Adventure of Grant Dunn 1

Grant reaches the church as the side entrance slams shut behind him. Chairs and a splintered table brace the doors while survivors drag injured supplies away from the corridor.

A middle-aged woman with cropped brown hair, a yellow raincoat, and a schoolteacher’s canvas satchel kneels among several frightened children, radio pressed tight to her ear.

The radio crackles over the children’s breathing. A distant survivor group repeats the same transmission, clipped by static and urgency.

Outside, impacts begin along the church walls, scattered at first, then multiplying. The temporary barricade shudders, and every survivor turns toward Grant.

Grant moves to the barricade, lifting a fallen pew into place while keeping the children in view. Survivors brace it with benches, rope, and stacked supply crates.

The children crouch behind the altar rail, pale faces tracking every impact. Grant positions himself between them and the side entrance, scanning the gaps as the church trembles.

Grant wedges a hymnbook cabinet against the pew and helps a survivor, a broad-shouldered young adult man with dark skin, close-cropped black hair, and a torn gray shirt beneath a canvas work vest lash the handles tight. The structure settles into a solid, interlocked brace.

The impacts continue outside, but the door no longer shifts. The children remain contained behind cover, and the survivors reclaim their footing around Grant.