“Seventeenth Company, it is my privilege to introduce to you the leader of The Original Three—Miss Meg Winter.” Anxious eyes turned to stare openly at the beautiful girl dressed for war standing beside him. Later there would be whispered conversations trying to determine the strange sense of calm and confidence that seemed to pass over and become a part of each soldier in that moment. For now, Meg had a captivated audience.
“Please call me Meg,” she began, offering a genuine smile first to Rhett, then to his seconds who flanked him protectively and finally to the rest of the group.
“I cannot express to you how grateful I am to have you join my family and me in this, our eleventh hour. Now, you’ve already been made aware of my mental gifts, so when I say to you I know your heart, it’s not just an expression. I truly know.” The space was absolutely still, each soldier absorbing the current of calming emotions Meg continued to spill over them.
“So that you’re aware, five of the fighters in my family will be joining us in two hours—arriving by parachute. My mother Dr. Margo Winter and brothers, Alik and Evan you will meet. You already know—or know of—Creed Young and Farrow Schone. Please watch for them.”
A low murmur began at the mention of the two former assassins. Meg took a deep breath before continuing.
“I understand your passion to live honorably—to align yourself with valiant plights. You feel compelled to defend the weak and right the wrongs done against them. I appreciate how strong your moral character must be for you to have learned compassion and righteousness on your own—against the teachings of Kenneth Williams. You have chosen to treat life—all life—with dignity and respect. That core sense of morality unifies us in our purpose.” Meg paused, allowing her words to sink in.
“The Winters live by a strict code of ethics. We believe in honor, respect, loyalty, family and above all faith. After tonight, if you feel the depth of that commitment yourself, you will be welcomed into my family’s fold just as others who have come before you.”
“Tonight, however, we have a monumentally grave task before us.” One by one, Meg locked eyes with the soldiers as she spoke. “Tonight we end Kenneth Williams and Donovan Arkdone. Tonight we cut off the heads of the snakes and watch them blister and burn! Tonight we will light the sky and stamp out their darkness once and for all!”
The room exploded in boisterous calls, whistles and applause. Meg could feel the temperature of the room and knew she was surrounded by kindred spirits.
A quick glance at Rhett cheering with his soldiers brought a smile to her face.
Some more kindred than others.
She felt pride roar through Rhett’s signature as he watched his Company embrace this new path.
Discreetly, she leaned in to speak to Rhett’s ear so he could hear her over the excitement. “Michelle Andrews and the rest of the metamonarchs are nearly done transitioning from their plane to trucks. Drive time to your previous base gives us approximately forty minutes.”
His eyes widened. “Say again? Four-zero minutes? Are you sure?”
Meg nodded her head solemnly.
Rhett raised his hands into the air, signaling silence. The room, ever watchful of their leader, obeyed immediately.
“Miss Winter just alerted me to new intel. We have less than forty minutes until Arkdone’s metamonarchs arrive at our previous post looking for us. Everyone set your watches on countdown for thirty-seven minutes on my mark.”
The room simultaneously yanked back their sleeves to look down at their watches.
“Ready, set, mark,” he called.
He looked up and across the room. “Now, we’ve got work to do. Meg, walk us through what you’ve already done to fortify our position.”
“Has anyone got a piece of chalk?” Meg asked the room. She was eyeing the broadside of the nearest truck. “I’ll draw it for you.”
A handful of white chalk was passed hand to hand until it made its way to Meg. “Here, we usually keep some on hand in case we need to mark supply boxes.”
“Of course,” she smiled as her steady hand quickly sketched the layout of her family’s ranch, “but Cole Andrews would probably make some wisecrack about y’all playing hop-scotch,” she chuckled to herself.
“Cole Andrews—he’s meta isn’t he?”
“Yeah, you’ll meet him later.”
Rhett was mesmerized by how quickly she worked. Inside of a minute she had the map clearly drawn including ordinal directions and major landmarks. She stepped back so they could all see.
“Listen up,” she barked and the room silenced. “This is due north. You see the front of the ranch faces south,” she began.
“You’re here, in the barn,” she pointed to the first large rectangle. “And this is the house—kitchen, great room, bedrooms. To the far east is a fireproof building with its own generator, waterlines and shatterproof glass.”
“Is that a panic room?”
“Winters don’t panic,” Meg lifted her head proudly. “We prepare.”
Those soldiers in the front had dropped to one knee so those behind them could better see. From there, the first “Hooah” started.