Raid

Agent Issac was sitting at his desk, going through some reports on his computer. It had been a day since he had seen Soren. He had originally planned on checking in on them every day, after the incident at the apartment he could not bring himself to go by the day before. The whole scene had been unnerving, but the worst part had been Soren himself.

He had pieced enough clues together to get the gist of what Dr. Valle had done to his only child. The video in the lab and Soren's ability to 'communicate' with the mutated had cinched it for Agent Issac. It was not enough for him to run screaming, he just needed time to adjust. He was a professional after all.

The ringtone of his cellphone jarred him from his thoughts, he had been so lost that he could not remember anything that he had been reading. He took a quick glance at the caller ID before answering it.

"Hey, how are you doing, Gill?"

"Sorry, I have to make this quick. Someone sold out your kid, he's got a crew coming for him soon. From what I heard they intend to capture him. Anyone with him will be killed. They're nothing more than collateral damage.

"I'm not sure who sold him out, but they are high up. It seems they don't like that he's not willing to play ball and want to force the information out of him."

Damn it, that's not how you do business. Agent Issac had the urge to throw something. They were supposed to be protecting Soren Valle, not throwing him under the bus or torturing him for information.

"When are they coming?"

"Today, any time. Gotta go."

The line went dead and Agent Issac immediately pulled up the text app and pulled up Soren's number.

'Just got information that a group of people is headed your way. They're coming to force you to spill everything, everyone else will be considered collateral damage. I'm on my way but I'm not certain I'll make it before them.

'You should find a place to lay low.'

'Thanks, I'll consider it.'

"Damn it, kid, don't get yourself killed."

*******

Soren looked up from the cellphone, the grin on his face was creepy when paired with his suddenly red eyes.

"Looks like we're about to have company. Agent Issac just messaged me to say that I'm a target, someone let slip that I have the cure."

~So it's spread beyond Culton?~

Jordan pulled out the needle and put everything onto the counter, the vials of blood went to the small cooler. Today was the second time drawing blood and they now had enough to cover around two hundred people. A 5ml syringe was enough to keep a human from mutating. Each session Soren could give around 400ml.

"There was a plane that went down yesterday. It was an international flight from the US to England and went down around Ireland. Planes go down, sure, but this one had the locals locking down a large area. Not just the plane crash site. That just screams 'plane full of mutated.'"

Soren stood and stretched his arm. It was stiff after laying in the same spot for so long. They made their way upstairs and ended up at the upper part of upstairs; the bedrooms. They had been out most of the day before purchasing supplies so today Fry was unpacking and settling into her new room.

Ethan was doing the same, having gotten himself some things for his room while they were out the day before. Soren had made certain they made a detour to buy Ethan clothes and personal items. He wanted to focus on the mental state of Ethan and Fry, hoping that allowing them downtime to personalize their room would go a long way to helping them heal.

"Fry, Ethan."

Soren called out when he got to the top of the stairs. It did not take long for them to come out.

"We have trouble coming our way. For now, Jordan and I will be going outside to scout the area and stand guard. You two will stay inside, but on the main floor just in case we need to call you in for backup."

~We should be able to handle whatever they send our way, but better safe than sorry.~

"Why? I thought we were under the protection of the government?"

Ethan let out a bitter chuckle as he looked at Fry. "It only works if you're fully cooperating. They don't like the fact that you gave them the cure second hand instead of telling them everything. Am I right, boss?"

"That's my theory, anyway. Only a few people even know that we're here, so it's a short-list of those who could sell us out."

"Did your agent sell us out?" Ethan asked.

"I don't believe so. For one, he was the one who gave me the heads up. But, it's not his style and he knows far more than anyone else. He would be stupid to sell us out knowing what he knows."

Ethan started to ask what Agent Issac knew then shook his head and shut up. He decided it was none of his business. If his boss trusted the suit then he would go along with it. The four of them moved downstairs to the main floor.

Soren directed Ethan and Fry to stay near the front door, but out of sight of the windows. He did not need them to get sniped if someone slipped through. Once he was satisfied with where they were and reiterated that they were to stay inside until called, he and Jordan made their way to the back door.

The moment they stepped out Jordan raised his head and took a deep breath.

~They are definitely here. I'm getting about eight distinctive smells, they're still a ways out. Should be enough time to get into place and surprise them.~

~I'll head to the front, you stay here. Chances are good that they will separate and try to block our only two exits. Keep as many alive as possible. The leader is mine.~

Jordan nodded and walked off. Soren moved to the side of the house where the trees were dense. He traveled through the trees until he caught sight of a black, nondescript van parked just off the side of the gravel road. A short distance away from the van, and moving towards the house, were eight men dressed in full tactical gear.

Soren had always questioned the location of his childhood home. It had been built in the middle of a dense forest. This gave intruders a plethora of places to hide and snipe, or easily execute a sneak attack. At this moment, though, he was using the trees to hide his presence.

The eight moved into the trees and cautiously moved forward until the house came into sight. Through hand signs and words muttered into an earpiece, the group split up. Half stayed where they were and the other half kept moving, their destination most likely the back of the house.

Soren couldn't help but laugh inwardly, thinking that if they were humans his people wouldn't stand a chance against trained professionals. Unfortunately for them, we aren't human. He crouched low to the ground and leaned forward, hands nearly touching the ground.

He was standing about ten feet away and behind a tree, his movements up to this point had been silent. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the four humans in front of him. One had laid down on the ground with a sniper rifle setup, the other three were crouched down and waiting for the second team to get into place before moving forward to engage the target.

Soren opened his eyes, which were a bright shade of red, and locked onto the man he had marked as the leader. With a small amount of forward momentum, his hands touched the ground and propelled him forward. He moved low to the ground using his arms and legs to move as if he were an animal.

The three crouching down turned around as one to look behind them, Soren's movement was no longer silent. Before they could react, though, he was upon them. His body slammed into one and he used the momentum to turn and kick the second one in the head. The third one he threw a punch with all his strength and nearly decapitated the man.

By the time he had turned to face the sniper, said sniper had grabbed his gun and rolled onto his back to take a shot. Soren dodged the bullet and threw himself onto the sniper. His instincts had him biting the man's throat and ripping out a large chunk of flesh. The man was dead within seconds.

Soren stood up and dragged the men, two at a time, to the front lawn and into the open. The two that he had left alive were dropped together near the front door. The dead sniper was tossed to the side to lay by himself. The leader, who he had almost decapitated, was laid down a distance away from the house.

He could smell blood from behind the house and waited patiently for Jordan to finish. He did not have long to wait before Jordan appeared, dragging two bodies. Jordan had managed to only kill one of the four, and that was only because he had hit the man too hard. Once he had brought everyone over he stood by the humans they had left alive and nodded in Soren's direction.