The Side Project Pt. 02 Ch. 15

Chapter 15: Allie

Blackout

TRIGGER WARNING: Violence, kidnapping, generally unhinged behavior.

Author's Note: This is the beginning of what I'm thinking of as Segment 2 of TSP2: Nature Girl. The next six chapters are from Allie's perspective and focus on what's going in her world. Ky and Lexi will be back soon, but I didn't want to totally abandon this side of the cast in TSP2. This chapter is generally unpleasant is in non-erotic for a reason.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

I could smell the bourbon as we walked beside the parking lots packed with tailgaters towards LSU's Tiger Stadium. The group of Alphas dressed in their matching Texas A&M gear strode confidently through the sea of purple and gold created by the LSU fans tailgating on either side of the walkway.

Thanksgiving had been ok. Garrison was a lot more tolerable around his family without the bad influence of his Alpha buddies. We'd flown down from Nashville to Dallas on Tuesday and stayed at his parents' sprawling ranch property an hour south of the city. Garrison's parents were old Dallas money. Obsessed with propriety and appearances. I disliked them, but I had always known how to put on a face and play a role.

The silver lining was that part of the 'propriety' Garrison's parents demanded included treating ladies 'right'. So Garrison put on a show for them, so he was actually somewhat attentive and polite instead of the domineering jerk he tended to be after spending too much time with his Alpha buddies.

Unfortunately, part of keeping up appearances meant I had to go with Garrison to see Texas A&M football's visit to Baton Rouge. He was flying directly home to Nashville from nearby New Orleans on Sunday. A good wife wouldn't fly home separately from her husband.

We got a mid-morning flight from DFW, and Tanner, my friend Lauren's husband, met us at the airport in Baton Rouge in the early afternoon. Apparently a cohort of Alphas had made the long drive down from Nashville because I recognized Tanner's ridiculous souped-up truck. I knew Lauren had been working over Thanksgiving so her family had flown in to see her. Tanner obviously saw no issue with leaving them to go practice his religion: A&M football.

Garrison and Tanner performed their ritual bro hug and immediately dove into a discussion of what bowl game A&M might make if they could pull off the upset tonight. With a sigh I hefted

my heavy suitcase into the back of Tanner's truck and got in the back seat of the extended cab. Both men opened light beers as they continued their animated discussion and Tanner pulled away from the airport terminal. I wondered if being a DD would be part of my job duties that night. I resolved to moderate my drinking - I didn't want to die because one of my husband's idiot friends was driving drunk.

The tailgate was well underway by the time we arrived. While tailgating was a big deal at Alabama, where I'd gone to college, there was a sort of semi-organized outdoor cocktail party pageantry to it. I noticed how the groups of fans all seemed loosely associated - it seemed like everyone knew everyone in a way.

Of course, that was not the Alpha MO. Tanner pulled into his designated spot following the hand signals of a younger Alpha I only vaguely recognized. Tanner's truck completed a semi-circle of six of the ubiquitous large pickups, arranged in a formation that ignored the painted lines of the parking spaces. In the spaces across the parking aisle from the open side of the semi-circle were a half dozen nondescript vehicles. I guessed these were cars that Alphas who had flown into Baton Rouge had rented. To really discourage foot traffic through the area, low walls of sandbags had been set up blocking both ends of the aisle. It created a semi-private courtyard within the hubbub of the tailgate.

There were perhaps 40 Alphas already assembled. Garrison was immediately subjected to mockery for his 'late' arrival, and demands he catch up on the drinking as soon as we got out of the truck. I desperately scanned the crowd for a friendly face. There were about a dozen wives, but none I recognized as friends.

I saw someone wave and my new friend Taylor popped out from behind a group of Alphas. I breathed a sigh of relief. Taylor bounded over and hugged me.

"Thank goodness for a friendly face," she said.

"I feel the same way," I said.

"Ma'am, welcome to Operation BRP," a younger Alpha I didn't recognize said. He handed me a glass bottle. I looked at the label: Boone's Farm Blue Hawaiian. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"Come on, I knew they wouldn't have anything good to drink. I have a secret stash," Taylor said.

