Read Online Silence In Numbers: File One by Jake Taylor - Free Book Online

with hope.
    It was a woman this time, though that wasn’t unheard of obviously. According to Command she was top in her class - every class. Not much was given about her personality, but one attribute was the main focus of the group’s discussion over the next few days: “Age: 20.”
    At first they’d been shocked, then they moved on to laughter, then back to shock, and finally anger and indignation. “They’re desperate,” some offered as an explanation.
    “Finally gave up on us, I say.”
    “It’s ridiculous! Sending a kid to order us around? She’ll get us all killed!”
    Sam had remained silent. It wasn’t that he had any more faith in their new unknown commander than the others; he didn’t. Not in the least. He was sure she’d be dead within the month, if not the week.
    It was that fact right there. He didn’t find himself agreeing with sending someone so young into such a brutal conflict unprepared. It wasn’t right, but that didn’t really matter here he supposed. It would happen either way.
    She arrived three days after they’d been told of her appointment. She was young and beautiful, which only added to her being out-of-place in this hell. Her curly violet hair and pale complexion seemed too gentle for the harsh reality of the jungle, and every man there was ready to disobey her orders, most not out of resentment but to stay alive. She’d stepped off the helicopter with a younger girl with bright blue hair, but they were given no explanation at the time; the younger girl (only seventeen) had simply moved away and taken a seat in front of a tent to watch while the new commander stood in front of the group of men that had absolutely no faith in her abilities.
    But Sam had noticed something different. The young woman folded her arms behind her back and looked over her new charges as the transport helicopter lifted behind her, not staying in the area any longer than to drop off the girls and their supplies. She took in the hard men wearing torn and bloodstained clothes and numerous scars and moved in front of them, examining without any shown emotion. When she spoke it was far more even than they expected to come from those lips. “My name is Katsumi Samakura. You’re mine now. Things are about to change.”
    One of the men shrugged. The lack of respect wasn’t really a personal insult to her; they’d heard this sort of thing before, several times. She’d break soon. “We’ve got it handled.”
    Her eyes turned to the speaker. The deep lavender gaze seemed to hold some strange power within it that silenced him. “If that were true you’d have won by now.”
    Anger was the response. They’d been facing death for months, fighting like mad. This new girl with no experience here had no right to talk about it like she had, insulting their sacrifices and those of their fallen allies. One of the men stepped out of the line they’d reluctantly formed, moving to strike her. Sam didn’t blame him; it was like she’d spat on the graves of their fallen allies and on the shreds of their own dignity. She hadn’t done one thing to earn their respect or the ability to speak as she had.
    But she wasn’t the type to take that sort of thing. She ducked the swipe and slammed her fist into the man’s stomach, doubling him over. Her knee came up and he snapped back with a spray of blood emitting from his now-broken nose. After he hit the ground she stomped her foot onto his throat, holding him there as her lavender eyes flared to life with hidden emotion. “I don’t need your respect, but I demand your obedience.” The others were startled, but after a second rage took over, and Sam knew it was going to get ugly; out of the corner of his eye he noticed the blue-haired girl watching carefully, her fingers playing over a pistol on her belt.
    Their new commander drew her own pistol, pointing it at the downed man and ignoring the others, who stopped to watch as she continued. “This company’s death count