North POV
We are waiting for word that the new runners from Emperton are on their way. We are paying a high price for this crew, but the Academy numbers are dwindling and we are using outside contractors that are looking for a better life.
I look around the table before I start the briefing. This is the first official mission that Jessica will be joining us on. Axel's group was able to find Uncle, Erica and Jessica and transport them to Ashville a few months after we arrived.
The last five years have taken its toll on the group, but the last two weeks is pushing us all to the breaking point. Nathan, Kota, Victor, Luke and Jessica are all looking to me to guide them through the details of the search and rescue mission. Two weeks ago Owen, Sean, Gabriel and Silas were captured by some rebel forces and are being held prisoner. We negotiated a trade but I have put together a tactical plan that will weaken their numbers before we try to make the trade.
It involves a female fighter/assassin that we found in the Emperton camp.
"We have secured the medical supplies, guns and ammunition that the rebel forces are demanding as ransom. The truck is currently in route. The crew that we hired does not currently have all of the details on the mission, but we are confident that after they meet with us that they will continue with the transfer. The plan is to send her in first as a distraction. From what I have read about her, she might be able to take our half of their crew before we even set foot in the camp," I say to everyone.
Kota looks at me and says, "What do we know about the runners?"
I respond, "They are a husband and wife team that has been in the Emperton camp for several years. She made it known to some of the guards that they were looking for work that would allow them to leave that facility and relocate. According to the guards, she is the actual muscle in the relationship, a trained killer that takes no prisoners. It is a tough environment and she adapted to survive."
Luke looks at me and says, "Emperton, did they know ..."
I cut Luke off saying, "Stop. We cannot let any thoughts distract us from bringing everyone home. Everyone is to keep their head on this mission. If you have questions, you wait until after they are back."
Nathan says, "When are we making contact?"
"If everything is on schedule they should be at the cabin tonight. Marc and Raven will make initial contact. After they agree to the additional terms, we will meet with them and leave for the camp. Double check your packs and make sure that you have everything that you need. If all goes well, we will have everyone home for breakfast." I say to the group.
I know what Luke was about to say and I just could not let him say her name. There is not a day that goes by that we have not thought of Sang. I cannot close my eyes at night without seeing the look on her face as she was screaming at us to let her go with us. Owen and Sean made the decision to send her to the civilian camp to protect her. We thought that after we got to Ashville that we could arrange for her transfer, but we were immediately sent out across the country trying to locate other Academy teams that were missing. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and months turned to years. When we were finally in a place to bring her home, we were notified that she was no longer at the Emperton camp. No one could tell us what happened to her.
To this day we don't know whether she left the camp or whether she died there.
Later
Sang POV
The trip to meet our contacts was actually uneventful and we only encountered two groups of feeders. The rifles and the ammo worked really well, and we were able to eliminate the threats quickly. While the highways were is poor repair, they were fairly clear of abandoned vehicles. I guess the military was in charge of doing this. We only encountered three checkpoints, and our papers were either real or good forgeries because our cargo was not inspected.
We pulled up to what looked like an abandoned house, but I could see that security cameras that were strategically placed around, I wonder if they have electricity and running water? That is a luxury that I have lived without for five years. I was immediately put on the defensive when I saw two men coming out of the house with guns drawn. They both looked older, but I immediately recognized them as Raven and Marc, two of the members of another Academy team from Charleston. Marc was the patient that I removed the nail from his leg when I was working with Dr. Green at the hospital.
If we had more supplies and ration cards I would have left immediately. The foreshadowing of what I knew was coming would have been enough to crush Sang, but I was no longer the same person. Sang died a year ago and now I went by the name Dark Angel. The only thing going through my mind right now was did they know who they had hired?
I climbed out of the truck and waited until Ben was standing beside me before acknowledging Marc and Raven. They eyed me suspiciously and Raven said, "I was told we hired a badass. I was expecting someone... taller."
It took me less than two seconds to pounce. I kicked his knee forward while grabbing his hair. Even though he was at least a foot taller than me, I had him on the ground with my knife at his throat before his expression could change. Applying two fingers to the pressure points on his wrist caused him to drop his gun and I tossed it to Bonbon caught the gun in his left hand because his own gun was in his right hand, placed against Marc's head.
Ben says behind me, "Lil Darlin we don't have full payment yet, and I don't think that we will get it if you kill the first person that you meet."
Others approached from the house, and then I heard someone say "You have proven yourself, now if you want to hear about the rest of the mission lower your weapons. Otherwise I will kill you here, your choice."
I looked up into the face of the person that was speaking and made eye contact. I glared at him as I said, "You think that you can kill me? There are many before you that thought they could and I am the one left standing. Do it, come on, what are your waiting for, finish the job that you started five years ago!"
The gun that was pointed at me is lowered, and North says, "Sang Baby, we thought you were dead."
I take the knife away from Raven's throat and stand up. I look back at North and say, "I don't know who you think that you are talking to. My name is not Sang is it Dark Angel. I knew someone named Sang once, but you are right, she did die. Ben, you have asked so many times about my past, and I refused to answer you. Well now you have a face, meet one of them. Sang had nine people that she loved and trusted with her life, but they wound up being the true executions. You had to fire the shot, but this is one of the people that I blame for having to put the gun in your hand."
I turn and look at Marc and say, "You have five minutes to tell me what the rests of the plan is, and it better not include teaming up with any of them. Follow me." I glare at North as I am walking away.
Ben POV
I am not sure what just happened, but it was obvious that Sang knew the people that were in this house. Two of the men go off after Sang while the dark hair man asks me to follow him into the house.
