Not on Her Watch

by Nicole Zoltack

  “Twenty people are heading this way,” he said critically. “They can’t be yours, so you must go.”

  “How do you know?” Lela asked. Her gun never wavered from him, which, absurdly, he accepted and even appreciated. He did need to be kept in check.

  Not that a bullet can stop me.

  “I can hear them approaching. Quickly. Leave before they find you. They’ll either kill you or capture you, and you don’t want to become like me.”

  Lela retreated a few steps. “Let’s go, Shauna.”

  Shauna hesitated.

  “Go,” he urged.

  “Or you can come with us,” she said.

  “No. I’ll endanger you all the more. You should flee. All of you. Leave the island and don’t return. There’s nothing here that’s good for anyone.”

  “But—“

  “I don’t know. I don’t know if I can fight this. I don’t know if I’ll survive this. I don’t know much of anything. I’m scared and worried, but I will not be the reason for you two to die. Please, go now!”

  Lela held out her hand. Shauna hesitated.

  So, Neil took the choice out of her hands. He crossed over and rushed away to join up with the Hidden Serpents to ensure they didn’t discover the women. This way, also, they would be able to recover their fallen comrade’s body.

  As much as it pained him, Neil waved and jogged over to the Hidden Serpents. They were crossing a sand-and-dirt area just behind a few rocks from where he and the others had been. The soldiers halted when they spied him. Every single one of them carried some serious firepower, recently used too if his nose wasn’t far off the mark.

  “You fought a battle without me?” he asked, doing his best to sound frustrated and disgusted.

  Well, the frustration was easy enough to convey. He was exceedingly frustrated. Instead of disgusted, however, he was worried. Freedom versus peace was a legitimate concern. The peace the Hidden Serpents were offering wasn’t true peace. Forced peace was oppression. Alejandro was right.

  Peace is our objection.

  Neil swallowed hard.

  “Did you kill any? Where are they? They supposed to be brought in.” Neil gazed over the twenty men and women. None of them were Americans. There weren’t any captives.

  “Orders have changed,” one of them said. “We’re all supposed to head back.”

  “Very well.” Neil walked alongside them until he couldn’t take it any longer. They were going far too slowly.

  He raced along the sand to reach the hidden base. One thought kept him going.

  If the orders had changed, then they didn’t want the Americans alive. Did that mean they would be ordered to kill them soon?

  If he were given a direct order to kill Shauna, would he be able to fight his impulse to obey their commands? How much of himself was him and not them?

  He hadn’t been merely brainwashed, had he been? He had had brain surgeries.

  Or so he had been told. The doctor could have lied to him. Was it possible to affect the memory center of one’s brain? To wipe out old memories but not hinder the creation of new ones? But that hadn’t happened. Somehow, he still remembered Shauna.

  Maybe there was one thing stronger than both peace and freedom.

  Love.

  Chapter 28

  Walking away from there was difficult, but carrying Alejandro was even worse. Shauna couldn’t bear to look at him. She had to cover his face to be able to carry him with her arms wrapped under his armpits.

  Together, she and Lela slowly worked their way back to the cave. While Lela called the Captain, Shauna sat in a corner, her arm wrapped around her bent legs.

  Numb. She was numb.

  No. She only wished she was. Everything was flooding in. More than anything with Venom’s Vengeance and learning his identity, she couldn’t accept what had happened. Alejandro. Dead. His brother, what would happen to him now? And the future Alejandro had wanted… All of it gone and for what?

  Beneath her sorrow, grief, and guilt laid anger. Guilt, yes. She should’ve taken watch. She’d wanted to, but Lela insisted, and then…

  Lela hadn’t been able to make contact yet, so Shauna couldn’t hold back any longer.

  “Why didn’t you wake me up to take watch?” she demanded.

  “Shauna, you haven’t slept like at all. You were tired. I thought…“

  Shauna swallowed her tongue.

  “I tried to wake you,” Shauna said. “I was about to, but Alejandro insisted. He said to let you sleep. He wanted nothing more than for you to rest. He knew you were running yourself ragged trying to do everything you can think of for Nathaniel and the other Marines. So he took a watch and then woke me for a third, and then I woke him for the last one.”

