The three boys got to work getting the camper set up. Callie had taken Dani and Olive inside with the rest of the kids and gotten Dani something to eat. She helped the four girls get settled into the twins' bedroom. They had decided they wanted to sleep in the same room instead of having Cosette sleep in the play area and Dani in her already-made bed in the camper. Stern seemed relieved at the idea of Dani being in the house, so Callie didn’t push it. Giana was still young enough that she would sleep in the pack and play in Phillip and Carlie’s room. They all knew Giana could climb out of it, and would ultimately end up in bed with either her parents or sneak over to the twins' room to sleep with her sister.

  Carlie had finally remembered that the cowk had been rubbing on the van and the sound they had heard. To the best of her deduction after examining the van was that the cowk had probably leaned hard enough into the van that it tipped it onto two wheels. What they had heard was the van coming back onto four wheels. She didn’t see any other damage other than some rubbed off dirt on the side of the dirty van. Carlie made sure to tell Phillip to check the tire pressures in case they needed to leave in a hurry; she wanted to make sure nothing was wrong.

  With all the kids settled in and playing loudly but nicely, and the tasks outside being done, the adults grabbed chairs and sat down at the kitchen table. They had to put in extra spacers to make the table big enough for the three families, but that was why, when Callie had seen it at the thrift shop a year ago, she convinced Kane they needed it. None of the chairs matched, but they didn’t care; they fit all the people they needed to comfortably. As she sat there waiting for someone to speak first, she was reminded that family isn’t always blood but the people who would be there when shit hit the fan. And shit had hit the fan.

  “So what disaster are we going to talk about first?” Stern asked, putting a dip pouch in.

  When no one said anything, Stern continued, “Can we start with why this asshole hasn’t been using his hand?”

  “You noticed that, huh?” Phillip finally said, hanging his head.

  “What the fuck, man! How did I not notice?!” Kane slammed his hands down on the table, briefly startling the kids. They quickly recovered and moved their playing downstairs away from their parents.

  “Because I didn’t want you to,” Phillip said, finally looking up at his friend, “As far as I’m concerned, there is nothing that can be done about it, so we just need to move on.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Callie said, nearly in tears.

  “Callie, it’s not your fault, whatever that snake, snagon thing did to my hand, you did the best you could. I didn’t lose my arm, which would have been worse,” Phillip said, finally bringing his hand from under the table so everyone could see the stained wrappings.

  Callie jumped up and ran to the bathroom.

  “Callie, wait,” Kane said, starting to follow her.

  “I’m grabbing the medical kit!” Callie called from the bathroom. She came out and immediately grabbed Phillips' hand, making him turn from the table towards her. Carlie, sitting next to Phillip, sat stone-faced, not saying a word.

  “So there’s that disaster. . . . anything else? What the fuck is a snagon?” Stern said, leaning back, crossing his arms with a pissed look on his face.

  “It's an aggressive snake with a spiked tail that contains a neurotoxin,” Callie said with a cold tone.

  “Well, that sounds miserable,” Stern said, softening his tone a little.

  “Why don’t we start at the beginning? You said you saw The Rift as you were leaving Fort Benning,” Kane said. Stern unfolded his arms, leaning forward.

  As Callie took off the bandages on Phillip’s hand and cleaned and reapplied the antibiotic and bandages, trying not to shed tears into the wound, Stern recounted what he and Dani had been through over the last 24-plus hours. When he was done, Kane told his story. Phillip followed suit after Callie had put the medical kit back in the bathroom. Finally, Kane and Phillip took turns giving the details of their encounter with snagon. When the three men were done recounting their stories and asking follow-up questions, they all sat in silence, letting the laughter from down the stairs wash over them.

  “Now what do we do?” Callie finally asked.

  “What do we know about The Rift? Or the war?” Stern asked, leaning back in his chair again.

  “Well, we know that there are at least two sides, the Hunters and the Fowlers? I think that is what Alexandrus called them,” Callie said, trying to remember what the little creature had said.

  “No, he called them Frowlers,” Carlie said, speaking for the first time since sitting down.

  “Okay, so the Hunters and the Frowlers are at war. Do we know what kind of war? And what is an Alexandrus?” Stern asked.

  “An annoying ball of fur that talks,” Phillip grumbled.

