The nights of Bertha were never peaceful, some kind of danger always lurked around the corner. Tonight, was just like that.

The sound of an explosion reverberated from within the city as all the lights on the east side went out. The whole place turned pitch black, as if swallowed by the maw of a giant beast. People who had them turned on their lights, hoping to protect themselves from those who would take the opportunity, scheming in the dark void.

Thieves, or just anyone with such inclination, would always make use of such blackouts, whenever they happened. People had already gotten accustomed to this fact, and the military would always be quick to dispatch, sometimes committing over half of their forces to keep damage to a minimum. It would still take time to move so many personnel, however, those first moments of potential chaos always remained.

It only needed just a small spark for all hell to break loose.

Amidst all that, Max stood in the dark alley, calm and composed with his eyes closed. He breathed in deeply. He didn’t have to open his eyes to know that Mila was successful in her task.

Two taps on his earpiece asked for a scan.

“Six next to general Eric’s house, two on the far right. Three running towards the house from the left.”

Max nodded, waiting patiently with his eyes still closed. He recalled the plan. Mila hadn’t exactly caused only a power outage, instead completely destroying a part of the main power system of the east sector. Until that was fixed, nobody was going to get any power without a personal backup. Something most people lacked.

Max had half the night to himself before his window of opportunity expired, but the back-up generators could be replaced early. He would have at most 1 to 3 hours before power starts setting in.

Max stood in the alley behind a wall where no one could see him, waiting. Prime chimed in pretty soon.

“Max, they’re all going to your right. I’m assuming they’re going to go look at the back-up generator.”

This is what Max was waiting for. He made a mental note of where the back-up generator would be, before opening his eyes. The alleyway was pitch black, but still not completely without light, the sliver making it down from the sky being enough for Max, his eyes already used to the darkness. While he had to concentrate to make out everything, it was still a massive advantage compared to those surprised by the sudden blackout, forced to use their phones as flashlights.

He looked towards Eric’s house and saw a bunch of people using lights to see, going away into the distance. Max’s black and dark gray disguise was perfect for blending into the night, where everyone’s eyes were used to the glaring lights of nighttime Bertha.

Once everyone was out of sight, their absence confirmed by prime, he quietly ran towards the general’s house and inspected the door. It was locked, but it still seemed to require a physical key, and Max always carried a small ring of lockpicks with himself. Opening a lock was a simple thing for Max, the problem being the alarms and traps undoubtedly connected to them, requiring an electronic signature to bypass. Some locks were even deliberately easy to pick, the alarms behind them and the guards they called being the real security.

Security, that relied on electricity to work. Max was without worry as he unhesitantly started picking the lock.

Max chose to remain careful, however. Even after picking the lock, he stood back off to the side, carefully opening the door so he wasn’t blasted by any mechanical traps that would not be affected by the power outage. Such traps, ranging from automatic guns to simple brick tied to rope, were all rather common in the wastelands.

The door slowly opened, as he pushed on it, covering on the side. To his relief, no trap nor alarm activated signaling to the guards of his intrusion.

He quietly walked in. The house looked to be just a more extravagant form the common household, seeming to hold the same facilities as one. At least, as far as Max could tell. As adjusted as his eyes were to the darkness, there was still only so much light to go around, shining in from the door he left open for this purpose. He could only see the vague outlines of whatever objects were nearby. Max was confident that his vision would improve as he spent time in the darkness.

He inspected the house quickly, searching for a way upstairs, his footsteps completely quiet. The reason for his silent movement was threefold, equal parts caused by skill and experience, custom-built footwear, and the high quality flooring of the building. His shoes had been made specifically for Max’s use, both to negate noise, and plated with steel for protection, and should the situation call for it, agression.

Another scan request was made. Prime soon notified him that there was only one person upstairs. The person would likely be either Eric, the nanny, or Asra’s brother. Max’s instincts told him that it would be the nanny, protecting classified files.

While going up, the wooden stairs creaked under Max’s weight, the sudden blunder making Max crouch down and pull out his pistol at an insane speed as he aimed upstairs.

Max couldn’t move quickly lest he wanted to make noise, and if there really was someone here, they would be equipped with some kind of firearm. A firefight now was the last thing Max wanted, being so close to his objective.

