The hideout was crumbling around them.
Myst ducked as another explosion tore through the walls, the heat burning her skin. The air was thick with smoke and debris, the once-secure base now nothing but another battlefield.
"Fall back!" Razor's voice cut through the chaos. "We're getting out! Now!"
The Clan didn't need to be told twice.
Blaze covered their retreat, hurling a grenade down a corridor. The blast sent enemy soldiers sprawling, buying them precious seconds. But it wasn't enough.
The enemy kept coming. Relentless, inhuman.
Myst sprinted forward, her body moving on instinct. She fired two precise shots at an approaching soldier. One in the shoulder. One in the leg.
Neither slowed him down.
A flash of movement, another enemy lunging at her. She barely dodged the blade aimed at her ribs before Nyx tackled the soldier away. They crashed against the ground, Nyx's blade flashing in the dim light as he drove it into the soldier's throat.
The man didn't even scream.
Just gurgled—and kept fighting.
Nyx cursed under his breath, rolling off as Razor fired a brutal shot, finally putting the soldier down.
"We need a way out, now!"
Cipher's voice was strained over the comms. "The secondary exit is blocked. I'm trying to override the security doors for the north tunnel!"
Shade, who had been keeping an eerie calm, turned sharply. "Then work faster."
Cipher's voice was laced with frustration. "You wanna try hacking this thing under fire?"
"Move!" Razor shouted, pushing them forward.
They ran. The hallways were tight, bodies pressed close as the Clan moved in sync. A desperate retreat, not a controlled one.
But then, the inevitable happened.
A group of enemy soldiers burst from the side entrance, cutting them off.
The escape route was gone.
The Clan skidded to a halt, weapons raised. Breathing hard. A silent moment stretched between them then the realization settling in.
They were trapped. And then the first shot fired.
The battle turned vicious in seconds. The hallway erupted into chaos, close-quarters combat forcing the Clan into a brutal struggle.
Blaze went down under the weight of two soldiers. Shade was locked in a knife fight, precise but barely keeping up. Nyx moved without hesitation, cutting down an enemy before he could reach Myst.
She didn't have time to react before another attacker grabbed her from behind. A sharp grip crushed her wrist, nearly making her drop her weapon.
Then a gunshot.
The grip on her vanished. She turned around, seeing Echo had fired the kill shot.
"Keep moving!" he yelled.
But as the Clan fought their way through, the prize to live became clear.
They all wouldn't make it. Unless...
Cipher's voice crackled through the comms. "I've got the tunnel open! But we don't have long!"
Myst turned to Razor, expecting him to give the order.
But Razor wasn't saying anything.
His jaw was tight, his hands gripping his weapons like he could somehow fight his way out of this. He wasn't ready to make that call.
That's when Blaze stepped forward.
"Go." His voice was steady, even as blood dripped from his temple.
Razor snapped his head toward him, his expression darkening. "No."
Blaze just grinned. "C'mon, you know how this works. Someone's gotta slow them down."
Myst's stomach twisted. "No. We all go—"
Blaze cocked his gun, already turning back toward the enemy. "You know I love a good fight."
Razor took a sharp step forward, like he was going to stop him. Like he was about to order him not to.
Blaze didn't let him. He just threw a bloody smirk over his shoulder.
"I'll catch up."
Then he turned and charged straight into the fight. It was cool seeing him fight, until the exhaustion creeping around his body starts to become visible.
Myst's breath caught as the realization settled in.
He wasn't catching up.
Razor clenched his fists, a storm raging behind his eyes, but Shade grabbed his shoulder. "We don't have time."
And just like that, the decision was made for him.
Myst stood frozen.
She couldn't move. Her breath was stuck in her throat, her mind screaming at her to do something—anything.
Blaze was still there. Still fighting.
She should go back. She can fight, right? She should—
A hand gripped her wrist.
"Myst—"
Echo. Or maybe Nyx. She couldn't even tell in the haze of panic. But their fingers tightened, an undeniable pull grounding her, snapping her back into the moment.
"We have to go."
She barely heard herself exhale.
And then, her body moved.
They ran.
The last thing she saw before disappearing into the tunnel was Blaze, standing his ground, firing into the horde.
And then the doors slammed shut behind them.