Page 62 of Echos and Empires (After #3)
“Emma, this goes without saying, but you do whatever is necessary.” Chris passed his handgun to her as he spoke. “I know Marcus haunts you, but you need something to make me feel even remotely okay about leaving you alone like this.”
She nodded, her small hand grasping around the barrel of the gun. “I refuse to say goodbye this time. You’re all coming back. My heart is positive of it. You go out there and get him and come back to me.”
William had refused to make that promise the last battle they’d been in, but this time, with babies on the line, he almost spoke up before Chris.
“Move out!” Chris bellowed, stalking out of the caves with the others behind him, leaving William and the unit to do what was needed.
They were a blur of motion, tension, and hurried preparation. William watched them and felt the burning hope that it wouldn’t be the last time. His thoughts flicked to Emma, her safety, the life she carried and the love they shared. He couldn’t let Victor take any of it away. Not again. Not now.
They didn’t have time to do this cleanly, but they had to do it, anyway. As he glanced around, his eyes hard and focused, he knew the rest felt the same. Failure wasn’t an option, but it was breathing down their necks like the ghost of their past.
Bash took one last look at the map carved into the rock. “Keep to the plan,” he said, a warning and a command wrapped into one. “We hit the compound first, make sure nothing’s coming back to bite us.”
“And if Victor’s not there?” Alex asked, the question hanging heavy between them.
“Then we make damn sure he never shows up here.” Liam turned to William, his expression fierce, almost furious. It was the look of a man who’d tasted loss and refused another bite.
Urgency clawing at William, pulling him forward, making the world around him blur into a frenzy of action and need.
“We’re not going to get another chance like this.
If we miss him, we lose everything.” He let the weight of his words sink in, the echo of it lingering even after they had already started moving.
The sun was climbing now, creeping through the mist and turning the black sky a paler shade of purple. They didn’t stop to look back, didn’t stop to wonder if this would be the last time they left a place and called it home. All they knew was the fire in their blood and the urgency in their bones.
He climbed into the jeep, ready to sacrifice, ready to love, ready to bleed for everything they had left.
William couldn’t let himself think about what would happen if they failed. Not now, not ever. He pushed it all away, focusing on the one thing he knew he could do—fight.
The car moved with all the silence of a furious bull, but William kept his eyes trained around them, watching as Jose drove them. Twelve minutes. It only took twelve minutes with a vehicle.
“Fucking hot as hell out here,” Bash hissed as they jumped out of the jeep as if the vehicle hadn’t been exposed. “But we need to walk this last mile.”
“Seems someone forgot who’s in charge when Chris isn’t here.” Liam quipped with a weary grin.
“Seems someone forgot who got to sleep last night and doesn’t mind killing a man.”
Silence fell at the second reminder of what Liam had done to Hardee.
“Jose, get the fuck out of here if we’re not out in twenty minutes.” Alex paused and then added. “And steal an ultrasound however you can. Someone has to know how to use one besides me.”
Their footfalls were like percussion, a rapid tattoo of movement and need as they pushed through the green.
It was a violent kind of faith that propelled them forward, a faith that they wouldn’t be too late.
William led with knowledge like a torch, burning away hesitation and fear.
He could feel Alex and Bash at his back, Chris at his side, could feel the determination of his team like blood pumping through the heart of them.
The island complex rose from the landscape, a gnarled monstrosity of metal and silence.
They paused at the entrance, but only to breathe, only to remember that they still could.
Then they were inside, trusting William’s instincts as they plunged down the rusted, narrow corridors.
He barely stopped to register the place, its familiarity or its horror.
They moved with a singular motion, one urgent line of life and purpose threading through the stillness.
William let memory guide him, each step a fight against the thoughts that clawed for his attention—Emma, her vulnerability, Victor and his threats.
He couldn’t let it break him, not now. His brothers’ faith was his shield, and he moved forward with its protection wrapped tightly around his heart.
The air grew colder as they advanced, and the lights overhead flickered with an erratic pulse.
