Awnn!! Clark groaned again in pain; dark red blood escaped out of his mouth as he received another cut to his leg, making his already pitiful situation more desperate. He narrowly avoided losing his legs to his opponent’s fast cuts by jumping backward on time, but his situation was not looking good. He was already bloodied all over, as his battle with the commander continued raging on in a narrow alley. After a lot of analysis and physical effort, he succeeded in directing the fight here, after suffering enormously from the hidden shooter. Despite the deadly situation he was in, his brain was still functioning at maximum output. Leo and Benny tried helping him on various occasions but to no avail, as the 2 soldiers clung to them, fighting like their life depended on stalling the both of them. Their spirit was willing to help their friend, but the flesh was weak. The frustration and anger at seeing their friend get so battered and bloodied were palpable. Despite the advantage that the terrorists held, the fight already went for over 5 minutes which was out of the commander’s calculations. He never thought that Clark would hold up against him for so long, and it was an uneven battle. “This boy is really talented; he keeps shocking me. What a pity that he joined the wrong side,” he thought to himself, surprised at Clark’s tenacity. “But you are still going to die today”. He quickly cleared his thoughts of all distraction, as he muttered with rage on remembering the atrocities that this boy caused. Clark was already feeling mentally fatigued, only the will to live and the constant flow of adrenaline was keeping him standing at the moment. His skill as a soldier could not be underrated either. He suddenly jerked as he heard the sound of another gunshot directed at him. He tried dodging, but he was nowhere fast enough. The bullet hit him on his back, as the hidden sniper finally came down to the alley where he led the battle. The ranged soldier was frustrated, he never expected that this seemingly simple target would discover his blind spot so quickly. The commander did not waste this chance, he stabbed forward at his opponent without hesitation. Clark’s shield’s energy reserves were already sucked dry, and it played a vital role in keeping him alive for this long.Ahh!! He released a muffled scream from pain, his eyes dilated from the shock as he coughed out blood. He finally felt powerless from all the injuries, as he fell into the terrorist commander’s arms. The commander held him in place, while he twisted the sword in his abdomen, bringing him unimaginable pain. He felt too weak to scream at this moment, he could only silently open his mouth, gasping and begging for breath. Seeing his pitiful state, the commander finally spoke into his ear. “Clark, do you remember the day you sabotaged my camp? I promised you that I’ll kill you, and here I am to fulfill my promise”. “What goes around, comes around. In your next life, try to make better decisions. You would have made a good soldier, but you decided to mess with me”. He twisted the sword further on saying this, making Clark gasp again in pain. Clark suddenly mustered an effort to force a smile while staring at him, before he replied. “I don’t regret my choice, Commander. I’ll spare you by not pursuing you in the future, but don’t ever cross my path again”. The commander was a little confused on hearing this, before smiling also as he muttered sarcastically. “Where did this bloke get his confidence from? Is that the new trend of saying your last prayer now?” Clark only grinned on hearing this, as he quickly summoned all the remaining strength on his body to leap backward. BOOM!! The air suddenly shook fiercely, spreading raging ripples across the atmosphere as a bullet quickly came from nowhere to hit the commander on the back. The force of momentum from the bullet alone was mind-blowing, as he was thrown like a rag doll at the nearby wall from it. He hit the wall with madness-inducing force, breaking it as he fell to the other side of the wall. Boom!! Boom!! It was at this moment that the impact of the gunshot echoed, reverberating like a war song heralding death. The remaining terrorist high-grade soldiers froze in place, watching with complete horror painted on their faces as Clark’s car emerged from the other side of the street with astounding speed. Boom!! After emerging completely from the alley like a death envoy, it released another one of the monstrous bullets as the terrorist sniper’s head was immediately blown into a bloody mess. The lifeless, headless, and, horrific body stood in place like something from a horror movie, as the blood fell from it to the ground like a rain of bloody mist. The 2 remaining terrorist soldiers finally snapped out of their daze on seeing this. They acted extremely fast as they bolted into a corner like town rats, leaving Leo and Benny in under a second. Benny quickly recovered from the shock on his heart after seeing this, as he quickly ran to where Clark was. He helped him up despite the red blood flowing in waves, while Leo ran to check on the commander. Zoom!! The car finally arrived at their position, as it stopped in Clark’s front with an aggressive style. Well, Clark could not appreciate this style as his consciousness was already feeling muddled and hovering between the death boundary. Leo was astonished after reaching the location of the wall, as despite that terrifying blow, the terrorist commander was still able to pick himself up and escape. Clark expected the commander to escape, as he knew that the car’s regular sniper gun could not overcome the commander’s armor in one shot. Only the cannon could do that, but he did not want to level this street. Leo quickly ran back on seeing this, as he helped Benny to lift Clark’s bloody body into the car. “Take me to the nearest hospital,” Clark whispered weakly before he finally fainted from exhaustion. Leo panicked on seeing this, as he quickly checked his friend’s heartbeat. He placed his palm on his chest to calm his fiercely beating heart. He exhaled in relief, as he discovered that his friend was still breathing. Whoosh!! The car sped across the bumpy street, leaving a red trail behind as it modified its tires to adapt to the difficult terrain. It sped directly towards the nearest hospital and reached there in less than 2 minutes. The gates of the hospital opened immediately after being hacked, as Leo and Benny carried Clark hurriedly into the hospital. When the security came out to intercept them, they revealed their identities as high-grade soldiers, which immediately cleared every obstacle. After knowing this, the best doctor in the hospital came to attend to them immediately. Normal Spartan citizens didn’t have the guts to impersonate soldiers, talk less high-grade soldiers, so the hospital operatives didn’t even ask for their badges or identity cards as they admitted Clark directly. Leo and Benny were told to stay outside, as their friend received emergency treatment in the surgery room. The doctors worked non-stop for over 2 hours, before they came out, exhausted from the hasty surgery. “It would be many times faster in a military hospital,” Leo and Benny thought with slight dissatisfaction at the speed of the doctors. “What’s the current situation doctor?” Leo went forward and asked immediately, as soon as the head doctor came out. “Don’t worry, your friend is alright.” The doctor wiped his non-existent sweat, before replying with an exhausted smile. “You just have to allow him to rest; he is really exhausted. You can visit him tomorrow when he wakes up. If he responds well to our treatment, he can even be discharged in 2 days’ time”. “Ok doctor, thank you very much for your time, we really appreciate it. So how much is the total cost for the treatment?” Leo cautiously asked, after appreciating his effort first. “Oh, not that fast sirs. You’ll have to wait till when we discharge him before you’ll receive a bill list. Don’t worry, be patient”. “Ok, thank you very much doctor. We are very grateful”. The doctor left shortly after, as the 2 soldiers finally heaved a sigh of relief. They turned back to walk to the car, they intended to sleep on it. They were also a little exhausted from the intense battle against their equals. As they went back, Leo brought up a very sensitive topic which made them both shudder in fear. The capability displayed by the car still frightened the hell out of them. A single bullet shot, and it turned the expert sniper’s head, coated in armor into a puddle of blood. “That was too frightening”. They both thought in trepidation warily, as they started having second thoughts about sleeping on it when Clark was not there. “What if the A. I thought we killed Clark, on seeing us returning without him? What if the A. I suddenly malfunctioned?” The what-ifs became too numerous, as they both suddenly stopped on their tracks like they read each other’s mind. They turned back in tacit understanding, as they went to the room where Clark was admitted. In the end, sleeping on the floor is far better than being shot into a bloody mess.