It’s like a thirty-minute drive, Kade remembered Nest saying. With his driving, however, they were there in twenty.
“I’m driving on the way back,” Kade grumbled as he hopped out of the car. It was honestly a miracle they hadn’t crashed and died on the way here.
“What do you mean? I drove fine.”
“Then you’ve never seen ‘fine’ driving before.”
Needless to say, Nest drove like a maniac.
“Anyway,” Nest announced. “We’re here.”
They looked down at the camp from a distance with binoculars. Just like Nest had said, the storage space had five different segments, all with orange metal doors and lined up in a single line. Each segment was the size of a small house, all of them a few yards away from each other. Kade counted three guards patrolling the segment closest to them. Now what they needed was info; or more specifically, which segment the general was in, and which one Pia was in.
“Remember the plan,” Kade said as he drew his gun.
“I know, I know.”
Kade started loading his combat belt with small grenades he and Nest had put together as he checked his inventory. He had his knife, his gun was loaded with plenty of ammo, and he had the grenades. The final thing he needed was…
“Hey, remember your earpiece.”
His earpiece. How Nest got his hands on such nice equipment, Kade didn’t know, but he couldn’t complain. Communication was absolutely necessary if this operation was to succeed. He gently put his small, clear earbud into his right ear.
“Last test run,” Nest said into his small radio device, or more commonly, walkie-talkie.
“Last test run.”
Kade could hear his voice clearly through the piece he had put in his ear. After giving him a thumbs up, he said, “Alright then, let’s start.”
After giving a stern nod, Nest got back in the car and drove away. Kade took the time to get closer to the settlement, and after about seven minutes, he heard through his earpiece, “I’m in position.”
“Got it,” he replied into his mic.
“Looks like they’re keeping Pia in segment three. Right in the middle.”
“And the general?”
“No visual yet. Be careful.”
“Right.”
Kade started to move.
“I’m taking out the guards on the outside first.”
“I’ll get the one on the far left. You’ll need to take care of the other two.”
“No problem.”
Using the big storage buildings as cover, Kade sneaked around until he was close enough to shoot accurately.
“I’m ready on my side,” Kade heard Nest say.
He readied his pistol, which now had a suppressor attached at the tip. He was positioned so that he was almost right behind one of the guards, with another one stationed a few paces to his right.
Then, with a psst sound, his bullet pierced the far soldier cleanly in the head, causing him to fall with a small thud. Almost at the same time, the second exorcist fell from Nest’s bullet. The third exorcist in front of him didn’t get a chance to react as Kade ran toward him and placed his gun on the back of his head.
Another muffled gunshot rang out, and all three exorcists were on the ground, completely still in the puddle of their blood.
“I’m moving toward segment one. How are the defenses?” asked Kade.
“Weak, like we expected. Most of them are asleep, and I’m seeing two people standing guard. But they’re all unsuspecting. I can’t see too much through the small window, though.”
“Got it.”
“You need help?”
“I don’t think so. Keep looking for where the general is.”
“Copy that.”
Kade stood outside the big orange door. He could just throw a grenade in there, but that would cause the whole place to be alert. Plus, he couldn’t rely on these to completely kill everyone. Maybe the gas grenade? No, he wanted to save that one for later, preferably for the general. It was risky, but there was one option that could work.
Kade quietly lifted the garage door a little bit, then slipped in a smoke bomb. As it covered the room with white smoke, the soldiers who were awake panicked and hurried to their feet, readying their guns.
As he thought, these exorcists weren’t trained very well. The first thing they should have done when the smoke bomb went off was set off an alarm to let the other segments know what was happening, not draw their weapons to defend themselves. Plus, guns had little use with a smoke screen like this. Kade pulled out his short, silver combat knife and took a deep breath as he activated his curse.
Finally, some real food.
.
In just a matter of minutes, the entire first segment was wiped out. The floor was a sea of scarlet, and not a single exorcist in the room was breathing. Kade looked around the storage room. The whole place was definitely much bigger than how these storage units usually were. The walls were a boring gray color now decorated with a splash of red, with a single window on one of them. The light above was flickering gently as Kade walked out of the segment and started to move to the next one. He heard Nest’s voice again.
“I found where the general is. He’s not currently in any of the segments, but I can see him driving over from far away. We got lucky, so don’t waste this chance.”
“How much time do I have?”
“Not much. I’d say around ten minutes.”
“Alright, thanks.”
Kade cracked his neck. If the general was absent, even for ten minutes, then that was perfect.
“Visuals on segment four?”
***
Kade wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but every segment was now clear, with only segment three left; the one where Pia was being held. His white shirt was now tainted with blood, and he was sure his face and hair didn’t look much better. He could never really get used to the sticky feeling, not to mention the unpleasant, metallic smell.
“Is the general close?” he asked into his mic.
No response.
Kade didn’t know what had happened, but he couldn’t afford to waste time on getting anxious.
It’s just a little change in difficulty, that’s all, he thought bitterly.
He had to prepare to clear this last segment. For all he knew, the general could be close, or even here right now. Kade had to be ready.
Unlike the other segments, he expected this one to be more heavily guarded. It was the segment containing their hostage, after all. He checked the amount of ammo he had for his gun; not a lot, but enough. He just had to use each bullet sparingly. Kade was also out of grenades except for the one gas grenade that he had, which he couldn’t use with Pia in there, meaning he had to clear out the segment without going in head first like he did with the other ones.
This segment only had a single window, and it wasn’t even big enough for Kade to fit through. Perhaps through the roof? But then again, what were the chances of successfully getting in without being noticed? There wasn’t even a guarantee that there was even a way to get in through there. Neither the window nor the roof were decent options, and he had too little information to make any big decisions.
“Nest, are you there?” he tried again. And again, there was no response.
“What the hell is that guy doing…”
After a brief moment of consideration, Kade decided he had to assume he wouldn’t be getting any help from Nest. In other words, this was now a one-man mission.
Choosing not to waste anything more time, Kade decided to lift the garage door a tiny bit to see inside. It was a risky move, of course, but there wasn’t much else he could do. He got on his stomach to peek, but from what he could see, there was no one inside except for one, small figure on the ground that had to be Pia. Frowning to himself, he cautiously lifted the door more and more and eventually slipped inside. It was too dark to make out all the details, but he knew one thing for sure; grandma Pia was only a few steps away from him.
He carefully stepped over to her and crouched down to her level. Pia was painfully thin, with white hair and eyes that were closed shut. She looked many years older than what she should have been. Even without asking, Kade could think of what they had done to her. It was a wonder that she was even alive. There were no shackles, no cage. They knew she would have no energy to leave on her own.
Kade began to lift her up when he heard Nest’s panicked voice thundering in his earpiece.
“Kade, it’s a trap!”
Almost immediately, the lights turned on, and Kade felt a round, metal gun barrel pressed against the back of his head.
Shit.
“Seems a pest made its way inside our little hideout,” spoke a woman’s voice. The voice was ragged and scratchy, with an undoubtable layer of authority surrounding it. Kade didn’t have to look behind him to tell who it was.
He sighed as he slowly stood up.
“Good evening, General.”
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