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When we got back, it was already about 8:30, and nobody but Overlord was up. Great. Nick was driving, and before he stopped, I hit the ground running, to get everyone else up to help unload. A half hour later, the job was done, and everyone went and grabbed breakfast.

"Bravo 1, Bravo 1, come in Bravo 1, over."

"Overlord, I hear you loud and clear, over."

"Bravo 1, you aren't going to believe this, over."

"Overlord, I think I have heard enough of this, "You aren't going to believe this" crap. I am willing to believe just about anything."

"Bravo 1, we have helo's overhead. What do we do, over?" Before I could answer, they came into view.

"EVERYONE, TO THE HUMVEES, PREPARE YOUR WEAPONS, EXPECT COMPANY! GO GO GO!" I dashed for the closest humvee, and hopped up top, and swung the .50cal towards the helicopters, which were inbound. I did not fire, as I was not sure if they were friend or foe. They flew right over, I a tight formation. They did not signal, nor make any sign of aggression. But I knew what they were immediately.

"Holy shit, they're Black Hawks. U.S military choppers. Ahote, would the Animorphs take them and use them?" I looked at, and he nodded.

"Alright, I am going to leave the m82 up at the guard station. The .50BMG round will tear through that chopper. Also, I want everyone to stop building, we re going to drill on what to do in the event of an air attack. This is a priority. Get to a stopping point, I will be back."

I walked over to my tent, and grabbed the m82, and headed up for the guard station. I got up there, and instructed Levi, who was up there, on how to use it, and reload it. I told him he had to see the helo fire before he was able to engage. No firing before hand, we weren't going to start this. We were sure as hell going to finish it though.

For the rest of the afternoon, we drilled on what we were going to do. The drill was simple. Nick, Austin, and Zach all got into the .50cal turrets in the humvees. Josh would have his AT4 at the ready, and Joey would also have his grenade launcher. Ryan was to provide sniper support, while I showed Justin on how to use the TOW launcher on the other humvee, and Ahote got the 40mm grenade launcher on the last humvee. Finally, Alex would grab one of the ATVs, and I would mount the mg3 on the back of it.

We drilled and drilled, and when I was finally happy with our reaction time, we made dinner; I even cooked my favorite meal, chicken cutlet. Joey had found a few chickens in the middle of the woods, I guess from a farm somewhere nearby. I breaded it, and fried it in some grease. Everyone gorged themselves, and where impressed that I didn't burn it! I laughed, and told them they were on clean up.

A few mornings later, I went up to the guard station with Josh. It was a Sunday, so I gave the guys the day off. Me and Josh started talking, about everything. He had a girlfriend back home, and was worried about her. I told him that if he wanted, I would take him into town, which was about ten hours drive there and back. If he wanted to, he could write a letter to her, and in two weeks he could pick it up. Besides, it passed Camp Freedom, and there was a huge fuel trailer there. He jumped up, excited at the prospect. He ran over and gave me a bear hug, and started to run down to his tent.

"Josh, tell the others to write letters if they want to as well. We will pick up postage at the post office. Oh, and anybody who goes MUST have civilian clothes. No BDUs. No need to draw unwanted attention." He nodded, and ran down to tell the others. Everyone jumped around excitedly, and ran to their tents, except Ahote.

After my shift, Alex came up to relieve me, and I headed down, at leisurely stroll. I could have been any other 16 year old in the country. Except I was wearing BDUs, hade a .45 strapped to my side, and a combat knife in my chest rig.

When I entered camp, everyone looked up from their letters, smiled, and continued to write. Some of them had four or five pages.

"Gentleman, I am only taking four people with me. Those people are the following: Joey, Ryan, Levi, Josh, and myself. All others will stay here and keep the camp in one piece. Those that I called, see me when you re done your letters. That is all." Everyone who wasn't called looked a little sad, but continued to write their letters. They would be happier once they got news from their letters. I hoped that everyone did get a reply. I went back to my tent to begin my letter.

Dearest Mother,

I hope that you will receive this. I am doing fine, although we are no longer at Camp Freedom. I regret to inform you that I cannot tell you where we are living. We have done nothing too bad, but I must admit that our hands are not exactly clean. All I can tell you is that everyone is safe, and that it will continue to stay that way.

I hope that the rest of the family is ok. It must be quite a shock to see Animorphs walking around. I hope they have not harmed anybody we care for, although hurting the neighbors would have been nice! I am curious, so I will ask. Does everyone still have school? Also, have the laws changed?

