Aditya_KD

Amit never wanted a life of crime—until it stole everything from him. When his father is murdered in cold blood by a nameless gangster, the system turns its back. No leads. No justice. Just silence.

Now, Amit steps into the same blood-soaked streets that made him an orphan. As he claws his way through the city’s brutal underworld, chasing whispers and shadows, every move pulls him deeper into a web of lies, betrayal, and violence. But vengeance has a cost—and by the time he faces his father's killer, Amit may no longer recognize the man he’s become.

MADE IN BLOOD

Thane Industrial Zone – 21:43 HRS

The air was thick with dust and silence.

We moved through the abandoned factory grounds in a diamond formation—Vijay at point, Meena and I in the middle, Yash covering the rear.

The First Affiliate had to be hiding somewhere near here—or using this zone as a cover. The files Meena pulled from Agnidwar had led us here. "Project: Zero Witness." No other details.

"I don't like this," Yash muttered.

"Neither do I," I said. "Stay sharp."

We crept past rusted cranes and shattered glass. The deeper we went, the more Meena's nerves showed. Her hands clutched her satchel tight.

She nodded, exhaling. "Yeah. I brought Danny's pistol."

She pulled it from her coat—sleek, black, with a matte grip. One of Danny's custom low-recoil models. Good for people who weren't soldiers.

"I'm not going to freeze again," she said. "Not this time."

Another shot slammed into the pipe beside Meena.

"Ambush!" I yelled, diving behind a steel barrel.

Figures in white masks emerged from the shadows—half a dozen, at least. Serpent operatives. Light body armor. Silenced rifles.

Vijay moved first—rolling forward, smashing a Serpent's head with his crowbar.

I flanked right, drawing both pistols, laying down suppressive fire to split the group. "Meena, stay low!"

She took a breath, aimed Danny's gun, and fired.

One of the Serpents jerked back—hit in the thigh.

She gritted her teeth. Fired again.

Yash sprinted across a pipe and dropped down like a ghost, slitting the throat of another.

I dove, tackled her behind cover just as bullets shattered the concrete above us.

She looked at me—eyes wild, hands trembling—but she nodded. "I can do this."

We emerged again. Vijay took two hits to his vest but kept moving—unstoppable.

Yash shot him in the back of the knee and dragged him behind a generator.

The man spat blood. "Too late. You're already inside the maze."

He grinned, bloody. "The First Affiliate isn't a place. It's a system."

We got out fast. No time to linger. Too risky.

Meena had two kills. She didn't smile. Didn't boast.

She just stared at her hands the whole ride back.

She wiped her face. "No. But I'm not useless anymore."

Yash looked at her and nodded once. "You did good."

A switch had flipped in her. This wasn't just a mission anymore. It was war. And she was ready to fight it.

The First Affiliate was more than just a place.

A shadow that moved through the cracks of the city.

#23 : THANE