Marcus

At first, the Pale-men didn't seem to hear the noises they made down the ridge, but as the arrow found the nape of the drone's neck in a sickening squelch, the other two drones turned, less alert but more curious by the startled gasp, only catching a small glimpse of two large shadows rushing from behind.

Marcus and Roylan pulled the two drones' helmets back, their heads with it, opening their neck to meet the blade's sharp edge; milky-white blood gushed out of the lacerated cut right through the bone. They both let out a cracking, sucking sound as they choked in their own blood and gore, fell to their knees, and convulsed gruesomely on their feet.

Marcus grunted and stepped over his kill, took a peek around the edge of the platform, and saw none stirred from the commotion. He kept his lips tight, wore it like a mask, tried not to be assured all was well as more waited below them.

Along the fences and posts, similar glowing rocks were attached to bracketed torches mimicking the radiance of embers and fire, lighting up the cavern entrance. Two drones walked past below the platform, patrolling the grounds, passing by a few makeshift tents that the soldiers had made to house the others. He motioned for Roylan to stay back as the guards drew near, and they both slipped into the embrace of the shadows. After a few seconds, the two drones wandered off.

Roylan stared at the Pale-man, still squirming in front of them. He crouched down and thrust the blade between the visor, right through its eyes. "Let that be the last one, please," Roylan whispered to Marcus.

Marcus hoped it would be, but he doubted it. He turned around and signaled Paul and Hyun to come down. They used the boulders as a foot-hold, and they hopped down onto the platform with a soft thud.

"Let's be quick about it. We move out in five."

They began stripping off the three drones of their armor.

Hyun pulled the arrow, sticking out of the drone's neck. So far, he had been collecting the ones he had used, except for one, which broke when he tried to pry it off the spearman's neck. Hyun held at least twenty-two in his quiver, which hung strapped behind the man's back.

Marcus chose Roylan's kill as he came close to matching his size and stature. Though once he placed the armor on, he didn't quite anticipate how tight they would be around his body, and he wasn't sure if the soldiers were going to be convinced with this charade even from afar. He was too tall and too broad to be a Pale-man, and the helmet didn't quite fit his head either, his squared jawline sticking out halfway, showing his red stubbled chin and jaw, which the Pale-men didn't have, but he didn't have the time to shave it off. Nevertheless, this was the only set of armor that could closely fit him as the other two were too small and slender for his frame, and he might have to trail behind the group to draw less attention. In any case, they had to work with what they got.

Hyun's gaze on him didn't strike some semblance of confidence.

"You look like that middle-aged guy shopping in Forever 21 with a size two," Hyun said as he helped wrapped Andy's belt around his waist. It was the only thing that could fit Marcus properly, and still carry some of Andy's weapons.

"You have to lead the way. The armor fits you better," Marcus said, ignoring his jibe on top of breathing through his mouth instead of his nose as the drone's putrid smell tried to invade it. He looked past him to check on Roylan and Paul, who helped each other donned their armor.

"But what about the guns? It's our own safety net if this turns sideways."

"We'll bring them under the robes."

"They might think what's sticking out of our robes is just us being happy to see them."

"I doubt they even have a cock."

Hyun shivered. "Ah, bollocks. Don't put that image in my head!"

"Too late." Marcus smiled.

"Well done, Mr. Ward. Now, all I can think of are their privates and how they fuck."

"At least it kept your mind off. Trust me, Hyun. You'll do fine."

"How do you know that?"

"If we go by Brett's rules, and since you're a Wilder with a Ranger Class—and bear with me on this—then that means you have great focused accuracy and perception, shown by your archery skills, and good tracking capabilities, already shown by finding the camp. Obviously, these classifications come with some abilities. I mean, we haven't found out what they are yet, even mine, but at least we manage to uncover yours. Your archery skills back on Earth seem to be enhanced here. Who knows what else are intensified. You can track Jacob better than we can."

