A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts! I'm so happy you are all hanging in there with me. I have to warn you…speed bumps ahead.

As always, I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does.

EPOV

"For the millionth fucking time…I don't see what the big goddamn deal is," Emmett huffed, lacing his hands behind his head and leaning his chair back on two legs, balanced perfectly to keep from falling backward. I secretly hoped that a gust of air would blow through and knock him on his ass. He'd been extremely obnoxious for the past hour and I wasn't sure how much more my nerves could take.

"Fine," Bella huffed in annoyance. "Let me explain…again. I'll try to use simple words so you can understand."

Emmett's eyes narrowed at Bella shrewdly. I knew that look well. He was scheming.

Ignoring his change in demeanor, my angel forged ahead with her explanation. "We haven't heard a peep from either James or my dear uncles in quite some time. Aro and Caius could have made their way back to James or they could be Dreg food. Either way it's an unknown."

"And James is a stealthy motherfucker," I interjected. "There has to be a reason we haven't heard from him. Even though we all know he's a complete douche, he's still wicked smart." Every fiber in me loathed to concede that fact about James, but the truth was he had been a damn good tracker back at camp. His military expertise rivaled ours, making him a dangerous adversary. He just made poor choices in the heat of the moment. "I'm willing to bet we haven't heard from him because he's been planning and preparing. Now, I don't know what kind of resources he has in Sector 1 and we still aren't one hundred percent sure he hasn't developed an ability. That's all just conjecture that we haven't had a chance to prove-"

"A chance we won't get unless we go and get the bastard!" Emmett pounded his fist on the table, his patience wearing thin. "I'm sick and tired of sitting around here waiting."

Jesus…we had been at this for hours. Impetuous Emmett was rearing his ugly head. No matter how many times we'd been over the facts, Emmett still insisted on rushing in. The end of the world had given Emmett a bit of a hero complex despite his military training, and I feared he would leap headlong into a fray he was ill-equipped to deal with.

I sighed as I looked over at my frazzled little mate. My eyes stung with exhaustion and my vision blurred, Bella's beautiful face doubling before melding back to one. The other couples had retired a few hours ago, wanting to be well rested and clear headed for our strategy meeting in the morning. Rosalie departed shortly thereafter, too weary of Emmett's petulance to ignore her own fatigue any longer.

"Emmett," I sighed, rubbing my face briskly. "We need sleep. We're going to meet in the morning to work out a plan. No one wants to wait any longer, but we are definitely not at our best right this moment. Go to bed…get some rest. We will figure this out tomorrow."

Having said my peace, I pushed away from the table, the chair legs scraping loudly against the tile floor. I pulled Bella from her chair and tugged her out of the lab, down the hallway and into our personal quarters.

Bella stumbled into the room, shedding her clothes as she went until she was completely naked, and made a beeline for the shower. I followed hastily while I yanked my own shirt over my head and stepped out of my jeans and underwear, leaving them where they landed on the floor like a trail of breadcrumbs.

The blanket of steam from the shower filled the tiny bathroom, veiling my little mate in a cocoon of humid air and casting only shadows back at me. I reached blindly for her, finding her slick skin in the swirling mist and pulled her to me. "Fuck, angel, I want you so much…all the time." Even now, as dead tired as I was, I wanted nothing more than to bury myself in her and get lost…for days. There was never enough time for us.

"Please, Edward…" she begged, running her hands up my naked torso and around my shoulders to tangle her fingers in the damp hair at the base of my neck. Rising onto her tiptoes, she trailed soft kisses along my scruff jaw, nibbling lightly with teeth and tongue.

My hands wove into her long hair, pulling softly through the wet tangles all the way to the ends, until I reached the small of her back. I wrapped my arms around her and crushed her to me, my mouth claiming hers greedily. She moaned into the kiss and I hissed though my teeth. Trapped between our sweltering bodies, my rigid cock pulsed with every beat of my heart.

"Don't tease, Edward…please don't make me wait."

We were both physically exhausted and in no mood for foreplay, but we needed this. We needed to reconnect. I picked her up, turning, and placed her pert little ass on the edge of the counter in front of the sink, pulling her to the very edge and wrapping her legs around my waist. She released me and leaned her upper body back until her head rested against the mirror bolted to the wall, her dainty hands travelling up her body until she cupped both breasts.

