The Chase
I had never seen this coming.
Right in front of me, Sarah was wiping the blood from her dagger with practiced ease, eyes sweeping the surroundings.
"What about the other two?"
"Dad blew the armory, so he should be heading for the escape point about now. We need to link up with him fast."
Blew the armory?
Alright—set that aside for a second.
"Escape point?"
"There was a gap between the barricades. You can slip in and out that way."
Of course.
Call it game-logic, call it whatever you wanted—even the tightest fortress always had one or two of those. A loose ventilation shaft. A temporary wall thrown up to seal a passage. Something.
And yet I'd never once seen my companions use an infiltration route like that.
"What are you doing? Stop spacing out and move already!"
"...You said he blew the armory?"
The fact that the alarm was still blaring meant they still hadn't contained the explosion's aftermath.
In that case—
I shut the valve under the sign marked Zone 1 and shoved firewood into the roaring flames. I packed it in until nothing more would fit, and the fire swelled until it was spilling out of the grate.
"What are you—"
"Alright. Let's go."
The needle that had already been sitting in the red started thrashing like a thing possessed.
I hurried after Sarah out the door and down the stairs. Steam began jetting from valves all along the way. It wouldn't be long before the whole thing blew—and once it did, confirming our disappearance would get a lot harder—
"Shh!"
Sarah shoved me into the shadows and drew her dagger and pistol in the same motion, the long suppressor already trained down the corridor.
"Team One, move on the boiler room! Max, Howard—you two take the infirmary!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Once the target is secured, proceed to the rally point. Los, los, los!"
The boiler room was where I'd just been.
The infirmary was Dietrich...
Damn it, Hans. Even in a mess like this, he was still committing personnel?
Pressed tight into a recess in the wall, I watched the backs of SS troops pounding up the stairs. Even after the armory had gone up, every last one of them was still armed with a submachine gun.
"...They're gone. We should move too."
"Before that—there's someone I need to find."
"Someone you need to find?"
"There's a doctor in the infirmary those troops just headed for. Dietrich."
"You do realize we risked our lives coming here, right? One slip and we're all finished."
"I didn't sabotage the boiler because I didn't know that."
Even if we got caught, Dietrich held the spare key to my liver. In a situation this unstable—three men on me, two on her—could he really spare any more than that?
"When the boiler blows, a few of the troops guarding the doctor will peel off. We hit them then."
"...And how exactly do you know where they'll take her?"
"I know where the infirmary is. We track them from there."
"Is there a reason we absolutely have to pull her out?"
"She's a doctor. A doctor who can actually treat people properly. Isn't that reason enough on its own?"
Sarah hesitated, then nodded.
"...If it gets too dangerous, we drop it. No choice."
"Thank you."
"So let's say you owe me one more debt—on top of your life."
"Of course."
We took another flight down, pressed against the wall, and watched the corridor. SS troops were hammering on an iron door.
"Frau Dietrich, you need to evacuate immediately!"
"I-I know! I'll just grab the essential medicines and go."
"Leave that to us and at least get yourself out. We don't know when hostiles might—"
"There are medicines that can't be moved roughly! Just those—I'll grab just those and come out."
"...Damn it. Open it."
Was that professional dedication impressive even under fire—or had she trusted my word and was stalling for time?
In the end they hauled Dietrich out by force. In handcuffs, no less.
Why the handcuffs?
"Let go of me! I'll walk on my own two feet! And bring the medicines with you."
"Frau—"
"I don't want to see you blaming me for not having medicine when you get hurt. At least grab everything on the table. Now."
"...Howard, get the meds."
"Yes, sir."
"Handle them carefully! And why the hell did you put handcuffs on me!?"
"On the Sturmbannführer's orders."
Whether it was to secure her without a fight or some other scheme entirely—it didn't matter. What mattered was that right now there were only two guards in the corridor.
"Sarah."
"I know. You just watch from here."
She crawled into the shadows and melted into the dark until even focused eyes could barely find her. As expected—all three of the Omen family were combat-capable—
KUUUUNG.
An explosion bigger than I'd planned for. From far off came the crash of metal slamming into concrete. Then a scream I knew too well—the raw, animal sound of someone being burned alive.
The boiler had finally given up the ghost.
"W-what the hell? What's going on?"
"Howard—the medicines?"
