Ch 44: The Last Bait

The ruined landscape stretched before them—a wasteland of corroded pipelines, rusted-out refineries, and pools of stagnant liquid that shimmered in unnatural hues. The air itself was heavy with the stench of decay, chemicals, and something far worse.

Kael brought the crawler to a stop atop a small ridge, scanning the horizon. Mira could hear the distant hum of engines, growing louder by the second.

They were coming.

Mira exhaled sharply, gripping the frame of the crawler. "Kael, tell me we're not actually boxed in here."

Kael didn't answer. Instead, he stepped out of the vehicle and checked the wind. He closed his eyes for a moment, calculating. Then he nodded to himself.

Mira frowned. "Kael."

Still, he ignored her. He pulled out a device from his pack—a small, makeshift trigger. The final piece of his plan.

And then it hit her.

Mira's eyes widened. She looked from Kael to the expanse of industrial ruin around them, to the wrecked storage tanks with faded hazard signs, to the jagged fractures in the earth where something unnatural had seeped into the soil long ago.

Her stomach dropped.

"You planned this."

Kael finally turned to her. His expression was unreadable. "Yes."

Mira felt a sudden heat behind her eyes. "You've been leading them here. This entire time."

Kael tilted his head slightly. "We needed them all in one place."

Mira's fingers curled into fists. "You used me," she spat. "You let me think we were just barely escaping. That we were out of options. And all the while, you were dragging us deeper into this mess."

Kael held her gaze, unflinching. "It worked, didn't it?"

Mira's breath came sharp and fast. "You—"

The sound of approaching vehicles cut her off.

Thorn's forces crested the ridge behind them, a full convoy of armored landcraft and hover scouts. Dozens of soldiers. A whole damn battalion.

And leading them, standing atop his command vehicle, was Thorn himself.

Mira could see the sneer on his scarred face even from a distance. His voice crackled through a loudspeaker.

"End of the road, rats."

Kael barely reacted. He stood there, perfectly still, fingers resting against the detonator.

Mira's pulse hammered in her ears. The worst part was that Thorn believed he had won. That smug, arrogant bastard thought they were trapped.

But Kael had trapped him.

Mira felt sick.

Thorn lifted a hand. His troops fanned out, weapons trained.

Mira inhaled sharply. "Kael."

Kael pressed the trigger.

The effect was immediate.

The first explosion wasn't large—just enough to rupture the containment tanks Kael had prepped in advance. Thick, sludgy liquid gushed into the pits and trenches below.

Then came the reaction.

The contaminated soil, the industrial runoff, the scavenged acid rain Kael had collected—everything mixed together in a violent chain of chemical interactions.

Gas hissed.

And then, with a sudden, horrifying whoosh, a thick, greenish mist rolled across the battlefield.

Thorn's men had no time to react.

One second, they were advancing. The next, they were choking, clawing at their faces as the mist curled around them. Their screams rang out—high, raw, and desperate.

The gas was alive, seeping into helmets, eating through fabric, scalding flesh. Soldiers collapsed where they stood, their bodies convulsing as their lungs dissolved from the inside out.

Armor corroded. Weapons melted in their hands.

It was hell.

And Kael watched it happen with quiet calculation.

Mira wanted to look away. She should look away. But she couldn't.

She had seen death before. She had caused death before. But this? This wasn't a battle. It wasn't even a massacre.

It was extermination.

She turned to Kael, her chest heaving. "What the hell did you just do?"

Kael's expression remained eerily calm. "What I had to."

Mira's fury exploded. "You—you just melted them alive!" She shoved him, hard. "You knew this would happen! You knew exactly what that chemical cocktail would do!"

Kael barely stumbled. He met her glare with quiet resolve. "Yes."

Mira could barely breathe. "You planned this, down to the last detail."

Kael tilted his head. "If I hadn't, we'd be dead right now."

Mira stared at him, chest rising and falling rapidly. The worst part? He was right.

But that didn't make it okay.

She turned away, hands gripping her hair. "Damn it, Kael."

The screams had faded now, replaced by an eerie silence. A field of motionless bodies lay scattered across the chemical-ridden earth, their forms half-melted, their final expressions frozen in agony.

Even Thorn, the bastard who had chased them for weeks, was nowhere to be seen. If he had survived, he wouldn't be pursuing them any further.

Kael's plan had worked.

And Mira hated it.

She turned back to him, voice thick with something she didn't want to name. "Never again," she said, her tone raw. "I don't care how smart you are, I don't care how much sense your plans make—never use me like that again."

Kael was quiet for a long moment. Then, finally, he nodded. "Understood."

Mira exhaled shakily, running a hand down her face. She didn't believe him. Not really.

But for now, they were alive.

And the chase was over.