The Hunted
1477 Words
The cabin door slammed shut behind them.
Vance stood in the center of the room, the folder still clutched in his hand. His father's file. His father's face. His father's betrayal.
Lumen sat in a chair, hands cuffed. His eyes were calm, watching.
"Let me go," Lumen said. "And I'll give you the rest of the Syndicate. Every name, every location."
"You'll give me that anyway."
"Will I?" Lumen smiled. "I'm not afraid to die, Mr. Cole. I've made peace with that. But I'm afraid of what happens after I'm gone. The Syndicate will continue without me. They'll find new leaders, new enforcers. You'll never stop them."
"Then I'll keep killing them until they stop."
"That's not how it works. You kill one, two more take their place. The Syndicate is an idea. You can't kill an idea."
Vance walked to the window. Outside, the stars were fading. Dawn was coming.
"Then I'll change the idea," he said. "I'll expose them. I'll show the world what they really are."
"You think that will stop them? The world already knows. They just don't care."
Vance turned. "Then I'll make them care."
Hawk walked in, his rifle over his shoulder. "We have a problem. The Syndicate is mobilizing. They know we took Lumen."
"Then they're coming here."
"They're already on their way. I counted four vehicles heading up the mountain. ETA twenty minutes."
Vance looked at Lumen. "You called them."
"I didn't have to. They've been tracking me since you took me."
"Then we leave. Now."
Flint appeared at the door. "We can't. They've blocked the road. We're trapped."
Vance's heart rate ticked up. Trapped. With Lumen. With the Syndicate closing in.
"Then we make a stand," he said.
---
They set up defensive positions around the cabin.
Hawk took the roof. Flint took the east side. Echo set up her laptop in the basement, running surveillance. Kai was in the corner, his laptop connected to the drone feed.
Vance took the front door. Lumen was cuffed to a chair in the center of the room.
"This is suicide," Lumen said. "You're outnumbered."
"I've been outnumbered before."
"Not like this. They have weapons, technology, training. You're a ghost with a grudge."
"That's enough."
The first vehicle appeared at the edge of the clearing. A black SUV. Then another. Then two more.
Vance raised his Sig. "Hold your fire until I give the word."
The vehicles stopped. Doors opened. Men in tactical gear spilled out.
Vance counted ten. Then twenty. Then thirty.
"Flint, how many?"
"Thirty-two. Maybe more in the vehicles."
"Stand your ground."
The Syndicate's leader stepped forward. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with a cold face.
"Mr. Cole. I'm General Vance. I'm here to take Lumen back."
"Then you'll have to go through me."
"I was hoping you'd say that."
The General raised his hand. The Syndicate soldiers raised their weapons.
Vance fired. The General went down.
Chaos erupted. Gunfire filled the air. Vance dove behind a log, firing blind. Hawk's rifle cracked from the roof. Flint's pistol barked from the trees.
The Syndicate soldiers fell, but more kept coming.
"We need to fall back!" Echo shouted from the basement.
"No! We hold!"
Vance fired again. Another soldier went down.
Then the cabin exploded.
Vance was thrown backward, his ears ringing. The world tilted. He landed hard, the wind knocked out of him.
He looked up. The cabin was gone. In its place, a smoking crater.
"Flint! Hawk! Echo!"
No response.
Vance scrambled to his feet. His Sig was gone. He pulled out his knife.
The Syndicate soldiers advanced through the smoke.
Vance lunged. The first soldier went down. The second. The third.
He fought through the smoke, his knife slicing, his fists pounding. He was a force of nature, unstoppable.
Then a bullet hit his shoulder. He stumbled.
Another bullet hit his leg. He fell.
The Syndicate soldiers surrounded him. The General walked up, his face cold.
"Mr. Cole. I gave you a chance. You didn't take it."
"Go to hell."
"I'll see you there."
The General raised his pistol.
Then Hawk appeared. His rifle cracked. The General went down.
Hawk grabbed Vance, dragged him to his feet. "Move!"
They ran. Flint was beside them, firing behind them. Echo was in the truck, the engine running.
