The two agents maintained the position. Dan kept his eye on the doorway at the end of the current empty hall while Li did routine back and forth patrols between the container and the hall and storage room they had left. Li had the sense to shut down the doors in both the storage room and the one that led them to this hallway.

Dan stood in place with his silenced pistol in his hand and eagerly watched the door with anticipation. Either Angie or Kodak agents could enter, putting the container at risk.

He decided to contact Angie to check in with her. Dan established a private channel with her.

“This is Dan. What’s your current position?”

“Well hello to you too,” Angie said. “I’m walking up a lot of stairs because of the disruptors you placed on the elevators. I mean, I get it but this is getting annoying.”

Dan was thankful to have a breather in this mission. “I thought you were an agent. You can handle the extra walking, can’t you?”

“It still sucks,” Angie said. “By the way, wouldn’t Kodak catch on to us if they discover the elevators don’t work?”

“The disruptors only jammed the elevator controls for the VIP floors,” Dan said. “The elevators will still work as normal for all the floors below us.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Angie said. “I guess I’m not cut out to plan an intricate treasure hunt like this.”

“How long until you get to us?”

“Not sure. I’m a lot slower than I want to be by carrying all of these heavy weapons. I just walked past an unconscious Kodak agent,” Angie said.

“Probably Li’s handiwork,” Dan said. “Get here quick. We got the container and we have to get it to the roof.”

“Yeah, yeah relax. We got this in the bag. What could go—wait.”

“What is it?”

Dan grew anxious at the pause on the other end. “Angie, talk to me.”

“Uh, I got two Kodak agent ahead of me and they’re at the end of the hall. I think they’re going upstairs.”

“Towards us?” Dan asked.

“Maybe? I guess I better slow down and be more careful. I could run into more for all we know,” she said.

Dan glanced behind him and saw Li come back from his patrol pattern. He stared at Li intently and both hand gripping his silenced pistol. “We might have trouble coming our way. Two Kodak agents are coming up ahead of Angie.”

“I’ll keep an eye. I’ll activate my x-ray vision,” Li said.

“Wait what? You have x-rays?”

“Affirmative. I can see heat signatures through walls. It’s how I survived reaching the container all on my own after you fell unconscious,” Li said.

Walking over to Dan’s position, Li stared intently at the door ahead of them. Dan had a bad feeling when he saw Li take the SMG off his back.

“She’s right. We have company coming up. Two Kodak agents. One of them has a shotgun and machete. He’ll be dangerous in close quarters.”

“What's the game plan then?”

“Beyond that door is the hallway leading out to the regular hotel suites. Since our area is restricted to Kodak agent only, we sit and wait for them to come through. We gun both of them down before the one with the shotgun gets a chance to do any damage.”

Li crouched down and aimed his Aero SMG at the door ahead.

“Can you keep me updated on their whereabouts?” Dan asked.

“I will,” Li said. “They just came up the stairs and are on our level. If they come through out door, get ready to blast them. If they don’t we’ll standby and watch for their next move.”

Dan placed his silenced pistol on the side of his coat and took the Aero off his back. He aimed his submachine gun at the door. He had to be ready for anything.

“Wait a second,” Li said. “They’re splitting up. One of them is heading down further along the hallway. The one with the shotgun is right outside our door standing ready.”

Dan kept his finger on the Aero’s trigger, ready to squeeze and peppernthe Kodak agents if they tried to enter.

“Now he’s running back to his buddy. He must have opened the door to the security room and saw the man I knocked out earlier.”

Dan’s enhanced hearing picked up the rapid footsteps outside and the voices on the other end. The conversation was muffled, but Dan tried to listen anyway.

“The guy in there is on the ground,” Dan heard a muffled voice say. “I flicked the switch for the window panels for the storage room. The fucking serums are gone and our guys are fucking dead.”

“Uh oh,” Dan whispered.

“I knew it,” another muffled voice said. This one was huskier. “Colleen knew some bullshit was going on when the guards didn’t respond back. Shit, I didn’t expect a tier two of ours to kick the bucket. Call for more backup. Let’s get this door open and see what’s going on in there.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Dan and Li exchanged glances. “They’re onto us,” Li said.

“Yeah. It was nice while it lasted.”

An audible muffled beep at the other side of the door sounded before the door swung open. By the time the Kodak agent’s figure was visible, both Dan and Li unleashed a hellfire of shredder rounds into the agent’s body. Blood and armor bits exploded out of the agent’s body from the barrage of gunfire and he fell backwards.

Dan expected the second Kodak agent to still be around when streams of return fire whizzed past both Dan and Li. Luckily, none hit the container.

“Woah what the fuck?” Dan shouted. He dropped down to his stomach briefly wondering why he saw muzzle flashes in mid air at the doorway.

In the next second, Dan squinted and observed faint distortions and refractions of light in the doorway and immediately suspected something. Throwing restraint to the wind, Dan unleashed the full auto barrage of what he had left in his Aero SMG. The shredder rounds smashed into the translucent outlines and one Kodak agent materialized out of thin air with holes in his abdomen. Li returned fire as well and scored a few headshots that blew apart the face of a second invisible Kodak who had decloaked from the firepower. Jets of blood shot out of both cloaked enemies from the swarm of shredder rounds.

