A fight broke out last night. I thought our settlement would burn to the ground. Several men lost their lives. It was over what I have been mentioning nonstop, the fact that there are so few women compared to so many men.
—The journal of Isaac Ryland
The muscles in Andrew’s neck were tight. He tried his best to tilt his head toward the left to stretch them out, but it wasn’t working. These people are lying. The idea was overpowering. He tried his hardest to focus on anything else—his aches, the weather, even the paint colors—but nothing was working. He found it even more offensive that the RAG agents weren’t doing a good job with their charade.
He wondered what this building’s real purpose was, or at least tried to make himself wonder, but his mind kept going back to the simple fact that they were lying. To compare the place Andrew had lived to this palace was unfair and cruel. They headed back into the main area.
“I must admit, we are pleasantly surprised,” Albin said.
Andrew felt his rage boil again. Did the Frenchman actually buy this setup?
“Indeed,” Florence said. “It is a shame we couldn’t meet any young men though.”
“Your presence would distract them too much . . .”
Andrew tuned Agent Barker out. He watched the man’s lips move but didn’t try to hear whatever words he was saying. Everyone around him was a liar. Zack lied about Affinity, America was lying about how they treated their boys, and now the French were buying into it. Andrew had sacrificed eighteen years of his life for the American ideals. Work hard, train for service, do your time, then buy a wife. He had wasted so much time believing that he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Liars,” Andrew said.
It slipped out so fast Andrew wasn’t sure the room had even heard him. But they had. Everyone in front of him turned their head slowly toward him. Andrew was certain everyone behind him was watching as well. He didn’t care about them either at this point. He deserved some honesty.
“Excuse me?” Agent Barker said.
“I think the private is overtired,” Zack said.
Andrew clenched his jaw shut. He did not want to make another mistake. The agent did not look away from Andrew. Their eyes were glued to each other. The agent tilted his head to the side.
“Who are you?” he asked. “I knew the moment I saw your crew something wasn’t right.”
“We are from unit five-zero-sev—” Zack started to say.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Agent Barker said. “There is something wrong with all of you. Taking an extra woman, not on the manifest, into the country. Guards too young to deserve this type of position. Questions have been raised about your group already. Some very important people are interested in you.”
“Why would anyone be interested in us?” Flo asked.
“Keep your mouth shut,” Agent Barker said. “The only one I am interested in hearing speak is this man.”
Andrew saw the sweat beading on his forehead. Their eyes stayed connected. With that one small slipup Agent Barker now thought Andrew was the weak link in the group. He had to prove him wrong.
“Answer me,” Barker yelled. “Who are you?”
Andrew’s eyes darted toward Zack.
“Look at me,” Barker said.
With a quick motion the agent reached to his side and unholstered his weapon. He pointed it directly between Andrew’s eyes. Andrew remained still, with his arms at his sides. This wasn’t his first time staring down the barrel of a gun.
“Who is the liar?” Barker asked. “Aside from you and the girl.”
Andrew’s eyes widened when he mentioned Mia. Something or someone had tipped the agent off. Andrew knew he should repeat his cover story, but something had unhinged Agent Barker. There was no way to walk away from this situation without giving the best explanation possible.
“I could answer your question better if you told me who the interested party is,” Andrew said.
“Agent McMahon,” Agent Barker said without looking away from Andrew.
Out of his peripheral vision Andrew saw a man step forward from the line of RAG agents.
“Go bring back the girl and Agent Quillian.”
The man took a step forward and Andrew heard the sound of a gun being pulled and cocked. Andrew didn’t break eye contact with Agent Barker, but he saw Jesse pull his gun and point it at the agent walking away. Andrew heard the sound of more people pulling their weapons. Flo huddled near Albin, since they were unarmed.
“I demand you stop this right now,” Flo said. “All of you. What is going on?”
“Tell me,” Barker said. He looked right at Andrew.
Andrew remained still.
“Why is Grant Marsden interested in you?”
The name made the hairs on the back of Andrew’s neck stand up. It felt as if the entire world had slipped away and it was just him and Agent Barker in the room. Adrenaline took over as he swiftly lifted his arm and punched Agent Barker in the neck. A gunshot rang out and Andrew felt a bullet whiz past his ear.
As quickly as the world had faded away, it faded back in. Andrew dropped to the floor on his back. Zack, Jesse, and Bryan had their guns drawn and were shooting at the other RAG agents. There was a loud scream but Andrew didn’t look to see who it was coming from. Instead he kept his weapon in the air and fired at the standing RAG agents. One, two, three. They were all on the floor with shots to the head.
Andrew took a second to glance back at the Affinity team. Bryan was on the floor. Zack was leaning against the wall, gripping his shoulder. Andrew went back to the line of RAG agents. The way they were standing made it easy to fire. Four, five, six, seven. They all hit the floor. His eyes went back to his team. Jesse was on the floor now and Zack crouched down next to him. Andrew went back to the remaining agents. There was one left. Andrew fired. Eight. He fell to the floor.
The room was filled with a high-pitched echo. Andrew looked around; nobody was standing. He pushed himself up from the floor. Zack was still next to Jesse. He was screaming, but Andrew couldn’t hear him. Then, as if the world had come back to a normal speed, his screaming was too audible.
“What did you do?” Zack yelled.
Reality came crashing back in and Andrew dropped his gun. Bodies covered the floor. One man was making a gurgling noise in the corner. Mia. Where was Mia? Andrew spun around and looked toward the hallway. Standing there was the last RAG agent with his arm around Mia and his free hand pointing a gun at her head. Andrew immediately felt regret for his actions.