thanatos talked absently with me as I finished up my work. Once I was done, he led me out of the building and to his car. The entire drive home, we were both quiet, the events of the day having worn us both out.