Chapter 10: The Soldier Who Refused To Fall
Months later, the base was different.
New security systems.
New leadership.
New rules.
But I still remembered that morning.
The slap.
The accusation.
The moment everyone believed I was guilty.
People asked me why I didn’t leave.
Why I stayed after everything.
My answer was simple.
Because someone had to stand when everyone else looked away.
One evening, Captain Ward found me near the training field.
“You ever regret hitting Lieutenant Vane back?””
I smiled slightly.
“Every day.””
She raised an eyebrow.
“Really?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because I should have waited until he stopped talking.””
She laughed.
It was the first time I had heard her laugh.
The war inside the base was over.
But one mystery remained.
Ethan had recovered, but he carried secrets from the program.
One night, he gave me an old file.
“I found this before I escaped.””
I opened it.
Inside was a list of names.
Hundreds of names.
Soldiers who had been copied.
Used.
Disappeared.
At the bottom of the page was one final line.
A new operation.
Still active.
I looked at Ethan.
“Who is running it?””
His face became serious.
Then he said the name.
A name I never expected.
A name that meant the fight was not over.
May you like
Because the person behind everything…
was someone I had trusted my entire career.
