Home / Mystery/Thriller / A SOLDIER'S CREED / 📖📖 Chapter 7 - The Break
📖📖 Chapter 7 - The Break
Author: Talon
last update2025-10-06 22:43:55

Location: CIA Safehouse, Kandahar City

Time: 02:35 Hours

The safehouse had gone quiet, but it wasn’t the kind of quiet that brought peace. It was the brittle silence of men wound too tight, of wolves pacing the same cage for too long.

Bear sat at the table, polishing his shotgun for the third time that night. Across from him, one of Kruger’s mercenaries leaned back in his chair, chewing khat leaves, spitting into a tin. He hadn’t looked away from Bear in twenty minutes.

Finally, the merc spoke. “Big man cleans his toy more than he uses it. Afraid it won’t work when you need it?”

Bear’s hands stilled. He set the weapon down slow, deliberate. “Say that again.”

The merc grinned, showing green-stained teeth. “You heard me.”

The chair screeched as Bear surged forward. His fist connected with the merc’s jaw, sending him crashing back. The room erupted. Chairs overturned, boots slammed the floor. Sarah and Naomi moved fast, shoving between bodies as the mercs leapt to their feet, knives flashing in their hands.

“Enough!” Rockefeller’s voice cracked like thunder. He waded in, shoving men apart, shoving Bear back with one hand while pinning the merc against the wall with the other. His eyes were steel, burning. “One more move, and I put you all in the ground before Qadir does!”

The room froze. Heavy breathing, clenched fists, the smell of sweat and blood. Finally, the merc spat to the side and dropped back into his chair. Bear stormed out, shoulders tight, fury boiling off him.

Rockefeller scanned the faces. Some glared. Some smirked. And Kruger? He just leaned in the corner, cigarette glowing, eyes cold and amused.

---

Location: Safehouse Armory

Time: 03:10 Hours

The armory was dim, the single bulb buzzing overhead. Rockefeller paced the racks, checking gear, double-checking weapons. Something felt wrong.

Then he saw it.

One of the ammo crates had been cracked open, the seal broken. Inside, rounds had been stripped away—whole magazines missing. Another rifle had its scope swapped, the good one replaced with a scratched, useless lens.

Sabotage.

Rockefeller’s jaw locked. Someone inside the house was playing both sides.

---

Location: Safehouse Courtyard

Time: 03:47 Hours

The gunshot split the night. Sharp, sudden, echoing off the walls.

Operators scrambled, weapons in hand, boots pounding through the halls. Rockefeller was first into the courtyard, sidearm raised, eyes sweeping the shadows. The gate was shut, the walls untouched.

But something had been here.

A trail of fresh boot prints in the dust, leading to the outer wall, stopping dead beneath the parapet. Whoever had fired the shot had been close. Watching. Testing.

Sarah scanned the rooftops with her scope. Nothing. Empty.

Bear cursed under his breath. “They’re already on us.”

Naomi’s eyes flicked to Rockefeller. “What now?”

Michael lowered his weapon slowly. His pulse hammered, but his voice was steady. “We’re done waiting. We move at dawn.”

The operators nodded, tight and silent. The mercs exchanged glances, unreadable.

Kruger lit another cigarette, watching the smoke curl into the night. His smile was faint, thin, and dangerous.

Rockefeller caught it. And he knew. The serpent was already inside.

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