The Midnight Files

CHAPTER ONE

 

Alex heard the footsteps, but decided to ignore them. K Unit was not the only unit here that despised his presence, and if he made eye contact, then the other men saw an opportunity to jeer at him.

 

He was sitting on a tree stump at the top of a fairly tall hill. Most of the scenery consisted of thin pines and cedars. The few large trees had been cut down to stumps, like the one Alex was sitting on.

 

Most of the tents in the SAS camp were barely visible from where he sat. All Alex could see was camouflage green of the tents and a lot of red and dark dirt when he was turned towards them.



The sergeant had finally told them to leave after a brutal workout. Alex used his free time away from everyone else. There was no one he wanted to spend time with here.



“I expected you to go ahead and tell the sergeant what I did, but you didn’t. What I should have expected was you to tattle when I wasn’t around.”


Alex glanced confusedly over his shoulder at Wolf, then his eyes traveled back to the knife in his hand.

 

“What are you going on about?” he asked disinterestedly. Continuing to whittle the piece of wood in his hands with the sharp knife, Alex waited for an answer.

 

His only warning was the irritated growl from behind his back, then Wolf pushed him off the stump he had been sitting on. The Swiss Army knife flew into the air and Alex stood up heatedly.



“What the hell was that for?” he yelled.



“You know very well what,” Wolf snarled and pushed Alex back a step.

 

Eyes flashing, Alex glanced around to see if he would have any witnesses if things got dirty, but no one was around. Just Wolf, himself and the surrounding woods.



“You waited until it was dark, then you snuck off to tell the sergeant that I pushed you in the killing house.” Wolf finished mocking and crossed his arms tightly across his chest, all the while he glared at Alex with disgust. “I’ve seen you leaving at night, and now I know what you’re doing.”



Alex blinked and felt a slight blush enter his face. Wolf narrowed his eyes at the guilty look that Alex could not hold back in time.



“I knew you were a spoiled brat,” Wolf said slowly, “should have realized you were a coward as well. Only a coward waits until all eyes are off him before sneaking off to whine--”



“Will you please shut up,” Alex said in exasperation. “I did not run off and tattle to anyone. Yes, I think that you should have had punishment for pushing me into the trip wires, everyone blames me for it, but truthfully I didn’t expect any better from you, I’m over it, you should move on to.”


Turning away, Alex walked a few steps before bending over to pick up his tossed aside knife.



“I know you did it,” Wolf said calmly. “I saw you leave the tent last night, and the next morning I’m getting glares from the sergeant and being assigned cleaning duties.”



Glad he was facing the opposite direction, Alex refrained from rolling his eyes as he walked down the hill and away from his angry teammate.

 

For a man in his late twenties, Wolf’s attitude reminded him of that of a child.



……………………………….....



It was hard for Alex to sleep in this new place. That was the real reason why he had snuck off, as Wolf called it. The tent got hot at night, Alex was not one to complain, but his bed was bloody uncomfortable. Besides that, the smell of cigarette smoke always hung in the air and Eagle tended to snore if he slept on his back.

 

The bout of sleeplessness had started quite suddenly and he found himself unable to concentrate in his classes during the past day or two. In the mornings his eyes would burn from lack of sleep and after two days he had had enough.



It was surprisingly easy to get out of the tent without disturbing anyone. Then he would go to sleep under a nearby oak tree. He would wait until the rest of K Unit were asleep, and carefully escape the uncomfortable confines of the metal bunk, and quietly open the tent flap.

 

The fact that Wolf had seen him leave the tent in the middle of the night was an insult to Alex’s spying abilities, and now he could not help but question himself. Had he been found out because Wolf was a trained soldier…or because Alex was really terrible when it came to the art of sneaking about?

 

Was that really a bad thing if it was true, if so maybe he still had a chance of changing the minds of Blunt and Mrs Jones?



Incredibly unlikely, he scolded himself mentally. Alex was too far into training to change his mind, or anyone else’s now. He’d been to the SAS training ground, been taught skills that would help him in the mission MI6 had for him. If he changed his mind now, MI6 was more likely to make his remaining life miserable then set him free.


“Double O Nothing, you’re wanted by the Sergeant,” Wolf snapped as he came inside the tent just to throw his jacket onto his bunk.


Nodding, Alex left for the Sergeants’ office, which was only a small building located to south of the training ground.



“New orders, Cub,” the sergeant said as he leaned back in his seat. “Something’s come up, and because of that you will be here for another week,” the man finished with an almost feral smile.



Alex felt himself pale just slightly at the thought of staying around the ever hostile Wolf for another week.

 

He was so very dead. However, the sergeant had made it clear the first day that the teen should only speak when asked a question. Because of that, Alex stood there silently and waited for the man to dismiss him.


“I already have a four day survival trek planned for your unit…the rest of your unit have not been informed of this.”



Alex nodded and noticed the dismissal, but his rising curiosity kept him from going out the door.



“Sir, why did Wolf get kitchen duty?”



The man paused from his reading and looked up at Alex. “I have my reasons, and while I understand that Wolf may take it out on you, know that I would have given him the same punishment had he done the same to any other member of his unit. Get back to your tent, Cub. You leave first thing tomorrow morning,” with that being said, the sergeant looked back at his file and Alex left.



It was with great reluctance that Alex walked towards the tent that he shared with the rest of the K Unit. Although he was sure that he would need his rest, he was also sure that Wolf would be in the tent--unless he was in kitchen duty.

 

Dinner had not ended too long ago, the mess of trays and food scraps was probably still a large mess. If he was there though, then the glares would hit Alex full force.



He could understand Wolf hating him. Alex was a minor, and he had been shoved into Wolf’s unit without a warning to any of them.

 

Alex had heard more then one man making subtle yet humorous jabs towards K Unit for being stuck with a kid. While Alex could understand their feelings toward him, it did not lessen his resentment towards them for feeling that way.

 

He did not want to be here. Even though Mr. Blunt had given him a choice: either work for them, or be sent to the Saint Elizabeth Institution, which was known for its unpleasantness.

 

Also, if Alex chose not to spy, Jack would have been sent back to America. He would not have been able to stand that, and so he was sent to Brecon Beacons.
Some men from other units were talking in low voices near K Unit’s tent. Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Alex walked closer to them and ignored the silence that descended. One man went as far as to stick his foot out in Alex’s path.

 

Stepping over the limb swiftly and without stopping his pace, Alex ignored their chuckles and entered his shared tent.
K Unit was smoking over a deck of cards. Fox glanced around and put out his cigarette at the sight of Alex.

 

The others did not bother and talked and laughed around their glowing cigarettes. Not bothering to change, Alex slumped onto his bunk and wished for a privacy screen. He was not shy, but knowing that a man who had it out for him also had a clear view of him sleeping, was a bit intimidating.


Rubbing his eyes, Alex flopped onto his back and rolled onto his side. He would block out their voices and sounds of mirth knowing that they were wasting precious hours that should be used for sleeping.

 

But then, K unit did not know they were being sent off on a four day trek tomorrow morning. Alex smiled slowly into his arm. The sergeant had not told him to tell the rest of K Unit, just said that they did not know….



As he smiled on his face took on a sly edge, Alex rolled onto his stomach to completely block out the light and waited for sleep to come.


……………………………….....



The next morning Alex awoke earlier then usual. He opened his sore eyes and without moving his head he looked around the tent. From his position on his side, he could see the other members of the K Unit still lying on their bunks. Eagle was snoring loudly as no one had taken up the job of making sure he slept on his side. Snake had his head covered with the thin blanket, but Alex could hear his steady and deep breaths.



The sky was still dark and there was a chill in the tent that made Alex want to bundle under the covers. Usually they would have about an hour or two left to sleep but the teen had a feeling that the sergeant was going to demand that they were ready to go before dawn.
Quietly, as he did not want the men yelling at him for waking them up, Alex got up. He winced slightly as he put his clothes on.

 

There were several bruises on his back, sides and legs from his training, and the rough material rubbed against them uncomfortably.
After he was dressed, Alex decided to head to the mess hall by himself. As he moved to the flap, his eye caught one of the many boxes of matches they had lying around.

 

Thinking back to their hike the other day, when K Unit could not get their fire started, it seemed to Alex that even though many of them smoked, they never had matches when they were needed.

 

Without really thinking about what he was doing, Alex shoved the matches into his back pocket.
Alex glanced around to see if any of the K Unit had woken up yet. None of them were awake, but Eagle was snoring loudly and it seemed Wolf was drooling slightly.

 

Alex bit his lip and hoped he could hold back his laughter until he got out of the tent. Striding out of the tent with his hand covering his mouth, Alex ran straight into the sergeant.



Mirth quickly forgotten, Alex started apologizing to his sergeant, who he had ran into in his haste.



“I’ll excuse your hasty manner for being the first of your unit awake,” the man said stiffly as he dusted of his chest.



“Thank you, sir,” Alex replied with relief.



The sergeant nodded, “Go get something to eat Cub, the rest of your unit will be along soon.”



Alex nodded and left the sergeant to sound the wake up call. At the entrance of the mess hall Alex stopped to listen to the sergeant rage on.


“Get up you lazy slobs!” The man’s voice rang out loud and clear and a few soldiers eating or smoking turned their heads. “Put a cork in it Eagle! Wipe your face of Wolf, you drooled all over yourself!”



Alex smirked with amusement and a few men laughed or grinned. Entering the metal building, Alex headed for the line. The mess hall was set up like Alex’s school cafeteria, the only thing different was the fact that the food was worse and these were men not teenagers.



After he had grabbed a few slices of toast and an apple, Alex went to find his table. The first time Alex had came to the mess hall he had had a hard time finding a place to sit. K Unit wanted nothing to do with him and it was very uncomfortable trying to sit with any other unit, but there was always one table that no one sat at, and Alex sat there.

 

Alex did not mind sitting alone, in fact he preferred it. He started eating slowly and watched the door, he wanted to be in the Mess Hall when K Unit entered.



Not long after, Wolf led the way into the mess hall with the other trailing after sleepily. They looked irritated and half awake as they walked heavily to the food line.
Alex watched them as he picked at his food, they had gathered there food and headed for a table.
After eating Alex headed outside, once he had exited the mess hall he headed for his sergeants office. It was there that the sergeant would inform him and the rest of K Unit about there task.

 

He planned on just waiting outside the doors of the office until the sergeant sent out the call for him and his unit, he had nothing better to do but wait anyway.
It only took a few minutes before the speakers attached to the roof of the mess hall sounded out, “K Unit report to your sergeants office immediately.”
Alex smiled grimly as he watched the doors to the Mess Hall open.

 

His unit came out, Eagle trying to swallow down a piece of toast before he reached the sergeants office.

 

Even from where he was, Alex could see Wolf’s deep frown when he spotted the bane of his existence already leaning against the walls of the office. Alex smirked at him and Wolf’s eyes narrowed as he scowled fiercely.

 

With one final look Wolf went to the sergeant’s office door and knocked.


“Enter,” came the sergeants voice. K Unit filed in leaving Alex to enter last, the sergeant looked up from a stack of papers he was reading over.


“Ready to go are you?” he asked and without waiting for an answer he stood and came to stand in front of them.



Wolf blinked and glanced at Fox who gave a subtle shrug. They were obviously at loss as to what to say and the sergeant’s eyes narrowed to slits.


“Cub, you didn’t tell them?” The man did not seem angry, he did not even feign surprise.
Eagle, Fox and Snake glanced at Alex who placed a blank expression on his face. “Must

have slipped my mind, sir,” he said.



Alex saw Wolf’s hands clench in anger, and the sergeant raised an eyebrow.



“Well, just so you will know, I’m sending you to your first wilderness survival course. You’ll be supplied with the necessary equipment to survive a four day hike. The jet which will take you to your drop-off point, we will be leaving in thirty minutes, I suggest you suit up.”



The sergeant paused when K Unit did not move, but his yell got them moving and they rushed out of the office to get ready.



……………………….



Half an hour later, Alex and the rest of K Unit were being loaded into a transport helicopter. The pilot was checking controls in the cockpit and all the needed supplies was being secured.



Wolf shoved Alex out of the way to get the seat closest to the door, but the teen rolled his eyes and moved toward the back of the small cabin. Alex buckled himself in and grasped the side of his seat.

 

The pilot said something over the radio and a moment later Alex felt and heard the blades start to rotate. Soon, the airflow lifted the helicopter off the ground. The sound of the rotors was loud above Alex’s head.

 

The pilot increased the thrust produced by the tail rotor and Alex was pushed against his seat as they suddenly swerved to the right. He had been flying once before with his uncle, Ian, only once, but that time they been inside a closed space with windows and a cheery atmosphere. Here it was harsher, and he felt a bit queasy as the pilot swerved back to the left.

 

Glancing to the right of himself, Alex saw that Wolf looked a little green. Eagle, Fox and Snake however looked quite content.
They continued to fly and Alex eventually felt better as he got used to the way the engine made his seat vibrate, and how fast the aircraft managed to change direction.

 

Alex was not sure how much longer they had to go, he had a map which was marked at their drop point and the place they would have to reach in four days. But it lay in his backpack under his seat, and Alex did not want to try and retrieve it.
They suddenly slowed and Alex glanced at the cockpit to see the pilot talking into a radio. He frowned. The pilot looked less composed then he had been five minutes earlier.

 

Alex could not hear what was being said over the sounds of the engine, but the pilot kept peering out the window on his left.

 

Alex looked at the rest of his unit. They had not yet noticed anything was wrong.
The helicopter swerved to the side a lot less smoother then they had been flying. The force of it made Alex’s head hit the side of the helicopter. Then the aircraft swerved dangerously to the right again and Alex realized that something was wrong.

 

The pilot was talking urgently into the radio and Wolf was yelling something at the others.

 

Even over the rotors, Alex heard the bullets hit the side of the helicopter near the tail rotor and engine--and also near him. At the same time a high pitched alarm started ringing, and a light was flashing above the pilot’s head.

 

Alex lost his hand hold as the aircraft suddenly started descending rapidly without warning.



“Cub!” He barely heard the yell and saw Eagle gesturing for him to hold on to something.
Before he had time to grab onto his seat, the second wave of bullets hit the cockpit. Alex saw blood on the controls right before his head was jerked back as the aircraft started spinning in air.

 

Wolf was yelling instructions from his seat and Alex was pushing himself into his chair, his hands grasping the seat so tight that they hurt.
The helicopter was sideways and Alex clenched his teeth together as he saw green tree tops. They were going to crash, he realized and clenched his eyes--a second later the rotors met the ground.

 

There was a horrible sound as they were torn apart from the rest of the helicopter. Bits of flying metal hit the side of the cabin adding to the jarring K Unit already felt. Even worse, they started flipping, twice the cabin turned and Alex closed his eyes from the sight.

 

The seat belt was the only thing that kept him from being tossed around inside the cabin.
Suddenly--everything stopped. The rolling cabin hit a massive object in its path and even though they could feel the tremors, the object did not budge.

 

In frightened awe, Alex opened his eyes. It was hard to discern what he was looking at, the helicopter had stopped rolling at an angle and Alex’s legs were dangling.

 

The urge to escape his confines grasped at Alex and panic made his breath catch. Both his hands were shaking and reaching for his seat belt, they fumbled and shook as shock started setting in.



“Come on!” Alex whispered in agitation and he finally found the clasp. He fell out of his seat to the ground and Alex scrambled to the door--but stopped himself.
Alex took a deep breath and turned back to where his unit were. He had to help them. He took a cautious step forward--and the cabin made a groaning sound before tilting up.

 

Gasping, Alex fell forward and the cabin rocked once before standing still again. Snake suddenly groaned and Alex shot back to his feet and stumbled toward him and the others.



“Snake?” he asked and the man opened his eyes.



When the cabin had shifted and righted itself, it had turned to the right and now the seats were back in the original position. Alex unbuckled the man and was glad that their legs no longer dangled, he doubted he could have caught a full grown man.

 

Draping his arm under one of Snake’s arms, Alex lifted the man without to much difficulty and glanced at the others.

 

Wolf was obviously unconscious, however Eagle was shifting and Fox--Fox looked like hell.

 

He had a gash in his head and it was bleeding copious amounts down the side of his face.

 

Alex cursed as he noticed and Snake turned his head to look at him anxiously.



“Come on, can you walk a bit?” Alex asked as he guided him to the door. Snake nodded and grabbed his damaged bag off the floor of the helicopter as they walked past it.



“Yes, I--wait I think my ankle is broken and…” he paused and Alex stopped trying to help him out of the door when Snake froze.



“I smell smoke.”



Alex froze as well, and then he smelt it. Some part of the helicopter was on fire, and Wolf, Eagle and Fox was still inside, and unconscious.

 

CHAPTER TWO



He cursed and pulled Snake out of the door of the helicopter. Alex noticed the engine smoking as he hurriedly helped Snake to some nearby trees. Snake dropped the duffle bag, but grabbed Alex’s arm and stopped him.


“The engine's smoking, it can blow up--and the fuel's leaking!”


“I know,” Alex snapped and ran back to the helicopter. It was dangerous, incredibly so, as the engine was now smoking heavily and the gas tank was leaking onto the grass. Eagle had unbuckled himself and was trying to wake up Fox as he undid the man’s tangled seat belt.



“You got Snake,” Eagle said as he barely caught Fox when the man slumped to the ground.



It was not a question but Alex nodded and said, "We’ve got to hurry, the engine's smoking and the fuel tank's leaking."


Eagle paled and put Fox over his back.



"I’ll try to hurry back, there’s no way you can carry Wolf," Eagle said in a rush and he left the cabin. Alex agreed, but he was not sure Eagle would have time to make it back.



"Wake up, Wolf," Alex said as he slid the belt around Wolf’s arm. The man did not move and Alex supported his weight the best he could.


"Wolf!" he snapped again as he realized just how heavy Wolf was. Unlike Snake, who was lean and tall, Wolf’s build was more muscular and Alex could not carry him. Alex gave into the urge and slapped Wolf’s face once.


"Wolf, wake up! Come on," Alex groaned as he hefted him toward the exit. He was too heavy and Alex pulled him toward the only exit available.

A sudden loud noise from one side let Alex know just how much danger he was in. The smoke was thick and heavy now, stinging his eyes. Through blurred vision he could see the flames beginning to take hold.

 

Giving a frantic tug, Alex gasped in an attempt to fill his lungs with clean air as he gave another pull to Wolf’s underarms. From the outside, both Snake and Eagle were yelling unintelligible words. Alex got a better grip around Wolf’s waist and hefted the man out of the door.

 

The flames licked at the bottom of his pants and Alex quickly dragged Wolf the rest of the way out of the helicopter. The heat from the flames made his skin feel burned and Alex was suddenly parched for water. But the fire was still to close, and it had almost reached the gasoline. Wolf seemed to grow heavier and heavier.

 

The urge to scream at the unconscious leader was almost unbearable. Of all the people to fall unconscious in an emergency!


Alex gave another pull and lost his footing. Falling, Alex’s head hit the ground and his eyesight briefly went white. Sitting up, he frantically pulled his feet out from under where Wolf’s torso had fallen on them.


"If you aren’t dead already," Alex gasped as he stood and gathered up Wolf under his arms, "then I’m going to kill you."


He had no time to fulfill his grim promise, for in that moment the fire met the gasoline.

The explosion was enough to knock Alex off his feet; once again, his head met the hard earth. The impact made his eyes roll back in his head, and Alex slumped to the ground.



……………………………….

"What about the pilot?" someone said in a tired voice.



"He’s dead Fox, he was dead before the helicopter crashed. And it wouldn't have mattered. Cub barely had time to drag Wolf out, and I was trying to convince Eagle not to go running into danger…." Footsteps approached and Snake stopped talking abruptly.



"How long has he been unconscious?" Wolf asked.


"About ten minutes. I think we need to move farther into the woods."



Alex felt eyes on him and he kept quiet as he tried to regain his senses. He knew K Unit’s voices, yet his head ached and every time they spoke it jarred painfully.



"Why can’t you just move him?" Wolf asked. "He doesn’t look to be injured that badly, and if he is then it’s his fault for not sitting down before passing out."



There was a silence, and Alex did not want to show he was awake. Then, Eagle spoke slowly.



"Cub was dragging you away from the fire, Wolf. You were unconscious, and both of you weren’t too far from the cabin when it blew up," Eagle’s voice did not show any emotion. But Alex could feel the tension in the air. "The force of the blast threw Alex off his feet, and you landed on him….So if anything you should thank him."



Well, now Alex wished he had shown he was awake. He hoped his embarrassment did not show on his face.



"I don’t think so," Wolf said stiffly. Then, footsteps told Alex that Wolf had walked off.

Deciding that he had better ‘wake up’ before the situation got worse, Alex slowly opened his eyes. The shade of low limbs and bright leaves kept the sun out of his eyes. No one had noticed him yet, so Alex glanced around without moving his head too much. He saw smoke rising into the air, but without moving Alex could not see the wreckage. On the other side of him, Snake was pressing a bandage to Fox’s head. Aside from looking slightly pale, Fox looked fine. Alex slowly sat up and put his hand to his temple. Someone shifted and came to kneel beside him.



"Here, let me see," Eagle said and lifted Alex’s face to look at his eyes. They had all been trained in first aid, even though Snake was the unit’s medic.



"Do you feel dizzy?" Eagle asked and Alex felt Snake watching from where he was treating Fox.



"No," Alex said. As soon as he said that though, Alex’s stomach rolled and he felt bile rise in his throat. Eagle must have known what was happening. He released Alex and got away quickly. Lurching forward, Alex vomited. The spasms did not last long, and he was immensely grateful that he had only eaten toast for breakfast. Alex backed away from the contents of his stomach, wiping his mouth clean.

 

"Yuck," Alex said and spat to try to rid his mouth of the taste.


"Here," Eagle held out a canteen and Alex took it gratefully. "I wouldn’t drink any, you might be sick again. Just rinse your mouth out with it."



Alex had just spat out the water after swishing it around his mouth when Wolf came back.



