At the window, the man who had been shot fell to the ground, still struggling to aim his weapon—only to have his head blasted open by a shot from Heartbeat, who was still shaken. The back of his skull burst like a watermelon.
Just as Heartbeat made the headshot, a second person leapt from the window. Owen, like before, fired two shots at the legs. He was about to remind Heartbeat to leave one alive, but Heartbeat, out of habit, had already followed up with another shot.
This time, it struck the temple. Not as gruesome as the last one, but clearly fatal.
Owen grimaced but didn't have time to complain. He sprang forward in pursuit. Heartbeat flashed an embarrassed smile—he knew he'd overreacted in the heat of the moment—and quickly followed after Owen.
Earlier, when Zheng Anshun engaged Owen, Avril had jumped out from another window and clashed with Heartbeat. Both were skilled fighters, and both had chosen to close the distance for hand-to-hand combat.
They had been the first to jump out, tasked with opening an escape route for the rest.
Originally, they thought their skills would allow them to clear the way easily. Unfortunately for them, they ran into Owen. Not only did they fail to take out the CTU agents outside, they ended up dooming the others.
Two of their teammates died as a direct result of their failed breach.
Owen and Heartbeat pursued the fleeing group. It was clear now that the White Mask team had split into two escape groups. Owen had already taken down two at the front; the situation at the back was still unknown.
From the side of the house, near the utility room, Owen saw Avril's group successfully link up with the others. Four people had escaped from that side—two of them were all too familiar.
One was the machine gunner, Avril's brother. The other was the man who had ambushed Owen on the cable car. Owen remembered him clearly—it was the reason he had to jump from such a great height.
Revenge, even if delayed, was inevitable. But Owen didn't want to wait. He wanted it now.
"Bang bang bang~~"
Fueled by anger, Owen opened fire, triggering bullet time. His assault rifle sent a volley of rounds toward the man from the cable car.
Incredibly, the target, while running, seemed to sense the danger from Owen. Without hesitation, he grabbed a teammate beside him and dragged him in front as a human shield.
A selfish bastard—but Owen couldn't help but respect the man's survival instincts. This was a veteran who had clearly lived on the edge of death for a long time.
People like that were easy to defeat, but very hard to kill.
All three of Owen's bullets slammed into the human shield, dropping him instantly. The intended target used the chance to dash behind cover, retreating swiftly while using obstacles as protection.
"Ratatatatatat~~"
The fleeing group fired back intermittently. The M249, in particular, kept everyone on edge—each sweep of the machine gun sent out a hail of bullets with devastating force.
Owen soon linked up with the rest of his team. Jimmy and Carter appeared unharmed, along with one tactical unit member. The rest, likely like Team One, had suffered heavy losses in the ambush.
"Rumble rumble~~"
The enemy jumped into a Volvo and sped down the road. Even as the car moved, the machine gunner set up at the rear windshield and opened suppressive fire.
Bullets struck a nearby pickup with loud metallic clinks and flying sparks. Owen's group could only crouch behind the vehicle. As the Volvo sped away, they piled into the pickup—Heartbeat quickly found the key hidden in the sun visor and started it.
Owen and the others jumped into the truck bed. He patted the side of the truck—engine roared—but they had barely moved a few meters before the pickup veered off and crashed into the side of the utility room.
Only then did they realize the tires had already been shot out.
"Fuck!!!"
These guys were pros—always a step ahead.
Fortunately, another tactical team member arrived in a Cadillac—their transport vehicle from earlier, left far away for operational security.
They quickly switched vehicles. Five fully armed men squeezed into the Cadillac, and the extra person had to follow in another car.
The enemy was already out of sight, but that didn't matter. CTU had satellite tracking. As long as they stayed above ground, there was no escape.
Following Chloe's guidance, Heartbeat drove the Cadillac at full speed along the highway. Though they couldn't yet see the Volvo, CTU's tracking had never lost them.
At CTU headquarters, Chloe watched the top-down satellite view on the big screen and spoke into her headset: "Turn left at the junction, take the side road. There's traffic up ahead. They're in the right-hand lane just in front of you..."
Owen acknowledged. They turned down a narrow two-lane road with a train crossing. But the train was passing, and the crossing had been temporarily closed, leaving both lanes backed up with cars.
Owen spotted the red Volvo trapped in traffic, unable to move.
Meanwhile, in the Volvo, Zheng had been keeping an eye on the rearview mirror and spotted the Cadillac. "We've got company..."
Alfred removed the nearly empty drum mag from the M249 and swapped in his last one—200 rounds, which should last a while.
Eddie Kartel also grabbed a spare mag from a teammate—he had burned through most of his ammo during the breakout.
As the group in the Volvo checked their gear, Owen received a warning from Tony: "Owen, try to avoid a shootout here. Too many civilians around..."
Owen agreed, but the decision wasn't his to make anymore.
He looked around. There were more than twenty cars surrounding them. Even with vehicles as cover, casualties would be hard to avoid. No government agency wanted that kind of fallout.
A heavy silence fell.
Each side stayed put, watching. People in nearby cars, oblivious to the tension, waited patiently—unaware they were sitting on a battlefield, moments away from chaos.
Inside the Cadillac, everyone checked their gear. No one knew who would be injured or not come back.
"If we fight, aim for the head. They're wearing body armor."
Owen gave one final instruction.
At the end of the road behind them, the CTU's BearCat tactical vehicle finally appeared. Team Three had arrived. But their presence also broke the deadlock.
Seeing more reinforcements, Avril made her decision.
"Al, set up a firing position. Everyone else, get ready!"
Alfred obeyed. He got out with the M249, assessed the situation behind them, unfolded the bipod, and mounted the gun on the front hood.
Nearby drivers froze in terror. Doors opened. People stumbled and ran, trying to flee as fast as possible.
Alfred didn't fire—he just tapped the hood to signal he was ready. The rest got out of the Volvo, took positions, and aimed to the rear as they slowly backed away.
Owen, still watching closely from the Cadillac, cursed under his breath. He didn't want a firefight here—but it was already out of his hands.
"Prepare to engage!"
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