The Burning Town
1729 Words
The town below was called Oak Ridge.
Marcus had never heard of it. Now he would never forget it. Smoke rose from a dozen buildings. Cars were crashed into storefronts. People wandered the streets with blank faces, their memories erased, their lives stolen.
Kirk landed the helicopter in a field outside the town. The rotors slowed. The silence was worse than the noise.
“How many people?” Marcus asked.
“The last census said three thousand,” Kirk replied.
“How many are affected?”
“I don't know. But we're about to find out.”
---
They walked into the town.
The main street was chaos. A woman sat on the curb, staring at nothing. A man stood in the middle of the road, his hands at his sides, his eyes empty. A child cried for a mother who didn't recognize her.
Marcus knelt beside the woman. “What's your name?”
She looked at him. “I don't know.”
“Where do you live?”
“I don't know.”
Claire touched Marcus's arm. “She's been erased. The code.”
“But the code is dormant. The trigger is destroyed.”
“Not all of them.”
Marcus stood up. He called Kay. “The town of Oak Ridge. Someone activated the code here. Thousands of people affected.”
Kay's voice was tight. “I'm seeing the signals. They're coming from a source in the town. A building on the north side.”
“What building?”
“The old church.”
---
The church was stone, centuries old. The door was open.
Marcus walked inside. Damian flanked left. Claire flanked right.
A man stood at the altar. Young. Thirties. Dark hair. A device in his hand.
“Welcome, Marcus Cole.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Daniel. I'm the one who's been activating the fragments. The one who's been finishing what Silas started.”
“Why?”
“Because I believe in a world without memory. Without pain. Without the weight of the past.”
Marcus stepped closer. “You're destroying lives.”
“I'm freeing them.”
Daniel raised the device. “This trigger activates every remaining fragment. Every sleeper. Every rewritten soldier. Everywhere.”
“You'll kill millions.”
“I'll free millions.”
Marcus lunged.
Daniel pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
He pressed it again.
Nothing.
Kay's voice came through the earpiece. “I disabled it. Remotely. The fragments are dormant.”
Daniel stared at the device. “How?”
“Because I'm better than you.”
Marcus grabbed Daniel. “It's over.”
Daniel laughed. “You think I'm the only one? There are dozens of us. Scattered across the country. Waiting for the signal.”
“What signal?”
“The one that will come when I don't check in. Every hour. On the hour. If I miss it, they all activate.”
Marcus looked at Kay. “Can you stop them?”
“Not from here. I need access to their network.”
“Where is it?”
“I don't know. But he does.”
Marcus turned to Daniel. “Talk.”
“No.”
Damian stepped forward. He grabbed Daniel's arm and twisted.
Daniel screamed. “Okay! Okay! The network is in a facility outside Chicago. An old Aegis site. The coordinates are in my phone.”
Marcus took the phone. Handed it to Kay.
“Is this real?”
Kay typed. “It's real. I'm sending a shutdown signal now.”
The device in Daniel's hand went dark.
“The fragments are dormant,” Kay said. “Permanently.”
Daniel slumped against the altar.
---
Marcus walked outside.
The town was still burning. The people were still blank.
But the code was dead.
Claire came up beside him. “We need to help them.”
“The vaccine. Elena can administer it.”
“That's thousands of people.”
“Then we start now.”
---
Marcus called Elena.
She arrived by helicopter within hours. Her team set up a clinic in the town square.
One by one, the people of Oak Ridge began to remember.
The woman on the curb opened her eyes. “My name is Margaret. I live on Maple Street. I have a husband. Two children.”
Marcus helped her stand. “Go find them.”
She walked away.
Claire watched her go. “You saved her.”
“We saved her.”
---
Daniel was taken into custody.
Marcus stood in the church, looking at the altar.
Kirk came up beside him. “You did good.”
“Not good enough. There are dozens more like him. Scattered across the country.”
“We'll find them.”
“How?”
“The same way we found him. One by one.”
Marcus walked out of the church.
---
They flew back to the farmhouse that night.
