Inside the dining hall, after a conversation that lasted too long, Jeffrey finally realized Hemley had no intention of bending the knee.

Fine.

He casually turned to Bob. “Go and tell them to serve the dessert.”

Bob’s eyes flickered. Serve the dessert. That was a predetermined signal. He nodded and walked out of the room as slowly and casually as possible. It was as if he was simply walking to the kitchen to talk to the chefs, but the truth was far from it. He walked straight to the backyard of the mansion, where over twenty men were waiting. All of them armed. Most had machetes or spikes, but a number of them had strange-looking guns.

“Is it time?” One of them asked.

“Yes.” Bob replied quietly. “Get into the mansion. The guys down at the parking lot will strike first. Once you hear the gunshots, go in and kill every single one of those kids. No survivors.” His voice was cold and cruel.

“Yes! Finally!” The man replied. A satisfied look in his eyes. “I told Jeffrey we should’ve ambushed them the moment they walked through the door! Could’ve saved a lot of food!”

“You shut the fuck up.” Bob didn't have time for ‘I told you so’s. He turned around and walked out of the mansion and down the street until he was outside the parking lot. A single glance told him the three Humvees were still sitting there.

Around another corner, another 20 men were waiting. They stood up as soon as they saw Bob. “It’s time.” Bob answered before anyone could pose the question. “Here’s the deal. I’ll try to lure them away from their vehicles. Once they are out in the open, take them out.”

As the men nodded, Bob slowly ventured his way into the parking lot. He could see there were six people left in the Humvees. Two for each car. One in the driver’s seat and one on the turrets. Bob first engaged the only girl in the group. She was a woman with blonde hair and a soft look.

For some reason, she reminded Bob of the girl he had two days ago. He silently reminded himself to tell the men to spare this girl. After all, in this era, pretty girls were a precious resource.

But for now, he had to put up the most innocent smile he could. “Hey! Your friend Hemley told me to take you to a hotel. There are beds and everything for you to rest on.”

Ava opened her mouth. Before she could produce an answer, without any signal, Bob screamed in agony and collapsed on the ground. A bullet opened up a large hole in his left leg. A pool of blood formed under him.

“This is an ambush,” Ryan’s voice appeared from the radio. “There is a group of armed hostiles around the wall. The locals have sprung the trap. Form a defensive line and terminate all opposition.”

What neither Bob nor his minions realized was that there were seven Phasewalkers that stayed with the Humvees, but when Bob came over, there were only six. Between that time, Ryan managed to slip away, unnoticed. He found a sniper position on the ceiling of a two story house. It wasn’t ideal, but it was still enough to give him a clear sight of vision to a lot of things below. Namely, he saw Bob talking to those armed men. Exactly what, he didn't know, but it was obvious a group of armed men hidden with their weapons ready wouldn’t lead to anything good.

At first, the armed locals didn't realize what happened. Ryan’s silencer on his sniper rifle made sure of that, but once Bob’s screams came over, they determined it was time to go.

“Take them! Take them!”

“Go go go!”

“Fuck them up!”

The six Phasewalkers on the ground watched as two dozen people emerged from the shadows with all types of weapons raised. Making up their mind to thank Ryan later, the Phasewalkers sprung into action. The three gunners turned their turrets around. The three drivers got out and raised their M4A1.

“Stop right there!” Before they could open fire, Ava screamed a warning.

As soon as they charged into the open, most of the locals found themselves staring down at a line of gun turrets and realized their mistake. They had the numbers, but charging against machine guns? If they had this type of loyalty, they wouldn’t have tried an ambush. But while most with forks and sticks stopped right there, a few with ranged weapons of their owns decided to return fire.

A man raised some sort of gun and pressed the trigger. The next second, following a strange gunshot, Ava found a 9mm metal nail punching right through the armored plating of the Humvee she was behind and burying it inside a box right behind her. A few more inches to the left, and that would’ve gone through her head.

One of the locals with the sticks turned around to the gunman. His eyes wide horror as he realized what the gunman has done. “Fuck you!”

The next second, every gun the Phasewalkers had opened fire. Strings and strings of flames washed over the locals, ripping them apart one by one. If you were shot by the M4A1s, congrats. At least you’ll end up with a decent body. Get grazed by the Minigun rounds? You would be lucky if they could find a few pieces of bones to put in your graves.

But the original gunman didn't have the opportunity to fully comprehend the magnitude of his mistake. The moment he pulled the trigger, a sniper round has buried itself deep between his eyes.

Normally, while the Phasewalkers were trained to kill, few of them would be fine with slaughtering twenty people in cold blood. After all, they were just teenagers, but the single shot the gunman fired made the situation into an us-or-them scenario. When their lives depended on it, the Phasewalkers painted the ground red with the blood of their enemies with little hesitation.

