The group of soldiers gathered for the briefing watched Jeremy out of the corners of their eyes. They were in another tent set up alongside the command center. Jeremy had parted ways with Caleb and Zanie. They went off to get their firearms from the trucks while he ducked into the tent to find it even busier than the previous night. The people inside quickly shooed him into the adjacent tent, where he sat in one of the lines of folding chairs and broke out into a cold sweat.
The soldiers had filtered in over the past ten minutes or so, greeting each other enthusiastically, seemingly pumped up for this mission if their broad smiles and jubilant attitudes were anything to go by. A few offered a hello to Jeremy, and he nodded back. Then a tall black man in fatigues strode into the tent and drew their attention.
He had flecks of gray at his temples even though he could not have been more than thirty years old and carried himself with as much confidence as humanly possible. When he reached the front of the tent and turned to face them, his eyes flashed sharp and calculating.
“Good Morning.” He greeted. “First of all, thank you for volunteering. The information that we are going to gather will further our understanding of these unprecedented events and save countless lives.”
He paused and looked around at each of them before continuing. His eyes lingered on Jeremy for a beat longer than anyone else, but then he turned them away to look over the room at large.
“Since we know little, we are keeping things simple. The squad is composed of two teams, which will enter the portal first and secure the opposite side. We are unsure how communications will work from one side to the other. If we need to send a man back briefly to let the base know that the other side is secured before moving forward, we will do so. Then Seargent Warner’s team will remain at the portal to maintain control over our exit, while Seargent Ashford and I will lead his team forward to gather intel. Along with us will be Jeremy Miller…” He gestured toward Jeremy, and everyone twisted in their seats to get a good look at him. “…who will be assisting us with gathering information.”
“We’re going to have to remain flexible on this one, team.” The man warned them, “Remain ready for the situation and orders to change as needed. Aside from the unknown nature of the portal, there is one known threat to be aware of - the activity of the small gremlin-like creatures coming out of the portal. They are aggressive and should be eliminated. They have the potential to spread a condition that has not yet been classified by our medical staff but that does have negative impacts on the health of those exposed. Thus far, it appears to be spread through contact with their corpses. Because of this, you are not to remove your gear, including face shields or gloves, at any time during the mission without permission.”
He paused to point toward the second exit from the tent. It was smaller and located toward the front where he stood, rather than in the back where the main entrance that spanned the entire end of the tent was located. “Tomorrow morning, on this side of the tent, there will be a truck with your gear. Pick it up starting at 0500. The trucks taking you to the satellite camp outside the portal will leave at 0600. Take the rest of today to rest up. You are dismissed.”
The brevity of their briefing highlighted just how much they did not know about the situation they were walking into. Jeremy was grateful that his ability to visualize magic was being kept under wraps. He preferred to keep those cards close to his chest and play them only when necessary, such as getting on a team to go into a portal. But he was glad that the commanders also decided it was need-to-know information. Although, it might not be too difficult for the team to figure out once he started commenting about the overlays.
“Miller.” Staff Sergeant Mwai walked down the length of the tent toward him as the rest of the soldiers filed out. “You are with me today. We’re going to head to a shooting range nearby.”
That sounded fair to Jeremy. The man likely wanted to know exactly what he was working with. Bringing a civilian along with him added an unknown element to an already mysterious equation. He got to his feet with a nod. “Alright.”
“This way to my truck.”
Mwai led the way to a nondescript dark gray truck with heavily tinted windows. He opened the door to the driver’s side and reached across the seat to tuck the paperwork he’d been carrying under his arm into a briefcase in the center console, then shot Jeremy an expectant look before climbing in. Jeremy went around to the passenger side and joined him, wondering if it was a good idea to go to a second location with somebody he’d met minutes ago without telling Zanie or Caleb. It was easier to go along with these people in the National Guard. Just because they were authority figures in the military, however, did not mean they were trustworthy or safe. But he’d already decided that the potential rewards of going along with the team through the portal outweighed the risks, so he settled into the passenger seat, pulled on his seatbelt, and tried not to buzz out of his skin.
“Do you know how to shoot?” Mwai asked as they pulled out onto the street.
“Yes,” Jeremy said.
“Shotgun, handgun?” Mwai prompted.
“Handgun, rifle, I think anyone can point a shotgun and shoot it,” Jeremy remarked. “But pretty much all of that. Hunting rifles and semi-autos. I used to go to a shooting range with a buddy of mine on the weekends sometimes. It has been a few years, though.”
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“Alright.” Mwai nodded and glanced into his side mirror as he flicked on the turn signal to merge over a lane and get onto the entrance ramp to the freeway that the military had blocked off. He stopped halfway through the long, sweeping curve to show his ID at a checkpoint, and then they were on a highway that was free of any cars at all. No traffic. They were the only moving car on either side of the median.
“It’s good you have some experience. I’d like to arm you even though that is so far beyond protocol that it is almost inconceivable,” Mwai said once they were cruising along at what had to be at least 100 mph.
“I mean, you are handing out firearms to random people off the street.” Jeremy pointed out with a shrug.
“You’re right. We are far beyond protocol,” Mwai said. “But giving you a firearm and placing you as a part of the recon team is a different situation. I don’t want to take the chance that you don’t know what you are doing and shoot one of my men accidentally.”
