He removed the strap from around his neck and dipped low to place the automatic rifle on the ground in front of him, as did the rest of his men. On his signal, they went to their bellies, allowing the fog to close over their heads and swirl around their bodies as they began to crawl as fast as they dared back toward the opening between the boulders for the open trail.
Dwayne suddenly grunted, the sound loud in the hushed fog. Lance made a similar noise, much more guttural. In front of Crawley, Hound and Bear both stopped moving abruptly.
What the hell? Keep going.
Lance isn’t moving. I shoved at him and he isn’t responding. I think he’s dead, Hound said. I think Dwayne is too.
Crawley waited a moment to see if either Lance or Dwayne would dispute Hound’s statement. Neither moved or spoke. That dread in Crawley’s gut had grown to real fear. Who the fuck were these fuckers, and how were they killing his men so damned easily? He was enhanced. His men were enhanced. None of this made any sense.
We have a better chance if we allow them to take us prisoner. As it is, we can’t tell what we’re facing. If they don’t kill us outright, we can assess what we’re up against and then hit them hard, Crawley decided. Don’t resist in any way. They’re clearly playing for keeps.
“We’re going to stand up and surrender,” Crawley said. “There are three of us left alive.” He kept bitterness from his voice.
The men had not only been his responsibility but been his friends. He wasn’t someone who chased after gold. His mind was normally clear, yet he’d been caught in some kind of hallucination fed by the fog, he was certain. Now he could think again. As he stood, he noticed the fog no longer had a lavender tinge to it. It still rolled and spun, but it appeared a normal gray and was thinning a bit.
“Walk out from the boulders and make certain you leave your weapons and all communication devices on the ground. If you’re caught with a gun or knife or any means of communication to Shaker or anyone else on you, you aren’t going to survive.”
That voice, as always, didn’t change tone. It was low, calm, patient and deliberate. Crawley knew the bastard meant every word.
“Get rid of everything you have on you,” he ordered aloud. Remember you are a weapon. They don’t know you’re enhanced or that you’ve had extensive training. He wanted to reassure his men they would be fine. He wasn’t as certain as he professed, but he was their leader and wanted to keep his men sharp, alert and confident enough to seize whatever opportunity came their way.
He dumped his weapons, watch, every device he had and observed as Bear and Hound did the same. They locked their fingers behind their heads and walked out from the boulder corridor, stepping carefully around the bodies of Lance and Dwayne. He glanced at them quickly as he moved past. They both appeared to be covered in white and brown threads of some kind.
What the fuck was that shit? He wanted to examine the weapon or whatever had killed them much closer, but the fog, although thinning, moved in between them, and he had to keep walking.
Did you see their bodies? he asked his men.
I caught a glimpse, Bear said. Looked like a fast-acting toxin of some kind. Dwayne had foam around his mouth and blisters on his skin where that plant touched him.
It had been a plant. Crawley frowned, trying to digest that. How had a venomous plant erupted from the ground and covered both of his men, killing them? There weren’t deadly plants that did that kind of thing, at least not in the Lolo National Forest.
Once clear of the boulders, Crawley found himself blinking in the early morning sunlight, free of the fog. He looked around him. The trail was a little wider than it had seemed leading to the boulders. There were more rocks than he remembered and fewer trees, the way it should have been at this altitude. Still, brush and trees, the forest beginning to emerge, meeting the rocks.
A man stepped out a distance from them. He waved toward some flatter rocks out in the open. “Sit down, Crawley,” he invited. “I’m Jonas. Hound and Bear, take a seat beside him.”
Crawley winced. He didn’t like the fact that Jonas knew them all by name. They obeyed, although a little slowly, walking reluctantly to the very exposed rocks. They took a seat as ordered, all three of them searching the ground for any unusual plants that might suddenly attack.
Feel like I’ve got a target painted right between my eyes, Bear said.
Mine’s on the back of my neck, Hound said.
Crawley felt the target in the area of his heart. He took a look around him using his enhanced vision, noting the trees in the distance. He was certain someone had a sniper rifle on them.
“Who are you, Jonas? What do you want with us?” He made certain to keep his voice just as calm. Just as even.
Jonas regarded him with unusually colored eyes. “You remember that team of misfit GhostWalkers? The really screwed-up one? The one you came here to scout so Shaker can bring his men in and wipe us all out? I’m one of them.”
That news was like a punch in the gut. It was the last thing Crawley expected. All the data on Team One of the GhostWalkers said they were barely able to function. An impeccable source had been paid dearly for that information; at least, that was what Crawley’s boss had told him. He had the sinking feeling that so-called impeccable source didn’t know what they were talking about.
“I see.” Crawley was noncommittal. He didn’t want to give too much away. Clearly, Jonas or a member of his team had been watching and listening to them prior to the ambush. He couldn’t very well deny his intentions, but he needed to find out just how much Jonas knew.
Jonas nodded. “Just so you’re aware, I don’t need all three of you. It would be best if you answer my questions. I know you’re here to collect information on both teams and send it back to Shaker and his troops. You’re also supposed to take Lily and her son to get them out of the line of fire. Who exactly sent you? Before you answer me, Crawley, I want you to know, I can hear lies. If you lie to me, Bear is going to die.”
Shit, Crawley, Bear said. There’s no reason not to tell him. He’s not bluffing.
Crawley assessed the distance between Jonas and himself. He was fast. Very fast. They were out in the open, and he could cross that clearing and be on the man in an instant. If he got his hands on Jonas, he had no doubt he could kill him. Still, it seemed as if there might be more than one sniper pointing a weapon at them. If that was the case, Bear would be killed anyway. Possibly Hound. He would be too. It would all be for nothing other than the satisfaction of seeing Jonas die.
Crawley sighed. “I work security for a company called FreeAbrEnds. Most people just refer to the company as FAE.”
Crawley could tell Jonas knew exactly what institution he was talking about. In a way, there was some satisfaction that his bosses weren’t quite as anonymous as they thought they were. He knew they considered themselves so superior and entitled because they had enough money to buy the entire planet.