Chapter 6-7: Unforseen Developments - Invisible Enemy

Paul- United Human Faction- Night 64

            The trees of Pike Forest were likely the safest the soldiers of the Faction’s Main Offensive Army would see for months, yet they seemed to have the most horrific effect of any Paul had led them through. The trees’ wood seemed darker at night than in the day, even in the light of their solar flashlights. The dirt seemed too stiff underfoot in places. The animals were quieter than they had any right to be. Men cowered around campfires rather than in the clinical safety of their Kevlar tents, and ghost stories ran rampant through the barracks. Stories spread of men, reported as deserters, who had been pulled away by shadows in the night, by invisible men with violent intentions.

            “Some of my soldiers are sayin’ we ran over an Indian burial ground, or something like that,” General Klein of New Mexico complained to julian, Masked as always. “I’m sick of having our progress slowed to a crawl because a couple assholes from the Washington line decided to slip away in the forest.”

            “It says here that twelve men from Washington disappeared alongside over forty six of your men. Damn, General, that’s more than a full platoon, how did you manage to keep moving with those kind of casualties?”

            “They aren’t casualties, they’re desertions!” Klein screamed.

            “You’re troops claim otherwise,” The Masked Man stated. “I hear all over the camps that your boys got snatched by ghosts.”

            Paul looked up from his notes, not sure if Julian honestly believed in the foot soldiers’ story, or if he was simply mocking the General. Klein jumped to the second conclusion.

            “You might think you’re the best man in this army, but that gives you no right to talk down to those of us who have given up everything for your cause!“

            “I’m not talking down to you, I’m voicing honest concern for my troops,” stated the Masked Man in a tone not conveying concern for the lives of his troops.

            “About ghosts?”

            “Yes, General. Are you not concerned?”

            Klein was speechless.

            “You are aware that two of our agents went missing in the same area where you lost your men, correct?” he continued, turning back toward Paul. “Tell the general what happened last time an agent tried to desert.”

            Paul hesitated.

            "I'd rather not, if you don't mind."

            Julian continued to stare expectantly, but a quick shake of Paul's head proved his unwillingness.

            "Suffice to say, his partner brought him back, shall we say, incomplete, then recruited a suitable replacement, right Paul?"

            "That's the clean version," Paul said, shuddering.

            “And these disappeared men aren’t just any agents. These are trusted men. Carlos and Thomas were their names. They were both yours, too, weren’t they Paul?” the leader of the revolution mocked.

            “So what do you want me to do about it? Go hunting through the woods for fifty corpses? We’ll be able to take Washington before we’d be able to find them. I say we push forward. No more security stops. No more head counts. I’d rather lose a division in rushed combat than another unit in these woods,” Klein replied, obviously upset.

            “So you would call these fifty men acceptable losses?” Julian asked.

            “In these circumstances, they have to be.”

            “Paul, take fifty of Klein’s men and sweep the forest for ghosts,” the Masked Man ordered, whispering as he left the command tent. “Clean up your mess. I don’t want to see that freak alive again.”