How dangerous could a village called Mytchett be?

From the back of the truck, the eight passengers could see nothing. So every bump, sharp corner or steep downward gradient came as a surprise but after a while one of the passengers, Doctor Roberts, got used to the constant jostling and sliding along their bench like seats. It became a comfort because it meant they were moving and that the old military transport was running.

To be stranded in the middle of this dense, formerly army controlled woodland, would be a nightmare even for the seasoned officer. There wasn’t a human soul in these parts for miles now. The surrounding small villages had been evacuated long ago, the inhabitants on the Surrey/Hampshire border had been moved to larger cities which were easier to protect. This of course meant that their enemy had taken full advantage of miles and miles of unprotected woodland.

Anna kept her head tilted to the right so she could look out behind them through the open back of the truck. If it wasn’t for the milky glow of the bright moon on this clear night, the darkness would’ve been impenetrable. They traversed the one carriageway rough road which a year ago the army used for practise and provided a route for dog walkers and joggers. On either side of the muddy road was a small grassy incline before an almighty wall of towering pines. They provided the perfect cover, she could only see the first couple of rows before blackness took over and this was why her emerald eyes constantly scanned the wall. The weight of the rifle felt good and despite being pointed to the metal flooring it was armed and ready with the doctor’s finger gently caressing the trigger.

A sudden dip in the road was accompanied by the sound of splashing water. It had been raining for the best part of the day and sent the jolt her sliding into her neighbour. She smiled at Don Hayward who, like herself, had been in the government managed DPA for years and would serve as her buddy tonight. Not only did this mean he would watch her back and she would his, it also meant held the key which could free her from what had been nicknamed “vampire proof suit.”

Not long after all eight of them were sent in the other direction, toward the back end of the truck, as it began an uphill trek. She listened as the driver put the truck into a lower gear and the roar of the engine reverberated through her. They were losing speed and she prayed that it would find the power it needed to get them all the way.

She looked down at the small GPS monitor which was attached to her wrist like a watch and saw they were only a quarter of a mile from their drop off. The truck came to a halt and groaned against the handbrake while gravity tried pulling it down.

“Everyone out!” The driver shouted and immediately a woman at the end unhooked the latch and the thick metal dropped with a bang.

Anna quickly jumped out, her heavy boots landed in thick mud with a satisfying plop and squelch. The beaten track was very muddy and was plastered into the tread of the wheels. It was miracle the truck was stationary at the moment. Their driver, a tall and heavily muscled lieutenant, came round and said, “I’m not leaving the truck here, we need it as close as possible for a quick getaway. There’s enough of us here, let’s try pushing it up.” His voice was confident and assured.

Anna’s eyes went to the hill, in the moonlight she differentiate the muddy, sandy track from the grass and could see how they got into trouble. The last section was steep.

“We need the lightest person to get behind the wheel.” He stated as he looked at each of them until his eyes met Anna’s. At five foot four and a half, she was indeed the shortest and against these physically trained soldiers, there was no doubting she was the lightest. Nodding her head, she wasted no time in jumping in behind the wheel and left the door open.

Gently she put her foot down but it was useless, the wheels slid uselessly against the ground. After at least ten minutes of struggling the nine of them had moved the truck about two metres and there was at least ten to go.

“Fuck sake.” The driver almost shouted angrily. “Ok fine. Anna reverse her back down, we’ll go on foot.”

The truck flew down eagerly, she tapped the brake and corrected with the steering and it took seconds to undone fifteen minutes of work. Once at the bottom they secured the vehicle down and once again made their way up the damned hill. To make up for lost time they ran and it was hell. They all slipped and fell but soon enough got reach the small summit. Anna had no time to admire the view which consisted of a perfect vista of the heavens. The stars seemed to work in concert with the large, prominent moon as the conductor to create a beautiful piece of art.

On they jogged behind the driver as they following the wide beaten track until they came to a crossroads. Before the war he’d been stationed at Keogh Barracks which sat on the outskirts of a small, residential village called Mytchett. He knew the ranges intimately having spent countless hours, day and night, on manoeuvres here. He pointed into the blackness.

