Jason Lee Scott (Altered)'s Arc

Chapter 7 of 11

Jason woke before dawn to voices outside the mess hall. He stayed still and listened. Someone was asking about travelers heading east. The woman from last night answered quietly, but her words carried across the compound. "Saw someone two days back," a man's voice said. "Moved like he knew the routes. Had that Ranger walk — you know the kind. Headed toward the industrial corridor, then doubled back east past the old monument." Jason sat up. The monument stood three miles from here, a stone marker carved with vines and butterflies that survivors had built to remember the ones they'd lost. Past that was nothing but ruins and patrols. "You sure he went east?" the woman asked. The man grunted. "Found blood near the dragon marker on the wall. Fresh enough. Someone got through the checkpoint, but they paid for it." Jason grabbed the map and crossed the compound. The woman saw him coming and stepped away from the group. He unrolled the map and pointed to the monument. "How far past it?" She looked at him like she was deciding whether to answer. Then she pointed to a spot further east, closer to the heart of the ruins. "Dragon's about here. Blood trail went that direction." Jason traced the route with his finger. It led straight into patrol territory — the kind of move someone would make if they were injured and running out of options. Or if they were trying to draw attention away from something. The woman folded her arms. "You going after him?" Jason rolled up the map. "Yeah." She didn't ask why. She just stepped aside and let him pass. Jason walked toward the eastern edge of the settlement, past the shelters and the fire pit. The sun broke over the horizon and lit the ruins ahead. Zack had gone east — not away from Angel Grove, but toward it. That changed everything. Jason wasn't chasing a ghost anymore. He was following someone who'd chosen to come back.