The group the Warrant Officer had been talking to consisted of two members of ODA and one from ODB second Company. The Leader of the group was an Assistant Operations Sergeant from second Platoon First Sergeant Hook. Emily didn’t like him the few times she had met and worked with him. She also noticed he had problems with the other supers in the OD. She found that his behavior was funny though because he had to have gone through Super School before he could even apply to the Special Forces school. It was one of the biggest requirements for Special Forces.

“Never, take your vest off. You don’t need it but Muller does.” First Sergeant Hook said nodding to Combat Medic. “Once you’re done with that, find a gun. We need to move.”

Emily nodded and pulled off her bulletproof vest and handed it to Muller who nodded his thanks before adjusting the straps to make it fit. It was a women’s vest but he got it to work. Emily left to find Wilson and G to get her guns back. She found Wilson standing guard just outside the cave entrance. He was laying down under a bush with her rifle propped up on some dirt he had scraped together.

“Sorry Never, I need it.” He told her when she slid under the bush next to him to ask for it back.

“Ok. Do you know where G. went?” She asked him quietly.

“Last I saw her she was in the back of the cave doing something.” He told her shrugging his shoulders.

“Ok, thanks.” She replied and quietly crawled away.

She found G. in the back of the cave digging a hole. “Thanks for letting me borrow it.” G said pulling the handgun out of her belt and handing it to Emily. She checked in with Brody for a rifle but he told her that they were all being used. After collecting the spare magazines from him she returned to the group waiting for her by the entrance to the cave.

“Where’s your M9?” Hook asked frowning.

“Wilson needs it. He is standing guard outside.” Emily replied.

“How much spare ammo do you have?” He asked her looking down at her handgun.

“Five spare magazines plus the one in the gun.” She told him.

Hook muttered something that Emily couldn’t hear even with her better than average hearing. He nodded and led the team outside. The hike took about two and a half hours to get to the side of the town. Emily crouched down keeping her pistol pointed downwards. From where she stopped on a small hill she could see most of the town and the surrounding rice paddies. She stayed inside the tree line to made sure she had cover and keep them from being discovered.

The rice paddies were stacked in small neat almost squares areas with earthen walls separating the different fields. They were stacked on several levels on the hillside leading down to where the town was. She could see neat rows of something green growing mostly in the water. There was also a body lying face down in one of the fields.

“What do we got here?” Hook whispered to her.

“Body.” She said pointing it out for him. She looked around for anything else out of the ordinary but didn’t see anything that would stand out.

“Anyone got any binoculars?” He asked the group that had fallen out behind them. They were guarding all the different directions in case an enemy tried to sneak up on them from behind.

He got a lot of negative headshakes in return. Frowning he asked her, “What does the body look like? Did someone shoot it?”

“Too far away. Can’t see that.” Emily told him shaking her head. She scanned the town something looked off. “Where are all the cars?” She asked him. In all the time she had been in Korea, anytime they were close to the towns and cities there was always traffic. It was a running joke with the OD. Most of the land in South Korea was taken up with mountains and hills. Leaving the people to find homes in the tiny valleys that was left. Looking at the twisting roads that led to and from the town there was no traffic. It looked wrong.

“Keep your head on a swivel.” He told her as he backed up away from her not answering her question.

Emily checked her watch kind of surprised that it was still working. It was a cheap watch she had bought at the base exchange in Japan. It was a simple analog watch that had a velcro cover attached to keep the glass from being scratched up. According to her watch, it was a little after twelve noon.

Emily remembered some random facts from training about rice fields. She remembered reading that the rice only takes three months to grow and could be harvested three to four times a year. There were seasons to grow rice. During the summer and fall, it was the wet season where the farmers grow one type of rice and in the winter it was the dry season they grew another type. Since the season had just turned to fall not that long ago they were right in the middle of the second wet season planting.

“Ok everyone, listen up. We are going to rotate to the left and approach from the west. There is a berm that we can follow that leads right up to the rice paddies near the town. We are going to do this by twos. Once we reach the fields Mulder and Never will go first. They will cross to the first mud wall. Me and Thompson will leapfrog them to the next wall and so on until we reach the backyard of that building.” Hook said pointing at what looked like the back of a bar.

The berm that Hook was talking about was about three feet tall and about four feet thick. It separated two large rice paddies. The berm itself was covered in tall but thin grass and it gave them partial cover from most of the town. Emily frowned. It left them open to attack from the south and west though.

She led them to the edge of the forest and right up to the berm. She looked back to make sure everyone was ready. When she got a nod from Hook she jumped into the water and took off on a slow jog following the berm. Mulder followed closely behind. The water came to just above her boots and she could feel the water getting in.

“Wet socks, ugh. Why is it always wet socks.” Emily complained to herself as her socks slowly got wet.

She stopped by the mud wall and knelt down. She made sure to point her gun towards the town while Mulder knelt beside her with his rifle pointed towards the west. She heard Hook and Thompson come splashing towards her. They ran between Mulder and her as they leaped over the mud wall and ran towards the next one. Once they were there she waited until they were set before leaping the wall. She angled herself so that she ran between the two and leaped over their wall. She kept running until she reached the next wall before she knelt down again and took a covering position.

It got harder closer to the town they got because each rice paddies was a few feet lower than the last one. The drop kept getting higher. The last drop was nearly four feet down and Thompson fell when he hopped over the last wall. He slipped backward and fell into the water soaking himself, but he got up before she could help him and ran to take his position by the building.

Emily ran up and took her position in front of the line. She was waiting for the order to pop the doorknob out when the door opened and a man’s head popped out and looked at them.

