This story line takes place six months after the events of Shattered Icons. It is a direct sequel to the previous novel but works as a stand alone story.

The description of all firearms and technologies are completely accurate with some creative liberties taken with them of course.

PTSD is the underlying theme of this novel, and I wanted to bring to light the struggles thousands of persons suffering with the disorder have every day, I and many of my friends have it and I think that the story line in the film Winter Soldier does an amazing job of acknowledging Combat Stress.

Sergeant Knott is an actual person, he is one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever met and he built my computer to help me keep writing, his cameo in this is my Thank you to him.

All Military Hardware descriptions and firearms used and described in this book are accurate. Reaper Drones and Predator Drones are completely different creatures form one another, please don't try to correct me on this.

Global Terrorism exists, but I have grown tired of the terrorists being always from the Middle East or some unknown place in the world, we have forgotten to realize that many terrorists are actually home grown and can be out neighbors and people who work with us. I have made it a conscious effort to create rich villains that are not only believable, but not from our stereotypical pot that we draw from when we think of our stalking bad guys.

I wrote this entire novel while listening to Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails, I think Loki would approve.

This book is dedicated to the men and women of the Armed Forces.

Your sacrifice in the pursuit of peace is not forgotten.

Prologue:

Between the desire

And the spasm

Between the potency

And the existence

Between the essence

And the descent

Falls the Shadow

For thine is the Kingdom

-The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot

Sergeant Knott stared across the Afghani desert as the sun dipped below the horizon and out of sight. Darkness and shadows crossed the barren landscape as the night dropped across the sky like a sheet of velvet, the darkness nearly total except for the weak lights of the Stryker behind him. His fingers tightened around the receiver of his rifle and he nervously flinched as he heard a howling from some animal in the distance. He used the scope of his rifle to scan the area for the source of the noise and found nothing within range. His instincts on alert for anything that could be a threat to him or the other men and women behind him that could be risked if he failed during his shift on watch, he would not let them down. The howl crossed the desert again and everything in his primitive brain told him that the source of the sound was unnatural and dangerous, he continued to track his scope across the horizon as the howl came back across the distance again. This time it raised the hairs on his arms and made him wonder if he was loosing his grip on reality.

Nothing was right about that sound at all, it made the hairs stand on the back of his neck stand up and created horrible images in his head as he searched for the source. It sounded almost human, but more feral in a way. He listened, straining his ears over the howling wind and heard nothing more from the distance. He lowered his rifle and leaned back against the Stryker, allowing his body to relax a bit as he lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. The shit he was forced into tour after tour was getting to him, he figured that he was starting to see the last of his deployments though. Stress from constant battle and bureaucratic bullshit from his commanders was getting to him, it was only a matter of time before he was retired permanently, either by enemy fire or age. You could only do this so many times before fractures appeared on the surface, cracks to match the ones in his head.

Three more week, and he would be going home. Or whatever passed for home anymore, his wife couldn't stand him and he didn't want kids. Nothing held them together, so he figured he would go back to his parents and file the documents to free his wife from him. Give her a chance to live before she got too old to find herself someone to take care of her, he regretted not being there for her through the roughest parts of this whole nightmare. Constantly being gone when she was sick or tired, her body exhausted from the stress of worry that she would get a flag delivered to her by an officer.

He removed his helmet and ran a hand over his regulation black hair and fiddled with the chinstrap as another howl came from the desert but this time closer, causing him to jump and drop his smoke. Cold sweat dripped from his hairline and down his face as he lifted the rifle again, searching for the source of the sound that caused him so much terror. Squinting into the darkness and seeing nothing as she shivered with the fear induced adrenaline that coursed through his body.

A hand fell onto his shoulder and he nearly pissed himself, he looked over and glared at the L.T. Strangely relieved it was him and no one else, Knott let out a long breath and relaxed as the smirking Commanding Officer moved his hand and looked out at the darkened land as another howl emitted from whatever it was out there. The Blonde haired, green eyed man as a stark contrast to Knott, and he fought back to urge to laugh at Lieutenant William's sunburn. The guy was so pale, he was almost a ghost.

"With all due respect, I almost shit my pants there sir." Sergeant Knott said and hid his annoyance at the man who was now looking into the distance in concern with him.

"You looked like you could use a break, you were getting jumpy because of a few wild dogs there Knott." Lieutenant Williams said and looked down at the shaky Sergeant's feet. "You dropped your cig."

Knott crouched down and picked up the still smoldering butt, tapping off the ash and taking a long pull from the butt to calm himself. His rattled nerves calmed a bit thanks to the nicotine and he took another pull, giving him a second chance to relax at he looked at the L.T and blew out the smoke.

"Those howls were weird Sir. They don't sound like wild dogs to me, they are almost human. Maybe a kid from a tribe of goat humpers fucking with us." Knott said as another howl traveled toward the on the wind. Even Williams jerked to attention at the sound, both men peered into the darkness and saw nothing in their field of view. Williams tapped Knott's shoulder suddenly, grabbing the Sergeant's attention as another howl pierced the darkness and made both men shiver. He cocked a thumb over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off the black horizon and squinted into it himself.

