Chapter 7
The video played on.
Elena coughing.
Max whining.
Survivors crying.
The ceiling groaning.
Then Elena found the final group.
Eight people trapped behind a collapsed wall.
One of them was the base chaplain.
Another was an injured cook.
Two were maintenance workers.
Three were soldiers.
And one was a teenage boy visiting his older brother for family day.
Elena’s voice cracked.
“Max, find the exit.”
Max disappeared into smoke.
Seconds later, his bark echoed from the left.
Elena pulled people one by one through a narrow service corridor as fire rolled across the ceiling behind them.
The last person through was the teenage boy.
The moment Elena pushed him out, the corridor behind her collapsed in flames.
The footage went black for three seconds.
Someone in the yard gasped.
Then the camera came back.
Elena was on the floor.
Max was licking her face.
Her voice was barely audible.
“Good boy.”
The footage ended.
No one moved.
Forty-seven survivors were alive because she had disobeyed.
And everyone now knew exactly why Dane had wanted her silenced.
General Whitaker took the tablet from the technician.
He looked at Elena.
“Staff Sergeant Cross, did Colonel Dane order you to ignore civilians trapped in an active fire?”
Elena swallowed.
“Yes, sir.”
“Did he order you to turn off your K9 camera?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you know about the chemical storage in that wing before entering?”
“No, sir.”
Whitaker turned to Dane.
May you like
“Colonel Victor Dane, you are relieved of command effective immediately.”
Read Part 8 to see what Dane had been hiding for six months.
