Page 41 of The ARC Unit: Breach

I smiled.

Raven sighed, scanned his badge and opened the door while remaining planted directly across the threshold.

“You are viewing it from here. If one shoe crosses that line, I am closing the door.”

“You are deeply afraid of him.”

“I have survived this long by recognizing avoidable risks.”

I leaned forward without moving my feet.

The room beyond him was narrower than I’d expected, with secured racks along both walls and larger cases stacked beneath them. The weapons were arranged with the same lack of ornament as everything else at ARC. They were tools, maintained and stored according to whoever used them.

Raven pointed toward the nearest rack.

“Wolf usually runs an HK416A5 for direct action. Configuration changes depending on where we’re going. Viper prefers a short SIG MCX SPEAR-LT when we’re working tight interiors. Jackal uses the MP7 you saw yesterday more than anything else, especially if he expects to move.”

He nodded toward a long hard case on the lower rack.

“Hawk’s AXMC lives there when he isn’t attached to it.”

“The sniper rifle?”

“One of them. He changes caliber and system depending on the job, but you’ll see that one this morning.”

My attention shifted to a separate cage holding a short breaching shotgun, several heavy hand tools and compact cases marked with warnings I didn’t need translated.

“Bear?”

“Bear.”

“So the largest person here is the one who opens doors.”

“Sometimes by asking politely.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You shouldn’t.”

I looked toward his hip. “And you?”

Raven tapped the Glock 19 holstered there. “This.”

“Your emotional support pistol?”

“I regret showing you anything.”

“Too late.”

He closed the armory before I could discover anything else.

The medical room surprised me more than the weapons had. It was small but serious, with an examination table, trauma bags, tools and enough emergency equipment to make the rest of the compound feel less theoretical. A locked refrigerator sat beneath one counter. Cabinets were labeled in German and English, and an entire rack of sealed blood packs had been arranged by type.

“Who handles medical?”

“All of us have advanced trauma training. Bear’s probably the best at keeping somebody alive until we reach actual medicine.”

“That’s oddly specific.”