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I woke up to birds singing, and a major headache. My head pulsed in pain, and those damn things wouldn't shut up. I got up, and my head spun. I sat down for a minute, and then got back up. I swayed a little bit, but stayed standing. I picked up my pistol, and headed outside. The birds just kept chirping away. I saw a bright red cardinal. I pointed my pistol at it.

I suddenly got a flashback, to me sitting in school at the end of my 9th grade year, and there was a red cardinal singing right outside the window, happy as can be.

I jumped back into reality. I looked at the bird, which kept singing, reminding me of that day. Then I shot the damn thing. Those things pissed me off back home, too. Everyone came running at the sound of a shot, weapons at the ready. What they saw was me, in shorts with no shirt, with burns on my chest, hands, and face. I also had a bandage covering a cut right above my forehead. They also took notice of my still smoking pistol, and the red feathers everywhere. They all just stared.

"What? It was pissing me off." They all started laughing, and I turned around and went back to my bunk inside the barracks.

I guess everyone went back to work, except Ahote, who followed me into the barracks. When I lay down on my bed, he started treating all of my wounds.

"Ahote, how long was I out?" He kept working, thinking.

"About three days."

"Jesus! Why didn't anybody wake me?" I was actually a little mad.

"Chris, you have a concussion. Also, the top half of your body is covered in cuts and burns."

"Oh, well, is anybody else hurt?"

"Joey lost his earlobe from a hot piece of metal, but otherwise, nobody else is hurt."

"Great, now I look like the weakling. Just what I needed." He laughed.

"Go soak your head. You smell, and the water is warm enough to help relax your muscles." He called over his shoulder as he headed out of the barracks.

"Yea, thanks doc." I muttered, just to myself.

Half an hour later, I returned back to camp. Josh walked over to me.

"Hey, you okay?"

"No. There is water stuck in my ear, and it won't come out!"

"I was talking about... Well, you know."

"About Zach, no, I am not. I watched a good friend explode into a fireball. How the hell do you think I feel? No, I feel fucking great. Dancing in the goddamn roses." I stormed off to the barracks.

Once I got inside, I grabbed a fresh shirt and put on my Kevlar vest, a pair of BDU pants, and my .45. I also grabbed my radio, just in case. I strapped the .45 to my thigh, and walked into the forest, to have a quiet place to think. I guess I was tired, because I fell asleep.

I woke up with a start, as a twig snapped close to me. I drew my .45, and without getting up, I crawled over to a place with better cover.

"I'm telling you, this place reeks with human. How are you not able to smell it?" I looked over, and saw a huge grizzly bear, who had to be close to 7'2. Next to him stood a lynx stood next to him. The lynx stood only my height, but was skinnier than me.

"All I smell is female product." Female product? Was this lynx telling me I smelled like a girl? I moved slowly, and smelled myself. I smelled like soap, NOT female. I wasn't about to come out and argue with them. Both had AK-47's slung on their backs, and probably knew how to use them.

They kept walking toward me, slowly, and were looking for the source of the smell. Shit.

I picked up a rock the size of my palm, and tossed it behind a tree across the way from me. I was going to try to take them off guard.

"What the hell was that?" The bear said. He unslung the Ak from his shoulder, and pointed it at the tree.

"No human. They would have either shot at us, or ran scared."

"Yes, but we always have been unpredictable. Put your weapons down. Now." I said, as I pointed the .45 at the bear. The lynx hadn't unslung his Ak, and he slowly put his hands up and turned around. The bear put his rifle down, slowly, and raised his hands.

"Now what?" Asked the lynx. I hadn't realized until now how young they both were. The lynx appeared younger than me, and the bear older, but not by much.

"Let us start with names. My name is Captain Geier, of a private outfit. Now, it is your turn." They looked at each other, as if unable to comprehend me no trying to harm them, or running.

The bear answered first. "My name is Garret."

The lynx answered slowly, "Sean."

"Alright, here is what is going to happen. You both are going to put any other weapons you may have hidden on you on the ground, and I am going to radio my guys to come to help me. We will feed you when we get there." Both looked excited at the prospect of food, and not being killed.

