"Thin air?"

"Yeah. Back when I was a recruit, they had just shipped me to this base. Back then, the whole area was nicer, with blue skies and green fields and lots of trees. I think that's why they chose to build the asylum a few miles down the road, because we were the only people around for quite a few miles. Occasionally we got called up there when there were riots, though those were few and far between. But one day it showed up right where it is now, and we couldn't figure out how it got there. It wouldn't budge, and we couldn't destroy it. One day, a young private by the name of O'Connor managed to 'turn it on' by slamming his fist against it, and noted it looked like a TV. After he fidgeted with it, he discovered 'buttons' and started flipping through the channels. Eventually he got bored, as it was just static, and turned it off. Two days later, he and two of his bunkmates disappeared. By the end of the week, it was just me and Staff Sgt. Green."

"What happened to them?"

"We didn't know. Their bunks were empty, nicely made up, and in every bed, we found a tiny polished stone, kind of marble-shaped. Sgt. Green decided we should leave the base, but that's when he noticed it was very dusty outside. As he stepped out to get a better look at the road, he saw a man come stumbling in. He helped him sit down and we got him a drink of water. After a few minutes, the man told us of how he had just left the motel down the road when all of the sudden everything got hazy outside. A troop of soldiers came from the direction of our base, running in formation, and all turned into the asylum. All at once, he heard loud screaming and gunfire, and saw a dozen asylum guards come out, carrying large human-sized capsules around to the woods behind the asylum."

"While he was telling us this, the stone turned on, and I swear it was a news show, but with a weird looking anchor. She proceeded to report on how a dangerous inmate escaped earlier from Blackwood Grove, and gave a description just like this man's. We turned to see him pull what looked like a bottle from his shirt, and poured it on himself. All at once, he blew away in a cloud of dust, little bits at a time, and finally disappeared. The anchorwoman then smiled and the stone turned off. The next thing I know, Sgt. Green got up, walked to the door, then backed up and took a running leap into the dust devil that had kicked up, and was gone."

"How did you survive?"

"Well, I freaked out and started to go after him, but I couldn't see anything. As I ran to get a survival pack together, a young man by the name of Barrens came in and said he needed a place to stay," he said, gesturing to a troop who nodded at the mention of his name.