Roswell is presented as a military garrison preparing to withdraw after a raid that has cost the battalion forty-six men, including General Vorhees. In the aftermath, the camp’s hurried dismantling and the unresolved question of whether to leave show Roswell as a temporary refuge: organized enough to plan a departure, but no longer secure enough to make staying or going an easy choice.

A garrison preparing to leave

By the end of the second day, most food, weapons, equipment, and large tents have been packed. The mess tent remains, along with the camp lights, mostly empty fuel tankers, and a single Humvee. The battalion plans to travel south in two groups: a small scouting party on horseback, led by Alicia, and the rest following in trucks and on foot. Their destination is a rendezvous with the Third Battalion, and the departure window is limited to seventy-two hours.

The losses have also altered the camp’s chain of command. With nearly all squad leaders gone, Greer gives Alicia a battlefield commission, making her Lieutenant Donadio and placing her at the head of the scouting party. The change is practical as well as personal: Roswell’s remaining force must redistribute responsibility before it can move.

Work and care in the camp

The withdrawal is prepared through a division of labor. Peter and Hollis join the packing crews, sorting two large supply tents and transferring what will not travel into dugouts around the compound. Michael spends most of his time in the motor pool and eats with the other oilers; his former name has given way to the nickname Lugnut, marking his absorption into the camp’s working routine.

Greer has ended the order that kept Sara and Amy segregated, reasoning that there is no longer cause to distinguish between them. After the battalion’s two medical corpsmen are killed, Sara takes over care of the wounded, with Amy helping her prepare them for the journey south. Most injuries are described as minor, though one soldier has a broken collarbone and Sancho and Withers are badly burned in the detonation. The medical work makes the camp’s losses concrete while showing how its surviving members adapt to the absence of its trained caregivers.

The unresolved departure

The evacuation weighs on Peter, who has not yet given Greer an answer. Sara, Hollis, Michael, and Amy wait without pressing him; their silence makes clear that his decision matters to the group, even as Peter wonders whether they may simply be avoiding him. What lies ahead is not only the planned move south but the possibility of leaving the garrison’s protection for the mountain.

Greer warns that, with the mine disturbed, the surrounding woods may be crawling with danger. He proposes waiting until the following summer and asking Division to organize a proper expedition, arguing that whatever is on the mountain has been there a long time and can wait another year. Against the battalion’s immediate timetable, that suggestion offers delay rather than certainty: Roswell is being dismantled for departure, while Peter’s choice remains unsettled.