I’d done it, I’d fucking done it. After I’d shot that bitch’s lapdog, I knew I was fucked.

Theodor was in terrible shape, but he was alive, and with some luck, he’d be for a while longer. None of his wounds looked mortal, and he’d endured similar before. He gave me a weak grin when I helped him to his feet.

“Thanks for that one. Wouldn’t have hurt if you’d been a bit faster, though.”

“Let’s get out of here. That bitch won’t be happy about what I just did.”

“Heh, thanks for the heads up,” Theodor mumbled before he passed out.

I reloaded my gun and scanned the forest, but all was quiet. To be honest, though, I hadn’t expected her to dirty her own hands. Making our way out proved to be tougher. I was pretty damn sure Marcia had informed the clean-up crews about my little misdemeanor. Still, I’d lived in this city for the better part of my life, and after some deliberation, I found a route that led us to safety. As we went on our way, though, I was quick to destroy my phone. That way, she’d not be able to track us, at least for a while.

We weren’t able to make it far. Theodor’s condition was critical, and he needed immediate care. Before long, I dragged him into an abandoned construction site. The official story was that the western outskirts were going to be revitalized and a big change was coming to my city. Everyone knew it was bullshit. No, this construction site, like many others in the area, had most likely been abandoned for good. With some luck, we might hide out here, at least for a day or two before the manhunt started. It would give us enough time to think of, well, something.

With what little medical supplies I had at hand, there wasn’t much I could do for Theodor. I bandaged his wounds and administered some healing contraptions, but that was about it. I could only hope it was enough.

After that, I sat in our small hide-out for hours. I was pins and needles the entire time. My brain was going crazy. If Headquarters wanted me dead, I was. There was no way I’d be able to escape. Eventually, I decided to get in contact with them. I didn’t know what it would do, but it was the only chance I had. My phone was gone, of course, but every exterminator had their emergency number beaten into their head. All I had to do was to find a public phone.

As carefully and as inconspicuous as I could, I made my way to the inner city area by using a mixture of taxis and public transportation. I should be able to find a public phone there, and I was sure Marcia wouldn’t dare to take me out in the middle of a pedestrian area. At least, I hoped so. Still, I had to be fast. By now, they’d probably added mine and Theodor’s face to the wanted list of every police station in the city. With swift fingers, I punched the long emergency number into the phone and waited. The monotone voice of Headquarters informed me I’d reached their emergency line. The moment I stated who I was, I heard an abrupt click as I was dispatched and connected to another part of the system. I knew fairly well they were tracing my location.

“Exterminator 7D11087, you went against the direct orders of a higher-ranking exterminator. This offense is punishable by nothing short of-“

“All right, hold on! Mar-, Exterminator 2A99114 not only withheld critical information about signatures, she also employed an artificially enhanced human. Haven’t they been outlawed by the codex more than a decade ago?”

“We will look into your allegations and we will analyze the data of the latest incidents. However, as a higher-ranking exterminator, Marcia Loggia is allowed a certain extent of freedom.”

“What the fuck does that even mean? That she can do whatever the fuck she wants?”

“It only means there are certain exceptions to the rules, as you well know considering the organism you and Exterminator 4B98344 have been employing.”

“And you know this organism, as you call it, is the only reason we even know about the giant shitshow coming our way!”

“We are well aware of the dangers you have informed us about and we have been preparing for an incident exceeding A-class.”

“So that’s it then? You don’t need us anymore, so you’re getting rid of us? That bitch went against her own rules! You’re just going to ignore-“

“Exterminator 7D11087, you went against the direct orders of the organization. Exterminator 2A0014 was given special permission after she laid out her concerns.”

“So that’s it then? I’m a traitor, aren’t I? You’re going to get rid of me, then?”

“Punishment will be carried out as we see fit.”

“All right, one last thing. Exterminator... Sandra’s got nothing to do with any of this. She’s done nothing but follow your orders.”

“We will start a full investigation of her involvement, but we have no suspicion that she went against the organization.”

“Well, thanks for that, at least.”

With that, I hung up the phone. For a moment, my eyes darted around, expecting to see the police charging me, but I was undisturbed. With the strangest of feelings, I hurried away. Marcia, it had to be her. She was planning something. I carefully made my way back to the abandoned construction site where I’d left Theodor. I forced myself to act as calm as possible, but I was nervous the entire way.