Both put down a few other weapons, including a grenade, which the Garret carefully put down.

"Overlord, do you copy? This is Destiny 1, over." I called on the radio.

"Destiny 1, we hear you. What is your situation, over?"

"Overlord, send out Spectre 1 and Spectre 2 out here to help with prisoner detail. Tell them to bring laughing juice and three masks, over." Laughing juice was the codename for the teargas, and masks were the gasmasks. I didn't want things to get out of hand.

About two minutes later, Josh and Justin, fireteam Spectre, arrived on scene weapons at the ready. Also, both had their gasmasks on. They handed me mine, and I too put it on.

I turned back to Sean and Garret. "Gentleman, what I have in my hand is military grade tear gas. If it goes off, you will be unable to breathe correctly, and will be unable to see. The side effects are only temporary. We do this for everyone's safety."

I ordered Josh to move forward and secure the weapons. He collected both Aks, and handed one to me. I took the magazine from the other, and put it in my pocket. I made sure a round was chambered in mine. I then ordered Justin to bind their hands together with strips of cloth. He tore a small patch of cloth from each of their shirts, and tied their hands together. He backed away slowly.

"Alright, stand up, nice and slow." I ordered, and had my weapon trained on Sean. Josh and Justin covered Garret. "Nice and slow everyone, lets just take this nice and easy. One step at a time."

As they walked back to captivity, I told Josh that I was going to hang back a bit. I had to call in a favor. He nodded.

"Oh, and Josh?"

"Yea?"

"I am sorry for snapping earlier. I was under a lot of stress."

"Its fine. We all were a wreck the first day. You are just a few days behind." He kept walking, and I stopped to call in the favor.

"Echo 1, Echo 1, you out there, over?" Echo was Ahote. I had a plan to smooth out the interrogation process.

"Echo 1 copies you, Destiny 1. What's up, over?"

"A favor, Echo 1. Go put yourself into the food pantry, but take off your weapons and armor. We are putting two more prisoners with you. Tell them you are being treated fine, and try to get information out of them. Keep a knife hidden on you somewhere out of sight, and your radio. If you run into trouble, the code word is "Firestorm". Do you out-copy, over?"

"Echo 1 copies. Out"

I ran ahead to the others, and pointed my weapon at Sean again. I gave Josh and Justin a wink, and turned back to the prisoners. Once we entered camp, the others kept working without looking over at them. I did notice how all of their weapons were apparent.

"Spectre team, put them in the holding cell. Ignore the other prisoner. Do not say a damn word. Do I make myself clear?" I glared at Josh and Justin. They both nodded. They walked over to the pantry, and put both of the prisoners in without even looking at Ahote. They then closed and barred the door.

Justin walked over to me. "Why was Ahote in there? Did he do something?"

"No, he is in there to gather information. I thought this to be the best way to extract information from them."

We had dinner, and I personally took them their meals. I took them out one at a time. I started with Garret. I took out my knife and cut his bonds. I handed him a plate full of food. Joey had shot a large buck, so we had large steaks of meat. We also had carrots, and potatoes. He looked down at his plate, then up at me, surprised at how much was on his plate.

"I hope you don't mind if I eat while I talk to you." I said. He shook his head no, so I started eating with a fork and knife. He awkwardly tried to use the tiny utensils, with little results to show.

"If you are more comfortable eating with your paws, do so. I am not offended." He enthusiastically nodded thanks, and he tore into the meat with his sharp claws.

"Now, I am going to ask you a few simple questions. First off, where are you from?"

"Deschutes National Forest, in Oregon."

"Never been to Oregon, is it worth visiting?" I asked. I wanted to help break the ice, to have questions flow more smoothly.

"There really isn't a lot there, just some lakes and a few small towns." He answered. He had finished his steak, and his potatoes. He had left his carrots alone. I offered him my steak. I really wasn't that hungry. He gratefully accepted, and tore into it immediately.

"Do you mind if I bring Sean our here so he can grab some dinner?"

"No, of course not. I feel bad for eating before him." He looked down at his feet.

