Chapter 22 Been A While

• Morrison Township looked like a Norman Rockwell painting from the highway—tree-lined streets, white picket fences, the kind of small-town America where Sarah had grown up believing the world was fundamentally safe.
• Alexander crouched behind the water tower on Miller's Hill, studying the town through his rifle scope. What he saw made his blood run cold.
• Phoenix operatives weren't hiding among the civilian population—they were using them as human shields. Sniper nests positioned in the elementary school. Machine gun emplacements on the church roof. Families being herded into the town square like livestock, surrounded by men with automatic weapons.