[off_the_books] Stonegate Stakeout

AO: off_the_books
Q: U-Haul
PAX: Hatchet
FNGs: None
COUNT: 2
What had happened was:
Sometimes the best stories start in the dark. Literally.

Alarm hit at 2:30 AM, and I rolled out determined to get my ruck miles in before the procedure. Stepped off from 6102 and started winding through the streets of Stonegate, chasing 3 miles at a 15-minute pace.

About a mile in, I noticed headlights cutting across my path — bright, slow, and intentional. At 3 AM that gets your attention. Positioned up on the sidewalk, I waited it out, heart racing, ready for anything (always ready).

The vehicle eased up, window rolled down, and out comes a familiar voice:
Hatchet , I’ve been looking all over for you. I think I got one more lap lookin for you before the neighbors call the police. You’re hard to find!”

Turns out another PAX had been struggling to sleep and decided to get his own pre-dawn miles, parking at the clubhouse and circling Stonegate. We linked up at the top of the hill. I finished out my 3, he finished out his 45 minutes.

It’s a wild thing to see another HIM putting in the work before most of the world is even awake – Bottlecap (after all it’s a holiday weekend) ::. Iron sharpening iron, even in the middle of the night.

TClaps (in the Lexicon) to the brother out there with headlights on and discipline dialed in. Made the gloom a whole lot brighter.