The lifeless weight of Kalu’s body sagged in Lior’s trembling arms — a teammate, a brother-in-arms, now only cooling flesh.

  Blood slicked Lior’s shirt, sticky and dark, the copper tang cutting through the acrid smoke from the sniper’s shot.

  A heartbeat ago, Kalu’s laughter had warmed missions; now rain fell like quiet judgment, each drop drumming a dirge on broken pavement. Rooftops blurred into smudged shadows, as if the world itself couldn’t bear to watch.

  “No… not again,” Lior whispered, voice raw. “Kalu… please…”

  It began to rain harder as Lior’s mind started to race.

  Why can’t I stop the people closest to me from dying?

  Ayasha and Cael stood close, one on either side. Their bodies were rigid, every tremor in their arms betraying the same fear.

  “We—we can’t stay here,” Cael stammered, eyes flicking toward the windows.

  “Trigger might still be close.”

  “Lior,” Ayasha said, steady despite the shake in her chest.

  “We have to move. Now.”

  With unbearable care, Lior lowered Kalu to the floorboards. His fists clenched until they trembled.

  ?

  They burst into the night, sprinting from the shattered van. Shoes slapped wet pavement.

  Ayasha’s hair whipped behind her, Cael’s sleeve hung in tatters, sweat clung to Lior’s skin like ice.

  The rain blurred the alley mouths and skyline.

  Above, rotors whirred.

  WHIRRRR.

  A drone’s lens found them, its cold glare cutting the mist.

  CHK-CHK.

  Another drifted in from the rooftops, scanning like a hunter scenting prey. Twin lights carved jagged beams across the street.

  “We can’t outrun them forever,” Ayasha panted.

  “East,” Cael barked, pointing. “Industrial rail line — fewer choke points.”

  No hesitation. They ran. Vaulting fences. Kicking aside bins. Paper scraps spun in their wake like frantic birds.

  They’re herding us, Lior thought, teeth bared. The drone’s red line split its reflection in his pupil.

  Sirens screamed. Two more drones dove into the block, searchlights blazing. Alarms scraped the night like knives.

  “Move!” Lior roared, throwing himself forward. His foot smashed through a puddle, water spraying high.

  Soldiers poured from a side street in formation, rifles raised.

  RATATAT!

  White-orange bursts lit the alley, shadows fracturing into jagged shards. Shell casings skittered and steamed.

  A baton swung. Cael ducked, twisting beneath it. His palm shot up, seizing the weapon mid-strike. For a heartbeat, everything held. His grip was iron.

  I can see them better since I fought Trigger…

  Ayasha slid under another strike, her eyes flickering faintly yellow.

  Every time I move, I feel it building — like a charge.

  Her knee slammed a chest — THWMP! — the soldier folded, rifle snapping skyward.

  And Lior — his eyes flared. Time bent. Rain seemed to hang as bullets carved warped space. He twisted, shoulder slipping free of a round that hissed past his ear.

  Ripples shimmered. Breath slowed. His hand shifted.

  Slipstream answered again.

  They dove behind broken crates, lungs burning.

  Cael rasped, clutching his ribs.

  “We can’t hold them all off…”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “We just need one break—” Lior started—

  —and she dropped from above.

  A masked figure fell between two soldiers, strikes precise as lightning. One neck chopped, one rifle arm buckled — THNK! THNK! Both crumpled before their weapons fired.

  “Come with me. Now.”

  The voice froze Lior mid-breath. His chest locked. His lips barely moved.

  “…Rei?”

  Ayasha and Cael didn’t hesitate — relief flashing across their faces.

  “Thank goodness,” Ayasha exhaled.

  Lior stayed back, fist tightening until leather creaked.

  “Kalu… He was…”

  Rei tore away part of her mask, eyes sharp and urgent.

  “No time. Move! This way — it’s not clean, but it’s what we’ve got.”

  Her gaze met his — firm, weighted with something unspoken.

