Dan walked over to where his seventy-seven rifle lay and scooped it back up. He glanced over at Adam’s body on the ground. Seeing that he still hadn’t gotten back up, he assumed the Kodak agent was dead.

Jane stepped in front of him, blocking Dan’s view. “We don’t have time to admire my handiwork. Grab whatever you can and let’s get going. With the amount of losses they’ve suffered, we won’t have much time before they pull out of here, leaving us empty-handed.”

Dan walked over to the jeep where numerous bodies of rebel soldiers and Kodak agents lay. He swiped a CMA rifle and pistol off one of the agents and took whatever magazines he could from the rest.

A tap on the shoulder startled him. Dan turned around and was relieved to see Jane. His squad leader gave him a blank expression and simply handed him his combat knife.

“It would be irresponsible for you to lose this. I spent money putting the poison coating on it,” she said.

“Thanks, Jane, it did save my ass a few times,” Dan said, taking his knife back. “You wouldn't believe the shit I’ve seen while we were split up.”

Jane smiled. Well, not quite. It was more an upward curl of the edge of her mouth. “You can tell me all about it once we complete this mission and leave.”

The fires raging from one of the two jeeps gradually decreased in intensity from the rain. The scattered glowing signs and banners stood out as beacons in the increasing downpour.

It was an odd thing. They were surrounded by bodies of their enemies and the rain intensified into thick sheets that reduced visibility. And yet, Dan felt at peace.

The colored lighting from the various signs was still visible through the thick rain and some even reflected off the rippling puddles on the ground.

Allen stepped up beside him. “I could use a shower after all this shit.”

“Are you hurt?” Jane asked.

“Not too bad, but most of my weapons are trashed. Lost my minigun and rocket launcher.” Allen glanced at Dan. “The kid will need medical attention after this is over. I injected him with a bunch of healing stims. He might need to get his head checked specifically. It was all his idea to have this crazy showdown here.”

Jane looked at Dan. “Is that so?”

Dan recalled that Jane ordered him to stay put. He anticipated his squad leader didn’t have anything nice to say.

But to his surprise, Jane simply responded with, “You’re learning fast. Though you disobeyed my orders to stay put, I can overlook it just this once.”

Dan gave her a respectful nod before loading a new magazine into his ZK-77.

Jane looked at both of them and said, “I got the location of the rebels’ HQ. We’re going together and we’ll storm it. It’s that simple. No more complications, no more bullshit. It’ll be the three of us against whatever forces they have left. Is that understood?”

“Yes ma’am,” Dan and Allen said in unison.

Jane turned and began a light jog through the rain-soaked street in the same direction as the female Kodak agent had gone. Dan and Allen followed behind. At this point, Dan simply focused on following Jane’s white figure through the thick sheets of rain. He was aching and the fatigue across his entire body could overtake him at any time.

But he had a mission to complete. One last stretch.

The streets remained empty. Dan didn’t see any civilians. And he didn’t see any enemies either. He glanced to his side at Allen, who stared ahead with a serious face. Even with all the rainwater flowing down into his eyes, the man didn’t blink.

“When Jane said no more bullshit back there, I just knew that wouldn’t be the case,” Allen said. He glanced over at Dan. “I’m surprised we haven’t been shot at yet. Surely that Kodak agent knew we might chase after her and place at least a few marksmen around to intercept us.”

Dan received an incoming call from Jane.

“How are you guys holding up back there?”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Something’s off,” Allen said. “I love a good stroll in rainy weather as much as anyone, but we haven’t seen any enemies yet.”

“Correct,” Jane said. “Which is why we need to keep going. Kodak and the rebels might be in panic mode and getting ready to vacate the area.”

“If you were in their position, wouldn’t you at least leave behind a few sharpshooters to take shots at us and buy them more time to get out?”

“Perhaps, but we’ve crippled them so much that I doubt they have anyone competent left to stay behind. I forgot to mention that I shredded through a bunch of squads before I got to you guys.”

“Of course you did,” Allen said. “It still doesn’t sit right with me.”

“We’ll reach the HQ and we can put any doubts to rest,” Jane said, cutting the connection.

Allen looked over to Dan and said, “Get ready, kid. We’re in the final stretch.”