"You're a godsend," I said and followed her towards a dark green SUV.

"What's Operation BRP?" I asked.

"Baton Rouge Pounding," Taylor explained.

"Wow, creative."

Taylor laughed as she opened the back door of the SUV and pulled out an insulated cooler.

"Marg or wine?" she offered.

"I think I need a marg to deal with this," I said.

"Good call." Taylor pulled out a travel mug and poured from a large thermos. I had noticed she was drinking from a travel mug of her own.

"Cheers," I said and we clinked our mugs together.

"You said your parents are in New Orleans right?" I asked, recalling the discussion from last Saturday night when we'd been discussing holiday plans over dinner at Lauren's house.

"Yep, they've got Kacie for the night. I've always liked coming to LSU games, so much energy," Taylor said, referring to her four-year-old daughter.

"Oh, so rooting for the enemy then?" I asked.

"Don't tell them, I'll probably be drawn and quartered," Taylor said.

"Your secret's safe with me," I laughed.

"You went to Alabama, right?" Taylor asked.

"Yep, Iron Bowl today," I said. I wasn't a huge football fan, but it was kind of hard not to be at least a little bit of one at Alabama. I'd also been in school when the current run of dominance had begun. I followed enough to know what was going on.

"Let's get them to put that on the TV for us. We can claim we're watching that and they won't bug us too much," Taylor suggested.

"Smart." One of the few things the Alphas would respect was watching your school's football team.

We commandeered a couple of camp chairs and actually managed to have a reasonably pleasant afternoon. Alabama ended up losing to Auburn, which I was moderately disappointed by, but I really enjoyed hanging out with Taylor. Her hilarious irreverence confirmed the first impression she'd made on me the prior Saturday.

The sun was fully down by the time the Iron Bowl ended, and movement towards the stadium was beginning. The reason, aside from fashion, why the Alphas wore cargo pants to the game became obvious as they began filling their pockets with black plastic flasks.

Taylor and I followed in the wake of the Alphas, not especially wanting to be associated with them. I'd intentionally dressed in green so it was obvious I was a neutral.

Inevitably a large group of A&M fans got some good-natured ribbing from LSU fans as we passed. To my surprise none of the Alphas responded, but a quartet of the younger wives were responding. Their shit talk wasn't good-natured though. It was all focused on how the LSU fans were weak, soft, poor and low class. Basically the opposite of everything the Alphas believed themselves to be.

"Who's the public relations crew here?" I asked Taylor.

"Paige, Ashlynn, Sutton, and Sloane. They're very bought into the Alpha philosophy. I was talking to them before you got here."

"Gross," I said. I was aware that there was a group of wives that were completely on board with the whole Alpha philosophy, but this was my first time seeing them in action in a setting like this.

Once we got inside the stadium Taylor and I peeled away while the main group went to buy sodas to mix with the contents of their flasks.

"I don't really feel like sitting with them, do you?" Taylor asked.

"Hell no, let's go find somewhere fun," I said.

"I used to sneak into the student section all the time when I was younger. Big time energy," Taylor said. I nodded at her plan.

We found a good spot adjacent to the student section with a couple of empty seats and had a great time. I hadn't been to a big-time SEC night game since I was at Alabama and the atmosphere was a fun reminder of the kind of energy a truly pumped up, drunk SEC crowd brought. The Tigers delivered too, running out to a 20-0 lead by the second quarter.

Between Garrison's obsession, and the fact that I considered A&M obnoxious Johnny-come-latelies to the SEC, I despised the Aggies. Hate watching them with tens of thousands of screaming LSU fans was tremendous fun.

A&M did mount a bit of a comeback, which was actually sort of good because it kept the intensity up, but LSU responded and put the game away with two more touchdowns. We had as much fun during the fourth quarter watching the antics in the stands and on the sidelines as we did the football.

The game had just ended and we were about to leave when the LSU band started up a new song.

"Oh shit, they haven't played this in years, I can't believe they're doing this. This should be good!" Taylor said.

