Fletcher glanced over the beaten up manual in his hand one last time. The list of duties was surprisingly long, but then again, they were supposed to be shared between the three officers. He managed to find the manual only after several hours of cleaning in his office, and it was in as bad shape as the outpost, perhaps even worse. The pages were folded and torn, with several completely missing or scribbled out. But he did find the list of assigned duties as Jana promised. Only after reading them, he was left with more questions than he had before.

  Which was why he was now standing outside the door to Palacios’s office. He really didn’t want to see the Major again after their first and only encounter two days ago when he first arrived at Vesi Station, but he’d read the manual—the parts he could at least—front to back, and he had a few things he needed clarification on. Captain Walters had long since left, and Fletcher found that Vesi was rather quiet. Nobody really spoke to him, though he heard a few whispers and snickers when he passed others in the hallway or the mess hall.

  Ugh, the food was awful here. They strictly ate rations which meant everything was canned and mushy and overall terrible, but he tried not to dwell on it so much. He’d adjust. Hopefully.

  Fletcher exhaled and knocked on the door before him. He mentally crossed his fingers, praying that the Major was in an understanding mood.

  “Come in,” a curt voice said from the other side.

  Okay. Maybe not. But it was too late now.

  Fletcher entered the office and saluted. “Sir.”

  “What is it, Dickens?” Palacios asked.

  Fletcher held out the manual. “I was reading over the policies of Vesi Station, including the assigned officer duties and I—”

  “Where in deities’s names did you find that thing?” Palacios cut him off.

  “My office,” he answered hesitantly.

  The Major shook his head. “I guess Jana missed a few copies. But whatever. What do you need? I’m not your mommy. I’m not going to read it to you, kid.”

  “No. That’s not why…” Fletcher sighed. “I had a couple of clarifying questions about my duties.”

  “Your duties?” Palacios raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes. Sorry to bother you about them, but Jana hasn’t been in her office for the last couple of days, so I wasn’t able to ask her,” he explained.

  The Major waved his hand. “I expect this is the last time you’ll bother me about such idiotic matters, but continue.”

  “Well, first off, I was wondering what the schedule is for guard duty. It says the officers take turns doing twenty-four shifts managing the on-duty guards. And where is the roster for the enlisted on duty?”

  Palacios laughed. “You’re asking about guard duty? Kid, we discontinued that practice years ago. We don’t have the manpower for that kind of thing. There is no guard duty to worry about.”

  “No guard duty,” Fletcher said slowly. That seemed like a stupidly dangerous practice. “I see. Well then, I guess that puts more responsibility on the daily patrols to be on the lookout for trouble.”

  “The what?” The Major stared at him.

  “The patrols. The thing where we’re supposed to send several squads out into the ruins to ensure we maintain control of them.” Fletcher paraphrased what he’d read about it in the manual.

  Major Palacios chuckled. “Yeah. Right. Patrols. Let’s go check on the cycats and slimes. That’s a good use of time.”

  “Another discontinued practice?” Fletcher guessed. “Isn’t that dangerous? I understand that there hasn’t been any sign of Unhuman activity in the area for decades, but isn’t the entire point of this place to make sure it stays that way? If we don’t run guards or patrols, what’s the purpose of the station?”

  The man stood up and walked around the desk. “You’re a bit of a worrier, aren’t you?”

  “I think cautious is a better term.” Fletcher stared at him, unimpressed with the amusement in his eyes.

  “Uh-huh.” Palacios nodded. “Well, I commend you for your ‘cautiousness’.” He used his fingers to make air quotes. “But you can take a chill pill, Dickens. We don’t do patrols or guard shifts or anything of the like. Just worry about the duties Jana already gave you.”

  “She didn’t give me any. She told me to look in the manual,” he replied. “And I understand that you’ve been short handed the past while, but I think it’s reckless to not even try to keep watch. I’m not asking to upend every policy you currently have in place since you obviously know the station better than I do, but I do believe that it is the best interest of everyone to remain on guard, just in case.”

  Fletcher didn’t want to be a soldier, but he did have a strong sense of duty. And he liked following rules. Plus, he really needed something—anything—to do, and throwing himself into his work seemed like the only way he’d survive his stay at Vesi.

  Palacios bit his lower lip. “You feel that strongly about this?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The Major looked at him a moment longer. “If I agree to let you run a single patrol every few days, do you promise to never bother me about any of this again?”

  “I—” Fletcher hesitated for a moment.

  “I’ll take that as a yes. Go find a squad and do your thing. If you feel the need to write a report, send it to Jana. She’ll handle it from there.” Palacios waved him off. “Dismissed Dickens.”

  “Uh, sir, it’s Dixon,” Fletcher gently corrected him.

  “Dismissed, Dickens,” he repeated.

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

  Walking out of the room, Fletcher sighed and ran a hand through his hair. What did Major Palacios mean that they didn’t run patrols anymore? What were any of these people even doing here? How could the military have let this station deteriorate so much? He understood that it was a punishment posting, but how was it a punishment to send soldiers to a relaxed CO who didn’t enforce a single rule or require anything from the personnel under him? That made it more into a vacation—an isolated one to be sure, but a vacation nonetheless.

