Rhonda came in over the radio. Three clicks, signaling she is now in a position with the others. I wait for a few more minutes. Through my binoculars, everything looks quiet. I click the radio four times, giving the order the mission is a go. I see the first of the flares went high in the night sky from the north. It lights up the landscape for a kilometer. I watch several of the arachnid hybrids, that’s what I call the spider slash scorpion monsters now, scurry off in that direction. Moments later, I see another flare shot into the sky from the west. Our plan is moving along on schedule. The flare draws several of those shambling warriors in a western direction. Another minute passes before the last flare rockets into the air from the south. That flare drew another crowd of creatures outside the camp toward the south. Rhonda set off her flares near my position next. I hunker down and wait. A loud siren goes off in the camp’s direction. Something triggers one of the sounds traps I set. The echoing sound draws more undead warriors than arachnids. This is fortunate, as their numbers are now at the point, I could take them. A few minutes later, the southern decoys went off. ‘My plan was working.’ The confusion spreads through the garrison, prompting them to run in our direction. The last remnants of creatures are moving away from the camp. I stood and double-timed it toward the camp. ‘I haven’t run a full one-kilometer sprint in a good while.’ The decoys are working just as we hoped. No one is guarding my side of the wall. I pull out a small stick of C-Four and slap it against the wooden wall. I take a cover a few yards away.

 

‘BOOM!’

 

The new hole is big enough for a humvee to fit in. My backup plans if things go south. I hear the roar of a fifty-caliber machine gun and m429 with the sound of a sniper mixed in. I walk over the rubble of the wall into the camp. Once inside, I find four or five dozen large round roman-style tents, with one giant tent in the center. I stay hidden. Qrurcean steps out with Aphanea. She has shackles around her neck, wrists, and ankles attached to a long chain. They barely clad her with some flimsy cloth robe covering her. The monster pointed toward the west and returned to the large tent. I continue to plant more explosives while making my way to the center. My attention is hyper-focused on the mission. Every sound could be a defender. I kept my weapon ready as I walked silently to each tent.

 

As I pass a tent, I hear crying coming from the tent. I pause cautiously and listen. The crying is coming from the tent I am standing next to, so I make my way around it until I find the entrance. I peek inside the tent. This sight I see is horrendous. My heart skips a beat. These undead captors are slavers. I count at least three or four dozen human women crowding close together like sardines in these tents. None of the women wore any clothing, revealing their ample breasts and bottoms. They have iron collars around their necks with chains leading to a central pole. I can hear the sounds of the women making snuffling noises. As I walk by them, none dare to make more than a peep. I look at one and ask the question. I place my hand gently on a woman with black hair and tan skin so as not to scare her. She slowly looks up and meets my gaze. I smile to let her know I am not here to harm her. She looks down at my weapon and then backs up. I see the confusion on her face, but I keep smiling at her.

 

“How many more?” I asked, firmly.

 

She shakes her head. A stir comes from the rest of the women. I don’t think she spoke my language, but she comprehended what I meant.

 

She turns to speak to some women beside her. It’s not the language Aphanea speaks, but similar. I wait patiently for a few moments before she turns back to me.

 

“@#R% ^&,” the woman speaks in a language I cannot understand.

 

I shake my head, and she thinks for a moment. A second later, she points to two more tents nearby. The one to the left and the other to the right. A hasty count of them and put their numbers around one hundred and fifty based on how many are in this tent. My plan was evolving fast. There’s no time to come back for them, so I make my way through the women to the central pillar. I take out my K-Bar knife and use all my strength to break the main bounds that held the women captive. It takes another five minutes to break the bounds of the two tents. The women follow me without question back to the hole in the wall.

 

“Rhonda, I got civilians on the west side wall. One hundred plus. We’re going to have to go all out here, over,” I said.

 

“Copy that. Get the package and signal when clear, over,” Rhonda said.

 

I motioned for the slave women to stay put and out of sight. Many of them nodded in unison, as if they knew what I meant. I give them a nod and then shoulder my weapon. As I moved, I exhausted all my explosives. I made my way farther into the camp, and Aphanea’s voice echoed through the night from the center of the camp. The monster is arguing with her. The others were cutting down most of his forces with minor problems. His anger is apparent. Those Arachnids are dangerous up close but against a fifty cal, they were just giant bullet sponges. I went in from the back. None of his guards were here to protect him. Qrurcean’s back is to me, but I didn’t hesitate. My finger pulls the trigger of my carbine. My round of bullets blows out his shoulder. It’s the arm connected to that shoulder that falls to the ground. That arm connects directly to the hand holding Aphanea’s chain. She immediately scrambles back as the chain falls to the ground. I squeeze the trigger again. My carbine releases another burst of bullets, obliterating the undead monster’s body. Aphanea turns and looks at me. Tears of joy come to her eyes. She jumps up despite the chains and hugs and kisses me. Relief overwhelmed me for a moment, but I suppressed it. The chain connected fifteen women to a heavy pole. They look like different versions of Aphanea. They are almost identical to her. Now wasn’t the time to ask questions. I didn’t waste more time and freed them when a voice called out my name.

 

“Thomas Hawthorne… Do you think this will kill me?” Qrurcean asked. 

 

I turn to see his body coming back together like a monster from a movie. My hand went to the bundle of frags on my belt. Five, to be exact. 

 

“Aphanea, take those women to the westside wall and run,” I said.

 

She didn’t hesitate and ran with the fifteen women. I kneel by the undead man. 

 

“Maybe this will kill you. Maybe it won’t. Doesn’t matter to me. I promise I will find a way to kill you, I promise. That’s something you can look forward to in your very near future…,” I whispered, pulling the pins.

