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CHAPTER 1

The lone coyote trotted across the desert on the outskirts of the city Bold, he nosed close to the trash scattered along the edges of the sand The night air was cool, but the sand was still warround, sniffing around the back of a long structure until he caainst the side of the building The coyote whirled and ran He'd been shot at s, but the food was unusually plentiful Still, he didn't want to take a chance, not when there were so ht

The coyote reluctantly slunk away froed out to a pile of boulders, and hunched doaiting for things to settle a little more before he made another try In the distant desert, he heard a s, and he turned his head toward the sky, cowering closer to the rock

The helicopter cahts and in eerie silence Ropes dropped from the open doors, and five an sprinting across the desert with unprecedented speed Seconds later the helicopter was gone, and the coyote surged to his feet, ready to run as themore than shadows, raced toward him There was no sound, not even the thud of boots on sand The wind carried their scents, and as they approached, their bodies were lowing eyes

The coyote took a few steps one way and then, as theno more than two feet from one another in perfect unison, he stepped in the other direction, whirled, tail down, and then stopped, confused The , yet those strange eyes flashed over the anih he was in the darker shadow of the rocks

Javier, you're on Just take a look Hear what I'? A look No one dies yet Mack McKinley, leader of GhostWalker Team Three, sent his first man into the hot zone The unique GhostWalker unit he led had no need of radios They were all telepathic

I'hter spilled into Mack's ht die?

Mack sent Javier Ender look Javier could see easily in the darkness, even when he chose not to He looked like a kid with his dark black eyes and innocent, boyish face--one of his greatest assets Everyone always underestimated him, if they ever actually saw him

Urban warfare was a unique art Every citizen in a hot zone could potentially be innocent--or an enemy It took special men and woh-stress situation His GhostWalker unit was cohly trained and with very special, unique psychic gifts

Mack and the others dropped to their bellies, disappearing into the sand just feet froed with absolute confidence right up to the structure and into the alley As he got closer to the buildings, his solid fors

I think our inforot a major force here, Mack, Javier reported Guns on the roof, stairways, tucked in the alleys I see several at the s in the building across the street Big op here