It has been so long since I have seen you, or anybody else that I know other than the people who came with me. I will even admit, I mss Jess, for all the trouble she was worth. If you could, would you mind sending out a family photo? I am sending a photo of everyone in the group. I hope you will be happy with what you see, even though I know you don't like me wielding a gun.

Living in the wilderness has been quiet, blissfully peaceful. I hope that wherever you are when you read this, you will feel the same calming effects that I will when I finally get a reply from you!

By the way, when you look at the photo, yes that is an Animorph in the group. He started out as a prisoner, but quickly became a friend and ally. His name is Ahote, which in the Native American tongue means "restless one". I hope that you are not mad at seeing one he truly I a benefit to the team and besides, he makes a good throw rug!

We all have been busy, out here in the wilderness. We have built everything from scratch, and everyone works together without a fight. You parents would be amazed!

Also, I bought a compass jut like pop pop used to have, and it has become invaluable to me.

I love you, and you are severely missed.

Your son, forever and ever,

Christopher James Geier

I sat down, looking at the letter in my lap, and started to cry. I put the letter aside, so it didn't get wet. I cried because I missed them, and my normal life. After about five minutes, I snapped out of it. My normal life wasn't coming back. It never would, so there was no use in crying about it. I dried my eyes, and put my letter in an envelope, and sealed it shut.

When I walked outside, everyone was just chilling, lying around talking. They all looked over at me, and saw I had red eyes. Nick started to put his arm around me, but I brushed him off.

"I am going on a walk." I mumbled, and headed toward the forest line. He walked back over to the others, and sat down. I would apologize later, but at the moment, my heart wouldn't be into it.

I walked for about five minutes, and then sat down under the trunk of a very large oak tree. I must have sat there for more than half an hour, just thinking about everything that had happened. Even before they invaded. I noticed something that scared me. Badly. Before the Animorphs invaded, my life was boring. I actually have been enjoying myself since they invaded. Even without my family. I shuddered, and looked down at my watch. It was about time for me to go on guard duty, so I headed back.

As I entered camp, I noticed everyone was watching me. I walked over to Nick, who was cleaning his piece.

"Hey, I am sorry for snapping. Just kinda broke down. We good?"

"Yea, we're good. You okay?"

"I will be."

He nodded, and I headed up to the guard area. Once I was there, Austin, who was now leaving, asked if I was okay, he saw me storm out of camp. I told him I was fine, and to go get some rest, we were back to work tomorrow.

About ten minutes into my guard duty, it started to rain. I hate the rain. Some call it a blessing, others, they scorn it. I just find it a nuisance.

The next morning, I woke everyone who was going into town with me. We grabbed the letters, which were left out, and I strapped my .45 in a shoulder holster, and put a jacket over it to hide it. The others also hid their sidearms or knives somewhere else on themselves.

We hopped into one of the humvees, which had the .50cal removed, as well as put camo nettings in the tailgate. We headed off, and I looked at my watch. 5:23a.m. Not a bad start. We all took turns driving, so nobody got exhausted and fell asleep at the wheel.

We reached town in about four and a half hours, so about a half hour ahead of time. We parked the humvee in the woods, and quickly covered it in the netting, and than threw leaves and branches on it to further hide it. I also took the key with me, as a further precaution.

As we walked into town, it was about 9:00, so the town was just already awake, and bustling. I read the name of the town on a sign.

Rivington, Washington. Est. 1923

Population: 5362

"Well, at least we know where we are now," Josh muttered, under his breathe.

As we walked round town to find the post office, I saw a few of the Animorph soldiers walking around, with an assortment of weapons. They looked ready to use them on whatever got in their way.

As we walked around, I spotted a general store, and headed inside. The door had a bell above it, which jingled to announce customers. Everyone followed me in, and Josh and Levi headed to the back of the store to make sure nobody was watching us. Joey stayed by the door to make sure no trouble would come waltzing in. Ryan stayed with me. I waited to approach the counter until Josh and Levi came back.

When they did, I approached the counter, which an elderly gentleman sat behind.

"Can I help you son?"

"Yes sir, we are just looking for the post office. Could you point us in the general direction?"

He looked at me funny, and grabbed a cloth and started wiping down the counter. "You boys aren't from around here, are you?"

"No sir, we were on vacation up in the mountains for the month. No parents, but also unfortunately no cell phone reception either, so I wanted to send a letter to my girlfriend." The lie came out smoothly enough. He kept staring at me, as if trying to piece my story together.

"Where you boys camping?" Now he was trying to test me. Two could play at that game.

"Base of Ruby Mountain. We also came for supplies, and noticed that you seem to have a lot more supplies than everyone else, and the Animorphs seem to leave you alone. We couldn't figure that out." Now it was his turn to answer. I had a feeling that this man was reporting to them, snitching on everyone for no reason.

