Emily woke up the next morning to Hook kicking her foot. “We got a meeting in five. Get some food and meet in the middle of the cave.” He told her before walking away to kick someone else awake.

She went to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. “It's not really a bathroom.” Emily thought to herself as she looked at the ‘bathroom.’ The bathroom was really just an old tarp hanging from a tree limb wedged into a corner of the cave. It was hiding an ugly three-gallon bucket someone found. That was what they were using for a toilet. Once it was about half full someone would take it outside and dump it out in a hole they dug and bury the contents then bring it back.

The sink she used was from an old blue plastic bowl someone found. There was an old plastic jug that was sitting on the floor just outside the ‘bathroom.’ Someone scavenged it up from somewhere filled with water from the stream. The water had a faint yellow tinge to it. Emily was not sure that it was from the iodine they used to purify it or the water was just that color. Emily had to fill the bowl up first to wash her hands and face. Well really, just splash water over herself as there was no soap. She could have just poured the water directly on her face and hands but she was trying to not use all the much water as the walk to the stream was dangerous.

“Ah, the joys of true primitive camping.” Emily thought to herself as she wiped her hand dry on her pants.

She grabbed a bowl from someone from who had just finished eating and wiped it out the best she could and grabbed some rice and ate breakfast. She handed off her bowl the next person and headed to where everyone was sitting down waiting on the meeting to start. She sat down next to Thompson and Muller.

Standing off to the side she noticed what was left of the command element of the OD. The Major was standing with his arms crossed surrounded by Warrant Officer Coleman, First Sergeant Hook and to Emily’s surprise G. G was talking and the rest of the group was listening to her.

“What’s going on?” She asked Thompson.

“If I was a betting man I would say that we moving locations,” Yrawl said sitting down next to Emily.

“Why do you think that?” Thompson asked.

“I’m clairvoyant now,” Yrawl said smiling.

“Really?” Muller said surprised.

“Nah, just kidding. They had me help make some backpacks for the ammo last night. You know how annoying it is making rope from weeds?” Yrawl said shaking his head.

“Where we going?” Emily asked him.

“No idea. G just told us to pack things up.” Yrawl said shrugging throwing his arms around his knees. He was still wearing boxer shorts and a tee shirt. The good news was the tee shirt was green and he had found some boots. No socks though.

“You want my socks? Emily asked him looking down at his boots. “I just washed them last night.”

“Yea, if you don’t mind. The boots are chafing something fierce.” Yrawl said smiling.

Emily took her boots off and was in the process of handing the socks to Yarw when the command group headed towards the waiting OD. Emily looked up and caught Hook frowning at her. Yrawl put the socks and then replaced his boots.

“Hey listen up. Everyone gather around. First, we are not surrendering. If you are caught and get taken you are to follow the code of the United States fighting force. Article one, we are American soldiers. As such once we signed the dotted line we agreed to give up our life in defense of the United States and our fellow soldiers. We will fight. Article 2, you will not surrender and I sure as hell won’t order you to surrender. Understood?” The Major said looking around at all the people in the OD.

The Emily and the rest of the OD responded by yelling “Hooah.”

“Article three says if captured we will seek to escape. More importantly, we will help the others to escape and that's what we are going to do. Understood?” The Major asked.

The Major continued, “Were bugging out. We are going to head northeast of here. We are going to Daegu. It’s an Army Garrison there with three camps full of Soldiers and their families roughly forty miles away. Just north of there is Camp Carroll, an army supply depot. We are going to scout it and see what we can do to free our fellow soldiers.”

“Our main objective is going to be hitting Camp Carroll. There is no use in freeing our fellow soldiers unless we can support them with both food and weapons. Hell, we can barely support our own people at the moment. I don’t know about you but I am sick and tired of looking at Yrawl here run around in his undies.” The Major smiled and laughed along with the OD.

