Smoke curled through the ruined hallway, thick enough to sting eyes and choke lungs. Sirens blared from somewhere deep in the compound, shrill and relentless — the kind of alarm that meant danger was spreading faster than they could outrun it.
Mira skidded to a stop near the blown‑out doorway, voice cracking.
"HE'S NOT OUT YET!"
Her chest heaved; her hands trembled. "We need to wait for him! We can't leave him behind! I WON'T leave him!"
Billy grabbed her shoulders before she could dive back into the smoke.
"Mira—listen to me!"
"NO!" she fought him, shoving at him. "He's right there—he was RIGHT behind me, if we go back now we would find him
Billy held tighter. "Mira, we need to go NOW! He's okay, he has to be—"
She snapped. "Don't lie to me!"
A violent explosion ripped through the far end of the corridor. The walls shook, dust rained down, swallowing everything in orange.
The explosion rattled the walls, sending shards of concrete tumbling. Mira sank to her knees, sobbing, hands clutching at her face. Her breaths came in ragged gasps, choking on smoke and fear.
Billy grabbed her arms and pulled her up roughly, but not unkindly. "Get up. NOW."
She resisted at first, tears blurring her vision. "I… I can't—"
"Not an option," he snapped, hauling her toward the waiting car. "We move, or we all die here."
James struggled to their feet, still clutching injuries, while Cecil gave Mira a hard look. "Get your shit together, Mira. You're not the only one bleeding here."
Rio leaned against the car, coughing and wiping soot from his face. "Yeah, Prime didn't survive six days of planning for you to crumble now."
Mira's sobs faltered. She took a shuddering breath, wiped her tears, and nodded. "Okay. Okay, I'm moving."
Billy gripped her shoulder. "Good. Now follow me."
One by one, the team limped, stumbled, and crawled into the car. Titan climbed in behind the wheel, ignoring the shaking of her hands, while Billy helped Mira into the passenger seat. Cecil, Rio, and James secured themselves as best they could.
The engine roared, a defiant growl against the collapsing chaos behind them. Mira stared forward, eyes wide but focused now. She drew in a shaky breath.
"Let's go," she whispered.
And with that, the battered, bloodied, and grieving team finally moved.
TWO DAYS BEFORE THE EXECUTION
The bunker felt alive in a way it hadn't since they all arrived. Not happy. Not relaxed. Just charged, thick with anticipation and the quiet dread that came before something irreversible.
Tables were dragged into the center of the room. Crates cracked open. Metal clattered across wood. Screens flickered to life with cold blue system checks. Every member of the team worked with a strange combination of precision and silence, each of them preparing for the heist that would either end Black Hallow Division or bury them all.
Billy oversaw the weapons table, watching every movement like a general preparing soldiers for a war he couldn't afford to lose.
Rio unpacked encrypted radios, connecting wires like they were extensions of his own nerves. "Communication grid first," he said, handing one device to each of them. "This time, no signal interference. No delays. No stupid excuses."
Cecil clipped hers onto her vest. "Pulse online," she said automatically.
Charlie tested his. "Scope here."
James lifted his radio, nodding once. "Viper."
Mira rolled hers in her palm. "Titan reporting."
Rio smirked. "Good. That means when you all start panicking, I can ignore every single one of you in high definition."
James grabbed a cloth and threw it at him. "Say that again and I'll unplug your laptop mid mission."
Rio raised an eyebrow. "Wow. That was actually kind of creative for you."
Cecil sighed. "Children. Please."
Another crate was opened. Grenades clicked as Cecil sorted them into neat categories. Smoke. Flash. Concussion.
"Do not mix these up," she warned without even glancing up. "Last time, someone threw a flashbang thinking it was a smoke grenade."
James held up his hands. "It was one time."
"The wall is still white," Cecil replied.
At the next table, Mira unlocked a heavy metal case filled with sleek, silent magnetic cuffs. "These probably cost more than my entire car."
Billy nodded. "Good thing we didn't pay for them."
Rio muttered under his breath, "Borrowed."
"No," Billy said plainly. "Stole."
Charlie cleaned his rifle for the third time, movements slow, deliberate, almost reverent. Sometimes his breath hitched, but he never stopped. Family had been taken from him by the same people they planned to bring down. This mission was justice, revenge, and salvation wrapped into one.
Above them, Kris swung across a metal beam, flipping effortlessly into a handstand. He looked like gravity annoyed him personally.
James looked up. "You done showing off?"
Kris let himself fall backward, twisting midair to land perfectly. "I am not showing off. I am staying limber."