He turned red and lowered his head, so I guess I hit my mark.

"Yea, I have just been lucky..." He muttered, and shook his head. He knew that one would never work with me.

"So do you have a post office?"

"Yea, a few blocks down from here. Do you still need supplies?" He looked up, hopeful that I had forgave him.

"No. We can deal without for a while." After that, I walked out, with everyone close by me. I walked down the first block, and quickly turned left at a back alley, and ran to get to the adjacent street.

Once everyone had caught up, Levi asked, "Chris, he told us four blocks that way! Why are we going down this street?"

"Levi, the reason his store was so well stocked was because he reports people to the Animorphs, and he is probably reporting us right now. So, we stay off of the route he told us."

"Oh..." Now he got. We headed out to the post office, which I hoped would be were the guys told us, but I was apprehensive to go, because I told him where we were going. We reached the post office in about 15 minutes, and we preformed the same task of clearing the post office, with Joey and Levi going to the back area of the post office, while Ryan covered the front, and Josh stayed with me.

"Hello ma'am. We would like to send some letters home, so if you could instruct us on how to do that, I would be in your debt"

The woman behind the counter, a short woman with fire red curly hair, and was a little pudgy.

"Sure hon. I will be just a sec." She hustled into a room behind her. I looked over to Josh, and he gave me an apprehensive look. Levi came up behind me.

"Chris, there is a guard in the back. Standard m4, no sidearm."

"What kind is he?"

"Looks like a k9, about your height."

"Alright, go back with Joey, and stay on your toes." As he headed back, the woman came out of the back room, with a very large timber wolf, which stood at an amazing 6'6, and he carried an m9 sidearm. He had ice blue eyes, which he used to look Josh and me over.

"Good morning, gentleman."

"Good morning sir." We both said, at the same time.

"Well, you are well mannered. I heard you wanted to ship mail back to your families. Where do they live?"

I answered, and Josh kept his mouth shut, but remained in eye contact.

"We lived in Pennsylvania."

"Lived? Do you plan on returning?" He looked at me, as if sizing me up. I realized my mistake too late, and thought out my next sentence before speaking it to make sure that I didn't make the same mistake.

"Yes, we plan on returning to our families after our vacation. We are camping near Ruby Mountain. That is, if we are still able to get to the east coast." I added on the edge, not to provoke him because he could wipe the floor with me, but to try and act like the normal 16 year old I was suppose to be.

"Ah, I see. I will personally see to your letters." I gave him the letters, and he put the correct postage on them, and put them in the correct slots, in a very professional fashion.

"Will there be anything else?" I noticed a scar along his muzzle, so I decided to ask about it.

"Ah, I got this from attacking one of your army's bases, after an explosion went off nearby. I was lucky to be alive. That was also the battle that they promoted me to major. Why do you ask?"

"I was curious. Well, that is all. It was a pleasure to meet you major. I hope that we receive replies to our letter soon." I headed towards the door, and everyone followed me out, calmly.

"Well, now what do we do?"

"Now Joey, we wait for them to reply. But first, we get the hell out of dodge!" I said loudly, which made an old woman look at me with distaste for cursing.

"Sorry ma'am." She looked even more surprised when I apologized.

We walked back through town, and Ryan made the comment of that we could take the town.

"Yea, and do what with it? We wouldn't be able to hold it long, and there is nothing of value in this miserable place," Josh commented. It made good sense to me. It was a decent size town, with 5,000 people. It had its own high school, as well as a movie theater and a few pizza places. It almost resembled our old town, save that theirs had a bowling alley.

We walked all the way out of town, with no further interruptions. We got back into the humvee, and took off, with Josh driving.

"Well, that went well." Levi said sarcastically.

"I have to admit, that wolf scared the shit out of me!" Josh said, while he took a corner doing 50mph. We all laughed, and the rest of the trip was spent with us discussing what we were scared of.

When we finally got back, it was around 3:00p.m, and as we pulled up, I noticed that all of the humvees were missing.

"SON OF A BITCH, WHERE ALL OF THE HUMVEES!" I shouted, to nobody in particular. Josh just kept driving, ignoring me and driving around to the east side of the camp. There, sat a band new gate, with a sandbagged nest waiting for me. Inside sat all of the humvees, in there own set up garage to keep them out of the weather.

I got out of the humvee, and the others came up to me, covered in dirt and sweat.

"SURPRISE!" They all shouted at once. I looked over to Justin, who grinned mischievously.