Some of the gunners tried to resist, but they barely managed to get out of cover before being relieved of their lives by a clear, precise shot. Ryan kept on firing on the rooftop. The sound his rifle made was buried deep beneath the roaring of the Miniguns, yet he was as deadly as any one of the machine gunners.

Within a minute, the Miniguns and the M4A1s finally stopped firing. At that point, the two dozens attackers were no more than a wave of corpses. The Phasewalkers stared blankly at the scene of massacre they just created. As the threat to their lives wore off, a few of them even turned and threw up.

Ryan scanned the surroundings and made sure there were no other attackers before getting down. Answering the practical slaughterhouse with a small frown, he knelt down beside Bob. The man was practically broken. His eyes wide open. Drool dripped out of his lips. He was close enough to the Humvees to have survived the onslaught, but the sight of his comrades being mowed down was enough to break his spirit.

Ryan put a pair of handcuffs over his wrists before pulling him up and resting him next to one of the Humvees. “He’s one of the higher-ups. Tend to his wounds and make sure he’s alive for questioning.” He gave an order to Ava. He might not be the captain, but he did have a certain reputation. The other Phasewalkers nodded and obeyed.

Ryan walked back and knelt down again, this time next to one of the torn corpses. But it wasn’t the body he was after. It was the weapon. He picked up the now ownerless rifle on the ground and examined it. He was about to look at it more when further gunshots exploded out from the center of the two. He tossed the weapon to Ava before giving another order.

“Infantry, stay here and hold this position. You two, follow me!” He pointed at two infantry. The three turned and rushed down the streets with their weapons ready.

On the other end, Jeremy kept on offering drinks to the Phasewalkers. Ideally, enough beers down the stomach could render these teens useless and defenseless, but Hemley and the others refused. Finally, Jeremy got what he was waiting for, sort of, when a strange sound exploded out from a distance away.

This caught him and his men by surprise. This wasn’t the sound Gauss Rifles make that they were expecting. It was something...different. That single moment of shock cost them their lives.

Hemley and the six others immediately realized it was the Mini Guns firing, and putting that together with how Jeremy and the others have been treating them, that could only mean one thing. Immediately, Glocks and APC9K SMGs were snapped out of their holsters.

“Shit!” One of the locals screamed as he also reached for his sidearm. That was it for him and his other comrades in the room. Following a wave of intense handgun and SMG blasts, and mixed among them a few special gauss gunshots, the room was silent once again.

Eight men fell dead. Jeremy and a few others were wounded and captured.

The locals in the hallway, waiting for the signal, burst into the room. They expected to be overwhelming some drunk teens who couldn’t even turn off the safeties on their weapons. Instead, they found themselves staring at a line of M4A1s.

This time, these locals were wiser than their comrades. They quickly dropped their weapons and held their hands up in surrender. They marveled at how correct their decision was when three other figures in green camouflage appeared behind them. If they fought, they would’ve been outflanked, pinned down, and slaughtered.

Ryan and the other Phasewalkers quickly rounded the locals up and stripped them of their weapons, but as they moved, Ryan couldn’t help but realize there was one Phasewalker missing. He walked up to Hemley, who was overseeing the processing. “Where’s Caity?”

“Oh, she went to bathroom.” Hemley realized it as well. “Ryan, take a few men and find her. Take a radio.”

Ryan turned, picked the two men he came here with, and then ran down the halls of the mansion.

Caity and Katherine were walking down the stairs when the gunshots exploded.

“Oh god…” Katherine’s voice trailed off. Caity could sense she was shaking uncontrollably. “They must’ve ambushed your people!”

Caity panicked at first as well, but she quickly recognized almost all the gunshots were friendlies. SMGs. Glocks. M4A1s. If it was indeed a firefight, then her comrades were the ones with the upper hand. Even if she went back, an extra gun couldn’t really help. She might as well secure the dungeon. “Keep going.” She replied. “Take me to the dungeon.”

Katherine slowly complied.

The two women went down another set of stairs before running right into two men. Both were grabbing onto some sort of pistol. They must’ve heard the gunshots and were moving to reinforce the mansion. They froze when they saw the two women.

Caity froze too, briefly, but she was more prepared than the two men. As the two men raised their pistols, her SMG was already blasting. The two men shook as a storm of bullets pierced their bodies and sent them crashing to the ground. Their weapons fell on the ground.

Caity charged forward, sending two more rounds into the two men’s heads to make sure they were dead. Across the hall, a wooden door was being slowly closed. Caity ran forward. The muzzle to her weapon jumping. By the time she reached the door, the two other guards were already reduced to bodies.

