RTS System in the Apocalypse: New World

Morning returned to Route One with more traffic than usual.

The two Pillboxes beside Ramp Four continued watching the roads while soldiers moved between the receiving station and the warehouse. Several recovery trucks already waited inside the compound, their cargo beds filled with sealed containers, damaged equipment, and materials brought in during the night.

More vehicles were coming.

Route One had changed in smaller ways too.

The covered receiving area still held the newest arrivals, but the people who had stayed longer were beginning to use the space around it for more than sleeping and waiting.

Several families had turned an unused strip of ground along the safe side of the warehouses into small garden plots. The soil there was shallow, and parts of the yard were still covered in concrete, so damaged wooden crates, storage bins, and drums cut lengthwise had been filled with soil instead.

Thin rows of green had started appearing inside some of them.

The plots were nowhere near large enough to replace the food entering through Route One. For now, they were something the civilians could maintain themselves.

A few adults carried water toward the beds while another group worked around a table made from recovered pallets. Torn clothing had been separated for repair. Usable cookware sat in another pile. Two men were trying to straighten the wheel of a handcart while an older woman beside them complained that they had already mounted it backward once.

Nobody stopped her from reminding them.

Children carried lighter things between the civilian area and the water point. The soldiers kept them away from the recovery lanes, but there was plenty to do without entering the traffic.

Pip had somehow decided that carrying cups counted as one of those jobs.

Priya did not attempt to correct her.

The first convoy appeared along the eastern road shortly after breakfast.

Pip noticed it before Priya did.

"Sister soldier."

Priya continued checking the list in her hand.

"Sister soldier."

"What is it, Pip?"

"There are tanks coming."

That made Priya look.

Two Vanguards entered the road beyond Ramp Four, followed by several Guardian APCs and recovery trucks. Dust covered most of their lower hulls. Dark stains remained across one APC’s front plating, while another carried several shallow marks along its side from debris and whatever else struck it during the fighting.

None of them slowed outside the gate.

The soldiers at Ramp Four already knew they were coming.

One guard raised his arm and directed the first Vanguard through. The rest followed at controlled intervals while the receiving lane beside them remained open for civilians.

Pip watched every vehicle pass.

The boy who once wore the road-sign plates noticed the convoy almost as quickly.

He had been carrying an empty planter with one of the other boys when the engine noise reached the receiving area. Most of the metal pieces were gone from his old jacket now, though several remained stacked beside his bag.

The third boy sat beside a folding table sorting usable screws and nails from a container of recovered hardware. The teenage girl worked with one of the adults near the garden plots, tying strips of cloth around the newly planted rows so people would stop walking through them.

All four stopped when the first Vanguard appeared beyond Ramp Four.

One Vanguard turned slightly as it entered the compound.

The boy with the plates leaned forward.

"That was fighting yesterday?"

One of the other boys looked at him.

"What else would it be?"

"I mean those exact ones."

Neither answered.

Priya folded the paper against the clipboard.

Pip looked up at her.

"Were those in the big fight?"

"Yes."

"All of them?"

"Some of them."

Pip returned her attention to the road.

A Guardian APC passed Ramp Four next. Its autocannon remained elevated above the people around it, while the crew stayed inside. Another followed several vehicle lengths behind.

The teenage girl spoke quietly.

"They came back."

The boy beside her shrugged.

"They have tanks."

"That isn’t what I meant."

He looked toward the eastern road again.

The explosions the previous morning were difficult to miss even from Route One.

Artillery reached them as distant rolling impacts. Aircraft crossed far enough away that most civilians only heard the engines. Several times during the day, the heavier explosions caused the warehouse windows to vibrate inside their frames.

By the afternoon, the sounds became less frequent. Then they eventually stopped.

Nobody at Route One told the civilians much beyond what they needed to know. There was an operation in Ironford. The soldiers were dealing with a large infected concentration. Route One remained safe.

That was all.

Now some of the same vehicles were coming back.

Pip pulled lightly at Priya’s sleeve.

"Did they win?"

Priya looked down.

"Yes."

The answer reached the teenagers as well. The boy with the plates raised his head.

"What were they fighting?"

Priya studied him for a moment.

"A Hive."

His expression changed. The other two boys looked toward her. The teenage girl was the first to speak.

"One of those things that controls them?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

Priya looked back toward the convoy.

She knew enough from the logistics reports to understand the scale. Recovery assignments began coming through Route One before sunrise, and Site Three already requested additional containers, Engineer teams, fuel handling equipment, and more storage space.

The exact count was not something she needed to give them.

"A lot."

The boy with the plates frowned.

"Hey, that doesn’t answer it."

"It answers enough for you."

He looked like he wanted to continue.

An APC entering Ramp Four interrupted him.

Its commander leaned from the open hatch while the vehicle turned toward the temporary inspection area.

"Route One! Where do you want us?"

Priya checked the markings along the vehicle’s side.

"Inspection lane three. Keep the recovery lane open."

"Received!"

The APC moved away.

Pip watched it until another truck blocked her view.