  “You couldn’t wake me?” Guilt twisted in Shauna’s stomach tighter than a snake coiled around its victim. “It’s my fault?”

  “It’s Nathaniel’s fault,” Lela said bitterly.

  “It’s the Hidden Serpents’,” Shauna countered.

  “You just won’t admit it,” Lela said. “He’s gone. That’s not Nathaniel anymore.”

  “Lela, please. I…” Shauna started to rock back and forth.

  The two of them fell silent. Was she in denial? She didn’t know what to think. How do I think Nathaniel feels?

  Bitterness left a foul taste in her mouth. Was she making excuses for him? He wasn’t the same man she had fallen in love with, but she couldn’t just abandon him. They had come here to rescue him. As it turned out, his mind needed to be rescued too.

  But because of him, how many had died? Those severed heads he’d walked around the island with… That was repulsive and reprehensible. Anyone else and she would think it unforgivable. Could brainwashing really wipe out such heinous acts?

  Lela called again, and this time she got through.

  “Is it safe to come?” Lela asked.

  “Yes,” the Captain said. “We’ve had a hell of time—“

  “Yeah, that’s been going around.” Lela disconnected. “Are you ready to go?”

  Shocked to silence at Lela’s curtness, Shauna nodded. Together, they hoisted up Alejandro and walked grimly all the way back to their base without pausing to rest. Shauna’s arms burned from carrying the load, but she didn’t dare complain. Alejandro had always had her back.

  A stupid, reckless notion sprang to mind. One of the girls Alejandro had considered dating had been completely crazy. She read an article once that stated how the military brainwashed all of their members. They claimed it was to prevent them from being brainwashed by the enemy. Case in point, considering Nathaniel, that wasn’t the case. Anyhow, to rebuff her, Alejandro hadn’t just dumped her. Oh, no, that wasn’t his way. No, he basically did a thesis presentation to show her how wrong she was. He didn’t have a spreadsheet, but he fired off at her with fact after fact and shut her right up.

  What if in his research about the military and brainwashing had played a role in what he had done? Clearly, he hadn’t wanted to become like Nathaniel. Maybe he had heard Nathaniel but just didn’t trust him enough to be willing to see if he meant it.

  But he could’ve shot Nathaniel. He didn’t need to shoot himself!

  Nathaniel had shot himself right in the chest. And it had healed! How in the world had that happened? They hadn’t just gotten into Nathaniel’s head. They had messed with his body too.

  Felipe was there waiting for them. The spray of casings on the sand was unreal, but Shauna saw no blood at least.

  He rushed over as soon as he saw them. His dark complexion paled when he noticed Alejandro.

  "What happened?" he asked.

  "We wanted to ask you that," Lela grunted. "Where is everyone?"

  "We moved. We had to. Here." Felipe moved to take Alejandro.

  Neither Shauna nor Lela would give up their hold on their comrade, so Felipe helped lifted Alejandro's core. None of them spoke other than Felipe directing them where to go.

  The new base was another cave,
deeper and with a narrower entrance way. Only one could walk in at a time. If the Hidden Serpents tried to overrun them here, they would pick them off one at a time without fear of being overwhelmed.

  The Captain was a sand-covered monster, but he and the others appeared unharmed. Any blood on their uniforms did not seem to be their own.

  When Captain Jones' saw them bring in Alejandro, he marched right over and removed the covering over his face.

  "Explain," he said, the word indifferent but the look in his eyes was a mixture of anger, grief, and sorrow.

  Before Lela could jump in, Shauna blurted, "During his watch, Alejandro left the cave. He encountered the Venom's Vengeance. I caught up with them in time to witness it."

  "Shot him right in the face." Mack shook his head and slammed his fist into his open palm. "We'll get that Hidden Serpent scum—"

  "The Venom's Vengeance isn't a Hidden Serpent." Shauna took a deep breath. "Nathaniel… While in captivity, the Hidden Serpents brainwashed him. They made him stronger, and they took away his memories. Somehow, he remembered me—"

  "He's not just stronger," Lela cut in. "He's super strong. They turned him into a monster. He picked up a man and broke his back over his knee. Who can do that?"