Fuck, I wanted it to be my hands squeezing those spectacular globes, but if I let go of her hips she would slide off the countertop. She was balanced precariously as it was. "Pinch those nipples for me, Bella…I want to watch." As her nimble fingers moved to her tiny buds, pinching and pulling them into little points, her eyes closed and she panted in anticipation. My hands slipped over her hips and around to the back of her thighs, my fingers digging into her slick flesh seeking purchase. I opened her legs wider and settled into the cradle of her thighs, the head of my cock positioned perfectly at her moist slit.

Pushing slowly into her body, I reveled in the exquisite feel of her wrapped tightly around me. Our bond ignited and crackled around us like electricity, healing the frayed edges of our joined psyche. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as my pace increased, pulling her down to meet me thrust for thrust. I bent over to take a rosy nipple in my mouth, biting gently, as Bella's hand gripped my hair and held me in place. Her walls quivered around me, pulling me in deeper and deeper as she raced toward her climax.

My own orgasm was rapidly approaching, every intrusion into her little body punctuated with a loud grunt. "God, baby, I need you to come. I can't hold back any longer," I panted as the swell of pure bliss began to crest. Bella's orgasm finally overtook her, sweeping her away into a sea of soft moans and gentle spasms.

Fully sated, I rested my forehead in the valley between my angel's breasts and panted heavily, the moist air moving haggardly in and out of my lungs. Bella's own chest rose and fell in time with mine as she struggled to catch her breath, the weighted vapor making it that much more difficult.

I gently lifted my little mate into my arms and carried us into the shower. Setting her on her feet, I washed every inch of her body, massaging the soap into her sore muscles and neck. Her eyes drooped while I lathered and rinsed her hair. I longed for sleep as I quickly bathed myself and shut off the water. Wrapping us both in a warm towel, I led Bella back to the bedroom and dried every drop of moisture from her porcelain skin. She pulled back the blankets and flopped down on the bed, asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Taking a moment to appreciate the view of my naked mate, I chuckled as her soft snores met my ears. My weary body could hold out no longer and I dove into the bed, wrapping Bella up in my arms. I nuzzled my nose in her damp hair and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

It seemed only minutes had passed when I was awoken by shouting from the hallway. Looking at the watch on my wrist I realized we had actually been asleep for almost seven hours. "Baby," I whispered, shaking Bella gently to rouse her from her slumber. "Wake up, sweetheart. We need to get dressed."

"Don't want to," she mumbled into her pillow before peeking up at me through the curtain of her hair.

Chuckling at her childish demeanor, my fingers ghosted up her sides as I tickled her lightly. She wriggled out of my grasp and leapt from the bed, her tinkling laughter filling the small space. Our playful antics were cut short by more raised voices from the hallway. Realizing that our private time was over, Bella and I quickly redressed and left the room in search of everyone else.

Finding our family in the lab, I was shocked at the state of Didyme and Esme as they huddled together on the floor in the corner, sobbing quietly.

Alarmed, Bella and I raced forward and knelt down next to Esme. "What's happened?" I demanded. Quickly surveying the room, I noted that all of our immediate family were present, so there had to be another cause behind their grief.

Marcus laid a comforting hand on my shoulder and pulled me to an upright position. "Come sit down and I'll fill you in."

Leaving the women to comfort one another, I made my way to the table and slumped into one of the chairs next to Emmett, bracing myself for the bad news I was sure to come. Marcus gave me a forlorn look and sighed before launching into his explanation.

"An idea came to me early this morning. As you already know, the cameras on the opposite side of the compound were disabled by Simmons and his crew. Since the main control room was on our side of the facility, Simmons didn't want us spying on him." Marcus spat Simmons' name as if it left a foul taste in his mouth and shook his head in disgust. "But if Garrett and Kate made it to Sector 1, they would surely reconnect the camera inside that lab in order to establish contact with us."

The idea had merit. Truth be told, it was what I would do in that situation.

Marcus' eyes grew sad as he continued. "I woke Rosalie and we made our way to the control room to check the monitoring system. All active cameras record continuously and back up to our servers. As I suspected, they had indeed reengaged the camera inside that lab." Marcus turned a small handheld monitor toward me and pressed the tiny green button. "I recorded this message."

My eyes moved to the monitor as Garrett's face came into view, filling the entire screen. He seemed haggard and his eyes were moving frantically back and forth from the lens and somewhere off to the left, where it appeared as if he was tinkering with the camera.

