Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
nyx
We push another fifteen kilometers southwest to our shadow base.
Nestled outside the tri-border region between Finland and Norway, we’re technically operating within a disputed buffer zone, secure enough that neighboring border control could take us in for refuge due to a prior agreement.
They’ve allowed us to build up the base there for the last year, hence the delay with the units being set up and sent over.
The truck rolls to a stop, and I hop right out, inhaling the crisp night air as my eyes sweep over the landscape.
It still looks uninhabited in the dim light.
But I know better. We have a small team of patrols roaming, setting up camp, and locking down the perimeter.
Stepping onto this ground feels like walking into my past, the building serving as a bittersweet memory of when I last intercepted an area that looked like this.
The building is an abandoned power substation, partially buried near a hillside forest. Its rusted frame sags, partially collapsed on the east side.
But beneath the decay lies a reinforced interior.
Civilians don’t dare come near - the rumors of radiation threats still run wild in the small villages nearby.
A fabricated story, one our intel has been carefully nurturing since we infiltrated the area last year.
The nearest town sits ten kilometers away, and the roads are unforgiving to anyone without experience navigating the treacherous terrain.
Lucky for us, we’ve mastered maneuvering the worst of pathways.
Our unit hauls bags from the back of the truck and moves toward a cemented outbuilding, which seems to be where we’re storing our vehicles, keeping them hidden from any overhead surveillance.
Graves stands at the entrance – the substation looming in the background – like a proud father.
Arms folded, stance wide, and grin almost touching the creases of his eyes.
He barks out directions, assigning rooms whilst a patrol gets his attention, and he chases after them.
Hawk takes the lead, and we move through the center of the concrete and metal jungle.
A towering metal structure lies ahead, its brown pipes streaked with decay and rust coating the walls.
We reach the end of the section and enter a smaller building – this one reasonably more maintained.
Stepping inside feels like walking straight into the corridor scene of The Shining, and goosebumps flutter over my arms.
A long, dimly lit stretch of poured concrete on the ground extending a hundred yards before opening into what looks like a seating area.
The corridor is tightly packed with makeshift rooms lining both sides.
Our improvised sleeping quarters. “Pick a room, any room,” Hawk says, sweeping his arm down the corridor.
“You guys are the first in this building, so you get first dibs. Rooms are all the same - bed, chair, table. You get the drift. The two big double doors in the middle section? Bathrooms.”
There are at least ten rooms here, five on each side, judging by the number of doors facing us.
“Where’s everyone else camped?” Phantom asks, opening the door to his left for a peek, then crossing to the one opposite, clearly making sure Hawk wasn’t bluffing - no one wants the short straw of a shit room.
“There’s another two quarters in the center, they’re smaller.
That’s where Graves and I, along with the patrols, will be assigned” Hawk answers with a grin.
“Don’t worry, I picked this one especially for you bunch of princesses - it’s a bit more modern than the others.
Plus, the rooms aren’t as cold.” He shivers for emphasis.
Blitz snorts. “Cold shouldn’t bother you, Hawk.
You’re from Britain.” She walks the length of the hall, knocking on doors and tapping walls, testing their sturdiness.
Hawk chuckles. “True. Doesn’t mean you ever get used to it,” he admits.
I catch the flicker of sadness in his smile.
He misses home, we all do. Mine just so happened to come in the form of blue eyes, tatted skin, and aura of shadows.
After my mother died, home never felt the same.
My dad’s been in deep cover for the whole six years.
We only communicate through letters. He buried himself in work after she was gone, maybe because I was old enough not to need him there all the time.
But I still miss him. Sometimes, it feels like I lost him too.
I often wonder where he is, what he’s doing.
Every time a letter arrives, relief rushes over me, stronger than I ever expect - it’s a sign he’s alive.
His letters are always five pages long with life updates, jokes, and advice.
They’re a small thread connecting us across the distance.
I told him about Noc when he died, still unclear about that statement.
