Chapter 2
The realization hung heavily in the air,
and the kitchen suddenly felt incredibly vulnerable.
If the Syndicate knew about Richard,
and they knew about the backdoor access,
then they definitely knew about my location.
I walked quickly to the front window,
and I pulled the curtains tightly shut,
blocking out the moonlight.
Lily kept typing on the secure laptop,
her eyes scanning the decrypted server logs,
looking for any active tracking codes.
They placed a beacon in the ledger,
she announced suddenly,
and it just transmitted a location ping.
When did it ping,
I asked sharply,
my hand already reaching for my hidden weapon.
Three minutes ago,
she replied,
and the signal bounced to a local relay tower.
That meant they were already here,
and they were closing in on the house.
I moved to the hallway closet,
and I pulled down the false ceiling panel,
revealing a heavy tactical rifle.
I loaded a full magazine into the weapon,
and I chambered a round with a loud metallic click,
the sound echoing in the quiet house.
Grab the laptop,
I ordered her,
and stay completely away from the windows.
We heard the crunch of tires on gravel,
and a dark vehicle stopped at the end of the driveway,
its headlights completely extinguished.
They were professionals,
and they moved with absolute silence,
approaching the house from multiple different angles.
I positioned myself by the reinforced front door,
and I checked the live feed from the hidden cameras,
seeing four armed men in tactical gear.
They were carrying suppressed automatic weapons,
and they wore heavy ballistic armor,
making them highly dangerous targets.
I took a deep breath,
and I let my heart rate drop,
entering the cold state of operational focus.
They stacked up on the front porch,
and the lead man raised a breaching shotgun,
aiming it directly at the lock.
I did not wait for them to breach,
and I fired three rounds right through the solid wood,
hitting the lead man in the chest.
He fell backward off the porch,
and the other three instantly scrambled for cover,
returning heavy fire into the house.
Bullets tore through the drywall,
and shattered the kitchen windows,
sending glass raining down onto the floor.
Lily stayed incredibly low to the ground,
and she clutched the laptop to her chest,
crawling toward the fortified basement door.
I laid down a blanket of suppressing fire,
and I backed down the hallway,
keeping myself perfectly between her and the shooters.
One of the mercenaries tried to flank us,
and he kicked in the back door,
entering through the laundry room.
I pivoted smoothly on my heel,
and I fired a double tap into his helmet,
dropping him instantly to the linoleum floor.
Two down,
I counted silently in my head,
and two more remaining outside.
I reached the basement door,
and I pushed Lily down the wooden stairs,
following right behind her.
I slammed the heavy steel door shut,
and I threw the deadbolt,
locking us inside the subterranean bunker.
This house was heavily compromised,
and we could not stay here much longer,
because they would eventually bring explosives.
We need an extraction,
Lily whispered,
and she opened the laptop in the dark.
I pulled out the encrypted satellite phone,
and I hit the emergency speed dial,
calling Miller on the secure tactical channel.
We have a major breach at the primary residence,
I said into the receiver,
and we are currently pinned down in the basement.
Hold your position,
Miller replied instantly,
and we will be there in four minutes.
I hung up the phone,
and I listened to the heavy footsteps above us,
as the remaining mercenaries searched the house.
They were placing explosive charges on the floorboards,
and they were preparing to blow the basement open,
hoping to bury us in the rubble.
I checked my ammunition,
and I aimed my rifle at the ceiling,
waiting for the inevitable blast.
The clock ticked down slowly,
and every single second felt like an eternity,
as the tension mounted in the cold dark.
We survived the corruption,
and we will survive this assault,
I promised her.
She nodded bravely,
and the explosive charges suddenly detonated,
shaking the very foundation of the earth.
Dust fell from the ceiling,
and the wooden beams groaned under the immense pressure,
but the fortified bunker held strong.
Then we heard the beautiful sound of helicopter rotors,
May you like
and heavy machine gun fire raining from the sky,
as Miller's ghost team finally arrived.
