We walked toward the command truck, my legs moving on autopilot while my mind waded through thick fog. The old world bullshit I'd hoped to leave behind stood waiting for me, arms crossed, wearing that smug expression I wanted to punch off its face.

  The world is ending and this asshole wants to engage in petty bullshit.

  Captain Howard turned to the portly man beside him. When he spoke, his voice scraped out high and eager, the sound of a man who lived to lick boots.

  "Mr. Mayor, these are the failures I was telling you about. Stormson and Ashwood." He swept his hand toward us like a prosecutor presenting murder weapons. "The ones who abandoned their posts, deluded a handful of good men, and led them to their deaths in another jurisdiction. All while our own city burned. I ask for your judgement in this matter" he practically bowed as he finished with “your excellency”

  A shudder ran up my spine at the next level cringe.

  The Mayor's face had already flushed red from the heat. Now it deepened to an ugly, blotchy purple. Howard's words seemed to inflate something inside him. His chest puffed out, a cornered bantam rooster trying to convince everyone he was a hawk.

  "You should be fired? Betted yet arrested! Strip them of their badge" Spittle flew from his lips as the words erupted. "While my home was being besieged by rioters, you were off playing soldier? Captain Howard understood the priority and came to my rescue. Do you have any idea how close I came to being killed because of your dereliction of duty? I should string you up in town hall as a message"

  Besieged. The word scraped through my thoughts like a rusty blade. Probably a couple of teenagers tried to steal his lawn gnome. This fat fuck dares to run his mouth. The urge to summon my Jian burned through my veins, sudden and intoxicating. I could feel the phantom weight of it in my hand, could picture the arc it would make as I separated this fat little man's head from his shoulders.

  I opened my mouth to say something I would most certainly regret. Actually I won’t regret it. I was about to give the mayor a piece of my weary mind, but the Chief's voice rolled out first, low and calm, cutting through the Mayor's tirade like a hot knife through butter.

  "Actually, Mr. Mayor." His tone stayed deceptively mild. "The city charter is quite clear on the matter. You control the budget, not the roster. Firing my officers is not within your authority." He took a half step forward, his massive frame eclipsing the sun, turning the Mayor into a shadow. "And I would choose your next words carefully. The only reason this city is not being overrun by monsters, and the only reason you are not a half-eaten corpse right now, is because of the actions of these two officers."

  The color drained from the man's face, his bluster collapsing like a punctured balloon before it reinflated with renewed, shrill fury.

  "Understand this, Marcus! As long as we are cut off from the rest of the world, I am the highest authority here! I am the law! You neglected your duty! You left your leadership unprotected! I will strip you of your command and have you arrested along side of them”

  And there it is. The thin veneer peels back, and every petty tyrant with a title crowns himself king.

  " With what officers? I'm not sure how safe you would feel if you decided to do something that stupid." I said, letting the words fall flat and cold into the space between us. “in fact, I would be even more worried if I pissed off all the officers and players in your city”

  I let the threat sit there as my words rattled around the fat man’s head. The mayor began to pale as he suddenly understood the threat and looked around for some form of safety.

  A low, dangerous murmur rippled through the parking lot. I hadn't realized it, but our little confrontation had drawn a crowd. Every cop not on active patrol watched with hard expressions and crossed arms. The sound rolled over us in waves: a hundred cops shifting their weight in unison, gear clinking, boots scraping on asphalt. The threat carried more weight than any words could.

  The Mayor's eyes darted around the parking lot, finally grasping the reality of his position. He was a king with no army. Nervous sweat broke out across his brow. "Of course." He forced a slick, political smile onto his face, the expression sliding into place like grease on water. "I would never dream of removing a man who has so valiantly served his city for so many years, Chief."

  His gaze landed on Captain Howard. A new, cunning light entered his eyes as he found a different angle to play. "But, the charter does allow me to appoint a Deputy Chief in a state of emergency. And I believe Captain Howard is the perfect man for the job. At least he knows where his priorities lie." He clapped a hand on Howard's shoulder. "Congratulations, Deputy Chief Howard. I hope you can assure me that no more officers will die fighting a meaningless battle in another city."

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Howard beamed, his chest expanding as he locked his greasy, triumphant eyes on me. "Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I will not let you down."

  For fuck's sake. Profound weariness washed over me in a wave. I'd rather be back in the gate.

  "I'm sure you won't," the Mayor chirped, his confidence restored and polished. "Ensure I have a twenty-four-hour security detail moving forward with some of these new players. I want to see how useful they really are. We never know when these... peasants... might revolt."

  He turned on his heel and tried to stride through the throng of officers. A mountain of muscle and righteous anger blocked his path immediately. Logan hadn't moved, hadn't said a word, but his sheer presence formed an unbreachable wall.

  "Move, you giant oaf." The Mayor's voice cracked as he stared up at Logan's thunderous expression. I watched Logan's hand clench into a fist the size of a cinder block.

  "Logan." I kept my voice quiet but firm. "Let him pass."

