The first thing Fletcher noticed when he woke up was that incessant ringing in his ears. The next thing that came to him was a few tons of panic. All his worries from when he passed out picked up exactly where they left off, causing him to shoot upwards from the cot he lay on.

  “Lieutenant, you’re awake. Good. Hugo’s been asking for you. And Kenzo had a question for you. And Norton’s lurking around, waiting for you as well,” Sergeant Towne said, though his voice was a bit muffled, especially with the ringing.

  “How long was I out?” Fletcher asked, glancing down at his bandaged hands. Most of his body still hurt, but that was a problem for later, assuming they survive long enough to worry about such things. There was far too much to do.

  “A few hours.”

  “Any more attacks?”

  “Not yet, but I think that might be what Hugo wanted to talk to you about,” Towne replied.

  Fletcher nodded and swung his legs off the cot. “Thank you. I appreciate you patching me up.”

  “Of course. Your injuries were a cakewalk compared to what normally gets sent to me,” Towne confessed.

  He smiled. “Yeah. That makes sense. Keep up the good work. Let me know if you need anything.”

  Fletcher held back a wince as he put his weight on his calf that got grazed by the bullet. He couldn’t risk taking any kind of strong painkillers, but there was something he could do to manage the pain.

  [Activating: Frenzy]

  He wasn’t sure how long it would last when he was only going to be doing menial tasks for the next bit, but it did wonders for pushing back the aches in his body and allowing him to focus on handling the million and one things that needed his immediate attention.

  As soon as he exited the small medical center, Sergeant Norton rushed to him.

  “Dixon, you’re up. I—” She closed her mouth and sucked her cheeks. “I’m sorry. That Unhuman grabbed you, and they were coming up on us so fast, so I just—”

  “You tried to blow me up,” he filled in for her with a shake of his head. He wanted to be angry at her for abandoning him and then nearly killing him, but he had too many other things to handle. This was Vesi Station after all, and he should have known better to trust anyone to have his back. “Don’t worry about it, Norton. I’m still alive, and we have much bigger problems to attend to.”

  “Yes, sir.” She glanced down at the ground.

  “Have you slept recently?”

  She shrugged. “I wanted to see you when you woke up.”

  “Go get some sleep, and then you’ll take over the catacomb guard from Kenzo and her team,” Fletcher said.

  Norton nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  He walked away from her, his mind already moving on to other things. He needed to grab his radio which he left in his office so he could get back in the loop on things. He couldn’t believe that he allowed himself to pass out and waste all that time when they were in the middle of a crisis. Then again, he should just be grateful that the Unhumans didn’t launch another assault while he was out.

  Stopping by his office, Fletcher nabbed his radio, turned it on, and informed those on the other end that he was up. Hugo and Kenzo immediately spoke over each other, but the mess of voices made it impossible to hear anything.

  “Kenzo, you go first. Wait until she’s done, Hugo,” Fletcher ordered. Whatever Kenzo wanted would surely take less time than Hugo’s problems.

  She spoke to him, but he couldn’t make out the words. Stupid radio. The batteries must be dying. He cranked up the volume and asked her to repeat it.

  “We’re hearing a lot of movement down in the catacombs, Dixon. I’m wondering if we should put some guards down there to catch them sooner and give us warning if they make a full run at us,” Kenzo said.

  Fletcher rubbed his forehead, his headache intensifying even through his [Frenzy]. “No. That’s too dangerous. We can’t waste the manpower on something like that.”

  “We need the warning if they come at us,” Kenzo insisted.

  He nodded, though it was an action known only to himself. “I agree, but there’s another way.”

  “I don’t think cameras will work very well. Not to mention—”

  “Not cameras. Sensors specifically designed for this kind of thing,” Fletcher corrected her. “See if you can find George. He can show you where we keep them, and I trust you can figure it out from there. You can use a computer and a direct cord to wire them up so they should give you some kind of warning ahead of time. If you have trouble with it, let me know and I’ll help.”

  “I understand. I’ll see what I can do. Kenzo out,” she said.

  “Okay, Hugo. What do you need?” Fletcher asked.

  “Meet me up top. I want to show you the wall patches,” the man replied gruffly.