"You were very hungry. Besides, there is still plenty left. Oh, do you also mind if I bring Ahote out as well?" Again, he said he didn't mind.

"What did you think about Ahote? Does he seem crazy to you? Even a little bit?" I asked.

"No, he is perfectly sane," Garret answered back, very agitated that I would make that kind of conclusion.

"Alright, just checking." I called for Joey to come over with his weapon, to guard Garret. "While I am gone, you can thank him for getting your dinner." I said as I pointed to Joey.

I reached the food pantry, and drew my pistol. I did not know what to expect on the other side of the door. I opened the door, and saw both of them talking.

"Hello everyone. If you would please stand up, then we may proceed to dinner." Sean jumped up. It surprised me how hungry these two were. I called over to Austin, and he covered Sean, and I covered Ahote. I put Sean over with Garret, and I took Ahote with me.

Once we were out of sight, I cut Ahote's bonds.

"What did you learn from them?" I asked, as I loaded up a plate for Sean.

"They were deserting. Their unit had run out of food, and everyone was killing each other for whatever they could get their hands on. Those two left, and were looking for a new group to join."

"Do you think they would be willing to join ours?" I would take all the members that I could get. I also just lost a member.

"Yes. They would both fit in fine here, and since you guys have no problem with animorphs, I think they would finally have a permanent home."

"Alright. Lets go recruit them!"

As we walked over, both looked up and saw us coming. I noticed Sean's eyes focus on the plates of food.

"Here you are." I said, as I handed Sean the plate of food I had in my hands. He gratefully accepted. Garret's eyes got a little wider when Ahote sat down next to me.

"Gentleman, I have not been fully honest with you. Ahote is not a prisoner. At least, he isn't anymore. He is part of my team. Everyone here is kind to the animorphs. Ask Ahote if you do not believe me."

Neither said anything, so I continued, " I would like to personally invite you to my team. We are simple, and we do not go to battle on either side. Oh, and there is plenty of food, as you see." Sean looked up from his food and smiled.

"Will you accept the invitation?"

Both looked at each other, than at me. They said yes at the same time.

"Perfect. There are a few rules. First off, I am in charge, and that is a fact. I do not mind, actually, I encourage you to come to me with problems, or suggestions. Nick is my second in command. You will meet everyone later. Second, you do not go anywhere without a buddy. Look what happened to me today with you guys!"

Both laughed, and I continued, "Telling me I smell like female products is forbidden!" I glared at Garret, who looked down in embarrassment. "Also, we have guard duty shifts. You take your shift, and you show up ON TIME. If you are late, there will be repercussions. Finally, there are no species tensions. At all. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," both answered.

"Alright, both of you come with me, we are going to go pick out your sleeping arrangements. You will sleep in the barracks with us. Do you have any other gear than what we confiscated earlier?" Both shook their heads no.

"Alright, blankets and cots will be provided. Is there anything else you desire?"

"Um, yea. Who do you guys fight for? I see the rank on your collar, and you introduced yourself as a captain," Garret asked.

"We are a private outfit as I said before. We stay to ourselves, and defend ourselves. We do not attack unless necessary. We do not belong to anybody, nor do we support anybody. We live in good enough luxury, and that is all that matters until this war blows over completely. This is a war with no fronts, so I do not know how long this will take to calm down."

Neither had any more questions, so I took them to the barracks, and put them on the end, but they were not separated from the rest of us. I gave them blankets, and they went right to sleep.

"Well, they are willing, as long as we don't run out of food!" Ahote laughed, and I told him I too was going to turn in for the night.

"Yea, I think I will too."

"Hey, at least we don't have guard duty tonight!" He nodded, and we headed off to bed.

The next morning, I woke up at 6:30, and got everyone up.

"Wha... What?" Sean asked, looking at me with a crazy look.

"It is time to wake up! We have to work, or we don't eat!" I patted him on the leg, and headed off to the next person.

Once everyone was outside, they stood at attention in neat lines of 4. I asked Garret and Sean to come and stand by me. Both walked over to me, and saluted. I returned the gesture, and they turned and faced the others.

