Both Dan and Allen were on the move through the dark streets. The familiar neon signs and banner ads added some splashes of color mixed in with the shallow puddles and other wet surfaces reflecting the lights.

“Are you sure you want to continue this?” Allen said through the private channel. “I mean, I’ll cover for you in case Jane calls you a weakling for sitting out for the rest of the mission.”

Dan remained on ground level while Allen stuck to the buildings, providing recon for the areas ahead. Both had set a waypoint to an open area on the map. Throughout the entire walk, Dan’s back and ribs still ached from his fight against Adam Torrent. But he pushed on regardless. He knew that Jane would rip him to shreds for letting a flimsy excuse such as pain stop him.

He finally replied to Allen’s suggestion. “I’ll manage. Besides, I want to kill Kate for what she did to our team and maybe get a souvenir for Jane just for giggles.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing, kid. I still think that hemorrhage has done something to your head.”

Dan was well aware that what he was doing was insane. Maybe Allen was right about the brain hemorrhage affecting his judgment. But the seething anger that boiled within him towards Kate Razor pushed him towards another confrontation against that traitor.

Both of them arrived at Dan’s chosen location. The area appeared to be an abandoned cinema. The building itself looked like a coliseum with its wide and rounded design. The parking lot had some abandoned vehicles along with Kodak jeeps that could be decent cover. Dan saw all sorts of banners on the building itself and on the sides of each tall parking lamp.

“Hey, look at that one over there on the building,” Allen said over the private channel.

Dan checked out the building and rubbed his eyes as he saw one of the movie banners had Jane’s face on it.

“The hell? Why’s Jane on that banner?” Dan said.

“Apparently the Alpha Corp licensed a deal to make a documentary series on how Jane got to where she is. I actually saw it,” Allen said.

“Was it good?”

“I thought it was heartwarming. Many others only saw it just to fawn over Jane. Sex sells, simple as that.”

“I’m not surprised. Are you in position?” Dan asked. The plan was for Dan to approach the parking lot of this place while Allen kept back and took up a sniping position.

“Yeah, getting myself comfortable. Just gotta swap the scope and add a new muzzle to my seventy-seven. At least one of the Kodak agents I killed had good taste in optics,” Allen said. “Now tell me something, kid—”

“If you’re having second thoughts, you could sit out and I’ll do this solo,” Dan mocked.

His response must have thrown Allen for a loop, as Dan didn’t hear anything from him for a few seconds.

“So you’re dick measuring with me already, hmm? After that comment, no chance. I’m not gonna let some rookie have all the glory. And I’m certainly not going to explain to Jane why I sat in a corner while I let you take on the rebels and Kodak on your own.”

Dan smiled beneath his mask. He grabbed the pistol off his coat’s mount and aimed it at the sky. He pulled the trigger and fired a few rounds into the air.

The bait had been laid out.

“You really are crazy, Dan, you know that?” Allen said.

The next thing was to hide. If Dan was trying to lure Kate, he didn’t want to give her a free headshot from some vantage point. He jogged over to a Kodak jeep and rolled underneath it. Lying flat on his stomach, all he had to do now was wait.

Dan kept his seventy-seven ready in his hands. A few minutes passed, and still nothing yet.

“I was thinking this would never work,” Allen said. “But since Kate has been screwing up quite a bit since she swapped sides, nothing would surprise me anymore. If she really takes the bait on this little scheme of yours, then I’ve seen it all.”

Lying in wait, Dan thought things over and was resolute with what he was doing. He could already hear the scolding from Jane, assuming he lived through this. Getting justice on behalf of the Alpha Corp as well as Ben and Hailey by killing the traitor was the least they could do. If the mission was a flop, then killing the one who’d backstabbed them would bring a smile to Dan’s face.

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“Oh shit, someone’s actually coming,” Allen said. “They’re rolling up along the main street. Keep low.”

Allen had positioned himself inside the window of one of the many dark buildings lined up across from the cinema.

Dan glanced to his side and saw two jeeps drive up the road beside the parking lot and stop. The doors on the two vehicles opened, and armored boots hit the pavement.

“I can’t believe it. Yeah, kid, she showed up. She’s got a crew with her too. And guess who else survived?”

“Tell me. We need to be ready for anything.”

“Your rival Adam Torrent. The good news is that he looks a bit wobbly. He hasn’t fully recovered from that booster he took from you.”

