Chapter 13: Code Red
The week after discovering the hidden room felt like walking across a field of landmines.
Everyone at school was smiling a little too hard.
Teachers were unusually polite.
Even that nosy secretary in the office offered Kgosi a lollipop.
Too quiet.
Too fake.
Something was coming.
---
The Crack in the Wall
Kgosi, Naledi, and Lethabo spent their afternoons decoding the rest of the documents they found in the storage room. Most were encrypted, but one caught Naledi's attention:
> Project Fireline — Active Recruits List
"All members of Red Wire in uniform, planted at Thuto-Mphatlhalatsane and surrounding schools."
"Wait…" Lethabo paused, reading the names.
"No ways, bro…"
There, on line number 7, was a name none of them expected.
> Thabo Moremi — Grade 11B
Lethabo dropped the file.
"Thabo? My own cousin?"
---
Thabo's True Face
Lethabo didn't want to believe it.
Thabo — the same guy who helped him recover after getting shot.
The same guy who brought food to the hospital.
The same guy who always warned them to "move smart."
But now it all made sense.
How Lethabo always got tracked.
How someone knew about their movements before they made them.
It was Thabo.
---
Confrontation
They found him after school by the netball court.
Kgosi didn't waste time.
"You snitched," he said.
Thabo blinked. "What?"
"You fed them info," Lethabo added, eyes burning. "You told them where we meet. What we plan."
"I had to," Thabo said quietly. "They came for my little sister. Said she'd end up like Bra T-Man if I didn't play along."
Kgosi's jaw tightened.
Naledi stepped forward. "So you let Lethabo get shot?"
"I didn't know!" Thabo cried. "I tried to warn him."
"You tried?" Lethabo asked. "Or you aimed?"
Thabo fell silent.
Then Kgosi said the coldest line he ever had.
"You're dead to us."
---
The New Threat
That night, Naledi received an anonymous DM on her burner Instagram account.
> *"You found the storage room. Good for you.
But the school isn't your battlefield.
Try digging deeper, and we'll dig graves."*
– R
She showed Kgosi.
He didn't even blink.
"Let them dig," he said. "They'll find nothing but fire waiting for them."
---
The Secret Meeting
Kgosi organized a meet-up with a former Red Wire member who had left the group two years ago — an older guy called Zuko, who now worked as a cleaner at the nearby factory.
Zuko was jumpy, eyes scanning every shadow.
"You think you're the first to try fighting them?" he asked Kgosi.
"No. But I'll be the first to burn them."
Zuko smiled. "Then you better know this — the school isn't their HQ anymore."
Kgosi leaned in.
"They moved it," Zuko whispered. "To the abandoned mineshaft east of the train tracks."
---
The Map of the Mines
Later that night, Kgosi and Naledi laid out an old kasi map on the floor.
The abandoned mines had been closed since 2004, but still rumored to be used by syndicates for meetings, torture… even secret burials.
"I'll go check it out," Kgosi said.
"You're mad," Naledi replied.
"Then I'm mad with a purpose."
Lethabo stepped in.
"No bro. We go together."
---
The Raid Plan Begins
They drafted a plan:
1. Get inside the mines and record any evidence of illegal dealings.
2. Retrieve files or video footage.
3. Escape safely and leak everything anonymously to the Daily Sun, Twitter, and Kasi FM.
They knew the risk.
They might not come back.
But they were already in too deep.
And Kasi loyalty ain't cheap.
---
Kgosi's Journal Entry (Bonus)
> *"Every chapter of this war costs something.
A friend.
A secret.
A piece of my innocence.
But if we don't fight, who will?
I'd rather die on my feet than live under Red Wire's shadow."*
– K. Matlala