  “Hey, I should be the one pissed at it; it keeps making moves on my wife,” Kane smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

  “KANE!” Callie exclaimed, turning beet red.

  Phillip laughed, “You know what, you are right. You're a screwed man!”

  “PHILLIP!” Callie cried indignantly.

  With a slight chuckle, Stern said, “Okay, simmer down, I’m the only one who can hit on Callie. I’ll have a word with this Alexandrus. Now . . . . umph!”

  Callie had smacked Stern in the side.

  “You can’t handle her, man,” Kane laughed, leaning back in his chair.

  “Ow, damn, Callie, that hook has gotten strong. But in seriousness, do we know anything about this war?” Stern asked, rubbing his side.

  “No, and that isn’t good," Kane said, leaning forward again, putting his hands under his chin in a thinking pose.

  “This has to have been going on for a while," Carlie said.

  “What do you mean?” Kane asked.

  “Some of the descriptions are saying ‘domestication’ and ‘used for war’, I don’t think this war started yesterday," Carlie explained.

  “Wild idea, but why don’t we see if Alexandrus knows anything. Or if the cowks know anything more?” Callie asked, her face finally coming back to its normal color.

  “You want to try, you are ‘his lady’,” Phillip mocked with a smile.

  “Shut up, Phillip!” Callie said as she got up and headed to the door.

  “Wait, you're going to do it now?!” Stern exclaimed.

  “You want information, why not now?” Callie asked, reaching for the doorknob but hesitating slightly.

  “Let at least one of us go out there with you," Kane said, getting up.

  “Screw that, I want to meet my competition,” Stern said, also getting up.

  “Fuck you, man,” Kane said, grabbing his rifle.

  The group went outside, and Callie gently called for Alexandrus from the corner of the house. After a few calls, the motion lights on the side of the house were activated, and they saw the porcupus hop-walked towards them.

  “My Lady didn’t forget about Alexandrus!” Alexandrus sounded excited as he lifted his front four legs, seemingly reaching for Callie.

  “Holy shit, you guys could have warned me what that thing looked like!” Stern exclaimed from behind Callie and Kane.

  “Why ruin the surprise?” Phillip smirked.

  “It's a giant furry caterpillar with 8 legs?!” Stern cried, probably meaning for it to be for himself, but saying it out loud instead.

  “My word! Another vagabond!” Alexandrus said, stopping and crossing its top four arms.

  “Alexandrus, can we ask you some questions?” Callie asked.

  “My Lady can, the vagabonds can ask, but I may not answer,” Alexandrus said, staring at Stern with a displeased look on his face.

  “Please, Alexandrus, we just want to keep our families safe," Callie said.

  Alexandrus relaxed a little, “Fine, if it will make My Lady happy.”

  “Thank you. Why don’t we sit on the benches by the fire?” Callie suggested moving to the still slightly smoldering fire pit.

  Kane stirred the ashes a little, looked around, and listened, then decided to put a couple of branches on the fire. He wanted to be able to see and keep the bugs away, but he didn’t want a large fire that would catch something's attention.

  “Alex, can you tell us anything about the Hunters and the Frowlers?” Stern asked as the humans sat down on the benches and Alexandrus curled up at Callie’s feet.

  “Alex, I have never been called that... it isn’t as dignified as Alexandrus Minartus Reginus III of the Pornicus lineage, but it is much easier to say. I will accept it," Alexandrus said, thinking out loud, but not answering the question.

  “Alex, please, what do you know about the Hunters and the Frowlers?” Callie asked again.

  Alexandrus tapped the fingers of one of his hands on what could be considered his chin, “Well, the Hunters and the Frowlers used to get along, but something changed. Alexandrus doesn’t know what. The Hunters are from Earth, where Alexandrus is from, but the Frowlers... well, no one knows where the Frowlers came from; they just appeared one day, or at least that is what the legends say.”

  “Do you know why they are at war? Or how long has the war been going on?” Kane asked.

  “Well, they have been at war as long as Alexandrus has been alive, nasty business, it is why the porcupus must focus so much of our time on making babies. The war has cost many lives, and the different lineages can’t keep up with the losses," Alex said sadly.

  “Do you know what caused the war?” Callie asked, realizing Alex hadn’t answered that question.

  “No, every cycle of babies, the war gets worse,” Alex said, curling itself into a tighter ball, leaving only the top set of legs out of the ball.