  A beat of quiet — then boots and shouts dragged them forward.

  ?

  They thundered down cracked metro tunnels. Sparks spat from dangling cables. Red drone beams chased their heels.

  “Cover your eyes,” Rei snapped. She flung an EMP mine.

  ZZZZZT!

  A white-blue burst tore the air. Two drones corkscrewed into the rails, sparking wrecks. A third pressed on.

  “Do you remember the service tunnels?” Rei called to Lior.

  A memory hit — maps spread across crates, Rei’s steady voice. Always know the service tunnels. Cleanest escapes.

  “Every turn,” he growled, sweat glittering at his hairline.

  They burst into a storm drain and kept moving.

  Behind them, soldiers dropped into the tunnel, boots slapping wet concrete in waves.

  Rei pulled a trigger switch. “Keep running. I’ll handle this.”

  “No — Rei!” Lior shouted, desperation cracking.

  She didn’t wait. Her thumb slammed down.

  BOOM!

  CRACKLE!

  The tunnel split with fire. Heat, rubble, smoke — the space behind them vanished. The shockwave shoved them forward.

  Lior coughed, hacking against the acrid haze. “Rei…?”

  The world narrowed to ringing ears and stinging lungs. Every inhale scraped like broken glass.

  Ayasha staggered beside him, hair singed at the ends, ash streaking her cheek. She pressed a hand to the wall to steady herself.

  She stayed behind for us. She knew what would happen.

  The thought cut deeper than the burns.

  Cael bent double, one arm tight to his ribs, coughing hard. Smoke filled his mouth — bitter, suffocating. Eyes watering, he still scanned the haze, desperate for a sign of Rei.

  She bought us time. No way she could’ve—

  He cut the thought short, jaw clenched.

  Lior blinked tears through grime. His palms burned from the shattered tiles, skin raw with grit and heat.

  Rei can’t be gone. They are all gone.

  Lior punched the floor, blood dripping from his knuckles.

  I’m… so weak.

  Then —

  Somewhere deeper, a faint metallic clang echoed — a warning swallowed by smoke.

  CLINK.

  ?

  Through the haze, a shadow formed.

  A figure walked forward, embers licking the hem of his coat, a smirk carved into his face. One hand rested lazily on the revolver at his hip, silver gleaming in the flicker.

  Trigger.

  The name wasn’t spoken, but it rippled through all three like a curse.

  The tunnel seemed to shrink around him. Smoke curled thick, carrying the burn of stone and charred metal.

  Their ears still rang; every heartbeat pounded louder than thought. Ash clung to sweat, striping their skin in war paint they hadn’t chosen.

  Lior’s chest locked. Limbs felt like stone, mind sprinting.

  We’re spent. Out of tricks. How do we fight him now? How do we walk away from this?

  Silence stretched like a noose. Fire popped in the rubble behind Trigger, casting his shadow longer, larger, until it seemed to swallow the tunnel whole.

  He stopped with half his face in darkness. One eye lit faint as a coal — measuring. For a long, terrible breath, he didn’t speak.

  He slid two fingers into his coat and drew a cigarette. The lighter’s flame cut a sudden, sharp orange through the haze.

  He lit it with unhurried calm, as if this battlefield were only a stage. Smoke curled upward, weaving with the ash.

  Only then did he smirk, the ember casting his grin in ghastly half-light. His voice slithered through the ruin — smooth, mocking — the kind that makes skin crawl before the meaning lands.

  “Aw,” he drawled, dragging the word like a blade across glass.

  He exhaled slowly, letting smoke drift toward them.

  “I thought you’d be happy to see me, golden boy.”

  The tunnel tilted. Fire cracked and hissed.

  And for a heartbeat, it felt less like a meeting… and more like a sentence.

  ?

  End of Chapter 7

  Rei’s sacrifice lit the path forward, but it also drew something darker from the shadows.

  The world doesn't stop for grief, it adds more weight to it. .