---

Bunker Athena quickly became a home base for a lot more people than just the Athenians. The bunker was expanded as time went on and turned into somewhat of a colony. Miller spent most of his time further out, closer to the surface. Most people didn't live that close, but he didn't mind. It was better for him that way. Being in windowless rooms was the 'norm' for everyone now. Miller's entire family was killed early on when he was younger. There was only one survivor and that was his brother's son, his nephew. He had no idea where he lived or if he was even alive. The kid was smart, if anyone could survive, he could.

Miller sipped on a small glass of whiskey, as he read a book called, "The Outside". It described poisonous plants, how to hunt, and other things that would be helpful for a sustained life. The lights flickered every so often in his room, he didn't mind. It could be worse.

He laid out on his bed, and relaxed a little. After a moment, some knuckles hit his door, knocking.

"Miller." The voiced paused, "It's time let's go." Miller let out a breath and got up from his bed, putting the book down and taking one last sip of his glass, before heading out.

As they twisted and turned through the bunker towards the Athenians headquarters Miller asked, "What have we got this time?"

The man looked at Miller, "We have intel that a kid was stranded outside. His parents were killed, but he was able to hide and get away."

Miller nodded, "Alright, I'll save the other questions for the briefing." He said stepping through the doors to the headquarters room.

Several people stood on the outside of the room while a few sat in the center where the table was. There was a mix of regular humans and Athenians.

---

The whole base seemed to be getting a bit bigger than how it originally was, when she had first arrived. It had been five, nearly six years since the invasion began, and McKenna still didn’t feel that time has exactly moved. Being one of the more younger, smarter yet troubled Athenians, she has been one of those who has gained an impressive level of independence and maturity. That way, no one would mistaken her as someone who appeared to be that young.

More and more families have been coming in over the years; some orphaned, some not, therefore Bunker Athena has continued to expand the more survivors and supplies came in. She was only sixteen years old when she decided to take part in the Resistance. After learning about her inquisitive background, along with a display of strength, stamina, smarts qualified for a soldier, through a few examinations and tests, she was given quick clearance.

After having a tube in her arm for several days, McKenna felt the dramatical change in her physical and mental condition: She was stronger than usual, and her own mental capacity has expanded. After a few years, she was more than capable to take part on the battlefield between humanity and alien.

The only thing she had managed to salvage was a picture of her mom Erica, stepfather Henry, and little half-sister Hailey, who would have been twelve today. Her mother’s previous marriage to McKenna’s biological father was a total clusterfuck. Having to be molested at a young age, her mother finally managed to file a divorce, and marry a new man; a much better man, who treated his wife, McKenna, and Hailey as his sweethearts. He also took the time to take on hunting trips in the backyard. However, the invasion was too good to be true, and the parasites have managed to reach them one night while she slept. She only managed to fend her way out of the house, grab her hunting gun, and be eventually found by rescue patrol.

McKenna lightly smiled at the image in her hand, as she stood by herself in the Athenian headquarters. Hearing voices, she quickly folded the photograph and crossed her arms; her dark-brown hair draping the sides of her face. “For them, a child would be a lot harder to catch, since they’re smaller. Perfect for evasion”, she spoke up, as she stepped up towards the table a bit more, calm and clear-headed as always.

---

When McKenna spoke up Miller looked at her. He realized that they haven't really spoken much to each other even if they were Athenians. He honestly doesn't really talk to anyone if he doesn't have too. Miller combed over his hair with his hand to one side and looked at the Athenian captain.

"That's a good point." The Athenian captain replied to Mckenna. Mark Vives put a hand on his chin and stroked his beard thinking for a second. "We'll have to move quickly." He said staring at the table in the center of the room. He broke his focus a moment later, looking at everyone around the room. "Even if he's good at hiding and evasion, he'd still be defenseless." He paused, "And we all know that the people outside aren't always helpful either." He walked over to the table putting a hand on it leaning forward a little.

"Does anyone know where to start looking?" He asked around.

