Already outside and at a safe distance, Kan asked:

—Are you sure we can just leave them?

—They were hired for seven shots. I don’t know exactly how many they fired, but as far as I’m concerned, their contract is fulfilled.

—That’s not exactly what I meant. They seem to know something about your protégé… Could it be that they were the ones…?

—The ones who leaked information? Impossible. I was the only one informed of who we had to look for, and even then, they didn’t give me concrete details. I don’t know the age, gender, or affiliation. Just subtle clues to identify. Although… we can’t rule anything out.

—Then, should we go back?

—No. They’re annoying, but not dangerous… yet. If they cross our path again, we won’t hesitate.

—You’re the boss.

Suddenly, I felt a small tug on my clothes.

—Gröder… I don’t know if this is relevant, but a while ago, I intercepted some transmissions coming from those women.

"Gröder?… Big brother?" I didn’t know the girl considered me that close.

—What did the transmissions say? —I asked, feeling a pang of anxiety. What if they really had sold us out? My hand was already on the grip of my revolver. The idea of going back in there, guns blazing, wasn’t off the table.

—They didn’t say anything. Rather, they were strange transmissions. They reminded me of a particular mission I did for my grandfather.

—A mission for your grandfather? —The revelation froze me.

It wasn’t entirely obvious, but the girl looked like she had high-quality cybernetic enhancements. At first glance, I couldn’t tell if they were of her family’s specialty, but it was clear they were related to electronics, given how she had linked herself to the facility down below.

—In what way were they similar?

—They were extremely high-level encryptions, from an incredibly elusive group. I wasn’t able to track them back, but every time we detected them… grandpa got in a really bad mood.

A chill ran down my spine.

—So we don’t know who they are, where they are, or what they want?

—Oh, no. That we do know. They were acquiring their coordinates.

I locked eyes with Kan for less than a second, but it was enough for panic to hit us like an avalanche.

I grabbed Summer and bolted.

Both of us sprinted full speed toward the vehicles, which were still finishing up loading supplies.

—We’re leaving! —I shouted.

Olaf stopped, a crate in his hands.

—What the hell is wrong with you?

—MOVE IT!! NOW, DAMN IT!!

—We’re just missing a few— Melena tried to say something, but I couldn’t hold back.

—Start the damn engine. We’re leaving. Anyone who doesn’t get in now is staying behind.

The driver sensed the panic in my voice and decided to comply. Melena barely managed to get in on time. Some supplies were left scattered, but everyone present boarded. Well, everyone except Reika and Toshi.

—What the hell is going on, kid? Did you forget to drink your chocolate milk? —Olaf growled.

—Summer says the muscleheads got hacked.

It took Olaf a moment to process that information.

—And what exactly did they lose?

—They were transmitting our location, probably in real time.

—That explains why everything went to shit the moment we got in there! Fuck! Damn it!

The transports sped up, standing out clearly among the slow-moving traffic. We blew past a good number of signs and traffic lights.

—Oh no! Fuck you, fuck you!

—What is it, Kan?

—We’ve got two vehicles tailing us… four vehicles… ah, shit!

We all stuck our heads out the windows to look. Sure enough, we were being chased. And these weren’t ordinary cars—these were high-grade vehicles, far above what usually ran in these parts.

—Olaf, do we have explosives?

—We didn’t get a chance to load them onto this vehicle —he replied, grabbing the radio to contact the other transport—. But the others managed to grab some.

—We’ll open fire. Save the explosives for when we get out of the city. We don’t want too many civilian casualties or government heat on us.

As soon as the first vehicles got on our tail, we opened fire without hesitation. The bullets slammed into the hood of the nearest car, but its armor held.

—They’re not common trash! —Kan growled, reloading his rifle.

—Aim for the tires! —I shouted, sticking my revolver out the window and firing.

The enemy driver tried to swerve, but the narrow street worked against him. A bullet blew out his front right tire, sending the car skidding and crashing into a pole. One down.

The others didn’t make the same mistake. They stayed in a tight formation, pressing us with unnerving precision. This wasn’t just some squad of thugs—these guys were trained.

—Summer, stay under the seat and tuck your head into a fetal position. The rest, fire at will.

We didn’t get to shoot much before the enemy overwhelmed us with sheer firepower, but we didn’t cower either, keeping up enough fire to completely wreck one of their vehicles.

