The next morning I sprung out of bed early, high on nerves despite my lack of sleep. I carefully donned my military uniform and tucked the ID into the jacket pocket. Alex handed me a holster for my belt, and I strapped the pistol firmly into place. As I got ready he hovered around me, reminding me to be careful with Cam. I could tell his nerves were getting to him, and I’m sure on some level he regretted us not going together. Unfortunately he was right in the meeting, I was a better fighter, and one of us needed to be here to lead the others in case something went wrong.

Alex wrapped me in a big hug before sending me off, and I hurried to meet Lucas and Cam at the truck. I had the map and directions securely tucked under my arm, and the credit card in my pocket with the ID. I quickly patted myself down, triple checking that I hadn’t forgotten something.

Lucas met me with his usual grin, “Are you ready?” he asked cheerfully.

I nodded and we opened the back of the transport truck for Cam, who hesitated for a moment before stepping in. She sat on the metal bench and turned towards us. A sudden look of fear washed over her face, like she was reliving the day she came to us.

“If it’s too much for you we can switch places,” I suggested gently.

“What? No it’s nothing, we’re good to go,” she huffed and motioned for us to close the doors on her.

We obliged and took our seats in the front. I situated the map and directions on my lap, and led us through all the twists and turns of the nearby town. We mostly drove in silence. I was focused on the hastily written directions, and Lucas was concentrating on keeping the large truck in the proper lane.

We went to the grocery store without incident. The three of us split up to tackle all of the shopping, and met at the front to combine carts. I held my breath as I scanned the credit card, half expecting it to decline. The purchase went through and we situated all of the goods in the back of the truck, putting anything refrigerated inside of the few coolers we brought along.

The drug store was just up the road. I went in alone and got several bottles of over the counter drugs that I’d memorized from the list. Mostly they were for treating headaches, colds, and other minor ailments. When we took stock initially we underestimated how much of them we’d go through with so many people. Headaches were commonplace in the stressful environment, and a lot of people were going through caffeine withdrawal, making the problem even worse. The cold meds went even faster. Once one person got sick it spread its way throughout the facility rapidly. Now that we’d been there for a few weeks and had little contact with the outside I was hoping both issues would slow down considerably.

Once again I paid without incident. The cashier gave me a strange look as she scanned the multitude of bottles. I laughed it off, joking with her about the man cold spreading through my unit, and them electing me to go stock up on meds. She nodded sympathetically and didn’t ask any questions. I looped around the building and took my place back in the truck, placing the bag of meds at my feet.

All that remained was the gun store. It was further into town, in a run down looking area. The small parking lot was littered with potholes, and the spots weren’t large enough for the oversized truck. Left with no other choice we parked over the lines, hogging two spots in the already small parking lot. We reluctantly left Cam to guard the truck, and the two of us went inside.

“What’s up man?” Lucas asked the clerk, nodding in his direction.

The clerk greeted us and they made some small talk about gun ranges, and shooting numbers. Most of it went above my head, but I nodded along feigning interest in their conversation. Once Lucas seemed pleased with the cashier’s mood he requested all of the boxes of ammo we needed, listing off all of the numbers and letters that seemed to blur together. At that moment I was glad he came, most everything they said sounded like a foreign language to me, but they clearly understood each other.

“My squad’s accuracy has been shit lately so here we are blowing through the budget so they can run through the drills again. You’ll see me again soon if their aim doesn’t improve. Throw in a few target sheets while you’re at it, I think we’re low,” Lucas said to the man casually, acting annoyed.

The man laughed and placed a few targets with the stock of ammo. He was telling us a story about a man they had at the gun range recently who grossly violated gun safety, and accidentally pointed the gun at the range attendant while it was still loaded. He was so engrossed in his own story that he barely glanced at Lucas’s ID when it came time to pay.

Lucas scanned the card I’d given him before we walked in while laughing along with the clerk about all the crazy stories. The card reader beeped and the man threw us a thumbs up, telling us we were good to go. Lucas thanked the man and wrapped up the conversation as I collected the boxes of ammo and propped open the door for him. A wave of relief flooded through me as we walked back to the truck. We’d managed to get everything we needed without any issues. We gently loaded the boxes in the back, tucking them safely into the corner. Cam was sitting impatiently. She whined about her boredom, and said she expected our missions to be more exciting.

“Exciting is the last thing we need right now,” Lucas said and scowled at her as he closed the door.

I heard her groan in protest as I walked back to my seat. I resituated the maps and led us back to the edge of town. All that stood between us and the base now was one long winding country road. Ten minutes into the road Lucas slowed the truck and yelled heads up to the back of the truck so Cam could hear. There was a military checkpoint set up that wasn’t there when we were headed into town. Three soldiers were stationed at the side of the road with a temporary blockade forcing us to stop. They were decked out with rifles, and one had his hand up to the road, gesturing for us to stop.

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“So fucking close,” Lucas grumbled as he threw the truck in park and rolled down his window.

One of the soldiers walked up to the elevated driver’s side window and stared up at Lucas. He paused for a moment and cocked his head to the side, trying to get a better look at Lucas’s badge. “Good afternoon General, sorry for the hold up. Headed to base?” The man asked Lucas.

