Fractured (Revolution Earth 1)

Lying on her stomach, blonde hair tied up under a cap, Jonie Larson peered through binoculars. Dressed in combat trousers and a long sleeved zipped fleece, the circles under her eyes made her look older than her 23 years. The ground in the field was not only hard, but damp under her sleeping bag. She'd had a fitful sleep. She'd been woken by the full beam of headlights as the first car showed up on the fracking site, down at the far end of the field. The driver made his way to the Portakabin to brew up the tea, ready for the others. Inside was a camping stove, an old fashioned kettle that sat on the gas hob, and posters of scantily dressed women, in lingerie, all parted lips and big hair. Jonie had checked the place out on the night she'd done her recce and had a good look around, when the security guard had nipped out to the Portaloo. This morning, the shift had arrived early - the first car had got there at four. By seven, the site was as busy as an ant colony. Each piece of heavy machinery – earth moving equipment, diggers, and a mean looking tractor with a sharp-pronged baler on the front, was moving purposefully around the site. Jonie crawled along on her elbows commando style to get a closer look.

The foreman brought his Staffordshire bull terrier with him to work. She would sit in the back of his truck quite happily for most of the day. But today, the foreman had been distracted and let her run about and forgot to call her back. On this day, of all days, the digger driver had decided to bring his mastiff cross to work, too. It was a big strong animal, muscly and mean looking and it was this one, not the Staffie, that started to bark.

Jonie flinched as she saw it come flying towards her. She tried to crawl away, but the dog, thinking this was some sort of game, grabbed her from behind and started to snarl. She talked softly, 'good dog, good boy,' as she turned around, binoculars in hand, still intent on watching the workers. The digger driver had stepped down from his machine and seemed to be staring straight at her. He yelled the dog's name. 'Bruno! Get here, now.' The dog seemed to shrink at the command, its strength somehow diminished. The snarl turned into a frightened bark as suddenly the digger driver broke into a run.

Jonie scrambled out the way as fast as she could as the dog kept barking.