Sector D did not quiet after the coup broke
it shifted.
The tension didn’t disappear; it changed direction like water rerouted through a new riverbed.
Officers rushed to stabilize hallways.
Engineers sprinted to seal overheating conduits.
Civilians whispered urgently, glancing toward me with a mixture of fear, confusion, awe and something deeper.
Hope.
Dangerous, fragile hope.
Halverson climbed onto a crate in the center of the sector.
“Everyone listen!”
The crowd turned.
“We have seventeen days to move ten thousand people across contested land,” he barked. “The coup isn’t done. The Path still holds Sections F, H, and the East Barracks. And the Tower knows where we are.”
Murmurs.
Nervous shifting.
Glances toward the ceiling like something might break through it.
Halverson p
