For two days, not much has happened. During the two days, the Phasewalkers were able to select 50 local survivors that could be of great value to Earth. There were scientists, teachers, medical doctors, soldiers, and even, surprisingly, a politician. Of course, Leon was among them.

The Phasewalkers were planning on departing the next day. They would leave a small outpost in Camp York for further communication and trading purposes. It was sort of like a tiny embassy, with Fortress Alpha and Camp York being two tiny nations.

Trooper Patrick casually strolled along the street of Camp York, his eyes occasionally landing on certain females around him. Seeing the Guardian IV armor on his body and the Defender-I in his arms, most of those females returned a seductive look.

In Camp York, armed meant fed, which meant capable of paying, which meant good customer.

But Patrick didn't go for any of the girls. Instead, he turned around another corner and found himself in a dark alleyway. As soon as he walked in, two bystander-looking men pulled over a cart and blocked the entrance to the alleyway.

Another man, who has been standing in the alley, walked up to Patrick.

“Follow me.”

Patrick obeyed. Along the wall was a hidden door, which the man opened. Patrick quickly walked inside. There, a woman was waiting.

“I got your message,” Patrick announced as he looked around the room. “It better be worth my time.”

Two days ago, not long after he was chastised not so privately by Colonel Caity Hunter, Patrick returned to his bunker bed and found a paper note on his bed. Where was it from? Patrick didn't know exactly, but he could take a guess.

The woman turned around. She had long, beautiful purple hair. Her skin was soft and healthy, an extremely rare sight in this apocalyptic world. In fact, the fact that the woman was alive and free was a testament to her strength. There was nothing more vulnerable in this world than a beautiful woman.

“Trooper, my name is Victoria.” The woman said quietly. “Sounds familiar?”

“Yes. Yes it does.” Patrick grinned, unfazed. “Now, what does a Tier 2 Mutant of Camp York want from a low-level Security Trooper like me?”

Despite talking to one of the top individuals in Camp York, Patrick wasn’t too concerned. Victoria might be able to decide the life or death of countless ordinary survivors in Camp York, but Patrick wasn’t just some survivor. He was a Phasewalker Security Trooper of the Phasewalker Corps, and as long as Apollo and the others needed Fortress Alpha, they wouldn’t put a finger on him.

Victoria simply smiled politely.

“As you know, Fortress Alpha and Camp York are in an alliance. As a member of the hosts, I feel...guilty for not treating my guests well.” She clapped her hands. “Unlike your commander, I am well aware of the needs of men. It’s just biology.”

Following her claps, a group of beautiful girls walked into the rooms. Some were completely naked. Others had revealing clothing on. All of them were extremely pretty, even by Patrick’s standards.

“These girls.” Victoria said softly. “I took them under my wings to protect them. In exchange, they help entertain certain friends of mine. See anyone you like?”

Patrick gulped before his eyes landed on one of the girls in BDSM attire.

“Oh...Anna. Nice taste.” Victoria exclaimed as the selected girl walked to Patrick and started taking off his armor. “Don’t worry. No one knows you’re here.” She added. “Please...enjoy your time here.”

Patrick bit his lips, obviously in contradiction. “It’s just a gift, right?”

“Of course.”

Patrick nodded before closing his eyes and enjoying the moment. As Anna started doing her job, the seductive smile on Victoria’s face disappeared, replaced by a vicious, victorious grin.

You fool! A gift? Why would someone just give you a gift? It was a trap, dumbass! Deep down, Victoria suspected Patrick knew it was a trap, but he just didn't care. Sometimes, biological urges were more than what logic could suppress.

The rest of the girls backed out of the room, but Victoria stayed right there and watched the sex unfold, licking her lips in the process. It took ten minutes before Patrick finished.

Finally, even before Patrick could put his clothes back on, Victoria spoke up.

“Now, we are friends, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, friends do favors for each other.” Victoria tilted her head, finally revealing her scheme. “I have a favor I want you to carry out.”

Patrick suddenly grinned and pushed Anna to the side.

“Here’s the thing, Victoria. We are not friends, and I don’t have to do shit for you.”

“Oh...so that’s how you want to go.” Victoria suddenly held her arms out, and all of a sudden, her nails started to extend. Wait, those weren’t her nails! Patrick frowned. Those were the bones in her fingers!

The female Mutant clicked the bones against each other. Each one of them was able to cut through metal and flesh alike. Even if Patrick was in his full gear, he couldn’t last over ten seconds before Victoria, and Patrick was naked.

But the Security Trooper didn't even flinch.

“Kill me, and you risk having a diplomatic issue on your hand.” He sat back, practically giving himself up. “I wouldn’t risk it.”

Victoria froze.

“Now, let me go or what?” The Phasewalker pushed on. “I have a busy day.”

Suddenly, Victoria grinned victoriously once again, her bones retracting into her hands.

“Yes. I can’t touch you.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “But you are a fool if you think you are the only person we reached out. Three of you have already agreed to my deal. So,” She clapped her hands again, and a woman walked in with a camera raised. “if you refuse, the footage recorded by this camera will be delivered straight to Colonel Hunter’s desk. Good luck explaining that to your fool of a leader.”