  But he did get what he wanted, which meant he just had to find a group of soldiers to drag out with him. Ideally some that had been here long enough they might actually remember how to do something like a patrol. Fletcher had read up on the specifics of how it was handled here in Vesi in the manual, but he knew from his own experience that things ran differently in practice than what rulebooks dictated.

  With his new mission in mind, Fletcher made his way to the enlisted barracks, a place he knew would have a wide selection of personnel for the task. And he was right. There were twelve soldiers just sitting around, as they always did. A game of poker was going on, and the room smelled awful due to the cigarettes most of the players freely smoked. Not to mention the place probably hadn’t been cleaned in a couple years.

  Fletcher cleared his throat, realizing that no one noticed his entrance to the room.

  Nobody even looked at him.

  Oh, right. They just didn’t care.

  “Excuse me,” he said.

  A couple of people glanced his way and then returned to whatever they were doing before.

  Fletcher’s lips twitched. He wasn’t asking to be worshipped, but surely they could give a little respect? Not even necessarily as an officer, but just as a fellow soldier.

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  “Everyone, if I could just have your attention for a moment,” he called out, raising his voice far louder than he thought he should have to.

  “Did you need something?”

  The speaker was Sergeant Hugo, one of the few people whose name he actually remembered, the part-[Ghoul].

  “I need a group of volunteers to go out on patrol,” Fletcher said.

  He was met with a chorus of laughter.

  “Yeah. I need an open bar and a dozen pretty girls at my side. We all can dream,” a man next to Hugo said. A full Human, though Fletcher didn’t know his name.

  Someone else spoke up. “Every girl you’re picturing in that scenario would call it a nightmare, Hernandez.

  A woman, also Hexed. She had thick green hair strands, caught in between being regular Human hair and the vines of a [Dryad]. She was actually wearing a uniform, a rare occurrence in the station. Sergeant Norton.

  “Was there anything else?” Hugo asked, a grin on his face.

  “I’m serious. Major Palacios okayed it. I’m taking a team out for a patrol. We’re going to start doing it every couple of days,” Fletcher informed them.

  “Oh, well if Palacios okayed it.” Hugo rolled his eyes. “A little tip, kid. Don’t go showing up to new places and upset the balance. It’s a bad way to make friends.”

  “Since you have so many thoughts about it, Sergeant, I’ll accept you as my first volunteer. Get a team together. We leave in an hour,” Fletcher said, his tone confident. It reminded him of dealing with obstinate teenagers back in Alcett. They wanted to test his limits, so he just had to set some clear boundaries and show a little force.

  “Hard pass, kid.”

  “Don’t call me that. My name is Lieutenant Dixon.” He stared down at his opponent, daring him to cross him.

  Hugo stood up. “And what are you going to do about it, kid?”

  Hernandez grabbed his arm, pulling him down. “Relax, Hugo. I’ll go with you. And we can take Norton. It’s been a while since we hit the city. Maybe we can find some leftover booze.”

  “Great. Then it’s settled. See you all in an hour,” Fletcher replied. He turned back to the door, but a whiff of the nastiness of the room caused him to face the disgruntled soldiers again. “And the rest of you can get some mops and clean this dump up while we’re gone. I expect it to be spotless when we get back.”

  He heard a few scoffs, but he paid them no mind. He walked back out into the hallway, his hands in soft fists. It was fine. It wasn’t a big deal. They wanted to test him. That was normal when a new figure of authority was introduced, but he didn’t like that he felt like he was doing this alone. But Jana clearly wasn’t going to be of any use, and Palacios didn’t seem to hold that much respect either, so it was up to Fletcher to make this work.

  Taking long strides down the hall, he silently cursed as he considered that he didn’t even know where the weapons locker was in this place. Jana hadn’t bothered showing it to him, and he couldn’t go asking about it now. Which meant he’d have to figure it out for himself. That was going to suck.

  And suck it did. It took him thirty minutes of opening random closets before he found it, but he was impressed as he stepped inside. The rest of the base was a disaster, and while the room was dusty, it was well equipped. They had more than enough weapons and ammo for everyone on the base three times over. Selecting a rifle and pistol, Fletcher got himself ready for the outing and then headed out of the bunker and into the small enclosed yard. One of the other warehouses held their few vehicles, and he assumed Hugo was smart enough to figure out that’s where they would be meeting.

  It took longer than an hour for Hugo, Hernandez, and Norton to show up, but they were dressed slightly better and they all had weapons, so Fletcher decided to take it as a victory anyway.

  “Who knows the ruins best?” Fletcher asked as the three approached him.

  “That would be me, sir,” Hernandez said. He was heavyset, with a rather big build that hinted he probably hadn’t engaged in PT in a long time.

  “Great. You drive. Hugo and Norton, take the back.” Fletcher climbed into the passenger seat of the open jeep.

  “Yes, sir,” they all replied, but Fletcher ignored the taunting tone they used with the “sir.” He wasn’t going to let them bait him into a stupid fight.

