Mari lay in a firing position with her light machine gun, watching Meenda on the rooftop, waiting to see if her beautiful actress-turned-sister could pull the shot off.
Thup!The silenced rifle round cracked from the barrel. A split second later, it tore through the black man's chest and exploded out his back. His massive body slammed into the truck's rear windshield, shattering it with a loud crash.
"What the hell?" someone shouted from inside the house.
Pop pop pop!Three rounds from Gunsuke's Kugi hit Red—the red-haired psycho—the moment he stepped into the threshold between the living room and the front yard. The first bullet hit his gut, the second pierced his chest, and the third drilled clean through his forehead. Red never even got to see what had happened to his partner.
Izzy, following closely behind Gunsuke, was stunned. The moment even a sliver of Red's head appeared in the doorway, Gunsuke had already raised his rifle and fired—lightning-fast, three perfect kill shots. It was as if he were a special forces operative from an action film.
"Perimeter's clear," Molly's voice came through the comms.
Gunsuke glanced back at Izzy briefly, then led her through the front garden, stepping over Red's corpse and into the house. He moved like a soldier trained for urban warfare—rifle up, shoulder-braced, eyes scanning every angle.
He swept left toward the bathroom, then crept down the hallway connecting the living room to the kitchen. He passed the corpse of a thin man in black near the stairs, and another dead body halfway up the staircase leading to the second floor.
He exhaled slightly when he spotted Dr. Sofia, bound to a kitchen chair, still breathing. Her upper body was bare, bruised and stained with blood and the filth of her attacker—enough to sicken Gunsuke rather than arouse him.
He pressed his finger to his lips, making eye contact with her.
Anyone else here? he mouthed silently, as Sofia struggled to lift her swollen, battered face toward him.
Her vision was blurry—blurred by the filth the psychopath had left on her. She blinked furiously and squinted at the figure with the gun before her, then let out a broken sob as she recognized Gunsuke.
"Help me... please…" she wept hoarsely, the tears long since dried up.
Gunsuke didn't respond. Rifle still up, he continued into the kitchen.
Izzy followed quietly behind, watching as Gunsuke moved his weapon left and right in crisp, mechanical motions, like an assembly-line robot.
"Clear," he whispered into the radio. "We've found her."
He gestured at Izzy—pointed at her, then at Sofia, then at himself and up the stairs.
Izzy nodded in understanding. She removed her jacket and gently draped it over the doctor's shoulders.
Gunsuke glanced down at Jonathan's corpse, his face mangled beyond recognition.
You did well—taking out two of them, Gunsuke thought grimly, a swirl of vengeance and justice churning in his chest.
"Bad news, Tiger. Two vehicles just pulled into the village," Lemo's voice crackled over the comms. He'd spotted the headlights through the drone feed.
"Looks like they're heading right toward your location."
"How many?" Gunsuke asked calmly.
"Eight in the back of each truck, plus eight more inside. Fully armed."
"Understood."
"Can you handle this, Izzy?" Gunsuke turned to her. Sweat beaded on her face.
She swallowed hard and nodded.
"Get the doctor over the wall. Now."
"What about you?" Her eyes widened in alarm as she saw him checking his magazine and turning away.
"They all die," Gunsuke said, his eyes cold and murderous. His voice sent a chill down Izzy's spine.
"You're insane," she muttered under her breath, then gritted her teeth and helped the battered, disheveled Sofia toward the rear wall.
Gunsuke swapped in a full mag into his Kugi rifle.
Eighteen, he mouthed silently. One mag should be enough.
"Watch out, Tiger—they're at the front of the house now," Lemo warned. His heart was pounding as he watched the feed.
The new arrivals had spotted the black man's corpse behind the truck. They fanned out like agitated ants.
Oh no… Lemo's eyes widened. One of them was signaling commands to the rest—clean, military-style hand signs.
These weren't Amun's thugs…They were soldiers—or had been.
He wanted to explain this over the radio. He wanted to scream for Gunsuke to retreat.
Run. Get out now.
But four had already entered the house.
And four more were flanking around back.