Kira Dallas's Arc

Chapter 3 of 13

The dig was set, but the route to the garage still had to be cleared. So Kira rode the morning patrol herself. She wanted to see the ground her team would cross. Donovan drove, a grey and black cat in a tiger-stripe jacket, headphones around his neck. He ran the Rangers' radios, and he watched the map like it owed him money. In the back sat Tammy Lammens, a medic in gray scrubs with a red pouch, and Private Conner, a young gray tabby in fatigues. The patrol truck ground over broken road toward the supply garage. "Three ahead," Donovan said. His voice went flat, like reading a field report. "Not scavengers. Look at them." Kira looked. Three ghouls stood in the road, in torn green military fatigues, packs still strapped to their backs. They did not rush. They spread out, slow and deliberate, like they still remembered drills. That patience made her stomach tighten more than a charge would have. "They're flanking us," Kira said. "Out. Cover." The team dropped from the truck. Donovan fired first and dropped the left ghoul mid-stride. Conner took the center one with two rounds. The third closed fast and raked Conner's arm before Kira put it down. The shots stopped. Three bodies lay in the dust. It was over in under a minute. Kira did not lower her guard. She crossed to the nearest corpse and crouched. These were not wild ferals. They had kept formation. She pulled a sample kit from her pack and cut a strip of tissue, sealing it clean. Zelda's contract needed fresh samples, and disciplined ghouls were a question worth answering. "Bag the packs too," she said. "Somebody trained these, or something did." Conner sat against the truck, holding his arm. The gash glowed faint at the edges. "Rad exposure," Tammy said. She knelt and opened her red pouch. She drew out a refined vial, red liquid bright under the sun. "Enhanced Radaway. Works faster." She set the line and pushed it. Conner's breathing eased. "He's clean," she said after a minute. "He'll keep the arm." Kira sealed three samples and marked each one. Then Donovan called her to the center body. He held an old map, weathered and creased, trade routes inked across it. Small crossed marks dotted the paths. "Ambush points," he said. "These ghouls weren't wandering. Somebody's using them to hold a route. Our route." Kira studied the marks. Her supply line to the garage ran straight through two of them. The dig could not move if the road was a trap. "Load up," she said. "Conner in the middle. We report this at HQ." The truck turned back. Kira held the map on her knee the whole way. She had cleared three ghouls and gained three samples. She had also learned her supply road was marked for an ambush she had not planned for.