Chapter 15:Cracks In The Silence

They walked for what felt like hours. The sound of their feet brushing over gravel became the only rhythm keeping them focused. The sun was higher now, but the sky stayed cloudy, like it didn't want to reveal anything fully.

Lara's legs were sore, her throat dry, but she didn't say anything. Neither did Adrian. Elena walked a few paces ahead, checking every now and then if they were still behind.

The old railway bent toward a broken bridge. Below it was a dried-up river filled with rusted trash and vines. The only way across was a narrow beam of steel, slick from dew and age.

"We have to cross," Elena said without hesitation.

Adrian looked down at the drop. "Looks risky."

"Everything's risky now," Lara replied, surprising herself with how calm she sounded.

Adrian went first. Each step made the metal creak, and he moved slowly, balancing carefully with his arms stretched. Lara followed, biting her lip, eyes locked on the end of the beam.

Halfway through, she slipped a little.

"Hey—" Adrian reached out, but she steadied herself.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice shaking slightly.

She made it across, breathing heavily as her feet landed back on solid ground. Elena followed last, and once they were all across, they didn't say anything. Just shared a glance, like a quiet promise to keep going.

A few streets later, Elena stopped in front of a metal door almost hidden behind ivy and bricks.

"This is it," she said. "The station's under here."

Adrian knocked twice, paused, then knocked once more. Just like the instructions in the envelope.

A few seconds passed. Then a soft click. The door opened with a groan.

A short man with wild hair and a cigarette hanging from his lips peeked out. His eyes darted around.

"You bring trouble with you?" he asked.

"No," Elena said. "We bring truth."

The man smirked and stepped aside. "Well, come in, then. Let's see what kind of mess you're trying to make."

The room smelled like old wires and burnt toast. Screens lined the walls, some blinking, others broken. In the center was a console, patched together with parts that looked stolen from every era.

Lara handed over the flash drive. "We need to stream everything. Wide range. All channels."

The man—he didn't say his name—plugged it in and began typing fast, muttering to himself.

"Government's gonna lose their minds," he said with a laugh. "This is real heat."

As he worked, Lara sat in a corner, staring at the flickering screens. She kept thinking about home, her parents, her brother. Would they see this? Would they believe it was her?

Elena walked over. "You okay?"

"I guess," Lara said. "It's just… this isn't the world I imagined growing up."

Elena sat beside her. "It's not the one I imagined either. But sometimes we don't get to choose the fight. Just whether we run from it or not."

Lara nodded, her eyes misty. She wiped them quickly.

The man spun around in his chair. "Alright, it's ready. You wanna push the button?"

Lara stood, walked to the console, and looked at the small green key labeled 'SEND.'

Her hand hovered over it.

Then she pressed it.

The screen blinked. A red bar appeared, slowly filling.

Across the city—across all of them—TVs, radios, phones, old monitors in abandoned buildings, every single one lit up with the same message. The truth. The files. The recordings. The corruption, the secrets, the lies.

And Lara's voice.

Her confession. Her part in uncovering it. Her decision to stand up when no one else would.

Outside, alarms started blaring.

"Uh oh," said the man, spinning back to his screens. "They noticed."

"We expected that," Elena replied.

Lara turned to Adrian. "What now?"

He looked at the others, then at the spreading signal across the screen.

"Now we run."

And they did.

But this time, they weren't running to hide.

They were running toward something bigger.