Dan watched as Angie’s fully armored form hopped off the floating strider and land into the ground. He noticed the bulky grenade launcher in her hands.

  “Is that the deathdealer you won from the Combat Games?” he asked.

  “It sure is,” she said excitedly. “This thing is a fucking beast. I wanted to thank you for getting this for me but… well…”

  “Well what?”

  “Actually, enough about me. Did I just see you make out with that chick? And isn’t she supposed to be a Kodak agent?”

  He and Ada exchanged awkward glances with each other. Ada’s ghostly pale complexion suddenly took on a rosy shade of pink that was noticeable even with the blinding bright headlights from the tank.

  “There’s an explanation for that,” Dan said. “She’s a friend. Ada helped me survive against that ridiculous fight against Judith. Neither me or Li would be alive without her help.”

  “What the hell Dan?” Angie asked. She waved around her deathdealer so wildly that Dan was concerned she might accidentally fire off a grenade. “I’m your friend too aren’t I? You never had hot make out sessions with me before.”

  Dan had no clue how to respond. He privately wished Michael hadn’t healed him. At least he could have used his excessive injuries as an excuse to avoid this awkward conversation.

  “You know I’m just fucking with you right?” Angie said.

  “Uh, yeah, yeah of course,” Dan lied. “Listen, we need to get the hell out of here.”

  “Don’t worry. Get inside the tank. Allen is waiting for you there. He’ll be happy to see you.”

  Dan remembered the cramped interiors of the strider. If Allen was in the driver seat, that meant only one additional seat was free along with the cramped space beside the back door of the tank.

  “What about you?” Dan asked.

  “As long as I keep my helmet on, I have some protection against the incoming radiation,” she said.

  Dan grabbed and picked up Li’s body off the ground and carried him around to the rear of the strider. Ada wasn’t too far behind him and he overheard a brief exchange between the two female agents.

  “So you’re Ada?” Angie asked.

  “Yes.”

  Angie chuckled. “You lucky bitch.”

  “I-I don’t think I understand,” Ada replied.

  “I think you do.”

  The sealed door at the back of the strider popped open and slowly swung outward. He spotted Allen in the driver’s seat. He still had the tank’s headgear on his head when he turned around.

  “Welcome back Dan,” Allen said. “Li isn’t looking too good there.”

  “He took a hard hit from Judith. She’s a monster,” Dan said. He was relieved seeing the heavy weapons expert of the group.

  Allen took the helmet off and narrowed his eyes on him. “Ah, Judith Blight. The one who bombed the shit out of the Combat Games.”

  Dan set his unconscious friend on the floor behind Allen’s seat. He then climbed in and took a seat beside Allen. Then Ada was last on board and the door automatically shut behind her. She removed the sword from her hip and gently set it down in the narrow space between Li and the seats. She awkwardly sat down in a delta position behind Dan’s seat.

  “Seriously, it’s good to see you guys again,” Dan said. “Where’s Jane?”

  “She made her way back to the dropship. She’ll be waiting for us there,” Allen said. He pulled the helmet back onto his head and began driving the tank. The strider glided over the sandy terrain. Dan watched through the limited windshield at the increasingly violent winds blowing strands of sand around.

  Allen opened up a private channel with him. “So Dan, are you going to introduce me to our guest?”

  “Uh yeah that’s Ada. She stabbed Judith through the chest and gave me a window to strike back. I pushed her back and stopped her from killing Li. She’s… an unexpected ally.”

  “That’s underselling it. I just saw you two locking lips together in front of the wreckage. I almost feel bad for interrupting.”

  Dan awkwardly glanced around the interiors of the strider. “It’s a long story. But you can trust her. She’s not like most of the Kodak agents I’ve encountered. And she’s certainly not like Judith. She’s alright.”

  “Okay, let’s not bullshit here. Dan, you and I both have eyes. She’s quite the looker and she has that same goth thing going for her like most of the other Kodak agents. You don’t just tongue kiss a woman like that and just say she’s alright.”

  A third member decided to join the private call. An overly enthusiastic female voice filled his mind.

  “So has Dan mentioned his new girlfriend yet?” Angie said.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “He has,” Allen replied. “Though Dan isn’t really doing her justice.”

  Angie huffed over the channel. “Right? She’s fucking gorgeous. Somehow, she rocks the whole bloodshot eyes and pale skin look better than most of the Kodak bitches I’ve seen. I didn’t know you had that kind of game, Dan.”

  “I think it helps that she's quiet and isn’t bragging about ripping someone’s spine out their backs. Most of the female Kodak agents I’ve met are somehow even more psychotic and deranged than the guys,” Allen stated. “Actually, I think we should really feel bad for Li back there.”

  “He got hit pretty hard by Judith and was almost skewered by her if I didn’t step in and if Ada hadn’t saved my tired ass,” Dan added.

  Allen shook his head even with the helmet over him. “No not that. So you got yourself a girlfriend but didn’t bother hooking Li up? What gives Dan?”

  “Shit, now that you mentioned it, that’s true,” Angie weighed in. “Why didn’t you help your buddy get a hot goth chick?”

  “Jesus Christ, are we really having this discussion?”

  Both Allen and Angie snickered and snorted over the private channel. Dan glanced back behind his seat and saw Ada still sitting quietly behind him. She briefly looked up at thim and they both made eye contact. The ex-Bloodknight gave him a soft smile before she stared back down at her feet.