“They’re cloaked!” Li said. Now it made sense why Li’s x-ray couldn’t detect these cloaked agents.

“If they weren’t on to us, I think they are now,” Dan shouted.

“I think so too. Agents don’t causally take cloaking tech into battle without expecting enemies,” Li said.

The hallway fell to an eerie silence and Dan jammed a new magazine into his Aero. He stared intently at the doorway while pointing his SMG, ready to unleash more shredder rounds if necessary.

Li contacted him through the private channel.

“I still see one more heat signature. He’s beside the door frame,” Li said.

Dan slowly got back up from the ground and methodically approached the open doorway.

“He’s on your right hand side,” Li said. “Deal with him and get this over with.”

Inching his way closer and closer to the doorway, Dan stopped just right in front of the door frame. In one quick motion, Dan rushed out of the door and shoved his elbow to his right side just above shoulder height.

His instincts proved correct as he saw the Kodak agent’s head snap to the side. Seeing his enemy staggered, Dan followed up with a short burst right to the agent’s head, exploding it from the shredder rounds.

Checking his surroundings and looking down both ends of the hall, Dan confirmed that was the last of them. But now they had new problems to deal with.

Dan walked back through the doorway and returned to Li and the container. Inspecting their cargo, Dan was relieved that no damage had been inflicted on the container. Li, even with his helmet and expressionless visor, looked at him and Dan knew his teammate wasn’t about to crack a joke.

“With all of that gunfire and our shredder rounds letting loose, there’s no way anyone missed that. We have to assume we’ve been compromised. Let’s get the container and start booking it to the roof. This hallway is not a good place to get ambushed. Any one of those Kodak agents could have put a bullet into our cargo.” The stealth specialist tapped the side of the container. “And we have no clue how tough the container is.”

Dan nodded in agreement. He opened a private channel with Angie as he and Li hefted the container and were on the move again.

“Angie, situation has changed. You should see an updated waypoint since we’re moving.”

“Let me guess, you guys ran into those two Kodak agents I saw?”

“I’ll do you one better,” Dan said. “They brought some backup who used cloaking tech. And we were forced to go loud with our Aeros. I’m sure at least a few assholes must have heard the gunfight we just had.”

“That’s reasonable. That ruckus must have been you two. If I heard, no doubt that somebody else in the floors above and below heard it too. Not to mention those Kodak agents you gunned down might have had time to get the word out of intruders,” Angie said.

“Then we better get our asses moving. Just meet us on the way.”

“Understood. And don’t worry Dan. Once I join you guys, I’ll blow all of these fuckers away with what I’m packing. I’ll make those Aeros of yours look like confetti makers by comparison.”

“How close are you?” Dan asked.

“Just one more floor to go and I’ll be seeing both your asses hauling the container.”

“Good, see you then,” Dan said.

Dan and Li stepped through the doorway and carefully stepped over the dead and bloodied remains of the Kodak squad. Dan winced at watching his foot almost step on the head of a Kodak agent who’s face was mangled by shredder rounds.

“I miss my silenced pistol and sniper combo,” Li said. “Clean and quiet kills are always the superior option.”

“I could understand that,” Dan said, sidestepping the last corpse. “Nothing wrong with going loud once in a while.”

He waited until Li stepped over the last body and the two picked up the pace, carrying the container down the hallway.

“Sending my drone ahead to map out the ideal route for us up to the roof,” Li said.

“Can you control it while carrying this container with me?”

“Of course I can. I’m far past being a rookie,” Li scoffed. “It shouldn’t take too long thanks to Tim sending me the map and layout of this hotel during your power nap.”

Dan saw a notification pop up in his peripheral vision. An incoming call from Tim.

“Gentlemen, we have problems,” Tim said grimly.

“I think I can guess what you’re about to say,” Dan replied.

“The Kodak’s comms network is going crazy. Reports of gunfire in the upper floors in the VIP section. They’re onto us.”

“No surprises there,” Li said. “We were forced to use our shredder rounds against an enemy squad. Luckily the container survived the battle.”

“Good to hear, but you’re about to get company. Luckily, Dan’s disruptors have jammed the elevators coming up to the VIP section so any more Kodak opposition you encounter has to take the stairs.”

“Sucks to be them,” Dan remarked. “We’re heading to the roof now. Angie will be pulling up the rear.”

“Okay,” Tim said before cutting the line. “If you can wait a little longer, wait for Angie and then I can guide you to an elevator that will take you up directly to the rooftop.”

“Wait, I thought the disruptors I placed disabled all of them for the VIP floors?” Dan asked.

“They did for most of them except one,” Tim said. “This particular one is for transporting cargo to and from the roof. Kodak gets their supplies from air delivery and they use the cargo elevator to transport the goods down to their storage room. You think Kodak will actually have their supplies delivered at ground level and have to go up sixty-odd floors?”

“I see,” Dan said. “Thanks for the update Tim.”

“No worries. Sending the updated route to the elevator. Stay safe down there and good luck. You guys know what the stakes are. Tim out.”

Dan looked at his teammate. “You heard all of that Li?”

“Yes,” he said. “That will save us some time. And maybe Angie can stop complaining about sore feet. Just as a backup plan, I’ll still have my drone map an alternate route for us in case that cargo elevator is a no go for us.”

“I hope we won’t have to resort to that,” Dan said.