Alice glanced at the time, eight thirty-eight. She quickly realized that they were about ten minutes away from the Death Zone. She sat back in the seat and sighed and then stared out the window to watch the tops of the trees and the dark gray clouds slowly passing by in the sky. Alice couldn’t relax because having Seth and Felix along troubled her. Just the fact that she barely knew anything about them was tearing at her mind, with that said how could she possibly place her life in their hands? But she knew she couldn’t allow this annoyance get in her way of her goal.

            When Scenario checked to see how Alice was, he automatically knew that something was bothering her. At times he imagined himself holding and comforting her, but he knew very well that he would never be capable of doing something so emotionally visible with her. He always hated when he reminded himself of how far out of reach she was, yet he had learned how to keep in those painful feelings out of his mind when he was doing his job.

            Marcus kept looking over at Seth and Felix. He hadn’t wanted them to be there along with the others but he had this strong feeling that they needed to come. Marcus knew very well that both of them had locked abilities within them, they just were awaiting Amelia’s awakening to unleash their dormant powers. Be that all true, he as an uncle felt guilty and protective, but he could not allow those feelings to cloud his trail of thought. All he could do was allow them to go down their destined paths.

            As Felix calmly sat in his seat, he could not help by try to make sense of everything. At times he couldn’t understand things and that frightened him a bit. Felix slowly moved his hand down to the gun at his side and gripped. Earlier Alice had given Seth and him a gun to use in case they were caught up and in trouble. But now that he felt the cold black steal gun against his skin, he couldn’t help but felt scared. Although having his brother alongside him made him a bit glad, Felix also felt that he was willing to do just about anything to save Amelia, and that seemed to surprise him. He had known Amelia for at most a month yet every time he was around her, he felt this strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. And there was also this strange pull he had towards her that he could not explain threw words.

            Seth kept shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He felt that everything was occurring so fast paced for him to even grasp. But after he let himself relax a bit, his felt a bit calmer and this strange new feeling took over. He felt overwhelmed with this feeling of strength that seemed to assure him that he would save Amelia. This made Seth a bit happier with the situation, since he wasn’t going to deny that shortly after meeting Amelia, he had developed a strong attraction to her. Whenever she was around, he wanted to hold her in close, but for now he’d keep that to himself.

                                                                                Chapter Sixty-Eight

            Bryce had parked the van a couple of miles back and left it there. Alice placed her gun in the back of her pants, under her shirt and slid the knife into the side of her boot. She motioned for Scenario to come over by her.

            She then turned to the others, “Alright, this is where we part ways. Pria, Scenario, and I will go and take down as many guards as we can once we receive the signal from Bryce. Everyone knows what the signal is, right?” They all nodded, “Good, so after the signal is given Group 1, which is us, will go down, and then Group 2, the rest of you, will go and search the area for Amelia. Now, everyone check the safety clip on your guns, ’cause if it’s not off, you’re pretty much screwed, comprendre?”

            “We get it Al,” Bryce responded.

            Alice stared at him for a moment, then turned to Marcus, “Remember, we most likely won’t be near you, so don’t cause any attention to yourselves.” He nodded, “Alright then, Bryce go and hurry up and don’t forget there is no room for dumbass mistakes tonight.”

            “Got it,” Bryce turned and ran into the forest toward the Death Zone. After he was out of sight, Scenario leaned up against a tree and refreshed his mind. Alice watched him, she had become accustomed to him doing that every time before a mission, but she never asked him why he did it since she saw to point in getting involved in someone else’s business.

            Alice walked away from the group and looked up towards the sky. She had noticed that it looked like it would be raining, which brought to her attention that there could possibly be some set backs. Oh well, she thought. She sat leaned up against a tree and took out one of her cigarettes. She swiftly snapped her finger and lit it. She was about halfway done when she heard Scenario, “Al the signal!” She backed off the tree and walked back towards them. She glanced at her watch, eight fifty-nine.

            “Scen, Pria, let’s go.” Alice walked down the same road Bryce had gone. She never once glanced back to see if the others were still there. It was the motto by which she lived, There is no looking back when a mission has begun.

            Marcus watched as Alice, Scenario, and Pria walked away. He felt that he should give them a moment to get ahead. He then quickly double checked his gun and placed it back in his coat pocket. Marcus turned towards Seth, Felix, and Alphonse once he allowed the others a five minute head run, “Time to go.” He led them down the path all the others had taken.

            Felix zipped up his sweater and buried his hands deep into his jean pockets, and he then looked back at Seth, “Hey.”

            Seth glanced up, “Yeah?”

            “Are you ready for this?” Seth nodded and walked beside Felix.

            “You scared?”

            Felix stared at the ground, then looked up, “Actually, not really.”

            “Same here.” After that they just walked beside each other in silence. Marcus as well was in deep thought, and he was trying to remember the layout of the Death Zone. As he thought about its structure, he checked that he still had the flashlight in his pocket, and then he immediately noticed when Alphonse stopped moving.

            “What’s wrong?” he asked.

            Alphonse sniffed the air and began to growl, ‘They are heading this way, hide!’ With that said they all ran and hid. None of them took a breath as they began to hear footsteps approaching them. All of a sudden they came to a halt.

            “Are you sure you heard something over here?” a voiced asked.

            Anther voice stubbornly responded, “Of course I am! I don’t hear imaginary things idiot.”

            “Alright, calm down. Let’s just look around and return to our posts.” Seth could see the men approaching in his direction threw the small opening in the bushes he was hiding behind. His first reaction would have been to reach for his gun, but something held him from doing that. He then saw Alphonse slowly circling them from behind and Marcus taking out his gun. Suddenly in an instant, Alphonse leaped at one of the men and dug his sharp white fangs deep into his neck and that was to be Marcus’ moment to shot the other in the back of his head. Seth was stunned by what he had just witnessed, had he blinked at all during that he would have missed everything.

            “Seth, Felix get up,” they heard Marcus command. Once they did, they could fully see the extent of what had just happened. One of the men was laying face down in a pool of his blood, while the other was facing up with his eyes wide open with terror. Seth and Felix were taken back by the sight.

            ‘We better leave, otherwise the other guards will become suspicious if these men do not return.’ Marcus nodded and began to lead them away. Marcus and Alphonse both seemed rather calm and collect, which Seth and Felix were in complete shock.

  Will I have to do that? Seth thought, while Felix kept questioning, Can I bring myself to kill?