  "You witnessed him kill a man?" The Captain crossed his arms. "I think you need to start from the beginning."

  Slowly, painfully, with a fair amount of input from Lela, Shauna explained everything.

  "Shepherd's dead. Alejandro killed himself. Our mission has been a failure so far, but we cannot give up now," the Captain said. "So far, only one of the captured Marines seems to have been brainwashed and altered. Maybe the process takes a long while. However, I feel it is safe to figure that they would have unleashed the others if they were ready. We must save the rest of the Marines at any cost."

  "Sir," Shauna said timidly. "What about Nathaniel?"

  "What about him?"

  "He needs to be rescued too."

  The Captain pursed his lips. "Right now, he is dangerous. He is a threat. You say that he remembers you. If they wiped his memories, then he shouldn't. What if he's lying?"

  "Or what if it's a process, and they haven't mastered it yet?" Shauna countered. "How do we know that they haven't been experimenting on some of the civilians? Maybe Nathaniel was the only one to survive so far. We can't just give up on him!"

  "I understand your concerns. Right now, he is not a top priority unless comes at us and threatens another of us."

  "He fought Alejandro because they were battling each other."

  "Alejandro was ordered not to engage the Venom's Vengeance," the Captain said. "He is… was… a good soldier. He would have listened to that order. He wouldn't have even left his post if it weren't for good reason. Venom's Vengeance must have lured him away from his post by using his old face. He tricked him."

  "He's not Venom's Vengeance!" she blurted out. "He's Nathaniel!"

  "Is he? Could Nathaniel handle a gunshot wound to his heart and survive without surgery? No. He's not Nathaniel. I'm not saying that if we have the opportunity to capture him and bring him home to our doctors that we won't. First, though, we have to worry about the Marines who are captured and save them before they become monsters too."

  Shauna couldn't fault his logic even though she felt like her heart was being squeezed to death by a serpent.

  "While you were gone, Hidden Serpents tried to ambush us. Coral was able to hack a single transmission to let us know they were on the lookout near us."

  "I helped too," Mack protested.

  "He did." Coral nodded, but when Mack looked away, she held up her thumb and index finger with hardly any space between them.

  Shauna couldn’t be amused, but Rozene and Felipe chuckled. Lela didn't react. As they were talking, Brook and Hunter were looking over Shauna and Lela for injuries despite Shauna trying to shrug them off. Dawson was posted near the entranceway on lookout detail.

  "There was a way out of that house underground," the Captain said. "We didn't have time to flee, only enough to prepare. We fought them off, killing several before they even were able to reach the door. When they came inside, we fell back to that underground passageway."

  "I blew up the entranceway so they couldn't follow," Dawson said.

  "I wouldn't be surprised if there is a whole system of underground tunnels here," Felipe said. "Rozene and I have been trying to figure out how to find them."

  "Especially considering we're fairly certain their base is underground," Rozene added.

  "Where did your tunnel lead?"

  "To a sandy patch about a mile away," the Captain said.

  "I blew up the exit so there was no way they could give chase," Dawson said.

  He and Alejandro got alone well. Whereas Dawson is fine sleeping with his rifle, Alejandro had wanted more. Stop! Nathaniel's fellow Marines are in danger. Nathaniel is in danger. He could lose himself. It's okay to grieve, but not yet. Once this is over. Once we leave this serpent-infested, God-forsaken place behind.

  "Any paths or offshoots in that passage?" Lela asked.

  The Captain shook his head. "A straight shot."

  "What's the plan now?" Shauna asked, staring at the pile of bodies. How many more would they add to it? Would they be able to extract them all when the time came to leave?

  "They all right?" the Captain asked Brook and Hunter.

  The medical officers nodded.

  "You two need to get some grub and rest up. For now, we're going to sit tight."

  "Sit tight?" Shauna cried.

  "That's an order," the Captain said through gritted teeth. His eyebrows descended over his eyelids like angry vultures. "From now on, we do everything together. Without Shepherd, we can't split up into two complete groups now."