"Wasting water?" Wolf said as he eyed the canteen and then glared at Alex. Eagle rolled his eyes and took the water away from Alex’s proffered hand.



"He only used a bit, Wolf," Fox said as he tenderly felt of the bandage on his injured head.



"We only have three canteens when we should have six," Wolf said. "We can’t be wasting water."
Alex did not answer and stood cautiously as the ground seemed to wobble a bit under his feet.



"Do you think he has a concussion?" Eagle asked Snake. In response, Snake eyed Alex, and then shook his head.



"It was probably just a multitude of things, shock, the smoke he inhaled….I felt like I was going to be sick as we were crashing, and he might have sat up too fast," Snake said with a shrug.



"You were sick?" Wolf asked Alex with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Alex did not respond, and instead he checked his backpack that he had managed to carry on his back while pulled Wolf. His lack of response only seemed to irritate the man, and that was fine with Alex.

The backpack was worse off, but his canteen was still intact, the dried food packs they had been given were unharmed--but they only had enough for a day, possibly a day and a half.

 

Alex sat and bit his nail in agitation at their situation. His eyes trailed over to the wreckage of the helicopter. It was still slowly burning and behind it there was a trail of debris. Standing, Alex walked past Wolf and towards the remains.

It was a grim sight. To think that they had survived…it was hard to wrap his mind around such a fact. One rotor had fallen off and lay far away from the burning cabin. Half of a landing skid had also broken off from the bottom of the helicopter along with various other parts. Someone walked up beside him and gazed at the wreckage.



"Hard to believe we survived," Fox said quietly.


Alex nodded, but chose not to comment. Something had changed. He had been a member of K Unit for five days; they had not said anything to him if they could help it. Wolf was the only one who talked to him, and his words were only accusations or taunts.

But now-now something was different.



"I’m…" Fox paused in what he was going to say, and then tried again. "I was surprised to hear what you had done, and…impressed. Good job, Cub." With that, he placed his hand on Alex’s back before walking away.



Alex did not turn to stare after him. If Fox wanted to…start over? Is that what he wanted, Alex wondered, and if he did, then he was not going to question him.

Several minutes later, they gathered all their supplies together and looked the selection over critically.



"Okay," Snake said as he finished stacking the food. "We have enough for roughly two days, but it’s a three day hike back to camp…and we don’t even know which direction camp is in."



“We’re not waiting around here for that other helicopter to come back and finish the job. Pack up," Wolf demanded.



Eagle and Fox traded annoyed looks at Wolf’s tone but did as their leader said. Alex had the urge to chew on his nails again when he found a problem in Wolf’s logic. Did he dare bring it up? His leg hurt, he was hungry, he’d survived a helicopter crash and saved a man that was not grateful--and to make it worse, someone had died. Alex looked at the dying flames of the crash; the pilot had been dead long before the plane had hit the ground. How could his situation get any worse?

"It looks like it want’s to rain," Eagle called out to Wolf and Alex flinched.



"Damn," he muttered and tried to gather his courage. Wolf wanted to leave and start hiking back to camp, but Alex felt he had to state his own opinion. Seeing how Wolf was glaring at the clouds like he could make them flee, Alex wondered if he should just keep silent.



"Why aren’t you helping?" Wolf asked Alex as he turned his attention away from the sky.



"You’re planning on heading back to camp?"



"That’s what I said. Why?" Wolf asked and crossed his arms. Alex could feel the rest of K Unit watching them.



"Wouldn’t it be better to stay here, when the helicopter doesn’t return someone will come looking for it, and they probably already are. We can stay here and they’ll see the crash and pick us up," Alex said with a shrug.


Wolf rolled his eyes, "Scared of hiking in the mud, Double O Nothing?"



"Not hardly," Alex said easily. "I just think it’d be better to stay than go running off who knows where."



"Well, I’m the leader, and I say we go," Wolf growled.


"Go where!?" Alex snapped, "You have no idea where we are. None of us do!"



"That’s why we have a map dumbarse!"



“You can’t use the bloody map because we are not in the right place! We crashed before we reached the starting point!"



"We don’t need a starting point, brat!"



"Hey!" Fox interrupted loudly. "Wolf-shut up! Cub, don’t make it worse!"



Alex glared at him, but snapped his mouth closed. Before anyone could say anything else, Wolf cleared his throat.



"Fine, you want to stay here, you stay. Anybody else who does not want to listen to their leader can stay here as well. I, on the other hand, am leaving-and I’m taking my food with me." Wolf stalked away, grabbing one of the three bags that carried most, if not all, of their food supply.

They watched him leave with torn expression and then looked at each other.
"What do we do?" Snake asked from where he was leaning against a tree. His ankle was not broken, but it was twisted and swollen.



Eagle squirmed. "I’m going with Wolf," he blurted and shrugged. "He took the bag with all the food-and I’m starving."


With that, he gave Alex an apologetic look and ran after Wolf. "We’re nothing if we aren’t together," Fox muttered carefully.



"Oh, fine," Alex snapped. He sighed in irritation and then walked toward the last two bags.



"You’re taller Fox, you can help Snake and I’ll carry the bags."



Fox nodded and let Snake lean on him. Grumpily, Alex threw the backpack onto his shoulders and hefted up the duffle bag. To make things worse, thunder struck above them in a foreboding sound that made Alex’s face darken. Rain started to fall at a light pace and Alex grinded his teeth together.

 

The fire around the helicopter's cabin was slowly extinguished as the rain started falling heavier, and the cloud of smoke, which would have helped searchers find them, was disappearing. He waited for Fox and Snake to catch up with him and they matched each other’s pace. Looking up through the woods, Alex was worried to find that neither Wolf nor Eagle were in sight.


"Don’t worry, Wolf’s a git but he won’t go too far ahead of us," Fox said.



"At least I know you’re right about one part," Alex said wryly.

 

Snake laughed while Fox grinned, and even with the rain falling down on his head, and his entire body aching, Alex managed a small smile as well.

 

CHAPTER THREE


Their moment of amusement did not last long. Alex, Fox and Snake caught up to Wolf and Eagle easily, but the tension between Wolf and Alex began immediately after. Wolf made an obvious show of not looking at Alex, and Alex tried to ignore him. As it was raining, Wolf could not retrieve the map from his backpack, but he was also too bloody stubborn to admit he needed to look at it.

The direction they had chosen was not an easy path. The trees were sparse, but bushes and other thick undergrowth more than made up for it. Every few minutes another thorn would dig into Alex’s cargo pants and into the skin underneath.

Eagle eyed the backpack on Wolf’s back with sadness but their leader did not seem inclined to stop for the night anytime soon. The rain had stopped, but now it seemed that the sun was ready to retire for the night--but Wolf was not.

They hiked until Snake interfered. “Wolf, don’t you think we should set up some for of camp? We’ll be out of sunlight soon, and we don’t have any torches….”



Wolf snorted, “I know where I’m at Snake, of course we don’t have torches, and I’m surprised they gave us matches…we do have matches?”


“If they’re not wet, then we do,” Fox said and leaned Snake against a tree.



Wolf sighed, “Wonderful, fine you sissies, we’ll stop here.”



“Food!” Eagle said happily and practically ripped the backpack off Wolf.



“God, Eagle,” Wolf muttered, “how did you even make it past interrogation training?”



Eagle had his arm in the backpack but frowned at Wolf, “That was work, this is play.”



“This is stuck in the woods with barely any food or water,” Wolf snapped and grabbed the backpack from Eagle. “No meals tonight, wait until the morning, that’s when you’ll need them.”

Alex tried to ignore them and looked for a place to sleep. It seemed Wolf was going to listen to Snake. If they were even allowed a tent, then it had burned along with the helicopters cabin, so they were stuck sleeping on the cold ground.



“Wolf’s going to starve us and eat all the food himself,” Eagle whispered to Alex as he walked past him towards Fox and Snake.



Alex bit his lip in amusement and looked for a dryer spot to drop the two bags he carried. There was no dry spot on the ground so Alex found a low limb and balanced the bags on it. Taking off his heavy, army green coat, Alex hung it on a nearby tree. It was colder now; the rain had made the temperature drop from warm to cool and with their wet clothes it made it that much worse.

“I’m cold,” Eagle said and spoke what the others had been thinking.



Sighing, Wolf looked up at the sky as if searching for something.


“Our copter was shot down, and not by accident. They may come back and check to see if we’re all dead…. Should we make a fire, or do you think it would be too dangerous?”



Wolf looked at the others for their opinion, but they looked uncertain as well.



“If they wanted us dead, don’t you think they would have hung around after the helicopter crashed? I don’t think they were really concerned about us, they just wanted to shoot us down. Someone probably pissed off someone else and that was their way of revenge,” Snake said.



Wolf tapped his foot and stared at nothing for a moment, and then he turned and opened the backpack he had carried and started sifting through it.


“I’ve got matches,” Wolf mumbled as he looked at said matches.


“Are they wet?” Alex asked. Wolf did not answer at first.


“They’re dry, but they could have gotten wet then dried and they still won’t work if that happened. Let’s make a fire pit anyway, maybe they’ll work, and if they do, I only want to use one. We only have the one box,” Wolf said.


“Er, you think we’ll actually find dry wood?” Snake asked as he looked up and saw the leaves on the trees still dripping with rain water.
Shrugging, Wolf left their area and headed off in search dry wood.

Snake was not much help as his ankle was still swollen and Fox had demanded he stay off it as much as possible. Leaving the job of collecting the bigger logs to Wolf and Fox, Alex went looking for some kindling. He’d need something light and flammable to get the fire started--that is, if Wolf’s matches worked. He managed to find some dry pine straw and fragments of wood under the boughs of a large leafed tree. Gathering up as much as possibly, Alex headed back to their campsite where Eagle had finished digging a small bit with a large stick.

Alex set his kindling inside of it just as Wolf came back with several medium sized logs. Squatting down, Alex watched as Wolf arranged some of his smaller logs in a teepee formation above the kindling. They all watched in anticipation as Wolf brought out the matches. The sun had mostly set and everything was in shadows. Alex shivered as a low wind rustled his hair and chilled him.

Wolf held the matchbox up to strike the first match, there was a swift sound--and nothing happened. They traded glances and Wolf, not ready to give up, brought out the second match. When it failed to light as well, Wolf’s solution was to glare at the matchbox.

 
“Why don’t they make these damn things waterproof?”


“Actually,” Snake said reluctantly, “they do, but you left that box back at camp….”



“Shut up, Snake,” Wolf grumbled. “Well, there goes that plan. I’m going to bed.”



He flopped down onto the ground not far from there failure of a fire and the others slowly did the same.



“Well, I knew this was going to suck, but I didn’t think it would this bad,” Eagle said.



Fox snorted, “Don’t like camping, Eagle?”



“Not hardly,” Eagle said and Alex looked over in time to see him shiver. “Me and my older cousin went when I was ten. He put a snake in my sleeping bag.”



Wolf burst into laughter. Straightening up, Eagle’s faced flushed, “It’s not funny Wolf, it could have bit something down there!”

 

That only fueled Wolf’s laughing fit, while Snake looked rather appalled. “Were you bit?”


“No, he said it was harmless when I freaked out. But after that, do you really think I wanted to go anywhere near the woods?” Eagle finished sarcastically.



Alex smiled at his story. However, Fox was the one that commented.


“No worries Eagle, we’ll protect you from the snakes. Does he count?” Fox asked pointing at a smirking Snake.
Eagle looked irritated at himself for even saying anything in the first place, but he gave Snake a considering look.



“As long as he doesn’t start hissing…or somehow wind up in my bed,” at the last part he gave Snake a leer.



Snake rolled his eyes and sniffed haughtily, “Like you’d have a chance with me.”



Laughing in surprise, Eagle grinned but tried to look serious.
“You’re not my type anyway,” he said in a mock hurt voice.

Alex ignored them and instead reached behind his back to try and remove the stick that was digging into his back. He hand met damp earth and weeds, but no stick. Lying back down, Alex felt the pain again and frowned. He sat up entirely this time and looked behind him. It was dark so he let his hand feel the moist earth for the source of his discomfort. His hand rubbed against his back pocket and brushed against something, frowning more prominently, Alex reached into the pocket--and surprise crossed his face.


The box of matches he’d picked up that morning was still with him. Not saying anything, Alex brought them to his face while Wolf made a crude joke about Eagle and Snake. He could not read what was written on the box. Not wanting to raise anyone’s hopes, but knowing that he had to try or spend the rest of the night cold, Alex quietly went to the fire pit.

No one noticed Alex as he stuck a match. Then, a tiny flame brought light to their dark world, and all eyes turned to him. The surprised silence made the crackling flame seem loud in their ears. Alex gently lowered the match to the kindling. K Unit watched as the kindling caught fire and they could suddenly see each other’s faces. Still not saying anything, Alex scrambled for more pine straw to keep their delicate fire alight.


“Get me some smaller sticks,” Alex ordered, and surprisingly both Wolf and Eagle got up to do so.

Choosing the smallest and drier sticks, Alex poked them into his flame and they caught fire. A minute later, he sat back in satisfaction as the fire reached the larger logs.



“How’d you get the matches to work?” Snake asked finally and they all looked at Alex. He held up his box of matches that had not gotten wet.


“It’s a different box, I forgot I had them,” he said with a shrug.


Wolf scowled and threw up his arms dramatically. “You could have told us sooner, we’re sitting here cold and you had freaking matches the entire--”


“Bloody hell,” Alex muttered and mirrored Wolf in standing up. “I said I forgot about them, do you know that word? It slipped my mind, and I’m not surprised it did after all that’s happened. You’ve got fire now cave man, so shut up and be grateful!”



Wolf’s eyes widened.



“You’ll soon be grateful if I leave any part of you un-bruised,” he growled and walked toward him.



Alex took a step back, but Fox and Eagle quickly latched onto Wolf’s arms.


“You’ll be kicked out, Wolf,” Snake warned. “He’s a minor, we’ve talked about this. He’s here for a reason, and it’s not to annoy you!”



This seemed to calm Wolf down. Or at least, he gave Eagle and Fox a look and they released him, both of them looking reluctant and ready to latch back on if he tried anything.



Alex watched him with guarded eyes. His feet set apart and ready to defend himself if necessary. But Wolf just ran a hand through his hair and got a grip on his anger.

The fire crackled and warmed Alex’s side. But the coldness he felt come over him could not be thawed out by the flames.


“Why are you here anyway?” Wolf snapped. He still seemed frazzled, but his curiosity got the better of him.



Alex felt that the man would not attack him and looked away. “I don’t know if I can tell you that,” he said without any bite.



Wolf frowned and seemed to stiffen a bit. Fox took control with a warning look at Wolf.



“We’re your unit, you have to trust us. If you don’t, then who can you trust?” He said with a shrug.



Alex’s eyes looked them all over slowly, “You’ve given me no reason to trust you, and until then, I’m not telling you anything.”



His words seemed to make them all uneasy and surprisingly, a few of them look ashamed.
Though he had been blunt, Alex had also been truthful. What had any of them done to earn his trust? It was not given away easily. Even as a young child it had been two weeks before he’d started getting close to Jack.

Without another word, Alex went back to where he had been lying and sat back down. Gradually, the others started doing the same and Alex stared at the treetops. Smoke, as well as ash rose from the fire and made the leaves above them shift, the shadows lessened as the rest of K Unit settled down.

It was not too long afterward, that Alex fell asleep.

……………………………….....

The uncomfortable silence that had descended on them last night after Alex’s announcement, had been reduced the next morning, but not by much. Eagle had been given the job of cooking a very light breakfast while Fox, Wolf and Snake were gathered together looking at the map. Alex did not know what to do to help, and asking what to do would have been too awkward. So, he left their campsite and started walking through the woods. It would be surprising if anyone missed him. Eagle was busy drooling over the food, (with any luck, not literally) and Wolf was trying to figure out where the hell they were.

With this is mind, Alex pushed aside some ivy and carefully stepped over a fallen tree.
The woods were surprisingly untamed; he had expected something a little more--orderly. But perhaps they were in the wrong forest--which would really, really suck, Alex thought with only a bit of amusement.

As he avoided a patch of poison sumac, Alex wondered if he should be more worried then what he was. Wasn’t this what he had trained for though? Difficult situation where it seemed he was doomed? Of course, the manuals and instructors had not mentioned being stuck with Wolf, having a shortage of food and water, or the possibility of someone out for their blood….


But it is a lovely day, Alex thought hysterically. A moment later he laughed at himself. Really, what would Ian say? He’d trained him to have more confidence then this. If nothing else, then he could stay positive to annoy Wolf. Alex smirked, and then spotted something that made his smirk turn to a delighted smile.

A large stream ran in between two trees. It bubbled over large and small stones. Kneeling down, Alex took off his backpack and searched for the water purifying capsules they had been given should then run low on water. He found them in a small, decomposable pouch. Standing up, Alex put the pouch back in his backpack and carefully headed back toward camp.

Every fifteen steps or so, he had bent small overhanging limbs to help him stay on track. Using the bent limbs as guidelines, Alex quickly made it back. Alex saw them before they had caught sight of him, and seeing them talking, he made sure to walk quietly and slowed down so he could hear.


“When did he leave Eagle?” Snake was asking as they ate out of the pouches of food that Eagle had prepared.



Shrugging, Eagle finished off his breakfast. “I’m not his keeper.”


Snake looked annoyed and Fox looked slightly worried. “He wouldn’t head off on his own would he?”
Alex came up beside them and answered, “That would rather idiotic, wouldn’t it?” he asked and picked up the only untouched food packet.


Eagle, who was the closest, jumped slightly and the water in his canteen sloshed over his shirt. Alex raised an eyebrow, and then looked into his food pouch with disinterest.



“Great, there goes more of the little water we have,” Wolf said as he took the canteen from Eagle and capped it. “Now that you’ve wasted more of our supplies, care to tell us what you’re doing sneaking around?”



“Sneaking!” Eagle said in a scarily close impersonation to Golum. Alex laughing did not notice their surprised looks as he ate.



“I walked up ahead, just in a different direction where we were heading. There’s a stream up there,” Alex gestured to the right and sat down beside Snake. “We’ve got some purifying tablets, if you know of something large enough to hold the water, and then we can refill the canteens.”

It was probably the only time Alex would ever see Wolf at loss for words. He soaked it in happily, but did not let his emotions show. Knowing that Alex was pleased with Wolf’s reaction might make the man irritable, and at the moment, Alex did not want that.



“Well…good,” Wolf said shortly.



He stood and put out the fire with handfuls of dirt. Backing away from the small dust clouds, Alex quickly finished his breakfast with a few more bites, then buried the empty packets with help from Fox. They were made of the same decomposing material as the pouch of purifying tablets, even the eating utensils would eventually rot.

“Did you get a basic idea of where we are?” Alex asked Fox as flattened the ground back down around where they had dug the hole.


Fox nodded but to Alex’s disappointment, he did not say anymore.


“Let’s go,” Wolf said and slung a backpack over one shoulder. “It’s around eight now, no reason to wait.”

Just like he had before, Alex adjusted his backpack, picked up the duffel bag and Fox helped Snake walk.



“Even though I’m only supporting one side, you’re still heavy,” Fox grunted. Grinning in a way that seemed to say he was having too much fun in his current situation, Snake grinned.



“It should be better by tonight. I canwalk already--”


“You can?!” Fox squawked and looked at Snake in a betrayed fashion.


Snake shrugged, “I’m not supposed to, but I can if I have to.” Fox frowned and continued up the down trodden path Wolf and Eagle had already made. Alex brought up the rear of the small party.

The sun was bright yellow, and it caused the dark green leafs of the oak to glow. Caught up in gazing at the sky, Alex ran into Fox who gave him a half irritated, half amused look.



“What are you doing?” He asked and continued gazing.



Alex shrugged and went back to looking around.



“The trees, trying to name them all.”



“Snake knows most of their names,” Fox said with a nod at Snake beside him. “Being a bookworm and all that.”



“They catch you reading once and suddenly you’re a bookworm!” Snake muttered to Alex. “But yes, I think I can name most of them. That big one there, see how the twigs are hooked and tipped with black buds as if it were giving you the come-hither with a finger ending in a filthy nail.”



Alex smirked and traded a look with Fox as he came up to walk beside them. “Yeah--although I would not have gone into that much detail…bookworm.”


Fox gave a short laugh and Snake rolled his eyes at Alex.



“Anyhow, that’s an ash tree. The oak is king of the forest, the beech is queen of the woods, the sycamore is pretender to the throne and the ash lords over the lot….And just so you know, those aren’t my own words. Read it in a newspaper, the words stuck with me.”



Snake seemed to realize he’d just brought more taunting onto himself, and groaned when Fox smiled slowly.



“Oh, the horror, a bookworm with a great memory. Next you’ll be quoting from a Sherlock Holmes mystery, or--” he was cut off.



“I was more so thinking Dr. Seuss,” Alex said musingly, barely hiding a grin as Snake gave a tortured moan.



“I’ve changed my mind. I don’t care if I hurt myself, I’ll walk on my own!” Snake said hurriedly.



Fox laughed as Snake detached himself and walked with only a slight limp.



“I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam I am!” Alex called out the famous Dr. Seuss quote toward Snake’s back.

Fox was already grinning at Alex’s statement, but he burst into laughter when Snake raised his right hand and lifted his middle finger in Alex’s direction. It was a sign that needed no words.



Grinning, Alex made no comment as they carried on into the woods.


 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

They did not stop for lunch, Wolf was firm that breakfast was the only meal they really needed, and anything more before dinner was unnecessary. Alex did not mind as long as they took water breaks; Eagle however, seemed to be a walking stomach.

 

“There’s a huge spider on your arse, Wolf,” Eagle piped and laughed when Wolf quickly slapped himself.

 

“God, put me anywhere but here,” Wolf said quietly to the sky as they walked up a steep incline. “Or make Eagle a mute, can you do that for me?”

 

There was a eerie silence that followed his words, then a rook cawed mockingly above their heads.

