“There’s something outside,” a voice whispered in the dark. Vane Slater was lying on a cot with his back pressed against the rough wool and sharp welds from the frame. He could smell the hand from the recruit clasped over his mouth. Glancing over, Vane could see Ron straining to look through the cracks of the brittle blinds. His first reaction to being woken up was anger.

The small room they were sleeping in consisted of two beds and two shelves for their gear. Whatever the weather was outside, that’s what it was inside. The jungle was hot and humid, even at night. Sleeping on these scrap metal beds was uncomfortable back home, but now with the heat, almost impossible. Vane was enjoying the much needed rest but ignored his anger as he focused on his next actions. He slipped his body over the edge of the bed and knelt beside his partner.

“How many?” Vane asked, reaching under the cot for his rifle. The thin white shirt he was wearing stuck to his skin as he moved.

“I’m not sure,” Ron whispered back. The young man was wearing his standard issue jungle camo pants and his metal tags around his neck. He was sweating over every inch of his body.

“I’m going for the radio,” Vane said, making the move to the other side of the room. The shape of the gun’s hilt fit snugly in his palm.

“No,” Ron whispered angrily. “They’ll hear it.” Vane nodded, even though Ron hadn’t taken his eyes from the window and had no way of knowing he acknowledged him.

“I’ll take point back here,” Vane whispered back. He stepped as quietly as he could to the other side of the room. The old building was prone to making a lot of noise. Somehow he got lucky enough to reach the window without a floorboard cracking or a nail squeaking. He peered out tightening his grip on his rifle.

It was dark with barely the outlines of leaves and trees forming in his view. He wasn’t sure of the time but it had to be around midnight. Even in the dead of night, the jungle was a loud living creature. Something spooked Ron and that was hard to do. During his training, Vane could remember the others trying to break the boy but he always stood his ground. 

Every night the older guys in their barracks would pick a new victim to torture. They claimed it was to build their bonds as soldiers as if training to protect their country wasn’t good enough. The hazing consisted of mostly tame stuff from making recruits sing children's songs, stripping them to their underwear and dumping cold water on them, or forcing them to eat some disgusting food, all under threat of getting beaten up by the rest. For the most part, it worked. Once you passed the test you gained the respect of the whole group. That was until it was Ron’s turn.

The boys wanted him to go to their sergeant’s office and take his hat. Ron said that it was too much. He wouldn’t do it. Vane agreed, it was one thing to humiliate yourself but to ruin your career and opportunities here, completely different. He was adamant. When the others started hitting him he put up a good fight. The numbers were against him. It was like they knew it was too much and wanted to fight him. He was known around the camp as a loner. Vane could see that they wanted him to suffer. Even now, he was ashamed that he joined in, but he wasn’t going to back down either. After they were done he remembered Ron crawling under the side of the tent and coughing up blood. They listened to him most of the night. Vane respected him though because he took his punishment and never complained. If it would have been anyone else they would have quit. Not him.

To see the fear on Ron’s face filled him with dread.

Vane scanned the dark shadows looking for any unusual movement. The sound of buzzing bugs and cawing birds filled their cabin with a tense ambiance. The two of them knew the risks when they were assigned the post. Getting placed on watch duty typically meant spending a month in the jungle fighting boredom. That didn’t mean that was always the case. In rare events, they would have to defend themselves.

“Don’t worry,” their commanding officer had said to Vane before they were driven to their post. They had been standing in the middle of their camp just after getting their assignments. The five square miles of cleared jungle was alive with a new batch of recruits training.

The hidden camp was used mainly for training but also served as temporary storage for any captured hostiles. Since the hunting teams could find their targets anywhere in the world it was important that they had a secure place to keep them before being transported to the main holding facility. The perimeter was lined with a chain-linked fence. Inside were a half dozen tents for the recruits, a dining hall, and a fortified building that reminded Vane of a prison. Only the commanding officers and sergeants were allowed in there, not that Vane wanted to know what was inside. Other recruits were curious but Vane figured it wasn’t a mystery. Just a nicer place for the higher-ups to sleep.

“The last time any cabin saw action was decades ago,” the commanding officer had said. “Consider it a break. You two are my best soldiers after all. Just remember, if you see anything, radio it in. Immediately. No hesitation. You are the first line of defense. We are the facade between castles.” Vane had repeated the words back at the man.

Kneeling against the tarnished wood in a decaying cabin, made Vane wonder about his purpose. If Castle was meant to be a barrier between worlds, did that make him the eyes that watched or the hands for sacrificing? 