Entering through the pines it was like someone had just turned off the light switch. Immediately nine lights came on and all but one were aimed at the ground. They had been told in the briefing that they had to stay on their feet and there was something every metre which could trip them up out there; be it a root or a fallen branch or a ditch.

Despite the coldness of this clear night, Anna could feel warm, sleek sweat run through her hair and down her neck to collect at the base of her lower back. Vampire proof suits meant that every inch of her skin up to the base of her skull was electronically locked in except her head which was protected by a helmet. It was a suffocating. The material was a flexible, light weight variation of Kevlar which couldn’t be broken even with the sharpest set of teeth. They were skin tight and made specifically for the individual who wore it. For the sake of modesty, their black uniform was worn over the top.

Without warning their leader crouched down and they all followed suit. Through sign he indicated for them to pull down the visors of their helmets. Any form of fresh air was now beyond them. Immediately a menu screen appeared in the foreground, firstly she looked forward the option “Lock Down” which completely sealed her in and then to “Night Vision.” Lastly they all turned off their lights plunging them into darkness except for the glowing luminescent green of surrounding heat signatures.

With another gesture, he told them to lay flat. Anna carefully crawled forward to bring her belly in contact with the ground only to have a stick embed itself into her hip. She didn’t dare move however. She ignored the stabbing pain and focused on gold crosshairs on the inside of her visor.

The team lay silently and waited patiently and it came. A distant snap of a twig turned into many which rapidly became footfalls. Of course there were no heat signatures for a dead creature but the sensitive sensors were able to decipher the movement.

All hell broke loose quickly.

Volleys of ultraviolet bullets sped toward the targets but it soon became evident there were too many.

“Fall back!” Their guide’s voice called throughout her helmet.

Immediately Anna was on her feet and raced backward. A small fallen tree she’d stepped over ten minutes ago now took her feet from underneath her and sent her crashing onto the leaf strewn ground. As she struggled up, she felt a hand on her arm, a wave of panic flooded her but Don’s calm voice simply said, “it’s me.”

They found themselves in a clearing and the nine soldiers stuck together, collected as the vampires circled around them. They continued to fire and fire but reinforcements came in the form of werewolves. Anna glanced up to see the moon was indeed full. Why didn’t anyone think of this?

She pulled the shot gun from her back and began pumping silver tipped bullets into the great creatures but there were too many. They all continue to fire but inevitably there was going to be more enemy units than bullets and everyone knew this.

Keogh barracks was nearly almost deserted. Evacuated like everywhere else nearby Sadie and her team had spent the day clearing it for the team that was due to arrive in the evening. Securing an area of the camp and setting up traps for any unwelcome visitors. Now she sat back with her boots resting on a table, cards in her hand, a small crease of concentration on her forehead as she studied them, choosing her next move.

“Come on Major. It’s only shit head, doesn’t take that long to make a decision.” She shot her second in command Michael Coleman a cold look and opened her mouth to respond when the radio at her hip crackled loudly. “Major Smith this is Lieutenant Jones, requiring immediate back up. Please respond!” The voice was panicked and the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background. She exchanged a look with Coleman who was on his feet instantly rousing the rest of the team. Sadie threw her cards down before responding.

“I read you Lieutenant, what’s your position?” Sadie responded as she zipped her uniform up over her vampire proof suit. Only crackle answered her on the radio. “Lieutenant respond!”

Silence was a response she was becoming used to. Cursing under her breath she left small room which was a side room off a large hall. “Red Team, Blue Team suit up! Green Team holds here.” Coleman moved next to her “Is it them?” he asked cautiously. Sadie merely nodded. It had been a while since she had seen Doctor Anna Roberts, their two different areas of expertise had kept them far apart since the war began and she had hoped her team would make it here in once piece, but these days hopes were often dashed. “What moron plans to move an inexperienced team through enemy territory in the middle of the night.” She grumbled.

Coleman smirked “An inexperienced one.” He retorted, earning himself another dark look, to which he merely smiled at, earning a half smile from Sadie. “Bonnie! Clyde!” she called to the two trouble makers of the teams. “Go get the beast fired up. We’ve got some amateurs to rescue.” The two ran off their grins unmistakable. The others fell in for a quick debrief.

