Captain James Taylor laid prone on his stomach in the snow. Gazing off through the storm with a pair of binoculars, he watched the frigid wastes, searching desperately for any movement.
They had travelled hundreds of kilometers north, beyond the habitable zone at the orders of their commanding officer.
During their deep reconnaissance mission, they found multiple cities where, among their ruins people were still surviving, struggling to do so, yes, but were very much alive.
However, these were small settlements, a pocket here, another there. They seemed more interested in leaving to their own, than building something formidable.
James was about to request an early termination of the mission, as the information they received, while valuable, had not proven that any rogue actors north of the line formally established as habitable were capable of becoming a threat.
