9:56 PM.
Three hours into Code Black.
The council tower no longer looked like the seat of government.
It looked like the last place people still believed had answers.
Floodlights flooded the surrounding streets in harsh white light that turned every face pale and every shadow sharp. Barricades had been thrown up around the base of the structure, but they were doing less and less to keep people back. Civilians crowded against them in dense clusters, demanding information, demanding entry, demanding anything that sounded better than silence.
Soldiers moved constantly.
Not because they were in control.
Because they were trying to look like they were.
Aubrey watched everything from the roof of a neighboring building.
Her eyes tracked patterns.
Who was paying attention.
Who wasn't.
Where people kept looking.
Where they didn't.
Terri stood beside her, staring down at the chaos below.
"That's a lot of people."
"That's what happens when everyone gets told to stay calm."
