“Oh, I know, I know. You’re concerned about your female. Worry not, she’ll be tended to. She’s been an exemplary tool to warrant your cooperation. As such, she’s highly regarded, and sought after I might add, by the other squads. The next squad leader she’s assigned to will do well to model your behavior.”
One did his best to reach for the doctor, to simply wring the life from his body with his own hands, but his muscles didn’t cooperate. All he did was cause his fingertips to twitch.
“You know, One… I’d think you were rather ungrateful if I put any credence into the look on your face.”
One tried to speak, to move anything, to respond at all, but he couldn’t. Then suddenly he was being lifted from the tarmac by rough hands and carried toward a waiting private plane across the tarmac from the one they’d arrived on.
“Rest assured, One! Your squad is remaining intact. They’ll all be going along with you! Oh! And I’ve advised Mr. Montagna to get you your own female since it seems to please you so well. Farewell, Squad A! It has been a pleasure!” Dr. Waller called, standing and waving toward One and his males as they were carried onto the waiting plane. They were each secured in place, bound more heavily than needed, and warned that if they tried to escape or harm any of the people who were in the employ of their new owner, they'd be killed without hesitation.
One was propped in an aisle seat. Drugged and paralyzed as they were, he still couldn’t move. He strained his peripheral vision to try to see anything at all. Anything that would give him a starting point of reference for when he killed these fuckers and started his trek back to the facility that was the only thing in his memory and the female waiting for him there. He was going to kill everyone. Every fucking one of them. Then take his female and leave it all to burn and crumble to the ground in shambles. They were all going to pay.
Chapter 12
It had been many meals since One and his squad left Nina in their cell block. She couldn’t ever remember them being away this long. There was nothing she could do, so she just kept on with everything she usually did.
The chains on the doors jangled slightly, and Nina had learned that it meant Hal was coming in with her meal. When he came alone, he didn’t make as much noise as he did when he was accompanied by other guards.
Nina stayed seated on her bunk and waited for him to enter. The minute he stepped inside the cell block, she could tell something was off. He wouldn’t look her in the eye.
“Morning,” Hal said, still not looking up. He set her covered plate and her cup on the floor outside her cell. He never ventured into her cell. He seemed to think that was crossing the line.
“Morning,” she answered.
Nina knew this guard was different from the rest. He wouldn’t hurt her. She got to her feet and walked toward the dishes he’d placed on the floor for her. As she approached, he backed up.
“Thank you,” she mumbled, then turned to take her food back to her bunk.
“I’m sorry,” he said, still looking at the floor.
“For what?” she asked, turning to face him.
“I wish I could do something. I just want you to know I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?” Nina pressed.
Hal shook his head and hurried toward the door.
Nina listened as the chains were put back in place and the doors secured again. She looked down at the food in her hands and set it shakily on the bunk before going to the toilet in the corner to throw-up. She heaved as her eyes filled with tears — she had no doubt, One and his squad had either failed, or been killed. They wouldn’t be back, and what that meant for her was that her temporary safety was over.
Nina returned to her bunk and placed the dishes on the floor before climbing onto the bunk and curling up in the blankets that covered it. She didn’t know who she was sorrier for, herself, or One, or Two. The whole damned squad had become a constant in her life, but One was the one that kept her safe, and Two was the one with the softest, kindest heart she’d never expected to encounter.
Hours later the doors burst open, and Dr. Waller strode in followed by ten guards and five males in chains.
Nina jumped to her feet and stood glaring at them all through the bars of the cell she’d shared with One.
“Nina! Good evening, dear. I’ve some bad news, and some good news. Bad news first, eh?” he asked.
Nina didn’t answer, she simply stood her ground, refusing to let him see her squirm, or cry, or throw-up again.
“You see, Squad A has graduated the training academy here. They’ve gone on to bigger and better things. I asked One if he wished to take you with him, and he declined. So, that means you get to stay here with me and help me graduate another squad.”
Dr. Waller paused to give Nina a chance to answer. When she didn’t, he forged ahead. “You don’t speak much, do you? Perhaps that’s why One enjoyed your company so much,” he said, his smile dropping and becoming a sinister glare. “Regardless, this is your new squad. Meet the males of Squad R.”
Nina’s brows drew down as she realized what he’d said.
“Yes, yes, I can see the wheels turning. I did say Squad R. And your little mind is calculating just how many squads I must have in process to be giving you to Squad R. Let’s just say I have doubled the alphas on the newer squads call signs. Anyway, these males have been assigned to this cell block. As you live in this cell block, you’ve been assigned to them.” Dr. Waller stepped closer to her and lowered his voice. “You will make yourself invaluable to these males just as you did with One. This is your new reality. You will do your part with squad after squad after squad until you either die or become used up. You will make them wish to please me so they can come home to you. Whether you endear yourself to one of the males, or all of them, I care not, as long as they do as they’re told. Or you will be thrown in with the males that we house in the basement because they’re so violent they can’t be handled. Am I clear?”