Miller stepped up a little, "I say we try where his parents were staked out. He's probably going to be nearby." He looked at some papers on the table, "Do we have any intel of the location of their bed down area?" Miller asked.

"Yes we do." Captain Vives responded, walking over to the table, shuffling some papers around. "It said they are right here." He pointed to a map.

It was about a mile out of Denver.

Miller looked at the map for a moment, then back at some people around the room, "Is this going to a hike or a drive?"

---

McKenna looked over towards the other Athenian, before taking her arms, putting them behind her, and stand up straight, somewhat giving off a proper soldier’s stance. She’s seen this man before, but she never got as far as to be social with her fellow teammates. Aside from professional talk, she was quite withdrawn. Sure, she had many flirt with her, but she chose to be cautious.

“Thank you, sir”, she responded to the captain. “Then the child doesn’t have much time. If we talking about the parasites, they won’t hesitate to kill him on sight. But, our dreadlocked friends out there, it isn’t known. I’ve done my research, Captain, and so far, nothing about a dead child has ever been found. But like you said, sir, we can’t assume”, McKenna explained her account on the report.

Looking at the map, the young woman looked at it, and scanned the map upon the table. “Captain, if that kid’s in a forest, they only got minutes or hours. Around that time, our alien hunters will soon have them by the nail”. Leave it to McKenna to be the team’s best scout. “Whether or not we drive, or hike, they’ll still see us moving...if we stay as a group, at least. I’ll go ahead, and give a signal, sir”, she proposed to the captain.

---

Captain Vives listened to her as she spoke. He looked at her when she had offered to go ahead of everyone.

"You're Athenian. You're an invaluable resource for the time being." He paused and looked over at Miller and back at her, looking like he had made a decision. "Miller is fast and strong. I'm sure if he's by your side, he won't slow you do."

Miller looked over at the young woman, "Slowing you down, won't be an issue." He smirked confidently.

The captain nodded in approval, "You two may go. I wish you the best." He gave a small smile then his face looked like he had something to say, "Oh and if you can extract the kid without having anyone else, then do it. It'd probably be the safest way to get this job done."

---

By the Captain’s comment, McKenna looked down at the floor for a moment, before she heard the voice of Miller speak. In acknowledgement, she gave him a nod, feeling obliged for the assistance. Even though she was used to going at it alone, going as a group was risky, especially since they get tracked down a lot more easily. Splitting up may be logical, but then it’s risky at the same time. The hunters become a lot more unpredictable, especially if they are hunting singular. They could pick them off one by one.

The thought of having Millers with her, made her silently anxious and concerned. She didn’t want to put her teammates in danger, as the hunters are more likely to take the “one-by-one” strategy. Although the pro to this idea would be to have another set of eyes.

McKenna seldom smiled, as her on-and-off days of happiness had already been tarnished the moment they have arrived. In addition to being molested at a young age, it didn’t make her feel better around people on a more casual basis. Most of the time, it was only for professional occasions.

“Yes sir”, she acknowledged. “I’ll let Millers keep track of me”.

---

"Alright." Captain Vives said moving onto the map once again.

He pointed at the city and moved his finger to the right, "You'll have to move east and either go through a tunnel or go around it." He said. "Going around the tunnel will cost you about 15 minutes of extra time to get there. So that'll be a decision you have to make when you get there." He continued to follow his finger to the location. "There isn't too many obstacles besides that tunnel. It's a pretty straight shot.

"Okay. I'm ready when you are." Miller said, looking at McKenna.

When Miller said that the captain nodded to a couple people and things started moving. Someone started gathering the intel on the table and consolidating it into a more organized pile, moving it out of the room. People started to the leave the room, talking about the issues at hand.

"I hope they're going to be okay." An older lady said quietly to her husband as they walked out.

---

McKenna looked down at the map, and watched him guide her on which direction to go. The tunnel was a cross from the road, and into the forest. If they were to take the tunnel, then there was a chance that the parasites could be hiding in the darkness. They were going to have be extra careful if they were to take that particular path, but if they went around, then it would be twice as risky, considering that the child might end up dead by the time they reach him or her.