"Get a pair of Night Visions from that case in the rig, maybe we can see the fucker playing with us and turn the tables on them." Williams said and Knott moved to retrieve a pair of the goggles. Part of him was just happy to be inside the transport, away from the sounds and the darkness that hid awful things. The primitive side of his brain telling him to find a place to hide and wait for light, to wait for the comfort of bright day.

He climbed up into the Armored Vehicle and edged around the sleeping Private on the floor, he debated waking the man up but decided to let the exhausted man alone. He was new to this shit, fresh from boot before getting shipped over and had yet to learn how to sleep with one eye open. No one with any experience slept that heavy on deployment, the slightest sound would wake them up and they would be ready in an instant to engage the enemy. This kid would learn eventually, and adapt to the life of a Combat Veteran.

He opened a case and dug through the contents, not finding what he was looking for and blowing out his cheeks as he thought about where the NVGs could be. He was not in a hurry also to leave the perceived safety of the Stryker, and opened another case to look in it and did not see them. He dug through another compartment before letting out a frustrated breath and scratched the back of his neck before flicking the butt out the door and thinking of where the goggles could be letting out another breath as he tapped his rifle in thought.

Knott glanced around the armored carrier again in case he missed anything and walked to the door, he poked his head out and groaned in his frustration. Maybe the Lieutenant would know where the damn things were, maybe he could delay this getting out of the safety of the vehicle for a few more moments.

"I can't find them Sir, do you know..." Knott started and cut himself off, shock lacing his brain as he processed the scene in front of his face. The L.T. was where he left him standing, only he was missing his head. Two pale, leather-skinned creatures held the body upright as they fed off it, drinking from the ragged flesh that once supported a head. Their clawed hands were sunk into his body, supporting the once man as their chins and necks glistened with blood. One opened its eyes and howled at the sky, searching the area for more victims with ice blue eyes. It sniffed the air and licked its lips in a horrible spectacle that needled into his memory and refused to leave, his primitive brain snapped into control and everything from that point on became instinct alone.

He stepped back into the Armored Stryker and secured the hatch, his knees giving up as he removed his helmet and clapped his hands over his ears in desperation to drown out the sound. Outside, the howls joined with screams of dying soldiers to become a dissonance of sound as it filled the night with pain. The sleeping Private stirred and sat up, confused and afraid as the sound of death filled and echoed off the walls of the vehicle. The Private shivered and covered his own ears, the two men staring at the hatch, waiting for the angel of death to open it and take them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Morning came and the screams and howls ended, both men cautiously exited the vehicle on shaky legs. They both gaped in awe at the scene the blood soaked sand around them the only other witness to the carnage that had taken place the night before. Knott edged around a limbless and headless corpse as the Private looked at the strewn remains in horror, the young man stepping over a leg that could have belonged to anyone.

"What happened sir?" The Private asked, staring in wild eyed shock as the kid nudged a hand, severed from it's owner close to a body with the toe of his boot. Knott felt the urge to vomit and fought it back, he needed to keep it together for the Private and the kid needed leadership that did not fall apart. Leadership that made them both feel safe, and it was on his shoulders to keep this kid alive.

"I don't know. Can you just look around for a working radio and shut the fuck up?" Knott ordered the man as he scanned the brightening horizon. What ever those creatures were, they vanished as the sun rose. Combined with the lack of blood, and there was some in the sand but not enough to comprise the fifteen men and women that were once alive, he could only think of one word.

Vampire.

"Three fucking weeks." Sergeant Knott said to himself as the Private emerged from the transport, carrying a radio receiver and making calls on several channels. He intended to keep the kid alive, he was the only witness beside himself that could vouch for what happened out here. The only witness that could tell him that he was not crazy and everything that had happened was real.

"Make sure you are staying aware of your surroundings Private, I need to know if they come back."

"Yes Sir." The Private replied and continued calling for help, eventually receiving a response. Knott closed his eyes, thankful to hear another voice confirming the he and the kid were not alone in the Afghani Desert. Someone out there was alive, and they would come.

A Camel Spider ran across the desert and he fought back the urge to shoot it for the crime of just being another monster in his range of view. Instead he saved the ammo in case he needed it later. In case the creatures returned to finish off the job with him, he looked down at himself and shook. The tears that were coming, stowed away for later.

Mission first, feelings later.

His mission was to keep the Private alive, and to get the both of them back to civilization in one piece. His mission became the kid behind him that was reading off coordinates into the radio and the voice on the other end reading and verifying information back to him. The voice of salvation.

"Yes Sir. That is correct, we were ambushed last night. No other survivors other than myself and Sergeant Knott Sir." The kid said and kept turning around, checking for dangers in the barren wasteland around them, he crouched down and picked up a rifle from one of the dead men and held it to his skinny chest.

"Three weeks." Knott said and began arranging parts with their respective owners.