"Don't stop!" Maya glanced over her shoulder as she cleared the fallen tree in her path. Manny, Simon, and Ann were all running only a few metres behind her. "Oh, god."

"What's going on?" Simon shouted without looking behind him.

"I have no idea, but there's a lot of them."

A horde of at least thirty RTDs demolished everything in their way as they chased the group of four.

"To the right! Right! They're in front of us, too! What the hell is going on?"

Everyone steered to the only possible route, the left. As they ran out of the forest, they found themselves on a beach that was all too familiar. It was the place where. . .

"Nathan?" Maya gasped, stopping in her tracks.

***

A few hours earlier, Nathan walked out of his hiding spot one last time. He had left behind everything he wouldn’t need and sealed the entrance for good.

"I might as well leave an Easter egg behind," he chuckled to himself.

He headed toward his next target in the darkness. He’d spent hours poring over the map of the island. He knew the topography by heart. He also knew what hiding spots most people would use. There were three caves typically used every exam, plus seven other common hiding spots.

Nathan had eliminated eight people simply by staking out the most common hiding spots. To his disappointment, none of them were the mole. He hadn’t really expected them to be, but they were easy targets and it hadn’t hurt to check. Now he had only two possible targets left—Mike Lee Gul and the mysterious woman named Alex Moreau. Alex was his current target.

Nathan Shadowstepped up onto a tree branch and waited for the woman to walk out of hiding spot number nine.

As the minutes passed, Nathan reminded himself to be patient. Finally, after an hour, the woman appeared. Nathan reached for a dart and readied his throw, but the target suddenly twisted to look directly at him.

He continued with the throw, jumping down before the dart could reach its target. The dart missed. Nathan Shadowstepped close enough to tackle the masked woman. But to his surprise, she dodged his attack and Quickstepped out of the way.

"Looks like I've got the right one this time," Nathan whispered. Luckily for him, the person was unable to Quickstep far enough. With a Shadowstep, he was already beside the masked assassin.

The spy hadn’t anticipated his movement. A simple right hook was enough to knock her to the ground. Without hesitation, Nathan pinned her with his knee and ripped off her mask.

Nathan's eyes flew wide open at the sight of the beautiful girl. She couldn't have been any older than he was. Her golden fanned out over the ground, framing a purpling bruise on the cheek he had hit. He was about to deliver the final punch but he froze for a split second.

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That moment gave Alex her opportunity. Using her free hand, she jabbed Nathan’s eye and wiggled away. She righted herself quickly and landed a strong kick to his face.

"Not this time, tiger," the girl said, bending down to pick up her mask. "Oh, and one more thing." The girl pulled down her shirt to reveal an empty shoulder. "It's not me you're looking for. I’m told to tell you to look into Creed." With those parting words, the girl vanished.

Nathan wanted to pursue her, but a single step was enough to send him to the ground. The world around him went dark.

***

Nathan flinched as he woke up on the cold ground. He shot up to scan his surroundings. Nobody.

"What the hell was that?" Nathan clutched his head. "Alex Moreau. . . who are you?" He looked up at the sun. The sun—fuck! It had been barely dawn when they fought. He glanced down at his watch. 8:06.

He surveyed the area again, but the island was as serene as ever. He sprinted toward his next target, trying to make up for lost time. As much as he wanted to find out who this Alex was, he’d have to find out later.

***

"Wake up you lazy idiot," Maya said, kicking Simon in the ankle.

"Just a minute more," he replied drowsily, shifting in his sleeping bag.

Maya shook her head. "Manny? Could you, please?"

Manny nodded and dropped his backpack to the ground. He walked up to Simon and lifted him by his legs.

"Hey! Wow! Hold up!" Simon complained, squirming as Manny held him a few centimetres above ground. "Put me down."

"As you wish," Manny grinned, letting go of Simon's ankles but not the sleeping bag.

Simon slid out of his cocoon like a butterfly, banging his head in the process. "I didn't mean it literally!" he shouted.

"If you wouldn't sleep until 8:00 a.m., I wouldn't have to wake you up like this. I gave you a chance to wake up on your own.”

Simon grumbled as he shoved his belongings into his bag.

"Move it. I won't wait for you," Maya said, putting her rucksack over her shoulders and crossing her arms.

"You're so annoying. Did I ever tell you that?"

"I'm annoying?" Maya said, approaching Simon. "I'm not the—"

"Guys," Ann interrupted urgently. "Now's not really a good time. I think we've got company." She pointed at a wiggling bush.

Maya and Manny dropped their baggage and readied for a fight. Simon slapped himself awake and took up a stance next to them as a lone RTD walked out of the bush.

Maya's fists dropped. "It's just one RTD. Relax. It should be a level six or lower, so let's just deal with it. I think I should be the next one to take—" Maya broke off. Two more RTDs emerged from the bush. A dozen more appeared all around them. “What’s this?” she said, horrified.

"I have no idea, but we're surrounded,” Simon answered calmly. “And there's no way we can win this. What do we do now?"

"We're not surrounded. Look!" Manny said, pointing to the narrow pathway behind them. There were no RTDs there.

"Okay, what are we waiting for?!" Maya hurriedly bent down for her stuff. "Let's go!"

They had no way of knowing, as they fled from the horde of RTDs, that they were being led to the grand finale by the mastermind.

***

There was one more spot Nathan had to check. Hopefully it wasn't too late. He ran through the forest, carefully navigating the fastest route to his destination. But when he entered the massive cave, he was too late.

Amongst the sleeping bags and abandoned supplies, Nathan found a scrap of paper. I know you’ll be here eventually, it read. Meet me at the beach where you “died.” I know who the mole is.

Nathan had to re-read three times to make sure he hadn’t seen it wrong. So Mike Lee Gul knew that his death had been staged, and he knew about the mole. Just who was this person?

He knew it might be a trap, but there was no way around it. He had to confront him either way. If Mike Lee Gul was the mole, he’d have to kill him.