"I appreciate that you have so much faith in me, but have you ever considered it might just be pure luck, Marcus?"

"To where we're going, don't you think we need more of those?"

Hyun let out a heavy sigh. "Ah, shit. I'll do the best I can."

"That's my man. Do how you did tracking out in the plains. Maybe that will work here."

"So, if I'm a Wilder, then, what are you?"

"Warrior."

"Because you're a soldier."

"Well, I like to think I am more than that, but this world is such a judgmental bitch."

"A judgmental bitch who wants to kill us." Hyun knelt in front of him to check on his leg braces, nodded that they were secured, and got back up. "If you don't mind me asking…"

"Usually, when people start with that, nothing good comes next."

Hyun bit his lower lip.

"But I don't mind."

"Well…" Hyun hesitated for a moment, glanced back to the other two men, still putting their armor on, "How many confirmed kills do you have?"

"Would it make you feel better if it was a large number?"

"I don't know…yes, maybe. You make it look easy."

Marcus snorted. "You make it look easy with that," he said, pointing at his bow slung around his shoulders.

"Sometimes, I think of them as target practice, but it makes me feel horrible in the end. We're still killing intelligent, sentient beings, no matter how different they may look from us. It's like I'm killing dolphins."

"A hundred-forty," Marcus said softly, "And yes, all active combatants saved for three."

Hyun's head jerked upward, eyes tensed with curiosity.

"But I'd like to keep that one to myself."

Hyun nodded. "Fair enough. I understand."

It was a sour subject, something he hadn't even told his wife and family. Knowing that your husband, brother, or your father killed many people was enough to put anyone restless for many nights. Marcus had a barrier—the civilian life—which he could hide that curdled information from his family. But he felt like he couldn't pretend it never existed from the three men whose lives depended on him. As far as he was concerned, this alien planet was like being back in the war zone.

"And Hyun, they may be sentient, but they took Jacob, and they are more than capable of killing us, too," Marcus added. "Nature is ugly when killing and living another day are on the same side of the coin. It separates neither because the destination has always been the same. If we want to go back to our children, to our family, we have to think like nature, as she intended."

A growled cry uttered and clicked beyond the cavern's gloom, bringing them out to the edge of the platform in mid-crouch, watching as a clamor erupted throughout the grounds.

At the far side of the southern path, two drones on mole-rats rode at a gallop along the course toward the entrance. Strapped at the second empty saddle was Roylan and Marcus's bags. The other mole-rat carried the bodies of the bowman, and the spearman stacked together, bundled around Hyun's discarded cloak. They took them deeper into the cave.

Shit, Marcus cursed.

"They must have another patrol nearby," Roylan said, turning to Paul. "You said there was only one patrol."

Paul stammered. "I…they must have doubled them at night. I don't know."

"Well, this just got fucking interesting," Hyun hissed. "What should we do?"

"We stick to the plan," Marcus said. "Roylan, keep watch on that northern scaffold. Warn us if more drones come up. As for us three, let's hide the bodies behind the boulder and the bushes."

Paul and Hyun nodded, and they each walked over to a dead drone and dragged them toward the hiding place by their legs.

More armor-clad figures streamed out of the cavern, heading down to the southern path. A loud commotion occurred from the makeshift tents as more soldiers joined the gathering crowd, three or four at a time, blades at the ready, face grim and sour, but armed to the teeth. They formed up in a small line of threes, one over the other held the glowing rocks fixed in torch brackets, hollering back the commands from the two moss-green Pale-men at the head. There, four of the corporals rode on giant mole-rats, leading the party. Those left behind stood guard along with the rocky platforms and wooden watchtowers, more stern and stone-cold than usual, scanning the entrance like unblinking hawks. Everyone looked like they were expecting a battle.

The lone golden-clad figure—the captain—marched out of the entrance accompanied by four corporals trailed by their dark green capes and robes. The captain wore a beautiful velvet cape hung to one shoulder, which was swept up by the gust coming from the waterfall and the lake, displaying his elaborate sword as he strode to a giant mole-rat flanked by two other corporals.

