Reaper

Noah cursed under his breath as the rover hit a bump in the road.

“Watch it, Lance!” he barked, gripping onto the side of the frame. Lance waved him off, laughing.

If Charlie knew where he was right now, she would have a field day. The thought crossed the back of his mind, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. It was one thing when his baby sister was locked up in the compound and away from all this trouble – except for Sawyer, at least. But it was another thing to have her outside, heading out with the boys into a fight.

Noah knew, deep down, that he should let her do this. He also knew that Charlie had only seen the side of the Reapers that was relatively tame – if that was even a thing. Charlie was new to this whole world, inexperienced. Hell, Noah himself was still relatively new to it. But there were two things he was sure of: the first is that everything a Reaper touched turned to death.

The second: Charlie couldn’t be left alone with any of them.

Noah was leading a small group in a vehicle to scope out the grounds nearby. If they were going to take on the Reapers, they would need as much of an advantage as they could get. That meant playing to their home-field advantage. He may have conceded to Charlie’s stupid idea, but there was no way in hell he was just going to throw her out someplace that he hadn’t learned by heart. Noah was a soldier, he knew that he needed to be prepared for anything and everything.

He looked around the vehicle. Lance had been in the meeting with Charlie when she had decided to stand up for herself. He was a tactical genius, and a talented driver to boot. Lance had been his right-hand man since he had taken temporary control over the compound. He trusted him with his life.

But Lance had been less than supportive of Noah’s opinion of the plan.

“I dunno, man,” he had said, holding the bridge of his nose. “I don’t exactly have a plan that wouldn’t result in more casualties. She’s right – she’s perfect bait.”

Noah had slammed his fist on a table. “She’s not bait! She’s my sister!”

Lance’s normally stony face looked sad. “You’re right, Noah,” he said calmly, holding up his hands in surrender. “But your sister is at the center of all of this, whether you like it or not. And she’s being a big girl about it – maybe you should start, too.”

Noah hadn’t reacted to that comment as gracefully as he should have – his language had been colorful, to put it mildly. But the sentiment was right.

If anyone other than Lance had said it to him, he would have decked them in the face.

He decided that, if he was going to let Charlie be a grown-up about this, the least he could do was make sure everyone was prepared. There was just no way in hell that he was going to let her tag along on an intelligence errand, not when she was still healing from her injury, and while she was still finishing up her combat training.

He glanced around, eying the others he had brought with him. Fitch was behind Lance, a tablet in his hand. He was drawing on it quickly, sketching out the terrain as they covered it. The area they were exploring was government-owned from way back when, and was restricted to a lot of the technology they had at their disposal. They needed the on-site memory as well as the map that Fitch was drawing in order to move people in and out safely.

Along with a few other men, this would have to do.

Noah sat back in the passenger seat and looked around as Lance began to slow. They were in an airfield that ran alongside a large lake – how was none of this in their records? Noah rolled his eyes.

“Hey, Noah, what’s that?” Lance asked suddenly, talking over the other guys’ babbling in the back seats.

Noah leaned forward and squinted in the direction that Lance nodded at. On the horizon, he could make out a few small shapes that stuck out from the rest of the landscape.

He cursed under his breath, fumbling around for his scope. When he looked through, he could make out the dark forms of what looked like three – no, four – men, walking around the site, pointing toward them. He zoomed in as far as he could. What he saw made the blood run cold in his veins.

Eyes. Glowing eyes.

“Shit,” Noah cursed, reaching for the holster on his hip. “Guys, we got company!”



“Ground vehicle, approximately three hundred yards, at eight o’clock,” Simon said calmly, narrowing his eyes at a distant spot on the horizon.

Hunter turned to look. “I don’t remember inviting them to the party,” he said drily, raising an eyebrow.

Sawyer turned to look, too.

It had been his decision to scope out the area - having spent so much time in the compound, he knew that they would eventually begin to mobilize an attack against the Reapers, and they would pick a location on which they’d have an advantage. This airfield was certainly an attractive choice - it was open, so they could maneuver easily in their vehicles. It was paved, so they could use minimal power covering ground. But it was flat - there was nowhere for them to hide.

Something tightened in Sawyer’s chest. He had no way of knowing for sure, but he could feel that these were some of Charlie’s people. He also knew that he and his pack were sitting ducks out there in their current state.

