 
ALPHA

By Daniel Schmidt

Text copyright © 2017 Daniel Schmidt

All Rights Reserved

To my wife for all her love and support

To all Veterans, past and present

Table of Contents

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

Chapter_33

# Chapter 1

The aspen trees surrounded me in their full autumn colors. Red, orange, and yellow leaves adorned the branches of each tree and covered the ground in a thick, colorful blanket that softened my footsteps. In the distance, towering over the trees stood the snow-capped San Francisco Peaks of Northern Arizona. Behind me sat the graveyard and all around me was complete silence, broken only by the occasional gust of cold wind.

A particularly strong gust kicked up and blew through my jacket and brushed leaves through my legs, causing me to stop and look back to the graveyard. The pain in my chest from only minutes before returned as my eyes focused on the gravestone I had just come from. Frustration and anger built inside me until the wind picked up again, this time sending leaves smacking against my face. I turned away and stepped to the hard pavement of the street.

As my eyes moved up the street, I saw an unfamiliar woman in blue jeans and a tight-fitting brown jacket leaning against the grill of my truck. She looked tall and athletic, with fair hair spilling over her shoulders. She looked perfectly at ease, with one leg kicked up behind her resting on my bumper.

Most days I would have welcomed a chance meeting with a tall blond, but her demeanor unnerved me. Women don't just have chance meetings in a graveyard with strangers. She looked too calm, too out of place, and my senses tingled, telling me that something was wrong. As I strode towards her I scanned around me as casually as I could.

The graveyard stood to my left but I saw nothing except a sea of aspen trees. In front of me, down the street, was a row of apartment buildings deserted like the graveyard. Off to my right stood a large parking garage, newly built by the University but silent and empty on the fall holiday.

As I stepped to within ten paces of the woman, I stopped and my eyes found hers. She had bright blue eyes, almost too bright, and they locked on to me with unshakable, almost predatory confidence. I judged she was just a little younger than me, probably late-twenties. She wore no makeup and she didn't have to – her skin was flawless.

I smiled as best I could. "Hello. Can I help you?" I asked, my breath forming white wisps in the cold autumn air.

The woman smiled, revealing a set of perfectly straight and white teeth. "I think so," she said. "You're Paul Trent right?"

A painful shiver starting at the base of my spine shot up to my neck. My mouth instantly went dry and my stomach twisted in an uncomfortable knot. My palms started to sweat and my heart beat harder and harder. My senses had been right – something was wrong.

No one was supposed to know my real name here. I looked quickly around me again, fear building inside me. I saw nothing, nothing yet. I breathed quickly and fought back the fear knowing I couldn't let it show. My eyes returned to the woman.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I asked.

"We've never spoken but I've seen you around," she said.

My mind raced as I stepped closer to the woman to try to place her. I ran through a mental list of all the people I had met in Northern Arizona but nothing clicked.

"I'm sorry, you don't look familiar and I need to get going," I said, knowing that if she knew my real name I needed to get away from her as quickly as possible.

The woman stepped closer, bringing us to within touching distance. "You're not interested in why I'm here?" she asked.

"Why are you here?" I asked quickly.

"I'm here to offer you a job, one I know you want."

I wanted to back away from her, but I stood my ground. I lifted my hands in confusion.

"What are you talking about? I haven't applied for any jobs."

My mind quickly returned to the question of her identity and how she knew my name.

"Paul, I have a job for you. It pays more than you've ever made in your life and it's doing what you love to do, what you were born to do."

I expected her to continue but after a few moments of silence I asked, "And what was I born to do?"

"Fight," she said softly.

I felt angry, but I was not entirely sure why. I angled around her, starting towards my truck's door.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't need a job. I have one, thank you."

When I got to the driver's door she turned towards me and spoke.

"You don't have to hide anymore Paul. Come join me and I promise you will find yourself again."

I didn't have to hide anymore?! Her comment drove fear further into me. I stepped away from the door.

"Look lady, I don't know what you are talking about. You must have the wrong guy because I don't even know who you are or what you're talking about."

"But I know you Paul, probably better than you know yourself."

Another shot of pain ran up and then down my spine, and I struggled not to let it show. "Again, I don't know what you are talking about. I need to get home," I said as I opened my truck's door.

I saw her reach inside her jacket. I thought she might pull out a weapon and my hand instinctively went to my pistol concealed under my shirt. I casually pulled the pistol out but kept it hidden behind the door. The woman took out a large round coin. I slowly slid the pistol back into its holster as she stepped towards me.

She spoke softly. "I want you to come fight for me Paul. I guarantee that you will find the camaraderie and trust you miss so much." She smiled. "And you will find yourself, the real you. Trust me."

The woman looked down at the coin, spun it in her fingers a few times, and then held it out towards me. The look on her face and the tone of her voice seemed genuine, but I wondered if the coin was a sign, a token given to a marked man. I slowly reached out and took the coin, keeping my other hand on my pistol.

My fingers touched hers for a second as I took the coin, and they – and the coin – felt abnormally warm. I pulled it back towards me, keeping my eyes on the woman. She looked at the graveyard and then back at me.

"Well, I know where to find you now. I'll be back tomorrow, same time, to tell you more."

She turned and walked quickly away. I half wanted to run after her and question her, but the other half of me was glad she left. I watched her disappear around a street corner, and then I finally looked down at the coin.

Five strange symbols were etched into the heavy gray metal. The symbols were made with varying straight lines that looked something like ancient runes. I tried to break it, thinking a tracking device or something sinister was inside, but it did not yield. I glanced around one more time and then jumped into my truck and tore off down the road.

With all the college kids gone, this small Arizona mountain town didn't have much traffic. I sped off in the opposite direction the woman had gone. I turned on to the main road that ran through town and drove away from where I needed to go. The woman's words played and played in my mind, and the fact that she knew my name drove me a little crazy. I circled back on my route several times, thinking someone would be following me, but I saw no one.

I stopped at a restaurant, sat in the back, facing the door, and watched people come in and out. I ordered a meal but couldn't eat. I couldn't stomach the fact that I had been found out, that I was in danger now, real danger. I knew I had to leave right away. After waiting for the sun to go down, I paid the bill and drove to my apartment to gather what little essentials I had there.

The parking lot of my apartment complex was nearly full and I parked in the furthest row. A few dim lights surrounded the lot, and my eyes searched the darkness for danger or someone out of place. My heart slammed in my chest. I slowly stepped out of my truck and walked towards my front door.

Halfway through the parking lot, I heard tires screeching – not like a car accelerating but one coming around a corner too quickly. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. My hand went to the pistol again. I thought it could be the rowdy kids that lived a building over, but more likely it was men coming to kill me.

A dark-colored SUV without its lights on sped into the parking lot and stopped in front of my building. Two more pulled in behind me at each entrance leading from the street into the parking lot. It wasn't the rowdy kids. I pulled out my pistol. This was it – my time was up.

# Chapter 2

The odds were stacked against me, but I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I took a few steps, positioned myself behind the hood of a large truck, took out my pistol, and ensured a round was in the chamber by pulling the slide partially to the rear.

The occupants of the SUV near my building exited first, armed with assault rifles and wearing ballistic vests. I raised my pistol but stopped before I got it up over the hood of the truck.

"Police" was stenciled across the fronts of their ballistic vests. I froze and squinted to make sure I saw things correctly. They looked like police – the haircuts, the vests, the radios, the way they moved. I shoved the pistol back into its holster. The occupants from all three vehicles moved towards me quickly, assault rifles raised. When they got close enough they shouted.

"Police, put your hands up!"

They knocked me to the ground, tore everything out my pockets – my wallet, my pistol, my coin – and then handcuffed me with my arms behind my back. One of the SUVs pulled up beside us, and they stuffed me into a back seat. Two burly men squeezed in on either side of me. We tore out of the parking lot and down the street.

The guy in the front passenger's seat rifled through my wallet and pulled out my faux driver's license. He was on his cell phone quickly and I heard him give my fake name and date of birth. After a minute or so I heard him curse and he tossed my wallet onto the dashboard.

"You're undercover?" he said, looking back at me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as innocently as I could.

"I'm being told you're an undercover cop," the man said.

"Who were you talking to?" I asked.

"That doesn't matter, my people are telling me you're an undercover cop. Is that true?"

I wondered who exactly these guys were. I had met most of the local cops in town because the agency I worked for used their station. But none of these guys looked familiar.

"Who are you and why am I in handcuffs?" I asked.

The man pulled out a wallet and showed me his badge and identification card. He was a federal police officer. I asked him a few questions about his academy and field training and he gave the right answers. We had even had some of the same instructors and he had been in the class right after mine.

"So, are you a cop?" he asked again.

"Yes, I'm a cop," I said softly.

"Who's your supervisor and what's his number?" the man asked me.

I gave him my supervisor's name and number.

The man got on his phone but didn't call my boss. He explained to someone else that I was an undercover and then gave the person he was speaking with my supervisor's information. The man nodded his head a few times, hung up, and looked back at me.

"My boss wants to talk to you."

"You could have just asked me politely. The guns and rough-housing really weren't necessary."

The man up front cursed and then punched the dashboard.

"We didn't know you were undercover," he hissed.

We drove in silence to the east side of town and its large industrial buildings, railroad tracks, and few people. At the end of a dark cul-de-sac we pulled through a bay door into a huge concrete building and a rolling door slammed behind us. I stepped out and was un-handcuffed and then led into a small square room. Concrete bricks made up the walls, and dull gray concrete made up the ceilings and floors. I sat in the one cold metal chair in the center of the room. A single lightbulb hung from the center of the ceiling, casting a dim light on a dark wooden desk in front of me where my wallet and the coin the woman had given me was placed.

I waited for nearly half an hour before the door opened and a middle-aged man stepped inside. He was tall, thin, and didn't look like he had any muscle to him. He wore a dark, well-tailored and expensive looking suit. Large rings sat on each pinky finger of his thin hands. He had dark, straight hair, and I noticed he wore a little bit of makeup around his eyes and on his checks. His dark brown eyes locked on to me.

Without taking his eyes from me, he closed the door. His eyebrows narrowed just slightly before he strode forward to place himself directly on the other side of the table. He reached into his inside coat pocket and pulled out a leather wallet, flipping it open to reveal a badge and government identification card.

"Special Agent Luke Smith. I'm with counter-terrorism. Don't ask for the details because we don't give them." He reached into another pocket and threw my fake driver's license onto the table. "That's a pretty good fake I.D. but your real name is Paul Trent right?"

"How did your guys know who I was?" I asked.

"Someone in the dispatch center recognized your cover name when my men called it in."

I nodded my head. It made sense – most outside agencies used the local dispatch center when conducting operations, and a few people knew me there.

"So what can I help you with?" I asked.

The man acted like he didn't hear me. "I talked to your supervisor and told him what has happened."

"You talked to my supervisor? What's his name?" I asked.

Luke gave me my boss's name, my boss's boss's name, and a few people I had only heard about but knew worked high up in the agency.

"Okay, so why am I here?" I asked.

Luke placed both hands on the edges of the table and leaned forward. "We have been conducting surveillance on the woman who gave you that coin," he said, nodding at the coin on the table.

"And?" I asked.

"That woman is part of a terrorist organization that specializes in kidnapping. That coin is an invitation into their group."

My heart fluttered a bit and my palms started to sweat, but I forced a smile to try to hide my reaction. "A terrorist group in this little town?"

Luke clenched his jaw. "This group has been active for almost a year in this little town, as you call it, and during that time they have killed four of my agents and kidnapped at least six people."

"That's news to me," I said, genuinely surprised.

"There are reasons you haven't heard about them."

"So you thought I was a recruit or something?"

Luke nodded his head. "When my men saw you accept the coin we had no choice but to sweep you up for questioning. What did she tell you?" Luke asked.

I sniffed. "She was kind of vague but she wanted me to come fight for her, and said she would come back tomorrow to tell me more. Whatever that means."

Luke clenched his jaw.

"Did you snatch her up too?" I asked.

"We don't dare go near her. She is very well protected," Luke said.

"I didn't see anyone else there."

"Believe me, she had plenty of protection," he said.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Okay, so what now?"

"This group is trying to recruit you into their organization and I think this is a golden opportunity for us both. We've been unable to infiltrate this group and because of that we are blind to their actions and motives," Luke said with a half-smile. "When I found out who you were, I couldn't believe it – an undercover getting an invitation into this group is beyond anything I could have hoped for. It's almost too good to be true."

"It's crazy," I said with a little bit of surprise.

"I've already cleared it with your supervisor. He's good with it."

"That woman knows my real name. If she knows my real name she must know who I really work for," I said.

"You're former military?" Luke asked.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"You're single, not a lot of family?"

"I don't have any family, never have."

Luke nodded. "These people recruit ex-military guys like you into their organization. They like single men with military experience who don't have a lot of attachments. That's the person this lady is recruiting, the real Paul Trent."

"Then she must know I'm a cop," I said.

"Your agency has kept your training and employment under wraps. No one knows whom you work for; your people went to great lengths to cover that up. That woman would not have given you the coin if she knew you were a cop. She's not stupid, and they always do their homework," Luke said.

"Maybe she's trying to lure me in."

"For what?"

"You said they specialize in kidnapping. Maybe someone found out who I really am and they hired people to snatch me up and get rid of me. Terrorists have to pay the bills just like everyone else."

"You fit the profile of their recruits, not their victims."

I leaned back to look at the ceiling.

Luke rapped the table with his knuckles. "This is way bigger than what you're working right now. Way bigger. We're talking about terrorists, really bad people, people who murder, kidnap, and most importantly, people who are trying to bring this country down. You just got an invitation into their group and we can't pass this opportunity up. We need you to infiltrate their ranks, help us take them down and find the people they kidnapped."

I leaned forward and took a deep breath. "What are these guys about? Who are they?"

Luke shrugged slightly. "We don't know their exact motives or aims; they are very tight-lipped, very organized, and very professional. It's scary how good they are, but we believe they are planning more kidnappings and possibly a large-scale attack. We need to find out where and why quickly."

"In this little town?" I asked, surprised that someone would target a small city in Northern Arizona.

"This town is not so small anymore. It has seen tremendous growth in the last decade, especially at the university and in private research and development firms. There are plenty of targets, both people and places."

"What kind of attack would they be planning?" I asked.

Luke shrugged. "We don't know, but with their level of sophistication anything is possible."

I let out a long breath. "That lady knows who I am. I don't like that."

"Your boss told me you're working white-collar stuff right now?"

I nodded my head.

"This is way bigger than your little fraud cases, way bigger and more dangerous."

"Exactly, way more dangerous, because they know who I am."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "I know I'm asking you to risk a lot, but we don't have a choice. We have never been offered this kind of opportunity before. I am confident you were recruited because of the real you, the single man with no connections and military experience. I am confident that they don't know you're a cop." Luke leaned closer. "There are a lot of lives riding on this, it is worth the risk."

I stood and turned around to face the back of the room. "You said they have killed some of your agents?"

"Four of them."

"Have you recovered any of the people they kidnapped?"  
"No."

"Any idea where they were taken?"

"We have no idea where they were taken or what they have done with them," Luke said dryly.

"Who were these people they kidnapped?"

Luke clenched his jaw. "Mostly young, single women."

"What's their motive?" I asked.

Luke shrugged his shoulders. "They don't ask for a ransom or make demands. The people they kidnap just vanish."

A tingling feeling crept into my stomach. "I'm nervous that woman knows my name, my real name. Being found out is the constant, gut wrenching worry I deal with everyday as an undercover. I don't like the idea of infiltrating an organization as myself – it feels wrong."

Luke cracked the smallest of smiles. "But, on the other hand, that might make it a whole lot easier, being yourself. You don't have to pretend, you don't have to act."

We stood in silence for several minutes until Luke reached into his coat again and pulled out a handful of small photographs. He tossed half of them on the table. "These are the agents they killed." He threw another handful of photographs onto the table. "And these are the people they have kidnapped."

My eyes ran over the photographs and Luke continued. "Are you going to do nothing for them?"

I picked up one of the photographs, a smiling young woman. I stared at the photograph for a few seconds and then let it fall from my hand.

"Okay, I'll do it," I said finally.

A smile spread across Luke's face. "I knew you would."

# Chapter 3

Luke took me to a more comfortable room, one with two couches, doughnuts, and a coffee machine. He let me call my boss, who told me in a very matter-of-fact way that Luke was calling the shots now and I was to do whatever he asked of me. Apparently the agency Luke worked for was one that no one was supposed to know about and, as my boss put it, they got whatever and whoever they wanted.

After the call I helped myself to both a coffee and a doughnut as Luke shifted through a pile of papers. I then slumped down on one of the couches across from him.

Luke sat straight as a board, one leg crossed over the other. His shoes were immaculately shined, and I noticed a very expensive watch on his wrist. He was so buried in his paperwork I just stared at him for a while, sipping my coffee and nibbling at my doughnut.

After a few minutes he spoke without looking up from his paperwork. "You don't look like the type of guy who eats doughnuts."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"You look like a meat head."

"Yeah, I work out, thanks for noticing."

Luke looked up with the tense look still on his face.

I smiled. "I eat when I'm nervous."

Luke looked back down at his paperwork, shifted through a few more, and found the one he wanted.

"So what's the plan here?" I asked, becoming impatient.

Luke took a deep breath as he looked up at me.

"That woman told you she was coming back to tell you more?" he asked.

"Yes, she said she was coming back. Do you know her story?"

"All we know is she recruits for the organization."

"How would she have found out about me?"

"I have no idea," Luke replied.

I nodded. "So again, what's the plan?"

He sighed. "When she comes back, you accept her offer and get in nice and cozy with this group. You feed us as much information as possible and eventually, when we have all the evidence we need, we bring them all in."

"How many of them are there?"

"We believe they operate in two groups or squads, about ten to thirteen men in each squad."

"And you have no idea what their motives are?" I asked.

Luke just shook his head and then looked down at his papers again. He looked over a couple and then looked back up at me.

"I need to send a quick bio back to my boss. Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself," he said without any emotion.

"What do you want to know?"

"Just give me a brief bio of your life."

I took a deep breath. "Well, where do I start... I grew up not knowing my parents, joined the Army at seventeen, and in between four overseas deployments, I got a business degree. After the Army I got a white-collar job with a company in Houston. I found out I hated being behind a desk so I applied for the agency. I got lucky and they picked me up. I got even luckier when a bunch of people retired and I got into the undercover program. I ran a few assignments back east and then got transferred out here to work white-collar stuff."

"Very interesting," Luke said flatly as he scribbled notes. "My men said you came out of the graveyard right before meeting that woman. What were you doing there at such an hour?"

The muscles in my chest tightened, and it felt like my windpipe contracted to half its size. Luke looked up from his paperwork when I didn't answer right away.

"It was four-o-clock in the afternoon and what does that have to do with anything?" I finally said.

"Answer the question," Luke said slowly.

"I was visiting a friend."

"Who?"

I had the sudden urge to punch Luke in the face. "That's none of your business."

"Who were you visiting?" Luke asked again.

I leaned forward. "I was visiting a friend."

"Why do you feel the need to visit him?"

I had another urge to punch him, and I found myself squeezing my doughnut so hard it crumbled in my hand and fell to the ground. Luke showed no reaction; he just stared at me.

He started to ask the question again but I cut him off. "Because I am the reason he is in that graveyard. I did the easy thing, not the right thing, and he was killed, along with three others. What does this have to do with anything? I'm here to infiltrate your terrorist organization, not play twenty questions about my past." I cursed several times as I scooped up my doughnut and flung it into the trashcan.

Luke didn't move a muscle until he looked back down at his paperwork to scribble a few notes. I stood and faced away from him to prevent a violent reaction that I knew was brewing.

"Why did you want to get into undercover work?" Luke asked.

I cursed under my breath. "Because sitting behind a desk or writing traffic tickets to soccer moms is boring. I like action, I want to feel alive, I want to live dangerously... and undercover work gives me a little of that. What does this have to do with anything? Why don't we talk about something important, like the terrorists?"

"Are you using undercover work to hide from something?" Luke asked.

My face burned as my fury rose to a dangerous level. Then as quickly as it had come on, it dissipated, replaced by remorse. It felt like a thousand pounds were placed on to my back. My head slumped forward and my arms went limp.

The room was silent for several moments before I turned to face Luke. "I don't have the rosiest past, but that doesn't mean I can't perform. I've done a lot of undercover work, everything from the Russian mob to meth dealers to white-collar criminals. I've played them all and I won't let you down, but I won't do this psychology crap."

Luke clenched his jaw a few times and then stood.

"When I ask you something you better be prepared to answer. I'm your boss now and I don't play games. You do as you're told or you get fried. This isn't some silly little drug deal or a little bit of tax evasion. These guys are professional terrorists. Lives are riding on this, and I can't have you clam up just because you're a little uncomfortable."

"You threatening me?" I asked.

Luke stepped towards me. "You bet I am. You screw this up or don't do what you're told and I'll make sure you're the one who lands in prison."

# Chapter 4

I stepped from the soft blanket of leaves that covered the graveyard on to the street and once again saw the woman leaning against the grill of my truck. She wore tight-fitting blue jeans and a thin, well-fitting leather jacket. She had to be the most attractive terrorist ever, which didn't make much sense.

I walked up, stopped a few paces from her, and asked, "Do you do this a lot? Approach random men you don't know at graveyards."

She smiled. "Did you think about what I said?"

I chuckled. "I'm a little confused because you're here offering me a job I never applied for, and I don't even know you or what organization you belong too. Why are you here and what exactly are you asking me to do?"

"You don't ask to be part of or apply to our organization. You get approached when you have proven yourself."

"And when did I prove myself?"

"We've done our research and we like what we've found. Like I said before, I might know you better than you."

"What exactly is this job? Is it legal?" I asked.

"I can't give you a lot of the specifics. Our clients demand secrecy."

"What am I going to be doing?" I asked.

"You'll be running protection for our clients as well as fighting for our cause."

"What cause is that?"

"One worth your sweat, your blood, and your life," she said.

"Why don't you just tell me what cause you're fighting for?"

The woman reached into her jacket. I had the urge to reach for my pistol but stopped myself when I remembered I hadn't brought it – an order from Luke. She took out an envelope and tossed it to me.

The envelope was thick with money.

"That's your first month's salary," she said.

I counted it more out of curiosity than anything. It was twice what I had ever earned in a month.

"This is a lot of money, hard to turn down."

She smiled for a second. "I know the money's not important to you. You're a soldier and the most important thing to you is camaraderie and a worthy cause to fight for. I assure you our organization has both. Come and fight for us."

I smiled because what she said was more true than I would have liked to admit. "Who are your clients?" I asked, trying to make it seem like I didn't have to take her offer.

The woman stepped close to me and her blue eyes locked onto mine. "You don't have to hide anymore Paul. Come fight for us and I promise you'll find yourself, you'll find a reason to live again."

I didn't say anything, although a million things were running through my head. The woman held my gaze for a few moments and then said, "or go back your empty, meaningless and lonely life. It's up to you."

The woman turned and walked away. She got about ten meters away before I came to my senses and shouted to her. "What's your name by the way?"

She stopped and only turned her head towards me.

"Christine."

I nodded my head. "Christine, I'll do it."

She smiled. "I knew you would."

She waited for me to catch up to her before walking again. "You have proven yourself to me. You now have to prove yourself to the men you'll be fighting next to. They will test you and it's going to be hard, but don't take it personally – it's just part of the process."

We turned down a side street and I saw a sedan parked about a block away. Christine continued. "It will be hard, and if you want to quit, just say so, but I don't think you're that kind of man."

As we approached the sedan two men exited. They were dressed in light-colored fatigues and held assault rifles. The one at the passenger's door was tall, a full head taller than me, and was bulging with muscles. He had blond hair, a square jaw, and massive hands. The one at the driver's door was tall and athletic but much leaner.

Christine nodded at the men. "This is Mr. Big and Mr. Little. They'll be showing you around."

"Sounds fun," I said, eyeing the men who showed no expression. The smaller man searched me and I was thankful a second time for following Luke's order about not bringing my pistol. The man opened the back door and motioned inside.

Christine lightly grabbed my elbow before I moved. "Stay strong. I'll see you after you're done," she said before walking away.

The big man pushed me towards the door and I slid inside. Both men sat in the front seats and the big one turned back towards me.

"This is real simple. Don't move or do anything until we tell you to. Don't speak unless you're spoken too."

"Simple enough," I said.

He threw me a cloth bag. "Pull that over your head and lay down on the floorboards."

I pulled the cloth over my head and eased myself down onto the floor. I felt the car accelerate shortly afterwards, and I realized if they were here to kidnap or murder me, it was a foolproof plan. With the way Christine looked and talked, the vast majority of men would have done anything she asked of them, including jumping into a car with two armed men they didn't even know. I wondered if she had done this to other men, and if it had been so easy.

We drove for over an hour and made so many turns I lost track of where we were. I kept imagining ending up in the middle of the forest standing in front of a freshly dug grave, awaiting a grisly death. I tried to calm myself but nothing really worked.

When we finally stopped, I heard the doors open and felt hands grab me. I was ripped out of the car and pulled to my feet. I couldn't see anything with the cloth bag still over my head but they dragged me forward. I heard a door open and was led into a building, the hard floor being the only thing I could distinguish about it.

I started to panic a little, not knowing where I was or what they were going to do to me. But like I had many times before, I told myself it was going to be okay and they weren't going to kill me. I reassured myself that they didn't know I was a cop, that this was just part of the process.

I was pushed down onto a chair, my arms were forced behind me, and then my hands were tied and strapped to the chair. My ankles and forearms were restrained shortly afterwards. Fear crept into my stomach but I was able to fight it off for the moment. I heard two pairs of footsteps moving around me for a couple minutes before the cloth bag was ripped off my head.

I was seated in the corner of a large utility room. A water heater and industrial sink stood in one corner, a tool bench with a few hammers and saws in the other. My eyes paused on the hammers and saws for a moment, my mind quickly running through all the horrible and grisly things that could be done with them.

There were no windows, just gray block walls and one metal door. The floor was concrete, old and chipping, and in the center of the room was a two-foot by two-foot hole cut into the concrete. Above the hole was a rope and pulley system.

My eyes turned back to the hammers and saws. Ever since I got into undercover work I imagined an end like this, being tortured and then killed in some dirty, dark room. I gently tested the restraints and knew I was probably not going to get out of them easily.

Mr. Big and Mr. Little stood on either side of me. Mr. Big patted me on the shoulder. "Paul, we know you're a cop. We know you were sent here to infiltrate our organization."

My heart nearly jumped out of my throat. My stomach felt like it was going to fall out of my backside. My eyes moved back to the saws and hammers. Of course they knew I was a cop, how could they not? Christine knew my real name and with that it wouldn't be hard to figure everything else out. I never should have agreed to come. I should have listened to my gut.

Mr. Little tapped me on the shoulder with a Taser and then walked out in front of me. He flipped the safety off, sending a red laser dot onto my chest. Mr. Big squeezed my shoulder. "The only thing we don't know is exactly who sent you here. So tell us Paul, who are you working for?"

Somehow, someway, I didn't freak out. I didn't cry or beg for mercy or babble. My brain on occasion has an uncanny ability to reason its way around what seems emotionally obvious, and the answer that came to mind was familiar.

Nearly every group I had infiltrated had accused me of being a cop or at the least an informant. They would point guns at me, threaten the family they assumed I had, rough me up a little to try to get me to admit. It was criminal paranoia; they think everyone is out to get them and this time was no different. It was a test for anyone and everyone.

"That lady Christine asked me to come here," I said, surprising myself by how calm I sounded.

Mr. Big smiled. "Yes she did, but who else asked you to come? What agency?"

I looked back and forth between Mr. Little and Mr. Big. "I was just minding my own business when Christine contacted me, asked me to come here. I'm not with any agency and no one else asked me to come here."

Mr. Big nodded at Mr. Little, who fired the Taser. The Taser prongs smacked into me and sent a jolt of electricity shooting through my body. My body tensed up as the electricity ripped through my body. After five seconds it stopped and I cursed. "You guys asked me to come here!"

Mr. Little gave me another shot of electricity.

"Who sent you?!" Mr. Big yelled.

"No one," I hissed.

Mr. Little gave me three more shots, one right after the other.

In the Army, I had received training on being captured and tortured, but the only thing I really learned was that everyone has a breaking point, that after so much pain you'll tell anyone anything, literally anything to make the pain stop. I wasn't there yet but I wondered how far they were going to take it.

Mr. Big kept accusing me, and I kept denying everything and getting more and more shots from the Taser.

After nearly an hour or so they tore the Taser prongs out of me. The two of them dragged me, chair and all, to the edge of the hole in the center of the room. They hooked the chair up to the rope and pulley system, and then lowered me down into the hole.

It was filled with ice cold water that immediately took my breath away. They kept lowering me until just my head was above the surface.

Mr. Big continued to accuse me, and I continued to deny. They brought me up out of the water a few times, and then sent me back down below the water. After a few iterations of this, they sent me all the way under.

With my head underwater I panicked for the first time. I thrashed against my restraints, kicking, pulling, doing everything I could but to no avail. They let me stay under the surface for about ten seconds and then pulled me up.