Though his armor may be gleaming in beauty, his face did not. Lips peeled back tight in half a snarl, sour and vile as he trudged toward the beast, a long and thick ugly scar ran down from his right eye down to his lower lip, his head devoid of any hair—like many of the Pale-men soldiers were. There was a laborious weight to his gait, possibly an old injury on his leg, but it only added an unnerving allure to his presence, holding captive the soldiers around him. One of the corporals handed him his golden-laced helmet, the other giving the reigns of the beast, and in one upward swoop, the captain climbed the creature with such ease. He then rode toward the front of the posse.

Marcus gulped, noticed the captain could likely split him in two, and fortunately, he was going the other way.

The captain barked up a command, hoarse and flinching, which was echoed by the soldiers down the line, murmurings in their ranks growing by the second. Before Marcus could interpret what he was saying, they started marching south at a brisk speed, obviously heading to where they killed the patrolling Pale-men.

Good. That should buy us time.

"Whoever Jacob's original kidnappers are, these Pale-men view them as a serious threat," Paul whispered to Marcus's ear. "But we're still dealing with the same force."

"Only in the outer garrison. He's only bringing out the troops stationed inside the cave. If we avoid the exterior grounds, we will have less resistance once we make it inside," Marcus pointed out.

"All clear," Roylan said softly by the wooden scaffold running under the ridge's precipice, which was connected to the platform. "Don't see any of them down that ladder and by the walkway."

Marcus turned to Hyun, who took a moment to breathe deeply. "Do your thing."

When the last stragglers of the captain's posse disappeared at the corner of the outcropped foothills, Hyun crossed the scaffold and stepped right onto a walkway, leading to a watchtower facing the southern road. Marcus could make out two shadows at the top, but fortunately, their backs were turned to them. They hugged the shadows, reaching for the ladder beneath the watchtower. Hyun climbed down on it first, and the wood creaked against his weight. Marcus's heart almost stopped, keeping a watchful eye above as he feared the other guards would hear them. But he realized their sounds were drowned out by the mighty roar of the waterfall nearby. Marcus was the last one down.

He didn't know if it was their luck or because of pure coincidence, but further across the grounds, out on the banks of the lake, a dimly thin fog roiled and licked above the water's surface. It rose slowly over the embankment, moving like a snake to swallow the area. At this rate, the mist would enclose the entrance, and they would be able to use it for concealment, hopefully even within the cavern.

Marcus let the reassuring thought carry him froward, hunched back to downplay his stature as he followed the group in the darkness of the western flank.

They came upon a narrow dark space pressed between the sphere of the glowing rocks. Still, to get to it, they had to abandon the safety of the western ridge's foothills and its shadows, out into the open of the entrance grounds, past the white makeshift tents, past the carts, boxes, and containers. Hyun looked to their left and then to their right before proceeding. They skulked at first, held caution within each footstep, carried their worry low, but their eyes and ears sharp at the slightest sound.

Soft, hurried footfalls, sounding like it came from twos, armor clacking with each step, ambled on a few feet further. Swiftly, they hid behind an obstacle they could find, Paul and Marcus behind a crate, while Roylan and Hyun jumped behind the shadow of the tent.

The two guards passed them, nothing to indicate that they had been seen. One drone managed to fart as he walked past, only to be smacked by his companion at the back of the head. Their low chuckles faded as their distance stretched, and their light with it. Funny enough, they didn't whiff a smell. At least he learned something; Pale-men farted like fucking humans.

Marcus caught sight of the stifled grins from the others. He tried to look apathetic, but he couldn't keep the smirk from forming on his face either. It was Hyun who leaped out of the tent's gloom first, and made way for the shadowed gap, pace quickening before they risked being seen by other patrolling drones. Marcus noted that the garrison was more alert as he predicted after finding the dead Pale-men, and it was only a matter of time before someone checked up on the three drones they killed on the rocky platform, realizing that the killers were already inside.

