damn- missed a whole week – sorry –

Just then, Simpson turned up. “The Captain says I should come with you just in case. He said he has enough snipers.”

Andrew found himself smiling at the Nuzeeland soldier, who grinned back at him! Apparently, she had been offended by his clumsy innuendo before their nap. Not that she hadn’t come back at him with a similar comment, but he’d noticed women were touchy about that sort of thing. Not that he’d had much personal experience, but he’d seen other guys put their foot in it with that sort of joking around.

.The three of them made their way along the side of the main road, keeping low, and soon reached where the bushes started, which enabled them to move a bit easier now that they were in cover. He pushed as far forward as he could, and they finished up crouched on the side of the bank behind some lantana and other bushes with a somewhat patchy view of the bridge. The Kiwi Sergeant, Karl Williams, had a radio with him so the Captain could notify them when the Japanese finally started across the bridge. It took another hour before there was any movement. Finally, he got a message and looked at the other two.

“They’re beginning to cross the bridge. Better do your stuff, bro.”

Andrew nodded and reached out with his senses. He found he could feel the masses of glows from all the Japanese women and children moving like a tide across the bridge. Their glows were all dull, and he assumed that was because of the chips the adults had in their heads and the lack of magic amongst the youngsters. He brought up his mental shield and pushed it across the bridge as far as he could reach, which wasn’t quite to the other shore but a good deal further than he was expecting.

“Talk to them.” He said loudly.

The Kiwi Sergeant started bellowing in what Andrew guessed was Japanese, and he hoped that the Japanese could understand the Kiwi Sergeant. Simpson was a little further up the rise, closer to the road, and could see further from where she was.

“It’s working! Sort of. Some have thrown their bombs into the water and are running for this side of the bridge, while others look confused. Some are still coming with their grenades. Better shout a few more times, Sergeant.”

The Sergeant began shouting the instructions repeatedly, and then, as he could hear the first of the feet running past them on the road above their heads, he felt a pressure on his mental shield driving him back. He moved slightly so he was more directly in the sunshine and pulled power, pressing back against the Japanese mentalist.

“I’ve got mental company, but I’m too busy holding a shield to work out where he is.” He told Simpson.

There were lots of feet running past their heads now, and then there were a few shots. The Sergeant stopped yelling for a few moments and then tried yelling something else. Then he began rotating through the first lot of yelling and the second lot as the stampede across the bridge continued. He felt Simpson moving up onto the bridge itself. He looked up and saw she was standing behind some of the bushes appearing across the bridge. Suddenly, there was a burst of fire from the other side of the river, and he could hear screams and yells and assumed that the Japanese were firing on their own civilians.