Chapter 12 - The Sat-Com Broadcast
The small green screen of the satellite communicator flickered to life, casting an eerie glow across Elena’s pale, soot-stained face. The device chirped twice before a harsh, static-filled voice crackled through the built-in speaker.
“This is Command. Status report. Target secured?”
Elena looked up at David and Michael, her eyes burning with a desperate, manic resolve. She pressed the transmission button down hard with her thumb.
"The targets are mobile, Command," Elena spoke into the receiver, perfectly mimicking the modulated, mechanical tone of the operatives they had just fought. "We have secured the older woman, but the brothers and the child have breached the lower service tunnels toward Sector Four. We need immediate reinforcement at the old logging bridge."
A heavy silence hung on the other end of the line for three agonizing seconds.
“Negative, Delta Team. Sector Four is locked down. If the targets reach the bridge, deploy the secondary contingency. No witnesses. Let the river handle the evidence.”
The transmission clicked dead, leaving only the hum of static in the damp root cellar.
David let out a harsh, bitter breath, lowering the assault rifle slightly. "The logging bridge. They’re going to blow it the second we step onto the timber. They aren't trying to capture us anymore—they’re erasing the entire property line."
"Then we don't go to the bridge," Michael said firmly, tightening his grip on Lily as she buried her face in his shoulder, shivering from the biting cold. "We head straight toward the federal highway. It's half a mile through the dense timber, but it's the only way out without running into their kill zone."
"The timber is crawling with thermal drones," Elena warned, pointing toward the open grate above. As if on cue, a faint, high-pitched mechanical whirring sound echoed across the night sky, accompanied by the dull red blink of a thermal scanning camera sweeping back and forth over the snow-covered canopy.
"Then we move fast, and we use the dense pine cover," David said, racking the bolt of the assault rifle. He hoisted the heavy weapon over his shoulder, checking the hallway behind them. "If anyone gets spotted, the rest of us keep running. No stopping, no looking back. Understood?"
Michael nodded grimly, his heart hammering against his ribs. He looked down at his daughter, whispering a silent prayer that they would make it out of this nightmare alive.
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With a final, desperate look back at the dark, forgotten root cellar, David pushed open the creaking side door of the barn, leading them out into the freezing, snow-swept wilderness as the red eye of the drone swept closer overhead.
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