“Shit.”, Neville muttered. She turned to Marcus asked, “Now what?”

Marcus closed the cover of his EES and shrugged.

“We complete the mission. There are multiple exit points throughout The Sim, so we find our people and keep trying exits until we find one that works.”

“...and if we don’t?”

“That’s why you’re here, for things like this.” Marcus answered. “You get us out, or figure out a way to communicate with the outside world so ‘they’ can get us out without frying our brains. But in the meantime, we complete the mission.”

Neville felt the tension running through her, but she nodded.

“Okay folks, turn on the Umpire gear they upgraded us with and let’s see what we can figure out.”

One by one they activated the Umpire units attached to their VR helmet HUDs. Extra information started lighting up their displays. Maps. Unit locations. Technical specifications. Range indications. Usually a lot of this was information reserved for the Standards Staff on exercises, but Marcus had impressed the Colonel that a rescue team needed all the information they could get. A crash training course was one of the reasons they hadn’t been able to jump right back into The Sim. It took some time to get used the proverbial firehose of extra information the Umpire units were capable of displaying across multiple displays.

“There are clustered lifesigns 250m northeast of us, near where you entered last time.” She said after consulting her display. “I can’t tell if they belong to the other team until we get closer. So far they are showing neutral alignment, so the system might need us to have eyes on before the IFF kicks in. Otherwise the nearest groups of life signs seem to be moving between the EPs. ”

Sgt Marcus nodded, “Alpha take point, Bravo on the left, Charlie right, we’ll bring up the rear. Neville, stay in the middle and do whatever Mathers tells you, without question or hesitation.”

Neville nodded and tucked her display back into its case. She had a sidearm and extra magazines, but everyone was crystal clear that it was only a self-defence weapon of last resort if she was somehow separated from the unit. She didn’t like it when Marcus made her feel like she needed a baby-sitter, but she also realized that this was his training and his training was what kept his teams alive in the real world.

“Move out.” He whispered.

Sgt Andrews waved his hand forward and stepped out in front covering ten to noon, his fire team partner, Sgt Nobel a step behind covering noon to two o’clock. On the left, Sgts MacKenzie and Abbott covered ten through seven and on the right Sgts Douglas and Costello covered two through five. Marcus and Mathers took turns watching Neville and their six o’clock.

Like a smoothly oiled machine, they moved out of the warehouse and onto the street, heading to the cluster of lifesigns on their displays.

All around them, the streets and buildings looked deserted. It could have been any mid-sized town in any desert region in the developing world. Tan and brown stone made up most of what they could see. The warehouse they arrived in was the only metal building in view.

As they approached the end of the warehouse, Andrews signalled them to stop as he and Nobel checked the intersection. The streets were empty in both directions, so he waved them forwards and hurried across the intersection.

They continued this way for blocks. Quietly moving closer to the cluster of lifesigns they hoped were the missing team.

The streets were deserted as far as they could see, but in the distance they could hear the sounds of battles. Explosions and gunfire seemed to surround them, but nothing close enough to see what was going on.

A block back from the site Sgt Andrews signalled a stop. The markers hadn’t moved during their approach. He looked back over his shoulder and got a nod from Marcus. Marcus quickly checked his team and leaned in close to Neville. “Any changes we should be aware of?”, he asked.

She quickly pulled her interface out and scanned their surrounding area. “No changes near us or the target since we inserted...but the battle noises...they’ve stayed centred on us...moving with us. I don’t know how that’s possible, but it’s happening.”

“Any changes in the target? Can you tell what we’re facing?”

“I don’t see any of the Team’s designators here. If you can get a remote camera to peek around the corner, I can get you some additional details, but right now it looks just like it did before your last insertion.” She said with a frown.

“...and we all know how that turned out.” he said distantly. “How many remote cameras is your gear programmed with?”

“Technically my load-out started with a dozen, but give me a few minutes and I should be able to create duplicates of anything we brought in, or that I have in my database.”

“You can do that?” he asked. “How come no one mentioned that during the briefings?”

“It’s not a guarantee that it’ll work, any more than what happened to you last time wasn’t supposed to be in the plan. It’s a possibility that I was going to try out when we came back in for the actual rescue.”

Marcus nodded and reached out his hand. Neville handed off what looked like a small plastic cube, which Marcus passed up to Andrews.

“As close as you can, but don’t get seen.” he said.

Andrews smirked and signalled for another, which was quickly passed up. Marcus knew to trust his people, and his job was usually easier if he let them use their initiative.

Andrews and Nobel scurried forward along the edge of the last building before the end of the block, and Andrews peeked around the corner. He snapped his head back, and even at this distance Marcus could tell something was wrong. Andrews tucked the camera as high up as he could reach without being seen, and still have it cover the street. Then they ducked back and around up the far side of the building. Marcus assumed that’s why he wanted the second camera. Neville had the feeds up on her split-screen display and Marcus looked over her shoulder.

The house still looked the same as it had the last time he had been here...except there was now a monster truck parked in the driveway, and what looked like zombies standing in the front yard.

Andrews had rejoined them and peeked at the screen. “What the hell Boss?”, he asked. “I guess those weren’t there the last time you were here?”

Marcus shook his head, looking as confused as the rest of them.

“Are those part of something, Neville?” he asked.

“Nothing I’m familiar with.” she answered. “I can only assume they were part of the hack, or there are some serious flaws in the coding.”

“Can you tell if our VR guns will affect those VR zombies?” he asked.

“I can tell you that I can see them as code, and that they seem as real as the rest of the simulation, so that’s a qualified ‘I think so.’”, she answered, but her voice underscored her uncertainty.

“Okay, we play this as safe as we can for now. MacKenzie, Abbott...find a way onto the roof of this building and let me know when you’re ready to take out those zombies with headshots. If they go down according to plan, you’ll cover us as we advance and clear the house.” Marcus paused. “If they don’t...we’ll wait for 5 mikes after your shots to check for any outside reaction, and then you regroup here with us. Any questions?”

“What if neither happens and we end up getting rushed by...zombies?” Abbott said the last word like he couldn’t believe it either.

“We evac and regroup at the nearest pylons. The two closest are designated in your wrist units. Neville, this is when you do exactly as Mathers says, when she says it. If you see something we need to know about, speak up immediately.”

Nods all around from the team.

“Everyone has seen the building we’re clearing. Three targets to the front, appear to be...zombies...” Marcus shook his head at the absurdity of it all, “Designated left to right as Tangos One, Two, Three. Vehicle in driveway designated Tango Mike. Seen?”

A hushed chorus of “Seen.” answered him back.

“Andrews and Nobel, as soon as the Tangos drop, I want you headed for the front door. Douglas, Costello, follow on the right, covering our right flank. I’ll take Mathers and Neville around to the left camera and cross to secure that truck until entry. Here’s hoping our people are inside and we can all get home and out of this mess soon.”

Marcus turned to MacKenzie and Abbot. “The last time we did this, our cover team opened fire on us, and I still have no idea why. This time, DO NOT open fire on anything in the building or near it, unless it is a verified bad guy running off the property, or something advancing behind us. Under no circumstances are you to shoot into the building. Clear?”

Both men nodded, “Clear.”

“Let’s find our people and bring them home. Move out.”