  “I’m sorry, Alex, that can’t be easy,” Callie said.

  “At least Alexandrus has procreated 52 babies for my three mistresses' lineages," Alex said, perking back up a bit.

  “52, wow, good job, stud!” Stern said with a smile, not knowing if that was a high number or not.

  “Alexandrus is quite happy with that number. I was on my way to the fourth mistress when The Rift opened. The contract said I would get to make at least 8 more porcupines with the mistress, but if they proved worthy, Alexandrus would have been able to extend the visit," Alex said quite proudly.

  Callie had to shake a little, 4 baby mommas, and that would have made 60 babies. She was hoping Alex wouldn’t go into detail about how those babies were made.

  “Do you know how many Rifts were opened? We know of at least 5,” Carlie asked.

  “Alexandrus does not know, I was pulled through one, and that is the only one I know," Alex said, looking around to see where the next question would come from.

  “Why are so many creatures coming through The Rift?” Kane asked.

  “I do not know, the cowks were close to Alexandrus when The Rift opened. But the snagon and the lizawks were not. Maybe they were pulled in?” Alex shrugged nonchalantly.

  “Do you know what other creatures came through with you?” Callie asked.

  “No, My Lady, I’m sorry Alexandrus does not have much information to share," Alex said, touching Callie’s shoe with two of his hands.

  “It's, uh, it's okay,” Callie said, trying not to kick the creature but also feeling really uncomfortable with it being that close.

  “Do you know if the Rift can be closed?” Carlie asked.

  “I do not know because I do not know what made it,” Alex said, retracting his hands. “Any other questions? Alexandrus is getting too warm next to the red stones.”

  “Fire, Alex, it is called fire," Callie said, relieved that it wasn’t touching her anymore.

  “I think we have what we need for right now,” Kane said in a thoughtful, quiet tone.

  “Well, goodnight, My Lady, please be careful of the Batzls. I do not know if they came through or not, but they are rather unpleasant at night.” Alexandrus said as he started to hop, roll away towards the backyard.

  “Wait, what is a Batzl!?” Callie called after Alexandrus, but the little creature had already set off the motion light on the side of the house. If he had replied, they didn’t hear it.

  “Let’s get inside,” Kane said as we walked over to the water spigot and got a bucket of water to put on the little bit of remaining fire.

  The five of them headed inside, watching the sky as they went. The cows and cowks were lightly baying. Charzar yelled for the hens to shut up, which made the goats stir. But otherwise, there was no noise from the area. Kane paused in his walk back to the house.

  “What is it?” Callie asked almost to the bottom of the steps.

  “I want to see something," Kane said, taking a wide turn around the corner of the house towards the backyard, careful not to set off the motion light that had just gone off.

  He looked to where he thought The Rift would be. The clear sky leading up to Cheyenne Mountain showed all of the usual stars. Kane couldn’t see the red lights of the towers on top of the mountain. He remembered from his earlier excursion that they would be blocked by The Rift. The Rift was still sending out lightning, which showed clearly the different colors of the rainbow as they flashed. The Rift’s edges were clearly defined against the night sky; it wasn’t grey like Kane had originally thought, it was more of a dark blue, almost like the sky right after the sun went down.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Kane brought his rifle with its scope up to his eye and looked at The Rift again. He could see something. He didn’t know what it was, but there was something inside The Rift.

  “Callie, could you get me the binoculars, please. Try not to set off the light when you come back," Kane said over his shoulder, hoping his wife was still outside.

  “Sure, where are they?” Callie asked. Kane told her where he thought they were, relieved he didn’t have to go after them himself. He heard her walk away.

  Shortly after, Callie came back out. Kane could tell she was taking a wider arch than he had to get to the same spot. She wasn’t used to doing night checks in this direction, so she probably didn’t know where the light's sensors were. But at least she was being cautious and trying to do as he had asked, he smiled at the thought.

  “Thanks,” Kane said as she handed the binoculars to him in the dark.

  He took them out and focused again on The Rift.

