* * *

  Sarah ran straight through the open door, knife in hand. Left or right?

  In the dream, Pegasus had been to the right, but the person firing on them came from the left. Hugging the far wall, she ventured further down the hallway to the left. Her heart urged her to go faster with quickening beats.

  Approaching footsteps brought her to a halt. Sarah edged into the recess of a doorway, holding her breath.

  “I’m meet you out front,” an unfamiliar voice said.

  The steps came closer with agonizing slowness, prolonging the fear of discovery. As soon as the shadow passed her, she pounced. The man started turning a second before she reached him, her intended slash to his right arm grazing his back instead.

  He grunted, striking out with his left arm as he finished turning.

  Sarah dodged the blow, using his own momentum to destabilize him as she yanked his radio from his jacket and tossed it aside.

  He stumbled forward away from her, another strike of her knife slashing at his lower back. Sarah charged him again before he could face her, kicking the back of his knees.

  The man dropped to the ground, rolling out of the way as her knife came down again. She closed the distance between them, slashing at his right arm. He choked out a sound, the gun dangling from his hand as it lost strength. Sarah kicked it out of his hand, moving to position herself between him and the gun.

  He held his injured arm gingerly, enraged gaze moving from her to where the gun lay.

  Sarah tensed, readjusting her grip on the knife. She took a step back, another. The gun wasn’t too far. She could probably reach it before he got to her.

  The real problem was his gun had no silencer. His friends would know at once if she fired. Still, she couldn’t be delayed here any longer.

  When she shifted her foot to take another step backwards, the man charged her like a bull. Unwilling to let him get past her to the gun, Sarah dodged the arms that meant to contain her, stabbing the knife into his upper abdomen.

  The man went down, clutching the wound. Blood was seeping into his shirt.

  “Where are your friends?” Sarah asked.

  Unsteady breathing and groans turned to a string of unintelligible words, soft and under his breath at first, but louder towards the end. “Our nation is dying. It won’t be reborn until we have obtained your sacrifice.”

  The words reminded her of her parents, the sacrifices claimed by these puppets, fighting for a cause they didn’t even understand. Anger came to a boil in her frozen veins.

  She pressed the edge of her blade to his neck.

  The man froze, fear visible in the shift of his eyes.

  Pressing the tip of the knife into his flesh, she watched it pierce the skin above his Adam’s apple when he swallowed. “You should sacrifice yourself.”

  He glared at her as a response.

  “We know you have explosives here. Where are they?”

  He coughed out a laugh, and Sarah stood back up, pulling away her knife so she wouldn’t cut him more—not that she didn’t want to.

  He curled further into a ball, holding his stomach.

  She put away the knife and grabbed the gun. “If we don’t all blow up, I’ll get you an ambulance.”

  The man didn’t look like he would be going anywhere, but she’d have to risk him crawling for help. She tossed his radio out a broken window as far as she could before running towards where she’d met Pegasus in the dream. There were no sounds coming from the other side of the hall. She rounded the first corner and ran straight into a dark figure. She immediately recognized Pegasus as the person pointing a gun at her. Had he heard the commotion and come to investigate?

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, his words an echo of the dream as well. His gaze focused on the gun, which she’d quickly lowered. His own weapon remained as it was.

  “I thought if I came in, I might be able to help.” She showed him the gun, pointing behind her with her free hand. “I got this off a guy back there. He’s still alive.”

  Pegasus gestured she lead the way. Still suspicious, was he?

  The wounded man had moved barely a meter since she left him. Pegasus tossed her some ties. Sarah tied the prisoner’s feet and hands in front so he could continue to apply pressure to his stomach.

  Pegasus said nothing until she was done, signaling they move out of sight.

  Sarah could still see the uncertainty in his eyes. “Do you need me to prove to you who I am?”

  “What did you spell for me in the van?”

  “Bomb.”

  Pegasus turned on his flashlight, momentarily blinding her. “Show me your wrist.”

