Page 4 of Rising

On a normal day, I’d run up to her and smother her in kisses while doing nonsensical baby talk. But not here, not now. Now was time for work, and like the good girl she was, she knew that.

An engagement gift for me in my past life, my baby sat at a whopping eighty-five pounds of muscle. Big for a Doberman girl, which made her practically perfect for an apocalypse. Harley let out a menacing deep growl that was deep enough to scare off a large bear. Her drool only symbolized her thirst for violence. With the flames still going but lowered, I took in the faces of more soldiers, who now showed clear signs of discomfort.

The flames, the weapons, the dog, and my backup, I’m sure they were experiencing sorts of sensory overload. The perfect time to find our weakest link. A soldier near the back who I deemed a bit too shifty caught my attention as he stole glances between me and Harley. He lifted his head as if sensing someone staring and nonchalantly scanned for a quick exit.

“The thing about situations like this is, they take a lot of coincidences to end up as an accident. And I find myself as being someone that believes in, how does that saying go, Seth?”

He looked at me, eyes still dancing, and smirked. “No such thing.”

I smirked back. “Yes, no such thing as a coincidence. Thanks to Tomoe, we were able to see what Jax, unfortunately, cannot tell me himself at the moment. It was rather enlightening and helped me put some things into perspective. You see, when I went to give Unit A a visit earlier, it reeked of chemicals. And you know what fire magic mishaps don’t have? Chemical stench.”

Whispers broke out as I glanced over towards Reina and Moe, who were monitoring the crowd, trying to see what I couldn’t. Moe gave me a sharp nod, showing that she understood where I was headed, and she agreed.

“But bombs do.”

The soldier I hadn’t stopped watching from earlier sucked in a quick breath, head swiveling towards me, his eyes meeting my own. His eye whites became visible on all sides and his brows shot up in a straight line for less than a second, but enough for me to fully register what he was about to do. He backed up two steps and turned. But not before I could summon my own little demon.

“Harley, bring him to me.” And she took off.

Amaia

Harley bit into his arm and dragged him over towards me, blood dripping down her black coat. The soldier cried out in pain as sweat slid down his face, meeting tears inspired by genuine fear. Good. The side of my mouth upturned, proud of my display of power. That wasn’t even half of my tank, not even a quarter.

I locked eyes with Riley, who nodded slightly acknowledging my quiet request, and slipped off into the shadows, pulling his hood over his shoulder length locs.

Glancing back at the soldier as if I were bored already. “I remember you. Tell me, Carter, right?”

“Caleb, ma’am,” he replied in almost a snarl. I didn’t appreciate the disrespect, not in front of all these people.

“Carter it is,” I said even-toned, “So tell me, Carter, how a recruit reject ended up out on patrol after I personally told you that you wouldn’t be joining my units?”

If he sweats anymore, he might give the rain a run for its money.“I-” he stammered, glancing over my shoulder towards Harley, who Seth was now reattaching to her chain leash.

My fingers snapped in his face, calling his attention back to me. “Iam right here Carter, anything going on behind me isn’t worth losing the opportunity of a spared life. I assure you.”

“I suggest you focus on the General,Carter.” Seth came up from behind me, standing side by side. His eyes narrowing, focused on Caleb.

Caleb’s lips pulled upwards as if disgusted by Seth. His mouth moved faster than his brain, stumbling out a response. “I spoke privately to Lieutenant Brennan and asked for another chance. He told me he would think about it.”

Interesting, as Jax usually ran these things by me. Everyone has off days. There were times we saw something within a recruit, and if they pushed and showed enough want for it, we’d grant them another opportunity to showcase their talents. But never without discussing it with each other first, not when it came to our troops. Everything was transparent and to be agreed upon. If there was no trust within leadership, soldiers would fall. That’s how history had always proven.

“You expect me to believe that with your poor display of competence and skill in almost every category, you impressed someone as respectable asmy secondto consider giving you another shot? And why would he waste his time on such a charity case?” I said, gesturing up and down his body as if I was unimpressed.

“Lieutenant Brennan approached me this morning, telling me I had one more shot to show him I was worth something. He told me someone close recently reminded him to him of how far he’d come. That if no one gave him a chance, he wouldn’t have made it to—”

Seth cut him off, “So then why use your chance to prove yourself, to blow half the unit into burger meat and the other half unable to be worth anything to our troops outside of sitting at the watchtowers? This doesn’t seem like something one man, especially one that lacks any substantive value, could pull off on their own.”

I glared at him. Everyone here was of value. As long as they pulled their weight, their position didn’t matter to me. Watchtower, border patrol, one arm, no legs. Didn’t make a difference if the job was able to be done right. He knew that.

Caleb took a step forward and spat directly on Seth’s face. Before it had a chance to start dripping down, Seth pounced.

If anyone was more prone to violence than me, it was Seth. He’d probably be my second if he didn’t enjoy manning the Stables so much. A true Montana cowboy through and through. The number of resources we saved by sending him and his crew out to secure the outer border was insane. They were fast and efficient. The fact that he also possessed the Scholar gene and could communicate with me mind to mind made my work as General even easier. If Seth found an issue of concern, he’d instantly alert me and I’d send reinforcements out faster than whatever the threat was could clear the area.

Caleb tried to stand up from Seth’s initial shove and swung a powerful right hook.Impressive.He sure didn’t exhibit this on his any of his tests.Maybe he did have an off day.

The crowd became rowdy as shouts of excitement rang out. I rolled my eyes, typical. They’d spent the last month on edge, fighting off herds of Pansies that somehow kept breaching our outer borders. They’d already overtaken a smaller settlement a few hundred miles north. The news made people anxious, to say the least.

Seth met Caleb’s second swing halfway. Invigorated by the attempt to challenge him. It was Seth’s turn to swing, his movements were quick, catching Caleb in the gut. He threw another, this time clocking him directly in the mouth. Blood gushed down Caleb’s nose onto his chin.

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