Colin flew around scouting for the next FBI van to hit. So far, he’d taken out five and marked them.

  He knew he was straying from the plan a little, but it made sense to not take responsibility for the FBI agents. They were the ones causing problems in the first place. They could bail their own people out.

  “Anything?” Jenny asked him through their connection. He was staying within range so that she could constantly talk to him and check in. Right now, his range was about 3 miles. Much better than it once was, but at that distance was also far more limited.

  “Not yet,” he said to Jenny, but then he picked up two human life pulses, “Wait I found one. I’m headed towards it.”

  Colin swooped down and circled near the van, but after a couple passes, it was obvious that something was off about this one. They weren’t anywhere near a pack of the changed. They were in an empty parking lot and the van kept flashing its lights on and off.

  Collin circled a few more times, but nothing changed. They just kept flashing the lights on and off no matter how long he waited. The touchdown to the ground and sent a thought to Jenny, “This one’s different. I’ll keep you posted about what’s going on.”

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  “Be safe, daddy,” Jenny said with a pulse of love and worry.

  “I promise I will,” Colin said as he kept watching from afar.

  One of the FBI agents stepped out of the van waving a white flag and turning in a circle. The other kept flashing his lights on and off. He was looking around for something. Most likely, he was looking for or signaling for Colin, so Colin focused on the agent’s feelings. He gave off pulses of confusion, obedience, and surrender.

  “Explain!” Colin shouted before flying and shifting locations, then turning into a waterbug to make sure they couldn’t find him.

  The FBI agent seemed shaken, but spoke up, “We’ve been ordered to call off the mission. The rest of our teams are pulling out. We don’t want to provoke you. We want to work with you.”

  “Why now?” Colin shouted, then shifted into a dragonfly and switched locations again.

  “I don’t know. I’ve just been told to relay this information and to not provoke you,” The agent said.

  “What happened?” Jenny asked Colin in his mind.

  “They’re giving up. They want to work with us,” Colin said.

  “Mommy says to tell them to round up more Changed and to bring them to the grocery store and leave them in the vans. She said to get them to bring supplies too.”

  “I have a few demands,” Colin said, then relayed Kristy’s ideas. Colin didn’t trust these men, but if he could enlist their help even temporarily, it would help them expedite their rescue of the Changed and turn them into Awakened. He just hoped they wouldn’t regret this choice.