“Listen up. Make it quick and clean. No friendly fire! I want us in and out understood.” A shout of acknowledgement answered her. “The team is likely to have come in the south entrance so we’ve got a five minute haul before we get to them and that’s gonna attract a lot of attention. Arm up your silvers and your UV’s, it’s a full moon. I’ve no idea how many we’re up against so let’s plan for the worse and get the idiots loaded up and do a fighting retreat. Any questions?”

No one moved, and Sadie smiled as the roar of the truck outside made the windows vibrate. “MOVE OUT!” she bellowed. Coleman saluted Sadie as she left with the others and began shouting orders to the green team to take up defence positions.

Minutes later the truck was loaded with twenty seasoned DPA soldiers all clinging for dear life as it lurched through the undergrowth. All of them were wearing their helmets and were linked through internal communication systems. “Targets coming up at twelve o’clock, friendlies are surrounded.” Sadie grinned as the pre fight adrenaline kicked in. “Moving drop on my mark!” she shouted over the comms. She waited until she could see the flashes of Anna’s team’s bullets. “Mark!” Two by two the team dropped out of the back of the moving truck dropping into a roll coming up firing. Sadie was the last one to drop out, rolling on her shoulder and up to her knee, her P90 coming up to her shoulder firing at the two vampires that jumped towards her.

They had come up on the east the clearing and their sudden arrival had scattered a few of the vampires giving them the upper hand. They advanced quickly, their bullets adding to the ultra violet glow that was bringing the woodland to life. “Forward!” She called once she had established she had everyone. The moved slowly, their guns never leaving their shoulders, sure footed and determined faces hidden behind helmets.

“Wolves!” the cry echoed in her ear and she snatched her sidearm from her hip, pumping silver bullets into the first one that leapt for her. The impact of the bullet snapped its head back viciously and its scream sent familiar shivers down her spine. Still her team advanced, they were in the clearing now and without words had formed a protective circle around the amateurs, and almost as quickly as it had started the gunfire stopped. Their tactical images picked up the movements of the vampires retreating.

“Report!” she called through the comms, not taking her eyes off her own view as the word ‘clear’ was repeated by each team member. “Bonnie and Clyde, we’re clear for pick up.” She said before turning round to look at the centre of the clearing, unlocking her suit as she did so her visor rose up. “Let’s move through enemy controlled territory on a full moon in the night, that’s a damn good idea.” She snapped at them and shook her head. “Honestly, I know seven year olds who would make a better plan than this.”

With the backup it didn’t take long for the enemy units to be cleared. When a familiar voice was heard other the comms Anna’s eyes rolled in response. Trust it to be her to come save the day. It had been a while since she and Smith had been together and already the other woman annoyed her with her arrogance and condescension. A touch of anger rested in her chest and she had to swallow it down before something was said.

Anna opened her own visor and walked up to her old colleague, her boots still squelching in the muddy grass. “Werewolves haven’t been report here and if you took a moment to think about it, it proves that the vampires have brought them down probably for a reason and if our truck hadn’t gotten stuck we would’ve been fine.”

Fortunately for Anna military protocol didn’t really apply to her in terms of how to speak to a commanding officer because Anna wasn’t in the military. Technically she was seconded to military units as a medic and as an expert on the supernatural creatures they fought. She literally wrote the book on their physiologies and thus knew where to hit then and get them down quickly. That said; Anna and Sadie never needed an excuse to bitch at each other. Even so, she added, “it’s good to see you again.”

Suddenly an almighty clap of thunder sounded over head and with it came a heavy down pour of rain. Anna looked up at the sky to see a dark, miserable blanket of cloud now obscured the sky. April showers didn’t cover the weather they had had over the past couple of days. It soaked her thick, army style material in seconds but she was protected by the suit which lay underneath. Still, the ice cold rain hit the tip of her nose and lashed at her cheeks. She wondered why she didn’t have a desk job yet.

