Dirt and Memory
220 Words
📘 Chapter 14: Dirt and Memory
They left the cave before sunrise.
Jay said nothing as he led them through a forgotten mountain pass — steep, narrow, and covered in fog. Lena followed without complaint. She needed to move. To keep her mind from spiralling.
They reached a hidden trailhead by noon. Beneath a crooked pine tree, Jay stopped.
“This is where I met Silas for the last time,” he said.
Lena blinked. “Here?”
He nodded. “Before I disappeared. He gave me a folder. Inside it was your father’s photo. A flight plan. A final order.”
Jay knelt in the dirt and began digging with his hands.
“What are you—”
“I buried it.”
Moments later, he pulled out a rusted metal box. Dirt and time had tried to consume it, but it remained.
He opened it.
Inside: papers, a worn photo of Lena’s father, and a letter with the Halver insignia.
Lena picked it up.
The order was signed. Silas Varek.
The date matched the week before the fire.
Her hands trembled.
“This is proof,” she whispered. “Real proof.”
Jay nodded.
“But we’ll need more. This alone won’t bring them down.”
Lena looked out over the ridge.
“Then we keep digging.”
- Writer