"Did you do this? And you hid it from me!"

He just grinned, and I ran over and grabbed him in a huge hug, picking him off the ground. Everyone laughed, including Justin.

"You sneaky son of a bitch! I have to keep a closer eye on you!" I winked, and then went over to check out the complete design. The covers were sturdy, but able to be quickly broke down and moved. They were secured to the ground, and I just stood there grinning like an idiot. Even the ATVs had their own garage.

That evening, we had a feast like no other, and gave everyone the next day off. Everyone cheered. I finally went to bed late in the night, or rather, early in the morning.

The next two weeks flew by, and I realized that it was now past the first week in May. I was amazed on how fast time flew. We had finally gotten our barracks built, and had moved in. We now worked on mapping the area, to see what kind of threats or resources surrounded us. We already knew about the lumber mill, but I was happy to learn that there were small fisheries in the surrounding area, as well as a few abandoned mines.

The choppers had flow over a few more times, and we still reacted just in case they became a threat.

"Josh, grab the others who went to town with us. We are going back for the mail." He jumped up, and ran to get the others. I checked my watch, which showed it was 8:26a.m, and it was a Thursday.

We left the camp by around 9:00, and again made good time with Josh driving, because he was insane enough to drive fast, but skilled enough to miss all the obstacles in our way.

It was about 1:00p.m by the time we got there, and we pulled the same routine, except we hid the humvee in a different place. I again took the key. Also, we all still had our sidearms with us, but I switched with Ryan, so I had the mp9 machine pistol. I was doing most of the talking, so I might need it. I also had about 5 extra magazines that were hidden under my jacket as well as the machine pistol.

This time, we headed right to the post office, without confronting the elderly man in the general store.

We walked in, and that same woman was behind the counter, and she recognized me immediately, and headed into the back room, presumably to get the wolf major.

I walked over to look at the post cards, and told everyone to search the store. Everyone moved efficiently around the store, checking to see who was in the post office. A few other people walked into the store, a couple of teenagers about our age. They looked at us, so I waved. They walked over to us.

"Haven't seen you guys around. You new? Or all of you home schooled?" One of them asked. He was about 5'9, looked to be Italian, and had brown hair and eyes.

"Nah, we are on vacation when those animorphs attacked. This is Josh, Joey, Ryan, and Levi. My name is Chris, and we are from Pennsylvania. What are your names?"

The Italian spoke again, "My name is Logan, and this is Jonathan."

Jonathan was about 5'8, and had brown hair with blue eyes. He seemed very jumpy, and followed around Logan like a trained pet.

I talked with them for a bit, because the major hadn't come out yet.

"What do you guys think about the animorphs?"

Surprise, surprise, Logan answered. "They are just a bunch of filthy, disgusting animals. They threw my sister in jail because he spit at them! Can you believe that bullshit? They aren't worth dogshit." I warned everyone to keep calm, not to remark on their comments although, them wanting to defend Ahote touched me.

"That is a interesting opinion, one not shared by me and my guys."

"Whatever. As long as you don't snitch." He then quickly grabbed a stack of postcards and shoved them into his pocket.

"Jonathan, don't be such a wuss." He was trying to get Jonathan to steal.

"Jonathan, don't do it. Logan, put them back. Now."

"Since when have you become the boss of me? Huh, bitch?" Now he was pushing to hard, and I rested my hand on the machine pistol, and I felt Josh give me a tap on my back. A warning that it wasn't worth it.

I turned to him, and Muttered, "Yea yea. I get it, be the better person," and turned back to Logan.

"Logan, I am not going to ask you again. Put. Them. Back."

He just laughed in my face, and flicked open a switchblade.

"Well, that's cute. What other toys do you have?" I asked, sarcastically.

"I will gut you like a fat pig, you dumb son of a bitch." He retorted.

"If you really want to settle this, we can go around back, and finish this once and for all. You can even use your little toy, and I will use mine." I gave Joey a wink, and he laughed. Since Logan thought I was laughing in HIS face, he got very pissed off and accepted my challenge. I told Levi to stay behind, to pick up the mail.

"I will just be a few minutes." I called over my shoulder to him. He chuckled, and waited for the major to come out so they could get out of town.

Once outback of the post office, I noticed there was a wooden fence surrounding the parking lot. Good, the whole town didn't need to see me whip out the suppressed mp9. The only people who needed to see that were Logan and Jonathan.

"Ryan, cover the entrance to the parking lot. Warn us if somebody is about to come in. And stop anybody from going out, too."

"Oh, so now you have to have your gang fight me too! You are sad." Logan jeered. I ignored it.