The truck’s rear compartment carried metal crates secured beneath straps. Several were marked for Site Three. Others carried labels Priya recognized from the Ironford recovery teams.

Industrial equipment. Electronic components. Mineral-bearing materials.

Another two trucks followed with the same markings.

Priya checked the manifest attached to the first driver’s door when it stopped.

"Warehouse Two for anything already sorted. Unverified material stays outside until the Engineers finish checking it."

"Yes, ma’am."

"And keep the Ironford containers separate from Highcross storage."

"Understood."

Two Army Soldiers moved toward the truck while Priya returned to the receiving table.

Pip followed.

"There is more?"

"A lot more."

"How much?"

"We don’t know yet."

Pip thought about that while taking another stack of cups.

The teenagers went back to their work between convoys, though every new engine drew their attention toward the unloading area.

The boy with the plates had stopped touching the metal pieces beside his bag. One of his companions finally spoke.

"They fought all day and they’re already bringing things back."

The teenage girl looked toward the soldiers moving around the trucks.

"They were doing that when they brought us here too."

"I think that part was slightly different."

"How?"

He opened his mouth but nothing came out.

The boy with the plates answered instead.

"There weren’t this many."

Another convoy entered Route One before the conversation went any farther. This one carried fewer combat vehicles.

Two Guardian APCs led several flatbed trucks loaded with bent steel, bundled cabling, sealed drums, and damaged industrial equipment. Engineers rode between the cargo vehicles, checking straps and markings whenever the convoy slowed.

People moved away from the roadside to give them space.

The receiving area became busier.

Priya stopped answering Pip’s questions for several minutes.

"Warehouse Three."

"Separate the drums."

"That pallet stays physical. Do not send it to conversion storage."

"Put the cable with the electrical material."

Two soldiers changed direction.

An Engineer approached with another document.

"Additional recovery traffic expected within the hour."

"How much?"

"Six trucks from the western Ironford sector. Another group is still loading."

Priya glanced toward the warehouse.

"Warehouse Two is almost full."

"Site Three is opening another temporary lot."

"That helps."

The Engineer left.

Pip stood beside the table holding three empty cups against her chest.

"Sister soldier."

"Yes?"

"Is all of that from... the thing you called a Hive?"

"From Ironford."

"Wow! That’s a lot, sister soldier."

Priya looked at the trucks filling the yard.

"Yes, it is a lot."

For once, Pip did not have another question ready.

The morning continued.

Some combat vehicles remained at Route One only long enough for inspection before continuing toward Site Three. Recovery trucks stayed longer while their cargo was checked and divided. Food and medical supplies went into separate storage. Useful machinery remained physical. Containers marked for later conversion were moved somewhere civilians would not watch them disappear.

Between convoys, the teenagers drifted back toward the civilian work area. Two returned to the garden plots while the others helped carry empty crates from the receiving station.

Every new vehicle still made them look up before they returned to what they were doing.

Near midmorning, the sound approaching Ramp Four changed.

It was heavier than a Guardian APC, though the vehicle coming through the road carried no turret.

The boy with the plates stood.

"What is that?"

Priya looked toward the gate.

A Pioneer Construction Vehicle entered Route One under escort.

Its broad chassis carried the equipment needed for deployment rather than weapons. Stabilization legs remained folded along the sides, while the construction-radius projector stayed secured for transport. Two Guardian APCs accompanied it, along with an Engineer team and several Scouts.

The PCV continued through Ramp Four without stopping.

Pip stared.

"That one doesn’t have a gun."

"No."

"Is it broken?"

Priya looked at her.

"It was made that way."

Pip frowned at the vehicle as if that sounded suspicious.

"Why?"

"It lets the Commander build farther from the main base."

That seemed to satisfy her.

"Oh."

The boy with the plates stepped closer to the edge of the covered section.

"So they’re making another base?"

Priya checked the route notification delivered earlier that morning.

"Something like that."

He looked at the PCV again.

The vehicle passed between the warehouses and continued toward the eastern exit, its escorts staying around it until the entire group disappeared behind the next row of structures.

One of the teenage boys laughed quietly.

"They’re building another base already?"

Nobody answered him.

About twenty minutes later, a second PCV appeared.

This one traveled with another Engineer team and more cargo vehicles carrying prefabricated barriers, power equipment, tools, and survey markers.

The teenagers stood again.

Pip waved at it.

Nobody inside could see her through the armored cab, but she kept waving until the vehicle reached the far side of Route One.

The teenage girl watched both convoys disappear along the eastern road.

"Where are they going?"

Priya returned the last empty water container to the table.

"They have separate assignments."

"So there’s going to be two more bases?"

"Maybe."

The boy with the plates looked east.

Yesterday, artillery from that direction shook the windows.

Today, construction vehicles were driving toward it.

He sat down again without touching the pieces of road sign beside his bag.

Pip remained near Priya.

"Can I help when they build it?"

"You can help me finish the water first."

Pip looked at the cups still waiting on the table.

Then at the road.

Then back to Priya.

"Okay."

She picked up two.

Outside Ramp Four, the second construction convoy continued toward Ironford.

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