Chapter 2 is now live. Hope you're ready.

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Chapter 2:

3413 Avenue T, Marine Park

Brooklyn, New York

2150 Hours

Nate arrived home in Marine Park, Brooklyn. He got out of the car as he walked to the front door, he pulled out his key and opened the door, his mother was asleep indicating the reason why the hallway light was on and the gramophone was playing a jazz artist.

His bedroom was downstairs adjacent to the lounge. Nate walked into the bedroom as he shrugged off his jacket. He took his weapon out of his holster and unclipped it from his hip.

He ejected the magazine from the gun pulling the chamber back releasing the bullet in the pipe, Nate then put the bullet back in the magazine. He had picked up the rucksack from his door handle as he put his canteen inside as well as a phone charger and some of his shirts and one pair of jeans.

After packing some clothing, Nate turned to the safety box that was underneath a floorboard. He opened it up and pulled out his passport along with some money.

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Nate then picked up the rucksack and closed his bedroom door, there he saw his adoptive mother who was in the kitchen as he said, "Mom, hey!"

His mother turned, she was a beautiful brunette with dark brown eyes, who had said, "Hey Nate, what you doin' back so soon?"

"An emergency, Mom. I've got a phone call saying I need to settle my 'excuse of a father's' estate, they waited till now to contact me." Nate said. Lucy sighed as she said, "I'm sorry Nate!"

"It's okay, Ma. I'm not sheddin' tears over this. Soon as I sell the house, my past in Texas will be burned and gone. New York's my home, my one true home." Nate replied. Lucy smiled as she said, "That's good. Hey listen, if you want to use some of my points, I've amassed a lot over the years."

Nate shakes his head replying, "I couldn't do that, mom. Not to you. That's not me." "Maybe some other time. Good luck, son." Lucy replied.

"Thank you, Mom. I love you." Nate replied. Lucy smiled, "Love you too, Nate." Nate waved goodbye as he headed out the door, he then noticed another car parked outside, it was Lieutenant Alexandria Donarelli's car out front, he then shuddered to himself, "That's why the music was on."

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Nate got into his car as he revved it up and drove off, he headed straight for the Newark Liberty International Airport.

After 30 minutes of driving, Nate parked the car, he locked it and double-checked the alarms were on, he walked directly to the front of the line as he said, "Hello, I have a flight to Dallas/Fort Worth International."

Nate held out the ticket and his passport, the lady checked them as she asked, "Any baggage to check in?"

"I'm only carrying my rucksack; will that be a problem?" Nate asked. The lady shook her head, "Not at all. Just follow the directions set out. You have a lovely flight, sir." "Thank you very much." Nate replied as he took the ticket and his passport and put them back in his rucksack.

He walked to the designated gate number as he overheard the Tannoy say, "Your attention please, the flight to Dallas/Fort Worth International, 5 minutes till the end of boarding." The Tannoy repeated the warning as Nate held out his ticket.

Nate was allowed on board as he found his seat. He took off his bag and jacket as he said to a nearby stewardess, "Excuse me, miss. I fall asleep on flights. When we are about 20 minutes from touching down in Dallas. Is it possible for you to awake me, please?"

"Not a problem, sir." The stewardess replied. Nate nodded a smile as he said, "Thanks."

Nate pulled out his phone as he saw a message from Bobby Thompson that said, "Hey brother, you didn't come back in to the bar after your phone call. I had to pay your tab, everythin' okay?"

Nate text back, "Just some problems. I'll tell ya when I get back, sorry brother!"

Nate put his phone on airplane mode as he put it in his pocket. He then rested into the seat as he drifted softly to sleep.

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Monday 30th January 2012

Over Carrollton, Texas

0315 Hours

Over 4 hours later during the flight, the plane was currently over Texas. Nate was still asleep during the flight.

The next thing he knew, he felt an arm on him as he jolted awake as he said, "What happened?"

"Sorry, the flight is due to land in 10 minutes. You were out for quite a while." The stewardess said. Nate groaned as he said, "Appreciate it." Nate then rose an eyebrow as he asked, "10 minutes till we land?" "Yes sir." the stewardess replied.