It didn't seem all that notable to me until a certain lyric hit. The entire student section, along with Taylor, sang "SUCK THAT TIGER DICK, BITCH."

I laughed. This was fun! I joined in at full voice the next time around.

"That's going to make them so mad," I said, laughing, as we finally made our way out of the stadium.

"They're going to be in such a shitty mood. Ugh, last thing I feel like is dealing with pissy Merritt tonight," Taylor whined.

"Yeah, let's not talk about it. Ruins the mood," I suggested.

So we didn't. For the twenty minute walk back to the tailgate area we enjoyed ourselves, talked about whatever and absorbed the festive atmosphere.

"Ok time to act sad and serious, what's our story?" Taylor asked.

"Usually when Garrison gets suspicious of me while he's drunk I just go with the most absurd thing imaginable and it confuses him," I said.

Taylor laughed. "I like it."

Garrison and Merritt noticed us when we re-entered the little encampment, which the Alphas were now in the process of disassembling. Between their bad mood and high level of inebriation it was moving slowly.

"Where the fuck have you two been?" Garrison demanded.

"Uh, watching a football game," I said.

"I didn't see you the whole time," Garrison said.

"Well yeah, because you spent most of your time getting shit-housed and screaming with your buddies," I pointed out. It was a guess, but I knew my audience.

"I did come looking for you once," Garrison defended himself.

"Oh that's probably while we were having the orgy. Some of the injured LSU players who didn't dress invited us," I said.

"Yeah, we took 'suck that Tiger dick, bitch' quite literally," Taylor added.

Garrison and Merritt just looked at us open-mouthed.

I just shook my head. "Come on guys, we met a couple other A&M couples who were chill and hung out with them for a bit. The guys seemed like real men. I got their numbers to give to Chester," I said.

"Oh, uh, ok good. Bullshit game. This school is a bunch of disrespectful fucks with their chanting too. We'll be loaded up in a few minutes and ready to roll back to the hotel," Garrison said.

"Copy that," I said.

Garrison and Merritt stalked off to resume whatever critical task they were attending to.

Taylor released her barely contained giggles. "That was hilarious, well done."

"Why thank you, I pride myself on my creativity," I said. Did I, though? I was pretty sure Wednesday before last with Reed, Jackie and Brandi had been on the brink of qualifying as an orgy.

"Alright, now for our next obstacle, convincing them to turn over their car keys," Taylor said.

In light of my earlier concerns, Taylor and I had taken it easy that afternoon and hadn't had a drop of alcohol since the Iron Bowl ended nearly five hours earlier. We were definitely good to drive. However, Alphas considered it emasculating to let a woman drive them.

Before we got to that topic, however, some kind of ruckus broke out on the other side of the Alphas' little compound. We walked over to see what it was about. A pickup truck had pulled up to the low sandbag wall, obviously wanting to get down the parking aisle to exit the lot. Why removal of the sandbags blocking a public thoroughfare hadn't been the Alphas' first priority, I had no idea.

"Get these stupid fucking sandbags out of the way!" screamed the driver of the truck. He had opened his driver's side door and was standing on his truck's running board. He was college-aged and, based on his demeanor, almost assuredly drunk. There was a load of fellow students in purple and gold shirts in the bed of his truck. Certainly ill-advised in terms of safety, but hardly beyond the pale for drunk college kids.

"Yeah you fucking douchebags, we got beers to drink and bitches to bang! Get that shit moved!" yelled the guy who had been in the passenger seat. Like his compatriot, he was half out of the truck standing on the running board.

Realizing their fuckup, a couple of the younger Alphas ran over and hurriedly began removing the sandbags. The kids in the back of the truck stood up in the bed and gathered against the back of the cab to watch proceedings.

"SUCK THAT TIGER DICK, BITCH!" one of them yelled.

"SUCK THAT TIGER DICK, BITCH! SUCK THAT TIGER DICK, BITCH! SUCK THAT TIGER DICK, BITCH!" chanted the college students.

I could feel the anger radiating off the Alphas around me, but to my surprise they maintained their discipline and didn't respond.