  “I’m starting to think that you didn’t get kidnapped,” Allen said. “You probably just took an extended vacation just to find a date.”

  Dan rubbed his hand over his forehead. “Oh my fucking lord.”

  The other two laughed even harder. Allen’s laughter spilled outside of the call and Dan’s ears heard him within the strider’s interior. Ada looked up at Dan with a confused expression but didn’t press it.

  “Looks like our ride is ahead,” Allen said. “Slowing down our tank. Say goodbye Angie.”

  “We seriously can’t take this thing with us?” Angie demanded.

  “Our dropship is rated for carrying infantry and not much beyond,” Allen said.

  The strider slowed down its smooth glide over the turbulent sand then came to a complete stop. Dan could see through the windshield that sand was being blasted in all directions by intense exhaust coming from above.

  Allen removed the view helmet and pressed a button on the dashboard. The back door unlocked and opened.

  “Let’s make this quick,” Allen said. “We might have to wait for Michael but we’re not staying any longer than we have to.”

  Ada was the first one to hop out. She turned around and grabbed Li’s unconscious body and carried him out. Dan and Allen were out next.

  Dan stared at the giant wall of sand approaching ever closer to their current position. The winds around him had sped up considerably, sending streams of sand through the air. He turned and reached for the Bloodluster sword. After grabbing the blade, he hopped back out of the strider and walked over to Ada. He was about to place the blade back on her hip.

  “Maybe you should keep it safe for me,” she said. “Your allies might still consider me an enemy and wouldn’t feel secure with me carrying that weapon around.

  “Huh, good point,” he said.

  The dropship descended onto the ground a few dozen meters away from the strider and all of them walked at a brisk pace over to their ride. The back door of the ship opened and lowered itself down to double as a ramp.

  Dan smiled as he saw Jane Sunheiser again. He squinted and saw Miles, James, Zara and the rest of his team inside the cabin.

  Angie was the first to walk up the rank. Next up was Allen, then Dan followed by Ada.

  Jane held up a hand and stopped him and Ada at the ramp. “Allen, grab Li first and bring him in.”

  Allen walked back out and Ada gently handed the stealth specialist over to him. He carried Li inside the dropship.

  Jane narrowed her gaze back at Ada.

  Dan took the initiative and said, “It’s a long story, but she’s a friend. She’s coming back with us.”

  Angie snickered behind Jane, but she shot a glare at Angie and she backed off.

  “She’s an ex-Kodak agent. She’ll be in for an intense and lengthy debriefing so that we can find out what she knows about our enemies. Agents defecting and joining a different shard isn’t unheard of, though they will have to jump through hoops before another shard can trust them.”

  Dan looked back and Ada and the ex-Bloodknight responded with a simple nod.

  “Fine then, but I want her to be treated fairly,” he said.

  Jane put her hand on his shoulder and then did something he didn’t expect. She embraced him and wrapped her arms around him.

  “You really are something else,” she said. “You and Li have no doubt witnessed and somehow survived unimaginable horrors deep within our enemy’s territory. I couldn’t ask for more out of you both.”

  Jane released him and all Dan could think to say was, “Thanks Jane. We both saw some crazy shit during our time as Kodak conscripts.”

  He turned back around and extended his hand out to Ada. “Well, you heard her. You okay with all of what she said?”

  Ada looked over her shoulder at the intense weather in the desert behind her. “It’s either I take that offer, or I turn around and either die of radiation sickness or Judith hunts me down for being a traitor.” She grabbed his hand. “I’ll stick with you.”

  Jane’s expression hardened from hearing Judith’s name. Both Dan and Ada entered the dropship holding hands. Dan glanced at the row of seats where Miles and his squad sat and waved at them.

  Miles was the first to pipe up. “Brah, how did you bag an Asian hottie like her?”

  Zara who sat in an adjacent seat smacked him in the head. “Not the time you jackass. But Dan can explain on our trip back.”

  His muscles burned everywhere and he could feel the stabbing pains in his chest. He clearly needed more medical attention beyond just healing stims.

  Dan’s ears picked up rapid stomps behind him and something blurred past his vision. Michael Cynosa had caught up with them.

  “Alright, looks like we have everyone,” Jane said. Dan noticed a brief scowl on her face before she reverted back to her normal steeled expression.

  Dan and Ada took their seats beside each other on the opposite row across from Miles and his squad.

  He looked at Michael and asked, “Hey, did you win against Judith?”

  Michael looked back at him. “She performed a tactical withdrawal by teleporting away.”

  Dan blinked at the senior agent. “So she ran away?”

  “You could say that.”

  Dan let out an exhausted sigh. Just knowing that Judith had somehow slipped away and was still alive gave him a headache. He also knew that Judith was too stubborn to let herself die in the sandstorm. One day, he would have to face her again. She would never let this go. He and Li were her prisoners and they successfully escaped. When that time came, Dan knew he had to be way stronger than he was currently to stand a chance against her head on.

  Angie, who was seated beside Dan, elbowed him in the arm. “So are you going to tell everyone about how you two were tongue kissing when we found you.”

  The helmeted heads of three of Miles’ team swung in Dan’s direction. Zara stared at him with wide eyes then gave him a coy smile.

  “Brah what?” Miles shouted.

  “This should be good,” Zara said.

  Dan sighed. “Oh geez. Well, you guys are going to need some background. So it started when I woke up in a cell…”

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