Dead Drop

Kassius: "Shit!"

Kassius runs off to the man.

Arnold: "Wait! It might be a trap."

Kassius: "Watch my back then."

As Kassius goes up to the man, Arnold follows from behind, watching out from all around. Kassius approaches closer, and finally reaches near the man.

Kassius (in head): "He's dressed like those guys earlier. He might be armed, I should be care-"

Kassius notices the man bleeding heavily from the back.

Kassius: "Hey, hey! Are you alright?!"

Kassius rolls the man over and sees his bloodied up clothing.

Kassius: "What happened?!"

Man: "I was too... early."

Kassius: "What?"

Man: "Pl...please. I won't... live long. Reach in... my pocket."

Kassius: "Uhh, ok."

Kassius reaches in his pocket and pulls out a paper.

Kassius: "What is it?"

Man: "Get it... to the... to the police. They're... coming..."

Kassius: "Who's coming? Hey! Wait!"

The man goes unconscious. Kassius lays him down on the sand and stands up. Arnold gets closer to him.

Kassius: "He's dead."

Kassius opens the paper.

Arnold: "What's that?"

Kassius hands the paper to Arnold.

Arnold: "Hmm. These are coordinates."

Kassius: "He asked me to hand it to the police. But he's dressed like those guys from earlier. Might've been a spy."

Arnold: "Let's head back and tell the other two."

Kassius and Arnold head back to the parking lot and up ahead, Kaizen and Bonnie walk out and see them.

Bonnie: "I got the food!"

Kassius: "Finally, I'm starving."

They all sit at the bench with a table and start eating their food.

Kaizen: "You're right. These numbers are coordinates. Hold on."

Kaizen pulls out his map.

Kaizen: "Alright, if I'm right... it points to here."

Arnold: "Darfal. Small city. Why would he point there though?"

Kaizen: "You guys said he might've been a spy right? Maybe he was leaking their hideout."

Kassius: "Ok then. We'll cross the desert, and go look for them in this city."

Kaizen: "Hmm..."

Kassius: "What's the matter?"

Kaizen: "It's just a bit odd to me. Earlier inside, the bartender told me about a person fleeing from the desert screaming out 'bandits'. And now a bandit poser is killed coming from the same place?"

Kassius: "You think those bandits could've been the black sand bandits?"

Kaizen: "That'd be very likely. And that guy, might've found their base and tried to pass the information. The thing is... why is he this far from the city? Why would he come to Canant if the base is at the city? It doesn't add up. The only explanation is-"

Arnold: "The base is in the desert."

Kaizen: "This explains why the police haven't found them yet."

Kassius: "Wait. So we have no use for these coordinates?"

Kaizen: "For now, yeah. They're pretty much useless until we figure out what they are."

Kassius: "Alright. Let's think. What could it be?"

Bonnie: "Maybe it's a second base?"

Arnold: "I thought that too. But we're looking for the boss. The second hideout is unlikely where he'll be."

Deep silence fills the air as they all think.

Kassius: "Ugh. This is too much. Let's just think about this later."

Bonnie: "I agree. Let's just get some sleep here. A bit of rest would be nice."

Kaizen: "That's fine."

Arnold: "I see no problem with that."

As everyone gets up and walks towards the motel,

Kassius: "Stop!"

Arnold: "Hmm? What is it, Kassius?"

Kassius: "We can't stop here."

Arnold: "Hmm?"

Bonnie: "Why not?"

Kassius: "That guy... Shit! Why did I forget this?!

Kaizen: "Forget what?"

Kassius: "His first words were 'I was too early'. Think about it, he was a spy, dropping information to the police. Came all the way out to Canant. And was too early. Now I get it! 'They're coming'. Wow. I'm so slow. I should've put it together sooner."

Bonnie: "Whoa. Slow down, Kas. 'They're coming'? What does that mean?"

Kaizen: "Maybe the bandits are coming here. That would be good for us, no?"

Arnold: "It would be, if it were the bandits."

Kaizen: "Wait. You don't mean-"

Kassius: "Yep. The police are on their way. And not just any police. It's the ACO. We've been caught between a dead drop. We have to leave now."

While Kassius and Arnold plan the route, Bonnie and Kaizen head into the shop and purchase some items. They come back outside.

Bonnie: "I got some food and two bottles of water each. I couldn't get more."

Kassius: "That should be enough. Alright, let's get going."

The group walk towards the spy. Kassius stops the group and he starts to bury him. After he finishes, he stands back up on his feet. They walk in the direction he came from, towards the greater desert. Later on, at around 11 pm, the ACO finally arrive at Canant. The vans park out and the officers get out. Captain John walks up to a wall. He removes a brick and looks into it, but sees nothing.

Captain John: "I see..."

Captain John returns to the group all standing outside.

Michael: "Anything?"

Captain John: "We're switching to plan B. Be prepared to depart into the desert in five hours. For now, you are dismissed."

The officers disperse, most going to the food court. Lucia notices the captain and some officers heading to the surveillance room, so she follows.

Captain John: "Hello?!"

Security guard: "Hmm? Wha..?"

He opens the door and sees the officers.