“The here is some good news. We have an insider who knows Camp Carroll like the back of his hand. My first duty station after West Point was in security at Camp Carroll. I was there for a little over a year before I got accepted in the Special Forces. I used to get bored a lot and come up with all these oddball plans on how I would take the depot. I got pretty good at it. So once we scout out the base we can hit it and take a whole hell lot of stuff. I even know a place we can hide out in the mountains that the North Koreans will never find. We are going to head there first get set up while we scout out the camps and see what we can do. Can I get a hooha.” The Major said smiling. Emily found herself smiling as she yelled out Hooha with the rest of the OD.

The broke down the camp inside the cave. Everything had to be taken down. The protocol was to clean it to the point the if the enemy ever found the camp there would be no evidence that the Special Forces was ever there. Things got taken down and the stuff they couldn’t use anymore got buried then hidden to the point that the enemy would never find the dump site. In less than an hour later, they were ready.

Emily led the way. She had one of the miniguns strapped to her back full of ammo. Pan the only surviving Secondary type super was carrying the other one at the back of the OD. They were instructed by the Major not to used the mini unless there was no other choice. She had her pistol but Wilson still had her rifle. Behind her, Thompson walk with a bag of rice strapped to his back. Behind him was Muller then Hook. The rest of the OD followed them.

If it wasn’t for the possibility of an attack at any moment Emily thought she would have enjoyed the hike. The area was so different than Afghanistan yet there was a lot of comparing the two countries. While Afghanistan was mostly desert environment it had its moments of woods as well. It sort of reminded her of her first mission in the mountains with the enemy super the Coward. There was a lot more brush in the forest here in South Korea than in Afghanistan but she could not help comparing the two forests.

The Major had them walk through the day not stopping to eat. He reasoning was that he did not want to get caught out in the open. Privately Emily agreed. The last thing the OD needed now was a fight. The Major had told them that there should be about seven-thousand people at Daegu and not all of them were military personnel. In fact, according to him most of the people at Daegu were civilians with only about two thousand military personnel. When asked the Major told them that the place they were going had more than enough room for everybody.

Emily hoped the Major knew what he was talking about. It was all fine if he could find a roof for seven-thousand people but how was he thinking of feeding them. When asked he told them that they would just take what they could from Camp Carroll. He had deferred any more questions until he could get a squad to check out the camps. He said he had a plan but that depended on what was going on at the camps.

The place that the Major wanted to go to was in the middle of nowhere. Nothing was marked on any of the maps they had nor were there any roads leading to it. As she walked along she looked upwards. There were no planes in the sky. In fact, she hadn’t seen any planes since the shapes appeared in the sky. Even the birds seem to fly lower than they usually did.

The sky she was looking at was currently covered in grey clouds but the clouds looked strange. They had the strange geometric shapes in them. When she was standing on the top of a mountain looking around she couldn’t see an end to the shapes in the sky.

She wondered how far the shapes went. Did they just cover Korea or did it extend further than that? Was it a wall like that lady at the strip club had said or was it something else. She had to wonder if it was a man-made apocalypse and that there was communication all over the word dead or was it just here. She wished idly that she had some flying ability to see if she could fly away and get help. With a deep sigh, she continued marching through the forest.

The Major had them march into the night and he only called a stop for a couple of hours before he had them up again marching towards the area he had marked on the map. It was a little past seven according to her watch when he called another stop. They were close. He had the OD drop their stuff and hide them in the surrounding brush. Emily hid her Minigun under some ferns.

“The bunker is about a half mile from here. Here’s the plan. Warrant you take your platoon and flank the area to the west. G you take yours and head east. Stay under cover. Hook I’m going with your squad. We will go right up to the middle. Everyone will keep clear firing lines so don’t go too far forward. I want a nice crescent firing line facing the front of the bunker. We operate under the impression that hostilities have taken the bunker until we clear the place completely. Supers don’t expose your powers unless there is no other choice and then once shooting starts do not leave anyone alive who can report back. Rules of engagement we don’t shoot first. If they run we fade away and meet back a the cave and rethink our plans. Questions?” The Major asked.