They did this a few more times, and I realized I was approaching my breaking point. The feeling of drowning was overwhelming. More than physical pain, it was primal fear.

Luckily they stopped with the water and went back to the Taser. This continued for a couple minutes, then I went back into the water, then back to the Taser, then back to the water.

After a few more dunks they pulled me back into the corner of the room. I was close to my breaking point, the point where I would start pleading with them to stop. Not much past that was where I would confess. I knew it was close.

Mr. Big bent down in front of me. "We're going to let you cool off for a few minutes in here, let you think things over, and we'll be back to talk. Remember, just tell us who sent you here and this will all end."

Both men left the room. I knew I couldn't last much longer, especially if they went back to the water. I pulled at my restraints but they weren't going anywhere. The chair and the straps were custom built for this very purpose.

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the faces the agents that had been killed and the woman who had been kidnapped. I tried to remind myself about why I was doing this, but as usual it didn't help much.

I shivered, my wet clothes quickly sucking the heat from my body. After an hour or so I really started to shake, violently shake. Next came numbness in my limbs. I got light headed and sick to my stomach.

The door slammed opened and Mr. Big and Mr. Little barged in. They hooked me up to the ropes and dangled me above the water. I almost started pleading. Mr. Big looked up at me. "Just tell us who sent you here and we'll let you go. You don't have to put up with this anymore."

I cursed at him, my words slurring through blue and frozen lips. "I'm not a cop, I don't work for cops, no one but Christine asked me to come here. I don't know what you want me to tell you."

They let me dangle above the water for a few minutes and I saw them exchange glances a few times and then Mr. Big nodded his head. They pulled me away from the hole and lowered me to the concrete. Mr. Little undid my restraints. I couldn't stand, my legs were so numb, and Mr. Big helped me through the door and outside.

We were in the middle of the forest, and besides the small cabin, there was nothing else in sight besides pine trees. Mr. Big helped me into the living room of the cabin where he had me take all my wet clothes off. He threw me a fresh set of fatigues, a set of boots, socks, and a blanket. I pulled the clothes on and draped the blanket over my shoulders.

Mr. Big squatted in front of me. "We have to do that with everyone to make sure you're not a cop or an informant."

I felt a ping of relief. They had almost gotten me to break... almost.

I just nodded my head.

"This isn't over. That was just the first part. As soon as you're thawed out, we have more work to do."

"Nothing that involves water I hope?"

Mr. Big chuckled. "No more water."

After about fifteen minutes, Mr. Big dumped a backpack in front of me. From the sound of it hitting the floor I knew it was heavy.

"Throw that on and get outside."

I hoisted the backpack onto my shoulders, judging it to be roughly eighty pounds or so and joined Mr. Big and Little outside. They both had light backpacks and walking sticks.

Mr. Big handed me a compass and a map and pointed out where I needed to go. I got my compass direction and set off, with both Mr. Big and Little following close behind me. I arrived at the location several hours later and found a pile of basketball-sized rocks waiting for me. Mr. Big pointed up a hill nearby and indicated all the rocks needed to get to the top of the hill. He asked me if I wanted to quit, and when I said no, he motioned to the rocks.

I dropped the pack and went to work, taking two rocks at a time up the hill. It wasn't long before my hands bled and my forearms ached. Once I was done, Mr. Big pointed out another spot on the map, and about an hour later and with sore feet I found a tractor tire that needed moving down a road. Once that was done, Mr. Big gave me another destination.

This continued through the night, into the next morning, and even through the next night. They gave me all the water I wanted but no food. Mr. Big would give me a destination; I would carry the heavy pack there and then have to perform some physically excruciating task like pushing a truck through sand or dragging sacks of dirt through a tunnel. He would always politely ask me if I wanted to quit and when I said no, I would go to work.

They finally gave me a few hours of sleep when the sun started to come up on the third day. When they kicked me awake I felt like death. Every bone in my body ached, my feet full of blisters and blood, my hands cut, scrapped, and raw, and my muscles like jelly. I felt worst after the short rest.

The punishment continued into the day. When the sun dipped in the sky I came to the base of a large hill, where Mr. Big indicated I had to go. There was a large log on the ground and I plopped down next to it.

"Want to quit?" Mr. Big asked.

I certainly felt like quitting. My body wanted me too, but I shook my head.

Mr. Big pointed to the top of the large hill. "Get that log to the top."

I glanced at the log and guessed it weighed around three to four hundred pounds. I groaned a few times, cursed, and pushed the log up the hill.

The log was too heavy for me to lift so I had to push it up the incline. The hill, mostly loose dirt and sand, made pushing it all the more difficult. Several times I pushed the log a foot or two, only to lose my footing and slide backwards a few feet. To make it worse, because the hill was so sandy, if I didn't keep constant pressure on the log, it started sliding back down. If I dared to rest, I would just lose ground.

After an hour or so, I had only moved the log about a fourth of the way up the hill and I was loosing strength by the minute. My body started to shut down – it didn't have anything left.

I pushed and pushed but couldn't move the log any further. I tried for several minutes but went nowhere. I collapsed to the ground, allowing the log to push me several feet down the hill until enough sand piled up behind me that I stopped.

Mr. Big let me lie there for a few minutes before he patted me on the head. "Look up at the top of the hill," he said.

Slowly and painfully I lifted my head to look. I saw about ten to twelve people at the top. One of them was Christine, her long fair hair being easy to spot.

"That's the men you're going to be fighting next too. Get that log up to them and you're done."

It took a moment for what he said to sink in. This was the end. Finally the punishment could stop. That knowledge somehow, someway, gave me more strength. I rose to my hands and knees and pushed the log, inch by inch, foot by foot, up the hill.

About half way up all the men came down to me. They were all about my age and they encouraged me and cussed at me to get the log to the top of the hill. They cheered and shouted with each heave. Christine remained at the top of the hill, looking down at me.

When the sun was just a glow on the horizon, I got the log to the top and collapsed onto it. The men cheered, threw out a few whistles, and patted me on the back. Christine walked up to me and I stood up, swaying heavily from side to side.

She let a huge smile spread across her face as she looked around at the men. "Does this man have what it takes to join our ranks?"

The men let out a cheer and Christine reached out to touch my shoulder.

"Welcome to the brotherhood," she said softly.

# Chapter 5

Several men helped me back down the hill and then into a car. They handed me several cheeseburgers, which I devoured, and then a couple of beers. I slammed the beers and was asleep before I knew what happened.

When I woke up I was in my apartment, lying in bed. I had a severe headache and every part of my body ached. I looked over and saw two large pizzas, a huge jug of water and a bottle of Aspirin on the nightstand next to me. I chuckled because it was exactly what I needed.

I sat up, swallowed a handful of Aspirin, and devoured the pizza. I tried to remember what exactly had happened the last few days but had a hard time piecing everything together. I remembered the most painful moments but most of it was a blur, a bloody painful blur.

After finishing half of the first pizza, I realized that I had learned nothing more about the group. They had not indoctrinated me in any way. They had not alluded to what they were about, or what they would have me do. After several days with them I had no idea who they were, what they were, or what I could expect in the future. I certainly was no closer to finding the people they had kidnapped.

They had only tested my physical and mental toughness, nothing more. Christine must have done her homework. She'd either known I wouldn't quit or knew her few choice words were enough to make me stick around to see what the job was.

I was proud of myself and called Luke after finishing the rest of the pizza.

"What happened?" Luke said as he answered.

I cleared my throat painfully. "I made it through. They said I was worthy to fight for them."

"Where are you?" Luke asked.

"Back at my apartment."

"What are you doing there?"

"They brought me back here."

"Was it bad?" Luke asked.

I chuckled. "It was a walk in the park."

"I doubt that... Well you're in. I suspect they will let you heal up a little and then come back for you?"

"I guess, I don't remember them telling me anything," I said.

"I would expect them to start training you."

"Are you sure you can't tell me anything more about them?" I asked.

"They are terrorists. What else do you need to know?" Luke said.

"Well, they don't act like terrorists. I spent several days with them and they didn't even allude to what they are about. Don't you think they would want to know if I agreed with their views, with what they are going to be doing? Terrorists need dedicated people, people who believe in their cause."

Luke cleared his throat. "Let me ask you this Paul. Forget for a moment that you are an undercover. You're just a regular Joe who just got out of the Army. An attractive woman tells you she has a job for you, tells you you'll be making a bunch of money doing some protection type stuff. If that's all you knew, wouldn't you still have agreed to this?"

"Probably, but once I found out they're terrorists and planning kidnappings I'd be out. Terrorists need dedicated people because only dedicated people will agree to kill or kidnap the innocent. Anyone else would walk away," I argued.

"Maybe they are confident you'll agree to whatever they ask. The woman did say she knew you better than yourself."

"I don't know how that would be possible," I said.

"Look Paul, don't worry about all this. Just act like you want to do this, that you would have agreed to do this. Immerse yourself in their world. Find out what they are up to and where those kidnap victims are. Let me handle the rest."

"Like I said before, I won't let you down," I said.

"You better not," Luke said and then ended the conversation.

I tossed my phone aside. Although I hurt everywhere, I was ecstatic to still be alive. They either didn't know I was a cop or didn't care. They were not luring me in to torture and kill me. I was in.

# Chapter 6

For several days I limped around my apartment, so sore I could hardly move. I nursed my wounds, got plenty of sleep, and waited. Then one morning a loud banging on my door woke me. Sunlight streamed through the window, and I realized I felt much better, my headache was gone, and the soreness was fading.

I dragged myself to the door and found Mr. Blond – I mean Mr. Big – on the porch. He introduced himself as Walter. A mountain of a man, he was much taller than me and probably had forty more pounds of muscle. His very light blue eyes stared at me as he spun a coin in his hand just like the one Christine had given me. His voice boomed as he asked, "How you feeling?"

I forced a smile. "Never been better."

"Good, now let's go, it's time to get started," he said, motioning outside.

"Do I need to bring anything?"

"Nope, we'll give you everything you need."

I followed Walter down to his vehicle, a newer model truck with four doors. He tore out of the parking lot, and as we drove we talked about how I had handled their tests. To my relief he told me everyone was impressed when he told them about what I had done. We drove northwest out of the city, towards the foothills of the San Francisco Peaks. We followed a dirt road that led up toward the mountains, and then we passed through several gates and ravines before coming to a large brick house.

The house was tucked into the aspen trees, which were in their full autumn glory. Red, yellow, and orange leaves floated softly to the ground, turning the ground into a vibrant hue that matched the trees. The house was also on high enough ground to overlook the valley below and in the distance, nestled between the hills, stood the city. A few hundred meters past the house the ground rose dramatically and changed from mere hills to the mountain where the changing aspens made it look like it was on fire.

"I'll show you around the house before we go meet everyone else," Walter said, parking near the front door.

Inside, the house was spotless, clean, and tidy, with everything in its place, and it smelled like freshly baked bread. The floors were oak and the walls were painted a light brown.

"Welcome to your new home," Walter boomed, raising his arms. "It's not much but we have a lot of fun here."

"Who is 'we'? Who else is here?" I asked.

"We have one squad, about fifteen guys who live here. Those fifteen guys are split up into three teams. You're going to be part of my team. You answer to me, and if I'm not around you go to the squad leader Sergeant Barnes."

Walter showed me the kitchen, which looked well stocked. "You cook?" he asked.

"No."

"Well you better learn. The new guys cook all the meals."

Walter then showed me the gym and game room, which was complete with billiards, TVs, and card tables. We then started up some stairs. He took me to a long hallway, one with five doors. He took me to the last door and pushed it open. There were two beds inside.

"This is your room. Your roommate is Carlos. He's also on our team. You'll meet him out at the rifle range."

Lying on my bed was an odd assortment of clothing, undershirts, a ballistic vest, an M4 style assault rifle, a silenced MP5 sub-machine gun, a silenced pistol, a bayonet, and a radio. Under the bed I saw several pairs of boots and shoes.

I picked up the bayonet. It was military issue, long, heavy and strong. It had an attachment that would affix it to a rifle, and it had the same five symbols etched into its blade that were on the coin Christine gave me. "You guys use these?" I asked, spinning the large blade in my hand.

Walter shrugged. "We're required to carry them. The boss likes us fully stocked. Anyway, there are more clothes in the closet. The rest of your equipment we can get in the garage. The assault rifle is only for emergencies. When we're out on mission we use the silenced stuff. We don't want to attract any attention if you know what I mean. And we need to blend in when we are on mission, hence the odd assortment of clothing," Walter said.

His mention of a mission made my heart skip a beat, but he offered no details.

"Grab a coat out of the closet there," he said, motioning.

I selected a coat in the closet, hoisted the ballistic vest onto my shoulders, and grabbed hold of my weapons. I followed Walter back down the stairs.

This was supposed to be a terrorist organization so I expected propaganda and ideological slogans written all over the place, but there was nothing that indicated who these people were or what this place was.

We walked into the garage, and along the back wall was shelf after shelf of military equipment and bullets. Walter had me grab various pouches to put on my vest to hold my magazines and radio. I attached the pouches, and after rearranging them several times Walter seemed satisfied that my jacket hid them enough.

He had me take off my jacket, and he put a sling over my right shoulder. He then connected the MP5 sub machine gun to it and tightened it until the butt stock rested near my armpit and the muzzle stood near my belt. I threw my jacket on and only a small portion of the barrel protruded out the bottom. He had me let go of the rifle and slide the jacket over it, and then he had me walk around.

I had to press on the muzzle near my belt to keep it from swinging, but it was all but concealed beneath my jacket. Walter then had me practice pulling my jacket partially open to expose the MP5 and pulling it up to fire with both hands. Next we arranged the pistol on the vest and ensured the jacket covered it sufficiently. Then we attached the radio and ran a wire up to my ear.

I started loading magazines for my rifle and pistol.

"What's a typical day like around here?" I asked.

Walter smiled. "I'll destroy you in the weight room every morning. Then after breakfast we usually go out to the range and shoot for a couple of hours. After lunch we train as a squad and have a class on something like first aid or navigation. After dinner we usually train for a little in the dark, then hit the sack."

"Sounds like we'll be busy," I said

Walter shrugged. "Sometimes. We're on a rotational basis with another squad. We handle missions on odd weeks, they get the even ones."

"Sound like a good time."

"It is. We train hard but on our off weeks we get to have some fun. Sarg even lets us go into town sometimes."

"What kind of missions can we be expecting?" I asked, loading another magazine.

Walter chuckled. "Let's get you trained up, and then we can worry about missions."

"The other squad isn't here?" I asked.

"No, we don't know where they are. They don't know where we are and that's the way it has to stay... Hurry up with those magazines already," Walter said, slapping me across the back.

Once I loaded my magazines we walked outside and towards a hill near the back of the house. I saw some crude plywood structures at the base of the hill with groups of four men practicing going into the structures and shooting targets. Others were standing around watching. As we neared, several of them turned to look at us. None of them spoke and Walter walked up to a tall man in his late 30s who I had never seen before.

"Sarg, here's the new guy."

Sarg did not turn to look at me. He just clenched his jaw.

Walter looked at me. "This is your squad leader, Sergeant Barnes."

I nodded and there was an awkward pause, and then Sergeant Barnes said, "Let's take a walk kid."

He turned and walked back towards the house. Sergeant Barnes was a few inches taller than me and had broad, thick shoulders. His hair was dark but he was starting to go bald. He had a large, square jaw and several days of stubble showing.  
"You were in the Army?" he said.

"Yes," I replied.

He nodded. "You ever deploy?" he asked.

"Four times between Iraq and Afghanistan."

He nodded again, "This place runs kind of like the Army but without all the red tape. Do what you're told, train hard, and I'll take care of everything else. You probably have a lot of questions and I'm gonna tell you you're not going to get a lot of answers just yet. In time you will. Have fun and listen to Walter, he knows what he's doing."

Sergeant Barnes stopped walking and looked at me for the first time. I was struck by his light but intense eyes. "Whatever you think this place is, I guarantee it's not it. It is a whole lot more than you could ever imagine. Just know we fight for a worthy cause, one worth your life. Hell, one worth all our lives. Stick with us and you'll find out what we are fighting for, and if you're lucky you'll get a chance to die well for that cause. Welcome to the brotherhood, Paul."

Sergeant Barnes extended his hand out and I shook it.

"Go link up with Walter again," he said as he walked back towards the house. I was struck by what Sergeant Barnes had said and watched him as he walked away. He reminded me of a few old Sergeants I had known in the Army, the crusty ones who had been in combat too long or too many times, the ones who always seemed to have something on their minds but never said what it was. That something was the violence they had experienced, the comrades they had lost, and the decisions they couldn't take back, decisions that would haunt them the rest of their days. I knew exactly how he felt.

I turned and jogged back to the plywood structures. I found Walter standing next to two other guys. He introduced the first as Carlos, a tall, dark and very muscular man probably in his late 30s. The other man was a guy named David. David was short and thin with a square jaw and light brown hair. Walter then took me and introduced me to the rest of the squad.

Walter spouted out all the guys' names but I was hopelessly lost after the second guy. They all looked fit, trim, and hardened, men who had seen their fair share of war. They all welcomed me and then quickly went back to training.

Walter took Carlos, David, and me to one of the plywood structures. We practiced lining up close together at the door, something we called stacking, and then going in and clearing the room. I had been taught a slightly different way, but it didn't take me long to get on the same page. Walter explained to me that when we received a mission we would be "securing" one and only one person. I assumed they meant kidnapping only one person, but I kept my mouth shut. Walter explained we were to secure that person and get them out. Everyone else there was to be killed. The person we were to secure was called "the package."

Other teams started putting targets into our room, painting or putting something on each one and then telling us what "the package" was painted with or had on it. We were expected to shoot all the targets, except the package of course. The first time we did this I was the second man in and found three targets. We were told the package had a red scarf around its neck. I quickly identified the middle target and the red scarf; I turned my sights to the left and put two rounds in the chest area and one in the head of the target. I had never fired a silenced weapon before and was surprised when all I heard was the bolt sliding back and forth. I had, however, shot an MP5 sub-machine gun before, and it fired smooth just like I remembered.

I quickly figured out David was the best shot in our team. He could fire one bullet through a target and nearly all his subsequent shots would pass through the same hole as the first or come very close. He knew he was good and showed off sometimes by shooting just the eyes or the nipples of the target. Walter slapped him in the back of the head whenever he did this.

We continued clearing rooms until the sun started to dip below the trees, taking the temperature down with it. Carlos and I were sent back to start cooking dinner while the rest of the squad continued training. Carlos took the lead and started pulling out pots, pans, and items from the fridge. He had me start cooking some pasta while he chopped up vegetables. No one else was around and I figured it would be a good time to start gathering intelligence.

"How long have you been here?" I asked him.

I was relieved when Carlos didn't hesitate to answer. "Six months or so."

"How many missions?" I asked.

Carlos held up two fingers, and then said, "They don't come around very often."

Carlos seemed comfortable talking, so I continued. "Who are the bad guys? Who are we shooting out there?"

Carlos stopped chopping the vegetables and my stomach sunk. I thought I might have crossed a line but to my relief he answered.

"We call them the Legion, don't know a lot about them but while we're trying to rescue the packages, they are trying to kill them."

I was about to ask why when Carlos continued. "There are a few things you should know about the Legion. They wear kind of a dark gray uniform, with gray ballistic helmets and carry M4s and .45 pistols. You'll know when you see one, they are pretty distinct. Dark grey everywhere with no markings or patches," he said, motioning all over his torso. "And in charge of them is a guy we call the Alpha; he is very dangerous. Last mission he got two of our guys."

Carlos ran his hand over his head, from ear to ear. "The Alpha wears the dark grey fatigues like the other Legion soldiers, but his helmet is different. He's got a crest running across the top, from the top of one ear to the other, about three inches tall. He looks like those ancient Roman centurions who wore the horsehair plum on their helmets. We think it's some communication device, like an antenna or something for their radio. He also wears a mask. It looks like one of the masks hockey goalies have except it hides his eyes more. Anyway, like I said, the Alpha is the leader and very dangerous. If you see him, you let everyone else know and fire everything you have at him."

I was not expecting anything like what Carlos had said. "Who are these guys? Government? Cops?" I asked.

Carlos chuckled. "Like a lot of things around here, there are a lot of theories but no one really knows. Some guys say they're government, and some guys think they're some evil corporation. I really don't know and don't really care."

I had so many questions but settled with, "And who are the packages?"

Carlos smiled. "I won't spoil that one for you. You'll have to wait for a mission to find that out."

I heard a door slam open and saw Walter's massive frame come barging in.

"Where's our food!" he shouted with a huge smile on his face.

Carlos stuck the knife into the cutting board in dramatic fashion and nodded his head at Walter. I thought the two were going to fight but Walter let out huge laugh and yelled, "I'm sooo hungry!" He then stormed upstairs. The rest of the squad came trudging into the house and many more shouted about food and their hunger.

Carlos and I finished preparing the food and the whole squad sat down at a long wooden table. Sergeant Barnes sat at one end while the spot at the other end was left empty. Since this was my first meal with the squad, I expected to be singled out and told to introduce myself or do something, but everyone just started digging in.

Several different conversations started up around the table. A few guys talked about rifles, a few others talked football, but the main conversation centered on Walter and his booming voice. The guys around me asked a few general questions like what units I had served in and what sports I played, but for the most part they left me alone. As I listened to the conversations and laughed at the jokes, I started to feel more calm and relaxed, like I was around old friends. This felt odd. I was brand new to this place, these people, and I was undercover, which meant I should have felt on edge.

I noticed Sergeant Barnes didn't join in any of the conversations. He glanced around the table occasionally, but for the most part he kept his eyes on his plate. When not shoveling down his meal, he used his spoon to push around the food on his plate.

Christine walked in after about fifteen minutes. She wore jeans and a tight-fitting sweater, and her fair hair was in a single braid, resting on her shoulder. When Walter saw her he yelled out, "Christine!" and started banging his fists on the table. The rest of the men soon followed suit into what became a roar. She smiled and laughed softly. She told us good evening and then sat down opposite Sergeant Barnes.

Walter got the attention of everyone at the table and started into an animated story. Everyone's attention centered on him, everyone's attention except Christine's.

I glanced her way for a moment and found her eyes on me, a pair of sparkling blue gems, which looked almost fake. She kept them on me for a few seconds and then smiled and looked down at her plate. I felt perplexed by his beautiful woman and Walter's words were lost to me. I was brought back to reality when the guy next to me bumped my arm in a fit of laughter.

I looked around the table and knew I was enjoying this place too much already. I had only known these men for an afternoon, not counting my savage trial, but I already felt like a part of them. They were soldiers just like me, they thought like me, I shared their humor, and I felt totally at home among them. I had not felt this good in a long time and yet a sickening feeling crept into my stomach. I remembered why I was here; I remembered what Luke had told me, I remembered what I had to do, I remembered these men were terrorists and kidnappers. And I remembered I would have to betray these men and send them all to jail. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach and I feared my face went white. I glanced around the table to see if anyone noticed and saw everyone was still engrossed in Walter's story, oblivious to my peril, everyone except Christine, whose eyes were once again upon me.

# Chapter 7

My second day with the squad was filled with exercise and practice at the shooting range. Walter made me confirm the zero on all my weapons, which meant that where I put my sights was where my bullets hit. He also ensured that I was comfortable using all the equipment, running me through several trials using each piece.

Just like the first night, Carlos and I had to fix dinner and it went similar to the night before. Lively conversation echoed through the room and I caught Christine staring at me several times. She made me very nervous, like she knew something. I found or heard nothing to indicate these men's motives or where the kidnap victims might be. After dinner, Carlos invited me to a poker game in the game room.

Carlos, David, Walter, and me sat around the poker table while everyone else watched television. As Walter started to deal I was reminded of how big the man was. His muscles tested the strength of his shirt, and I wondered how someone could get so big. His bright blond hair contrasted sharply with Carlos's darker blend. Carlos was not a small man either; he was shorter than Walter but still very muscular. David looked tiny in between the two as he had a more athletic, swimmer's build.

Walter won the first hand and tossed me the pile of cards to shuffle. He looked at me for a while, then said, "You were in the Army?"

I nodded my head, "25th Infantry."

"Which brigade?" he asked.

"First brigade, back when it was at Fort Lewis."

"I was 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne."

I chuckled. "Good old Fort Bragg, I really hate that place."

"So do I, but I was with some good dudes. I miss them but certainly not Bragg."

"That's the way I feel about Fort Lewis. It was always raining there. Every single time we went out to train it was raining. I got so tired of it." I looked at Carlos. "Where were you at?"

"I was with the Marines, Camp Pendleton," Carlos said.

"We don't like to admit we have Marines around here," Walter said with a huge smile.

Carlos smiled and shook his head. Walter reached over and rubbed his head. "Just kidding, you know we love you, even though you're a Marine."

I started shuffling and looked at David. "Where were you at?"

David smiled and Walter laughed, and then he said, "He's even worse, he was in the Navy."

Walter slapped David on the back. "But he was a SEAL, so I guess that makes him a pretty good dude."

Carlos chuckled and motioned at David. "Although you've never made a movie or wrote a book so I don't know if I believe you're a SEAL. Isn't that a requirement for you guys?"

David rolled his eyes.

Walter laughed loudly and I wasn't real sure why. When he finally stopped laughing, he looked at me again, "You married? Any kids?"

"Neither," I said softly.

Walter chuckled. "Not a lot of army guys around who didn't get hitched at least once. I myself was married for a couple years but you know what deployments do to marriages."

I frowned and said, "And proposals." I nodded my head towards Carlos and David. Carlos said, "I was married once, have two girls from it, but don't get to see them very much."

"Never married. I like the single life too much," David said softly, averting his eyes from mine.

I returned my glance to Walter. "Where you from?"

"Minnesota, you?"

"Born and raised in Washington State," I said.

I asked Carlos and David the same question. Carlos said, "Born in California but spent the first half of my childhood in Mexico with my father, and then I came back to California with my mom."

"Born in Missouri but grew up in Virginia," David said.

Carlos nudged my arm and showed me a picture with two young girls, probably four and six, both with long jet-black hair. "My two girls."

"I bet you miss them," I said.

"You have no idea," Carlos said, putting the pictures back into his wallet.

I noticed a crucifix hanging from Carlos's neck.

I motioned to the crucifix. "You religious?" I asked.

Carlos looked up at me. "Yes... I try and get to mass every Sunday. You're welcome to come with me."

"It's been a while since I've been to church," I said.

"That doesn't matter. I can't get any of these other heathens to go," Carlos said.

I looked over at Carlos's crucifix again and noticed a large scar near his collarbone. I waited until the next hand before I asked him about it.

Carlos rubbed the scar and said, "Iraq. We were doing a raid and my team was clearing the bottom floor of this building. We didn't find anything until we went into the backyard. We cleared the yard and then went to the side of the house. As soon as we turned the corner we found four guys lined up against the wall. The first guy had a mortar round in his hand, had rigged it up with a pin like a grenade. He pulled the pin on the mortar round as soon as we came around the corner. Well, the round went off right when he pulled the pin, blew him into a few pieces, and showered us with shrapnel. My team leader was in front of me and caught most of it. I got one piece here and a couple more in the legs. The three other bad guys were pretty messed up and we dumped them pretty quickly."

"Team leader make it through?" I asked.

"Yeah, he had shrapnel wounds all over his body but he's still walking and talking today."

Walter lifted up his arm to show us the bottom of his forearm. A scar ran from his palm down to his elbow. "Got this in Iraq too. We were on patrol, got hit and needed to get out of the street. We ran to the nearest house, squad couldn't get through the front door so I busted out the window with the butt of my rifle. The rifle went through the window just fine, followed by my forearm. Glass cut it up real bad. I call it my idiot scar."

I had plenty of scars to show. Several of them I didn't like talking about though. There was one from my first deployment that didn't hold much emotion. I brushed my hair back to reveal a scar that ran across the top of my forehead and was normally hidden by my hair. "IED flipped our truck over and I caught an ammo can."

David then stood up and unbuttoned his shirt to reveal several scars on his side and lower stomach. "Afghanistan, RPG hit the ground right near me, showered me with a bunch of shrapnel."

We all inspected David's wounds and then went back to playing cards. After another hand, Carlos looked over at me. "I didn't ask you, do you have any brothers or sisters?" Carlos asked.

I smiled. "It's got to be the same in the Marines – you don't tell the guys about any sisters you have. You have to be careful even mentioning your mother," I joked.

Walter let out a huge laugh and said, "I know exactly what you mean." He pointed to his hair. "You see this hair? This beautiful blond hair? I got three younger sisters with the same stunning locks. I can't tell you how many boys I've had to beat and run off. My little sisters all flew in here one weekend and these vultures couldn't keep their hands off!" Walter yelled motioning his hands around the room. Walter then pushed David off of his chair, "Especially this one."

David hit the ground and laughed. "You know she's still in love with me and she's coming out to visit this weekend."

Walter threw his cards up into the air and kicked David's chair out of the way. It went flying across the room and crashed against the wall. I backed away from the table, fully expecting Walter to start hurting people. But to my surprise he had a smile on his face, even as he jumped on top of David and they started to fight.