Inside the room, four women in rag-tagged clothing were kept in a large cage. Their bodies were covered in dirt and feces. Even Caity couldn’t help but notice how bad the dungeon smelled. And these women were kept here for months…

Caity lowered her SMG and pumped the rest of the magazine into the two bodies. As she reloaded, she slowly walked to the cage door. Behind her, Katherine has walked into the room. The two immediately moved to open the cage door, but even as the door was opened, the women still had no intention of walking out. All they did was stare at Caity with soulless eyes.

At that moment, Caity felt like someone just stabbed her in the heart. She couldn’t imagine what months of being treated like animals could do to a person. She didn't know anyone here. She wasn’t even in the same world as them. Yet, she felt sympathy.

Footsteps came in from behind her. Caity turned around, thinking the Phasewalkers finally heard the gunshots and came down to check things out. “We need to get these people some medical treatment...”

Her voice trailed off when she saw the newcomers. It wasn’t Ryan or Hemley or any other of her comrades. Rather, it was one of the locals. Not just any local, but one of the three motorcyclists, the one who looked at her like she was a piece of meat.

“Ah, here you are.” The man’s hands reached into his back pockets. “How do you like my pets?”

Caity stood tall, unflinching. She might be shorter and smaller than the man, but her tone was ice cold.

“It’s over. My friends have taken this town. Jeffrey’s reign has come to an end! These girls will be taken to somewhere safe. Surrender yourselves and you will face a fair trial for the crimes you have committed.” Even as she said this, her hands never left her SMG. Something told her the man wouldn’t just kneel down and beg for forgiveness. He would fight...which was exactly what she wanted.

Because that would give her a proper cause to riddle him with bullets.

The man nodded slowly. “That’s a tempting offer. Safe haven. Fair trial. Unfortunately, I’m happy the way things are now, and I will be even happier with you among my toys.”

Caity snapped and raised her SMG, but all she saw was a flash before a surge of pain exploded from her gun-holding arm. She looked down and saw a piece of dagger buried in her shoulder. Her hand collapsed before she could even react, sending the SMG to the ground.

The man used this opportunity to leap forward. Caity reacted quickly as adrenaline rushed through her body and blocked out the pain. Her left hand pulled out her Glock 19, but before she could take aim, the man grabbed onto her left arm with one hand and wrapped the other around her neck. With a single move, he slammed her against the rugged dungeon walls.

Caity could feel blood rushing to her mouth. Her entire body burned from the crash, but she bit her teeth and fought back. As much as her arm hurt, she still punched the man in the stomach several times.

“You punch like a girl.” The local mocked as he closed his hands and started choking Caity. A smile climbed onto his face as the blonde woman in uniform started turning purple, and her resistance started to disappear. He enjoyed seeing beautiful women in pain. Suddenly, with the side of his eyes, he saw Caity pulling the trigger to her pistol.

“You idiot!” He mocked again. “The gun’s not even pointed at me…ahhhh!”

His words were drowned by the sound of a firearm firing mere centimeters away. Luckily for her, Caity never put a silencer on her sidearm. The repeated gunshots right beside the man’s ear made the local scream in pain. Using that opportunity, Caity landed another kick on the local’s chest.

But before she could do anything else, the local gripped onto Caity’s left wrist so tightly she thought she heard bones cracking. She looked back up and saw the man has pushed by the sound. “You think you’re so smart, girl?” He scoffed viciously. “Let’s see how smart you are…”

Another gunshot cut his declaration off. Only this time, it didn't come from Caity.

Across the hallway, Ryan approached with his handgun raised.

Caity’s pistol fire brought him here.

The local collapsed. Ryan’s bullets hit him in a whole different way than Caity’s bullets. Caity’s bullets temporarily deafened him. Ryan’s bullet hit him straight on the right thigh and came out the other end. By the time Caity stood back up, the man was already on the ground, holding onto his crouch and screaming.

“I feel his pain.” It took Caity one glance to know the man wouldn’t be assaulting any more women. She was still really wounded. Her back burned like hell. Her left wrist and right shoulder filed a string of complaints to her through the nerve system, but as she looked at Ryan, she was smiling. “You know, this is unlike you. I thought you would take him alive for questioning.”

Ryan walked right to Caity and checked out her injuries. When he saw the knife on her shoulder, his eyes flickered as he snapped back to the two Phasewalkers that followed him. “Call Ava down here now. You, check on those women.”

“You didn't answer my question.” Caity continued, wincing.

“I did take him alive. I had to shoot him to render him defenseless.”

“And did you have to shoot him in the crotch?”

Ryan glanced at Caity without saying another word.