Dean watched in growing alarm as more body bags were tossed into the back of the wide-load trucks parked at the entrance of the village. He counted the loaded body bags in the first truck and the number was thirty-five. Forty-five body bags were loaded in the second truck. It looks like those are the villagers. God. It seems that many villagers are dying in Esmeralda.

The soldiers in charge of disposal efficiently carried out their task without comment or expression. Dean swallowed a rush of disgust, wondering how they justified it to themselves. Probably assured themselves they were good little soldiers simply following orders, just like the captured Russian soldiers between the war in Russia and Ukraine - they said they were just following the orders of the superior.

He was stunned. He then remembered those soldiers in Germany during Hitler's attack on Poland - they just followed orders. Who are they to question the command of the superior, right?

Battling his rising fury, Dean crept deeper into the forest, moving through the shadows like a nocturnal predator. As a black ops soldier, that means he has the ability to be invisible. He has the ability to sneak right underneath these men's noses, even slit their throats without anyone knowing he was ever there.

Through the trees, he could spy and fit into the khaki-colored tents. The men in charge had set up a headquarters of some sort, and that was the place to be if he wanted answers. The M4 strap is already on his shoulder, but he hasn't touched the rifle yet. Instead he pulled a sharp blade from his waistband. If he wants to knock out the soldiers on guard, he must knock them down quietly.

He stepped closer to the entrance of the camp. His position offered a line of sight to the entrance of a tent that two uniformed men had just emerged from. Following them were two armed soldiers, and based on what he could see in their uniforms, all four were Americans. It looks like there is a joint task going on in that village.

His stomach went rigid as he thought of those body bags. Task force? Maybe not, they probably just cleaned up the joint.

"She's lying."

The muffled voice drifted towards him. Holy cow. The soldier speaking is just another U.S. Army general. Damn, the U.S. may not send of the general for a clean up only. It looks like this operation is bigger than he thought.

He inched closer, struggling to make out the conversation occurring twenty yards away.

"...to Valera. Question the staff, see what Carter told them."

"...necessary? And to contain that many people?"

"Easier if..."

Damn, he can't hear much of their conversation. He needs to get closer.

Adjusting his grip on the knife, he moved without making a solitary sound, finding cover behind another tree, this one with low-hanging branches that allowed him to blend into the darkness.

"...the clinic will be handled."

The clinic? His fear grew even more when he heard the general mention the familiar name.

"Ricafort needs to be handled, too."

Dean straightened up. Ricafort? As in Thalia Ricafort? The doctor he talked to just this afternoon?

"...won't be hard. Her death could be blamed on the virus."

The general seemed to mull it over. "Carter was checking on patients when he died."

"We'll say she was here, too. Making the rounds with Carter."

"Two dead American doctors? This won't look good." He heard him cursed. "But that's what they get for releasing Meredian this close to a damn international medical facility. Who was the genius who made that call?"

Meridians? Dean filed away the word as he watched the two men move away from the tent.

He saw the general turn to the soldiers guarding the entrance. "If she tries to run, shoot her," he ordered the accompanying soldier.

Dean's body stiffened. If what he heard was correct, Thalia was probably inside one of the tents. Dammit, how did that happen?

That's right, the girl mentioned to him about this doctor colleague. Maybe she came here to look for her colleague. He suddenly remembered that the doctor's name was Kelvin, who worried her so much because he had not returned to their clinic. His death could be blamed on the virus.

Anger suddenly rose from his core. The shameless ones, they even plan to kill Thalia and blame the virus.

Well, he can't agree. No freaking way would he allow that to happen.

He's not your objective, Dean.

The nagging little voice only pissed him off. He knew that saving the doctor was no longer his responsibility. Hell, all the mayhem and confusion of the past fourteen months was a direct result of his unit's attempt to rescue a doctor. But Dr. Ricafort's case is different from Dr. Edison, especially when they discovered that this experiment made people like rats.

But Thalia Ricafort? He's a big fool if he also lets her become a casualty of the damn virus. So yes, he ought to be gathering more intel, he will listen to the conversations around, he will also try to see what is really inside the body bags, but first he will prioritize saving the doctor if she is in the camp of the soldier, the smart and beautiful doctor who again awakened his libido that day.

-----

The soft hissing sound brought a frown to Thalia's lips. She twisted around in the chair, trying to pinpoint where the noise had come from. She strained her ears, but the sound had stopped.

She frowned. Okay, what was that?

For a second she thought that the soldiers who captured her might feed her to the snake. And while her heart was pounding, she looked carefully at her feet to see if there was a snake approaching her, but she didn't see a single snake.

She immediately turned around when she noticed a shadow outside the tent.

Oh my! Someone was cutting the tent!

Her fear continued to be uncontrollable, then she saw a hand trying to make a hole in the tent, and when it finally made a hole, she met a familiar pair of eyes.

Thalia gasped. "Dea--" he swiftly held his index finger to her lips to silence her.

A million questions were playing in her mind, but even though he hadn't signaled her to be quiet, she still couldn't speak. She was too dumbfounded.

The man who suddenly appeared in the tent like a ghost was no longer the man she remembered coming to Valera. He was no longer wearing casual pants and a T-shirt. He is now wearing a black T-shirt that is fit to his body. Then he wears cargo pants that fit his long legs. He was also wearing boots and besides...crap...there was a long caliber gun slung over his shoulder. She saw that he was also holding a sharp knife that must have been the one he used to make a hole in the tent.

Thalia gulped as the sharp steel of a knife winked in the light from the electric lanterns illuminating the tent.

She seemed to be looking into the eyes of a warrior. Those are not the eyes she saw when she went to Valera. Dean Magallon now seems to have a different purpose in coming here. Waves of strength and danger rolled off his powerful body, making her mouth go dry.

Without saying a word, he suddenly touched her chin.

She almost jumped at what he did, then she relaxed when she saw the unspoken question in his gaze.

Are you okay?

Thalia just nodded at this. Oh God, what is this man doing here?

And why does she feel that his real job is not really a journalist?

Dean took her arm and led her to the slit he'd created in the tent. "Stay close," he murmured, his voice so low it was barely audible. "If I say move, move. If I say stop, stop. Do exactly what I tell you, do you understand?"

She just stared at him with wide eyes.

Wait...will he help her escape?

"Soldiers surround this village," he said. "They will shoot us if they see us running away."

"They will kill you too if you stay here."

Her nervousness is getting more intense. Maybe it would be better for her to just listen to this man rather than argue with what he is planning.

He reached behind him and pulled a black handgun from his waistband. "Do you know how to use a gun?"

She nodded.

The man immediately gave her his gun. "Good."

Her heart pounded a frantic beat in her chest as she watched Dean carefully part the tent to peer out. She seemed satisfied by what she saw, because he ducked back in and shot her a firm look.

"Stay on my side, Doc. Just do everything I tell you, and we'll both get out of here alive."

*****