The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

With a creased map in hand, Percival trekked alongside Soren to a nearby abandoned mine.

At the mine’s entrance, they stumbled upon a covert mark of White Tiger etched into the rock face, its meaning unclear yet undeniably significant. And there, scattered nearby, lay a cache of critical documents belonging to CK.

“Base, this is Soren. We’ve found the mark,” Soren hollered into his headset.

A different voice crackled back, not Micah’s as expected, but that of the HQ commander. “Copy that. Proceed underground.”

Exchanging a glance, Percival and Soren strapped on their oxygen masks and descended into the bowels of the earth.

Markers bearing White Tiger’s emblem appeared sporadically along the mine’s tunnels—faded, but a trail they could follow nonetheless.

As they ventured deeper, the air grew thin, and a faint, metallic scent of blood wafted from the depths.

Suddenly, a clod of earth tumbled from directly above Percival.

“Run!” Percival barked, his eyes dark with urgency.

With lightning reflexes, Soren signaled to the team behind them, and the third squad retreated in a disciplined dash toward the exit.

Then, a thunderous collapse echoed from behind Soren.

“Captain!” He yelled.

“Get out of here. That’s an order!” Percival’s voice crackled through the headset as Soren could only glimpse his silhouette through the narrowing gaps in the debris.

“Captain, I’ll get you out!” Soren halted along with a few others.

Percival’s voice was icy. “Get lost. After you’re out, find Vivienne!”

Leopold and Thomas, sensing the gravity of the situation, called out, “Captain, report your status!”

“Mine… Collapse… Get out…”

Percival’s voice faded into static.

toward Percival’s last known location. However, before they could

Thomas fought back while retreating to HQ. But unfamiliar with the terrain, the front squad often stumbled into collapsing

Thomas, Leopold boosted their firepower and

shouted into the mic, “Wolf, unidentified forces are attacking from

to Soren, “Comms are jammed. There’s a signal blocker

Soren knew staying meant certain death for

only chance was to escape

streaming, Soren vowed, “Captain, wait for

mine, though not without injuries—broken limbs and,

back to life with Micah’s voice urging Wolf to

Wolf’s comms are down. Send me the coordinates of the

no time to consider the consequences. They had to down the helicopters

and

swiftly ended the fight, downing two

rendezvous point, with casualties among them, they

his head hastily bandaged, relayed Percival’s location to Leopold, insisting they had to

it!” Leopold took two rifles from the other members and strapped them on, his voice a mix of anger and resolve. “First squad, anyone who

echoed the sentiment. “Second

turned to follow, dizziness from blood loss

to report and heal. Or the captain will

cane, stormed over, nearly

our captain is still in there!” Leopold roared,

his captain but his dear friend who grew up with him. There was

firm. “Look at your men. They’re heavily wounded, and their lives matter, too. Back to base, that’s

“Get him treated, then document everything about the mine. Hand it

news. “Deputy director, it’s the

grabbed the handset.

to wait for satellite confirmation before proceeding. Do you not understand ‘stand

overheard the loud

HQ to enter the mine. When were we told to

pause, an enraged voice came from the other side, “Bullshit! I’ve been shouting my throat

the comms for

quickly realized it, too, and yelled for his men to check the