  Hernandez checked a few things on the vehicle, but soon enough he declared it ready, and the four of them were off. The fence had only one small gate out, and Fletcher suddenly realized that the chainlink fence was a terrible form of protection if they were ever attacked. He supposed that meant that Vesi really wasn’t in any kind of danger, but he was still going to insist on patrols, if only because he couldn’t stand to sit in the dingy bunker all day every day for the next five years. One outing to the city every couple of days would do a lot for his sanity over the coming months and years. He hoped…

  It was a short drive to the city, and Fletcher kept his arms close due to the chill. An open jeep was a terrible decision for this kind of weather, but it was one of those things that he didn’t anticipate would ever be fixed, so he was resigned to suffer.

  “Where to first, Lieutenant?” Hernandez asked as they approached the ruins.

  Fletcher stared ahead, a bit caught up admiring the stonework of the arched building that led the way into the city. Even broken and worn, it was exquisite. It reminded him of the beauty of Bren’it’p, and how unique and different Unhuman architecture was in comparison to what Humans produced nowadays.

  “Dixon?” Hugo asked.

  “Um. Right. I don’t know exactly. Are there any problem spots we should check out? Probably one of those first,” Fletcher said in a rush, embarrassed he’d been caught at such a vulnerable moment. He couldn’t afford to go around remembering Bren’it’p and Beam right now. He needed to stay focused on the mission.

  “A problem spot… Yeah. Good idea, sir. You know where to go, Hernandez?” Hugo asked.

  “Sure. I remember the place,” the man replied.

  Fletcher didn’t like the smirks they all wore, but he wasn’t going to press the issue right then. He’d wait to see where they took him. He did hold his gun a little closer as a Bible story Javier told him came to mind. Something about a guy getting betrayed by his angry, jealous brothers and then getting dumped in a pit before getting sold to slavers. They weren’t going to just… kill him because they found him annoying, right? That was too far even for Vesi.

  Hernandez continued through the ruins, driving past more destroyed houses as large pieces of stone littered the pathways, making it into an obstacle course. Fletcher kept his eyes peeled as they drove, doing what he could to memorize the ruins and their path just in case he needed it. He was also curious about what was out here in the first place, but so far he hadn’t seen any signs of life.

  They approached what once was a plaza, and the buildings were more intact than many of what Fletcher had seen previously.

  “What is this place?” he asked as the jeep came to a stop.

  “A problem spot, sir,” Norton answered.

  They all exited the jeep as Fletcher continued to study the area. He didn’t see anything particularly problematic about it, but he wasn’t sure if that was because he didn’t know what to look for or because these idiots were pulling a stupid prank on him.

  “What makes it a problem?” he said.

  “We’ll show you, Lieutenant,” Hugo said. “Straight ahead, that building with the double doors ripped off.”

  Fletcher followed Hugo’s point, staring at what was once probably an apartment or office building based on the size. There was a huge, arched doorway leading into complete blackness.

  “Something lives in there?” he hypothesized.

  “That’s what we have to figure out. That’s why it’s a problem spot. The point of the patrols is to check for signs of Unhumans and monitor the animal population to ensure the station isn’t overrun with dangerous creatures, right sir?” Norton pointed out.

  Fletcher was impressed she knew that much about the patrols. Perhaps Palacios hadn’t stopped them as long ago as he thought. That might make it easier to get everyone back into the rotation of doing them.

  They approached the building, guns raised, but as they got close, Fletcher caught the scent of something awful.

  “Oh, deities. I don’t think anything lives in there. I think something died in there,” Fletcher said, one hand at his nose.

  “I’m sure it’s just his leftovers, sir,” Hugo replied.

  “What?” He turned to the man.

  “Catch, Lieutenant.” Hernandez threw something at him, but he didn’t have time to react as the rancid meat splattered across him.

  “What are you doing?” Fletcher wiped the disgusting substance from his face.

  “Introducing you around,” Norton said, backing away slowly.

  “Lieutenant Asshole, meet Trevor, our local cycat.” Hugo gestured to the black doorway, only it wasn’t empty anymore.

  A towering cat stood there that looked to be a cross between a sabertooth tiger and a cyclops given the single yellow eye at the front of its forehead.

  “This isn’t funny,” Fletcher said, his palms sweating as he faced the thing.

  The cycat took a step forward, and Fletcher took a step back. The sound of footsteps caused him to flip around to see the other three already running back to the jeep. He sprinted after them, but all three reached it before him. Hernandez turned it on, and Fletcher increased his pace as he heard the cycat roar behind him. Crap. Crap. Crap. They needed to make a fast getaway.

  And they did make a fast getaway. The jeep’s tires left burn marks Hernandez slammed on the gas so hard.

  The only problem was that Fletcher wasn’t in the vehicle.

  “Hey, wait for me!” he yelled.

  “Good luck, Lieutenant. And welcome to Hell.” Hugo saluted him with a smirk as the jeep disappeared around a corner.

  Another roar sounded, and Fletcher turned to face the cycat, completely on his own.

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