A familiar sound could be heard, small and distant but there. The beat of wings. Adrenaline cursed through her veins, the fight of flight instinct helping her choose the right course of action. “We need to find cover and quickly.” She ordered. The rain would help but the intense flame which a dragon could conjure up was more than anything human made.

Sadie’s eyes lit up when Anna opened her visor and piped up, though her face remained stern as the woman gave her excuses for poor planning. She missed their bickering, as much as Anna wound her up Sadie couldn’t deny she enjoyed winding the doctor up. “Good to see you too Doc.” She said with a small smirk, when Anna had finished.

Sadie blinked as the thunder clapped and let out a sigh as the rain hammered down on them. One of her men, Mac, who was a South African, grumbled his accent thick “Fucking English weather.” Sadie rolled her eyes and grinned. But before she could answer, a faint beating of wings caught her ear. Others had heard it to; she felt the ripple of tension run through the team.

“Agreed.” She said before calling to the rest of the team. “Head for the lake, driver can pick us up on the main road. Red’s take point, blues cover ours arses.” She gave Anna a quick smile. “Dragon’s eh?” she said “They weren’t in the report either I bet.” She closed her visor moved to join the troops that were grouping together. She could catch up later with the doctor, first things first she had to get them to safe ground. “Bonnie, Clyde. Head for the lake on the main roads, we’ll meet you there. Keep your eyes on the sky.”

“Roger that, ma’am.”

She switched back to open communications. Doing a quick head count before calling “Move out!”

And so the band of soldiers trudged through the ever increasing slippery conditions all the while their clothing became wet and heavy. Anna debated whether it would be easier to shred the unnecessary black BDUs because they wore the vampire proof suit underneath. As they marched on, for running was impossible, the material around her legs clung to her limbs and snagged on the material of the opposite leg with every step she took. The GPS on her utility console told her the lake was only about fifteen minutes away.

“Hang on.” Anna requested and everyone heard as the comms had been set for the entire team through their helmets. “I need to get out of this clothing, its weighing me down.” She wasn’t as fit as her military companions and she was willing to admit that.

Others in the team agreed and they quickly shed it, moving gun holsters and other bits and pieces to the packs a few of the soldiers carried. They were currently sheltered, following the dirt path in the trees. As Anna pulled off the hefty jacket and threw it to the ground an almighty squawk pierced the silence which followed with a blinding flash. Anna ducked and covered her face, even through the flexible Kevlar suit she felt the intense wave of heat.

She flipped down the visor and looked up into the heavens to see the huge heat signature coming off the creature. The luminescent green was so strong it stung her eyes. “We’ll be alright if we stay in the protection of the trees.”

“Uh that’s going to be a problem.” Replied their guide, a man well into his forties called Alex Munro, “to get to the lake we need to follow a road, actually two. We’ll come out by a pub called Potters, we’ll have to follow that road up and take the first right. Once onto that road we can get into the cover again, circle the lake and come out at the road where I’m guessing our pick up will be.”

Now stripped of troublesome clothing, Anna didn’t feel the slightest bit conscious of its cat suit qualities. The material was a mottled grey and quite thick but incredibly supple. It felt like a three stone of weight had been lifted from her. She looked over at Sadie for conformation. After all no matter senior she was, Sadie was military and thus tactical discussions were left to her.

“I’m guessing we run up that road like hellfire.”

Sadie let out a small sigh of frustration as Anna called for a halt so she could lose the extra weight. All the while they took doing this, the quicker they would be found by dragons. She gave hand signals to her men to watch around them. The cry from the dragon made her drop to her haunches as its flame flashed above them unable to reach them through the trees, the heat making exposed skin painful with the sudden temperature change.

She looked up at it with a dark expression that was hidden behind her visor. One of her men opened fire only to be berated by his buddy. “Save the ammo!” she called to him, rising to her feet as Anna’s guide explained the route they had to take. For a moment Sadie said nothing as if contemplating the odds of them making it.

“If we lay low once we reach the lake they’ll get bored and head off, if they are with us still when we reach the truck we’ve got no hope, that thing will blow us to pieces.” This whole escaped was a disaster in Sadie’s honest opinion, the fact that some were shedding weight now meant that they would not be up for a fast run. Still it was amazing what the human body could do when it meant running for your life. “We run like hellfire and hope to god that no one falls behind.”

