“Hold your fire!” Terry yelled before his men started shooting.
Shonna and Char waved for the freed women and girls to go out the door. Twenty-two saved, but Terry wanted all of them.
“Joseph, would you have any insight into these three?” Terry asked, remembering that the Forsaken was with them.
“Do I ever!” he said in a sultry voice as he angled through the building, past Terry and to the side.
“Stay where you are or she dies!” one man screamed with false bravado.
“You and I both know that’s not the case,” Joseph said smoothly. “You’re thinking how you can get out of this without dying and you’re not coming up with any answers, are you? Do you see your threats intimidating my friends, or me for that matter? You don’t, do you?”
The man looked away for a moment before throwing his knife behind him and clasping his hands on top of his head. The terrified woman ran straight into Char’s arms and together they left the building.
“On your knees,” Terry growled at the man. He got down.
“You candy ass, bailing on your buddies,” a second man spit.
“Let’s see what you have to think,” Joseph said, maneuvering to the side away from Terry and the others.
“What the fuck are you?” he sneered through thick lips. His face was covered by a heavy black beard. The man wasn’t big, but his arms were corded with muscle. He looked like one who loved to fight.
“I’m your twin brother,” Joseph said, laughing. “A pariah, an outcast, whose only crime is being better than those around you, except present company, of course.”
Joseph tipped his hat toward Terry and the Weres. Terry shook his head, not sure how much longer he’d let Joseph play with the bad guys.
TH hadn’t done much with the .45 that he’d liberated from Cheyenne Mountain, but he felt it was time. He put his M4 on a table and removed the rest of his weapons. He took off his flak jacket and stood there in just his shirt. He loved the feel of the pistol in his hand.
“You are most likely to kill that woman, out of spite, figuring that if you’re going to die, you’ll take someone with you. But an innocent? There’s no joy in that. How about me? Fight me and if you win, you’ll have your freedom.”
Terry saw how Joseph was trying to fit in with Terry’s ideals. “What do you say, Colonel? A little sparring match with freedom on the line.”
“There’s no way he can win, Joseph. You are far better than he ever was,” Terry taunted.
The man was smarter than that, although not by much. “Fuck you both. I don’t trust that you won’t shoot me. Give me that gun and then things will even up. I’ll fight Pasty then.”
Joseph tsked while shaking his head. “Nice try, needle dick.” The Forsaken held his hands out to the side as he inched closer to the bearded man.
The third man was trying to get to the window, dragging the woman backwards as he moved and watched the intruders before him. The woman he was holding started to struggle.
Someone fired through the window at point blank range, exploding the third man’s head and showering blood and gore over the second man, his hostage, and Joseph.
The woman started screaming, closed her eyes, and covered her ears.
“Shut up, bitch!” the last man yelled.
She didn’t hear him. Terry walked the few steps to her and gripped her arm. She resisted at first but let him lead her around the Were-bear and to the door where Sue was waiting. Char had returned, grim-faced and angry.
Terry knew that look. It usually came right before someone was torn apart.
“Nice shot,” Terry said toward the window.
“And then there was one,” Joseph said and started clapping. “What’s it feel like to be the last man standing?”
He lifted his eyebrows and looked at the man with a curious expression.
The bearded man pressed his knife harder against the woman’s throat, leaving a red line on her skin. She gasped, eyes wide in terror as she thought she was going to die.
Terry slowly raised his pistol and fired into the wall over the pair’s head. The man jumped back, taking the knife away from its precarious place at the woman’s throat. She ducked instinctively. In a move too quick to follow, Terry dropped his aim and put a large caliber bullet through the man’s forehead.
He jerked backward and flopped to the floor, his body spasming in its death throes.
Joseph leaned over the body. Terry jumped forward and grabbed the Forsaken’s shoulder, unsure of what the Vampire was going to do. Char took the woman outside. Gene sat down and started licking his massive paw. For the first time in his life, people had forgotten that he was there.
Billy wasn’t able to wait. He had watched Terry and the others go into the biggest building within the compound and then there was nothing. Everything looked secure to him so he strode away from the pods. Kiwi, Aaron, and Kae followed.
When Terry and Char left the building, they found Kaeden waiting for them. Char leaned down and spoke softly. “Do you recognize any of these people, any of the girls?”
The young boy had avoided them, but Terry and Char wanted to know, so they each took a hand and walked Kaeden to the group of unkempt females who were huddling tightly together.
Terry knew that he wasn’t the right person to talk with the group. He nodded to Char.
“My name is Charumati and this is my husband, Terry Henry Walton, and this little man is Kaeden. He told us a story about how men had come and taken the girls from their group of children. Are you those girls?” she asked. The oldest of the group was still young, probably in her late twenties.
The bruises on their arms and faces suggested physical abuse. The hollow expressions on their faces told a bigger story.
Akio watched from the pod, deciding that Terry needed help. Using the power of his mind, he projected calm over the women, gave them a sense of peace, if only for the moment. It would be the first step in their new lives.