James snorted. "You are staying annoying."
Kris winked. "Same thing."
For a moment, no one spoke. Boxes emptied. Weapons clicked. Armor tightened. The reality of what was coming settled over them like a shadow.
Billy clapped his hands once. "Enough. Gear prep is set. Final checks tomorrow. Tonight, we decompress."
Six pairs of eyes stared at him in disbelief.
Cecil blinked. "We what?"
"We decompress," Billy repeated. "Or you all go into the mission with your nerves in knots and get yourselves killed. I prefer the first option."
James frowned. "What exactly do you expect us to do? Yoga?"
Billy pointed at the corner of the bunker.
A speaker sat there. A speaker Kris had already claimed.
Music blasted through the room, wildly inappropriate for a tactical warehouse.
Cecil groaned. "Absolutely not. We are not partying two days before the heist."
Kris grabbed her hand and spun her. She stumbled, laughed, then smacked him on the shoulder. "You menace."
James joined reluctantly. Mira laughed as she stepped closer to the center. Rio tried to act uninterested, but his foot tapped against the floor immediately.
Charlie didn't move at first. He stayed at the wall, watching his team dance under the dim lights. Something loosened in his chest. Something else tightened painfully.
Billy nudged his arm. "You are allowed to have fun, even if it's brief."
Charlie swallowed. "Trying."
Mira grabbed a drink. "To ending Black Hallow Division."
James clinked his cup against hers. "To ending every last bastard inside it."
Cecil raised hers. "To surviving the attempt."
Rio clinked lightly as well. "To the plan working because I deserve to live a life where people appreciate my genius."
Kris hopped onto a table. "And to Billy, who absolutely acts like the mom of this team."
Billy almost spit out his drink. "The what?"
Cecil laughed. "He kind of does."
Rio nodded. "Pretty accurate."
Mira grinned. "You do scold us a lot."
Charlie surprised everyone by speaking. "He does worry like one."
Billy glared at all of them. "I am not the mom."
Kris cupped a hand around his ear dramatically. "What was that, mother?"
Billy reached for him. Kris jumped off the table, dodging him like a mischievous child.
The music shifted into something softer. The air softened with it.
Mira drifted toward a wall, eyes tracing the floor. Kris approached and rested his forehead gently against hers. "Talk to me."
"I am scared," she whispered.
"Good," he murmured. "Fear means you want to live."
Cecil wandered to sit next to Rio. They didn't speak, but the silence between them was kinder than any words. James sat near Charlie, the two of them exchanging a mutual nod of respect, something rare and unspoken.
Billy watched them all, the weight of pride and dread sitting equally on his shoulders.
Kris hopped back to the middle of the room with a grin. "Okay. Before we all get mushy again, can we admit one more thing?"
James groaned. "Here we go."
Kris raised his drink. "This might be the last party we ever have together."
Their smiles faltered.
Silence stretched.
For a moment, none of them pretended the fear wasn't real.
Then Mira lifted her glass again. Soft but steady. "Then we make it count."
They drank.
They danced.
They lived, just for a few hours, like tomorrow wasn't planned destruction.
It would be the last time they ever felt anything close to safe.
And none of them knew how much they would lose.
EXECUTION DAY
The night pressed heavy against the compound, a thick blanket of darkness broken only by the faint glow of motion sensors lining the perimeter. Mira pulled the van into position exactly thirty seconds before the shift change. Perfect timing. Perfect placement. Everything unfolding exactly as Billy predicted.
Inside the comms channel, Rio's voice crackled softly. "All units synced. Cameras looping. No visual on us from the outside."
Billy checked his watch. "Team, move."
It was smooth at first. Too smooth. The kind of smooth that usually meant trouble was hiding just out of sight.
Charlie took position on the north balcony, rifle steady, breath slow. "Eyes on three hostiles. They haven't spotted us."
"Keep it that way," Billy murmured into his mic.
Cecil and James slipped through the maintenance entrance Rio had unlocked, every step silent, every breath controlled. The corridors were dim and empty. Almost welcoming.
Kris dropped from the ceiling vents like a ghost, landing beside Cecil with barely a whisper. "You're slow," he teased.
"Try saying that again after I sedate you," she replied.
He grinned. She rolled her eyes. The team pressed forward.
Room by room, floor by floor, they dismantled Black Hallow's outer defenses. The guards fell silently. The cameras blinked harmlessly. The alarms stayed dead and blind.
It felt like victory.
For a moment.
Then halfway through the second floor sweep, everything snapped.
Rio's voice cut off mid-sentence. "Hold on, I'm picking up a second encryp—"
Static swallowed him.
