They watched Alisha and the Courtmacsherry group leave before retreating back into the house.

Heinz had to persuade Phil and Shane to go. They were attempting to cut open and examine the shrinking corpse of the new kind of swarm. Phil was taking his assigned task of documenting their trip seriously and wanted to create a ‘bestiary’ with descriptions and weaknesses for each kind of swarm.

Tara and Louise were easier to convince. They were debating whether the swarm should be called a Springer, Komodo or Hammerhead. Heinz refrained from contributing and ushered them inside. It didn’t matter what he thought. The catchiest name would survive while the others died. They saw this themselves with Slugs.

The sun was up now but Heinz felt this new information about people and Energy was best shared sitting down.

Everyone reacted differently to the news. Louise paled and dropped the blade she was sharpening which pierced into the couch. Phil stood and started pacing, only stopping to retrieve his notebook before continuing. Shane’s jaw tightened and Tara cracked the arm of her chair with her grip.

Phil and Tara wanted to go back and check on their families. Louise was eager to go out and kill the swarm.

“They don’t know!” Phil argued. “We need to protect our families.”

“And what happens in 4 hours when you run out of leave?” Louise replied. She had moved over to the window and was shaking slightly as the argument went on.

“Easy for you to say!” Tara shot back.

“Louise is right.” Heinz interjected before anyone said anything worse. “The council has guards patrolling around the town for swarm. Phil and Tara, both of your families live in estates right? There’s lots of people around. Fiona won’t open the door to a stranger and Tara you said your parents were taking things more seriously.”

“The council?” Tara asked. “Did your friend Rosa share anything about this with you?”

Louise turned and left the room. She made a point of looking away from them all as she left. Phil groaned as she left and sank back into a chair.

“Some people aren’t sharing things with Rosa.” Heinz said and held up his hands. “They don’t trust her.”

“We complete the time. Want to protect your families? Get stronger.” Shane stood and picked up his and Louise’s helmets and followed after Louise.

Phil and Tara stopped arguing but neither looked happy.

Heinz rubbed his forehead. They were all on edge.

“How do we do this?” Heinz asked once they were all kitted up and outside.

“Search from here to the west wall first. Then up to the north-west wall.” Phil said, his voice curt.

“Two groups. Shane and I will be one. Stay within sight of each other.” Louise’s response was equally as short.

“How about you go with Phil instead? His spear has a longer range which is great while we don’t have any shields.” Heinz suggested. ‘And it will prevent this from festering.’

They looked at each other and agreed.

The group split up to walk around the house but it was a step.

The area to the west, between the house and the wall was explored without much issue.

The first swarm they came across was a Pangolin. As with the previous creature, Heinz, Shane and Tara were able to take it down. It just took a long time and Louise and Phil were left keeping watch.

The only other swarm they encountered was a Boar. The Boar was trickier as it was harder to dodge the quick moving creature but once Heinz and Phil had it pinned it was over in a seconds. All five of them received a bounty from the kill, small though it was.

The two groups walked closer to each other from then on. Close enough that it nearly wasn’t worth having two teams. They might miss a Spore or two like this but would be able to handle the now more common Seeds easier.

“Stop!”

Heinz froze at Louise’s shout but his eyes continued to dart around. What was it? It couldn’t be swarm. She wouldn’t shout or tell them to stop if it was.

“Shane, stay still. It’s by your foot but it’s not moving.” Louise walked towards him. “Heinz or Phil, can one of you see it?”

“I can’t see anything.” Heinz said as he stared at the ground.

“I see it.” Phil replied and followed after Louise. They paused two metres or so away from Shane.

“Ready?” Phil brought his spear forward and waited for Shane to nod. “GO!”

Phil stabbed down and into the ground.

Heinz and Tara ran over expecting trouble.

“It’s dead.” Phil called. “Bounty says Spore.”

Phil lifted his spear and a frisbee sized patch of grass came with it. No, not grass - swarm. It became easier to distinguish as it began to evaporate. Phil gently touched the green glass-like spikes at the top of the creature.

“Sharp.” Phil called. “I’m not sure it would go through your soles but you wouldn’t want to fall on it.”

“How did you see it?” Heinz asked. He hadn’t been able to make it out until Phil lifted it up.

“Distance? It could be a perspective thing?” Phil replied, shifting the creature back and forth. The bottom of the creature wobbled as Phil moved it.

“I was nearly as far away as Louise was.” Tara refuted and moved closer to peer at the creature.

“We were all far at one point. I couldn’t see it and I was closest.” Shane said and tapped his sledgehammer against the ground. He seemed unsettled.

Louise shrugged but Phil frowned and pulled out his journal.

“What do we call it then?” Heinz asked before turning away. Phil would want to spend some time documenting the creature and it was best to keep an eye out.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Hedgehog?” Tara asked and stepped away from the group to Heinz’s left to watch behind them. “No, wait. That’s already in use for a couple of swarm.”

“Spikes?” Louise suggested.

“Caltrops…” Phil murmured before smacking his journal. “Agility! It’s the only difference. We all have the Vision augment.”

“Phil. Can you explain please?” Heinz turned and asked.

“The three of you have less of the agility attribute than Louise or I. Half my amount and a third of Louise’s. But Agility isn’t like Strength or Endurance. Louise is faster but she isn’t 180% faster. I thought it was reduced by the other attributes but neither Heinz or Shane have become slower.”

