Wolves among men (35 page)

“
So how is it that you
know about us?” I asked curiously, desperate to change the
subject.

“
The war, didn’t your
buddy Robert tell you?” The sudden memory of the reservation and
the pain I had caused welled up in me and tore at the edge of my
thoughts. I shook my head quietly as I struggled to push the memory
down and concentrate on the man in front of me rather than the
ghost of friends passed.

“
Sorry, I didn’t know you
cared so much about him.” He sneered, shaking his head and taking
another drink from his cup. I looked up at him, glaring slightly at
his insinuation.

“
He was a friend. He saved
my sisters life more than once.” I sighed heavily. “He died trying
to save her. I owe him a lot for that.” Bryant sighed deeply and
shrugged.

“
I’m sorry. Robert was a
good friend of mine too.”

“
I didn’t get him killed
if that’s what you’re thinking,” I added quietly as I stared down
at the dusty ground beneath my feet.

“
I’ve got no such thought,
son. I knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t do a damn thing he
didn’t want to. If he gave his life to save her then she must be
pretty important.” I nodded. We sat in silence for a moment, a
homage to the dead as we kept our eyes low.

“
Alright back on the
subject of how I know about you,” he spoke loudly, breaking our
silence and bringing my attention back to the world of the living.
“I was a dumb kid that signed up for the war before I took the time
to think right about what that really meant.”

“
That doesn’t-”

He snapped. “I ain’t done yet. Do you
have a fascination with the sound of your own voice, son, or do you
just like interrupting people for the hell of it?” I lowered my
eyes and leaned back in my chair. “As I was saying, I was nineteen
years old when I signed up. I had no idea what I was getting myself
into and in my mind serving your country was just the thing to do.
Didn’t take into account that I could have been killed or that I
had a baby on the way and a wife that needed me. I was stupid and
selfish but that’s why we’re here isn’t it.” He smiled weakly. “I
signed up and got myself deployed just in time for
D-day.”

“
You were there?” I asked
as a growing excitement and curiosity welled up in me. He rolled
his eyes and shook his head.

“
Only in the loosest sense
of the words. I wasn’t there to storm the beach, I got sent out
along with a bunch of other scared kids to take the place of any
son of a bitch dumb enough to get himself killed in the trenches.
The military, the government hell even our own commanders didn’t
give a rat’s ass about us, we were there to put a bullet in as many
people as we could before getting gunned down and that was just the
way things were.” He shook his head and lowered his eyes to the
ground, the memory of it all pained him and I could see it spelled
out on his face as he told his story.

“
I was given a gun and
told where to go, so like a good soldier I listened. Six months I
was down in those trenches taking down those Nazi bastards in the
name of my country and did I get a damn thing for it?” He looked to
me questioningly. “No I didn’t.” He sneered before I had the chance
to respond. “Anyway, I’ll spare you the details and get right down
to it. There’s too much that needs to be done if you’re sorry asses
are going to survive this.” He eyed me knowingly.

“
Now I imagine what you’re
wanting to know is how I came to know that your kind exists am I
right?” I nodded. “Thought so. Well, long story short, I was out in
the trenches one day in August I believe, me and a few men just
barely younger than myself armed to the teeth and fighting against
a hoard of Germans that just kept coming like the plague. We had
the upper hand for a short time but before we had the chance to
enjoy that one of your kind came barreling through the trenches
ripping my men apart.” I gasped slightly, my curiosity growing as
he spoke.

“
It was raining that day,
I remember because my gun was slick and I dropped it in the mud
trying to run away from that thing. I had no idea what it was but I
knew it wasn’t something I wanted to be messing with. It came in
from the west and charged my men, they didn’t have a chance.” He
sighed as he lowered his gaze once again. “Sometimes I still hear
their screams at night, can’t get that sound out of my head. I
watched it.” He turned his face back to me. “I watched it like a
coward as it threw them around and tore them apart. I couldn’t lift
my gun, I swear I tried but I just couldn’t so I dropped it and
took off.”

“
But it was fast,” I
added. To my surprise Bryant didn’t scold me for my interruption.
He only smiled and nodded.

“
Faster than anything that
big should move. Once I realized that I couldn’t outrun it I ducked
behind a pile of my own men and began pulling bodies on top of me.
I figured if it thought I was a corpse I might have a chance. I
laid there for a good long while, scared out of my mind as I
watched it come after one of my best friends, a man I was sworn to
protect and pulled him inside out. Just like that.” He shook his
head lightly.

“
The thing took off but
after that I saw more and more of them being sent into the trenches
to wipe us out like weeds and when a man is put into a situation
like that he learns to fight or dies quick and that’s just the way
things are. I wasn’t much for dodging or outrunning them so I
learned to aim quickly and aim for the head.”

“
How did you find out
about Malik?” I managed to choke out, my curiosity getting the
better of me.

“
Well, men get lost in the
trenches, soldiers listed as dead when they’re not and living when
they’re six feet under. I was one of those men. I took the chance
and got in touch with some people who knew things over there,
apparently in those parts seeing a werewolf rip thirty men to
shreds is just a typical Sunday so it wasn’t tough and with the war
going on I had the chance to learn a few things that would have
otherwise been lost.”

“
Like how the Nazi’s were
making soldiers out of them?”