North looked at me and said, "My name is North and my associates were Raven and Marc."
I responded, "My name is Ben and from the greeting she gave you, I am guessing that y'all know my associate. What is the story? Did y'all know it was her before you chose her for this mission?"
North looks at me and says, "We knew Sang before the infection."
I look at him and say, "Why did y'all wait so long to try and find her, and why the cloak and dagger routine now?"
North looks away before he says, "We did not know that we were hiring her. A choice was made years ago that would keep her safe. We have regretted the decision every day, but we had to put her safety above all else."
My anger starts to rise, "Is that how you sleep at night, by saying she was safer there? She has been in a hell hole for five years."
North says, "When we were finally at a point that we could bring her to our compound Emperton said that she was no longer there. What did she mean about putting the gun in your hand?"
I looked at him and said, "Tell me about this mission that you have planned. I don't know if I can talk her into doing any more if she had that reaction to you."
North says, "We need help with a rescue. Several of our team members are being held hostage by some rebel forces. We have negotiated for their release, but we are concerned that they will back of the deal even after they receive the ransom."
"Why do you need her? What do you think that she can do that you would not be able to accomplish on your own" I ask.
"While it is not our intention to go in guns blazing, we need a distraction for their men. We heard about Dark Angel and thought that we were hiring an assassin that could take out a portion of their men and then fight her way out if she had to. We did not know that we were hiring Sang. Now that we know that it is her we will have to change our plans," North says with little emotion.
"It you want an assassin, you have hired the right person. She is not the same girl that you knew. Who are the people that are being held hostage," I ask.
"They are members of my team, one is a doctor, one is a chemist and the other two were working as their security detail. Sean and Gabriel are two of the leading scientist that worked on the cure for the infection. The rebels want to use their knowledge, creating infected bombs, but then being able to cure themselves if they do get infected," North says.
"There is a cure? What are you talking about," I say.
"It is not common knowledge yet, and there are very limited quantities," North says.
So many things are clicking together for me as North is talking.
"How long ago was it created," I ask.
"What? I don't know maybe eighteen months ago. Why," North says.
"Eighteen months ago and no one in the camps have heard about it? We still have people dying and your group developed a cure eighteen months ago," I scream.
"It has been in the experimental stage, there are still side effects that cannot be controlled. Plus we have not been able to mass produce it yet. We know that there are people suffering, and we are all trying to do our part to help, but there is just not enough to go around yet," North says with a pained expression on his face.
"What is your last name," I ask with venom in my voice.
"Taylor," North says.
"Ah now it all makes sense to me. There have been many cryptic clues that I have had to piece together over the past five years. She never wanted to talk about her life before the camp, but there were small statements that would come out especially when she was having her nightmares. Did she have nightmares before she came to the camp? I am thinking yes because for weeks she would wake up and say 'I need to call North.' I got to watch the pain in her eyes when she came back to the reality that her prior life was gone." I say. "I should really kill you and all of your 'associates' where you stand. How could you do that to her? How could you send her off and then just leave her like that," I yelled.
"We had no choice. We had to protect her. We could not put in the line of fire." North yells back at me.
"You need to find someone else for this. Dark Angel can never know that there was a cure, and that you had it. If she knows that there was something out there that could have saved her..." I stop talking. I have said too much already.
"What are you talking about? What do you mean could have saved her," North yells at me.
"Find someone else," I say to him.
North searches my eyes and says, "Now that we have found Sang, we are not going to let her go."
"You don't have a choice. The girl you knew as Sang Sorenson is gone. I watched her hold on for years, always holding back, always searching for something, but never finding it. She tried so hard to do everything right even in the bad conditions that we were in. She tried to cover the haunt in her eyes and there were a few times that I thought that she might really have put it behind her, but that all changed a year ago. What did she call you?"
North growls back and me and says, "What?"
I give him the same look. He is looking so smug, so I decide that I am going to lay it out for him and knock that smug look from his face. Sang and I have suffered with it on our own all this time, it is time to share the burden. "She had a nickname for you, what was it?"
North grabs my shirt and says, "I am growing tired of you. There is obviously more that you want to say. I have men out that too, and they are my family. I will do anything to protect them. All of this other shit can be talked about after they are back." North lets go of my shirt and starts to walk away.
I yell back and say, "Let me guess, it was North Star. It is really sad to think that you cared more about your 'family' than you did Sang and your own blood."
North turns back around and say, "What are you babbling about?"
"Enough, both of you. We are going to do this mission, I am going to get paid, and then we are leaving Ben. It is not your place to be discussing any of this. Marc filled me in on the mission and I am ready to leave," Sang says to North.
"Ben the zone that we are going to is not heavily infected, but we will be facing rebels. Load more of the guns from the back of the truck. While they are part of the ransom, if we cannot get the truck there, it won't matter anyway," Sang says to me.
North reached around to grab Sang's shoulders and says, "We are not going to let you go into this danger?"
Sang grabs his wrists, does a twist and North is flying through the air. When he lands, she is standing over him, glaring down and says, "Mr. Taylor, no one, and I mean no one touches me without my permission. If you try to again, I. WILL. KILL.YOU. I have spared your life so far because Sang had a soft spot for you, but this is your last warning that I am not Sang."
She leans down next to his ear and says softly, "I will go into the camp, I will save your family, you will pay me, and I will leave. I will not participate in any happy family reunion. I will not reminisce about the time in Emperton. I will not fill you with the tales of how much I hate you. I will just leave and you will not follow me."
Sang then stood up and said, "Ben get the truck started. You are driving."