Asle rubbed at tired eyes. Tel had given them some valuable information on the surrounding area. So much so that Summers and her teacher were busy going over their options. Asle herself, however, had decided to sit by the Humvee.

Being near the older chief was difficult for her in a way she couldn’t really explain. And she couldn’t help but feel like there was a wrongness about her now. Something in the air, that was only getting worse over the past few days.

So, she’d busied herself checking things around the Humvee, and keeping an eye on Roan. He was doing better, his broken arm was still useless, but he was able to walk freely now. He lay with his head draped off the seat as he pressed his feet into the ceiling.

“You know, you don’t need to watch over me,” Roan said, eyeing Asle. “I’m fine.”

“You’re a thief,” Asle said. “Leaving you alone would be stupid.”

As she spoke, Roan’s eyes flitted to the weapon at her hip. Asle tensed, gripping the handle of the gun. A memory of Beorn flashed in her mind, and she glared at the boy.

He raised his hands in response.

“Sorry, just surprised you had one of those. Don’t worry, I saw what you could do. I’m not an idiot.”

“No,” Asle said, remembering Summers’ words. “You’re desperate, that’s just as good.”

“True.” Roan looked Asle over. “But from what your friend was saying, he’s just giving those things away. So, why would I bother stealing it?”

Asle’s posture relaxed, but she still didn’t move her hand from the gun.

“And it’s not like I can put up much of a fight.” Roan added, shaking his injured arm and wincing. “Okay, bad idea.”

Asle finally let her hand drop, then moved towards the boy, checking the bandage. She didn’t see any blood, so the idiot hadn’t torn open the wound.

Roan blinked down at her as she checked him over. “Uh, you’re. . . not worried?”

Asle glanced up, then gestured to Summers.

“He said it isn’t dangerous. I trust him.”

Besides, with the hamr inside her, she was far more dangerous to him than he was to her.

Roan turned back to Summers, looking at him with open curiosity before he managed to catch himself. “. . .Is he a healer?”

“No, but he’s smart in some ways.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” Asle said, simply.

Roan sat in the dirt, clearly thinking about something. “. . .You know what, I like you.”

“Okay,” Asle replied. “I’ll still shoot you if you do something stupid.”

“Then I’ll try not to be stupid.”

“Good.”

Summers turned, calling over to the two.

“Roan, think we can get a second opinion over here. Tel’s saying the villages nearby are toast.”

Roan hopped off the Humvee, winced again, then tried to straighten his face. He made his way over to Summers and the others with an exaggerated swagger.

She only just managed to repress a smile.

A sharp ‘crack’ of stone sounded nearby. Asle swiveled, reaching for her gun, but there was nothing there. Confused, she relaxed, and headed towards the rest of the group.

She didn’t notice the small, perfectly spherical hole in the ground beside her.

They were on the road again by the next day. Most of that was getting the Humvee started. They’d blown a battery at some point, likely because of the turret, and had to have it replaced. Summers was just thankful he’d had the foresight and paranoia to pack a backup.

Tel told them his village was trading with the city just to the north, he’d considered evacuating there, but the city itself was starving. That kind of population made getting everyone fed hard, and with the complete lack of wildlife, things weren’t going well.

So, Tel had taken his people west at Summers’ suggestion. They expected to reach the base in a few days, a week at most. Summers gave Tel’s spearmen a crash course of gun safety. Added in some superstition to remind them that if the barrel was pointed at someone, the weapon can and would kill them, and hoped for the best.

Synel radioed ahead to Pat and the others to give them a warning about their new guests. They were set to take over training while letting the chief handle the logistics of getting everyone fed and housed. The last thing he needed was those four getting caught up in the day-to-day work while the base was left undefended. For now, all they needed to do was hang on long enough for Summers to get some help.

“Hmm. . .”

Summers glanced back to see Asle deep in thought, staring at her hand as she hung from the turret seat.

“You okay back there?” Summers asked.

Asle hesitated before nodding.

