Chapter 14 - THE ABANDONED WAREHOUSE
Nearly two hours later, Richard slowed the SUV.
"There."
Half hidden behind overgrown trees stood a massive brick warehouse surrounded by rusted chain-link fencing.
Time had been cruel to the building.
Broken windows stared like empty eyes.
Sections of the roof had partially collapsed.
Tall weeds pushed through cracked pavement where delivery trucks had once unloaded cargo decades earlier.
Ryan looked around uneasily.
"This place has been abandoned for years."
Samuel studied the faded lettering above the entrance.
Most of it had disappeared.
Only three barely visible letters remained.
"...IVE..."
Daniel stepped out first.
The wind carried the scent of old wood, damp concrete, and wild grass.
He stood silently.
"I've been here."
Richard looked surprised.
"You remember now?"
Daniel nodded.
"My father brought me here once."
He walked toward the entrance almost instinctively.
"I waited outside."
"What was he doing?"
"I don't know."
Daniel stopped beside an old loading dock.
"But I remember hearing metal doors."
Samuel unfolded the hidden map once again.
According to the drawing, the warehouse itself wasn't the final destination.
The handwritten note simply read:
Begin here.
Ryan frowned.
"Begin?"
Richard looked around carefully.
"So whatever we're looking for..."
"...isn't inside the main building."
Daniel slowly turned in a circle.
Something felt familiar.
Not the warehouse itself.
The sound.
He closed his eyes.
Wind.
Leaves.
Then...
A faint metallic creaking.
His eyes opened immediately.
"The bridge."
Samuel looked toward him.
"What?"
"The bridge made that sound."
Daniel pointed beyond the warehouse toward dense woods.
"It isn't here."
"It's farther back."
Richard smiled.
"Then that's where we go."
Before anyone moved...
Daniel noticed fresh tire tracks in the dirt.
Not old ones.
Fresh.
Very fresh.
May you like
Someone else had visited recently.
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