  Fletcher blew out a long breath. That was a lot of stairs, but he was going to have to face them at some point. He made a quick stop at the armory first to get a new tactical vest along with a rifle before heading up all the stairs to meet Hugo in the late morning sun.

  “Come with me,” he said as soon as Fletcher exited the small warehouse that housed the entrance to the bunker.

  “Good morning to you too,” Fletcher muttered, following the man.

  Hugo led him to the backside of their defenses, which had taken the least amount of damage. It was an odd place to start given the back wall didn’t need all that much patching, but Fletcher got the sense there was something else on Hugo’s mind.

  “What’s up?” he asked at last.

  “We’re not going to last another attack,” Hugo answered bluntly. He put a cigarette in his mouth, taking a long breath.

  “Hold up a second. I know we’re running low on resources, but—”

  “It’s not about resources, Dixon. It’s about morale. We’ve been out here for days, watching our friends, people that are basically family, get shot or blown up or torn apart. They’re barely holding it together as is, and if the Unhumans come at us again…” Smoke billowed from his mouth as he spoke.

  Fletcher rubbed his temple, annoyed with the noxious fumes from his companion. “What do you want me to do, Hugo? Help is coming. We just have to hold out until it gets here.”

  “Is help coming? The storm cleared up hours ago, and there’s been no sign of the Mixed. Face it, Dixon. They abandoned us,” Hugo said, taking another puff of his cigarette.

  “No. They will come for us. They will,” Fletcher insisted.

  “This is Vesi Station. We don’t serve a purpose. It’s basically a fancier version of jail for the Mixed military. Why would they waste soldiers they care about to save the likes of us?”

  Fletcher stared at the man. “The Mixed are honorable. They won’t leave us behind.”

  “Sure, kid. Keep telling yourself that,” Hugo sneered. “See how much good that does you when an Unhuman sticks a knife in your back.”

  “Keep hope alive, Hugo. It’s all we can do,” he said quietly.

  “Give me a reason to,” the man countered. He held out his pack of cigarettes. “Take one, Lieutenant. You look like you could use it.”

  “I don’t smoke,” Fletcher replied.

  “You’re probably going to die in the next few days anyway. You really won’t even try it once? Believe me, it helps.”

  Fletcher hesitated. He knew it was stupid, but he was tired and scared and stressed.

  Hugo grinned, handed him a cigarette, and held up his lighter. “Just one, for the sparky lieutenant. Breaking rules occasionally is healthy.”

  Fletcher accepted the lit cigarette and took an inhale. He then coughed on the smoke, finding it hard to properly breathe.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “You’ll get the hang of it, Dixon.” Hugo shook his head and walked away, leaving Fletcher with the cigarette to think about their conversation.

  Surely the Mixed would come… right?

  Thinking of that list of a million and one things he needed to do, Fletcher decided to move a certain task to the top of the list. After a few more puffs on the cigarette, he tossed it to the ground and stepped on it, deciding that was not a habit he was interested in picking up. Making his way back inside and down to the office quarters, he marched into Palacios’s room, not caring for etiquette.

  “Palacios, tell me straight, are the Mixed coming?” Fletcher asked.

  The Major grinned at him. “Of course. I told you. It was the storm that delayed them.”

  “The storm cleared up ages ago. Where are they?” Fletcher narrowed his eyes, studying the man closer.

  Palacios chuckled, a bead of sweat appearing on his forehead.

  “Palacios, what did you do?” Fletcher stepped closer.

  The man cowered, backing away from Fletcher. “No. It’s not my fault. I tried. I really did.”

  “Palacios!”

  “The tower that connects us to the global comm system of the Mixed is broken. Perhaps the Unhumans disabled it or maybe it was a lack of maintenance, but it wasn’t my fault, I swear,” the man said, visibly shaking.

  “What do you mean? Did you even call for help?” Fletcher shouted.

  The Major collapsed to the ground. “I’m sorry. I tried. It’s down. I couldn’t do anything about it.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Fletcher grabbed the man’s shirt and yanked him up to eye level.

  “I knew you’d be mad. Jana told me to lie. She said you all wouldn’t last the night anyway, so it was better to let you think we were successful. That way you wouldn’t take your anger out on us,” Palacios whimpered.

