Chapter 2

Questions run through my head at whom this woman could be. She looks young, probably younger than me, but her face looks tired like she's been through a lot. She wears a tank top and camouflage pants like our armies usually do in combat situations, unlike the stark white that Reapers usually wear. She also seems fit, with tight muscles on her shoulders and arms. It's rare to see a random civilian with those muscles or even out in these woods. It is possible that she is one of our soldiers, but I can't tell quite yet.

Bo slithers towards the woman and his eyes inspect her form, taking extra time to check out her breasts and ass. She doesn't lift her head to look at him, only glares at the ground. He then takes his hand and grabs the sides of her jaw harshly to force her head up.

"Well, hello pretty birdy. Why are you looking at the ground? You shouldn't hide your pretty blue eyes from good old Bo. It's nice to meet you. And what's your name?"

She answers him with a spit wad to the face. My type of woman, I allow myself to chuckle on the inside.

The slimy snake doesn't seem to appreciate her greeting. He growls and removes his hand from her chin. He then wipes his face with his hand and, using the same hand, backhands her across the face. Her head turns with the blow, but is immediately brought back to look at him when he grabs her chin again. I notice her cheek turn red and start to swell from the hit.

"Now that wasn't very nice little birdy. I'll ask you again. What is your name?"

The tall thin Reaper is rewarded with silence this time. Her acknowledgment of his question is a narrowing of her eyes in an angry glare. Instead of making the bastard angrier, her reaction seems to delight him.

"Well, a fun little birdy we have here," he says with a creepy smile. He then turns her head to the side and kisses her straight on the mouth with his thin lips. I almost hurl for the girl. I watch in disgust as the greasy man goes to deepen the kiss, but he jumps back with a yelp. A trickle of blood falls from his lip that he quickly wipes away, only for the blood to reappear. The girl gives the Reaper a victorious smirk.

"You fucking bit me, you bitch," he seethes in disbelief. I notice his hand go up as if to strike her again, but, instead of hitting her, he grabs the hair at the back of her neck. He then straightens her head with his other hand and kisses her deeply. I almost gasp in surprise and I notice that the girl's eyes are huge with surprise as well. He pulls back before the mysterious woman can bite him again and says, "That's okay. I like it when they play hard to get, kind of like a wild stallion. It makes it more fun to break them into submission."

I feel the color drain from my face at the implication. It seems the girl understands the crazy man's intent as well because her eyes become wide with fear. I notice she starts to back up into the Reaper who is holding her from behind, but she doesn't get far because her face is still held by the head Reaper.

The man laughs evilly, "Aw. What don't want to get ridden by Bo? I promise it will be fun. Well, at least for one of us."

"Shut up you fucking bastard. I'll kill you if you even try!"

I feel the hand that was holding up my head let go in shock. I too am shocked. Did that really just come out of me? I mean it sounded like my voice, but deeper and with complete venom and malice laced through it. But I didn't know where that came from. I knew I was pissed and I wanted to beat in the man's face with my fists, but it was rare that I was so vocal. Normally I'd go with action over words. Maybe it was because of my position that I voiced my thoughts. But even still, it was rare that I did that. Emotion was rare to come by for me nowadays.

Putting up a stone cold face, I look up of my own accord. The first thing I notice is the shocked face of the woman, but it isn't long before I take in the angry face of Bo. His eyes are black as night, but I can see the storm of fury raging in them. He takes large steps towards me with his hands clenched in fists.

He grabs the front of my shirt and brings my chest up. His face is inches from mine as he says, "What did you just call me?"

His breath reeks and I want to gag, but instead I repeat with dead cold eyes, "Bastard."

I feel a punch hit my jaw and I see stars. My senses are fuzzy for a bit. I hear muffled orders from the head Reaper and the shuffling of people. I try to get my head and eyes to focus on a rock on the ground to get my barrings.

When the rock becomes one I see that the woman is brought closer to me. She's taller than I assumed, probably five foot six and prettier up close. I don't get to examine her for long because the bastard puts his face up close to mine again.

Before he gets to say anything I interrupt. "Are you going to kiss me too?"

This earns me another punch to the face, this time to my cheek. But I'm more prepared for this hit so I take the impact better than before, recovering quickly.

"Now shut up you piece of shit. You are not to call me names or make fun of me. You hear me?" the Reaper practically screams in hysteria. I don't respond, again earning me another punch. This time, I hardly feel it. "I said, do you hear me?"

