The Kill Order pages 131-160

The strange man says that his name is Jed, and that Mark and Alec are now his friends.  Jed explains that what happened was not sun flares, but a demon plague that came down from the heavens.  He thinks the same in regards to the Berg attack.  He says that the darts rained down on them 2 months ago, but Mark argues that his group was attacked by the darts less than a week ago.  Jed doesn't like Mark's arguing, and his head begins to hurt.  He blames it on Alec and Mark.  Jed throws a fit of pain before finally rearing up on his knees and screaming that the demons had killed him.  He fell to the ground and blood seeped from his face.

The followers of Jed were stunned, not knowing what to do.  Alec and Mark freed themselves from the rope, and the men did nothing to stop them.  Suddenly, a group of people ran out of the forest toward the fire.  They attacked the group of singers and some fell into the fire; some of them retreated into the forest.  In the chaos, the woman who ordered Alec and Mark to be tortured asked desperately to come with them.  Alec and Mark fight off some of the crazed people, and then Mark notices that somewhere deeper in the forest had caught on fire, and as quickly spreading to the place they left Trina, Lana, and Deedee.

Mark and Alec run toward the flames.  They stayed dangerously close to it until they turned and veered to the right, where they took a break.  They finally descended to where there camp was, but none of the girls were anywhere to be seen.

Mark and Alec search the camp, but can't find any sign of their group.  They decide to head in the direction of the Berg headquarters, thinking they may have gone in that direction as well.  Alec finally finds a few bushes that have obviously been tramped over by the girls, but on the leaves of the bushes, he sees tiny drops of blood.

They didn't find much blood, so Alec tried to get Mark not to worry too much.  The distance between the footsteps appeared to show that the girls had been running, perhaps being chased.  They continue following the trail of Trina, Lana, and Deedee, until they reach the place that the Berg had been landing.  There were walls tucked away in a valley that appeared to be the correct location.  They walked over to a place where the brush had been beaten and there were obvious signs of a struggle.  They assumed the girls had been taken to this point.  Suddenly, they heard a loud banging sound, and the ground beneath them started rising to the sky.

Half of the clearing was rising, while half of it was sinking, which meant they were standing on top of a huge trapdoor.  On the other side of the "coin," there was just a huge concrete floor, and the plants and grass were going underground on the other side.  They realize this means a Berg is about to land, and they need to make a move.  They look underneath and see a silvery walkway.  They decide they need to get there; they swing themselves from the "coin," and fall onto the floor.  Just as it closes, they see the thrusters of a Berg land on the platform.