THE SHEPHERD'S SECRET
1148 Words
The Shepherd sat in a chair in the interrogation cave, his hands bound, his face bruised. His cold eyes followed Elliot as he walked around the table.
"You've caused me a great deal of trouble," the Shepherd said.
"You started a war."
"I started a revolution."
Elliot sat across from him. "Where are the other militias? The other cells?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
The Shepherd smiled. "I'm not. The cells are autonomous. They don't report to me anymore. They report to someone else."
"Who?"
"The Dark Shepherd."
Elliot's blood ran cold. "There's another one?"
"There's always another one. The movement doesn't depend on one person. It depends on an idea. And ideas don't die."
Frank pulled Elliot aside.
"The Dark Shepherd. I've heard that name before. He's a legend among the militias. No one knows who he is."
"Then we find out."
"How?"
Adam spoke through the earpiece. "I've been tracking the militia's communications. The Dark Shepherd's messages are encrypted with a code I've never seen."
"Can you break it?"
"Maybe. But it will take time."
"We don't have time."
The attacks continued.
Explosions in the cities. Gunfire at copy shelters. People dying.
Elliot listened to the reports, his heart heavy.
"How many?" he asked.
Adam's voice was grim. "Over two hundred dead. Thousands wounded."
"Copies?"
"Mostly. Some humans who were helping copies."
Elliot's hands curled into fists. "We need to stop this."
"How? We don't know where the next attack will be."
"Then we protect the copies we have. Bring them here."
"There are thousands of copies, Elliot. We can't bring them all here."
"Then we bring as many as we can."
The evacuation continued.
Vans fanned out across the country, picking up copies from shelters, from cities, from hiding.
Elliot coordinated from the command center, his eyes on the map.
"Adam, where's the next attack?"
"I don't know. The Dark Shepherd's communications have gone silent."
"That means he's planning something big."
"I know."
The attack came at dawn.
Not at a shelter. Not at a city.
At the cave.
Elliot felt the explosion through his feet. The ground shook. Dust fell from the ceiling.
"Mortars," Frank shouted. "From the ridge."
"Who?"
"The Dark Shepherd."
The copies gathered in the main cavern.
Fear was thick in the air. Children cried. Adults whispered.
Elliot stood at the front. "We're under attack. The Dark Shepherd has found us. But we're not going to run."
David spoke. "What are we going to do?"
"We're going to fight. And we're going to win."
Frank led a team to the ridge.
Elliot followed, his rifle raised. The sun was bright, casting long shadows across the rocks.
"There," Frank said, pointing to a cluster of figures on the mountain.
Elliot raised his scope. Armed men. Dozens of them.
"The Dark Shepherd's people."
"They found us."
"Then we make them regret it."
The battle was brutal.
Elliot fired until his rifle clicked empty. Frank covered him while he reloaded. Marcus held the left flank.
"How many?" Elliot shouted.
"Too many," Frank replied.
"We need reinforcements."
"Adam, send everyone."
"On their way."
David's team arrived first.
Then Maria's. Then Lily's.
The militia was pushed back.
"Keep firing," Elliot shouted.
The militia broke.
They ran.
The Dark Shepherd's people retreated into the mountains.
Elliot stood on the ridge, watching them go.
Frank walked up beside him. "They'll be back."
"I know."
"We need to find the Dark Shepherd. Cut off the head."
"Adam, where's his headquarters?"
"I don't know. But I'm working on it."
The days that followed were tense.
Elliot moved the copies deeper into the caves. Sentries were posted at every entrance. Patrols swept the canyon every hour.
Daphne found him in the command center, staring at the map.
"You're not sleeping," she said.
"I can't."
"The children are scared. They need you."
"I need to protect them."
"By burning yourself out?"
Elliot was silent.
Daphne took his hand. "You're not alone. Let us help."
The breakthrough came on the third day.
Adam cracked the Dark Shepherd's encryption. "His headquarters is in an old military bunker. About three hundred miles from here."
"How many people?"
"Dozens. Maybe more."
Elliot studied the map. "We hit him fast. Hard. Before he knows we're coming."
The mission took two days to plan.
Elliot led the team. Frank covered the rear. Marcus handled security.
The bunker was hidden in a forest, surrounded by trees.
Elliot lay on the ridge, watching through his scope.
"Guards at every entrance," Frank said. "At least thirty."
"We go in at night."
The attack began at midnight.
Elliot's team moved through the darkness, silent, deadly.
Guards fell. Doors opened.
The Dark Shepherd was in the main room, surrounded by his lieutenants.
Elliot kicked the door open. "Nobody move."
The Dark Shepherd turned.
He was old—maybe seventy. Gray hair. Cold eyes. He wore a black uniform, no insignia.
"You're Elliot Reed," the Dark Shepherd said.
"And you're the Dark Shepherd."
"A name they gave me. Not one I chose."
Elliot raised his rifle. "Call off the attacks."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because they're not listening to me anymore."
"Then who?"
The Dark Shepherd smiled. "Someone else. Someone worse."
Elliot's finger tightened on the trigger. "I'm tired of this game."
"It's not a game. It's a war. And wars don't end because one person dies."
"Then what ends them?"
"When one side is destroyed."
Elliot lowered his rifle. "Then we'll destroy you."
"You can try."
The Dark Shepherd pressed a button on his wrist.
The bunker shook. Dust fell from the ceiling.
"What did you do?" Elliot shouted.
"I activated the self-destruct. We have ten minutes."
Frank grabbed Elliot's arm. "We need to go."
Elliot looked at the Dark Shepherd. "You'll die too."
"I know."
"Why?"
"Because I'd rather die on my own terms than rot in a cell."
They ran.
The bunker collapsed behind them.
Elliot stood in the forest, watching the flames.
Frank walked up beside him. "He's gone."
"The Dark Shepherd is gone. But the movement isn't."
"We'll find them."
"How?"
"One by one."
The trip back was quiet.
Elliot sat in the van, staring out the window. Frank drove.
The base was quiet when they returned.
Daphne met him at the entrance. "You're alive."
"Barely."
"The attacks?"
"Stopped. For now."
Daphne hugged him. "It's over."
"It's not over. It will never be over."
"But today, we won."
Elliot nodded. "Today, we won."
That night, Elliot dreamed of the garden.
Echo was there, sitting on the bench beneath the tree.
"You did it," Echo said.
"We did it."
"You stopped the Dark Shepherd."
"He killed himself."
Echo smiled. "That's a kind of victory."
Elliot sat beside him. "Will it ever end?"
"No. But that's okay."
"Why?"
"Because you're not alone."
Echo put a hand on his shoulder.
Elliot closed his eyes.
When he opened them, the garden was gone.
- Writer
