Jason Lee Scott (Altered)'s Arc

Chapter 11 of 11

Jason left the workshop before dawn and followed the supply runners west through the ruins. They moved in silence, keeping low when the wind shifted and carrying voices from the patrol routes. The woman from the settlement walked ahead, marking turns with small stones at intersections. They reached the elephant structure by mid-morning. The carved wooden sign mounted above the entrance caught the light — a dragon coiled around the elephant symbol, visible from thirty meters out. Jason froze. The woman stopped beside him and followed his gaze. "Zack put that up two weeks ago," she said. "Said it honored both networks." Jason's chest tightened. The dragon was Drakkon's mark, the one his patrols used to identify territory. Anyone hunting Zack would recognize it immediately. "It's exposed," Jason said quietly. The woman nodded. "We told him. He said some things were worth the risk." The patrol found it an hour later. Jason heard boots on gravel and pulled the woman behind a collapsed wall. Through the gap he watched four soldiers circle the structure, studying the dragon sign and the elephant markers carved into the doorframe. One of them spoke into a radio. Jason knew what came next — they'd call reinforcements, search the building, trace the supply routes back to all three settlements. The woman's hand gripped his arm. "The families inside," she whispered. Jason looked at her, then at the soldiers blocking the entrance. He couldn't fight them without exposing himself. He couldn't stop what was already happening. But he could give the settlements time to scatter before the patrols followed the network back. Jason waited until the patrol moved inside, then led the woman back through the ruins toward the western settlement. They moved fast, keeping to collapsed sections where the rubble hid their movement. When they reached the workshop, Jason found families already loading supplies onto carts — someone had spotted the patrol and sent word ahead. The metal shelves stood empty, food and medicine packed into boxes and bags. A child sat on the ground crying while her mother tied bundles together. The woman from the elephant structure began directing people toward the southern routes, away from the patrol corridors. Jason stood at the entrance and watched them leave, one family at a time, carrying what they could and abandoning the rest. He'd spent months searching for Zack, hoping to prove redemption was possible. Now he was watching Zack's network collapse because he hadn't acted fast enough to protect it. The woman touched his shoulder before she left. "You gave us time to run," she said. "That counts for something." Jason nodded, but he didn't believe her. He stayed at the workshop until the last family disappeared into the ruins, then turned east toward the patrol routes. If Zack was still out there, Jason needed to find him before Drakkon's soldiers did.