Vane took his attention from the jungle shrouded in darkness to glance at Ron. He was pointing his rifle out of the window eyeing down the scope. Throughout the cabin, the small clicks and twists from squeezing the hilt too tight filled the room. If calling over the radio was too loud, surely the rattling rifle was too. Vane took a step toward the desk with the radio on it.

The dry planks beneath his feet creaked.

“What are you doing?” Ron whispered back at him. His voice was harsh and angry, much louder than he meant.

Vane watched as Ron’s body moved back with his rifle. In the dark, he could see a white hand holding the barrel trying to shake his partner off. The gun discharged in a flash of smoke and sparks. The window lit up for a moment revealing the face of a young woman.

She was standing outside the cabin. Her face was sweaty and smeared with mud. All over her body, shadows carved the outlines of her muscles. There wasn’t a hint of body fat. Through her sweat soaked camo shirt, Vane could make out every individual ab and vein that wrapped around her person. Her face was twisted into a cruel smile. Before Vane could react, the light from the fired rifle disappeared and Vane was left with his disoriented eyes adjusting to the dark.

“Vane!” Ron yelled out to him. He had a choice to make, try for the radio to warn their camp or help his fellow soldier. For a moment he considered his options. If he were to live, which choice would make him look the best to his superiors? If Ron was the sole survivor, how would he look if he only went for the radio? What if they both lived?

While he weighed his options, Ron struggled for control over the rifle. Vane could hear it. He was being pushed and pulled into the window sill. At every chance of catching his breath, Ron called out to him for help. He was losing.

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Vane decided he could do both, first he would radio the warning and then he would help Ron. After all, that was their purpose for being out there in that cabin. Overcoming the initial shock, Vane moved to the desk and grabbed the microphone. At its base was a large green button. All he had to do was press it and say the words. The radio clicked alive as he mashed down on the intercom.

“This is station bravo we have one hostile incoming!” he yelled into the receiver. The room fell silent.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” a coarse voice said. His eyes were almost adjusted to the faint moonlight that was outlining the woman’s body. She was holding Ron with one hand off the ground and the firearm in the other. She dropped his body. Vane couldn’t tell if he was alive. In one swift movement, he knelt down to the ground and raised his gun to his eye and fired.

The sound of a gunshot rang out. In the flash in front of him, the woman was there, and then she wasn’t. He was left alone with Ron kneeling in their cabin.

“Ron,” he said in a low groan as he moved his body toward him. The ringing in his ears bled into the wailing from sirens miles away. Someone must have heard his warning. Right now, the whole camp was probably alive with activity. He could almost hear the sound of boots on gravel and muddy roads. In a few minutes, a team would be at their location to give them backup. His job was to make sure Ron was alive to tell how Vane had saved him.

“Ron?” he asked in a whisper. The young man was still breathing. His arms were riddled with cuts and bruises. Vane knew he could have been worse. The destructive nature of the creatures was whispered all throughout Castle.

“Where did she go?” Ron asked regaining consciousness. “Where’s my rifle?”

“I don’t know,” Vane responded. “I shot at her. I don’t know if I missed. She was holding your gun the last I saw.”

“I told you not to radio!” the young man shouted back. “I knew she didn’t know our location. She was walking right past us. I was going to wait until she was out of earshot. I didn’t want to risk saying too many words and getting her attention. We’re supposed to be on the same side.”

The moonlight that was pouring in from the window went dark. Vane watched Ron’s face shrink in horror. “That’s where you’re wrong,” the woman said.

Vane fell back and watched as the muscled woman raised the rifle. He could see a bullet wound in her left arm. Then the room filled with the sound of gunshots. Dozens. Right in front of their eyes, Ron and Vane watched the woman be torn apart in a hail of bullets. They were showered in blood and splinters from the wooden walls. Her body fell into the cabin revealing three pairs of headlights directed onto their location.

“Enough!” someone shouted. Fortunately, the two men were below the height of the window, otherwise, Vane was sure they would have been casualties. The front door swung open as a whole tent’s worth of soldiers piled into their former home. Vane helped his partner from the ground and the two of them examined the remains.

All eyes were on the woman’s body. It was just like he had seen in the flashes of gunshots. Even though the bullet holes and carnage her muscles and veins resembled that of ancient Greek statues. He was close enough to touch her arm. To him, it felt like someone had laid a sheet over stone as he pressed his fingers into her skin.