Something about that felt off, Summers made sure Synel was driving straight before turning his attention to the girl completely. “What’s wrong?”

“Not sure. I feel. . . weird.” Asle said. “Different.”

“Okay, that could mean anything from you hitting puberty to your brain getting eaten, want to be more specific?”

Asle flexed her hand. “Don’t know. Just different.”

“If you start having weird dreams, you’ll let me know, right?”

Asle nodded again.

He saw Synel give her a worried glance, he could read them better now, and both looked like they were on edge. They’d just have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

After some time, the city came into view. It was massive, less of a city and more of a sprawl of farmland and stone. Half of it looked to have been carved into the side of a canyon, the sheer wall peppered with hanging bridges and crude windows. It dwarfed anything Summers had seen in this world before.

“Wow.” Summer started, “That’s-“

BOOM!

An explosion slammed into the side of the Humvee. Summers’ world was suddenly a spinning void of broken glass and tearing metal before everything went black.

When he opened his eyes, Summers’ first thought was genuine surprise at being alive. Then he remembered he wasn’t alone.

“Shit. . .”

Beside him, Synel was hanging from her seat, her belt anchoring her upside down. Asle was awake, groaning from the turret as Roan did the same from the back seat, cradling his broken arm.

Summers pulled himself up, only to find the entire Humvee was more or less intact, albeit upside down. His still waking brain had assumed they’d hit an IED, before remembering they weren’t on the road when they’d been hit. Which likely meant that they’d been hit by something fired at them by someone. A someone that was still out there.

“Shit!”

Summers unhooked his belt and dropped down, kicking at the blackened and bulged metal that used to be the door. To his surprise it exploded off its hinges, followed by a loud crunch.

That crunch was a single man in fatigues, black eyes wide as he held a leg bent at an odd angle. Summers didn’t give him a chance to pick up his weapon. He half crawled, half dove outside and sent a burst of fire into the man’s chest.

Just as he saw the man fall limp, the plates on his back shattered. Another man that was apparently behind him had opened up on him point blank. Summers fought through the pain, firing blindly at the unseen target. He must have hit him, because the black-eyed soldier was already falling when Summers regained his senses.

“. . .Ow.” Summers wheezed as he looked for more targets.

There were two more men on a hill below him. One with a rifle already trained on Summers.

Summers wasn’t as fast, but his aim was better. A shot took the man in the neck as bullets peppered the ground at Summers’ feet. He was pivoting on the second man only to see him duck behind a large rock formation.

Summers lowered his rifle for half a second. Letting that man get away would mean their enemy would know someone was operating in this area. If they sent anything like Wendel’s original force, that would be the end of their plans here, if not their lives.

Synel crawled out of the Humvee, looking worse for wear.

“You okay?!” Summers shouted. Synel nodded in response.

After checking her over, he started after the runner. “Take care of the others.”

“Wait!” Synel warned, but Summers was already gone, all of his focus on ignoring the pain in his back.

He started towards the ridge at a full sprint, only to see the man return before he was even halfway down. He froze. It occurred to him in that moment that he’d never seen the weapon that fired on the Humvee. Now, the man he’d thought was running was holding a MAAWS rocket, and it was pointed directly at Summers’ chest.

“. . .Fuck.”

The man fired. Summers didn’t even have time to blink before a muffled boom washed over him.

. . .And nothing happened.

Summers waited, only to realize he hadn’t immediately died. In fact, he didn’t feel a thing. As he looked up, he saw why.

The man that had him dead to rights a moment earlier was now missing his front half. It looked like it had been blown away, leaving a bloody and twisted mess of bone and muscle in its place. He watched in a combination of fascination and horror as the soldier's body got the memo that it was no longer alive and slopped to the ground with a wet thud.

“What. . .”

Then Summers heard the heavy breathing behind him. He turned to find Asle standing there, hand slightly outstretched, and eyes wide.

She blearily looked between the body and Summers. Then, she laughed. A high pitched, awkward thing that trailed off as she immediately collapsed.