They dove in. Echo stomped the gas.
The truck screeched away, bullets pinging off the rear.
Vance looked back. The cabin was gone. The Syndicate soldiers were gone.
They were alone. Alive.
But barely.
---
They drove for hours.
Vance's shoulder was bleeding. His leg was numb. He'd lost a lot of blood.
"We need to stop," Echo said. "He's going to die."
"Keep driving. There's a safe house in Pennsylvania. We can make it."
Flint bandaged Vance's wounds. "It's a through-and-through. You got lucky."
"Doesn't feel lucky."
They reached the safe house at dawn. It was a small farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Isolated. Off-grid.
Echo helped Vance inside. They laid him on the couch.
Hawk was at the window, watching the road. Flint was checking the perimeter. Kai was setting up his equipment.
Vance closed his eyes.
"We're safe," Echo said.
"For now."
---
Vance woke hours later.
His shoulder was bandaged. His leg was splinted. The pain was manageable.
Echo was at his side. "You're awake."
"What happened?"
"The cabin was a trap. The Syndicate knew we were coming. They had explosives planted."
"Flint? Hawk?"
"They're alive. Kai too."
Vance tried to sit up. Echo pushed him back down.
"Rest. We'll figure out the next step."
"I can't rest. Lumen is still out there. The Syndicate is still out there."
"Lumen is dead. He was in the cabin."
Vance's blood went cold. "What?"
"The Syndicate used him as bait. They knew we'd take him to the cabin. They planted the explosives there."
Vance stared at her. His father's folder. The evidence.
"The folder," he said. "Is it gone?"
"I don't know. It might have been in the cabin."
Vance closed his eyes. His father's secret. His father's betrayal.
"Echo, I need to ask you something."
"Ask."
"Was my father really part of the Syndicate?"
Echo was quiet for a moment. Then she spoke.
"Lumen said he was. But Lumen was a liar. He was trying to manipulate you."
"Then how do I find out the truth?"
"There's only one person who can tell you. Your father."
Vance nodded slowly. "Then we go to him."
"He's in a safe house in Vermont. We can make it there in a day."
"Then let's go."
---
They left the farmhouse at dusk.
Vance drove, his shoulder aching. The others were quiet. The weight of what had happened hung over them.
"We're getting closer," Hawk said. "But we're also losing people."
"We're not losing anyone. We're surviving."
"Surviving isn't enough."
Vance looked at him. "What do you want me to say?"
"I want you to admit that we can't do this alone. We need help."
"From who?"
"From the people who matter. The public. The press. Someone who can make a difference."
Vance was silent. Then he nodded.
"Kai," he said. "Can you get our story out?"
Kai looked up from his laptop. "I can. But I'll need proof. Something undeniable."
"Then we give it to him."
Vance looked at the road ahead. Vermont. His father.
"I need to see my father," he said. "He has the answers."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then I find them myself."
---
The safe house in Vermont was a small cabin on a lake.
Vance walked to the door, his heart pounding. His mother opened it, her face filled with relief.
"Vance! You're alive!"
"I'm okay, Mom."
She hugged him, held him tight. "Your father is inside. He's been worried about you."
Vance walked inside. His father was sitting by the fire, his face pale and tired.
"Dad."
Elias looked up. "Vance. I'm glad you're safe."
"I need to talk to you. About the Syndicate."
Elias's face went still. "What about them?"
"Lumen said you were part of them. He said you helped build Fracture Line."
Elias was silent for a long moment. Then he spoke.
"It's true."
Vance's world tilted. His father. A traitor.
"Why?"
"Because I had no choice. Your mother was in danger. They said they'd kill her if I didn't help."
"And you believed them?"
"I had to. I couldn't take that chance."
Vance stared at him. His father. A good man. A broken man.
"Dad, I don't know what to say."
"Say you forgive me."
"I can't."
Elias nodded slowly. "I understand."
Vance walked to the window. The lake was calm. The stars were out.
His father was a traitor. But he was also a victim.
"I'm not going to forgive you," Vance said. "But I'm not going to abandon you either."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. We're not done."
- Writer