"Gentleman, these are two new recruits. The large grizzly bear animorph is named Garret. The lynx standing beside him is Sean. They are new to the team. Teach them our ways, gently." I gave everyone a stern look. They chuckled.

"Justin, come up here and tell us what we are doing today."

Justin came up and started telling everyone what they would be doing for the day. We all grabbed the tools that we would need for the day, and headed off. My job for the day was to help Garret to dig the holes for the kitchen, which was being built. I was happy, because it wasn't raining. Makes all of our lives easier.

Garret worked without complaining, although he found an empty milk jug and filled it with water, and he finished two or three of them by lunch. At lunchtime, Josh and Justin cooked, and we were all laughing and having a good time. Both Garret and Sean fit in perfectly with the group, laughing and joking with the others. After lunch, we helped clean up, and then went back to work. By the end of the day, we had the frame of the building and most of the walls complete. I gave Garret a high five, because we had finished our job for the day.

"Is it like this every day?" He asked, after taking a long pull at his water jug.

"Pretty much. Some days I give off. I just want some buildings built. I got tired of living in tents, so I built a permanent structure. We are working on others now, to continue helping ourselves."

"Makes sense. Can I make a small change to the kitchen?"

"And that would be?"

"Larger doorways." I busted up laughing, and he put on a sheepish grin. After I finally stopped laughing, I told him I would work on it. I slapped him on the back, and headed out to find Justin so I could make the changes.

On my way there, I spotted Sean looking at his Ak.

"Staring at a weapon does not help you solve answers. But maybe I could help." I called over to him, and sat next to him.

"I, well, this is kind of embarrassing. I don't know how to clean my weapon." He looked up at me with very clear yellow eyes.

"Alright, let me help then." Over the next hour, I showed him how to strip and clean his weapon, and how to do it faster, and better. Once he had a firm grasping on it, I patted him on the shoulder.

"Now what did you really want to talk about?" I asked, and stared into his eyes.

"Why are you being so nice to us? After all we have done to you? Ahote told me about Camp Freedom. Ahote was even part of that. Garret and I helped take Seattle before we left."

"The reason I am so nice is because of you, not what you have done, or not done. Besides, man has had enough time ruling the planet. It should be somebody else's turn for once." He looked at me, and nodded to himself, as if understanding what I said. I got up, and he did too.

"I am going to go and find Justin, because there are to be some improvements on the kitchen. Actually, just the doorways for Garret!" He laughed, and slung his Ak on his shoulder and followed.

We finally found Justin, who was talking with Nick. I asked Sean to talk to Justin about the changes to the doorways, and to find me if he had a problem. Sean sketched a salute and went to talk to Justin. Nick came over to me.

"How you doin Captain?"

"Doin fine Sergeant. What do you think about our new recruits?"

"Garret is HUGE! And Sean is incredibly smart. They make an interesting mix, and very useful. I do have to talk to you about a sore subject though."

"Oh?"

"Chris, we have to write Zach's parents about what happened. It is the right thing to do. If you want, I will write it up, and then have you approve it."

"No, I will do it. It was my fault."

"It was something out of our hands."

"Yea, but that doesn't really help. I will take care of the letter." I patted him on the shoulder. I started to walk off, when Nick spun me around and wrapped me in a bear hug. I returned the embrace, and we held it for about two minutes. When I finally let him go, I realized we both had tears in our eyes.

"You bastard, you squeezed the tears out of me." I said, as I wiped my eyes. He laughed, and he told me to find him I needed him.

"I will, don't you worry. I am just being normal soft ole me." He chuckled, and headed off to help Ryan with what he brought back to camp from his hunting expedition.

I walked back to my tent to write the letter to Zach's parents.

Dear Mrs. Stufflet,

I regret to inform you that your son, Zachary Stufflet, died on April 25th, 2013. He died bravely, after his chopper was shot down. He always talked about his family, and I hoped that I might be able to meet you after this horrid war has passed. I am very sorry for your loss. He was cremated, with his ashes being spread by our whole squad. I am again very sorry or your loss. All of us here considered him a brother. I have attached a somewhat recent photo of him.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to write me at any time. If there is anything, and I do mean anything, that I can do to help ease the pain for your loss, do not hesitate to ask.

