Chapter 13 - THE SECOND AVALANCHE
Natsu moved between Daniel and me.
Eight years earlier, Daniel had ordered him to save me.
This time, neither of us gave a command.
We followed the evacuation plan.
Teams guided prisoners through separate tunnels.
Nguyen remained at the rear until every verified person crossed.
Ryan helped Luke but did not expect forgiveness.
Hale became trapped beneath a fallen beam.
He called Natsu.
The dog stopped.
Hale had spent years trying to make loyalty transferable.
Natsu looked at him.
Then moved toward the beam.
Not because Hale owned him.
Because rescue training did not depend on worthiness.
We lifted the beam together.
Hale survived to face trial.
That was not mercy replacing justice.
It allowed justice to happen.
Ashbourne’s records were recovered.
The service chains identified hundreds of living people declared dead.
The trials began.
Then one tag remained unmatched.
COLONEL SARAH MITCHELL — DECEASED.
The date did not refer to the avalanche.
It referred to six months before I joined the Army.
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My identity had been part of the program from the beginning.
Read Chapter 14 to discover who Sarah Mitchell had been before the military.
