I should sleep. Tomorrow's going to require everything I have.
But sleep feels impossible with adrenaline still humming through my system and thoughts circling around what Cara said. What we're asking of Traci. What it might cost her to relive her captivity in enough detail to identify the man running the network.
I'm still awake when midnight comes and goes, thoughts circling, when the alarm screams through the compound.
Different from earlier. Longer, more urgent. Not just perimeter sensors. This is proximity alert. Someone close to the compound.
I'm moving before thought catches up. Out of the infirmary, down the hallway toward Traci's room. She's already awake, the door unlocked, eyes wide with fear.
"Come with me. We're going to the reinforced storage room."
She grabs her backpack, follows without question. We make it to the steel-walled room Finn uses for ammunition and emergency supplies as gunfire erupts outside. Not the distant pop of reconnaissance. This is close. Sustained. Multiple weapons exchanging fire.
The contractors came back. Not to probe this time. To test defenses with actual force.
I lock the heavy door behind us. The walls are reinforced steel, designed to stop small arms fire. We're as secure as possible while those outside handle the threat.
Traci's breathing goes shallow, pupils dilating—panic setting in.
"Look at me." I keep my voice steady despite my own racing pulse. "We're safe in here. Your uncle and the others know what they're doing. Our job is to stay put and breathe."
More gunfire. Closer now. The contractors have advanced past the outer perimeter.
Traci pulls out her notebook with shaking hands. Writes:
Are they going to kill them?
"Your uncle's not going to let that happen."
What if they get killed?
The fear underneath the question is pure. She's already lost everyone. Can't bear to lose the few people she's starting to trust.
"They're trained for this. All of them. Military backgrounds, tactical experience. They know how to defend a position." I move closer. "Let’s breathe together. In for four. Hold for four. Out for four."
She follows my lead. Shaky at first but finding rhythm. We breathe through sustained gunfire. Through what sounds like grenades or flashbangs. Through shouted commands I can't quite make out.
Then silence. Sudden and absolute.
Traci's eyes go wide. Is it over? Did the contractors breach? Are Eli and the others still alive?
Footsteps in the hallway. Deliberate, purposeful. Someone who knows where we are.
A knock. "Helena. It's me."
Eli's voice. I unlock the door.
He's there in full tactical gear. Blood on his sleeve but he's moving normally. Rifle in hand, expression carefully blank but adrenaline still running hot underneath.
"Secure. They withdrew. I hit a couple of them. Non-fatal wounds based on how they moved during retreat. We drove them back."
Relief floods through me so hard I nearly sag against the doorframe. "You're okay?"
"I'm fine. Finn took a graze to the shoulder but it's minor. Cara's fine." His eyes track to Traci. "You did good. Stayed where you were supposed to, didn't panic. That's exactly what I needed you to do."
Traci writes:
I was scared.