"No, it is to prevent any of the town guards from coming in and stopping the fight. I will let everyone know, if I lose, let them go. No repercussions. But, I am going to ask you to give the postcards to Jonathan, so they don't get wrinkled when you fall to the ground."

"Ha, as if that will happen." But magically, he handed them over to Jonathan, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else at the moment. His hands were shaking.

"So, are you still going to use your "toy"? Because if you are, I am going to use mine." I was not talking about the mp9, but rather my KA-BAR fighting knife that was hidden in my boot.

"Yea, you can try to use your Swiss Army knife against mine, if you want." He was cocky. Too cocky for his own good. I lifted up my jeans, and drew the knife from its sheathe. It had a 7-½ inch blade, and a 5-inch handle. It did not have any serrated edges on it, and it had a good weight to it. I know why the USMC picked this as their fighting knife!

Logan's eyes grew very large, and I visibly saw him gulp.

"Oh, now you don't play with toys now?" I taunted.

"No. We fight with them. Lets go, no more talk." He said, and he focused on me, and crouched a bit.

Everyone had circled around us, but I ignored them. I did not watch where is knife was, but his eyes. I was told once that the eyes never lie. It rang true; as I saw his eyes jump as he dashed forward to stick me. I jumped back, and he stabbed into empty space. I jumped to his side, while he was still over extended, and kicked him in the ribs with my right boot. He dropped, but rolled out of my kicking range. He looked at me with murder in his eyes, and I stood up straight. He jumped forward, and I wasn't paying attention to my footing, and was unable to move because of the curb behind me. He stabbed me right above the heart. I saw the surprise in his eyes.

But I did lose a single drop of blood.

"Kevlar can stop a bullet, let alone a knife as petty as yours." I said, and then head butted him. He fell back, nose gushing out blood. I proceeded to kick him in the stomach multiple times. I stopped, and his hand holding the knife slashed out at me. I brushed it aside, and then stomped on his hand to make him release the knife. I kicked it aside, and knelt down next to him, and whispered so only he could hear.

"Give up. There is no way you win out of this. Alive that is."

"I will never, you dumb son of a bitch!" He yelled. It was muffled, but defiant. I put the knife to his neck, and it was sharp enough to give him a small cut.

"So be it." I drew back, ready to make the killing blow.

"Wait... I give. Just take the damn postcards and let us go." I thought about it.

"I will let you go, but I am taking Jonathan. Now be gone, before I change my mind."

I got up, and without even look at Jonathan, ran out of there.

"Now, what are we going to do with you? Hmm. What to do, what to do." I started cleaning my nails with the knife, to add a little more fear into him.

"Ple-please. Don't hurt me, I will do anything you want. Just don't kill me!" He cowered from me, and started backing up against the fence, looking at the only exit that Ryan was covering.

"Joey, Josh, grab his arms." I ordered. Both went over to Jonathan.

Josh ordered in a very stern voice, "Stand up. Now."

Jonathan feebly followed the order. Joey grabbed his other arm, just as stern looking.

"Now, I know what I am going to do to you." He gulped, and looked around for a means of escape. There were none to be had.

"Now, listen closely. You are never, ever, to hang around with Logan. If I catch you hanging around with that idiotic son of a bitch, excuse my language; death will be the least of your worries. Got it?" He nodded excitedly.

"Alright, let him go. Oh, and Jonathan, tell everyone what really happened. He will try to lie to the others. And keep your head up, and stay out of trouble. Oh, an give me those postcards!" He ran over and handed the postcards to me, and then took off in a dead sprint.

Once we walked back inside, Levi was chitchatting with the major. He had our mail in his hands!

"Ah, the courageous young man returns. I take it you have my postcards?" I gave Levi a stern look, and handed them over.

"Now, why would you do that? I was just curious, because as that Logan boy shows, we are less than popular. The reason I took so long was I was watching you on the security feed. And me and your accomplice here watched the fight out back as well. Very impressive moves, if I do say so myself. Where ever did you learn them?" He stared at me, as if interrogating me.

"My cousins taught me. They fought for the Marine Corp. I was hoping that somewhere in this letter, it contained information on their whereabouts. Now, after this fight, this puts us all terribly off schedule. So, if you would excuse me and my friends..." I said, and walked out the door without waiting for an answer. Nobody yelled at us as we walked down the road, and no animorphs came after us, so I guessed that the major did not call for us to be detained.

We got back to the humvee, and took off back to camp. I drove, so we were all over. I just wanted to get back to camp. We were doing about 80mph, and I looked at everyone around the humvee, who were all grabbing for anything to hold on.

