<div style="text-align: justify;">Ashley knew she couldn’t stay where she was for long, so she took a long, shuddering breath, trying to calm herself down and think clearly.  Hands trembling, she wiped the tears from her eyes and quickly peeked around the carnage to the street, searching for any other threats.  Long moments passed before she felt satisfied she could neither see nor hear anything coming any closer, but eventually those she killed would be discovered and she knew she couldn’t be here when their reinforcements arrived.<br/> <br/>Taking deep breaths, she closed her eyes and silently prayed for guidance.  As she did, a soft static sounded in her ear, soon followed by a gruff, no-nonsense male voice.  “PFC Foster, this is Sierra zero one six one.  Turn to TACCOM frequency two five nine and await instructions.  Over.”  It cut out for a moment before repeating the command once more then was silent.  <br/> <br/>Her heart leaping into her throat, hope rose within the young woman as she quickly pulled the COM pad from her pocket, switching to the given frequency.  “This is PFC Ashley Foster and I am so glad to hear your voice,” she began, her voice sounding a little shaken even to her ears.  She swallowed once and glanced at her pad once more to note her location.  “I’m at 51st and Lexington, but I don’t think it’s safe here much longer.”<br/> <br/>Sighing, Ashley again pocketed her COM pad and, once again clearing the way, slipped into the back of the shop.  Pressing her ear to the door, she didn’t hear anything, so she opened it just a crack, trying to be as quiet as possible.  Glancing into the room, she saw the typical back-of-the-shop room complete with a small desk and lots of storage boxes.  <br/> <br/>Beyond that was another door that she repeated the same precautions with and noted it stepped out into a back alley.  With an escape route on either side, she settled in for the moment and kept her ears peeled for both covenant enemies and for instructions from the man at the other end of the com.</div>