The Desolate Guardians Read Online Free PDF Page A

stretch
of blasted gravel and grey dirt, heading for the trench some
hundred feet further down. As my subject turned, I got a better
look at the trench… and nearly closed out of the stream.
    Corpses.
    I reeled emotionally, but clung to logic:
they had uniforms. The nearest body was charred to a crisp, his
blackened flesh and skeletal remains gaping widely into the lower
half of my view… but he had a uniform. Surely that meant this was
some sort of conflict - some sort of organized endeavor? Deaths
were expected in war, right?
    Beyond that wretched soul ran a very long
trench filled with unidentifiable equipment, bolt holes, vast
puddles, and bodies. Some were blackened by fire, but others had
fallen unburned… without better resolution, I couldn't make out
their causes of death.
     
    "Brunette woman, unknown origin, no
uniform…"
    The voice was male, and he sounded like he
was in his twenties. Was he talking to headquarters? Or me? No… he was talking to himself. His low words were being muttered
without concern for audibility. He was thinking out loud.
    "How'd she get here? Hostile…? Hmm… four
minutes…"
    He moved forward with some stealth, creeping
over bodies without even a cursory glance. As he passed, I could
see more detail: some looked waterlogged, as if they'd drowned;
some had nail scratches all over their faces as if they'd attacked
themselves; some… had holes bored in their skulls.
    What the hell had happened here?
    Or, was happening, to be more
accurate… I'd finally found someone in real-time, someone who might
know something.
    He peered around a corner of dirt and watched
her for a moment.
    So this was her… the woman that had visited
two hapless souls in two different realities in the last two weeks…
and possibly more. I only had data for what I'd managed to find,
but I'd had plenty of time to guess at her agenda, intentions, and
capabilities.
    The very first thing I noticed was her
expression. She gazed around at the littered bodies in conflict,
her high cheeks cold, her eyes warm. I had the distinct impression
she was evaluating their manners of death while struggling not to
think about the living men and women they'd been. One of the fallen
seemed to be a younger woman hardly old enough to participate in
combat. As both my camera-wearing ally and I watched, the older
brunette found a muddy blanket and covered her in particular.
    Apparently, my unknowing partner had reached
the same conclusion about her nature as I had. He remained behind
his corner and called out. "Human?"
    The woman immediately leapt behind a sturdy
metal box of supplies, her gaze jumping toward his direction.
    He stepped out slowly, his hands up. As he
moved, I saw the edge of a large rifle bouncing on a strap around
his chest. "I'm human."
    Unexpectedly, she laughed, and then… I heard
her voice for the first time. "Does that mean we're on the same
side?"
    "Out here it does, ma'am."
    "Ma'am?" she replied, warily watching him
approach across wide puddles and charred gravel. "How old do you
think I am? "
    He stopped in place, his feet planted on a
flat metal plank that had been cast across the gulch. "No
disrespect intended."
    She stood slowly, revealing herself from her
hiding spot. "Military?"
    "With respect," he countered. "There's very
little time. You should take a gun - there are plenty around here -
and we should go."
    She shook her head and took a few steps
forward. "I've never come across a situation out here where a gun
would have done a damn thing. Have you?"
    My unknowing ally said nothing, instead
instinctively looking around at the bodies of his fellows.
    "Alright then," she continued. "What's the
situation here?"
    He began moving away, his vital signs
increasing. The camera glanced straight up, sighting a large
irregular square of dark red overhead. A peal of thunder rang out,
once, twice, and a third time. Between cracking booms, he managed
to shout: "Don't fall underneath!"
    He looked back, and I saw her