Someone from the couch sprinted over and jumped on Walter's back. He screamed, "You know your youngest sister is coming out to see me." Walter let out a roar and then threw the man off but he was back into it in a flash. Another man jumped onto Walter who then screamed at me, "Paul, help me out! I'm defending my sister's honor here!"

I rushed forward and tackled two men off of Walter. As we fell to the ground, one of them worked his way on top of me and started choking me. This lasted for a few seconds before Carlos bulldozed him off of me. Before I knew what happened the whole squad was grappling, knocking over chairs and tables, and throwing each other around.

This continued for a few minutes and then Christine walked into the room. She screamed at us, "Boys! Boys! Stop it!"

After a few more screams everyone but Carlos and the guy he was fighting with stopped and stood to face her. Carlos and his opponent were still going at it and Christine walked over to them, quickly wrapped her arm around Carlos's neck, and tightened her grip. Carlos let out a cough and a couple seconds later he slapped Christine's leg. She let go and Carlos slumped to the ground coughing.

"Boys, someone's going to get hurt."

Walter pointed at David and said, "He started it, said some nasty things about my sisters."

Everyone chuckled.

Christine cracked a smile for a second and said, "I don't care who started it. You all need to get some rest. You've got a long day tomorrow."

"Sorry," Walter said. He then reached over and pulled David into a bear hug. "You know I love you... but if you talk about my sisters again I'll kill you."

David tried to laugh but only coughed as Walter tightened his grip. I started to leave with everyone else but Christine touched my arm and said. "Can I talk to you before you go?"

As the last man disappeared from the room, Christine stood a couple of the toppled chairs back up. She shook her head but smiled. I helped her push a couch back into place before she looked at me and said, "How are you liking it here?"

"You were right about the camaraderie. I feel right at home with these guys, but I haven't been told what we're fighting for."

Christine nodded her head. "You'll find out soon enough."

I raised my eyebrows but didn't say anything. Christine reached out and touched my elbow. She paused for just a second, like she was thinking about what to say. After a second or so she looked at me, smiled, and said, "I just wanted to thank you for coming. We're going to need all the help we can get."

# Chapter 8

Carlos kicked me awake.

"The Prophet has spoken," he simply said.

I sat up, squinting from the light he suddenly turned on.

"The Prophet?" I asked, having never heard this before.

"The Prophet has spoken – it means we have a mission," Carlos said pulling equipment out of our closet.

My stomach sunk in at the word of a mission. I would have to tell Luke. Communication with him had been hard. I had been with the squad about two weeks and we were always together. We ate together, exercised together, trained together, and when we had free time we played football, video games, or cards together. I had only been able to call him twice and our conversations had been brief because I really had nothing to tell him. I was no closer to knowing where the kidnap victims were or if these guys were planning an attack.

"What's the mission?" I asked.

"Sarg will brief us in a minute; just get your stuff ready."

I pulled my gear out of the closet, taking my time to ensure Carlos left the room before me. Once he did I pulled out my phone and sent a text message to Luke that we were going on a mission, whatever that meant.

I felt a little conflicted as I pulled my gear together. I was becoming convinced these guys weren't terrorists. They had not preached any ideology or hate to me. They did not speak ill of the government, all of them were former military, most of them were very patriotic, and it didn't make sense. Their motives did not seem sinister, although tonight might prove otherwise. A knot formed in my stomach.

I sent Luke another message stating I had no idea what we were doing or where we were going. He responded with, "Figure it out."

I walked downstairs and into the garage. David and Carlos were already there, and Walter was checking their gear. I stood next to them and Walter looked me over. He made sure I had my guns, radio, and bullets in all my magazines. He then did a radio check with me and seemed satisfied. Sergeant Barnes came into the garage a few minutes later carrying overhead photographs of a house. He spread them out on the hood of a truck and the squad gathered around, along with Christine who had no weapons but carried a medical backpack. He counted heads and then said, "The Prophet has spoken."

There was some cheering and Sergeant Barnes held up one of the photographs. It showed a house at the end of a cul-de-sac with woods to the rear. He pointed to one of the houses and identified that house as the target. He didn't give us an address. He then held up another picture, which was a closeup of the house he had pointed at. He pointed to different sides on the house, identifying the front, back, and side doors.

"Our mission is to make entry into this house, secure the package, and get it to the extraction point, same as always."

Sergeant Barnes paused for a moment and held up the photograph showing the cul-de-sac.

"We'll leave here and use forest service roads to come up behind the house, using the wood line for cover." He pointed to the wooded area behind the houses. "We'll stop about 600 meters out and I'll set one team up on security around the house and come back for the rest of you. Once I return we'll move up and the breach point will be at the back door, secondary will be the side door." He held up the closeup picture and pointed to the two different doors. "Exit will be the back door and then back to the trucks."

Sergeant Barnes pointed at Walter. "Walter, your team will go in first and secure the package. The rest of the squad will come in right behind you. We will leave here in twenty minutes." Sergeant Barnes then motioned to Christine.

I had learned she was the squad medic. She spoke loudly for everyone to hear. "I'll be with Sergeant Barnes. If you take a casualty, call it up over the radio and mark it with a red chemical light. I have one folding stretcher and my usual bag of goodies. Double check yourselves for tourniquets and remember to use them if you get hit."

Who were going after that we would have to fight our way in?

Sergeant Barnes spoke again. "We'll be on channel 7 tonight. Call signs remain the same. Challenge is 'eagle', password is 'wagon.' I say again challenge is 'eagle', password is 'wagon.'"

Sergeant Barnes looked at his watch and said, "I have 0132, we leave at 0152 hours. Any questions?"

None was asked, although I had more than I could count. "Team leaders check your guys and get ready to go," Sergeant Barnes said, followed by a clap of his hands.

Walter slapped me on the shoulder and I followed him to the corner of the garage. There he handed me a breach kit. The breach kit pack held a big pair of lock cutters, a pry bar, and a battering ram. The backpack was very heavy with all three items – carrying it was the job of the new guy.

"Don't put it on 'til we get out of the trucks." Walter pointed to a dark grey Chevy Tahoe. "You'll sit behind the driver's seat. Keep this pack on the seat next to you." Walter looked over my gear again and had me brief what Sergeant Barnes had just told us to make sure I understood everything.

"The important thing to remember is that challenge and password," Walter said. "We don't know what the package looks like, could be male, female, young, old, green, we don't know. What we know is that when we yell out 'eagle', the package will respond with 'wagon.' If you come across anyone who doesn't respond correctly, kill them."

The passwords struck me as odd. If someone knew these passwords, they were definitely expecting us. "Any Legion in the area?" I asked.

"Probably, they always seem to show up. Another thing, if you see the Alpha don't bother with a challenge, empty your magazine into him, and then reload and put another one into him. You remember what the Alpha looks like?" Walter asked.

I ran my hand over the top of my head from ear to ear. "Crest across the helmet, like a Roman Centurion."

Walter nodded his head. "You'll do fine, just don't shoot anybody you're not supposed too."

My team loaded up into the Tahoe, while the others loaded up into an older four-door truck and an SUV. Through my earpiece I heard Sergeant Barnes making radio checks with the team leaders. Carlos was driving our vehicle and Walter sat in the front passenger's seat. David sat in the back with me, the heavy breach pack in between us. As we waited a new feeling of dread crept into me. I needed to find out who the Legion were. Carlos had said the Legion weren't the government or the cops but who else could they be?

As my mind raced, I thought of the day I would have to put these guys behind bars and I became sick to my stomach. The last few weeks had been fun, I had grown close to the rest of the squad, and I liked most of them. They had not tried to convert me to some ideology, they had not tried to brainwash me, I had seen no evidence that they were terrorists, and this made my job even harder. They just seemed like a good group of guys.

In all my previous undercover gigs, it was so easy not to like the people around me because they were bad people. I wanted to put them behind bars. They laundered money, bought, sold, and used drugs, and scammed innocent people. They had no respect and no sense of duty, they stole, and they were usually dirty, horrible people. They were so easy to hate, and so easy to put behind bars, but this group was the exact opposite. I cursed under my breath.

I was pulled out of my train of thought as Carlos accelerated out of the garage, following Sergeant Barnes' vehicle. I looked behind and saw the other vehicles pull in close behind us. Sergeant Barnes led us down dirt roads, most of them in poor condition, for about an hour. We traveled without lights, and when we finally stopped, I heard his voice come over the radio telling us to kill the engines and dismount.

I dragged the breach kit out with me, and then heaved it onto my back. The shoulder straps dug painfully into my shoulders as I found a tree to kneel down behind. David positioned himself nearby on my left; Carlos took up station on my right. Walter came up behind me and pointed out the other teams as they took positions on the opposite side of the road. There was enough moonlight for us to see each other and I saw Sergeant Barnes disappear into the woods with the first team.

I thought about pulling out my cell phone and trying to figure out where we were but decided against it. It would be hard to explain why I needed to use my cell phone right now.

With the breach pack digging into my shoulders, it seemed like Sergeant Barnes was gone for an hour. In reality, he was probably gone twenty minutes. When he returned, he signaled for us to follow. Walter got right behind him, and then Carlos, David and then me. The rest of the squad filed in behind us. We made two columns and at nearly a run we went forward. After a hundred meters or so I could see lights through the trees.

As we drew nearer to the lights, we slowed, taking our time and ensuring we didn't make too much noise. Sergeant Barnes led us to a gate in a wooden privacy fence. A two-story house rose behind it. He pointed to the gate and gave us a thumbs up. Walter reached up and opened the gate. It swung in and he quickly moved through it, taking the left side. Carlos ran behind him and he went right, followed by David who went left. I followed and turned right. We spread out in a small yard and found no one. Walter signaled towards the back door. As we approached we closed in together until we were touching. Carlos felt the doorknob and found it was unlocked. He nodded to the rest of us, and then pushed the door open.

Walter moved in, activating the light on his MP5. David followed, taking the opposite direction. I followed David, and Carlos was right behind me. We found ourselves in a dining room with a kitchen in front of us and a living room to our right. We quickly cleared the kitchen, and then moved on to the living room. The house was completely dark and we searched every corner with our lights. After the living room, we stopped at a hallway. Sergeant Barnes had followed us in with the rest of the squad and he directed them up a flight of stairs to clear the top floor. Once they reached the top of the stairs he motioned for us to continue. I found myself up front and stopped at the first door I came too. Walter stepped around me and quickly checked the door handle –

it was unlocked and he threw the door open.

As I went into the room I activated the light on my rifle. I went to my left and made sure I checked the corner before swinging my rifle and light towards the center of the room. As I did, I saw someone sitting on the edge of a bed. I yelled out "eagle" several times and the figure returned my challenge with the password "wagon." She did this several times with her hands raised. The rest of the team had followed me in and their rifles and lights were all trained on the figure.

The figure was a young woman, but that was all that I noticed because my attention was immediately drawn to her eyes. Her eyes were like nothing I had never seen. They were a bright and rich... purple. She stared straight at me, her purple colored eyes betraying no sign of fear. The woman repeated the password several more times and I kept staring at her, mesmerized by these purple eyes. I felt a hand push down on my rifle. It was Walter.

Walter keyed his radio to tell Sergeant Barnes we had located the package. He then pointed to the one window in the bedroom and told me to cover it. I took one last look at the woman and then moved to the window. I brushed the curtains aside to view outside. I saw a dark street, illuminated by dim streetlights. Sergeant Barnes came into the room. The woman had not yet moved from her seat on the bed. Sergeant Barnes spoke to her in a hushed voice, and then he placed his hand on her shoulder. I looked back out at the street, and then back at the woman.

Sergeant Barnes took out what looked like a large cell phone from his pocket and held it up to the woman's face. He took pictures of both her eyes, and then looked down at the device. I guessed the device was able to analyze them much like a fingerprint. I had seen bigger more cumbersome ones used overseas to identify bad guys. After a couple of seconds Sergeant Barnes stood, keyed his radio, and said the package was secure and for us to get the hell out of there.

I looked out the window again and a couple streetlights away I saw someone. My heart nearly jumped through my throat as I saw an unmistakable crest running across the top of the person's head. I instinctively ducked so only the top of my head and rifle were exposed out the window. My heart, after seemingly jumping through my throat, now started slamming in my chest and fear surged through me as I stared at the figure several hundred feet away.

It was the Alpha no doubt and it stood motionless under a streetlight. I saw the outline of a rifle slung on his right side, the crest running across his helmet, and the mask that covered his face became even more distinguishable as he turned his head to the side and then quickly turned back to look in my direction. I knew I had been told to shoot on site but he was pretty far away to make a good shot with the silenced MP5, at least that's what I told myself. In truth I knew I would have to answer for anyone I killed and I really didn't want to do that. Then I changed my mind, knowing if I didn't shoot it would cause the squad to doubt me, something that could be even more dangerous. I took aim at the ground next to the Alpha, fired off several rounds and then yelled.

"I got an Alpha down the street, one hundred meters!" I fired several more rounds, glass spilling down onto my arms and chest.

Walter rushed over to me and I pointed. The Alpha still stood motionless under the streetlight. What was he doing? Why would he expose himself like that? I saw the Alpha point towards the house we were in and armed men ran across the road in front of him. Since I was crouched, Walter was able to stand above me and he started firing at the Alpha. I fired several more rounds, but the Alpha did not move.

Barnes yelled at us to move. Walter pulled me away from the window, fired several more rounds, and then pointed to the door. Walter came over the radio, informing everyone where we had seen the Alpha. As I passed the woman on the bed, I looked down at her and my eyes met hers again. His bright purple eyes struck me again. I passed her and moved out the door.

There was a sense of fear now that everyone knew the Alpha was in the area. I led the team, along with Sergeant Barnes and the woman with the purple eyes, to the back door. We waited for the other team to exit first and then we followed. We sprinted towards the woods and Sergeant Barnes told everyone else to move back to the vehicles. The team that had been outside came over the radio and said they had fired on the Alpha and it disappeared behind a house across the street.

I heard several men cuss around me. We stopped a hundred meters into the woods. My team formed a protective circle around Sergeant Barnes, Christine, and the new woman, who had not even had time to put on shoes. Our outside guys came crashing through the woods and linked up with us. They were out of breath and I could detect fear in their voices.

Sergeant Barnes then had the teams alternate running towards the vehicles while the other faced the houses to discourage any pursuers. My team stayed with the woman with the purple eyes. As we neared the vehicles, Sergeant Barnes pulled out the device he had used to take pictures of the woman's eyes. He pushed a couple buttons, and then told our team that we had a pickup location.

Once back at the vehicles, we quickly sped off, the woman with the purple eyes going in Sergeant Barnes's vehicle. Each of us rolled down our windows and Walter had us pull out the M4 assault rifles from the back. I passed Walter his and then took mine, checking to make sure a round was in the chamber before I stuck the barrel out the window. I got the sense that this was far from over.

We careened through the woods, without lights, towards an unknown pickup location. We had to double back several times and it was nearly an hour and a half before we came screeching to a halt near an open field. Sergeant Barnes yelled over the radio for our team to cover the far side. We threw open our doors and Walter led us into the tree line and we sprinted to the other side of the open area.

Once there, we spread out, facing away from the open field. I still had my M4 assault rifle and felt much more comfortable with it – its bullet would reach much farther and had a much greater punch. If the Alpha came, the more powerful bullet would take him down, if it had to come to that. I hoped it didn't. I knew why the Alpha didn't go down when I shot at him – I missed on purpose but wondered about Walter. He had shot at the Alpha too, but it didn't budge. I guessed the silencing effect of our MP5s slowed the bullets down, meaning we either couldn't reach the Alpha we had been shooting at, or it had thrown off the aim.

It wasn't long before I heard several helicopters overhead. They quickly descended into the open field behind us and were gone soon after. Sergeant Barnes came over the radio and told us the package was delivered and we sprinted back to the trucks. We once again raced off and I could still sense fear in the voices over the radio and the tense conversation in the truck, all of which centered on the Alpha.

This was all too unexpected; there were things Luke was not telling me or things he didn't know. What was happening didn't make any sense. Women with purple eyes, men with crests running across the top of their heads – none of it made sense and I knew I would have a lot of questions the next time I talked to him.

# Chapter 9

We made sure no one followed us by taking a long and confusing route and doubling back on our tracks several times. By the time we got back to the house, the sun was peering over the mountain. We pulled the vehicles into the garage and everyone gathered near the back. I could sense relief amongst everyone. The woman with the purple eyes was no longer with us – on the helicopter no doubt. Sergeant Barnes congratulated us on a successful mission and told us to go have some fun because our week for missions was done, and the other squad, wherever they were, would handle anything else that came up.

I went up to my room and Carlos joined me a few minutes later. I looked at him and shrugged my shoulders. "Well that was interesting," I surmised.

Carlos just laughed and handed me a piece of paper. The piece of paper was my check, the first I had received, and I wasn't disappointed. I stared at the check almost unblinking because so many things were running through my head.

Our mission didn't answer any questions. It just brought up more. It had been fun but terrifying. I could still see the Alpha just standing in the street, completely confident, even when we were firing at him. I wondered who he was, who his men were. I wondered who the woman was and why she had purple eyes.

Carlos flopped down in the bed across from me. "You probably have a lot of questions but I want to ask you one first."

"Okay," I said.

"It seems like you always have something on your mind, something heavy. Most of us are that way, but whatever is up there spinning around," Carlos motioned towards my head, "it's heavy. You have been here two weeks and I can tell something is always on your mind, something is bothering you."

I felt my face go white. Of course, I was stressing about being undercover, about putting these men in jail. I did have a lot on my mind.

"What's going on?" Carlos said, leaning closer to me.

"The past," I said, only partially lying.

"We've all had trouble in the past."

"I can't seem to shake mine, seems to sneak up on me."

"So tell me, get it off your chest," Carlos said.

"Nothing I can't handle," I said.

"I like you Paul, so does the rest of the squad, but you get distracted. I find you in here all the time just staring off into space. Tell me what's going on, it will help."

He had no idea. I had to say something but didn't want to lie. "I've had a rough couple of years. It started in Afghanistan. Three of my men got killed and I blame myself. I made the decision to take the same route back and we got hit with an IED. I can't stop thinking about that decision."

"You blame yourself for their deaths?"

"Wouldn't you? I made the decision that got them killed." As the words exited my mouth, I felt tightness in my chest. My eyes watered. I dropped my head into my hands.

Carlos put a hand on my back, and we sat in silence for several minutes before he spoke. "I've lost friends too. I know it's hard to talk about but it's good to get it off your chest every once in a while."

I nodded my head. "And I lost a few more friends in Iraq, and I lost my fiancé. Well, she didn't die or anything, she just left me."

Carlos cursed. "Rough."

"Can't change it now though," I said softly, bringing my head back up.

"So what keeps you going?" Carlos said.

I took a deep breath. "I don't know," I said honestly.

Carlos nodded. "My daughters keep me going even though I don't get to see them." Carlos paused for a second. "We're doing good things here. That woman we secured last night is special. She'll go on to do good things, great things. Her and her kind are worth fighting for."

"Who was she?"

Carlos smiled. "You'll come to know them in time."

"Why did we have to go in there like that? Why didn't she just come to us?"

Carlos shook his head. "I don't know, it's just what we do."

"Why was the Legion there? Why was that woman so important?" I asked.

Carlos placed a hand on my shoulder. "We can talk about this later. Get some sleep." He then stood and exited the room.

I took a deep breath. I looked down at my hands and noticed they were shaking. I pressed them together to make them stop. After a few minutes and with a lot of deep breathing, they finally stopped shaking. I pulled out my cell phone for the first time and saw a slew of missed calls from Luke. I never called or texted him back last night and I knew he was going to be furious with me.

I stared at the screen but didn't do anything else. I knew I needed to find answers, not just uncover more questions. Soon my eyes felt heavy and my phone slipped from my hand onto the floor. I didn't bother picking it up and just fell over backwards, letting sleep consume me.

# Chapter 10

I was woken by Walter's booming voice.

"Paul, get out of bed!"

I sat up quickly and found the huge blond man standing over me smiling.

"Make yourself pretty, we're gonna go have some fun!" he shouted.

Without knowing what was going on, I threw on a button-up shirt and jeans, and I joined the rest of the squad, minus Sergeant Barnes and Christine, in the garage. We piled into the truck and the SUV and sped off. I had slept almost all day and the sun was starting to set as we drove into town.

We drove for an hour or so and stopped at a rustic steak house on the east side of town. We ate a wonderful meal, drank a few pitchers of their locally brewed beer, and then drove into town to a huge bar. The bar had a dirt parking lot and it looked packed. A line at the door wrapped around the building. Walter led the squad to the front of the line, he nodded at the two guys there, and they threw open the doors for us.

Inside was just as packed as the parking lot. The place opened into a huge room and I saw numerous different bars along the edge. A live band played to the crowded dance floor. Walter led us through the mass of people to a large staircase that went straight up into a loft. The loft was guarded by two bouncers and was complete with its own bar, couches, pool table, card tables, and dance floor. We could look down on the whole place while standing at the railing, and then disappear from view as we moved further back in the loft.

Walter yelled at us all to gather around him. Our personal bartender came by with a plate full of drinks and we all took one. Walter gathered us around him and he yelled.

"Tonight we drink to old comrades... and to new ones," he said tipping his glass towards me. Walter reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin, and everyone else followed suit. I realized everyone had a coin just like the one Christine had given me and I fished my own out of my pocket, grateful I had brought it. I ran my fingers over the five strange symbols and wondered what they could mean.

Walter dropped his coin into his drink and so did everyone else. I took one last look at the coin, and then dropped it to the bottom of my glass.

Walter then yelled out "AL!"

The squad followed in a roar "var!"

Walter yelled it again, "ALLLL!"

The squad again yelled "vaaarrrrr!"

They repeated the yell, "AL", followed by "varrrr!"

Everyone threw back their drinks and caught their coins in their mouths. They took their coins out, held them up, and let out a roar. Walter then screamed, "Now let's have some fun!" Carlos slapped me on the back and motioned me over to a couch. He had me sit down on an ottoman across from him, and David joined us, sitting next to Carlos. Walter slapped me on the shoulder and pushed another drink into my hand, and then walked away yelling friendly profanities at someone.

Carlos laughed as he watched the big man walk away. I held the coin in my hand and spun it several times.

"The prophecies," David said, motioning towards the coin.

"The prophecies?" I echoed.

Carlos pulled his coin out. "These symbols represent the five prophecies. The first are what we call Alvar, the second we call Eine... and the rest have yet to be revealed."

"Alvar, that's what we were just yelling," I said.

Carlos and David nodded their heads. Carlos yelled across the room at someone in another team, and the man quickly came over.

"Tell the new guy about the prophecies," Carlos said, motioning to me.

The man straightened up and in a dramatic voice said, "Alvar, the enlightened will arise amongst the people."

"And the second?" Carlos asked.

"Eine, guardians of courage and loyalty, will stand to defend the Alvar."

"All right, get lost," Carlos said and the man sarcastically saluted and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

Carlos looked at me. "There you have it, the first two prophecies."

The woman with the purple eyes suddenly made sense. "That package we rescued today, she was an Alvar."

Carlos nodded his head.

"And we are the Eine, the guardians of the Alvar," David said.

I leaned back, took a drink, and then said, "And who are the Legion?"

"Those who feel threatened by the Alvar," David said.

Carlos nodded his head. "Well, there are a lot of theories but I guess we can say they feel threatened, that's why they're trying to kill the Alvar."

"What's with the purple eyes?" I asked.

Carlos shrugged and then spoke, "They all have them."

"Where do the Alvar come from?" I asked.

Both David and Carlos laughed. "Again, there are a lot of theories," Carlos said.

David said, "Some believe they are heaven sent, some believe they are a gift from beyond the stars, some believe they are a miracle of nature, while others believe we have created them."

I smiled. "And who took that Alvar today? Who was in the helicopter?"

Carlos shrugged his shoulders again. "They don't tell us much."

I spun the coin in my hand. "Any theories about the remaining prophecies?"

David looked at Carlos, and then said, "Who knows?"

I took another drink. "This is a lot to take in."

Carlos smiled. "I'm still trying to take it in. Don't worry about it though. They will tell us everything in time."

Walter shoved drinks into Carlos' and David's hands and both became engaged in a shouting conversation with Walter.

I looked behind me and saw a few guys starting a game of pool. A few more watched college football. I got up and walked over to the railing. A mass of people stood below me. I sipped a drink and thought about the prophecy conversation. I wasn't alone for long before Carlos came to stand next to me.

"Just brings up more questions, huh?" he said.

I just laughed.

"Pretty good gig though?" Carlos said in a deep voice.

"Yes, I wonder where has this been all my life?" I said jokingly.

Carlos looked me over. "Hey man you've been doing good. The squad likes the way you operate; you keep your mouth shut and work hard, keep it up."

I didn't know how to respond to the compliment; luckily our attention was diverted down below. A woman waved at us, or we thought she waved at us from her stool at the bar. It was too dark and crowded to really see. We waved back and when she looked away Carlos hit my arm. "Who she waving at? Me or you?"

I laughed. "You're the tall, dark and handsome one," I said.

"We can only hope," he said chuckling.

Carlos pointed near the lady who had waved at us. "David's already hitting on the ladies." It took me a moment to find him, but I saw David talking to two women at the bar. They both laughed at something he said. Carlos hit my arm again. "Come on, you're coming with me."

"Where?" I said.

"That lady that waved at us," he said throwing back a shot.

"I might need another one of those then," I said, motioning to his empty shot glass. We both slammed another shot and walked down below. Carlos talked to the waving woman and I talked to her two friends. They acted like they weren't interested and we made our way back up stairs.

When we made it to the top of the stairs Walter let out a roar of laughter and said, "You two didn't do so well!"

"We're gonna be fighting by night's end, aren't we!" Carlos said, shaking his fist at Walter.

"Damn right we are!" Walter yelled. The two giants laughed and had a shot together. I hoped we didn't kill someone by night's end. It didn't take long before the first grappling match started. A chair went tipping over as someone was thrown to the ground. Both men laughed and they started into a series of chokes and holds. We all gathered around them to cheer. After several minutes one of them won with an arm lock. We let out a roar, patted him on the back, and made them do a shot together.

I played a couple of games of pool with Carlos and he proved quite the pool player. I had a shot of whiskey with him and then jumped on his back and tried to choke him out. It didn't work – he threw me over his shoulder and was on top of me in a flash. I staved off defeat for about a minute before his big arm found its way around my neck. Afterwards there was another shot for both of us. I returned to the railing with him to survey the dance floor below. I saw David dancing with a woman and he seemed to be enjoying himself.

A few minutes later David came up with several woman and both Carlos and I jumped him. We fought for a minute or so before Walter pulled us apart. He made the three of us do pushups together.

As we settled into some couches, I saw one of the women pull out a cell phone. A shiver went up my spine, and I cursed under my breath. I had to call Luke, no matter how much I didn't want to talk to him. I slipped downstairs and stepped outside into the parking lot. I found a deserted area and called Luke.

"Where the hell have you been?" Luke hissed.

"I was a little tied up. I couldn't figure out where we were going or contact you without compromising myself."

"I don't want to hear excuses. What happened last night?"

"I'm not really sure. I wouldn't say we kidnapped someone but we definitely went into her house and took her away. The weird thing was she was okay with it. She knew we were coming and even knew our code words," I said.

"What?" Luke said slowly.

I explained everything that happened the night before and there was a long pause.

"That doesn't make much sense," Luke said finally.

I took a deep breath. "I know. And I don't think these guys are the terrorists. From everything I've seen it doesn't fit. It appears these so called kidnappings are nothing of the sort. That lady was expecting us last night, was willing to come with us, and it was anything but a kidnapping. These guys also don't talk ill of the government or preach any ideology. They don't act like terrorists. They don't even act like criminals. I'd bet it was the other group, the Legion, that killed your agents."

There was a long pause before Luke spoke. "Let's not jump to hasty conclusions. You've only been there a couple of weeks and maybe they're keeping you out of the loop. Are you sure last night wasn't a rehearsal or something?"

"What we did last night was real. Those men were scared of the Legion, scared for their lives. In fact, I was too. I know what fear looks and sounds like and it was everywhere last night. Trust me, it was real."

There was more silence on the other end. "Are you sure you're not getting their people out of sticky situations? Maybe they call you guys in when their contacts run into trouble with this other group."

"Maybe, but who could these Legion guys be?"

"I don't know. I guess there is more to this than we know," Luke said.

="You need to find out who these Legion characters are," I said.

"I'll look into it," Luke said as he let out a long breath. "You need to tell me if you get another mission and where you guys are going. I don't care what you have to do, just figure it out."

"I won't let you down," I said.

"Do you have the time to give me everyone's names?" Luke asked.

I flipped through my phone where I had recorded the squad's names in code and gave them to him.

"Do you have coordinates to where you're staying?"

"No, but I can tell you how to get there," I said reluctantly.

"I'm listening."

I gave him the directions to the house.

"Are you going to raid the house?" I asked.

