Her Wild Hero

“Yeah, it’s not good. But we’re all trying to stay positive.” Landon took a ration bar out of its wrapper and bit into it. “It wouldn’t make sense for the hybrids to use pieces of Kendra’s clothing to track her if she wasn’t still out here somewhere.”


“But Ivy still doesn’t like the idea of the hybrids being close enough to Kendra to get pieces of her clothing,” Angelo added. “And just because we think Kendra might still be out there, that doesn’t mean Declan is. They didn’t have any of his clothing.”

“So, Ivy is wondering if Declan might already be dead and Kendra is out there on her own,” Tanner finished.

Angelo nodded. Regardless of what Landon said about not thinking the worst, they were all worried about the same thing.

“Tanner, did Zarina tell you about what happened to Ivy out in Washington State?” Landon asked, opening his canteen and taking a swallow of water.

Tanner dug around in the bottom of his MRE pouch, came out with the small tan packet of cheese, and wordlessly passed it to Angelo. “She told me those doctors took DNA samples from Ivy and that Ivy is terrified they’ll use it to create a hybrid-shifter blend.” He frowned. “I hope it wasn’t wrong of Zarina to tell me that?”

Landon shook his head. “No. Ivy and I trust Zarina completely. If she felt it necessary for you to know about it, that’s good enough for us.”

Tanner relaxed. “I think she wanted me to understand how horrible the people behind the hybrid program are.” He snorted. “As if I needed a reminder. She forgets I’m living proof of what they’re willing to do.”

“Then you probably understand better than anyone what Ivy is going through,” Landon said. “It’s bad enough she has to worry about her friends being dead, but the thing that has her pacing around out there in the jungle right now is the thought that they might be dead at the hands of hybrids who were created from her DNA. If that happens, and Kendra and Declan truly are dead, I don’t think she’ll be able to handle it.”

“She’ll blame herself,” Tanner said.

“Yeah.” Landon dug in his pack and came out with another MRE pouch. “I’m going to go spend some time with Ivy—see if I can get her to eat something.”

Angelo leaned forward and handed him the pack of cheese Tanner had given him. “Here, take this. Everything tastes better with MRE cheese on it.”

Landon shook his head as he stood up and adjusted his NVGs. “I think there’s a T-shirt somewhere with that slogan on it.”

Angelo grinned. “And if there isn’t, there should be.”

As Landon moved off quietly into the bush and disappeared from sight, Angelo wondered how he’d find Ivy out there in the jungle, but decided she’d probably find him first.

“You two seem like you’re tight,” Tanner observed.

“We’ve known each other for a long time,” Angelo said. “We went through a lot of crap together in Special Forces. Before he got pulled into the DCO.”

“Looks like you’re still going through a lot of crap together, regardless of the fact that he’s in the DCO.”

Angelo chuckled. “You got that right. Although it seems like the crap’s a lot weirder now.”

“Amen to that,” Tanner agreed. “I saw a lot of strange stuff while I was in the army, but nothing like this.”

Angelo swallowed some water from his canteen. “Landon told me you used to be in the Rangers. How long were you in for?”

Tanner was slow to answer, and when he did, the words were so soft Angelo had a tough time hearing him. “Eight years. But it was so long ago it sometimes seems like it was all a dream.”

Landon hadn’t told him why Tanner left the army, but Angelo was familiar with the story of how Stutmeir had grabbed the former Ranger from the forests of Washington State and turned him into the hybrid he was now. It wasn’t too hard to imagine how a soldier could go from the battlefield one day to being an outcast in his own country the next. Unfortunately, Angelo had seen it far too often in the past few years. He loved serving his country, but facts were facts. The military was good at a lot of things—killing people and breaking things being at the top of the list—but taking care of soldiers who couldn’t fight anymore wasn’t one of them. Veterans like that usually ended up on the street, where they didn’t fit in and weren’t understood. If the Veterans Administration safety net didn’t catch them—and there were a lot of holes in that net—they ended up like Tanner. Alone and on their own.

“When did you get out?” Angelo asked.

Tanner’s brow creased as he tried to remember. “Maybe two years ago? With all the hybrid crap, and the other stuff, it’s hard to remember the details. But I do remember spending a full summer and winter out in the forest before I got grabbed by those bastards.”

Angelo wanted to ask Tanner if he’d ever talked to anyone from the VA, but he guessed things had progressed a little bit beyond the point where they could do anything for him.

“The DCO is helping you, though, right? With your hybrid problem…and the other stuff?”