He waited, his gun aimed and ready in case he really had to make a big scene. Minutes passed, and nobody came. Repeated scans showed that whoever he was up against, had not moved from their room. Either he was safe, or the opponent knew the art of war, not making a move until he did.

The one with the time advantage was his opponent, as Max could not wait forever. If power, or the guards, came back while he was still in the building, he would be in great trouble.

Max gritted his teeth and quietly moved up the creaky staircase, not making another sound. Another two taps, another scan. Whoever it was, they were hiding in the same position as they had been, just behind the door inside a room.

Max had to play smart. Once he was in the second floor, he had to quickly check all the other rooms first, with constant scans to make sure the unknown person has not left their room.

Max spent the next few minutes just searching the rooms, but it yielded no results. He concluded that the important documents were probably in the occupied room, protected by the person inside.

He had no choice but to face against them, something that would definitely result in a fire fight and create a lot of noise. If they waited beside the door then it would be easy for Max to fight them in close quarters, which wouldn’t make enough noise to alarm people outside. Gunshots, however, were easy to hear.

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Max silently walked up to the door.

The person was probably next to the opposite wall, aiming some kind of firearm towards the door. Max took in a deep breath, and stood beside the wall for cover first. He could very well barge in and just start shooting, but he didn’t want to kill Eric who could be a good source of information. That, and if the target had an itchy finger, then Max would be sure to be hit by some bullets.

Once he was in position, he just barely turned the door handle.

Within just a moment, the sound of shattering glass came from behind the door. Max had underistimated the person inside, who had balanced a glass cup on top the door handle. As soon as max tried to open the door, the cup fell signalling to the person that he wasn’t alone.

The sound of gunshots filled the place as the door became riddled with holes.

A machine gun!? Max thought to himself as he grasped his pistol with both his hands. He couldn’t peek inside unless he wanted his head split open. The gunshots also meant that backup would be here in a matter of minutes. He did not have time.

He had to do something. In a moment of desperation, He grabbed the EMP grenade from his belt, inactive, and threw it inside from one of the large holes in the wooden door made by the machine gun.

The grenade would not do anything, the electronics were already disabled and the human being is unaffected by it anyway. But, in the darkness, it looked close enough to a fragmentation grenade. That momentary panic was what he hoped for.

“Fire in the hole!” he yelled out, hoping he could trick his opponent, throwing the grenade.

It served as little more than a fancy rock. But, to his relief, that was all he needed.

A moment later, the person inside suddenly dived out of the door to protect themselves, or rather, herself, as Max could now tell.

Her jumping out gave Max enough time to figure out who it was - the nanny, as he had suspected.

Max didn’t hesitate, his aim already at the nanny while her face contorted with fear. That expression was erased permanently by the final gunshot of their engagement.

His clothes, to his relief, remained unmarred with none of what remained of her head landing on him. Such would have made his disguise far less effective.

Max quickly ran inside and checked where Asra said she found the documents, soon confirming that Asra hadn’t lied. When he found the intel file, Max rejoiced for a moment. That is, until he found two more.

Max didn’t had the time to read, and he could not steal them either, as a simple security check would find the files. And there was definitely a security stop outside the east sector now, both to prevent anyone from going in, and checking heavily on anyone going out.

He immediately took Prime, turned on her flashlight, and asked her to quickly scan the documents, this time vocally, one by one until they find what they were looking for. Max turned the pages quickly as he kept Prime still in his hand so she could take record them. A whole minute passed as Prime told Max about people gathering outside.

Max started sweating as Prime finally screamed out. “We got the data we need!” Max nodded as he quickly hid the files back, and looked around to steal something. If he didn’t do anything then they would know what he was here for, classifying it as a direct attack for the intel. But if the files were unbothered, and something precious was stolen? They would think it was just a thief making use of the opportunity. Exactly what Max wanted.

He firstly grabbed the EMP grenade he threw in before to remove his tracks. The people outside were still gathering, so he made a mess of the furniture to trick the search team. He threw them around before blocking the door with a bookshelf and taking a prized shotgun that was hanging up on the wall.

