Kill 'Em All

Ethan steered his snowmobile over the body, then casually glanced back.

The snow cushioned the impact, but four hundred kilos of machine still crushed the man's ribcage like a paper bag.

The guy coughed blood.

Ethan ended the pain with a single shot to the head.

"You wanted to kill me. This is what that costs."

He kept driving.

Not fast. Just enough to keep pace.

He wasn't chasing them.

He was herding them.

Like rats to their nest.

And that nest? Was Building 21—the Wolf Pack's den.

—

Inside 21#, on the 7th floor, King Wang and Sean Lu, the gang's alpha and beta, were watching from behind cracked window blinds.

Their faces were pale.

"Ten guys," Wang muttered. "Gone. Just like that."

They'd planned this for days.

Timed Ethan's departures. Charted his routes.

Set up an ambush.

But they'd miscalculated.

Severely.

They didn't expect Ethan to be this good a shot.

Or to have this many bullets.

Wang barked out orders:

"Get everyone to the stairwell. Traps in place. Be ready!"

Sean nodded. "Don't worry. If he walks in, we'll take him out right here."

Their words were tough. But both men backed away from the windows.

Because they knew—

Ethan had a sniper rifle.

And if he saw even a sliver of their faces?

Game over.

—

Outside, Ethan continued the hunt.

He shot the second-to-last man clean through the skull, the body collapsing yards from 21#'s entrance.

The final guy was almost home.

But Ethan's snowmobile roared to life behind him.

He never made it to the door.

Ethan didn't use a gun.

Instead, he drew a gleaming Damascus steel hunting knife.

He hadn't used it before.

But today felt right.

Slice.

The blade glided through the guy's neck like warm butter.

Whsshk.

Blood sprayed.

His head soared into the air, spinning like a basketball before landing in the snow.

Inside 21#, the gang members froze.

Ten men. All dead.

And now, Ethan was outside. Alone.

And very, very calm.

He parked the snowmobile, walked up to the decapitated corpse, picked up the head—

And tossed it into the stairwell.

It bounced down the steps, landing at their feet.

Empty eyes stared back at them.

The entire gang shivered.

They were armed. They were ready.

But no one wanted to be the first to die.

Ethan?

Didn't step inside.

He wasn't stupid.

There were traps. Ambushes. Death waiting inside.

"Never play into their hand."

"Make them dance instead."

Just then, a commotion echoed from down the block.

Reinforcements.

Uncle Ray and Jake Leung arrived with a group of Building 25 residents.

"Ethan! What happened?!"

Ethan looked at them coolly.

"They tried to ambush me."

He gestured behind him.

Ten corpses. A red trail from the gates to Building 21.

Ray's face turned to stone.

"These animals… if something happened to you, our food supply would've been cut off."

"We'd all starve."

The others suddenly understood the weight of the situation.

Ethan nodded toward the complex.

"Go back. Round everyone up. Bring them here."

A few minutes later, the full force of Building 25 stood assembled behind him.

Ethan's eyes were ice.

He wasn't mad about the ambush.

That was expected.

He was mad because someone from his building had leaked his schedule.

His departure times changed daily. Random. Secret.

And yet—they knew.

They'd timed the ambush perfectly.

"There's a mole."

"I don't care who."

"You all share the same fate."

He looked over the crowd. Many avoided his gaze.

Then he spoke.

"The Wolf Pack tried to kill me."

"If I die—you die. No more food. No more hope."

"So if they tried to kill me, they tried to kill you."

"And for that… they all die."

Gasps.

Ethan turned to Ray.

"You're with me."

Then to Jake:

"You lead the charge."

"Every Wolf Pack member you kill gets you ten rations."

The air shifted.

Some looked hesitant.

"Shouldn't we wait until nightfall?"

"We'll lose the element of surprise if we go now."

"Uncle Ray's our ace. Maybe he should stay back."

The one who spoke was a balding man named Gary.

Whispers rippled through the group.

"He's right…"

"A frontal assault now? Isn't Ethan just angry?"

"Ray should stay safe. What if we lose him?"

They were worried.

Scared.

And Ethan?

Ethan was taking notes.