Intervention | NaNoWriMo 2018

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: The following chapter is the non-edited draft of what was written during NaNoWriMo 2018. My apologies in advance for plot holes and other inconsistencies.

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Hastings sat in the front seat of his vehicle fuming as he stared out into the darkness beyond cab. He felt more frustrated than he had in months and had to fight the urge no to punch something in his vicinity.

"We've found no trace of them, sir," his lieutenant said through the open window. Hastings wasn't surprised. When they had encountered the increasing winds as the left the city and headed north, he all but expected to lose track of Captain Graber. He had just been hoping that the next city they encountered would at least have provided some clue to their whereabouts. Even the most obvious place, the stadium, had been a bust.

"Understood. There's nothing more we can do tonight. Arrange for a guard detail and distribution of the appropriate rations. Wait, scratch that, make it double rations." After a day like today, they all needed a morale boost.

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant replied and then disappeared.

Hastings picked up the tablet on the dashboard in front of him and sighed. He knew Hamil was expecting a report. It wasn't going to be good but he might as well get it over with. Waiting until the morning was pointless. It wouldn't delay the inevitable. He tapped in the address and waited for Hamil's image to appear.

"Colonel."

"Commander. I trust your meeting with the Council went well."

"I'll get straight to the point, Colonel, if you can't. Where are we with the apprehension of Captain Graber?"

"Unfortunately, the weather has turned and erased the traces of their travels we found earlier in the day."

Hamil looked at Hastings for a few moments, his facial expression blank.

"Like I said, it was an impossible task."

"With all due-"

Hamil held up a hand. "Don't, Colonel. The fact of the matter is simple. You've failed and there's really not a whole lot you can do about it. Tomorrow, I expect you to-"

Hamil was interrupted by a large explosion. A fireball shot to the sky just a few blocks to the east.

"What was that?" Hamil demanded, eyes wide.

"I'm not sure. I'll have to call you back," Hastings said and tossed the tablet aside while he stepped out of the truck his eyes on the remnants of the fireball. Guards around the perimeter of the stadium were already running towards the fireball, guns raised and ready.

"What was that?" he shouted to the tech.

"Not sure, sir. It looks like some sort of explosion," the tech said and tapped away furiously at the terminal keyboard in front of him. "It's a couple of blocks east."

Hastings nodded and motioned for half a dozen soldiers waiting behind his personal vehicle to follow him. Hastings pulled his weapon from the holster on his hip and followed the other soldiers east as quickly as his legs would carry him. Although he felt uneasy about what he had just seen, one thing he was certain off: it had to be Graber. There was no-one else out here.

He turned a corner stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him, a building was on fire. Or rather, the remains of what once had been a building was on fire. Although he was half a block from the inferno, he felt the head beating his face and he instinctively brought up his arm to shield his face. He caught sight of his own troops ahead of him advancing slowly in a similar position.