Security guard: "The ACO?! What brings you all the way out here?"

Captain John: "At ease. I just want to see the surveillance footage. Will you allow me to?"

Security guard: "Of course, sir."

He plays footage for the past day and speeds it up. As it goes on, it reaches a point where the footage shows Kassius and the rest entering the stop. It goes on until they get out of frame.

Lucia: "Rewind the footage!"

The security guard plays it in rewind.

Lucia: "Stop."

Captain John: "Lieutenant?"

Lucia: "Those two right there, Kassius Moore and Arnold Jenovise."

Captain John: "The criminals who kidnapped the President's daughter?"

Lucia: "The other two, I'm unaware of."

Captain John: "Get me as much information about these other two as possible."

Officer 1: "Sir!"

The officers get to work.

Officer 2: "Sir! Come see this."

They go back to watch the footage and it plays until the point where the spy is seen falling down. Kassius and Arnold are seen back in frame and the video plays on, up until the part where they bury him. The officers rush out to the same point and immediately dig up the area. They find the spy's body and the captain walks up to it.

Captain John: "Dammit. Did you find anything?"

Officer 3: "There's nothing on him, sir."

Lieutenant Michael: "Captain What's going on here?"

Captain John: "It appears our source was compromised. And the information is in the hand of a bunch of criminals."

Lieutenant Michael: "Do you know who?"

Captain John: "Kassius Moore and Arnold Jenovise."

Lieutenant Michael: "You're joking? Right?"

Captain John: "We must apprehend them immediately before we lose the information for good."

Lucia: "Sir. I have a better suggestion."

Captain John: "Go ahead."

Lucia: "On the bridge, Kassius Moore had interacted with the leader of the black sand bandits. From what I heard, it seems he has the same goal as us. If we use this to our advantage and tail them, they might lead us to the base of operations."

Lieutenant Michael: "If I may. This plan of yours. It relies strongly on the faith that they even know the location themselves. Why not just capture them and then find the location ourselves?"

Lucia: "From experience, they aren't just local thugs. They are experienced combatants. And also, if we were to capture them, who's to say they'll hand over any information on the location? We'll just be back at square one."

Captain John: "Lieutenant Lucia. We will work with your plan. However, we will also mix it with my plan so as to not waste any time. One group will tail the criminals on their journey. The rest will split into two and travel in two other directions to, a) block them from escaping on the sides, and b) to cover more ground in finding this base."

Officer 1: "Sir. If this plan to trail is to work, the group following cannot be delayed further."

Captain John: "You're right. OK, Lucia, I'll let you lead this group, since you seem to know these criminals best. Take as many officers as you need with you and prepare to leave in half an hour. Dismissed."

While everyone splits off, Lucia chooses fourteen officers already to go with her. Michael walks up to Lucia.

Lieutenant Michael: "Space for one more?"

Lucia: "Shouldn't you remain with the Captain?"

Lieutenant Michael: "Nah. He's more than capable on his own for now. You on the other hand, I'm not so sure."

Lucia: "Unfortunately, there is space. But you're tagging along. So you listen to my commands, got it?"

Lieutenant Michael: "Yeah, yeah. I got it."

As time passes, way past midnight, the group had stopped under a big rock, that curves almost like a visor blocking the sky, in an area with a small formation of rocks ahead. The group had all fallen asleep. Randomly, Arnold had awoken from his sleep.

Arnold (in head): "Hmm..."

He gets up and stretches his neck. After he walks forward a bit, he stops in his tracks.

Arnold: "I don't think you plan to stand back there the whole night, right?"

From up in front of him, a person walks out from hiding behind the large pillar rock. The bandit has a face covering.

Arnold (in head): "The same attire as the ones earlier..."

Bandit: "Step aside. I'm only here for Kassius Moore."

Arnold: "And if I refuse?"

Bandit: "Then you leave me no other choice."

The bandit rushes at Arnold. They start attacking each other. As both try to hit each other, both of them evade and block. The bandit tries kicking Arnold at his head but he ducks below and tries to sweep. The bandit leaps and dodges it but before she realises, Arnold immediately kicks up ahead at her chest. The kick connects and she stumbles back into the sand. Arnold gets back up. She kicks back on her feet and pulls a dagger out.

The bandit rushes at Arnold again tries attacking with the knife. Arnold manages to evade the attacks, but he winces in discomfort.

Arnold (in head): "If I move too much, it'll open up."

As the bandit tries to slash from above, Arnold closes the gap and evades inwards, grabbing their arm and flipping them onto the ground. Their knife out to the side as they groan in pain. Arnold grabs the covering and removes it. Once he did, he couldn't help but be surprised.

Arnold: "It's you..."

Right underneath him, Arnold looks directly at Ayana, who stares back with an angered, yet exhausted look. In that moment of surprise, she throws sand in his face, which loosens his grip. She knees his side, which severely loosens his grip. She pulls her legs back and pushes off of him by kicking him in the chest, causing him to go rolling back. She gets back on her feet and notices her knife on the ground. Just as the thought of grabbing it crossed her mind,

Kaizen: "Don't move."

Kaizen standing right behind her, holds his bat directly next to her head.