Chapter 11: Return
265 Words
The door to the bunker creaked shut behind them. Mira tossed her pack onto the table, her breath short but controlled. Daine locked the door, then headed to the comm side of the wall the radar console was dimly lit, but still responsive.
Mira pulled out the portable drive and slotted it into the old port. “Photos are clear. Bags. Markings. That green topped box was military grade.”
Daine nodded grimly. “And the timers. Definitely shipment preps.”
He began typing.
No visuals could be transmitted, but the radar burst could handle compressed text and low-res image files — barely.
He selected what mattered:
Photos of the drug stash.
Coordinates.
Time-stamp.
Code string: Illicit cargo confirmed. Military tags. Risk of internal breach.
“Sending,” he said.
The radar buzzed low, then flashed green.
“We’re still in the net,” he murmured.
Mira let out a breath not relief, just a notch less tension. “At least something got through.”
Later That Night
The wind outside howled faintly through the vents. Inside, Daine was sharpening a blade, Mira tying her hair back with a scrap of cord. It had been hours, but neither slept.
“We need to move again,” she said.
Daine nodded. “They’ll bury the stash once they realize.”
“And we can’t lose trail on those tracks either.”
He looked up at her. “We stick close.
Mira nodes “Always.”
A quiet agreement not just about the mission.
The fear of losing each other lingered. Neither said it. Both felt it.
- Writer
