Emily walked down the hallway towards the barracks she had been assigned to before she had been captured. Her heart was beating normally again and the doctor gave her permission to rejoin her company. She had a headache though from withdrawals from Ywarl’s constantly blocking her pain. The doctor had told her that it was just an old side effect from bad healing. He told her that the withdrawals should end soon as her body started producing some kind of chemical again. According to the doctor who said that normally people took roughly nine days to completely go through withdrawals but with her healing he expected that her headache would end some time later that day. He said he didn’t see any problems releasing her early back to active duty.

So still suffering from the head ache she left the medical wing of the bunker in a foul mood. She did collect Righteous and her little black knife before she left. They had put righteous in a brown paper bag and her little knife was in a clear plastic bag. She had to sign for them before they let her leave.

As she walked down the hall, she noticed everyone out and about cleaning. She dodged a female American soldier who was mopping the floor and opened the door to her barracks. She stepped into the barracks to see it full of people which was a marked changed when she first arrived.

“Hi, I’m Sergeant Dougan and I’m in charge of twenty-first female barracks.” A female Sergeant dressed in US Army fatigues said coming up to Emly with a smile. “Why don’t you grab a mop and head to the showers.”

Emily ignored the Sergeant and stepped around the woman. She pulled Righteous out the brown paper bag and leaned it against her bunk that still had her backpack on it from before she had left on her last ill fated mission. She was somewhat surprised no one had collected her stuff. She knew from experience that if someone went MIA they had their stuff collected up and stored almost as soon as they were listed as missing. She guessed that no one had the time to collect her stuff because of all the things that had happened. With a sigh she pulled the plastic off her little black knife and dropped it onto her bunk.

“Hey, no weapons in the barracks.” The same Sergeant said from behind her. “You can keep the knife here but the ax goes in the armory.”

Emily ignore the Sergeant once more and used the key that she had been handed in the medical wing. She used it to open her locker. She smiled at what she found inside.

“What the living hell?” The Sergeant said sounding stunned.

Emily reached in and pulled out the M181 machine gun. It was a new weapon that she had played with during Special Forces school that was slated to replace the M9 in a couple of years. From what Emily understood it was still in the testing phase. She loved the gun when she tested it at school and was very happy that she now had one. She wondered if they had an indoor gun range. She needed to sight-in her new weapon.

“I’m putting you on report. This is no place to store weapons.” The female sergeant said recovering from her shock.

Emily found a new harness for RIghteous and put it on her bunk. She stipped off her blouce and put the harness over her undershirt. Once she buckled it on she slid righteous in. She undid her belt, and put her sheath for her little black knife on. She put it on sideways so that the point was laying on her belt facing away from her belly button.

She looked up and saw that the Sergeant was still standing behind her. “Excuse me. I have to report in.” She told the woman as she grabbed her backpack off her bunk and slung her new rifle over her shoulder..

“Who the hell do you think you are.” The woman asked looking angry.

“Sergeant Emmerson, code named Never.” Emily replied and waited for the woman’s response. The last thing she wanted was to be given another page thirteen, and put on restriction, but she had very little patience left for any stuck up military sergeant playing power games.

“Oh, wow. I heard you were dead.” A woman who was sweeping the floor said amazed.

The Sergeant gave the woman a ugly look before she turned back to Emily. “Look Sergeant, I don’t know why you’ve been assigned to my barracks but I’m in charge here. Not you. I would like the professional courtesy I am due.”

Emily held in her sigh and adjusted the pack on her back. “What are your orders Sergeant?” She asked the woman.

“I need you to disarm. You are not allowed to walk in these hall armed. You will never bring your weapons into the barracks again. That’s not just my rule. The Koreans doesn’t want us armed in the hallways and the barracks. We all have weekly cleaning assignments Sergeant, even me. If you can, get with after you report in I’ll give you your assignments. Now please remove your weapons and take them to the armory. I would appreciate it. ” The Sergeant told Emily in a softer tone.

Emily shrugged and reached behind her and pulled out righteous and placed it, ax head first, on the floor. There was a thunk when the head hit the floor. Both Emily and the Sergeant looked down at the same time. Emily blushed as she realized that Righteous had taken a chunk out of the floor.

“Sorry.” She muttered embarrassed

“Give me that.” The sergeant commanded as she reached for the Tomahawk. She tried to pick it up like Emily did but was not strong enough to pick it up one handed. Frowning at Emly the Sergeant placed her other hand on the tomahawk and again tried to pick it up. This time she was able to rock it slightly before she gave up on it.

“What the hell?” The Sergeant said looking up at Emily confused.

“It’s a Cat Lady weapon. Weights in about three hundred pounds.” Emily said as she picked it up with one hand. She held it out the sergeant and smiled.

“You’re a super!” The Sergeant explained shocked. “Why are you in my barracks?”

“I was here before you got here.” Emily replied. “They put you in my barracks. Now not to trigger you or anything but I really need to report in.”

“You’re with the Special Forces.” The Sergeant said looking Emily in the eye. “Where have you been?”