Again, Nina remained quiet, but she began to tremble when she noticed the steady, rapid rise and fall of the male’s chests, and the amber and black of their eyes. These males had been drugged as though they were going out on assignment, or for training purposes. They’d be out of their minds with lust and anger. Her lower lip began to tremble as much as her body was.
“I see we understand each other. Now, may I introduce your new One and his four males?” he said, stepping aside and sweeping his hand in the direction of the group of males standing behind him. “Gentlemen, your live in reward. Her name is Nina, and she loves to please.”
“Unchain them. Then, leave them to claim their own cells, their own female,” Dr. Waller said to the guards, striding toward the doors. “Let’s leave them to get acquainted.”
“Don’t you want to assign them a cell?” one of the guards asked as he unshackled one of the males.
“I’d rather leave them to settle it all between them. We’ll see who comes out on top,” Dr. Waller said, cackling with laughter as he passed through the doors.
The first of the males began to move toward Nina. She backed up slowly, knowing better than to run. As the other males were released, one by one, they joined the first, stalking her into the far corner of the cell she used to consider her safe place. The first male grabbed her, forcing her to the bunk. The second male grabbed her, trying to take her from the first. They went to blows. The third male reached for her, then the fourth and the fifth. Before she knew it, all five were battling one another for the right to take her first. The fifth one realized all he had to do was stop fighting and slip away with her in his arms, which is exactly what he did. He sprinted down the cell block before stopping and forcing her to her hands and knees. He mounted her and had just begun a rhythm when blood curdling roars and snarls filled the room. The other males realized he’d slipped away with their reward.
Suddenly, she felt the impact as the other four males dove for them, separating them and knocking them to the ground. Nina didn’t scream, but she
couldn’t help the tears that ran down her face. The males were still fighting, one would grab her, then another would snatch her away. Her flesh was torn and bruised. She’d been hit by a stray fist a time or two, and all she wished for was One. Her One. Then everything went black as she was shoved too hard during the fight for supremacy, and her head impacted the cement floor.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Eighteen months later
Retired General Ferriday sat on the porch of his grand home in the flat plains of the state of Texas. He looked at the documents in his hand, carefully taking the time to read them before looking up at the man seated beside him.
“You’re sure?”
“I am, sir. They’re alive. They’ve been sighted,” Roscoe confirmed.
“Were they approached?”
“Yes, sir. The man we believe to be Larsen was. Our man called out his name. He gave no indication of recognition. In fact, we thought he planned to attack until he was rushed by another of his men to escape without incident.”
“What the hell is happening here?” General Ferriday murmured.
“I don’t think they were there at will. There are collars around their necks.”
“Collars?!” the General asked, shocked.
“Yes, sir. And the collars seemed to be computerized in some way. There was a light pulsing on them.”
“You’re sure they were the ones to blow up the refinery?”
“Yes, sir. There’s no doubt.”
“Who have you told?” General Ferriday asked.
“No one, sir. Just you. I told the investigatory panel there was no conclusive evidence of anyone or anything. Just that it appeared to be a team working together as opposed to one man.”
“Very good,” Ferriday said, sitting back in his rocking chair. “Makes me wonder about all the other men that have gone missing. How many could be out there?” he asked, looking off into the distance.
“We believe we’ve located four other teams of five. We’ve not put names to all the faces yet, but we’re pretty sure these men are ours. They’re spread all over the world. Two seem to be intact teams just as they were when they were black ops. The others are a mix up of men from different squads. But, we believe at one time or another, they were all ours.”
General Ferriday shook his head, his mind racing. “Find them. Find as many as you can, follow them back to wherever they’re coming from. We have to bring these men home again. If those collars are keeping them in line, we have to find a way to disable them. These men need to come home.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Once you’re sure you’ve tracked them down, you let me know. You come here and personally let me know. I’ve got more than a few favors to call in. And I have a bevy of specially trained men that would stop at nothing to bring their military brothers back home. Do not call me, Roscoe. You come to me face to face.”
“I will come back here personally the moment I first track any of them.”
“We’ll have to determine if it would be better to go after one team at a time, or all at the same time with separate teams of our own,” General Ferriday said.
“Most likely, separate teams of our own all at once, so they don’t have time to warn each other in the event they’re in contact some how.”
“You’re right. I have calls to make. You have leads to run down,” Ferriday said.
“Yes, sir. I do,” Roscoe said, standing. He waited until General Ferriday looked up at him, then he saluted him. He held the pose until Ferriday saluted back. Then he stuck his hand out to shake the General’s hand.
“I’ll be in touch, sir.”
“I’ll be waiting. I’ll have everything ready when you do. Be patient, we can’t have them go underground.”
“We’ll be careful, sir.”