“No worries soldier. Good work,” Lucas praised. “We’re not from the main base, we’re headed to the temporary operation nearby. You know the one,” Lucas said, hinting at the secret base the soldiers were obviously stationed to protect. Isabelle had brought up the possibility during the meeting, and had warned us that lying would just make us look more suspicious. No one knew that we’d taken over the place yet, so for now we stuck with the story that we were the soldiers in charge of the secret operation.

The man nodded, “I thought as much, it must be a fun station. ID?”

Lucas slipped out his military ID and flashed it at the man before swiftly tucking in back in the jacket pocket. “I wouldn’t call it fun. Pain in the ass is more like it,” Lucas grumbled.

“Fair enough,” the man said while glancing at the back of the truck. “You got one of 'em with you right now? Can I see it?”

“Nah no freaks, just a supply run and one of my soldiers back there,” Lucas replied calmly.

“Probably for the best. I do need to check regardless, orders from above to check any vehicle headed this way. Even yours. Apologies General I just need a glance and you’re good to go,” The man said as he looked from Lucas to the back of the truck.

“No problem soldier. Just doing your job. Sargent, go open her up,” Lucas said, turning to me.

I nodded and got out slowly to join the man where he was waiting at the back doors. As I slipped out of the truck I noticed Lucas discreetly drawing his handgun out of precaution. He stared into the side mirror, watching the man closely. The other two soldiers joined him at the back and I nodded to them before fiddling with the lock.

“Just a quick check ya? We got perishables,” I said loud enough for Cam to hear so she wouldn’t be startled.

The man confirmed he would be fast and I threw open the door to show him the inside. Cam was inside, struggling to play it cool. Her eyes were wide and she was visibly shaken. The man greeted her, and she largely ignored him. He scanned the truck, and kept looking back to her waiting for a response. He stopped and looked at me with an eyebrow up in confusion, clearly waiting for an explanation for Cam’s behavior.

“Don’t mind her soldier. She’s just tired from the extra PT this morning. I had them run extra laps,” I explained.

“Ya I guess, it still wouldn’t hurt to follow greetings. This is a lot of ammo, y’all let it get this low?” he asked, as he faced me yet again.

I opened my mouth to reply with another excuse but before I could get anything out I heard a guttural scream come from Cam. She leaped from the truck and threw her hands around the curious soldier’s neck. To my horror I realized she’d coated them with acid. The man screamed and gasped for air and his throat turned a sickly color beneath her tightly clasped hands.

The world seemed to slow down and move in slow motion for a moment. I processed what was happening in front of me, and turned towards the two soldiers behind me, who were frantically reaching for their weapons. I turned and screamed out for Lucas, who was already opening his door. I scrambled for the weapon in my holster desperately.

“What the fuck is this?” One of the soldiers behind me screamed as he raised his rifle.

“Duck!” Lucas commanded as he came around the back of the truck with his pistol already drawn.

I dropped to the ground and flinched as Lucas unloaded several shots into the man that had raised his rifle at me. The man fell hard right in front of me. He produced a strange gasping sound as the life left his body. I finally got my gun out and looked to the third soldier, who now had his rifle pointed at Lucas. He tried to say something but I had already started shooting. I shot off three rounds aimed at the man's chest, and Lucas fired at him twice more. The man finally fell, and I looked back towards the man Cam was busy strangling.

The other two died quickly at least, but this man was dying a slow and painful death. He made horrible gurgling sounds as he fought for air and clawed at Cam’s hands. Her hands were clasped firmly around his neck as she continued to scream, simultaneously choking and burning him. Lucas let loose one more bullet, aimed at the man’s head, and put the poor man out of his misery. The three of them were still now, and the only sound left was the horrid screaming coming from Cam. I sat there frozen, trying to process what had just happened.

“What the fuck was that?” Lucas screamed at her as he holstered his gun.

He lunged forward and picked her up by the back of the jacket. Once he had her in a standing position he grabbed both of her forearms and threw her against the truck door. A Loud sound rang out as she slammed into the truck. She didn’t look at either of us, she seemed to be a thousand miles away and her eyes looked almost glazed over.

“They were going to leave. Why did you do that? Are you stupid or just crazy?” He screamed in her face.

Her screams slowly faded, turning into sobs as she began to cry. Her eyes finally met his as she came back to reality, and he released her arms. She dropped to the ground and sobbed for several minutes. I hadn’t moved an inch from the position I took on the ground when Lucas commanded me to duck. My hands were still firmly planted on the gun, which now aimed at the ground. I turned my eyes from Cam’s breakdown and stared at the brutalized neck of the man she’d tortured.

I saw Lucas’s feet come into view in front of me and stop. I looked up at him and he was looking down at me worriedly. He extended a hand to help me up. I looked at it for a moment, and set the gun on the ground before taking his hand.

“Are you hurt?” he asked loudly, startling me.

“I’m fine. Thank you,” I mumbled.

He nodded and picked up the gun I’d set down. He set the safety and placed the handle in my hand. I put the gun back in the holster and returned to my seat in the truck, numb from the events.