"Dammit Kate! The green light is on so I know it's working! I am an engineer for fuck's sake!" Kate's muffled cries could be heard from behind Garrett, but I wouldn't be able to see her until he backed away. "Marcus…I hope you can hear me. As I'm sure you are already aware, Kate and I have snuck away. After discussing the dire situation you presented to us a few days ago, Kate and I decided we needed to get back to work on the bridge." He quickly snapped his head to the left as a loud bang echoed through the room.

"Garrett!" Kate screamed.

"Katie, they can't get through that door!" Garrett snapped his head back around to the camera. "We worked from our new quarters as much as we could, but Marcus…we needed access to the bridge. I think we may have made a breakthrough-"

Another loud bang caused Garrett to lose his footing and he tumbled down from the stepladder, landing hard on his back with a loud "Oomph!" With an unobstructed view, I could now see almost the entire expanse of the lab. Slumped against the far wall away from the door was Kate and lying across her lap was another scientist, Ben Cheney…missing an arm.

Someone had tied a makeshift tourniquet around the bloody stump, but his blood continued to slowly pool around them. I could barely make out the shallow rise and fall of his chest. Ben's lips were moving as Kate sobbed, softly running her hand through his hair. If it weren't for the incessant banging at the door, I could probably make out what was being said.

Garrett's face filled the screen once more as he regained his footing on the stepladder, cutting off my view to the rest of the lab. "Marcus…Ben came with us to try and help. But…oh God…" he trailed off while rubbing his face, the dried blood on his hand a gory reminder of the horror that lay behind him. His haunted eyes look directly into the camera. "We were attacked not too far from the lab. A group of those creatures happened upon us and Ben took the brunt of the assault before we could make it through the door and seal the lab." Tears filled his eyes as he looked over his shoulder and then back at the camera. "He's not going to make it, Marcus. This side of the compound is completely fucked! I can't explain it, but I could swear that those things were being driven…controlled in some way."

I gasped at his revelation and looked up to find Marcus staring at me intently, silently communicating his mutual concern. My attention was drawn back down to the monitor as Garrett continued to speak.

"Marcus…if you decide to make your way here…you have to go under. Do you understand?" Garrett's face suddenly disappeared as the signal was disrupted and the screen abruptly went black.

"What happened?" I asked, looking back at Marcus.

"We're not sure," Marcus sighed, tucking the monitor away. "Rosalie thinks it could be a short in the wiring. Regardless, we'll keep recording and remain hopeful that he can get the camera working again."

Emmett stood and began to pace the room. He stopped suddenly directly in front of Marcus. "What did Garrett mean by 'go under'?"

"It's code," Marcus mumbled. "I doubt Garret felt the system was secure so he was speaking in a kind of code. He didn't mean for us to actually go under the facility."

"Then what did he mean?" Emmett pressed.

"There's another secret entrance on that side of the compound."

All of the women, but Didyme, gasped at Marcus' declaration. "What do you mean there's another entrance?" both Bella and Rosalie asked simultaneously as they made their way to the table.

Marcus flinched at their accusing tone before reluctantly answering. "The compound runs under Groom Lake clear to the southern shore where Edwards Air Force Base sits. The entrance is similar to the one in Rachel. It's located under an office inside Hangar B."

Emmett clapped his hands and rubbed them together in anticipation. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Emmett! Sit!" Rosalie commanded. "We can't just run off halfcocked!"

Marcus bowed his head again as Didyme rubbed the tension from his shoulders. "She's right, Emmett," he sighed. "We would have to go topside to get there and that side of Groom Lake is much closer to Las Vegas-"

"Which means a high probability of running into larger hordes of Dreg," I finished, pulling Bella into my lap and nuzzling her neck. Her close proximity always provided some level of comfort regardless of the situation.

"I'm also concerned about a few of the other things Garrett mentioned in his transmission. Firstly, the possibility that the Dreg are being controlled."

Emmett chuckled in disbelief. "Awe shucks, Marcus, no one could control those things-"

"Actually," Didyme interjected, "one of our older experiments for the government did involve a form of mind control."

"Are you fucking serious?" Emmett bellowed. "Why does it feel like everything you guys conceived down here is working against us?"

Didyme hung her head in shame. "We were trying to better the human race, Emmett. The CIA was looking for a type of truth serum for prisoners of war, so that the harsher tactics of divining information could be retired. But the implant we invented took away the prisoner's logic and reasoning and only allowed for basic motor control. The project was scrapped."