It was a cold statement that meant whoever fell behind got left behind. Dropping back to save others cost too many lives than it was worth, and Sadie was praying, because more lives on her conscience meant another sleepless week. “Move out!”

The group fell into a loose formation again running to the edge of the woodland; they dropped low as the group at point checked the road was clear. The beat of the dragon’s wings coming round for another flyby threatened them. “Hold. Get down.” She said over the comm, dropping to one knee casting her eyes to the sky, watching her display light up as the creature flew towards them unleashing another plume of fire at them which ignited the wet trees nearby.
“Move out!” she called over the comm. As soon as it had passed over them “Double time. Move! Move! Move!”

“Run like your ass in on fire!” called one of her teams over the comms as the group moved onto the road and began sprinting up it.

“Yeah,” piped up another “’Cause if you don’t, it will be on fire.”

Sadie moved out at the end of the group, her boots thudding on the solid concrete beneath her feet. “Shut up and run you morons.” She shouted at them.

Without the wet clothing Anna was freed up to run. The others who’d done the same also looked relieved. Once they finally reached the road, which was thankfully tarmac and some over hanging trees, she was able to keep up easily. Years of working with the military had gifted her that at least. The road was slightly up hill and curved to the right so they couldn’t see what was ahead of them.

As if the cosmic wheel of fate heard this thought cross Anna’s mind, they were not half way up the incline when hulking trolls ten foot tall thundered toward them. She swiftly changed the UV for traditional bullets and called over the head sets, “go for the heads and chests, nothing else will work.” A bullet to the arm or leg wasn’t going to bother a troll and the team of soldiers would be dead long before the troll would bleed to death.

There were five towering, grotesque figures, three at the front and two behind and took up the width of the road. No doubt there were more to come. Munro commented, “Keogh Barracks is at the end of this road.”

This was the source. Once they relayed the information they’d gathered from this excursion the government would be able to order a complete bombing of the derelict barracks. If only they could enter somehow to get a true picture of what was going on.

On and on they fired but these giants were made of hardy stuff. Their skulls and sternums were made of something very similar to bone but more compacted and strengthened. Suddenly with another almighty roar the dragon arrived, having been alerted by all the commotion.

“Fuck sake.”

Munro, luckily, knew this area like the back of his hand. “Fall back, we can get to the lake via the canal, we’ll go to Potters and access it that way.”

Anna was one of the first to sprint back the way they came and into the silently still car park. An old lamp still flickered on, probably on a timer for night. They ran past the statue of a fat chef and into the sitting area outside where chairs and tables still sat, unused for a year. They had speed and this was their greatest enemy against these huge creatures.

Sadie cursed loudly as the trolls thundered towards them. “Why can any of these bastards be on our side?!” she exclaimed, as she switched her own UV ammo for explosive rounds and opened fire. Though the explosive rounds left gaping holes where the impacts the trolls, they were still doing next to nothing to slow them.

She cursed in sync with Anna as the dragon returned. “Fall back. Continuous fire!” she called. Two of her men were too slow to respond and were crushed beneath the hulking troll’s feet. “FALL BACK!” Sadie repeated, more urgently, waiting until the last man had passed her before turning on her heel and pelting after him, her muscles were screaming at her now but she ignored the pain. Life was far more important than how much she was going to ache after this.

Sudden change of direction and the speed of their prey seemed to be enough to confuse the trolls and they stopped near the entrance of the car park, grunting at each other as the dragon flew over them again. One of them pointed at it and the trolls lost interest in the humans they were supposed to be chasing, and began to follow the dragon.

Sadie however did not allow them to stop running till she was sure they were no longer following. “Halt!” she called finally. Her team stopped and fell into defensive positions taking a moment to path their breath, though still keeping an eye on everything around them. The canal path was eerily quiet save for the gentle lapping of the water along the banks.

Sadie moved to Anna and Munro. “This is fairy territory.” She told them. “We ran into them this morning. We need to keep our voices down and move carefully, if you see any don’t draw attention to it, if they know they’ve been seen they can get aggressive.” She was a little breathless as she spoke but it didn’t take long for her breathing to even out.