Catherine was waiting on the porch.
“You're back.”
“I'm back.”
“The town?”
“Healing.”
She hugged him. “I'm proud of you.”
Marcus pulled back. “I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“The traitor wasn't just Reyes. There are others. People inside the government. Inside the military. Inside the FBI. They've been protecting the fragments. Funding them.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Daniel told me. Before he was arrested. He gave me names.”
Marcus pulled a list from his pocket.
Catherine read it. Her face went pale.
“These are powerful people.”
“I know.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I'm going to expose them.”
---
The next morning, Marcus called Senator Moray.
“I have a list. Names of people who've been protecting the fragments. Funding them. Hiding them.”
Moray was silent for a moment. “Send it to me.”
“I'll send it to the president.”
“Marcus, if you send that list to the president, you'll make enemies of everyone on it.”
“They're already my enemies.”
“They'll come after you.”
“They can try.”
Marcus sent the list.
---
The reaction was immediate.
Within hours, Marcus received death threats. Lawyers called. Politicians denounced him.
Claire watched the news with him. “You started a war.”
“They started it. I'm just finishing it.”
The president called at noon.
“Your list is accurate. I've already arrested three of the names. The others are being investigated.”
“Thank you.”
“Don't thank me. Thank the people who are still fighting.”
The line went dead.
---
That evening, Marcus sat on the porch.
The roses were blooming. The garden was quiet.
Catherine brought him a glass of wine.
“You're thinking about the future.”
“I'm thinking about the past. All the people we couldn't save.”
“You saved a lot.”
“Not enough.”
She sat beside him. “It will never be enough. But it's something.”
Marcus looked at the stars.
“It's something.”
---
His phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
“The list is out. The arrests are being made. You've done it, Marcus. The fragments are gone. The code is dead. The enemy is in prison.”
Marcus typed back: “Who is this?”
“Someone who's been watching. Someone who's proud of you. Someone who hopes you finally find peace.”
“Will you ever tell me who you are?”
“I already have. I'm your past. I'm your future. I'm the one who will always be watching.”
Marcus put the phone away.
Catherine looked at him. “What was that?”
“The texter. Still anonymous.”
“Do you trust them?”
“I trust that they want the same thing I do. The code dead. The criminals in prison. The innocent protected.”
“That's enough.”
“For now.”
---
The next day, Marcus received a visitor.
Not a politician. Not a journalist.
A woman he had never seen before. Young. Dark hair. Tired eyes.
“Marcus Cole?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Emma. I'm Daniel's sister. I want to help you.”
Marcus stepped aside. “Come in.”
---
Emma sat at the kitchen table.
“My brother was wrong. What he did was wrong. But he wasn't the only one. There are others. People who believe like him. People who are still out there.”
“How many?”
“Dozens. Maybe more. They have their own network. Their own funding. Their own plans.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want to stop them. Before they hurt more people.”
Marcus looked at Claire. She nodded.
“We'll help you.”
---
They worked through the night.
Emma provided names. Locations. Dates.
Kay verified everything.
“She's telling the truth,” Kay said. “There's a cell in Chicago. Another in Los Angeles. Another in New York.”
“How do we stop them?”
“We arrest them. All at once. Before they can communicate.”
Marcus called Agent Reyes's replacement. A woman named Director Park.
“I have a list. Names of people planning to activate the remaining fragments.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I have a source.”
Director Park was silent for a moment. “Send me the list.”
Marcus sent it.
---
The arrests happened at dawn.
Dozens of people across the country were taken into custody.
The fragments were secured. The code was dormant.
Marcus watched the news from the farmhouse.
Claire sat beside him. “It's really over.”
“For now.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it keeps being true.”
---
That night, Marcus walked through the garden.
The roses were blooming. The moon was bright.
Catherine was sitting on the bench by the roses.
“You're thinking about leaving again.”
“I'm thinking about staying.”
“Which one scares you more?”
“Staying.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know how to be still.”
She patted the bench beside her. “Then learn.”
Marcus sat.
They watched the moon rise.
- Writer