“Phil.” Shane grumbled. “Time.”

Phil wrote something in his journal with quick scratches then turned the page. “Agility: Increases physical reaction speed. What if that’s not just muscles? What if that includes synapses? The nervous system and the brain? Our brains that could tell the grass wasn’t moving right?”

“So the two of you are thinking faster than us? I’m not sure biology works like that outside of movies.” Tara asked.

“Yes. Maybe. I’m not sure.”

“There’s a light path in the grass.” Louise pointed at the ground. “It must have eaten some as it moved. Maybe we saw that?”

“Swarm’s gone.“ Shane said and thumped his sledgehammer against the ground. ”Talk and walk or figure it out later.”

Phil groaned but this was a common occurrence. He packed his journal away and they continued.

They proceeded to the northeast wall and back, killing a small pack of swarm along the way.

The pack was made up of several Lizards and one Springer. They focused on the Springer, avoiding the Lizards or enduring their attacks until the larger swarm fell. Lizards were no longer the danger they used to be.

Heinz found himself watching Louise and Phil as they finished the Lizards off. He couldn’t tell if they were thinking faster but they moved fluidly. Each step was precise, each blow struck the darting creatures. It was more obvious with Louise who needed to reach down to strike the fast moving swarm.

It was a far cry from the fumbling amateurs they were eleven days before.

Back at the house they stopped for a late breakfast. Midway through their meal a new message arrived.

Control in zone I38-KD has reached manageable threshold.

Dropping zone barrier.

It was welcome news but Heinz felt some anxiety. Both at missing the clearing work and at the path to Courtmacsherry widening.

It was not like there had been patrols along the border previously but this was another way the killers could reach his home.

He nervously reached for his status.

User I38-3NA5

Credits

67

Classification

Fighter-R

Energy

Threshold

185.3

700

Agility

3

Channel

3

Endurance

6

Recovery

6

Strength

9

He was growing but would it be enough?

They left the house refreshed and ready. It was time to explore the centre of the zone.

Heinz led the way. Shane no longer had his shield and while Phil was convinced that higher Agility could spot trouble faster, he had not volunteered to lead himself. Louise had the lowest Endurance and Tara wasn’t allowed to volunteer.

The fields were worryingly bare. The areas near the road had been busy with houses, bushes and hills but this part of the zone was flat and empty.

After twenty minutes of careful walking they had still seen no sign of any swarm.

“Maybe we should follow the wall around to the north?” Phil suggested as they crossed into another empty field.

“There are swarm near.” Shane said. He gestured behind them. “The hedgerow is skeleton and there are no crops or weeds in the fields.”

They agreed to continue for another fifteen minutes before stopping. They stopped much sooner than that.

“What is it?” Heinz asked.

“It’s the Michael Collins museum.” Louise replied, shifting to try and get a better view through the hedge. The buildings had been visible from the previous field but Tara spotted Swarm as they got closer.

“The politician soldier? Why are there so many caravans?”

“It’s also a caravan park.”

“By the cross.” Tara interrupted them.

Heinz watched as multiple boars turned the corner beside a large stone cross. They were accompanied by a smaller Mane. It was the latest of several packs they had seen in the park.

“There are too many.” Shane said with a grunt. He held his sledgehammer like he was ready to swing at the swarm through the hedgerow.

“There were guns in that museum.” Louise said fixated ahead. “Everything from machine guns to pistols. We could lead the packs away and take them out one at a time.”

“Props or inoperable.” Phil protested. “I doubt there are bullets either.”

A whistling bellow rang out from within the park.

“That wasn’t any of the swarm we’ve seen so far.” Heinz said. He tapped Louise’s back. “Come on, let's leave. We can come back with more people.”

Louise lingered as the others turned to leave.

“Louise.” Heinz prodded.

She took one last breath before following.

“Lie down after we cross.” Louise ordered them in a hushed voice before they’d even left the field.

Heinz, Phil and Tara made the jump over the skeleton hedgerow without issue and dropped to their bellies. Shane broke several branches on his way over but followed too. Louise landed heavily. She didn’t need help getting over hedgerows since she crossed the latest threshold but she had to take a running jump.

“Why are we hiding?” Phil asked quietly.

“Birds.” Louise whispered.

It was only a second or two before the silence was broken by whooshing.

“Up!”

Heinz scrambled to his feet to see four creatures coming in fast, wings spread. Wings that were featherless, translucent and several times the size of the creatures’ football sized body.

“Knock them down!” Shane called.

The creature’s bodies opened as they approached, circles of spikes unveiling.

Heinz swung at one as it tried to turn away with his stop sign, the flat of his halberd. The swarm’s wings collapsed in but the blow connected with a crunch. The swarm crumpled to the ground where Heinz finished it off with a stomp.

The other Swarm were more successful. Phil speared one and was driving it to the ground but the other two glided away from blows. They turned and began beating their wings.

“Shite.” Heinz ran towards them but they were out of reach.

A flash flew above his head and one of the creatures sagged and began to spiral down into the field they had left.

The last carried on and away.

“We need to get some range.” Phil said as he pulled out a phone to take a photo of the swarm on the end of his spear.

“Or a gun.” Louise said grimly.

“Your knife?” Heinz asked and looked to the other side of the hedgerow. He could hop over quickly.

“Forget it.” Louise had her eyes to the sky.

”We need to go. Now.”