One hundred and eleven souls.

One more than we started with, Jake thought as he continued his slow methodical march westward. Within seconds, he shook his head because he knew what was coming next. "Thirteen less than we should have..." Cairo responded telepathically with a note of sadness. Jake shook his head and smiled at Cairo who was walking in single file directly behind him. She was listening. She was always listening! For Jake, unspoken communication was still unnatural but for Cairo, he knew it was simply part of who she was.

Returning his gaze towards the horizon, Jake watched the first part of the yellow-orange sun disappear. He estimated that they were about 30 minutes, or 3.3 kilometers into their 170-kilometer journey to Petersburg, West Virginia. The plan was to meet up with the Pittsburgh Resistance unit just before daybreak. After allowing for a bit of rest and sustenance, the entire entourage would head northwest towards western Pennsylvania where a (relative) stronghold existed for Terran forces. However, Jake knew that simply getting to Petersburg would be a challenge. The trip was impossible to complete in one shot which meant they would have to re-group once the sun came up roughly 65 kilometers west of the RCC they had just abandoned. The good news was that during their trek southward weeks earlier from New York, generals Coker and Holland had the presence of mind to establish such a contingency in advance. The makeshift, well-hidden camp they had quickly put together was by no means luxurious but it did provide adequate visual and thermal cover from both AI drone surveillance and ET ground force detection. It was there if and when they needed it. And at this point, the "if" had become a certainty, and "when" would be very soon.

Jake knew that journey to get there was going to be a bit more dangerous than normal, which is to say that it would be very dangerous in absolute terms. Any type of Human migration effort on Earth was a risky proposition these days. Considering their oversized group, coupled with the fact that 14 of the 111 individuals were untrained, tired, and physically abused Zeta camp refugees meant that the entire caravan was at significant risk. It wasn't all bad news, however. A mitigating factor was that it was nighttime and they had sufficient IR cover for all travelers. Still, given the number of individuals and level of inexperience in play, Jake knew that they ran the risk of being nothing more than sitting ducks if anything significant went awry.

Jake estimated that they had roughly 10 hours to travel 62 kilometers before the sun came up. If they didn't have sufficient cover at that point they would be toast. He also realized that a 6.2-kilometer per hour pace would be tough to maintain given the "Hybrid Hamstring" they were facing. Thankfully, the recently emancipated Hybrids were getting help from everyone else which allowed the convoy to stay on track. That is, at least for now...

"I still can't believe we did it," said Cairo aloud after about 10 minutes of silence.

"Whoa! Sound. Words. What gives?" He said with a smile as he turned towards her.

As she rolled her eyes at his admittedly weak attempt at sarcasm, Jake added, "No way. This is far from over, Cairo." Jake's smile disappeared as recent dark memories began flooding his brain. "At this point," he continued, "these machines are nothing more than killers. Killers that keep getting smarter. In fact, I'm worried that this IR gear won't help us much longer. A better idea would have been to split up into smaller groups and travel in a staggered pattern during daylight hours. As it stands now, we're sitting ducks draped in awkward, IR gear that might not even work."

"We'll be fine Jake, just have some faith," she communicated telepathically. "After all, you have me...right behind you...over-analyzing every thought that cute brain of yours comes up with 24/7."

Jake laughed out loud as they trudged along, single file, covered in their clumsy IR contraptions. He loved her so much. Her playfulness, her love for life, and yes even her biting wit. Plus, she was about as sexy as any Human could ever be...

"Why thank you very much!" she said aloud. "You aren't so bad yourself, for a lowly non-TP."

"Yeah, yeah, you elitist TPs are all alike," he said, with a hidden smile of his own.

She didn't respond and abruptly stopped moving.

Jake immediately noticed her silence and somehow felt her concern.

"What's the matter?" he quickly asked.

"I don't know, I am picking up something...or I should say someone," she said aloud. " It's far, 13 maybe 14 kilometers to our west, directly along our heading. I can't tell much yet but it's definitely an intelligent presence. I think you should have everyone ahead stop. At least until I can tell what or who it is..."

Jake and Cairo were holding up the rear of the 111 being caravan that extended roughly 1 kilometer to the west as they headed in the same direction. A couple hundred meters ahead of Jake and Cairo was a Runner. Jake called out to her.

"Xiao, get a message to the Generals, have them halt the advance. Tell them Cairo has movement 13-14 km due west of our position."

Xiao did as he instructed without uttering a word. It still amazed Jake. Yes, Xiao was Arcturian but Cairo wasn't. Moreover, he and every other Human in range could "hear" the message, assuming the TP wanted the message to be "heard", of course.

Jake turned his attention back to Cairo, waiting for her to share any additional information she had gathered. Xiao, after sending the message quickly retreated to the back of the caravan and joined Cairo and Jake. She too turned her attention towards Cairo...

