Sniffy seemed excited, running from lane to lane, sniffing the air, and barking. Elna considered asking Selene to carry the dog, but she decided to let it go. Maybe a small barking dog would somehow help the situation. At the very least, a noisy dog could put ill-intentioned people off-balance a little bit.
The long walk to the first drawbridge seemed interminable under normal conditions, but knowing what was ahead of her, it became unbearable. Minutes felt like hours. Elna was tempted to start running, but she settled for a fast walk instead. The water in the bay had been relatively calm, but it seemed to pick up now, roaring on either side as it crashed against the pylons.
No one spoke during the long walk, and Elna knew why. An impending dread was growing in and around them. Only Sniffy dared an occasional bark, but he, too, had quieted and almost seemed to be questioning Selene, confused by the circumstances.
The world has finally come to us, Elna thought. A thing she had dreaded.
The soldiers who had made it over the raised drawbridge slowly appeared out of the haze. Two men and a woman were huddled now beside the gap in the middle of the westbound lane. As Elna gradually drew closer, she realized one of the men was hunched over, clutching his shoulder as the others tended to him. A rather large puddle of blood glinted darkly on the asphalt at his feet.
“He’s hurt,” Dr. Ruzka said. “That man there is bleeding very badly.”
“What happened to him?” Selene asked, moving up beside the doctor. She wore a long, loose floral-print dress, and the rising wind caused it to ripple like a sail in a storm.
Both women held the straps of their respective medical kits, like warriors in arms. Another gunshot rang out over the roaring waters of the bay. Elna and most of the others flinched, but Dr. Ruzka, for some reason, perked up and rushed forward even faster.
“Wait, Doctor, wait,” Elna said.
Dr. Ruzka glanced back at her with a puzzled frown, as if Elna’s response made no sense to her.
“People are injured,” the doctor said. “Can’t you see the blood?”
“I can see it,” Elna replied. “You heard the gun, right? They are shooting on the other side of the bridge.”
“Exactly!”
A fourth person appeared over the edge of the drawbridge, a woman with a child clinging to her back. Elna wasn’t sure how they’d made it over the edge—perhaps they’d had help—but as they scrambled over, the child let out a terrified yelp. One of the soldiers waiting below moved to catch them as they slid down the slope.
“Oh, this is terrible,” Dr. Ruzka said. “We have to do something right away!”
Elna ran to catch up to her and grabbed her by the shoulder. “Wait, Doctor, please. We can’t afford to let you get hurt. Keep back a little bit. Let me check things out and make sure it’s safe to approach them.”
As the woman and child were pulled across the gap, the child started pointed wildly and saying something in a warbling voice. Elna realized the kid was pointing at the group of approaching islanders. Suddenly, all of the adults except the injured man whipped around, moving practically in unison. Only in that moment did Elna realize they weren’t Army soldiers. These men and women were wearing Marine combat uniforms, and she noted now that they had sidearms in holsters.
“These are United States Marines,” she whispered, as Malin stepped up beside her.
“Does that make it better or worse?” Malin asked.
“Not sure.”
The adults formed a line, one of the women nudging the child behind her. There were six of them: two women and four men. It was instantly clear that they were real military, drilled and trained, not some ragtag group that had stolen uniforms somewhere along the way. Elna could see that two of them were injured. One of the men had been shot either in the shoulder or the chest. He had fallen to his knees behind the line. One of the women in the line also had blood seeping out of a ragged hole at her hip. Others had visible bruises or scratches on their faces.
Norman walked up on Elna’s right side and stood beside her, arms crossed. Only Selene hung back—the smart one, clearly—and she’d knelt down and grabbed Sniffy by the collar to keep the dog from lunging forward. For a few tense seconds, the two groups stared at each other. Elna was hoping they would speak first so she could gauge them by the way they introduced themselves. But they seemed fully willing to wait it out. From somewhere, possibly in the water down below, she heard faint shouting, cries for help.
“Well, what do you say, boss?” Malin asked, his hand sliding toward his holster.
No more than thirty yards separated them—well within handgun range, and Malin wasn’t a bad shot. However, she could see that at least two of the Marines also had sidearms.
“Don’t draw first,” Elna said softly. “See what they do.”
“By the time they draw, it may be too late,” he replied under his breath.
“We’re not winning a gun battle with a bunch of Marines,” Elna said.
“Well, let’s at least let them know we’re armed.” He stepped forward, as if to present himself, but Elna grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
Do something, she thought in the direction of the Marines. Show me who you really are.
But they just stood there, still as statues. Only the injured man and the child were moving at all.
I’m more patient than you guys realize, Elna thought. Come on.
Dr. Ruzka had been standing there quietly, but she looked back at Elna now and shook her head. Then, turning back around, the doctor started marching toward the soldiers. As soon as she did, one of them drew his firearm, though he didn’t point it at her. Then Malin drew his.
“Oh, stop this,” the doctor said, putting a hand in
