It took them just a couple of minutes to reach the edge of the anomaly.

  "Shit, it's getting close," said Jeffcott as they say the rippling curtain of weirdness blocking the freeway ahead of them.

  "Hence the need for speed," Daniels replied.

  The driver slowed the MCV as they approached until they came to a stop just a couple of metres away from it. The other vehicles pulled up next to it to form a broad line across the full width of the road. The Captain opened the door and jumped out, followed by the engineers. They walked around the truck and stopped with the barrier just ahead of them.

  "Feels like there's ants crawling all over my body," said Bird. He shuffled nervously on the hot tarmac.

  "Feels like we're being watched," said Archie. "Like there's something out there, ahead of us. Waiting."

  "It's not impossible," Jeffcott told him. "The creatures know I came this way. They may be keeping watch for anyone sneaking back in."

  "I don't like this, Sarge," one of the soldiers said. The note of fear in the voice of a strong, adult man made it even more unnerving. "This place is wrong. I can feel it."

  Jeffcott knew how he felt. He remembered feeling the same thing when he'd seen the anomaly for the first time. It worried him a little that he wasn't feeling it now. Had his time in the anomaly changed him somehow? Done something to him? Was the man who'd came out the same man as the one who'd gone in?

  "Settle down, men," said the Sergeant gently. "It's like the man said. Like a cloud of poison gas. It'll kill you if you let it, but it can't hurt you if you're careful."

  "Watch for hostiles," the Captain called out as forty soldiers jumped out of the trucks and formed a line across the barrier. "Shoot anything that moves."

  They saw nothing, though. Nothing but an almost empty highway in which the occasional abandoned car stood, quiet and empty, the heat making the air shimmer above them. Jeffcott wiped perspiration from his forehead as his eyes scanned the road ahead. He heard the clatter of rifles as the soldiers aimed their weapons ahead of them, some of them looking through telescopic sights.

  "Report!" another man in Sergeant's stripes shouted. "Anyone see anything?"

  "Nothing Sarge," a man shouted back. "Quieter than Salt Lake City on a Sunday."

  "Whatever happens, nobody goes in," the Sergeant commanded. "The anomaly is lethal to anyone without protection. If one of the MCV volunteer crew gets hurt in there, leave it to the others to get him out."

  Volunteer crew, thought Jeffcott with bitter amusement. He looked around at the soldiers and saw that none of them were wearing magnets. "Listen to your Sergeant," he said. "I've seen what the anomaly does to unprotected people and you do not want it to happen to you."

  They waited a few more moments, just to be sure, but still nothing happened except for a brief gust of wind that blew a few dead leaves along the gutter. "Okay, the area is clear," said the Captain. He turned to the engineers. "What's the status of the magnetic shield?" he asked.

  Archie and Bird climbed back into the vehicle. "Still stable at fifteen point one tesla," Bird called out through the still open door. "Everything looks good."

  "Okay," said the Captain. He went to the cab of the MCV and spoke to the driver. "Take the vehicle into the anomaly and stop just inside." The driver nodded back. "The two of you," the Captain then said to Jeffcott and Brooks. "With me. Remain within ten feet of the vehicle at all times."

  The driver then put the MCV in gear and drove slowly forward. Jeffcott saw the soldiers watching in morbid fascinarion as the vehicle's nose pushed through the shimmering, rippling barrier, as if they half expected it to explode or turn to dust. He walked forward to keep up with it and saw several of the soldiers crossing themselves and whispering prayers. Ahead of him, he saw the Captain hesitate just a moment before crossing the barrier. Then, with a firm set to his jaw, he strode forward and the anomaly closed around him like some gelatinous monster swallowing him up. Jeffcott and Brooks followed, determined not to show fear after the example Daniels had set.

  As instructed, the MCV stopped just on the other side, it's engine still running. "Looking good so far," said Archie. "Diesel engine still works."

  Jeffcott looked at his digital watch. It was still working normally, counting the seconds as they stood in the street of the deserted city. "Electronics seem unaffected," he said.

  Daniels pulled a phone from his pocket and tried to call someone. It was answered almost immediately. "We're in the anomaly," he told whoever was on the other end. "Communications seem to work."

  "That's probably because the magnetic field generated by the MCV is reaching the edge of the anomaly," Jeffcott told him. "It might not work further in."

  "We'll find out in a moment," the Captain replied. He pulled a pistol from the holster on his belt, sighted it at a road sign and pulled the trigger. The gun fired several times and the metal sign quivered on its pole as the bullets hit it.

  "Firearms work," he said with satisfaction. "Bailey, try your M4."

  The soldier in the passenger seat climbed out holding a black machine gun. He slapped a magazine into it, aimed at the same road sign and fired twenty shots at it. Every shot hit the sign. "Fully functional, Sir," he said with satisfaction.

  "Okay," said the Captain. "Carpenter, drive a hundred feet forward. Very slowly." The driver waved a hand at him and did so.