"No, I want to catch you guys on a mission, take not only your guys, but whoever they are going after. I'll need everyone to figure this out."

"Alright, I'll contact you if anything comes up."

Luke grunted and ended the call.

I went back inside to the bar and ordered a shot to try to calm my nerves before returning to the squad. After slamming the shot, I walked back upstairs. David, Walter, and Carlos were all engrossed in conversation and had hardly noticed I was gone.

My eyes surveyed the room and I felt sick to my stomach. I realized I was becoming emotionally attached to these men, I was starting to care about what happened to them, I was starting to defend them, and I knew this would just make things so much harder, so much more complicated in the end.

# Chapter 11

A week later, Walter violently threw open my door, turned on the light, and said, "The Prophet has spoken again."

I sat up quickly and looked at my watch – It was two in the morning. I wondered why the Prophet couldn't speak at a reasonable hour. Carlos and I quickly donned our gear and rushed down to the garage. Walter checked us out, and I wondered how I was going to figure out where we were going.

Sergeant Barnes joined us after a while. He sat on top of the SUV hood and held up an overhead photo of a group of houses. I counted six houses total and what looked like a small park in the lower left-hand corner. After looking at the photograph for a couple seconds, my heart dropped. I recognized where this was. I recognized the park, its unique triangular shape with half a basketball court and tables. I had met some of my contacts there several times and knew it was only a few miles south of where we were. I couldn't believe my luck. I wouldn't have to do anything risky to find out where the house was. I already knew exactly where it was.

Barnes pointed to a house near the park and identified it as the target house. Next he pulled out a closeup of the house and pointed out the doors. Barnes then went over a basic concept of how we were going to hit the house. He said we would approach using forest service roads, coming from the north. He pulled out the picture with the six houses. He pointed to the target house and said one team would form a perimeter and guard against any surprises. He pointed at the top of the page and ran his finger down to the house, showing us our route. He explained we would use the walkway in between the houses to approach the target house from the rear. We would enter through the back door, and my team would be going in second this time. He explained once we secured the package we would exit the same way and make our way back to the vehicles.

Christine gave us the same medical brief as before and went around checking all our tourniquets. Sergeant Barnes said that we would be operating on channel 6. He told us the challenge was 'elephant' and the password was 'smoke'. We all synched our watches and he told us to be ready to go in fifteen minutes.

Walter quizzed me on what Sergeant Barnes had said, and when he was done I told him I needed to use the bathroom. David said he needed to do the same. He told me to hurry and I rushed to my bedroom washroom while David headed for the one in the weight room. Once there I pulled out my cellphone; it didn't take me long to find the target house using an Internet map. I copied the address and then prepared to send Luke a text message. I paused before I did, wondering what was going to happen to the squad. I felt sick to my stomach and to my surprise I didn't want to send the message. I cursed, sent the message with the address of where we were going, and then I exited the bathroom and rejoined the squad.

Walter, Carlos, and David were already in the truck and I quickly joined them. I didn't want to look at them, but Carlos, who sat next to me, tapped my shoulder. I looked over at him, and he nodded and held out his fist. I bumped his fist with mine and he looked away. I hated myself for liking Carlos and the sickness in my stomach intensified. I wondered what Luke would have waiting for us. I doubted the squad would go down without a fight and I knew people would die on both sides. I would be right in the middle of it all.

The two other vehicles tore down the road and we followed. I had no idea how long it took us to get to our parking spot as I was too lost in worry and anger. Like our first mission, we formed a protective circle around the vehicles and Sergeant Barnes went forward to place the perimeter team around the target house. He returned and we quickly followed. I was relieved our team was in the rear, following in the footsteps of the other team. We moved from the woods to a sidewalk that ran between the backs of houses. I nervously eyed the men in front of me, expecting at any moment for Luke's men to come jumping out at us.

To my surprise we made it to the target house. There was no back fence and the other team quickly entered through the back door. The door was unlocked and I held my breath as they rushed inside. I saw their rifle lights come on, searching the darkness, but I heard no shots or shouts. Sergeant Barnes waited at the door for a brief moment and then disappeared inside. My team knelt low outside, waiting for the signal to enter. Sergeant Barnes appeared in the doorway and told us the other team was going to clear the basement and we would have to clear the second floor. I followed Carlos and the rest of the team inside.

As I passed the threshold of the door I heard shouting coming through the radio but it was too garbled to understand. As I got inside I saw the other team throw open a door and descend down a staircase, heading into the basement. As they disappeared from view I saw smoke billowing out from the door they had just entered. Something was wrong, very wrong. More screaming came over the radio and the tone made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Barnes, this is perimeter, Legion are here!" an anxious voice said over the radio.

I heard Sergeant Barnes respond, "Roger, hold them off."

I wondered if it was Luke's men and not the Legion closing in. There was a brief pause and as Walter led us up the stairs, another radio transmission came over, just as anxious as the last.

"Barnes this is perimeter, we have contact, multiple Legion advancing on our position!"

Another radio transmission came, this time from someone else on the perimeter team, "Contact at the park, Legion coming from everywhere!"

My heart, already slamming in my chest, felt like it was going to burst. We made it to the top of the stairs and Walter lead us into the first room. I was last in, and as I activated my light I saw something slumped against the far wall. It was a person, but they were covered in a white sheet. The person was seated, back against the wall, with the head unnaturally bent to one side. Blood soaked through the sheet near the head. I kept my light on the figure and realized there was something written on the sheet in black marker.

You're all going to die

I knew in an instant this could not be the work of Luke. Carlos and David cursed. Walter got on his radio and told Sergeant Barnes to come up stairs quickly. I heard members of the perimeter team saying they were breaking contact back to the house with Legion on their heels, their voices full of panic and fear. I knew we needed to get out of here. Sergeant Barnes sprinted into the room and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the figure under the sheet. He cursed and then pulled the sheet off.

The man had been shot multiple times in the chest and head. Sergeant Barnes pulled out his smart phone device that analyzed retinas and carefully opened one of the man's eyes. He scanned the eye and a few seconds later the device beeped. Sergeant Barnes cursed again.

"He was an Alvar," he said to us. Sergeant Barnes then yelled for the other team leader.

The leader from the team that had gone down into the basement, a man named Smith, sprinted up the stairs and knelt down next to Sergeant Barnes, and Walter joined them. Smith said there was a fire in the basement and it was spreading fast. I looked out the door and saw smoke starting to fill the house. Sergeant Barnes started to speak but didn't get two words out before bullets came smashing through the window behind him.

Bullets tore into his hip and right arm, some of them passing through him and hitting Smith, who slumped over backwards. Sergeant Barnes fell forward onto his chest, grunting. More bullets started ripping through the window. The rifles the bullets were coming from were not silenced and a steady roar built up outside. There was no question now, the men shooting at us were not cops. Cops didn't set up ambushes to kill people like this.

I moved to Smith and saw brain matter on the floor under his head – he was gone. I moved to Sergeant Barnes who had rolled onto his side, clenching his teeth and his wounds. I yelled for Christine who appeared in an instant. She immediately started working on Sergeant Barnes. I moved out of the room and looked downstairs. I saw the remaining members of the other team crouched on the ground, bullets tearing through windows around them. I saw the perimeter team come crashing in the back door, dragging someone and blood trailing on the floor behind them. Everyone shouted. I looked back and saw Carlos trying to bandage the team leader's head while Walter and David were helping Christine with Sergeant Barnes.

I yelled down to the men below, asking who had been hit. Several of them screamed it was the team leader for perimeter team. Bullets rained in through the windows and I choked on the smoke billowing out from the basement door. I stayed crouched near the doorway, looking back and forth between the upper and lower floors, waiting for someone to tell me what to do before I realized three out of four leaders were dead or wounded.

I wanted to tell people what to do but I hesitated – the last time I had been in charge, men had died. The last time I had gotten men killed and lost a huge piece of myself. I didn't want to lead. I didn't think I could anymore.

Bullets snapped right over my head and I suddenly screamed at Christine.

"Christine! Christine! Can we move Sarg?"

She yelled back, "Yes!"

"What about him?" I screamed, pointing to Smith.

Christine moved to him, and as soon as she saw the brain matter on the floor, she looked at me and shook her head.

"Walter! David!" I yelled.

Both men looked at me, "Get Sarg downstairs!"

Walter and David dragged Sergeant Barnes while Carlos took Smith's body and I grabbed the deceased Alvar. Bullets tore into the room, kicking pieces of wood and drywall into our faces. Sergeant Barnes groaned in pain as he was dragged down the stairs.

The smoke was less intense at the lower level but the bullets were more numerous. They came from every angle, through every opening in the house. Everyone was crouched, huddled behind whatever they could find. Panic was everywhere. Everyone was yelling, some were trying to render medical aid, others were trying to figure out what to do, and everyone was scared out of their minds. Flames licked out of the basement door.

I yelled to Christine, but she couldn't hear me over chaos. I crawled to her, shook her, and pointed to the perimeter team leader, a man named Anton who lay in a pool of blood.

"Tell me if he's going to make it!"

She crawled to him and after a quick evaluation she looked back at me and shook her head. The flames from the basement began to find their way onto the ceiling, bullets continued to crisscross through the house, and everyone was still yelling.

I yelled for everyone to listen to me but no one seemed to hear. We needed to get out of here fast. I pulled out my pistol and unscrewed the silencer. I stood and walked to the center of the room, positioning myself where I thought I would be safe. Bullets snapped past me on all sides. I fired five rounds into the ground. My standing up and the firing brought everyone's attention to me.

I pounded my chest.

"Everyone shut up and listen! Everyone shut up and listen!"

I pointed to three men from the perimeter team. "You three, on my signal put rounds on the house behind us," I said, pointing out the back door.

I pointed to the other team. "When they start firing, you establish a foothold in that building. I'll lead!"

I pointed to Walter, "You carry Sarg. Once we have a foothold follow us in!" I pointed back at perimeter team. "You guys follow Carlos and David and bring our KIAs!"

Everyone started shouting again.

I fired my entire magazine into the floor and everyone quieted down.

I moved to the perimeter team guys and physically moved them to where they could fire at the house behind us. I pointed out the windows and yelled. "Fire on that house! After we secure a foothold, you follow us in and bring the KIAs."

I went to each guy that was going to be securing the foothold, and physically moved them near the door. Bullets continued to rip through the house but I stayed upright while moving, trying to exert some outward confidence when in reality I wanted to lie on the floor and curl up into a little ball.

I stood near the doorway and saw everyone was looking at me. I pointed to the perimeter team and yelled "Fire!" They rose as one and fired at the house behind us. I looked to the other men. "Let's move!" I yelled. I bent to a low crouch and ran out the back door, heading straight for the house behind us. I could hear bullets snapping past me. I didn't dare look back; I just ran as fast as I could. When I got to the house I ran along the side and saw a door about halfway down. I angled out away from the house, and then dove back towards the house and the door. I hit the door at a full sprint, shoulder first.

The door crashed open, much easier than I anticipated, which caused me to lose my balance and fall. I slid across the wood floor into the house, the door coming along next to me. I had no idea if anyone had followed me – I could only hope. I turned onto my side, bringing up my rifle and searching for a target. I saw several Legion positioned near windows, some still firing at the house we had come from, others waiting for us. I raised my weapon up but before I could fire the other squad members stepped in front of me.

My heart lifted as all of them, all still close together, barged into the room. They immediately moved towards the Legion, firing as they went. I clamored to my feet as they finished off the last of the Legion and moved to clear the rest of the house. I moved towards the door we had come in and was nearly knocked over as Walter barged in carrying Sergeant Barnes. They were followed by David, Carlos, and the rest of the squad who were carrying the KIAs.

I grabbed Walter and several other men and led them to the other side of the house. I gave each man a window to fire out of. I pointed to the next house and told them we would do the same thing as before. I took a group of men and charged the next house. When we broke in, the Legion were too busy firing into the original house to notice our arrival. We killed them quickly and the rest of the squad joined us. I set the men up just like I did before, except this time we moved across a street, moving away from the burning house. Luckily we found no Legion in the next house, or the next. And our final move brought us into the woods.

I kept half of the men facing our rear, covering the others as they rushed back. One group would run back fifty or so yards and then turn and cover the other group as they ran back. Everyone took turns carrying Sergeant Barnes, the two deceased team leaders, as well as the Alvar. We did this three or four times and got ourselves some distance away. By this time the original house was totally engulfed in flames.

As I looked back, I saw a crested helmet, silhouetted against the flames. I could tell the Alpha was facing our direction and I saw him pointing and turning his head – he directed his men towards us. Somehow he knew we had slipped out and I guessed he knew where we were headed.

After a few seconds the crested helmet disappeared and I turned to rush back as the other part of the squad covered. I ran the short distance and saw something glowing in the distance. I yelled at the squad to keep moving back and I sprinted towards the light. It wasn't long before it was blatantly obvious; all three of our vehicles were engulfed in flames. We were on our own.

I sprinted back to the squad. Several of them yelled at me that the Alpha was out there, along with ten to fifteen Legion. I halted them by raising my hand; I brought them in and put them in a protective circle. There was no more shouting. Fear silenced the men and brought their eyes out into the darkness, searching for the source of their fear. I too stared into the darkness with terror. I heard a deep-throated yell, one almost too deep for a man, and guessed it belonged to the Alpha. He was coming for us.

# Chapter 12

I heard another yell from the Alpha – he was definitely getting closer. I couldn't understand what he was saying but I didn't have to. I looked around and nearly every man nervously shifted his weight around.

"Can anyone lead us back to the house?" I hissed.

Walter turned to me and held up his right hand, showing me his GPS. "I got it on digits."

"Everyone follow Walter," I hissed, running around the perimeter. It didn't take long before everyone was up and moving in single file behind Walter. I took the rear and looked nervously behind me every couple of steps. We had to slow after a minute to transfer wounded and dead around to fresh people. As Sergeant Barnes was hoisted onto someone's shoulders, Christine gave him a couple shots of morphine to ease his pain. He looked dead but grunted a few times as we started moving again.

After half an hour I halted the squad and made sure everyone drank some water, and I crouched next to Walter. He told me it was only another mile to the house. I told him to halt about half a mile short and he nodded his head. I walked down the line, checking each man for injury and telling him how far we had to go. They were all tired, each having carried Sergeant Barnes or our KIAs several times by now. No one spoke; we were all alone in our thoughts. After five minutes I signaled Walter to move out.

It was another fifteen minutes before Walter halted. I moved everyone into a small protective circle with Sergeant Barnes and Christine in the center; the KIAs we placed out of sight a short distance away. To my surprise Sergeant Barnes was alert and spoke to me.

"Paul," he said several times. "Hell of a job, that was a hell of a job getting us out of there. Keep it up."

"I'll do what I can," I said.

I called Walter and Carlos to the center. I told them I would go take a look at the house and everyone else would stay here. I told them I would be gone for thirty minutes and if any Legion showed up they were to move towards the house and if I ran into trouble I'd run back here. I told them to let everyone else know, and then I moved off alone.

There was a small hill in between where we stopped and the house. As fast as my tired legs could carry me, I ran up it. As I neared the top I could smell smoke. When I came over the crest I saw our house had been burnt to the ground. Several small fires still smoldered, illuminating the wreckage. I cursed several times.

I dropped to the ground and leaned against a tree. I pulled out my phone and called Luke. He started yelling the moment he picked up.

"Paul, you told me you only had 14 men. There was over 50 armed men there! I had two agents wounded trying to get to it. You're going to prison, you hear me? You screwed this up!"

He continued with threats and screams when finally I cut him off. "We don't have fifty men. We have fourteen. The Legion set that ambush for us. You stumbled on their men, not ours."

Luke continued to yell and I cut him off again. "We lost two men! Two men killed and another badly wounded! The Legion somehow knew where we were going and laid a trap for us," I hissed.

Luke stopped yelling and I said, "I almost died back there, along with everyone else."

I could hear Luke breathing hard.

"Luke, I didn't know they were going to be there. We barely got out of there alive."

There was silence for a few seconds before Luke cursed a few times. "Did you get your person out?" he asked.

"They killed him before we got there."

"What?!"

I took a deep breath. "Like I said, the Legion laid an ambush for us."

"Why?"

"I don't know. You were supposed to find out who they are. All I know is they want us dead."

Luke cursed several more times. I looked down at the house. "The house we were staying in was burnt down, was that your guys?"

"No. Why they hell would I burn the house down?"

"I told you where it was," I hissed.

"I want your people in custody. How would burning the house down benefit me in any way?"

"I don't know. I'm just pissed off," I said.

There was silence for a few moments. "What's your next move?" Luke asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I'm in charge for the moment but we have nowhere to go."

"You need to find a way to get everyone to me so I can sort this out."

"So you want me to continue this escapade?"

"Yes, we need more information. I need to know who these Legion are and I really need to know who these people you're taking are. I want to know where they end up and why someone wants them dead. This is way more complicated than we thought."

"You think?" I remarked sarcastically. I composed myself in a moment and then said, "Okay, I'll figure something out and call you when we decide on our next move."

I ended the call and stood in silence for several minutes before I heard footsteps behind me. I rolled onto my stomach and pointed my rifle in the direction of the sound. The footsteps came closer and I heard Christine's voice.

"Paul?"

I lowered my rifle.

"Christine."

I saw her figure move out of the darkness and I stood up. She looked down at the burning house and then back at me. I feared she had heard my conversation with Luke but I didn't detect any suspicion.

"It seems all is lost," she said softly, looking back to the burning house.

I didn't know what to say. She looked up at me. "Paul, we need to keep moving."

I motioned to the house. "To where? We don't have anywhere to go."

"You think we are doomed don't you?"

I didn't answer and she asked me again.

"Yes, I do."

"Paul, do you know the first two prophecies?"

She waited for me to answer. "Alvar and Eine," I said.

"But you don't know the rest." She pulled out a coin and ran her finger across it. "Do you want to know the third prophecy?" she asked.

I wondered how she would know.

"Fen," she continued softly.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Fen, chaos of epic proportions, will consume the world."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Isn't that what's happening now? Chaos is starting to consume our world but we cannot let it take us. We have to keep moving and keep fighting. The Legion have dealt us a hard blow, but all is not lost. Return to Sergeant Barnes and you will see."

I didn't say anything and Christine placed her hand on my arm. "You still have a job to do. Go back to Sergeant Barnes and you will see."

I hated how convincing Christine could be. She could make me do anything and she knew it. I sighed deeply and then started walking back towards the squad, Christine trailing behind me.

Once I returned, I told Sergeant Barnes what I had seen. He cursed and then fished out the smart phone he used to identify the Alvar. The device was thin, maybe a half an inch and roughly four inches wide and five inches long. One side had a few buttons and a screen that was dark at the time. He pressed one of the buttons. The screen came to life and dimly lit Sergeant Barnes's face. He ran his finger down the screen, frowned, and then turned it toward me. The screen showed line after line of text and numbers.

"Those are distress signals from our sister squad and others in our organization. The Legion have launched a coordinated surprise attack against everyone in our organization. I don't think we have anything left."

Sergeant Barnes turned the screen back and hit another button. "But not all is lost... The Prophet has spoken again." He turned the screen so I could see it. There was a string of numbers, a latitude and longitude location.

"The Prophet has spoken and this is where you will find another Alvar. Take the squad and go secure the package. Challenge is 'boat', password is 'lamp.'"

My heart sank. "You want me in charge? Sarg, I'm the newest guy here, I shouldn't be the one leading these men."

"But you have been, and doing a fine job of it."

Sergeant Barnes leaned in closer to me. "Paul you have earned these men's confidence, and they trust your leadership. And so do I."

"I've been here a month, everyone else has more experience... And I don't think I'm up for it."

"Listen to me, son. You are up to it and these men will follow you. Paul, you have been tested under fire and come out alive and leading the pack. There is no better measuring stick than that. The men trust you, believe me – I asked them when you were gone. They agreed you would be one to lead them."

I took a deep breath and looked at the ground; they were putting their lives into my hands, the hands of a traitor.

"Who do you want to be your team leaders?" Sergeant Barnes asked.

"Carlos and Walter."

Barnes nodded his head.

I thought for a moment. "We'll just have two teams and I'll keep David as my runner and shooter."

"Sounds good," Sergeant Barnes nodded.

Sergeant Barnes looked down at his smart phone and then thrust it into my hands. "This device can identify Alvar, receive secure messages from the Prophet, and everything else a smart phone can do." Sergeant Barnes showed me applications that could accomplish each task.

"And what do we do after we grab the Alvar?"

Sergeant Barnes pulled up a map on the phone and tapped his finger where we were, and then pointed to a spot to the northwest. "We have a lot of rally points pre-designated out in these woods. The closest one is here, rally point Black." Barnes tapped his finger on the location. "It will have supplies, ammo, chow, and winter clothing." I looked to where we had to pick up the Alvar, which was only three or four miles from where we were now, and then to the rally point. I judged it another four or five miles from the Alvar's location.

Barnes continued. "Rally point Black will also have guidance on where to go next. There should be big metal pod that you can open. Inside, that pod should have emergency protocols and safe house locations. I don't even know which protocols and safe houses it lists. The pod can only be opened when distress signals have gone out like they have."

"And what if I can't make it to the rally point?" I asked.

"Keep the Alvar, Christine, and the men alive at all costs. Just keep moving and keep fighting."

I nodded my head.

I turned to leave, but Sergeant Barnes grabbed my leg. "And one more thing Paul, take care of my men. I am entrusting you with their lives, do not fail me, and do not fail them." Sergeant Barnes held my gaze and then settled lower onto the ground. My heart sank.

I ran around our perimeter and brought Carlos, Walter, and David into the center. I told Carlos and David to each take half of the squad. I told David he was going to stay with me and act as my runner and shooter. I sent Carlos and Walter out to get their teams situated. David and I looked over the map and he put the coordinates to where we were going into his GPS. After a few minutes Carlos and Walter returned and I pulled out Sergeant Barnes's phone for them to see.

"The Prophet has spoken again. We got another mission." I pointed on the map where we were going.

"And another thing, the third prophecy has been revealed." All three men raised their eyebrows. "Fen, chaos of epic proportions, will consume the world. Let the men know and then let's get out of here."

# Chapter 13

The target house was three and half miles away, and like all the other target houses it was also not far from the forest. Sergeant Barnes ordered us to leave him and our KIAs behind. Christine gave us her word that Sergeant Barnes could survive a couple of hours alone. I didn't tell Luke we had another mission. I didn't really have time or free space now that I was in charge of the squad. It took us about an hour and a half to travel the distance. We stopped close to the edge of the wood line. Sunrise was fast approaching and I didn't want to be caught out in the daylight. This meant I had to rush, but at the same time I didn't want to walk into another ambush. I moved Carlos and his team off to my left and Walter's team to my right. I made sure they could see the target house and could cover my retreat if I found another ambush waiting inside.

David and I were the only ones who went forward towards the house. We were able to get a stone's throw away from the back door before the trees ended and cover became scarce. I saw a smear of light on the eastern horizon and knew sunrise was coming. I quickly moved right and left of the house, scanning the street, the houses, and the forest for any signs of an ambush, but I saw none. I recalled that at the last ambush we encountered no civilians; I guessed they had been evacuated prior. My spirits lifted a little when I saw a man exit the house next door to go walk his dog.

I motioned to David and we quickly moved to the back door, pistols raised. The door was locked but a stiff shoulder broke it open. I cringed at the sound of breaking wood. David and I stepped inside and listened. After a couple of seconds and hearing nothing we moved further into the house. We found no one downstairs and started up to the second level. We came to a landing and three closed doors. I pointed to the one closest to us and David moved to open it. He waited a couple seconds and then swung open the door.

It was even darker than the rest of the house because the shades were drawn. I activated my light and found a woman seated on the edge of a bed with her feet squarely on the floor. She sat upright and did not show any hint of surprise or fear. She squinted because of our lights but did not move her hands, which rested on her thighs. She wore military style black boots, tight-fitting tan cargo pants, and a dark brown jacket that went down to mid-thigh. She had long, dark brown hair partially tied up the back, but the majority of it fell onto her shoulders. She looked thin but athletic and young, probably around twenty-five. I was surprised again when I saw her bright, purple eyes.

I hissed the password, "Boat."

She answered without hesitation, "Lamp."

I lowered my pistol. David aimed his to her left to keep her illuminated. Her purple eyes moved slowly from David to me and then back to David. I quickly holstered my pistol.

"My name is Paul. We are not here to hurt you, we are here to help."

"I know," she said, bringing her eyes to mine. "I've been expecting you."

Her comment drove fear into me – how did she know we were coming? I feared we were in for another ambush. I took the smart phone out of my pocket and moved toward her.

"I have to check your eyes," I said, holding up the device.

"I understand," she nodded, slightly turning towards me.

I held the device up to her eye like Sergeant Barnes had explained to me. I paused to stare into her eyes. They were a deep, rich purple, and I had trouble looking away. I hit a button and it took a snapshot of her eye. I did the same to the other eye and after a few seconds the device flashed with the word "confirmed." My fear subsided a little.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Denise."

"Alright, Denise we need to get you out of here quickly. Can you do everything I ask?"

She nodded her head. "The doctor said I should bring a bag," she said, pointing to a backpack on the floor. Doctor? I thought to myself.

"It wouldn't hurt," I said.

She nodded her head again and I motioned towards the door. Denise threw on her backpack and David led out, gun raised again. I followed behind. I called the rest of the squad on the radio to tell them we were coming out. They informed me that nothing had changed outside. We quickly ran down the stairs, and as we darted towards the back door I heard tires screeching on the street.

Adrenaline exploded throughout my body – I knew it was the Legion. David threw open the back door and sprinted towards the trees. I heard more tires screeching and I turned to look behind me. A black SUV screeched to a halt on the street and the passenger's door flew open.

The Alpha stepped out, and the crest running across his helmet was unmistakable. In the dim light of the morning, I also saw his mask. It looked like the mask of a hockey goalie, except instead of bars near the top there was armor that completely hid his face.

How did they know we were here?! I thought.

I had taken the suppressor off my rifle to increase the bullet velocity and I raised it towards the Alpha. I saw him pointing towards us as I took him in my sights. I squeezed off a long burst, shattering the quiet of the morning. The Alpha made no indication that he was hit, and I turned and sprinted after Denise and David.

I yelled into my radio, "3 friendlies coming back, 3 friendlies coming back!" I prayed Carlos's and Walter's team wouldn't shoot us as we crashed through the trees towards them. David led us between the two teams, and as soon as we were behind them, I screamed into my radio.

"All friendlies are back, engage anything to your front!"

I took David and Denise to Carlos's team who knelt behind trees, rifles raised. I placed Denise behind a tree, and then searched the trees in front of us for signs of Legion. But I saw nothing.

Suddenly gunfire erupted from the direction of Walter's team and my radio clicked, but all I could hear were gunshots. I yelled at Carlos to hold his position and I sprinted to Walter's team. When I arrived, the entire team was firing at a group of men no more than fifty meters away. I saw the Alpha, oblivious to the bullets snapping around him and yelling orders.

It didn't take long for bullets to come tearing through the trees towards us. I slipped behind a tree and searched out the Alpha in my sights. He calmly walked from tree to tree, telling his men where to shoot. I leveled my sights on him and squeezed off several bursts.

The Alpha kept walking, completely unfazed. Fear built in me. Could this thing be killed? I emptied my entire magazine at the Alpha and still he kept going. As the Alpha neared a tree, bullets ripped bark and limbs off. I realized all the men were shooting only at him. I reloaded and concentrated my fire on his men and quickly found they could be killed. I started running to each member of Walter's team, directing them to fire on the Alpha's men and not the Alpha himself. We killed several Legion, and their fire died down considerably.

Gunfire then erupted from the direction of Carlos's team. I heard him yell something over the radio about being flanked from the east. I yelled at Walter to have his team "banana peel" to Carlos's position. Walter yelled commands to his team and the man furthest down the line got up and ran behind his teammates. Everyone else fired onto the Legion, trying to keep their heads down. The man ran to the opposite end of the line, and then the next man and the next did the same, and then the final two. This leapfrogging moved Walter's team towards Carlos's team, all the while keeping fire on the Legion in front of us.

The Alpha stopped walking and darted from tree to tree in front of us. His remaining men tried to follow but most were gunned down. I feared he would charge us, take us on hand-to-hand, but he remained with his men, directing them.

It took us several rounds of leapfrogging to link up with Carlos's men. Once we did, I saw they were in a fierce gunfight. The Legion had moved around our left, about a hundred meters away. I put the squad into a protective semicircle and directed their fire against the Legion. To my surprise, no one in the squad had been hit.

Christine was with Denise and both were lying on their bellies behind a tree. Denise appeared unafraid and calmly looked around at the men. I briefly checked in with Christine, and then went back to the line. The Alpha had disappeared back towards the houses.

Bullets snapped past our heads and tore off bark and branches all around us. David yelled for me. I quickly ran to him and he pointed behind him. I saw men moving through the woods several hundreds yards away. The Legion were surrounding us, and we needed a way out. I quickly scanned the woods and saw a small ravine a hundred yards or so away.