"I AM NOT THAT BAD OF A DRIVER!" I shouted, over the radio and the roaring engine. Nobody responded. We got to camp in just under 4 hours. Beat Josh's record!

I stepped out of the garage that covered the humvees. I left the key in the glove box.

Everyone came running over to grab their mail. Everyone got a letter. The only ones who didn't get mail where Ahote and Alex. Alex looked a little sad, but said his parents probably emailed him, because his family were all technology savvy.

I quickly used my knife to open my letter, and lay down on the top of one of the humvees, which were outside, getting its oil changed. I was happy because Levi knew some about vehicles. A very useful skill. Everyone seemed to have a skill that contributed to the squad.

Before I was able to actually read my letter, I heard my name called out. I dropped my letter inside the humvee, and headed over to where I was being called.

"Chris, tell them about your little fight!" Levi called, once I came into sight. Everyone who went to town with me started busting up laughing.

"Alright, alright. Just shut up so everyone can hear! So we went to the post office to pick up the letters, and while we waited, these two kids came into the store. Both about our age, and they came over and started talking to us. I was looking at these postcards while we waited for somebody to help us. The lady at the counter disappeared when she saw Josh's ugly face."

Josh flipped me off, and I continued, "So this kid, he though he was all big and bad, decided to grab a handful of these postcards and shove them in his jacket. He then tried to pressure the other kid into doing the same. Anyway, I told him to put them back, and that little bastard pulled a knife on me! I told him we should settle things out back, and we left Levi to get the mail."

Levi laughed, and called me an asshole for doing that, but I kept going with the story, " So this kid says he wants to still use knives, so I pulled out my knife, and you should have seen the look on this kids face! His eyes got as big as dinner plates!" Everyone was laughing, so I waited before continuing.

"So anyway, I wasn't even thinking this kid was going to be serious, but screw me if that little shit didn't stab me above my heart! I had my Kevlar on, and after that, I just beat the shit out of him! He ran off, and we held his other friend hostage for a few minutes, and we got back the postcards, and walked back into the post office. We got our mail, and left. That simple." Everyone was dying laughing, and I waved to everyone as I left to go read my letter.

Once back in the same spot, I unfolded the letter, and began to read.

Dearest Son,

I am perfectly fine, as is everyone else. I am so glad to hear from you! I hope that you have been a good boy, as you wrote in your letter.

I wish I could trade you for the wilderness. We are still under The United States control, but the animorphs keep pushing, and there is now fighting as close as Pittsburg! I am very worried, and there also has been a rationing on food, although without you in the house, the milk lasts for more than a week!

I am however deeply worried on your comment about your hands not being clean. I hope that if this war ever sorts itself out, we are able to meet and talk about what happened. And no, when we meet, you may NOT bring your guns!

I have attached a family photo to the back of the letter, which is all of us, including Nan and Grandpa, who came up to visit. They have been growing a garden to help support themselves, and they think that we need their support as well.

I am happy to say that my garden is bigger and better than ever. I have put your wood scraps to good use, and I am helping supporting the other neighbors. The next-door neighbors and us have gotten closer than ever because of this war. It isn't the best way to meet, but it is better than nothing.

I do have rather bad news for you. Make sure that nobody else is around you at this point.

Alex's family has not written to him, because they are no longer able to write. They resisted housing U.S Army soldiers, and the soldiers warned them that either they housed them or they would be forced out of their house. Alex's father spat in the soldiers face, and that soldier shot him. His wife ran over and punched the soldier. The others with him opened up on her. They were using them as an example. They then burned down his house. It was a complete waste. Nobody had to die, and they ended up destroying the house anyway.

I am so sorry, but this is the only way I am able to tell you. It is up to you to keep the news secret or tell him. If you do tell him, please let him know gently.

I want to know that I always will love you, and I hope to see you soon!

Love always,

Your mother

I just lay there on the humvee, staring up at the sky. I don't even know how long I lay there, but it was Ahote who found me first.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked

I jumped, looked over at who it was, and laid on my back again. " Yea, I will be fine. Just. I don't even really want to believe it, that's all."

"Mind if I join you?" I patted a space next to me on the humvee. He hopped up, literally. He lay down beside me, and the cool night became warmer.

We sat there for what seemed like hours, just looking up at the stars. We both missed dinner, but I wasn't even hungry. He didn't move either, so I guess he wasn't.

I finally broke the silence with, "Ahote, what am I going to do."

"About what?

"What I tell you stays between us, right?" At this point, I propped myself up on one elbow, to look him in the eyes.

