Page 28 of The ARC Unit: Breach

I began recognizing the sounds of the compound without meaning to. The metal door from the garage had a heavier latch than the side entrance. Jackal walked faster than Bear and dragged one heel slightly when he was tired. Hawk somehow made almost no noise at all, which I found increasingly suspicious. Wolf’s footsteps were the easiest to identify because the others unconsciously made space before he reached them. Outside, distant gunfire started sometime after two. I looked toward the windows.

Several controlled shots came in measured intervals, followed by silence and another sequence farther away.

“What are they doing?”

Raven barely glanced up. “Training.”

“Who?”

“Hawk first, sounds like.”

“How can you tell?”

“Distance.”

A louder crack came several seconds later.

“What does Hawk use?”

Raven smiled faintly without taking his eyes from the monitor. “You’ll like the armory.”

Another burst of gunfire came from somewhere closer to the compound, followed by a muffled bang powerful enough that I felt a faint vibration through the floor.

I looked toward Raven.

“That sounded expensive.”

“Probably Bear.”

“What does Bear do?”

Raven finally turned his chair toward me.

“You’re going to ask me about all of them now, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

He looked toward the clock.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because Wolf told me to keep you working.”

“So you’re scared of him.”

“I’m in intelligence.”

“Different thing.”

“Closely related.”

I returned to the map, although the sounds outside had changed the way I looked at the men moving through the room.

So far, I’d seen them eating breakfast and arguing over socks. I’d watched Bear cook, and I’d spent the morning sitting beside Raven while he complained about database architecture. Even Wolf had existed mostly behind a table or outside smoking. The personnel files said things like direct action and reconnaissance, and words meant very little when printed on government paper.

The sounds outside meant considerably more.