In the heart of their makeshift base, Farah Karim summons one of her soldiers. Her gaze is hardened, a brewing storm behind dark eyes as she studies the individual standing before her. There’d been leaks in their operations, plans known to their enemy before they could be carried out. And all trails pointed to this one soldier — reliable until now.
“Walk with me,” she orders, rising from behind the worn-out desk strewn with maps and reports. The dim light from a lone hanging bulb flickers off her stern visage, highlighting the hardened lines of a war-torn leader. As they pace down the narrow hallway lined with sandbags, her mind works overtime piecing together shaky evidence against this trusted member of her unit.
“Dying for your country is easy,” she murmurs thoughtfully, seeking signs of betrayal within shadows of uncertainty. “Living for it… that’s the harder fight.”