"Of course. Is something wrong with your family?" He also propped himself up on his elbow. His muzzle was only a few inches from mine. I saw concern flash into his eyes.

"Not mine. Alex's. They killed his parents, and he had no siblings." He just stared at me, not saying anything.

"Yea, now you understand why I am in a rock and a hard place. If I tell him, he is going to go into a downward spiral. If I don't, it will kill me, as he hopes for any mail from family." He looked down, as if in shame.

"I don't know why my people would kill him. I don't understand why they would kill innocent civilians."

"Here is the worst kicker. The animorphs didn't kill them. Human soldiers did." I grabbed the letter, and showed him. He grabbed the letter, and my family photo fell off the back of the letter, and landed in his lap. He picked it up, and looked at it.

"That is my family. My mom, dad, and my sister Jess. That's also my grandparents. Well, step-grandparents, and stepfather. My mom went through a divorce, but I consider him more of my real father than my actual father. Long story." He nodded, and kept looking at the picture.

"You have a very nice looking family," he said finally.

"What about yours?" I asked. He pulled a small folded picture from his chest rig, in a hidden pouch I hadn't noticed before. It had him, a sister, his mom, and his father.

"Why didn't you write a letter to them?" I asked, returning the same concern he had shown me.

He just shrugged, and said, "My father had a fight before we left. We never saw eye to eye. He didn't think that we should have gone to war with humans. I joined anyway, and he never answered any of my letters."

"Oh. Very sorry to hear." He just shrugged, and lay back down.

"What are you going to do?" I said nothing, and also lay back down on the humvee. I closed my eyes for what seemed like a second, and fell asleep. Ahote must not have been to far behind me.

When I woke up, it took me a few seconds to realize where I was. I couldn't figure out why there was a bright sky above me, and why the sun was almost directly above me. I looked at my watch. It read 12:00. Shit.

I started to get up, but I noticed a heavy pressure on my stomach. I lifted my head without moving the rest of my body. It was Ahote, who had his head resting on my stomach, and he snored slightly. I slowly took off my jacket, and gently picked his head off my stomach, and put the jacket under as a pillow. I left him there, and headed over to the set up kitchen, and grabbed some leftover dinner for breakfast.

I walked over to Justin, who was coordinating a new project, which was a proper guard tower for Overlord to stay in.

"Reporting for duty, sir." I gave a crisp salute. "What can I do?"

"Go help Zach dig the holes where the supports are going to go. And be fast about it, soldier!"

I gave him a look, and he laughed and sent me off to work.

At around 2:00p.m, I went and grabbed lunch. I saw Ahote was there, draining his water like usual.

"Hey there sleepy head!" I called over, and tossed him my canteen.

He caught it, and said, "Hey, was that your jacket I used as a pillow?"

"Yea, you were originally using my stomach. Look, I know that I am a huskier guy, but jeez, I'm not a pillow, am I?" I kidded.

"Nah, just that I was cold, and your blubber kept me from freezing last night," he retorted, and tossed back my canteen after taking a swig.

"Alright, I have to head back to work, or Justin will have my ass." I gave him a wave, and headed back to work. About ten minutes in, I heard somebody yell over the radio.

"Choppers inbound, expect company in two minutes. Headed east to west. Just like our drills, gentleman. Out."

I quickly ran down to the humvee, and pulled it out slightly from its garage, and then hopped into the turret, and swung the gun toward the east, ready for anything. I saw the same three choppers, all black hawks, flying in a tight formation. I swung the gun to keep up with them. They all flew over us, but I noticed one break off from the formation and head back.

"Keep you eyes open, here he comes. Overlord, keep you eyes on the other ones, make sure they don't try anything, over."

I heard the radio come to life, but the voice wasn't from any of us.

"Unidentified camp, identify friend or foe. Over."

"This is Destiny 1, we are neutral. Identify yourself and intentions, over."

"This is Echo 2, United States Army. We are landing here, over." He seemed to think that he could get away with what he wanted. That was the wrong guess.

"Echo two, negative on touchdown. You will be fired upon if your course is not diverted, over." I saw the chopper jerk to a stop, and hovered above the camp, as if thinking over landing. I was the only one in a humvee, and I was hidden from their view. I also saw Josh with the AT4 ready for use.

"Destiny 1, we read you over. Would like to meet in person if possible, over."

"Echo 2, there is a field about twenty mikes (minutes) from here, to the northeast. Do you know its location, over?"

"Copy that, Destiny 1. Will be there in 5 mikes, over. Will await your arrival, over."

"Spectre 1, break the lock on, they aren't going to harm us. For now. Over" Spectre 1 was Josh, who had a lock with the helo above us.