Every radio went dead.
Billy slapped his earpiece. "Cipher, respond."
Nothing.
Charlie tried. "Rio, come in."
Silence.
Cecil held her device up. "They jammed us."
James cursed under his breath. "We expected interference. We can still push through."
Cecil checked the signal again. Her eyes widened. "No. This is full-spectrum. Every channel, every backup frequency, every emergency break line. They knew our plan."
Billy's stomach dropped.
If they knew the plan, they knew the routes.
If they knew the routes, they knew exactly where everyone would be.
Then the lights went out.
Pitch black.
Complete darkness.
The building hummed with the low vibration of a lockdown protocol. Bars slid into place over the exits. Metal shutters dropped with a heavy clang across windows. The hallways lit red with emergency strobes.
And every door in the compound locked at once.
James tried to force one open. "We are trapped."
Billy breathed out. "Plan B. We separate. Cut through different corridors. Less predictable."
"There is no Plan B," Cecil reminded him quietly.
"Then improvise," Billy snapped. "Move."
The team scattered into the darkness.
EXECUTION DAY
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
The night pressed heavy against the compound, a thick blanket of darkness broken only by the faint glow of motion sensors lining the perimeter. Mira pulled the van into position exactly thirty seconds before the shift change. Perfect timing. Perfect placement. Everything unfolding exactly as Billy predicted.
Inside the comms channel, Rio's voice crackled softly. "All units synced. Cameras looping. No visual on us from the outside."
Billy checked his watch. "Team, move."
It was smooth at first. Too smooth. The kind of smooth that usually meant trouble was hiding just out of sight.
Charlie took position on the north balcony, rifle steady, breath slow. "Eyes on three hostiles. They haven't spotted us."
"Keep it that way," Billy murmured into his mic.
Cecil and James slipped through the maintenance entrance Rio had unlocked, every step silent, every breath controlled. The corridors were dim and empty. Almost welcoming.
Kris dropped from the ceiling vents like a ghost, landing beside Cecil with barely a whisper. "You're slow," he teased.
"Try saying that again after I sedate you," she replied.
He grinned. She rolled her eyes. The team pressed forward.
Room by room, floor by floor, they dismantled Black Hallow's outer defenses. The guards fell silently. The cameras blinked harmlessly. The alarms stayed dead and blind.
It felt like victory.
For a moment.
Then halfway through the second floor sweep, everything snapped.
Rio's voice cut off mid-sentence. "Hold on, I'm picking up a second encryp—"
Static swallowed him.
Every radio went dead.
Billy slapped his earpiece. "Cipher, respond."
Nothing.
Charlie tried. "Rio, come in."
Silence.
Cecil held her device up. "They jammed us."
James cursed under his breath. "We expected interference. We can still push through."
Cecil checked the signal again. Her eyes widened. "No. This is full-spectrum. Every channel, every backup frequency, every emergency break line. They knew our plan."
Billy's stomach dropped.
If they knew the plan, they knew the routes.
If they knew the routes, they knew exactly where everyone would be.
Then the lights went out.
Pitch black.
Complete darkness.
The building hummed with the low vibration of a lockdown protocol. Bars slid into place over the exits. Metal shutters dropped with a heavy clang across windows. The hallways lit red with emergency strobes.
And every door in the compound locked at once.
James tried to force one open. "We are trapped."
Billy breathed out. "Plan B. We separate. Cut through different corridors. Less predictable."
"There is no Plan B," Cecil reminded him quietly.
"Then improvise," Billy snapped. "Move."
The team scattered into the darkness.
Charlie shifted position first, sprinting down a stairwell with his rifle. He tried to get to a vantage point, but the building rerouted itself, locking him in unfamiliar halls.
Cecil was cornered in the infirmary wing, scrambling through drawers for anything useful, listening to guards sweep past.
James found himself in the generator room, fighting two armed men with nothing but a wrench.
Rio was God knows where, surrounded by dying servers, hammering code into a laptop that refused to connect.
Billy ducked behind overturned equipment, moving silently through the central office floor.
But Mira and Kris…
They had been closest to the basement entrance when everything collapsed. They were supposed to plant the final charge and get out. The explosion would have been controlled. Directed. Clean.
But now…
The charges were armed.
The countdown had begun.
And every exit below the second floor was sealed.
Kris dragged Mira behind a row of storage tanks as guards thundered past. "We need to get out of this level. Now."
Mira checked the timer strapped to her wrist. "We have seven minutes."
"Plenty of time," Kris said, even though his voice was thinner than usual.
