After the audio message had finished, I tucked the datashard in my back pocket before asking one last question to Jade.

  “By any chance, you wouldn’t happen to know where I could find a box of medical supplies? It's just that a friend of mine is in dire need of some.” explained.

  “There was a group of people who found some in the maintenance corridor of the GIM...”

  Jade reached into her pocket and pulled out a key with the nametag maintenance. “You'll need this.”

  Not wanting to leave her on her own, I told her about the homeless shelter not too far from here. She claimed that it wasn't safe and that it would be putting innocent people at risk of being killed.

  “Surely it must be safer being there than being on your own, pancaking whenever you hear footsteps of someone you don’t know, constantly checking your back—that’s not a life you should be living. It's surely something that you shouldn't be putting your daughter through. Look, this Wolfheart guy isn’t going to try anything in public. You'd have to be messed up to put innocent civilians at risk.”

  Leaving her to contemplate my offer, she suddenly began speaking in the guttural dialect of the thugs who had jumped us earlier. Though I couldn’t decipher the words, a sinking feeling knotted in my stomach—something terrible was on the horizon.

  Henry and I exchanged furtive glances, our faces reflecting the same grim realization: we were about to face serious trouble.

  Determined not to linger in this unstable situation any longer, Henry and I dashed toward the narrow maintenance corridor. As I slipped the old, rusty key into the lock, the metal scraped against the mechanism, producing a low, eerily quiet click that seemed to amplify the silence surrounding us. The door squeaked open, and the loudness of the squeak masked the abandoned corridor.

  The corridor was quiet and dark, and some of the lights flickered to life for a brief second before switching off. Switching on the flashlight on my phone, we started walking down the corridor. I noticed bloodstains on the walls and the floor. Slowly following the bloodstains, we discovered the massacre that transpired.

  Four bodies lay on the walls, each one decorated with bullet holes. On the floor next to them was a box that had been redecorated with blood. Wiping the blood off the box, it was more medical supplies.

  Inside were painkillers, their white and orange packaging promising relief; neatly folded bandages, ready to wrap around injuries; bottles of disinfecting alcohol, their sharp scent lingering in the air; and a multitude of other essential items. All of which would be useful for Michelle.

  As for the four people who had been massacred, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were the people that Michelle sent out to find medical supplies.

  “Poor bastards,” Henry said.

  With the box safe and secure, I got on the holo and called Michelle.

  “Max?! Please tell me you have some good news.”

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  “We found some medical supplies that I think would be useful for you. We'll finish up here and head back to you.”

  Relief could be heard in Michelle’s voice: “Oh, thank God. What about the people that I sent out? Have you found them?”

  I decided to leave out the gory details of what happened to the people she sent out: “I’m sorry... they’re dead.”

  Our conversation was abruptly interrupted as the door was flung open with a forceful crash, sending a reverberating thud echoing off the walls.

  “We’ve got company,” Henry warned, his expression tense.

  I quickly bid farewell to Michelle, a mixture of concern and urgency flooding my thoughts. Turning to Henry, I urged him, “We need to run.”

  We took off down the corridor, our footsteps pounding against the floor as we sprinted at full speed. The adrenaline coursed through my veins, propelling us forward until we reached a door marked 'Roof.'

  Without hesitation, I yanked it open, and we darted up the stairs, two heartbeats racing in sync, our breath hitching in the stagnant air.

  As we burst through the heavy metal door onto the slick, rain-soaked rooftop, the storm had intensified once more, with sheets of rain crashing down around us, drenching everything in an instant and amplifying the chaos of the moment. Jagged flashes of lightning illuminated the darkening sky, briefly revealing the chaotic dance of the wind-swept debris swirling in the air.

  Behind us, the frantic shouts of our pursuers grew louder, their voices filled with urgency and anger, while the unmistakable sound of heavy boots pounded.

  “There! The mercs are on the roof!” Someone yelled from the depths of the chaos.

  My heart sank; the only individuals reckless enough to pursue mercs like us were the Voodoo Boys. Panic quickened our pace as we navigated the gravelly surface of the rooftop, the harsh wind whipping against our faces.

  “Fuck!” I yelled out,,

  Soon, we arrived at the edge of a gaping chasm that split the building. My pulse raced as I peered into the void beneath us, contemplating the leap we needed to make to escape the Voodoo Boys. Failing the jump, the fall was enough to kill us, further adding more pressure on making it across.

  Henry readied himself and ran forward, managing to make the jump. Once across, Henry pulled out his gun and watched my back, providing covering fire while I readied myself. I adjusted my position and ran forward, leaping in the air.

  I knew right away that I had fucked up.

  I had jumped too early.

  I reached out my arms and was lucky enough to grab a metal bar. I fought the urge to look down.

  “Fuck! Henry! Pull me up!” I yelled.

  The Voodoo Boys arrived on the roof; “That’s them! Kill the merc bastards!” They started taking potshots at Henry.

  Henry could see me losing my grip on the metal bar. He ran forward, grabbed my hand, and started pulling me up, disregarding the VB’s taking shots at him.

  Henry’s grip was fading fast as he tried to pull me up. He tilted his head back and tried to get all the strength he could when all of a sudden everything came crashing down.

  A bullet from one of the Voodoo Boys cleanly went through Henry’s left eye, leaving nothing more than a giant hole.

  His body went limp, and the warmth of his grip slipped away like sand through my fingers as he collapsed forward, pulling me down with him.

  At that moment, everything seemed to blur—sounds muffled, colors faded—leaving only the shock of his sudden loss and the eerie stillness that surrounded us.

  Falling to my death, time slowed down; as if my life was being played in slow motion, I didn’t know how to feel. Anger? Sadness? Shock? All I could process was that Henry was as good as dead and that I'd be joining him once we hit the floor.

  Our bodies crashed into the water, yet I was still alive; as for how long, I couldn't tell. Looking up at the night sky, I started looking back on my life choices and began to wonder where it was that I made the wrong choice in life as my eyes slowly closed and as the last breath exited my mouth.