They searched her and took everything she had including her dog tags. They let her keep her stolen clothes but they took her shoelaces. She had no idea why they took them, but she watched them cut the strings and pull them off her boots. When they were done they loaded her up in the Helicopter. They put zip ties on her hands which amused her as she had to try and to not accidentally break them when she moved. She thought about escaping but feared what they might do to her friends if she did. The Helicopters flew northwest and landed at a base somewhere in Mongolia.

She was taken to what looked like a modern conference room where someone had removed all the furniture. They removed the zip ties and left her alone in the room. She thought about busting through the walls and escaping, but again she had worried about what would happen to the others. A different Chinese officer came by later and asked her to move her hair from her face then he took a picture of her. He thanked her and left. She sat back down and waited.

Not long after that a female Chinese officer came by with food and placed it down in front of her. It was obvious to Emily that the woman didn’t speak any English as the woman acted embarrassed when she told Emily that if she wanted anything else to tell her in Cantonese. Emily acted like she didn’t understand. She was not sure what the Chinese knew about her so she acted as ignorant as possible.

The woman left and Emily ignored the food. She knew that she was being stupid and paranoid, but she didn’t want them to slip her anything. She argued with herself telling her if they wanted her drugged they could just gas her. They didn’t have to try and trick her into eating something. Besides, she was pretty sure that her healing powers would prevent anything from happening to her both good and bad.

An hour or so later the same woman came in and apologized as she took the food away. Emily just watched her. Sometime later the door opened again and Ywarl entered looking exhausted. He smiled at her and sat down.

“You okay?” She asked him concerned.

“Yeah, they didn’t have any healers here, so they let me stay and help with the wounded. They just flew in a couple of healers.” He told her leaning up against the wall. He closed his eyes and fell asleep seconds later.

A couple of hours later the door opened once more and two female Chinese in military uniforms entered with two trays of food. Emily nearly laughed when she saw that they had cooked a cheeseburger with fries and a coke. She nodded her thanks, still pretending to be an ignorant American and accepted the trays. She still didn’t eat them though. Ywarl woke up not long after and saw the food.

“Nice.” He said and grabbed the nearest tray. He devoured the food then asked if she was going to eat the rest. She slid the tray over to him and he ate hers.

Not long after that, the door opened once more and Warrant Officer Coleman walked in. He held his hands out and they cut the zip ties off his wrists and he nodded his thanks. Emily and Ywarl stood up.

“Warrant,” Ywarl said smiling. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you two as well. Is this it?” He asked them.

“Si-Woo and Kyo are here somewhere, but yeah that's it,” Ywarl told him. “What happened to you?”

“They caught me crossing the DMZ with some South Korean Regulars. We were coming to help you. Caught us out in the open like stupid greenies.” He told them as he walked across the room and sat down.

“They are claiming the North then?” Ywarl asked the tired Warrant officer.

“For now.” The Warrant Officer said with his eyes closed.

No one said anything else for a long while until the door opened once more. It was the same Chinese female officer that had brought Emily her breakfast. She directed two men who deposited some pillows and blankets. When the men remained in the room with the door open while several women came in with more food. She waited for them to leave before she left, closing the door behind her.

Ywarl went and picked up the trays and brought them back. “We're eating?” He asked the Warrant officer.

“He already ate lunch.” She told the Warrant officer with a smile.

“Hey, you try to heal a bunch of people and see how hungry you are afterward,” Ywarl told them.

“Well since he’s not dead, I say we eat.” Warrant told them.

“Gah, this is worse than fish soup,” Emily said, trying the broth.

“The rice is pretty good,” Ywarl said after he swallowed a large helping of rice.

“It’s hard to mess up rice,” Emily said smiling.

“Tell that to my wife.” Warrant said as he too ate some rice. Emily chuckled politely.

After they ate they were escorted to a bathroom one at a time. Once that was done they set up their bedding and laid down. Emily stayed awake throughout the night keeping a watch on her fellow soldiers. In the morning they were escorted to the bathroom once more than given breakfast. At noon they were given a bathroom break and some lunch then again at dinner time. Emily stayed away once more to keep a watch but pretended to sleep just in case. The next morning was pretty much a repeat of the day before, but just before lunchtime the door opened and American in a very nice suit entered the room.

“How are you guys doing?” The man asked, smiling. Emily thought he looked like a politician. Then he spoke proving she was correct. “I’m Senator Douglas from the great state of New York. I’ve come here to get you guys released.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Senator.” Warrant said standing up. He held his hand out and shook the politician's hand.

“You must be Warrant Officer Coleman? Glad to see you. You’ve done some amazing work and America recognizes its heroes.” The politician said with a big smile.

“You must be Sergeant Emmerson.” The politician said with a big smile. “I’ve seen the video. Great work there. Great work.”

Emily wondered what video but kept her mouth shut. She didn’t like the fact he outed her with her real name. He just technically committed treason. She smiled and shook his hand.

“Don’t you people worry. I’ll get you guys released sometime this afternoon and you’ll be on your way back home tomorrow.” The politician told them with a grave expression. “Amanda, can you come and take a picture of me with these brave soldiers.”

A young pretty looking woman who looked maybe in her late twenties or early thirties with a short mini skirt came in with her phone out. Emily immediately stepped to the side of the room. It took the politician a few seconds to realize that she had done so. He frowned at her.

