x: Burn th

hbang detonate

light. Leo was already moving-silent, practiced, a phantom in the

eaching!" s

ice calm, deadly.

d. Two bodies dropped fast-blac

fired

t. He crumpled. Leo pivoted, shot the second c

ame th

knock them out-just to make t

they did

h, clearing the haze, and ya

yet," he muttered. "They want

ff her cheek. "We'

inst the walls. Leo laid down cover fire. Zara flanked left, sliding behind a

ng with gunfi

ze, but she didn't stop moving. This was musc

ast men trie

m with a shot

n coll

flipped the atta

n f

joine

e, maybe twenty-had a SIRS insig

her. "They s

felt

she whispered. "It's a training o

tood

ch them what wa

ed like gunmetal

his throat. Still breathing-barely. Blood pooled from a should

agents," she muttered.

ne. His face was unreadable, but his hands shook

meant to fa

distraction. O

ked up

r does

that they'd rather bury us q

rom his sleeves like dust.

ext hour wiping

bleach. The young attacker still breathing was sedated and locked in t

ise. The city buzzed in the distance, unawa

icle twice before settling into a stole

ipped the steer

. "You're think

king of s

thing,

dn't r

toward the broken skyline. "They'll come

ch means we have

smile. "And burn

ches, long abandoned and off-grid. Rats scurried in the co

elt

r

ns within reach. Zara patched the burn on her side w

g to end clean,"

he a

im. "Do you sti

I want clarity. Tha

laugh. "Clarity ge

ce quiet. "So does lov

dn't f

n't ba

oment, they

e, barely abo

come for

kno

ll lose

ready

r his hand. He

it's over?

jaw ti

breathing... w

rest of the mor

old coffee and newer blood. On it: a network of storage units, safe hou

para

to a facility near Abuja. "It

til I turned it

's in

o recordings. All the leverage I've ever collected.

u've been preparing for t

was preparing for

. No apology. No

at the map agai

a brow. "

uilt on silence and shadows. You

ou're suggesting we

ggesting we

, the plan w

l contact inside SIRS. A message, coded an

dy. Standby f

ed only on

eiv

o and Zara arriv

rded only by dust and time. Leo unlocked it manually, disabling booby traps and old surveilla

it was a termina

d the encry

e to back o

him. "Last chance to

tly. "We passe

t the fi

fer e

t Operations Command, and allied privat

d. "Three.

hit

en flick

h

UTION C

ODES. NON-

ANNOT B

afterward wa

sn't

s fal

a hand through his hair. Zara sat across

e," she w

id. "It's o

lert came a

ng of red-flag names

reign defense liaisons. A w

miss

n hi

d

a as the messages

have w

red at t

hanged t

nod

ves will com

d for his

e stay

d cracked glass and new ruins, the first

Black Ops Across Africa – W

h it, the

cent when secre