They crept down the hall, sticking to the shadows. Smoke was already seeping from the ventilation shafts from James's earlier fight. Sparks rained from broken light fixtures.
Mira coughed. "The whole building is falling apart."
"And I'd love to admire it collapsing, but let's save that for after we survive."
A metal beam crashed behind them. The ground shook.
Mira grabbed his arm. "We are not going to make it out in time."
Kris held her face between his hands. "Hey. Look at me. I am getting you out of here. Do you hear me?"
"But the others—"
"We regroup outside," he said firmly. "Billy knows. Charlie will find a way out. James refuses to die. Cecil is probably stitching herself back together as we speak."
A distant explosion shook the hallway. The shockwave knocked Mira to the floor. Kris pulled her up instantly.
"Run," he ordered.
Not suggested. Not encouraged.
Ordered.
They sprinted through a collapsing corridor. Pipes burst overhead, flooding the floor. Flames crackled behind them. The alarm blared with a low mechanical howl.
Mira slid under a falling beam. Kris flipped over it, grabbed her hand midair, and yanked her forward.
The exit sign flickered at the far end of the hall. The emergency door leading up to the parking structure.
Their way out.
Mira's chest tightened with hope. "We can make it."
"Of course we can," Kris said, pulling her faster. "It's just a collapsing hellscape with active explosives. Easy stuff."
"We have two minutes!" Mira yelled.
"Then move those legs, Titan. Move!"
They ran.
Harder.
Faster.
Smoke burned their lungs. Heat scorched their backs. The building groaned around them like it was alive and angry.
And as they reached the door,
As they reached the door, they pulled. Locked. Solid. The metal wouldn't budge. Mira's hands shook as she yanked harder, but it was useless. Panic clawed at her chest.
Kris scanned the collapsing hallway, eyes sharp. Then he saw it — a small maintenance hatch in the ceiling, partially dislodged. Without a word, he grabbed Mira's arms. "On my shoulders. Now!"
She hesitated for barely a second before he lifted her up, muscles straining, sweat slicking his forehead. Mira clung to him, heart hammering, as he hoisted her through the narrow opening.
Before she fully registered it, she was crawling across beams, sliding along ducts, and then — with a final push — she tumbled out of the building into the fresh night air.
She rolled onto the asphalt, coughing violently. Her eyes stung from smoke and dust, her lungs screaming for oxygen.
Then she looked back.
The building loomed, flames licking the broken windows, steel groaning, walls collapsing. And there was no Kris.
"No…" she whispered, scrambling to her knees. "Kris!"
Her voice cracked, raw. "Kris! KRIS!"
Outside, the chaos of the aftermath hit her like a wave.
Cecil was crouched over James, pressing a makeshift tourniquet against his bleeding shoulder. Blood soaked her gloves, her face streaked with soot. "Hold still, James. I've got you."
James gritted his teeth, coughing. "I'm fine… ish…"
Rio staggered toward them, chest heaving, coughing smoke. His shirt was burned in places, hair plastered to his forehead. "Everyone… move… away from the smoke… goddamn it…"
Billy limped toward the van, each step a struggle, face streaked with dirt and dried blood. His eyes scanned the wreckage. "Move it! Everyone get to the van, now!"
Mira's gaze swept frantically across the scene. Charlie was nowhere to be seen. Not in the smoke, not near the wreckage, not climbing out from any side.
She stumbled toward the group, voice raw and desperate. "Kris! Charlie! Where are you?"
Her hands shook as she grabbed Billy's arm. "We can't leave them!"
Billy's jaw tightened. "We get the ones we have now. He's not gone yet. He's smart. He'll find a way—"
Mira's hands still trembled as she gripped the wheel. The echo of screaming corridors, falling beams, and vanished friends haunted her with every breath.
The van moved forward through the smoke and rubble-strewn road, every turn a small defiance against the chaos behind them. No one spoke. No one could.
Outside, the night was still. The fire from the bunker painted the clouds red, flickering like a dying heartbeat. Somewhere in that inferno were the ones they had lost, and the ones who weren't yet safe.
Mira pressed her foot harder on the accelerator, willing herself to move faster, to push the terror and grief down, at least for a moment. She didn't know if they would make it through the night. She didn't know who was alive.
But for now, they were moving. And that had to be enough.
The van's headlights cut through the darkness, leaving behind the ruin, the screams, and the smoke, driving them forward into a future none of them could predict.
The silence inside the van was thick, broken only by ragged breaths and the distant, fading roar of destruction.
And in that quiet, heavy with loss and fear, they drove on.