***

Colleen

“I cannot fucking believe this!” the man fumed as he threw a bottle across the room.

Colleen watched the pathetic display of anger from the resistance leader. She was well aware that both their forces had been decimated. The resistance leader had lost many men and women who had pledged themselves to his cause while Colleen had lost many of her first and even second tier agents.

Colleen stood with her arms crossed as she watched the temper tantrum continue. The man shouted expletives at the wall and at her. But none of it reached Colleen as she thought about the current situation.

This partnership had been shaky from the very start. Kodak had merely taken advantage of the zeal and shortsighted motivations of this rebel group to gain entry into this territory and acquire a shipment of the Alpha Corp’s new Arctic serum.

Jane Sunheiser had proven herself to be a tough and annoying adversary. Most of the tier two Kodak agents had been wiped out and an even larger number of first tiers had been crushed. In this current moment, Colleen was wasting her time working with a group who she didn’t share the same values or goals with. They were merely a stepping stone.

Colleen opened a discrete channel to her superior while the resistance leader continued his tantrum.

“Overlord, this is Colleen Odyssey.”

“Colleen, go ahead,” the other voice said.

“Our forces in this city have been cut down by more than half. Jane Sunheiser proved to be more than what our agents could handle.”

“That is unfortunate, though not surprising. I will keep it in mind next time to allow you to approach such a situation with more… freedom.”

Colleen smiled. Next time, she wouldn’t be constrained as a mere spectator. “I appreciate that, sir. Luckily, we still got something to show for our efforts. We have the shipment of the Arctic serum. I have a team transporting it away from the rebels’ possession as we speak.”

“Excellent work, Colleen. I know you had to endure much to steal that shipment. But soon we will bring the Alpha Corporation to their knees once we understand and unlock the secrets of their next-generation serum.”

“Thank you, sir. Are you alright with me cutting our losses here and leaving?”

“I’m surprised you had to ask. Your new priority is to get the batch of serum back to us intact. And from your casualty numbers, it appears you have overextended your stay in that region. Pull out, Colleen. I will await your return. And give your rebel friends a parting gift before you go.”

“Understood,” Colleen said. Her superior cut the link.

The resistance leader had since calmed down and now paced back and forth across the room. Since he hadn’t said anything, Colleen assumed he was attempting to reach his forces through his own channels.

Something zoomed past her at blinding speed and caused papers on a nearby desk to fly in all directions. Colleen immediately knew who it was.

“Hey sis,” Lola said, breathing hard.

“So you’ve returned,” Colleen said. “I take it that your capture of Jane Sunheiser was unsuccessful?”

Lola bit her lip and looked side to side. “Well, she was a bit tougher than I thought. Oh, and I think I over did it by going into my berserk mode.”

Colleen sighed. “You’re an inefficient fighter. I’ll have to help you fix that once we get out of here.”

The resistance leader looked at her. He walked up to Colleen and pointed his finger at her. “What the hell do you mean? We can’t just leave. I have men and women out there that are scattered and regrouping.”

“When I said ‘we,’ I was referring to my forces,” Colleen said calmly. “Kodak has no further business in this dump of a region.”

The leader was about to protest, but the words never left his mouth. In a flash, Colleen had wrapped her arms around his neck and with a casual twist, snapped it. She let go, and the resistance leader’s corpse slumped to the floor.

“Lola, do you still have energy?”

“Yeah, sis. Just catching my breath after my marathon. I had to carry Kate Razor’s carcass back with us.”

“I see. In that case, I have an easy job for you. Hunt down the rest of the rebels’ leadership and wipe them out. We don’t need the Alpha Corp capturing them and prying answers out of them about our involvement here.”

Lola flashed her a big grin. “That makes sense. Consider it done, Colleen.”

“Are any of our tier twos still alive?” Colleen asked.

Lola looked up at the ceiling as if the answer was written on there. “Jane Sunheiser and Allen Draco wiped out all of them. I got details sent to my HUD that Adam Torrent is dead. I’ll send someone to pick him up. ”

“Do it. He’s too important to lose. We’ll have to get him to our last resurrection chamber on hand, and fast. You know where to meet me once you tie up loose ends,” Colleen said.