Law shifted first, cutting across the landing toward the nearest floor exit. He didn’t slow to check—his stride stayed even, trusting the others to stay with him.
They did.
Mac fell in on his flank, Noah tight behind, Sage already adjusting at his side before Law had fully taken a step.
The door gave under Law’s hand, and they moved through fast, spilling out into a dim hallway washed in red emergency light.
A man stepped out of a doorway halfway down the hall, weapon coming up.
He didn’t finish the motion.
Law’s shot took him center mass and dropped him back through the threshold, the door slamming off the frame as his body hit it.
The sound echoed once and died.
“I’m out,” Law said, tucking his gun away and sliding his blade from its sheath.
“I’ll take point,” Noah said, stepping up.
“Let’s move,” Law said with a nod, already advancing.
With Noah in the lead, they followed.
Doors along the corridor hung open, some rooms empty, others not. A woman stood frozen just inside one, eyes wide, hands clutched to her chest.
“Inside,” Sage said, not breaking stride, his voice low but sharp enough to cut through the noise.
She moved.
A second later, another figure bolted from a room farther down—the wrong direction, straight into the hall.
Noah caught him by the shirt and shoved him back through the doorway without stopping.
“Stay inside,” he muttered.
Gunfire echoed from somewhere deeper in the building, muffled through walls, carried through vents—different teams, different floors, all of it overlapping without ever breaking into chaos.
Another man came at them from the far end fast, weapon already up.
Mac stepped into it and ended it just as quickly, the body folding mid-stride.
The next stairwell came into view at the end of the corridor, door hanging open an inch too far.
A faint draft slipped through the gap.
Movement hit from the side just before they reached it.
Black.
Micah on him.
They came in hard, fast, already in motion—no surprise, no hesitation—as they folded into the line like they’d never been separate.
Micah’s eyes flicked once over the group—counting, checking.
“All clear this side,” Black said, already turning toward the stairs.
“Let’s head lower,” Law said.