Truly,

Christopher J. Geier

I stared down at the letter for a long time. It seemed so, informal. But, if I let it get too emotional, I would never be able to forgive myself. I folded the letter, and put it in an envelope, and sealed it. I put it on the nightstand next to me. I walked outside.

"GENTLEMAN, COME HITHER!" I shouted, as loud as possible. Everyone gathered around me, and they snapped to attention.

"At ease. I will be going to town tomorrow, so if you want to write letters home or to lovers, do so tonight. That is all, now get back to work!" Everyone started excitingly talking to each other, and headed back to work.

At noon, we had a quick lunch and quickly got back to work. By this point, we had walls and the roof was being covered with moss and dirt, to help insolate it and to help camouflage it.

By the end of the day, we had everyone help move all the cooking gear into the kitchen, and lit the fireplace, to help warm it in the cool night air, and for some light. It did not have electricity. It was about 40ft by 20ft. It was a good size, and Justin did a nice job with it. And even Garret could stand without ducking! There was not enough room to eat inside, but that could wait. I wanted to update our defenses a little bit. It was a simple task, and I went over to Justin to have him orders.

"Hey there, Bob the Builder. I have a new project for you, to be started tomorrow."

Justin looked up from his letter, which he was writing. "And what would that be?"

"Well, we have all of this barbed wire laying around. I want a triple layer of it on all the walls. It should only take you guys half the day. The rest of the day is yours to do what you want."

"Alright, it will be done. I will make sure a mouse can't squeeze through."

"Ha, that's not even a joke anymore." I laughed, and he finally got it. He chuckled, and went back to his letter. I stopped by Austin next.

"You can design as well, correct?"

"Yea, but I focus more on metal." He answered, looking up from his book. We had a few books that we brought with us.

"Good. I need a system that can stop a humvee from entering the campsite. I want it to me no later than the end of the week. Make it good, but simple." He nodded, and put the book away, and grabbed a pencil and a sketchpad, and started working.

The next morning, I woke up at five, and took Ryan off of the detail, and put Ahote on. I also took Alex's mp5, which had a retractable stock and silencer. I was able to hide it under my jacket on my back, because it brought a superior firepower over my .45. I gave my colt to Ahote, who rode shotgun with Levi who was driving. We left camp at 8:00a.m, and we arrived at Rivington at around noon. We hid the humvee, and covered it. Ahote go out, and he was wearing a pair of my jeans, with no shirt. It was normal for them to wear no top, so I was fine with it. I did notice he had a nice six-pack, compared to mine.

The rest of us were in shorts and t-shirts, and I had everyone's letter, including the one for Mrs. Stufflet. We walked into the post office, and surprise, surprise, the short lady ran off to get the major. I don't even know what we ever did to make her hate us. Oh well, I waited for the major to come out.

"Gentleman, how are we doing today?" The major asked, when he walked out of the back room.

"Good, major. How about yourself?" I asked, trying to be polite.

"Doing okay. Son, I will be right with you." He said to Ahote. He thought Ahote was here on his own!

"No, no. I am with these guys." He pointed to us. The major's eyes grew enormously.

"Really?" He asked, as if in disbelief.

"Yep. Now, do you mind if we mail these letters?" He asked, being polite while putting the letters on the counter. The major took the letters, and sorted them into the correct bins.

"Will there be anything else?" He asked, still in disbelief about Ahote.

"No, thank you major. Have a nice day."

I walked out, and everyone followed me out. When I got outside, I heard Josh mutter behind me, "Ah, shit." I was about to turn and ask what, when I saw across the street was Logan, with a group of his friends. Logan spotted me, and stormed across the street with his group, which they had 3 more guys than us.

"Well, well, what have we got here? Didn't learn the last time you came here?" He asked, as he tried to get in my face. I also noticed Jonathan in the back of the group.