I ran to Carlos and had his team pick up their rate of fire while Walter's team maneuvered away. I motioned for Denise and Christine to follow Walter's team and me. We moved towards the ravine and then turned and fired at the Legion while Carlos's team moved. Once Carlos joined us, we all fired off an entire magazine and then sprinted for the ravine.

After a few seconds, bullets started snapping around us but the entire squad made it into the ravine without incident. It afforded us protection as long as we crouched, and thus we ran bent over, bullets flying over our heads. After several hundred yards, the bullets stopped.

I had the squad change direction, out of the ravine, and we continued to run. The Alpha's yelling continued as the Legion gave chase. We ran several hundred more yards before I circled the entire squad back onto our route. I formed them into a line facing the direction we had come, and after a minute or so I heard men crashing through trees towards us.

The Alpha came first, leading a long file of Legion. I waited until he was 25 meters away and then gave the signal. Everyone in the squad fired at once, all concentrating on the Alpha. He continued for a few strides and I feared he couldn't be stopped. Like some invincible demon from another world, he would come devour us... But he finally fell. Once he did, our fire shifted towards the Legion behind him.

Our fire devastated the densely packed file of Legion and many fell to the ground dead, while the others scattered left and right towards cover. We continued to fire, until to my horror, the Alpha slowly rose. He made it up onto a knee and reached for something on his back.

All our rifles shifted back towards him as he pulled a long knife off his back. He held the knife above his head and I realized it wasn't a knife – it was actually a sword. Everyone fired at the Alpha, some bullets clinking off his raised sword. I put his mask in my sights and pulled the trigger, emptying my entire magazine into him.

The Alpha then let out a scream that pushed terror into my heart. He rose to his feet and our fire rapidly picked up. The Alpha staggered, and then fell, still clutching his sword. I yelled for Carlos's team to run while Walter provided covering fire. Carlos took his team to our rear and picked up fire, and I started to move with Walter's team. I glanced over my shoulder and I saw the Alpha once again rise to his feet.

I hissed at everyone to run, to stop firing and just run. If we could not kill the Alpha, then we needed to get away. We needed to hide before he closed on us with his sword. Carlos led the squad and we ran as fast as our tired legs could carry us. Everyone was soon breathing hard except Denise. She calmly jogged behind me, showing no signs of fatigue or fear.

We changed directions often, and when men started to stumble and fall from exhaustion we circled back on our trail and waited for our pursuers. We waited for ten minutes but no one came. I then moved the squad out again, this time at a slow trot back towards where we had left Sergeant Barnes.

# Chapter 14

Sergeant Barnes's condition had worsened in the time we had been away. His skin looked ashy and pale and his voice sounded weak. I put the squad into a circular perimeter around him and instructed them to alternate with a buddy – eating, drinking water, and resting. Christine roamed the perimeter, stopping at each man, checking for wounds and offering words of encouragement. I was surprised by her bravery and strength. Denise, who still showed no signs of fatigue, crouched with me next to Sergeant Barnes. She looked so young, so clean and unafraid, and so out of place.

Sergeant Barnes sat with his back against a tree. His jacket wrapped around him, his entire body still shook from the cold. Denise quickly pulled her jacket off and wrapped it around him and then fished out a wool hat from her bag. He objected, but she pulled the wool hat down onto his head anyway.

"Everyone make it back?" Sergeant Barnes asked weakly.

"Yes, we got everyone."

Sergeant Barnes looked at Denise. "These men are here to protect you until we can get you to somewhere safer. Now, I need a word with Paul alone."

Denise nodded her head and then went to where Christine was helping someone wrap a bandage around a hand.

"You know what you have to do?" Sergeant Barnes asked.

"Get over to rally point Black and refit, and we should find guidance on what to do next."

Sergeant Barnes nodded his head. "If you have time, I want you to check something out. I noticed it when all the distress signals started going out." He pointed to the smart phone in my hand and I gave it too him. He pulled up a map and tapped the screen. "It's the location of one of the distress signals, and it's not far from here. Maybe someone survived, check it out."

I nodded. "Maybe our sister squad? It's pretty close to the rally point."

"Possibly," Barnes said.

"Anyone else?" I asked.

"No one that's close. You're on your own for now."

I nodded my head and Sergeant Barnes continued, "The Alvar are going to do good things for this world, make sure you protect them."

"I'll do what I can," I said.

I could tell he was in a lot of pain and his health was worsening by the minute. "Sarg, we need to get you to a hospital."

He shook his head. "The Legion would find me there; I'm just going to stay here. I don't have much longer."

I didn't try to convince him otherwise – we both knew he was dying.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" I asked.

"Don't fail these men," he said, and I felt my chest tighten and tingle in pain. I had heard that before and had not delivered. I just nodded my head.

Sergeant Barnes let out another grunt of pain. "Paul, call the squad in one at a time. I want to say goodbye."

I turned to leave, but Sergeant Barnes grabbed my arm. "Son, you haven't been here very long but you have done well. Keep it up. Look after these men, protect that Alvar, and take care of Christine."

"Thank you for your confidence," I said. Those were the last words I spoke to Sergeant Barnes.

I walked around the perimeter and sent the men in, one at a time, to say goodbye to their leader. I stopped with Carlos and noticed he had the picture of his two girls out. He stared at the picture and his hand shook and shook. I put my hand on his shoulder and he quickly stuffed the picture away.

"Sorry, I just have to remind myself the reasons I do this," Carlos said.

I paused for a second and then said "Why do you do this?"

Carlos shrugged his shoulders. "I'll probably never see my daughters again for a lot of reasons. I won't be able to do anything for them. But I believe the Alvar will. I have faith in them, that they will make this world a better place. I don't know, it's my way of helping my little girls."

"How are your boys doing?" I asked, referring to his men.

"They're pretty upset about Anton and Smith," he said, referring to the two team leaders who had been killed in the ambush, "but they're hanging in there." Carlos took a deep breath. "That Alpha really frays the nerves. I thought we finally killed that bastard back there but then he got up again."

I let out a long breath. "We'll find a way to kill him."

Carlos nodded his head and I slapped him on the back.

"Keep up the hard work," I said.

Carlos nodded and I stood up to leave. After a few steps I looked back and saw Carlos holding the crucifix that was around his neck. He mumbled a few words, kissed it, and then stuffed it back under his shirt.

I walked over to David next and found him on both knees behind a tree, staring blankly off in the direction of the two deceased team leaders. He was hunched over and he looked pale. The lack of sleep, fear, and exertion seemed to be hitting him hard. I told him what the plan was and showed him where we were going on the map. He just nodded and then moved his blank stare into the forest.

I moved to Walter. He glanced at Sergeant Barnes and then looked back at me and said, "He's not going to make it, is he?"

I shook my head and Walter cursed. He looked at me and punched me in the arm; the force of it nearly knocked me over. He then gripped my shoulder. He stared off into the forest, held my shoulder for a few seconds, and then let go.

I slapped him on the back and continued checking on the men. Most of them didn't speak a single word, their minds lost in anger, fear, and remorse.

Sergeant Barnes spoke to Christine last and they talked for several minutes. I couldn't hear what they were saying but both were emotional. They embraced each other and a few minutes later Sergeant Barnes passed.

We laid Sergeant Barnes, the two team leaders Smith and Anton, and the dead Alvar man alongside each other. The squad piled wood over the four men and placed rifles on their chests. Carlos said a prayer and everyone stood in solemn silence for several minutes. I saw tears running down the angry faces of several men. David couldn't even stand up, falling to his knees and dropping his head into his hands. Emotion welled up inside me.

I looked over at Denise, the Alvar, and wondered why these men had fought so hard for her, died for her. Everyone said she was special, but all I saw was a young, fragile woman. Walter finally walked over to me, patted me on the back a few times and then walked away.

Carlos took out a thermite grenade, pulled the pin, and placed it on top of the wood. The grenade ignited a few seconds later and started burning, catching the wood on fire quickly. As the flames started to consume the bodies, we moved out.

As soon as we were out of sight of the flames, I felt an overwhelming fear come over me. I looked around and sensed it in everyone else as well. I saw it in the men's faces and the way they looked at each other, the way they looked out into the forest. We all feared the Alpha would appear suddenly from behind a tree and charge in to kill us all. Every sound and movement around us, imagined and real, brought breathless moments until we determined its source. I could still hear the Alpha's guttural yell, and its featureless mask flashed in my mind. It was like living in a nightmare.

I looked behind me at Denise, the Alvar we had just rescued. Her hands were on the straps of her backpack. She looked a little too calm. Her eyes came up to meet mine and I was reminded of how captivating the Alvars' bright purple eyes were. She did not smile or nod. Instead she held my gaze for a few seconds and then looked down at the ground again.

David walked behind Denise and he looked ill, his face white. He stared straight ahead, almost in a trance. Christine was behind David and I slowed to walk beside her. Tears streamed down her face and she remained silent. I slowed and let her pass.

I went to Carlos, and after a few tense words about the Alpha, I stopped and let the men pass me. I urged them on the best I could, offering a few words here, a pat on the back there. No one said anything in return; their minds were lost in fear, remorse, anger, or a potent combination of everything.

As the last man passed me, I stopped and watched them walk. I was responsible for all these men now. It made me feel overwhelmed. I didn't want the responsibility, but I was in no better place to guide men and events to where I wanted them, where I needed them to go. I still had a job to do, even if I didn't want to do it.

# Chapter 15

It took us two hours to get to rally point Black. The sun was starting to get high in the sky, but the temperature remained cold. The rally point was on the southwest corner of the Peaks, halfway up one of the steep ridges that led up the mountain and in the middle of a group of colorful aspen trees, their leaves constantly floating down through the air.

We uncovered several large metal cases full of supplies. There was winter clothing vacuum-sealed in plastic, Kevlar helmets and body armor, assault rifles, ammunition, C4 explosives, water, and packaged food. Each of us donned a Kevlar helmet and warmer clothing, and then we gorged ourselves because there was more food than we could carry. Everyone dropped their MP5s for assault rifles. Whatever ammo would not fit in magazines we stuffed into every empty pocket, next to packages of food. I made sure we took all the C4 explosives, thinking it might come in handy later on.

I found the booklet with a list of safe houses. The closest one was in a town called Page, a several hour drive north of where we were, right on the Arizona/Utah border. Without vehicles it would take us a week or more to walk there. I needed to contact Luke.

I told Walter and Carlos that I was going to recon up ahead for a few minutes and left without anyone else. As soon as I was on the other side of the ridge I called Luke.

"Where are you?" he said with a hint of tension in his voice.

"Southwest corner of the Peaks. We've been running from the Legion, but we've made it to some kind of rally point."

Luke snorted. "It's chaos here in town, especially where you guys were ambushed and where I'm guessing you had another gunfight this morning. There are bodies, burnt buildings, and bullet holes everywhere. The whole city thinks its being invaded or something. Media from all over the country are arriving. Everyone wants to know what is going on."

"That's good right? We should have all the backup in the world coming to help us?"

"Yes, there are armies of cops, SWAT teams, and special agents on their way here, but we haven't been able to find these Legion guys."

"Who could they be?" I asked.

"I have no idea. I'm realizing now how little we knew."

"We picked up another one of those people and we did have another gunfight with the Legion this morning," I said.

"Is she alive? What's her story?" Luke asked.

"She's alive but I don't know anything about her. When they put me in charge they gave me this little smart phone device thing that tells us where to pick these people up at. We got her location, we went there and picked her up, and then made our way to the rally point. She's been okay with the whole thing."

"Who is she?"

"All I know is her name is Denise. I haven't been able to talk to her."

Luke let out a long breath. "Is there any way you can arrange a way to bring everyone in? I need to question everyone and figure out what is going on. I can't have you guys leaving any more dead bodies and burnt houses around. We're drawing way too much attention."

"You want everyone?" I asked.

"Yes, we need to talk to everyone and start putting this puzzle together."

I sighed. "We're supposed to be going to a safe house but it's hundreds of miles away and we don't have any vehicles. Maybe we could meet up with your guys on the pretext that you're going to transport us there. I could tell them your guys are some old friends or something."

"We could make that work." Luke said.

"Do you have somewhere discreet we could go to?"

"I have a place and it's outside of the city," Luke said.

"Where do you want to try to meet up?" I asked.

"Well, you don't want to move back towards the city. It's chaos here. I suggest you guys move northwest and link up with my men up that way."

I pulled up a map. Highway 180 ran northwest out of town and kept going for quite some distance until it linked up with Highway 64. "Can your guys come in from Williams, go up the 64, and then south on the 180?" I asked.

I heard clicking and figured Luke was looking at an online map. "That might work, come in the back door."

I gave him a location close to Highway 180 that was about five miles from where we were. "Can we meet up there?"

"That will work, I'll get my guys moving right away," Luke said.

"Luke, there is a spot we have to check out before we meet up with you. It is where we received a distress call from someone else in this organization. I'm sure it's burnt down with bodies everywhere, but the Sergeant I replaced wanted us to check it out."

"Okay, will it take you that far off course?"

"No, it's on the way."

"That's fine but make sure you hustle. I don't want a lot of delays."

I took a deep breath. "Luke, what are you planning on doing with these guys?" I asked.

"Question them and figure out what the hell is going on," he said dryly.

"I don't think they are terrorists. They have done nothing but defend themselves."

"Four of my agents are dead because of them," Luke hissed.

"Are you sure it was them and not the Legion? The Legion are the bloodthirsty ones."

"Look Paul, bring these people in and I'll sort this mess out. It doesn't matter what I do with them, your job is to get them to me."

"It just doesn't make sense. I can't see these guys going after cops and those people you said were kidnapped most likely went willingly."

Luke cursed. "Just bring your people to me and I'll figure it out." He ended the call.

I suddenly felt very uncomfortable handing the squad – the men I had been entrusted with – over to Luke. I felt even more uncomfortable giving him Christine and Denise, as both of them had definitely done nothing wrong. But I knew how investigations worked – something could always be found to put someone behind bars.

I walked back to the rally point. The men were still eating, some were reloading magazines, and others had dozed off as they lay behind trees. Denise approached me.

"Are you taking me to the Council?" she asked.

"What Council?" I asked.

"You are supposed to take me to the Council, that is what I was told."

"You were told by whom?"

"The Doctor," she replied, her tone hinting that I was supposed to know who this was.

I shrugged. "Look, I've been here less than a month and they didn't tell me much. I don't know who the Council or the Doctor is."

Denise nodded her head and looked down at the ground for a second and then back at me.

"So you don't know where the Council is?"

"Never even heard of them, much less been told where they are."

"Then where are you taking me if you don't mind me asking?" Denise asked.

"Well, we have a couple of options," I said, trying to think of a way to tell her, and eventually everyone else, about Luke.

"And what are those options?"

"There is a safe house in Page but it's over a hundred miles away. I'm trying to work something else out in the mean time."

Denise nodded her head again. "Paul, I know you are under a lot of stress but you are supposed to take me to the Council."

"I don't know where they are," I said.

"Haven't you done this before?"

The question stung my pride. "We lost a lot of men before we found you. The Legion, the guys who are chasing us, killed most of our... friends. They came real close to taking us out too. I've only rescued one other Alvar and we took that one to an open field where a helicopter picked her up. Who took her or where they took her, I don't know, but I don't think those guys are around anymore. What we have to do now is just keep you alive."

"I don't mean to press, but the Doctor said I was ready. He said I had made the transition and that I would be taken to the Council. I've waited a long time for this day."

I put my hand on Denise's shoulder. "My job is to keep you alive, we'll figure out the rest when you're safe."

# Chapter 16

As we moved northwest towards the distress signal, we skirted the western edge of the Peaks and the hills became taller and steeper. Despite the cold, everyone started sweating as we walked. I moved up to walk next to Carlos. He held his crucifix in his hand but stuffed it back into his shirt as I matched his stride.

He looked at me with fatigue-filled eyes. We had been constantly moving and fighting since nearly two o'clock the previous morning and it started to show. "We need to kill the Alpha," Carlos said after a few steps. "I freak myself out every minute or so, thinking I see him behind a tree."

"I think we're all doing that. Any ideas?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"I bet if we had some more firepower we could take him down," I said.

"But where are we going to get that?" Carlos said.

"We'll figure it out," I shrugged, not knowing what else to say.

I caught up with Walter who was near the head of our formation. He reached out with one of his arms and while still walking, wrapped it around my neck and pulled me into a painful hug, his massive bulk nearly choking the breath out of me. He let me go after a few steps, and he shook his head but didn't say anything. I slapped him on the back and then turned to encourage the men as they passed me.

We started up another hill and halfway up I caught a faint whiff of smoke. When we got to the top, the smell of smoke filled my nostrils and I saw a cloud of it hanging just above the tree line to the north. I looked at the map and realized it was the location that the distress signal had come from.

Denise had stopped on top of the hill and was looking in the direction of the smoke. When I got to her, she turned. "There are buildings just beyond the smoke that have been burned recently. Is that where the distress signals came from?" she asked.

I nodded my head.

Denise dropped her backpack and climbed the tallest tree she could find. It didn't take her long before she was at the top. "There are people still alive there, at least two," she said after surveying the area for a minute.

"You can see that far?" I asked.

"Yes, my eyesight is much better than yours. There are definitely two people there," she said, scampering back down the tree.

"Were they armed?" I asked.

"No, I saw no weapons," Denise said.

We moved in the direction of the smoke, walking down the hill we had just come up. We lost sight of it as we moved into the low ground between two hills but regained it after we crested the next hill. One more hill brought us under the cloud and I saw the shells of several burnt buildings through the trees up ahead. I put the squad into a defensive perimeter and moved up with just Denise and David. We got to within a couple hundred meters when Denise stopped and gripped my arm.

"It's the Doctor, Dr. Thomas."

"Who?" I asked.

"The Doctor, the one I have been telling you about. The one who said I was ready."

# Chapter 17

Denise took off running toward the burnt buildings. I tried to grab her but failed. She was definitely faster than me. David and I sprinted after her but she easily distanced herself from us. I called Walter on the radio and told him to bring up the squad. As we broke into a clearing from the trees I saw there had been ten to twelve huge buildings scattered around the open space. They were nothing but burnt shells now. As I passed the first one, I saw a man sitting next to a fire not far away.

I heard Denise shout, "Dr. Thomas!"

I shuddered at her voice and my head whipped around looking for a trap – David was doing the same. The man by the fire stood as Denise approached and they embraced.

Dr. Thomas looked in his fifties. He had brown hair that had mostly changed to silver. He wore round glasses, a dirty brown coat, and slacks. He was average height and his arm felt thin as I grabbed it.

"Are there any Legion around here? Are there any bad guys?" I yelled, pulling him away from Denise.

"No, they have come and gone," he said, much calmer than I expected. I let go of his arm and called Walter on the radio. I told him to have the squad clear the buildings and the area around to make sure it was safe.

There was another man lying next to the fire who had not moved since we arrived. Wrapped in a blanket, he faced the fire with his eyes closed.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"A man from the Legion. He was hurt during their attack and was left behind."

My heart fluttered. I pulled the blanket off the man and he moaned. He was wearing a Legion uniform and had a military style haircut, and he looked no more than thirty. His leg looked broken and blood covered his shirt. I touched his broken leg and he moaned.

"Where is his gear?" I asked.

Dr. Thomas pointed to a pile leaning up against a wall not far away: a Legion vest, radio, helmet and rifle. I rifled through everything but didn't find anything out of the ordinary.

"How long ago were the Legion here?"

"They came around three o'clock this morning," Dr. Thomas said.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"This was the Council headquarters."

A frown formed on Denise's face. "Where are the Council members?" she asked. Dr. Thomas reached out and took Denise's hands. "A group of men came and took them before the Legion arrived."

"Who? Our guys?" I asked.

"No. About two o'clock last night armed men surrounded this place and took the Council members hostage. They were not Legion men. I don't know who they were. They had no interest in me since I'm not an Alvar, but they did take my cell phone and disable my vehicle. Then they disappeared with the Council. An hour later the Legion attacked. They came in guns blazing and I think this man was hit with friendly fire," Dr. Thomas said, pointing down at the man. "At least that's what I think. I was the only one here when they arrived and I certainly didn't shoot back. I was hiding. When the Legion realized the Council wasn't here anymore, they torched the place and left. When I came out of hiding, I found this man near the wood line moaning and I've been trying to take care of him since."

"When we secured an Alvar a few days ago," I said, "we put him on a helicopter and I assume they brought him here. Could those men that came last night be the ones who were flying that helicopter? Or maybe told someone about this place?"

Dr. Thomas shook his head. "Those helicopters were flown by Alvar. No one except Alvar and I knew about this place."

Walter and the rest of the squad came running up and they split up, some clearing the burnt buildings and others working their way around into the forest, making sure there were no traps or surprises waiting for us.

"The Council was alive when they left here?" Denise asked.

"Yes, but I don't know where those men took them," Dr. Thomas said.

Christine ran up and gave Dr. Thomas a hug. They exchanged some hushed words. I was getting nervous standing out in the open so I moved everyone into the forest, away from the buildings. Once the squad had cleared the buildings and the surrounding area they formed a protective circle around us. We left the Legion soldier by the fire but kept an eye on him.

I moved around to the men and had them rotate with each other, pulling guard duty and eating or resting. After checking on everyone, I moved back to the center where Christine, Denise, and Dr. Thomas had been talking.

"Where do you think they are?" Christine asked Dr. Thomas.

Dr. Thomas shook his head. "I have no idea. I don't know who those men were. They didn't seem inclined to hurt the Alvar, not like the Legion are. The Legion would have slaughtered all of them but these men were not aggressive, not full of hate."

"What did they look like?" I asked.

"They wore an odd assortment of military gear and clothing. They didn't have a formal uniform."

"Did they say anything that might point to who they were or what their motive was?"

"No, they didn't talk much, and they were in and out in a hurry," he replied.

"The Alvar didn't resist them?" I asked.

"The Alvar are non violent. It's part of their nature," Dr. Thomas said.

I looked at Denise. "They wouldn't defend themselves?"

Dr. Thomas took a deep breath and Denise cast her eyes down. "You don't know much about the Alvar, do you?" Dr. Thomas asked.

"I don't. Everyone's tight-lipped and obsessed with keeping secrets. If you could shed some light on all this it might help our situation."

Dr. Thomas adjusted his glasses before speaking. "Well, I will start at the beginning and I understand much of this will be hard to believe."

"After everything that has happened, I'm inclined to believe just about anything," I said.

Dr. Thomas smiled, just for a split second, before his face went serious. "When my daughter turned sixteen her eyes turned purple, and she started showing remarkable physical and metal abilities. Shortly afterward, she started having visions."

"Visions?" I asked.

"The prophecies," Dr. Thomas said. "She told me that a new race of enlightened beings, born from her blood, would arise from amongst the people, and how a race of soldiers would rise to defend them. Then chaos would consume the world. She would go on to..."

Christine gripped Dr. Thomas's arm. "They have not been told the remaining prophecies," she said.

"Why?" Dr. Thomas asked.

"It takes time. Remember not everyone accepts the prophecies so easily," Christine said.

"So your daughter is the Prophet?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Where is she?"

Dr. Thomas hesitated. "I don't know, I pray she is safe, hiding somewhere."

"How do we find her?"

"You don't," Dr. Thomas said.

I nodded. "So your daughter started telling prophecies."

"Yes, and I eventually shared what was happening to her with my two colleagues. At the time we were post-doctoral researchers at the medical lab in town. Of course they didn't believe me at first, but when they saw the purple eyes, when they saw the physical and mental abilities of my daughter, they naturally became very curious."

"What kind of abilities are we talking about?" I asked.

"She was able to read a book in a fraction of the time you or me could, and retain everything she read. She showed incredible physical strength and had amazing eyesight, hearing, and sensory perception. She could read people and situations exceptionally well. She could even see bits and pieces of the future."

"She didn't see this happening?" I asked motioning back towards the buildings.

"She does not see everything, just select bits and pieces of the future."

"So what did you find when you started studying her?" I asked.

"It was her blood, just as she said that was special. The crazy thing was she would point to certain people and say they were destined to share her blood. She could sense it and she said it with such confidence that it was almost.... creepy. Of course I initially resisted injecting people with my daughter's blood, but after analyzing it we found it was vastly different from anything else we had ever seen before. Then, on the urging of one of my colleagues, we finally approached one of the people my daughter had pointed out and asked if they would take part in an experiment. To our surprise they agreed and we did a small blood transfusion. The person developed many of the same superior physical and mental attributes my daughter had."

"So that's how you make Alvar?"

"Yes. We found a person had to have a certain genetic makeup for the transformation to work. My daughter somehow knew or sensed people with this makeup and when we tested a few more people she had pointed out, we found she was right."

"How many Alvar did you make?" I asked.

"Thirty two. We estimate less than .01 percent of the population has the correct genetic makeup for an Alvar."

"Where did things go wrong?" I asked, pointing to the burnt buildings.

"The further we got into our studies, the more Alvars we created, the more polarized the opinions of my colleagues became. One wanted to stop all of it and destroy any evidence of what we had done. He did not agree with it on moral grounds. The other colleague wanted to use the Alvar to obtain power and profit. And I became convinced that what my daughter was saying day in and day out about this new race of beings was true. After being around her and the people that were made into Alvar, I truly felt they were destined to lead this world into the next age."

"So you created this?" I questioned, pointing to the burnt buildings again.

"Yes. I built this place for their protection and to help them fulfill their destiny."

"So why does the squad have to go pick them up? Why don't you just take them here to begin with?" I asked.

"Occasionally there are complications," Dr. Thomas said.

"Like what?" I asked.

"It's complicated," he said.

"So you use us to screen the Alvar, make sure they aren't dangerous or something?"

"In a way."

I looked at Denise. "That's how you knew we were coming?"

Denise nodded. "Yes. Dr. Thomas approached me eight months ago and told me why I was special. I didn't believe him at first but he persisted and I finally agreed to take a small dose of Alvar blood. The effect was amazing. I could see, smell and hear better, my thinking became clearer, I didn't ever feel stressed or worried. It was amazing."

"So whatever happened to your two collogues?" I asked looking back at Dr. Thomas.

"The one who did not agree with the Alvar on moral grounds found many like-minded people to support his effort. With their help he formed the Legion and has been hunting the Alvar ever since."

"Who is supporting him?" I asked.

"Many people and many governments."

"Our government?" I asked.

"Parts of it," he said.

I felt butterflies in my stomach. "You're saying our government is supporting the Legion?"

Dr. Thomas shrugged. "I don't know if they are actively supporting them but they are definitely turning a blind eye. There are many, many people who have reasons to fear the Alvar."

"Like who?"

Dr. Thomas chuckled. "Anyone in power. The Alvar will become the new leadership and they cannot be bought, corrupted, intimidated, or coerced. Therefore anyone in power has a reason to fear them. The Alvar are a threat to their jobs and their power."

I raised my eyebrows. "The Alvar are that good huh?" I said, looking at Denise.

Dr. Thomas smiled. "I understand your doubt. What I am saying is hard to believe but has Denise showed any signs of fear or fatigue since she has been with you? In these last few minutes she has told me how you have been shot at, chased by an Alpha, and had to walk mile after mile through this rough country. Has she shown any signs of distress?"

I shook my head.

"That's because she is special, and if you had more time with her, like I have had with the Council, you would see that the Alvar are meant to lead us into the next age. You would see that they possess superior skills of leadership and intellect. You would see how compassionate, intelligent, practical, and good they are."

I nodded. "And your second colleague, where is he?"

"I don't know. He disappeared with a sample of my daughter's blood and no one has heard of him since. If I had to guess, he is making out handsomely by selling what information he can glean from the blood or plotting something sinister."

"Could those men that took the Council have been involved with him?"

Dr. Thomas touched his chin. "Of course they could have been; that explains why they took them alive."

"But you don't know where they would have taken them?"

"No, I haven't heard from him in years."

I nodded my head again. "Well, that helps explain a little bit but until your Alvar lead the world into the next great age I have to get you guys out of here alive. There are some people that are offering to help us. They have vehicles on the highway. We just need to get to them and they will get us out of here."

Dr. Thomas nodded. "Of course. If Christine and Denise trust your leadership, I will too."

# Chapter 18

I walked down to the Legion man with Denise, who insisted she come with me. The rest of the squad remained by the trees, resting their feet. The man was awake, staring blankly at the fire that had died down considerably.

He only moved his eyes up to me as I bent down in front of him.

"What's your name?"

He cursed at me.

"How many men did you come here with?"

"Enough," he said after a grunt.

I asked him a few more questions about the Legion but he didn't give me anything – he was a good soldier. I started to reach over at his broken leg but Denise stopped my hand with surprising quickness. She looked down at me and shook her head. She nudged me over so she could kneel in the man's line of sight.

"Why do you want me dead?" Denise asked.

The Legion man looked at her for a few seconds and then spoke. "Because you're going to make slaves out of all of us." The man pointed at me. "These idiots think you're here to save them. Nothing could be further from the truth."

"Why would I make you slaves?" Denise asked.

The man's face tensed up. "You're smarter, stronger, and have a lust for power. You'll naturally come out on top and when you do, the only use you will have for us will be as slaves. That's why we want you dead, so our children don't grow up in chains."