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—Kid, they’re tearing us apart! Are you sure you don’t want to blow them to hell?

—Damn it! How much longer until we’re out of this fucking hole?

—Almost there!

—Hold out for the last stretch. Once we’re out, you’ll have a clear shot.

Olaf shot me a dirty look, Kan wasn’t convinced, and Melena was in full-blown panic, having curled up next to Summer. Thankfully, our driver had some serious balls and was a real pro, pulling off tight maneuvers and alternating the rear vehicle’s position with the other driver.

Finally, the buildings on both sides of the street thinned out, giving way to a much more open landscape.

—Now!

The moment we were out, one of the veterans in the other vehicle fired an RPG at the lead pursuer, blowing it sky-high.

—Whooooo! —Cheers erupted from both vehicles.

The cars in the back managed to swerve past the wreckage and kept up the relentless chase.

We managed to take down another vehicle before the road opened up enough for our pursuers to spread out, getting out of reach of our vehicles.

At this point, five vehicles were still chasing us.

Little by little, the land became barren, with fewer and fewer buildings in sight. As the terrain flattened, an immense landfill began to take shape. Piles of trash and scattered scrap metal covered the area.

However, the chase became even more relentless. The enemies’ weapons were of a larger caliber now, meaning we could no longer afford to exchange fire.

—I'm taking us into the landfill. We’ll try to lose them in there! —the driver shouted.

The truck shook violently as he jerked the wheel, plunging us straight into the maze of garbage and scrap. Rusted metal piles, shattered appliances, and debris formed towering, uneven mountains, creating narrow alleyways and treacherous paths. The stench of chemical waste and burning plastic hit us instantly.

The enemies didn’t hesitate to follow, though they had to slow down to avoid flipping over in the tight turns. The roar of their engines and the crunch of their tires grinding against glass and metal reminded us they were still too close.

—Watch out! —Kan shouted as one of the enemy vehicles tried to cut us off, taking a shortcut between two towering scrap heaps.

Our driver slammed the brakes and swerved hard, barely skimming past a teetering stack of old cars. The enemy wasn’t so lucky—its side scraped against a rusted beam, and the front tire exploded with a deafening bang. The car spun out of control and crashed into a mountain of junk, which collapsed on top of it like an avalanche of metal.

—One down! —Olaf shouted with a hysterical laugh.

The other four stayed on us, firing at every opportunity. Bullets whizzed overhead, ricocheting off the mounds of trash or punching through our truck’s body. Melena shrieked as a round shattered the side mirror, sending shards flying.

—This place is a goddamn death trap! —Kan protested.

—Exactly —the driver replied with a tense grin.

Suddenly, he veered sharply to the right, squeezing us into a narrow passage between two towering hills of debris. The enemies tried to follow, but our second vehicle took the chance to skid sideways, blocking the entrance with its own chassis.

Gunfire erupted as the pursuers tried to force their way through, but our second vehicle reversed at the last moment and rammed one of the enemy cars from the side. The machine spun out of control and crashed into a pile of scrap, which collapsed in a landslide of twisted metal.

—Two down!

The driver didn’t let the adrenaline distract him and kept pushing forward at full speed. The road was getting even more chaotic—sparks flew beneath the tires as they crunched over broken glass, and each sharp turn threatened to tip us over.

The three remaining enemies kept up the pursuit, firing relentlessly, but in the confusion of the labyrinth, one of them took the wrong turn and found himself face-to-face with a wall of compacted waste. There was no time to stop. The crash was brutal.

—Another one down! —Olaf yelled, though his voice no longer sounded as confident.

The two remaining enemies were still behind us, showing no signs of giving up. The chase was far from over.

The next stretch of the junkyard was a long, straight path with no obstacles.

—Damn it, kid, our vehicle’s falling apart. They’re gonna catch us if we don’t do something.

Damn it. Damn it.

I checked my revolver. The battery was nearly drained. I didn’t want to activate Hyper mode, load a bullet, and then lose it due to a lack of energy.

The roar of the enemy engine grew dangerously close.

—Fuck you!

I activated Hyper. Loaded the round. Aimed at the enemy car. Let the charge build up.

One second. Two seconds.

"Fourteen seconds was my limit. Any longer, and my organs would start breaking apart. Maybe five seconds would be enough? Do I even have enough charge for five seconds?"

Three seconds. My arm started trembling. I held the revolver with my left hand, without full support from the other. The machete wound still burned.

