Chapter 6 - Medic
The medic team arrived with a litter, water, and the tense precision of people who knew commanders were watching but patients mattered more. Sarah tried to push up when hands touched her shoulder, instinct fighting help.
Sterling crouched again, close enough for Sarah to see her face.
“Jenkins. You are safe. Do not move.”
Sarah’s eyes opened slightly. “Ma’am?”
“You completed the drill.”
A tear cut a clean line through the dust on Sarah’s cheek.
The lead medic checked her breathing and asked about rib pain. Sarah tried to answer, but the words broke apart. Sterling watched every movement. Every wince. Every failed attempt to hide pain.
Vance stood several feet away, stick lowered now, eyes flicking toward the headquarters building as if calculating who else had seen. The wooden stick, once a symbol of his little kingdom, looked ridiculous in his hand.
Sterling noticed.
“Sergeant Vance,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Place the stick on the ground.”
His jaw flexed.
“Now.”
He set it down.
That small act cracked him more visibly than the questions had. It stripped away the prop he used to turn fear into theater.
Sterling addressed the formation without raising her voice. “No unauthorized corrective action is to continue. No soldier leaves until statements are taken. Anyone who deletes footage, alters logs, or pressures a witness will answer directly to my office.”
Several soldiers looked down.
Caleb did not.
He watched the medics lift Sarah carefully onto the litter. Her hand was still curled, gripping a small stone from the gravel. One medic tried to loosen it.
Sarah would not let go.
May you like
Sterling touched the medic’s arm.
“Let her keep it.”