As much as I want to egg him on, I don't because lives are on the line here. "I hear you," I say through clenched teeth.

This seems to satisfy him and he steps back towards the woman. "Good. But I think it's time we get back to where we left off. I'll give you a little show Hawthorne. First, you'll see your men get shot right before your eyes. And second, you'll get to watch me fuck this pretty little birdy. All the while, you'll be stuck the way you are, with your knees on the ground, useless to help out your friends."

I struggle against the men who are holding me down to see if they loosened their grip and I could get away. But it was to no avail, I can't get loose. I am stuck.

The head Reaper takes over for the Reaper holding the young woman. He nods his head in the direction of the men still lined up on the ground with guns to their heads. The sick, greasy leader makes sure to press his crotch to the girl's rear end, giving her a small thrust of his hips. I hear her make a disgusted noise to which the man responds, "Oh there is more where that came from baby."

I see her face get red with anger and she glares behind her. Then her eyes lock on mine and I feel my heart skip a beat at the intensity. Her pale blue eyes burrow into mine. I know she is trying to get something across to me, but I can't tell what it is. She gives me an exasperated look to which I raise one of my eye brows in annoyance. How the fuck am I suppose to know what she is trying to say? I'm not telepathic.

She then shifts her gaze to her back where her hands are and I notice her fingers splayed to reveal all five. She then goes down to four. I realize I only have a few seconds before she does something to hopefully turn the tides of this battle. As another finger goes down I shift my weight ever so slightly so I'm ready to move. Her fingers go down to two and I make a plan to attack the man on my right before my left if I'm able to get out of their hold.

She is left with one finger and she lifts up her foot. I watch as her boot collides harshly with the shin bone of the greasy man behind her. He howls in pain and lets go of her arms.

In one fluid motion she turns and kicks the man in the chest, making him fall onto his back. While this is happening she pulls a grenade out of her bra and pulls the clip. She then lets the bomb drop to the ground beside her.

"Bomb! Run!" The Reapers scream in terror. Some run, many dropping their weapons. Others, including the soldiers from our unit drop to the ground, covering their heads with their arms. My captors let go of me and run.

I go to duck my head as well only to feel the ropes on my hands become loose and to hear the young woman yell out, "Decoy! Get them!" She doesn't have to tell me twice.

I get up to see her grab another grenade from her bra and launch it after a group of Reapers who retreated. I turn to run after the two that were holding me and am a little shaken when I hear an actual grenade go off. The second one must have been real. It doesn't faze me for long and I quickly over take my restrainers. I throw the one that was behind to the ground and grab his guns. I shoot him and then lift the gun to shoot the other one. He goes to turn and grab his weapon, but I shoot him before he can.

I then scramble to get his firearms and run back into the fray. The men seem empowered and more confident than when I saw them with guns to their head earlier. I mean, who wouldn't be? But this is even different than when we came in the first time. It seems that this girl gave the men the reassurance and morality boost that they needed to get their butts in gear and actually fight.

I look around for said girl to find her opening the cabin and releasing more of the captured men along with the unit we came to save. From afar it looks like some of the men thank her, but she chooses to ignore them for the time being and orders them around. I see her point men in different directions, giving orders for each group that goes by.

I fight and shoot a few more Reapers before turning back to look at her progress. It seems everyone is out and fighting because she leaves the cabin and runs over to a watch tower. She starts to climb when I notice a familiar tall, greasy figure run at her from behind and grab her ankle.

I start to rush over, shooting any enemy in my path and shoving them aside. I keep my focus on the people in front of me, but I also keep an eye on the female soldier. She falls to the ground and the Reaper jumps on top of her. When a Reaper tries to stab me, I grab his wrist and instead turn his weapon against him. A feminine cry makes me lift my head back to the watch tower to see the young solider struggling to keep her enemy's arm up. He holds a dagger in one hand over her heart, his other arm is useless from a wound that I'm assuming came from the girl earlier.

Raising my gun, I take aim to fire straight at the Reaper's head. However my finger doesn't get to pull the trigger when I'm tackled to the ground by a large mass. Our bodies hit the ground hard and whoever knocked me to the ground lets go of my middle. I'm slightly lightheaded and aching from the impact, but I know I have to move.

I flip onto my stomach and push myself up to see the man who tackled me. It's the brute from earlier with the dark skin and deep voice. He seems to have been slightly disoriented like myself because he's just sitting up.

