Eighteen

The remaining boys raised the challenge attacking together. One kicked high as the other swept her off her feet. Speed was her ally here. And her special trick. When the punch came, she grabbed Four's fist with a fiery hand shooting the burn up his arm. She took another steamy breath and caught the Third boy with a burning kick to the head.

Both men panicked and dropped to their knees, they were clearly unprepared for her. She palmed their foreheads and cooked them alive. Practice, it seemed would be paying off. Control helped her coordinate her attacks and add surprise to her normal strikes. The four bodies crumpled on the deck and she left their eyes open horror-stricken. They stared, unseeing, into the wild countryside.

As she stepped back into the house, she relaxed a bit, noticing that she was completely naked and grinding her teeth. She snatched a towel off the rack, showered, again, and made her way to her bedroom. She yanked her closet open and selected a set of black jeans, chocolate t-shirt, and sports bra from the rack.

After dressing she pulled on her knee-high boots, light black camouflage jacket, and snagged the black, matte, facemask from her drawer.

She slammed the cabin's door shut and slid off the icy porch the anger stayed with her this time. She was supposed to be out. They all were supposed to think she was dead, and probably Ramirez with her. But instead they ruin her evening, kidnap her only friend, and give her one hell of a headache.

"What the fuck did they hit me with?" she thought to herself while pulling the engine to life.

When the steady rumble of the motor was grumbling evenly, she sat on the padded cross board that made up the boat's seats and cranked the throttle. The sun was going down fast, and she hadn't been conscious the first time they made this trip, but she knew the general direction and wouldn't have too much trouble following the troop that had Ramirez.

The cove where she and nick had been sent to was approximately two hours southeast of the cabin, by water. And the base was a good hour and a half east of that. She didn't know how much fuel it would take to get there but good old Ramirez was always prepared. He had stashed two five-gallon cans of gas under the seats for emergency escapes. She was glad for his paranoia.

 In the fading light and darkness, it took her over four and a half hours to make her way back near the base. This would be hard. This time they weren't bad, evil men. They weren't even strangers that she would be fighting. These would be he troops that she had trained with, names that she still knew, and faces that she had seen smiling through a sweaty workout session. Young men and women that encouraged her to fight through the exhaustion on the courses.

And none of them knew well enough to stay out of her way. They were soldiers now. They obeyed orders to the letter, and she would have to put down a few of them. Could she just knock them out? Maybe shoot a leg, or something? The entire trip back was spent wrestling with her own mixed feelings about this fight.

"Maybe if I can't knock them out... if I have to kill some, can I scare the rest away?" she thought to herself. He saved my life and I had to return the favor.

As she approached the shore to the base she throttled down and killed the engine. As she drifted closer, she took time to refill the boats tank and stick a knife into the seat near the rope. There was no such thing as too much preparation. The night was cold, and her boat knocked on floating ice as she turned it around against the dock.

There were only two guards posted, kids, perhaps eighteen or nineteen years old. Instead of patrolling or looking out they had immersed themselves in a card game she did not know. She slipped past them nearly without effort. After their stomping trail that Carlos followed, he focused on teaching her stealth over the last couple of weeks.

The quiet here was a solid, living thing. She felt it watching her, and knew it was growing suspicious. The cold night air nipped at her ears and nose. Nocturnal's cloak wrapped itself around her body moving through the shadows. Her ally in this fight, was stealth. She wasn't ready to take on a team of soldiers like this. There had to be a plan. She shuddered from the familiarity of the place. This was the first time she had to sneak across campus. It was a lonely feeling, she had no home; and the only friend she had in the world was, most likely, being beaten for answers.

From the western shore where she landed, the sand and cement road led east then split north and south. The Trench was further east with sleeping recruits. There were training buildings and mess hall to the south. North was where the office buildings, brig, and officer quarters were located. She went east.

The rusty door opened silently on well-greased hinges. And gave a quiet 'click' when closed behind her. She made her way through the grid of beds and well-stowed gear. Through the quiet darkness snoring at her, she made her way to a short brunette, and gently nudged her awake.