Chapter 118: Assault – II

Delta One snapped to her right.

The cries of three women reached her ears. Delta One paused, her eyes glittering brighter than before.

Unarmed, limbs bound by something tight, she gritted her teeth. Hostages, no doubt.

“All units, this is Delta One. Be advised. Confirmed civilians inside the compound. Check your fire.”

“Copy, Delta One,” Dmitri replied calmly, though gunfire still echoed faintly in the distance.

A scream cut through the hallway. Then a man stepped out from behind a corner, dragging two women by their hair.

“You take one more step and I will start shooting!”

Delta One advanced slowly toward the corner. Her HCMAR lowered slightly, but not by much.

Thermal overlay flickered across her vision.

Two heat signatures knelt on the hallway; the other stood behind them with a raised weapon.

Heart rate unstable and profuse sweating, Delta One scoffed. Amateur.

The raider’s voice trembled. “Drop your gun! I know you’re there. I swear I’ll kill them!”

Delta One tilted her head slightly, adjusting her stance.

The raider dragged one of the hostages up by their hair.

“COME OUT, DAM—”

A suppressed crack split the corridor’s corner wall.

The round punched through his eye socket and out the back of his skull.

He dropped before his brain registered his sudden death.

The woman collapsed with him, but Delta One was already there. She caught her before the woman hit the ground.

Silence swallowed the hallway.

Delta One stepped fully into view, calm; her weapon lowered.

Her emerald eyes glowed faintly in the darkness.

The hostages froze.

“My savior…”

The woman’s fingers twitched, committing the image of Matilda deep into her memory.

“You’re safe now,” Delta One nodded. “Don’t be afraid.”

The woman suddenly teared up and jumped into Matilda’s embrace.

“I’m saved… I’m saved. Thank you… thank you for saving me.”

“You’re welcome, but you need to move.”

“What?” The woman was flabbergasted. “Why? I thought… I thought it was safe here?”

“Not for long,” Delta One warned. “We’re clearing this area of raiders. You should seek shelter in that room over there.”

Her index finger pointed at where the three previous hostages were.

“Oh no, Clarisse and the rest…” the woman gasped. “Are they… are they safe?!”

“Yes. You should join them.”

“Thank you, thank you again my savior. I… I will repay you with my life.”

“No need for that—”

Gunfire erupted in the distance once again, interrupting their discussion.

“Time is running out,” Delta One grabbed their hands and quickly led them inside.

“Stay here. Don’t leave. Don’t open even if someone knocks. You recognize my voice, don’t you?”

“Yes… yes… I will follow my savior’s words…”

The door closed.

Delta One took a deep breath and exhaled, Dealing with hostages… I should leave this to Kross next time.

The moment the lock clicked into place—footsteps thundered down the corridor.

Like a wave that rushed into the shore.

“Someone’s over there!”

“Kill them!”

Delta One’s emerald gaze sharpened. Her mind constructed a layout of the room beyond her.

Six raiders. All armed. No hostages to hinder me this time.

Her rifle came up smoothly.

“Delta Two, what’s your sitrep, over?”

“Tying some loose ends,” Delta Two responded immediately. “What do you think I’ve been doing?!”

“Assist Echo One-One. Something’s bogging them down.”

“Roger that.”

Meanwhile, the raiders rounded the corner wildly. They fired at the empty space before aiming.

Bullets chewed into the walls and shattered glass.

Delta One stepped sideways, adjusting her position.

Two controlled bursts fired off her HCMAR.

The first raider dropped mid-stride. The second collapsed while screaming, clutching his shattered knee.

The others scrambled behind a flipped desk.

They lacked formation. They didn’t even cover each other.

A pure amateur in warfare.

Delta One didn’t continue firing. Instead, she vanished from their line of sight.

A heavy crash erupted against the wall beside them.

Concrete fractured.

Before the raiders could process what happened, she already stepped through the new opening she had just created.

“Shit— on our right!”

The raiders realized too late.

The moment they raised their weapons, she had already fired.

Four shots; four impacts.

All in their heads.

Three seconds later, only one raider remained. He trembled in place, unaware that his knee had long given up.

“Don’t shoot! There’s more downstairs! The boss said to kill the prisoners if you breach!”

Delta One still raised her rifle anyway.

Bang!

The raider died with regrets, slumping into the cold floor.

“I don’t need you to tell me that.”

She turned, her eyes bright as ever.

The building’s structure had long since unfolded inside her consciousness.

Every hallway. Every stairwell. Every heat signature. And every trembling heartbeat.

Her gaze drifted downward; the image of a basement unfolding slowly in her mind.

Seventeen heartbeats.

Four restrained.

Two armed.

One beside the last generator.

“Delta One moving to basement. Hostages secured in the main office building. Second floor, left side of the hallway.”

She didn’t wait for a reply.

The stairwell door burst inward under a single kick, splintering the concrete.

Delta One didn’t slow down. Her boots barely made a sound as she descended two steps at a time.

Gunfire suddenly erupted below, rounds denting randomly into the railing.

Her feet accelerated, ignoring the panicked response.

Smoke curled along the basement ceiling. A Molotov bottle shattered against the far wall.

Flame spread toward the stacked fuel containers. From there, a raider grabbed a trembling hostage by the collar.

“Light it! Light it now, you fucking idiot!”

The metallic door slammed sideways.

Delta One descended through the smoke.

One raider fire blindly, the bullets too slow in her view.

She shifted half a step, evading the projectile.

With a grunt, her fist drove forward. The impact cracked several ribs while catapulting the man backward into the concrete pillar.

She didn’t pause and grabbed her sidearm.

The desert eagle claimed two more lives, punching a large hole in their heads.

A third raider lunged with a machete.

Delta One danced around with a flick of her hair. Then she drove her elbow into his jaw.

Her knee pummeled into his ribs, bending his spine the wrong way.

Four raiders gone in the blink of an eye.

Then five. Then six.

The one near the generator reached for the ignition switch.

Delta One crossed the distance in less than a second, wrapping her hands around his wrist.

“What—”

Her fingers grasped with pressure, crushing his bones into powder.

“Ahhhhh—!”

A leg swept into his neck; the loud vocal cords shattered on impact.

His corpse slumped in the wall beside the machine, mouth hanging wide-open.

Silence returned in the basement.

The remaining armed raider dropped his weapon.

Delta One looked at him. The desert eagle’s muzzle flashed.

The raider froze, deader than dead.

Now, only the restrained remained. She cut their bindings in a single motion.

“You’re safe.”

Her voice was calm, indifferent to what just happened. Delta One tapped her comms.

“Basement secured. Proceeding to assist remaining units.”

She stepped over the bodies without looking back.

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