  The Captain kept an eye on the screen of his phone as he walked forward, keeping up with the vehicle. He kept up a constant stream of commentary with the person on the other end, but when they'd gone about thirty feet he scowled and glared at Jeffcott as if he'd done something wrong. Jeffcott saw him touching the screen to end the call and try to make the call again.

  "I've lost contact with Papago," he said with a scowl. "It seems your theory was correct, Mister Jeffcott. Looks like we'll be using the Polaris again. Hopefully with more success than you were able to manage."

  "We were able to call out," Jeffcott pointed out. "The failure was with the satellite trying to call us back."

  "Well hopefully we've got that problem solved," the Captain told him. "If not, too bad. We proceed anyway."

  The MCV stopped when it had travelled the specified distance. Something moved out of the corner of Jeffcott's eye but when he turned to look there was nothing there. Nothing but the road stretching ahead of them, deeper into the anomaly. Just seeing things, he told himself. This place is making me jumpy.

  "Okay," the Captain said, reloading his pistol. "Let's see how far out our shield goes. Mister Jeffcott, you're with me. We'll walk away from the MCV ten feet a time. I'll test the gun and you see of your watch's still working."

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

  "Okay," said Jeffcott doubtfully, going to stand beside him. He looked around and was reassured that there was nothing in the vicinity behind which anomaly creatures could be hiding. Nothing but an abandoned car thirty metres away. "Mister Bailey," he said, hoping he was remembering the man's name correctly. "Could you and your machine gun keep an eye on the silver Peugeot? Just in case there's something nasty hiding inside it?"

  "Got you covered mate," the soldier called back with a grin. He turned to face the car and aimed his weapon at it. "Don't you worry."

  "Three paces forward," said the Captain, walking away from the MCV with exaggerated long strides. "One, two, three. Testing my weapon." He aimed the gun upwards and pulled the trigger. There was a loud detonation as it fired.

  "Mister Jeffcott?" he then asked.

  "My watch is still working," Jeffcott replied. He looked around again. There could be any number of creatures hiding behind the low wall that separated the highway's north and south bound lanes. If there were, though, some of the soldiers outside the anomaly were in a position to see them. There weren't any drains or manhole covers that he could see and Bailey was covering the silver car. Any anomaly creature closer than fifty metres would be in plain sight but he could see nothing. He forced himself to relax.

  He looked at a building fifty metres away, standing some distance back from the road. Some kind of warehouse by the look of it, with an empty car park in front of it. Almost empty. There were three cars in it. There could be creatures hiding behind them. The creatures were slow, though. If they suddenly appeared and charged he could be back outside the anomaly before they'd covered half the distance.

  The Captain walked another three paces away from the MCV and fired his gun again. Jeffcott, still beside him, confirmed that his watch was still working. Three paces further away, though, the Captain's gun made only a dry click when he pulled the trigger. Jeffcott, looking at his watch, saw that the display was starting to glitch, with numbers counting out of order or blinking out altogether.

  "Looks like we've reached our limit," he said.

  The Captain nodded. "Okay," he said. We've done what we came out here to do. Let's go back home. The magnetic shield works. We can carry on working on the MCV's."

  He turned and began heading back towards the vehicle, but before he could take a single step the highway came alive around him. Anomaly creatures, exactly the same colour as the road surface and crouched down close to the hot tarmac. They leapt upwards and sprinted towards the two men on legs made of string-of-sausage tentacles, and even as they ran they were almost invisible, only their shadows giving them away. Jeffcott and the Captain, taken equally by surprise, could only stand and stare as they sped towards them waving tentacles ending with wicked claws.

  The soldiers outside the anomaly opened fire and bullets ripped into the creatures making fish eggs burst with showers of gore. Jeffcott and the Captain snapped out of their shock at the same time and ran back to the MCV. Bailey's M4 opened fire and shot twenty bullets in quick succession, but then he had to pause to reload. Several of the creatures changed direction and ran towards him.

  The Captain reached the MCV and stood with his back to the magnetic panels, aiming with his gun. A creature launched itself into the air and flew towards him. The Captain shot it and it exploded. Two more creatures ran towards him but fire from the soldiers outside the anomaly cut them down. Jeffcott reached the vehicle a moment later and threw himself in through the rear door. He began to pull it closed but then remembered the Captain. "Get in!" He yelled at him. "Quick!"

  The Captain moved towards the rear of the vehicle but more creatures were throwing themselves at him and he had to stop to blast them away. Then they were throwing claws at the vehicle. Jeffcott heard them clanging as they bounced off the magnetic panels.

  "Coolant pressure dropping," said Bird anxiously. "We're losing nitrogen."

  "Nitrogen temperature rising," Archie added. "Air's getting into the vacuum insulation. We're losing the shield. Fourteen tesla. Thirteen."

  "Move!" the Captain shouted at them. "Get back outside the anomaly."

  "Get in first," Brooks shouted back.

  "Go!" The Captain repeated. "That's an order."

  Jeffcott felt the vehicle jerk into motion as Carpenter put the MCV in reverse. At the same time Bailey fired another burst from his M4. "They're under the vehicle," Jeffcott heard him shout. "I can't get a shot."