 

“Guess that’s a ‘no’,” Wolf muttered and Fox slapped him on the back with a smile on his face.

 

The made it to the top of the incline. As Alex reached the top right in front of a slow Snake, he was surprised to see that the earth here was flat and not as grown up as the rest of the woods. He suddenly felt cautious but continued to walk forward.

 

Wolf had not stopped his heavy gait across the large, dead leaf covered expanse with Eagle and Fox right behind him.



There was hardly any coverage in this area, Alex examined. All the foliage seemed to be under their feet--like it had been set there on purpose….“Wolf--wait!” Alex exclaimed as he realized what they had come across. He was too late.

 

A chasm opened up under his feet. Being at the very edge of the appearing pit, Alex managed to twist and grab the edge. Wolf, Eagle and Fox, who had been near the middle, plummeted into the darkness.

 

Legs flailing to find a foothold, Alex heard the heavy thumps from the bottom of the pit.

 

His hands were in the shape of claws and they tried to hold on to the crumbling earth.

 

“Snake!” Alex yelled in panic and anger at the lack of help he was receiving. He could feel his hold slipping, any moment he would fall and join the others--then, from somewhere beside him, a long fingered hand wrapped around Alex’s wrist.

 

“Hold on, Cub,” Snake said.

 

With a mighty heave, Alex was pulled over the edge and onto his stomach. Scrambling to stand, Alex pulled Snake to his feet and stepped away to examine the pit.

 

It was rectangular in shape and quite narrow, just deep enough that trying to escape would be hard for any animal or man without help.

 

“It’s a trapping pit!” Fox called from the chasm, and Alex exhaled with relief at his voice.

 

“Are you, Wolf and Eagle okay?” Snake called.

 

“I--I’m fine but I think Eagle’s arm was cut against a rock, it’s bleeding badly,” Fox’s voice returned from the darkness.

 

“What about Wolf?” Alex asked.

 

“I’m fine you git,” Wolf called back in anger. “Now, get me out of here!”

 

Alex raised an eyebrow and Snake frowned, “We’ll try Wolf, just--what’s that?” Turning to where Snake was staring, Alex saw the object of his attention.

 

It was a brown metal box attached to a nearby pine, and on the top of the device, a red light was blinking.

 

“It’s some type of alert, the hunters who set this up will think they caught something,” Snake decided after staring at it for a moment.

 

“What?” Wolf called from the pit. Alex relayed the message and frowned when Wolf started cursing.

 

“My gun broke when it hit the ground….We’ve got to get out of here before they arrive this area is protected, they’ll want us to keep quiet about this.”

 

Alex kneeled down, “How far do you think they’ll go to make us keep silent?”

 

He could not see Wolf’s face, but he could feel the grimness in his voice. “There already breaking a big law in this area, who knows what they might do? They could tie us up for bait for all I know--”

 

“Eww,” Eagle voice interrupted. “There’s some type of animal skeleton down here.”

 

“That doesn’t help, Eagle!” Wolf snapped. From beside Alex, Snake bit his lip to keep from chuckling. This was not the time for laughter.

 

“I’m going to look for a think vine or something,” Alex said.

 

Snake nodded, “Good, I’ll search the supplies for something to use.”

 

Doubting that Snake would find anything useful, Alex searched hard for some vines. Either one thick one, or many so that he could braid together and create one that could hold a man’s weight.

 

Even though he could no longer see Snake or the trapping pit, Alex was still able to hear Fox yell. “Something bit me!”

 

“It was probably a butterfly--ow!” Wolf’s amused voice was cut off and abruptly turned alarmed. “There’s bugs down here, they think we’re food, hurry up!”

 

Almost yelling with frustration, Alex looked around frantically for a vine. This was the bloody woods,where were the trailing vines of ivy when he needed them!

 

“Get down!” Snake hissed into his ear and grabbed Alex out of nowhere. At the same time, he shoved Alex to the ground and flopped down beside him.

 

“The hunters are here, we’re too late, I saw their guns.” His voice was low as they both tried to get a view of the trapping pit without being seen.

 

“What do we do?” Alex whispered.

 

Snake sighed and seemed to try to think of a good, positive answer. When nothing came to him, he gave Alex the truth.

 

“There’s nothing we can do except wait and hope Wolf can work something out with them--”

 

“Wolf?” Alex snorted softly and peered unto a fern and into the clearing where the pit was at. “He’s more likely to threaten them, and we both know how well that will go over.”

 

The hunters came into their view and they both quieted.

 

They were three men, all of them armed with a shot gun. Alex saw their boots walk across the path toward the pit and imagined they were looking into the pit.

 

“I can’t see anything, got a torch?” A moment later, there was a small click. The men’s shuffling and excitement suddenly seemed to freeze, this told Alex that they had seen Wolf, Eagle and Fox.

 

One of the men cursed and stepped away from the pit, “I’m out of here,” he said hurriedly.

 

“But--Dave!” Dave ignored his friend and ran off the way they had come.

 

The remaining two stepped away from the pit to talk, one had bright red hair and seemed more lanky, the other was dark headed and burly. “What are we going to do with them? They look like soldiers, did you see there clothes?” The troubled whisper was just loud enough for Alex and Snake to hear.

 

“We could leave them here….”

 

The other man snorted. “I don’t bloody think so, they could get out and not only will we be tried for illegal trapping, but also for ignoring solders in need and possibly for them to be killed.”

 

There was a pause, then, “We could say we found this pit, that we just came across them, they can’t prove us wrong…we’ll take them up to the cabin, accuse them of being trappers.”

 

“Trappers that got caught in their own pit?”

 

Alex exchanged a look with Snake. It seemed that at least one of these men would be easy enough to handle, if his intelligence level was anything to go by.

 

“Let’s just get them out, tie them up and bring them back, we can think of something to do then.”

 

“Go get the rope from the truck, Charles.” The other hunter said to the redhead.

 

“Whatever,” Charles muttered and ran off to fetch the rope.

 

They waited on the uncomfortable earth until the man came back with two separated armfuls of rope. As he unraveled the knotted mess, Alex realized that one was a rope ladder and the other was just rope. The still unnamed man tied one end of the rope to a tree and threw the end of the ropes ladder into the pit.

 

They pointed there guns into the pit and Charles held the torch so K Unit could see the rope ladder better.

 

“Climb out, if you struggle we will shoot you. Animal bait is always in short supplies,” Charles chuckled at his friend’s grim joke.

 

The rope ladder wiggled as one of K Unit climbed out of the pit. It was Wolf, he was glaring and his backpack was strung over one shoulder. There was a streak of mud over one eye adding to his dangerous expression.

 

“Hurry up, Charles. And get the bag off him,” the man with the gun held on Wolf muttered.

 

“Shut up, Gillian,” Charles said in irritation as he unknotted a length of rope.

 

Charles told Wolf to turn as he used a pen knife to cut the rope. He had no choice in the matter, Gillian looked quite willing to use his gun, and they could not risk getting shot.

 

Wolf looked ready to kill. His eyes were dark with fury as Charles pulled the roped around his wrists tighter. Alex could not see anything below Wolf’s waist, and his neck was starting to ache for craning up to look between two branches.

 

Wolf was pushed roughly to stand between the two.

 

 “You move, and you’ll never use your legs again,” Gillian threatened. Not looking at him, Wolf stared straight ahead. Meanwhile, Charles was ushering Eagle out of the pit.

 

Wolf’s backpack lay on the ground near Gillian’s feet as Eagle was tied up. Fox was the last one out of the pit and Charles tied his hands with a sense of finality.

 

“Was there anyone else with you?” Charles asked. Alex clenched his fists while Snake stopped breathing. But Wolf shook his head without hesitating and both hunters nodded in satisfaction.

 

“Move!” Gillian said sharply and poked Wolf in the back with the tip of his gun. Alex saw Wolf stiffen, but then they walked out of his line of sight.

 

Alex stood slowly and Snake with him. “I saw Wolf shake his head when Fox looked at him, he doesn’t want us to do anything yet.”

 

Alex bit his lip, “Wait until they’re unprepared?”

 

“Yeah,” Snake nodded. “Let’s follow, but don’t get to close--and watch where you step.”

 

Alex tried to hide his annoyed look. He had been trained beside the rest of K Unit, Snake did not have to tell him the obvious.

 

They followed the hunters and watched them prod and push the captured members of their unit along the beaten path. Seeing a white vehicle up ahead, Alec pulled Snake and squatted.

 

There was no room on the front of the small truck, so Charles and Gillian forced them to sit in the back. Alex flinched as he looked up at the rocky dirt road, K Unit was sure to have more then a few bruises when the hunters reached their location.

 

While Gillian got in the drivers seat, Charles opened the truck window that sat between the drivers seat and the passengers seat. After doing this, he held his gun out the window and kept it aimed at Wolf.

 

“If you trying anything, I’ll shoot,” he warned. Then the motor roared and the truck started a slow drive yup the incline.

 

“We’ll wait until they’re out of sight before we start okay, this road doesn’t look like it’s used much, so we should be able to track them if necessary.”

 

Alex nodded at Snake’s comment. “And besides that, they shouldn’t be too far away. They mentioned a cabin. I don’t see another set of car tracks, so that other hunter, the one who ran off, he must live nearby.”

 

The earth was still damp from the rainfall, and the truck was easy to follow, and Alec was confident they would not lose the trail. As far into the woods as they were, it was unlikely they’d come across many other roads, or other cars.

 

Dark was coming upon them quickly. This was good and bad for K Unit. In the darkness they would be harder to see, and the hunters would be easier to catch unawares. Alex stepped on a thick stick in his path and a resounding crack sounded through the woods.

 

And with that, they came to the bad results on the sun falling. It was harder to see where they were going, and the use of the only torch they had was out of the question. Should the hunters see the light, they would most defiantly know K Unit had lied--and might kill them because of it.

 

Biting his lip, Alex glanced at Snake. “How dangerous do you think these hunters are exactly?”

 

In other words, would they really kill them without a thought?

 

Snake took his time answering, and Alex started to think he was being ignored.

 

“I think,” Snake said slowly, “that these men know they’re in trouble, and their actions are because of fear. I don’t think they’re killers. Wolf and the others will be fine.”

 

A wooden building came into view as they rounded a corner. The white truck was outside the door, K Unit not in sight, but there was a light on and the shadows of men moving around were easily recognizable.

 

Alex kneeled on the grass and un-tucked his shirt from his pants. He hated his shirt tucked in, but it had been protocol at camp. Now however, he was planning on sitting in that moist grass for long hours, and protocol be damned, his shirt was staying un-tucked this time.

 

Snake was still beside him in an uncomfortable squatting position, and his eyes were studying Alex in confusion.

 

“Were going to be here waiting for a while,” Alex said, “you might as well sit down and get comfortable.”

 

“Who made you boss?” The questioned was not mocking, nor was it friendly. The voice seemed rather cold and Alex glanced at Snake in surprise. The man had already turned away though.

 

A few minutes later, Snake adjusted his position but did not sit. Alex hid a smug grin, even a trained soldier could stay squatting for so long, and they used that skill for more intense situations.

 

The hours dragged on slowly, Snake quickly gave up his constant vigilance and slumped to the ground with all bad posture.

 

Anything of any slight interest made them sit up straight, a light was turned on in another room, a door slammed, the light in the main room was turned off. The sun had completed it’s descent a long time ago, but there was still a light on in the cabin. Alex was sure this was a bedroom light, and he would not be at ease until he was sure both Charles and Gillian were asleep.

 

Then, the front door opened. Alex lowered his head slowly, it was highly unlikely they would be seen in the knee high grass, but he could not risk it.

 

The man’s silhouette looked like that of Charles’s as he climbed into the truck and started the engine. Gravel crunched under the tires a the truck slowly drove right by their hiding spot.

 

“Wonderful, If I had to pick, I would rather of had Gillian leave and Charles stay, hr seemed like he’d be easier to overtake,” Snake grumbled.

 

After that, Alex and Snake did not verbalize their thoughts on where the man was going, they were to busy watching the house. The only light left on in the house, had been turned off.

 

Adrenaline started pumping through his veins and Alex suddenly felt ready to move. Snake seemed to feel the same way. They had waited for hours, bugs had bitten them, the moisture from the ground had sunk into their pants and Alex’s muscles ached.

 

“It’s been long enough, surely.” Snake said and seemed to be bouncing in place.

 

“May I suggest we wait another twenty-five minutes then go after the others?” Alex asked shortly, his confidence still bruised from Snake’s earlier remark.

 

Snake sighed, “Listen, I didn’t mean to offend you, okay? I’m just not used to taking orders from a minor--”

 

“Then don’t take them as orders, I’ve been stating obvious decisions to make sure we’re on the same page. I have to know if you have another idea, and you never seem to want to speak up first. Frankly, I’d rather be on my own then working with someone else as well. But until we have Wolf back to boss us around, know that I don’t want to offend you either, okay?”

 

Snake nodded slowly, then a bit faster. “Fine, I’ll try to speak my mind or whatever--can we go beat some hunter arse now?”

 

Alex blinked and a smile slowly spread across his face. “Lead on, Macduff.”

 

Giving a slow chuckle, Snake did just that.

 

CHAPTER FIVE


“Should we break down the front door, or maybe something less dramatic?” Snake asked with an grin that promised trouble.


Alex pretended to think on the matter, “I’ve always had a flair for the dramatic.”



Chuckling, Snake shook his head and pointedly avoided heading towards the front door. Together they checked the windows around the cabin. Hopefully there was a loose one, Alex wanted to catch Gillian off guard, and he could not do that by busting down the front door--no matter how much fun it might have been.

The moonlight guided them around the house. Alex fingers ran around the window frame and he pushed against it gently in a upward motion. Unlike the other five windows they had tested, this one moved under his touch and Alex gestured to Snake. He carefully pushed the window up completely as Snake came over.



“Brilliant,” Snake whispered. “I’ll lift you up and you can pull me in.” Nodding, Alex lifted his foot and Snake place his knitted fingers under his shoe.



“Go,” Alex breathed and Snake lifted him up.


Pulling himself into the window sill, Alex checked the flood of the cabin. It was clear so he hopped down without a sound. The room they were in was the kitchen, on one side of the room there was an open cupboard with shelves lined with food.

 

To Alex’s right there was a sink full of dirty dishes, and a small cabinet. Turning back around, Alex leaned out the window and let Snake latch onto his hand. Leaning back heavily, Alex pulled Snake and the man climbed into the window without too much difficulty.

They moved swiftly from the room just in case someone had heard them. The room directly across was the main room, and in the middle three chairs were in a triangle formation. Wolf, Fox and Eagle made no move to show they had seen or heard Snake or Alex. Of course, in the dark it was hard to tell if they were even conscious.

 

Being cautious not to step to heavily, Alex glanced toward the closed door of Gillian’s bedroom. Eagle looked up at his approach and Alex could only just see his eyes widen with delight.

 

Mouth forced shut by a heavy piece of tape, Eagle nodded towards Wolf. Alex glanced at him as he reached up to remove the tape over Eagle’s mouth. The man’s head was slumped forward, Alex wondered if he had blacked out, or if he was asleep. Trying to pull the tape off but not cause a lot of pain, Alex gestured that Snake should take care of Fox. When his mouth was free, Eagle spoke softly.



“They hit Wolf over the head, the idiot just doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. I don’t know if he’ll wake.”



Alex nodded and brought his pen knife out of his pocket to cut Eagle’s bonds. Leaving Eagle to untie his own feet, Alex moved toward Wolf.


“Wolf?”
The whisper near the man’s ear made Wolf jerk and he tried to yell something past the tape, but Alex clasped his hand over his mouth.


“Shh,” he whispered with a glance toward the bedroom door.


Wolf calmed slightly, but his eyes were dangerous as Alex ripped the tape off. Not even flinching, Wolf whispered harshly, “Untie me, the redhead ran off to get some other hunters, they could be hear before morning.”


“I think we’ll be fine,” Alex said reassuringly, but he undid the taught rope by cutting through it with a few sawing motions.



Fox was standing and rubbing his wrists while conversing softly with Snake.
“Wolf’s backpack is in the kitchen. Will you get it, then we can leave?” Snake asked Alex. “There is a light over the cupboard, Fox said you should be able to turn it on without causing much of a disturbance.”


Nodding, Alex walked towards the kitchen while Snake made sure the others were unharmed and ready to leave.

He already knew where the cupboard was having seen it earlier, it was just a matter of finding the light switch. Feeling around the wall, Alex’s found the plastic switch and flicked it up with a frown. He glanced back towards the main room. Snake was slowly unlocking the door so they could escape. Turning away from the sight, Alex quickly spotted the backpack and lifted it easily.

 

He made to turn the light off, then a can caught his attention. Pickled peaches…Jack loved pickled peaches, said her grandmother used to make them, but Alex had never ate them as they were hard to find. Hesitating briefly, Alex grabbed the can and shoved it into the backpack--then two cans on regular peaches, and added a bag of granola, and a few apples.

 

Telling himself he had to stop, even though it was the hunters’ fault for digging the damn hunting pit in the first place. He turned toward the light switch--and then the bar of soap caught his eye. Did they have soap? Anyone that got close enough to smell him would scream ‘no’ at the top of their lungs, and he did so want a bath. With a sigh Alex grabbed it, and then the three candles he saw sitting near a bag of bread.

“Cub?” Alex jumped at the low voice and spun around. He felt guilty but Eagle’s expression was only curious.



“We’re going.” Eagle left and Alex grabbed a couple of small and large pots from where they were hanging over the stove, and then saw a flannel and grabbed it as well. He could not think of a reason why he would need them now, but surely one would come up.

 

Alex was exciting the kitchen when Snake pulled open the front door. It creaked opened and they winced at the sound, but that was nothing compared to the horrible ringing noise that erupted from above the door. Wolf cursed and pushed Snake roughly through the door.



“Run!” he snapped at a frozen Eagle.



The hunter burst through the living room’s door with his gun in hand. Light poured in from the man’s bedroom illuminating Fox and Wolf, standing by the door.

Gillian lifted his gun, he had not yet seen Alex and Eagle had ran through the door not a moment too soon. Knowing he had to do something or watch his unit die, Alex grabbed the heaviest thing close to him, a porcelain lamp, and threw it at the man.

 

It hit his shoulder and shattered. Gillian cursed in pain and anger and Wolf pushed Fox out the door. Taking advantage of Gillian’s pain, Alex hurried to the door,



“Stop!”



Gillian released his now bleeding shoulder and paced toward him and Wolf. The gun was up and aimed at Wolf, but Gillian’s eyes were on Alex.


“I haven’t seen you before--” The man’s eyes widened with surprise as Alex cautiously backed into the light.



“You really going to kill a teen?” Wolf asked.



Gillian still looked surprised, and a second later, Wolf lashed out at him. They were close enough that when Wolf’s foot hit Gillian in the ribs, the force made him land on his back. The rifle flew out of Gillian‘s hand and Wolf quickly grabbed it off the floor.



“Come on, Cub!” His yell seemed to echo as he ran out the door and toward the woods.
Alex made to run after him--and tripped heavily. Something had grabbed onto his ankle and Wolf’s backpack just made it that much harder to look down at his foot while lying on his stomach. Struggling, Alex turned on his side and saw Gillian’s hand wrapped around his pant’s leg.


“You’re not getting away that easy,” Gillian said and scowled when Alex tried to kick him.
Gillian swiftly stood and pulled Alex up by the collar of his shirt.



“I have some questions, and if anyone, I bet you’d would be the one to give them to me.”



Alex snarled, “Just because I’m younger doesn’t mean I can’t kick your arse just as hard.”



Gillian seemed amused and tightened his hands on Alex’s collar. Narrowing his eyes, Alex brought his knee up between the man’s thighs and Gillian kneeled over. Unfortunately for Alex, Gillian’s hands were still on his shirt and even though his struggled and kicked the man, it seemed to have little to no effect. Gillian straightened up, his eyes flashing with anger.

The hard punch was one Alex had not anticipated. The ring on the man’s hand cut Alex’s face and he reeled back against the wall. Alex groaned as the backpack pushed into his skin. He could not move as Gillian held him to the wall while punching his abdomen with cruel force.



“I don’t like smart mouthed brats,” Gillian hissed into Alex’s face.


Spittle made Alex turn away with disgust but not before he saw the hunter pull back his fist for another bought of beating. Alex pulled his hands up to fight the hold on his shirt. His stomach was aching, and he felt weak from the constant walking. His fingernails clawed at Gillian’s hand as the man punched his chin.

 

Alex felt it when his fingernails drew blood, and he took the slight jerk of Gillian’s arm to mean he felt pain. Smashing his foot into the hunter’s knee, Alex heard a satisfying crack as Gillian fell to the floor with a yell of pain. Wiping his mouth of the blood, Alex ran out the cabin and in the direction he had seen the rest of K Unit running to.

 

The thorns and high brush tore at his clothes, he saw glimpses of evidence that K Unit had ran through here as well. A newly broken log, trampled grass, these were all signs that his unit had headed into this part of the woods. Alex wanted to get as far away from the cabin as possible. He had seen Gillian’s pain, it was clearly written on his pale face.

A hand shot out and grabbed Alex by the arm. The action jerked him to a immediate stop, and caused a jolt of pain to his shoulder and back to his wrist where the hand had grabbed him. Breathing heavily, Alex looked up into Wolf’s face.



“Where were you--” Wolf cut himself off, and Alex wished he could see his face more clearly. “Never mind, we’ve need to get away from this area, no time to stop and chat.”
Alex saw the figures of Fox, Eagle and Snake behind Wolf and all together they headed off.



“Which direction are we going?” Alex asked.



“I overheard those two hunters talking, I know where we’re at now. We’ll go back to that creek and follow it downstream,” Wolf’s tone left no room for argument, and Alex did not try.



They walked in silence. Alex found it hard to concentrate on where he was walking. Perhaps it was the constant walking they had done, perhaps it was the pain; he was quietly suffering from small but multiple injuries.