Sawyer signaled to Simon, Hunter, and Forrest. The twins were at another part of the field, documenting entrances and exits. They would meet up with them later. But the men were grouped together on a giant slab of concrete.

And there was a vehicle full of people who wanted to kill them headed their way.

“Simon,” he said slowly, “You may want to go get the girls.”

Simon nodded, and took off running in their direction.

Hunter stiffened. “I don’t like this,” he muttered, taking off his leather jacket. He stretched his arms out, checking that he had his full mobility.

Forrest looked puzzled. “What’s going on, Sawyer? Who are those people?”

Sawyer’s body was tense. He certainly hoped that he didn’t know, but he was getting the feeling that he did. “SDS agents.” When Forrest looked confused, Sawyer cursed. “Hunters.”

The vehicle was headed their direction, a small spec of light in on the horizon. It was dusk, the sun setting behind them with a colorful backdrop. It would have been a beautiful sight, Sawyer thought, if only Charlotte had been there. A pang went through his chest. Well, that was his own fault, putting salt in the wound.

No, he didn’t have the time for that, not now.

“Forrest, stay back,” Hunter said quietly, taking a few steps in front of him.

The vehicle was closing in now. Sawyer could hear the faint voices inside of it over the roar of the engine - men, it sounded like. Five or six. They were not outnumbered, not by a long shot, even with Simon and the girls gone. He was going to do everything he could to make sure it didn’t come to that - he knew that if word got back to Charlotte about any casualties, and he were responsible, she would never forgive him. And she would have every right.

Not that she’d ever forgive him anyway, he thought bitterly.

“Stand your ground, but do not make the first move,” Sawyer barked.

Forrest tried to protest. “But, Sawyer, they -”

Hunter cut him off. “Hush, boy.”

The vehicle came to an abrupt halt in front of the group. Five men exploded from the car, each armed with high-caliber weapons, all over their bodies, from what Sawyer could gather. All at once, they raised the guns and undid the safety, pointing their barrels directly at his chest. But they did not move. Sawyer had no doubt that each of those bullets was laced with CS-22 - he dared not make a move, not with this many men pointing at him.

Sawyer could move quickly, but he could not outrun a poisoned bullet.

He raised his arms above his head in a gesture of surrender before resting his hands on the back of his head. He glanced at Hunter and Forrest, who slowly followed suit. Forrest looked concerned, scared, but Hunter’s face was stone. The men made their way around the three of them, surrounding them on all sides.

A sixth figure made his way out of the passenger seat of the vehicle. Sawyer could immediately sense the figure’s thoughts - with a sinking feeling in his stomach, he recognized who it was before the other had a chance.

“Got anything to say for yourself, bastards?” Noah spat, walking leisurely to the outer circle.

Sawyer looked up at him, clenching his jaw. His eyes met Noah’s, and in an instant, he could feel his chest ache. In that instant, he could see the striking sibling resemblance to Charlotte. Noah’s face was clearly older, scarred, and more masculine, but in that moment, it was the eyes that did it - she had always said that they were different, but to Sawyer, it was like looking at a ghost.

Noah seemed to come to the realization at about the same time. His face, which had been contorted in an effort to look aggressive, fell into a look of surprise.

“Sawyer?” He sounded incredulous, and Sawyer could feel the rapid shift in his emotions.

He didn’t respond, only clenched his jaw. He couldn’t remember the last time he had Fed - Noah wasn’t helping matters.

Noah visibly relaxed. “At ease,” he barked, holding up a hand. All of his men simultaneously dropped their weapons to the ground, but were still tense. They didn’t question the order, but they were clearly uncomfortable with it.

Noah approached him, walking slowly, rubbing the back of his head. Sawyer could feel the anger building inside of him - he knew that this was not going to end well. “So, this is it, huh?” Noah’s tone was mocking, sarcastic. He certainly had heard it before. “Was worth it? Was this worth breaking her heart? After everything you did to her?”

Forrest made a noise in protest, but Sawyer silenced him. Noah’s men looked between themselves, confused.

“I did what was best for her, Noah,” Sawyer said calmly, hoping to diffuse the tension. “Just like you would have done.”

Noah shook his head. He took a few steps toward Sawyer, so that their faces were nearly touching. Sawyer could see his chest rising and falling, and he could feel the anger rolling off of him in waves. He had known that Noah wasn’t his biggest fan, given all that had happened, but he never had imagined that he could get such a rise out of him.