“You won’t have to worry about that,” Jeremy said, even though he knew words alone would not assuage the man’s concerns. Like with everything else in his life, he’d been anal about everything involved in going to the shooting range, from wearing proper ear protection to cleaning the guns properly to following range safety rules. Mwai grunted in acknowledgment and pulled into an exit lane.
The shooting range was, perhaps unsurprisingly, packed. But they managed to get a lane at the end of the row where there was plenty of space for Mwai to unpack his case and spread out their ammo. The people practicing ranged from those brushing up on their skills to ones teaching people to shoot for the first time. Mwai slapped a pack of earplugs down on the bench and handed Jeremy a pair of earmuffs.
“We use M4s,” he told Jeremy as he opened the carrying case and pulled out the semi-auto rifle. “They fire 5.56 by 45mm NATO rounds. They’re full metal jackets, so they are going to go through walls if they can and bounce right off if not.”
“Got it.” Jeremy nodded. Mwai slammed a box of said rounds down on the bench and popped open the lid. He handed Jeremy an empty magazine, and they both set to work loading the bullets. Then Jeremy squished a pair of earplugs into his ears, slapped the earmuffs on, and accepted the M4 itself from Mwai when he offered it. He did a quick check of the weapon, slammed the magazine home, then aimed downrange.
There were several targets set up at different distances. He chose a set at a moderate distance, not wanting to try to prove himself and look like a fool if he completely missed everything and then fired. He did pretty well, at least hitting within the target with all his shots. To get a feel for the gun and the range, he fired slowly, avoiding burst fire even though he heard other people using it without getting railed by the range safety officer who stood nearby smacking his gum.
He dropped the empty mag and looked over at Mwai, who gave him a nod and offered a fully loaded one. They worked their way through all four of the magazines they’d loaded. By the last one, Jeremy was hitting precisely within the center of the target and had moved on to practicing with the semi-auto burst fire. Then, the range safety officer called a cold range. Jeremy dropped the mag and laid the rifle across the bench.
“Good,” Mwai told him as soon as he lifted the earmuff from one ear. “You are a good shot.”
“Thanks,” Jeremy said. He squinted downrange to see one of the employees checking on something with one of the targets. The sun beat down harder than Jeremy had seen it in days. The wind must be blowing in such a way that it drifted the smoke from the wildfire in the opposite direction of where they were. The brightness hurt Jeremy’s eyes. He looked back down at Mwai as he began loading the magazines again and wished he had a pair of sunglasses.
“Y’know,” Mwai did not look up from reloading the magazine, each bullet slotting into place one by one. “Your background check did not come back exactly squeaky clean.”
Jeremy drummed his fingers on the plywood and tried not to appear like he’d just broken out in another cold sweat. He cleared his throat and squinted down range. The employee was scurrying off. A moment later, the range safety officer called a hot range again.
“I was acquitted upon appeal.”
Mwai just hummed and kept sliding the bullets into place. When he finished, he held out the mag and looked Jeremy dead in the eyes, “On a technicality. You had a good lawyer. Let me guess… parents footed the legal bills?”
Jeremy took the magazine and flipped it over in his hand to jam it into the gun. “I’ve got good parents. They didn’t want to see three years of my life wasted in prison.”
To put an end to the conversation for a moment, he shoved the earmuffs back over his ear and lifted the gun to aim down the range. Again, he managed to keep his shots tight in the center of the target. When he got to the end of this magazine, he set down the gun and lifted the earmuff.
“And even after the appeal, I kept going back to the anger management classes for a few months. I’m not as hotheaded as I used to be.”
Mwai gave him a long, appraising look. “I need to know that I can trust you to follow orders in there. We have no idea what we are walking into.”
“Look,” Jeremy took the earmuffs off fully and turned toward the man. “I’m only going because I want to learn more about magic and the creatures. That is essentially why you are going too, right? So, I’m not going to be trying to work against you. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I’m not. What I’m concerned about is you - a civilian without proper training – deciding to act on your own instead of on my orders because you think that your way is best for the mission's success. I need to be confident that you will follow orders, or else you will be putting us all at risk.”
Jeremy frowned and tried to put as much meaning behind his words as possible as he told the man what he wanted to hear as succinctly as possible. “I will follow orders.”
“You can start by calling me sir.”
“Yes, sir.” Jeremy turned away to hide the incredulous smirk that lifted his lips despite his efforts to remain stoic.
“My squad is trained and experienced. They know how to accommodate a civilian. If you cooperate fully, everything will go as smoothly as we expect.”
Jeremy highly doubted that, given that they knew little about what they were walking into. Even if they had contingency plan upon contingency plan, whatever was beyond that portal might be something beyond their ability to handle. He had to hope that the Staff Seargent and his men would stick to the goal of the recon mission to get as much info as safely possible and then get out. Given the man’s speech, Jeremy had high hopes that they would do exactly that.
“Your squad is trained and experienced?” Jeremy repeated. “I thought this was a hodge-podge team slapped together from volunteers.”
“Sure, they are all volunteers,” Mwai said. “Every single one of the men volunteered.”
“Right.” Jeremy grabbed another full mag and snapped his earmuff back into place.