  Killing the mayor would be nice but it would not be worth the headache of a power vacuum right now.

  For a long moment, he didn't move. Then a low growl vibrated through the air before he took a half step aside. The other officers followed his lead, but only just. They created a narrow, claustrophobic path, forcing the Mayor to squeeze through. He got bumped and jostled the entire way, a series of small, anonymous insults from the men he'd just dismissed, until he finally scrambled out of the parking lot with his dignity left in tatters on the asphalt.

  The Mayor scurried away like a rat abandoning a ship he'd already tried to sink. The thick tension in the parking lot shattered, the crowd of officers dissolving back into their duties, united now by a shared contempt for the city's leadership. We stood in the eye of the storm: me, Kira, a still-simmering Logan, the Chief, and Howard, who lingered like a bad smell, his new title a fresh wound on the department.

  "Chief." I turned to face him. "There's something else. This is Logan. He was with Ryker's team at the gate, one of the first Players from North District. Or... he was."

  Dobson's sharp eyes appraised Logan, a flicker of respect crossing his features. "I remember you lad. Thank you for what you did at that gate. What happened at your detachment?"

  Logan spat on the asphalt. "The coward I called a chief raided the armory for his personal stash, then tucked tail and ran. When we got back, he was sitting there, expecting us to fall in line and protect him. Reminds me of your tool of a mayor" Logan's jaw clenched, the muscle jumping. "I told him what I thought of a commander who abandoned his people. Then I hit him."

  "Why did you hit him." Chief raised a brow and I could see what he was thinking.

  We can’t afford a loose cannon. Especially not now.

  “He was disrespecting the officers who stood up to protect their city. He called them cowards. Said those who died were wastes” Logan looked at me as the memory of Charlie’s death hit me like a sucker punch. For a moment I forgot to breath as the memory washed over me.

  Logan paused as if reluctant to tell the rest. “He… he said we should have left Charlie behind. We should have left all of the dead behind, instead of wasting resources on them.” Logan’s muscles tensed as recalled the conversation.

  I felt my own blood boil.

  How dare he.

  “So I hit him” Logan finished. “ And that’s how I got fired and ended up here. Captain Clarke told me to come here before the Chief woke up. She’s goes on and on about the kind of man you are.”

  The Chief stared at Logan for a long minute as Howard stared open mouthed at the mountain of a man.

  “Good” The word dropped like a gavel. The Chief extended his hand to the giant. "Any man who fought at that gate has a home with the Valen PD. As of now, you answer to me."

  Logan gripped his hand in a firm, respectful shake. A silent pact formed in that moment, a new allegiance forged in the ashes of the old.

  "Do you have a place to stay? You probably can’t return North right now" The Chief's tone shifted to practical logistics.

  "No, sir." Logan's thumb jerked toward me. "Elias here was good enough to offer me his apartment until I get my feet under me."

  The Chief glanced at me with a brief but profound look of approval. "Good. Glad to see our people are taking care of their own."

  Before anyone could respond, Howard stepped forward, wielding his new title like a weapon he was eager to test. "Not so fast, Dobson. As Deputy Chief, I'll need to review this transfer. We have procedures." He turned his smug gaze on me. "And speaking of procedure, Stormson, Ashwood. My office. Now. We need to debrief your little... excursion."

  The word landed like an insult, a deliberate jab meant to belittle everything we'd just survived. Heat rose in my chest, but the Chief stepped forward, forming a quiet, unmovable wall between us.

  "Deputy Chief Howard." His voice stayed calm, but an edge of ice ran through it that could have cut glass. "Those two are the tip of the spear for our response to this crisis. I'm not pulling my two most experienced Players off the line for a debrief you can get from my report later. They have standing orders from me. They're on active duty, and their current assignment is to prepare for the next engagement. Is that clear?"

  Howard's face shifted from smug to a blotchy, furious purple. He looked like a king who'd just been told his crown was made of paper.

  The Chief then pointedly turned his back, a final, brutal dismissal, and addressed the three of us. "I meant what I said. Go. Prep for the next op." He looked at Logan. "You, find Stormson's apartment and get settled. We'll get you a uniform tomorrow."

  Howard stared at the Chief's back, his mouth opening and closing silently. Finally, his gaze snapped to me, his eyes filled with venomous promise. "This is not over, Stormson. Mark my words." He turned on his heel and stalked into the detachment, a snake returning to his nest to plot.

  The Chief gave us a final, grim nod, then turned and strode toward the command truck, the weight of a broken city and a divided department resting squarely on his shoulders. I released a long breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

  I turned to Logan, clapping him on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's get you to the apartment, get you geared up."

  He nodded, his earlier anger replaced by grim readiness. I looked at Kira, then out at the barricades, at the smoke still staining the sky over our city. The Chief's orders rang clear in my head. Prep for the next op. The old world had bled out somewhere behind us, and the new one beat on, constant and unending.

  "Let's get to it," I said, and together, we walked back toward the fire.

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