  There it was, something was moving inside The Rift. It was big, and there was something on top of it. As Kane was looking, trying to train his eyes to distinguish features or edges, whatever it was, it turned. Kane wasn’t sure how he could tell it turned, but suddenly he saw 2 red orbs looking at him. Kane took the binoculars away from his eyes in disbelief. It can’t be; whatever it was, it had to be too far away to ‘see’ him. Kane brought the binoculars up to look again, the 2 red orbs were still there, the feeling ate at him, he WAS being LOOKED at. He drew his gaze away to try to look around again, then he saw 4 orange orbs, and before he could look away, a mouth that was very definitely a mouth with sharp fangs or teeth, and it was opening in front of his eyes. Kane dropped the binoculars again; if it hadn’t been for Callie being so close to catch them, he would have completely dropped them to the ground. Her quick motion kept the binoculars in his hands, but barely. Then Kane saw it, the lightning had stopped. Something large, extremely large, was coming out of The Rift.

  “Shit, we need to get inside now!” Kane said, grabbing Callie and turning to run to the house. Despite his panic, Kane was still careful not to set off the motion light. Whatever those things were, it HAD seen him; he didn’t need it zeroing in on the light of the house.

  When they got inside, Kane saw all the lights on in the living room and kitchen.

  ”Turn them off! Use candles! Turn them off!” Kane yelled, reaching for the light switches.

  “What happened?” Phillip asked, getting up from the kitchen chair, heading for a light switch, trusting his friend.

  “I don’t know, but it is bigger than anything we have seen so far,” Kane said, turning off the final light as Callie put the lighter to the candles she kept on the windowsill in case of a power outage.

  “DAD! It’s coming!” Josie cried, barreling up the stairs.

  “I know Josie,” Kane said as she grabbed onto him, “What is it, Josie, what do you feel?”

  “Oh shit, she can feel it?!” Stern exclaimed, having not believed them when they had talked about Josie’s warning before.

  “I don’t know, Dad, but everything else is scared now," Josie said into Kane’s shirt.

  “Okay, then we need to get ready for whatever it could be," Kane said with determination, still hugging his frightened child. Then he felt it, a weird sensation came over him, and he started to pull away.

  “No, dad, let me finish," Josie mumbled.

  “What are you doing, Josie?” Kane asked, lightly pulling away his child.

  “It protected you from the snagon; it needs to protect you from this," Josie said through tears.

  “You cast RESISTANCE!” Kane said, utterly shocked.

  “It needs to protect you,” Josie cried, putting her face back into her dad's shirt again.

  “Josie . . . Thank you," Kane said, pushing her away just long enough to get down on one knee to hug his daughter, “I will be okay, but I need you and your sister to stay safe.”

  Kane sat there hugging his daughter. What else could he say? What else could he do? He didn’t know if he could protect her, or Eliza, or Callie. He didn’t know if having the friends he had trained with and survived Iraq and Afghanistan with could protect them. What was he supposed to say?

  “Josie, the adults need to talk. Can you tell your sister and friends to get ready for bed, please?” Callie said gently, putting a hand on Kane and a hand on Josie.

  Josie finally let go of her dad, “Okay, don’t go outside, please.”

  Josie had tears streaming down her cheeks as she walked away to go down the stairs. Kane’s shirt was soaked where Josie had dug her face in. Kane decided to get up off his knee. Callie could tell the encounter had shaken him. She didn’t know how to help. Kane had always been the strong one in their relationship. She relied on him for so much; how could she help him now? She didn’t know what to do.

  “Kane?” Callie asked after a few moments had passed with no one saying anything.

  “Yes,” Kane said, looking up at Callie. Callie could see the tears in his eyes now, and the fear. Kane was afraid Callie had never seen that in her husband. She actually thought he was incapable of feeling fear.

  “We need to make a plan,” Carlie said with a surprising sternness from the table.

  “Yes,” Kane said, moving from to the table from his interaction with Josie. The fear left his eyes, but fatigue was entering them.

  “What were you thinking, Carlie?” Phillip asked as the adults all gathered around the table again.

  “I don’t know what everyone’s skills are, maybe we should start there? What does everyone have that could be useful?” Carlie asked, looking around the room.

  “What are you looking for?” Callie asked.

  “Paper. I’m just tired enough that I don't trust myself to remember everything," Carlie said, getting up to look.

  “Oh, let me help,” Callie said, getting up with her. Carlie was already grabbing the scratch pad she saw on the counter, but Callie opened the junk drawer and pulled out a pen.

  “Who wants to go first?” Carlie asked as she sat back down.