  Sarah lifted her gun hand, pulling her sleeve back with her left hand. Under the beam of light, fading scribbles in Pegasus’ handwriting promised her she was not dreaming.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  He came closer, lowering his gun as he approached her. The light was gone as suddenly as it had appeared, and Sarah waited for her eyes to adjust.

  Pegasus took the gun from her hand, handing her his backup instead. “What now? Do you have any more clues?”

  “Have they found anything yet?”

  Pegasus shook his head. They moved further down the hall, returning to Pegasus’ original area. This time, Pegasus took the lead. A large person-sized lump near the wall was likely the other terrorist that Pegasus had taken care of.

  Her eyes darted from one side of the hallway to the other. It was as if someone had brought her nightmare to life. It didn’t feel real. “Not a dream, right?”

  “You’re not dreaming,” Pegasus whispered.

  He paused, turning to look at her. “Cypher is saying you and Foxtrot went out to investigate movement outside the van. Foxtrot is back, but you’re nowhere to be seen. He’s asking Griffon what they’re supposed to do.”

  Sarah cursed under a breath. She didn’t want to cause any major disruptions to the mission.

  Pegasus smiled, still following the conversation only he could hear. “Yes, what the hell is she thinking?”

  Sarah watched him in silence, waiting for him to inform them that she was already in the building.

  “Where’s your com?” he asked instead.

  She hadn’t grabbed one when she ran out of the van. But she had one in the dream, because she’d heard the team speaking.

  “I see you haven’t checked your pockets.”

  Sarah felt around her front pockets and found it in her left pocket. Had she put it there? Or had Pegasus?

  Sarah turned the com in her hand. Pegasus had always said that he would risk his life by trusting her, but wasn’t this going a bit far? Wasn’t he risking other lives now?

  “Do you trust me?” The words escaped her lips before she could stop them.

  Like a dream that took form only when she thought of it, his answer followed. “Always.”

  Sarah was at a loss for words.

  “Is it really that surprising?” He took the com and placed it into her ear.

  He warned her that he was unmuting himself. “I have Phoenix with me. She pursued a suspect into the building. We have two bodies near the entrance. Left one is alive, right is dead. Neither are priority.”

  “We’ll deal with them later,” Griffon said. “What’s Phoenix’s status?”

  “Cypher,” Pegasus called instead of answering. “Can you confirm that Phoenix is on com?”

  “She wasn— Oh, yes, her com is active. Sorry, I missed it.”

  “I’m here,” Sarah said.

  “What the—” Scorpion’s outburst was cut short.

  “That’s enough.” Griffon’s tone was sharp. “Any other activity from the outside?” Griffon asked.

  A round of negatives came from Eagle, Hawk, and Foxtrot.

  Unease morphed to anxiety in Sarah’s chest. She muted her com to avoid anyone hearing her ramble about her dreams. Pegasus had already turned his back off as well.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked. “What do you want to do?”

  In the dreams, she was always following along, dragged by a powerful current. When Pegasus was in danger, she had followed the dream as well, to where she knew he would be. But here, in all the dreams, she was always outside of the action, always listening in.

  So where was the source of the danger?

  She grabbed a hold of Pegasus’ sleeve when the thought hit her. “Where’s Wolf?”

  On cue, Wolf’s voice came through the com. “There’s activity in the basement.”

  Pegasus and her locked gazes.

  Sarah had barely been able to examine the building plan on the way over. “Which way?”

  Pegasus signaled they should proceed down the corridor. “There’s a staircase on each side.”

  Sarah followed his lead.

  “There’s noise coming from a room in the basement,” Mermaid whispered. “Number 014.”

  “Check it out. Be careful,” Griffon ordered. “Everyone else, go to plan C.”

  “Is that the one where we use Phoenix as bait by dangling her from the ceiling dressed as a turkey?” Scorpion asked.

  “No, that’s plan Q,” Pegasus joked with surprising ease. Sarah was startled to have him shift back to his usual gears so quickly

  “Phoenix, stay near the entrance with the prisoner until we’re clear.”