Now Patrick was taken back. He lowered his head for a few seconds before finally looking up.

“Fine. You win.” He said quietly. “What do you want to know?”

The next day, the Phasewalkers started packing up. The three vehicles they came here in, one SUV and two Leopard APCs, were lined up along the road. To help with the personnel movement, Camp York had Aryan leat a few transports of his own to help load the locals. It was a gesture of good faith.

As the Troopers and the locals boarded the tightly-packed vehicles, Caity turned back to Charlotte.

“Take care, Commissar.”

After some careful consideration, Caity decided to leave Charlotte here in Camp York, in charge of negotiating with Apollo and the other Mutants. She would take 20 Security Troopers with her, all of whom the best men and women in the squad.

Charlotte was also left with a satellite phone. The Phasewalkers were working hard to launch satellites into orbit. It was a time-consuming and expensive process, but if that was to be successful, then the Phasewalkers could communicate with each other with little restriction in distance.

One of the primary reasons the UEC collapsed so quickly was because its communication system, mainly its satellites, was destroyed. No one knew how the UEC satellites were brought down by the claws and teeth of brainless Mutants, but it was worth it for the Phasewalkers to launch some of their own and see if they could stay up there.

Charlotte simply returned with a Phasewalker salute.

Caity did the same thing before swiftly turning around to her SUV.

Both women knew there was a significant possibility they wouldn’t see each other again. Camp York was risky ground, and Fortress Alpha wasn’t the safest place either. The two weren’t friends, but they were definitely sisters-in-arms. But neither said anything more. This was the fate they willingly accepted when they decided to stay with the Phasewalker program.

This was their destiny.

As Caity got onto the SUV, she gave one last glance at the surroundings. Among the 20 Security Troopers, three of them were “double-agents” working for Victoria. Their tasks were especially dangerous. One wrong move and they could blow their cover and get themselves killed.

Caity could only offer her prayers.

10:00 PM. Fortress Alpha.

On her bed in the bunker, Alex closed her eyes. Even now, she couldn’t get the horrifying images and deafening screams out of her head.

“Fall back! Fall back! They’re everywhere! The damn wolves!”

“Where’s artillery support? Where’s...”

“Captain Alex! The lines are falling! We have to pull back now!”

“Medic! Where are the medics!”

Her breathing accelerated, and the woman beside her noticed it. Chelsea slowly put her hand over Alex’s shoulder in comfort.

Two days after the disastrous battle against the horde of Mutated Wolves, the Company in the 4th Battalion went through a few more minor skirmishes before they were allowed to fall back from the front. At that point, the damage has already been done.

The entire 4th Motorized Battalion suffered a casualty rate of 30%. Around one-third of the Assault Troopers in the Battalion were killed in combat. Alex’s Company was among those crippled.

Despite those losses, the 4th Battalion was relatively lucky. The 1st Armored Battalion took most of the hit, suffering a daunting 50% casualty rate. Half the Armored Troopers wouldn’t be going home.

It was a necessary price, but a heavy one nonetheless. The Phasewalker High Command expected losses, as losses were necessary to toughen the Generation II and Generation III recruits, but the actual battles were more brutal than both the Phasewalker High Command and Section X expected.

“I heard the Generation IV Troopers are already in training.” Alex suddenly spoke up. Her voice was soft and weak, completely unlike the stern and dominant tone she had on the field of battle. Perhaps only here, now, in front of her lover, could she reveal her weaknesses.

“Soon, they’re just going to replace the dead with fresh meat, straight from Eagle’s Nest. And this grinding of lives will continue.”

“A necessary price to pay.” Beside her, Chelsea said lowly. “To achieve victory.”

Alex sighed. “Of course you’re saying that, Corporal Chelsea.” She joked slightly. “At this rate, you’re gonna be a Captain soon. Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll salute you!”

Chelsea grinned and kissed Alex on the right cheek, but even as Chelsea moved, Alex couldn’t help but feel a bit worried.

She has always known Chelsea to be a little overzealous with the whole Phasewalker cause. For most Phasewalkers, the reason they fight was a mixture of different factors. Partially, it was for Earth. Partially, it was out of fear of punishment for desertion. Partially, it was for compensation or the honor or something else. Another growing factor that was tying the Phasewalkers together was the sense of comradeship and brother/sisterhood among them and their fellow Phasewalkers.

Chelsea, on the other hand, was obviously different. She didn't want a higher rank or more money. Nope. She was after one thing: victory. As long as Earth and the Phasewalker Corps would be victorious, she could throw away anything, let it be title, money, or even love.

Alex thought that zeal might be melted away by the heat of the battle, that it was no more than the naive belief of a young girl. She was wrong. Even in the most brutal moments during the Mutated Wolves onslaught, Chelsea was always there at the most dangerous spots. She has pulled wounded Phasewalkers out of the teeth of Mutated Wolves. She has picked up a Defender-II and blasted two Mutated Wolves into pieces in close-range.