A crackle in her ear told her someone had opened a separate channel to her directly, and she tilted her head to listen. “We’re in position Major, skies are clear, no movement around us either. Where you at?” she breathed sigh of relief to know that the twins were ok.

“Hold position and stay alert. We’re on our way.”

Switching back to open comms she kept her voice low. “Move out. Keep up the pace though, I don’t want to leave Bonnie and Clyde in the open too long.” Two by two the large group moved out, their feet drumming on the path was the only sound in the darkness.

Anna didn’t look back. Twenty years ago she would’ve ran back to check on the wounded, to see if there was a chance she could save them but harsh yet infinitely valuable lessons had been learnt since. In some ways she longed for those innocent days as a young doctor freshly recruited into the DPA. She naively and rather arrogantly believed she could save everyone and had put herself into danger many times.

Twenty years and countless mistakes later and the doctor didn’t look back. She followed the soldiers as they made their way through the night. There were still a couple of hours until daybreak. They continued to run until all of a sudden the lake was there once they went under a bridge, unveiled like a ghostly painting. A shiver, which had nothing to do with the cold of the spring night, shuddered through her.

The rippling waters lay before them like an inky onyx abyss. With the cloud cover there was nothing to illuminate the water. Curiously, Anna stepped forward and looked down into their depths. Only the light attached to her wrist and her own bedraggled reflection could be seen. Suddenly the feeling of being snuggled in her duvet inside the guarded city walls of Bristol yearned inside her. She was in her forties... shouldn’t she be leaving this for the young and the crazies among them; Anna’s eyes went to Sadie.

“So where’s this driver of yours?” She asked, her eyes constantly scanned the eerie scene. Her imagination was going overtime. The blackness of their rural surroundings was like a blank canvas for her mind to paint in whatever gruesome picture which came to mind. The problem was there were too many such scenes she’d experienced and thus could bring up in seconds.

If there was something Sadie had learnt about this war, it was that silence was never good. Silence meant something or someone was watching. Waiting in the shadows to pounce, she hated it and it unnerved her. Even in the nights when she was in her bunk safely underground (which were few and far between these days) she could not sleep in silence, because silence housed demons that would haunt her dreams for years to come.

The group slowed to a halt when they reached the lake, each soldier as uneasy as she was. They could feel their commander’s tension and it was never a good sign if Sadie was tense. Anna spoke up, her voice cutting through the silence and Sadie shot her a dark look and shook her head slowly and placed a finger to her lips.

A high pitched howl filled the silence, ringing in their ears. A howl that every soldier feared; the howl of a hybrid.

Someone next to Sadie cursed earning a slap round the back of the head. The hybrid wasn’t close, but it wouldn’t take long for it to find them. A whisper came into her ear from Jamie, the ‘Clyde’ of Bonnie and Clyde. “That was too close for comfort, major. Get your ass moving.”

Sadie indicated forward and signalled double time. The road was only ahead of them and Jamie and Louise had the truck parked a small way up the road. Everyone seemed to moving faster than they had when the dragon was spitting balls of fire at them. No one wanted to die at the claws of a hybrid. Their feet thundered on the tarmac once they reached it, everyone had forgotten about stealth. Speed over stealth when you were running from a hybrid, it was an unwritten rule.

The truck roared to life in front of them, a 50 cal machine gun was mounted to the back and another was mounted on the roof of the cabin, both were loaded with explosive ammo, the best defence they had against a hybrid. It didn’t kill them, but it left big enough holes in the beasts to ensure it didn’t get up to chase them for at least night. “Mac, take the rear gun.” she hissed at him “Everyone else in, keep your tactical displays up, and your eyes out, I want to know where that fucker is coming from, if you’ve got explosive rounds use them. Munro, get in the cabin and give Bonnie and Clyde the best route.”

Sadie herself climbed the ladder to the top of the cabin slinging her P90 over her shoulder. She took the 50 cal into her hands, letting out a deep breath. As she did, another high pitched howl raised the hair on the back of her neck. Two thuds on the side of the truck told her everyone was in, and the truck began to move. Sadie cursed it. Why the hell hadn’t they made silent engines!