  Shauna swallowed hard. She would love to volunteer to act as the warrant officer, but the Captain would never allow it. Not when she was acting too emotional to make sound judgment calls.

  Was that accurate? Was she being too emotional? How had Nathaniel been able to remember her and only her?

  Regardless, she knew that she was not going to leave Grotto's Bay without him. She would do her damnedest to save him. He wasn't going to fully become Venom's Vengeance, and he wasn't going to die. Not on her watch at least.

  Chapter 29

  Neil was treated just like the other Hidden Serpent soldiers. He was sent to wash and change his clothes before he was sent down to eat. They all were given soup to eat. The others, he noticed, contained no meat, but his had chunks of hamburger in it. At least they hadn't given him steak. He ate the rest of the soup and concealed the meat into a napkin that he then pocketed. Maybe tests could be run on it. And maybe it was just ordinary meat. Maybe the meat just affected a medicine or component they had hotwired into his body.

  The longer he went without the meat, the more he could see. The men around him did not speak of peace. They spoke of war and wanting to kill all non-believers, of isolating the world. Combined with the terrible glint of anger and hatred in their eyes, their speech and appearance proved them to be unhinged.

  It's almost a cult.

  He had eaten alone, but now he grabbed his tray, stood, and walked over to join another soldier. The one he had previously sat across from had just vacated his seat.

  "Can I join you?" Neil asked. He didn't wait for the soldier to reply and sat. "I am—"

  "I know who you are," the soldier said. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "You're Neil Soto."

  "I prefer Venom's Vengeance," Neil said, feigning anger. "Treat me with respect, or else I won't think that peace is your objective. And do you know what I do to people who don't have peace as their objective?"

  Peace is our objective.

  Damn! Would he never be able to think of peace again?

  The soldier gripped his spoon as if it was a knife. "Are you threatening me?"

  Neil smiled. "I don't make threats. Only promises that I keep."

  The soldier took in Neil's smile his
broad shoulders and his huge biceps. Slowly, he lowered the spoon. "What do you want, Venomous Vengeance?"

  "Venom's Vengeance," Neil corrected, legitimately annoyed. "And there's nothing I want from you except to know that you are a genuine Hidden Serpent. Right now, I'm not certain you are."

  "Why not?" He lifted his chin belligerently. His nose was slim, his jawline weak. His skin was slightly darker than a golden copper coin. The soldier looked like most of those indigenous to this island did.

  "Let's just say that others have been talking…" Neil said slowly, glancing over the man's shoulder.

  His face paled. "Who? That rat Solimar said something? He's nothing but a—"

  "Now, now, those aren't exactly peaceful words. Look at you. Your face is all tight with rage, your fists are formed, and you look ready to jump up and kill him." Neil clucked with his tongue. "No. No, no. That's not—"

  "I'm sorry! How can I prove myself?" the soldier asked desperately. Sweat beaded on his forehead. "Please. I will do anything. I'll be better. I won't talk again about how we'll—"

  "You'll stop talking right now and listen. Do you understand?" Neil demanded.

  The soldier opened his mouth, hesitated, and then nodded.

  "Good. I want you to go around. Talk to your fellow soldiers. If you find any who you think might not be fully on board with our way of life, I want you to tell me. Do not let them know they are being watched. Do not threaten them. We don't make threats."

  The soldier nodded. "We make…" He fell silent and dropped his gaze.

  "You can continue."

  "We make promises," he said.

  Neil smiled. "Yes. Report to me by nightfall."

  "I will. Thank you. I'll prove myself. I'm loyal. Don't you worry about me. I…"

  Neil glowered at him.

  "I'll shut up now," the soldier said.

  "Hey, Vervin, you coming?" another soldier called.

  The soldier across from Neil blinked. "May I?"

  "Go."

  Vervin scrambled to his feet, walked away, returned for his tray, and scampered away.

  Good. Those names Vervin came up with might prove worthwhile. Maybe he could uncover some other men like Taroh Darr. Neil was suspicious of the Hidden Serpents, as much as he could be. He would not be surprised if he discovered that Darr had actually been working against the Hidden Serpents. And I killed him for supposedly stealing food. What a fool I have been.