“We need to go. We need to go now.” Phil said.

“Phil-” Louise tried to interject again.

“No!” Spittle flew from Phil’s mouth and he trembled. “The clearing group found nothing in Clogagh. It was deserted! Those things must have gotten out. They could be going for Kinmore.”

Everyone shifted. Phil was the only one who had flown off the handle at Tara’s speculation, but everyone was uncomfortable.

Heinz looked around and came to a realisation. Mike, Dick and Sean didn't know what we were talking about. They hadn’t been a part of the I38-FB clearing effort and were reacting only to the tension as they watched Phil argue.

“Clogagh was deserted when we got there.” Heinz explained to them as Louise and Phil’s argument continued. “The entire town was untouched aside from one large swarm we fought at the churchyard.”

Mike nodded in understanding as he glanced at Shane’s arm. He'd already heard that part of the story.

“We thought it was because of that big Swarm. Maybe it scared the others off. But some Courtmacsherry reclaimers had gone missing there. The town had the area marked as off limits but found nothing during the clearing.”

Dick nodded and grimaced. He turned back to Phil and Louise.

“-in a few hours?”

“We have less leave than any of you.” Dick said loudly over the two of them. They paused to look at him. “If we go now we’ll have to go back out again, yes but we should still go.”

Louise’s face twitched with anger.

“Not only for this.” Dick’s voice rose again. “We’re in no state to continue. Tara’s augment is helpful but we need to get our wounds checked.”

Phil relaxed and started towards the entrance and the door.

“We aren’t rushing back either. Swarm growth is still high and we’re in the middle of the zone.”

Phil turned back in anger.

“You will deliver no warnings if you’re dead.”

Phil struggled with himself for a second before slumping.

“No.”

Everyone turned to Louise.

“I’m not turning back until I check on Bandon.”

“We’re in no state to continue.” Dick repeated as his brow furrowed and he looked towards Louise’s stomach.

“I’ll go alone.” Louise bent over and picked up her bag. She didn’t show any sign of pain.

“Why?” Shane asked. He'd taken a seat during the argument by the remains of his sledgehammer. The weapon had been cracked in half when he took the brunt of the Swarm’s charge in Sean’s place.

“It needs to be done.” Louise and Shane locked eyes.

“Not for me.” Shane replied and looked away. “Catch up to us.”

Tara bent over and picked her bag up. “I’ll go with you.”

“No!” Louise’s voice was like ice.

“I’m the only one uninjured!” Tara protested. She sounded hurt.

“I said no!” Louise snapped. She glared at Tara until Tara averted her eyes. Louise’s shoulders relaxed a fraction and she turned and ducked under the stall partition.

They watched as she left.

“Do we go back through the fields or by the road?” Phil broke the silence.

“The field is open, exposed.” Dick hesitated then slowly responded.

Heinz picked up his bag. The cuts on his back lit up again as it settled there. Tara looked at him hopefully but he shook his head.

“Keep them safe.” He murmured as he stepped past.

“We’ll catch up to you before you leave the zone.” Heinz said to everyone as he stopped by the divider. He gave Tara a smile. ”Don’t forget the horses.”

Phil kept his face blank but Shane gave him a nod.

Then he was gone.

Zone Control - I38-Z4

Swarm Growth

65%

Local

35%

“You know they’re right.” Heinz called as he caught up with Louise. “Swarm growth is high. We’ll need to come back here later. Why take the risk now?”

Louise didn’t answer but picked up her pace. Not enough to try to leave him behind but enough that they were power walking down the road. The increased pace was actually kind of fun. It felt like he was skipping across the ground. Each large stride was effortless. Louise took shorter steps beside him but she set the pace without issue. She didn’t even seem to notice the speed they were moving, too busy frowning at their surroundings.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“They’re not wrong but they’re not right.” Louise said finally. She fell silent again.

“Want to clarify that?” Heinz asked with a raised eyebrow. “We’re about to head out alone so I hope you have a good reason.”

“I do.” Louise whispered and took a big breath. “You know how Phil keeps talking about a curve? We’re behind it. We’re too slow. And I get it. I’m not blaming us but there are too many.. distractions."

As Heinz frowned at her she spoke faster. "I’m not saying the clearing work, the patrols, Phil's family.. I’m not saying it isn’t important but we’re too slow.”

“Maybe.” Heinz replied. The increased danger from Swarm concerned him too.

Luke’s group’s pace and planning had been the main reason he’d considered leaving the group. He wouldn’t have thought about it if Louise hadn’t done so first but he had considered it in the end.

“But how will checking on Bandon help? This isn't the first time Phil’s wanted to stop halfway but it is the first time it’s been the right decision. I know that something's off between you two and this has only made it worse.”

Louise scowled at the road before them. “No one teleported to Kinmore or Courtmacsherry was from Bandon. But it’s the largest town in the area. Where did they go? If the towns a home zone then it has people. People to help with clearing and everything else.”

Now it was Heinz’s turn to frown. “Bandon is in the next zone. If they’re there, why hasn’t this one been cleared?”

“That’s what I want to check. If it’s not a home zone we won’t be able to cross the wall. If it is, we can let Kinmore know.”

They started to jog faster.