Their expressions changed and the women looked at the group of warriors, the Force de Guerre, the other beautiful people, a man dressed in black leather with a wide-brimmed hat, a bear, and a dog. They didn’t know what to make of the strangers, but they felt free.
At Char’s urging, the women brought the young girls where Kaeden could see them, and where they could see him. They recognized Kaeden and ran to him.
Terry looked through the fence at the pod where Akio, Yuko, and Eve stood. He mouthed the words ‘thank you.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The pods couldn’t carry everyone at one time, so Mark volunteered to remain behind with the platoon and scavenge the compound for anything they could get.
One man had surrendered and Terry didn’t know what to do with him. He turned him over to Mark to chase away.
Akio was accommodating in leaving the well-armed platoon behind. Terry thanked Mark for his initiative. He also wanted to stay but Char suggested the delegation of authority had happened and it was the right thing to do. Mark needed the opportunity to do something in the field, out from under the watchful eye of the colonel.
Terry cautioned Mark to watch out for anyone who might return from hunting. They couldn’t be certain that all the men were accounted for. The sergeant saluted and the group departed.
The pods quickly lifted off and flew to Chicago, where the two groups offloaded. Terry, Char, and her pack unloaded the ammunition and supplies, while Billy led the women to the mayor’s building, where Felicity was waiting.
Akio met Terry at the back of the ramp. He bowed, deeper than before, while Terry and Char bent at the waist to exactly ninety degrees.
“I can’t thank you enough, Akio-sama,” Terry told him.
“It is I who should be thanking you, Master Pilot,” Akio said softly. “I am sorry for the loss of your man. We will remember him.”
“I can ask for nothing more. If we are true to ourselves, we cannot be false to anyone, as we learn in Hamlet. Thank you again, Akio-sama.
Until next we meet.” Terry wondered why the quote came to him, but expected Akio was in his mind and had already seen it.
Akio returned inside and closed the ramp. The empty pods departed on a return heading to pick up the platoon.
Terry, Char, Kaeden, and one of the girls, Kimber, walked together. Kae and the little girl held hands. She seemed older than him, but was a little shorter.
“I used to be taller than you,” she said.
“Nah,” Kaeden replied.
“You knew each other before?” Char asked innocently.
“His whole life!” Kimber replied. “He’s my little brother.”
Terry stopped walking. The group of women and girls stopped, too. They had no idea what was happening. They’d never traveled by air before, but did it because that’s what they were told to do, believing that it would lead to freedom.
And it did. These strangers had saved them, asking for nothing in return. They wanted the happy ending. They wanted to see Kimber and Kaeden reunited. They watched, entranced by the reunion.
Terry should have been happy that Kaeden’s sister had been returned. He just wished he would have known that their family was about to get bigger.
Char snickered as she saw a full range of emotions cross Terry’s face. “Kimber, dear, you’ll live with us as Kaeden does,” she finally managed to say. The little girl looked skeptical, but her brother reassured her.
“They are the best!” Kae said of his adopted parents.
Terry started walking again. Char gasped and bent over. Terry kneeled before her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“The little bugger has quite a kick!” She straightened up and took a deep breath. “Shall we?”
Char walked ahead as if nothing happened. In Terry’s mind, his world was closing in around him. He started to breathe faster and faster until he couldn’t catch his breath at all. Terry had to stop.
“TH, you’re hyperventilating and probably driving your nanocytes crazy. Do you need me to punch you in the face?” Char offered.
Terry tried to hold her off with one hand, but she wouldn’t move. The group of women stood and watched, finding the episode curious from a man who had so mercilessly battled their captors to win their freedom. They wondered what afflicted him, but Char seemed to think it trivial.
Char rubbed his back as he was doubled over, trying to calm himself. She smiled nervously at the other women. “My husband,” she said apologetically. Some of them nodded knowingly, others were curious, and a few were still lost to the horrors within their own minds.
She took the opportunity to talk with them. “We are rebuilding civilization. Power, running water, flush toilets. None of these things are too far away. We have a dining facility where you will eat regular meals. There is plenty of work that needs done to support the community. Farming, fishing, weaving, woodcraft. You name it and we have to do it, but we have a nice place to live here and really smart people working for the betterment of all. We are happy that you have joined us, but you are free to determine your own destiny.”
Char looked from face to face. They didn’t give much away with their expressions. Char knew that it would take time.
One of the women screamed. Ted was walking quickly toward them, surrounded by his wolf pack.
“They aren’t dangerous, are you, my pretties?” Ted asked, looking at the shaggy grey beasts.
“Char, I just wanted to tell you that we’ll be firing the plant for one hour in the morning and two hours every evening for the next few months while we bring the big power plant on line. I’ve set up a work schedule that should be viable. We will need more hands, though. Are any of you experienced with working in a power plant or around heavy machinery? Piping maybe?” Ted spoke quickly while looking at the women.
No one said anything as they watched the nice looking man with the pack of wolves.
“Pity,” Ted said. He found Sue and for the first time in a long time, hugged her and gave her a kiss. “I’m glad you’re home.”