"Hawthorne," he growls as he lifts his gun. "Stay down or I'll kill you."

This causes me to laugh bitterly as I get onto the balls of my feet. His barrel follows me as I get into my crouching position, but doesn't fire. "You can't kill me. You need me to get an edge in this stupid war that you know you're going to lose."

"Shut up! You know nothing. Now don't move or I'll shoot this bullet straight through your skull."

"Then do it," I scream at him and hold out my arms. Maybe this will finally be my end.

But as fate would have it a bullet makes it's way through his skull instead of mine. Blood spatters through his temples and he falls back to the ground. I don't even blink an eye.

Instead I look behind him to see the oily man laying in a pool of blood. I'm sure if I cared I'd feel something. Relieved. Satisfied. Maybe even spooked at seeing his pale skin starkly contrasting against the almost black blood. But I don't. I don't feel anything really.

Bright lights cause me to look up higher to the top of the tower. A few orange signal flares come from the tower, flying high in the sky, before stopping. I don't get to see what happened next because my arm is being pulled so I'm now standing. My body protests, burning with pain. I'm about to give this soldier a piece of my mind when I notice the familiar green eyes of my friend.

"Are you okay?" asks Hadwin, his eyes searching mine before looking over my form for any injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes. How's the situation? Report Officer Coburn."

"We have them on the run sir. Those of us who fled on your orders ran into the other unit. We sent in a highly trained soldier to cause a distraction before sending in more troops. We had two signals. One was the bomb, when we would send in a smaller fleet of soldiers. Second was a signal flare, calling for more aid, General."

"Colonel," I correct as the rest of the troops came in. I watch them come in like a fierce wave on a windy day. Using one hand to grab his shoulder and shake him a bit, I couldn't help but let a smile come to my face. "Thank you Officer. Let's go kick some Reaper ass."

Hadwin returns my smile and nods. Then we both lose all expression on our faces and ready our guns. It is time once again to go into battle.

With help from the other unit, we take over the camp in no time. Many men die during the battle, but the bigger loss are the Reapers. Only the higher ranking Reapers are kept alive for questioning. All of the others we kill on sight, none escape like our troops had.

The Reapers were prepared for the first battle, but didn't think that there would be two waves of soldiers. If both of the units had come, we still would have won, but with a greater number of losses. General Barker, without knowing it, actually did something that saved many lives. Still a jackass though.

Since our camp is closer, we invite the other unit to our camp to relax, eat, and get medical attention if needed. Looks of exhaustion mixed with gratitude cross each face as the news spreads.

An army jeep comes up as I'm walking back to camp with Hadwin. We stop mid-stride to see what the driver wants. A high ranking officer I've never seen before looks at me from behind the wheel. My eyebrows furrow in anger as I notice he is wearing his full uniform and it is completely untouched. The only thing off is his hair from blowing in the wind.

"Colonel Hawthorne, get in the jeep. You are wanted back at the camp."

I look to his chest to see what rank he is before answering. "Colonel. Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to walk back with my troops."

Starting to walk, I don't take two steps before he speaks again. Typical. "Colonel, you are wanted back immediately. I'm going to have to insist."

I pivot on my heel and walk straight up to the man. "Look Colonel. I don't know who you are, but you have no right to boss me around. If they want me back so badly, they can send someone with a higher rank than you to tell me what the fuck to do. Savy?"

"Well, good thing I'm here then, huh?"

I finally notice the man sitting next to him. He too is wearing a squeaky clean officer uniform, like the driver. However, when I look to his chest, I see his ranking is General.

"If you would kindly get in the vehicle, Colonel Hawthorne."

I glare at the bald man with overly bushy eyebrows before shrugging. "I guess I have no choice then. But I don't know how 'kindly' I'll get in."

Walking over to get behind the driver, I give him a sneer before hopping over the side of the jeep. Since there is no top, no need to use the door in my opinion. We salute Hadwin and he salutes us back as we speed off. I don't take my eyes off of him as we go farther away. He strikes a stupid pose before being tackled from behind by a friend of ours. They both laugh and I allow myself a quiet chuckle before turning back to the general and colonel in front of me.

"So what is so urgent?"

"Not sure. We just got a message saying to bring you and a few other higher ranking officers back for a meeting."

A meeting. Wonderful. "I don't even get to relax," I groan as I throw my head back and cover my eyes with my arms.

"No worries, Colonel. You'll get to relax for a bit."

