Webster Daily's Arc

Chapter 4 of 6

Webster followed the wire underground for three blocks before it emerged near the edge of town. He'd expected it to loop back to the shopping center, maybe connect to some hidden generator room beneath the foundation. Instead, it ran straight toward the old power plant on the hill. The fence appeared first, a stone wall topped with rusted barbed wire that leaned backward at a sharp angle. The wire he'd been following ran parallel to it, buried just beneath the dirt and grass. Every fifty feet, a metal post marked the path with faded warning signs. Webster pulled over and walked the fence line, counting posts until he reached the gate. A security booth stood at the entrance, reinforced glass on three sides and a metal desk visible inside. Two guards sat behind the window, their uniforms cleaner than anything Webster had seen in Rust Creek. One of them looked up from a clipboard as Webster approached. The other reached for something beneath the desk. Webster stopped ten feet back and raised his hands slightly, showing he wasn't armed. The first guard opened a small window slot. "Plant's been closed twenty years," the guard said. "Nothing here for reporters." Webster glanced past him at the building beyond the gate. The plant looked functional, its walls solid and free of rust. Power lines ran from the roof into the ground, disappearing toward town. He thought about the diary on his car seat, about the woman's son who never came home. The guard was still watching him, waiting for him to leave. Webster nodded once and walked back to his car. He'd found what he came for, and now he knew who was keeping the secret. The plant wasn't abandoned at all. Someone was running it, and they had guards to keep people like him from asking why.