"I will make no man a slave," Denise said sternly.

The man sniffed. "Not yet. You haven't been around us long enough to grow disgusted of all our weaknesses. Just wait, soon enough you'll figure out your so-called superiority and you'll want to put us in our places. The Alvar will bring Fen into this world, a chaos that will consume this planet and all that we have built. My people will be left ignorant, hopeless, and desperate for guidance. That is when the Alvar will rise to power and make slaves of the rest of us, when they hold all the knowledge, all the secrets of this world."

"Who told you this?" Denise asked.

The man seemed not to hear her. "We have almost destroyed all of you, and once we finish the job, Fen will not come. Once you are dead, the world will be rid of the Alvar and will not have to suffer. Soon we will be safe."

"I am not here to make you a slave," Denise said, leaning close to the man, "I don't have a lust for power. I have a yearning for justice and fairness, for equality and prosperity, for peace and security."

The man shook his head just slightly. "That's what they all say. Then when they have seized power, their true colors come out."

Before Denise could speak, I put my hand on her shoulder. "This is going nowhere, we need to leave," I said. Denise nodded her head and we walked back towards the squad. But Denise stopped me after a few steps.

"What are we going to do with him?" she said, pointing back at the man.

"We can't take him with us," I said.

"He's going to die out here. He needs to get to a hospital."

"He'll just slow us down. There is nothing we can do for him."

"We can't do that. We have to help him. We can't just leave him out here to die," Denise said harshly.

"That man is your enemy. If he had the strength he'd be trying to kill you right now."

"He may be my enemy but he is still a human being. I won't allow you to just leave him. He had a radio on his gear, we can call for help."

"Call who? The Legion? And give them our position?"

"Let him have the radio, he can call for help himself."

"He would tell his buddies where we went, how many people we have, who we have with us, what we are armed with. He'll give them valuable information."

"Then we take the radio and after we are a safe distance away, we call for help."

I didn't say anything and Denise's purple eyes seemed to darken.

"Paul, I will not go any further with you until you give me your word that you will get that man some help."

"Fine, after we get well away from here we will call the Legion to come and get him."

Denise went back down to the man and started rifling through his gear. She found a water bottle and offered it to the man but he refused. She set it down near him. She then snatched up his radio and we rejoined the squad.

I briefed Carlos and Walter about where we were going to meet Luke's men. I was vague about who they were, telling them it was just some people I knew. They asked no questions as they trusted me. After they relayed the information to their men, we stepped off.

After we were a good distance away from the burnt buildings, I pressed the transmit button on his radio.

"Any station, any station, this is Yankee 2," I said, making up a radio call sign.

There was no response and I said it again. After a brief pause, someone responded, "Hello, Paul Trent." I felt weak and dizzy. Whoever was on the other line called me by name, without hesitation.

"Identify yourself," I said.

There was a pause, then "This is Captain Otto, commander of the Legion forces." The voice was deep and hollow.

My hand started to shake a little. How did he know my name! I thought.

"Paul Trent, hand over the Alvar and this will all be over," Otto said.

I wanted to deny who I was but he obviously knew somehow, just from my voice.

I squeezed the radio in a vain attempt to stop my hand from shaking. I took a deep breath and spoke. "That is not an option, but you have a wounded man that needs assistance."

"Don't be foolish Paul, with every passing hour we grow stronger and you weaker."

I didn't respond and Captain Otto spoke again. "We have killed nearly all the Alvar, destroyed every asset you have, and we will soon surround you. Stop this foolish running and give the Alvar up and you and your men will not be harmed."

"I say again, you have a wounded man that needs help, location to follow."

"Paul, you and your men have fought bravely but there is no hope for you. You will be killed and the Alvar captured if you continue this. Lay down your arms and surrender."

"Negative," I said.

There was a long pause. "I don't want to kill you Paul, you are a... soldier like me."

"Do you even care about your wounded man?" I asked over the radio, looking over at Denise who was kneeling next to me.

"I will ask one last time, give up the Alvar and you all go free, unharmed."

"I can't do that," I said.

There was another long pause and then the captain spoke. "Paul, in a few hours ten more of what you call Alphas will arrive. We will surround you and those Alphas will finish you off if you keep trying to run. Lay down your arms, give us the Alvar, and go back home."

My heart raced at the mention of ten Alphas. We were having monumental trouble with just one. Despite the fear I said, "We are not going to surrender, we are going to fight our way out of here and a lot more of your men are going to die unless you call them off. Now do you want to know the location of your wounded man or not?"

"I want you and your men to surrender. My fight is not with you, it is with the Alvar."

I looked at Denise. Her face went taut but she nodded her head. I turned the radio off and then hurled it down the hill.

# Chapter 19

The fact that the Legion commander knew my name didn't bother me as much as I though it should. It seemed everyone knew my name somehow. We continued towards the link up point with Luke's men, heading west and away from the mountain. Part way down the final hill the lead man stopped and everyone else followed suit. The trees farther down the hill were sparse, giving way to a vast expanse of brown grass and level ground. At the bottom of the hill, cresting over a slight wrinkle in the ground, I saw a group of men, and at their head I saw the unmistakable shape of the Alpha.

They were quite a distance away, but I could tell the Alpha was running towards us, distancing himself from his men. I felt everyone's eyes go to me. My throat went dry and a painful knot twisted in my stomach.

"Get back up the hill, set up a defensive position in the rocks," I said, pointing behind us. Everyone quickly turned and ran up the hill as fast as they could. I turned and started up after them. Out of habit, I counted the men in front of me to make sure everyone was accounted for and realized someone was missing. I stopped, looked back down the hill, and saw someone standing where we had first halted. I could tell it was David from his shape and the way he stood. He looked down the hill at the Alpha, which had distanced himself even further from his men.

I shouted at him but got no response. I ran down to him and grabbed him by the arm but he pulled away and then turned to look at me.

His eyes sent a shiver down my spine. He didn't look scared.

"David, we need to get out of here," I hissed.

"We can kill him," David said.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Alpha's armor can stop bullets and shrapnel, but like most ballistic armor it can be penetrated by a powerful thrust from a knife." David dropped his rifle and pulled out his bayonet.

I grabbed him up near the collar. "We're not going to fight that thing with a knife, let's go!"

David pushed my hand away forcefully. "We can kill him!" he shouted at me.

"How would you know that?" I hissed.

"Because I know their secrets. We can kill the Alpha. A blade can penetrate his armor."

"Why the hell didn't you tell us that before?!" I shouted.

David's face went white and he squeezed his eyes shut. After a second or so he opened them again.

"Because I'm not on your side... I'm one of them," he said, raising his hand slowly and pointing down the hill.

The painful knot in my stomach wrenched, and I felt a burning in my checks.

"What the hell did you say?" I said.

David cursed. "I'm with the Legion. I've been telling them where we go, what we are planning. How else did you think they were able to track us? How did you think they kept showing up wherever we go? How did you think Captain Otto knew your name? It's because I told them."

I cursed several times. "How could you?"

"Because I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought the Legion were the good guys. I was told the squad was a terrorist organization."

I found it hard to breathe, words failed me, and David shook his head. He looked back down the hill. "But I can't watch another one of our men die and I would never be able to live with myself because of the ones who have."

I felt weak and dizzy. David looked back at me. "I can't do it anymore. Sergeant Barnes and our two team leaders are dead because I told the Legion where we were going. I am responsible for their deaths. I have blood on my hands and poison in my soul because of it." David looked down at his bayonet and ran his hand along the blade. "I'll show you the Alpha's weakness."

David turned to face down the hill, and I lunged to grab him, but he tripped me up and sprinted down the hill. I rose to my feet and keyed my radio, calling for Walter and Carlos.

I looked back up the hill and saw the squad had stopped because of my radio call. They were a hundred meters farther up the hill. I waved for them to come down but no one moved. I cursed and yelled at them to come back down and after a moment's hesitation, they came sliding and skidding back down the hill to me.

The Alpha was closing the distance between us, sprinting up the hill at us, sword in hand. His men were still at the bottom of the hill, struggling up the incline.

I nearly told the men to charge down after David but a sudden realization hit me. If David was with the Legion, maybe he was trying to draw us down into a trap, delivering us into the hands of the Alpha on the false promise that a knife could defeat him when hundreds of bullets had done nothing.

"What's going on?" Walter bellowed.

"He's lost it, he's gone crazy," Carlos said loudly as his eyes followed David down the hill. I looked at the men who were strung out on either side of me. "Fix bayonets!" I yelled at them. I pulled my bayonet out and held it out in front of me. If David was somehow right, if he wasn't leading us into a trap, we had to be ready. I jammed the bayonet onto the end of my rifle.

The men hesitated for a moment but after I shouted at them again everyone pulled their bayonets out and fixed them to the ends of their rifles.

"He's committing suicide," Carlos hissed at me. "We need to stay alive, not die like a bunch of stupid heroes."

I looked back down the hill. David and the Alpha were headed straight towards each other, David armed with his bayonet, the Alpha armed with his sword. I pointed at them and the squad's eyes followed.

David skidded to a halt as he met the Alpha. The Alpha swung his sword but David dodged it and lunged forward. David's bayonet glanced off the armor of the Alpha. The Alpha swung his sword again but David was able to duck away. David struck several more times with his bayonet but didn't penetrate the armor. The Alpha reached out and took hold of David's shirt, trying to pull him close. David raised his bayonet with both hands above his head and drove it down into the Alpha's shoulder, penetrating the armor and sending it all the way down to the handle.

Several of the men cursed. The Alpha threw David to the ground and sheathed its sword. It reached up and tore the bayonet from its armor.

David was right; a knife could penetrate the Alpha's armor. "We can kill the Alpha," I said, trying to convince myself fully of the fact. "A blade can penetrate his armor, all of you just saw that. We can kill him, we will kill him!"

Everyone looked at me with wide eyes and no one spoke. I took my rifle in one hand, raised it above my head and roared, "Alllllll!" as loud as I could.

No one shouted in response. I yelled again, "Allllll!"

The squad followed with a weak "Vaar."

"Alllllll," I screamed again.

This time the squad answered with a thunderous "Varrrrrr!!!!"

I took my rifle in both hands, cursed under my breath, and charged down the hill.

# Chapter 20

The knot in my stomach became tighter and more painful as I ran down the hill. My throat seemed to constrict to the size of a straw and my limbs felt heavier and heavier with each stride. David somehow had gotten back his bayonet and continued fighting with the Alpha, both of them trading blows and parries.

Walter screamed David's name as we charged. Halfway to them, the Alpha connected with a sword trust. David staggered and fell backwards. The Alpha moved towards him and David rolled to away and attacked him from the side. The Alpha make huge slashing motions but couldn't connect. David stabbed at the Alpha several more times, most of his strikes bouncing off the Alpha's armor.

The Alpha was able to knock David away and I saw blood running down his neck and onto his shirt. His left arm looked limp but he attacked, hacking, stabbing with his bayonet. As we neared, the Alpha reached up, took hold of David, and pulled him to the ground. David let out a scream, not a scream of terror, but a scream of defiance, of frustration, and of courage before driving his bayonet into the Alpha's shoulder. Walter and Carlos both screamed David's name.

When we were only a few strides away, the Alpha raised his sword and drove it through David in one powerful stroke. The Alpha pulled the sword free and looked up just in time for us to come barreling down onto him.

I aimed my bayonet at the Alpha's chest but he swatted my rifle to the side and I slammed into him. It was like hitting a brick wall. I saw stars and fell onto my knees, almost losing the grip on my rifle.

The rest of the squad converged onto the Alpha, slashing and stabbing with their bayonets. I rose and brought my bayonet up towards his stomach, only to have it glance off his armor. The Alpha swatted bayonets away and brought the butt end of his sword down onto several men, sending them to the ground but not killing them. The squad, unfazed, kept pressing forward, pushing the Alpha back and away from David's body.

The Alpha grabbed someone's rifle, tore it from his hands, and flung it down the hill. We kept attacking but no one had penetrated his armor. The Alpha surged forward, knocking several men to the ground. He knocked away several more bayonet thrusts and then shouted in a deep and metallic voice.

"You fools! You fight for the wrong side."

The squad attacked again and I raised my bayonet, aimed at the center of its chest, and drove it forward with every ounce of strength I had. The tip struck just to the left of where I was aiming but I felt it penetrate, just slightly. I tore it out and drove forward again. This time the bayonet sunk several inches through the armor.

I heard the Alpha grunt and he backed away. We converged onto him as he yelled again, "My fight is not with you, it's with the Alvar!" I drove my bayonet at his chest several more times but didn't get any penetration. The Alpha worked his sword from side to side, knocking our bayonets away and cutting one rifle in half, but we kept coming, cursing, slashing, and stabbing.

The Alpha took a step back, raised his sword just slightly and drove it through a man to my left, sending his blade all the way through the man's shoulder. While the Alpha's sword was still embedded, Walter raised his rifle and bayonet high above his head and then brought it down, like an axe onto the Alpha's featureless, emotionless mask. Walter's powerful blow cracked the mask and partially separated it from the Alpha's helmet..

The Alpha tore his sword from the man and rolled backwards down the hill once, separating himself from us. After the roll, the Alpha's helmet was still attached to his head but his facemask had broken off during his roll, giving us our first true look at the enemy.

# Chapter 21

The Alpha's skin looked marbled and glossy. A fresh gash from Walter's blow ran down his face, starting above his eye and across the left side of his nose, finally ending at the chin. Blood poured down the gash and off the chin in spurts. It was dark blood, almost black.

The Alpha's gaze passed over us, and when his eyes stopped on mine the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. His right eye was entirely black. Around his left eye I saw dark gray skin, spreading in streaks across its face. One dark streak ran from the socket, down the cheek, over the mouth, and onto the chin. Another ran up over the eyebrow onto the forehead. The left eye itself was dark... purple. Darker than an Alvar purple, but purple all the same.

The Alpha spoke as blood ran into his mouth. "I want the Alvar, not you."

"You can't have her!" Walter bellowed.

"We are brothers, not enemies!" The Alpha yelled.

"You just murdered our brother!" Carlos screamed.

The squad hurled curses at him. I let out a roar and charged, and the squad followed.

I swung my bayonet low, aiming for the Alpha's stomach. My blade only penetrated slightly. The Alpha swung his sword down toward me but the blade skipped off the side of my helmet. Everyone converged again onto the Alpha, stabbing, slashing, and cursing. The Alpha swung his sword across his body, knocking our bayonets away before rolling away again.

We pressed toward him quickly. He stabbed forward but found no flesh. The entire squad pressed shoulder to shoulder and held out our bayonets in front of us, forming a wall of steel. The Alpha tried to break through us, but our blades kept him at bay. He roared, brought his sword above his head, and brought it down onto us with the blade turned sideways. Several men were knocked down but they quickly rejoined the fight.

We kept pressing forward, keeping our bayonets raised and stabbing forward at the Alpha. The Alpha tried to break through us, and after he failed, he rolled again, separating himself from us and then... he backed away quickly, keeping his sword raised. He kept backing away until he disappeared into a thick grove of trees.

We watched in shock as the Alpha disappeared into the trees. Our stupefied gaze was broken as someone fired down the hill at the Legion men who were still advancing towards us. Everyone raised their rifles and sent more bullets down the hill. The Legion scattered towards the scant tree cover, and after a few of them fell they headed back to the bottom of the hill to retreat.

As I watched the Legion disappear from sight, I collapsed onto one knee. My hands shook so violently I could not longer keep hold of my rifle. A man vomited next to me, while many more knelt down or fell into a sitting position. I painfully became aware of the burning pain in my chest and the fact that it felt like I was breathing through a very small straw.

Walter, breathing heavily, walked over and picked up the Alpha's shattered mask.

He raised it above his head and let out an "Allll!" The squad, although exhausted, followed with a loud and thunderous "Varrr." Walter yelled it three more times, and each time the men echoed with a "Var."

I turned and found Christine patching up the wounded men. To my utter amazement, David had been the only person killed. I directed the rest of the squad to assist Christine with the wounded men. Walter, with the Alpha's mask in hand, staggered back up the hill to David's body.

Walter knelt down and pulled David's body into an embrace. A few moments later I saw the huge man's shoulders shudder and I heard sobs. I rose to my feet and made my way to him. Tears streamed down his face as he rocked David's body back and forth in his arms.

What David had told me echoed in my consciousness, but I knew I could never tell Walter or anyone else about what David had admitted. I knew without a doubt his secret would die with him. Walter rocked back and forth several more times and then gritted his teeth and roared. He slowly let David's body back down to the ground. Then Walter turned and let out animal screams as he bashed the mask into the rock with both hands, trying in vain to break it. After a few more strikes I reached out and stopped him. I pulled him into an embrace, one that he returned. He still sobbed.

After a few minutes Carlos joined us and Walter stood to embrace him as well. The tears stopped and after a few deep breaths Walter handed me the Alpha's mask without a word. He bent down and scooped up David's body again. Walter mumbled a few words, held him a few moments longer, and then gently laid the body down, crossing his arms on his chest.

One of the other men brought David's rifle down and Walter carefully placed it on David's chest. Walter gripped David's hands, took a few deep breaths and then stood. Carlos bent down and took one of David's hands while holding his crucifix in the other. Carlos said a few prayers, shed a few tears, and then stood to give Walter a hug. The two huge men patted each other on the back and then stepped away to let the rest of the squad pile wood over David's body.

Someone handed me a thermite grenade as the rest of the squad continued down the hill, heading in the original direction we had been going. Denise stood next to me, staring down at David's body.

"What was he fighting for?" Denise asked, her face tensing up.

"His buddies... and you," I said softly.

She clenched her jaw for a moment, and then said, "But, he didn't know me, he didn't know why I'm here. He didn't know what the prophecies would tell. None of you do."

I looked at the ground and then back up at the rest of the squad, my mind searching for something to say. I stared at the squad for a moment, watching them walk away, and then turned my eyes back to Denise. "These men have faith in you, they believe you are here to do good things," I said.

"I'm not quite sure I understand faith," she said.

I let out another long breath. "A lot of people don't... and I don't think it's something you understand, it's something you have. They choose to believe in you, they believe that your kind is here to do something great and their lives are worth protecting that. They don't need science, prophecies or miracles to believe it; they just know and believe it," I said.

Denise's eyes slowly moved to meet mine. "And what are you fighting for Paul?"

"I'm fighting for them," I said, motioning to the squad.

"But you hardly know them. You have only been here a month," she said.

To my surprise my response came easily, possibly because it was true. "They placed their trust in my leadership. If I fail them, I will never be able to live with myself. That's why I'm fighting for them, because they are depending on me. A long time ago I failed the men I led; I did what was easy and not what was right and because of that, men died. I won't make the same mistake again."

Denise looked away and seemed satisfied with my answer. A painful knot twisted in my stomach as I remembered where I was taking these men. She spoke again, "Do you have faith in me?"

"I don't even know why you are here," I said.

Denise straightened up. "We Alvar are here to change this world, change it for the better. We are here to lead mankind into the next age, the golden age."

I pulled the pin on the thermite grenade and dropped it onto David's body. "I can only hope what you say is true. Now, let's get going, that Alpha can't be too far off."

We rejoined the squad and after a few hundred meters Carlos called me over the radio and said a wounded man was falling back. It was the man who had taken the Alpha's sword through the shoulder. I kept the squad going but moved back towards the rear. Carlos and I picked up the wounded man and carried him for a hundred yards or so and then had to stop. The man begged us to leave him. Christine gave him a shot of morphine and Denise offered to carry him. We refused her offer and carried him another hundred yards before having to rest again.

Before we could pick him up again, Denise took hold of the man's arm. She bent down and slid her arm underneath his leg, then hoisted him up onto her back. I thought for certain she was going to crumple under the weight. She started walking with seemingly little effort, her thin frame handling the weight just fine. We followed and Denise kept going and going, showing no signs of fatigue.

# Chapter 22

We stopped almost half a mile from where we were supposed to meet up with Luke's men, with Denise carrying the wounded man the entire way. As soon as we established a perimeter, I approached Dr. Thomas.

"That thing, that Alpha we just fought, had a purple eye," I said. "What can you tell me about that?"

"It did?" he said shyly.

I stepped closer to him. "Why would he have a purple eye? I don't think that is a coincidence."

Dr. Thomas took a deep breath and looked at me only briefly. "I should have told you before. Most, probably eighty percent, of those who my daughter's blood reacts with make the correct change. The other twenty percent or so have a slightly different gene that turns them into monsters. They are the complication we talked about before."

"They turn into Alphas?"

"Yes, of the .01 % of the population that the blood reacts with, most will become Alvars, the other small percentage will become Alphas. And we don't always know which ones will turn Alvar, and which ones Alphas. My daughter could pinpoint most of them, tell us whether a person would turn Alvar or Alpha, but some she was unsure of."

"That's why you would send us in once they turned?"

"Yes, if we could tell with absolute certainty whether someone would turn Alvar or Alpha we wouldn't need you. We could just bring people into the Council. But we couldn't risk someone turning Alpha around a bunch of Alvar."

I cursed. "So how many are there?"

"We certainly didn't make any on purpose. Your squad had to kill a few. This was probably before you joined them."

"That's not what I asked."

"I know there are at least ten, possibly more," Dr. Thomas said.

"So why do they want the Alvar dead?"

"I don't really know. In many ways they are the opposite of the Alvar. The Alvar are passive, intellectual, and open-minded. The Alphas are violent, emotional and very conservative. They do not see the Alvar for what they are: the future leaders of the world. If I had to guess, they see them as competition."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"I think the Alphas want the power. They can't stand the idea of the Alvar as rulers."

"So this is basically a power struggle?" I asked.

"The Alphas are misguided. One day they too will see the Alvar for what they are. One day the two races will be united."

"Can you tell me anything useful about them?"

Dr. Thomas let out a long breath. "I know nothing about them except they share the same blood as the Alvar."

I cursed. "I've got a lot more questions but we don't have time," I said turning away from him. I told the men I would go recon the link-up point alone, making sure we weren't walking into a trap. But in my gut I knew I still had not accepted the fact that I had to hand everyone over to Luke. I couldn't yet accept the fact that I was going to have to betray the very people who gave me their trust.

There were no questions about who we were going to meet. The squad trusted me; they believed that I would take care of them, that I would never betray them. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I went alone to recon the area, and when I came within sight of the highway I called Luke.

"Where are your guys?" I said not seeing any sign of them.

"They were a little delayed. They will be there in about half an hour."

"Okay, we'll be waiting," I said.

"My guys will be wearing digital camouflage and they will wave an orange signal panel at you."

"Okay... Luke, are you sure you have a safe place for people?"

"Yes, they will be safe."

"Just for the record, I still don't think these people killed your agents," I said.

"I told you before, I'll be the one to figure that out. Just do your job and get them to me. I'll gather the facts and put the pieces together."

I sighed. "Alright. Call me when your men arrive."

"I will," Luke said sternly and then hung up.

I returned to the squad and told them we had a few minutes to rest. Many of the men fished out food from their pockets and slumped against trees to eat. I went to Carlos who was sitting by himself. He offered me some crackers and cheese. I took them and started eating. Carlos would not look at me, and I knew he was thinking about David.

Nothing I said could ease his pain. I shared some more food with him, patted him on the back, and stood. As I did, Carlos reached into one of his pockets and pulled out the picture of his daughters. He stared at it, tears filling his eyes. After looking at the picture for a few moments he let it drop to the ground and made no effort to pick it up. He dropped his head into his hands. A slight wind brushed the picture against my leg and I picked it up. My chest began to burn.

I stepped close to Carlos and held the picture out to him. He looked up at it but didn't take it.

"I'm never going to see them again," he said, his face etched with pain and horror. "You still need this, Carlos. They are the reason you fight."

Carlos seemed reluctant, but after a few moments he took a few deep breaths, and then took the photograph back. I patted him on the back and turned to walk away.

I saw Denise sitting with her back against a tree, tension straining her face. I walked to her and she forced a smiled.

"How you doing?" I asked.

She took a deep breath. "Paul, you told me once that you had failed the men you led, did what was easy and not what was right, and men died."

"Yes I said that," I said.

"What happened?"

I took a deep breath and said, "I don't like to talk about it."

"I have gotten men killed and I want to know how you dealt with it. The guilt, I mean."

"I didn't deal with it. It's still with me today, every minute of every day in fact. For a long time I let the guilt consume me and it nearly destroyed me. I nearly drank away everything in my life till I was left with nothing. Then one day I decided I wasn't going to let it consume me. I decided it was going to drive me. And that's how I get by each day, by letting the guilt propel me forward, not pull me down. It will never go away. You just have to channel it towards something productive."

Denise nodded. "Thank you."

I went to Walter, who was staring blankly off into the forest. I knelt next to him, and after a minute or so he finally spoke.

"That was a hell of thing, what David did."

The memory of David fighting the Alpha came flooding back, as well as the knowledge of whom he had been.

"A hell of a thing," I said.

"What was he thinking? Why would he charge an Alpha? Did he want to die?"

My chest tightened and I put my hand on Walter's shoulder. "He gave us the courage and the knowledge to fight that monster. We know now that he bleeds."

Walter looked at me with bloodshot eyes. "We need to kill the bastard."

I placed my hand on his shoulder. "We will, we know his weakness now and the next time he shows his ugly face, we'll finish him off."

Walter reached up and squeezed my shoulder, tears forming in his eyes. I nodded my head and then went to check on the rest of the squad.

After fifteen minutes I went forward alone again. Just before I got within sight of the highway my phone rang and Luke told me his men were there. I moved a little further and saw men in digital camouflage just off the highway. They had a bunch of SUVs they had pulled into the trees. I called Luke back and told him to have his men flash the signal, which they did.

Dread poured over me and it forced me to sit. I leaned against a nearby tree as the feeling became more intense. I didn't want to hand the squad over to Luke. I didn't know him that well, but I knew enough cops to fear what he could do. I knew cops that could not help but throw everyone they came into contact with into jail. It was as if they assumed everyone was guilty. And even if the evidence was scant, they arrested them. It was just part of their nature it seemed, and I feared that Luke might be that way.

Cops like him enjoyed putting people away. Even if the case was thrown out or there was no chance of conviction, they squeezed enjoyment out of having people languish inside a cell for years as the legal process worked the case out. I imagined Carlos, Walter, Christine, and the men behind bars for years, steaming over the fact that I had put them there, and after Sergeant Barnes had asked me to look after them. I knew it would be hard to live with, actually, nearly impossible to live with.

But it was my job to bring the squad in. I was not supposed to be attached to these people; I should be able to cut ties without hesitation. Handing them over to Luke was the right thing to do; it was why I was here. I had done it before, granted it had been easy before because those people were the bad guys. But in the grand scheme of things this was no different.

I cursed and thought maybe I should just tell the squad who I was and inform them about to whom I was handing them over. They would be angry and feel betrayed, but they would be able to walk away and they wouldn't have to go to jail.

I thought about telling the squad to overpower Luke's men after we linked up, steal their vehicles, and disappear to the safe house in Page. I could claim the squad found me out and took me prisoner or forced me to come with them.

I heard footsteps and I wasn't surprised as Christine walked up. She stopped a few paces away from me without a hint of an expression. She stared at me for a few seconds before speaking. "What's the matter Paul?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Why do these men fight for the Alvar?" I said motioning back towards the squad.

"They believe in the Alvar," she said softly.

"What is so special about them?" I asked.

"The Chaos that will consume this world is beyond anything you can imagine. We will be thrown back into the dark ages and the only thing that will save mankind from total destruction is the Alvar. They will safeguard our knowledge and then lead us back, beyond where we are even today."

"How can you know this?" I asked.

"The Prophet can see it."

"If the Prophet can see the future, why can't we just avoid all these problems, why do men have to die?" I asked harshly, wanting to know why I had to be involved in all this.

Christine took a deep breath. "The Prophet only sees select pieces of the future."

"That's sounds too convenient," I said.

We were silent for quite some time before I shook my head and said, "I don't know if I can trust these men we are meeting," I said, surprising myself that I would say such a thing.

Christine nodded her head and then knelt down in front of me.

"You said that in the past you failed the men you led because you did what was easy and not what was right."

My stomach spun uncontrollably and a painful burning formed in my chest. "I don't know what is right."

"You do know what is right. It's the hard choice, the one you don't want to do."

# Chapter 23

As we approached Luke's men, I realized I had not asked him when or how his men were going to take everyone into custody. I wondered if they were going to identify themselves as police when we got to them or take us somewhere where there were more of them. The squad wasn't going to go quietly, and Luke's men numbered only about eight. We had just fought off an Alpha – these guys wouldn't last long if the squad fought back.

My heart beat so fast I thought it was going to burst. My hands became so soaked in sweat I had trouble holding onto my rifle. Whatever they had planned I just hoped no one had to die. To my relief the guy in charge of Luke's men didn't do anything crazy, like try to arrest everyone. He just motioned for everyone to get into the SUVs.

I went up to him quickly. "I'm Paul, the one Luke has been talking to."