  Fletcher dropped him to the ground. “So nobody knows we’re under attack?”

  “No.”

  He took a deep breath, and Palacios curled up as though expecting to be hit.

  “Where is the comm tower?” Fletcher asked once his anger subsided enough to speak without screaming at the man.

  “The city ruins,” Palacios choked out.

  “You’re a coward, Palacios. A lot of good people died, and those deaths might have been avoided if you’d just told the truth. You idiot.” Fletcher curled his fists tight and growled at the man. “But I’m going to fix this. I’m going to repair the tower and call for help. Stay here and out of my way. Do you understand?”

  Palacios nodded vigorously.

  “Good.” Fletcher spun on his heels and exited the bedroom, his frustration simmering just under the surface. So much death, and all because Palacios lied about calling for help. Now Fletcher had to go out and solve this crisis too.

  But there was hope out there. The Mixed hadn’t come because they didn’t know they needed to. If Fletcher could manage to contact them, this entire thing might finally be over. No more deaths.

  Ignoring the twinges of pain from his sore, beat up body, Fletcher jogged through the hallways, back up outside. He got on his radio and requested Kenzo join him as well since he would need her guidance with the whole repair thing. He’d learned a lot of handy skills in his time repairing the base but definitely not enough for a task like this.

  He focused on keeping [Frenzy] active as he reached the airstrip outside.

  Grabbing Hugo, Fletcher briefly explained what happened with Palacios, but before the man could respond, Kenzo showed up so Fletcher had to repeat the whole story.

  “So help is not coming?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Not yet. They don’t have any clue what’s going on. I intend to fix that. I have to go out and repair the comm tower, and I should be able to call for help from there, even without the command qualifications, right?”

  Kenzo made a face. “Technically. But you’ll need help getting around that.”

  “I won’t ask you to come on something that’s probably a suicide mission,” Fletcher told her. “Just run me through everything I need to know, and I’ll take the radio so I can call for help if I run into problems.”

  The woman scoffed. “I’m not afraid to call myself a miracle worker, but teaching you enough to repair something like that is still beyond my abilities. I have to go. Besides, I’m part [Shade] so my [Invisibility] might come in handy.”

  “Are you sure? There’s no guarantee we’ll come back,” Fletcher reminded her.

  “If the blown up, sparky Lieutenant is willing to risk his life for this trash hole after being here less than six months, I think I can manage a little gusto for the place that’s been my home for the past three years. Yeah. I’ll go. Besides, you’ll be doing the dangerous job since you’re going to protect me while I make the repairs,” Kenzo said.

  Fletcher nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this. We should leave now. The sooner we fix it, the better. Hugo, you’re in charge. Try to keep this under wraps until we get back. I don’t want everyone losing hope when there’s still a chance for us.”

  “I’ll try, but I make no promises,” Hugo muttered.

  “I’ll put George in charge of finishing the sensor project in the catacombs. Hugo, send someone to get Norton up and going. I want the base on alert. It’s been too quiet, and with Kenzo and I going out, that might spur the Unhumans to attack,” Fletcher said.

  “Fine. Try to be quick about this. I have enough on my plate without worrying about your jobs too,” Hugo agreed.

  Fletcher chuckled, pretending it was a joke, and then he and Kenzo went to prepare for the mission. Only thirty minutes later, they were packing up the single remaining intact jeep, ready for what was likely going to be a one way trip.

  “Maybe I should drive,” Kenzo suggested as Fletcher took the driver’s seat.

  “I’ve been out in that city dozens of times over the past few months. I know what I’m doing,” Fletcher assured her.

  She didn’t say anything, but the look on her face remained unconvinced.

  “Besides, you have to use [Invisibility] so we actually make it to the tower in one piece,” he added.

  “I think I’d prefer to get blown up over your driving,” she said.

  Smirking, Fletcher started the engine and drove out of the garage. They paused for a moment at the gate, and he signalled to Hugo with the wave of his hand.

  The signal was for Kenzo as well, and she placed her hands on the jeep’s dashboard, speaking so quietly Fletcher couldn’t hear. But he did recognize the effect of [Invisibility] from his kidnapping back in Bren’it’p by Addy’s team, a certain fuzziness around him, Kenzo, and the jeep.