“Oh, you’re here already. She’s been waiting for you. Please come in.” The man said opening the door wider and propped it open with a rock.

Before they could ask him any questions he turned around and walked deeper inside. Emily turned to look at Hook. He looked just as confused as she did. He shrugged and motioned her to go into the bar with the barrel of his gun. Emily nodded and turned back around and with her handgun raised she walked through the door.

The hallway she found herself in was really tight and lined up on the right-hand side of the wall with boxes of alcohol. She paused to let her eyes adjust to the darkness and walked forward her gun at the ready. She paused by a closed door to her left and waited on Thompson to check it out.

He tapped her on the shoulder and she reached out with her palm and tapped it. The doorknob bounced inward. Thompson spun around her and kicked the door then move out of the way. She rushed in her gun held close to her face. She found herself in a shallow closet filled with cleaning supplies. She took in everything and made sure there was no one hiding out behind any boxes. Shaking her head she backed out of the closet.

“Clear. Just a broom closet.” She muttered taking her position at the front of the line again.

Emily felt him tap her on the shoulder again tell her they were ready and she advanced again. Close to the exit was another room to the right. It was a small galley style kitchen with very little room to move around in. She paused by the entrance of the kitchen and waited for the signal to clear the room.

She felt Thompson tap her on the shoulder again and this time she turned and rushed into the kitchen. There was no door for Thompson to kick in. Thompson walked past the kitchen and took up the guard position facing the end of the hallway. Muller followed her into the kitchen. The kitchen was empty of people. There was nowhere for anyone to hide. To the left side of the kitchen was an open grill range to the right was a bunch of pots set on top of a stove. At the far end was a dirty refrigerator that was full of food. The window to the refrigerator was slightly cloudy with a yellow film over it.

She absently categorized what was in the fridge. She noted the metal rectangle pan full of meat. The meat was uncooked and looked brown. To Emily, it looked either ready to spoil or was already spoiled. Beside that, she saw a large round bowl of what looked like noodles. Sitting above that was butter and eggs. At the very top was a gallon of milk and a few bottles of Soju Korean version of moonshine.

“Clear.” She muttered quietly turning around and leaving the kitchen. As she passed the grill she noticed that the top was black with leftover food burnt into it.

“Not going to eat anything cooked on that thing.” She thought disgusted at the lack of cleanliness of the kitchen. The floor was covered with lettuce and pieces of other food.

She walked passed Thompson and took point position again. Once she felt the tap on her shoulder she started walking forward again. A few feet from the kitchen the hallway dead-ended into a large open room that was dominated but a large stage with a brass pole in the middle of it. Surrounding the stage was a bunch of chairs.

“It’s a strip club.” She thought to herself as she walked in. Behind her, Mulder swung to the right and Thompson followed swinging to the left. Hook followed behind her as she walked forward.

The man that popped his head out the door was standing behind a very beautiful Korean woman. The Woman was sitting down at a circular table sipping from a wide brim but small cup. The man was standing behind the woman and to her left. He was a tall Korean man with sparsely grown in beard. He had his hands clasped together in front of his stomach.

Even though the woman appeared to be unarmed something told Emily that she was the most dangerous person of the two. She kept her gun pointed at the woman as she advanced slowly towards the two.

“Clear on this side,” Thompson said behind Emily.

“Clear here too,” Muller replied.

Emily felt Hook’s hand on her shoulder telling her to stop. She stopped about six feet away from the woman and a few feet from the stage. Her gun never wavered from the woman. The woman looked them over as she lowered her cup to the table.

“Hook.” The Woman said in an American accent. “Never, it’s a pleasure to meet you even in these circumstances.”

“Excuse me Ma’am, but do we know you?” Hook asked the Woman.

“No, we just met. Why don’t you and your team sit down? You look thirsty. Thompson, you take your coffee black right? Never, you like iced tea with just a little bit of sugar. Right?” The Woman said tilting her head slightly to the right.

“Benard, would you please get these people some drinks. The grumpy one likes coffee with creamer and the medic likes hot tea.” The Woman said to the man behind her. The man nodded and walked towards the far wall where there was a small bar set up. He pulled up a bunch of coffee cups and set them down. He started to pour coffee from a glass pot.

“His name's not Benard but I like to call him that. He looks like he’s a Benard to me.” The Woman said smiling.

“If you don’t mind, who are you,” Hook asked sounding mad.

“Sit down.” The Woman said to them. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Not before you tell me what is going on.” Hook told her. His voice getting softer and darker.

“Fine!” The Woman said looking Hook in the eye. “This could have been more pleasant you know. Oh, well. You have less than two years to win this war or the wall becomes permanent. Nothing getting in or out. Ever. At the two year mark, the genocide will start. You’re safe at the moment because you’re late Colonel misled those above him. As a consequence, the North thinks the only U.S. Main type super left the country a week ago. Naughty man.”

The Woman smiled into her cup. It was a sad smile. Before anyone could ask any more questions the Woman spoke again. “Most of the North’s forces are attacking Seoul right now. By nightfall, the Commander of all US forces in Korea will surrender. The King's son will broadcast the surrender tomorrow at noon. It will be the last broadcast in the new united Korea unless you can bring the wall down. Mind the dust.”

Before Emily could figure out what she meant there was a loud boom and Emily spun to her left. There was the sound of gunfire and then a second explosion and wall to the left crumbled as a super was thrown through the wall. As the wall crumbled the room was filled with dust. Emily crouched down and looked back at the woman but she was gone. Sitting on the stage were their drinks.