The air in the Pentagon's emergency war room was a stale mix of cold coffee, sweat, and the sharp, clean scent of polished electronics. General Richard McCall stood before the massive central holographic display, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. On the screen, the city of Los Angeles was a patchwork of normalcy and nightmare. Green zones marked areas still under nominal control. Vast swathes of the city, however, were painted a pulsing, alarming red—the occupied zones where the hunger entities had solidified their presence. The most concentrated red blob glowed over what was once downtown.
"General, we have confirmation. The… things… are densely clustered in the primary red zone. Thermal is useless, but the new emotional resonance scanners show them packed in there like sardines. A perfect target." A young colonel, his voice too bright with nervous energy, pointed at the screen.
