~ Marlene ~

(Ten Minutes After Reid's Breakout)

The pickup hit another rock with a loud clang, which sent the bed- and everyone in it - bouncing into the air. She winced when one young man nearly fell out the side. He held onto the bed rail - while the two closest to him grabbed at his clothes and pulled him the rest of the way back down.

Her pickup was overfull - five defenders sat crammed in the backseat, and another ten had stuffed themselves into the truckbed. She sat alone in the front passenger seat while another defender drove. Behind them, two 4x4 Vans and a smaller camper followed - though they had slowly lagged behind. Marlene could only see them now on the longer straights. Each vehicle carried more of Sanctuary's people. More defenders and some of the more combat capable people stuffed the vans. Their noncombatants, Mark, and Sara were both in the camper. While both Mark and Sara could help in a fight, she didn't want them in the thick of things. Her truck - carrying the vanguard - would be the first ones to the gate.

She checked the rifles sitting on the floor - again. She'd kept a close eye on their new weapons throughout the ride. Mark's bridge had been completed enough to cross with light vehicles after just the first day of building was over. Getting larger trucks and RV's over would've been unsafe, so instead she had her people scout ahead with a dirtbike and pair of ATVs. Those scouts almost immediately ran straight into a National Guard Armory, and Marlene had the scavengers work through the night to loot the entire structure as quickly as possible. They stripped the building of everything they could transport with the smaller vehicles - which meant Sanctuary's firepower had grown by leaps and bounds. She just wished she had time to let her people practice with the weapons.

Lowell had appeared in the early morning hours, the dirtbike engine acted as an alarm clock that roused almost everyone from their sleep. Marlene had gotten up and outside fast enough to see Lowell dismount the vehicle. He let it fall into a puddle - and the engine was hot enough that it boiled the muddy water. The man himself looked no better. He was wild-eyed, limping, and had small cuts and insect guts covering his face and hands. She'd led him inside her camper, and grimly faced his news. The note - well, she didn't want to think about the note. They would either make it in time, or they wouldn't.

It took too long to rally the group and ensure everyone was armed. Precious minutes wasted because she hadn't had them drill this scenario. If they all made it through the day, she'd add it to the next round of scavenger training.

But still, they rallied. They stuffed themselves into the vehicles, armed to the teeth and with spares to match. Each of her defenders sported an M4A1 rifle, submachine gun, or shotgun. Most also carried a sidearm, and some - that she trusted - had grenades. They rode towards the fight, ready for a war. She worked through tactics and possible scenarios in her mind. What to do if their people were already gone. How to handle things if they started losing the fight against the enemy force. What to do if there were hostages - stand down, or push through?

She had still been lost in thought when the first round of notifications hit. It was only when her driver asked if she was alright that she realized she'd gasped and jumped at the system's message. A ball of ice formed in her gut when she read through the notifications. She resisted the urge to share the details of their new quest with her driver and passengers.

NOTICE: Special Event Started. Sanctuary Defense Quest automatically paused.

WARNING! Sanctuary Beacon is Contested! Defend your beacon and defeat the invading forces to stop the timer and maintain independence.

Quest Automatically Assigned: Beacon Defense! Defend Sanctuary from Attack by Bertland

Time Remaining Until Beacon Loss: 3h 47m 35s

Quest Sub-Objectives:

1. Prevent Further Losses: 0

2. Defeat Enemy Leader ( 0 / 1 )

3. Defeat Enemy Forces ( 6 / 101 )

NOTICE: Beacon Defense Quest Performance will calculate based on engagement outcome, including losses, enemies defeated, and time remaining.

NOTICE: When timer expires, Sanctuary will automatically absorb into the Bertland hierarchy. All Sanctuary-affiliated persons will be subject to Bertland's rules and regulations.

NOTICE: Inter-beacon contact has unlocked additional leadership functions. You may now enter trade agreements, alliances, and conflicts with other beacon settlements. Options for voluntary control transfer are now available. You may voluntarily fail your quest by transferring beacon ownership to [Bertrand] of [Bertland].

There was a lot to unpack in just a few lines of text. The first thing she noticed was the system's use of the term 'further losses'. No matter what happened next, that probably meant some of her people were already dead. The next was the final notice. She jumped into a suite of new menus that hadn't been available to her before, and saw the options the system referenced. She had faded and unavailable options to trade and ally with this "Bertland", as well as one she could select that would willingly transfer control of Sanctuary to the invading force. There were other menus she didn't spend too much time exploring, but they indicated there were far more responsibilities and options to beacon ownership than she'd previously thought.

It was a short while later that the counts started to change. The enemies defeated counter had jumped to one - followed by a short lull. Then it jumped up to 5, and another lull occurred. With the count moving, the timer had stopped. It meant two things for Marlene. The first was that her people were fighting back - and based on the lack of casualties on Sanctuary's side, they were fighting like hell. The second was less encouraging. She did the math in her head. If her people stopped fighting back, or if they were defeated, she wouldn't make it back to Sanctuary in time to stop the beacon from falling into Bertrand's control. She didn't want to know what rules and regulations that would subject her and her people to.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Marlene hoped her people could hold out and keep defending until she made it back to Sanctuary. She needed them to fight back long enough for the timer to still be active when she returned.

----------------------------------------

. James .

