Clear Water, Hidden Danger

Chapter 25 – Contact and Approach - Part 2

The Capehart gate lifted slow, metal grinding against metal like it wasn’t sure it trusted what it was letting in. The FEMA MCU rolled to a stop just inside the outer barrier. MSG Song Neal stepped down first, posture straight, eyes locked forward, the kind of presence that made soldiers remember old instincts.

Boro and Prince stiffened the moment they saw her.
“Master Sergeant,” Boro said automatically.

Prince echoed it. “Didn’t expect to see you running point again, ma’am.”

Neal’s tone stayed flat. “Didn’t expect to need to.”

Major Jackson came forward with Captain Shava Bilew-Jackson and Captain Feddeler flanking him. His gaze scanned the lineup, then stopped on Neal.

“We tracked the FEMA survivors,” he said. “Prince and Boro broke off from the main group after the sweep. We know you held position at Clear Water.”

“Yes sir,” Neal said. “The survivors regrouped at the plant. Civilians and remaining guards. Stronghold’s intact.”

Jackson’s eyes narrowed with professional suspicion.

“Who commands Clear Water now?”

Neal didn’t hesitate.

“Johnson, sir. Rodney Johnson. Security Supervisor. Acting commander of Clear Water.”

Jackson’s jaw tightened.

“A civilian.”

“Yes sir,” Neal said. “When FEMA collapsed, Johnson kept the water running, kept the people alive, and held the perimeter. He also took a team of 4 directly to the FEMA camp and retrieved us when the world turned upside, sir. Clear Water stands because he took command.”

Jackson studied her, searching for exaggeration or hesitation. He found none.

“And you vouch for him?” he asked.

“With my life,” Neal said. “And with theirs.” She tilted her head toward Hawk, Stacks, Wolf, Cruz, and Burns.

Captain Bilew-Jackson glanced between them with new calculation.
Jackson gave a slow nod.

“Understood,” he said. “Clear Water’s commander is Johnson.”

He gestured inward.

“Bring your team in. We don’t discuss anything out in the open.”

They followed him into the receiving bay — concrete walls, dust settle, faint antiseptic stinging the air. Generators hummed like a heartbeat somewhere deeper inside the clinic.

Jackson stopped beside a metal table.

“Neal,” he said. “Your people deserve clarity.”

Neal frowned. “Clarity about what, sir?”

Bilew-Jackson stepped forward, arms folded, voice even.

“You asked what Clear Water is a junction of.”

Neal crossed her arms. “Yes, junction of what?”

Jackson answered:

“Project ECHO.”

The word hung heavy in the room.

Cruz straightened. “We found that tag on a sealed case under one of our tanks.”

“You weren’t supposed to,” Jackson said. “Project ECHO was a neural-motor resonance program. Not chemical. Not disease. Stafford AFB ran it. Municipal water systems were calibration sites. Clear Water was the benchmark filtration node.”

Burns swore softly. “We were test subjects?”

“Not intentionally,” Feddeler said. “The compounds were inert. They needed a frequency trigger.”

“And someone hijacked it,” Bilew-Jackson added.

Neal exhaled sharply. “Then why have the pulses stopped?”

Jackson and Shava exchanged a silent, grim acknowledgment.

“Because the Phase IIIs learned the frequency,” Bilew-Jackson said. “They don’t rely on tower pulses anymore. They generate their own. They’re always active.”

The silence turned colder.

Feddeler spoke next. “Sir… they need to know about the south wells.”

Jackson nodded.

Feddeler opened a laminated map. A bold black line cut diagonally across it:

SOUTH WELL ACCESS TUNNELS.

Neal leaned over it, eyes tightening. “I’ve walked that entire field. No markers. No checkpoints.”

“That was intentional,” Jackson said. “You weren’t meant to know what you were guarding.”

Neal pointed to WELL HOUSE 27 stamped near the bottom.

“That’s on Clear Water property.”

“Correct,” Jackson said. “Clear Water sits on top of ECHO’s primary access node.”

Neal swallowed. “Meaning?”

Bilew-Jackson answered softly.

“Meaning the resonance network starts beneath your plant.”

No one spoke.

Finally, Neal said, “So we work together. You’re low on meds and manpower. We’re low on antibiotics and blind to your systems.”

Jackson nodded. “Two days. You maintain water output. We’ll stabilize your perimeter and run diagnostics on the wells. After that, Feddeler leads a convoy — ammo, medical, gear. In return, we’ll need diesel and filtration components.”

Neal extended her hand.

“Deal.”

Jackson shook it.

Then he reached into his vest and pulled out a sealed drive.
Black stripe down the side.
Heavy. Old.

“Give this to your commander,” he said. “Everything he needs to understand what ECHO was… and what it became.”

Neal took it carefully.

“But warn him,” Jackson added. “If he opens it tonight… he won’t sleep.”

Neal slid the drive into her vest and nodded.

“He’ll get it.”

As the MCU pulled away from NLC and the Capehart gate groaned closed behind them, Cruz finally spoke, her voice low.

“So this wasn’t infection. Or nature.”

Neal kept her eyes on the road.

“Mankind built the match,” she said. “Someone else struck it.”

The pavement vibrated beneath the tires — faint, slow, pulsing.

For the first time, none of them wondered what it was.

Only who it was meant for.

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ANONYMOUS FIELD LOG — ENTRY ALPHA
CLASSIFIED — PROJECT ECHO CLEARANCE REQUIRED:
CWP arrival at NLC Capehart gate logged. MSG Neal re-established FEMA-era authority; Boro and Prince responded with clear command recognition. Major Jackson conducted identity confirmation on Clear Water’s acting commander. Disclosure event triggered: NLC leadership identified Clear Water as the benchmark filtration node for Project ECHO, not an incidental site. Confirmation that municipal systems were calibration points for Stafford’s neural-motor resonance program. Additional confirmation that Phase-III entities now generate autonomous oscillations independent of tower pulses. Geographic revelation: Well House 27 identified as primary ECHO access node beneath CWP grounds. Departure vibrations recorded; pattern matched low-frequency resonance, likely structural.
========================================

ANONYMOUS FIELD LOG — ENTRY BRAVO
CLASSIFIED — PROJECT ECHO CLEARANCE REQUIRED:
NLC internal briefing outlined resource-exchange framework: CWP maintains water output while NLC stabilizes perimeter and conducts subterranean diagnostics. Feddeler assigned convoy lead for ammunition and medical resupply. In exchange, NLC requested diesel and filtration components. Major Jackson delivered legacy ECHO data drive for Clear Water command; flagged as high-psychological-impact review material. Final MCU departure registered additional resonance pulses through Capehart approach vector. Cruz and Neal acknowledged human origin of catalyst.