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hated it that his people weren’t safe, but he loved the fury of Mother Nature. There was nothing else like it.                                                                                                           
    “Here it comes.”
    Adrian and the three levels of Eagles were in the much smaller Mess, thick telephone poles making a great anchor. The tarps kept out a lot of the grit, but all the men wore the gear they’d been given, ready to assist where ever Adrian told them to.
    “Brace for impact!”
    They moved to the center as the winds picked up, slapping tarps violently, and then the air came alive with tiny, stinging bits of sand that filled every inch of the rolled in camp.
    “Damn!”
    “Look at that!” Kenn pointed excitedly to a shed, faded red and breaking apart, rolling by in the thick grit, just missing the end truck. The winds increased, dust burning its way through their masks, and men began to cough.
    “Bandanas too! Use your shirts!” Adrian pulled his turtleneck up over the bottom of his mask, struggling to stay on his feet as the storm engulfed them. The wind was awful, whipping, slapping at them, pulling violently, and the air around the area and trucked off camp was alive with flying debris of every shape and size.
    Caruunncch!
    “What the…”
    Bang! Rriippp!
    Baammmm!
    The men closest to the actual Mess truck stumbled at the impact as the rig was hit, pushed forward on its side, and only the two trucks on the end kept it from going further. Dust flew up in huge clouds, filling the gritty area with a blinding whirl of dark sand they could hardly see through.
    “Get those edges closed! We’re billowing! It’ll rip us apart!”
    Men rushed to grab the ends of the snapping plastic, tying it back to the poles, and it immediately became easier to breathe, the clouds of dust sinking down to their knees.
    Adrian nodded, keyed his mic, “Check in. One clear.”
    “Two, clear.”
    “Three, all good here.”
    “Four, no problems.”
    There were a lot of trucks, and the noises in the background of each made Adrian wince. Crying kids, panic-edged voices, arguments, and as soon as the last one checked in, he hit the button again, “Turn your radios up, Eagles. Let them hear me.”
    He lit a smoke, knowing his herd needed good words and calm tones, “We’re watching the storm from about ten feet behind you. It’s unbelievable, scary. We can’t see anything outside the Mess but we’re hearing it, same as you. Lots of stuff flying through the air, slamming into the trucks. Those are the thumps you hear, but so far, everything’s good here. I repeat. We are 5 by, and so are you. We’ll do bathroom breaks now, groups of four from each truck, women and kids first, as usual.”
    He paused, blue eyes hazy as he sang to his herd, voice almost hypnotic, bringing them down, “I’ll be by each truck in the next few minutes, and I know I’ll see card games and people spending time together, not working themselves and others into a panic. This is nothing we can’t handle.” his voice deepened, “Nothing I can’t handle.”
     
    The vision was gone then, as suddenly as it had come, and Alexa turned toward the ocean without speaking, letting her men make their own choice. When they fell in step, she heard their unspoken words of loyalty.
    “We’d go where you go.”
    The woman pulled up her hood, the smell of salt heavy in her nose, “And I accept you gratefully.”

Five
     
    1
    There were Sand Demons guarding the beach.
    To get to the water’s edge, to follow Safe Haven, they would have to defeat the constantly shifting and totally remorseless masses of grit and glass. This would not be the easy victory of their last few fights. Controlled by Mother Nature, these Creatures would never stop. They had no fears to prey upon, no weakness.
    Alexa’s mind spun furiously for a solution,