Chapter 4 - The Climb
Elena moved around Hollis with a quickness that surprised him. Not running. Not fleeing. Just slipping past his line before his hand closed. She crossed the short distance toward the operations stairway while Reed and Lance Corporal Travis Bell reacted half a second late.
“Stop!” Hollis barked.
Elena did not stop.
The Marines behind her moved because Hollis moved. That was how mistakes became teamwork. One wrong assumption turned into three sets of boots pounding metal.
She reached the first landing.
Bell grabbed for the satchel strap and missed. The bag swung hard against the railing. Elena twisted away, one hand catching the rail, boots scraping against the grated steps. Her cap came loose. Her dark hair whipped across her face.
“Hollis!” Reed shouted. “Wait!”
But Hollis was already charging upward.
Elena turned toward him, breathing hard. “If I miss this briefing, people outside the wire die.”
“You should’ve thought of that before trying to force entry.”
“I am the briefing.”
That stopped Reed cold.
Hollis heard it, but pride had already put him in motion. He reached for her arm at the exact moment her boot slipped on loose grit tracked across the step.
She fell sideways.
The stairway rang like an alarm.
For one terrifying second, even Hollis understood he had gone too far.
Elena’s hand caught the railing.
May you like
Her ID flipped in the wind.
And Reed finally saw enough to go pale.