"Nothing to say, eh?" called the driver. "Bunch of beta cuck losers, just like your football team!"

"The only ones who will touch your pathetic junk are your moms you incestuous fucks!" yelled one of the women standing in the bed of the truck.

"That's because she's the only one who doesn't laugh at their micro penises!" yelled another guy.

"Colonel, this is fucked up, they shouldn't be allowed to disrespect the club," growled an Alpha. I think it was Cullen.

"Maintain your discipline, men," ordered Norman.

A fresh round of 'SUCK THAT TIGER DICK, BITCH!' chanting began.

The Alphas were nearly done removing the sandbags.

"Good riddance you pathetic paramilitary pussies!" yelled the passenger.

'Nice alliteration kid! You're going places in life,' I thought to myself.

Except that seemed to be some sort of tipping point for Norman. He stepped forward so he was standing directly in front of the LSU kids' truck.

"I understand you folks are young, and you're excited by the victory of your team, and perhaps have even been consuming a few illegal beverages. However, you're being extremely disrespectful," Norman said icily.

"Oh yeah, old man? And what are you going to do about it?" sneered the driver.

"I'm a reasonable man. I'm going to give you an opportunity to apologize for your disrespectful behavior," Norman said. I found his tone chilling. The LSU kids either missed that or didn't care.

"Oh yeah? Or what gramps?" challenged the driver.

"Or I'll teach you the kind of respect your family clearly didn't teach you," Norman said.

"Whatever, get out of the way you pathetic asshole. Take your hooptie trucks back to your trailer park and get the fuck off our campus."

Norman shook his head and stepped aside.

"Have fun schlurping each other's schlongs tonight!" yelled the passenger out the window as the truck passed us. The passengers in the bed let fly with one more round of 'SUCK THAT TIGER DICK, BITCH!' chanting as the truck drove away, the flag for the LSU students' fraternity flapping.

There were a few more cars bottled up behind the truck. They passed through with a few more glares from LSU fans.

Once there was relative quiet, Norman began bellowing. "Unit! Code Red. Execute action plan X-ray! Rally point Alpha! T-minus five hours! Move!"

His orders caused a frenzy of activity among the Alphas. They began loading things rapidly into trucks.

I sought out Garrison. "What the fuck is going on?" I asked him.

"Serious club business. Confidential," he said.

"What?"

"We'll discuss it later, it's an OPSEC matter."

"I don't think you should be driving, can I drive us back to the hotel?" I asked.

"Yes, that'd be helpful, I have an enormous amount of logistics to coordinate. Find Tanner and tell him you're driving," Garrison instructed. Shit had just gotten real weird.

- - - - -

Garrison and Tanner spent the entire drive to the hotel talking into their phones in coded language. A pair of younger Alphas who had joined us were working on tablets, coordinating something. All four men were drinking water aggressively.

Garrison had me check in and get our room keys. Once I had the room keys, I walked out to the parking lot to find Garrison and get my suitcase. The parking lot was a hive of Alpha activity.

Still no offer to help me carry my suitcase, though. I grabbed it out of Tanner's truck and passed Garrison a room key, then headed for our room.

I texted Taylor my room number and invited her to hang out. I needed to talk to someone and she seemed like my only ally right now. While I waited for her I changed into fluffy sweatpants and a soft long-sleeve t-shirt. That made me feel a little better.

I heard a soft knock on the door and verified it was Taylor before letting her in. Like me she'd changed into comfy clothes. We hugged each other instinctively, drawing comfort from the contact.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Taylor asked.

"Not really. Normally I try to avoid their little boys' club trips," I said.

Taylor sighed. "How the fuck did I end up here?" she wondered.

Taylor's simple question led to a surprisingly intimate discussion. I told Taylor about my backstory. How I'd moved to Dallas after college, met Garrison in a club, then got into what I thought was a normal marriage and ended up an Alpha wife in Nashville.