When I’d made it back, I felt a sliver or relief, but I knew I shouldn’t. It was only a matter of time before they’d be coming for us. Theodor was still in awful shape, but he was awake and looked somewhat better. His face, however, was as apathetic as always.

“We’re officially not a part of Headquarters anymore.”

Theodor shrugged.

“Well, isn’t that great? Here we are, fighting amongst each other. Shit, it doesn’t matter, anyway.”

With that, he slumped down against the wall and closed his eyes.

“Headquarters stated they are prepared, so maybe-“

“Don’t you get it, Dylan? There’s no preparation for what’s coming, none! We’re all fucked and this little scuffle here it doesn’t mean shit!”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Yeah, all right, Mr. Doomsday. What do you suggest we do then?”

Theodor said nothing.

“Fucking hell, man,” I cursed. “All right, we can try to stay hidden here for a while longer, but this is not a permanent solution. I might try to hit the apartment soon to get some supplies, but I’ve got no clue if I can even get there.”

“What about Sandra?” Theodor asked.

“She’s got nothing to do with any of this. Best we can do is leave her behind.”

“You plan on running away, Dylan?”

“Well, you got any better idea? You want to stay and fight Marcia and whatever she’ll throw at us?”

Theodor’s face turned serious.

“You still don’t get it, do you? Marcia, Headquarters, none of it fucking matters! That thing, it will tear apart everything. If we don’t do-“

“I thought there was nothing we could do about it?” I asked sarcastically.

His face turned into a slight grin.

“If it comes through, yes.”

“And you think you can stop it? You think you can save the world and-“

“No, Dylan, I don’t. I fucking don’t all right, but I can try, can’t I?”

I couldn’t help but laugh and shake my head. When Theodor saw it, he pushed himself up and started towards me. I opened my mouth to throw another set of words at him when I heard Marcia’s voice.

“You thought you could hide from me, Exterminator 7D11087?”

I jerked around, ripped out my gun, but she wasn’t there. Instead, all I saw was a small sentry drone hovering in the building’s entrance.

“Well, it was worth a try, wasn’t it? What now, Marcia, you’re too afraid to come to us personally? Or do you plan on sending some of your little suicide drones here?”

“I don’t know, Exterminator 7D11087,” she started, and I heard the humor in her voice. “I might just start with Exterminator 4B98344. After all, she was involved in this as well, wasn’t she?”

“Sandra?! She’s got nothing to do with any of this! She’s been fucking comatose for god knows how long!”

“But she might have valuable information. Extracting them might be useful, considering the dire message your little friend had for us.”

“Don’t you fucking touch her!”

“And what are you going to do, Exterminator 7D11087? You think you can stop me?”

When she started laughing, I couldn’t contain my rage anymore. I pointed the gun at the drone and shot it down.

“Fuck!” I cursed.

Then I turned to Theodor.

“Change of plans!”

As I said this, Theodor grinned.

“Guess you’ve finally got enough of that bitch.”

“Yeah, and it’s only a matter of time before she’s going to smoke this place out, anyway.”

With that, we set out on our way back to the apartment. I knew it was a trap, and I knew I was doing exactly what that bitch wanted. What I knew, too, was that she wasn’t bluffing. If we wouldn’t go, she had no problem scrambling up Sandra’s mind.

As we hurried from street to street, I kept my eyes open. I scanned every intersection and all the people I saw, but it didn’t seem like anyone was looking for us. No police, none of Headquarters’ agents, no clean-up crews, no one. I couldn’t help but grin. That bitch, she wanted us all to herself. She was arrogant, and even worse, she was enjoying this. God dammit, she really was the fucking worst.

“How are you doing, Theodor?”

“I’m good, apart from being in terrible fucking pain.”

I tried to come up with a plan, but Marcia was most likely prepared. No, our only chance was that she was as arrogant as she seemed. There had to be a chance to use it to our advantage and overwhelm her.

The moment I saw the small apartment building ahead, I turned to Theodor.

“I’m going in alone. It won’t do much, but maybe you can surprise her.”

He gave me a curt nod and vanished down a nearby alley.

When I made it to the building, Marcia was already waiting outside, staring at me with a cold, condescending expression.