  Her steps slowed naturally at Griffon’s order, but she was unwilling to stop. She’d already disobeyed orders and lied to them when she left the van. Pegasus had also been dragged into it when he lied for her. But that wasn’t the issue, her mind screamed. The problem was that they were all going to die. She pressed a hand to the sudden ache in her temple.

  “There’s at least five hostiles in a room at the north side of the basement,” Wolf whispered. “I can’t get a clear view through the scope. Part of the view is blocked. There’s several boxes being moved. There’s—” His voice faltered. “It looks like a way out. There’s a tunnel on the north wall.”

  “Any movement outside?” Griffon asked.

  Eagle and Hawk replied with negatives.

  “We don’t have a clear view of the northeast side. Should I move?” Eagle asked.

  “Yes,” Griffon said.

  “Cypher, any idea where that thing ends up?” Scorpion asked. “Or how long a tunnel would be?”

  “No, it’s not on any plans we have on hand,” Cypher replied. “I told you the plans for this entire area were messed up. Most of these illegal tunnels come out one or two streets over.”

  “There’s no way it’s headed south,” Pegasus said. “The next building over has three underground levels.”

  “North is our best bet.”

  “Alright, let’s focus on that,” Griffon decided. “Can you get through the door without alarming them?”

  The words reverberated through Sarah’s mind, almost causing her to miss a step as they reached the stairs. Pegasus muted his com again. “What’s wrong?”

  “I heard something like that in my dream.” She’d forgotten all about it.

  So they were still following the general script, regardless of her participation. Sarah jumped down the last few steps, landing with a louder thump than she’d expected.

  “Check for explosives,” Pegasus said into his com.

  “I’m looking for any surprises,” Wolf said.

  Cold seeped into her veins, replacing any blood. Words formed in the back of her mind, but the more she tried to pull them to the surface, the harder it became.

  “In what hell would ten minutes ever be enough?” she muttered without reason, waiting for Pegasus to lead them towards room 014.

  Pegasus turned to her, surprised by her words.

  She opened her mouth, but Wolf spoke before she had figured out what to say.

  “The door’s wired,” Wolf said. “I’ve lost sight of them. They’re in the tunnel.”

  “What’s Falcon’s ETA?” Griffon asked.

  “Still ten minutes out,” Cypher informed.

  “They’ll be long gone by then,” Pegasus whispered.

  “Scorpion?” Griffon prompted.

  “I’m still checking the third floor. Nothing so far. Should I head down?” She sounded like she was hurrying.

  “Wolf, can you handle it?” Griffon asked.

  If they couldn’t get past that door, their best bet would be to find the exit to that tunnel, which could very well be inside another building.

  “Yeah,” Wolf said.

  Sarah sped up. Was this why Wolf had been on her wall?

  Pegasus sped up alongside her. “Wolf, hold your position.”

  “It’s fine, I can see it,” Wolf assured.

  “No.” Desperation added speed to her legs. There was no longer any doubt in her mind. “This is how we die.”

  “Wolf, hold! Now!” Pegasus said, a rare force of command in his voice.

  “Pegasus, what’s wrong?” Griffon asked.

  “I want to check something.”

  They rounded a corner and Mermaid and Wolf came into view outside the door marked 014. Sarah forced herself to stop at a distance when Pegasus slowed and gestured Wolf approach.

  Mermaid continued to watch the inside of the room as Wolf moved towards them.

  Sarah fidgeted, wondering if there was a way she could look less suspicious. Probably not.

  “What is it?” Wolf asked, his attention concentrated on Sarah, the odd piece in this situation. “We don’t have much time. We’re gonna lose them if we don’t get into that tunnel.”

  “I heard them say something about a trap,” Sarah tried. She wished she had specifics other than the certainty that this would not end well.

  “Yes, I saw it.” Wolf stepped back. “It’s a simple tripwire.”

  The events were still very much abstract in her mind, but the fear had consolidated to certainty. “Maybe you should have Scorpion take a look.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

  The familiar words sent a jolt through her. It had always been Wolf’s voice.

  “No.” Sarah drew her gun on him. “You’re gonna get us killed.”