A gunshot sounded upstairs.
“Eight.”
Then another.
“Seven.”
The lights flickered.
“Six.”
An explosion shook the farmhouse.
Claire screamed.
The transfer froze at 79%.
“No!” Margaret shouted.
Smoke began entering the corridor.
Russell grabbed my arm.
“We leave now.”
I stared at the screen.
79%.
All that truth.
All those lives.
About to disappear.
Then the percentage changed.
80%.
Margaret stared.
“How?”
81%.
Daniel looked at another terminal.
“Backup battery.”
82%.
Rebecca stopped counting.
Her voice disappeared.
Russell smiled.
“Thomas.”
Margaret looked toward the smoke-filled corridor.
“He switched the servers to emergency power.”
The transfer raced.
90%.
94%.
97%.
99%.
Then—
**TRANSFER COMPLETE.**
A green message appeared.
ARCHIVE RECEIVED BY FEDERAL SECURE NETWORK.
Nobody spoke.
Russell stared at the screen.
Thirty years of secrets had left his hands forever.
Then the ceiling shook.
Fire alarms screamed.
We ran.
—
# PART 6 — **THE NIGHT EVERYTHING BURNED**
The farmhouse was on fire.
Smoke poured through the hallway.
Daniel carried Russell’s weight on one side while I held him on the other.