Not yet, Marcus thought.

They kept the line tight and quiet as they drew behind a rocky outcrop of the cavern. It carved about a quarter of a mile into the mountain, the grounds curved and jagged with shallow stalagmites jutting out, walls raised a hundred feet high up to giant stalactites, and luckily, no bats roosting above. Two passages burrowed deep into the mountain where some of the soldiers went in and out, possible paths they could take to enter the next chamber; hopefully, both led to where they lived.

But on the accessible, flat areas of the cavern, more white tents, marquees, and pavilions cropped up to house the rest of the Pale-men garrison.

There, more soldiers rested; dozens and dozens of them. They stood close around campfires and a few blazing fire pit, trying to keep warm from the cold.

So much for hoping he brought half the garrison with him, Marcus thought glumly. He felt his confidence almost seeped out of his bones.

"Fuck. How are we going to get past all that?" Paul let out an exasperated sigh.

"Jacob might be here in one of those tents," said Roylan.

Marcus kept a tight lid on his hope, kept it at bay, not wanting to jinx it. "Let's hope so."

"No, not here," Hyun said assuredly. He pointed at something far back into the cavern. "We have to go there."

Marcus narrowed his eyes, giving it a little time to adjust within the dim light, and saw that there was a narrow river running behind where the waterfall supposedly was. It seemed the Pale-men had carved a hole from the mountains and dug a canal to the lake, letting some of the water streamed into the mountains, possibly leading it to their home base.

On the canal banks, the Pale-men had built a dock with several anchored boats—some large, some small—though it was difficult to gauge their size. Many of the soldiers crowded around the docks. Some hauled sacks and boxes off the boats and then placed them into a more massive pavilion built next to the quay.

But lined along the wharf--bound and gagged--were twenty familiar figures. They were clothed in tattered North Face Jackets, sweaters, cardigan vests, 49ers baseball caps, Ralph Lauren blazers, and muddy jeans—all under the harsh treatment of winter for the past three weeks. They now sat huddled, trembling with fear as alien soldiers taunted and jeered at them.

Marcus's nerves all but evaporated at the chill of what he saw.

Paul gasped. "Are those—"

"Humans," Marcus finished surly. "The fucking Pale-men are rounding up humans."

* * *

Marcus squinted and studied their features, trying to make out if they came from the village—if Connor and Eli were among them—but most of the men on the docks were adults, save for two, but they were too little to be Connor or Eli. They also weren't wearing Andy's robes and cloaks, but he might have to move closer to get a better look.

One of the drones yanked one of the men away from the line and onto his feet. The man kicked and screamed through his gag, but a swift punch to the stomach silenced him. He led the human toward one of the boats and pushed him roughly onboard. He collected five more down the line, but the latter put up a vicious fight. He managed to spit out the cloth out of his mouth, and he fucking bit onto the drone's hand clenched his jaw shut, who was holding him by the collar.

The drone screeched and hollered, trying to jump out of the way, but the man still held his hand between his seething teeth. Marcus heard Hyun, and the others gasped next to him. He did, too, but not because of his fight alone, but what would happen next. He had seen it many times.

The drone struck him under the jaw, who lost his hold, and staggered back onto the pier from the blow. The terrible hiss of a sword unsheathing from the sheath echoed through the cavern, the muffled screams of the humans hummed along with it, and the drone swung the sword down, cutting off the man's head.

Marcus brought his hands to his mouth, holding his gasp.

However, the drone didn't slice the man's head clean. It lodged into the skull halfway through his right cheek, and the drone had to pull twice just to dislodge the blade out of his flesh and bone. The man keeled over to the side in a sickening thud. Even from afar, Marcus saw the man still twitching violently, trying to crawl away from the soldier, who started hacking through his back savagely.