Taylor revealed how she'd tried to do the college thing for a couple semesters at UL Lafayette, but it just hadn't worked for her. She ended up back living with her parents in New Orleans. She'd been trying to figure out a life as a personal trainer when she'd met Merritt. She thought she'd hit the jackpot. A nice guy, who also happened to be loaded and ran a successful business.

"I'll admit, I let him knock me up. I wasn't explicitly trying to baby trap him, I let him know it was a possibility, he went for it anyway. I was four months pregnant on our wedding day," Taylor explained.

"Holy shit, for real?" I asked. The idea terrified me. I'd taken my birth control religiously since I was 14.

"Yeah, I dunno. I can be pretty fucking impulsive. I thought I wanted to be a mom. I thought it would give me purpose. He was rich. Fuck it," Taylor said.

"Damn," I breathed. I wasn't going to say anything, but I was incredibly grateful I'd never taken that step with Garrison.

"Yeah, like this is the mindfuck of it, right? I love Kacie more than I ever imagined I could love something. I definitely got the mom gene. Like even now, I kind of want to call up my parents just to see how she is. But by the same token, knowing who her dad is. Kind of sucks," Taylor said.

"I'm guessing he's not a very good dad?"

Taylor scoffed. "You know how they say fatherhood changes guys? Makes them more responsible, gives them more purpose. Not Merritt. Only thing it gave him more purpose at was leaning harder into being an Alpha. Functionally I'm a single mom. The only thing I'll give him is he does provide for us financially."

"Sounds like it fits their pattern," I observed.

"Yep, and I know that I'd probably get fucked in a custody hearing. So here I am. Stuck. I deal with it as best I can," Taylor said.

"For what it's worth, it seems like you do it better than most," I said. I was thinking about Taylor's feisty attitude.

"Right back at ya girl, I can't believe you told our husbands we were in an orgy, even as a joke! Epic!" Taylor enthused.

We talked for about another hour about all kinds of things. Since Taylor had never really gotten into university life she was pretty intrigued by my tales from my sorority days at Alabama. While there hadn't been much to do in the small town where I grew up, it sounded like Taylor had been a straight-up troublemaker growing up in a working-class suburb of New Orleans. And hadn't really stopped as an adult until she got pregnant with Kacie. Taylor also knew a lot more about the wives in our neighborhood and their personalities, so she gave me the lowdown on that, which was interesting.

We hugged each other goodnight once we got to the point we couldn't stop yawning. For a moment I thought about kissing the redhead, then shook my head. Fucking Lexi. I wondered what mischief she'd gotten herself into over the holiday.

"What?" Taylor asked.

"Nothing, long story. Next time," I said.

"Sounds good, thanks for today. See you tomorrow," Taylor said.

"We made the most of it. See you tomorrow," I said to Taylor.

I sighed as I curled up in bed. Strange day, but all in all an ok one. At least I'd made a friend.

- - - - -

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

I woke up to some kind of noise in the room. The lights were on, which confused me and caused me to wince as my eyes adjusted. The bedside clock told me the time: 3:12 AM. Garrison was the source of the noise. He was rifling through his suitcase, looking for something.

"Why did you turn the light on? What are you doing?" I asked, still half asleep.

"On a tight deadline, need to be downstairs in five," Garrison said.

"Wait, what?" I asked, still disoriented.

Garrison looked at me coldly. "You know what, it'd probably be good for you to see. I've noticed some disrespect creeping into your attitude lately. Joking about orgies, for example. This'll be a good lesson for you that actions have consequences. Come on," he said.

I climbed out of bed with trepidation. Garrison's tone was slightly intimidating, but I had to admit I was curious to see what he and his buddies were up to.

Garrison appraised me once I was out of bed. "Dress in something black, put your hair up in a bun. Quickly, we have to keep our timetable."

I started gathering my hair and twisting it. Garrison went back to whatever he was doing. Me stripping to my underwear didn't even warrant a glance. Typical.

Once I was dressed I followed Garrison downstairs and out to the back parking lot. I noted his outfit: black utility pants, a camo hunting shirt and black boots.

Unlike the frenzy of activity from earlier in the parking lot, all of the Alphas were just standing around their trucks, with a few final preparations being made.

