Chapter 6
The footage jumped from room to room.
Elena carrying a man over her shoulder.
Elena dragging a mother and baby beneath a collapsing beam.
Elena kicking open a storage hatch.
Max finding three soldiers unconscious behind a fallen locker.
Then the video showed something else.
Something no one expected.
A locked steel door at the end of the east wing.
Not a barracks door.
Not a storage closet.
A military-grade reinforced door with fresh burn marks around the frame.
Elena’s breathing slowed.
“What is this?”
On the radio, Dane’s voice exploded.
“Cross, leave that area now.”
Elena did not answer.
Max moved closer to the door.
He sniffed the bottom seam, then backed away and barked hard.
The camera caught a label half-covered by smoke.
CHEMICAL SUPPLY HOLDING.
A young lieutenant standing near the ambulances whispered, “Oh my God.”
The footage continued.
Elena turned the camera toward rows of leaking containers.
Some were marked as expired.
Some were stacked under broken sprinklers.
Some had labels scratched off.
The fire had not started in the barracks.
It had spread from that room.
Dane spoke over the radio again.
This time, his voice was different.
Panicked.
“Cross. Turn that camera off.”
The yard seemed to stop breathing.
General Whitaker slowly looked at Dane.
May you like
Dane said nothing.
Read Part 7 to see why Dane wanted Elena silenced before anyone saw the truth.