When he stumbled for the second time, Wolf sighed. Alex winced and felt the need to prove he could go on; it was just a bit of sleep deprivation.



“This one of us can’t go on any longer, we’ll stop here,” Wolf said irritably.



Alex flushed angrily, “I’m not holding you back,” he snapped. “Go on, ignore me, I’ll be right behind you.”



Wolf rolled his eyes and unfortunately for him, Alex saw the action. “We could be a lot farther if we had not had to stop and wait for you back at the hunter’s cabin. What were you doing, using the loo?”



Alex clenched his fists but did not respond. There was more than one thing he could say in response, none of them nice, but all of them guaranteed to make Wolf look at him with a new respect--and he decided to say none of them.

 

Taking off the backpack, Alex dropped it to the ground and walked away from his uncomfortable unit. The ground rose around a large tree and Alex laid his head on the rise. The sky was lightening already. Rescuing the others and running away from the cabin had taken time.

 

Now all Alex wanted to do was sleep, but he was angry. He could not understand Wolf.

 

He’d began to think that the man had gotten over his need to annoy and anger Alex, apparently he hadn’t. The more he thought on the matter, the more his anger dissolved.

 

By the time Alex’s eyes were drooping, he could no longer remember why he was angry.

…………………………….

Even though there were many limbs over Alex, and each one had a hundred or more leafs, the dim light of dawn still made it past them. Aware of the change in light, Alex’s eyes fluttered open. Aches and pains were his punishment for sleeping on the hard roots of the large tree above him. The ground where the rest of K Unit had decided to rest was soft, and ferns and other plants made the perfect bedding material. The dirt underneath Alex was hard where tree roots had sucked all of the water from the ground.

 

He had no plant life nearby, but there were a scary amount of bugs. A centipede crawled over his wrist and Alex shot to his feet. His face felt drawn and dirty, hygiene was important in their situation. The water they drank from stream could carry diseases; bug bites, brushing up against poisonous plants--Alex suddenly felt itchy.

 

It was high time for a bath. It could not have been earlier than six-thirty, Alex guessed. He backtracked and found Wolf, Fox, Eagle and Snake still asleep. They had used the ferns to their advantage--but Eagle had a quilt thrown over his still form. Blinking, Alex stared as Eagle slept on peacefully.

 

Where had Eagle came up with that? They had not had it earlier, Alex was positive. He had searched the backpacks for extra clothes, but all their clothes and sleeping bags and been used as fuel for the helicopter fire. It seemed he was not the only one to have borrowed something from the cabin. Alex searched the backpack near Wolf quietly. It seemed the items he had stole from Gillian would come in handy. Grabbing the bar of soap and flannel, Alex went off in the direction of the stream.

It was farther away than he had first thought, the sounds of water lapping over rocks reached his ears long before he caught sight of the stream. The creek was large enough so that if Alex wanted, he could easily lie flat in the shallow water. Eyeing the sides of the creek for snakes or other animals looking for a drink of water, Alex cautiously walked closer. The flannel and soap were grasped in one hand as his eyes swiftly searched for a good place to hang his clothes.

 

K Unit had had the importance of hygiene pounded into their head, the woods seemed clean, but the bugs, plants and even their water could hold diseases and potential dangers. It was not very smart to be bathing in the open water.

 

If he was willing to follow regulations exactly, Alex would boil the stream water first--but they had no fire ready to burn water and Alex wanted to be done bathing before the rest of K Unit woke.

Seeing a low hanging limb, Alex took off his filthy jacket and then his undershirt. Both smelt badly and decided he needed to clean his clothes before bathing. Sighing, Alex looked for a more rocky area in the water. Finding a small area full of pebbles, Alex dropped both his jacket and shirt into the water before kneeling.

 

He shoved the flannel into his back pocket and put the soap beside him. Rubbing the clothes forcefully over stones got them wet quickly and hopefully washed out some of the excess dirt. Grabbing the soap Alex ran it down his clothes and watched as bubbles were created and the smell of flowers rose up from the water. Wonderful, now he would smell like bloody flowers. If Wolf mocked him for that, Alex figured he deserved it.

He got out as much dirt as possible and flung his clothes over the tree branch to drip dry, and leaving his boxers on, Alex sank into the deeper part of the stream and ridded himself of the grime and sweat.

 

He was sore from last nights beating, and on his abdomen there were plenty of ugly bruises laid over each other. But, the water was pleasantly warm, not cold at all, and Alex found himself enjoying the quiet. No MI6 to threaten him into submission, no Jack to worry over him as she had been doing since Ian’s death, and at this minute-no K Unit.

The sounds of someone running through the woods told Alex he was either in danger, or he had thought to soon and his unit was looking for him. Fox burst into the clearing.

 

Sighing, Alex ignored Fox and lathered up the soap to clean his hair.


“What are you doing?” Fox asked, he asked, looking slightly incredulous.


“Taking a bath, Fox. Ever heard of it? It makes you clean, of course, you look like you don’t know what that word means either.”



At his words, Fox looked down at himself at that moment, Wolf could be heard arguing with Eagle. Alex tried not to sulk, they were far away from any other living human, and yet he still could not get any privacy. Sitting on a log that had sometime ago fallen into the creek, Alex pulled his left foot over one knee and cleaned between his toes. Maybe he could gross out Wolf.


“If he was stupid enough to wander away because he’s mad,” Wolf was saying, “then let him get eaten--!”



They entered the clearing, with Snake walking a little bit behind. Both Wolf and Eagle saw Fox, then their eyes turned to Alex, Snake was the last to see what their attention was on as he set down one of their bags. Feeling daring, Alex waggle his fingers in their direction, and cleaned under his toenails.



“The hell--Cub, what are you doing?” Wolf shouted.



Looking over in his direction, Alex realized how funny this must have seemed. Him, in his boxers, cleaning his toes while sitting on a log in the middle of a stream. Alex’s mouth twitched and Wolf looked confused.


“I’m filthy Wolf, we’re in the middle of the woods and I’m not going to risk getting sick because of bad hygiene,” Alex said calmly as he started on his other foot.



“He’s got a point,” Snake said slowly with a frown down at his muddy hands.



“Well…fine,” Wolf seemed at a loss, but was willing to believe Snake, he was the more experienced medic.



“You know…we are rather dirty--I bet we’re covered with ticks.” Fox’s words made Eagle shiver and quickly shed his shirt.



Wolf looked torn between amusement and exasperation, then his eyes narrowed in on the soap in Alex’s hand. “Hey--where did you get that soap?!”


“Er…”



“And that flannel?” Wolf added sounding suspicious.


“I--borrowed them?” Alex said sheepishly and Wolf scowled. “Oh--come on! Eagle has a damn quilt, and I know SAS did not give him that in the necessary survival kit,“ Alex said with a snort and Eagle looked guilty. “The man kept us from getting back, we lost a whole day’s worth of walking. I only took a few things.”



Wolf tapped his foot and seemed to be thinking, he no longer looked irritated. “What else did you take?”



“Just some stuff that might come in handy,” Alex with a shrug.


“Hmm--why’s your cheek bleeding?” Wolf suddenly asked and Eagle stopped with one arm out of his outer jacket to look at Alex.



Bringing his hand up, Alex felt his cheek where it was bleeding slowly, When he had washed his face, the flannel must have rubbed off the scab, he thought.



“Gillian swiped me with his hand, it had a ring on it,” Alex explained as he wiped away the blood. Snake and Wolf both frowned, but for different reasons.



“You fought with him?” Wolf said slowly, while Snake took off his army boots to come into the creek.



“How injured are you?” Snake asked, and Alex threw the soap into Eagle waiting hands as he too came into the stream with Fox looking reluctant, but also shedding his clothes.



“Yes, I fought with him. He managed to trip me up, as I was leaving. I only have a few bruises, Snake.”



Alex had not stood up yet, and he was more so in the shadows of the trees while the rest of K Unit stood in the sun.



“Where are they at?” Snake pressed and Alex sighed. His feet were wrinkly, and he really had no reason to stay in the stream any longer.



Standing, he cautiously walked back over the slippery rocks toward where Eagle was washing his hair and Snake was standing with his arms crossed stubbornly. Alex glanced at Wolf and saw the man’s jaw clench when he sighted the bruises.

 

Ignoring his gaze, and Snake’s eyes that were silently eyeing him for more injuries, Alex grabbed his pants and shoes. They were still slightly damp, but the sun and air had done them good and Alex put them on.



“You could have told us you were hurt, if nothing else I’m sure it would have stopped Wolf from chewing you out like he did,” Eagle said from the stream as he scrubbed his head.



Alex shrugged and watched as Fox took a hesitant step into the stream; he’d left his pants on, but both shirts were gone. A surprised expression flitted over his features, “Hey, this water is warm!”



Wolf sighed and seemed irritated…then he scratched his head, then his neck and Alex grinned knowingly. “You know Wolf, with the wolves around this area, I bet there is a mess load of fleas….”



Freezing, Wolf stopped scratching and sent Alex a look, “I get your point, brat.”

And so, another member of K Unit shed most of their clothes and got in the stream. Snake joined them a moment later with a sigh, “Why don’t you start a fire, Cub? Then we can be ready to eat when we get out.”


Nodding his consent, Alex went off in search of wood. It was easier to find usable pieces of wood now that he had done it twice; he knew where to look, and could tell just by a glance what logs and sticks were made out of hardwood.

 

Backtracking to the stream within a few minutes, Alex prepared the fire as Eagle got dressed. Meanwhile, Fox was sneakily throwing handfuls of water on Wolf when he thought he was not looking, until-- “Fox, do that one more time and I won’t think first before I kill you!”

 

Fox snickered and hurried out of the water. Alex put water in the dehydrated food packets, then hung them over the small fire using sharp ended sticks.


Eagle watched beside him with a frown of disappointment on his face, “After everything, the hunters, bug bites, and sore feet--I think the worst thing of all is the food.”



Wolf rolled his eyes, but Alex smiled. He never knew Eagle could eat so much, it was like he looked like a grown man, but his stomach capacity stayed the same as a growing teen.



“I’m surprised you’re not complaining,” Snake said to Alex, while he sat on a nearby rock applying ointment to his many bug bites.

 

 Alex cocked his head in curiosity and stirred the fire.



“Why?” he asked. Wolf sat beside them on the ground and waited for the breakfast to finish warming up.



“You’re the teen, if anyone is likely to be complaining I’d think it would be you. Is it because you’re hungry enough to eat anything, or you just aren’t picky?” Snake’s question was innocent enough, and Alex did not mind answering the question.



“Jack--er, my housekeeper hates cooking, so when she fixes meals that don’t take a lot of time to prepare, you get used to eating weird things,” Alex said in response.



A glitter entered Wolf’s eye. “So, you’re rich?”



Alex blinked. “No…” he said slowly.



“Then why do you have a housekeeper?” Wolf was persistent and Alex found himself getting annoyed.



“My uncle travels a lot, and I can’t just up and leave school every time he leaves the country. She’s like a permanent babysitter.” His voice was patient, but Fox seemed to notice Alex did not like where the subject was going.


“Where are your parents at?”



“Wolf…” Fox interrupted quietly, and Wolf blinked at him. Then he saw Alex’s grim face. There was a silence in which Alex added more twigs to the fire and Wolf shifted uncomfortably.



“Sorry--shouldn’t have asked,” he grumbled after a pause.



“It’s fine,” Alex said and decided their breakfast was done. He was moving the sticks off and away from the fire, while Eagle traded looks with the others.



“So what did happen to your parents?” Eagle blurted out.



“Eagle!” Fox and Snake snapped, one in horror and the other is exasperation.



Wolf, however, spat out the water he had been drinking in laughter. Alex saw that he was not going to escape this subject, and because of that he literally threw Eagle’s food packet at the man.



“Ow,” Eagle yipped when he caught the packet and threw in into the air to cool it off.



“My parents died in a plane crash when I was a year old,” Alex said, then threw Wolf’s packet at him--hard. Wolf was almost on his back in his attempt to catch the packet, but did not get burned.



“Cub!” Wolf snapped as he carefully held his breakfast.


Alex smiled sweetly and turned back to the mush.



“I’m sorry,” Fox said tentatively as he watched their antics with wary eyes. Shrugging, Alex fought back a scowl and tried to ignore the pitying looks he was receiving from Fox and Snake.



“It was a long time ago,” he muttered.



Eagle, not noticing the tension or not caring, spoke up next. “So, who takes care of you since your parents kicked the bucket?”



“My uncle Ian did…then he died too,” Alex blinked as the words left his mouth. He’d never realized this, but so far, his life was not going so well.


Eagle was not against saying exactly what Alex was thinking, “Man,” he snorted but his eyes had softened, “your life pretty much sucks!”


“Yep, then after all that I get stuck in the woods with you utter gits--and not even a gun to shoot myself with,” Alex said sarcastically and viciously stabbed what might have been a dehydrated egg.



“Wolf has that rifle--”



“Enough, Eagle.”



Eagle shut up with a smirk at Wolf’s pinched face, and quickly finished eating. Alex killed the fire and started packing up the things they had used. The plan was to follow the stream, it would supposedly lead them to a pond that SAS had the soldiers swim in for tests. After they reached the pond it would easy to find camp. As their bags were once again thrown over shoulders, or hefted up into waiting arms, Eagle had to ask another question.


“After your uncle died, what happened that made you wind up here?”


These personal questions were no longer wearing on Alex’s nerve; this was Eagle--it looked like he would have to get used to it.



“That’s a long story….”



“Cub,” Fox said with a held back laugh. “We’re in the middle of the woods and probably lost--”



“--are not!” Wolf protested, but Fox ignored him.



“I think we have time for a little story. But please tell me it does not start with, “once upon a time’, or I will shoot myself.”



“No, actually it starts with the doorbell ringing,” Alex said in dry amusement, his smile faltered though at the thought of who was waiting behind the door, and the news they brought.



“Well, this sounds boring already,” Wolf muttered--and then stumbled over a fallen branch hidden by leafs.



“Nature is protesting against you Wolf, shut it and listen…go ahead Cub,” Snake said.

Knowing he had no choice, Alex began the horror story of how he had come to be a member of K Unit.

 

CHAPTER SIX

 

“I told them it was a stupid idea--”



“--Hear, hear!” Eagle agreed and Alex smiled faintly before continuing with reluctance.



“They said that was a shame, and that they needed to discuss my future.”



Even Wolf could see where this was going and looked uncomfortable. “Then they said that the ‘Royal and General’,” Alex made fingers quotes to further show his sarcasm, “is my legal guardian, even though they also said the Royal and General does not exist. Then they commented that Jack would have to go back to America, and I was being sent to Saint Elizabeth in Stourbridge."


Snake shifted the backpack he had taken from Fox after they had traveled a considerable distance.



“This sounds suspiciously like blackmail…” he muttered.


“Only sounds?” Wolf said in grim humor.



Alex looked at him curiously; maybe it was good for him to have mentioned this little bit of his past. It gave K Unit a look at him that they had not seen, or did not look for. All they had seen prior to this was a silent boy who did not belong.



“Obviously I agreed, and now I’m here.”



“They wanted to give you a bit of training first before sending you off,” Snake said in understanding.

 

Fox frowned. “Two weeks is not near long enough…you could be killed,” he muttered.



Alex shrugged, “I’m only supposed to be there long enough to gain evidence against him.”



Wolf traded a look with Eagle, and Alex caught it. “What?” he asked cautiously.



“Listen Cub,” Wolf said, and Alex was so surprised that his tone held no mockery or spite in it that he listened. “Eagle’s brother worked for MI6 for three months. They told him basically the same thing and they he could go back to his regular assault job, as soon as he found what they wanted, they used him again, then again.”



Alex had stopped walking and the rest of them did as well. “To this day, Eagle’s brother is still working for them. The fact is, you’re not going to be set free so easily. They’ll use you until you’re fed up with it or dead.”


Shaking his head, Alex silently denied Wolf’s statement.



Eagle grabbed Alex’s arm, his eyes serious. “He’s telling the truth,” Eagle said but Alex looked away.



“They can’t do that,” he said. “I only agreed to work for them this one time-”



“But what will keep them from asking you again, especially if another situation comes up where a teen would be better undercover than a full grown man?” Wolf said. Alex had no answer, and so Wolf continued. “I don’t like you being here, you should know that by now. It’s no place for kids, not even kids who know what they’re doing. But I’ve read of situations where younger spies would have come in handy. I can understand why they’re doing this…but it’s still wrong. If you do a good job, they’ll use you repeatedly.”


“Should I do a bad job,” Alex asked quietly, “so they won’t want to use me anymore?”



Wolf, Snake and Fox shook their heads or hastily said ‘no’.


“Doing a bad job will get you killed,” Wolf said.

Alex was already feeling nervous about this conversation. He did not want to think about Mr. Blunt or Mrs. Jones, what they had planned for him or anything except getting back to camp.



“What did you tell your friends?” Eagle asked a few minutes later. They had started walking again when Alex had become quiet.



“About what?” Alex responded as he looked over a moss covered log before stepping over it.



“They would be worried if you just disappeared, wouldn’t they?” Snake said with one raised eyebrow.



Alex shrugged. He had not thought about his friends a lot lately, too busy trying to sleep between exercises and other training. Alex wondered if anyone was thinking they were dead, or more importantly, if Jack thought he was dead. Since the helicopter crash he hadn’t thought about Jack a lot. He would hate to have made her worried because he decided to go with Wolf instead of staying put.


“I used to travel a lot with Ian, so they got used to me leaving…but since he’s dead they might wonder a little bit, at least Tom will. He’s the only one who bothers to come over or talk with me outside of school.”


Fox frowned, “So, you don’t have a lot of friends….”



Alex glanced over and took in his faintly shocked expression, “Why does that surprise you?”



“You just seem like the popular sort,” Fox explained with a shrug. Alex held back a grin.



He might have been popular once, but once the rumor had gotten around that he had beaten up four school bullies after messing with Tom, only the more daring students tended to talk to him. Alex had a few friends, and he used to be popular. Traveling with Ian had cut him off from many of those friends, and they had not tried to talk to him after, and vice versa.


“Not really,” Alex muttered. Fox looked him up and down with obvious disbelief, and because of it Alex felt heat rise in his face. “What?” he asked for the second time in a few minutes. He doubted he’d like the answer.


“What about your girlfriend? Surely she’ll wonder,” Eagle said as he caught on to what Fox was saying without words.



“I don’t have one,” Alex said and tried to pass them subtly. Eagle caught his arm with a wicked grin.



“You look like a ladies man,” Eagle said and laughed when Alex blushed. Using Eagle’s arm that was still holding him back from walking any further, Alex pulled the man with a great heave and Eagle fell over into a pile of ferns. Chuckling at his expense, Alex broke into an easy jog to put distance between himself and Eagle’s threats.



“I was going to say you could give some advice to Wolf!” Eagle called out in mock anger. A moment later, Eagle howled in pain as Wolf punched him.

 

With a large grin, Alex continued to walk along the stream. It was getting wider, and he was beginning to see more small animals. Ferns and other small plants grew along side the edge and Alex constantly had to trample them. He spotted a grass snake slithering slowly up a tree and grinned at the fleeting idea of hiding it in Eagle’s quilt.

It was midday, Alex was beginning to get hungry but he knew Wolf would not stop until darkness surrounded them and there was no way they could go any further.



“This bag is heavier than it was the other day,” Fox said with a frown and shifted the strap digging into his shoulder.



“I put some stuff in there;  I can carry it if you like,” Alex offered. Waving away the offer, Fox took of the bag and placed it on his bent knee so he could look inside. Eagle and Snake stopped to watch while Wolf carried on with a disinterested expression.


“Candles?” Fox asked incredulously as he pulled out the beige candles. Alex shrugged and fought off the thoughts that beat down his self-confidence.



“I thought they’d come in handy in case our torch broke,” he said.


“Peaches?” Fox wiggled the one of the cans mockingly.



“I like peaches,” Alex explained. Eagle laughed and Snake gave into the curiosity written across his face to look in the bag as well.



“Pots and more food,” he said. “Too bad there was no telephone in the cabin, we could have used it and got out of here a lot easier…unless you packed a mobile in here as well?” he joked.



Alex did not reply. He could not find it within himself to laugh at the joke of being rescued. They seemed safe now with a supply of good water, food and no injuries, but the depression of their situation lurked just behind the jokes and laughter.

Looking behind him, Alex could see the new stress lines around Fox’s eyes as the jolly smile disappeared from his face. He wasn’t the only one who sometimes felt this tense. Questions entered his mind, each one impossible to answer at the time. Would they make it to camp, did Wolf really know where he was going?

Alex looked sideways at Wolf as he caught up to the older man. Even if he had no idea, it was unlikely Wolf would say so. He was proud and stubborn, something Alex could admire and hate, both at the same time. Grinning, Alex snatched up a tough but straight branch to use as a walking-stick.

Eagle started playing a game which he called eye spy, but with only green and brown surrounding them, Wolf quickly shut his fun down.


“But Wolf, there are other colors,” Eagle said in a vain move to save his game.



Wolf snorted, “Right, like what?”



“Er…I spy something yellow.”



“Hmm, could it be perhaps the sun?”



“You win!” Eagle said with a cheeky smile and Wolf groaned.

Alex did not say much as the sun slowly descended above the horizon and Wolf brought out his torch.



“We’ll make camp here,” he decided and took of the bag he was carrying with a weary groan. “Those straps are cutting into my back, or that’s what it feels like.”



“Let me see,” Snake came over and Wolf pulled his shirt up and turned his back towards Snake. From where he stood, Alex could clearly see the red lines marring Wolf’s tanned back. They looked painful and Wolf jerked when Snake pressed on them.



“They’re turning purple but the skin is more so chaffed than cut,” Snake said in his decisive doctor’s voice. “Carry the bag a different way, or I’ll carry it or someone else. You don’t have to carry something.”


Wolf shifted, “Then I’ll feel useless,” he muttered.