The high beams on the lead truck flashed briefly. That must have been a signal because all of the Alphas began loading up. Garrison led me to a truck I didn't recognize, but it was like all the others. He gestured for me to get in the back seat. Younger Alphas I didn't know sat on either side of me. Another drove and Garrison took the passenger seat.

"Men, my wife is here purely in an observational role. Treat her like an embedded reporter or something. She has no tactical role," Garrison said.

"Yes, sir," responded the other three men.

I shivered involuntarily.

"Lima team, standing by," Garrison said into a radio he pulled from the center console. Five or six others also reported their ready status.

"This is Big Duke Six, Execute!" crackled through the radio. I was pretty sure I recognized Norman's voice. The trucks came to life without their usual roar. I vaguely remembered Garrison on a rant about getting an electric cutout installed on his truck.

The convoy of six trucks rolled from the lot. It was about a ten minute drive until we were back on the LSU campus. The convoy rolled to a stop on a street surrounded by academic buildings. There wasn't a soul in sight.

"This is Big Duke Six, set Condition Zulu throughout the convoy," said a voice over the radio.

"Alright boys, let's bump up," Garrison said. He pulled a black vial from his pocket and took two bumps of cocaine before passing it to the next man. I'd been wondering how a group of men who had been bordering on blackout drunk earlier were fully awake and alert five hours later. This seemed like part of the explanation.

The driver flipped a switch and the headlights turned off. I noticed the other trucks had also gone dark. There was enough residual light from streetlights that it was still reasonably easy to see, but the effect was eerie.

Each man pulled out a balaclava and put it on. The garments obscured their faces, with openings for their eyes, mouths and noses. Garrison tossed one my way. My fingers trembled as I slipped it on. What in the world was about to happen?

"India unit, are we good?" asked a voice over the radio. I was starting to recognize 'Big Duke Six', which I guessed was Norman.

"Big Duke Six, India Six, we are green. LSUPD and Baton Rouge PD units in the area are responding to our other incidents. Minimum police response time is estimated at five minutes. Jammer is active, cell phone service should be inhibited, but prioritize securing phones."

"Big Duke Six to all units, we are a go. Execute battle plan Alpha, let's get 'em boys."

The trucks began to roll. The convoy split and we followed two other trucks. We were now obviously in a part of the campus where the fraternity and sorority houses were. The three trucks turned off the road and crunched slowly up a gravel alley until we came to a stop behind a fraternity house. I recognized the symbol above the door of the frat house. It was the same one I'd seen on the flag flown from the truck full of bombastic students earlier. I felt a chill run up my spine as I realized the Alphas were about to exact revenge.

"Alright boys, you know the plan. One lookout at either end of the alley. Stop anyone who tries to enter. Radio if there's any local interference," Garrison said.

"Yes, sir," said the two Alphas seated on either side of me, then they got out of the truck and trotted away in opposite directions. I noticed the dome lights of the truck didn't come on when the doors opened.

The doors to the two trucks in front of us also opened and four men got out of each vehicle. Unlike the Alphas in our truck, who were dressed in dark colors but otherwise somewhat unremarkable, these eight men appeared to be fully kitted out with tactical gear. In addition to the black utility clothes and balaclavas, they had bulletproof vests, radio headsets, black helmets, and, most chillingly, each carried an assault-style rifle.

The men moved swiftly across the back lawn of the frat house. Four lined up against the back wall next to the rear door. The other four crouched at the edge of the back porch.

"Backdoor and Charlie teams in position," came over the radio.

"Alpha team, ready."

"Echo team in position, we'll snag any runners."

"This is October Six, we're a go, breach!"

I watched as one of the Alphas opened the back door and moved swiftly inside, followed by his three teammates. Garrison rolled down his window. I heard a scream from inside the frat house.

Thirty seconds later the radio crackled. "Backdoor Six, downstairs secured. Bringing out the first batch of prisoners. Alpha team proceeding upstairs. Backdoor four has front door blocked."

"Charlie team copies, ready to receive prisoners."