Their relationship was distant at the best of times, but it worked for them. Clyde still wasn’t used to the wolves, remaining wary with his hackles up whenever they were near.
Gene, Timmons, Shonna, and Merrit grabbed Ted to get the skinny on his plan. Walking him away as he talked excitedly.
Sue watched them go without concern. It was Ted’s way. Aaron stood uncomfortably behind the group, on the outside looking in as usual.
Joseph was nowhere to be seen. Char reached out with her senses and found him, walking the road alone back toward the old city of Chicago, the place he called home.
That left Terry and Char, with twenty-five women and girls. Billy was waiting inside his building, but no one could say that he was waiting patiently.
Terry finally stood up straight. The color had returned to his face. Char nuzzled his cheek and nibbled on his ear. “We’ll get a house and everyone will have their own bedroom, including us, TH. Our adventure is just starting, my love. More of us sooner than we thought, but so what? As long as we are together, isn’t that what matters most?”
Terry had to agree. “It is, my love.”
They’d taken so long getting nowhere that the two pods returned while they were still in the open area. The pods touched down and the platoon disembarked, removing a variety of things and depositing them on the ground before returning for a second load. The ramps closed and the pods took off, having spent a total of two minutes on the ground.
Terry was immediately himself. Sergeant Mark approached, saluted, and reported that they’d found what looked like personal items. They brought it all. If the women wanted it, it would be there. If not, they would make it disappear.
“Well done, Sergeant. Across the board, today, well done. Tomorrow, no PT, breakfast and then mid-morning we’ll have a ceremony for Boris, then we’ll conduct an after action review for both of today’s operations,” Terry said crisply, then returned Mark’s salute. “Carry on.”
When Terry turned around, Char had her arms crossed and was tapping one foot. “You can fight a battle and order twenty-five men and women around as if it were nothing, but find out that you’re going to live with three kids and you become a blubbering mess!”
Terry knew that he was supposed to be offended, but he was vastly outnumbered. “But you love me in spite of that,” he tried with a shy smile. “Billy’s waiting.”
But he wasn’t. Billy and Felicity had joined them. “Good afternoon, y’all. My name is Felicity and this is Billy Spires, the mayor of our town. Since it is dinnertime, I suggest we take this to our dining facility and get you something to eat,” Felicity drawled.
Ted had led most of the others away, leaving Terry, Char, and Aaron to help carry. But once the group of women saw the load, they pitched in. With everyone carrying something, they were able to move everything to the barracks in one trip. Mark offered to house the women and girls in the spare rooms on the second floor of the FDG’s barracks. With the Force on the first floor, they would be protected and hopefully they’d feel safe.
Mark was sympathetic to their plight. Not that long ago, he would not have been, but with Terry’s and Char’s influence, he’d starting learning more about people, about humanity.
Mark wasn’t the only one who had changed. He looked around and saw the platoon, finally blooded in combat, somber yet driven.
They were professional warfighters.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The platoon stood at attention as Terry positioned himself near the rough casket in which Boris rested. They’d chosen the open field near the pharmaceutical plant as the town’s cemetery. Terry was sorry to see a member of the Force as the first to be buried there. The worst part was that he wouldn’t be the last.
Terry looked at the group, from one person to the next. He nodded to Kiwi and Char standing behind the formation.
He and Char would see every one of them dead and buried. They were special and didn’t age like the others. In another twenty, the
original members of the Force would be old, and he and Char would look the same, feel the same.
Terry knew that he would get good at delivering eulogies, the bad side of the good deal from his enhancements. The platoon shifted back and forth as the silence stretched out.
“When one of us dies, we all lose a part of ourselves. Such is the loyalty of the FDG,” Terry said while looking at the casket. He looked up at the platoon and saw them locked at the position of attention. “At ease, people.”
Terry shuffled his feet as he tried to come up with something to say. He’d thought about it, but nothing had come to him, so there he was, forced to wing it. He wanted all of them to know that they deserved the very best he could give them.
“I don’t want to ever get good at this, wishing people on their way and then planting them in the ground. It sucks. Boris came to us a while back, claiming to be the last of the Marines. He got his ass kicked for that, but he turned into a good one, a valued member of our family and someone who fought hard every single day.”
Mark raised his hand and Terry pointed him out.
“I wanted to say a few things, if it’s okay, sir,” Mark said and Terry nodded, glad for the respite. “Boris and I had our differences, but that had nothing to do with the quality of warrior that he was. He earned our respect. He earned my respect. He would never ask his people to do something that he wouldn’t do, and that’s how he died, by leading the way.”
Terry thanked Mark for his kind words and looked for anyone else to speak. Charlie raised his hand. “Me and Boris went into the interview together, saying we was the last of the Marines. I’ll be goddamned if I knew that the colonel was the real last Marine. That wasn’t too smart on our part, but we wanted to join up, be bad asses. And you know what? We learned that it wasn’t about that at all. It was living to a higher ideal, making people feel safe because they knew we’d protect them. We saw that yesterday. Fuck those guys and anyone like them who comes up against us. Wherever Boris is, he knows that we won...”
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