“Will you look at that? You actually came? This makes things so much easier.”

“Wasn’t much I could do, was there?”

“Oh, Exterminator 7D11087, you never cease to disappoint me. You know what the codex says, don’t you? Should a fellow exterminator find themselves in harm’s way, you shouldn’t risk valuable assets on a rescue mission, but here you are.”

“Didn’t you say I was useless, anyway?”

For the first time, I saw a genuine smile on her face.

“I’m going to enjoy tearing you apart.”

In an instant, I pointed the gun at her, but before I could pull the trigger, she used her powers to bring up an unconscious body in front of her. My eyes grew wide when I recognized Sandra.

“What do you think you’re doing!?”

Marcia said nothing. Instead, she put her hand around Sandra’s neck. For a moment, she seemed to just rest her hand there before she twisted.

“Just getting rid of another useless asset.”

At that moment, I saw red and was about to rush her. I’d taken only half a dozen steps before she brought me to the ground with her powers.

“How foolish of you. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you, you weren’t fit for the righteous work we’re doing.”

I tried to get up, closed my hand around the gun, pointed it, but in an instant it was torn from my hands. Then her powers washed over me, searching for and finding my throat. A moment later, I wasn’t able to breathe. Her eyes rested on me as she pushed down on my throat harder and harder. Dark spots appeared in front of my eyes. I tried to reach for my throat, but within seconds my arms were restrained as well. Right at that moment, Theodor came for her.

“And you thought I didn’t know you were here all along?” she laughed.

With a wave of her hand, Theodor was thrown aside and came crashing down a few meters near me.

“I take it you thought all mentalists were as weak as her? Believe me, my powers far exceed anything she could’ve mustered.”

With her eyes resting on Theodor and me, she began twisting Sandra’s neck again.

“Useless. You’re all so useless.”

In a moment, though, Theodor fought himself back up and charged at her again. For a moment, Marcia’s eyes grew wider, and an amused expression showed on her face before she threw another surge of power at him. This time, however, Theodor pushed against it and took another step towards her. By now, disbelief showed on her face. Sandra crashed to the floor, and suddenly, the pressure against my throat was gone.

“Guess not everything’s going as planned, is it?” Theodor asked.

Then he pushed through her powers and stormed at her.

“You ungodly abomination!” she screeched.

Rage contorted Marcia’s face, and for a moment, her powers intruded into my mind. While I cringed back, it didn’t affect Theodor at all.

“That won’t work,” he spat at her.

When Theodor attacked her with his combat knife, she avoided his attack, retreated backwards and then brought a new onslaught down on him. Theodor staggered but didn’t go down. Sweat was running down Marcia’s face. She raised her arms, spread out her hands, and threw yet another assault at him.

“Useless,” he spat.

For a moment he had to take a step back, spat bloody froth on the ground before he attacked again. Marcia was freaking out. Blood was running down her nose, but now her hands were moving delicately. I knew she was going for Theodor’s mind, was going to rip his consciousness apart, but a second later, she cringed back.

“Told you this wouldn’t work. Ever since our fight with that A-class creature, my mind’s all sorts of fucked. Can’t tell you what it is, but those tricks of yours won’t work on me.”

“How dare you, how dare you,” she screeched in a quivering voice.

In a last-ditch effort, Marcia threw everything she had at Theodor. The ground was upheaved and, this time, even Theodor didn’t push against it. He threw himself aside, but crashed to the ground hard. Theodor pushed himself back to his feet, staggered, and almost fell down again. I saw Marcia grin in triumph. She was about to go for him again, but in her rage, she’d completely ignored me.

I lit her up, but I knew the bullets would be useless. She warded them off before she twisted my arm. I screamed up in pain, but at that moment, I got out what I’d been holding in my left hand this entire time. Marcia knew my modus operandi, and when she saw the small metal object flying in her direction, she shielded herself. When no explosion followed, her eyes grew wide and changed to disbelief when she recognized the small beacon I’d thrown at her.

Got you, I thought. As her eyes turned from the beacon to me, I gave her a wide, condescending grin. It was the last thing she ever saw because Theodor was upon her and drove his combat knife right through her throat. I fell to my knees. My entire body was hurting, but the grin on my face didn’t waver. Got you good, bitch!

Fuck monsters and fuck high-ranking exterminators.