  At some point, as they were all talking, the girls had come up, gotten their kisses for the night. Carlie had taken a moment to put Giana, who was already sleeping on the couch, into the pack and play, unpacking the baby monitor she had brought. Callie took advantage of the break and made another small pot of coffee. Stern and Phillip didn’t wait for the pot to be done before playfully fighting over who would get the first cup. Stern won, of course, but Phillip poured a cup and gave it to Callie before pouring his own. Kane and Carlie opted to grab sodas from the fridge instead.

  The adults discussed and wrote, crossed out, and rewrote their list several times throughout the evening. Around midnight, they collectively determined that rest was needed. Their list was as good as it was going to get for the night. Their understanding of what was happening was at its limit without gathering more information. Phillip volunteered to take the first watch since his exhaustion level was thankfully only a 1 after his two afternoon naps. The rest of the group had two’s and Stern was sitting at a four. Hearing that, Callie wasn’t sure how Stern was even still on his feet, but then again, they had to poke him a couple of times through their discussion to see if he was awake.

  Kane walked Stern down the stairs with Olive and Zeus trailing behind. Kane got Stern to the camper, and Stern insisted he was a ‘big boy’ and could put himself to bed. Kane did wait to shut the door until Olive was inside and he had heard the *thwap* of Stern collapsing in his bed. Zeus had gone out with them, and Kane quietly called for him from the basement doorway.

  Zeus came from the spot where the snagon’s body should have been, “Dad, something doesn’t smell right, somethings are coming," Zeus said as he went through the open door.

  “What do you mean, somethings? Many things?” Kane asked his pup.

  “Yeah, many things. They don’t smell right," Zeus said, looking at Kane.

  “How far?” Kane said, but double-checking the lock on the door, Stern could go around to the front door. Kane didn’t want to leave the basement open for someone or something to come with the kids down there.

  “Far enough,” Zeus said with a harumph after seemingly sniffing the air again, “I’m tired, Dad.”

  “Okay, Zeus, kennel, let’s go to bed," Kane said, heading up the stairs.

  Kane had switched out with Phillip after a four-hour sleep. Kane had found Phillip staring out the living room window towards The Rift.

  “Something big has been moving, blocking out the stars, but I can’t tell if it is getting closer or just moving side to side," Phillip said, seeing his buddy standing beside him in the reflection on the window.

  Kane checked his menu quickly; the exhaustion buff was down to one again. It was better than two, but he had hoped four hours would be enough to make it go away entirely. The RESISTANT buff was also gone; Kane wasn’t sure if it had timed out or if it had deactivated when Josie fell asleep.

  “Anything else?” Kane asked, shaking away the menu and rubbing his eyes.

  “No, it has been eerily quiet otherwise. Did you know that the snagon body isn’t there anymore?” Phillip asked, pointing to the spot where they had killed the creature.

  “I saw that when I took Stern out. I wonder what happened to it?” Kane lamented.

  “I don’t know. I’m heading to bed. Are you going to wake Stern next?” Phillip asked, turning away to head downstairs.

  “No, I’ll wake Callie," Kane said, already starting to do his scans through the kitchen window.

  “Hey, remember what Josie said. Don’t go outside until it is light out. We still haven’t figured out Alex’s warning about the batzl,” Phillip said, stopping at the top of the stairs.

  “Wouldn’t think of it,” Kane smiled over his shoulder at his friend.

  The next couple of hours were fairly uneventful. Kane made a pot of coffee; he didn’t normally drink coffee, but he needed the bitterness to help keep him awake. He checked all the windows and doors in the basement. Looked in on the kids, who he found all piled together on the blow-up mattress in the middle of the twins' floor. Then he checked all the windows and the door upstairs. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary or unusual, Kane set a routine of checking all the windows and doors every hour. To keep his mind from drifting off, Kane grabbed the scratch pad of paper and the pen, and between looking out the window and the hourly checks, he sketched the house and the terrain. By daybreak, he had a rough sketch of possible defenses they could make or were already available.

  Although Kane said he would wake Callie at the 4-hour mark, he let her sleep another hour. He wanted to finish his sketches and notes before everyone else started to stir.

  “Callie, Callie, wake up, my love,” Kane said as he tried to wake his wife, who was drooling slightly onto her pillow.

  “No,” Callie grumbled.

  “Callie, I have coffee," Kane said, putting the mug of coffee on her nightstand close enough for her to smell.

