Chapter 2

Staff Sergeant Brandon Ryder looked out from a hill at the smoking ruins. What he saw used to be a hamlet on the northern border of Texas; The second of the mysterious attacks within the state. The smoke had mostly disappeared but there were still some places that had not quite completely died out. Besides him were a squad of National Guard soldiers dressed like him but without his characteristic dark red beret. They all looked at the military vehicles swarm around the hamlet as all evidence was collected to who could have done something like this

Ryder was a tall, dark haired man, aged 33 years. He was originally a British national and served in the SAS for twelve years before coming out and joining the National Guard in the US. He retained several scars over his body as proof of his keen survival skills and his silent yet stern character showed off to all around him.

The man was well built having retained his muscle from the true fighting days but his intelligence in nearly all matters marked him up as a leader and some even considered him an able tactician. Despite this, Ryder held the position as staff sergeant with silent pride as he believed it allowed him to make decisions on the ground but not to be bogged down in politics that Generals and even Captains were.

An order was passed over the radio line that a house on the far end of the village was to be searched by his men. Switching to loud mode the officer barked out for his platoon to follow him down the village.

His jeep led the small column along, the green vehicle bounced around all over the place and kicked up dust from the slightly worn path under the tires. The driver concentrated solely on the task of maintaining the high speeds but staying on the road. This was no easy task as the landscape around was, while barren, still slightly uneven and covered in small rocks which threw the vehicle off at these speeds

Ryder was looking around the wasteland and occasionally at the swarm of men checking out the main portion of the hamlet. The two soldiers in the back however were talking over the rumble of the engine "What'cha think happened here?" "Dunno, heard over the airwaves that this thing is happening in other places" "I've heard the Polish and Chinese are both sending in Spec Ops teams over here to cause panic" "What about the town over in Poland being burnt then?" "Must be out teams hitting them back" "Pipe down you two" Ryder shouted back at them "You don't know who is causing this, keep an eye out for anything that will tell you" The two nodded in response at his melancholy face

The small column arrived at a house at three Texas rangers were standing looking nervous and partially queasy. As Ryder walked over to them they parted which allowed the officer a good view of the house. The entire front porch of the house was literally covered in blood which mostly had dried in the sunlight. Ryder stared at it for a while before examining the rest of the building

It was mostly wooden and strangely still intact unlike the rest of the hamlet which was a smoking ruin. However all the windows were broken and the front door had been ripped from its hinges, it had been thrown a decent way from the house.

"You looked inside?" Ryder spoke without taking his eyes off the bloodbath "Not yet" "Well let's take a look then" With that he walked off up the stairs of the porch while his men set about to searching the outside first. The police officers looked at each other before forcing themselves to follow Ryder into the house

The smell of rotting flesh had worked its way inside every surface and the horrific stench made eyes water. Despite the sun shining down the insides were incredibly dark, with only a few patches of light penetrating the shadows in the open doorway and through some of the windows which did not have curtains drawn across them. One of the policemen walked in and immediately ran out to throw up

The hallway was mostly illuminated, if only dimly and showed a trail of blood soaked footprints which looked like those of a barefoot human. The door straight ahead, through the narrow hall had also been smashed open but the flimsy thing still loosely held onto its hinges at the bottom. Two of Ryder's men also accompanied them inside, the man held up three fingers and pointed to the closed door into the lounge. The two men took one of the police officers with them to explore this part whereas Ryder himself took the other ranger straight ahead.

Torches were clicked on which revealed, more than anything the stuffiness of the air which choked everything inside the building. Straight ahead was the kitchen which was lit only by a broken window to the far left hand side. Glass littered the floor up to the point where a pool of red liquid stained the tiled floor. With the sun light, only a hand was visible, however when the torch light shone onto it there was nothing attached to it.

Ryder went over to it making the occasional crunching sound of the glass beneath him and bent down near the detached limb. It was female as the painted nails gave away and the rough edges of the flesh showed that it had been ripped from the arm with some amount of force "Why the hand?" He thought quietly aloud. The answer was given in the form of a knife lying on the floor only a few feet away. Clearly the woman had unsuccessfully attempted to defend herself.