"What I learned is that to never trust a piece of shit as vile as yourself." I was not about to take shit from him. I thought about asking Levi to take care of him. Levi had the silenced weapon.

"No, the last time you ran off like a little bitch." All his friends started laughing.

"Really? I didn't think you got hit in the head, but you seem to forget what actually happened. But, if you like, I can re-teach you this lesson. Your friends can join in as well." I had formally put out the challenge, and it was time to see if he would accept,

He thought about it for a minute, and than accepted. One of his friends suggested the park, so that the "dumb animals" didn't interfere. I looked over at Ahote, but he showed no emotion.

We got to the park after a five-minute walk. They we running ahead of us, jumping around and being a general nuisance. Our group walked with me in the middle, and the others walking beside me. We were courteous to everyone, and I noticed we drew some attention with Ahote, and also due to the fact that nobody knew us and we weren't being obnoxious.

"Alright gentleman, are we using weapons?" I asked, once we had arrived. They had already picked a spot, and I noticed Jonathan and another one of them were missing.

"Yea, whatever you have on you." Logan called. We all still had on our body armor, under our clothes, except Ahote. I took off my jacket, concealing the weapon, then my shirt, and then took off the armor. I walked over to him, and gave put it on him. He started to resist.

"No, I am not having you in this without protection. No arguments, is that understood?" He nodded in agreement, and I helped him put it the rest of the way on.

"That's very touching. It makes my heart break. I will be sure you are still living when I kill him." Logan said while sneering.

"You lay a hand on him, or any of my guys, I will cut it off." I said, with a straight face.

"Enough talk, now we fight." Said one of the guys on their side. They had two guys with lead pipes, one with a broken bottle, one who was unarmed, one who had a small clasp knife, and Logan had his switchblade. My side had mostly combat knives, but Levi had a short curved blade on him, which he liked better.

We all had picked partners. I obviously had Logan, Josh had one of the lead pipe wielding teens, while Ahote had the one with the broken bottle and the unarmed one. Levi had the other lead pipe, and Joey had the clasp knife wielding one. As if by some unspoken signal, they all charged at us.

Logan jabbed first, which I deflected with my gloved right hand, for I held the knife in my left hand. I have always been a lefty, so it felt right. I took the handle and smacked him upside the head. He clutched his head, so I kneed him in the chest. There was an audible crack, from his rib bones. I didn't stop. While he was down, I kicked him in the ribs.

"If you get up, I will end you." He groaned, and he put his head down. I took his knife from his hand, and tossed it into the bushes. I looked around to see who needed help. That's when I saw Jonathan and the other kid walk in. I swallowed, hard. Both had pistols stashed in their belts. I ran over to my jacket, and grabbed it and the mp5, and ran over to the bush to outflank them. As I ran to get into position, I screwed on the silencer.

"Alright, the fight stops now!" Screamed the other kid with the pistol. He was waving it around wildly. It was a Berretta M9, the U.S service pistol. I noticed Jonathan kept his pointed toward the ground, and his finger was well away from the trigger.

Everyone stopped fighting, and turned to look who was shouting. The teens started shouting when they saw it was there guy. We didn't have our radios on us, so I couldn't tell the others my plan. I was in position, and had a firing solution on both of them.

"You can all leave, except the rabbit. He dies!" The others cheered on the kid with the handgun. I noticed that Jonathan held on to his pistol tightly, but his eyes gave him away. He was terrified. I also noticed Josh and the others moved to create a protective circle around Ahote.

"We are going nowhere."

"It seems that your leader has! I told you guys he was a coward!" Shouted Logan, who had gotten up, and limped over to the others.

"I also told you that if you got up, that I would end you." I said, as I walked out of my shooting spot, with the mp5 held tight to my shoulder. The others noticed the superior firepower. The kid with the pistol started to swing it at me.

"You point that thing at me, I will put a bullet in your chest. What is your name?"

"Robert, and I know you wouldn't have the balls to do it," he jeered, and swung the pistol at me. I put a shot into his chest, just below his heart. He looked at me, and his face contorted. He looked down at the spreading pool of blood on his shirt. He tried brushing it away, and then collapsed to the ground.

