"One more thing, Allen, would you mind keeping an eye on Amanda for me?" Arnold said in his deep voice.

"Did I hear you right? Do you want me to spy on her?" Allen asked Arnold in a surprised tone.

"Yes. As much as I hate telling you to do this... It's necessary. I just hope whatever I'm thinking is wrong, but this is the only way to know that. So please, try to help me."

"So you're telling me, that you don't trust her?" He asked again.

"I've been betrayed countless times by the ones I place my trust into. So is it wrong for me to be on my toes around people? My heart is telling me that she's in the clear, but it's the same heart which has gotten me into trouble countless times. Right now, I should trust my brain and go through with it rather than trust my heart and get betrayed once again."

"I somewhat get it, and I know if it wasn't important for you, you'd never requested me to do anything like this... But why me? Isn't it better to make one of your summons do it?"

Arnold thought about it for a while before speaking again, "Let's assume that she's plotting something, do you think she'd be careless enough to expose her plans in front of my summons? I don't think so. You, on the other hand, my friend, have already worked for the man, Amanda could hypothetically be working for. So if you manage to get close enough to her then she's bound to slip up. Another reason I chose you was of the fact that you are suited for these types of missions. After all, you managed to fool a lot of people while you were working with the church, so fooling a single person wouldn't be that hard for you now would it?"

"I didn't think you'd put so much thought into it and I- wait a minute... did you promote her so that she'd think she's clear and you don't have suspicion on her?"

"Correct. And I promoted you for the same reason so that she won't get suspicious about the impromptu promotions." Arnold smiled wanly.

"You're one hell of a cunning guy... I'm glad I'm working for you and not against you. Well, that solved all the questions I had.  I'll leave now or else she might think something is up..." Allen got up from Arnold's bed and excused himself while immediately went to sleep.

****

NEAR THE OUTSKIRTS OF ZONE 4...

A convoy of three military vehicles was speeding through the wastelands, leaving a trail of dust behind. A total of thirteen people were inside those hummers, and the Ex-Brigadier General was among them, sitting in the back seat of the hummer that was in the middle of the convoy.

"That bastard kicked me out of my own base..." He mumbled in a low voice.

His knuckles had turned white from clenching his fists too hard, he had been gritting his teeth in an effort to remain silent which was effective but scary, his hunched form exuded an animosity that was like a snake. His face was red with suppressed rage, ready to snap at any moment. 

The soldiers knew he was in a foul mood and hence kept a safe distance from him. They knew him very well, and also the fact that right now he was like a volcano that could explode at any time. Thus they wanted their journey to be as smooth as possible, but fate had something else in store for them.

CREEK!

The convoy of vehicles suddenly stopped with a loud creaking noise. The General immediately snapped and started cussing the driver and his soldiers.

"THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING!? CAN'T A MAN HAVE SOME PEACE FOR A MOMENT!?" He bellowed, grabbing the collar of the soldier next to him, "Tell me what's happening outside! GO!"

Just as the soldier was about to step out, another soldier radioed in, "Sir, a woman is standing in our path... what shall we do?"

The general snatched the communicator from the soldier next to him and started barking orders at the soldiers.

"So you stopped your vehicle because of such a minor inconvenience? KEEP MOVING FORWARD! If she doesn't move then run her over!"

"Roger that! Let's move!"

A voice came from the other side and soon the cars started their engines once again, but even before the driver leading the convoy could step on the gas, the roof of the vehicle collapsed out of nowhere. The same thing happened with the hummer that was at the last. All of the eight soldiers inside those vehicles were crushed in an instant. Afraid that the same thing would happen to them, the general and the remaining soldiers quickly jumped out of the car and the next moment their vehicle was crushed as well...

All of them were panicking hard, but soon got a hold over themselves and rushed towards the General to protect him, their swords were drawn and ready to strike down the only one who could've done this... The woman in front of them. Sadly their bodies simultaneously exploded even before they could swing their sword.

The General was covered in the blood of his protectors when he finally saw the attacker who killed a dozen people in a matter of seconds...

It was a crimson skinned woman, wearing nothing but a torn robe. She had a lean face with an oval jaw, a thin nose, small ears, bony cheeks and small black lips. Her pale and seductive blue eyes were puffy and had thin eyebrows. The way she covered her scars on her face, showed off how sensitive she was about her looks. Her elbow-length, straight, bright pink hair was neatly braided. She had toned arms and hands with long fingers, a long torso with modest breasts, plump hips, long legs. Another fact that the General noticed was the presence of multiple rings on her right hand.

The General closed his eyes,  expecting to be executed like his fellow soldiers, but to his surprise... Nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes to see that the woman was standing right in front of him. She placed her long and slender fingers under his chin and slowly pulled him back to his feet. 

"You'll be suitable to be my paladin..." The woman said in her hypnotic voice and forced her lips on his while he stood there, frozen, from both fear and excitement.

He knew the woman was nothing but trouble, he wanted to pull away before he lost himself to the pleasure but no matter how hard he tried he wasn't able to… In that moment of pleasure, his senses had been seduced and he could no longer think straight.

Desperate for more he leaned in a little closer, their foreheads touching. He couldn't fight against his primal urges that were going through his body. Her very smell was like an aphrodisiac, flooding his sense of judgement. He felt as if he had achieved everything he ever desired to have... but all this only lasted for a moment.

The very next moment, when the woman parted away from the kiss, the General's face fell faster than a corpse in cement boots. In that instant his skin became greyed, his mouth hung with his lips slightly parted and his eyes turned black and were stretched as wide as they could.