The carrier slowly descended, scattering sand all around in a column as its jets neared the ground. Janus and Itzel stepped towards the tunnel as they covered their faces with their hands to stop the sandstorm from getting in their eyes. The vehicle came to a soft stop and the side hatch to the vehicle opened.

A man stepped out, dressed in a white armor with purple glow that lit up the gaps between its metal plates. A wide-rimmed cowboy hat obscured his face as he stepped out of the carrier with his head angled down. He took one step onto the sand while keeping a finger on the brim of hat before facing Janus and Itzel.

"I got a call from a couple of agents based in Labrisson?" the man asked of the two once he was fully in the desert. A transparent yellow visor floated in front of his eyes, covering up the dark complexion of the upper portion of his face. Sticking out of his mouth was a single piece of straw that he gnawed on. With a flick of his tongue, he moved it to the other side of his mouth. He stood with his fists resting on his hips, making sure not to obscure his holstered gun.

"Ringa and Brielle, right?" Janus asked.

"That's them," the man said with certainty.

"Then that must you Dallas!" Itzel said with a smile.

"You'd be right, ma'am. Ringa told me that there was something serious going on in this here Eco-Dome. And I'm here to check it out." Dallas looked up to the large structure next to the estate. At this point the entire ceiling had almost completely collapsed in on itself while the sound of fires and shaking ground roared from above. "Looks like this place needs a Rescue Crew rather than an Enforcer."

"But there are people in there!" Itzel pleaded after she stood a few steps in front of the Enforcer. She locked her fingers together and stared past Dallas' visor to look into his eyes. He stared back, with a surprised look of his own. "We need your vehicle to get back inside!"

"What? You wanna go back into the Eco-Dome? Ringa told me that I needed to go in there to get people out!"

"You do! But there's still two people inside. One of them is responsible for the place collapsing, but the other is just an innocent person captured as part of the other's sick game!"

"I know that much. Anything else you want to tell me before I head in?"

"Mag, the one that owns the Eco-Dome, is armed," Janus said. He was more than willing to kill us. And now he'll do anything to make sure Gurk dies, even if it means his own life will be lost in the process."

Dallas shook his head. "Great. It's one of those hostage situations."

"Well, it's not going to get any better if we keep chatting out here!" Itzel walked past the Enforcer and headed to the passenger side of his carrier. She put one hand on the door until she noticed Dallas reach for the pistol on his hip.

"Hold on there, ma'am. You can't just go around touching a law enforcer's vehicle without permission like that."

"How else am I supposed to get inside then?" Itzel replied.

"You're not getting inside. All of you are you staying out here where it's safe!" Dallas pointed to the tunnel. "Just stay down there until the Rescue Crew arrives."

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"But you don't understand! Mag is nuts! I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to blast you out of the sky the moment you hover over his dome!" Itzel said. "You need us to guide you to their location. And the more of us there are, the better of a chance we have of getting Gurk out safe and sound!"

"There's also more of a chance of one of you getting killed! As an Enforcer, I took an oath to protect as many lives as possible! I'm not going to just fly civilians over a collapsing warzone!"

"Dallas! You don't understand!" Itzel pleaded with red eyes. "You'll need all the help you can get! We're Exterminators from Labrisson! Our very occupation puts our lives in jeopardy. To us, this is just another day on the job!"

"If you don't step away from the vehicle, I'll have to apprehend you." Dallas reached for a pair of cuffs with one hand while his other lingered over his pistol's handle. "I know you're upset, ma'am. But you're not thinking right. Just... take a few steps back and try to think clearly."

"We've been hunted like prey for the last few hours," Itzel said with a low but clear voice. She remained at the carrier's side, unmoving despite Dallas' steady advance. The fighter stared at the enforcer with a pair of narrowed and reddened eyes. "And before that, we were strapped to our seats and forced to watch an innocent person killed live on Broadcast! If you think I'm just going to sit back and let Mag continue his sick game while Gurk suffers inside, then you might as well shoot me now. Because I'm not leaving this place without Gurk!"

"She's right," Enidri said as she emerged from the tunnel while still holding onto Eva. "Itzel's crazy. I know you're an enforcer, so you have regulations to abide by, but it's not like you have to. The ones in Labrisson just use their rulebook as a suggestion."

Dallas turned to Enidri. "I can't just escort civilians into a crime scene. You do know what she's asking of me, right? I know I'm not coming off as the difficult one in this situation."

"I get you've got a job, Dallas. But if you're serious about making sure as many people as possible make it out of this safe, you’re best off having some backup with you. Especially ones that know what they're doing."

"Are you saying you three would be able to get the hostage out?" Dallas asked the group as he eased his hand off his gun.

Enidri nodded. "You're looking at two of the best Exterminators in all of Labrisson." She then pointed at Janus with her thumb. "And he's learning. There's lots of Essencima in that Eco-Dome. Going in by yourself is a suicide mission. We know where Gurk is. We have experience taking on the opposition. You'd be the crazy one not to have us tag along."

Dallas frowned. He let go of his cuffs and gun and crossed his arms. "Fine. But I'm not bring that kid in!" the enforcer said while pointing at Eva. "Can you keep watch on her?" Dallas asked Sheila.

"She can't be trusted," Itzel said. "Her father is the one that arranged this event! Not to mention that she participated."

"Great. So now I've got to worry about a suspect and a juvenile? Who's going to stay behind and watch these two then?"

Janus turned his head towards the cliff to the side. "She could," he said as he pointed to Zuwya wobbling down the steps of the landing platform. She moved as fast as her little legs and cane would let her. Wedged underneath her arm was a rifle.

Dallas slapped his forehead with his hand. "Y'all just have to keep making this more and more difficult."

"Zuwya!" Itzel shouted. "Zuwya!" She took Eva out of Enidri's hands and ran to the scientist with the duckling in tow. "Watch her. And make sure Sheila doesn't do anything drastic."

"Huh? Oh, all right..." the scientist held the duckling with her free hand.

"I know it's sudden notice, but we don't have much time to spare. Backup has finally arrived and every moment that we're down here just means more trouble for Gurk."

"I got it, I got it. I'll make sure little Eva here is safe and keep Sheila in line." The scientist took the gun out from under her arm. "I doubt she'll try anything with this pointed at her!" the scientist said with a grin.

Dallas buried his face into both hands. "If I weren't the only enforcer in Sano Mosado, I'd be getting fired."

"Good thing that town needs someone to watch over it, huh?" Itzel said as she gave the man a pat on the back. "Must be nice having that kind of job security." The fighter opened the passenger door and took a seat.

With a groan, the enforcer looked at Janus and Enidri and then pointed at his vehicle. "Well, get in you two."

Enidri and Janus scrambled to the carrier and got in the backseat. Once all three were inside, Dallas sat in the driver seat. With everyone inside and all doors shut, the enforcer piloted the car off the ground headed towards the top of the Eco-Dome.