Amber
Iwasn’t going to lie—I was scared.
Rylen sat tall next to me in the back of the pickup truck where we were crammed in with six others. A nearly-full moon blazed through the treetops. Only civilian cars were in our convoy, because the military vehicles were all at Elmendorf base. My hair was tied back in a ponytail that whipped my shoulders in the chilly air. I wore a camouflaged combat helmet secured tightly under my chin, with an all-black outfit. Like the others, I had on a heavy bulletproof vest. Most of them carried M14 rifles or whatever other big guns were on hand. I had an M9 pistol, which I wasn’t afraid to use. My medic bag was at my side, filled with scissors, tourniquets, gauze, medical tape, rubbing alcohol, iodine swabs, morphine syringes, and tons of muslin bandages.
I felt Rylen peering at me every so often. I stared straight out at the passing trees in the darkness, because I didn’t want him to see the worry in my face. I wished it was lighter outside so I could take in all the beauty we’d been denied underground, but just breathing in the fresh, crisp air made me feel twice as alive as I had an hour ago. I reached out and took his hand, which he gladly took in return, holding tight.
The guys driving wore night-vision goggles, and the headlights were kept off. Though they drove slow to keep our advancement as quiet as possible, the twenty-mile trek went by too quickly. A bout of nausea rolled over me when we stopped, my palm suddenly sweaty against Rylen’s. He squeezed my fingers and released them. Nobody spoke. I stayed very still, my heart pounding erratically, while everyone climbed out like ninjas. Rylen grabbed my waist to steady me as I jumped out, grabbing my heavy bag. The plan was for me to stay in the treeline, watching and waiting.
Everyone had their orders. Top was in the lead, carrying a walkie-talkie that connected him with Colonel Latham back at the bunker. The Colonel was watching the silent feed inside the primary tech building on base and would let us know when all was clear. By “clear” he didn’t mean no Baelese—there were always Baelese patrolling—but there was a time during the night when less guards were on duty, and that’s when we would strike.
I let out a deep breath as I followed the pack, everyone alert. And for such a large group, they were shockingly stealthy. I had to pay close attention to my footsteps, squinting at the dark ground to avoid twigs. Rylen had to grab my arm to stop me when the troop halted. My heart was steadily drumming. How did soldiers do this on a normal basis? Did they ever get used to it, or were they as nervous as me every time? Not that they looked nervous . . .
The entire group squatted, so I followed suit. An unnerving silence weighed heavily over us as Top held the comm box, waiting. After what seemed like forever, a tiny static sound came on, and Colonel’s voice.
“You’re a go.”
“Roger that,” Top said. He looked over our group, and in that moment he reminded me so much of my dad, so serious, full of pride and concern for his soldiers. He gave a nod and everyone pulled out earplugs, sticking them in to keep from being voice-commanded by the Baelese.
A lump filled my throat as Rylen pulled me aside and pressed his forehead to mine. We didn’t kiss. No hugs either. We just stood there, foreheads touching, eyes closed, breathing each other in, letting the urgency of our hope rise up and twirl between us, spinning until it was a powerful cyclone of unspoken words, holding us together.
Be safe.
Stay alert.
I love you more than life.
Don’t you dare die.
And then he was letting me go, pulling away, dragging my breath with him as he turned to join the others. The only one staying behind with me was Short Matt. Top handed over the walkie talkie to him. Colonel Latham would keep us updated and let us know if we were needed inside. And if, God forbid, we lost, he would tell Matt and I to head back to the bunker.
I’d already warned fate, and the universe at large, that I wasn’t going back without Rylen. Wehadto win this.
I crouched next to Matt, setting down my bag, but keeping my fingers wrapped around the handle. I felt the ear plugs in my pocket. I would put them in as soon as it was time, but I was paranoid that I wouldn’t be able to hear calls for help with them in.
It was nearly impossible to see what the troop was headed into as they moved forward as one, hunched but agile, guns ready. I knew there was a huge barbed wire fence they had to cut through to get in. Several of the special ops boys would go in first and take out the patrollers as quietly as possible. No gunshots.
The next round would infiltrate the primary building. Once the communications room was secured, they would scour the rest of the building and attached barracks to take out the remaining Baelese as they slept. But if the sneak attack was compromised at any time, and the enemy was able to put out a warning, the mission would be a fail, even if we managed to kill every alien there. It was no use having the base back if we couldn’t use their communications to find out what was going on at the Baelese headquarters.
Now, all Matt and I could do was sit and wait.
We were so still. The soldiers seemed far away. Quiet. But my freaking heart was loud as crap in my chest, booming inside my ears and thrumming every pulse point.
“It’s weird how silent it is,” Matt whispered. “Normally they’d cause a distraction, something to get the enemy out of their element, but they don’t want them to have time to report any suspicious activities.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. We didn’t need the DRI sending any extra aliens up to Alaska to check it out.
Matt stared out into the darkness, both of us crouching. He held the walkie-talkie in one hand and the comm box in the other. His body was alert yet calm, but I saw the guarded fear glistening in his eyes. We waited so long that my knees began to cramp, and I slowly stood, leaning against a tree.
“I feel like it’s taking too long,” I whispered.
“No.” Matt stood too. “They have to take their time on a stealth mission. Don’t worry.”
I rubbed my face. My ears practically throbbed from straining to hear something other than night bugs chirping and snoring. And then I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a thump and scuffle behind us in the trees. I grabbed Matt’s arm and spun, reaching for my gun with my other hand.
“It’s okay!” Matt said, pointing. I squinted and could barely make out a huge thing in the trees, moving.
“What the hell is that?”