“You just had to drag her into all of this, didn’t you?” Noah reached up and shoved him, hard, so that he stumbled slightly backwards in surprise. “She was safe where she was! She didn’t know anything about this world until you - you came around and you ruined her!”

Sawyer didn’t say anything in response. He swallowed hard. Noah had a point - the thought had crossed his own mind a few times during his low points.

“There were people in our world who were on to her, and you know that,” Sawyer muttered.

Noah shoved him again. “Because your pack attacked her!” Sawyer’s eyes widened. Suddenly, Noah pulled a handgun from his back pocket and cocked it, pointing the barrel directly at Sawyer’s jugular. Sawyer tensed, suddenly very aware at how the cool metal sat on his skin. “What makes you any different from the rest of them?”

Again, he had no response. Noah was perhaps the one person who hated Sawyer for what he had done to Charlotte more than he hated himself.

“If I had done what was best for her, I would have killed you when I had the chance.”

What happened next all happened too quickly for Sawyer to remember the details.

In a flash, Forrest lunged for Noah, wrapping his hands around his throat. The light flowing from Forrest's’ eyes blinded Sawyer and the other men momentarily as he lunged for him, readying himself to feed.

All but one of Noah’s men were too shocked or disoriented to respond. One of them, a large African American man, raised his weapon, trying to get a clear path at Forrest without being in danger of hitting Noah.

In that split second, Hunter broke his formation, launching himself between the black man and Forrest, who hadn’t been paying attention.

BANG.

The sound of the gunshot ripped through the air, and suddenly everyone stilled.

To Sawyer, it was as if time had slowed. He watched, but was rooted to his spot, as Hunter fell to the floor. At the same moment, Forrest relinquished his grip on Noah’s neck, and let it fall with a sickening “thud”.

Everyone was still.

And then, Sawyer snapped.

Before he could control himself, he had the nearest person by the throat, and was Feeding. Shots rang out, but it was too late - Sawyer had killed one of the soldiers almost instantly.

He could hear a distant commotion as Saphira, Lina, and Simon approached the scene at inhuman speed. They joined in on the fight, dodging bullets left and right. Sawyer could feel nothing but the adrenaline and anger raging through his veins. He was in a frenzy, the likes of which he had never seen before.

When Sawyer reached for the shooter, something in the back of his mind made him stop. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was, only that it gave him a brief moment of clarity in the midst of the hurricane in his head.

He could sense that Noah was still alive - but barely. After all that he had done to Charlotte, he could not be the one responsible for killing her brother.

Sawyer grabbed the man by the throat, but only to bring him closer to his face. “Get out of here,” he snarled, shoving the man away from him. “Take Noah back to camp.” Sawyer’s face turned up into a snarl. “Tell him Sawyer sends his regards.”

The man nodded, and scooped Noah up into a fireman’s carry. Sawyer could tell that he hadn’t wanted to retreat this way, but also that the man seemed to be out of his depth. Hastily, he packed Noah into the vehicle, and sped off over the horizon.

“Sawyer!”

Sawyer turned to where Hunter was convulsing on the floor. Saphira was hunched over him, talking quickly, but in his haze he couldn’t make out what she was saying. All he could focus on was the red flower of blood blooming out of his chest, right above his heart. Hunter’s face was contorted in pain and he screamed, louder than anything Sawyer had ever heard.

Sawyer was rooted to his spot. He knew that pain. He had felt that pain - it was as if his body were being torn apart from the inside by a million knives. His veins would feel like they were on fire. His bones would feel like they were splitting apart. But he wouldn’t die, not immediately. Death by that poison would be slow, painful.

Hunter locked eyes with Sawyer. In that fleeting moment, he saw a lifetime of pain on his face, punctuated by his scars. He was trying to tell him something, Sawyer could see, but his mouth couldn’t form the words. Hunter knew it was the end - he was trying to grant Sawyer his blessing.

Sawyer nodded once, tersely.

And then Hunter was still.

The others stood by, numb, as Sawyer walked over to where Hunter’s body lay. Slowly, carefully, he lowered himself to the floor next to the closest thing he had to a brother. Hunter’s piercing red eyes were open, hollow - full of pain, but void of life. With a shaking hand, he reached out to pull his eyes shut, hoping that it would bring him some sort of peace.

“Thank you, Hunter,” Sawyer said quietly, resting his palm on Hunter’s forehead.

In that moment, Sawyer knew: Charlotte was the poison to them all.