  Callie opened an eye to look at the mug and groggily said, “Everything okay?”

  Callie suddenly sat straight up, nearly head-butting Kane in the process, “Is everything okay? What happened?” She sounded terrified.

  “Nothing, it’s okay, my watch shift is done,” Kane said, startled at the sudden movement of his wife.

  “Please don’t scare me like that!” Callie exclaimed quietly, moving the sheets so she could put her feet on the ground.

  “Scare you? You almost headbutted me!” Kane said, laughing, “How else was I supposed to wake you?”

  “Never mind,” Callie said, rubbing her eyes and stretching before reaching for the coffee mug, “Thanks for the coffee. How are the girls?”

  “Still asleep, I’d leave them be,” Kane said, getting up and heading to the bathroom.

  Callie nodded to herself before getting up to grab clothes and head to the bathroom herself.

  An hour later, Callie had a breakfast of pancakes and bacon done, and set up on the table waiting for the rest of the people in the house to wake up. Kane had unlocked the basement door and decided to do a quick outside perimeter check, against Callie’s protests. Kane wanted to walk his plan to see if his tired mind had made any sense before he tried to explain it to his friends.

  The cowks and cows watched him walk around. The only sounds they were making were chewing their cud. Kane took that as a good sign. The cows and goats didn’t chew cud if they were uncomfortable or agitated. It meant nothing was threatening them, so he assumed nothing was close enough to threaten him.

  Kane made it safely back to the house just in time to see Stern stagger from the camper and head almost drunkenly to the house. Olive paused long enough to pee but then ran to get in the door before Stern shut it. Kane couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Unless Stern had something in the camper, he wasn’t actually drunk. It still brought back memories of having shots together in the barracks and going out to the bars in Columbus. Back when they were young enough to drink that much and still run with full kit the next morning, barely feeling any of the damage. His ankles, knees, and back now regretted all those stupid decisions.

  Kane paused on his way to the front door to greet Alexandrus, who had apparently spent the night in the girl's old playhouse next to the swing set fort. Alexandrus huffed at him and said something under his breath; all Kane could understand was something about ‘My Lady,’ and Alexandrus was back in the playhouse. Kane walked to the front door, smelling the bacon from the slightly open kitchen window. He never understood the quirk Callie had about always having to have a window open while she cooked. Even in the middle of a blizzard, she would open a window just a sliver.

  As Kane walked through the door, he saw that all but Josie and Cosette were up and eating at the kitchen table. Phillip and the kids weren’t dressed, but Callie and Carlie were dressed and smiling as they talked over coffee by the sink. Kane sighed at the sight; it was how he had imagined the vacation with his friends was going to go, not the war they were unexpectedly drafted into. Kane shook his head, leaned his rifle against the wall by the door, and sat down to eat some breakfast between Phillip and Eliza.

  Kane decided he would let this peace last at least a little longer before discussing his defense plan. The red and orange orbs and the feeling he had gotten from them hadn’t escaped him. But he wanted his friends and kids to enjoy themselves whenever they could. Callie was giving him a weird look. He tried a smile at her and then put a pancake in his mouth. Callie didn’t seem satisfied with the smile, but she didn’t say anything either. She went back to talking with Carlie. Eventually, Josie and then Cosette came upstairs to grab breakfast. Most of the bacon was gone, causing a whine from the two of them, but they each grabbed a plateful of pancakes.

  Carlie and Callie told the kids who were already finished eating to go get dressed for the day. They worked on dishes as the three boys tried to make Josie and Cosette laugh. Their attempts worked, and then Giana came up the stairs having ‘dressed’ herself. The boys couldn’t contain their laughter as Carlie congratulated her on doing it herself, but shepherded her back down the stairs with an angry look at Phillip as she went.

  Eventually, all the kids were dressed, the dishes were done, and the outdoor chores were done. The three boys had made sure to have their rifles with them while the kids and women fed and watered the animals. Kane made a few comments while they were outside to Stern and Phillip about where potential weak points, or poor lines of sight, were. Phillip made a couple of observations himself. Stern, who had been there only once before, unlike Phillip, who had come a couple of times, didn’t say much, just listened and looked intently.

  The adults were eventually reassembled around the skills list at the kitchen table, and Kane had put his crude map on the table as well. The final skills list showed:

  “Stern, how did your dumb ass get to level three before us?” Phillip laughed after everyone had confirmed their skills and spells were on the list.