Another drone came running from the opposite wharf, wrenched the attacking sword from his grip, and angrily shoved him off the docks and away from the mangled corpse. The other soldiers crowded over, drawn by the violent commotion in a roll of glee and curiosity. The killer looked like he was trying to explain what had happened, but the intervening drone had none of it, pointing him to the opposite direction of the wharf, and the drone stalked off the grounds in an angry huff. The remaining drone on the docks ordered something to the two drones gawking in the crowd, only realizing that they intended to discard the body away from the scene. Marcus saw the man disappeared behind a tent.

It took a few breaths to calm his nerves down, picturing Jacob in his head, telling himself that no matter how dangerous it would become, he wouldn't give up to find his boy.

Play to win, Marcus muttered.

The boatmen came aboard and started rowing off into another narrow cavern opening with the five remaining terrified humans inside.

"That's our way in," Hyun told the others.

They managed to obtain their extra bags from the mole-rat's saddle, which was now detached from the creature's back. It sat alone inside an empty tent, left unguarded due to the captain bringing many of his forces with him. If they were going to attempt to cross the river and delve deep into the mountains, then they had to bring more equipment with them, and the bags had a little more extra food and ammunition that they might need.

Marcus wore his bag and placed his robes over it. The pommel of his broadsword stuck out, but he didn't mind, realizing it was still easy for him to reach and pull out. Hyun bundled his other cloak inside his bag, and grabbed a flashlight from the front pocket, placing it inside his robe's pouch for use later in the river tunnels. Marcus did the same, expecting that they would mostly be in the dark throughout their ride.

If not, then they would easily be spotted by the soldiers, and then they'd have a battle over water instead of on land. He much preferred the latter than the former, and he could only guess how deep the water was. He'd rather die being hacked to death than draw a slow and painful one from hypothermia.

Marcus hooked back and crouched forward toward the docks, led by Hyun at the front, who slid from shadow to shadow behind crates and tents like a cat in the alley. The man would often glance his way to the back, a scowl crossing his face, and Marcus knew why he was glaring at him like that. He couldn't help it that he trudged through the camp as if he was bulldozing a forest. His armor was clunky, and he carried a lot of gears and weapons compared to the rest of the group. But he did the best he could to be quiet as possible. Now that the mountain walls blocked the waterfall, each move they made seemed amplified in a natural echo chamber.

They reached the back of the pavilion next to the docks, which was used as a storage facility. Most of the humans had already been transported through the river tunnel, guarded by a squad of drones, leaving behind five more. One drone monitored them. One more preparing the boat for transport. Six more stood waiting inside one of the far tent, blocked by a stack of containers, standing around a table filled with human junk: bags, clothes, accessories, pieces of jewelry, electronics that had long died out, and many other things. They separated them into boxes, which Marcus realized was delivered with the humans.

But delivered to where exactly? Marcus wondered.

Marcus assessed the situation. If they were quick about it, they could take out the two drones guarding the five humans, and then quickly take care of the one on the boat without raising any attention from the four inside the tent. With those soldiers' view blocked by the stacked containers, they would be able to do it in stride.

If they could do it in a second.

He had thought about Hyun's bow and his quick draw, but he feared that as soon as one body dropped, the others would be alerted. They had to finish them quietly, lay them down onto the ground as gently as possible, like laying your lover down onto the bed of soft silk. They had to get close, preferably within an inch's reach for their throat.

There was nothing he could do for the five humans. No matter how the others itched to help them, they couldn't do anything aside from letting them go and wishing them good luck as they wade through armor-clad thick aliens alone, who would all gladly split their head open. After all, the reason why they were doing this in the first place was to track and rescue Jacob. They couldn't make room for five—let alone twenty more. They couldn't escort them out of the garrison as well. That would require sneaking back out of the cavern, out to the outer grounds with five more people tagging along their tail, up the platform and the western ridge, and then back to the forest where the captain and his soldiers were twisting it upside down, looking for the killers of the patrolling guards. And if they managed to survive that, they have to escort them back to the village for the next three days.

