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Arthur kicked open the iron gate. Behind him, V's gunfire had already erupted.
She must have breached into the surveillance system—her shots landed as if she knew exactly where the Scavengers were hiding. A few casual bursts dropped those lurking in the dark.
"Over here... the slave pens.
Hope our researcher hasn't run into trouble yet."
Before her words even finished, V darted off, weaving through the crude, labyrinthine passages.
In the dim light, the Scavenger grunts scrambled in confusion, failing to mount any kind of defense. Maybe the ambush had worked. There were plenty of them, sure, but they were nothing but rabble—not even able to slow the two down.
With no time to clear the entire floor, V led the way straight to a staircase heading up.
The stairwell was choked with junk piled haphazardly, impossible to even identify. The bare concrete steps had no railings installed, and the air reeked faintly of dust drifting in the dark.
Without hesitation, they started climbing.
This time, though, V slowed, raising a hand to signal caution.
The stairs here were shrouded in near-total blackness—no lights, no cameras. The sudden hush pressed down like a weight. In the shadows above, something shifted in the narrowing corner between two flights of stairs.
Muzzle flash lit the dark—then vanished. For an instant, wide, terrified eyes stared out before a neat hole opened in the shooter's forehead.
Death was its own kind of darkness.
"Your eyesight's pretty sharp, huh?"
In the dark, V glanced curiously at the man beside her.
" Vik's work.
You know how he is—he won't nag you into finding steady work, but he'd happily arm you to the teeth, tough enough to shrug off artillery."
Arthur's gravelly reply came without slowing his stride. The Scavs waiting in ambush got nothing for their trouble.
His advanced Kiroshi Optics cut through the black like a cat's eyes in the night. Death didn't hide in darkness.
"The hostages are on the third floor. Most of the Scav grunts are packed in there. They'll have figured it out by now."
V's voice was sharp and steady.
Arthur lifted his gaze toward a small opening above, where faint light seeped through. He was already keyed up, eyes locked on the spot. For all his mockery of the Scavengers, when it came to a firefight, there was no room for sloppiness.
Who could say when a lucky bullet might change everything?
His eyes narrowed. That look meant he was serious now. A real marksman aims with his eyes; for the best, bullets follow their gaze.
Charging up, they were greeted—as expected—by a hail of gunfire.
The layout worked to their advantage. Heavy concrete walls scattered the rounds harmlessly, while the cramped third-floor corridor bottled the Scavs up, even causing friendly fire.
"Damn it... sounds like someone's closing in behind us!"
Arthur's ears twitched. Even through the chaos of gunfire, he caught another sound and called back to V.
He was holding the front, the narrow corridor already choked with corpses. The Scavs had no regard for their own, tossing bodies forward as makeshift barricades. It slowed Arthur's pace of killing.
"Don't let them box us in—come on!"
Over the gunfire, V shouted, sprinting toward another staircase.
The pursuers pressed close. She yanked a handful of grenades from her gear, ripped the pins, and tossed them all beneath the stairwell.
High-explosive. If the blast destroyed the stairs, it'd buy them time.
The thunder of detonations echoed as their footsteps vanished upward.
The Scavs hadn't even bothered with the upper floors. This half-finished structure had only the first three in use. The fourth was abandoned, its stairwell door sealed with wooden boards.
"We drop down from the fourth floor."
V's explanation was short, but Arthur was already moving. He'd read her plan before she even voiced it. Without waiting, he lowered his shoulder and slammed into the barrier.
With all his weight behind him, Arthur's frame hit like a tank, shattering the flimsy planks.
They burst through into a drafty floor thrown together like a shanty, open to the air. From here, Dogtown's broken skyline flickered in the distance. Wind howled through, carrying dust.
They didn't stop. Sprinting hard, they raced toward the building's edge.
They'd need to drop from the fourth floor to the third before the Scavs regrouped—or risk being pinned at the windows.
"Here!"
Guided by hacked intel, V veered toward a specific gap. Even while running, her hand had already closed around a grenade.
She yanked the pin as they reached the jagged opening, then tossed it down.
Grabbing Arthur as he caught up, she dragged him back a few steps—just before the grenade went off in a violent blast.
The Scavs had sealed the third-floor edges tight. To punch through, V had gambled on perfect timing.
"Are you out of your damn mind?!"
Arthur roared, realizing what she'd just done.
V leaned forward, peering down. The grenade had worked—the floorboards below were ripped open, fragments still dangling, swaying in the wind.
"Relax... don't sweat the details."
Another grenade was already in her hand. She pulled the pin and lobbed it into the gaping hole. This time, timing didn't matter.
"See? Our path's right below us... infiltration complete."
...