"Not yet, sir. It's a mess in here..."
"Damn it. I'll go check the situation. You watch the doctor."
"Yes, sir."
Dietrich stood in the hallway looking around uneasily—then seemed to spot Sarah and froze solid. Sarah made some kind of hand signal. Dietrich nodded, glanced around once more—
"Howard... sir?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"I'm sorry, but would it be alright if you also grabbed the first-aid kit on the shelf? Not just the desk."
"...Haah. Which one are you talking about?"
The irritated stamp of combat boots, once, twice. As Dietrich stepped aside, Sarah—now in a green uniform—bolted into the room in a blur, and whatever she did in there left Dietrich's face white as chalk.
I rode the shadows straight to her.
"Shhh."
"...Hyunwoo?"
"I'll get those cuffs off. Just a second—"
"I-if you're talking about the spare key, here."
Her clenched hand opened. A key sat in her palm.
She'd trusted me.
"I pocketed it just before they came in. I knew it was you."
"Save your thanks for the Omen family. Honestly, I didn't expect things to move this fast either."
"You didn't?"
Click.
I unlocked the cuffs and shoved them into my pocket. Looking into the room, I saw Sarah roughly wiping a blood-soaked face with her forearm. Set against Dietrich's gentle, sheep-like impression, she looked like a savage wolf.
"...Th-thank you..."
"Save the introductions for later. We need to move. Now."
Their first meeting was not exactly warm.
"Scheiße... Boiler room, boiler room, respond. Boiler room?"
Static hissed over the radio.
"Has Unit 0032 been secured? Boiler room!"
In the corridor outside, a soldier was still working the radio—until a hand clamped over his mouth and his throat and chest were carved open.
...Was this really the same person who'd been at death's door after a spider attack just a few days ago?
"This way."
We kept low and kept moving. At one stretch of corridor, flames were boiling up through a rupture. Soldiers scrambled past with water buckets. Elsewhere, the pipes I'd repaired lay twisted and split across the floor. Badly wounded men had been dragged to one side, and over their backs Wehrmacht troops were arguing with SS soldiers—
Ratatatatat—
Bang. Bang. Bang.
"What? Weren't they on the same side?"
The Wehrmacht soldiers were being massacred. Looking closer, most of the armed personnel were SS. The Wehrmacht troops scrambled for cover and tried to return fire with their personal weapons, but their rounds flattened against thick body armor.
"...Oh my god. Don't tell me..."
Bang. Bang.
Gunfire from behind as well—from the SS sector itself.
"A coup."
In the middle of chaos so complete it defied understanding, the corridor below was being brought under control. Surrendered Wehrmacht soldiers with their hands up were herded to a single point. For some reason, officers and men moving with the SS were being issued arms and white armbands, then rapidly redeployed throughout the passages.
Hans's inscrutable plan was already in motion.
"Quickly. This way!"
We stayed low and moved for what felt like a long time. A crash to the right made me look over—bodies were being cleared from a watchtower. Corpses and blood everywhere.
"Here. Squeeze into this passage. Take off the gown."
"Is it not going to work with it on?"
"It's a little sharp inside. If it catches, it'll get in the way."
"Alright."
Dietrich began forcing herself into the narrow gap. Gunfire never stopped. No matter how much chaos we'd tried to create for the escape, I never expected it to get this chaotic—
"Atten—tion!"
A sudden, ringing command made Sarah flinch. The source of the noise: a mass of soldiers assembled below the watchtower.
"Report the situation."
And a very familiar, ice-cold voice.
Hans Schulz.
"We have eliminated the internal traitors who were causing a disturbance amid the chaos."
"The senior officers also met with unexpected accidents. A regrettable loss... Now then—what's the status on securing the technicians?"
"Reports have not yet come in, sir."
Should I have Sarah put a round through him?
Or just get out?
"Your turn, Hyunwoo. Hurry."
"..."
If I was going to kill him, this was the perfect chance. If not, I'd leave a loose end—but I'd be safe for now...
"Hey! Who's over th—"
The moment I whipped my head around, a pistol barked. A spotlight snapped onto us in an instant.
"Halt! Halt!"
And our eyes met.
Hans's blue, ice-cold eyes.
"Ah, Hyunwoo. Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
Goddamn it.
"Escapees! Seize them!"