The first noticeable thing was an influx of Americans. The Americans camped on the other side of the airstrip, which was now in constant use. The Americans were nice enough in general, which is not what you would expect from their media. Carla had to be a bit more forceful in rejecting offers, as they tended to be quite direct in their approach despite her fish scales. I think it is a cultural thing. Soph was fine; she had Rich nearby all the time.

My problem was that Americans were loud. No, that is not right. They are LOUD. Constantly. It was driving me crazy, and I needed to get away. Commander Lewis helped by assigning us to the NZ special forces squad. Our job was to penetrate as close to the anomaly as we could, hopefully, get eyes on it.

We loaded a truck and drove to meet them, as they were already camped in the zone. Because of my healing ribs, I was the designated driver. Rich and Eliza were now native to this Essence. Soph and Carla had increased their immunity by quite a lot due to spending time in the zone. I was the poor, weak sap. In my defence, my large Essence pool could soak up more before it became dangerous, and my active defences were good.

Three of the original five Special Forces soldiers that came with us were still alive. Glen was in charge. He was of medium build and was covered in fur like Soph. “Just call me Ngoi,” he said, “and that is Kai. You can guess why,” Kai waved a hand that was holding a chocolate bar. Eating must be his thing. “Lastly, there is Neke. Neke is crazy. She is double mutated.” Neke gave us a huge grin, and the snake fangs were prominent, which matched her snakeskin. Her tongue flicked out like a snake. Ngoi shrugged, “she says she smells with her tongue.”

Ngoi continued, “We will spend the next two days here getting to know each other and our abilities. We will get you competent with the weapons before you can carry any with us. Kai hates being shot in the butt.”

“You know that wasn’t an accident, right?” Neke said.

“We also believe you have something to teach us about getting our mutations super-enhanced,” Ngoi said.

Neke was super keen on this.

“Neke’s mutations are obvious, Taipan Snake, twice. Venom, smell and skin.”

“I can trade smelling tips with you and poison tips. Have you extracted any poison?” I asked.

“Just a little,” she said.

“Kai is batty,” Ngoi said.

“I was going for the eyesight, man.” he looked disappointed, “I didn’t get it, but,” He gave a big grin, “Echolocation, for the win!”

“For myself, I stuck to the dingo,” Ngoi said. “Dogs, I know. I have the fur and teeth,” he smiles, showing us a row of sharp teeth, but he doesn’t have the snout like the were-dog. “It makes eating interesting. I also have an increase in my hearing.” Then he paused. “We lost Legs and Poi to get this.”

We went through our abilities. As we discussed, Soph only mentioned the animals. When I heard what Eliza’s mutation did, my eyes flicked to Soph. Bloody hell, I hope she can use that! I saw that sneaky, bloody smile. She can so use that.

Eliza can short-range teleport. Teleporting a meter is fairly light on her essence pool, but twenty meters will use everything she has. So that is how I found bird droppings even where I had locked things away. Bloody hell, there is no escaping her now.

We spent the rest of the day teaching them to connect their essence to their circulatory system. Soph was definitely a better teacher than I was. Even then, they were struggling. I think it is a difference in the type of essence. This dark turquoise essence is not as easy to work with as the fluorescent blue of Waiheke.

Maybe there is a different way that works for this essence? Maybe the green or the dark shade is interfering? We left them with ideas to try.

Lewis had sent us with three rifles and three pistols. The NZ forces use a Glock 17 for a pistol and the MARS-L assault rifle. Ngoi took us out, and we practised until he was happy. The special forces use the M4 Carbine instead of the MARS-L.

Two days later, we headed to the anomaly. We would drive for about 5km and then walk. Ngoi wanted to be quiet and disturb as few creatures as possible. They expected me to stay with the vehicles, but I really wanted to go with them. I strapped my ribs tight.

Ngoi said he was glad to have me. He had good hearing, and Neke had good smell, but both mine were better. I could also boost them, but he didn’t know that. Eliza flew around the edge as well. Kai brought up the rear. His Echolocation was only really good for about 15m range and only works in the direction he is facing.

Carla was getting along great with Neke, which was a big worry. I think Neke might be even crazier than Carla.

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Soph stayed close to Rich, or it might have been the other way around. Rich’s ability to detect essence has been refined with his second mutation, or maybe it is just the amount of time they have spent in the anomaly zone. They can sense different types of essence. The kiwi’s fluorescent blue stands out from the Aussie dark turquoise. One of the Americans had a light brown essence, and another was dark green, possibly from the anomaly I read about in the southern States. I wonder if he was poison or plant-orientated? They were the only two Enhanced in the American contingent that she sensed, and they didn’t stand out in any way.

I started sending out waves to fend off the essence shortly after we left the vehicles behind. We were moving cautiously when Soph gave the signal for danger, and we dropped into the grass, and even Rich crouched down.