They all barrelled into the truck, piling in quite literally. The space was limited to say the least with both sets of teams so when Anna jumped in Don, her good friend, grabbed her by the waist so she sat on his lap. Others sat on the floor in between the two bench like seats which faced each other. Hayward, as always, made sure she was alright.

Everyone at the back of the truck pointed their guns towards the open back and half were loaded with UV rounds and half with normal life fire. Once again Anna wondered why on earth she was still doing this. Unlike Smith who still seemed to the thrive upon the adrenaline, as Anna once did while they served in the same team, she had changed so much since those more innocent times. The Vampire take over was destroying Anna as much as it was obliterating humanity, one step at a time.

The truck began to move with a roar of the engine, the driver evidently keeping it in as low a gear as possible to ensure increased acceleration. She felt them rise up a bridge and looked craned her neck through the driver’s window to see long since forgotten traffic lights. They crossed over the canal they had used to the lake and then they cruised down before taking a sharp right at a roundabout. Anna looked out of the window to see a mossy street sign: “Mytchett Road.”

They raced down the long, straight road, able to build up speed without any obstacles and this made Anna feel better and more secure. In the distance more dragon squawking and unearthly shrieks could be heard. A thought suddenly occurred to Anna and she flicked down the visor of her helmet to bring up her personal menu system. By looking toward a particular option for three seconds, some sensors were able to pick up on this eye movement and know what she desired.

In communications, she brought up a list of those currently in their group chat which included all the soldiers with this technology. Anna selected Sadie and immediately a private link was created.

“How are you doing up there Sadie?”

Suddenly the truck bumped up and down as the driver went straight over the rise of a roundabout and then powered up another bridge, this time over a railway, and zoomed down. Anna noticed a sign which read: “Welcome to Frimley Green, please drive carefully.” If the situation wasn’t so dire, it would’ve been comical.

As they picked up speed Sadie instantly regretted opting to take the front gun. Her clothes were soaked through and the cold night air whipped past her biting at every bit of exposed skin. She cursed under her breath, as her left shoulder began to ache as it always did when the cold got to it. She rubbed it with her hand and rolled it to try and shift the ache.

Anna’s voice piped up in her ear, her VDU told her it was a private line. “Well aside for the cold and the fact that I’ve had to save your arse again...pretty damn good.” She grinned to herself knowing full well that would irritate Anna. “Is every reunion gonna be like this?” she asked the doctor as they passed gates for an old hotel, the sign had long gone.

She tensed as they drove down the winding road that led to Deepcut, the wooded banks to their left and the lake to their right made her nervous. “Any sign of movement and I want to know about it.” she told her team on the open comms line.

[OOC: sorry its short x]

With every jolt or tight turn, Anna feared she would fall into the sea of soldiers who sat on the floor. Her already tired thigh muscles were feeling the strain of keeping her in the lap of Don. No one had any hands free to save her either, all had firm clasp of their weapon of choice.

While the private line was still active between the two women, Anna replied, “with the state of the world at the moment... I doubt we’ll be meeting up for tea any time soon.”

A sharp right turn put them onto a treacherously winding road and it was awful. The surface was sleek with rain and so with every suddenly turn the truck skidded slightly. Anna prayed they stayed upright.

It didn’t take long until they took a left at a roundabout and onto a long, straight road. Then of course, such was their luck, the disused speed bumps appeared. The driver had no time to aim the truck over them, and even if he did there would still be a generous bump, and thus every few seconds they were vaulted up and then down.

Anna kept the visor of her helmet down and let the scanners constant search for heat signatures. It seemed everyone in the truck saw the green luminescent signature simultaneously because everyone suddenly tensed. Although its details couldn’t be seen properly for it was still at the top of the long, uphill road, it looked like a three or four Gorgons. She knew this by the way their hair seemed to move and sway independently, which it was of course because their hair consisted of a dozen or so snakes.

“Everyone put your visors down, I’m pretty sure they’re Gorgons. Looking at them with a naked eye will transform you to stone.” She warned over the open channel.