The Silent Alpha novel Chapter 75

***Zane*** 

My chest burns as we rush through the woods, the toxins inhaled before putting on my mask scorching my lungs.

"Come on, Zane, we gotta move fast.The training grounds are just down there for us to resupply," Tylen instructs, leading the way through the thick forest.

I follow him silently, my mind drifting off to Taryn. It was so close! So close.

I just needed to reach a little more and she would have been safe! We reach the training grounds, Tylen raiding the weaponry cabinets for supplies, not once mentioning what just happened and carrying on like his aunt didn’t just fall to her death.

How can he be so cold? He hands me a new rifle and its accompanying bullets, snapping his fingers at my face when I don’t immediately grab them.

"Hey, snap out of it," he barks.

"I need you here. I don’t have time to babysit you or your feelings."

"S-she’s dead..."

I murmur, the image of her last soft smile flashing in my mind.

"D-doesn’t that bother y-you? "Of course it does,"

Tylen snaps with indignation.

"But we don’t have time to mourn right now.All we can do is honor her sacrifice and make it out of this war alive.That is what she would have wanted.That is what I plan to do," he adds, loading up his rifle.

"This is war, Zane.It does not care about your feelings.It does not care if your heart or your body hurts.It does not care for your conscience, it wants blood.It brings death and destruction.There will come a time where you will have to make an ugly decision and you have to remember: there are no good and bad guys here, there’s just them and us and the sooner you make peace with that, the easier it will be to handle."

He takes my rifle and inspects it to make sure I’ve loaded it right.

"Let’s go."

His stonecold face tells me he’s repeated these very words to himself over and over again throughout the years to get through each day and it worries me to think I might ever become like him.

Tylen takes me to the edge of the island and instructs me to lay flat on my stomach among the brush to camouflage.

Through binoculars, we scope out the Scarlett Haven boats as they enter the channel.

"The Eastern part of the main island is stable, but the west is f****d," Tylen mutters to himself.

"Those Scarlett mutts have managed to take control of the harbor and it won’t be long before they make it into the inner circle of the islands and onto the bunker island.I’ve called for some of the reserved troops from the two northern islands to mobilize, but most will be going to the main island and the few that are coming here will take some time to get here, sol need you to focus.We need a plan to block off the mouth of the channel so that the Scarlett mutts don’t touch the bunker.Any more brilliant ideas?" He asks, turning to me.

I’m surprised he’s asking me, but I focus on my task at hand and scan the waters.With the fog clearing away, it is much easier to see the tactical movements of the Scarlett Haven wolves.They appear to be moving in groups of two, maneuvering at a snail’s pace in single file through the channel.

To my relief, they barely move a few feet at a time in the untouched waters where mines of gas canisters are still hidden.From the cliffs above, Scarlett Haven troops monitor for any attacks coming from our island.

"W-what exactly is y-your gift?" I ask, my brain trying to come up with a plan.

"Molecular combustion," Tylen shrugs.

"I can turn any object into a bomb."

Why is he only mentioning this now? Grayson mutters.

"The issue is I have a limit.Charging the bombs is energetically draining.The bigger the object, the more energy it takes for me to convert it," he explains.

"The silver beads my father gave me were a solution to that problem.They are small enough to not require a lot of energy but still pack a punch when used," Tylen adds.

"I still have some energy left but I’m all out of beads." He turns back to the water.

"Your gift is...what exactly? I thought you were a telepath."

"M-mind manipulation. Th-that’s my gift," I reply.

"I-l.can see y-your thoughts and memories and show them to p-people and I-I can control minds-"

"So Professor X but on a smaller scale?" he asks, rolling his eyes when I stare blankly at him.

"Please tell me you know Professor X?"

He barely knows how to masturbate, Grayson laughs.He's basically an oversized toddler.

Ignoring my wolf, I try to focus on the idea formulating in my head.

Scanning the cliff face and the wolves just above and below, I notice a weak spot on the cliff caused by erosion and my plan begins to materialize.

"Is it me or are they not moving?"

Tylen suddenly blurts out, nudging me to look through my scope.He's right.They’re not moving...Grayson observes.

They must be waiting for something...

Knowing time is not on our side, I try to focus on my idea.

"H-how many b-big explosions do y-you think y-you can make?" I ask, Tylen calculating in his head.

"Maybe 6 or 7 but I would be completely drained afterwards," Tylen explains.

"Q-okay..." I hum to myself, suddenly very nervous to present my idea.

"W-well what if we.. w-what if we.."

"Zane, now is not the time to be shy," Tylen snaps.

"If you have an idea, spit it out."

Hold my fanny pack, Graysonsnarls. I set this boy straight.

Stop talking.

Let me think! I snap, trying to gather my thoughts.

Talia always tells me to breathe...

Just breathe I take a deep breath, my plan finally settling.

"W-what if we make a slingshot?" I ask, Tylen raising an amused eyebrow at me.

Despite his condescending look, I press onwards.

"I-If y-you charge four or five rocks and w-we aim for that we-weak spot on that cliff, w-we can cause a collapse a-and-"

"Trigger the remaining gas canisters with the movement to wipe out both the boats and the soldiers on top entirely!" Tylen finishes my thought.

"s**t, that might actually work."

"I saw resistance bands a-at the training grounds," I offer 

"Grab them and I'll find the rocks," Tylen instructs.

We gather our supplies and meet at the edge of the forest with the clearest view of the main island to assemble our makeshift slingshot.

Using two large trees as our base for the slingshot, I tie the end of a thick resistance band to each trunk.

Once secured, Tylen loads the first rock, placing both hands on the top and bottom of the stone and pulls back as far as he can, the stone in his hand glowing red.

"L-left," I point, using the scope of my rifle to visualize the target.

"Go left."

Tylen repositions himself and releases the stone, my breath hitching as I watch it fly over the channel.

A huge cloud of smoke rises with the explosion, bullets flying in our direction in retaliation.

Tylen and I take cover behind the trees, counting to five before returning fire.

When the smoke cloud clears, Tylen and I load another rock, Tylen charging it up before releasing it.We do this once more, this time hearing a loud crack on the face of the cliff.

"Holy s**t, it’s working," Tylen hisses as we take cover behind the trees.

"Backup is on the way.They’ve cleared the east and sent soldiers to the west.We just need to hold them off a little longer."

We load the last stone onto the slingshot in hopes of finishing the job, when we suddenly hear the hum of an engine fly over us.

"The agricultural plane..." Tylen whispers under his breath, his face paling.

"Fuck." I, however, manage not to panic, taking the charged stone from his hand and pulling it back as far as I can while crouching down on my knees.

"What are you doing?"

"T-taking down the plane," I reply, my eyes searching the dark skies for the intruder.

Unable to find the plane, I listen for it and release the stone, counting the seconds and hoping I didn't miss.

5...

4...

3...

2...

A loud bang echoes across the sky followed by flares of red and yellow flames.

Through the dark smoke, we see the plane fly out of control, crashing directly against the cliff’s face.

Sheets of rock, fire, and debris crumble into the ocean, several of the Scarlett Haven wolves falling with it.

We can’t even hear their screams as a number of canisters burst open and bullets from the remaining machine guns fire into the water.