Dan hadn’t counted on Adam surviving, let alone joining the fight. Whoever else was around, they’d be dealt with first.

“Hey Allen. How many others do they have with them?”

“A handful of rebels and some Kodak agents. It’s alright, I did a quick scan of them and they’re nothing but first tiers. At this point, you could probably take them with your eyes closed. So, kid, what’s the play here?”

Dan already knew exactly how he wanted this to play out. “We mop up the trash first and leave Kate and Adam for last. I got a few words for our traitor. Let’s get to work.”

The confirmation was all Allen needed. Dan’s ears immediately picked up staccatos in the air. Watching from under the jeep, bodies were already hitting the ground as rebels and even a Kodak agent dropped dead from Allen’s ambush.

Predictably, two sets of legs hustled and moved away from the jeeps as the vehicles were peppered by Allen’s gunfire.

Dan rolled out from underneath his jeep and crouched behind it. He leaned out and watched the fight unfold in front of him. Allen had already eliminated half of Kate’s escort. In the corner of his eye, Dan saw both Kate and Adam dive towards a small grouping of civilian cars.

He raised his seventy-seven and fired rounds at the confused and disorganized escort by the two jeeps. The recoil on the rifle surprised Dan, and he had to fight the gun to keep it steady. After a few bursts, he dropped two rebels and another two Kodak agents who didn’t anticipate getting shredded by bullets from behind.

“The trash has been mopped,” Allen said. “I saw those two flee from their comrades. What team players, aren’t they?”

“Good, I’m making my move now. I’m heading over to their hiding spot. Keep your eyes on me,” Dan said.

He broke cover and steadily made his way across the parking lot. Dan kept his knees bent and his stance low in case he needed to drop to the ground quickly. He loaded a new magazine into his seventy-seven and gripped the rifle tightly. His chance to enact justice for his dead teammates and to make Kate answer for her betrayal inched closer and closer with each step.

Dan saw Kate poke her head out to shoot back at Allen’s position. He responded quickly by raising his seventy-seven and peppering her position with a spray of his own gunfire. The recoil on the rifle still proved to be problematic as Dan’s shots damaged the cars instead of Kate.

“Sorry about that, kid. Kodak had time to modify our stolen shipment of guns and they made the most ass-backward improvements I’ve ever seen. That particular seventy-seven has improved muzzle velocity at the cost of handling.”

“No worries, Allen,” Dan said. “I’ll have to settle this up close. Just make sure you keep me covered. Don’t pull the trigger just yet.”

Dan walked up to the cars but kept his distance, about two dozen paces away. “Kate Razor, come on out. I want to say hi to you and your boyfriend.”

When Dan didn’t get a response, he decided to take the gloves off and call out these two supposed tier two agents.

“What’s the matter? Did I humiliate you two that badly? Are you shocked that I’m still alive? Am I going to grow up to be just as cowardly and incompetent as you assholes?”

The shit-talking worked as he saw an armored hand dig its fingers into the metal of one of the cars. Adam with his skull helmet emerged first.

“You got some nerve talking big like that,” Adam seethed. “I’d rip your head off right now if I could.”

“If you could? Well why not? You can see me. Take your best shot,” Dan said.

Even from this distance, Dan could see that Adam’s stance was wobbly, just as Allen had said. Adam took his hand off the car, and even that movement looked weak. He could hear the Kodak agent’s ragged breathing.

“What’s the matter? Did you catch the flu after our showdown? And here I thought Kodak agents had the greatest immune systems in the world.” Dan admitted he was enjoying this a bit too much.

Kate finally revealed herself and vaulted over one of the cars. Now, she was out in the open as she stared at Dan.

“I bet you feel like a real asshole now,” Dan mocked. “That booster you gave me a while back. Your boyfriend stole it from me and used it himself. Turns out it was poison all along. Another attempt at my life backfired on you hilariously. Me and Allen were laughing about it before we set up this little meeting.”

Kate simply gave Dan a death glare. Between Adam being in a weakened state and Allen keeping Kate at bay, Dan was confident he could crush the asshole duo right now.

“I don’t know what you Kodak assholes were expecting coming here, but both your forces and the rebels have probably taken a lot of losses. All of that from just one squad of Alphas.” Dan pointed his finger at Kate. “Time for you to face justice for your betrayal.”

Adam walked out of the group of cars and stood his ground against Dan. “You won’t be talking so tough once I’m done with you.”

“Let’s get started then,” Dan said.