The Safe Zone - Reckoning (Book 2)

Chapter 22: Crossroads

Ethan:

The countdown clock ticked away with terrifying precision. Each passing second felt like a drumbeat hammering against my chest. I stared at the flashing red numbers on the console, my heart racing, sweat trickling down my face despite the cold, sterile air of the control room.

We needed more options. I had been frantically working the controls, trying to override the system, and finding any way to stop the Directive's launch, but nothing worked. Every code and command returned with the same brutal message: Access denied. The system was locked.

Six minutes until termination.

I couldn't breathe. The weight of everything—our losses, our sacrifices—pressed down on me like an unbearable burden. And now, after all of it, we were going to fail. The Safe Zone would be wiped off the map, with it, everything we had ever known.

Lena stood beside me, her hands bloody and trembling as she clutched her side where the bullet had torn through her. Despite her injuries, she refused to sit down to rest. Her face was pale, her eyes wide, but there was still a fierce determination in them—a fire that hadn't yet been extinguished.

"We're missing something," she said, her voice hoarse from pain and exhaustion. "There has to be another way to stop this."

I shook my head, the lump in my throat making it hard to speak. "We're out of time, Lena. There's nothing left."

Lena's jaw tightened, her eyes flashing with anger. "No. No, we can't just give up. There's always a way. There has to be."

I wanted to believe her and hope for some last-minute miracle to save us. But the reality of the situation was staring us in the face. We had lost. The Directive had planned everything perfectly and anticipated every move we made. And now, the Safe Zone was about to be wiped off the map.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I'm so sorry, Lena."

She turned to me, her eyes narrowing. "Don't you dare say that? Don't you dare give up on me now?"

I swallowed hard, my chest tight with the weight of my failure. I had always been the one who kept us going, who found a way to survive no matter the odds. But this time... this time, I had nothing left.

Five minutes.

Lena grabbed my arm, her grip surprisingly strong despite her injuries. "Look at me, Ethan. We didn't come this far to fail now. We didn't lose all those people to roll over and die. We still have a choice."

I looked into her eyes, and for a moment, I felt a flicker of hope. But it was fleeting. The clock was ticking, and no matter how determined Lena was, we couldn't stop the inevitable.

"Then what do we do?" I asked, my voice raw with desperation. "Tell me what we're supposed to do."

Lena's gaze flicked to the console, then back to me. "We take the fight to them. We don't let them win."

I frowned, not understanding. "What are you talking about?"

She took a deep breath, wincing as the movement pulled at her wound. "The Overseers. They think they've won, but we still have time to destroy their base. If we can take them out, if we can cripple their operations, maybe we can stop them from launching the next phase."

I stared at her, disbelief flooding through me. "You want to attack their base? Lena, we can barely stand. We're outnumbered, outgunned. We won't make it."

She met my gaze, her eyes burning with intensity. "We don't need to win. We need to disrupt them long enough to throw their plan off track. If we can cause enough chaos, they might not be able to follow through."