Marcus wouldn't find Jacob, and he'd end up dead. All the things they gained in the past hour would be for nothing.

But there was one other thing that the prisoners were useful for: a facade.

Marcus needed the five humans—still bound and gagged—as they navigated into the river tunnel. There might be a few checkpoints, and they would look less suspicious when four figures wearing Pale-men armor were guarding five human prisoners under the tunnel's darkness. He relayed what he had planned to the others, but as soon as it left his mouth, he knew they had doubts about it.

"We're endangering them if we continue, and I doubt they could hold a fight," Paul said.

"If they survived this long, you'd be surprised," Marcus replied.

"They also pose a risk," Hyun added in. "If we lead them to the village, then they would follow our trail, too. I can't risk my husband and my son's life for that."

Something dark snapped over their grim Roylan and Paul's faces, and he knew what Hyun was insinuating.

"What's our next move?" Asked Paul, could see it in his eyes imagining his two boys under the mercy of the Pale-men's blade. Marcus did too, trying hard not to picture Connor and Eli being hacked like the poor man earlier.

Marcus turned to Hyun, asked, "I want it quick and quiet. You think you can handle that on your own?"

* * *

It only took a few minutes of waiting before Marcus saw smoke coming out of one of the tents.

"Parth! Parth!" A cry from afar, which quickly got taken up by mostly everyone in the crowd.

On the dock, the drone guarding the humans, who were now sitting inside the boat, shouted something to the other guard, and he ran off toward the fire, leaving the other drone to keep an eye on the humans alone. A few of the soldiers standing by the docks ran off after him, not before they each grabbed a wooden bucket in one of the tents and filled it with water from the canal, and then they ran toward the fire.

The six drones in the tent also scrambled out, swords raised, but as soon as their eyes glanced far back to the cavern, saw the smoke intensifying and filling up the cavern, they quickly rushed over to the river first to grabbed some water, and then ran off to quench the fire that Hyun had started.

Lips peeled back behind the shadow in a silly grin, Hyun hopped out of his hiding space and crossed the gap between them. He crouched down next to Marcus, nodded silently, and gave a cheeky thumbs up.

"What did you start a fire with?" Marcus asked.

"I saw a pile of chopped dry wood inside one of the tents. So, I grabbed some burning wood from the fire pit and lit up the tent. It's only made of cloth."

Marcus grinned. "Good job. Now, for our friend over there."

He took a cautious step out of the shadows, looking all around to see no other soldier would burst through his path and recognize that he was an imposter. But none came, and he boldly walked the way toward the docks, climbed up the wooden quay, and sauntered toward the boat, shoulders hunched, knees bent a little, trying to look small. The others followed behind him.

The drone on the boat caught sight of him, cocked his head, and soon crossed the deck, climbing out to the wooden platform. He wore less armor than the rest of the Pale-men, wearing no helmet, nor leg braces, nor cauldron, only a chitin breastplate and a belt carrying his sword and pouches. The drone mumbled something in his native tongue, though he stopped midway, saw Marcus's face gleamed in the torch's light that lined the dock, peeking out of the helmet's gap and visor; Saw his human form.

But it was too late.

Marcus grinned hard from the sprint as he closed the distance in two steps, found the dagger thrum lose from his belt, then it was all blood and a low screech as the steel found the exposed flesh. The drone didn't have time to spare even to grasp his weapon. A pale, frightened face stuck in the whirl of shock, and gaping mouth stared back at him. Paul and Roylan quickly swooped in from behind, jumping into the boat and caught the Pale-man by the arm, and gently hauled him back into the deck.

Hyun cut through the bowline while Marcus made quick with the stern, keeping a close eye on the growing fire at the far side of the cave. He ignored the startled moans from the five humans, looking at the dead Pale-man and then to the four strangers hijacking their boat, though he doubted they even realized who they were.