She wasn’t going to argue with the Captain that this is a risky plan, but then they will figure out as they go along. It was her job as a Scout to go ahead of them, and plan it out, once they get out on the terrain. She kept a straight face, although she lightly flinched after hearing an elderly woman’s comment. She hoped so, too...

Hearing Miller, McKenna began to lead them towards the armory where they would stock up on all of the necessary gear and weapons for outside expeditions. For the young woman, she took extra items, mainly for hunting purposes. If they could get their hands on one of the creatures, they might just be able to find an answer on ending this war.

Four Athenians followed Miller and McKenna into the armory, suiting up alongside them.

"Darren, pass me a couple magazines." A soft woman's voice sounded. She had pointed to a couple magazines for the bullets and Darren tossed them to her. "Thanks." She smiled.

"No problem Reina." Darren responded. He was about 5'10 and weight 175. He as a little skinnier and a tad shorter than Miller.

Another voice sounded, "Darren make sure to grab a couple grenades." This voice was a little more stern and deeper. Regi Bergman. The man was ex-military and he had seen combat before the world had basically ended. He was a Master Sergeant in the Special Forces Group, a very specialized and hardened man. His wife sadly didn't make it when everything went chaotic, but he was able to save his daughter Rose.

"Copy." Darren replied. Some of the military slang is still being used be not as much anymore. All the old customs and courtesies don't exist. Most of it disappeared with the government a few years ago.

A shorter woman about 5'4, 110lbs came into the room. "Well boys, I got it." She said and smiled proudly. She held a small airborne drone. "I've been working on this bad boy for a minute now." She said holding it out for everyone to look at. "It uses plasma fuel. Only needs to be filled up every 100 hours of use." She said and smiled and then it died a little, "That fuel is hard to come by sadly since the collapse." She frowned slightly, "but we'll manage."

"Good job Lena. It looks great." Darren replied and smiled, walking over to her. He fiddled with it for a second looking it over. He looked up at her, "I got your gear outfit right over here." He said pointing to a spot in the middle of the wall.

"Great" Lena replied.

Miller finished gearing up, not really talking with anyone else. He pulled out a flask and took a little shot of his vodka. He had been drinking whiskey but wanted to change it up a little.

He walked over to Regi and talked quietly to him, "Just wait for our signal for the go-ahead. I expect resistance, but we don't ever really know what those bastards are gonna do."

Regi nodded as he listened to him, "Copy that."

Miller looked back at McKenna, "You ready?"

---

By the time they had reached the armory, four more Athenians joined them: Lena, Regi, Darren, and Reina. Having to be more of the antisocial type, McKenna didn’t speak to either of them, although she did make a few glances here and there, by the time she heard any of them speak. Fastening her outfit, along with her laced boots, she picked up a rifle and placed a few of the magazines inside of it, before cocking. Moving a piece of her dark hair from her face, she then picked a sub machine gun, and cocked it, as well.

Hearing Miller, McKenna armed her two pistols and placed them at her waist, before acknowledging him with a nod. “Yeah”, she said, before looking at the other four soldiers. She leaned in close to him, so the others couldn’t hear. “Me and you should go first; I’ll take point”, one may scoff at the idea, due to her being the youngest of the group, but after many of her observational experiences of these creatures, it would best for her to lead.

Miller listened to what McKenna said. He led her through the door away from the armory so they could speak a little more freely. "I already went over it with Bergman. He's willing to stay a ways back until we radio in what we want." He said and continued, "I agree. If it's just you and I then it'll be a lot more smoother. If we run into traps or something, if on you and I." He paused a second and looked at his gear doing a second look to make sure he's got everything he needs. "That way we could radio in any issues or a situation before they arrive, potentially saving 4 lives instead of wasting 6 of them."

Miller was always open to new strategy or advice to achieve certain goals.

A moment later the group of 4 came out of the armory ready to go. Bergman spoke up, "We're ready, we'll be in a armored vehicle with a mounted gun. We'll let you guys take the lead, on foot or in a separate vehicle. Either choice is okay with me or the captain."

