The clock on the security terminal chimed exactly at midnight. Inside the sprawling Reed villa, an unnatural, heavy silence had settled over the corridors. Only an hour prior, the northern courtyard had been a chaotic symphony of heavy artillery and roaring gunfire, ending in the total liquidation of Gillian's eighty-man vanguard. Asher's forces had pulled off a flawless tactical victory without taking a single casualty, but the human cost of that victory was sheer, bone-deep exhaustion. Marcus's heavy artillery detail had finally lowered their weapons, their muscles aching and eyes bloodshot from adrenaline withdrawals. Believing the threat was neutralized for the night, the fortress had lowered its guard just enough for fatigue to take over.
They had no idea that the real nightmare was idling in the dark just outside their perimeter.
BOOM!
