Free A Town Called Dust: The Territory 1 by Justin Woolley Page A

he still held. “From what we understand, a boundary rider crashed into a remote part of the fence. The repairs on the fence are under way but the ghouls were through well before the breach was noted.”
    “How long ago did the breach occur?” Colonel Hermannsburg asked.
    “The boundary rider in question did not check in at his outpost two days ago,” the Administrator said.
    “I don’t understand!” Colonel Hermannsburg exclaimed. “The Diggers should have been told immediately. There are supposed to be back-ups in place, lookouts, regular patrols. We should have known about this!”
    “Yes,” Knox Soilwork said. “We should have known, but we did not.”
    “Ten thousand,” Colonel Hermannsburg said. “You’re certain? There have been hordes of that size before but not for hundreds of years.”
    “We have sent boundary riders to find and track the horde,” Knox Soilwork said. “We don’t know that the number is correct. It seems unlikely. The boundary riders will provide us with a more accurate estimate.”
    “Either way we can expect the number to be big, though,” Colonel Hermannsburg said. “Something has gone horribly wrong here.”
    The Administrator was silent. He knew Colonel Hermannsburg would be the most difficult to deal with. He had always been among the most vocal members of the council, particularly when it came to military matters. The Administrator wished he’d had more time to prepare but he’d had no choice in the matter. Somewhere their well-established defenses had failed them. He had learned of the massive fence breach less than an hour earlier although the incident must have happened at least two days ago. Even the way they’d learned of it was wrong: an anonymous message from a boundary rider that was delivered directly to him instead of through the Digger chain of command. He didn’t know how it had taken so long to learn of such a disaster or why they had learned of it in such a mysterious way. He would find out. But for now he would take advantage of the situation.
    In some ways he was glad that word of the horde had not spread. This was an opportunity to show what he was made of as a leader, and he couldn’t afford panic. He would crush a horde of ghouls just as his great-grandfather had done, and for that he would be remembered.
    “Do not think, Colonel,” the Administrator said, “that I do not share your concerns that a horde of ghouls has escaped detection, but we must now concern ourselves with our actions in the moment. We can discuss the early warning system if we survive the invasion.”
    The Administrator could see that Colonel Hermannsburg wanted to say more, wanted to lay blame, but he glared at the man, daring him to do so.
    “Yes, Your Honor,” Colonel Hermannsburg eventually said. “We must focus on planning our defense.”
    “Very well,” the Administrator continued. “I seek agreement from the council that we go to war. What say you?”
    “Obviously we must all agree,” said Knox Soilwork. “The people of the Territory must be protected.”
    “Well, yes, of course the people must be protected,” said Reginald Roxby, Minister for Resources, “that goes without saying. But how do we intend to face this horde? What is our plan?”
    “Quite, quite,” agreed Eric Sweet, Minister for Infrastructure. “What is our plan?”
    “Protocol already dictates our strategy,” Colonel Hermannsburg said. “We lay a fall-back fence a suitable distance inland from the ghouls and we give up what we have lost. Then the Diggers can fight to regain it.”
    “That may be the conservative approach to dealing with a horde of ghouls,” the Administrator said, “but I have another plan. Repelling this horde could take years and the loss of much territory in the outer regions. I suggest we do what would have been done in the old days. We raise the army, recalling all units, and we attack the bulk of the horde directly. We send the entire force of the Diggers in a