Simpson was already stowing her portable cannon in the back of the ATV and grinned at him as she jumped into the rear compartment.

“Henderson, you drive,” Andrew commanded, jumping in the passenger seat. Stevens piled in the back alongside Simpson.

In seconds they were racing up the main drag with the other ATV right behind them and turned right into Mercer Street while Stevens got on the radio to let their commander know what was happening. They roared under the uncollapsed section of the bridge there, then down the slope, past the park, and into North Gilong. The downed overpass had been bulldozed enough that the road was passable, and they raced past the burnt-out shops facing the old highway and then the cricket and football grounds. He closed his eyes and felt for the gate.

“Next right.”

Henderson did his best to get the thing up on two wheels as he turned into the side street, and they powered down the road heading for the bay.

“Slow down.” He ordered and felt for the gate.

There were a few civilians about, a work crew trying to repair one of the brick warehouses, presumably hired by the owners of the business who were trying to get things going again without having to do a total rebuild. They approached an intersection that had empty ground on either side, apart from a small rectangular shed on the left corner. The gate was there somewhere.

“It’s in or behind that shed.” He said, pointing.

There was no driveway from the side street, and there didn’t appear to be one from the street they were on either, so Andrew assumed that the entrance was further down. The lack of a driveway didn’t stop Henderson, who simply drove over the destroyed fence and up the dirt bank while Simpson brought her rifle to bear and Andrew threw a shield around the ATV. The second machine followed them but kept behind as per the doctrine they had worked out.

There was all manner of junk piled up in the yard at the rear side of the shed, piles of rusting somethings, old crates, and drums. Plus, two people who were attempting to work their way through it. They must’ve heard the ATV coming because they’d stopped what they were doing and were simply standing there seemingly defenseless, but Andrew could tell they were well-shielded. The male was a bit under two meters and had dark hair. The female was slim, tall, two meters or more, and had dark glossy hair that seemed to glimmer purple in the light.

Behind them was a large door on the side of the shed that was standing open, and through the door, he could see an apparently rotating lighted circle that looked a lot like a gate. Unlike the Japanese gate, which he could see through, he couldn’t see through the rotating gate as the center looked foggy to him.

“What do you see through the gate?” He asked, hoping someone else could see something.

 “Looks like a lawn or at least a grassy area,” Henderson answered.