Chapter 4
Dane took half a step back.
“General, with respect, this soldier violated my command during an active emergency.”
Whitaker did not blink.
“I know what she did.”
Dane tried to recover.
“She compromised a classified zone.”
“No,” Whitaker said. “She exposed one.”
The words hit the yard like thunder.
Elena stared at the general.
She had never met him before.
But she knew that tone.
It was not confusion.
It was not suspicion.
It was the sound of a man who had already seen enough.
Dane forced a laugh.
“This is absurd.”
General Whitaker turned slightly.
“Staff Sergeant Cross, where is the body camera footage?”
Elena looked down at Max.
“Still on him, sir.”
Max stepped forward like he understood.
An aide knelt beside him and carefully removed the camera from the vest.
Dane’s voice sharpened.
“That footage belongs to my command.”
Whitaker looked at him.
“Not anymore.”
A technician connected the camera to a tablet on the hood of a Humvee.
The screen flickered.
For a moment, there was only smoke.
Then the footage began.
Everyone in the yard heard it.
Fire alarms screaming.
Men shouting.
Max breathing hard.
Elena’s voice over the radio.
“Command, I have civilians trapped in the east wing. Requesting permission to enter.”
Then Dane’s voice.
Cold.
Clear.
May you like
“Negative. Hold position.”
Read Part 5 to hear the order that made every survivor go silent.
