"We're here," Allen announced. He poked his head back around to face us. His smile quickly changed once the force of the van pushed him against his seat.

"You missed it!" Lauren exclaimed, checking the window as the car drove past our original destination.

"We have company!" Quincy shouted as he made a hard right turn. I looked behind us and tried my best to see past the sun's glare, using my hands to shield my eyes.

"I don't see anyone," I said as Quincy glanced at me through the mirror before making another hard turn. The force from the turn propelled Lauren to my side of the car, squeezing me up against the door.

Quincy readjusted the car before saying, "I'm not sure how long they've been tailing us for, but I almost missed it myself. They were a few blocks behind us. I caught them at the top of the last hill. It's a bike and a van. They made a turn right after I spotted them. They've been running parallel to us for about three blocks." Lauren and I reached behind our seats and started to pull out our bags from the back.

"We need to split up," I said as Lauren and I carefully put our bags on.

"There's an alley up ahead, tell you when to turn," Allen proposed. I caught glimpses of the van through the cross-section of each passing street, but no bike.

"Turn right!" Allen yelled out. It was a late turn. The rear of the van slid across the corner of the sidewalk. It slammed into a pole before bouncing back and readjusted for the turn.

Quincy yelled, "Why couldn't you have just told me which block to turn on!?"

"They can only see us for a few seconds while we cross a street," Allen said with a satisfied grin.

"They think we're still driving forward," Quincy took his eyes off the road momentarily to look at Allen's stupid grin.

"Exactly," Allen responded.

The van busted through the locked gate, through a small passage that led into a parking garage behind an apartment building. Without hesitation, we slid open the van doors and jumped out. I walked over to the driver-side window and told them, "Go back to where we took the last turn and park the van facing south. When you're sure they've spotted you, drive around for fifteen minutes, then lose the van. Don't leave anything behind. We'll meet you at the spot."

Allen and Quincy both nod in acknowledgment before driving off.

Lauren and I waited five minutes before heading out, hoping to give Quincy and Allen a head start. We took the long way back, trying to avoid getting spotted. The overpowering smell followed us as we ran through the backstreets back to our original destination. The boarded-up windows and doors along the way hid stories of those left behind, their lives, and their final moments. I had always wondered how many people hid in those abandoned houses; too scared to come out, to endure, to fight.

The windows we could see were either stained or boarded up, but the awning by the entrance looked untouched. The entrance lobby was in pristine condition. The marble floors looked like they'd been waxed recently. The security desk, although empty, looked new.

"What is this place?" Lauren asked as she unholstered her pistol and checked the surrounding hallways. I pulled the bag from my back and got down on one knee, opening it to check my supplies.

"How many of these do we have?" I lifted what looked like a small brick over my head for Lauren to see. It was a remote-detonated explosive, C-4.

"We each have one. Don't use it if you don't have to. They're not easy to get," Lauren said as she knelt beside me.

"Alright, let's go," Quincy announced as he and Allen rushed into the building. We grouped by the elevators and drew our guns for the coming fight.

"The gang's all here, so how about you tell us what's so special about this place," Lauren asked in what seemed like an irritated voice. I moved over to the elevator on the far right and pressed the button to go up.

Stolen story; please report.

"This is an Architect Vault. There's limited server space, so they offload their credits to server sites like this. Hidden all around the island in plain sight." I said as I watched the elevator come down from the top floor.

"You just happened to come by this information?" Allen asked as he leaned up against the wall facing the elevator doors.

"You could say that," The three of them make eye contact and then return to look at me.

Quincy chimed, "Cut the crap, how'd you hear about this place?" The elevator was now halfway down.

"There was this one guy, who had a real nasty habit. I'd see him often. He kept coming to the Phoenix House to get sober. I couldn't recognize him from anywhere. He always looked real bad, except for this nice watch he always had on him. Maybe he was on Lane's crew or the Southerner's payroll. If he was, Lane wouldn't have been too happy to know that one of his own had been stealing from him. I'm sure we all know how that would end. If he worked for the Southerners, his fate would have been much worse. They don't tolerate junkies."

