Before Sera could even open her mouth to reply to Zubair, a disturbance outside had already caught everyone's attention.
The engines started as a low growl through the trees before turning into a rumbling that felt like the world was coming to an end. Again.
Lachlan tilted his head, letting the sound roll across his hearing like wind through wire. Too big to be bikes. Too heavy to be anything farm-grown.
There were more than one. And they were moving fast.
"Company," he murmured, voice dry enough to cut.
No one wasted breath asking how many.
Elias already had his rifle braced on a splintered beam, calculating distances with the calm of a man measuring grain.
Alexei drifted toward the gaps in the boards, his eyes slitting against the late light.
Zubair pushed off the post he'd been leaning on and rolled his shoulders like heat lived under his skin waiting to get out.
