CHAPTER 134: During the Lull

“General, as you can see the situation here is more complicated than you would think,” explained Colonel Davian after ripping off a brief salute. “I don’t know what just happened with Adam, but he is the main reason for both of our groups’ survival. The information that you received from General Gervin was given to him by Adam. Adam was very clear about us sharing it to improve everyone’s chance at survival.”

General Carmichael glared at Davian skeptically but added a “hmm” after hearing that Adam tried sharing it all.

“It’s true that we wouldn’t have survived without the intel. I also wouldn’t have bunkered in Kentucky if I didn’t have it. But providing intel is a far cry from controlling a defensive installation. I’ve no doubt my boys will be able to make more of this then a few teens could,” the general said critically.

“Adam might be young, but he is the leader here. He has protected everyone, gotten things organized while relying on others, has kept different groups working smoothly together, continued to find sources of intel, and personally leads our attacks on invader bases,” defended Davian.

“Psh,” chuckled Rexus. “How could that weakling protect anyone? He collapsed at the mere mention of a fight.”

Colonel Davian looked over his shoulder to where Adam had been hauled away.

“Don’t underestimate him, Commander. Adam is the strongest and toughest human, hands down.” The colonel’s praise seemed to offend Rexus, as he stood a little taller and frowned. “He had taken more damage and kept going than I would even have thought possible, even in such a powerful new world. His strength defies more than physics.”

A large hand was rested on Rexus’s shoulder.

“Don’t take that man lightly,” said Gregor, narrowed eyes still focused on the gate. “He is very strong. There is something unnatural and dangerous about him.”

His words made both the colonel and Rexus focus on him.

“What happened between you two?” asked Rexus quietly.

“When he passed us in the transport I felt it only for a moment, but it was much stronger this time. When he collapsed, I felt pain everywhere inside. At the same time my power soared. I never felt such strength and heat, or anger. If it had taken control of me then I would have become nothing more than rage and hate.”

“Hmm…” Rexus intoned. He walked over to General Carmichael and spoke to him too quietly for Davian to hear. The general nodded a few times.

When they were finally done the general spoke to Colonel Davian.

“Looks like you have your work cut out for you, Fredericks. I doubt you’ll have success if you’ve been too soft to take control of this base by now, but I’ll give you one last chance to convince the boy to turn it over. Otherwise, we’ll have to convince him with more than words. Until then, you are dismissed.”

The general turned, gave a few more orders to his officers, and then soldiers spread out to inspect the nearby buildings. Carmichael disappeared back into the transport with two more officers and Rexus.

Colonel Davian watched for a minute then turned to the soldiers that followed him. They looked uncomfortable with the conflict and uncertain. He signaled them to retreat into the wall.

Before Davian was able to leave, a voice called to him.

“Colonel, I’m sorry to bother you after all this, but my friend Chad here had been dreaming of taking a shower. Do you have such facilities he could use before returning to our forces?” asked Gregor.

The colonel nodded absently. “That would be no problem. Before this conflict, we were expecting to integrate your group once we had time to do our usual quarantine and inspection for new residents. Chad can go to our main barracks and use the facilities we have available.” The colonel signaled to a few soldiers to take Chad.

“Are you sure, Gregor?” Chad asked surprised as he stepped through the group of dissipating people.

Gregor gripped his arm gently. “Just be careful. We don’t know what is really going on here. Everyone is acting a little too calmly considering the world outside. We don’t know what could be influence things here. They did mention mind control…”

Chad nodded to Gregor, who hesitantly removed his hand. Then Chad followed the soldiers into the gate.

***

Chad looked around the base as he moved through it. It wasn’t a normal city. The layout couldn’t have sprung up organically. Everything was placed in a spot for a reason. The soldiers were happy to answer his questions, showing pride as they bragged about everything that was here and how it had come about.

At a cursory glance, the buildings themselves didn’t seem that far off from modern buildings, but when he spent time really looking at them, he could tell they weren’t normal. Human buildings had designs based on making a structure sturdy, safe, and then aesthetically matching the other buildings. These buildings didn’t follow those rules.

Some looked top heavy, without a foundation that should have been safe to support it. The materials they used looked weak, but when he got close and felt them, Chad realized how they couldn’t be from Earth. The soldiers were fine explaining how they reused materials from other invader Rifts and how they had loads of craftsmen and builders experimenting with making stronger materials, both with alien and Earth materials.

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Chad wasn’t sure if he should use this time to gather information or whether it even mattered. It hardly seemed a secret and technically they weren’t at odds with these people. Yet Gregor’s warning kept him on alert and absorbing as much as he could learn, even making him push through the exhaustion he felt from the last few days.

“What is that?” asked Chad, pointing to a very rectangular building. It looked like it had two separate entrances and most of the windows were tinted so he couldn’t see inside. It was three stories tall and had signs out front with bunny ears.

One of the soldiers squirmed a little before answering, while the other two seemed almost embarrassed.

“Those are the brothels,” answered the soldier.

“Brothels?” questioned Chad with surprise. “You have sex workers?”

“Not exactly,” said the soldier. “Our leadership brought back some…er, people…that wanted to mate. They aren’t officially called brothels, but it’s essential what they are.”

“People?” Chad was confused. Then he saw three men come out one of the doors. They were smiling and chatting cordially as they were seen off by someone who stood at the entrance and waved them away with a smile. Or at least what might have been a smile, since he couldn’t completely tell with the inhuman look. The one waving was fuzzy, had rabbit ears, and was completely non-human.

Chad gasped. “That’s an invader!”