Snake rolled his eyes and stepped away to look for an object strong enough to dig the fire pit.



“You get to carry the only gun Wolf,” Fox said. “If anyone feels useless, it’s the rest of us. What are we going to do is something attacks? Scream and run or try to tickle it? Hmm, both very good options!”



The sarcasm made Alex chuckle as he went around finding tender twigs and dried leafs. As soon as he could, he planned on stealing Eagle’s quilt, for the past few night’s he’d woken up slightly cold, maybe if he hid it Eagle would think he had lost it and when he fell asleep, Alex could take it from the hiding spot and use it.



“What-what about me!” Wolf exclaimed and interrupted Alex’s mental planning in the process. “I’m injured!” There was laughter in his eyes, but Fox gaped at him for a moment before he noticed the teasing twinkle.



“You arse,” he muttered and trailed after Snake to fetch wood.


Wolf chuckle with delight and Alex rolled his eyes while sorting through ferns and over low growth. “While we’re being ripped apart by lions and tigers and bears, oh my, you’ll be shooting said animals and safe-with your intestines safe and compact.”



Alex stopped to glare at Wolf who was laughing, “It’s not funny, and I like my insides right where they’re at!” That did not help Wolf’s laughing fit; instead it seemed to fuel him more.

Alex stepped farther away from where Snake wanted to dig the fire pit and sat down. He had not mentioned it, but lately his right food felt incredibly sore, especially the heel. When he had taken the bath there had been a new callus on his heel, but it felt as if it had turned into something worse after walking all day.

 

Alex imagined it was because of his fairly new army shoes. He had not worn them in yet and they kept rubbing forcefully against the sides and heel of his feet, the right shoe more so than the left one. He was reluctant to look at his foot and see the damage up close; it couldn’t be a very pretty picture.

Biting his lip, Alex untied his dark army boot and loosened it as much as he could before pulling it off. He tried not to let the shoe rub against his foot, but it did and pain ran up his ankle. After placing his boot down, Alex carefully pulled off his sweaty sock.

 

On the heel of his foot there was a relatively large blister that covered the expanse of his upper heel. It was painful to look at and Alex looked away only to catch Eagle’s eyes. Seeing his expression, Eagle stopped what he was doing and came over. Seeing the blister, he blanched.



“Ouch, I’ll get Snake--”



“--No, that’s okay,” Alex interrupted. “It’s just a blister.”


Eagle did not look at ease by this and their talking got the attention of Fox and Wolf, “A blister quite capable of getting infection--do you want to lose your whole foot?!”



It was Alex’s turn to blanch, “You sound like Jack,’ he muttered. Wolf heard and snickered while Eagle looked offended and confused.



“What does that mean?”



Sighing over Eagle’s sensitive nature, Alex prepared himself for a hopefully short explanation. “That’s what Jack used to say when I got hurt. Your arm is going to fall off, we’ll have to amputate your leg--she said that stuff anytime I got scrapes.”



“How…sweet,” Fox said with a raised eyebrow.



“She was just joking,” Alex said in Jack’s defense. Then: “But it did scare the crap out of me the first time she did it,” he added quietly. “Mind you, I was a lot younger.”



“Whatever,” Eagle said and when Snake entered the clearing he quickly pulled him over to Alex’s side not noticing the sticks falling out of his friend’s arms. “Cub’s heel,” he said in explanation when Snake looked around in question.

Kneeling on the earth, Snake lifted Alex’s foot and placed it carefully on his own knee for better examination. “Did you dry your feet off before putting on your socks?”



Alex did not see what that had to do with the painful and large blister on his foot, but he answered. “I didn’t dry them all the way,” he confirmed. “And my shoes were new.”



“Yeah, that’ll do it,” Snake said as he examined the blister with care. “I’m going to wrap it up, you should probably now wear your shoes for a while. I don’t want anything rubbing against it. I might be able to make you a crutch,” he muttered.



“Oh, come on, a crutch?” Alex asked in disbelief. “I can just hop around like you did when you injured your ankle--”



“--It’ll be easy,” Snake waved off his statement and went to get his bag. “I’ve got a few things in that might help, as long as we have some bandages to make sure the skin does not break while it heals naturally. Ideally, blisters should be allowed to break on their own, only after the skin underneath has healed.”



“Do you read books on this or what?” Alex asked. In his own opinion, when one could recite word for word the proper treatment of blisters, you really need to get a girlfriend.



“It’s part of my job,” Snake said with amusement. “When we get back I could be judged by how well I managed to treat my own unit. It could affect my career.” That explanation made sense to Alex, although he still despised the idea of using a crutch.

Snake’s bag was unzipped and he pulled out a small medical container, “I had a bigger one but that one was lost on the fire. This is for smaller injuries, it should have everything I need,” Snake said as he undid the latches. He drew out a roll of gauze, but then paused.



“What?” Fox asked his as he glanced over from where he was watching the fire start to grow thanks to Wolf’s coaching.



“I’d like some warm water to soak the blister, I’m sure it hurts and it will remove some of the pain,” Snake said.



Fox got up and retrieved one of the pots Alex had stolen. The grass and rocks made a soft crunch under his feet.



“If I can’t make a crutch, or if you really don’t want one,” he added in a lower, unenthusiastic voice, “then I can put some talcum powder in your shoe.”



“Hey, I saw a brown rabbit near the stream, anybody want some real food?” Fox said with as grin as he came back with a brimming pot of water.


“We do have a gun,” Eagle said as he mirrored Fox’s grin. “We could say we were hungry - a life or death situation.”



“You ever had rabbit?” Wolf asked when he saw Alex’s disinterested expression.



“Yes, I don’t care for it.”



“Doesn’t matter anyway, this is still a no hunting zone, and as long as we have food it’s

not necessary,” Snake said and Fox’s face fell.



“I miss meat,” he said shortly and put some large bricks in the fire so he could set the pot onto them. “Ketchup was nice,” he added, “I really liked it--now, we may never see or taste it again.”



“Stop being dramatic, I thought I wouldn’t have to listen to that crap after I got away from my sisters. Everything was dramatic…except Tira, she was a tomboy…taught me how to give people wedgies,” Wolf said with a mock menacing grin toward Alex.



“Hmm,” Alex looked down at his foot that was being wrapped with gauze, and then took a long look around the wide, un-manned wilderness around them. “Yeah, of all the things that should scare me right now, getting a wedgie from you is number one on my list. The one foot that’s not got a big, fat blister on it is trembling in its boot.”



“Oh, boo hoo!” Wolf mocked, “I got a white spot on my foot--” He cut himself off when he saw the look Alex and Snake shot him.



“When this white spot gets infected and I’m forced to cut his foot off with your Swiss Army knife, and you have to carry him the rest of the way, remember this moment!”

 

Snake snapped in an intense tone and Wolf threw up his hands with a smile on his face.
Alex gaped at Snake as he finished with the gauze, “What is it with everyone wanting to cut my damn foot off!”



Fox laughed aloud while Snake winced at being so close to Alex’s when he screamed.



“Jack really did some damage to you with her amputating jokes,” Snake said dryly and leaned away when Alex turned his glare on him.



“They weren’t funny,” Alex bit out. “Release my peaches!” he then snapped at Eagle who was prying the lid of a can with his knife.



Rolling his eyes, Eagle put two fingers in theca and drew and a peach slice dripping with syrup. Alex’s eyes widened in horrified disbelief as Eagle ate the peach with a loud slurping noise.

Behind them, Fox was setting ferns down on the ground in layers. “Do you guys think anybody has come across the helicopter crash yet?”


Wolf stood and started digging through the bags for food to warm with the fire. “It’s been…what, three to four days? The mess is probably been cleaned up and forgotten by now.”



“And it’s probably been decided that we ate each other,” Alex muttered as he stood cautiously. Snake laughed as he finished packing away his first aid supplies.



Eagle stopped with a dripping peach halfway to his lips. “You sure are grim,” he told Alex cautiously.



Alex paused from putting his sock back on. Eagle had a point, he felt himself rapidly descending into a bout of depression. Even though the bout would likely only last for a few hours, he wanted to stay positive.



“Sorry, this just really sucks…” he started softly. His tone of voice made Wolf flinch, and Alex could understand, he sounded like he was about to get sappy. So, he changed what he’d been about to say and watched Wolf’s expression, “I just miss ketchup too.”
Wolf blinked twice before looking at Alex in incredulously amusement. Seeing his raised eyebrow and knowing eyes, Wolf shook his head and rolled his eyes. They ate a light dinner, and while Fox and Wolf were cleaning up the mess, Alex was searching for an area with softer ground.

He needed to keep his foot clean; an area with wild grass would make a nice bed--if it was not for the bugs that lived in the vegetation. Deer ticks, insects with wings, mosquitoes…yes, he was no fan of bugs.



Seeing Alex carefully looking through the vegetation for things that crawling and bit, Fox said loudly, “What’s the matter Cub, aren’t you fond of the little crawlers just waiting for a bite of your flesh?”



There was a laugh in his voice and Alex made a rude gestured to which Fox grinned at.



“Tom used to have a spider, called it Charlotte…” Alex said and looked at Wolf in surprise when he nodded in understanding.



“I want a friend, but I want to live too!” Wolf mocked in an imitation of Wilbur from Charlottes’ Web.



“Now Wilbur,” Eagle said in a smooth, lady-like voice, “you can’t have everything.”



Alex grinned, “Letting out your inner child, eh, Wolf?”



Frowning, Wolf made of a face of regret as Eagle turned with a ready-to-tease smile on his face. “I was forced to watch that movie…they tied me down and everything!”



Snake laughed, “Who? Your nieces and nephews?”



“They’re surprisingly strong!” Wolf warned and stamped away in mock anger, his unit’s laughter echoing behind him.

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

 

Someone was awake and making quite a bit of noise. Alex’s eyes opened and scowl of confusion came over his face as he squinted up at the sky. It was still dark, the moon was high in the sky as it provided light to all the night animals hunting in the woods.

 

Alex shifted slightly--and then winced in pain. His neck was stiff and aching; he should have used Eagle’s stolen quilt, even his backpack would have made a better pillow then the hard ground. Giving up on looking in the direction the shuffling sounds were coming from, Alex spoke.


“Eagle? S’that you?” The constantly hungry man seemed the only likely choice. Who else would willingly be up at this hour?



There was no answer, in fact, all sound seemed to stop. Then, with a loud burst of noise something started running and Alex sat up not minding his hurting neck. He sat up just in time to see a hairy animal running through the trees, the moonlight making its fur shine and showing the large backpack it dragged behind. At the same time, K Unit was waking up, alarm and anger a common emotion on their faces.



“What the hell?” Wolf exclaimed as he looked after the quickly disappearing animal. The noise was soon the only thing that told them it was still running with a backpack full of jangling supplies.



“Where’s the blasted torch?” Fox growled while searching the two remaining bags.
Eagle was suddenly very quiet. Everyone noticed and turned toward him with suspicious expressions.



“Eagle…” Wolf said slowly with a groan as he noticed the embarrassed grin coming upon his friends face.



“Well…I kind of broke it,” he said with a shrug.



Fox and Wolf both groaned, but Alex turned to dig out of his emergency candles he had stolen. It only took a moment to find the white wax candle and a moment more to find the matches.

 

With the sound of someone striking a match, a light flickered into existence.



Wolf glanced at Alex in surprise as he carefully held the lit candle in his left hand, “Good thinking Cub,” he said and Alex found himself feeling pleased with the praise.

 

Standing up, Alex walked to where two cans lay on the ground. The backpack had lain here when they went to bed, but now only a few items had not been dragged off by the animal.



“That was most of our food supply it took,” Snake said in concern as he looked at the broken ferns and disturbed earth that led to their backpack.


“Should we go after it?” Fox asked Wolf. “We have a gun, but I’m not sure what kind of animal it was, I didn’t get a good look.”



“It was large and hairy,” Alex supplied, and they looked at him. Shrugging, Alex wished he had not spoken but continued with the explanation. “It woke me up, but I thought it was just Eagle.”



Fox was amused, and he showed it with crinkled eyes.



“Why me?” Eagle said in bemusement.



“Who else would be up at midnight digging through the food supplies bag.”


“Ah,” Eagle said with a sheepish nod.



“Wish you would have at least looked before going back to bed, you could gave made it run off--without our food!” Wolf was clearly irritated, but Alex turned his glare on him. His fast movement made hot wax spill over his fingers, and even though Wolf saw Alex’s wince, he just looked faintly amused.


“Weren’t you listening?” Alex said to Wolf as he slowly transferred the candle to his other hand and tried to shake off the dried wax from his fingers without spilling some on his right hand. “I saw the animal, and I scared it away, I did not go back to sleep. The bag straps must have been wrapped around the animal’s neck, or maybe it dragged it off on purpose. He could have easily smelt that it was food in the bag.”



“We need to decide if we’re going after it or not,” Fox said impatiently. Snake nodded and then saw Alex trying to get the stubborn wax off and frowned.



 

He took the candle away and made Alex sit, “Your foot can get infected, I need to change the bandage again and I’m going to run out of them quickly if you keep getting it dirty!”



Snake was not pleased and Alex gave him an apologetic look as Snake took off the dirty sock. The bandage underneath was mostly clean, but the edges were browned. Snake examined it with one hand and a little distance away Eagle lit the other candle. It was still late, but none of them seemed at ease with the idea of going back to bed.



“We should have had someone keep watch,” Fox muttered with a sigh as he looked mournfully at the two cans that had survived. Alex noted that they were something he had taken from the cabin and any remaining guilt he felt from stealing vanished. They were going to be hungry soon, and the remaining food would help tide them over before they were forced to eat grass….


That horrifying thought must have shown on his face, for Snake held up he candle and peered at him. “What is it Cub?”



“I don’t want to eat grass,” Alex told him confidentially.


Snake only smiled and nodded toward Fox before speaking. “Fox has experience and training in wilderness survival, you will not be reduced to eating grass--yes, the food will probably suck, but you won’t starve.”

Alex had not known this, and it was slightly comforting to realize Fox had been trained for survival. Alex himself had not been signed up for any survival classes, his schedule had been decided without his consent by Mrs. Jones. He wished now that he had suggested a training course in survival…and what about that shelf in his own living room dedicated to Ian’s survival books, and the other literature dedicated to teaching people how to live off the land.

 

That subject had never interested him…until now when he was hungry. He might have picked them up one time or another, flipped through the camouflaged painted books as he curled up in a comfy armchair. None of the information had stuck except for a few charts on how to make braces for broken limbs. Except for the nasty blister that still hurt like hell, he was not injured, and certainly not enough for those charts to be of any use.

“There,” Snake said as he sat back on his heels.


Alex looked down at his foot, wiggled his toes then at Snake who was looking for a place to set the candle. “I guess you didn’t think to steal a candle holder, eh?” he asked with a chuckle.



Alex shook his head almost mournfully and Snake stuck the candle into the soft earth next to the nearby stream.

 

“It’s really early,” Fox said looking at the darkened sky. “I’d say it’s three, maybe four.”



“Where’d the moon go?” Eagle asked as he stared up at the empty clouds.


Wolf snorted, “They’re called clouds, Eagle.”



His condescending voice made Eagle frown and throw a clod of earth at his shoulder. Wolf ducked with a smug grin--then the clod hit a tree and bits of dirt landed in his hair.



“I’m not tired anymore,” Snake said and leaned against a tree, his weary slump seemed to be contrary to his words. “We should have hung the stuff up in a tree--how many times did we have that pounded into our head and yet we still forgot it?”



Sitting next to the light haired man, Wolf gave a soft snort of grim amusement. “I bet if everything had gone according to plan, we would have done everything right.”



“Like what?” Eagle asked.



“Taken proper baths where you heat the water first to get rid of any pesticides and wipe off with flannels--”



“Bathing in the stream was a lot better,” Fox interrupted, “I’ve been forced to wash off with a wet flannel, and I can tell you, you feel so itchy afterward.”



“I’m talking about doing stuff by the book,” Wolf said in annoyance.


“You want to go by the book? The one who pushes innocents into trip wires that activate stun grenades--which really hurt by the way,” Alex grumbled.


“You did what?” Snake was all innocent shock, and it surprised Alex to find that he apparently was not aware of what Wolf had done.



“You weren’t in on it?” Alex asked, eyebrows creased.



“No!” Snake exclaimed, his eyes wide when he turned to Alex. “I wasn’t against you being in the unit like Wolf was, he never even told me what he did.”



“I had wondered what you were doing,” Fox said to Wolf with a disapproving look in his eyes. “You’re usually the first one out of the killing house.”


“You had to go and mention it, didn’t you brat?” Wolf hunched over and ignored Alex, who was beaming at him complacently.



“No one answered my question earlier, so I’m just going to assume we’re not going after our food, right?” Wolf nodded firmly at Fox’s question.


“It’s a waste of time,” he said, “I don’t want to go too far off the trail, the animal can have the food. Fox will feed us, won’t you?”



“Yeah, you’ll soon develop a taste for dandelion roots.”


“Ugh! I’m going after the animal,” Alex said decisively and Snake laughed and pulled him back to a sitting position when he tried to stand.


“No you’re not, I won’t have you ruining any more bandages, you can walk when we decide to leave and that won’t be for a few more hours.”

……………………………….....

Even with the jokes and constant laughter, Alex worried they would not find food. Looking around as the sun highlighted the endless amount of ferns, he searched for dandelions. There were none to be found, so he turned to Snake who was helping him walk through the woods without using his injured foot.



“What if we can’t find anything to eat? All I see are these damned ferns!”



Snake shrugged, “We could hunt I guess, now our situation is more…desperate. I don’t think anybody would come against us for hunting when we have nothing left to eat except two cans of fruit. We can hunt for hares…I saw a snake, and I guess we could eat this if we came across them, but I’ve heard they’re nasty.”



“Tastes like chicken,” Eagle called back to them.



Snake didn’t agree, “Everything tastes like chicken to Eagle, he burnt his tongue to the point where now everything tastes the same,” he said in mock woe.



“I did not,” Eagle argued



“Go along with it birdbrain,” Fox teased, “’tis better then moping.”


“Oh God,” Wolf muttered in a stage whisper, “we’re giving each other nicknames! Nature is affecting us!”



“Why would you think that Wolfman?” Alex said innocently. Snake chuckled and Wolf turned in a slow circle.



“What did you just call me?”



“Oh, I’m sorry!” Alex gushed. “Did I say Wolfman, I meant Wolfy!”


Fox rolled his eyes as he took out his canteen and drank long and slow. They had been walking for three hours, having left remarkably early, it was only eight in the morning.



“So that’s the way you want to play, eh?” Wolf said and rolled up his sleeves. Alex continued to grin, not fazed at all.



“What’cha going to do? Eat me?”



“….I’m not sure, when I know I’ll tell you. And trust me, it’ll be scary,” he muttered and turned away ignoring the muttered, “wuss,” that Alex said to his back.

They stopped for water up the stream where it widened and then split into two streams, one small, the other large. Alex split off from them to release his bladder with a whispered excuse to Snake. His shoe rubbed against his foot, and a mass of thorns a mile back had torn into his legs.

 

Several scratches were irritated, blood was speckled on his legs and bug bites were scabbed and itching. Resisting the urge to scratch, Alex found a tree far enough away from the others so that they wouldn’t walk over to him, but close enough so he could not get lost. After doing his business, he started to carefully limp back…when a hand covered his mouth.

His scream was muffled, coming out in a strangled cry that would never reach K Unit’s ears. There was a sickly sweet smell that filled his nose and Alex struggled to escape the strong hold. Trying not to breath to heavily, Alex beat his feet down trying to stamp on the man’s feet, or at least make enough noise so the others would become aware of his situation.

 

There was a piercing pain in his side, Alex gasped and breathed in the fumes in deep, startled breaths. Someone was cursing and a hand flittered over his side where the pain was worst. Spots filled his vision, then the scene in front of him, the green and browns started to blur. Alex tried once more to call for help through the thick tissue of his mouth. Then he want limp and was dragged away from the only people that could help him.

……………………………

“How long does it take to piss?” Wolf asked in exasperation as he glared off in the area where Alex had headed off. Behind the anger, there was worry.

 

“Maybe he tripped, I told him not to put to much pressure on that foot,” Snake said and stood wiping his hands on his paints. “We’d better go look for him.”



“Wait--” Wolf held him back and a smile came over his face. “I know what this is, he’s trying to get us again!”



“Us? If anyone, he would try to bait you, what’ve I ever done to Cub except heal him?” Snake said.



“Fine, he’s trying to bait me,” Wolf agreed, “so lets turn the tables…we’ll leave him here.”



There was a silence, then Eagle laughed. “I’m wearing off on you, Wolfman,” he said.

 

“That’s so…immature. What happened to wanting to be back at camp soon, eh?”


Kicking a rock with the toe of his boot in an act of sullenness, Wolf agreed they should go look for Alex in a mumble. “Don’t blame me if we come across him doing his business--just remember, I voted to head on out without him.”



Fox grinned and traded looks with the others. Wolf studied the ground around the trees, looking for both sign of animals and more traps as they search for Cub.



“God,” Eagle muttered when they had still yet to find a trace of their youngest unit member. “He must really like his privacy.”



Wolf had stopped walking a few feet back. Noticing this, Snake turned and watched him curiously. Questioning words were on the edge of his tongue but when Wolf knelt, and reached out a hand to the earth near him, Snake decided against it.



Now Fox had noticed their silence, “What is it Wolf?”


“I…I’m not sure,” Wolf said, uncertainty obvious in his tone. “It looks like something was attacked here, there’s signs of a struggle, and recently, the soil is still moist where it was upturned.”



He turned to look at Fox. Seeing his expression, Eagle felt a tingle of fear, and beside him Fox’s hands clenched into fists.



“Cub?” he called, and turned away from them, his heart sinking to his stomach. The situation was suddenly much more serious than any of them could have imagined.



“Cub!” Fox yelled again, this time his voice more urgent.