"Alpha six, Alpha team has upstairs secure, sending down more prisoners."

"Backdoor team copies moving to assist as soon as we hand off downstairs prisoners to Charlie."

"Great work men, Big Duke Six inbound with command unit and Sierra Club."

"Lima Six, package is in position," Garrison said into his radio.

The first college kids began to trickle out the back door of the frat house. They were mostly still dressed as if they'd just come from the football game. Since they had been found on the ground floor I guessed these were mostly kids who were either still up somehow or had passed out on a couch in a communal area. They all looked dazed and terrified.

"Echo team, move to support prisoner containment."

The four Alphas from 'Charlie' surrounded the terrified-looking college kids and escorted them to the middle of the yard. They didn't point their weapons at the 'prisoners' but they held them menacingly.

Over the next few minutes four more Alphas joined the group on the back lawn. These four were dressed more casually. I imagined this was the Echo team that had been tasked with grabbing anyone who tried to get away. I didn't see any weapons on them at first, but then each pulled out a concealed pistol. As with their colleagues they didn't point their weapons at the kids, they just held them intimidatingly.

More college kids began to trickle out the back door escorted by Alphas. This group had obviously been pulled out of bed and were in varying states of undress. There were several women, either girlfriends or hookups of the frat guys, in this group as well.

Another blacked out truck pulled up behind us, tires slowly crunching over the gravel. Three large SUVs trailed it.

"Big Duke Six, command unit has arrived. Proceeding to conduct prisoner re-education. October Six you have tactical control."

"October Six copies. Sierra Club is released to begin black ops."

The door of the truck behind us opened and another Alpha climbed out. Like the others he was wearing a balaclava, but based on the size and posture I was almost positive it was Norman. He strode confidently across the yard towards where the college kids had been gathered.

Meanwhile the doors of the SUVs opened. Unlike the trucks, the dome lights in the SUVs weren't disabled. A dozen people approached the back of our truck and began removing the cargo. Like everyone else these newcomers were dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, but to my surprise, based on height and body shape, at least a few of them were women. Each person carried two large cans towards the house. I caught the label of one: black paint.

"Want to help?" Garrison asked, noting me watching.

"Um, what are they going to do?" I asked.

"Nothing terrible, but these little pricks are going to need some new furniture, carpets, bedding, towels, maybe clothes. We agreed not to destroy anything expensive or that they need for school. That would send the wrong message," Garrison explained.

"That is so fucked up," I said.

"Yeah, well disrespect has consequences. Now listen to the Colonel. This will be good for you."

I turned my attention back to the college students that were now all assembled on the lawn surrounded by gun-toting Alphas. To a person they looked absolutely petrified. One poor girl even appeared to have wet herself.

"Good evening," said the Colonel loudly. I'd know that voice anywhere: Norman.

"I have some good news and some bad news for you, my young scholars," Norman continued. "Good news: despite the claims of my men while we were rousting you, we are not, in fact, either the Baton Rouge PD or the DEA. None of you will be going to jail tonight. Bad news: well, you're probably going to need some new furniture and linens." Norman nodded towards the line of people carrying paint into the frat house.

"Why... why... why us?" stammered one of the guys. He was skinny, just wearing boxer shorts. He couldn't have been older than 19.

"Why do you think?" Norman asked.

"We haven't done anything to hurt anybody," protested another kid. I recognized him as the driver from earlier in the evening.

"Hurt? No, I suppose not, but are we hurting you?" Norman asked rhetorically.

"Dragging my girlfriend out here in her underwear so you all can creep on her is fucking sexual assault!" protested a guy. His poor girlfriend was clutching his side, crying. She wore only a purple thong.

"None of my men are interested in a low-value slut who would have premarital sex with a pathetic boy like you," Norman said dismissively.

"Black ops complete, Sierra Club beginning exfil," crackled out of the radio.

"You still haven't answered why you targeted us," the driver complained.

I noticed the crew that had gone in with the paint re-emerging from the house and joining the circle around the college kids.

"You were disrespectful. I gave you the opportunity to apologize," Norman said.

