The Safe Zone - Reckoning (Book 2)

Chapter 17: The Safe Zone's Secrets

Ethan:

The Safe Zone looked different from the place we had left behind. The towering walls that once seemed like a fortress of safety crumbled in places, the steel rusting and the stone cracked. The air smelled of decay and fear, thick and cloying, as though the entire place was holding its breath, waiting for something terrible to happen.

In a way, it already had.

We had crossed into familiar territory, but it felt alien now. This wasn't the Safe Zone we had built our lives in. This was different from the home we had fought for. It was a shadow of its former self, a prison masquerading as a sanctuary.

My heart pounded as Lena and I approached the outer perimeter, keeping to the shadows and moving slowly through the underbrush. We had to be careful. After what we'd learned about the Directive and the Enforcers, it was impossible to know who was still on our side—if anyone.

"This place feels different," Lena whispered, her voice tense. She had been walking with a limp ever since we left the forest, her injury barely healing. It was a constant reminder of how close we had come to losing everything. "I don't like it."

I glanced at her, nodding in agreement. "I don't either. But we need to get inside. Carter's our only hope at figuring this out."

Carter. The last person I knew I could trust. He'd been in the Safe Zone's leadership long enough to access the information we needed—information about Nora, the Directive, everything. If anyone knew the truth, it was him.

But I couldn't ignore the doubt gnawing at the back of my mind. Could I still trust Carter after everything we'd uncovered? After learning that the Directive had infiltrated so many corners of the world? There was no room for blind faith anymore, but we had no choice. If the Directive had its sights set on the Safe Zone, we needed to know how deep their influence went.

The perimeter guard passed, his flashlight cutting through the trees like a knife. I tensed, my hand gripping the cold metal of my rifle as we crouched low, hidden behind the dense brush. The guard didn't see us or even pause, but the tension in my chest didn't ease. If we were caught now, would anyone recognize us as fugitives?

"We should move," Lena said quietly, her voice barely audible over the distant hum of the generators that powered the Safe Zone's lights. "Before the next patrol comes around."

I nodded, motioning for her to follow me as we crept along the fence line, staying out of sight. The gate was up ahead—a rusted metal horror that had once felt so imposing and secure. Now, it felt like an illusion of safety, a reminder of how easily things could fall apart.

The gate had continuously been operated, but tonight, only a single guard was slumped in his chair, his head nodding in and out of sleep. It was strange—too strange. The Safe Zone had never been lax on security. Something was wrong.

Lena seemed to feel it, too. "This doesn't make sense," she muttered under her breath. "They've cut back on patrols. It's like they're not even trying anymore."

I wouldn't say I liked it. The Enforcers had been circling the Safe Zone for weeks, gathering strength. If security were falling apart inside, the Enforcers would exploit that weakness. Nora's grip on power was slipping, and the cracks started showing.

"We're going in," I said quietly. "Stick close."

I led us toward the far side of the gate, where a section of the fence had rusted through. It had been a weak spot for years, but no one had bothered to repair it—an oversight now working in our favor. I knelt, using my knife to pry away the rusted wire, creating a gap wide enough for us to slip through.