"Alright Echo 2, looks like a race there. Over and out."

They took off, toward the LZ, or landing zone. I grabbed Josh, Zach, and Nick to go in one humvee, with a .50cal up top, Joey and Ryan to go in another humvee, also with a .50cal up top, and finally me and Ahote would go in the third and final humvee going to the meeting, which had the 40mm grenade launcher up top.

We took off, in a single file convoy, with Josh driving up front, Ahote driving in the middle, and Joey driving in the rear. We got there in about 15 minutes.

As we pulled into the field, I counted 6 men, all humans, only 3 with assault rifles. The other two, pilots was my guess by what they were wearing, had only pistols. There was one person who was out of the ordinary, which was a major in full dress uniform, with a pistol at his side. I checked the rest of the choppers, to make sure nobody was in the side mounted machine guns. Nobody was.

"Alright, code names only. Gasmasks on, ready for contact. Lets do this." I called, quietly over the radio. I put on my gasmask, as did Ahote. We had to find him an extra large to cover his muzzle. I was preparing just in case we had to use gas. Also, I didn't need the major actually seeing my face, just in case.

As we pulled up, I hopped out of the turret, and called for Ahote to get out, and show himself. I wanted this major to understand that I was neutral to all races.

All of the drivers and Zach got out, and secured cover by the humvees. The men with assault rifles tensed ever so slightly, but did not raise their weapons.

"And who is your commanding officer?" The major called out. I stepped forward, mg3 at the ready to cut down anybody who tried to harm my guys.

"A child? Very funny, now where is your commanding officer?"

"I am. Don't like it, get back into the chopper and take off."

"So your whole operation is run by a child?" He asked, as if truly puzzled.

"We have been on our own since Camp Freedom burned down to the ground, and my commanding officer was killed. I have kept everyone around me alive for this long. More than the Army has done." I retorted, quite annoyed by being called a child.

"Wait, your commanding officer. A captain by the name of Coles?" He asked, his voice rising in anticipation.

"Yea, he was the one who gave me my Captains bars. Did you know him?"

The major didn't answer, but looked down at the ground for about two or three minutes, silently.

"I knew Captain Coles. He trained me when I first joined the Army. I quickly surpassed him. I just happen to be in the right place at the right time. I kept trying to help him advance. But he was more interested in the men than the rank. Everyone liked him, even though he was tough. He was my best friend. I was so happy when they transferred me to Washington, because I could see him again. That never happened, because of the animorphs. I mean no disrespect to the one in your team. But if you said that Captain Coles gave you those captain's bars, then I would be more than happy to have you in my unit. Will you accept?"

Now it was my turn to think.

"I can't just pack up and go with no proof. I will be willing to send a representative in my place, for I cannot leave my guys behind. I hope you understand." He nodded, in agreement.

I decided to send Zach, and I told him to keep his weapon with him at all times, no matter what they said. I gave him a brotherly hug, and told him to take care of himself. He nodded, and waved goodbye to everyone else.

He got into the Blackhawk with the major. As the blades of the helos began to spin, I ordered everyone to load up, and move the vehicles back. As we reached a safe distance, the chopper became airborne, slowly ascending. I never saw the rocket coming.

The rocket came out of nowhere, slamming into the side of chopper, and exploding on contact. I saw the left engine of the chopper belch out black smoke, and I watched the chopper tilt, and slowly fall, but there was only one thing that made the situation worse. It was falling toward us.

"AHOTE, GET US THE HELL OUT OF HERE! EVERYONE MOVE MOVE MOVE!!!"

Ahote slammed on the gas, and tore out of there, with the others hot on our tail. I heard small arms fire coming from the left, but it was all aimed at the chopper. As we gunned it out of there, I saw the chopper had gone into a deadly spiral. We got into the safety of the trees, and now dodged them left and right. The others were right behind us.

"Ahote, get us to the road. Left!" He pulled the humvee into a gut wrenching turn, and I held on, my knuckles white with how hard I had to hold on. About thirty seconds later, the chopper hit the trees.

I looked back, and everything slowed down. I watched slowly at the tail of the chopper split off, and crash in another direction. The blades slowly severed themselves from their original places, and tore up the surrounding trees. The body of the chopper smashed into a tree, and seemed to pinball through another few before the fuel tank ruptured, creating the biggest fireball I had ever seen in my life. I thought I heard a scream from inside, but it might have been the whine of the engines. After the explosion, pieces of searing metal went everywhere. A few struck the side of the humvee, and one even hit me in the head. All I heard was Ahote yelling my name, and everything went black.