As sleeping schedules were passed around, Nick ensured that he was not having to watch enough space for three people. However, he was not going to need sleep in the same fashion as the others. He was sure some of the older members of Spider as well as a handful of the others put under his command were experienced enough to survive off of micronaps. It was expected, to say the least. But regardless, he acted as a intermediary in between Ava and the man to his right. Whenever one was wanting to have sleep, Nick would ensure the other side of him was awake. His plan was to take light micro naps that did not last too long when the two were awake, and conserve his energy by minimizing his movements otherwise.<br/><br/>And thus, this is how Nick spent the first day, perched on the tree and unmoving, the barrel of his gun balanced on a branch and appearing to simply be another sprouting from the tree. The day went by slow. No animals, no hosts, nothing occurred. It was during the night that Nick grew a bit concerned. A fog had started to roll in, and by the time that Ava had woke, it was limiting vision. Shadows and silhouettes danced on the low hanged cloud, bringing the entire line on edge. But nothing seemed to come. There were noises on this early foggy morning, off in the direction of Lake Zarin. The snapping of branches under foot, the rustling of brush, the occasional vocalization that sounded too unnatural for an animal, but sounded too unrefined for a human. Out of all the parasites, Toxaplasma was his most disliked for reasons just like this.<br/><br/>The things were small, something that someone could ingest on accident just by drinking water or eating food. While they took over the motor control of a host, they could not totally block out the other functions of the beast or being they were controlling. Instead, they simply produced hallucinations in their host and adjusted the neurological and chemical makeup within a person so that they could comfortably live. The result led to one of two things: either an indoctrinated host who assimilated to the parasite's collective, or a weeping and wailing person, trapped permanently as the passenger in their own body and assaulted with their fears and hypersensitivity.<br/><br/>"R22, contact," a voice whispered through the mic, just before a shot rang out through the forest. "Single target, down."<br/><br/>Again, another voice came through the comms, denoting their position and the fact they had contact. This time, it was on the left, and a pair of shots rang out. "Two targets, down."<br/><br/>The process continued throughout the day, small numbers probing the forest and being shot down. There was never so many that a pair of people had to relocate after thinning a herd, simply a wandering host or a pair or trio trying to march to the frontlines behind them. But, after the fog had cleared around noon, was when Nick finally picked up something.<br/><br/>The man wasn't wailing, he was standing back, a few hundred yards away in the direction of the lake. His arms were crossed and his head was turning whenever a shot had rang out. He was simply observing the new barrier put up against the parasites. Unfortunately, Nick had no clean shot. He was too far away and the trees were dancing just enough in the light breeze to obscure him enough that the shot would not be a reliable one. Thus, Nick parted his lips and moved his mouth as if he was talking, sound so low that only the mic would be able to pick it up. "Actual, contact." Nick said, allowing his eye to switch modes into thermal as it continued to zoom. "Single target, obscured shot."<br/><br/>The host in question was none the wiser, but after a few minutes of simply observing, he let out one of the unnatural and unrefined noises from the morning. After about fifteen minutes, more begin to congregate around the host. Nick couldn't get an exact number, but he was guessing around five or six. "Actual, additional targets arrived on first." When they were all together, the host simply turned and walked away, leading the others with him back in the direction of the lake.  "They are withdrawing." After a few moments of deliberation, Nick spoke again. "High alert. They were testing the line."