"Right," is all he said. I followed him to the lead SUV. He jumped in the front seat, and I jumped in the seat behind him. Carlos got in beside me and I knew I couldn't ask too many questions. As soon as everyone was loaded up we accelerated onto the highway, heading northwest.

"Where we headed?" I asked.

The man looked back at me. "There's a place about ten miles from here where we can hunker down for a while."

I nodded my head and looked over at Carlos. He had taken his pistol out of his holster and held it in his hands between his legs. I wondered if he sensed something, if he knew something was not right. We drove in silence for a few minutes before the driver slammed on his brakes. He ducked behind the dash and bullets impacted the windshield. I looked down the road and saw the distant outline of several trucks and men in Legion uniforms. They had thrown up a roadblock in front of us.

My first thought was this was Luke's plan to take everyone into custody, but it became clear very quickly that Luke's men were not expecting this. The man in the front seat screamed at the driver to turn right and get off the road. The driver poked one eye above the steering wheel and gunned it. The SUV bounced violently as the front tires went over a ditch. As the back tires hit the ditch, the SUV stopped cold. More bullets tore through the front window, killing the driver. I knew this could not be Luke's doing.

Everyone bailed out of the far side of the SUV. Bullets snapped around us, impacting the SUVs behind us. Some of them attempted to get off the road but the ditch running along it was too deep and wide, and none of them made it.

Everyone jumped from their vehicles into the ditch. Bullets broke through both side windows, showering us in glass. I directed the men to start firing in the direction of the roadblock. Vehicles started coming up the road behind us, discharging Legion men. They worked their way around us in an attempt to surround us.

I knew if we stayed where we were, we were dead. There was a tall pine-covered hill just beyond the road, and I screamed at everyone to start running for it. I rose and sprinted across the road and then started up the hill. After making it about twenty meters up the hill, I directed a group of men to fire at the roadblock as the rest of the group ran. They fired and we ran. Once we made it fifteen meters, we started firing and the other group ran up the hill. Christine and Denise ran up and down the hill, carrying anyone who fell behind.

Each group covered the other and we made it to the top. I wanted to escape down the other side and disappear into the woods again, but at the bottom of the reverse slope was a large open field and Legion men were already there. We moved along the hill in the other direction but the Legion from the original roadblock fired on us, forcing us to retreat back to a crag of rocks. I moved out alone to try to find a way out but was fired on no matter where I went. I heard more vehicles down on the road and I knew more and more Legion were arriving.

More guns fired on us and there was nothing we could do but hug the ground. If anyone rose to shoot, all the Legion's fire was directed against them. After two men were hit, I screamed at everyone to stay low and out of sight. Someone yelled that two armored trucks were coming up the road.

I crawled through the rocks to ensure we had a full perimeter. Thankfully Luke's men were with us; they were scared, but they could cover a sector of fire. Bullets continued to snap over our heads and impact the rocks around us. It was a strong position, with plenty of cover, but we couldn't survive here forever. As I crawled to the center, I found Denise and Christine on their bellies patching up one of Luke's men.

I didn't get to speak to them as Walter yelled for me. I crawled over to him. He looked through a small gap between two large rocks. He moved out of the way and allowed me to look. My heart nearly jumped out of my throat.

Down near the highway I saw ten Alphas standing in a semicircle around two armored trucks. Their helmets were slightly different from the Alpha we had fought. Their crests ran front to back but were just as terrifying. We could not survive ten Alphas – nothing could. It seemed fear blinded me for a few seconds. I blinked and rubbed my eyes several times and my vision came back. I wish it had never returned.

The Alpha we had fought, the one with the crest running from ear to ear and missing his mask, stood in the middle of the others, speaking to them. He spoke for a few moments and then turned towards us. My eye started to quiver as I waited for them to charge, to come and finish us off.

I watched the line of Alphas, unable to look away. I waited for them to charge but to my surprise they didn't. They just stood there looking up at our position. After a couple of minutes more gunfire erupted all around us. Four or five machine guns fired and a mass of bullets crashed into our crag of rocks. I had to hug the ground as bullets tore shards of rock off near me. Tree branches, cut by the Legion bullets, fell onto us. More guns opened up and the air reverberated as every gun the Legion had fired on us. The gunfire, impact, and snapping of bullets around us built to a steady roar.

Everyone curled up behind whatever rock they were closest too. Several of the wounded men covered their ears and I saw they were screaming. Then, as quickly as it had started, the fire stopped. Dead silence told me the Alphas were about to assault. I waited for them to come bounding over the rocks but nothing happened. I looked up through the rocks again and saw the line of Alphas standing in the exact same spot.

Then I heard someone yell, "Paul Trent!"

It came from the direction of the Alphas.

"Paul Trent, I'm here to talk," the voice said again.

I slowly pushed my head above the rocks to look down the hill. Halfway between the armored trucks and our crag of rocks stood the Alpha we had fought. His hands were raised about shoulder level to show nothing was in the palms. The Alpha yelled, "Paul Trent, come talk to me."

I lowered my head and found everyone looking at me. Gathering every ounce of courage I could, I stood. I stepped over the rocks and walked down the hill. The Alpha was still standing with his arms raised. As I got closer, he lowered his hands.

The Alpha slowly brought his hands up to his helmet, unclipped it, and removed it from his head. The gash Walter had given him was oozing blood down his face and neck. He placed the helmet under his left arm, and then extended his right hand and said, "Paul Trent, I am Captain Otto."

# Chapter 24

Captain Otto kept his hand out until I slowly moved closer and shook it. His hand was massive, just like the rest of him. After our handshake, I stepped back. He was a head taller than me, and my eyes were immediately drawn to his purple eye.

"Nasty cut you got there," I said with as much force as I could muster.

Otto cracked a small smile just for an instant, and then his face went back to business. "Yes, your men have fought bravely. I have much respect for all of you... That is why I don't want to kill you," he said, his voice deep and powerful.

My eyes wandered past him to the line of Alphas behind him. I didn't doubt they would kill all of us.

He continued, "Paul, my offer still stands. Give us the Alvar and the rest of you go free. I assure you that my men will not harm you or your men if you comply."

My eyes came back to Captain Otto and I suspected he could see the fear in my face. I didn't want to die, and I didn't want my men to die.

"Why do you hunt the Alvar? Why do you want them dead?"

Captain Otto readjusted his helmet and said, "Paul, what does one group of people do to those around them when they think themselves superior?"

I didn't answer.

"Exploit, persecute, and shun is what superior people do. And not far from all of those is genocide. Paul, we both know the Alvar are superior to us, and it won't be long before they realize that, and our entire race is at their mercy."

"Us?" I asked while pointing to his purple eye. "You're not the same as me."

"A necessary addition. It's the only way we stand a chance against the Alvar. I was a soldier, just like you, a man with a family, a man with purpose and hope. Now I'm a monster, but a monster fighting for what is right. The Alvar are not here to help us. They are here to replace us."

I didn't know what to say.

"The Alvar will first rule over us, and then when they grow tired of our vices and weaknesses, they will get rid of us. It is the way of the world, and it has been foretold in the prophecies."

"What prophecies are you talking about?" I asked.

"Alvar, Eine, Fen, Rok – the great war and finally Gim, or the new order. An order with the Alvar on top of us, and slowly replacing us."

"Where did you hear this?" I asked.

"The Prophet foretold it," Captain Otto said with confidence.

"Why should I believe you?"

Captain Otto took his helmet out from under his arm and placed it back onto his head.

"Paul, I'm not here to debate. I'm here with an offer, the only one available to you. Give up the Alvar and you all go free. Continue to fight and you all will be killed. I don't want to do that. I would actually be honored if you joined my ranks. In fact, all of you should be fighting for me." Captain Otto waited for me to answer, and when I didn't he motioned towards the line of Alphas. "Paul, I will unleash them upon you if you do not give up the Alvar."

"Who do you work for?" I asked.

Captain Otto cracked a smile for a moment. "Many people."

"Our government?"

"I work for people, not governments," Otto said.

"What will happen to the Alvar?" I asked.

"They will be destroyed," he simply said.

"Why?"

"To save our people."

"You're not even giving them a chance."

Otto clenched his jaw. "Paul, will you surrender?"

I shook my head. "I can't do that. Do what you must."

Captain Otto sighed heavily. "Paul, I am begging you, I don't want to kill you or your men. You are like brothers to me."

"Brothers?! Brothers don't kill each other."

"I hate doing it, but it is my job to destroy the Alvar and your men are in the way," Otto bellowed.

I sighed heavily. Not knowing what else to say or do, I asked, "Can I talk it over with my men?"

Captain Otto nodded and said, "Please. My men will not fire on you and I will wait here for your answer."

I walked back up to the crag of rocks. All the men looked at me. I shouted for them to come around me and assured them the Legion would not fire. For some reason, I trusted Captain Otto and he kept his word. As the men slowly rose to surround me, no one fired on us.

"The Alpha I spoke with is the one who killed David. His name is Captain Otto, the commander of the Legion and he is asking us to surrender."

The men's faces became distorted, several cursed, and I heard Walter say, "Never. We are not surrendering. We all believe the Alvar are here for the benefit of mankind. We would never be able to live with ourselves knowing we gave up on them."

There were several agreements and curses.

I looked over the men and then spoke. "There is a squad of Alphas down there, waiting to be unleashed against us."

This little bit of information sent fear rippling through everyone. No one spoke, no one moved, until Carlos cleared his throat. "We are not going to surrender. We all believe and have faith in the prophecies. We are the Eine, the protectors of the Alvar. It does not matter if the Legion has a hundred Alphas. We'll keeping fighting. That's what we do, that's who we are."

There were a couple murmurs of agreement. My eyes wandered to Denise. She sat behind the men, facing away from us. She looked off down the hill and I saw not a hint of emotion on her face. I was surprised she did not speak and plead with the men to surrender, but I realized she probably knew it would be a waste of breath. These men were not going to surrender; they were going to die fighting.

Christine sat against a tree to my right with Dr. Thomas. Tears ran down her face but her face was stoic. She did not look at me and did not look at the men. I knew she would be as resolute as the men; she too would die fighting along with everyone else. I let my eyes pass over the men several more times and then spoke.

"We took all the C4 from the rally point – how much do we have?" I said.

"My team's got ten bricks," Walter said.

"My team's got six bricks," Carlos said.

"When I go back to speak to the Captain I want those rigged up knee height on the sides of these trees."

I pointed left and then right at the trees behind me. "I suspect the Alphas will assault straight up at us and I want to greet them with a nice big bang. Pack them with anything you can find, bullets, metal, rocks, whatever. Make sure they are hidden and then readjust the line stealthily back about twenty five meters."

I told them the rest of my plan that had formed in my head and the men nodded. I stood and the men went to work.

I turned and slowly walked back down to Captain Otto. I knew I had to stall, I had to give my men time to rig the C4. So I asked him about reassurances. I brought up what transportation would be available, what would happen to Denise, why did they want her dead, and anything else I could think of.

After ten minutes or so, I asked if I could talk it over with my men again and Captain Otto allowed me to leave. I walked back up the hill and found my men pulled back a good distance from our original perimeter. I saw numerous C4 charges packed on the sides of trees, bullets, rocks, and metal pressed into them. We were out of sight of Captain Otto and I pulled the men in again. I didn't mention anything about my conversation with Captain Otto – they would not have wanted to hear it.

I went around to every single man and thanked him. I thanked each of them for fighting so hard, so selflessly, and with such courage. It was the least I could do for these men. They hugged me and thanked me. I felt tears welling up, but I fought them back. Other men let them flow freely.

Luke's men stood off to the side. They looked scared out of their minds and didn't say a word. I turned and went down the hill and back to Captain Otto. I told him we would not surrender and his head dropped slightly along with his eyes. I could tell he was disappointed. He extended his hand, "Paul, it has been an honor."

I reached out and took his hand. Otto gripped my hand tight and I realized he was not going to let me go. I tried to pull away but I was no match for his strength. With his other hand he pulled a syringe from his vest. It was filled with a dark purple liquid. In a flash he drove the syringe into my chest.

# Chapter 25

The liquid burned as it entered my body and no matter how hard I fought, I could not extract myself from Otto's grasp. As the last of the liquid entered my body, he pulled me close.

"This is the blood of the Prophet. You will become stronger and faster, your senses will heighten and you will become one of us... Welcome to the brotherhood Paul."

The pain was so great I couldn't speak and Otto let me fall to the ground. I clawed at my chest, trying in vain to stop the pain from spreading. It worked its way into my shoulders and down into my stomach. Then suddenly the pain went away and was replaced by a tingling sensation. I let my body relax and Otto stepped over me, and a huge smile spread across his face.

"I will come back up this hill in a few minutes. Have your men stand down and be prepared to hand over the Alvar."

Otto turned and started walking back down the hill. I tore open my shirt, searching around the puncture mark. I felt my face but couldn't feel anything. Panic started in my stomach and quickly spread to the rest of my body. Otto's words echoed in my head. Welcome to the brotherhood Paul.

Images of Otto's marbled skin, eyes, and the gray streaks on his face flashed in my mind. Would I turn into a monster? Would I turn on the Alvar, on the men?

I ran back up the hill as fast as I could. Walter rose, and when his eyes met mine I saw no concern. Maybe it took time to change. Walter handed me a detonator, which was connected to all the C4 charges. My hand shook as I held it and I dared not look at Denise. Sweat poured into my eyes and my stomach churned in pain. I waited for something to change, for me to feel something, to mutate. But I only felt fear.

I knelt behind a tree and my eyes searched nervously for the crested helmets. My free hand ran over my skin and face searching for change. I prayed I would not change, that I wouldn't turn on my men, on Denise. I forced myself to look down the hill.

Walter had placed an orange strip of fabric on the back side of a tree to mark the line of C4. I looked down at my shaking hands and hoped no one else saw them. The potent mix of fear and rage was overpowering. I held my hands against my stomach but before long I felt my whole body shake.

I mustered all the courage I had to speak; even with everything I had, my voice quivered as I yelled.

"The Alphas can be killed, they will be killed. Ram your blade into them and they will die. Hold firm and you will see tomorrow."

I remembered something my first squad leader in the army had always told me. "Our grandfathers will have to wait for us in Valhalla because we are not yet ready to die. Our work is not yet done. Eine, make your grandfathers proud for they are watching."

I stopped yelling as I saw a crested helmet appear. I closed my eyes for a second and all I could see was Otto's face. I opened my eyes and saw the entire line of Alphas coming towards us. Captain Otto was in the center, leading them.

I yelled, "Al!" and the men answered weakly at first with "Var."

I yelled it again and their voices grew stronger. I yelled at the top of my lungs and the men matched me.

"Alll!"

"Varrr!"

"Allll!"

"Varrrrr!"

We continued to yell and Otto stopped.

"Paul, stand down!" he shouted several times.

I cursed at him. "You're going to have to kill us." I stood and raised his broken mask above my head and screamed. It was our proof that we could stand and fight an Alpha, that they were not invincible. It was our symbol of defiance and I let out a final "Al!" The men screamed their final "Var" and kept it going for quite some time.

I heard Otto roar. He took the sword from his back and charged.

I lay down behind the tree and it was only a few seconds before the line of Alphas was parallel with the line of C4. I took the detonator in both my shaking hands and slammed it together three times.

The explosion was deafening, the concussion and pressure from the blast extremely painful. I felt it reverberate through my entire body, even down the bottoms of my teeth. Shrapnel tore through the air above our heads and impacted around us. Dust, debris, and tree limbs followed soon afterward. I kept low for a few seconds and then looked up.

In front of us, trees fell and pieces of wood and rock flew everywhere. Dust was heavy where the charges had been. As I had instructed them to do, the men threw smoke grenades to further screen our movements.

I rose and rushed forward into the dust and smoke and everyone followed close behind. I couldn't see more than a foot in front of me but as long as I continued downhill I knew we were going in the right direction. I broke out of the dust and smoke halfway down the hill and I glanced behind me and saw the men close behind.

The Alphas had left no one at their armored trucks and as they fumbled around in the dust and smoke on the hill searching for us, we piled into their already running vehicles. We tore off down the highway, towards the original roadblock that had stopped us. The Legion there fired on us but their bullets had no effect.

The huge armored vehicles plowed through their barricades and vehicles. The men opened up the rear doors and fired back at the Legion, making sure they didn't pursue us. I had found my way into the front passenger's seat of the lead truck and I leaned over to look at myself in the mirror. To my relief I saw nothing different about myself, no different eye color, no marbled skin, no gray streaks. Not yet at least.

I realized I had kept a hold of Otto's mask the entire time. I looked down at it and I could hear Otto's words yet again. Welcome to the brotherhood Paul.

# Chapter 26

I looked back and saw several men clustered around someone on the floor. I pushed my way to them and found Carlos in a pool of blood. I nearly threw up. A large gash ran down his shoulder, across his chest and stomach. An Alpha had struck him with a sword during our escape down the hill.

I ripped off his gear and, with many helping hands, patched his wounds. He was unable to speak and his breathing became labored. I saw fear creep into his eyes as he saw how much blood he had lost. I stopped the trucks so Christine, who was in the other truck, could come treat Carlos. She lost all the color in her face when she saw him but went to work right away.

As we accelerated again, Carlos pawed at me several times but was still unable to speak. He pointed down towards his cargo pocket. My heart sank as I knew what he wanted. I reached in and retrieved the photo of his daughters. I forgot about the Alvar blood that was flowing inside of me for the moment as my eyes took in the two smiling girls.

I realized Carlos would probably die, that he would never see his daughters again. The thought of it nearly made me faint. I handed the picture to Carlos. He took it and immediately kissed it, the blood from his hand smearing the backside of the picture. He kept his eyes closed and the picture on his lips.

Christine gripped my arm. "I'll take care of him, get us out of here."

Her words pushed just enough strength into me to get me back into the front seat of the truck. The leader of Luke's men joined me. His face was white, his hands were shaking, and it took him several moments before he was able to speak. He told me where we had to go and then I told him to call Luke and tell him we were on our way. We turned off the highway several miles further up the road and started down a dirt forest service road.

The forest service road led us toward a tall mountain to the west. I looked back at Carlos every few breaths. Christine knelt down beside him, holding his arm with one hand and checking his bandages with the other. Carlos still had the blood-smeared picture of his daughters in his hand. His eyes were closed and his breathing looked hard and painful.

After half an hour the road started snaking up the mountain. The road became steep but the armored vehicles were powerful and handled it well. We climbed higher and higher, and every couple of minutes, after looking back at Carlos, I checked myself in the mirror but did not see any changes. When was I going to change? Would it be painful? What would I see, hear? Would I turn on everyone? What would my boss think – what would Luke do with me now? A thousand questions bounced around in my head and I was so lost in them didn't even notice what was around me until the leader of Luke's men slapped my arm and pointed.

We were nearly at the top of the mountain and up ahead, tucked in beside a massive rock cliff, was a large concrete structure. It looked like a fortress with tall walls, narrow windows, and guard towers. It had been built into the cliff face, hidden on three sides. A massive rolling door opened as we approached. We drove into a huge garage that already had five other vehicles parked inside.

The door closed quickly behind us and everyone piled out of the vehicles. I heard and felt powerful fans. Something irritated my throat and it caused me to cough. I looked around and saw the fans on the opposite wall. My throat started to burn and I realized what Luke had planned.

He was going to knock everyone out with gas. There would be no fighting, no altercations, just blackness. The burning in my throat became more intense and everyone around me started to cough. Some of the men started to panic but the more agitated they became, the quicker the gas affected them. Before long they slumped to the ground. More men fell to the ground. I felt sleepy, then unbearably weak, so weak I had to sit and then lay on the ground. I stared up at the bright lights on the ceiling and it was not long before I blacked out.

# Chapter 27

I awoke in a small concrete room. It was no bigger than a bedroom, the only fixtures being the metal chair I was sitting in and a fluorescent light on the ceiling. There were no windows, just a heavy metal screen door across from me. I saw one of Luke's men sitting in a chair on the other side of the screen door.

I tried to stand but realized I was handcuffed and my legs were chained. I was also strapped to the chair by thick leather bands that ran over my wrists and ankles. I still wore my fatigues but all my pockets had been turned inside out and my gear and weapons were gone.

My skin didn't look any different. I didn't feel any different and felt somewhat relieved – maybe I wasn't going to turn into a monster. My thoughts then went to the men; they were probably sitting in a similar chair. They were probably terrified and confused, so much more than I was.

Luke's man saw me moving around and he was on his radio quickly. A few minutes later Luke himself stood at the screen door. He wore a dark-colored suit, freshly pressed. It looked like he was wearing more makeup since the last time I had seen him, and he had several more rings on his fingers.

He unlocked the door and stepped inside with two of his men. He looked me up and down and a small smile formed on his face. He raised his hands and clapped softly several times.

"Paul, you have done well. Very well."

"I do what I can. Where is everyone else?

"They are just down the hall."

"Are they okay? There was a man badly wounded, is he getting treatment?" I asked referring to Carlos.

Luke pursed his lips. "He is alive for now."

"He needs to get to a hospital."

"He'll be fine," Luke said sharply.

I shook my arms in the restraints. "Can we get these things off?" I asked.

"Just give me a minute."

"I've done what you've asked. Everyone is in custody."

Luke's smile disappeared. "Yes, you did what I asked and you have made me a happy man, but Paul I haven't been totally honest with you."

I felt a tingling sensation in my face. "What do you mean you haven't been totally honest with me?"

Luke's smiled returned. "Paul, my agency works hand in hand with the Legion. We use them to eliminate the Alvar."

I understood what he said, but like the pain from a smashed finger, it took a little while to settle in. "You've been working with the Legion this whole time?!"

"Yes," Luke said softly.

I let him have more curses before asking. "Why is your agency killing the Alvar?"

"The Agency isn't doing the killing – that would require too much red tape. The Legion does the dirty work for us."

"Why didn't you tell me this before? And why are you killing the Alvar?"

Luke clasped his hand together. "The Agency's official stance is they are terrorists, but the truth is the Alvar want to take the reigns of power and there are a lot of people who don't want to give them up, soooo.... we get rid of them. "

"So you've just been using me to get to the Alvar? Why didn't you just tell me that when we started? Why did all these people have to die?"

"Because I don't want to kill the Alvar. I want them for myself."

"What? Why?" I asked.

Luke smiled. "You see Paul, there are those who feel threatened by the Alvar, those who wish to bring the Alvar to power, and there are those who just want to make some money. I'm one of those people that just want to make some money."

"What are you talking about? You work for the Legion, the Agency that kills the Alvar."

Luke shrugged. "I'm a practical guy, I look out for number one. I don't get caught up in power struggles and moral dilemmas. Yes, I work for the Agency, but I use that position and the information I have to get my hands on an Alvar every once in a while. Not all the time; most of the time I let the Legion do their thing. I built this little facility and keep these men on my payroll to look after the Alvars I catch."

"You're the one that took the Council, before the Legion got to them."

Luke's smile got bigger. "Yes. The Agency found out where the Council was and had plans to destroy them. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get my hands on that many Alvars so I had my men swoop in right before the Legion was scheduled to raid the place. The Legion thought the Council got wind of the raid and moved. They had no idea I snatched them right from under their noses. It worked out wonderfully."

"What do you do with them?"

"I sell them for a handsome profit. There are a lot of people who pay a lot of money for them."

I spat. "You bastard. You lied to me. You used me!" I hissed.

Luke rubbed his hands together. "Yes, I did and I could not have asked for more. You hit the jackpot Paul."

"What are you talking about?" I hissed.

"Come now. I'm proud of you and excited to show you my facility."

"Where are the women?" I asked.

"Don't worry about them, I'll be taking care of them from now on."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means they are no longer your concern."

"What is going to happen to my men? That wounded man needs to get to a hospital."

Luke held up a finger. "Well, that depends on you Paul."

"How so?"

"You have proven to be one hell of a leader. My men told me you fought off an Alpha and escaped the clutches of a bunch more. I need a man like you around."

I didn't respond.

"The Legion is going to get smart to my operation sooner or later and I need a way to combat those Alphas. I think you're just the man for the job."

"What if I don't want to work for you?"

Luke chuckled. "Then I kill your men."

I nearly passed out. "Those men did nothing wrong! They were defending themselves. If it wasn't for them, the Alvar would be dead and you would be left with nothing. Let them go. You can't kill them!"

"Then come work for me. Lead and train my men," Luke said with arms extended.

"You can't just murder people! You're a cop, a federal agent!"

"Technically I am, but I'm not acting in any official capacity right now."

I let out a torrent of curses. "You'll pay for this, either the Agency or my people will find out about this. My boss will come looking for me. He's not just going to go away. How are you going to explain all these deaths? You can't just sweep all of this under a rug."

Luke pursed his lips again. "Paul, you have no idea the powers that are behind all of this. Your boss will learn to forget about you very quickly, trust me."

I clenched my jaw and looked down at the ground. "How do you live with yourself? You're supposed to protect people, to serve this country, not make yourself rich off the blood of others."

"Don't give me the guilt trip, it won't work. I do what I have to do. Like I said, I look out for number one," he said with a smirk.

I stared down at the ground for quite some time. "Luke, I'll do anything as long as you keep those men alive."

Luke clapped his hands together. "Wonderful! Sounds like we have a deal."

Now what about the two woman?" I asked.

"They belong to me."

"Why do you need both women? One of them isn't even an Alvar."

"You mean Christine? Oh, she is so much more than that," Luke said.

"What does that mean?" I asked, wondering how he knew her name.

Luke just chuckled.

"Before I do anything, let me see my men and the two women. I want to make sure they are okay."

Luke moved his head back and forth as if physically rolling this request back and forth in his head. "I'll allow that." Luke straightened up and snapped his fingers, and his men started to unstrap me but kept my handcuffs and leg chains on.

As they pulled me up to a standing position I spoke. "Luke, you said Christine is more than a Alvar. What did you mean by that?"

Luke smiled big. "Oh Christine... Come to find out Christine is the Prophet."

# Chapter 28

Luke's men dragged me out into the hallway and past several more rooms with the same metal screen doors. As we passed the last two rooms, I saw my men.

Several of the men were lying on the ground sleeping or sitting up against the walls with looks of utter despair on their faces. Walter and two others crouched by Carlos, who was lying motionless on the ground.

"Is Carlos still alive?" I shouted at them.

Walter rose and came to the screen door. "He needs to get to a hospital."

I looked at Luke. "Get that man to a hospital."

"We have a doctor of sorts. I'll send him down."

"A hospital, he needs a hospital."

Luke reached out and gripped my throat, squeezing it. "I said I'll send the doctor down."

Walter banged on the screen door and Luke let me go.

"You think he's with you?" Luke said to Walter.

"Luke, no," I pleaded.

Luke smiled down at me and one of his men handed him a manila folder.

"If you're going to work for me, these men can't owe you any loyalty."

Luke opened up the manila folder. I saw several photographs of myself, and as Luke flipped through the documents I knew there would be no mistaking that I was an undercover cop.

Luke slipped the folder through a crack in the frame and let it drop into the cell. The papers and pictures spilled out.

"Do you know who this man is?" Luke shouted.

No one answered.

"He's a traitor, a rat. He's a cop that we had infiltrate your organization and he is the one who brought you here. He's the reason you are all behind bars and the reason you will remain there."

No one said anything. They just stared blankly at Luke, as if they didn't believe him.

"See for yourselves. He's a cop, an undercover cop who has been plotting your demise," Luke said as he pointed to the papers and photos on the floor.

No one moved. Luke nodded his head, and his men dragged me away. Luke slapped me across the side of the face. "Sorry I had to do that. I needed to remind you that your loyalty is with me now, not them."

They took me down several flights of stairs to another hallway with metal screen doors and concrete rooms. Luke's men plopped me down in front of the first door.

I saw Christine strapped to a chair in the center of the room. Large leather straps ran over her arms, legs, and chest. Needles were stuck in her wrists, feeding tubes that ran down to small metal cylinders. Her head was down, her chin resting on her chest.

"Luke, what the hell are you doing with her?"

Luke chuckled. "Christine's blood is the pure stuff, the only stuff that has the real power. Only her blood can create an Alvar or an Alpha."

"You can't do this to her."

Luke just shook his head.

I yelled Christine's name but she didn't respond. I looked up at Luke. "Why are you doing this? You have plenty of other Alvars. Can't you just use their blood?"

Luke placed his hand on my shoulder. "Like I said, Christine's blood is the only pure stuff. You can't create an Alvar or an Alpha without her blood. The other Alvars' blood is really useless, very interesting, but useless. That's why I don't mind selling an Alvar off to whoever, because their blood and abilities are fascinating but you can't replicate anything with it or them. Christine on the other hand is the golden goose, the Prophet."

"You won't sell her blood?"

Luke shook his head. "No. Her blood goes to my boss, no one else."

"Whose your boss?"

Luke smiled. "Don't worry about him."

"What does he do with the blood?"

"He has his own plans."

Luke opened the door to Christine's cell and turned a knob on the tubes running from her arms. He then disconnected them from the metal cylinders that had been filling with her blood. He handed the cylinders to one of his men and said, "Load them up on the drone and send them to the boss."

Luke stepped out of the cell, closed the door, and then patted me on the head. "I'll leave you two alone for a bit."