I boosted my hearing. I whispered, “Humans. Five. one on each side, three spread out ahead.” I heard Neke and Kai move out into the grass, one on each side. Then the wind changed slightly, and I could smell one. I could tell Ngoi smelled him with the wind change as well.

The grass about 50m ahead moved, and a person stood up. Thanks to Soph and Eliza, we weren’t quite in their ideal trap position.

“Very good, Mr Wilkinson. You do not disappoint.” The voice had an Asian accent. I was not going to jump to any conclusion about a country they might be from, as there are many Asians around the world working for many different countries. Accents can also be faked. “We are going to need the three civilians to come with us. You others may go on your way or become casualties for the anomaly.”

“Well, you see, there is a problem with that,” Ngoi said. He was still lying in the grass. I am pretty sure he was buying time as he was busy doing something. “The three civilians are New Zealand Citizens, and it is our job to protect them from foreign hostiles.”

We were facing five enhanced military opponents. The front guy obviously had super hearing, but we don’t know what else he had or how strong it was. Was it Ngoi strong or me strong? Was he tracking the people manoeuvring around in the grass like I was? What about the others? How were they enhanced? I felt a pull on my essence and fed a stream to Carla. Hopefully, she was enhancing her scales. If they want us alive, they won’t shoot to kill us.

“But we don’t have to be hostiles, Mr kiwi soldier. They could come for a vacation and be returned in due course.”

Ngoi pointed left, which I assumed meant for us to move that way. Then he tossed something in that direction. The front guy probably had improved eyes as he saw it, even though it barely topped the grass. The guy dived back into the grass, and three explosions happened together as I rolled left.

The three troopers had gone straight for grenades. If you knew where your enemy was, overwhelming firepower was the way to go. Kai and Neke had thrown explosive grenades at two of the closest enemies; Ngoi’s grenade was thrown behind us and upwind. It started billowing smoke.

All the soldiers started shooting. I was stunned. Grenades are loud, and I had my hearing boosted. That may be the other reason for the grenades to confuse the senses.

I checked around. Soph was hiding behind Rich, who had taken a couple of bullets for her. He was growling and poised to pounce. I could smell blood on Ngoi, but he was crawling forward regardless. There was no sign of Carla. It was too noisy to boost my hearing, and the smoke was confusing the vision.

Hopefully, five opponents have been reduced to three. My ribs hurt. I hope Eliza was not caught in the blasts.

Then Ngoi indicated we were to keep moving left. He was obviously on protection detail. The gunfire eased. I crawled in the indicated direction. The smoke cleared a bit, and I saw a camouflage person moving in a fast crouch. I felt a pull on my essence, and then a silver rocket shot out of the grass and slammed into the person, and they both disappeared from view. I hope Carla knows what she is doing.

Ngoi was firing again, and I heard more gunfire from the right. Then things settled down, and Ngoi indicated to wait quietly. Then Soph said quietly, “Two are moving north at speed. One is limping.” Ngoi just nodded and continued to wait.

Eventually, I heard Neke, “Area secure, three confirmed kills.”

Ngoi rose to his feet, “Two on the run North, one injured. Search the bodies, then we move back to the vehicles.”

Carla came out of the grass with Kai. She had blood on her and a bandage tied around her arm. Soph moved to help Ngoi with bandaging his leg. There didn’t seem much we could do with Rich. He had stopped bleeding on his own. He wasn’t even limping.

“Know anything about that?” Ngoi asked.

I shook my head, “No, but they obviously knew us. We were referred to in Amanda Mohan’s writings a bit. Probably they were just after the socialite,” I said, indicating Soph.

“Of course, why didn’t I think of that,” he replied.

Neke came up, “North Korean military, sir.”

“That is probably why we are still alive,” Ngoi said. “Anything else for the spooks?”

“Just a few things,” she said, patting a pouch. “And I got photos for facial rec, although one didn’t have much of a face left.”

“I have something,” Soph said. The same anomaly enhanced both runners; it was a dark pink, almost a purple.” Of course, she can use the skill she borrowed from Rich through Eliza. Is that sensing skills only?

“Who gets the extra drink when we hit the bar?” Ngoi asked

“Miss Vaa’i, sir. She caved his face in,” Kai answered.

“Shit,” Ngoi said, “You weren’t kidding about the strength. How do you feel about that?”

“Fine right now. The Witch will help me later,” she indicated to Soph.

“Any weapons we can use?” I asked.

“There is a KS-23 shotgun with cartridges, two useable Type 88 assault rifles, three FN-Hi Powered pistols and three knives. But why would you want foreign guns?” Neke answered.

“It seems like we need to defend ourselves beyond here, and the NZ military will want their guns back,” I replied.

“Let's move out and find a new camp spot, then we can discuss it,” Ngoi said.