Emily sighed and slid Righteous back into its harness. For half a second she wondered why the woman couldn’t read her patch on her sleeve. She looked down and realized that she was wearing a blank uniform with no rank or insignia’s at all. Her Ranger tab and Special forces patch were missing along with her name patch and the sheverons of her rank.

She must have taken too long to answer as the same woman who was sweeping spoke up. “She’s Never, Sergeant. The Special Forces main who was MIA after the rescue. They thought the NK’s supers got her.”

“Did you really kill three mains at the same time in Afghanistan?” Another woman asked.

“She’s that Main?” A third woman said stepping through the barracks door. “I heard she saved the world when the OCS opened a portal to hell.”

“Oh, yea. I saw that on the TV.” Yet another woman said coming up to the group.

“I have a friend that was stationed in Afghanistan. He said …” The woman who had been sweeping the floor but was now leaning on the broom handle was saying when the Sergeant interrupted her.

“Enough. Everyone back to what you were doing. Sergeant please respect my job and the barracks rules. Don’t bring you weapons back to the barracks. Leave them in the armory.” The Sergeant said turning back to Emily.

“Sounds fair, Sergeant.” Emily said shrugging not really caring anymore. She reached back into her locker and pulled out the plastic case that was designed for the weapon and put the rifle into it. She left Righteous where it was because her jacket covered it nicely. Picking up her weapon’s case with her left hand she turned around to find everyone watching her even the Sergeant in charge of the barracks.

“Something wrong?” She asked the room.

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The Sergeant in charge of the barracks shook her head then said. “No. Sorry everything is fine.” The Sergeant told her before she turned to the rest of the room. “Ok, people the shows over. Back to work.”

As she left the barracks she heard one of the privates mutter to another. “I can’t believe she said that to her.”

Emily caught a bit of the reply before the door closed. “How the hell could she known. She had nothing on her uniform not even her name tag. For all we know ...”

Emily kind of wanted to listen to the last bit of the conversation but she had work to do and people to report to. She left, and walked down the hallway glad that she hadn’t gotten in trouble again. The last thing she wanted to do was get in trouble for impossibles orders again.

She smiled as she remembered Valkyrie tell her about how all super soldiers get in trouble for impossible orders. Remembering Valkyrie made her remember David and her smile faded. She felt an ache in her chest as she walked down the hallway passing by several soldiers in both Koreans and American uniform.

She held her head high but she was lost in thought as she remembered the last time she saw David and her friends in Afghanistan. She thought of Davids smile as he walked out of the door in his dress uniform after he saved his scruffy beard. “He had such a great smile.” She thought to herself as she dodged around a South Korean in civilian clothes. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out like the Chief of the Navy Seal team’s wife had told her to do. She didn’t feel any better but she didn’t feel any worse either.

As she walked passed a group of mixed nationalities civilians her thoughts got dark again. She pictured her friends once more. They were all dead now except for Val and she had lost her leg. Emily knew she would be able to regrow it but it would take time. She was glad that her friend was safe back in the States.

“Be safe, Val.” She whispered softly to herself feeling depressed.

She found G in the armory. She was putting on some white camo over her uniform. Beside her was Thompson and Muller who were already dressed in white. They were going over their weapons. G looked up as Emily walked into the room and smiled.

“Never, get kitted out. Were going on a patrol.” G told her. “They are sending some of the civies to some towns around the area to act as our eyes and ears. We get to escort them to make sure they make it there safely.”

Emily nodded and took off her backpack. She put on her white camo over her uniform and pulled out her rifle from its case. Thompson handed her several fully loaded magazines while Muller handed her a bullet proof vest. Someone had spray painted the vest and the magazines white.

First Sergeant Hook entered the armory as she was getting ready. “Welcome back, Never.” He said as he walked over to the metal table in the center of the room. He was carrying a rolled up map which he laid out on the table.

“You’ll be escorting four people to four different towns. They are a mix of civilians and military personnel so be gentle with them. They are risking their lives to help us. If you run into any problems, you are to get them to safety. Never, your job here is to lead the enemy away from the civies. You are not to engage them unless there is no other options and if you do, do not let them know that you’re a Main. I mean that. We don’t need them knowing you’re alive.” He told her.

“If the weather gets really bad find a place to hold up, and stay safe. First priority is to keep the people you’re escorting alive and not seen. They have to integrate into their homes without the North learning about it. Now the dark part of your mission. If they are compromised you are to take them out. They cannot lead the North back here.” Hook told them.

“You sure they don’t know about us already?” G said messing with her pack.

“We don’t, but we’ve got intel about the North blowing up a mountain near the coast with a bunker bomb. As far as we know there is nothing there so we hope that was where they thought we were.” Hook told them giving them a shrug and a half smile.

“Let's hope that's the case.” Thompson said slinging his rucksack over his shoulder.

“Agreed. Stay safe and stay away from any contacts.” Hook told them.

Emily was the last to finish getting ready. She followed the rest of her squad out of the armor after grabbing some snow skis. While her weight made skiing problematic it was still better than snowshoes that everyone else was using or just plain boots. Emily’s squad met up with the people they were escorting. There was one elderly lady and two forty-something men with grey hair. The last person was a lumpy slightly overweight thirty-something woman who had a suitcase with her. All four of them were Koreans.

