For the government, Nathaniel's death meant two options: send or promote another commander to stand equal with Andrew, or simply hand all of Hornvale over to Andrew. But Andrew had other plans. He wanted to take over the whole region—before the government could react— so he could force them to give him full control. He knew Nathaniel's side very well and wanted to prove that he could manage Hornvale better than anyone else. Because of this, Andrew set his eyes on Caroline and her team. Right now, the military was short on talent and short on resources. Andrew knew he couldn't win Caroline or Nelson over, so he planned to kidnap them instead. Caroline climbed into the truck and glanced at the squad leader; she had frozen into a solid block of ice. She gave a cold smile. "Even if you work for the military," she said, "even if you're following orders, even if you used to save people... your boss is wrong. And you followed him, so you're wrong too. In my eyes, the military should never raise their weapons against innocent people." She stared at the giant ice cube beside her. The captain, still trapped and still traumatized from the "net trap" earlier, said nothing. To him, Caroline looked nothing like an innocent civilian. "I don't want to be your enemy," Caroline continued. "Even Commander Zimmer's side has soldiers who fight on the front lines, risking their lives to protect survivors in this apocalyptic world. "But he needs to understand one thing—he should never mess with us. We don't care about your power struggles. Don't drag us into them." Her voice dropped to a hard edge. "Or next time, I would kill all of you." By now, Caroline had driven close to the shelter. Caroline thought about it. She really had gotten dragged into trouble this time. And she even brought Francis and Nathaniel an enemy scout, plus three mutant cat mounts. How would the army thank me for this? Still, she needed to warn Francis and his people. Look at your enemies! They're riding high-end mutant cats. You all need to step up your game too!When Caroline carried a big frozen man on her shoulder and led three mutant cats behind her, the soldiers that stood guard were stunned. "Caroline, did you go shopping or something?" one soldier asked. You really couldn't blame him for saying that. Caroline had used her strength ability. The captain, who stood around six feet tall, was now frozen solid, thicker than before. Caroline slung him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Behind her, three mutant cats were tied together with rope. From far away, she looked like a farmer coming back from the market—one arm carrying a huge piece of meat, the other hand pulling along three little goats. When the soldiers came over, Caroline handed both the frozen man and the mutant cats to them. "These cats are trained. You can ride them for fun. This man is from Commander Zimmer's side. Handle him however you see fit." The frozen captain tried to struggle, but it was pointless. Caroline's ice didn't melt easily, even in this blazing heat. Just as the soldiers started circling around the mutant cats like kids at a carnival, Caroline suddenly called out to the one holding the rope. The young soldier froze when he saw Caroline step forward and pull out one of the three mutant cats—the smoky gray tortoiseshell Maine Coon. It had striking green eyes that looked a little scary when it stared at someone. Its fur was messy and knotted in many places, and it looked pretty rough. But Caroline had seen its true strength. It was the fiercest of the three. And even though it looked dirty now, she knew that after a bath it would look amazing. She suddenly remembered Nelson didn't have a mount yet. This cat was perfect as a mount for Nelson. And honestly, his personality matched with the big cat pretty well. "I'm keeping this one," Caroline said with a smile. "You can take the other two. They're yours now." The two soldiers were thrilled. "Thank you, Caroline!""Oh, and tell Colonel Sutton I'll come talk to him soon," Caroline added before heading upstairs. "Tell him to set aside some time for me." The soldiers nodded. They had no idea what she wanted to discuss with Francis, but the way she smiled made them look creepy. When Caroline reached the 65th floor and handed the cat to Nelson, his reaction was exactly what she expected. "Caroline! This cat is perfect! I love it!" Nelson shouted. "I'm going to bathe it, feed it something great, deworm it, and comb its fur! No, first I need to run a basic health check, then do a blood test. Then maybe I can run some experiments to boost its strength. I'll make it the strongest mutant cat in the world! I also need to check its gene sequence—"