“Fox,” Wolf said, trying to placate his friend, “we don’t know…he might be back at the creek waiting for us--”



“No, something’s wrong,” Fox said, refusing to calm down. “Cub!” They spread out, the enigmatic situation making them bad-tempered and apprehensive.


Snake took action avoiding Fox as he headed toward Wolf to whisper in his ear, “I found this,” he showed Wolf a boot, smaller then their own. “It smells like the ointment I put on Cub’s injured foot,” he finished grimly.


Wolf closed his eyes as he tried to gather his wits, if it was an animal, Cub was probably already dead…but they had to look. “Don’t show Fox just yet,” he ordered, “you’ll just worry him more, now show me where you found that.”

Snake led him deeper into the forest, further away from the creek, under hanging ivy and to an area where bushes with questionable berries were thriving. “I found it here, caught on a root,” Snake said and pointed at the base of one bush.



Wolf knelt on the ground, peering at the bush and ground around it. “Cub was dragged through here--”



“--by an animal?” Eagle interrupted. Wolf glanced up at him in unhappy surprise as he came into their view.



“I thought so…now though,” Wolf pressed his lips together in thought and looked over the marks again. The dark, and dirty pants ruffled as Wolf shuffled forward, his fingers trailing over more marks in the ground. “He was dragged, but his shoes were the only things touching the ground.”



Understanding filled Snake’s eyes immediately, having taken the same tracking class as the others, he noticed the signs that separated animal tracking and human.



“Someone had him by his underarms, that’s why the marks are so deep, his heels were dragging the ground,” Snake squatted and followed the two lines to a spot where the stopped. “Wolf, the lines end here,” he stated, his voice questioning.



“Cub was probably picked up,” Wolf said. His words were easy, but his eyes were troubled. With the obvious signs gone, it would be harder to track Cub and his kidnapper.

 

“Thrown over the man’s shoulder--I would have done that first, not dragged him a little ways…you leave to much evidence,” Wolf looked sideways and caught both Eagle’s and Snake’s eyes.



“You think this man is an amateur?” Eagle asked, and at that moment Fox came into the clearing to join them. There was a flannel in one hand that he held away from his body, and on his face was a serious expression.


Looking up, Wolf noticed Fox and stood. “Smell this, and tell me what you think,” Fox ordered and thrust the flannel at their leader. Taking it, Wolf cast a curious look at Fox and took a deep sniff--and with a gasp, he threw the flannel away where it hit a nearby tree.



“God Fox!” Wolf snapped as he wiped his face. “A warning would have been nice.”


“What is it?” Eagle asked, not enjoying being left out. Stalking over, he picked up the cast aside flannel.



“Don’t sniff it Eagle,” Fox warned, hard-faced. “It’s got chloroform all over it, I found it back there.”



“Well, now we know Cub came to be unconscious,” Snake said as he ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “I hope it wasn’t left over his mouth too long, that chemical can cause serious harm.”



While Snake worried over Alex’s health, Wolf and Fox tried to decide how they would go about the situation.



“This guy is not going to get far carrying Alex, and as the day goes on, he’s going to get hot. It’s early now, but near noon he’ll be sweating bullets,” Eagle said and Wolf nodded.



“Snake, Eagle, go back and get the equipment, we’re going to start tracking this bastard,” Wolf turned and started into the woods, ferns dying under his heavy footsteps.



“I wouldn’t want to be the guy who took Cub,” Eagle said, his words not said in amusement but in honesty.



“No you wouldn’t,” Fox agreed and headed off after Wolf, his fists clenched and ready for a fight.




CHAPTER EIGHT

 

Wolf found that the ferns thinned out not too far from the stream, the other grassy plants that he had seen earlier in abundance became more rare. Trees of all species lavished the area, shading them from the afternoon sun.

 

However, Wolf wished he had thought to refill his canteen. His throat was dry and in their situation, dehydration could lead to serious problems. Wolf tried to gratify himself by accepting the water Snake offered him from his own water bottle, but the water was hot.

 

They had all been overindulgent when it came to the fresh water of the stream. For a while, it had seemed more like a rough camping trip then a survival trek for SAS men.



“Hey, he changed direction here Wolf, where were you going?” Fox brought Wolf’s attention back to the present.



Scowling, Wolf scolded himself for becoming lost in his thoughts. Usually he was self-disciplined, his attention hardly ever wavered. Wolf wondered if he could blame his concentration, or lack thereof, on their new need to be abstemious. He was hungry, but they had no time to eat--and there he went, wandering off again.



“Fox, you’d better lead,” Wolf muttered. Fox agreed with a nod and to Wolf’s satisfaction, he did not ask why.



Snake, being trained to recognize everything from the beginning of a flu to hepatitis, held out a mushroom to Wolf, who took it curiously. “You want me to eat this?”



“…I’m kind of scared to ask what else you can do with it,” Snake said with a small laugh.



Wolf hesitantly started eating the mushroom, and seemed assured when it did not taste unbelievably disgusting or bitter. “You’re sure these aren’t going to kill me? They aren’t poisonous?” Even before he had an answer, Wolf had finished off the small fungi in two quick bites.



“I have no idea,” Snake said offhandedly. His uncaring voice and face made a well fitting punishment for Wolf’s unprofessional attitude.
While Wolf choked on the last bit of mushroom, Eagle came up to them with a question of his own.



“Too bad those ferns weren’t edible,” Eagle said, “we had plenty of those--why can’t we eat them again?”



“Most contain carcinogens and also an enzyme which destroys Vitamin B1,” Snake answered.



“Right,” Eagle nodded, then rolled his eyes so only Wolf could see. Wolf, still bitter at Snake, ignored them both and continued to follow the light footprints. It had rained recently, which helped their tracking significantly.



“You’d think, if he was trained to do this, or even if he was just another hunter, he’d know how to get about without leaving obvious signs,” Fox said.


“Shh! Don’t say stuff like that,” Eagle scolded, “the ‘obvious signs’ are good. Every few minute we’re getting closer to Cub.”

Eagle’s words were proved true. Within thirty minutes Wolf held up a hand for stillness and silence. They heard the reason for their silence a moment later, someone was pouring water, and there was the sound of something else lapping at the water…lapping? Wolf glanced at Fox who shrugged, they could not have guessed wrong; it was definitely a human that had taken Cub, and likely a full grown male.

Wolf lowered himself to a squatting position, the object of their attention was just through the trees, he would not be caught now, not when he was so close. The rest of his unit did the same, then one by one they moved forward. Wolf kept both his hands on the rifle. At this stage, he would kill anyone that got in his way.

They crept over brush, keeping away from the noisier looking plants and steering clear of the dead, and crunchy oak leaves. Wolf peered around a tree trunk, his eyes took in a brown haired man kneeling over another body. Seeing he was turned away from them, Wolf took a chance and moved forward. He would only have one chance--and just as the man started to turn in their direction, his hand going to the knife in his holster, Wolf brought the rifle down on his head. With a gasp that seemed to get stuck in his throat, the man slid sideways in an unconscious sprawl. Wolf didn’t spare him a glance, instead he went to Cub.

The boy was lying on his side, head lolled at an awkward angle, and his throat clearly visible. There was a nasty bruise on Alex’s chin, purple in color, and a cut above one eye bled weakly. Being careful, Wolf rolled him onto his back. Gently pressing into his neck, Wolf felt for a pulse. With a frown, Wolf lifted Alex’s wrist and tested for a pulse again. Seeing his actions, Snake quickly knelt beside him.



“He’s not--”



“No,” Wolf interrupted, “he’ll be okay, we need to wake him up though. Snake, you wake him up, I don’t care how. Eagle get some rope.”


Taking the backpack from Fox’s shoulder, Eagle searched for something to help them tie up Cub’s kidnapper. “Wolf….”



Turning sharply, Wolf noticed the blood. From his first view, it seemed there was just a wet patch on Cub’s dark clothes, but with the shirt pulled up, the blood stood in stark contrast to the pale white skin.

Snake was tearing through the backpack, searching for his first aid kit. Fox knelt at Cub’s side, eyes taking in the damage, trying to decided how serious the wound was with his own, uneducated opinion.


“How bad is it?” Eagle asked, his voice barely loud enough to be noticed.


Snake used their only flannel to sop up the blood, his face grey. “He’ll need stitches, it won’t be a pretty scar. The blood loss concerns me though,” he muttered. “I have none of the equipment needed to give him some of my own blood, and even then I don’t know what his blood type is. We could cause him more trouble than good.”



“Can we move him?”



“Yes, I’ll put on a temporary bandage, and when we get back to the stream I’ll clean the wound. I think Cub’s going to be out like a light for a little while longer. I can’t just wake him up, the drug won’t allow it, we have to wait for him to wake,” Snake said with a frown.



Sighing, Wolf nodded. “Someone will just have to carry him, and I want two of you assigned to that bastard,” he said nodding at the unconscious man. “There could be more around, and I don’t know why he wanted Cub, but we’re taking him back to camp with us--I’m betting we’ll be there by tomorrow.”

Examining the layout of the land, Wolf frowned. They had gone far from the stream, he just hoped he could re-trace his steps quickly enough to get K Unit back to camp before they all starved.



“He had this on him,” Eagle held out a knife. Wolf took it, there was blood on the blade.

 

Knowing the blood was Cub’s, Wolf’s eyes narrowed and he glared before completing his examination. The knife was fancy, not something one would expect to find on a hunter. That suited Wolf, he had already decided this was not another hunter. The blade was file worked all around, and the handle had a pearl overlay. Raising his eyebrows as he turned it in his hand, Wolf closed the knife and pocketed it.

They backtracked, all of them depressed. Yes, they had found Cub, but he was in need of medical attention. Between Eagle and Snake, they dragged and carried the unconscious man. Leading the way, Wolf glanced behind at them every few minutes. The man that had taken Cub could not have been older then himself. He appeared to be in his early twenties with brown hair that had a reddish tint. His clothes were clean, not showing any signs of having been in the woods for days. Wolf wondered if there was another cabin around here, if there was then they were still far from camp.



“Fox, is Cub still bleeding?” Wolf asked as he crossed over a fallen tree.



Worry was not something he felt often, but the annoying feeling had been showing up many times during the last few days. And no wonder, falling into pits, being taken captive, small injuries, hoping they wouldn’t have to eat weeds, losing Cub…with being lost on the bloody woods at the top of the list!

If anything I should be barking mad by now, Wolf thought.

Who knew, if Eagle got out of the quiet state he had fallen into and went back to being his normal, maddening self, Wolf would go barmy.



Fox, who had taken the responsibility of carrying Cub, paused to look under the bandage.



“It’s hard to tell,” he said slowly, looking slightly queasy. Snake shifted restlessly, Wolf could see the need to help Cub in his movements. “We’ll be at a stream soon, then Snake can take care of it, come on you lot.”

In their haste to find Cub, K Unit had not noticed the clouds gathering overhead. The sun had been slowly blotted out, like dark grey paint slowly spreading over clear paper. It was only noon, but the lack of sun changed everything. It could have been six in the afternoon, on a winter day where everything seemed bleak. A bolt of lightening flew across the sky, highlighting the clouds. All of them saw and knew what was about to happen.



“Shit,” Snake muttered.



Not used to the usually quiet man cursing, Wolf raised an eyebrow at him--then a clap of thunder ridded any amusement he had felt. They needed cover and the only think they had to use were trees, which were not the best thing to hide under in any thunderstorm.



“Over here,” Eagle called, a few feet to the side. Looking over, Wolf saw him standing on the edge of a small ridgeline, Snake at his side with the hostage dumped on the ground between them. “The trees are smaller over here, with big leaves,”



Lightening lit up the sky, and thunder followed almost immediately after. “It’s close,” Snake said and jumped over the small ledge.



Gesturing for Fox to follow, Wolf joined the others after helping get Alex over the raised surface. As the first raindrops fell, Wolf examined the plane.



“I bet there was a road here,” he said. “They just kept digging down when it got rough, that’s why this ledge is here.”



“Is that a chimney?”



For a moment Wolf felt excitement shoot through his veins. A house? With people and maybe a telephone to get in touch with--but then he saw what had captured Fox’s attention.

It was a chimney, but it was not attached to a house. The house had long ago rotted away, leaving a chimney standing alone in the woods. Bits of rock had fallen off leaving it fragile and untrustworthy.


“Yep,” Wolf confirmed glumly. “A chimney with no hope of ever seeing another fire.”



They gathered under the trees as the rain started to fall in heavy sheets. Even under the large leafs and thick branches, many raindrops slipped through. Eagle was tucking their matches deep into the backpack, waterproof or not, they weren’t taking any chances.

 

The ground quickly became muddy and Wolf decided there was no hope of them finding the stream in this. They’d probably fall all over themselves if they tried. Wolf glanced to his right where Snake was tending to Cub. Fox was tying up their prisoner--a bit rougher than was needed.



“I assume after losing our food supplies and Cub, you’ll agree that we need someone to be first watch?” Snake said as he collected rain water with a pot.


“Yes, I’ll do it,” Wolf said and watched as Snake uncovered Cub’s wound and washed it with the water. “But what else could possibly happen now? Bears, kidnappers, buckets of rain falling on our heads….”



“There could be more of them out there,” Fox suggested nodded at the still unconscious man.



“If he would wake we could get some answers,” Wolf said, the stood and headed for the man. Fox crossed his arms and watched, his expression curious as Eagle joined him. Snake stopped what he was doing and stood, wiping bloody hands on his pants.



“Wolf,” he began to caution, but Wolf shot him a look and Snake refrained from speaking.



Straddling the man’s waist, Wolf slapped him across the face. Gasping, the man awoke with a gasp. “What’s your name?” Wolf hissed, his hands clenching the material of the man’s collar. He was hoping to intimidate, and it worked.


“Forest!” The man gasped, his eyes terrified.



Wolf smirked, “Forest--how fitting. So, how are you--you know what, forget you, let’s talk about me!”



Forest watched the crazy man sitting on his stomach, but didn’t dare interrupt.



“You see,” Wolf said with patience, “I’m the leader of this little unit--and I’m pissed. In the last few days we’ve crashed and burned, been injured, lost supplies, been taken captive, and to top it off, you go and take Cub!” Wolf’s voice turned serious. “He’s the youngest member of my unit, he was already limping around, now he has a stab wound as well. He’s still unconscious and bleeding, he could die if we don’t find our camp and quickly. You’d better have a damn good reason for taking him.”



“I can’t say! But I--I didn’t hurt him on purpose, I swear it!” Forest said, eyes wide with honesty and fear.



“That doesn’t change the fact that he’s bleeding--” Wolf looked like he wanted to say more, but cut himself off. Standing, he pulled Forest up by his collar and pulled him stumbling to Cub’s side.



“Look at him,” Wolf ordered shoving Forest forward, while keeping a tight grip on one arm.



Forest stood there, staring at Wolf before turning his gaze over them all and then reluctantly to Cub. His midriff was bare, showing the damage Forest’s knife had caused.

 

Most of his stomach was pink where blood had stained the skin from the small but lethal wound. Gulping, Forest glanced uncertainly at Wolf.


“The kid shouldn’t be here,” Wolf said, his voice gruff as he stared down Forest. “He doesn’t want to be here, if the world was fair he wouldn’t be here--but I’m in charge of his safety and I’m damn well going to try. Now tell me why you were trying to kidnap him!”



Forest closed his eyes, an internal battle wreaking havoc with his mind. “I can’t. You should understand, being a soldier--I’ll be killed.”


Wolf and Fox met each others eyes, a silent conversation took place. “I can understand, but I highly doubt you’re a soldier,” Wolf said finally. “I can’t let you go--” Forest tried to jerk out of Wolf’s hold and Eagle quickly grabbed his other arm.



“No use fighting,” Snake said in an unthreatening manner. “We aren’t going to hurt you-”



Wolf muttered a disagreement that cut Snake off. “We’re not going to hurt you,” Snake repeated, eyeing Wolf with a disapproving face. “But,” he stressed, “we need to know who’s after us--if anyone is after us, and why.”


Forest worried his upper lip, a habit that Wolf sneered at. “Er, I don’t think they really have anything against you. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, you were the chosen victim.” He paused. “I don’t think I should say anymore.”



Frustrated, Wolf grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him away from Cub. “At least tell us how many of you there are.”



“I don’t know!” Forest hissed, getting angry despite his fear.


In return, Wolf punched him across the face before anyone could stop him. As Forest fell to the wet earth, Fox put a restraining hand on Wolf’s arm, while Snake and Eagle pulled Forest up and dragged him over to a tree.


“I don’t think you’re going to get anything else out of him Wolf, no need to get violent,” Snake reprimanded in a soft tone.



Wolf snorted, “Violent is punching him ‘till he bleeds, that was nothing compared to what I’d like to do.”



“He’s unconscious,” said Eagle in a befuddled voice. Wolf and Snake looked up. Fox had not stopped tying Forest to the tree even though he sagged in the bonds.



“Probably from fear and stress,” Snake said not sounding worried even as he went over to check.



“So much for staying dry,” Eagle said as he looked down at himself with a glum expression. The small fight had brought them out from the cover of the trees and rain pounded down on their heads.



“So much for staying safe,” Wolf muttered in return and tried to muffle a sigh.



“Wolf, listen,” Fox said consolingly. “Even if we had landed perfectly, and all our supplies had not been lost or damaged, we still would have had problems. That’s why it’s a survival trek,” he said with a grin. “It’s a test to see how we can survive in tough situations, and considering all the shit we’ve been put through, I think we’ve done a damn good job!”



“Oh, yes!” Wolf answered in a false jolly tone. “Cub is bleeding heavily, he could die…”

Wolf’s voice went softer before he continued, “it’s raining and I’m bloody starving--yes, we are doing a damn good job!”



“When you put it like that…” Fox wandered off, shoulders drooped in a depressed slump.

Wolf sat on the sodden ground, not seeming to care that his pants were quickly developing a wet mark in a most embarrassing area. The rain lessened to a quiet drizzle.

 

Taking a deep breath, Wolf closed his eyes to try and sport his thoughts. The forest smelt of wet soil and nature, the temperature had warmed due to the moisture and sweat gathered on Wolf’s brow. He had grown used to the cool temperature the woods usually held, and in this new atmosphere he was paying for it. Fox, Snake and Eagle had settled down in the quiet. Wolf kept his eyes open, not willing to even think about sleep. They had been far to lax, and with the others on their way to falling asleep, he would have to be the one to keep watch.

In a way he felt he had failed. His one real job as a leader was to assure the protection of his unit. Maybe he should have listened to Cub those many days ago. He tried to remember their exact words.


"I just think it’d be better to stay than go running off who knows where." Cub had said.

"Well, I’m the leader, and I say we go."



"Go where!? You have no idea where we are. None of us do!"



"That’s why we have a map dumbarse!"



“You can’t use the bloody map because we are not in the right place! We crashed before we reached the starting point!"



"We don’t need a starting point, brat!"



God, he’d acted so stupid. Letting a bloody teenager get to him, he could see why Cub had disliked him so. Not wanting to find more reasons to mentally beat himself up, Wolf stood and walked around their camp, if it could even be called such.

The rain stopped completely, remaining drops fell slowly from leaves onto Wolf’s head. He worried that their footsteps that was supposed to lead him back to the creek had been washed away, and even if they hadn’t would it really matter?

 

They were in the woods, there was bound to be at least ten streams in the wide expanse. Wolf was following a hunch, that hunch being that the stream would lead to Mallisa Lake, the only lake near their training camp.

 

He could be wrong though, and that thought was now threatening his sanity--and Cub’s life. They did not have the equipment to handle a stab wound. Cub would need stitches, and without a pain reliever it was gong to hurt like hell.


Wolf didn’t want him to go through that.



Lifting the rifle, he checked it out for damage while walking around the area where his unit slept and Cub and Forest were unconscious. He preferred smaller guns, easier to hide, and in some cases they were easier to handle. As long as it killed, then that was all he needed.

The recent rain had darkened the sky with clouds, and it became even darker as the sun continued its descent. Lighting a fire would be impossible, Wolf would have to use candles soon if he wanted to keep an eye on everything before waking one of the others to do the next shift

The dull sound of a fallen log being crushed made Wolf ready his gun. It could have been a falling branch--or it could have been someone stepping in the wrong direction. Either way, he had to check. Looking back swiftly, he found nothing out of the ordinary. Everyone was still asleep, Cub was still pale and unconscious. Gritting his teeth, Wolf headed towards the area where the sound had come from.

The brush was thick, he had a feeling that this vicinity received more rain than other parts. Wolf found the fallen log. It was splintered in the middle, squatting he found the russet and beige splinters of wood were dry to the touch.

 

Frowning, Wolf looked up. The only thing he saw that could have caused the sound and damage to the trunk was a large boulder. It had a few beige splinters scattered around the edges of it. Wolf put his gun under his arm and picked it up. The boulder was heavy and from the way it had lain on the ground, it seemed the bottom of the rock was facing up as there was mud over the surface.


Rocks didn’t fall from trees….



Dropping the boulder, Wolf prepared his gun to fire and raced back to his endangered unit. He was too late.



“Lay the gun on the ground, and back away.”



The words were said with a Russian accent, but the meaning was clear enough. Wolf saw his unit was unharmed, both Snake and Fox were awake but neither moved in fear of being shot.

 

Eagle slept on, peacefully unaware of the danger he was in and Cub lay beside him, his head cushioned from the cold earth with one of their jackets. Barely ten feet away, Forest was unconscious and being held up by a blond haired man by one arm, and with his other arm he held a gun pointing at Snake’s head.



His unit came first, and knowing this, Wolf had no other option but to lay the gun down. He did so slowly and unthreateningly.



“Good,” the Russian said, his eyes following every movement Wolf made.



“Who are you?” Wolf questioned stiffly, immensely angry at being caught off guard again and having himself and others threatened.



He was not answered immediately and saw that the man’s eyes had traveled away from him…and to Cub. An expression of surprise crossed his face, before it was gone and he was glancing back up at Wolf.



