👉 Previous Decision: You chose to attempt to reach the abandoned shortwave transmitter tower on High Ridge.
“This way!” Julian shouted, grabbing Lily’s hand. He kicked open a rusted grate leading to a drainage culvert behind the studio. Arthur, clutching the precious cassette, dove after them as MP gunfire peppered the studio’s transformers, sending sparks flying.
They scrambled through the muddy, narrow tunnel, emerging into the dense, rain-soaked woods. The geomagnetic storm raged overhead, the sky a swirling canvas of purple and green, static electricity crackling through the air.
As they navigated the slippery, uphill path toward High Ridge, Julian spoke, his voice ragged. “Silas. He’s working with O’Rourke.”
Arthur stumbled, nearly losing his footing. “What are you talking about?”
“O’Rourke paid him,” Julian said, not looking back. “Fourteen thousand, five hundred dollars. To keep you away from the station. Especially during military exercise hours. To keep you from hearing things you shouldn’t.”
Arthur felt a sickening lurch in his gut. His own uncle, bought off. Bought off with money from a land fraud, money tainted by murder. The man who was supposed to protect him, to guide him after his father’s death.
“He covered for them,” Arthur whispered, the betrayal burning a hole in his chest.
“He tried to keep you safe in his own twisted way,” Julian countered, pushing through a thicket of thorny bushes. “He knew what O’Rourke was capable of. He just chose the money over the truth.”
The path opened onto the summit of High Ridge. Before them, silhouetted against the swirling, electric sky, stood the skeletal remains of an abandoned shortwave transmitter tower. Its iron antennas, long decommissioned, now pulsed with an eerie, crackling green static, supercharged by the solar storm.
“This is it,” Julian said, his eyes fixed on the tower. “Our last chance.”
Lily coughed, pulling on Arthur’s pant leg. She was cold, tired. Arthur squeezed her hand, then looked at Julian. The truth was about to be laid bare.
➡️ Read CHAPTER 15 to continue the story
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