As soon as Marcus finished cutting his line, he hopped onto the port side as Paul and Roylan started rowing off the dock. The current was strong enough to carry them to the tunnel's mouth. They entered the passageway, surprised that the walls gave off a subdued blue glow, coming from a few clustered algae that clung to the walls.

Marcus took off his helmet once they drifted farther off, saw the surprised reaction of the men kneeling in front of him. He pressed a finger to his lips, gesturing for them to be quiet.

"Do you all hear me? Nod if you do," Marcus said softly.

They slowly nodded.

"I am only going to say this once, so the five of you better follow it like a bible, then everything will be all right," Marcus started. "My name is Major Marcus Richard Ward, US Army Garrison—San Bruno, 3rd Infantry Division. My crew and I are going to delve deep into the mountains to find my son, who had been taken by these ugly freaks, and we are going to expect a lot of resistance moving forward."

He saw a flash of fear crossed their eyes. Still, Marcus pressed on.

"The five of you will remain gagged and bound just in case there is a checkpoint so that we won't arouse any suspicions, and we will remain in our armor. But once we find a safe place to disembark, you are all free to take this boat and go somewhere else, or come back here on the docks and take your chances on the heavily armed garrison that will no doubt be waiting for you. Your choice, and believe me when I say that the trek up that path won't be an easy one. Neither of these is going to be easy."

"However, if you wish to join me in finding my son, you are more than welcome to do so. I need all the hands I could get, and you are men, and if you made it this far in this godforsaken world, it means you are a fighter. I am a soldier, born and raised, the rest of us here are capable fighters in our own right, and I believe we can more than hold our own if we approach it the smart way—my way. This means you have to do exactly what I tell you if you want to get out of this mountain alive. Now—"

Marcus let out a dramatic sigh as he stepped a little closer to the five men still sitting on the deck.

"—I don't know how many of these motherfuckers we're going to deal with down the line. And I don't guarantee you're survival. But if you have a loved one—a friend, a brother, a father—taken by these freaks, this is your only chance to find them and bring them home. This is where they live, and I'm offering you the chance to save them, and right now, I'm all you've got to make that happen. The rest of my people have a home somewhere in the valley with walls and food, and we can bring you there. We can bring your family there. Safe. Secure. Habitable. So, help me. Stick with me, and I will give my motherfucking best to keep you breathing for another shitty day."

He earned some muffled chuckles in the end, and he saw a rousing hope cast through their posture, sitting straight with their bodies leaned forward, though the same hesitation still lingered behind their gaze.

"These people can be killed. And believe me when I tell you that we're going to fucking kill a lot of these pasty-ass freaks. So, nod if you're with me."

Some shared a look of uncertainty, but Marcus got two of the older ones—on their late-thirties like him—to nod right away. A few seconds passed, and the other three soon followed, trailed last by a boy that looked no older than fifteen sitting at the back.

Marcus let out a slice of a smile, nodding in approval. "That's what I like to see."

He let the gag off from everyone so long that they wouldn't make too much noise, and if they encountered a checkpoint, they would lower their head and make no eye contact, and were never allowed to speak. However, they would remain bound until they found a safe spot to dock.

Marcus placed the helmet back over his head, sauntered far away from earshot from the huddled group to the stern. Roylan sidled next to him.

"Excellent speech. We're going to rescue the others after all," Roylan said, but a hint of amusement laced behind his words.

"We stick to the same plan. I'm only saying what they wanted to hear," Marcus said.

Roylan scratched his chin and chuckled softly. "You are truly the army, speaking in half-truths."

Marcus maintained his grim smile, knowing that he was underselling it, trying to make it taste better under their palate--a chance to be a hero. Though, it didn't mean he wouldn't fight with all his strength to keep everyone alive. He would gladly do so. When it came to his son, everything was fair game.