Morning light filtered through the tall pines surrounding Sanctuary.
Inside the operations building, Saul stood near the central table while the others gathered around the map projection.
Red markers glowed across the continent.
Rivers.
Reservoirs.
Lake systems.
Every one of them now carried the same warning.
Water was no longer safe.
Saul finished explaining Oscar's report.
Silence settled across the room.
Gary rubbed his jaw slowly.
"So these things move through water."
Saul nodded.
"That appears to be the pattern."
Vargas frowned.
"That means every town near a river is exposed."
"Exactly."
Olaf leaned forward, studying the map.
"The water connects everything."
Saul tapped another marker.
"And Western New York sits right on the Great Lakes watershed."
Billy Jack nodded.
"Finger Lakes too."
Emma looked up sharply.
"That's a lot of communities."
Before anyone else spoke, Jason cleared his throat.
"I'll go."
Several heads turned.
Jason folded his arms.
"Somebody needs to warn them."
Saul studied him for a moment.
"You're talking about the entire western mesh."
Jason nodded.
"Elmira. Fillmore. Letchworth. Geneseo."
He ticked them off on his fingers.
"Mt Morris. Retsof. Niagara."
Hugo leaned back against the wall with a grin.
"Wow."
Jason frowned.
"What?"
Hugo smirked.
"That's a lot of stops."
Jason shrugged.
"So?"
Hugo crossed his arms.
"You sure this isn't about one stop in particular?"
Jason squinted.
"What are you talking about?"
Hugo's grin widened.
"Fillmore."
The room chuckled.
Jason groaned.
"Oh come on."
Gary laughed.
"Edna?"
Jason threw his hands up.
"That has nothing to do with it."
Hugo shook his head.
"Big redhead who cooks at The Hemlock?"
Jason muttered,
"She's just enthusiastic."
Emma tried not to laugh.
Billy Jack leaned closer to Gary.
"I remember the story Hugo told about her and Jason."
Gary nodded.
"She's the one who got shot."
Jason's expression hardened instantly.
"That was different."
Hugo noticed.
"Oh yeah."
He nodded slowly.
"You got pretty mad about that."
Jason didn't answer.
Saul watched the exchange quietly.
Then he nodded once.
"Alright."
Jason looked up.
"You're approving it?"
"Yes."
Saul turned toward the vehicle yard outside the window.
"You'll need speed."
Hugo straightened.
"Oh now this sounds interesting."
Saul continued calmly.
"You're not going alone."
Jason sighed.
"Of course not."
Saul pointed toward the door.
"Hugo."
Hugo saluted lazily.
"Present."
"And Mike."
Mike raised a hand from the back of the room.
Saul nodded.
"You three run the warning route."
Jason glanced at him.
"Horses?"
Saul shook his head.
"Motorcycles."
Hugo grinned immediately.
"Oh hell yes."
Gary laughed.
"That answers that."
Saul folded his arms.
"The bikes were EMP hardened."
"Fastest way to reach every town before nightfall."
Jason nodded.
"Good."
Saul tapped the map again.
"Your route goes north first."
Elmira.
Then west to Fillmore.
Jason smirked slightly.
Hugo elbowed him.
"Careful."
"You might accidentally visit the Hemlock."
Jason ignored him.
Saul continued.
"Then Letchworth."
"Mt Morris."
"Geneseo."
"Retsof mine."
"Niagara communities."
Billy Jack nodded approvingly.
"That'll cover the entire region."
Saul looked around the room.
"Warn them to keep people away from lakes, rivers, and reservoirs."
Jason turned toward the door.
"When do we leave?"
Saul answered simply.
"Now."
⸻
Vehicle Yard
The motorcycles waited beside the workshop.
Three rugged dual-sport bikes.
Old machines.
But hardened against EMP.
Mike checked the fuel tanks.
"Plenty."
Hugo swung onto one of the seats.
"Oh this is going to be fun."
Jason strapped on a rifle.
"You're treating this like a road trip."
Hugo shrugged.
"Better than paperwork."
Mike kicked the starter on his bike.
The engine roared to life.
Jason pulled on his gloves.
"We ride fast."
Hugo grinned beneath his helmet.
"Oh I intend to."
Gary stepped out of the workshop.
"Bring back good news."
Jason nodded.
"We'll try."
The three engines growled in the morning air.
Then the bikes rolled toward the gate.
Sanctuary's warning riders were on their way.
⸻
Arizona
The trail leading away from the reservoir climbed through rough hills scattered with broken stone and rusted fencing.
Shane knelt beside a set of muddy tracks.
Freya crouched beside him.
"Still fresh?"
"Yes."
Thor peered down the trail.
"Something big walked here."
One of the tribal hunters nodded.
"From the water."
Magni scanned the hills.
"Where does the trail go?"
Johnny John pointed toward a distant ridge.
"There."
At first it looked like nothing more than broken rock and scrub brush.
Then Shane saw it.
Fencing.
Old.
Bent.
Government fencing.
Freya narrowed her eyes.
"A facility."
Thor cracked his knuckles.
"Well."
"That explains a lot."
⸻
The Approach
The road leading up the ridge had nearly vanished beneath drifting sand.
A rusted sign lay half buried beside the gate.
BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH FACILITY
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
The fence had been cut open years ago.
Scavengers.
Shane stepped through the opening first.
The facility sat in a shallow basin carved into the hillside.
Concrete buildings.
Steel tanks.
Satellite dishes collapsed against the ground.
Every window was shattered.
Thor looked around.
"This place has been abandoned a long time."
Johnny John shook his head.
"Not abandoned."
"Interrupted."
Freya walked slowly toward the main laboratory building.
"During the Shroud."
Shane nodded.
"That winter killed a lot of places."
The wind moaned softly through broken ventilation shafts.
Inside the building the air smelled stale.
Dust coated everything.
Papers scattered across the floor.
The group moved carefully through the halls.
Footsteps echoed in the darkness.
Then Sif stopped.
"Wait."
She pointed down the hallway.
A body lay against the wall.
Lab coat.
Frozen in place.
Magni crouched beside it.
"Researcher."
Thor noticed something else.
A second skeleton lay nearby.
Different clothing.
Civilian.
Freya looked closer.
"Scavenger."
Johnny John studied the room carefully.
"This place was attacked."
Shane stepped farther into the lab.
Another body lay near the far desk.
A woman.
Still clutching something in her hand.
He knelt slowly.
A syringe.
Empty.
Freya's voice dropped to a whisper.
"She injected someone."
Thor turned slowly toward the shattered doorway.
"And that someone walked back outside."
Shane looked down at the research notes scattered across the desk.
Catfish genetic mapping.
Aquatic respiration studies.
Hybridization research.
Freya read one of the pages.
"They were trying to cure diseases."
Johnny John nodded.
"Using catfish regeneration traits."
Thor frowned.
"So where did the monsters come from?"
Shane held up the empty syringe.
"Right here."
Silence filled the laboratory.
Outside the broken window, the wind moved across the desert hills.
And somewhere far below—
the reservoir water stirred again.
⸻
"If you enjoyed Shane's journey, please drop a Power Stone! It helps the Common Sense Party grow."