Alex was close, his breathing loud and angry, matching the brutal rhythm of their advance.
Bash was steady and silent, his weapon drawn, ready to tear into anything that moved.
Chris had taken the lead, pushing hard, pushing fast, the scars of past failures visible in the rigid line of his jaw.
When the complex swallowed them, it did so with open jaws, but William refused to let himself be devoured. He kept his focus tight and sharp, drawing the others in close as they reached the old control room. It was abandoned now, but its threat still lingered like the echoes of a death rattle.
“This is it,” William said, his voice low but firm, as if speaking any louder would shatter the fragile hold they had on time. “Where I was when the door popped open.” he gestured toward the still open door, briefly wondering why it hadn’t been closed.
Alex ran a hand through his hair, the gesture quick and frustrated. “Then we shut it down. For good.”
A beat of silence followed, the air dense with past and present colliding. C
“You’re sure about this?” Liam asked.
“I was here long enough to remember, most of what they did to me was verbal, not memory confusing stuff” William replied, a hard edge to his voice as the memories threatened to resurface. “This must be back up comms towers. He’s got to be down there. It’s the only reason the door is open.”
Liam nodded, the movement sharp and final, then gestured for the others to keep close. “Stay together. No one goes down alone.”
The words sank in, heavier than William would admit.
He remembered the days he’d spent there, the fear and confusion, the cold metal biting into his wrists.
He pushed the thoughts away, locking them tight behind the doors of his mind, then took the first step down the corridor that led deeper into the unknown.
The walls closed in on them, narrow and suffocating.
Water dripped from somewhere unseen, its slow patter a countdown that pressed harder on their backs with every second.
The lights continued to flicker, an erratic pulse that turned their shadows into monstrous shapes against the rust-streaked surfaces.
The air was cold and metallic, biting into their skin as they pushed further, their movements quick and desperate.
This time, William wasn’t the captive. He was the guide, the hunter, and his instincts were stronger than the fear that gnawed at him. He led them through the maze of corridors, each twist and turn marked by his memories, each step taking them closer to the heart of the beast.
As they reached a section he remembered too well, he paused, catching the breath that threatened to slip from his lungs. He glanced at the others, their faces drawn and focused, then gestured forward, keeping them close.
“We’re getting closer,” he said, pushing the words out before doubt could take their place. “It’s all connected, like the last place. They have to be running the same kind of setup here.”
“Victor must’ve known we’d come for him,” Bash spoke with a snarl, the accusation biting into the air like shrapnel.
“But he didn’t expect us to get this far,” Alex added, his voice steady, like the promise of a trigger waiting to be pulled.
“Or he didn’t care,” William thought, but he couldn’t let the thought escape his mouth. He had to believe they could win this time. They all did.
Their steps grew faster, urgency closing around them like a vice. They were getting close. They had to be. William felt the surge of hope rise and choke him, but he pushed it down, knowing it was too fragile to trust yet.
He didn’t slow to question the lights, didn’t pause to reconsider. He led them on, faster now, his determination as loud as the pounding in his chest. It was all or nothing, and they couldn’t afford anything.
Then he saw it—the central chamber looming at the end of the corridor, more threatening than any memory he’d left behind.
William signaled for the others to stay close, then steeled himself for whatever they’d find inside.
It was the moment they’d been fighting for, and everything was at stake.
This was where he’d been kept and saved from.
If Victor was here, he was somewhere in that room just beyond their view.
The air was cold and smelled of chemical decay, and the walls were slick with condensation and streaks of old blood.
The space seemed to breathe around them, each exhaling a chill against their skin.
William led with ruthless precision, every twist of the corridor a reminder of what he’d barely survived.
It was surreal, an echo of his captivity that stretched and warped in the dim light.
They passed abandoned laboratory equipment and disturbing remnants of experiments—leaking vials, shattered glass, and unidentifiable mechanical parts—while distant alarms began to sound.
The emptiness felt more sinister with each step, as if the trap was set and only waiting to be sprung.