"What the hell? Why did you kill a patriot, instead of that ANIMAL?" Logan shouted at me. He started to reach down for the pistol, but out of nowhere, Joey came running across and tackled him to the ground. Logan did not get up, and Joey pulled out his pistol. Everyone else in his squad also pulled out their weapons, and told everyone else to get on the ground, and to lay their weapons down. Everyone did as they were told to, accept Jonathan. He stared at Robert, who now lay in his own pool of blood.

I walked over to Jonathan, and took the pistol from him. He looked at me with very large eyes, and than began to cry. He reached out and wrapped me in a rough embrace, as he sobbed into my chest, and I gave him a hug, to comfort him.

"Alright, lets get the hell out of here. Move out."

I let go of Jonathan. "Go home, and stay away from Logan this time. Keep your head up."

"I can't stay away from Logan. We both are orphans; our parents were killed by the animorphs. I always understood why mine were killed, but Logan could never forget them."

I thought for a minute. "Do you want to live with us? It would give you a fresh start, and you would never have to see Logan again?"

"Yes."

"Alright, then come with me and my team, and we can help you."

"I just need to grab my stuff, and I will be ready to leave this horrid town. I was originally from Seattle, but I was evacuated from the city after it was being heavily bombarded."

"Alright, meet us at the sign with the towns name. We will be there for 10 minutes, maximum. After that, we will be leaving."

"Don't worry, I don't have that much stuff left."

I headed off, walking away from the group of teens still on the ground. I put the mp5 on my back again, and then put my jacket over it to cover it again. The others put their sidearms back in their hiding places. I also put my tomahawk back on my belt loop, and made sure it was semi-hidden.

"Lets go. We will meet him there, or maybe not. Either way, we have to get out of this town, before more than just kids with poles and pistols come after us." The others nodded in agreement, and we all headed out. Everyone came out unscathed from the fight, except Levi, who had a small cut on his forehead. I put a band-aid over it, and we walked to the sign just outside of the small town.

About 5 minutes later, I saw Jonathan walking toward us, and I waved to him. He waved back, and I noticed he carried only a small duffel bag.

"How far is it to your camp?" He asked once he got within 20ft.

"It's about a 12 hour walk. Why?" I noticed everyone chuckling. Poor Jonathan didn't know about our humvee.

"Oh. That is pretty far..." He looked at his feet, as if re-thinking coming with us.

"Come on, the light is fading. It is already 12:00, so we need to get moving. We need to get back to the others." He didn't say anymore, so we all started along the road, toward the humvee. We got there about 7 minutes later. Levi and Joey uncovered the humvee, and quickly stashed the camo netting into the back. Jonathan just stared at the massive vehicle.

"What, you actually thought that we walked? Next, you are going to think that we are normal kids!" Everyone laughed, including Jonathan. I told Josh to drive, and Levi rode shotgun. Joey lay down in the cargo area, and he went to sleep. I remember that he had guard duty last night. Me, Ahote, and Jonathan sat in the back. I sat in the middle, and Ahote was to my left. I told Jonathan the ride would still be about 4 hours, and told him to go to sleep. He nodded, and put his head back. He fell asleep within minutes.

"Well, today was productive." I said, to the remaining people who were awake. Everyone chuckled, and Josh turned on to the dirt road that would take us all the way back to camp.

"My only worry is that we are out of extra weapons, other than the hunting rifle. So Jonathan gets that Ak we took from those hunters, and then what? Are we going to continue to recruit? Because if we do, we are going to need more weapons, and more tactical gear." Josh said, while still keeping his eyes on the road.

"Yea. You know, I just might have an idea." I said, while already thinking about what I was going to do.

"Do share." Levi said, while he turned at me.

"Well, on our radios, on channel 13, we always hear the animorph truck drivers, and most of them are in convoys. Well, if we can hit one of those convoys, then we can take all of their supplies. We don't even have to use lethal force." The others looked at me like I was crazy.

"What?"