Four seconds. The energy flux dropped drastically.

"Damn it. Could my shitty luck get any worse?"

Hold on, you piece of junk.

Five seconds… and just enough power to fire.

I aimed at the driver, whose eyes I could now see clearly.

—Goodbye, shit-eater.

I pulled the trigger.

The recoil was brutal. My body slammed violently against the window frame, knocking the air out of my lungs.

The vehicle was literally obliterated… but at the very last moment, a figure leaped out.

Without losing a fraction of its momentum, it landed and sprinted straight toward us. It hit the back of our vehicle with such force that we spun out violently.

My already battered body was flung through the air, and the vehicle crashed into a solid wall of compacted scrap metal.

My companions lay scattered across the ground. In the middle of the chaos, a figure loomed like a damn tower. No… like a damn monstrosity.

An Exterminator.

Its gaze locked onto me. I didn’t need to wonder what it was thinking.

I got up as best I could and, limping at first, ran toward the vehicle. I didn’t even bother drawing my revolver. I had no charge left for another Hyper, and regular bullets wouldn’t so much as scratch one of those dermal-armored freaks.

I pulled out the only thing I had left—the kinetic shield. And I ran.

The Exterminator charged at the vehicle. It was obvious what it intended to do.

"He’s gonna ram it. Like a fucking battering ram."

I swallowed hard.

I stepped into its path.

Closed my eyes.

"May the Guardian give me strength."

A split second before impact, I activated the shield.

The world exploded around me.

I felt my body flung like a ragdoll, soaring through the air before crashing against the wall of compacted scrap.

"Is this how it ends?"

I opened my eyes.

I was still in the same place.

It was the Exterminator who had staggered back two steps.

My right arm was numb, an unpleasant tingling spreading down to my fingers. The shield had dissipated most of the impact, but even the fraction that got through felt like slamming headfirst into a wall.

"Where the hell are our damn monsters when we need them?"

The giant in front of me wasted no time.

It threw a downward punch with the force of a warhammer.

I barely managed to block it, but this time, the shield absorbed much less of the impact.

The blow sent me flying backward, dragging me across the ground, my back scraping against metal and dirt.

I tasted blood in my mouth.

How familiar it felt.

Not just the blood, but the helplessness. The sheer fragility of standing before a monster you couldn’t possibly face.

The Exterminator marched toward me.

This time, I couldn’t even feel my arm to raise the shield.

It reached out to grab me—

Then gunfire shattered the silence.

The giant’s arm stopped mid-air. Its head turned mechanically toward the source of the shots.

Kan and Olaf opened fire, their automatic bursts hammering against its armor. But it was useless.

The bullets flattened against its skin, some ricocheting off, most simply falling at its feet, harmless.

The monster ignored them. It had likely decided they weren’t a threat.

It turned back to me.

For a moment, we locked eyes.

Then, unhurriedly, it resumed its path toward my throat.

I could swear I felt its cold fingers against my neck for an instant.

And then—gone.

A deafening crash tore through the air, like two cars colliding at full speed.

Our heavy hitters had arrived. Or maybe they’d been here all along.

I saw one fighting two enemies of his size, while the other… had he come to save me?

Olaf and Kan ran to my side.

—Kid, are you alright?

—Doesn’t matter. —I spat blood and forced myself to stand—. Get the driver and the girl. We’re taking the next vehicle.

Kan didn’t hesitate. He rushed to the girl, checked her pulse, then gave me a thumbs-up. Unconscious, but alive.

Behind him, Olaf pulled the driver from the wreckage.

He didn’t make it.

Olaf shook his head and left him there.

—Let’s go, big boy.

He grabbed me under the shoulder and helped me walk.

As I limped back, my gaze fell on the body of the Exterminator that had almost killed me. For the first time, I noticed it was missing an arm.

Probably because of me.

Further ahead, the big guys were still locked in a two-on-two fight straight out of a sci-fi movie. But that was no longer my problem.

The second vehicle was parked a few meters ahead.

When we got there, I only said:

—Drive.

The driver looked past us, searching for his partner.

—He didn’t make it —Olaf replied.

The man clenched his jaw.

—Goddamn it… what am I supposed to tell his wife?

For a moment, his face was filled with grief.

But there was no time for mourning.

Without looking back, we got the hell out of there.

"I always knew this wasn’t some damn B-grade mission."