e choice of
battle setting. If that happened, Mayfield might be a huge inferno by
midnight. They had to seize the initiative from the invaders.

He called his companions and told them how it looked. They agreed. "What
can we do?" a tired, middle-aged man asked.

"We've got to take the initiative before they come at us again." Ken
glanced at the sky. "Within an hour it may be snowing hard. That will
make it more difficult to hit a target. When daylight is almost gone
we'll attack them instead of waiting for them to come after us. It can
be done if we hit hard and fast enough. We'll lose some men, but not as
many as if we wait and let them pick us off with their grenades and
incendiaries as they feel like it."

The men considered it dubiously. "We've got a better chance to hit them
as they break from cover," someone suggested.

"Not after dark, and that's what they're waiting for. They'll burn our
houses and drive us back all night long if we give them the chance. We
must not give it to them!"

Reluctant nods of agreement came from his group. "The way you put it, I
guess it's the only chance we've got," the former objector agreed.

"I'll talk with the other groups," Ken said.

He moved down the stairs and out the back door of the house. The space
between the two houses was entirely open. He flung himself down and
crawled. Twice, he heard the whine of bullets above his head.

After heated argument, the group in the next house agreed to the plan to
rush the invaders. He moved on down the block, regretting his own lack
of authority that made it necessary for him to have to plead for
co-operation. He wondered what was happening in the rest of the town.
There had been gunfire all day, but it seemed incredible there had been
no communication from any other sector or any evidence of command. No
one he talked to had any idea what had happened to their command. There
had been some in the beginning, but it had simply seemed to vanish.
Ken's pleading for co-operation in an attack was the nearest thing to
leadership they had seen for hours.

The snow was swirling hard and the sun was almost beyond the hills, what
little of it was visible in the clouds. It was getting as dark as he
dared allow before giving the signal for attack, but there was one more
group to contact. He debated and decided to go to them.

Then, as he entered the rear of the house, he heard the cries of alarm
from those houses he had been to. The invaders