  “Because I’m that good,” Stern said, flexing in his chair, falling backwards as he leaned too far back.

  “That can’t be it,” Kane laughed, letting his friend fall.

  “Am I seeing this wrong that we really don’t have any offensive skills or spells? This seems defensive only,” Carlie said, ignoring the boy's banter.

  “Let me see,” Kane said, turning the sheet from in front of Carlie to himself so he could see it better.

  “Yeah, I guess it does . . . . good thing I was planning defensively,” Kane said after looking over the sheet.

  “So what’s your plan?” Stern asked, picking himself up off the ground and righting his chair before sitting back down, a bit red in the face.

  “I can only set so many snares or alarms, so I think we need to restrict those to next to the house to keep the kids safe,” Kane started.

  The next hour or so was spent looking over the map Kane had drawn. They discussed the gulleys leading up to the house and what they could put to stop advancement through those spots. Stern pointed out the blind spots they had discussed while they were outside with the animals. Carlie and Callie mostly sat silent, listening and looking at the map as the boys pored over details. After a lot of crossing out and redrawing on different papers, the three boys became silent, staring at the map.

  “And?” Callie finally asked when the silence had seemed to go too long.

  “I don’t know if this will work,” Kane said.

  “What do you mean? You just spent an hour going over this?” Callie asked, stunned at the lack of confidence coming from her husband.

  “He’s not wrong,” Carlie said, still looking at the map.

  “There are too many points of entry for us to cover; there are too many open spots for an enemy to sneak through. We don’t have enough people to truly fortify this location,” Stern said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, clearly not having learned his lesson.

  “So what do we do?” Callie asked, feeling defeated.

  “We do the best we can,” Phillip said, leaning forward for the first time, “Okay, who had the TACTICAL MIND skill? Time for you to work some magic.”

  “Shit, you’re right, was that Stern?” Kane said, looking around the table.

  “And me,” Carlie said, still looking at the map.

  “I don’t know about you, Carlie, but I need to walk this out. We are missing something, and this map, no offense, Kane, is only getting us so far,” Stern said, standing up, grabbing the map from the table.

  “Can we take the kids out with us? They have been a little too quiet for a little too long,” Callie asked, heading towards the stairs.

  The other adults looked back and forth between each other.

  “Come on, we can’t turn them into hermits, they need to be kids, damn it!” Callie yelled, getting really pissed off at the indecision.

  “I agree with Callie, but they should stay between the house and the animals. You guys keep telling us that the animals will alert if something harmful comes, we need to put that to the test. And I don’t want to raise my kids to fear everything,” Carlie said, getting up and heading down the stairs in front of Callie.

  Carlie and Callie walked downstairs to paint, beads, yarn, blankets, and so much bigger a mess than they could have ever imagined. It took them another hour to help the kids get everything put back away and cleaned up. The boys were told not to come downstairs; the kids didn’t need to be yelled at any more than the exasperated moms were already doing. Instead, Kane, Stern, and Phillip went outside and started walking out Kane’s map.

  The ladies finally joined them on the hill behind the house as the three boys stood looking towards Colorado Springs. Callie couldn’t see anything in particular for them to be staring so intently at, but she also didn’t know what they had been talking about before the wives walked up.

  “What have you figured out?” Carlie asked, wrapping her arms around Phillip.

  “That they are going to be coming from the north, most likely. We shouldn’t have spent so much time on the southern plan. Like you said, the animals will alert us to anything in that direction,” Phillip said, not taking his eyes off of whatever he was looking at.

  “What are you looking at?” Callie finally asked.

  “That,” Stern pointed past the hills Kane had gone to when he saw the tortle.

  “What, I don’t see anything?” Callie said, moving her head, trying to figure out what Stern was pointing to.

  “It went underground. Maybe a badger?” Kane said, still staring.

  “What do you mean, ‘maybe a badger?’ That was a fucking giant honey badger!” Stern exclaimed as he dropped his hand.

  “Get the kids to safety, I don’t know how fast that thing is moving,” Kane said a little too calmly for Callie to feel comfortable, given what they had just said.

  “Shit!” Callie called as the cowks started baying loudly in distress.

  “RUN!” Phillip screamed as the five adults turned on their heels, racing back to the house as the ground started to tremble.