There were a few clarifications to his plan but for the most part, nothing changed. The two platoons split up and disappeared into the forest. Emily waited for a count of twenty for the platoons to get in place before starting walking towards the bunker. She walked carefully her eyes scanning the brush in front of her. Because of that, she spotted the hidden person before she was spotted. She dropped down slowly to her belly.

She heard a gentle rustling from behind her then the Major was beside her. “What do you see?” He asked her softly.

“Someone hiding about thirty feet out by the big tree. He is hiding to the right of the tree in the bush.” Emily whispered back.

“Armed?” He asked her.

“Yea,” Emily said nodding to him. “Rifle.”

“You think you can get him without alerting anyone else. I need him alive.” The Major said in her ear.

“Yea,” Emily said and holstered her gun. She crawled to the right sweeping her eyes in front of her. The Sergeant she had trained under in Jungle tactics had told her when sneaking up on a sentry never get tunnel vision. If there was one sentry then there was more.

She crept slowly towards her target trying to stay on only her hands and feet keeping her stomach about an inch off the ground. The Sergeant had made her practice the maneuver over and over until she had it right. Crawling in the traditional manner would make too much noise.

The person was hidden slightly uphill so she had to come at them from the side. As she got closer she noticed that the person hiding in the bush was a woman. She was not doing a good job as she looked like she was daydreaming. She was sitting that weird way Koreans do with both feet on the ground and their butt hanging in the air. The woman was resting her head on her hands and her elbows on her knees while she chewed on a piece of grass. Her rifle was beside her unattended.

Emily crept closer and closer moving as slow as she could. She had to fight with herself from getting up and running towards the woman. She knew that she could to the woman before she picked up her rifle and fired a shot but Emily was worried about the other sentries that could be hidden around her. She angled so that she crawled around the woman was sitting in the bush until she was directly behind her.

Emily paused and looked around. “If I was putting people out here on sentry where would I put them,” Emily asked herself looking around. It took a couple of seconds before she found another sentry. This was nearly out in the open hiding behind a tree. He was laying on his stomach looking down at his rifle not paying attention to anything around him. He was about forty feet away. She looked around for the third sentry that she would have a place to guard this part of the forest but didn’t see him.

Emily held her breath and crept forward until she was nearly touching the woman's boots. She looked again at the other sentry but he hadn’t moved nor had he looked up. She took one last look she looked for the missing sentry that she was sure was out there somewhere. She didn’t see anyone else but the two sentries. Emily raised herself up behind the woman silently. The Woman never moved.

Emily exploded into motion and grabbed the woman from behind wrapping her arm around the woman’s neck in a chokehold. She rolled the surprised woman away from the direction that the other sentry was and dropped her body on top of the woman. She squeezed the Woman’s neck slightly putting her in a sleeper hold just as she was taught. She used her weight to immobilize the woman as she flattened herself on top of the woman.

To Emily’s surprise, the woman took a breath. “The Woman’s a super.” Emily thought in surprise. She increased her pressure on the Woman’s neck until she felt the woman start to panic. She pushed herself down harder on the woman when the Woman lifted herself up a little bit. Emily wrapped her legs around the women and pulled them apart taking away the woman’s leverage.

Slowly the Woman got weaker under Emily until she stopped moving. Emily kept her chokehold on the woman for another ten seconds before she let off. Quickly she looked back at the other sentry but he was oblivious still looking down at his rifle. She hid the arranged the unconscious Woman's body so that it appeared that she was lying down in the brush now. Quickly moving to make sure the unconscious Woman was unarmed, Emily made her way a bit faster to the second sentry.

Once she was behind him she looked around quickly to see if she spotted any more sentries. Not spotting any she crept up on the man. When she was right behind him she knelt above him. She jumped on him wrapping her arm around his neck in the same choke hold that she used on the woman. She raised his neck slickly while pushing her body down on his back.