As they travelled north and towards the road, the untouched green faded. Soon they were back to rotted looking bushes, trees and fields. It was just more evidence that this new kind of Swarm had been in Clogagh.

After spending the morning here there didn’t seem to be any of the Spore type Swarm in this zone. Here it wasn’t spotting Swarm that was the issue. Now it was who spotted who first.

Heinz and Louise slowly approached the zone wall.

They weren’t wary because of a difficult journey. The trip here had been quiet. They’d only left the road once to maintain some distance from a shape in the sky. If this had been earlier in the day, Heinz would have been concerned but after the lead up to and fight at the stables it all seemed less compelling.

They moved carefully because the road met the wall quite close to the corner of the zone. Neither had forgotten the mess of I38-KC. If the Swarm back then had been smart enough to herd cattle into a corner where two walls met, the Swarm they had seen in this zone definitely were.

Heinz stopped short of the purple wall. He was well used to the sight of it at this point but it never became boring. The purple was never stagnant, always moving. Each pulse shifted hues and rearranged patterns. In some ways it was similar to watching gusts race across the sea.

“Usual method?”

“Yes.” Louise confirmed, readying her knives.

They shared a nod and Heinz pulled off a glove to press his hand against the wall. The wall softened under his fingers, allowing him to brush the material aside and step through.

Walking through was always a bit disorientating and the sudden appearance of a house on the left side of the road before them didn’t help. Heinz spun towards it and scanned the surroundings. Nothing moved.

“Clear.” He called after a few seconds.

Louise echoed him then inhaled sharply. Heinz reached for the zone control.

Zone Control - I38-2U

Swarm Growth

45%

Local

40%

“That’s not good.”

“No.” Louise said wearily. “No it’s not.”

Heinz turned back to the wall. “Same method again.”

Louise lingered a little longer then stepped up beside him. “On three.”

Dick was waiting for them when they reached the base house.

He gave them a friendly wave as he leaned against his spear. Heinz relaxed and sent a questioning nod towards the small crowd gathered around the house.

He and Louise had run straight down the road from one edge of the zone to the other. It was a loud and overt way to travel but they’d come this way minutes earlier and felt it was worth the risk. If a Swarm was fast enough to catch them while they ran it would be fast enough to run them down while they walked anyway.

Dick waved quickly and made a hurry up motion. “We met some other Reclaimers. The others are filling them in. What about Bandon?”

Louise and Heinz shared a look. “Swarm growth and Local control both sat under half way.”

“But you were able to cross over?” Dick asked as his brow furrowed.

“Yes. Either another homezone has reached it first or...”

“Or.” Dick echoed with a grimace. “Right. Well, want to talk to the others? We should be ready to leave now.”

Phil, Shane and Mike were standing in a huddle with four others. Heinz recognised two faces out of those four. As he and Louise walked up the driveway, Alisha tilted her head out of the huddle to investigate the noise. She stepped away from the huddle and waved.

“Heinz! And there I was thinking you were trying to avoid me.”

The rest of the huddle turned towards them. Cormac gave him a nod as the other two Courtmacsherry reclaimers narrowed their eyes. Both were wearing the same biking leathers that Alisha and Cormac wore and carried the same pipe weapons.

Mike and Shane nodded but Phil’s face might as well have been stone.

“Bandon?” Shane asked.

“Swarm growth and Local control both under half way.” Louise answered, examining Alisha and the other Courtmacsherry reclaimers intently.

“Time to leave then?” Phil said stiffly.

Alisha clicked her tongue and nodded. “Yes, I think so.”

“What’s the plan?” Heinz asked. He set the base of his halberd down and leaned against the pole. He wasn’t tired after the run but the movement hadn’t done the cuts on his back any favours.

“We’ve come up with a way to split the zone searches between the towns. It should be enough to get us started.” Mike replied.

“We didn’t come up with it. Courtmac suggested it days ago when bodies started showing up.” The unknown reclaimer spat on the ground to punctuate the statement.

Mike, Phil and Shane’s faces soured but no one of them said anything. It didn’t seem like the first time this had been mentioned.

“Okay. Who’s going with who then? How are we coordinating?” Heinz asked.

All seven of them tensed.

“Well we’re all injured so-” Phil started.

“I’ll go.” Alisha said with a big smile. Her three team members turned to her.

“What?” The reclaimer who spoke earlier hissed worriedly.

“Does Dick know what you’ve been discussing?” Louise asked.

Shane and Mike looked at each other. Heinz didn’t see many facial movements but they came to an understanding quickly.

“I’ll update him.” Mike said and stepped away to do that.

“Maybe this way we can hit two birds with one stone.” Alisha said. “Plus I want to check up on some of the families I sent with ye last time.”

Her teammate looked like they wanted to object again but Cormac gave them an elbow.

“Great. I’ll grab the four inside with the horses and we’ll go.” Alisha said brightly and turned.

Her teammates looked between themselves and followed after her.

Heinz, Louise, Phil and Shane were left standing together.

“Any Swarm on your way-” Phil turned and left towards Mike and Dick. “-back?” Heinz asked.

Shane shook his head and Louise glowered at Phil’s back.

“Great.” Heinz said to the silence and rubbed his face.