“Leave him alone!” Wolf barked, stepping closer and fists clenching tightly. The gun clicked warningly.



“I will kill you, it’s something that comes easy to me,” the man looked at Wolf, his eyes intent, his stance that of someone who had shot a gun many a time. “I’ll tell you my name if it will appease your curiosity, pass it on to your superiors if you like…although, I can’t say they’ll be pleased to hear I’ve been in their territory.” He stepped away from Wolf dragging Forest with him, but with that step, he came closer to Cub.



“But first…” the Russian nodded towards Cub, his pale blue eyes squinted as they took in the blood stain. “Tell me what’s wrong with the boy.”


Blinking, Wolf felt his fists unclench in surprise. “Why would you care? You’re friend is the one that injured him in the first place,” Wolf snapped as confusion melted into anger.



A slim yet muscled arm tightened around Forest’s chest. “He was not supposed to cause harm…is the boy in danger of dying?”



Wolf glanced at Snake incredulously, why was this man so concerned with Cub? The man didn’t meet his eyes as they were staring at the gun still pointed at his head. Fox however nodded, urging him to continue talking.


“…Cub could die if we don’t get him help, and soon,” Wolf said.


A frown marred the dangerous man’s face, though the gun he held never faltered.



“Yassen Gregorovich, that is my name,” Yassen’s eyes studied Wolf’s expression, then he nodded in a decisive way. “Why is the boy here?”


Even more confusion seeped into Wolf’s expression. “He’s training,” Wolf said bluntly, suspicions began to form in his mind. “He came here unwillingly--just to be stabbed by that idiot you’re protecting…and now he’s dying.”



Another expression crossed Yassen’s face, too fast to be recognized but it helped Wolf to understand.



“You know Cub,” he accused. “I saw your expression when you first saw him--how do you know him?”



Yassen did not answer to deny Wolf’s claim, neither did he acknowledge it. “You’re going in the wrong way,” he said instead. “Head east, you can make it to your camp before nighttime tomorrow. If you continue the way you were going, the boy will have no chance…and you’ll die soon after.”


None of them knew what to say, and so nothing was said.



“I suggest you leave as soon as possible,” Yassen said, his voice low. “Don’t follow me, I’ll have to kill you if you do.”

 

With these words, he backed away carrying the younger Forest with him. The darkness quickly hid him, but K Unit stayed still and quiet until the sounds of Yassen’s footsteps faded.

“Damn,” Fox muttered. He and Snake stood, both of them shaken.

 

They all stood in the quiet, waiting for the tension at the latest development to calm. Eagle slept on, and Wolf was both angry and envious of him for doing so.



“Well,” Snake said with a shuddering breath, “that settles it…I’m never sleeping again.”



Wolf couldn’t find the humor in him to snort, “I with you there Snake,” he said.



Fox ran a hand through his hair with both hands. “Cub’s a trouble magnet. I feel sorry for that babysitter of his, what’s her name?”


“Jack,” Wolf supplied. “I wonder if she was against him being sent here, or if she’ll have moved far away by the time he gets back?”


Snake frowned. “Cub’s a good kid, he just has horrible luck,” he said quietly and went to check on him.



Wolf woke Eagle with a rude shake. “Get up. While you were sleeping we were writing our wills.” With his sleep muddled brain, it took Eagle a few seconds to take in what

Wolf had said, and when it did he sat up and stared at them.


“What…why are you so pale Fox?” Eagle asked. Fox glared, but Snake spoke for him.



“Know anyone by the name of Yassen Gregorovich? He just held a gun to my head…Had an unhealthy interest in Cub too.”



“What?”



Wolf sighed, they left Eagle to sort through their words and make sense of what had happened by himself.



“You mean--we came in contact with another person, again, and yet we’re still stuck in the middle of the damn woods?”



“Well,” Wolf drew out the word. “We might have an idea where we are now….”


Eagle waited for an answer, but Fox interrupted, his words said in disbelief. “You’re going to trust the words of a possible killer?”



“Not a possible killer,” Snake said from where he knelt next to Cub. “A definite killer. He basically said he wouldn’t think twice before killing us.”



“He could have been bluffing,” Wolf argued, but even he did not seem so sure. Yassen had appeared ready to kill, and appearances weren’t always as deceiving as one might like to believe. Snake sat down with a sigh, Fox joined him on the ground.



“Cub any better?”



Snake hesitated, “No,” he said slowly. “I’m starting to think he might have less time than I previously thought. His skin is clammy, his pulse has slowed just slightly--but that could easily lead to more problems. Now that we’re all wet as well, that doesn’t help the situation at all. I’d like to move soon…what do you think Wolf?”



Wolf bit his thumb in thought, unconsciously mirroring a habit of Cub’s. “I think,” he said slowly, “that I’ll listen to what Gregorovich said…murderer or not, he did seem concerned about Cub. Though only God knows why.”


Eagle flexed his fingers, staring straight ahead although there was nothing to see. The darkness had covered them.



“I heard Snake mention something like that, an ‘unhealthy interest’ you said,” Eagle said looking at Snake for confirmation, only using voices to figure out where each other were.



Snake shifted, “Maybe he didn’t have bad intentions, I guess he could have known Cub when he was younger, or maybe came across his uncle. Cub said his uncle worked for MI6, maybe they knew each other that way.”



“Or maybe when he wasn’t killing people, Gregorovich was a part-time babysitter,” Eagle joked.



“That might explain the mystery that is Cub,” Fox muttered. “A murderer for a babysitter and a housekeeper who told him his limbs were going to fall off when he got hurt.”



Eagle laughed, “You know, we’re joking about that--but it’s actually quite horrible.”



“He’s not that bad off,” Snake defended lightly.



They quieted down, more than one pair of eyes looking at the young male sleeping nearby.



“Maybe when all this is done, when we get back to camp and get the training over with…maybe we could check up on him?” Wolf suggested, his tone hesitant as he did not want to cause embarrassment to himself by sounding overbearing.


“I can probably get the information,” Eagle offered and Wolf accepted the offer with a nod and thanks.



They settled down for a few more hours of rest with Fox taking the gun from Wolf for the next shift.



“…Fox, don’t think twice about waking me should you come across another person,” Eagle said, the grin in his voice easily heard.



“I’m hoping not to meet anyone else until we reach camp,” Fox muttered.
With that, they fell unto an uneasy slumber.

 

CHAPTER NINE

 

Waking early, Wolf woke Fox and Snake, before he relieved Eagle from his shift. They all had had a part in keeping each other safe.

The two hour shifts worked well, and Wolf was pleased to note that everyone had at least slept a little. Wolf tied his shoelace while glancing up to watch Snake who checking on Cub.

 

“It would be a bad idea to wake him, and I’m not sure we could even if we wanted to,” Snake said, his brow crinkled. “Sleep helps heal, and rest is one of the many things he needs right now.”

 

Wolf nodded, not knowledgeable enough in the medical area to disagree.

 

“Fox, you’re in charge of Cub. If he gets too heavy Snake or Eagle can take over for a bit.” Fox nodded at Wolf’s words and carefully picked up Cub.

 

A better form of transporting the young man would have been to make a carrying table out of branches, and that is probably what Wolf would have done had the situation been different. They did not posses the means to make many things that would have come in handy, so K Unit did what they were trained to do and made do with what they had.

 

Snake had changed Cub’s bandage earlier, Wolf had watched as he carefully folded the bloodied material. He’d thought Snake would throw it away, but instead he had placed it in an unused pocket.

 

“Don’t want to draw animals to this area with the smell, they could track us down,” Snake explained at Wolf’s stare.

 

As unlikely and ridiculous as Wolf found that, he didn’t feel the energy to argue, and something so simple wasn’t worth fighting over.

 

They moved out, all of them hungry but not having the time to stop, or the light to look for food. It was still early, the sky different hues of bright blue to light pinks.

 

“We’re not going to go back and find the creek,” Wolf said quietly. He seemed disconcerted, more so than any of them had seen him before.

 

“We’re trusting the words of a killer, then?” Fox’s voice showed his dislike at the idea, and Wolf’s shoulders stiffened.

 

“I’m doing this for Cub, Fox.” Wolf sighed slowly, “I don’t like it any more than you, trust me on that. But, either way, we are in need of medical attention--all of us probably have a few problems, but Cub’s is the worst. And even though we might be going out of the way because of what that guy said, what other choice do we really have?”

 

“And,” Snake said, ready to back Wolf up, “Gregorovich had no reason to lie. He seemed pleased just to get Forest and run back to whatever place they came from.”

 

“Probably a place called Hell,” Eagle muttered, while looking side to side in a comic fashion.

 

“Wouldn’t doubt it, those bloody interfering hunters probably came out of there with them,” Fox said with a shake of his head.

 

“They need to be taken care of, remind me to mention it to the sergeant--”

 

Wolf laughed, “Trust me, you’ll be telling this story to more that just the sergeant. A SAS helicopter crashed, the pilot died and four men and a teen barely survived. Even with the newspapers and telly being quiet when it comes to military matters, I wouldn’t doubt if this made the news. Our names might even have been mentioned--”

 

“Oh, shite,” Eagle said, “I bet my mum thinks I’m dead.”

 

Snake didn’t look so sure. “Your…well, you Eagle. Energetic, headstrong…much too verbal for Wolf or anyone else with a short amount of patience, she’s probably thought you were dead tons of times!”

 

Fox shifted Cub carefully so he was laid over one shoulder.

 

“I did get into a bit of trouble here and there,” Eagle murmured.

 

“Like?”

 

A slight embarrassed look came over Eagle’s face, “Well…maybe more then a bit of trouble. I had the tendency to piss off the neighbor’s dog, they had a huge fence and I’d sit on a crate and tease him by looking over the edge.”

 

Wolf snorted with laughter, but Eagle was far from done.

 

“Then, one day he got through the fence…tore four boards off in the process. Yeah,” Eagle muttered, “I don’t like remembering that.”

 

Fox chuckled, but he stopped when Alex moved. “Guys--Wolf, stop for a second. Snake, come check Cub, I think he’s waking.”

 

…………………………

 

Alex woke in parts. He noticed the voices, they sounded both grimly worried and hopeful.

 

“….Cub? If you can hear me, I don’t want you sitting up.”

 

Snake’s voice came from above him, and his side was prodded painfully--no, it was not the touches causing the pain, that was coming from an injury. As his head cleared, Alex could feel the injury but with that feeling came the pain.

 

He swallowed a groan, making a choking sound in the process. Alex reluctantly opened his eyes, not positive that his surroundings were something worth seeing. Fox was bent over his head, his eyes studying Alex’s face. He moved back as Alex looked up at him through squinted eyes. By moving back though, he let the sun hit Alex’s eyes. Turning his head sharply away from the sunlight, Alex weakly lifted a hand to block his eyes and peered at his surroundings without sitting up.

 

It was embarrassing to see so many people hovering over him as he lay helpless and more than a little confused. Wolf had his arms crossed, watching guardedly as Alex stared up at them and looked around.

 

“How do you feel Cub?” Snake asked as he brought out a flask of water so Alex could drink when he felt like it.

 

“Bloody awful,” Alex replied. His voice was hoarse and he drank slowly from the flask

Snake handed him. “What happened?”

 

Seeing the traded glances and the unsure faces, Alex frowned. “All I remember is this shooting pain in my side. I think I blacked out shortly after that.”

 

“Er…uh,” Snake said eloquently, “why don’t you sit up Cub….Slowly!” Snake warned, as Alex tried to sit up too quickly.

 

He’d tried to sit up fast, and halfway up his head suddenly felt extremely dizzy. Making a face, Alex placed a hand on his pounding head and sat up the rest of the way. The pain made him re-think his action, and the queasiness in his stomach grew to an alarming amount.

 

“The man who captured you accidentally let his knife slip.” Wolf spoke unexpectedly,

 

Alex turned to look at him, his side aching with the slight movement. “We were tracking him--we didn’t get you in time, he’d already stabbed you.”

 

Alex looked for the man they spoke of; there was no one around except for themselves.

 

“What--where’d he go? You didn’t kill him did you?” Alex’s eyes grew alarmed, and Wolf shook his head.

 

“As much as we wanted to, we didn’t.”

 

“Where is he, then?”

 

Eagle cleared his throat. “While you were unconscious, we decided you were a trouble magnet.”

 

Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Alex began to get angry, the pain fueling him. “Damn it, would you just tell me where the hell he is?!”

 

“He was saved--”

 

“--by this man who seemed to know you. A Yassen Gregorovich,” Eagle finished. He received an annoyed look from Snake for cutting into his explanation. “Do you know him? Is he a relative gone bad, an ex-lover--”

 

Fox laughed and Eagle stopped his dramatic words to grin. Alex had his mouth slightly open, a horrified expression on his face at Eagle’s chose of words. “What? God, how much has happened since I’ve been out--”

 

Alex’s stomach rolled, he knew what was going to happen a moment before it did. Groaning, he rolled over and immediately vomited the small amount he had in his stomach. Continuing to dry heave painfully, Alex noted someone had put a comforting hand next to his neck. It squeezed his shoulder and when Alex was done the owner of the hand offered him a flannel. Alex took it with a thankful look and wiped off his sweaty brow. Then, he paused.

 

“Is this the same flannel we all washed off with a few days ago?”

 

His only answer was a smirk from Wolf.

 

“Ew,” Alex said and tossed it away from himself. “So, what did this Yassen character look like--and what did he say?”

 

“We gathered he was Russian, or at least he had an accent that made us think so. Blond with blue eyes, sharp features and slim build--that’s about all as far as a description. I think he was just going to grab Forest and go.”

 

“Forest?”

 

“The guy who took you in the first place, that was his name. Anyway, he saw you and then it got weird.”

 

Alex smiled in bemusement, “How so?” Fox opened his mouth to answer, and Snake handed Alex his water flask to drink from.

 

“He seemed…concerned over your condition and when we asked him why he evaded the question. Gregorovich had threatened Snake, so Wolf had to put his gun down. He could have killed us, I’m still surprised he didn’t,” Fox said.

 

Wolf borrowed the flask of water from Alex to drink deeply. “We need to keep moving, and if you can’t talk and walk at the same time then what are you doing on my team?”

 

Grinning, Wolf looked at the sky and the suns position to try and make out the time.

 

“It’s still early, but the faster we get there the better…if there’s actually anything there to see,” Wolf ended with a mutter. He lifted the gun, and waited for the others.

 

Alex was confused, “Get where?”

 

“Well…er, we might not be as far from SAS camp as we thought. Gregorovich seemed to think it was only a day away, so we’re going to try it,” Fox waited for Alex’s reply, looking torn between amusement and dislike of their plan.

 

“Whose idea was this?” Alex asked. Frankly he was amazed. Wolf actually agreed to head off who knows where--what had happened to his ‘follow the stream’ plan?

 

“It was Wolf’s idea.”

 

“Oh,” Alex said softly, surprise showing on his face.

 

“Yeah, yeah, can we please leave now?” Wolf said impatiently. “Cub, you still look ready to pass out--Fox, Snake, help him walk…Unless you’d rather be carried?” At Alex’s expression, he continued, “I didn’t think so. Eagle, you can carry the luggage.”

 

Pulled to his feet, Alex let himself be led by Snake and Fox. No, he didn’t want to be carried. Apparently that had already happened and the idea of being carried around like a limp rag doll was none too pleasing. Even though he had to lean heavily against Fox’s side, it was better than feeling useless and a burden in someone’s arms.

 

A burden or not, K Unit showed no irate feelings towards Alex even as he lagged behind with Fox and Snake on either side. Even Wolf, who had eagerly shown his dislike towards Alex before, was quiet and patient. The trees thinned letting the sunlight fall on them.

 

The heat warmed his skin and Alex held back a sigh of relief. He’d been growing cold, and his skin felt sore where the wet clothing had rubbed against him. When they stopped for water, Alex rolled his up his sleeves. He had a cut on one hand when they had trampled a patch of thorny brambles. They had found a few wild blackberries amongst the brambles, but it was not enough to sooth the ache in his stomach.

 

“The first thing I’m going to do when we get back is eat--and they’d better offer me some better food than that mush in the mess hall,” Eagle warned.

 

“I think that’s all they have,” Fox said pityingly.

 

“No, I saw the sergeant with a turkey leg a few days before we left, they have a secret stash,” Eagle said, whispering the words like he was speaking of a conspiracy.

 

“Did those blackberries you ate have bugs on them? Or better yet, are you sure they were blackberries?” Wolf said, amused at Eagle’s rant.

 

“I just want to sleep, then leave this place and go home,” Alex muttered. “I knew it was going to suck when I found out who I was going with--er.” His widened eyes and the smile that threatened to break onto his face told Wolf that Alex had meant to say that.

 

“I’ve said it before, brat,” Wolf said, taking on a mock stern expression, “just because you’re hurt doesn’t mean I won’t come over there--”

 

“--and give me a big hug,” Alex interrupted, blowing a raspberry in Wolf’s direction.

 

Snake rolled his eyes but stood in front of Alex when Wolf headed their way. “Now Wolf, the kid’s been knocked around the last day or so, he probably has brain damage.”

 

“Yeah,” Eagle agreed sarcastically, “we know he wouldn’t tease if he was feeling normal.”

 

Alex just smirked at Wolf over Snake’s shoulder.

 

“Let’s go,” Wolf said, exasperation making him sound wound up as he led the way.

 

………………………….

 

It got darker faster than Alex thought it should. His day had not been fun, so the saying, ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ didn’t apply to this situation. He had been kept busy though, if trying to hide his pangs of pain, chatting, bickering and laughing counted as being busy.

 

Up ahead, Eagle moved closer to Wolf’s side in a swift natural movement. But, his shoulders were tense. As if my instinct Alex tried to quicken his step and leaned forward slightly.

 

“Shouldn’t we be there by now?”

 

Wolf turned his head slightly; it was difficult to make out his words without it becoming obvious that he was trying to listen.

 

“We’ll go another mile, or two,” Wolf said. “If we don’t find anything…then I guess we were had.” He shrugged, but his tight lips and narrowed eyes showed how angry he would be if that was the case.

 

Alex was still thinking over these words when something caught his eyes. The sun was almost completely down…so what was making the pine needles far above his head gleam like that? The trees he had his eyes on were far away so he could only see the upper part of the tree, and as he walked, the gleam disappeared.

 

Alex frowned, and then decided it was his imagination. But it wasn’t.

 

A mile of more walking, then, he looked up and saw it. As they walked it had been hidden by trees, and if one of them had noticed it before it would have appeared to be a star. In the clearing they stood in now, Alex could see that it was no star.

 

It was a lamp, or more appropriately, a streetlamp.

 

“Cub?” Fox had been tugging him, trying to get him moving while Snake stared ahead with tired eyes. “What--oh,” the last word was said softly. Fox had seen the light, and though it took him a minute, his eyes lit up with realization.

 

“Wolf! Look to your right. Is that what I think it is?”

 

Wolf twisted around to look back at them, his eyes going to the light Fox pointed at.

 

“Yeah, a large star. Make your wish F--fox--” he stumbled to a halt a cocked his head to the side. “That…that’s not a star is it?”

 

Coming back to where they stood, and dragging Eagle with him, they all stared at the lamppost in the distance. “I guess we start heading that way now,” Snake said, his voice soft.

 

The answer was obvious when Wolf started that way in a fast walk.

 

……………………………

 

Five minutes later, they stood under the lamppost staring up at it. The area was cleared off, the ground showed signs of recent use.

 

“This is either a training area, probably for running long distances, or it’s a road,” Fox said decisively and took Alex’s arm away from his shoulders so he could bend down.

 

Leaning on Snake, Alex watched as Fox studied the dirt and gravel mix.

 

“There are footprints, all going that way,” he pointed to the left and then looked at Wolf. “The track probably goes in a large circle, which way would you go?”

 

Wolf looked uncertain, and then he shrugged. “One way might be a little longer than the other, but either way--we’re back. Both sides of the track will lead us where we want to go, let’s go left though, that’s where everyone else was headed.”

 

Alex’s arm was picked up and placed over Fox’s shoulder again as they helped him walk at a faster pace. They all seemed to be under a sudden bout of liveliness, the pain even dimmed at the prospect of finally being back. Alex snorted with laughter.

 

“What?” Fox asked, not turning his eyes away from the road.

 

“I spent most of my time here cursing the people that forced me to come…and now I’m glad to be back,” he snorted again.

 

Fox thought his words over, and then traded a look with Snake over his head, “At least your final days here won’t be as bad.”

 

“What makes you say that?” Alex asked.

 

“Well…for one you won’t have to worry about us antagonizing you anymore. I think we’ve grown past that,” he said with a gentle smile.

 

“Even Wolf?” Alex asked quietly, his face unsure and slightly amused.

 

“Wolf’s probably changed the most. Don’t go and pick at him or try to cause trouble…he was really worried about you while you were unconscious,” Snake murmured and Alex

frowned.

 

“I’m not…brittle, just a little blood loss and I might need some stitches, nothing to get too concerned about,” Alex said uncomfortably.

 

Jack and Ian were the only adults he had really seen express concern for him--then there was the secretary at his school, but she was motherly to a few other students besides him.

 

“I get the feeling you’ve had a few injuries before that were ‘nothing to be concerned about’,” Fox said, his calm words not matching the apprehensive look on his face.

 

“I’ve broken my arm before,” Alex said with a shrug, not hearing the sarcastic underlining in Fox’s statement. “Then I sliced my knee open once, because I fell out of my friend’s tree and landed on a piece of glass. Had to get a few stitches that time.”

 

When he did not get a reply, and it was too dark to properly see Fox’s and Snake’s expression. Alex resisted shrugging and continued to concentrate on walking.

 

Even though he despised talking about his injury, and had spent a few minutes trying to make the wound seem less important than it was, he had to admit, it was hurting more than earlier.

 

He felt cold, and Alex had fought back shivers a few times. He knew this was from blood loss, but the effects still managed to discomfort him. His knees felt weak, if it wasn’t for his stubbornness he was sure to have fallen over earlier. Injured or not, he was still with K Unit and their opinion of him…well, it mattered now, to him at least.

