Identification and Line Extension

Once the sky had fully brightened, the people on the embankment put away the lamps used during the night, leaving only one spare at the crossroads. The straight line they had marked out last night was still there. The pale hard surface ran all the way from the city gate toward the Waste Yard, undamaged by the early wind. Morel raised the curtain edge to the proper height, letting the wind pass out through the top of the shelter. After checking the water temperature and equipment, he clearly laid out the day's tasks: first recheck everything bagged last night, then extend the line to the East Fork work shed. If nothing new came up along the way, they would send people to the North Fork for an initial inspection in the afternoon. Knov nodded and led Knuckle, Shoot, two appraisers, and the outside helpers out of the shelter. Linas followed last with the equipment bag on her back. Ryan stayed beside the shelter entrance as usual, guarding the straight line between the approach and the vehicle space. Whenever anyone passed, he made them give way by half a step, keeping the passage clear.

When they reached the roadblock, the wind slipped through the creases in the sheet metal, making a somewhat muffled sound. The "camera corner," "scorched-black cartridge case," "casing fragment," and "plastic-sealed paper edge" bagged last night were laid out one by one on the pale hard surface. The appraisers put on fresh gloves and examined them again against their numbers. The angle of deformation at the cartridge case mouth matched the polished scrape inside the sheet-metal corner, so they recorded, "Direction consistent." The reflective coating on the "camera corner" resembled the thin flake at the base of the Warehouse Cluster wall, so they noted, "Possibly same type; compare