Still, under her IR gear, Cairo looked down, shook her head, and smiled. Jake couldn't see any of that but he sensed the amusement she allowed to mentally leak out. What could possibly be so funny, he thought? He had just halted their advance and he knew that his command would want an explanation. And given the tension level, a humorous prank was probably not something that would translate well with them right about now.

"It's a farm animal. A pig," she blurted out audibly.

"What are you talking about? Who's a pig?" Jake asked utterly confused.

Cairo made it crystal clear since obviously what she just said didn't register.

"What I felt was a pig. Sometimes my wires get a little weird when I am at the very end of my range. And besides, I wasn't entirely wrong. Pigs are incredibly smart you know..."

All three of them got quiet.

After a few seconds, Xiao let out a loud laugh, which in turn made Jake and Cairo bust out in concert. Sensing the commotion several people within earshot audibly asked what was going on.

Using sound as his guide, Jake instinctively grabbed Xiao's arm and said in a low hushed voice.

"Not a word, Xiao. Tell them that it was Human...a remote farmer. False alarm and that we should proceed."

Xiao did as he asked smiling to herself the whole time. Xiao, like Cairo, was on the light side of 20. Sometimes Jake knew that he, and others around him, sometimes forgot just how young they really were. Circumstances forced them to age much faster than they should have. Still, at times, their youthfulness managed to come shining through.

"Not a word...from either of you!" demanded a still giddy Cairo.

"Not a chance, pig whisperer...You won't live this down for decades, if ever," Jake said with a big smile on his face.

And with that, Cairo somehow managed to land a solid punch on Jake's upper right arm.

The move surprised him, and if he was going to be completely honest, it actually stung a bit but there was no way he was going to let her know that.

"Is that all you got, bacon lady?" he asked.

"Stupid boy, you will never learn. I -know- that registered. Remember who you are dealing with?"

Jake just shook his head and started walking a few steps in front of Xiao and Cairo. No, I guess I will never learn.

Hearing his thoughts, both girls chuckled out loud.

By now, several people around them were wondering what the commotion was all about but none of them had a clue.

Within a couple of minutes, Xiao returned to her original position and things were back to normal as the convoy headed due west once again.

"If we are done with the farm animal shenanigans I'd like to talk to you about something that has been bugging me," Jake said to her.

"You don't want me to go on the Zeta Reticulon mission," Cairo responded without missing a beat.

"Will you STOP that? It really does get annoying!"

I wasn't reading your mind. Well, not right this minute anyway. You don't think I don't know exactly how you feel about this? Besides, you know I have to go. It's the only way to safely infiltrate."

Jake didn't immediately respond. She was right and he knew that she was hearing him say this. God this was getting tiring, he thought.

She communicated with him telepathically.

"I am sorry sweetie, I truly am. I know this whole TP thing can get difficult for you since it can be one way if I want it to be. That's unfair. I promise I will try to be much more respectful of your privacy. I also will try not to blurt stuff out like I have been doing. I don't think I would like that very much, either."

Extending her thoughts from the mental to the physical realm, she quickly took two steps forward, grabbed him by the waist, and kissed the portion of the IR garb that covered his left cheek.

Jake didn't turn towards her but he did smile and he did like it.

Before Cairo could say anything Jake jumped in.

"Yes, I liked it. Happy?"

She grabbed him again and this time kissed his other cheek.

"Very much so!" she said with kid-like enthusiasm.

Their shenanigans caused the next few people up the caravan trail to turn around to see what all the fuss was about. Jake didn't care. Why should he? His relationship with Cairo wasn't exactly a secret at this point.

"I just worry about you," he told her. The Greys are beyond brutal. Having the Hybrids blend in is not a problem. You? Ms. White Bread? Yeah, that's a problem. Plus, the 31s and the 15s have volunteered for this. It's their world. It's their fight. That all makes sense to me."

Cairo grabbed his hand as they continued to walk side-by-side, breaking single file protocol. "Come on Jake, you know why I have to be there. You also know I won't be on the front lines. I'll be doing what I just did ...long-range surveillance and warning. Think of me as a beacon well away from the action. Without me there this has no chance. And what's all this nonsense about "us and them". The Resistance is nothing if not multicultural. Don't you even think about getting Xenophobic on me! The Hybrids along with our ET counterparts are with us until the end. And the Hybrids we just saved are very, very grateful for our actions. They can't stand what their so-called ancestral leadership is doing in the name of ethnic cleansing. We are all in this together. And I know you know this already..."

God, I hate it when she's right. Which he knew was pretty much all the time, including now.

" I do know. And we finally have the weapon to make it happen. They need to be stopped, and not just for the sake of Humanity, but for the Earthbound Hybrids and the pure-breads Zetas who are suffering at the hands of their own political elite. I get it, I really do. But I also worry about you, Cairo. I don't know what I would do without you."

She smiled and gripped his right hand with her left as hard as she could. "You won't have to know," she told him telepathically, "because that scenario is never going to happen."