Reapers: The Shadow Soldiers by Josh Collins Page A

 
    “Now, what was that?” he asked, face only inches from hers.
    “I’d ask you the same question,” she responded coolly. The situation was beginning to feel a little like déjà vu .
    “What?” he asked. “You think because we’re in your facility you can just do whatever with us?” Burns didn’t trust any of the crews here. He refused to believe anyone could retain their humanity in this place. Yet, the woman didn’t seem to know what he was talking about.
    “My facility? What is this? Some sort of hazing ritual?” she asked, seeming completely confused by his line of questioning. “I’m just looking for a guy called ‘the Colonel.’ I was going to ask your friend there, but—” she stopped, feeling like she’d made her point thoroughly enough.  
    Burns thought back to the armory room. One of the cases of armor had a smaller set than the rest. It must have belonged to this woman—she was his final member. He released her and stepped back a bit, looking over at Rhett to get some sort of confirmation that this was indeed his final member. Rhett only gave him a shrug.  
    “So, you’re him, huh?” she asked, readjusting the unbuttoned, black jacket she was wearing. Burns gave her a silent nod.
    “What’s your name?” he asked.
    “Zenia Carmen,” she answered.  
    Burns gave her a confirming nod back. “Right, Carmen. We’ve been told there is an immedi—” Rhett lightly pulled on Burns’ shoulder as he stepped forward.
    “Hold a minute, Colonel. I wasn’t notified about a Zenia Carmen,” he said as he positioned himself to block her from moving down the hall. She slightly glowered at Rhett’s defensive position.
    “Listen,” she impatiently urged, “I was approached by a tall, creepy guy who said he needed a medic.” Burns lightly pushed Rhett back. Describing Control was all the clearance she needed as far as he was concerned.  
    “So, you’re a doctor?” Burns asked. She seemed perplexed by the question.  
    “No, I’m a coroner,” she answered, and Burns was taken aback a second. The last person you wanted to revive you was someone who routinely worked with people who were already dead. “I went to medical school though,” she clarified.  
    Rhett pushed his way forward again, but this time Burns didn’t care. He’d begun to feel a little out of breath. His worst fears were starting to realize themselves. Intelligence wasn’t being as fastidious as they usually were. They were desperate and they spared no concern. It was possible that they didn’t really care about him or his team. If they lost, so what? No one would care about four civilians, certainly not the politicians. They were expendable.  
    Rhett began speaking again. “Battlefield medicine is a little different than its civilian counterpart. Besides, we needed a marksman,” he informed Carmen.  
    She bowed her head. “I can hit long-range targets, no problem.”  
    “And what’s your experience?” Rhett badgered, standing with his arms crossed. Carmen scoffed a little.  
    “I’ve shot a rifle before,” she remarked with a slight pitch of annoyance in her voice. Rhett shook his head back at her.
    “This mission is for the survival of an entire planet—if not the entire Dominion. We need a little bit more experience than general knowledge. It has to be instinct,” he said, hovering his finger in front of her face. She pushed it away.
    “Hey, lay off man!” she sneered. Burns agreed that Rhett was being aggressive, but he couldn’t intervene. His hands and arms had become ghostly white, and he felt flush. He assumed this was what death felt like. Rhett continued his onslaught nonetheless.
    “We already have one civilian on this operation. I wasn’t okay with that but it’s not up to me. However, I don’t think—” he was then interrupted by Brosi, who stepped up and pulled on his shoulder.
    “Excuse me,” he started. “This whole mission is dependent on my ability to disable that