Chapter 14 - The Shadow in the Trees
While the tanks pounded the range below, something caught my eye through the thermal scope—a flicker of movement near the perimeter fence, far away from the designated spectator zones. It wasn't a deer or a stray dog. It was a human figure darting swiftly between the shadow of the pine trees, carrying something heavy.
"Vance," I murmured, lowering my binoculars. "Look at sector four. Near the old supply depot."
Vance swung his thermal monocular toward the coordinates. His expression hardened instantly. "Looks like someone’s trying to sneak into the secondary fuel cache. Could be scavengers, or... could be some of Thorne’s loyalists trying to sabotage the morning inspection."
"Or both," I said, stepping off the viewing platform. "Come with me. Let's go see who's out past curfew."
We moved quickly through the darkness, keeping low behind the earth berms until we reached the perimeter fence. The padlock on the secondary supply gate had been cleanly cut, leaving a shiny silver gap in the rusted chain. Inside the fenced enclosure, a figure in a civilian hoodie was kneeling beside a stack of emergency generator fuel cans, pouring a thick, dark liquid across the gravel base.
Gasoline.
If someone lit a match here during the morning test runs, the entire supply depot would go up in a fireball, taking half the motor pool and a dozen active tanks with it.
May you like
"Don't move," I said, my voice cutting through the night air like a razor.
The figure froze, slowly dropping a red plastic container. As he turned around, the hood slipped back, revealing the sweat-slicked, panicked face of Miller—the very soldier who had tried to chase me away from my stool forty-eight hours ago.