General Ferriday watched as one of the few men he trusted in the world got in a car with two others and drove away. He watched until he could only see the faint cloud of dust their car made as it finally drove off his twenty-seven hundred acre ranch. He listened to the faint beep he heard from inside his home as they approached the gate at the front of his property and waited for the gate to open so they could leave. He waited for the double beep signaling that the gate was once again closed. Then opened the folder on his lap once more and went through the photos inside. He stopped when he got to one of a man dressed totally in black, including a black mask over his face. The only thing showing was his eyes. A stunning hazel, the green and gold radiating from the pupil in a sun like display, eyes that he’d recognize anywhere. His best friend had eyes like that. They’d always earned him the most attention from the girls in school when they were growing up. His best friend had died in his arms in Afghanistan long before the U.S. was supposed to be in Afghanistan.
The only other person he’d ever known with eyes that color was his best friend’s son. He looked down at the photo again. “I’m coming for you, Maddox. Don’t know what the hell you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in, but I’m coming.”
General Ferriday stood from his seat and walked into his house, allowing the screen door to slap shut behind him. He stopped beside an old yellowed, framed photo of two young men, smiling at the camera like they thought they were ten feet tall and bullet proof. “I’m gonna find him, Hank. I’m keeping my promise just like I said I would. I’m gonna look after him. I’m gonna bring him home and look after him. Don’t you worry.”
General Ferriday stood at attention and saluted the framed photo before going to his bedroom to place the folder he held in the hidden safe in the wall. He took his personal address book out of the safe and went back into his kitchen. He took a handful of printer paper from the printer sitting on his small desk and carried it over to the kitchen table. He needed more room to spread out than the small desk allowed. He opened his address book and started with the first name and number. He wrote the name at the top of the paper in very small, very precise handwriting. Then he dialed the number.
“Yeah?” a voice on the other end said, nearly drowned out by the raucous shouting and loud music.
“This is General Ferriday,” he said.
The voice on the other end could practically be heard standing, snapping to attention. “Sir! Yes, sir!” the voice responded.
“I may need you, Sergeant Acker. I believe we have brothers who are reported missing, yet are being held against their will both here and abroad. Are you available?”
“Absofuckinglutely, sir!”
Chapter 13
Seven months later
General Ferriday sat at the head of the table in a large, metal building. Surrounding him were ex-military from all walks of life. Some had flown in on private jets, others had driven in in their POS pickup trucks, others had roared in on their Harleys with several brothers-in-arms flanking them. After finishing their tour, they all fell into different places with different goals. But they all had one more thing in common than just having served. They all agreed that no man was left behind. And today, they’d arrived of their own free will to do their part to free those they believed were being forced into service against their will.
General Ferriday looked around the tables. There were more than eighty men here, each anxious to do their part. He’d been involved with each of them at one point or another during their service to their country, either during training, active duty, or assisting them and their families after they’d left the military. They each had an unquestionable loyalty to him, and on hearing what he believed he and Roscoe had discovered, they were committed to help.
“So basically what I’m saying is we are completely clueless. All we know is there are multiple facilities. They appear from the outside to be hospitals or asylums, and they’re always remotely located. They’ve got armed guards posted at each and the perimeter is completely fenced in. We’ve not been able to breech any of them yet as we didn’t want to raise any alarms. But we know they’re there. We’ve tracked two teams back to two different facilities. Each time, they are extrac
ted from the mission they’ve completed by white, non-descript vans. One of the teams was tracked to a private airport, from there we were able to view flight logs and determine where the plane was headed. We deployed a team there and were able to locate another facility just as we expected.
It seems the missions start small, then escalate in difficulty and danger until that team goes missing temporarily. We believe they are going through a training phase, then graduating to the next level. We’ve only located seven of the teams that went off our radar. They are now working for private enterprise. One is in Columbia, another in Saudi Arabia, one here in the states. We believe there is another in Geneva and two in Singapore, another in Kazakhstan,” Roscoe explained.
“That you know of,” one man commented.
“Exactly. There could be dozens more. But they are so well trained, they’re in and out. We can’t track what we can’t see. These men are ghosts,” Roscoe answered.
“How do you know they don’t want to be there?” a voice from the back asked.
“They wear what appears to be an electronically controlled metal collar. We believe they are being held against their will, forced to perform whatever is asked of them.” Roscoe used the remote in his hand to bring up the photo that General Ferriday had spent so many hours pouring over, and display it on the white board behind himself. “We believe this is Lieutenant Maddox Larsen. We encountered him, called him by name. There was no indication of recognition.” Roscoe clicked the controller again and another photo came up. It was grainy, but it was easy to see that there were four men with him as they ran for the chopper waiting to take them away.
“We believe three of these men are his team. They all disappeared at the same time almost three years ago. The fourth man, we don’t know, but it was clear he was working with them. We don’t know what’s going on. But it’s obvious these men are being controlled. Possibly had their minds fucked with. They need to come home. If they choose to go back, so be it. But they are reported missing in action, or dead. Lieutenant Larsen is listed as dead. He supposedly died while in custody. Yet we believe this is him. And if you look at the dossiers of each of his squad, they all volunteered for a testing project. As did many of the men who’ve gone missing and/or died. We believe we’ve identified several of the men in the other teams as well. But regardless of who they are, these men… they need our help,” Roscoe said.
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