  Jeffcott heard a sound as something hit the side of the vehicle and clung onto it. "Captain's aboard," Bailey shouted. "Hit the gas!"

  The engine was faltering, though, and a moment later it cut out altogether. "The shield's gone," Archie cried out. "We're going nowhere."

  Brooks had snatched up a machine gun and was aiming it out the door, but when he pulled the trigger nothing happened. A creature pulled itself into sight from under the vehicle and the engineer swung the weapon like a club. He hit the creature again and again, bursting fish eggs every time, until what was left of it dropped down to the road and scuttled away.

  The soldiers outside the anomaly were still shooting and anomaly creatures were juddering and twitching as bullets tore through them. "Do not go in," Jeffcott heard the Sergeant shouting. "Stand your ground and do not advance. Fitz, stop where you are!"

  "They're not pulling back," one of the soldiers said, sounding surprised. "Are they crazy? We're cutting 'em to pieces."

  It was a suicide attack, Jeffcott realised. The controlling intelligence was sacrificing some of its creatures to assess the military prowess of its enemy. He heard the engineers curse as they realised the same thing. The creatures weren't going to stop attacking until they were all dead.

  "We gotta make a run for the edge," said Bird, his eyes wide with fear.

  "We can't leave the MCV undefended," said the Captain, though, appearing in the doorway. He was bleeding from a cut to the forehead. "Break out the swords."

  Brooks was already reaching under the seats, though, pulling out military sabres with curved blades. He handed one to each of the others, then jumped out the door, waving his weapon at a creature that dropped down on him from the roof. The creature was sliced neatly in half but the larger of the two halves pulled itself together to attack again. Brooks slashed at it again, and this time both of the halves into which he cut it lay still.

  "Out and attem!" shouted the Captain, following the engineer out through the door. Bird and Archie followed and Jeffcott went last, the scimitar feeling heavy in his hand. Visibility was limited by clouds of vapour from the boiling nitrogen, chilling the air, and as anomaly creatures came charging into view a hallucination gave them wide jaws filled with rows of shark teeth. He screamed and dropped his sword, staggering back to the door, and as he did so he realised that the gunfire from the soldiers outside the anomaly was faltering. They also couldn't see through the clouds of vapour, he realised, and they feared hitting their own men.

  "Don't hit the vehicle," he heard the Sergeant shouting. "It's a vital asset."

  One of the drivers screamed and ran, trying to escape from whatever awful hallucination he was seeing. He disappeared into the mist, anomaly creatures charging after him, and his screams changed into screams of pain. Jeffcott cowered further back in the MCV, but then he remembered the Captain's words of doubt about having a civilian with his men. His fear that he would panic and run. And that was exactly what he was doing! With sudden anger and self-disgust he got a grip on himself and snatched up his sword again. "Whatever you're seeing isn't real," he shouted as he went back out to rejoin the fight. "They're hallucinations. The creatures are only flesh and blood. Very fragile flesh and blood. You can kill them with your bare hands if you have to. Take courage and fight!"

  He, the Captain, the remaining driver and the three engineers formed a circle around rhe MCV, slashing with their scimitars at anything that came within reach. The clouds of vapour were dissipating as the last of the nitrogen evaporated, restoring visibility, and the soldiers outside the anomaly began shooting again. Most of the anomaly creatures had been destroyed by now, but Jeffcott saw creatures that had suffered the loss of most of their fish eggs collecting replacement eggs from creatures that were lying motionless. Six-eyed flower heads stared at them as the creatures pressed in close but Jeffcott saw no trace of emotion in any of them.

  "Cut their heads off," the Captain commanded. "That's the one thing they can't replace."

  "And their brain," Jeffcott added. "They've got a brain deep inside that pile of fish eggs."

  A creature leapt at him and he swung his sword at it, feeling a strange exhilaration as he did so. Gore splattered his face. The creature swung a clawed tentacle at him and he raised his arm to protect his face. The claw ripped through his sleeve and he felt a cold shock as it sliced through his skin.

  Gradually, though, the attack faltered as the enemy ran out of creatures to throw at them. The remainder began to draw back, the intelligence presumably unwilling to lose any more, now that it had learned what it wanted to learn. Jeffcott saw them backing away in a close group, covering each other as they withdrew, and they became hard to see as they once again imitated the colour of their surroundings. Soon the remainder had reached the cover of the cars in the warehouse car park. A few more shots rang out, and then the Sergeant was shouting at his men to cease fire.

  The Captain stepped forward across a road buried beneath a slippery carpet of damaged fish eggs, among which a few intact ones were still pulsing with life. He stepped on one and put his weight on it until it burst with a sickening pop. "Sergeant, get a rope," he said. "Let's tow the MCV out of the anomaly. Jeffcott, Carpenter, go see the medics. Get yourselves sewn up."

  Jeffcott nodded and walked with the driver back to the edge of the anomaly, his heart pounding as the adrenalin rush began to subside. He felt himself beginning to tremble all over.