James Draven: Distress Calls

 James knew that he was trying to be independent but he also wished he could explain a mother's love to his friend.

He will probably figure it out, he reasoned and opened the lid of the bottle, and downed a third of its delicious content. As he covered the bottle, to return it to its recent position in the basket, besides the sandwiches, he noticed a group of soldiers, Rangers to be exact, loading up and entering an armoured vehicle. He called the attention of his friend and pointed hastily.

 "Where's that Unit going? It's Saturday. No Unit leaves the Nest on Saturdays."

 "Actually, their destination is classified, but I overheard Dad talking to some RavenCorps officers last night."

 "Well? What happened?" James couldn't resist picking up another sandwich from the basket.

 "A distress call came in from one of our sister camps," Benjamin's voice was down to a whisper.

 "Which?" James whispered back, knowing that this was confidential information he was receiving.

 "Camp Oasis." Was the answer. James thought he was joking and laughed. He realized that Benjamin wasn't playing around and he stopped chewing.

 "Camp Oasis? Distress call from them? You must've heard wrong, Ben." 

Camp Oasis was the strongest and most populated military settlement in the western region. They had the largest manpower and machinery too. Why would they send a distress call to others, when it was the other settlements that asked for aid from Oasis.

 "I'm positive it was Oasis that I heard. According to what I overheard, their scouts discovered a horde of crawlers marching south from Oregon."

 "How many?" James said, taking a swill from the bottle.

 "They weren't exact in their findings, but they estimated thirty thousand," Benjamin shrugged. Shocked, James spilled the liquid in his mouth. 

 "Thirty thousand what?" He exclaimed.

 "Yeah. Dad said Camp Oasis will need some of our men in case the horde proves troublesome," Benjamin said, staring at the mess on the tower's floor.

 Of course they will pose a threat, James thought. He imagined thirty thousand blood thirsty creatures with the speed and agility of a cat, not to mention their fangs and claws, crawling up the settlement's walls. It would take a good marksman a cartridge of bullets to kill the fastest of the crawlers. They had a thick hide skin which was difficult to penetrate with bullets easily.

But James couldn't understand why that huge number of crawlers would be assembled together. The hordes, usually sent by the Crugi, were not more than two thousand crawlers. Why would they send thirty thousand crawlers now? What was their goal? And then the answer hit him. They wanted to exterminate all the settlements and those living inside.

 "How many fighting men did your father suggest should go?" He asked after a while.

 "Two thousand."

 "What? We need that manpower ourselves!" He exclaimed.

 "James, if Camp Oasis falls, the probability of other settlements withstanding this horde is pretty slim. It's best we stop them at Oasis."

 "Oasis has twelve thousand men. We have only eight thousand. We will be doing ourselves more harm if we send out a quarter of our troops. We need those men to protect the settlement if things go south, Ben! Do the math yourself," James said loudly.

 "Believe me, James, I already have. If Oasis falls, we fall too,"