“One of them got incinerated, ma’am. They were trying to work out the rune sequence, and…well, it just suddenly heated up all at once, and they ran for their lives. One of them didn’t make it, and he kind of…melted.”
His voice winds down into a sick gurgle, as if he’s about to hurl.
“Pull yourself together, soldier!” Sloan orders. “We don’t have time for that crap. What’s the rock doing now?”
“It’s red-hot, ma’am, but that’s it. We haven’t had readings like this, ever.”
“Fuck!” she exclaims, covering her face with her hand.
“Ma’am,” one of the Shadows says, pointing at the tablet. “You need to hear this.”
“Wait one second,” she snaps at the guy on the other end of the phone. Impatiently, she waves at the other Shadow. He hands her the tablet, clearly showing a moving heat signature, then holds up his comm.
“We’ve got nothing out here, private,” the man says to the phone. “I don’t know what you’re reading, but it’s not our snake.”
“What?” Sloan almost shrieks.
“We have no movement on the ground,” he repeats. “None. I’ve been stationed here a week, and I’m telling you, there is no change.”
Sloan carefully steps back as if she’s afraid she might grab the tablet and smash it in frustration. She puts her phone back to her ear.
“Rock unit,” she snaps. “I have troops and magic workers en route to you. They will be there within twenty minutes.”
“Copy,” he says, hanging up. Sloan grabs the other comm.
“I am sending a team out to you, and I’m going to text you a link to the sat feed,” she says. “You need to see this, because our instruments are telling us a completely different story to you. Do you understand?”
“Copy. But ma’am, only one unit? We can’t cover much ground with that many men.”
“I just sent two units in the opposite fucking direction!” she snaps. “Because we had a breach and a dead soldier this morning, and up to twenty minutes ago, that was our biggest problem!”
“Fuck,” he answers. “Copy that. Should we keep an eye out for enemy hostiles as well?”
“Keep your eyes peeled in every direction,” she says. “Be ready for anything. And for fuck’s sakes, Shadow, watch those hot spots. One of the science nerds got melted over at the rock not long ago.”
“Fuck!” he yells. “Right. How long until your unit gets here?”
“Deploying now. ETA thirty minutes max. Over and out.”
Sloan punches a button on the comm and looks at the ground, taking a long, slow breath. When she looks up, she gestures to the remaining unit, who move out immediately. Her second-in-command takes the comm from her and goes back to monitoring the sat feed.
“Get into town,” she says, turning to me. “Set up a relief center in town, not just to coordinate with us, but to bring in people from the edges of the village. Start putting out the word that people should either stay in their homes or move to shelters.”
“Shouldn’t we evacuate?” I ask, beginning to quietly freak out.
I’ve been in combat before, but I’ve never been personally responsible for a whole town, full of innocent people.
“Probably,” Sloan says. “But I’ve got all the details on the previous incursions, and even if you move full steam ahead now, you can’t clear the kill zone.”
“So, what’s the point of moving people to shelters?”
“Look,” she says, coming over to touch my arm and look me in the eye. “People need to do something under these circumstances. Some will be smart. They’ll hunker down at home. Others will want to run. Some might even be stupid enough to head towards the rock. Obviously, if people want to leave town, you can’t stop them, but do not let anyone go towards the hills or the rock site. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I reply.
“You’re their alpha now. They will look to you for reassurance. If you tell them to gather at the shelters, they’ll listen, and it will comfort them.”
“I’m really not used to dealing with civilians in this situation,” I admit.
