I'll go and talk to Jennifer.

“I’ll do it, even though all you want to do is stick with the dog.”

Your attempt to soften the situation falls flat, and all she does is glare at you before giving you a direct order. “Go. Now.”

You scramble off, pushing through the fair-goers while getting to the main tent. You made it there and inside without incident, which didn’t surprise you too much. You weren’t expecting a full invasion anyway, perhaps a few winged shots from beyond the fence, but nothing on a larger scale.

You run into a few of the standard circus guards; the ones with nice armor and look like hygiene are on a daily “to-do” list. Clean, shaved, sharp, and exercised. A man with blonde hair looks at you as you push through the canvas flaps.

“Contractor,” he says as he approaches. “Is there a problem?”

“There might be,” you tell him. “We had a run-in with some unsavory types trying to set camp outside town. About 10 to 15 minutes out? Scarlet dispatched me and the other contractors to investigate, and we ‘disposed’ of them…’”

The man’s expression shifted. The news was far from perfect, especially with the main event of the circus nearing the due date. “So, you’re here for Jennifer?”

“Yeah,” you nod. “Scarlet sent me so she can keep tabs on everything.”

He nods. “That’s fair. Follow me, I’ll bring you to her. I’m the head of the standard security, so what else can you tell me about this run-in? How big’s the threat? What’s the danger here?”

“Currently, the danger doesn’t seem drastic, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Once these guys start popping up, it typically doesn’t stop until you give them a decent enough reason to stop showing up.”

The blonde man chuckles slightly, but it sounds somewhat forced. He likely has experience dealing with all types of raiders, organized or not. “Or sometimes they don’t, and it’s a slugfest that forces us to hire more bodies to conduct a small-time war on whoever is the shotcaller.”

“Shot caller, huh?” You and the guard enter a corridor in the back. There are a lot more people here chatting and carrying on with the typical business. “Is that what Jennifer is? I feel like news like this ought to be going to be going to someone more… important. No offense, but isn’t she just a performer?”

“Jennifer is important,” the man explains. “But if you’ll learn more about her sooner or later. I’ll radio out my men to help the other contractors. Scarlet out there?” He’s led you to a wooden door with the word “staff” written on the front. You haven’t been here before, but he knocks twice as he speaks.

“With the dog, yes. You can’t miss her.”

“She’s already hard to miss, but the dog helps,” the man has a present smile on his face before he turns away. “Thanks, Warren. I liked how your papers looked; you haven’t disappointed any of us in the reg so far. So, keep it up.”

“Right,” you say under a breath as you step inside. “Just a gig is all. But I’m glad to be making the client happy.”

Jennifer is spotted immediately on the other side. Just as the guard had mentioned Scarlet being hard to miss, Jennifer was, by all accounts, beautiful. This time, she wasn’t in any circus outfit but was in shorts with black leggings and a gray hoodie, complimenting her bunned hair. She smiled slightly when your eyes met, and she leaned back.

The area was an empty office-looking space with desks, typewriters, stacks of paper, and other notes pinned along the walls. Because of the small room, there were only three desks, one on each side of the wall 8 feet apart. There aren’t any windows, so all the light is from several linear bulbs.

“Warren,” she said. “Pleasure seeing you tonight. I heard there might have been some concern?”

You knit your brows. “No one’s told you what’s happened?”

“Not exactly… Just that there was some concern over the area's security is all.”

“Some?”

Jennifer nods, crossing her legs as she pushes away from a desk. “Yes. Just some. Is it more… concerning?”

Honestly, you didn’t want to make it sound more severe than it was, but you also didn’t want to downplay the possibility of there being more trouble on the way. “A few other contractors and I were dispatched outside the fence line to investigate a strange light source. We found raiders.”

Jennifer stared. “And?”

“We dusted them, but there were only a handful. I’m confident there are more somewhere out in the desert. There always are.”

She slumped forward and sighed as she gestured at one of the other chairs, signaling you have to take a seat. You do. “So, what does Scarlet want to do? She’s the head of the sub-contracted security. You’re here so that probably means you both share common strategies. She spoke highly enough of you already.”

You briefly wonder why Scarlet put you out there as much as she has but can’t afford to dwell long on the thought. Jennifer’s guess was probably close enough to the truth anyway. “We should have the contractors, myself included, run routine patrols outside the fence and conduct independent operations as need be.”

She makes a face and looks away. “Are you sure? That sounds dangerous.”

“Of course,” you try not to make a face in return. This was the job of everyone hired. “A minimum of 3 times a day. Morning, noon, and night.”

Jennifer looks back and grabs a pad and pen. The sound of the pen clicking is loud beneath the hollowed noises of the fair outside the walls. “How would you split up the teams?”

“For the morning. Sevens, Softspot, and Fifth-Finger will go out. 6 in the morning until 10.”

Jennifer jots down the team. Her handwriting is elegant and wavy, even from where you are sitting. “At noon?”

“Half-Gob and Scarlet will run the noon team. 12 o’clock to 4, ” you say. Jennifer writes that down in the same style you picked up on.

“I’ll conduct the night patrol alone,” you say. “If anyone wants, they can tag along, but I can do it alone.”

“Are you sure? You can take the dog with you.”

“Bones? No, I’ll be fine,” you reply, almost nervous.

"Take the canine with you," she says.

The background thought of Bones getting hurt while you’re in the field doesn’t feel right with you, especially since Scarlet would probably rip your throat out if he gets injured. “Just anyone who wants to go. I don't need the dog. Last patrol will be conducted later... Let's say 6 o'clock to 1 in the morning."

Jennifer hesitantly writes you down for the night patrol and nods. “I’ll see if I can get you some extra equipment for these patrols then. Is there anything you’ll need for sure?”

“Water and radios. We might go far. We’ll all go out tomorrow morning and work out our boundaries.”

Jennifer places the notepad down with a soft gaze. “Alright. Well. What else can you tell me?”

“The people we dusted didn’t have any signs of being super organized, but I don’t need to tell you how dangerous that could still be. If they figure out what’s happened, they might turn to try to get revenge on their pals.”

“No symbols, flags, or anything?” Jennifer inquired. You shook your head. “Good. Then we can all hope and pray that this is as far as this goes.”

A quiet moment builds, and soon, it’s just you and Jennifer bathing in the glow of the electric light above and the sounds of the world outside. It’s business as usual, and your radio hasn’t chimed since you came in.