The city buzzed under the neon haze as Nate and Malik sped through the back alleys on stolen motorcycles, their engines growling like caged beasts.
Their target was a Syndicate safehouse — disguised as an abandoned electronics store in the old industrial district.
Unmarked vans parked outside.
Shadows moved behind boarded-up windows.
Invisible defenses crackled in the air, waiting to shred any fool who stumbled too close.
Malik tossed Nate a black duffel bag, heavy with explosives.
> "Welcome to the rebellion," Malik said with a smirk.
Nate zipped it open.
C4. Remote triggers. Smoke grenades.
Enough to level the entire block if they weren't careful.
He grinned despite the stakes.
This was the first time in days he'd felt like he was in control.
---
Step one: Cut the power.
They circled the block to an old utility shed.
Inside, Malik worked fast, hands dancing over the ancient circuits, while Nate kept watch.
In minutes, the lights on the entire street flickered and died, plunging the world into darkness.
Confusion erupted inside the safehouse.
Guards shouted.
Doors slammed.
Someone fired blindly into the night.
Perfect.
---
Step two: Chaos.
Nate pulled the pin on two smoke grenades and hurled them through shattered windows.
Thick, choking clouds poured into the building.
Panic took over.
He heard coughing. Shouts. Footsteps scrambling for cover.
Malik slipped away to set charges at the foundation.
Nate moved like a phantom, slipping through a side door left foolishly open, silenced pistol in hand.
One guard rounded the corner — Nate dropped him without hesitation.
Another stumbled through the smoke — another shot, clean and fast.
---
At the heart of the building, Nate found what he was looking for:
A server room — walls lined with blinking computers.
Intel.
Names.
Locations.
Secrets.
He yanked a flash drive from his pocket and jammed it into the main terminal.
The seconds crawled by as data transferred — every nerve screaming at him to run.
Outside, Malik's voice crackled in his earpiece.
> "Five minutes, kid. Or we all go boom."
---
Step three: Escape.
Data download complete.
Nate grabbed the flash drive and sprinted back the way he came.
As he burst into the night air, Malik waved him toward the bikes.
They roared away just as the first charge blew —
The safehouse blossomed into a fireball behind them, lighting up the sky.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
But it was too late.
The Syndicate's precious nest had been burned to ash.
---
Later, hidden deep in the ruins, Nate and Malik went over the data.
Among the files was something Nate hadn't expected —
a list of agents assigned to track him.
And at the very top, flagged in red:
> Eira Locke — Primary Handler.
Nate stared at her name.
The woman who had saved him.
The woman who had kissed him.
The woman who had nearly cost him his life.
A storm churned inside him — betrayal, rage, something darker.
---
> "Still think you can trust her?" Malik asked coldly.
Nate closed the laptop with a snap.
> "No."
He stood up, jaw set.
> "It's time to hunt the hunter."
---