To be honest, Alex was surprised Chelsea even survived the battle, but perhaps fortune did favor the bold. Chelsea survived all the battles and skirmishes, and she quickly went from a Generation II medic recruit to an elite Phasewalker Trooper forged in the flames of war.

Her rank rose from Private to Corporal. For those that showed courage, the Phasewalker High Command wasn’t afraid of handing out rewards.

“I’m just glad Colonel Hunter is coming back,” Alex said quietly before shutting her eyes once again. Immediately, the nightmare images returned.

Beside her, sensing her lover shaking, Chelsea kissed her again.

Inside the command center, Ryan and Caity sat face to face.

“400 death.” Ryan sighed. “I’m glad you’re back, Caity.”

“You shouldn’t feel bad.” Caity comforted him the best she could. “It’s a necessary cost. Plus, we did all we could've. Even the military analysts in Section X didn't see this coming when they authorized this mission.”

“That’s the problem. That’s precisely why I’m glad you can lead the unit again.” Ryan answered slowly. “I don’t feel bad.”

“What?”

“I don’t feel bad.” Ryan was almost whispering. “I mean...I have looked through the profiles of all 400 Troopers. I read their names. Their family info. Their hobbies. Whether they had girlfriends or boyfriends. But in the end...I feel nothing.”

“No sadness. No guilt. Just...nothing.” He turned back to Caity. “And that concerns me.”

Caity was quiet as she did her best to imagine what it felt like.

“Before you went to Camp York, I said I didn't want to be the commander.” Ryan’s eyes darkened. “I thought it was because I was afraid of the guilt of the soldiers that fell under my command or the need to make certain sacrifices. I was wrong.”

“Ever since I was a child, to survive this cruel world, I programmed myself to be cold and distant. To follow the rules. To see life and everything around me in a pessimistic light so when the terrible reality inevitably hits me, I would be prepared. I trained myself not to feel.”

“When all those casualty reports reached my desk, when I saw all the bodies lying around on the field of battle, I wasn’t haunted. I didn't feel guilty. All I felt was this...this empty void.”

“That terrifies me, Caity. I know, deep down, I should be feeling something. Pain. Anger. Fury. But there...there is nothing. I can cognitively realize something’s off and I should feel bad, and I even know to look touched in front of the troops and officers out there, but in reality, I am unfazed.”

“I don’t even feel like a person anymore.”

Caity sighed. Her mouth hung open, but she had no idea what to say. All she could manage was a quick sentence.

“But...isn’t that what a good commander should be? Ruthless? Goal-oriented? So apart from his emotions like he’s a robot?”

“Perhaps, tactical wise, yet...”

Ryan slowly stood up.

“I am a Schizoid. That means I don’t feel emotions like normal people. When I was made Regiment Commissar, I felt nothing. No happiness. No gratitude. Close to no grief. The only things I have left are annoyance and perhaps, just perhaps, fleeting moments of excitement.”

He drank some water from a glass cup and took a breather as freshwater flowed down his sore throat.

“The only thing motivating me is the set of rules I am forcing upon myself. I keep telling myself the same story: we all have to do our duties. That it is the right thing to do. Perhaps...I would go as far as saying that’s the only thing keeping me going. The only reason I am trying to be a good fighter and a good commander is because that’s what people expect from me. That’s how I will repay those who place their trust in me.”

Ryan looked up at Caity, who was unsure of what she should say. He bit his lips before continuing.

“Perhaps in my mind, the best fate that can befall me is me sacrificing my life for the greater cause. For people that I respect and respect me in return. You know...back in Fort Sentinel, when I thought I was going to die, a part of me was so glad.”

“You...you want to die?”

“I want to end my story as a hero. I want to go out in a way so that when people talk about me, they recognize my strength. My loyalty. My willingness to fight until the very end.” Ryan looked down at his hands. “But now I’m alive, and you either die a hero or live to see yourself become a villain. The living has weaknesses. We have greed and lust and desires that will drag our names down to the pit.”

“If I was to hold the full, unchecked power of the Phasewalker Corps as both the Commander and the Commissar, then sooner or later, the dam will fall, and the sea will come crashing down.”

Ryan sighed again as he sat back down and looked into Caity’s deep, blue eyes.

“Sooner or later, I will decide those rules are no longer worth maintaining. Those duties are no longer worth carrying out. And then, then what? With the full power of the ever-expanding Phasewalker Corps, I really don’t know what I will do.“

“In the end, I will fail all those who have placed their trust in me. I don’t fear death, not that of most people nor that of my own. Yet, I am terrified of the notion of being seen as a failure. A loser. A failed investment who the world would exist better without.”

Caity froze. Even now, she could remember the anger she felt when Ava died. She could feel the sorrow when she had to abandon Ryan to die along in Fort Sentinel. These feelings hurt her to the bones. But would she really want those feelings to disappear?

The pain of losing people amplified her resolve. The hopelessness of leaving her own comrades behind made her march faster than ever. The agony these dilemmas carry made her all the more determined.

“The Phasewalker Corps is created to protect humanity. It’s only right for it to be commanded by someone in touch with human feelings.”

Ryan looked up at Caity and saluted.

“Welcome back, Colonel Hunter.”