He shouted at me in all caps - for an entire page.
It makes me laugh now just thinking about it.
I could picture him furiously scribbling his scolding, frustration practically radiating off the paper.
Eventually, he came around - after I sent him ten more pages fighting my case - and he turned up at the home base to visit me.
He was only able to visit for twenty-four hours, but the time I got with him gave me the strength I needed to keep going.
He held me the entire time, just letting me be a little girl again, safe in her father’s arms and untouched by the world outside.
I haven’t seen him in person since. Duty called him back to his unit.
His life is even more shadowed than mine.
He’s been in service for twenty-eight years.
His clearance levels are off the charts.
Once, he neutralized a direct threat to the president.
Earned himself a Silver Star. I beamed as bright as the one he received, knowing my mother would’ve been watching, filled with pride.
A sad smile graces my lips as I think of him, and I take the room three doors down - just enough distance to avoid the full horror-movie experience of the corridor’s vibe.
I shut the door behind me, dropping my case and large camping bag to the side.
The room is bare bones. A cot sits pressed into the left corner, facing me.
A small desk and chair are stationed beside it, a framed mirror hanging just above.
Along the bottom of the bed, running along the left wall, sits an armory and a wardrobe.
I flop onto the mattress, exhaustion pulling at me, tempting me to slip into sleep.
We’ve been relieved of duty for the night to settle in, but instead of resting, I grab my phone and text Adam - waiting for him to come by.
I hear him knock on the wrong door: Phantom’s, not mine.
"Buzz off," Phantom calls. I laugh to myself; I swear I heard the eyeroll in his voice. "Door to the right, Adam!" I yell, knowing he’ll hear me. Adam steps inside and flops into the armchair beside my bags. “Well, this place really is the Four Seasons, isn’t it?” he says, arms crossed, scanning the room with mock appreciation, like he’s trying to convince himself it’s decent.
I bark out a laugh. “You’ll get used to it, buddy.
” Adam hasn’t been out on as many deployments as the rest of us.
He’s usually stationed at base, watching the scene unfold from inside home turf.
This is his first real deployment with Ashfall.
He doesn’t realize yet that this is the Four Seasons compared to the swamps I’ve stayed in before.
We’ve had a base created as we’re in it for the long game.
“Think they do room service?” he deadpans.
I laugh again, sitting up to look at him properly.
He’s 5’11, his skin carrying that natural underlying medium tan from his heritage.
He looks skinny at first, but he’s pretty lean.
Since coming here, he’s bulked up a bit, throwing himself into our training regime.
Before this, once he qualified in the military, he stepped back from the full intensity of fieldwork, choosing mayhem in the form of coding.
I take a deep breath, deciding I might as well shoot my shot.
"Adam, I need a favor. No pressure, but I’d really appreciate your help.
" I peek up at him through my lashes, pulling my knees up, wrapping my arms around them - instinctively defensive, and suddenly feeling vulnerable - I hate it. "I think I know what you’re going to ask," Then, without another word, he gets up and walks out. Well, I wasn’t expecting that. He didn’t even let me explain.
Panic tightens in my chest -what is he doing?
Did he investigate Noc himself? Did he report it?
I push up off the bed just as a small commotion erupts in the hall.
"Damn it, Adam! She’s next door!" Phantom shouts.
Twice now in thirty minutes; nobody messes with his rest time and lives to tell the tale.
Adam barrels into my room, laptop in hand, slamming the door shut behind him.
His face is drawn in annoyance. "Don’t look at me like that," I say, crossing my arms. "I told you my room was here!
" He shakes his head and drops onto the bottom of my bed, exhaling.
Unease settles over me as I perch at the edge, watching him.
"I tried to clean up the image for you," he finally says, gripping both edges of his laptop screen.
"It was slightly obscured by the lighting, but this should be enough for the confirmation you need.
" Slowly, he turns it toward me. And there it is. My heart constricts in my chest, tightening like a vice. It’s 100% Noc.