Miller nodded in response to his words.

"Woo hoo!" Darren shouted with excitement. He was a thrill seeker through and through.

"Mhm." Lena said enthusiastically, clearly she wasn't about this life and wated to deal with her toys. She liked to tinker and work on robotics and other type of electrical engineering.

Reina and Bergman both walked by not really saying anything, but their eyes were focused.

---

“Okay. Because I propose that we advance with less people if we are dealing with a hunter, and we both know how clever and creative they can be with traps and ambushes. If it’s a forest, or an area with lots of trees and coverage, we’re stepping into their own personal playground”, McKenna kept note on the patterns of their enemies.

‘Always let the hunter become the hunted’. That was a motto she had lived by, ever since she signed up for this kind of duty. Although it was also one that the opposition lived by, as well. “We’ll ride in first, and we also have to go in blind. Hunters will know we brought back-up if we use to drone”, McKenna recommenced, as they walked into the bunker’s garage, where a heavily-barred jeep was heavily-shielded on all sides.

"Alright sounds good." Miller hopped in the driver seat figuring that McKenna would want to take command of this mission. He felt like it might make her feel more experienced and wise.

"You're good if I drive?" He asked, "I'm a good driver and I've heard you're a good shot." Miller would prefer to drive anyway, cause then he feels like it would be him who's in control of his fate... more or less.

A vehicle started up from a few feet away of them.

It was the group of four and Lena was driver. Maybe it was cause she was the best driver? Miller didn't really know.

---

Once again, one would assume that nobody would take McKenna’s advice or ideas seriously, mainly because of the fact that she was the youngest member in the program. She could already think that it was because of her physical appearance that made her look so “young”, even though she was in her twenties. Complimentary-wise, she was often distinguished for her youthful face. However, despite her youthful appearance, she was often silently praised for her marksmanship and brains.

Surprisingly, nobody had anything against her plan, so she could only hope that everybody would make it out alive. Miller gave her a compliment, and she herself was surprisngly taken by the comment. Nobody voiced her abilities aloud; not even the Captain. She wasn’t really expecting it either. Her lips gaped for a moment, before reaching her waist and taking the walker-talkie, letting the static fill the air for a moment. “Testing. Viper, do you copy?”, she asked, as she looked out the window. “It may seem very quiet out here, but keep your eyes open”.

"This is Viper. I read you loud and clear." Bergman replied. "Copy that Venom. My eyes are always open. Out." Bergman said sternly. The vehicle started. A small rumbling came from their car. A moment later Miller started the armored Jeep.

"Alright. Let's do it." Miller said looking over to her.

After a few minutes had passed they had to drive though a lot of abandoned cars. Bergman and the other 3 had stayed back quite a ways, like they were supposed to. Everything seemed to being smoothly so far.

"I've gotta concentrate on dodging the vehicles in the road." Miller said as he evaded another one. "Make sure you keep your eyes out there for me as well. I've gotta rely on you to keep us alive for now." Miller bit the inside of his lip softly as he concentrated.

After another few minutes a person was seen looting a vehicle nearby. He didn't look like he'd be a threat, but they couldn't be sure. From what it looked like, he wasn't armed.

"Must be a solo run." Miller said. "I feel bad for the people living outside the bunker. I feel like we got it easy." He glanced over at McKenna for a second and continued to drive.

---

She nodded to Miller and, by the time they were out on the road, McKenna took note of the abandoned automobiles, as well as the result of their abandonments: Several corpses remained, with holes in their chests, as well as decaptitated, sliced, or melted. Interestingly, none of them were skinned, which were the hunters’ speciality, after making a kill. She could already conclude that most of these people were infected by the parasites; men, women, and children, alike. Even a few animals.

It made McKenna lightly flinch at the sight, and she could only think about the coldness that the infestation had on the humans, especially upon the children. Did they too come from space? Could they be tied with the hunters somehow? There had to be a reason. It was only a coincidence that they came shortly after the infestation began. “Copy that”, she replied back albeit softly, before spotting the lone man. “I don’t disagree. We can only trust so little out here. We never know that they may be infected”, she said this, rather solemnly, having to understand the misery that the people outside the bunker have to endure.