“Don’t touch it!” the commanding officer shouted. The man had finally found his way through the crowd.

“Is it one of them?” someone asked.

“What do you think?” one of the younger recruits responded.

“Everyone out!” Vane watched as the crowd exited through the doorway leaving their officer alone with the two of them. “Did she say anything?” he asked them.

“Why?” Vane responded before Ron could say anything. The officer seemed hesitant to respond at first.

“Well,” he eventually said. “Seeing as the two of you managed to survive, I guess you deserve to know the truth. We don’t know why she attacked the facility. This usually happens when one of their people gets caught is being held for transport. We haven’t had anyone detained here for decades. As you know, the bases are mainly used for training camps. This would be the first time one of their kind attacked us, unprovoked. It’s not heard of for them to mount attacks or to be organized at all. Most of them don’t even know we exist. I’ll ask again. Did she say anything?”

“If you needed that information, why did you kill her?” Ron asked. “Wouldn’t it have been worth it to attempt to capture her?”

“If I had more than fresh recruits, then maybe I would attempt a mission that dangerous,” their officer replied getting annoyed. “There just aren’t enough with experience to carry that out here. Besides, when they know how to use their abilities that escalate most capture missions to kill on sight. It’s not worth it to even try. This one was clearly in control of their special condition. This is the last time I’m going to ask. Did that woman say anything?”

Vane looked to Ron contemplating what the woman had said. That’s where you’re wrong. That was her response to Ron saying the two of them were on the same side. What did it mean? Something about the way Ron was staring him down made Vane think his partner had already made up his mind about what it meant. He had to get ahead of him.

“She didn’t say anything,” Ron said to their commanding officer. “She just started attacking us, like you said.” The officer looked to Vane for confirmation. He nodded in agreement.

“Just as I thought,” he said with a sigh. “Another psycho destroying the world for no reason. Well alright. Gather your things. This cabin needs to be repaired and you two have been reassigned. Meet outside in five.”

The two soldiers did as they were told. Ron was sore and bruised but he’d be fine in a few days. Vane hadn’t even been touched. He went to his cot and shoved his books and shirts into his duffle bag. It was hard to breathe but through the experience, they just went survived and the heat and humidity, Van couldn’t place the blame.

“What did she mean by that?” Ron asked from across the room. Vane’s heart went cold. He had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. He stood and walked over to the young man.

“I’ll tell you what it meant,” Vane said down to him. Standing over him, Vane watched the young man’s face go from accusational to fearful. “Nothing. I don’t know what she was talking about and neither do you. You won’t mention this to anyone. Got it?” As he said the words, a fire seemed to burn from his heart. It made him feel strong.

“I won’t say anything,” Ron replied. His voice was shaking. They held eye contact until the young man’s hands started to shake. “What are you doing to me?”

“I’m not doing anything,” Vane replied. The sensation of power and pride and victory was filling his soul. Almost as if he was stealing it from Ron. His face was turning pale. In a panic, he screamed out and reached for his rifle.

“I can’t!” he screamed as he turned it on himself. If Vane hadn’t been standing right next to him he wouldn’t have been able to grip the barrel and move it before the gun fired. The bullet zipped out through the roof.

“What’s going on?” the officer shouted from the outside.

“I don’t know!” Vane yelled. “Something’s wrong!” The next thing he knew he was wrestling with Ron over control of the gun. Through the door, their comrades entered and broke up the fight. All the while, Ron was shouting at them.

“I can’t be alive!” he screamed. “I lose! I lose! I have to die!” Those were the last words Vane would hear from his partner as they dragged him from the room. Vane stood in shock beside their officer.

“This happens sometimes,” he said to Vane.

“What?” Vane asked.

“When you spend too much time or get too close to those things, this can happen. They affect you. It surfaces in different ways. Just be thankful you didn’t get as close to her as he did. We’ll get someone in here to bury the body. Come on let’s get you out of here.”

Vane was happy to leave the cabin behind. He sat in the back of one of the trucks that had saved them. From his seat, he watched as they packed both Ron and the woman’s body into the same vehicle. His screams had turned into hoarse cries at this point. He hated to see his friend like this.

“That’s the second one since you left,” the driver said to him. Vane looked to the man and recognized him from the same barracks he had stayed in.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“One of our other bunkmates broke down the same way as Ron there. Actually, it was the kid that slept above you. That girl must have been closer to the camp than we all thought. Things will go back to normal now though, since she’s dead.”

“Yeah,” Vane said in a hushed reply. He realized what she had meant now.