It was a double-barreled shotgun, with intricate engravings on both its barrels. This type of shotgun went out of use long before the apocalypse, replaced once pump action and automatic versions became readily available, with the few left of this style either used for hunting, or as a showpiece like the one in his hands. They became even rarer, and more valuable, once the apocalypse had started.

Max was thankful that it had a sling attached to its bottom, letting him wear it on his shoulder, rather than carrying it and dropping it somewhere to lose any suspicious items.

Once he was satisfied, he opened the window and looked down. He wasn’t that high up, and if he jumped, then he’d land in the alleyway behind the house, which wasn’t guarded according to Prime’s scan.

He jumped down, and as soon as his feet landed on the ground, he rolled forward to lose the momentum. He then made a run for it, Prime telling him the best route to get away from the hot zone.

His breathing ragged from running, he hid in a small alleyway where Prime told him that no one was nearby. Max was panting, but before he could rest, he had to ask Prime whether they achieved anything.

“Prime, please tell me that Asra was correct.”

“I’m examining the files right now. Most of what I scanned were receipts or notes, which aren’t really important to us. But yes. Asra was correct. One of the files has all the details, but it’s an old copy. At least a decade old.”

So, about the time when the Apocalypse began?

Prime continued, “Would like the short version or the long version?”

Max leaned next to the wall to rest, asking Prime to just give him the summary. He was still in enemy territory, but his curiosity was getting the best of him.

“Alright, short version it is. Most of what Asra told us is confirmed here. The only new thing is that after an Omega evolves into the tree type, it only has to remain on the surface for a few days, during which it’s protected heavily. Afterwards, it digs down, completely hiding itself underground in a couple of weeks.

Max thought to himself, so that’s why we never found any tree-type Omegas. They were simple underground.”

Prime continued explaining, “Once the tree is underground, it is practically impossible to find, while it continues to create more Omega which either digs up or away. The only real way to find any of these trees is to look for large groups of omegas regularly patrolling the same area. Simple fire seems to be effective, burning the tree and preventing it from making any more.”

Max thought for a bit, mumbling to himself. “Fire, huh? They do have a weird reaction to fire, deathly afraid of it despite their resistance, even going berserk if lit alight. Attacking each other on rare cases.” He raised his voice to talk to Prime ”Prime, what’s your take on this intel?”

Prime processed for a bit before talking, “Honestly, I’m still not entirely convinced. For one, the information is very old. If these trees were detected so early, then why weren’t they taken care of back then, with how much more firepower we had?”

Max nodded, “A good deduction.”

“And secondly, why was this information hidden like this, there seems to be no record of anything like it, which means that either all records of it saved digitally have long been deleted or encrypted to the point of being absurd.”

Max put his hand on his chin, “Could be some kind of conspiracy from either the government, or some hidden force we know nothing about. They seem to be protecting Eric’s house as well, so whatever it is, we can only find out more after a talk with Eric, though that’s not going to be possible for a while after today. Maybe they’ll end up killing him soon too to keep his mouth shut. But if they could’ve done that, why didn’t they do it yet?”

Once Max stopped talking, Prime continued, “That’s all my take on this mission so far at least. I still do not trust this information, given just how little we actually know to confirm it.”

He stood there in the dark alley next to the wall, thinking about it quietly. “We won’t be able to do much of anything after today either, with the blackout and the attack on Eric’s house.”

Max contemplated alone, Prime keeping her scanner on so that no one could sneak up on them.

Max had finally decided, “How about we just confirm the intel we received? It said that a number of Omegas would just patrol around it, right? We have seen them do that before, we didn’t know why they used to do that before, but we got a lead now.”

“What will we do when we reach there?”

Max smiled, “Simple, we dig a hole and throw some fire in it. That’s how you kill the trees, right?”

Prime stayed silent for a moment. She knew that Max wanted to believe this, so much so that it was clouding his reason. But she didn’t stop him. She knew he would do this sooner or later, and better do it now than during an important mission. She just didn’t like how urgently he wanted to confirm the intel.

Prime suddenly complained in Max’s earpiece, “You know, I think Hela was right about you.”

“About what?”

“Whatever you do does turn out to be something remembered by the ages.”

“Oh, fuck off.”