text: The prisoner was brought into the interrogation room by two armed guards. He was shoved down onto a steel chair as the sound of the chair scraping against the tiled floor echoed throughout the small room. Above him was a single light bulb and in front of him was a silver metal table. Across the table from the prisoner was his captor. The captor was in his dark green uniform and by the look of the insignia on his arms, he must’ve been an officer of some sort. He was leaning forward, his elbows resting on the steel table. Paperwork was in a neat pile in front of him. The captor looked tired. His uniform was unkempt and his beard was long. His eyes were worn out. “Your name is Devlin, yes?” the captor asked in a strong but understandable accent. The prisoner didn’t answer. The captor sighed. He slowly got up and walked around the table. He placed a cigarette in the prisoner’s mouth and lit it. The prisoner took a deep breath and puffed the smoke out of the side of his mouth. The captor then leaned down and uncuffed the prisoner. “Devlin, you’re free to go.” Devlin took another drag of his cigarette and leaned back in his chair. “So, I guess the war is over then?” he asked calmly. “No, not yet. But it looks like we have reached a point of inevitability.” Devlin had no reaction. He continued to smoke his cigarette. The captor sat back in his chair and removed his hat. “You have been here with us for over six months. We have deliberately kept news of the outside world from you. Now, this will take some time, but let me explain what has happened. Six months ago ...” “Where are my men?” Devlin interrupted. “Sir, I’m trying to explain.” “Explain to me where my men are.” The captor looked down. “They are all gone, believed dead.” Devlin stared straight at the wall behind the captor. “About a year ago I was stationed here. This was an enviable posting. We were to protect the northern border but no invading force had been able to cross those mountains in over one thousand years. Some of the men were eager for action but me, I had already seen enough. “We had six months of no activity. We then received word that there was some movement in the mountains. I personally thought it was some bad intelligence but we sent a scouting force out anyway. And that’s when we heard that an entire division was moving towards us. “So we moved out, ready for an ambush. We carefully laid our trap and that’s when we saw your army. We heard you from miles away and when we saw you, if I’m being honest, it was a sorry sight. “I didn’t know what had happened but I assumed the arduous crossing had really taken a toll on your men. But you were a hostile enemy combatant. And we had our orders. “The rest of that encounter you are familiar with. We took your men and you, Colonel, were sequestered somewhere else. “Your men were treated fairly I assure you. We fed them, and took care of the wounded. Some of them died due to their wounds and we buried them respectfully. But there was something strange with your men. “At first I admired their discipline. But after a week we noticed something. Your men had not spoken a word. They did not speak to us which is understandable. But they did not speak to each other. Weeks went by, and then a month. “Some of your men then tried to escape. I must say, some of their methods were ingenious. While others were quite crude. It is the duty of a prisoner to try and escape captivity but in any case they were all recaptured and disciplined under the rules of the treaty.” The captor took a breath. “But then one month ago something peculiar happened. Your men began talking again. But only in whispers. At first they would whisper to each other. But then they started whispering to the guards.” Devlin twitched but his face did not betray what he already knew. “I can only assume you know what happened next. Slowly, the guards began releasing the prisoners. But not only that, they were escaping *with* the prisoners. We did what we could. We changed over the guards, increased discipline, implemented solitary confinement. But one by one they all started to escape. “We sent out search parties for them. The ones we did find were dead, guards and prisoners alike. Some we never found, only traces of them. “It finally dawned on us what was happening. Sir, you did not cross those mountains to attack us. You were running. Running from something that has killed all of your men and nearly all of mine. Running from something that would cause my soldiers enough fear for them to disobey orders and break free themselves.” The captor broke his calm demeanour and leaned forward onto the table. “Sir! Colonel Devlin. What is out there?!” Suddenly there was a thud on the outside of the interrogation room. One of the guards yelled and fired off a string of bullets before a crack was heard and the firing stopped. There was a low growl coming from the outside of the door. Devlin continued to smoke. “Can’t you see, it’s already here.