The day was typical for mid spring in Fredericton. The skies were clear, the was a light breeze, and just past the forlorn airstrip a group of animals resembling shadows munched on something lying in the tall grass. As the men walked towards the only working plane in sight, and probably in the province as well, the shadows moved as one, leaping to their feet and showing their fangs. More than one man stopped in their tracks, retching, but the others urged them on. For these weren’t ordinary animals, these were the abnormally large and vicious rats, now the dominant species in the animal kingdom. The rats started forward, but the sharp retort of a pistol startled them and sent them scattering back into the grass. One man turned yelled after them “You ain’t nothing but a bunch of  ol’ vermin, you bastards! Turn tail just as we get serious, eh?” then Gregor dissolved into an intelligible rant of curses. Adrian tried to hold down his breakfast. The rats….. Ever since The Melting, even before Adina and mother died from rabies, he had had nightmares, sometimes even when he was awake. He would always emerge from one of these dreams covered in sweat and blubbering. Cole had told him that if he didn’t shut up, he would bind him to a tree and let the rats get him, lest their location be compromised. The threat didn’t end the nightmares, but taught Adrian to keep quiet after them. He remembered the relief when they had finally made it back to The Motherland, and wondered how it would feel the second time around. He was full of nervousness about what was going to happen. Staring into the back of the nameless women, he boarded the plane. He couldn’t help shaking. He would be free of this country, back into his own home, and after the reserve had been correctly started, he could finally be able to live without fear, even in his own home. Cole said something to him, and he snapped back into reality. “Hmm?” he said. “Come on mate, wipe the smile off your face, we gots a whiles to go yet” Cole replied sharply “ Don’t start dreaming ‘bout Paradise Lost just yet.” And with that, he walked out of the plane to keep watch while the cargo was loaded in. Adrian glanced over at the pair of Canucks quietly chatting side by side. He wondered If they expected anything yet. He hoped not. He hoped for his life, as well as Joyce’s. he wondered what she was doing, if she had been claimed yet by the darkness spreading forth from cities across the globe, constantly consuming and discarding everything in its path. The women spoke up. “Hey you. Yeah, you. Since when does a nice boy like you end up in a situation like this?” He felt his face grow red. What gave this woman, this bitch, the right to treat him like a child? He tightened his grip on his rifle. He forced himself to relax. He looked at her with a fake expression of curiosity. “Well, I suppose it was fate. But why does it matter? It’s not going to change anything.” She laughed. “ I like you. Got a pretty good outlook, you do. If a bit cynical” she chuckled again. It struck him as strange that this woman could come up with such a gruff sound. “What did you say your name was?” she asked. He looked at her. “Will” he grunted, using the alias that was giving to him before the trip. “And yours?” “Hannah” she responded. Now that he was actually talking to her, he began to notice details that he had previously overlooked. She was around five foot six, but her arms were roped with muscles. She wore a plain white t shirt and a light leather jacket to protect her from the cold wind that was heading south early. She had faded blond highlights, dulled by months without proper care. Her skin was tanned, and had scars running up and down her arms and legs, and a long nasty one stretched from her left eyebrow to her left ear. She looked like a girl who would as soon blink as pull a switchblade. She seemed to be sizing him up, making sure he was the young inexperienced boy playing guard for an operation that might just save an island.  “You look nervous” ,she said. “Have you ever flown before?” he was surprised. He thought his act was see through, but obviously not if this women, Hannah, thought he was nervous. “Well, yes kind of. I mean, not really, but I just…” he stammered, hoping he was still believable. Yeah, I was like that too. Don’t worry about it though. Hugh here is a great pilot. Flown me more than once, an I’m still in one piece” she comforted. The man she was talking to a few moments before looked up and smiled briefly, before returning to his flight charts. “We’re a little worried, with no real way to predict the weather, but so far we have the all clear. You don’t need to worry. Just keep those rats of our ass while we finish preparing” she said. He agreed, and then took his place by the door. He looked out, searching for tails straight up in the tall grass, a sign of a rat anywhere. Systematically dividing the surrounding area into quadrants, he swept them in a steady rhythm, thinking about what Hannah had said, realizing that she was actually worried, not just making conversation. He began to wonder if what they were doing was right, but squashed the thought quickly. After what he had seen back home, he should have no question of what was right or wrong, only pure necessity. But still, he wondered. After a while, he turned and walked back to Hannah and Hugh. They both looked up, and he realized that they were brother and sister. Even with her scars, the resemblance was uncanny. “I’m going to check to see if they’ve finished loading.” He mumbled. They both gave him strained smiles before returning to the charts, and their faces seemed to almost match each other. Shaking his head, Adrian walked out of the plane, still scouting for rats.