Luke and his men left the room. I said Christine's name several times before she slowly lifted her head up.

My stomach nearly jumped through my throat when our eyes met. They were not the light blue I remembered; they were a light, rich purple. She smiled weakly.

"Your eyes?" I asked.

"I wore contacts to hide them."

"Why?"

Christine pulled against her restraints and took a deep breath as if she was suddenly infused with strength. "Because it was safer for no one to know who, or what I was," she said. I stared at her and her smile melted away.

"How did they know?" I asked.

"Luke's boss was one of my father's colleagues, the man who wanted power and profit from my blood."

"Your father? You mean your father is Dr. Thomas?"

Christine nodded her head.

"So you were the first? Why didn't you tell us?" I asked.

"Would it have mattered? Would it have changed anything?"

"Yes," I said sharply. "We could have taken you somewhere safe. We could have protected you." I paused for a second and a horrible realization came over me. "You could have been killed. With us you were putting yourself in danger every day. With how many bullets were shot at us, how many men died? You could have easily been among them."

Christine tightened her jaw. "I could have not been in a safer place. I could not have felt more protected than with the Eine. Had I been anywhere else, the Legion would have found me, they would have killed me, just like everyone else. That is why I stayed with the men, with you because you were the only ones who could protect me, you were the only ones who were going to survive."

I shook my handcuffs and pointed to her restraints. "We didn't protect, look where we are now."

Christine stared at me for quite some time and a hint of a smile returned to her face. "This is not the end," she said softly.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were meant to come here. There is a reason you are in this place."

"Then tell me why I'm here," I asked softly.

"You will see soon enough."

I became so overwhelmed with thoughts, with questions, with fear and anger that I became speechless. I shrugged my shoulders but I couldn't form words to speak.

Christine spoke softly. "Paul, sometimes when I look at someone and concentrate, I see parts of that person's future. I see a little bit of what they will become, what they will accomplish, what drives them, their motives, their fears, their thoughts, their dreams and so much more. Much of the time I curse this gift because most people amount to nothing and are driven by fear, greed, or lust. Most of the time it makes me sick."

Christine looked down at the ground briefly and then back up at me. "But there are a few, very few who are different, who will accomplish greatness and are driven by other things, more noble and honorable things. These people amaze me. You probably wondered why I was always staring at you. The answer is I look at you the way I do because I am amazed every time I do. You are like no other person I have met. I see what you will become, what drives you, and I am mesmerized, humbled, proud, and excited all at once. Paul, you will go on to do great things, things that will become legend. This is not the end, it is the beginning. Paul, you were meant to be in this place. This is exactly where you are supposed to be and this is where your story begins."

"So you must know who I really am?" I asked slowly, not wanting to know the answer.

"You are an undercover cop, sent to infiltrate the squad and bring them to justice."

My heart sank even further. "You knew?"

"Yes, I knew even before I talked to you at the graveyard and gave you your coin," Christine said softly. "But you were meant to come to us, to bring us to this place."

"Why did so many men have to die?" I asked.

Christine took a deep breath. "I don't know. I don't see everything, only bits and pieces of the future."

My eyes wandered down to my hands. "And I'm guessing you must know what has happened to me, what Otto did to me?"

Christine's jaw clenched several times. "My blood flows in your veins."

I clenched my fists together. "So what does my future hold? Will I turn into a monster like Otto?"

"You will turn into an Alpha. It is your destiny."

We both stared at the floor for some time, and then I spoke.

"What is going to happen to us, to the men?" I asked, again not wanting to know the answer.

"Paul, this is one of many reasons I don't reveal myself as the Prophet. Why I don't tell people I can see the future. Not only is it dangerous for me and those around me but often the future is filled with things people don't want to hear, things that hurt."

Christine's eyes started to water. "Paul, I was just a young woman when I changed. I was so full of dreams; I wanted to do so many things. I wanted to have a family one day, a husband. But do you know the first vision I had? I saw my own future first, what I would become, and what I would not."

"Christine... if you can't tell me what's going to happen, tell me what I need to do."

"Keep fighting, keep moving. The Alvar need you."

"I'm going to turn into a monster – the Alvar don't need me."

"They do, now more than ever."

I shook my head. "Captain Otto claimed he knew all the prophecies. He said there would be the Alvar, the Eine, and the Fen, just as you said. He then claimed there would be a great war, Rok followed by subjugation by the Alvar. Is he right?"

Christine nodded her head. "He is right about the Alvar, Eine, Fen, and I am sorry to say he is right about Rok. There will be a great war, a war like none other, a war that will nearly destroy us all. But I will not reveal the final prophecy to you."

I raised my eyebrows and Christine knew what I wanted.

"It is not yet time to reveal the final prophecy."

"Why not? Is it because what Otto fears is true? Will the Alvar put everyone in chains?" I asked.

"The Alvar will carry the knowledge of this world and provide leadership through the Chaos and the Great War," she said softly.

"And what happens after the Chaos and the Great War?"

"No one will end up in chains, I assure you."

"How did he know the prophecies?" I asked.

Christine closed her eyes and shook her head. "He was my father's second colleague. He too was there when the prophecies came to me. I revealed the prophecies to him; unfortunately he chose to interpret the final one in his own way."

Before I could respond, Luke appeared with his men.

"Well, I think you've had enough time with the Prophet. Come now Paul, we have to talk about how you are going to win me a war."

# Chapter 29

Luke's men picked me up and dragged me back to my cell. They threw me into a corner, where I slid down to the ground in a heap.

Luke chuckled. "Now Paul, how are we going to take down these Alphas?"

I hung my head and didn't say anything.

"I can wait all day. Your move, Paul," he said.

After a while I felt a tingling sensation in my chest and my eyes watered. All the frustration, anger, and fear disappeared. I felt a calmness come over me, similar to when alcohol first takes affect. I became overwhelmed by sensations of all kinds. I could smell each man in the room; I could differentiate between each one by the different deodorants they wore as well as the odors their bodies emitted. I could hear everything, each breath of air, the slight creaks as they shifted their bodies ever so slightly in their shoes. I could hear one of their watches ticking. I could make out tiny details in the concrete floor. I could see every single hairline crack that was invisible to me before.

I knew what was happening. Christine's blood was taking affect, and I was changing. With my head still down I said softly, "I'm going to kill you Luke." I slowly lifted my head, and as my eyes met Luke's, his jaw locked tight and he hissed, "Kill him!"

Before Luke's men could raise their weapons, I bolted up, breaking my restraints. I struck one man in the chest with an open palm, crushing his sternum. At nearly the same time, I drove my elbow up into the second man's jaw, sending teeth flying everywhere. I dropped the third man with a fist to the side of the head.

Luke backpedaled until he hit the opposite wall. I started towards him and when he raised his fists, I chuckled. I wanted to rip him limb from limb, make him feel pain and beg for mercy. I was an Alpha now, a cold-blooded killer, a monster.

I tried to punch him square in the face but surprisingly Luke ducked away. I tried again but missed and Luke struck me in the ribs. The blow was powerful, much stronger than I expected. I reached out and grabbed him, pulled him close, and started delivering blows. He was able to fend off most of them but a few found their mark.

Luke fought back, striking me several times and surprising me with his strength. "How did you become one?" he shouted. "Who did this to you?"

I connected with a punch to his right eye, but before I could follow it up, I stopped. I saw my blow had removed some of the makeup from around his eye and I realized why he wore it. The skin around the eye was gray, just like Otto's. Luke chuckled and pulled himself from my grip.

"Are you...?" I stammered.

Luke laughed and wiped some more makeup away from his eye, exposing the jagged streaks that ran across his face. He then reached up and removed a pair of contacts, revealing a set of entirely black eyes. "I'm no Alpha or Alvar. I don't have the genetic makeup for either. I'm my bosses own special creation, a little spin on Christine's blood."

"You've been playing God." I said.

"I guess you could say that. Now how did you become one of them?" Luke hissed.

"It wasn't by choice. One of them overpowered me."

"When were you going to tell me?" Luke asked.

"I wasn't going too. I was planning on it helping me kill you."

# Chapter 30

Fury built inside me. I strode forward and rained down blows onto Luke. He fought back, again showing strength I didn't think possible until a few moments ago, but my bombardment finally broke through his defenses and he crumpled to the ground. I stood over him.

"What did you do to yourself?" I hissed.

Luke lowered his hands as he realized I was done punching – for the moment. "Like I said, I'm not as lucky as you. I don't have the genetic makeup of an Alpha or an Alvar. My boss had to modify Christine's blood for it to react with me. My abilities will be no where near yours, but they're far beyond anything a normal human can wish for," Luke said.

"When did you get your hands on Christine's blood?"

"My boss was one of her father's colleagues. He was able to steal away with a vial in the beginning. From that small vial he was able to modify it, and I was the lucky recipient of his first experiment."

"I'm still going to kill you," I said, grabbing hold of him again.

Luke's voice quivered as he spoke. "My boss is the real enemy. Kill me and you'll never find him until it's too late."

I raised my fist but didn't strike. "What are you talking about?"

"He'll create more just like me, but they will be stronger. Those bottles of Christine's blood I just sent him will provide more than enough to build an army. He was only able to create a few of us with the vial he originally stole. But with this new batch, he'll be able to build his army."

"He's building an army?"

"One born from Christine's blood and stronger, faster, and smarter than anything around. Not as good as an Alpha, but still immensely smart, strong, and obedient. He'll be able to make hundreds, if not thousands of powerful soldiers."

"Where are they?"

"Keep me alive and I'll lead you to them."

"I think you're lying."

"Is it worth risking? The drone with Christine's blood is on its way to him and with that much blood, he'll be able to create an unstoppable force."

I wrapped both hands around Luke's neck and squeezed. He coughed and wheezed. "You're just trying to save your own skin."

"I can show you his facility so you can destroy it before he becomes a threat."

I loosened my grip just a little.

"Just call the drone back."

"I can't, he has control over it now."

I tightened my grip.

Luke pleaded. "Trust me Paul. He dreams of world conquest and soon he will become even more powerful than the Legion."

"You have lied to me before. Why should I believe you?" I hissed.

"You can't afford not to believe me. Let me live, and I'll lead you to him."

I stared down into Luke's completely black eyes and for some reason I thought he was telling the truth, although I couldn't say why. Maybe it was another gift of the Alvar blood.

"Where is the Council?" I asked.

"Second floor basement... So you're going to let me live?" Luke asked.

"For now. How many men do you have here?"

"Fifteen, minus these three," Luke said, motioning to the men sprawled out on the floor. Two were not moving, while the third with a broken sternum groaned and clutched his chest.

"Where are the rest?" I asked.

"There should be five guarding the Alvars. The rest will probably be in their sleeping quarters. Give me one of those radios and I'll tell them to stand down so we can escape."

I let Luke go and went to grab a radio off one of the unconscious men. I heard Luke shuffle and start to get up. When I turned around Luke had a small pistol pointed at me. His right pant leg was pulled up, exposing an ankle holster that had concealed the gun.

Luke grinned. "As amazing as an Alpha is, without his amour a bullet will still kill him."

I instantly dropped to the ground, scooping up a pistol from the same man I had taken the radio from. A bullet from Luke's gun smacked into the wall behind me. I raised the pistol and fired before Luke got off another round. My bullet struck him square in the chest, toppling him over backward.

I scrambled to my feet and was standing over Luke's body just moments after it hit the ground. His pistol lay several feet away from him and both his hands clawed at the wound in his chest. I put my foot onto his chest, pinning him to the ground.

"Is it true what you told me?"

Luke couldn't speak, life was leaking out of him, but he nodded.

"Where is he?"

Luke tried to speak but it only produced blood-filled coughs.

"Is he in the United States?"

Luke shook his head.

"Europe?"

He shook his head again.

"Asia?"

He shook his head yet again just before his body went limp.

# Chapter 31

I walked down to the cell that held the squad. Several men were looking at the papers that Luke had tossed inside.

Walter was the first to notice me and his eyes went wide but he said nothing. I kicked at the metal screen until it broken open. I stepped inside.

"Are you?" Walter stammered.

"Not by choice."

Everyone's eyes became glued to my face. "Otto overpowered me when I went down to talk to him that last time. He injected me with Alvar blood and it appears I have the genetic makeup of an Alpha."

"Is it true you're an undercover cop?" Walter asked.

"Yes, I was an undercover cop. My intent the entire time I was with you was to betray you, to hand you over to the law, but I'm not here to defend my actions or ask for forgiveness. I'm here to help you escape, along with the Council."

"The Council?" Walter asked.

"These people are the ones who captured the Council and they are being held in the second floor basement. Let me help you get them out of here."

Walter stammered, "We trusted you."

"I know," I said, "And you can kill me after we get out of here but let me help you escape."

Walter took a deep breath and shook his head.

"I don't know what my reaction will be to the Alvar, so keep them away from me," I said.

"Get us out of here and then we can decide what to do with you," Walter said.

I went to Carlos. He was conscious and his eyes widened as he saw my face. I didn't know what to say or do. I was just glad he was still alive.

I handed out the pistols I had taken from Luke's men. We went to the sleeping quarters first and surprised Luke's men, killing them all easily. We found all our weapons and gear and the squad armed themselves.

We made our way to the first floor basement and found numerous medical and chemical labs but none of Luke's men. Walter found the stairs leading down to the second floor basement. I stood in front of it, rifle raised, as he flung the door open.

I saw five of Luke's men at the bottom of the dark stairwell. They had thrown up a barricade and they greeted me with a hail of gunfire. I dropped down to my knees and fired back. Walter fired over me.

Luke's men did not last long.

I grabbed Walter. "Go down there and set the Council free. I'll take Carlos up to the garage and wait for you there."

He nodded and went down the stairs with the rest of the squad. I quickly returned to Carlos. I picked him up and carefully carried him to the ground level and into the garage.

The armored vehicles we had come in were still parked inside. I opened the rear of the first one and then set Carlos inside. He was turning pale and his breathing was getting shallow. I gripped his hand. He brought his other one, which was still grasping the picture of his daughters, on top of mine.

"How?" Carlos squeaked out.

"Otto overpowered me on the hill," I said.

"You're... You're a cop?" he said with great effort.

Emotion welled up inside me, but before I was able to speak, Walter burst in, followed by the rest of the squad and numerous Alvar. I looked down at Carlos, nodded my head, and then stepped away from him.

I looked at Walter. "Get the men ready to fight. There are enemy outside," I said.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"I can sense them. Have the men fix bayonets."

Walter cursed. "Alphas?"

I nodded my head.

"Alphas."

# Chapter 32

As the door rolled open, I saw Otto and the other Alphas standing in the roadway. Their swords were sheathed and they held no other weapons. I stepped outside and the squad formed a line across the road behind me, bayonets fixed.

We stared at each other for a few moments before I walked towards Otto.

A smile spread across his face and he pointed to my eye. "I see you have completed your transformation. I will forgive you for what you did to us on the hill; you weren't an Alpha yet."

Otto held his hand out and another Alpha gave him a sword. Otto pushed the sword to me. "You are an Alpha now and I order you to kill your first Alvar."

I took the sword and turned. The Alvar stood clustered next to the armored vehicles. They looked unafraid, yet totally harmless. I expected to see something evil, something sinister or feel the urge to kill one. I saw nothing, felt nothing.

Denise walked to the front of the Alvar and then walked out to where the squad was. She gently pushed her way through them and stopped.

I walked towards them with the sword in my hand. Walter stepped out in front of Denise but she held her hand up and he backed away. I stopped a few paces from her.

She looked so young, so frail, but she did not look afraid.

"I won't hurt you," I said.

"I know," Denise replied softly.

I took a deep breath. "You showed no fear in the face of death and uncertainty. You demonstrated strength I never thought possible. You stood up for what you believed. You had compassion for an enemy simply because he was a human being. You are brave, you are strong, and I don't doubt you are a very smart woman. You'll make a good leader one day and if your fellow Alvar are anything like you, this world is in good hands."

"Do you believe in me? In the Alvar?"

I nodded my head. "I think so."

"I won't let you down," she said softly.

Otto's voice boomed behind me. "I order you to kill her!"

I kept my eyes on Denise. "Look after these men," I said, motioning to the squad behind her. "They will sweat, bleed, and die for you and will ask for nothing in return."

"I will," she said with force.

I turned towards Otto and he yelled again. "Paul Trent, as your commander I order you to kill her."

I spun the sword in my hand and said forcefully, "No."

Otto took several deep breaths and then unsheathed his sword. "Are you disobeying me?"

"You are not my commander."

"I command all Alphas. Now kill her," Otto thundered.

"The only person I'm killing is you," I said, raising the sword toward him.

"Are you challenging me?" Otto bellowed.

"Yes, yes I am."

Otto strode towards me while the other Alphas stayed put.

"What is the matter with you? You're one of us now; you're a brother. These Alvar are weak, cruel, misguided, and power hungry. They need to be destroyed before they put our people in chains," Otto said, screaming.

I raised my sword and a fury darkened Otto's face. He slowly brought his sword up and we charged each other. We both swung high and our blades connected with a dull clang. I tried a short jab towards his chest, but he deflected it away. He came at me with a huge sweeping overhead swing that I barely sidestepped.

We both backed away a few strides and then charged each other. Our swords missed their marks and our bodies collided – both of us were knocked back a few steps. Otto found his footing and came at me with a roar. I parried several of his blows; he in turn parried several of mine. We fought back and forth over the road, exchanging blows both with the swords and fists.

After a few minutes Otto backed away a few steps.

"They are just using you. You and your men do all the fighting and dying while they sit back and bide their time," Otto bellowed.

I didn't say anything in response.

"They will put our people into chains but that's not the worst part. Soldiers like you and I won't be welcome in their new world. Anyone with a warrior's genes will be eliminated, forever banished from life."

"Better dead than in chains I guess," I said, not believing what he said.

"Why don't you ask the Prophet what will happen to men like you and me, men like those who have been fighting next to you. She'll tell you, just like she told me; there is no place for us, we are no longer welcome. The world doesn't need us anymore."

"The world doesn't need men like you in it," I hissed.

"The world will always need men like you and me."

Otto charged again and we exchanged blows several more times before he backed away again.

"Warriors should lead the world into the next age, not a bunch of timid, bleeding hearts," he said pointing at the Alvar.

"Is that what this is about? Are the Alvar a threat to your power?"

"They are a threat to my people, our people."

I charged. He tried to back away but I kept pressing, kept striking. He backed away further, and I took my sword over my head and brought it down towards his neck. He was able to duck away and brought his sword up for a strike. I brought my sword up and deflected his blow but the impact caused me to drop my sword. I didn't try to recover it. I went straight for his legs and tackled him to the ground. I worked my way on top of him and started raining down blows with my fists. He tried to bring his sword up to stab me but I locked it up under my arm, continuing to strike with my other hand.

Otto ripped his arm free and flung me off him. We both found our feet and locked up again. I spun away from his sword thrust and quickly moved over to grab my sword. We started exchanging blows again with the swords, working back and forth across the road.

Otto backed away and I let him take a few steps before charging again. I caught him in between steps and although he parried my sword, I knocked him to the ground. He fell onto his back and I was on top of him quickly. I locked up his sword arm with my left hand and neutralized his other by pinning it below my knee.

I raised my sword and tried to drive it into his chest, but he pulled his arm from under my knee and deflected the blow. I pulled it back for another drive but Otto reached up with his now free hand and arrested its movement. We struggled for quite some time, neither of us able to overpower the other.

I let his sword arm go so I could put both hands on my sword. I drove the blade down but Otto deflected the blow away from him. He let go of his sword and latched onto mine with both hands. I headbutted him several times and struck him with my knees, but we were at a stalemate, neither of us able to outmuscle the other.

I let go of the sword with one of my hands and then reached down and drew my bayonet. Otto still had both of his hands on my sword as I brought the bayonet up and drove it down into his chest. He let out a roar and let go of the sword. I tore the bayonet out and drove it down into his chest again, then again.

On my next thrust he was able to latch onto my wrist and stop the blade. I put both hands on the bayonet and leaned over it to add my weight. Otto struggled to push it away but slowly and steadily I drove it down until it touched his armor. Blood started to seep from the sides of his mouth.

"This is for David," I hissed, and then drove the blade through his armor and into his chest. I pushed the bayonet all the way down to its handle and kept my weight on it. Otto's eyes rolled back into his head and his body slowly went limp.

I pulled the bayonet free but remained on top of Otto. I unclicked his helmet and then stood.

"Who else wants to fight?" I asked, raising Otto's helmet above my head. I pointed my bayonet at each of the Alphas. "Do any of you want to die?" They didn't respond or move. "Then drop your weapons!"

To my utter amazement, the Alphas drew their swords and placed them onto the ground in front of them. Then they took several steps back.

I turned back to look at Denise and the squad. They had not moved and they stared at me with wide eyes and many open mouths.

I tossed Otto's helmet towards them. It landed at Denise's feet. She slowly bent down and picked it up.

I yelled to Walter, "Get those vehicles in the garage ready to go. It's time to go." He looked dumbfounded at the Alphas and slowly nodded his head, and then calmly gave commands to the squad.

I pointed my bayonet at the Alphas. "Get off the road, go wait over there and take Otto with you," I said, pointing off into the woods. The Alphas did as they were told, dragging Otto's body with them.

I stood just off the road, keeping an eye on the Alphas as the squad pulled all the vehicles from the garage onto the road. As the Alvar loaded up, Walter came and stood beside me. "Carlos wants to talk to you," he said coldly.

"What could I possibly have to say to him, to any of you?"

Walter reached up and gripped my shoulder. I nodded and followed Walter to one of the armored trucks where Carlos lay.

He looked pale and his voice was weak.

"I forgive you," Carlos said softly.

"What I did cannot be forgiven," I said.

Walter placed a hand on my shoulder. "We realize now that if you had not been an undercover cop, if you had never brought us here, the Council would still be down in that basement. We never would have found them and God only knows what would have happened to them. It was meant to be."

"I betrayed all of you. Now go. Carlos needs to get to a hospital." I looked at Walter. "You're in charge now. Get him to a hospital and then go to the safe house in Page. I'll take care of these Alphas."

Walter gripped my arm. "You are not leaving us. You are still our squad leader. If it had not been for you, we all would have been dead a long time ago. If you didn't bring us here, the Council would be lost."

"I am a mole, a rat, and you shouldn't trust me, especially now that I'm a monster," I said, running my hand over my face.

"We trust you," Carlos said with as much force as he could muster.

I shook my head. "I'm not fit to lead anymore, I never have been. I continually fail as a leader. Too many men have died under my watch."

Walter grabbed me with both hands. "Just because men die does not mean you failed them. You lead men into difficult and dynamic situations and bring out as many as you can. You can't control who lives and who dies; you can only do your best. You did what you thought was right," Walter said. "We still need you, now more than ever."

"Even if I could, it would be impossible now. I'm an Alpha, a sworn enemy of the Alvar. Who knows how long it will be before I begin to thirst for their blood."

The squad gathered around me. Carlos reached up and took my hand. "You are still our leader. "

The men around me voiced their approval. "How can you still trust me?" I asked.

"Because you led us through so much already, and even though you knew you had to betray us, you kept us alive. You did everything you could for us, even when you didn't have to," Walter said.

I shook my head, not believing what they were saying. "I'm not going to put you or the Alvar in danger. Now go, get Carlos to a hospital."

"Carlos is not going to survive long enough to make it to a hospital," Christine said sharply.

We all turned to look at her. Walter saw her purple eyes, eyes he had never seen before. He and several of the men exchanged glances.

I was surprised Christine would say such a thing within earshot of Carlos. Christine reached into a pocket and pulled out a syringe, which she stuck into her arm and drew out a vile of her blood.

"What is that for?" I asked.

"Carlos needs this to live."

"Is he an Alvar? Are you an Alvar?" Walter asked.

"I am an Alvar," Christine said, "but Carlos is not."

"You're not going to turn him into a monster," I said, realizing what she meant.

"He will die without it," Christine said.

"You're not going to turn him into an Alpha," I said.

Christine nodded her head. "He will die without it."

"Why would you turn him into an Alpha?," Walter asked softly but firmly.

"It is your destiny," Christine said, as she looked around at the men. "Why do you think I chose all of you to fight for the Alvar? How do you think I was able to pick men who fight so bravely, who bleed and die without questions or complaint? It is because all of you have the genetic makeup of warriors, of Alphas. I can sense it, that is why I chose you for this fight."

"What?!" Walter hissed.

Christine reached up and touched Walter's arm. "I chose all of you because you have the genetic makeup of true warriors. Your destiny is to become Alphas."

"The Alphas are your enemy. They hunt you, they are trying to kill you and every other Alvar," I said.

Christine looked at Carlos and held up the syringe. "It will save your life and fulfill your destiny. Can you trust me?"

"Have you foreseen this?" I asked.

"Yes," she said coldly.

"Then why didn't you tell us before?" I asked.

"Because none of you would have accepted it. No one would have believed me until you became one," Christine said pointing at me. "You would not have allowed it to happen until now."

"How do you know this?" Walter asked.

"Because she is the Prophet," I said before she could answer.

Christine cast her eyes down. Walter nearly dropped his rifle.

"She's what?" he stammered.

"I am the Prophet," Christine said, bringing her eyes back up. "I am the Prophet. I hide amongst you for my own safety."

Walter just shook his head.

"Tell these men the prophecies," I said. "They deserve to know."

Christine stared at me for a few moments and then spoke. "Alvar, the enlightened will arise from amongst the people. Eine, guardians of courage and loyalty, will stand to defend the Alvar. Fen, a chaos of epic proportions, will consume the world. Rok, a great and destructive war, will destroy mankind."

"And the final prophecy?" I said when she didn't continue.

"Gim," she said loudly. "Gim, the rebirth and dawning of the golden age."

No one spoke for quite some time until Carlos coughed painfully. Christine placed a hand on his shoulder and raised the syringe. Carlos reached down his shirt to grasp his crucifix and then nodded his head. Christine lifted the needle but Walter reached out a hand to stop her. "How can this be? We can't be Alphas. They are the enemy. We are supposed to be the Eine, the guardians of the Alvar."

Christine lowered her arm. "Don't you see, the Alphas have been misguided by Otto, a man who refused to accept his calling. They are not what they seem... The Alphas are the Eine, they are the ones who will rise to defend the Alvar."

Walter's face went white.

"The Alphas are the Eine?" I said with surprise.

Christine looked at me. "All of you are Eine, all of you are Alphas, they are one in the same."

Walter stepped back and turned away. Christine looked at Carlos and he nodded again. She jabbed the needle into his chest and injected the purple liquid. Carlos's body tensed up in response.

I pointed to the Alphas standing around Otto's body. "And what about them? Are they Eine?"

Christine nodded her head and then took Otto's helmet from Denise's hands. "Yes, they are Eine. What they are lacking," Christine held Otto's helmet out to me, "is their rightful leader."

# Chapter 33

The aspen trees that surrounded me were bare and the blanket of leaves had changed to a dull brown that crunched under my footsteps. I stood in front of a gravestone, Otto's crested helmet in my hands. I held it out in front of me in both hands, staring blankly at it.

I heard footsteps behind me but I didn't have to turn to know who it was. I could sense her, just like I could sense any like her.

"Did everyone make it?" I asked, turning to look at Christine.

She wore jeans and a tight-fitting brown jacket, and her hair fell loosely around her shoulders. Her purple eyes sat in stark contrast to the dull colors all around her.

"The squad and the Council are secure at the safe house."

"Shouldn't you be with them?" I asked, turning back.

"I should be with you, with the true Eine."

"Can you trust us?"

Christine came to stand beside me. "The Alphas are the Eine, they must protect the Alvar."

I took a deep breath. "How is Walter doing?"

"He's struggling, but in time he will accept what he must become... How is Carlos?"

I looked back at the road where a large van was parked. I could see Carlos sitting in the front seat and the rest of the Alphas piled in the seats behind him. "He's struggling with what he has become, but he has faith."

"And what about you Paul? How are you doing?"

I looked at Christine, mesmerized by her purple eyes.

"Why me? Why must I be the one to lead this fight?"

"Because you are driven by something noble. The power you have consumes lesser men, men like Otto," she said, placing her hand on my elbow.

"I'm going to lose a lot more men aren't I?" I asked, motioning towards the gravestone in front of me.

Christine took a deep breath. "Yes, you will lose many men."

"What do I have to do?" I asked.

"Come rejoin the squad, take your place at the head of the Eine, and defend the Alvar."

"You're sure you can trust me, and them?" I said motioning to the van full of Alphas.

Christine placed her hand on my shoulder. "Yes, all of you are Eine, guardians of the Alvar."

Christine moved her hand down to Otto's helmet. "Wear it. It will become a symbol of your authority. Your enemies will learn to fear it, your men will be inspired by it, and your people will find hope in it."

I bent down and touched the gravestone, and then I stood. As I did I noticed snowflakes falling around me. I looked up at the gray sky and realized they weren't snowflakes. It was ash, falling thick and heavy from the sky. I looked at Christine. She clenched her jaw a few times before speaking.

"The Chaos is here."
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Daniel Schmidt

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