I need to continue forward, otherwise, the others may lose hope. The man who carries a locket and the girl with curly red hair who follows him around have disappeared from the compound. It could mean breach in safety protocol, or it could mean a traitor is among us. Regardless, I need to report to the greater leader about this. After all, I am merely the barrier squad commander.

Along my path to his office, I nod to his secretary, who fiddles with her bedazzled pen that ran out of ink weeks ago, and head in. I can tell she’s nervous about the recent news of the supply runs coming back with less than satisfactory rations of food and equipment. Everyone, even the old man with the wiry beard will feel the impact of this, and now I have to bear the bad news of these two disappearances. I gulp and approach his desk.

“Greater leader, I have a report from the barrier.”

He finally looks up at me with a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. It may be from the early summer heat, or it may be from his oncoming anxiety. “Barrier squad commander, what’s your report?”

“Sir, the man who carries a locket and the girl with curly red hair have gone missing. We have reason to believe it may have something to do with the weak point we found in the barrier last week. We intend to investigate further, and with your permission, will send a surveyor troupe out into the badlands to look for their bodies.” My back remains erected throughout my report.

The greater leader hums in consideration, folding his hands. “Evaluate the entire barrier again before sending out any surveyors. We need to be sure there hasn’t been a breach from the outside. If you find nothing, we may need to consider the existence of a lawbreaker.”

I nod, “Yessir,” and turn to leave.

“Wait,” he ejects. “Breathe a word of this to no one outside of the barrier squad. We don’t need a panic of outsiders or… grusaders shaking up the compound.”

“Of course, sir.” I steel myself for the next 48 hours of near-straight legwork I will have to patrol. Internally, I hope that no one broke the law. It would be worse than if the barrier was breached.