No Quiet Way Out

The building was a war zone.

Jessica’s breath came fast and sharp as she sprinted down the dimly lit corridors, the echoes of gunfire rattling through the walls. The stolen security keycard in her pocket was useless now, the facility was in full lockdown.

She had planned to slip in and out quietly, but Leanna and the others had ruined that plan.

"Jess, go left!" Leanna’s voice crackled in her ear. "Emergency exit at the end of the hall. We’re cutting power to the south wing to buy you time."

Jessica vaulted over an overturned chair, sliding into cover as another set of guards stormed through a side entrance. She pressed her back against the cold metal wall and inhaled deeply. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, but when had anything ever gone according to plan?

******************************

Meanwhile, Outside…

Leanna and Olivia sat in a van parked half a block away, fingers flying over their keyboards.

"Security response time is faster than expected," Olivia muttered, sweat beading at her temple. "They’ve locked down external communications and activated counter-surveillance measures. Someone high up must be pulling the strings."

Kevin was in the driver’s seat, gripping the wheel tightly. "I don’t care what it takes. We’re getting her out." Inside the building, every light flickered and died.

Leanna’s fingers hovered over her keyboard, hesitating for only a second before she activated a forced blackout.

"Initiating overload," Olivia muttered. "Let’s cook their ghosts while we're at it."

******************************

Back Inside…

Darkness swallowed the corridor, but Jessica didn’t stop moving. She knew this facility better than she should. The layout was eerily similar to the ones in her buried memories. The archive was a dead end. The files she'd come for were already burned into her memory or gone. The only way out now was down.

And Vanguard was closing in. She sprinted down the hallway, making for the emergency exit, when she skidded to a stop. Ahead, a figure stood in the shadows. Jessica’s heart pounded as she recognized the silver-haired scientist from Patagonia, the man who had called her Subject Zero. She should've known he'd be here. Vanguard didn’t let its ghosts stay buried.

"Going somewhere?" he said, his voice maddeningly calm. "You don’t really think you can run from what you are, do you?"

Jessica’s jaw clenched. She wasn’t running. Not anymore. "Out of my way."

The scientist tilted his head. "You already know it’s futile. Destroy this place, and Vanguard will rise somewhere else. You can’t erase the future, Jessica."

Jessica took a slow step forward. She didn’t need to erase the future. She just needed to make sure Vanguard didn’t have one. "Maybe not," she admitted. "But I can damn well try."

Then she moved as fast as she could. She didn’t look back, but she could feel him watching. Calm. Patient. Like this was exactly how it was supposed to go.

She burst through the emergency exit, sprinting down the fire escape and into the back alley. Behind her, the sound of explosions rocked the lower floors. Leanna’s blackout had triggered an automatic fail-safe, overloading circuits and setting half the facility on fire.

The van screeched around the corner. "Move! Move! Move!" Kevin shouted, throwing the passenger door open.

Jessica didn’t hesitate. She leapt inside just as a bullet shattered the side mirror. They had seconds before security swarmed the streets. Kevin slammed on the gas, and the van lurched forward. Olivia tossed her laptop aside and pulled the sliding door shut just as another bullet sparked against the metal frame.

Inside, everyone was breathless, adrenaline surging. But no one spoke.

Leanna finally turned in her seat. "You okay?"

Jessica exhaled slowly, her hands still shaking. She didn’t have files. She didn’t need them. What she had now was worse, their attention.

"Yeah," she said. "Let’s go."

But as she glanced back at the burning building. Shame that it was not enough. She knew the fight wasn’t over. Not yet.