The Safe Zone - Reckoning (Book 2)

Chapter 12: Broken Chains

Lena:

The city's darkness pressed down on me like a weight, thick and suffocating, as we returned to the Forgotten City's outskirts. Each step felt heavier than the last, the adrenaline that had kept me moving now fading, leaving only exhaustion in its wake. My mind was still spinning from what we had uncovered in the lab—what the Directive was indeed planning—and the image of that augmented soldier's cold, dead eyes wouldn't leave me.

They weren't just controlling people anymore. They were turning them into weapons.

And if Zara had been right, if the Directive was already in motion, then we were running out of time.

The wind howled through the empty streets, carrying the faint scent of decay and metal. I glanced at Ethan, walking a few steps ahead of me, his rifle slung over his shoulder, his eyes scanning the shadows. He hadn't said much since we left the lab, and I knew he was processing everything the same way I was—quietly, internally. That was how Ethan dealt with things. He locked it all inside, letting its weight crush him until he couldn't feel it anymore.

But I couldn't stay silent, not after what we had seen.

"We need to tell Callum," I said, my voice breaking the oppressive silence. "He needs to know about the soldiers, about the Directive."

Ethan didn't slow down, didn't even look at me. "We will. But right now, we must ensure we return in one piece."

I knew he was right, but the sense of urgency clawing at my insides wouldn't let me rest. Every second we spent out here felt like another step closer to disaster. The Directive was moving fast, and we were barely keeping up. We needed to rally the resistance, to get everyone we could to fight back before it was too late.

But even as I thought it, doubt crept in.

Who can we trust?

Zara's betrayal had shattered whatever sense of security we had left, and now, I wasn't sure if we could trust anyone—especially the resistance. If the Directive had infiltrated the Enforcers, then who's to say they hadn't already gotten their claws into our side, too?

I pushed the thought aside, forcing myself to focus on the here and now. We still had a mission, and that mission was survival.

"Do you think Callum knows?" I asked quietly, my voice barely above a whisper.

Ethan glanced at me, his eyes dark and unreadable. "About the Directive? I don't think so. He's been fighting the Enforcers for years, but I don't think he knows how deep this goes."

I nodded, my stomach churning. If Callum didn't know, then that meant we were all in the dark—fighting a war we didn't understand against an enemy playing a game we didn't even know existed.

"We have to be careful," Ethan said, his voice low and firm. "If Zara was working for them, there could be others."

The weight of his words settled over me like a lead blanket. He was right. We couldn't afford to trust unquestioningly anymore. The Directive was everywhere, and they had already proven they could manipulate anyone—on both sides.

As we neared the city's edge, I could see the faint outlines of the resistance's camp in the distance, hidden among the rubble of the forgotten ruins. The sight of it sent a wave of unease through me. This place, once a haven, now felt like a trap.

"How do we know the resistance isn't compromised?" I asked my voice tight with doubt. "How do we know we're not walking into another ambush?"

Ethan's jaw clenched, his eyes hard. "We don't. But we don't have a choice."