“Don’t be shy you lady. The American public wants to see their heroes safe and secure.” He told her with another wide smile.

“Sorry, sir. She is not allowed to take any pictures that could be released to the public..” Warrant Officer Coleman said stepping in front of the young woman’s phone.

“That’s all right, Warrant Officer. She can take a picture with me. I’m a senator.” The politician told him.

“I’m sorry sir, but I cannot allow that. If you want a picture you can ask General East. He can authorize one.” Warrant replied.

The Senator was silent for a few seconds then he smiled again but this time it didn’t look as nice as it did before. “That’s ok. How about one of you two? Is that ok?” He asked and to Emily, he sounded condescending.

“Oh, course sir. It would be a great honor to take a picture with you, sir.” Warrant told the politician. The Politician smiled and stood between the two men and put his arms around them.

“Smile for America, boys. I’m about to make you famous.” The Senator told them and his secretary took the picture. Shortly after that, the Senator left telling that he would see them again on American soil.

“What a tool.” Warrant said after the political left, making both Emily and Ywarl laugh.

The Senator was true to his word and the next day they were driven to an airfield where they met up with a bunch of other American soldiers from the fifth. There were about a hundred of them all sitting in a commercial plane run by Chinese stewardesses with bright white gloves and dark blue uniforms.

As soon as they boarded the plane someone yelled out Ywarls name and he smiled. He left them to go sit by a pair of women that had medic insignia on their uniforms. He turned halfway down the aisle and gave Emily a shrug and a smile. Emily had to laugh and left him to their mercy. Warrant left her when a lieutenant called out his name and invited him to the first-class cabin. Left alone Emily found a seat by a quiet handsome soldier.

He sat up and looked scared when she sat down and made the seat creak. “HI, I’m Jamison, like the whiskey.” He said holding out his hand for her to shake.

“People call me Never,” Emily replied smiling and shook his hand.

The man’s eyes went wide and he smiled. “Are you really her?” He asked Emily. As people started to look at her.

“Are you really you?” Emily replied then winched at the horrible come back.

Luckily the man laughed. He was an interesting man. He was a combat engineer who had been captured and spent two months in a concentration camp. “It wasn’t all that bad you know. It was just really cold and they didn’t feed us all that much.” He told her. “Other people had it worse you know. The guys who had been there the longest were in rough shape. They were shipped back early this morning. I hope they are doing all right.” He said and looked out the window sounding really sad.

Emily ended up talking to many of the people on the plane. Most of them were survivors of the concentration camps. They didn’t talk about their time in the camps all that much but they did like to talk about their homes and families. Mostly Emily just sat there and listened feeling bad that she never did anything to try and rescue them. Several stories reminded her of the single prison break she had been on and how she left those people behind to die.

Some of them knew who she was and saw her at the bunker a few times, but most of them only knew her by reputation. She did meet a girl who bunked with her in the same barracks. The woman's eyes were haunted, and she didn’t talk that much. She hugged Emily tightly when she sat down beside the woman. Emily held the woman as she cried and felt bad when a flight attendant came and told her that she needed to go back to her seat so that the plane could land. Emily looked out the plane to keep from thinking about what had happened but all she could think about was what must have happened to the woman.

They landed in Northern Japan at an airforce base and changed planes. The Special Forces group or what was left of them were directed to another plane while the rest of the soldiers were boarded on another commercial plane heading to Hawaii. Emily found the Major and G on the same plane with her as they boarded. Most of the left side of G’s face was covered in gauze and she talked with a lisp. Emily hugged G and tried not to cry. She failed and cried along with her best friend.

The smaller plane flew to Hawaii as well, but they landed at a Navy base instead of the Air force base that the rest of the freed American soldiers landed at. There was a small crowd waiting for them when they landed. G ran to her husband and hugged him crying hysterically. Emily watched the dorky hug his wife with tears in his eyes. Emily looked around at the other members of her OD team. She was the only one without a family. She felt a deep sense of loneliness creep painfully over her. Then she heard her name.

“Never!” Someone in the crowd called out.

Emily looked around then stopped in shock. Val or Valkyrie walked through the crowd waving like crazy. She ran up that last few steps and gave Emily a hug lifting her into the air. Emily had never laughed so hard in her life. She hugged her tightly back. She looked over Val’s shoulder and saw Michael or as she nicknamed him EXO holding another man’s hand standing behind them.

Val put Emily down and looked at her. “Did you lose some weight?” She asked Emily.

“Starvation does wonders for my waistline.” She replied then immediately felt bad for saying that to her friend. To her relief, Val laughed.

Okay, so we have something to tell you. Michael?” Val said, pulling Emily away from the plane.

“Why me?” He asked Val.

“Because it was your idea,” Val said sternly.

“Fair enough.” Michael replied “You remember when I said I was going to write a book about you? Well, it got turned into a Movie.”

“A what?” Emily asked shocked.

“Never, you ok?” G asked, pulling away from her husband.

“They made a movie about me,” Emily said shocked.

“Oh, that was about you? It’s an awesome movie. Hey you’re Valkyrie, right? Aren’t you up for an Oscan? Wait, can I have your autograph.” G’s nerdy husband asked wide-eyed, still holding on to his wife.

“What the hell, Val?” Emily asked, feeling overwhelmed.

“Welcome back, Emily. I missed you.” Val said as she reached out and hugged Emily once more.

The End of book 2

For real this time.