"You blackmailed him?" Lauren asked.

"Something like that," I answered as the elevator doors opened. I entered the elevator and held the door-open button with my foot as I climbed the side railing inside the elevator.

"I didn't think you had it in you, Marcus," Quincy quipped as he watched me climb back down the railing and continue to hold the button.

"What can I say, desperate times."

"So what's the plan?" Allen asked as he pulled away from the wall. I motioned for him to come over and placed his hand on the button.

"Lauren and I are taking the staircase on the east. Quincy is going up the staircase on the west."

"They'll be expecting me if I go up the elevator. They probably saw it go down," Allen said, confused.

"I'm counting on it," I said as I handed him what looked like an old phone.

"It should take us about 10 minutes to get up the stairs. It took about five for the elevator to come down. Give us five minutes, then send the elevator to the top floor. Once you see it's there, detonate it. That'll be our signal."

We managed to get up the stairs earlier than expected.

"You ever get tired of this?" Lauren asks as we wait for our signal.

"What else is there? The way I see it, this seems to be the only choice that makes sense."

We pulled out our masks and began to cover our faces.

I expected a boom, but it was more of a loud thud. I pushed through the door with my shoulder. Lauren moved forward as we began disarming the guards. They didn’t see it coming.

"No one needs to get hurt! Drop your weapons! We can all leave unharmed!" Quincy shouted as we moved closer to the center of the room.

The blast sent chunks of marble flying. There were a few bodies laid out on the floor. They looked like Guards who got caught in the explosion. None of the injuries seemed fatal.

"Everyone on the ground!" I shouted as they all slowly lay down, face-first on the floor. Lauren circled the room, kicking the guns in a pile in the center.

Looking back, I should have seen the signs.

I didn't hear the door, but the sound of their footsteps. There wasn't enough time for me to react. It all went black. I found myself on the floor.

"Hello, Marcus."

I tried lifting my head, but the light made it hard to see.

"You don't remember me? I thought we were friends, Marcus."

Slowly the shape of his face began to form. First thing I noticed was the scar that ran across his right eye, over the bridge of his nose, and down his left cheek. He had a dead eye. He wore his hair with shaved sides and long down the front and the back of his head.

It was Lane.

"Morning sunshine." Lane pulled his face away. I looked around the room and noticed that the guards were all armed. Allen, Quincy, Lauren, and I were on the floor. We were surrounded.

"I'm real sorry James over here had to hit you. We just couldn't have you guys robbing these fine men and women, at least not without paying your dues," Lane said as he walked around in a circle.

"This doesn't have anything to do with you, Lane!" Quincy shouted.

"I don't remember saying you could talk! I'm talking! Do you see this?!" he shouted as he began waving his pistol in the air. "This means I talk, you listen! Got it?!"

The expression on his face had changed from a light-hearted smile to that of a crazed animal.

"This is how it's gonna work. I'm only going to say it once, so listen close," He said as he lowered himself.

"You're gonna pick one of your friends, you can vote or you can fight it out for all I care," He said as he began tapping the pistol against the floor.

"When you've made your decision, me and whoever it is you've picked, we're gonna walk out of here together. I only need one of you," He said as he approached me and stuck his index finger in my face.

"Just one. No questions, no fighting. When it's all over, we all go our separate ways." Lane pulled back and stood up

.

"Isn't that great? No one has to get hurt. You should all be thanking me!" Lane walked back just enough to see all our faces. He lowered himself once more. He paused and looked each one of us in the eye.

"Here's the alternative... you don't pick, you don't vote, and you decide to fight me. I'm looking at you, Marcus," He said as he waved his pistol in my direction.

"I will kill most of you, and I do not say this lightly. You better believe I'm still going to walk out of this building with one of you," Lane stood up and circled the room once more.

"So what will it be?" he said as he carefully positioned himself in the center of the room and cocked his gun.

"I know. It's an ugly deal, but what can I say. It's an ugly life."