This makes me sit up and look at him in disbelief. "What? I thought you said it was urgent?"

"It is. But do you really think you should go in front of the General of the Army looking like that?"

I glare at the back of this man's shiny bald head. We just finished a battle and he's worried about my personal hygiene? It's times like this I wish my eyes could shoot arrows.

"Does it really matter?"

The general finally looks back at me and gives me a once over. His brown eyes are clearly unimpressed. "In this case, I think it does."

I scratch my beard, feeling slightly self conscious now. I know I haven't shaved in a while. Plus I didn't take a shower for about two days. Now, I'm probably covered in dirt, sweat, and blood.

Okay, now that I think about it, maybe I do need a quick clean up.

We pull into camp and I head the opposite direction than the other officers to my tent. Grabbing the essentials as well as a razor and my uniform, I run to the shower house. As good as the water feels on my dirty, hot flesh I know that I have to be at the meeting so I go as quickly as I can. When I shave I try to be as careful, but swift. Even though I'm sure I have many unattractive bruises and swollen flesh from the hits I took earlier today, I don't want to walk in the room with an embarrassing, bleeding cut.

I finish the shower, razor cut free, and dress in my uniform. Before I leave, I give myself a once over in the mirror and comb my hair. After a quick stop back at my tent and a swift jog through the camp, I find the tent where the meeting is being held.

The officers in the tent stop talking as I am introduced and walk in. Saluting with three fingers, I take in the tent. There are about seven officers, all leaning over a map of the area on a table. Some straighten up with fake smiles plastered on their faces while others give me a look and go back to talking.

"Hawthorne! Glad you've finally made it," grunts a burly looking man with tan skin and large muscles. His hair is peppered and the lines on his face reveal his age. It could also be the war that has aged him quickly too though. I've seen it happen a bunch of times. Looking to see his rank as General of the Army, I think it is a little of both. Markus Spears was his name if I remember correctly from the signed documents we would receive from him. "But you aren't the last. Come over, we were just discussing our next move."

"Our next move?"

"Yes. We don't have another threat as of now, but with the smoke that came from the burning towers we are thinking other Reaper camps nearby may have seen it. You were there in the battle Colonel. Do you remember who set the towers on fire?"

"No, sir I do not. But even if it was us or them, it would be seen as their camp is getting attacked. If any of our towers were set on fire, you'd think attack or distress signal, right?"

"Yes, very true Hawthorne. Who has the information on possible enemy camps in the area?"

"Second Lieutenant Undersee does, General," the bald man from before says without missing a beat.

The name sounds familiar.

"Where is she, General Crow?"

"She came a little after Colonel Upton and I made our way to this tent. She's probably finishing up her shower now."

General Spears laughs heartily, allowing the other officers to have a little chuckle. "Women take forever in the shower. We could be waiting all day."

I don't laugh as the realization hits me. My heart starts to beat faster and my breathing becomes uneven. I try to speak, but nothing comes out. A cough makes its way through my lips and all eyes are on me now. "I-I'm sorry. I think I heard you wrong. Who?"

"Second Lieutenant Undersee, she's the one we're waiting for. She is the head of intelligence over at our camp. She used to work for intelligence at Headquarters, but she decided to join the army when the battles started to rise up again."

My mind starts to race. This couldn't be the same Undersee that I was thinking of, could it? It had to be another one. The one I know wouldn't lift a finger to help anyone, let alone a whole country. Too scared and pampered to fight in a battle. She wouldn't join the cause for the New Government. Plus she was killed by the bombs in 12. Her house was completely flat, it was the first thing to go. There is no way she survived.

The young soldier who introduced me as I came in walks through the flap closing the door. He straightens up and clears his throat, drawing the attention of the whole tent. "Second Lieutenant Madge Undersee."

My blood runs cold at the sound of her name. A small hand opens the flap to the door and following it is the young woman who turned the tide of the battle today. My stomach drops as I finally recognize her. There is no doubt about it. The big blue eyes, the blonde hair, and the innocent appearance. I'm surprised I didn't see it before. Even with her hair short, added muscle, and a more defined face, I could tell it was her.

Madge Undersee, daughter of Mayor Undersee from District 12.

Author's Note: Oh snap! I'm sure you figured out who it was. I wasn't super crafty about it or anything. What will happen next? Let me know what you think!

I'm still looking for a beta, so if anyone is interested let me know. If you would just like to talk leave a review or PM me!

Reviews are much appreciate!