Chapter 23: No Way Out

The SUV tore down the darkened highway, headlights slicing through the night. The city lights in the distance flickered like dying embers, but Maya wasn't looking at them. Her hands gripped the steering wheel too tight, her pulse pounding in her ears.

She was on a kill list.

She had always been the one behind the screen, the one who watched from a safe distance, but now Black Sun wanted her dead.

In the back seat, Bishop groaned, shifting against the cracked leather. Alex sat beside him, rifle resting against his knee. Ellie, still checking the side mirror for any pursuers, exhaled sharply.

"We need a plan," Alex said, his voice low. "They won't stop now. They know we won't stop."

Maya forced out a laugh, but it lacked humor. "Oh, you think?" She tapped the dashboard. "I don't need to remind you that these people are ten steps ahead of us. They always are."

Ellie leaned forward. "Then we take the fight to them."

Bishop coughed. "That's a suicide mission."

Alex shook his head. "Not if we hit them where it hurts."

Maya sighed, staring at the road. "And where exactly is that?"

Alex reached into his jacket and pulled out the blood-stained note Bishop had given him earlier. "This isn't just a hit list. It's an invitation."

Maya's heart dropped. "You think they want us to come after them?"

Ellie smirked, loading a fresh magazine into her pistol. "Then let's not disappoint them."

Breaking Point

They regrouped at an abandoned gas station a few miles outside the city. The place reeked of gasoline and mildew, but it was safe—for now.

Bishop leaned against a rusted metal counter, wincing as he checked his wounds. "You should've left me in there."

Ellie scoffed. "Yeah, well, we're not in the habit of leaving people behind."

Alex tossed a first-aid kit to him. "Patch yourself up. We need you at full strength."

Bishop caught it but didn't move. His face was grim. "You don't get it. Black Sun doesn't just kill people. They erase them. If they have my name, if they have Maya's…" His voice trailed off.

Maya's jaw tightened. She had spent years hacking into government systems, toppling corporations, unearthing secrets people wanted buried. She had always stayed ahead. But now? Now she was the target.

She turned to Alex. "How do we stop this?"

Alex stared at the dusty floor, then at the map sprawled across the counter. His fingers traced a set of coordinates.

"This is where they took the last batch of targets. If we hit them here, we cut off their operations at the source."

Bishop let out a bitter laugh. "You don't just hit Black Sun. Their facilities are fortresses. Guards, security measures, layers of fail-safes"

Ellie smirked. "Good thing we don't play by the rules."

Alex looked at Maya. "Can you get us in?"

Maya hesitated, then nodded. "Give me a laptop, and I'll find us a way."

Ellie stretched her arms. "And when we do?"

Alex's eyes darkened.

"We make sure they never do this again."

A Moment of Truth 

The gas station was eerily silent, just the soft hum of Maya's laptop and the distant rustling of the wind outside. They had a plan, but none of them spoke for a while.

Ellie was the first to break the silence.

"If we don't make it out of this…" she hesitated, glancing at the others. "I just want to say… I don't regret any of this. Not the fight, not the danger. Not even the nights we spent sleeping in shitty motels, knowing we were being hunted. Because at least I wasn't running alone."

Bishop let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head. "Damn. That's the nicest thing you've ever said."

Ellie smirked but didn't deny it.

Alex exhaled sharply. "We're all running from something, aren't we?" His fingers tightened around his rifle. "I thought leaving the military would mean I'd never have to fight again. That I could actually live a normal life. But I don't think we get that luxury."

Maya looked up from her laptop. "None of us do."

Bishop scoffed. "Then why keep fighting?"

Silence settled over them. No one answered at first. Then Ellie spoke, her voice quiet but firm.

"Because if we don't, who will?"

Maya closed her laptop. "That's why we can't afford to lose. Not just for us, but for every single name on that list."

Alex nodded. "Then we finish this."

Maya's fingers hovered over the keyboard before she pressed one last key.

"I just sent them a message," she said, a wicked glint in her eyes.

Bishop raised an eyebrow. "What kind of message?"

Maya grinned.

"That we're coming."

The Calm Before the Storm

Maya worked fast, fingers flying across the keyboard. "I'm in their database. They've got an entire roster of targets. People they're planning to wipe off the map."

Alex leaned over her shoulder, scanning the list.

Names. Dates. Locations.

Black Sun wasn't just hunting them. They had dozens of people in their sights.

His stomach twisted. "How long until the next extraction?"

Maya's eyes darted across the screen. "Less than twelve hours."

Ellie cracked her knuckles. "Then we move now."

Bishop exhaled sharply. "We don't have the firepower to take them head-on."

Alex picked up his rifle, checking the ammo. "We don't need firepower." He turned to Ellie and Maya. "We need precision."

Maya tapped on the keyboard, pulling up a blueprint of the facility. "There. The main control room. If I can get in, I can shut down their entire network."

Ellie grinned. "And while she does that?"

Alex's expression was cold. Unforgiving.

"We make sure they never do this again."