"The sad truth..." Miller said continuing to drive. He looked over at McKenna again, "I think we should try to figure out how to detect if those things are inside someone." He said looking back at the road once more and evading a vehicle. "Our scientists made our serums they put into us before civilization collapsed. Maybe we could ask one of the doctors or scientists what kind of equipment they might need." He paused again using what spare time he had to look around in the environment. "Maybe like an X-Ray machine or something." He shrugged.

After a second Lena's drone whizzed by the car.

"Dammit." Miller said reaching for his radio. "Venom don't use the drone right now. We know that those hunter, predator things will know if it's just more than us. Over."

"Ugh. I just wanna use it!" There was a silence over the radio for a second. "Fine." The drone turned and whizzed past the truck again returning to the other group.

Miller looked over at McKenna, "They might not know it's actually backup. We could try to use it?" He asked as if he was wanting to know what her thoughts were.

---

“There’s no need to know. I’ve seen it before. Once planted, they only get five to ten seconds to live, after waking up...for humans, at least. As much as we could try, we just can’t take any chances. Even if we try to save them, it would already be too late”, it sounded a bit wrong to leave some of humanity behind, but then, this was how the world turned now. It felt as if the planet was already doomed from the start, but then, they was still hope if one joined the Resistance.

Looking out the window, she stayed quiet, as Miller dealt with the situation. She could silently understand Lena’s enthusiasm, but such measures had to be taken, if they are to survive out here. “We can’t. These...”Predators”, as you call them, they learn and adapt. However, they might never have seen one. We can give it a shot, but if they find that something is up, drones will be strictly prohibited”, she voiced, in response to his question, as she looked out a window.

'Hmph.' Lena pouted looking out the window. Not even a few seconds later she pulls out another device. It was a small camera and she began to tinker with it.

"Bergman, do you think it's a good idea to let them go ahead like this?" Darren asked as they drove along.

"Well, in the past they had recon and sniper teams. It's better to lose a couple lives than a whole unit of them, but lives are sacred and should be protected." Bergman responded watching the road and evading the cars just like Miller had. "It definitely wouldn't be safe for them to being moving out like that, but it HAS to be done. Humans are a limited resource at this point it seems."

Reina looked over and listened. She's a passive, diligent and a willing person, much more introvert than Lena is. She combed her hair back behind her ears. She wanted to talk but didn't know what to say in this gloomy situation. Being outside for her was always depressing. She had pictured a much different life than what she was living now, but she has to adapt to the new one that was provided for her. She felt like she was better off than most, especially now with the Athenian serum.

"Yeah.." Darren said. He didn't want to argue with the man who had actually had the most combat experience out of anyone. The logic seemed sound.

"Alright it's honestly better than nothing. We won't know till we try." Miller responded to McKenna.

"Venom, go ahead with the drone." Miller said through the talkie.

"YES!" Lena sounded off immediately. She picked up the drone once again and began to fly it. "You'll see boys, how useful this thing is, just wait." She said and smiled, proud once again. "She flew it with a little camera installed. "I'll fly it higher so it'll be less of a chance of being spotted and viewed as a threat. These hunter things are probably more focused on the ground..." She said trailing off a little bit, "It's just speculation."

"I like that. It's something new." Reina said and smiled to her Lena.

After a couple of minutes the drone reached a reasonable level of height.

"I've installed a heat signature camera." She said and switched the mode on the camera. It didn't show any heat signatures from the pathway ahead.

"Viper, this is Venom. I don't see any hostiles or friendlies in the area ahead." Lena radio'd over to Miller and McKenna.

Miller heard this and looked over at McKenna. "So far this isn't too bad." He said and shrugged lightly, giving her a small smile trying to raise her spirit a little. "Hell we don't even know if they have heat." He said. Miller glanced over at McKenna, "I think Predator is a good name for them. What do you think about the other ones?" He asked curiously.