Chapter 6: The Missing Soldier
We drove for nearly an hour without speaking.
Rain began tapping against the windshield.
Rex lay quietly in the back.
Daniel sat beside me, wrapped in a blanket I'd found in the truck.
Every few minutes, he checked the side mirror.
“Are they following us?””
“I don't see anyone.””
“They won't follow.””
“Why?””
“Because they know where we're going.””
I looked at him.
“Where?””
Daniel pointed toward the highway.
“Old Hollow Creek.””
I frowned.
“There's nothing there.””
“There used to be.””
“What?””
“A research facility.””
I stared at him.
“Sentinel.””
He nodded.
“Abandoned six years ago.””
“Then why go there?””
“Because Mason is there.””
I nearly missed the turn.
“What?””
“He's been there for years.””
“How?””
“I don't know.””
“You just said he was there.””
“I said I believe he is.””
I slowed down.
“You've been hiding him.””
Daniel looked at me.
“Not from Kane.””
“From who?””
“You.””
I slammed the brakes.
Rex lifted his head.
Rain hammered the windshield.
“Start talking.””
Daniel swallowed.
“When the convoy was attacked, you were badly injured.””
“I know.””
“No. You don't.””
He stared at me.
“You weren't supposed to survive.””
I said nothing.
“Mason carried you out.””
“What?””
“He carried you nearly half a mile.””
My hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Then why don't I remember?””
“Because you were unconscious.””
“Then how do you know?””
“I was there.””
I turned toward him.
“You were supposed to be dead too.””
“I was.””
He nodded toward himself.
“On paper.””
The rain became heavier.
Daniel pulled a key from his pocket.
“That's the access key to Hollow Creek.””
I took it.
“What happened to Mason?””
Daniel looked out the window.
“He discovered that Sentinel wasn't just training animals.””
“What else?””
“They were studying soldiers.””
“For what?””
“Behavioral conditioning.””
My stomach tightened.
“They wanted people who could be manipulated without realizing it.””
I remembered the photograph.
My face beside Mason.
Rex between us.
“What did they do to me?””
Daniel didn't answer.
I looked at him.
“Tell me.””
“They didn't erase your memories.””
He paused.
“They buried them.””
We arrived at Hollow Creek just before midnight.
The facility sat beyond a chain-link fence covered in weeds.
Windows were boarded.
The main entrance hung crooked.
No lights.
No guards.
Nothing.
Yet Rex immediately became alert.
He jumped from the truck.
His nose hit the ground.
Then he started walking.
I followed.
Daniel stayed close behind.
Rex led us through the main corridor.
Past abandoned offices.
Past rusted doors.
Past faded warning signs.
Then he stopped.
A door stood at the end of the hallway.
There was a symbol painted across it.
A snake wrapped around a skull.
The same symbol I'd seen on the Iron Vipers.
Daniel whispered:
“That wasn't a motorcycle club.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“The Iron Vipers were created by former Sentinel personnel.””
My hand tightened around my weapon.
“Why?””
“To protect the people who funded the program.””
Rex scratched the door.
I opened it.
Inside was a control room.
Monitors covered one wall.
Most were dead.
One still worked.
A live feed showed a dimly lit room somewhere underground.
A man sat in a chair.
His back was toward us.
Daniel stopped breathing.
“Mason.””
I stared at the screen.
The man slowly turned his head.
Then he looked directly into the camera.
His face was older.
Scarred.
But unmistakable.
Mason Vale.
He smiled.
The speakers crackled.
“I knew you'd come.””
I stepped toward the monitor.
“Mason.””
His smile disappeared.
“You brought Rex.””
“Where are you?””
“Below you.””
A metallic clank echoed through the facility.
Rex growled.
Mason leaned toward the camera.
“Listen carefully.””
“What?””
“You cannot trust the deputy.””
Daniel looked at me.
Mason continued.
“You cannot trust Kane.””
I waited.
Then Mason said the words that turned my entire world upside down.
“And you absolutely cannot trust yourself.””
The screen went black.
Behind us, a door slammed.
Rex spun around.
Daniel whispered one word.
“Run.””
I turned.
The corridor lights came alive one by one.
At the far end stood the deputy.
His weapon was raised.
And beside him stood a man I had believed was dead for six years.
Mason Vale.
Alive.
May you like
Smiling.
And pointing a gun directly at me.