Emily led the group out of the bunker and to the closest town. Emily was directed to the back of the town towards an apartment building. There the lumpy woman left them. The next stop off was a town that was two hours north from the bunker. One of the men left them to sneak into town on his own. They headed west for about an hour and the older woman left in the suburbs of the town. The last man went on his own way about forty-five minutes of traveling south. He was headed towards a pretty large town. He left after they crossed a deserted highway.

Once they got back Hook told them to get some food and warm up. Emily hadn’t noticed but it was freezing outside and walking through the snow had not helped her teammates over the cold. Emily found someone who had made a large pot of hot chocolate and got herself a mug. She was not really hungry but she ate with the rest of her squad. After they ate they were given another assignment by Hook. This time they were to escort six people to a parking garage where they were going to drop them off. They were heading north towards cities and towns near the border. Six hours later Emily led her squad through the darkness of the night back inside the bunker.

Hook gave them the night off. Emily store most of her weapons in the armory but she kept Righteous and the Putin. She hid Righteous in a green duffle bag and her pulled her shirt over her little black knife. She grabbed some food and ate before she headed off to bed. She was told she had an early mission in the morning.

In the morning Emily repeated the previous day with escorting people to different towns. In fact, the following two days were a repeat of the first day. She ended up quite a few groups to various towns. She also had a few missions where her squad would head to a designated area where they would pick up messages left in the form of trash in remote areas. The messages were from some of the people who she had escorted to the towns. The most important messages came nearly two weeks after Emily had dropped off the first group.

The message was from the town where the dumpy looking thirty-something woman had been relocated. Emily’s squad had finished escorting people to towns and were now escorting two civilian dressed South Korean Regular Army soldiers. They would head out to pick up the dead drop messages and Emily’s squad would remain hidden guarding them. The messages themselves were encrypted and so they didn’t know how important the message was until that night.

“Hey, Mandy.” Emily called out as she grabbed a plate by the buffet in the cafeteria. The Sergeant that was in charge of the barrack where she was staying turned around and smiled at her.

“Hey, Never. How’s the outside world?” Mandy asked her with a smile.

“Getting colder everyday. I got tomorrow off because of a blizzard that is coming our way.” Emily told her as she sat down next to her new friend.

“Normally I would be glad to be indoors during the cold weather but after two weeks I could use some time outside.” Mandy told her sounding envious.

“Getting a little stir crazy?” Emily asked before taking a bite of her eggs. It was one of the biggest sources of protein in the bunker and was always there for the taking during any of the meals. Emily wasn’t quite tired of them yet but she was getting there.

“Yes, you meathead I’m getting stir crazy.” Mandy said annoyed.

Emily laughed at her uptight friend. It was odd how she and the straight laced sergeant were getting along. Emily absently wondered if they would have gotten along if there weren’t stuck here in this situation. The other woman’s frown turned into a smile and she shook her head.

“What’s on the schedule for today?” Emily asked her not really caring but wanting to keep the conversation going.

“More inventory. Don’t tell anyone but I found some twinkies in the last storage room. If you’re cool I’ll share them with you.” Mandy said quietly.

“Nice.” Emily said excitedly.

The other woman returned her smile and opened her mouth to say something more but she was interrupted by Thompson who walked into the doorway of the cafeteria and called out her name. “Never. Hook wants us asap.” He said in a loud voice. Everyone in the cafeteria stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

Emily cursed then pushed her tray away from her. “Coming.” She called in return.

Mandy grabbed Emily’s tray and said, “Go save the world. I’ll take care of this.” Emily turned surprised then smiled at the other woman.

“Thanks.” She told her friend then gave her the middle finger. Mandy laughed and returned it.

Emily ran to catch up with the weapons expert. Thompson smiled as she caught up to him. “What’s up hot stuff?” Emily asked him with a smile.

“You can’t quote that movie line anymore because it’s racist.” He told her with a slight smile.

“You know he was from Korea?” Emily told him. “Not the actor but the character he played.”

“You mean Long Duk Dong?” Thompson asked her.

“Are you telling me you watched Pretty in Pink enough times to not only know the movie where that quote came from but also the character’s name Thompson?” She asked him giving him an evil smile.

“My foster parents had a thing for John Hughes’ movies.” He replied with a smile. “You can’t blackmail me with that bit of knowledge because the Amazing Molly Ringwall is an amazing actress and super. I would get with her even though she’s old enough to be my mother.”

“You’re a sick man, you know that Thompson?” Emily said shaking her head in mock disgust.

“Yes.” Thompson replied smiling at her in return.

Emily followed Thompson into the armory still chuckling. Inside G was standing next to Hook who had his arms crossed his chest. G turned and looked at Emily and smiled. “We found him.” G told her.

Emily frowned and replied, “Found who?”

“You’re friend, Si-Woo. The Korean Main. He’s still alive, but he needs our help or he’s going to die.” G replied.