  A barrage of grenades launched onto the hillside leading up to them as Fletcher slammed the jeep’s accelerator, launching out of the gate and in a wide loop towards the city. Hopefully those explosions would be enough to distract the Unhumans from this one vehicle, even if it was [Invisible].

  Kenzo maintained the [Skill] the whole drive until they were safely in the ruins. Then she released her grip on the jeep and leaned forward with a heavy sigh.

  “You alright?”

  She said something, but he couldn’t hear over the jeep’s engine and the ringing in his ears.

  “Speak up, Kenzo,” he said.

  “That took almost all my [Mana]. I don’t think I’ll have enough to get us home.” She nearly had to shout for him to hear it.

  “We don’t need to get home,” he reminded her. He was resigned to dying on this trip, but it was for the good of Vesi, and it meant that the Unhumans wouldn’t capture him alive and learn his [Demanlic] secret, so he counted it as enough of a win.

  The tower wasn’t too deep in the city, so they arrived at the set of ruined buildings without any disturbances from the enemy army camped out. It helped that this was on the opposite side of the city from where Fletcher first encountered Unhumans, so he was hopeful they hadn’t bothered venturing to this section at all, which would give them the time to make the repairs and call for help.

  Fletcher parked the jeep and held his gun up as he did a scan of the area. No enemies or animals to worry about.

  Kenzo got out of the jeep and grabbed her bag of equipment from the back. “It’s just up there. Stay here while I get it fixed.”

  “Roger that. Don’t rush in. If it was sabotaged by the Unhumans, they might have rigged a trap or something,” he warned her.

  Kenzo laughed. “As if the freaks are clever enough for something like that. You’re expecting a lot out of people who have the technology equivalent of cavemen.”

  “Just be careful,” Fletcher implored.

  She waved a hand as she entered the decayed building, and Fletcher wondered how the thing was still standing, much less supporting the comm tower. But Kenzo knew this thing better than him, so he trusted her.

  They both still had radios so they could communicate while Kenzo made repairs. Fletcher took up position behind some fallen rocks, away from the jeep and where he had a clear view of anyone who might try to enter the building after Kenzo. The lack of resistance so far meant that their distraction mixed with [Invisibility] might have been enough for them to make it here without alerting the Unhumans. That would be a small miracle, but one that he desperately needed.

  Fletcher shifted his hands on his rifle, antsy while just waiting for something to happen. If the Unhumans hadn’t noticed them yet, perhaps they would be able to make it back to Vesi without—

  An explosion rocked the ground, knocking him from his feet to his knees. Fletcher held his rifle up and looked around for the enemy who threw the grenade, but his heart sank as he discovered the building where Kenzo had just entered pouring out smoke.

  Fletcher rushed to the building, his mind running back through the previous seconds, but he couldn’t recall seeing any hint of the Unhumans. It was dim enough that they might have used [Invisibility] though, a problem they knew they’d encounter if they wanted to utilize [Invisibility] themselves.

  “Kenzo!” Fletcher yelled as he reached the building, much of which had fully collapsed after the explosion.

  A muffled sound came from one of the smoldering rubble piles, and he skidded to his knees next to it, hastily clawing away broken stones to reveal Kenzo’s bashed up face.

  “Kenzo. Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here,” Fletcher promised her, working at freeing more of her body.

  “S-sorry. G-guess those fr-freaks did learn… about b-booby tra-traps,” she stammered between wet coughs.

  “No. Kenzo. No,” he said, frantically digging at the pile of rubble.

  She wheezed, and then it was silent.

  “Kenzo,” Fletcher said. “No, Kenzo. You have to fix the tower. You have to.”

  Looking into her eyes, he saw that the light was gone. She was dead.

  Fletcher removed a little more of the rocks, just enough to get her dog tags, and then he covered her body once more, trusting that the stone would do more to protect it than they could back at Vesi at the moment.

  He glanced up at the building which housed the comm tower, and the broken metal and sparks confirmed his greatest fear. The tower was broken beyond repair. There was no way to fix it, not with the limited resources they had at the station. Not to mention there was no one left with the knowledge for that kind of work anyway.

  Help was not coming. They were on their own.

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