The Safe Zone - Reckoning (Book 2)

Chapter 18: Confrontation

Ethan:

I didn't think. I couldn't afford to. The second I saw Carter's terror-stricken face and saw the gun pressing into the back of his skull, everything clicked into place—this was it. The Directive wasn't just coming for us. They had already infiltrated the heart of the Safe Zone.

Without hesitation, I lunged forward, my finger squeezing the trigger before my mind could catch up. The sound of the rifle shot cracked through the still air like a thunderclap. The Enforcer flinched, but it was too late for him. My bullet struck true, hitting him in the shoulder. His body jerked back, and his grip on Carter slipped.

"Get down!" I shouted, rushing forward to pull Carter to the floor.

The Enforcer recovered quickly, too quickly. Even with a bullet lodged in his shoulder, his hand snapped up, reaching for his sidearm. I barely had time to process it before I saw Lena move out of the corner of my eye.

She fired. The shot was clean, aimed with deadly precision, and hit the Enforcer in the chest. He staggered back, his helmeted head jerking as the force of the impact knocked him off balance. I watched as he slumped against the wall, the gun slipping from his grasp. His body hit the floor with a dull thud, and then there was silence.

For a moment, all I could hear was the pounding of my heart and the ragged breaths coming from Carter. The room seemed to tilt slightly, the adrenaline still coursing through my veins as I tried to process what had just happened.

"We need to move," Lena said, her voice low but urgent. She was standing over the Enforcer's body, her rifle still aimed at him as if she wasn't quite sure he was dead. "More will come."

I nodded, dragging Carter to his feet. His legs wobbled beneath him, and I could feel the weight of his terror pressing down on him like a physical force. His eyes were wide, his skin pale, and for a moment, I wondered if he was going to pass out.

"Carter," I said sharply, giving him a shake. "Stay with me. We need to get out of here."

He blinked rapidly, his breath coming in quick, shallow bursts. "They... they found me," he stammered, his voice trembling. "They know about everything. About you, about Lena... about the Directive."

I exchanged a look with Lena. We had feared this. We had suspected that Nora wasn't acting alone, that something much darker was pulling the strings behind the scenes. But hearing it from Carter, seeing the panic in his eyes, confirmed what we had been dreading.

"They've taken over," Carter continued, his voice shaking. "Nora... she's not in control anymore. They're using her as a puppet. The Directive has been inside the Safe Zone for months."

My stomach twisted with dread. "How deep does it go?"

Carter swallowed hard, his eyes darting toward the door as if he expected more Enforcers to burst through at any moment. "Deeper than we thought. They've got people everywhere—in the leadership and security forces. They're watching everything."

"Who?" Lena asked, her voice sharp. "Who's pulling the strings?"

Carter's face paled even further. "I don't know. I've never seen them, but I've heard things... whispers. They call them the Overseers. The real power behind the Directive."

The Overseers. The name sent a chill down my spine. I had always assumed that the Directive was a faceless organization, an invisible force manipulating events from the shadows. But this—this was something worse. Something personal.

Lena's jaw tightened, her hands clenched around her rifle. "Where's Nora?"

Carter hesitated, his eyes flicking between us. "She's in the command center. But... it's not what you think. She's trapped, just like the rest of us. They're using her to control the people. To keep them in line."