Chapter 183

#Chapter 183 – Alpha Command At the back of the pack, Alvin sees his father begin to step forward, ahead of all of the other Beta troops –

He sees the focus of the guns on the watchtower at enemy barracks turn as one towards his dad –

And Alvin throws back his head and screams, howling with all of his might.

The Betas on either side of him flinch, shocked at the noise, and Alvin uses the opportunity to dash forward –

His arm is caught, though, by one of the Betas assigned to keep him safe.

“No!” the Beta shouts, “your commands! Your father told you to stay here!”

The other Beta takes Alvin’s other arm.

“No!” Alvin yells in response, fear and desperation on his face. “The are going to shoot my papa! I have to help him!”

The Betas faces are sad, anxious – they too see their leader stepping forward –

“You will let me go!” Alvin shouts, pulling at the hands on his arms, but his six-year-old strength isn’t enough to break it.

“We’re sorry!” The first Beta says, working hard to keep his hold on the writhing child. “Your father’s orders –“

Alvin stops suddenly, his body going perfectly still, and then he focuses his attention on the first Beta.

“You will let me go,” he says, his voice even and deep. “I command it.”

The Beta feels his muscles tighten, frozen, obeying – he gasps and feels his hands loosen. But his mind, his thoughts, are still his own. “What the –“

Alvin quickly turns his attention to the other Beta. “You as well,” he says, his voice still taking on that note of command. “Release me.”

The other Beta looks in wonder at the boy, but his hands open. Alvin flies out of their grasp, streaking for the line of Hummers positioned behind the troops – the same cars that carried them there. Alvin chooses one in particular – one with a megaphone on top.

It’s a work of seconds, really – just moments have passed since Victor stepped forward onto the field, since Alvin gave his command, since he climbed in the hummer –

The Betas look at each other, baffled, and then as one realize that Alvin told them to let him go, not to stay behind. They bolt towards the car, its front seat open, just as they hear Alvin’s voice boom out over the field.

“Scramble!” Alvin commands the Beta forces. “Run! Forward! Backward! Run! Do it! Run!”

And then, to everyone but Alvin’s shock, they do.

His two Beta guards arrive at the door to the Hummer then, reaching in and grabbing Alvin, pulling him away from the megaphone.

“Get back!” The Beta shouts, lifting Alvin away from the car and towards the tree line behind them. “You are not to interfere!”

“I had to help!” Alvin yells as the Betas drag him again back to the edges of their forces.

“You might have ruined everything!” the other Beta shouts, looking over his shoulder in fear.

“Well, is my father dead?” Alvin growls, knowing the answer. The two Betas look at him with chagrin.

“Then it worked, didn’t it?”

The Betas look at each other, not knowing what to say, one opening his mouth to try something anyway, when suddenly a group of dark figures swarms out from the brush, surrounding them.

They move quickly, tearing the Betas away from Alvin, smashing them over the head with something hard – Alvin can’t quite tell what – then grabbing him –

Alvin gasps as he’s grasped roughly around the waist and hoisted into the air by one tall Beta he doesn’t recognize. Then, dangling from the crook of that man’s arm, Alvin is bounced roughly as the man runs with his companions to a set of vehicles they’ve hidden in the forest.

“We’ve got him,” the man says into the radio at his shoulder. “Captive has been acquired.”

Alvin moans and tries to scream against his rough treatment, his capture, but a hand smacks across his mouth and places him on the seat of an ATV, someone climbing up behind him.

“Heard,” a voice replies over the radio. “Bring him to the house.”

At that, the ATV lurches forward, the man letting go of Alvin’s mouth in order to work the controls at the front of the 4-wheeler. Alvin does scream, then, but it doesn’t matter. He’s carried away – too far, too fast – before anyone can stop them.

Victor spins at the front of the field, wondering who the hell gave that command – that Alpha command – to scramble. But even as he looks Betas swarm around him, making it impossible for an onlooker to tell which of these men in tactical black is the leader who just stepped forward.

“Sir,” a Beta Captain says, coming forward, concerned, “what is your command?!”

“I –“ Victor says, still confused, looking around – but suddenly, he sees a streak of black coming across the field towards them. Just one – a single soldier, running from the enemy ranks directly – directly – for where they’re standing now.

The Beta standing next to Victor pulls his weapon, aiming it at the soldier rushing for them, his finger tightening on the trigger as he takes aim –

But suddenly, Victor’s hand is there, against the side of the gun.

“Stop!” Victor shouts. For, just as his Beta was about to pull the trigger, he saw the soldier’s face.

Rafe.

In a few short moments, Rafe reaches them, panting – putting his hands on his knees to recover his breath.

“FALL IN,” Victor shouts, giving the command to his troops to reform, to stop the chaos. The captains throughout his ranks repeat the command and his troops come slowly back together, reforming.

As they do, Victor glances at his brother, who is still catching his breath, and then at the watch tower, where Evelyn – oh, thank god – Evelyn is still standing at the top, a rough-looking Beta holding her arms behind her back.

“What the hell was that,” Rafe says, still panting. “That…chaos?”

“I don’t know,” Victor says, watching his troops fall back in line.

“Well, it played out in my favor,” Rafe says, considering it. “Bought me time to run across – we’ll have to remember that for future campaigns –“

“Rafe,” Victor says sternly, grabbing his brother by the shoulder. “What the hell is going on over there?”

“Right,” Rafe says, opening his mouth to report, but before he can say anything the voice blares again from the watch tower.

“This is your last chance,” the voice says, ringing out over the field. “We won’t accept any more distractions – Alpha Kensington will come forward, or we will drop her now.”

To prove their intentions, they dangle Evelyn off of the edge of the tower, holding her just by her arms.

Victor can see her face, even at this distance, can see her very real fear – see her try to hold back the shriek and then fail –

It pierces the air, pierces him, and he again steps forward –

“No!” Rafe shouts grabbing his brother by the arm. “Victor, no – we’ve got to charge –“

“RAFE!” Victor shouts, his voice full of fear, “she’ll fall –“

“They won’t let her fall,” Rafe says, “she’s their only pawn –“

“I can’t risk it,” Victor growls in reply and then turns, determined, back to the field ahead of him.

“HOLD,” he cries to his troops, demanding that they hold still as he takes three steps forward into the open area between the armies.

The air is silent, silent enough to hear the click of a gun as a single bullet is fired.