“No, sir,” quickly defended a second soldier. “Those aren’t invaders.”

“But it’s clearly an alien,” Chad stated while near panicking.

“Yes, sir. An alien,” agreed the soldier, causing Chad to round on him, staring disbelievingly.

“An alien, but not an invader?” Chad asked when he had gotten his thoughts together.

“Correct. They came to work for the Sentinel Army. They wanted payment in mating, so when homes were built for them it kind of became the unofficial brothel. Many people make use of it now.”

“How can you be sure it’s safe?” asked Chad cautiously.

“Oh, it’s safe. There’s some magical contract that they signed. Besides…”

“Besides?”

“Well, sir, The General would have killed them all if they were invaders. He’s very particular about that,” said the soldier with a shiver, having seen Adam’s fury in battle firsthand.

Another soldier then elbowed his fellow knowingly. “It’s also very satisfying. They can handle our levels,” he said with a snicker.

Chad shook his head and decided to stay clear of those buildings.

***

As Chad approached the center of the base, he saw the high rise standing tall in the middle of everything, and a large road that looped outside of it. The soldiers were happy to talk about the building and how it had changed as they gained new materials from the enemy bases they had conquered. It was the center of the Sentinel Army’s strength and where the top brass lived and worked. Adam the General, living above all others.

The barracks weren’t far from the building, but Chad’s eyes were drawn to the statue and five walls next to it. He looked up at the teens on the statue and then to the walls, names scratched into them with no elegance.

“What’s this?” he asked.

The soldiers became serious and looked at the wall with a salute.

“The wall of heroes, sir,” answered one. “After every raid we put up the names of those fallen to protect our world. The General always knows the names of everyone who died, and he personally carved their names up to this point.”

Chad could see the change at one point in the names. The carving style went from the same script, done by a single person, to being done by others. The name sizes and neatness varied after the change. He walked by the walls and looked at the names.

“Where are the rest?” asked Chad, looking around and on the backs of the walls for more names.

“The rest of what?”

“The rest of the names. This can’t be everyone, right?” Chad looked at the soldiers in confusion but saw an angry look on all their faces.

“It is, and it’s more than should be,” said one soldier with a snarl.

“B-but…there are less than 500 names on here,” blurted Chad. “We lost tens of thousands in the first week. Then thousands more died as we traveled. To only have lost 500…”

“It was thanks to the General’s protection…” started one of the soldiers, but Chad didn’t hear him.

Chad’s mind couldn’t take it. Flashbacks of all the deaths. People being stabbed, dismembered, crushed, all near him as he and the rest fought. They never had time to mourn. Never had time to take care of, or to remember, the dead. Every moment and step had been desperate. Chad couldn’t imagine “only 500” feeling like a high number. It was a drop in the bucket compared to his own experiences.

His body seized up. His legs gave out. Before Chad knew it, he was on the ground sobbing, hands clasped in prayer, remembering all the friends and compatriots who were no longer in this world. If only there had been people to help protect them too.

***

Chad’s shower went on for an hour. It was the most wonderful experience he had ever had. It was a room with numerous shower stalls, each with a door but open enough to the rest that any sound could be heard. Many soldiers entered the shower room during Chad’s shower, and a lot of jokes and comments were made about the inappropriate sounds coming from Chad. He couldn’t even care, he was in heaven, and no one rushed him.

They had explained that soap was being rationed until they found materials to make more, but out of generosity, the supplies chief cut him a small bar from three different brands. Chad would smell one, then soap up while taking breaks to smell the clean scent, finishing with a rinse. He did that with all three minibars.

The shower was so relaxing, and helped Chad unwind, that he didn’t even realize when he fell asleep before turning the water off. A few hours later he woke in a cot, comfortable despite being small. He had a robe on and there were jeans and a long-sleeved shirt folded next to where he slept.

When he returned outside the walls, to his own company, he found a pacing and angry Gregor. His fellows were trying to calm him and hold him back, his concern for Chad going overboard due to how long he had been away. Chad had to spend a lot of time explaining why he had taken so long and that he was ok.

He also had to prove repeatedly to Gregor and a few officers that he hadn’t been mind controlled or replaced. It was quite a hassle, but Chad didn’t care since he could just take a sniff of one of the three soaps he still had and know that it was worth it.

***

“He hasn’t come out?” asked Colonel Davian during a meeting.

It had been three days since Adam had been pulled away and in that time he hadn’t left his penthouse. More than that, he didn’t let anyone else in the room and had blacked it out using the Rift menu so no one else could enter or talk to him. Even his chefs were kept out.

Mrs. Clemens had gotten a Rift “call” from Adam, telling her that he was ok and just needed time. She had been frantic after hearing about what had happened, and was still quite concerned, with Adam only trying once to reassure her.

“No, and only the girls are allowed in,” answered Lucas.

“Is he aware that Carmichael has blocked the gates with his troops, threatening anyone who tries to leave?” asked a unit leader.

“Do you really want the boss to get involved in that?” asked Tom. “Remember what the malcontents escalated to? Except these aren’t level zeros we’re talking about. T-Rexy seems like he might be able to handle any of us one on one.”

“Then what should we do?” asked Charles, from the intelligence group.

“We wait. Work on combat techniques. Take a rest while we can,” said the colonel.

“But for how long?”

“Until Adam is ready,” answered Lucas.

“Any idea how long that will take?”

“Oh, ye of little faith,” sighed Tom, shaking his head in disappointment. “Don’t look at this as a down time, look at it as a time to power up. The boss will be ready when we need it the most!”