 

When had it started mattering to him, he wasn’t sure. It must have happened somewhere between rescuing Wolf, Fox and Eagle from the intrusive hunters, and seeing and hearing their reactions when Alex had told them of MI6’s plans for him.

 

“I see more lights up ahead,” Wolf said.

 

Alex looked up sharply from where he’d been staring morosely at his feet. The act made him dizzy and the earth shifted for a moment before he found his balance. Snake was looking at him concernedly when he righted himself, “Okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Alex replied, “just a little dizzy.”

 

Snake nodded, but still looked him over with trained eyes, “You look a bit shaky, I think you’d better let someone carry--”

 

“No!” Alex snapped, and then regretted it when Eagle and Wolf turned to stare back at them. “I’m fine,” Alex said in a quieter, calmer voice.

 

Snake didn’t answer, and nothing else was said as they started up a hill. Alex had not been running on this track, but there were usually a few hills in the running tracks, he hoped this was the only one they would come across. As loath as Alex was to admit it, he was feeling worse than he had just ten minutes ago. He hadn’t drunk anything in over two hours; they had run out before he’d had a chance at the water flask.

 

Gravel rolled down the hill as Alex barely managed to pick his feet up for each step. He ignored the glances he got from Snake and even Wolf, the weakness and pain he felt must have started showing on his face. The wound had long ago stopped bleeding, but Alex felt that with a wrong step he could stumble and pull at the tender skin beneath his ribs.

 

They reached the top of the hill and Alex could see it now. A group of tents, a few buildings that were the mess hall and a few sergeants’ offices. In the distance there were more tents where the less fortunate slept, it was a farther walk to the loo and everything else if you were assigned to sleep there. Luckily and unluckily, Alex had gotten stuck with K Unit. And while they had a good spot in the SAS camp, he had had to put up with them and their dislike of him.

 

They started down the hill.

 

“I can’t believe we’re here,” Eagle said. Tiredness and hunger apparently were not enough to stop even Eagle from a sudden bought of chatter.

 

“I want a hamburger, and my bed. When I say my bed I mean the one I left at home, not that uncomfortable bunk they give you and call it a bed. I also want a bath--you don’t want to know about the things I have living on me--”

 

“Then please don’t tell us!” Wolf begged and tried to descend from the hill at a faster pace.

 

Alex half grinned, one hand grasping at Fox’s shirt sleeve to keep from slipping.

 

“Hey Snake, I know you didn’t study this in your classes but I have a rash on my--”

 

“My God, shut up!” Wolf half yelled and Eagle burst into laughter.

 

Alex snickered, but stopped when one of his legs gave way. Snake caught him roughly but Alex could feel the effects of ignoring the injury. They were too much to ignore, even as he felt himself being pulled to his feet, Alex knew he would just fall again.

 

And fall he did, even as he heard Wolf curse and Eagle being told to run for help. Then he blacked out.

 

………………………………..

 

Alex had been to a hospital a few times. Two times for when he had injured himself doing childish stunts, and once when Ian had broken a rib on one of his travels he did for…the bank.

 

The hospital could have been a different one every time Alex went, but in a way they would all be the same. Boring wall paper in warm colors that were meant to hide dirt, short carpets with swirls in the pattern and of course there was the smell. Antiseptics and old people was how he would have described it if someone asked.

 

The small emergency room at the SAS training facility was different from where Alex had been before. There was no carpet, nothing in sight that was supposed to give him a feeling of comfort…but frankly, all Alex wanted was the feeling of the mattress under his back, even as thin as it was. Turning his head, he saw the rest of K Unit in a similar position.

 

He had woken a few hours after passing out to find himself being treated. They had quickly given him a sleeping drug so their treatment of his side wound could go on uninterrupted. He had drunk a glass of water earlier. The chalky taste that covered his tongue had been enough to inform him it had been spiked with a painkiller, but Alex had not complained about the lack of warning. His side felt odd with the stitches in place, and the painkiller numbed any feeling in his lower stomach.

 

There was a window beside his bed, the plain curtain pushed aside and letting rays of sunlight hit Alex’s sheet covered legs. Turning his head again, Alex looked over at K Unit. He could make out Snake’s light hair, but besides that he wasn’t aware if they were awake and ignoring him, or still asleep.

 

Pulling his knees up, Alex carefully used his hands to push himself into a sitting position. Lying down he could not make out the stitches of his injury. The one who had treated him last had left his hospital night shirt unbuttoned. Alex pulled one side of the fabric away from his side and bent his head at the odd angle to check the damage.

 

He’d seen stitches before, on himself and on others, but they still managed to disturb him. The black surgical thread looked odd against his pale skin. Against his will Alex was reminded of scenes from a horror film he’d once seen with Tom, the antagonist in the film had stitched the victims mouth closed. Frowning, Alex tried to rid himself of that thought. Honestly, why had he let himself be dragged to the theatre?

 

Alex shifted to place his bare feet on the cold wooden floor. The bed springs creaked and whined as he moved; wincing in light embarrassment at making so much noise, Alex peered at the others and was pleased when they continued to sleep.

 

There appeared to be no nurses around, the entire building seemed to be abandoned. From outside the thin walls he could hear commands being shouted as the sergeants woke the soldiers, or ordered them to do this or that.

 

Getting out of bed slowly, Alex started walking one of the three doorways connected to the main room, one of them had to lead to the bathroom. The first doorway he opened was a supplies cabinet.

 

Shelves full of bandages, peroxide and other common medical items, filled one side. Glancing over to the other side of the cabinet before shutting the door, Alex saw vials and bottles identified by the white tags taped to them. Alex recognized some as pain relievers, blood thinners, but he was at a loss to name the other vials.

 

Shutting the closet with a last curious look towards a vial containing a green liquid, Alex turned and entered another room, this one was the bathroom and Alex shut himself in for privacy.

 

The floor was laid with white tile, the tub was white and there was an arm hold to help the injured soldiers when it came to getting into the tub or shower. Alex didn’t need to use the tub, it seemed he had been washed down while unconscious.

 

Even though the thought made him cringe, he imagined washing off would be uncomfortable with the stitches in his side. Plus the doctors might want him to keep the area dry for a few days, there was a clear paste over the wound and stitches, probably to help the healing process and Alex wouldn’t want to wash it off. He used the restroom then turned to the large mirror above the sink.

 

It had been a long time since he had seen himself…if that made any sense.

 

His expression was pale, more so than normal. Alex blamed it on blood loss and maybe even shock, going from the humid air to the air conditioned room was quite a change; he felt cold in this environment.

 

His open shirt and thin pajama pants didn’t help. Alex leaned forward, his eyes were still their chocolaty brown, but around the iris they were red from exhaustion.

 

There was a long scratch on his forehead, whether it was from running into a low hanging branch or from someone hitting him Alex didn’t know. It had scabbed during the night and was easily seen as it stood out dark against his skin.

Shaking his head self-consciously, Alex pulled his bangs over his forehead and in the process he hid the ugly mark. Splashing warm water on his face, Alex dried off with the surprisingly soft towel that hung from a ring.

 

When he entered the main room to go back to his bed, Alex found Wolf and Fox conversing in low voices. They looked up at him as he entered the room. Both sets of eyes went to his side and eyed the stitches and irritated skin. Alex crossed his arms over his chest pointedly and they looked back up at him, Fox looked a bit sheepish.

 

“Sorry,” he muttered, a hesitant smile coming over his face. “Looks like they patched you up okay, how do you feel?”



Alex thought it over. How did he feel? Tired, even after getting a full night’s sleep, and a bit…dazed.

 

“I think the drugs they have me on are still working,” he said in explanation and ran a tired hand through his already mussed up hair.

 

“Everything a bit fuzzy?” Wolf asked, understanding in his eyes. Alex got the feeling that Wolf knew just how he felt and wondered when the man had injured himself badly enough to have been put on pain medication.

 

“Yeah, fuzzy might be a good word for it.”

 

“It’ll wear off,” Fox assured him and Alex sat on his bed as Fox moved over to make room for him. “Of course, in thirty minutes to an hour it’ll wear off--then you’ll need to take the medication again or be in a lot of pain.”

 

“You’re reassuring,” Alex muttered.

 

Wolf grinned, but Snake woke up in that moment and stretched. “Mhh, I should get hurt more often, these beds are much better than those little bunk things.”

 

“Considering you only have to worry about your ankle, I bet you’ll be back with your ‘little bunk things’ pretty soon, so enjoy it while you can.” Wolf seemed to enjoy the sad frown that came over Snake’s face and Alex rolled his eyes.

 

“Sadist,” Alex muttered and Wolf chuckled.

 

A stern looking woman entered the building, they turned to look at her. When her eyes saw Alex, she frowned. “You have only been out of the operation room for five hours, get back in your bed.”

 

Wolf grinned as she scolded, Alex subtly gave a rude gesture in his direction, but Wolf only grinned wider which caused Alex to sigh.

 

“It’s bad enough that you’re injured in the first place--in a training camp for soldiers no less!” The nurse continued, oblivious to their sign language and grins. But as she talked, Alex felt his smile fading.

 

“Now, I won’t ask why you’re here, I know better than that.” The nurse tucked the sheets around the bed effectively trapping Alex underneath. “But, you should know that your parents or guardians wouldn’t want you walking around when you’re injured, so stay put! I won’t be the one informing your mum or dad that you got an infection because you disobeyed orders.”

 

With that, the nurse pressed her hand against Alex’s head. She ‘hmm-ed’ but whether it was in approval or disapproval, Alex wasn’t sure. Then, she left and the echo of her heeled shoes trailing behind.

 

An uncomfortable silence overcame them. Alex wished the nurse hadn’t brought up his parents; it made him think of the reason he was here. Apparently, it did the same to K Unit.

 

Snake cleared his throat, “So, we should have been back a few days ago,” he stopped and looked at Alex. “Do you think they’ll be sending you off soon to go on your…mission?”

 

Seeing Snake’s hesitation at saying the last word, some of Alex’s ire that had been rising at the subject calmed back down. He stared down at his clasped hands.

 

“I imagine so, the mission won’t wait. I’ll just have to be careful with this,” Alex said and gestured at his uncovered side.”

 

They were all quiet. Eagle awoke and blinked at them in confusion before sitting up and keeping quiet as well.

 

“I don’t think there’s any harm in asking, and I’m kind of ashamed at not asking earlier since I’ve thought about it once or twice. But, what’s your name?” Fox asked.

 

Alex blinked. He hadn’t thought about their names and he wondered what could have made Fox think of a question like that. But, he could see no reason to deny them the knowledge, so he shrugged.

 

“Alex Rider,” he said solemnly.

 

Fox seemed to think the name over, then he nodded. “It fits,” he said, and while Alex felt bemused over those words the others had started nodding as well.

 

“Yep, like one of those cool names for the heroic, if a bit reckless, heroes,” Eagle agreed.

 

Alex laughed in surprise and shook his head, but in his mind he remembered the fear he had felt when trying to pull Wolf out of the fire, and the incredible determination that wouldn’t let Alex leave the man to die amongst the flames.

 

Maybe he had been…a little heroic.

 

He had no time to think it over, the door was opened and their sergeant came through the doors, a man his size followed, by the coat, hat and expression, Alex got the feeling that this man held a higher position.

 

“Good evening gentleman,” he said, his tone not over friendly, but polite.

 

“These are the soldiers that came into contact with Gregorovich, all of them,” the sergeant informed the man, his eyes going to Alex last. Alex noticed a blue lapel on his coat reading ‘Epson’ as the overhead gave the sergeant a look.

 

Epson, nodded. “To get right to the matter, I would like you to tell me of your confrontation with Yassen Gregorovich. He is dangerous, and any information we can get could be useful.”

 

Wolf, Fox and Snake traded glances, wary and slightly surprised looks. So, Gregorovich was dangerous…then why had he helped them.

 

The sergeant pulled out two foldable chairs for himself and Epson. They say and waited for someone to begin.

 

Wolf cleared his throat when he realized no one was going to speak and everyone was giving him encouraging glances, “We had stopped for a break, Cub went to use the loo before we headed off again,” Wolf stopped as Alex laid his head in his hands.

 

He was tossed between feeling embarrassed and grimly amused.

 

“Er…sorry,” Wolf muttered before continuing. Epson seemed amused and glanced at Alex before turning his attention back to the story teller. Wolf repeated the event of the past two days in great detail, it was interesting for Alex to hear of the events from Wolf’s point of view.

 

“I decided to follow the instructions given by Gregorovich,” Wolf said. “By night fall we had seen the street lights that line the running track, we followed it here.”

 

There was a silence that insinuated the story was complete. Epson stood, “Thank you. I hope you get well soon Mr. Rider,” he continued not using Alex’s code name.

 

“Why do you think they wanted to know all that?” Eagle asked.

 

“I’d rather know just how dangerous Gregorovich really is. Do you think he’s involved with whoever shot us down?”

 

Wolf sighed, “I don’t know Snake, I want to ask but I’m not sure they’d appreciate our…curiosity.”

 

“We’d probably get sacked--and we don’t even have a job yet to get sacked from!”

 

Alex lay back down, his eyes were growing heavy even as the amount of sunlight pouring through his window told him it was getting close to noon.

K Unit lowered their voices as they talked over possibilities, and Alex was soon fast asleep.

 

……………………………….

 

He awoke to an empty room. K Unit was gone. A fleeting disappointment crossed Alex’s face, then the door opened, sadly it was not anyone he wanted to see.

 

“Hello Mrs. Jones,” he said out of politeness.

 

As she walked towards him, he thought quickly of what he could have said, ‘Are you feeling guilty enough to leave me and Jack alone now? No? But look at this gaping wound in my side! My pain relievers have worn off by the way, I might start screaming in agony any second, so you might want to cover your ears--’.

 

His mental thoughts were very eager to carry on. He blamed it on the drugs. Alex had a few more things he would have liked to have said, all of them not very nice. There was a bit of fear he felt as seeing Mrs. Jones here, would she tell him good news or bad?

 

“Hello Alex,” she started sitting lightly on the bed across from his.

 

He studied her expression, it was professional…but he saw a glimmer of sadness.

 

“You’re still going to force me to work for you, aren’t you?”

 

She didn’t answer and Alex sighed.

 

“You’ll leave tomorrow morning and have two days of recovery before your mission. Your injury was unfortunate but the doctors assure me that you can still perform your duties well enough, and the job is not difficult. We don’t require you to do any work that may cause you harm.”

 

Alex just stared at her. She pressed her lips into a thin line, “Do you have any questions?”

 

He had many, “Who is Yassen Gregorovich, and does he know me or anyone related to me?”

 

If anyone would know of a ‘dangerous’ person as Gregorovich was said to be, it would be Mrs. Jones. How could someone in her position not know?

 

“I was wondering if you would ask,” she said, her expression saying she was not looking forward to asking the question. “To give the entire truthful answer would be stupid on my part, but as I know you’ll not be content until you know as much as possible, I’ll give you an edited version. Yassen Gregorovich is an assassin. He works for an organization that recently became…angry with us.”

 

Mrs. Jones shifted and crossed her ankles while bringing out a peppermint from a jacket pocket. “The helicopter crash you went through was because of that organization, and when you were kidnapped from your unit, that was also because of this organization. They were testing a younger member, I do believe he failed the test. If he hadn’t then Gregorovich would not have had to interfere.”

 

Alex had a bad feeling in his stomach. If this organization got mad enough to attack an aircraft leaving a SAS base, he knew that Forest was without a doubt, dead.

 

“He knew me,” Alex said.

 

Mrs. Jones bit into her peppermint, a sharp cracking noise filling the air as she did.

 

“That goes into the information you don’t need to know Alex--”

 

“But if it involves me, don’t I have a right to know? What if I run into him again?”

 

Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Jones clasped her hands. “Listen to me, Yassen Gregorovich is a ruthless murderer who kills for money. He has enough of it to retire, but he can’t. He’s too good at what he does. If you ever find yourself meeting him, it would be wise of you to run away.”

 

“Cowards run away,” Alex breathed, his voice barely perceivable.

 

Alex was certain he saw Mrs. Jones’ hands clench as she leaned forward. “To meddle with Gregorovich is to wish for death, and to wish for death is a coward's part.”

 

Not liking his words being twisted to be used in arguing against him, Alex frowned. A creak in the door made them both look up. Wolf stood there looking like a child caught in the act of doing something naughty.

 

Mrs. Jones turned back to Alex, “I’ll leave you to heal. Goodbye. Alex, remember what I said.”

 

Wolf and Mrs. Jones past each other trading nods of acknowledgment. Alex pulled his knees up and collapsed against the pillows, the displeased frown still on his face.

 

“How are you?” Wolf began stiffly.

 

Alex realized he had another reason for feeling slightly grumpy and bitter, his pain relievers were wearing off, adding to the mess of emotions.

 

“I’m okay,” he lied, and when Wolf saw through that and raised an eyebrow, he re-phrased his answer. “The medication is wearing off, and Mrs. Jones just pissed me off.”

 

Wolf stood up and crossed the room to search through some plastic bottles before coming back with one. “Here,” he said handing two white pills to Alex and poured him a glass of water.

 

“Are you supposed to mess with the doctor’s stuff?” Alex asked dubiously. He took the offered pills though and washed them down with the water.

 

“What they don’t know won’t hurt them, and I was trying to make your discomfort go away. You really want to argue?” Wolf looked at Alex, both his eyebrows raised in question.

 

Alex shrugged. “I didn’t think so,” Wolf said in a sing song voice.

 

“You’re leaving tomorrow then,” Wolf continued, his words not formed as a question. Alex looked at him suspiciously.

 

“Just how much did you hear?”

 

“All of it,” Wolf replied, not looking embarrassed at all.

 

Alex found he couldn’t be annoyed and he turned his head away to look out the window as a group marched past on their way to lunch.

 

“Alex,” at his name, Alex stilled.

 

It sounded weird coming from Wolf’s mouth, different, but not in a totally negative way. Wolf glared at his nails as if he’d found a terribly annoying splinter. “I--I hope you’re planning on listening to Jones. Don’t go looking for trouble on this mission, knowing you, you’ll probably find it without looking.”

 

“Don’t you think I have a right to know about Gregorovich and why he told us the way here? That’s not normal behavior--if anything he should probably have killed us to keep his and Forest’s identity safe!” Alex couldn’t comprehend why others could not understand his curiosity when it came to this.

 

“Then don’t go and press your luck!” Wolf hissed in the same tone as Alex. “He let you live, maybe he has kids and felt it wrong to kill you, and so he left us alive as well--Lord knows you’d probably have died without me out there protecting your sorry arse.”

 

Alex knew Wolf was baiting him to get away from the subject at hand, he didn’t feel ready to give up the argument, but he knew he wouldn’t win. Wolf was just as stubborn as he was, if not more so.

 

“Excuse me? Who pulled your unconscious body out of a burning helicopter? Your extremely heavy unconscious body I might add!”

 

Wolf snorted, “Just because you’re a wimp--”

 

“I don’t want to stay near the burning helicopter that could have easily have gotten us back here in a lot less time!” Alex mocked, his voice going high and girly.

 

“I got kidnapped while using the bathroom!” Wolf mocked back at him.

 

Of course, someone cleared their throat behind them. They looked up in surprise, the nurse glared back at them. A doctor in a white coat standing by her side.

 

Wolf blanched at the woman’s face. “I’ll be taking my leave now.” He stood and walked toward the door, the nurse and doctor had moved to one side and were going through some notes on a clipboard.

 

As Wolf pulled the door open, he paused and turned back. “Hey, Alex?”

 

Alex had not stopped watching him out boredom, “Yeah?”

 

“Call me sometime, you can tell me how all this goes for you,” he invited lightly.

 

Alex blinked. ‘All this’ meant his upcoming mission of course, and even though Alex wouldn’t say he and Wolf were exactly best friends, he found himself enjoying the idea of telling someone besides Jack how his mission had gone. Considering her reaction to learning Alex was being used in the first place, she might not even want to hear of it.

 

“I’ll do that Wolf,” Alex said. “Hey! I’m probably leaving early…so could you tell the others I said bye?”

 

Wolf nodded after a moment. “Yeah, I’ll do that,” he answered, his words echoing Alex’s.

 

Alex sat back with a satisfied nod and Wolf left. Only a few moments after Wolf had left, the doctor came forward.

 

“Alright Mr. Rider, let’s see that side wound please,” he said in a cheerful enough tone.

 

Alex sighed very lightly but pulled his shirt aside. Cheerful or not, he was quickly developing a hearty dislike to hospitals.

 

……………………………

 

The black car pulled up, too close to Alex not to be the car he had been waiting for. As the driver stepped out to help Alex if needed, he noticed the man was the same who had driven him here all those days ago. The man stared at Alex without trying to be obvious, and Alex wondered if he had changed that much.

 

A few men had stopped to watch the driver and Alex as they loaded Alex’s bag into the back. The news of what had happened to K Unit had spread fast around the camp, and the men who had once disliked Alex’s presence now seemed to hold an amount of respect for him--others were wary of him and only the sergeant had offered a congratulations and a firm handshake for his ‘actions in a time of danger.’

 

It was still rather early and Alex knew K Unit was likely still asleep. He took a look around the training camp once more as he climbed into the back of the car. Alex couldn’t truthfully say he’d miss it. As the engine started, one of the soldiers waved his hand. Alex didn’t know him, he had not bothered learning names, but as they began to pull out he waved back.

 

Fastening the seat belt and leaning back in the comfortable seat, Alex sighed.

 

It seemed he was finally leaving the mockery of hell…but would his first mission show his what hell really was?

Or maybe everything would be fine like Mrs. Jones seemed to believe.

 

Either way, it would be a few days before Alex really had to worry, but before then, Alex figured he had some time to rest. Closing his eyes, he listened to the gravel grinding under the wheels of the car and in a few moments he was asleep.

 

The End