Gary ‘Gearhead’'s Arc

Chapter 12 of 15

Gary left the scrapyard before dawn, driving the armored truck with his headlights off until he cleared the first ridge. The old highway marker sat two miles east, barely visible in the gray light. He slowed as he approached the access path and killed the engine, stepping out with his rifle across his chest. The dig site sprawled across thirty feet of disturbed ground, scarred with boot prints and scattered brass casings that caught the early light. A crowbar lay beside a shattered lock near the vault entrance—cracked open from the outside, metal peeled back like someone had forced it in a hurry. Gary crouched at the edge and studied the soil. Fresh digging, but no Ravens in sight. No bikes, no guards, no bodies. He moved closer to the vault and spotted a faded map half-buried in the dirt, its edges torn and stained with mud. The markings didn't match his surveyor's notes, but the symbols looked military. The Ravens had been here, found something, and cleared out fast. Gary circled the entrance and peered inside. Empty crates lined the walls, their lids pried off and contents stripped clean. Whoever opened this vault had taken everything worth carrying and left the rest behind. He stepped back and scanned the perimeter, counting the footprints—at least six people, maybe more. They'd worked the site thoroughly, then vanished without leaving a single bike track leading away. That didn't fit. The Ravens never moved weapons on foot, and they never abandoned a cache without posting watchers. Either they'd finished here and moved on, or something had spooked them into running. He radioed Sherrie and told her the vault was empty and the Ravens were gone. She asked if he'd found any markings that matched her scout's report. Gary described the map and the military symbols, then paused. The vault the Ravens had cracked sat a quarter mile from his own buried cache—close enough that if they'd kept searching, they would have found it. But they hadn't. They'd taken what they came for and left the area clean. His scrapyard was still hidden, still safe. He loaded the abandoned map into his truck and drove back, knowing he'd bought himself time but not security. The Ravens had proven they could dig up what they wanted, and next time, they might dig closer.