4.

9 pm, Guyons Canal, south of Mount Caliber. 

Magnolia held Denyefa back from toppling over the edge of the van. They were currently standing on the roof of one of the delivery trucks servicing the Guyons canal. This mission is worse than any Denyefa had been on.

Denyefa and Magnolia were the only female mercenaries and the two had formed a bond ever since Magnolia started her training four years ago. Denyefa had been going on missions longer but Magnolia was a natural and also a fast learner. She easily caught up with Denyefa and even surpassed her. The truck jerked and Denyefa held onto the railing tighter, trying to appear confident. 

Dante climbed down to the back of the truck and hung there. He spread his legs and hands apart, giving room for Magnolia to hang in front of him and open the lock on the back of the truck. 

Magnolia quickly slid down and took her position where she made to work. The truck continued smoothly on the road so it wasn't much of a challenge to pick the lock. Dante moved to the side to allow Magnolia to open the door. 

There was this awkwardness between himself and Denyefa as he looked up at her. They briefly held eye contact as Magnolia opened the door. Denyefa moved down into the truck and he followed suit.

Inside the an was dark after Dante closed the door. Dante's put on her torch and they looked around. 

"It's almost empty!" Magnolia exclaimed. "This is why they didn't bother to escort this van."

"We didn't come here to get the van. The goal is to enter the territory unnoticed, then we kill it from within."

"Some goodies would have been a bonus." Magnolia pulled out her rugged tablet from her backpack and connected it to the control room's surveillance system. 

Dante and Denyefa were left with nothing to do but wait. It was unlike the friends who usually had a lot to chat about to just keep quiet and say nothing to each other. Dante usually accompanied Denyefa on some of her missions and it was a lot of fun going with him. But that day was different. 

They both turn to look at each other, catching each other's gaze.

"Uh...how are you feeling?" Dante asked. 

"Fine," Denyefa replied, staring into his face. he held her stare a bit longer then she looked away shyly. The awkward silence continued until a voice broke in from the communication device strapped on Dante's collar.

"Dante, you're currently approaching the canal, do you copy?" 

"Roger that," Dante replied.

The person who had just spoken to Dante was from the control room. It was a relief that they hadn't left them alone on the mission. It was a daunting experience for Denyefa, a fact she hated to admit. The nature of her missions revolved around poisoning, one-man assassinations, spies, special deliveries and stuff like that, not infiltrating a military base! 

Dante moved to the back of the van where some containers were piled. "Let's hide here," he said. 

The other two followed him to hide as the van stopped in front of the gate. The security guard opened the back of the van and flashed his torch inside. He switched off his torch and closed it back, not suspecting anything. 

After the van was parked, Dante, Magnolia and Denyefa filed out of it discretely. They hid in the shadows beside the building with magnolia taking the lead. 

Two guards were smoking in front. Dante and Denyefa approached them. The men carelessly discarded their cigarettes and walked towards the intruders. 

"A girl!" One of them said when he saw Denyefa. The other laughed. 

They brought out daggers but we're evenly matched by Dante and Denyefa who were armed too. Dante engaged one of the guards while Denyefa handled the other. He sent several blows in her direction and she dodged all of them. She bent down to avoid another blow and sent her dagger across his thigh making him shout. He grabbed her long brown hair and threw her to the ground. She rolled and stood up immediately, pointing her daggers at him. He charged at her again and she gave him a foot sweep making him fall face-first. He stood up almost immediately and attempted to punch her. She grabbed his arm, twisted it and brought it behind him such that she could easily dislocate his shoulder. He groaned in pain as she applied pressure to his shoulder joint. Then from behind she knocked him out and the man fell to the ground unconscious. 

Magnolia walked up to them. 

"More men are coming from behind us, we need to move," she said, walking ahead of them with her tablet open in front of her.

Dante and Denyefa hid the guards they had just beaten in the dark corner. "This way it'll take a longer time before they notice anything," Dante said to her. "Come on, let's go." They both jogged to catch up with Magnolia some distance ahead. 

 They rounded the building section by section, implanting monitoring devices in the place. Just as they were about to leave, the security alarm went off, meaning their presence had been noticed. 

This was the part Denyefa had hoped to not happen. They ran towards the fence, hoping to escape without getting caught. Just as they got to it, the light from the watch tower centred on them. There was no use running anymore. 

Denyefa's heart thumped in her chest as Dante whispered to her. "We are being surrounded."

"I can see that!" She replied apprehensively. 

Dante clenched his fists as about ten armed men approached them. They were dressed in normal clothes, not military attire. 

"Surrender and this does not have to get messy," one of the men said. 

"Never."

Denyefa and Magnolia joined Dante to fight them off. Unfortunately, they were outnumbered and detained. Their hands were chained behind their back and they were led to who Denyefa thought to be the officer in charge of the place. He interrogated them but the trio knew better than letting out their secret. 

They succeeded in locking the three of them up in the same prison cell. Denyefa had never been locked up on a mission. She paced about the prison cell restlessly. Dante joined Magnolia as they tried to hack through the prison lock.

"Aren't you done yet?" 

Neither Magnolia nor Dante replied. Denyefa continued her pacing and came back a couple of minutes later to ask the same question. She repeated this pattern until Magnolia got pissed off and glared at her. 

"It would be better if you just kept quiet."

Denyefa rolled her eyes and went to stand in the corner. Seconds later, the lock opened. Dante was the first to leave the cell. He sneaked up on the prison guard and tired up his hands and mouth so he wouldn't make noise. Denyefa joined him to handle the others. 

They stood in the shadows beside the building when Magnolia brought out her tablet again. Their current position was risky because some of the guards were on their trail. They needed to move out of that place fast! From the surveillance videos, there were men on the far edge just where they were headed so they needed to take another route. Behind them, towards the prisons wasn't a good option. The last and most promising idea was to run across the space directly in front of them and cross the fence quickly before being caught because, through this route, they would inevitably be noticed. 

"I'll go first," Dante said. He brought out a plier from his pocket and made a mad dash towards the fence. He hooked a rope over the fence and proceeded to climb with Magnolia and Denyefa following behind. 

"Some guards are coming," Denyefa complained. Dante quickly cut the wire of the electric fence and jumped to the other side. Magnolia hurriedly followed behind just as a guard was aiming his gun at them. He opened fire on Denyefa as she crossed over the fence. She shouted on landing at the other side. Dante quickly catches her and they rush to the getaway car. 

"I've been hit," she kept repeating as they ran to the car. Immediately they got to the car Dante settled her on the chairs and the driver drove off at top speed. Denyefa groaned, trying to stifle the pain coursing through her body.

"Let me see it," Dante said, reaching for her leg. Blood flowed from her wound, soaking her trousers. Magnolia passed her tablet to Dante and attended to Denyefa. 

"It's unfortunate that someone said we should use the car instead of the van where the first aid kit happens to be." 

Dante sent her a scowl and resumed what he was doing on the tablet. Magnolia was able to arrest the bleeding but the bullet was still inside Denyefa's thigh. 

After a long drive, they arrived at the big house and Dante approached her. 

"Can you walk?" He asked. 

"Yes, perfectly," Denyefa replied sarcastically. 

He carried her into the house, and straight to the infirmary where he assisted her to sit on one of the beds, before going in search of the nurse. 

"Mrs. Petruce is not here," he said when he returned to Denyefa. He grabbed the forceps, cotton wool, antiseptic and other tools he would need.

"What are you doing?" Denyefa asked as he dropped them beside her. 

"I can't leave you like this. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Denyefa could only brace herself for the pain she was about to feel.