The kid who had been the driver went white as a sheet. Several others who I recognized from earlier blanched as well.

"What the fuck?" asked a girl who I didn't think had been at the earlier scene.

"Ask your friends later. And don't even think about calling the cops on us. We planted enough drugs in your house that you'll all end up in federal prison if we tip them off. I hope you learned your lesson," Norman said.

"SUCK THAT ALPHA DICK, BITCH!" everyone in black yelled. "SUCK THAT ALPHA DICK, BITCH! SUCK THAT ALPHA DICK, BITCH!"

The Alphas turned and jogged back to their vehicles and loaded up. As we began pulling away I took one last look at the college kids. They looked completely shellshocked.

- - - - -

Once we were out of the 'operations area' the Alphas pulled off their balaclavas and went back to driving normally with lights on in order to be less conspicuous. Not that six large pickups driving around at 4AM wasn't already odd. The men in my vehicle were ecstatic. Since the two lookouts had missed most of the action, the driver and Garrison regaled them with tales of the raid. They placed great emphasis on how scared and pathetic the fraternity brothers and their girlfriends had been.

No shit, I thought, it's pretty normal to be scared after being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night by masked men with guns.

Back at the hotel, a small group departed for Nashville in the trucks since the vehicles were potentially identifiable to police. The remaining Alphas decided they needed a drink to celebrate the success of the raid. I was sick to my stomach at their behavior and slunk off to my hotel room. Garrison was too excited to notice or care.

I didn't know what to do. I couldn't believe grown men could take such pleasure in terrorizing college kids. Not to mention the recklessness of committing felonies. I wondered what would have happened if police had been called. The Alphas had more than enough numbers and firepower to handle a couple patrol officers, I imagined. Were they ready to kill a cop?

I was freaking out. I needed to talk to someone. I could only think of one person who would be awake at 4 AM.

"Hey Allie, you're up early," Lauren answered on the second ring.

"Oh thank God, Lauren," I said, relieved.

"What's wrong, hon?" Lauren asked with concern.

"You're not going to believe what they did tonight," I said.

"Oh no, are you ok, is everyone ok?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Nobody got hurt. The mental health of a bunch of LSU students? Well that's another story," I said.

"That sounds bad, you better tell me from the top," Lauren said. So I did. I gave her the whole story in as much detail as I could from the confrontation in the parking lot to the vicious final chant at the terrified college kids.

"Holy shit, that is beyond unhinged. Are you sure it was just because of the fight in the parking lot, there isn't some like weird fraternity rivalry thing?" Lauren asked.

"I don't think so, I think it was really as simple as their egos getting bruised by a few insults," I said.

"Do you know if police got involved?"

"I'm not sure. I'm kind of guessing Norman was bluffing about planting the drugs, but I don't know. Even if the kids do call the cops, what are they going to say? Some guy from A&M threatened us in the parking lot then a bunch of dudes in masks broke in and made a mess of our frat house in the middle of the night? It's so insane I'm not sure the police would even know where to start," I said.

"Yeah, all good points. I'm more worried about you right now anyway," Lauren said.

"What the hell do I do, Lauren? I feel disgusted and sick to my stomach," I said.

"Well you know how to play a role, right? What does Garrison want right now?"

"He wants to feel powerful, like he taught me a lesson in how important respect is," I said.

"Exactly. So play the part. Be the good little wifey. Get home safe and then we'll figure out a plan and get rid of these jackasses for good," Lauren said.

"You too?" I asked.

"I already told you I was done with Tanner, can't imagine he caught a conscience and was on the sidelines," Lauren said.

"I think he was October Six, that would be like the operations commander. It sounded like his voice," I said.

"Well I guess he was sort of on the sidelines then, but point stands, he was a full participant," Lauren said.

"Yeah, good point," I said.

"You're strong, babe. Play the role, get home safe. We'll figure this out."

"Thanks Lauren, I needed this."

"Of course, that's what friends are for. Talk to you soon. Call if you need anything," Lauren said before hanging up.

I sighed. I felt a little better. It was good to have friends.