Nate nodded, "Thank you." The stewardess smiled politely.

An elderly passenger had then said, "Rough sleep?"

"Pretty much slept in worse places, most my life." Nate said. The passenger smiled, "I may have jumped into Normandy, Holland and Germany, but I always slept through until the bullets started flying."

"82nd or 101st?" Nate asked. The passenger smiled, "All-American. I was a Corporal. How 'bout you?"

"Navy, I'm a diver. 17-years." Nate replied. The elderly man nodded, "Always sticks with you, my grandson, he was a SEAL, KIA over in Iraq."

"Sorry for your loss." Nate replied, he mentally thought to himself if that SEAL was one of the men, he had failed to bring home from the war.

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The plane landed in Texas at Dallas/Fort Worth International. Nate collected his rucksack as he got off the plane.

He headed through the airport as he headed for a footlocker, he pulled out a second rucksack, this one was quite large as he made it out of the airport.

Unknown to him, an unfamiliar man had spotted Nate walking out of the airport. The man was of Asian-American, he had black hair in a military haircut, a cap to disguise himself.

The man was a few inches taller than Nate; he looked a lot heavier than Nate included, the man had well-defined muscle, a tattoo on his arm was of the Army Rangers. The man was a war veteran who wore a pair of blue jeans, dark short-sleeve shirt, a pair of desert camo combat boots.

The war vet pulled out his phone as he made a phone call and said, "Yeah, he's arrived. He's walking out now."

He nodded at a reply as he said, "He hasn't made any phone calls. Looks like he's just walking. He pulled out a large bag from a locker, no idea what's in it though."

Another reply had the man saying, "Yeah, he's probably goin' to walk from here to Arlington, you want me to tail him?"

This time, an answer had the man smile as he said, "Sure thing, I'll get back in time, see you soon." The veteran ended the phone call and headed towards his car; it was a 2010 Ford Ranger coloured in grey as the man drove off.

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Greenbelt Road, Arlington

Texas

0655 Hours

Nate was walking from the airport to Arlington, Texas. The night was freezing for him, it wouldn't be long till the sun broke through by 0720 Hours.

Nate took a stop at the West Fork Trinity River on Greenbelt Road. He pulled out his canteen of water and drank a bit before pouring some over his head.

Nate then sat against the riverbank as he rested his eyes for a bit, he left the calming beat of his heart ease his mind.

0725 Hours

The sun was now shining, Nate woke up as the light blinded him. Nate picked up his pack as he continued his walk towards his father's ranch.

He had walked along the roads; the memories of his father weren't pleasant nor were they something to think about. Instead of walking along the road, he reached the woods, hopping over several fences.

He stopped and took a look out at the ranch; the place wasn't deserted. He saw 2 cars, one was the 2010 Ford Ranger that had driven by him hours ago, the other car was a 2011 Dodge Ram sitting in the driveway.

Nate looked in confusion as he asked himself, "Well Kimberly, looks like lying to me was a mistake."

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Nate pulled out his pistol as he loaded it, he then began to walk towards the household, carrying his knife in his hand, he scanned the road for any traps or mines. Nate knew his father was coincidentally overprotective and paranoid about people trespassing on his land.

So far, he had marked several traps with an 'X' in the sand next to them. He got close to the trucks and checked the engines; the Dodge Ram was now cold. The Ford Ranger was warm, only just.

Nate walked up to the door and opened it using three of his fingers, he backed away just in case there was a trap behind the door. No mechanism came on as Nate continued inside the front door.

He checked the left flank and only saw nothing inside the room. He walked out heading towards the right side, oblivious to him, the war veteran from the airport was hiding behind a couch, who cautiously got up and began to follow Nate.

Nate moved cautiously side-stepping towards the living room as he heard gun cock, he turned to see a brunette-haired woman standing in front of him, she held a Glock 19 in her hands as she said, "Picked the wrong house to walk into, fella."

"Want me to shoot him?" an unfamiliar voice said. Nate turned to see a teenaged girl in front of him carrying a crossbow, there was an arrow pointed straight at him.

The girl didn't look like she was in no mood to negotiate. She then fired the crossbow.

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