Page 35 of Tracking the Alpha
He eyed the vehicle, a white paneled van lacking windows in the back that could have belonged to anyone and while slightly dented on the roof, with one side mirror snapped, it still appeared drivable. Odd that the general didn’t have any of the armored military vehicles common on actual bases. Could be they wanted to keep their presence and location quiet. A green tactical unit would be noticed and, given the camera-happy social media users, shared online.
Did the van still run? Before jumping into the driver seat, Barrett hastily dressed in the uniform he’d filched. The soldiers might be driving a civilian vehicle, but they still wore regulation gear. The clothes fit a tad loosely on his lean frame and the boots pinched his toes uncomfortably. It seemed blasphemous to admit even to himself that he missed the freedom of not wearing any garments at all. One advantage to being a wolf. Something he would have liked? A weapon. These boys had been sent out without even a pocketknife. Kind of made him miss his claws.
Barrett clambered into the driver’s seat and saw the walkie-talkie sitting in the cup holder. Fuck. He switched it off, but it didn’t seem enough. He smashed it against the console, mangling it beyond repair. He tossed the pieces out the window and then stared at the auto start button by the steering column. He patted the pockets of his pants. Nothing. Could the key be in the van somewhere? Hidden when it rolled? Only one way to find out. He held the brake and pressed the start button. The console flashed a message—No key detected.
Dammit. He hopped outside and patted down the soldier still wearing his bottoms. Bingo!
With the jangling set, he hopped back into the driver seat and tried to start it again.
Chug. Chug. Cough.
“Don’t tell me the vehicle got too damaged in the roll,” he muttered. Talk about shit luck. While not a man who believed in God, he still uttered a short prayer before he tried again.
Vroom.
A grin spread over his face as the van roared to life. He quickly exited and grabbed the men on the ground, tossing them into the back. No clue still what he’d do with them, but at least he could move them and the van elsewhere so no one would accidentally come across them.
The vehicle bumped and creaked as he maneuvered his way along the ditch to a spot where he could get it back onto the road. When the tires gripped pavement, he hit the gas and sped off. As he coasted along the road, he slapped the steering wheel. “Holy shit. I did it. I escaped!”
The realization and elation lasted only a few seconds.
He couldn’t leave and the reasons why insisted on reminding him.
For one, his section remained prisoner. Leave no comrade behind. They might not be in a war zone, but that unwritten rule still applied.
Two, Tanis. She’d die when she didn’t produce Barrett.
Three, Davidson and Project Therianthrope had to be stopped so no one else had to suffer.
So, no, he couldn’t flee the area and find a place to hide. He had to go back.
Seeing an overgrown track that veered from the road into the woods, he suddenly swerved and bumped along the rutted trail for about ten minutes before he reached a sad-looking cabin. Sagging roof. Dirty windows. A porch that hadn’t been used in so long a tree straggled up through the rotting boards. Abandoned and perfect for his needs.
It didn’t take much to kick the door open to discover the interior in only slightly better shape. Dusty, full of cobwebs, and mildewy but a perfect place to stash the soldiers. Leaving them here instead of killing them was a risk, especially since Barrett understood that when they woke, no doubt they’d find a way to free themselves. However, if luck were on his side, that wouldn’t happen before nightfall, which occurred late afternoon this time of year. Depending on their level of nerve, the soldiers might brave the darkness in an attempt to find the road and call for help. Barrett was counting on the fact that since they lacked proper clothing, a light, and with the knowledge they were in the boonies that they’d spend the night and not set out until morning.
In either scenario, it would be a dozen or more hours before they could walk back to the facility, seeing how he’d driven a good forty clicks. While it was possible they’d encounter someone on the road, or stumble across a home or business that would allow them to make a call, he highly doubted it. He’d seen no other cars or buildings in the time he’d travelled, and visitors to the facility were rare.
Enough worrying about them, though. Barrett needed to get moving. Since he’d rashly acted, he had no choice but to follow through. This was just the kick in the ass he’d needed after spending too much time moping in the woods. Did he have a plan? Kind of. Get inside the facility, eliminate the general—because he totally deserved to die—take out the major—who was also a huge prick—free his section and whoever else he found being kept prisoner, all without getting caught or killed first. As to the how? Now that he had pants—and hope—he’d figure that out. He had to because Tanis’ life depended on him succeeding. She’d seemed to think she could waltz back into the general’s domain and spy. If Davidson or Stevens caught her…
Best he hurry back before anything happened. He exited the cabin and yanked the door shut. Since it swung outward, for added time, he wedged a rotted rain barrel against it. The soldiers would eventually muscle their way free, but any added obstacle would increase the time it took them.
The van roared to life the moment he hit the ignition, easing a worry he’d not realized he even had. How bad would it have sucked if the damned thing refused to start? He put it in gear and drove back to the place he should be escaping from.
Fuck running like a yellow-bellied coward. The general wanted to create a super soldier, let him see firsthand what he’d wrought.
Barrett ditched the truck in the woods a kilometer out from the makeshift base and crept in through the woods, conscious of every branch he cracked, the heavy boots not made for stealth. No one noticed his approach, and he found a tree with a perfect branch for spying. He kept watch for the rest of that afternoon and noted when the sentry on the wall swapped out. Not long after dark, the gate closed for the night as everyone settled in. Everything seemed quiet. Calm.
Should he try sneaking past a camera and climbing a wall? Could he even scale it? The smooth concrete wouldn’t have handholds and, at ten feet, might require more than a running leap for him to grip an upper edge to climb. Even if he did manage to make the ascent, he then had barbed wired to contend with. So how could he get inside?
Movement on the roof of the barn-like structure, one of the few things he could see over the wall, caught his attention. As he watched, a slight figure ran across the roofline, steps light, shape familiar.
Tanis…
What was she doing, other than making his heart stutter?
She held up her arms, one hand holding a V shape, the other pulling back?—
Holy shit. She had a slingshot. Was she taking out the sentry?