"We only made around a hundred of those implants, so the Dreg can't all be under someone's control," Marcus surmised.

"Fuck…" I muttered, running my hand through my hair as Carlisle looked at me having come to the same conclusion. "It only takes one in a horde to be under control. When gathered together, they have a hive mind, remember? If one is under control, they're all under control."

Emmett slumped into the nearest chair. "Fuck my life," he muttered. "So James could potentially be leader of the Dreg…fan-fucking-tastic."

"I'm also concerned about the state of that side of the compound," Marcus continued, undeterred by the conclusions Carlisle and I had drawn. "My ultimate goal was to reclaim this entire facility and continue in our endeavors to prepare what's left of this decimated race for the Blue Shift and either reinhabit this planet or move them off world. But I need the entire compound intact-"

"Then we need to get to work," I sighed in defeat. I would never live down my next words. "Emmett's right. We have to act now. We can't afford to wait any longer."

Emmett's answering grin could have illuminated the entire room. He fist-pumped the air excitedly and shouted, "Fuck yeah!"

Over the next hour, we managed to hammer out most of the details. This trip would be a rescue mission as well as a reconnaissance of sorts. Our main objective was to get to Kate and Garrett. The impulsive scientists had taken a wealth of information with them in those research books and, quite frankly, we could not afford for those to fall into the wrong hands. We also needed the astrophysicists in one piece. They were our best chance at getting the bridge to work and their research could continue once we had reclaimed the entire compound. While we were in enemy territory, we planned to gather as much information as possible about James and any companions he may have recruited as well as the status of the brothers. If we happened to capture that bastard, James, alive...well, kudos to us.

I also wanted to ascertain their current level of fire power. Marcus had alluded to some serious weaponry housed in the armory on that side of the compound. I was honestly hoping to get my hands on some of it and disable entry into the armory altogether by anyone other than myself or my team.

While Rosalie, Bella, and Emmett were packing up what we would need, I was currently dealing with an extremely perturbed Jasper.

"I still don't understand why you're taking Marcus but not me." Jasper crossed his arms and huffed loudly, mere moments away from throwing an all-out temper tantrum.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration and shook my head. "Jazz, I understand how badly you want to go, but you have to think about my sister and your unborn child. I need you and Carlisle to stay here and protect this side of the facility and these women at all costs."

Jasper reluctantly lowered his head and nodded in submission. "I understand…and don't worry. I'll protect them with my life." He clapped me on the back and pulled me into a brotherly hug. I returned the sentiment, hoping with every fiber of my being that I would complete this mission and make it back without suffering any losses. I was an eternal optimist, even though the odds of that outcome were stacked heavily against us.

We had decided to head out through the back exit in Rachel and take the Humvee around the lake to Edwards Air Force Base. Packed and armed to the teeth, the five of us made our way out the hidden door and back up through the hatch in the floor of the pharmacy where my life had been irrevocably changed some weeks ago.

Bella smiled at me softly, obviously reminiscing about the moment we met and our time in this office. Closing the hatch behind us, we thoroughly scoured the building looking for traces that anyone or anything had entered the establishment since our previous exit.

Finding nothing, we headed out the back door and into the alley between the restaurant and the pharmacy, sticking close to the shadows just in case. I spotted the Humvee and abandoned ambulance up ahead exactly where we had left them. Piling into the Humvee, I was suddenly struck with the eerie feeling of being watched, but looking around I saw nothing out of the ordinary.

I cranked the Humvee and pulled out onto State Highway 375 headed toward Highway 93 around Groom Lake. After roughly ten minutes of smooth sailing, I noticed a dust cloud up ahead and slowed the Humvee to a crawl.

"Ed?" Emmett asked perplexed at my sudden hesitance.

"Emmett, grab the specs and take a look at that dust cloud up ahead. Tell me what you see."

Grabbing the binoculars from the duffel bag at his feet, he looked ahead to the looming cloud and cursed loudly. "Fuck! Looks to be a horde of at least fifty Dreg headed straight for us."

"Dammit!" I shouted, slamming the Humvee into reverse and stomping the gas.

"Edward, wait!" Bella cried out in alarm, causing me to bring the Humvee to a screeching halt, kicking up rocks and sand all around us. "There's another dust cloud coming up fast behind us!"

Grabbing the binoculars from Emmett, I stepped out of the Humvee to get a good look at the cloud approaching from our rear. My heart sank as I spied another huge horde rapidly approaching. Fuck…we were surrounded.