The survivors spill from the stairwell into the loading yard, coughing beneath a gray sky. Ella leads them between abandoned trucks while the two riflemen keep watch.
Elena remains at the rear of the moving group, rifle ready, covering the corridor mouth as distant snarls echo through the school.
Beside an overturned utility cart, Sgt Dunn, an athletic young man with close-cropped blond hair and weathered skin, crouches in dusty Marine gear. A scar crosses his brow as he guards a field radio with one hand.
Sgt Dunn
Ella, good. The evacuation convoy was diverted toward the mountain road.
Dunn glances from the radio toward the survivors, jaw tight. The set crackles with broken voices, then falls back into static.
Sgt Dunn
My unit never reached this yard. My wife was with them. They may still be somewhere along that route.
Ella Bawer
Then we move for the mountain road, but we do it together. Elena, stay ready for anything.
Have Sgt Dunn disclose his unit's whereabouts
Find Sgt Dunn's wife