“
Not the Nazi’s,” He
smiled at me. “Malik. Yes Hitler liked the idea, yes it was a
blacklisted project as I understand it but it never really worked
out. He started giving his men these shots, told them that they
were steroids and that it would help them remain healthy and alert
in battle but what it was, was this serum that Malik had developed
while experimenting. He wanted to give his men all the perks of
being a werewolf without having to actually change so they were
still men like you and me just stronger, faster and able to heal
massive wounds in record time.”

“
But the human body can’t
handle that kind of change.”

“
You’re right, no it
can’t. Most of the men died shortly after being injected and Hitler
himself sent the order to end the project but Malik didn’t stop, he
kept trying for that perfect soldier.”

“
Did he ever find
it?”

“
Well now that’s something
I don’t know. I found out about these experiments because of your
little friend, Jonathan.”

“
How did you-”

“
You know if you let
people speak you might not have to ask so many stupid questions,”
he barked with a smile.” When I started asking questions I got
lucky and met some of the right people, one of those people
happened to put me in touch with a man that worked close to Malik
and had some information about the experiments. Problem was he
didn’t want to talk, sworn to secrecy that kind of thing. So I
posed as a Nazi soldier and took him out for drinks one night, it
took a while to find the magic number but once I did, boy that man
spilled every last detail I asked for. Told me about Malik, the
experiments even told me that he was going to become one of them
after the war. It cost me a fortune but what he told me that night
was worth all the gold in the world if you ask me.

“
Poor drunken bastard told
me everything he knew and as soon as he passed out I took off.” We
sat in silence as I digested his tale. I couldn’t imagine what it
must have been like for him to learn things the way he did but it
made some sense of the man in front of me to understand what he
went through before his life ever really began.

“
What about your wife and
kid?”

“
Never saw them again,” he
spoke gruffly. “They were told I was dead and I intend to keep it
that way.” He sighed heavily and grabbed his cup from the table,
taking a long drink before placing it back down and turning his
eyes to me. “So Sam tells me you started this war?”

“
I guess.” I chuckled
lightly. It was funny to hear it put that way but he was right. He
nodded at me lightly a slight sound of approval escaped his chest
as he smiled.

“
Well good for you,
son.”

“
What?” I laughed
loudly.

“
It’s about damn time we
get rid of this son of a bitch and I intend to help you do it. Now
come on, while we’re in here talking that bunch of idiots out there
is getting soft.” He smiled as he turned his chair around and began
toward the door. I watched him disappear into the light of the
courtyard, the sound of his shouts filling the air quickly as he
rallied the troops back into position.

“
Do you really think this
guy can help us?” I asked Logan quietly. He shrugged and stood from
the table with a grin.

“
Well, were going to find
out aren’t we.” He smiled. I followed him out of the building and
into the garden to face the tired eyes of the kids that were forced
into the mess that I had created.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Our days passed quietly but not
without insult or complaint. Bryant had made his place at the head
of the troops but his particular brand of training didn’t exactly
inspire love and admiration in his men. If the constant level of
complaints being thrown around while his back was turned was any
indicator to how he was perceived then Bryant may well have earned
his place as the most hated man among us.

“
I swear if that old son
of a bitch calls me a retard again-”

“
That old son of a bitch
is trying to make sure you don’t die when shit hits the fan,” Sam
chimed in from behind the bickering pair.

“
I know but that doesn’t
mean he has to be a jerk about it.” The smaller of the two sighed
as Sam patted his shoulder gently.

“
Well he also doesn’t have
to be here but he is and as far as I’m concerned you all are
getting better.”

“
You think so?” The brown
haired boy blushed slightly.

“
Yeah I do so just ignore
the insults and keep at it okay.” She patted his back before
turning from the pair and making her way toward me. Sam sat down
slowly next to Cordillia who was too involved in her lunch to
really notice.

“
That was nice what you
did.” I nodded toward the boys as she adjusted herself and began to
tear away at her own meal.

“
Bryant is an ass.” She
shrugged, staring down at her plate thoughtfully. “But he’s getting
the job done.”

“
Yeah well, Matt doesn’t
seem too happy about it.” She chuckled softly.

“
Matt’s just upset that
he’s not the center of attention anymore. “ She smiled. “It’s okay
though, he’ll learn to live with it.”

“
You know it’s not polite
to talk about people when there not around.” Matt grumbled throwing
his plate down on the table and sitting heavily in the chair next
to me.

“
Relax, we were just
talking about how amazing you are.” Cordillia looked up from her
plate and smiled.

“
Yeah?” Matt grinned.
“It’s about time you guys figured that out.” Sam chuckled loudly as
she began to pick at her food. It wasn’t that I was keeping a close
eye on her but it didn’t take a genius to see that she hadn’t eaten
much since Cordillia came back. She was worried, it was written all
over her face and as much as I wanted to help her, I honestly had
no idea what it felt like to be in her situation. It was no mystery
by looking over the quiet room and forlorn faces that we were all
afraid, Jonathan was coming back and with how many no one could be
sure. We were small in our numbers but great in our conviction, I
could only hope that it was enough to get us through where sheer
man power was destined to fail.

We ate in silence, exchanging only the
simplest of conversation and dancing over the subject of what was
to come, there was no need in opening that wound and reminding
ourselves of the mess we were in but somehow we managed to change
the focus just long enough to enjoy a simple meal together, one of
life’s luxury’s that somehow made everything okay if not for just
one moment.