Page 65 of Beyond Redemption

“No,” he said, forcing the word out between breaths.

“Then why are you moving like I need to preorder your body bag? Move your skinny ass, recruit!”

He adjusted immediately, pushing harder, correcting his footing, trying to close the gap he’d already created.

“Better,” she said. “But you still suck, let’s go!”

Another pass. Another correction. Another missed step. She didn’t ease up.

“Again! I can do this all morning, ladies, and we’ll keep going until String Bean here can get it right!”

Bodhi wiped the back of his arm across his forehead, leaving a streak of dirt, and reset without argument.

I watched him for another minute, tracking the way he compensated, where he overcorrected, where instinct tried to take over without the training to support it. He wasn’t there yet. Not even close. But he wasn’t quitting, and something told me Naomi would have him where we needed him to be when the time came.

Naomi glanced up then, catching me at the edge of the training field. She didn’t stop what she was doing, but she held my gaze long enough to acknowledge it.

I gave her a single nod.

She returned it, almost imperceptible, before turning back to the recruits.

“Last set,” she called. “If you wanna impress me, now’s the time.”

Bodhi didn’t hesitate.

I kept walking, leaving the sound of boots pounding dirt and exhausted grunting behind me as I circled back toward the main corridor. The compound had shifted in the time I’d been out, the early morning movement switching tolocked and loaded. Activity had picked up, not frantic but faster, keeping up with the rising, unforgiving desert sun.

Just as I decided to make my way back to our adobe and start breakfast, something caught my attention. Two soldiers broke from the far side of the compound, moving at a controlled jog toward Command, another falling in behind them a second later.

I changed direction immediately. By the time I reached the entrance of Command, guards at the door were already holdingit open, voices carrying from inside. I stepped through without announcing myself, catching the tail end of the report as one of the soldiers spoke.

“…multiple sets of tracks along the outer ridge, north side of the fences, sir. Fresh. Within the last six hours.”

“How many, Johns?” Marcel asked.

“Half a dozen, sir. Possibly more. Hard to tell with overlap.”

“Pattern?”

“Not random. They were moving with intent. Stopped twice along the perimeter, then doubled back.”

Recon.

I moved further into the room, Marcel’s attention falling briefly to me before returning to Johns. He was enormous, weathered, clearly someone in charge of something.

“Any breach attempts?” Marcel asked.

“No, sir. Perimeter’s intact.”

Marcel nodded once, already processing. “Increase watch on all sides. Double rotation on towers. I want eyes on every approach point. Dismissed.”

“Yes, sir.”

Johns stepped back, the others adjusting position as orders were quietly and calmly relayed into radios without needing to be repeated.

“Could be a probe,” I said.

“Or they’re sloppy,” Marcel replied. “They’re untrained, impatient. They’ve exposed their presence.”