Hybrid (BOOK 1)

Chapter 13: Tornado Boy

"The drones are already there," Chelsea told everyone in the van, "apparently we are gonna deal with one of those dancers who got bitten by those creatures. We need to be on our guard and remember, we need him back alive."

Everybody nodded. Shiloh eyed Chelsea with a little anger, she didn't like the way Chelsea had treated Skyler, but there was also some part of her that found it a little hilarious. She was having a hard time accepting the fact that Skyler had inherited powers, she never thought that if the universe had to choose someone to be humanity's saving grace, that someone would be her sister. Maybe this was a sign for Shiloh to let go of all the bitterness she felt for her sister, all the resentment she felt when she so much as looked at her sister. Skyler was family so Shiloh knew she'd be stuck with Skyler for the rest of her life, that's why she was trying to do the baby steps thing with her older sister, the bitterness however was sometimes too strong for Shiloh to control. She gave Chelsea one last glance before she started to mentally prepare for the mission at hand.

Chelsea was the head of the team and when she gave an order nobody questioned her. She always had a stern and serious expression on her face. Nobody on the team dared to laugh and joke in front of her because they knew there would be a price to pay. However, Chelsea had paid her dues and had earned everyone's respect. She started her career in the army, she had been to places and seen things in her life that were indescribable. In fact, she had served under General Williams back then as well and it was Williams who recruited her to the program. Chelsea had plenty of battle scars but there was one that always reminded her that anything could happen at any given day.

*****

"Damn Chelsea, stop screaming for help, no one will hear you!" Duke told her in frustration. "We're stuck here until they find us."

"That's the thing Duke, they'll never find us here, in the middle of absolutely nowhere! I can't believe we were stupid enough to get caught!"

"There were six of them and only two of us, we had to surrender," Duke replied. "We had no choice, you know that."

Chelsea stared at Duke in silence, she wanted to protest but she knew he was right. She and Duke grew up together, he was her next door neighbor, so they even attending the same schools. Duke was always the goofy type with his brown curly hair and his dark brown eyes but he always knew when it was time to stop playing around. She was glad in a way that she was trapped in the small unforgiving corrugated iron sheet house with her best friend.

"You must regret not listening to me huh?" Duke asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"I always told you to cut your hair dude! I mean, in this desert you must be feeling even hotter because you got a lot of hair on your head," he teased. Chelsea finally let out a small smile, if there was anyone on this earth that could make her smile, it was Duke. The truth was Chelsea loved her hair, she just wished that the army allowed the women to do whatever they wanted with their hair. She loved to braid her silky black hair and Duke really loved that style. He said when she did that, it really brought out her beautiful brown narrow eyes. He added that when she did that, her features glowed like the moonlight, ironically in the desert. She had soft dark brown skin and Duke always said that it felt as smooth as a baby's face. She was about to playfully retort something back when she heard voices.

"Duke they're back, what do we do?" she asked almost in desperation.

"We stay calm, they only tied our hands behind our backs, means they are gonna take us somewhere. Hey, no matter what, I'm here okay? We're in this together, forever and always, okay?" Chelsea nodded slowly but she did not feel reassured, she had the gut feeling that something bad was about to happen. Just then the door burst open and a man wearing a mask entered a gun a pointed it directly at Chelsea. Duke reacted immediately, he knew what the man was about to do.