(Fifteen Minutes after Reid Broke Out)

The light of daybreak filtered in through the trees. It bathed the people of Sanctuary in a warm, orange-red light as they trekked over roots and rocks. James walked at the rear of their long column, pistol in one hand, and a bullhorn in the other. If Bertrand and his army showed any signs of following them into the woods, it was his job to give the rest of the group a warning... and time to get away.

Their column traveled in a wide, arcing route between Sanctuary and the path the Scavengers had taken to get to the bridge site. Their path took them far away from where Bertrand's group had made camp, and far away from their own wooden walls. James didn't doubt that Sanctuary's battlements would be manned by Bertrand's people now.

Far ahead, James could just make out Susan. She was healing an older man as they both walked, doing whatever she could to keep their most vulnerable alive and mobile. James hoped she wasn't overdoing things too much - but even if she was, he couldn't ask her to stop. Susan's healing was the only reason the column had been able to press on without rest. And if they stopped, Bertrand's people would catch up. If they caught up to the column... James didn't want to think about that. Today had already been too full of hard choices.

Getting their people out of the settlement ahead of Bertrand's forces was nothing short of a miracle. The evacuation was one of Marlene's contingencies - a quiet, non-vehicle aided exodus from their homes. It was also something they'd drilled for more than once. Evacuations were the only plans shared with everyone, for the simple reason that it would have been impossible to get them all headed in the right direction if people didn't have an understanding of what was going on.

So when James made the call, everyone near him had almost instantly followed the plan for branching alarm. Each person found and told at least two others while they zig-zagged through the settlement. As word spread, more and more people were up and out of their beds, spreading the order to leave immediately. The mass of residents had filtered out into the night - and towards the rallying point in final stand field.

At that point, James could've taken vehicles and driven their way out through the main gate - or used the hidden evacuation vehicle exit. But doing that would've drawn even more attention to their retreating force. Even with their speed and cohesion, they were a large group. Getting everyone into vehicles and getting all those vehicles started and moving would've taken more time than they had. Or, at least - that's what James was still telling himself. He didn't even consider standing their ground an option - there weren't enough defenders to stop Bertrand's forces.

They were ill-prepared for their current trek. The group had almost no supplies, and many were wearing thin pajamas. He'd seen a few without shoes, some still in robes, and one man that had only thrown on a pair of boxers and a vest before stumbling into the night. Their progress through the forest, even with the current conditions was a testament to their resilience. Few complained - at least for now. James looked back again - still worried and cautious even though there was no movement amongst the trees.

Bertrand's forces should've caught up to them, by all rights. Those soldiers would've been faster through the forest than Sanctuary's residents, and they'd already been so close before. James had seen Bertrand's army from final stand field, scaling walls and searching through their homes. He knew if he was seeing them, they should've been able to see James and the residents as well. But instead of giving chase, they'd seemed content to clear a path in the direction of Sanctuary's beacon. And if that's what they were after, James was happy to let them take it in exchange for his people's lives.

Almost all of their lives.

James had taken Walt and joined the wall defenders towards the end of the night - as an attempt to relieve the gate guards, and to have a better look at their enemy as dawn approached. He hadn't expected everything to go so wrong. The sight of Louis's body in the dirt was a shadow that superimposed itself in James's vision every time he looked at the forest floor. He shivered, and put a hand to his shoulder. The same volley of fire that had taken Louis's life had struck James in the arm. Susan had healed the wound completely, but James could still feel the sting - and picture the moment.

As soon as the fire erupted, he'd shouted for Walt to close the gate. It was the right decision, he knew. But that didn't make leaving Louis's body behind any easier. The boy had spent his final moments warning them all of the coming danger. He was the reason James called for the evacuation and the reason almost everyone was safely marching through the forest. He shook away the image. The only way to honor Louis's sacrifice was to press on.

James couldn't stop his mind from wandering. Louis was dead - but what about Reid? He had no idea what shape his friend was in... or if he was still alive. Part of him still burned with the desire to charge into Bertrand's camp and find Reid, to pull him out to safety with the rest of the group. But the time for that had long passed. James made a choice. A choice for his people to live, even though it meant he needed to leave Reid and Louis behind. He needed to square himself with that choice, he knew. He had to keep his mind in the present moment. But it was so damn hard. He caught another glimpse of Susan ahead, and frowned.

She hadn't spoken since final stand field. Not since James had told her that Reid was missing, and they couldn't wait for him. Her eyes had gone to the walls and the invading soldiers, then they'd swelled with tears. Susan had sobbed quietly for a few minutes - and then went completely silent. She healed those that needed it, but her eyes and her actions were dulled. James swept his gaze over the rest of the column. He had a responsibility to them. They all needed to make it to their destination alive.

Far ahead, Toby led the column forward. He wasn't a first choice for... much of anything. But he was the only one of their group that had made the trek they were currently on - and he'd done it while carrying a dirtbike. James took some comfort in the fact that Walt and two other strong defenders were with Toby at the column's head.

If his estimates were correct, the group would reach their destination in another hour. It was a rise, close to the pathway Marlene's scavenger convoy had used on their excursion. The convoy would be returning the same way, so they could flag down the group. There was no need for the convoy to head into the same danger his group had just escaped.

He kept his goals simple. Get the group made it to the rise without stopping. Keep Bertrand's people from catching up.

He'd honor Louis and Reid by ensuring Sanctuary's people would live to see the sunset.