He reached up and to her surprise started to pull her arm away from his neck. She squeezed harder and she won the tug-a-war and her arm wrapped around his neck harder this time. He thrashed harder than the Woman had but like the woman he dropped off into unconsciousness. She looked around trying to see if anyone spotted her but still she didn’t see any other sentries. She grabbed the man’s unconscious body and dragged it back to the sleeping women. Grabbing both their bodies and retreated back to her squad. She had to choke out the woman again when she came around but the man stayed unconscious.

“Tom.” She whispered once she got close to where she left her squad.

“Goat,” Muller whispered back and Emily dragged the two bodies to her squad.

“Be careful they’re both supers,” Emily said to the Major and Hook.

“South Korean Republican Defence Force (RDF).” The Major said looking down at the two unconscious bodies. “Good thing you didn’t kill them.”

Hook squatted over the two bodies and showed Emily the patch on their uniforms. It was the red arrow of the RDF. Embarrassed she looked away. “Good takedowns though.” Hook said surprising her.

“This changes things.” The Major said frowning looking off in the distance.

The Woman started to move again and Emily went to choke her out again but the Major shook his head. He nodded his head to her little black knife. Emily nodded back and pulled the knife out and lifted the woman up in front of her. Emily placed the little black knife under the Woman's chin and waited for her to completely wake up.

The Woman suddenly started to struggle and Emily squeezed her tightly with her one arm while pushing the knife into the woman’s neck just enough to get the Woman’s attention. “Don’t move. Don’t make a sound.” The Major said in Korean leaning towards the Woman. The Woman froze. Emily relaxed the knife at the Woman's neck.

“We are American Special Forces. We will kill you if you give us a reason. Nod if you understand.” The Major said to the Woman. The Woman nodded in Emily’s arms.

“Good. What’s your name? Speak quietly please.” The Major told the woman.

“Private Kyo.” The Woman said fearfully.

“Who is in the bunker? ” The Major asked the Private.

“RDF and some soldiers.” The Private whispered hoarsely.

“Good. Which Defensive Force are you from.” The Major asked.

“Changnyeong Defensive Force.” The Private said fearfully.

“How many people inside and who is in charge.” The Major asked.

“4 RDF and I think about 200 Soldiers. Lieutenant Rhee is in-charge from the army.” The Private said starting to cry. Emily wanted to stop threatening the woman but knew this was necessary.

“Thank you.” The Major said to Private Kyo. “If I tell my soldier to release you will you keep quiet and not run?”

She nodded and the Major nodded for Emily to release her. Emily did as he asked and stepped back putting her knife away. “Is Tang going to be ok?” The private asked.

“He should be. Thompson get Yrawl. Muller check him over.” The Hook ordered.

“You may have squeezed him a bit too hard,” Muller said to Emily whiling checking him over. “Never mind he’s faking,” Muller said standing up.

The man didn’t move. “You can open your eyes now.” The Major said. “We are friends but we had to make sure you were really who you said you where.”

When the man still didn’t move the Major sighed and said. “Open your eyes now or I’ll have my Sergeant shoot you.”

The man opened his eyes and sat up. “Coward!” Private Kyo hissed at him.

“I was waiting until they let their guard down, Kyo,” Tang responded defensively.

“Enough.” The Major said stopping the fight before it could happen. “Are there any other sentries out there.”

“Bhin got sick and went back in. They didn’t send anyone else out.” Kyo said giving Tang and angry look.

Thompson and Yrawl came walking up. The Major sent Yrawl back to tell Warrant about the delay and what they had learned. He sent Thompson to G with the same ordres. He explained his new plan to them before they left. Thompson headed to the right while Yrawl went left. Emily gave an apologetic look towards Kyo when the Private looked at her rubbing her neck. The Private gave Emily an angry look back.