 

“You have no clue what power I wield or my master. I shall ensure your death will be as excruciating as possible,” he whispered.

 

“My gut tells me your dead weight. I’ll tell your master you tried if that’s any consolation,” I said, stuffing the frags into his reforming body.

 

I ran as fast as I could, counting back from five. Loud, inhuman screams come from the tent. My name is mixed with cusses, and words, not of my language, echo in the night air.

 

‘BOOM… BOOM… BANG-BANG!!!’

 

A few minutes later, I’m running behind the mob of women north toward Pineford. The roar of gunfire ends suddenly, and Rhonda’s voice comes over my radio.

 

“Enemy hostiles neutralized! Coming to you, over,” Rhonda stated.

 

“Copy that, mission complete, over,” I said.

 

“Aphanea, are there any more captives in the camp?” I asked.

 

“No, these are all the prisoners,” she answered.

 

I pull out a remote, flick it open, and push the button. 

 

‘BOOOOOM’

 

The C-Four goes off all at once, lighting the sky up for miles. The sound carries even farther. Many of the women drop to the ground in fear. Aphanea talks to them in the language I first heard her speak. They all look at me. Only the eleven like her shy away. A revving engine comes up not far from us in the dark, and a moment later, the headlights illuminate our surroundings. Rhonda steps out and walks over.

 

“Shit, Thomas! All those women were there???” she asked.

 

“Yeah, I found them chained up like slaves. I freed them thanks to your cover fire. You gave me enough time to get them out. None of those monsters even knew I was inside freeing them,” I said.

 

Rhonda and Aphanea locked eyes for the first time. There was instant tension between the two, but they chose not to act on impulse. They just acknowledged each other. I found myself nervous now that they met face to face. I felt tension from knowing Kathy and Grace were minutes away, if not moments, from meeting her. Right now, this is happening either way at this point. I hope to push it off until we get back to town, and that’s the plan.

 

Grace popped out the top of the Humvee. “Sheriff Orkan is on the way with a few city transit buses and school buses from the city,” Grace stated.

 

“Aphanea, tell them to walk together. We’ll lead them to safety,” I said.

 

“Yes,” she said, talking in her native language. 

 

The human women talk to one another in a unique language before speaking hers.

 

“They have agreed to follow,” Aphanea said.

 

“Alright, let’s move out. We can meet Sheriff Orkan halfway at the very least,” I said.

 

I secure my m-four in the Humvee as Rhonda takes the wheel. A low rumbling grows louder. Grace and Rhonda look at me when Kathy yells.

 

“Thomas!!! Behind you!” she yelled, but it was too late. Something wraps around me and yanks me with incredible force.

 

Suddenly, some sort of vine pulls me at high speed away from the Humvee before slinging me like a toy in the air. I landed hard on my back. My pack softens the impact, but it still flashes through my body. I drag myself to my feet and draw the hulking sword out of pure instinct. Out of the side of my eye, I caught a glimpse of an incoming attack. Again, my muscles react on instinct. I dodge easily and slice through the incoming veins. A hulking Qrurcean, a towering menace of body parts, four arms, four arachnid appendages, and a slew of branchy vines coming from his back, stands between the women and me. He turns to them, and I charge him. 

 

“Tonight, I’ll kill you as many times as I have to!” I yelled. My words anger him and distract him from the others.

 

“Puny mortal! Do you know how many centuries I have lived? You are an insignificant annoyance. Behold the power that I wield!” Qrurcean shouted with force.

 

A volley of thorns and needles flies at me. With the massive sword, I deflect and block most of the projectiles. The rest do minor damage to my vest and thick clothing. Made out of Kevlar, they made these clothes for added protection against small arms fire. I slash my way at him until I’m close enough to cut him down. Two of his spider arms slash at me quickly. I dodge and roll out of range. Another vine strikes at me. I shredded it to pieces, then cut both spider limbs off. The undead man cries out in pain.

 

“Curse you! Where did you get that blade?” he snarled, backing up.

 

The sword clearly hurt him, but my mind is on the many captive women. They are no longer in sight. ‘Good, Rhonda and Grace prioritized the civilians.’ I take a deep breath and focus on my enemy. The knowledge they were putting distance between them and us gave me all the conviction to end this monster. I calm my nerves, control my breathing, and zero in on the undead abomination. I charged again. Qrurcean uses his remaining arms to lash out at me. Just then, a giant book appears in front of him, glowing with eerie green energy. He mumbles words I can’t understand. In the surrounding area, I witness more of those damned undead warriors crawling out of the ground like an evil horde of locusts. It is an eerie sight that mirrors what I saw last time. I cut as many as I can down before more fully surface. My undying will to fight his undead army sends the hulking Qrurcean into a raging frenzy.

 

“What’s the matter? Don’t have enough cannon fodder to aid you?” I barked.

 

“I have more than enough mana left to finish you, human!” Qrurcean snapped.

 

“It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than this to kill me!” I stated, cutting down even more of the monsters.

Again, he mumbled strange words. ‘He’s making more of those creatures!’ I have to stop him from bringing in more allies. I swing the giant blade across both his boney arms. A cry of pain and angst interrupts the chanting. I follow through with a horizontal slash separating his top torso from his malnutrition legs. I don’t have a second to catch my breath, as our battle is not over yet. It will take more than this to attain victory. I raise the heavy sword above my head as I look down at the hulking, undead monster. His eyes met mine, and I smiled back at the wretched creature. A moment later, I slam the humongous sword straight down at his neck, angling it at the right moment. The Qrurcean’s eyes burn with rage but slowly fade. I take the book lying next to him. One of his stubbed hands reaches for it. I just step on it, crushing the squirming thing.