Sherrie ‘Sharp-Shooter’'s Arc

Chapter 1 of 13

Sherrie counted the crates twice before she let herself believe it. The shipment sat three units light, not missing but carefully skimmed. Someone inside her operation had been stealing long enough to think they wouldn't get caught. The yellow bus rolled in just after dawn, armor plates bolted over the windows. Sherrie watched it park beside the trade post, close enough that whoever stepped out could reach her before her people noticed. A woman climbed down, hands visible, and walked straight to where Sherrie stood checking inventory. She didn't ask permission. She slid a folded paper across the wooden counter between them. Sherrie unfolded it. An inventory list, partially erased. Food items crossed out in places that matched her own records. Building equipment entries wiped clean exactly where her shipments had come up short. The handwriting wasn't hers, but the information was. Only three people in her operation knew these numbers, and one of them was talking. The woman tapped the paper with one finger. "Your problem's getting loud," she said. "Loud enough that people are listening." She turned and walked back to the bus without waiting for an answer. Sherrie folded the list and put it in her pocket. The skimming wasn't just theft anymore. It was a crack in the wall her father had built, and now the vultures could see it.