Elias, a seasoned senior sanctuary expert, was halfway through his late-afternoon patrol when he spotted it: a tight, swirling vortex of dust rising against the horizon, well off the main path. It was too small for a storm and too localized for a stampede. Frowning, he reached for his radio to report his position and intended route.
“Base, this is Elias. I’ve got unusual activity near Sector 4. Checking it out now.” He waited for the standard confirmation, but the speaker only gave back a sharp, distorted, broken audio. He frowned, tapping the receiver against his palm. “Base, come in? Signal’s breaking up. I’m moving to investigate.”
He assumed it was just a dead spot in the savanna, a common nuisance in this rugged terrain, but the persistent, low-frequency static in his ear put him on edge. The savanna was usually vibrant with the calls of birds and the rustle of life, but as he pulled his truck off the road, the world around him went unnervingly quiet. He was driving into a pocket of absolute silence.