New Prologue. I have restructured this story so it now has a prologue and several interludes within the longer story, all of these follow the same sub-plot. Enjoy and review.

The cool night breeze swept through her clothes, and appeared to make the hair on her arms stand on end. She knew the truth. It wasn't the cold that was giving her goose bumps; it was fear. Pure, undiluted fear. She could feel sweat trickling down her back, the drops aligning at her hairline. Her fingertips slowly became red and sore as tremors began to run down her weary spine. She gazed off blankly into the distance, much like she had little less than an hour ago when she left. She saw a young child's eyes illuminated with fear and trepidation, those blue-green eyes that welled up with tears as the child pleaded to save a mother's life.

Her own resolve weakened as she remembered the past hour's events. She hated what she'd become over the past few years, the pain she'd caused to her country. The weakness she'd developed was slowly straining the tender bonds that kept the community together. Slowly, surely, it would all fall apart.