Josh finally spoke up, "I am just glad I am on your side!" Everyone laughed in agreement.

"Would you all be willing to do the raid?" Everyone just looked at me, and they silently pledged themselves to the plan.

"Good, I will begin to work on it when I get back to camp." The rest of the ride was spent with small talk, and we finally got back at around 4p.m.

I gently shook Jonathan and Joey awake. Joey hopped out of the back, and I got out after Ahote. I walked to the other side of the humvees, and opened the door for Jonathan. He got out, and blinked. It was still bright out, but I noticed darkness was closing in fast.

Nick came walking over to me.

"Who is this?" He asked, looking at Jonathan who was hiding behind me.

"Well, introduce yourself!" I said, and stepped aside so he and Nick could shake hands.

"My name is Jonathan," he said, and stepped forward to shake Nick's hand.

Nick returned the embrace, and he introduced himself. I called everyone else over to meet him, and everyone was very friendly. Jonathan was quiet, but not rude. He only froze up over Sean and Garret.

"Chris, we have finished up the extra defenses, and we started on a holding area, in case we find more people who need to be questioned." Justin said, after he introduced himself to Jonathan.

"Wow, you guys did above and beyond. Consider tomorrow off. Also, can you please get me the extra Ak, and bring it to me?" He nodded, and went off to tell the others about the day off and to grab the weapon. I noticed that everyone had walked of, and Jonathan was just standing there.

"Well, what do you think of my team?" I asked, as I stood next to him.

"It is much larger than I could have ever imagined it. It surprises me that you have so many animorphs." He said, and he was still looking around. Hi duffel bag sat at his feet. Josh had parked the humvee in one of the garages, and he headed over to Jonathan and me.

"Hey, go tell Nick about your plan for the convoy. I don't want you to forget!"

"Ah, right. Thanks." He waved, and I headed off to go find Nick and talk about the plan. Jonathan followed me, putting his duffel bag around his shoulder.

"Oh, hey, do you mind if I call you John?" I asked, calling over my shoulder.

"No, not at all."

"Well John, I have to organize something with Nick that is kind of confidential. I am going to have somebody show you to where you will be sleeping." I waved over Alex, who came over.

"What's up?" He asked, looking at me.

"Can you show John were he will be sleeping? Also, make sure to give him something to eat if he is hungry."

"Yes sir. Come on; let me show you around too," Alex said, as he grabbed Jonathan's duffel bag. Jonathan followed, and I gave him a wave. As I started out to find Nick again, Justin came over and handed me the Ak, as well as a note. He slipped off before I was able to ask what the note was. I stuck the note in my pocket, and headed out to find Nick.

Nick was on guard duty, so I headed up. . I brought my mg3, and put the Ak on my cot in the barracks.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked, once I had gotten to the top of the new tower in place. It was about 20ft tall, and had a staircase that wound around the entire thing.

"Sure, what's up?" He asked, still scanning the area.

"With this new recruit, we are low on ammo, and weapons. It also couldn't hurt to have more medical supplies, and more canned food."

"Alright, what is your plan? Raid the surrounding hospitals, and Army bases?" He asked, giving me a sarcastic look.

"Not exactly. What is on channel 13 of our radios?" I asked, opening my weapon, and broke it down to start cleaning it.

"All of the truck drivers. But what does that have to do with it?"

"Well, they are supply trucks. If we raid a convoy, then we will have all the supplies that we will ever need!" I said. He slowly put down the thermal binoculars, and turned to look at me.

"You are downright evil, aren't you?"

"Awe, you say the nicest things." I said, as I batted my eyes at him. He laughed, and we started spitballing ideas on how to best attack the convoy.

"I want little to no casualties, on either side. I already have enough blood on my hands as it is." I said. I told him about the fight, and how it had ended.

"You had no other options." He said, and patted me on the back.

Yea, I know. Doesn't make me feel any better. But thanks." Both of us headed down toward the camp.

And there we go, number five. I do hope that you are thoroughly entertained, and any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated! Also, if I have a lot of spelling errors, please do let me know! I do my own editing, so sometimes I slip up!