The early hours were always the most dangerous.
Seo-jin adjusted the strap of his bag, checking his gear one last time. Beside him, Min-ji tightened her gloves with a practiced jerk, her expression calm but focused.
They were moving toward the old industrial sector — a forgotten part of the city where Crimson Shield had begun shifting their supplies. Small, hidden convoys, barely protected.
Perfect targets.
Lotus needed every advantage they could steal.
Ko's plan was simple: small teams, quick hits, minimal exposure.
Simple never meant easy.
"How are you feeling?" Min-ji asked, voice low.
Seo-jin smirked slightly. "Alive."
Min-ji nudged his shoulder with hers. "Try to keep it that way."
They fell into step together, weaving through broken alleys and collapsed storefronts. The morning fog clung to the ruins like a second skin, muffling their footsteps, distorting the already twisted shapes of the abandoned world.
**
The rendezvous point was an old train yard, rusted tracks stretching into the mist like veins.
Their backup team — two scouts and a support specialist — was already waiting.
Myung-soo, leading the small crew, greeted them with a nod.
"Convoy's about twenty minutes out," he said. "Single truck, two escort bikes. Should be light resistance."
Seo-jin scanned the yard carefully. Too many open spaces. Too little cover.
"We take them here?" he asked.
"No choice," Myung-soo replied. "Beyond this, it's Black Sun territory. We don't want to get squeezed."
Min-ji cracked her knuckles. "Then let's move."
They set up positions quickly.
Seo-jin crouched behind the rusted shell of a railcar, Min-ji tucked into a shattered loading bay opposite him.
Every breath steamed in the cold air.
The tension was a physical thing, pressing against his chest.
Minutes stretched painfully.
Then — the rumble of engines.
Lights cut through the fog, beams wavering as the convoy approached at cautious speed.
Seo-jin waited, heartbeat loud in his ears.
Closer.
Closer.
Now.
He fired a small fracture pulse directly at the front tire of the first bike. The vehicle jerked violently, skidding out of control and crashing into a crumbling wall.
Min-ji moved simultaneously, unleashing a burst of compressed wind that knocked the second biker clean off his ride.
The truck tried to swerve, but Seo-jin fractured the pavement under its wheels.
It lurched, tires screeching.
The fight that followed was short and brutal.
Their ambush was tight, their strikes clean.
Within minutes, the convoy was theirs.
**
As they secured the supplies, Seo-jin caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
A second wave — unexpected, heavier armed.
He cursed under his breath.
"Incoming!" he shouted.
Gunfire erupted almost instantly.
Myung-soo went down with a cry, a bullet grazing his side.
Seo-jin and Min-ji ducked behind the wrecked truck, exchanging quick glances.
"Split!" Min-ji barked. "Draw them off!"
Without waiting for agreement, she sprinted toward the east side of the yard, fragment energy swirling around her.
Seo-jin hesitated — a flash of panic knotting his gut.
Then instinct kicked in.
He moved west, drawing a handful of attackers toward him.
Bullets ripped through the fog.
Seo-jin fractured a chunk of concrete, sending debris flying into his pursuers. He ducked through broken scaffolding, vaulting fallen beams.
He didn't see Min-ji anymore.
He kept moving.
He had to trust her.
**
He lost them a few blocks later, ducking into a half-collapsed factory.
Breathless. Bleeding.
The silence that followed was deafening.
He pressed his back to a crumbling wall, forcing himself to stay still, to listen.
No footsteps. No engines. No shouts.
For now, he was alone.
He checked his injuries — shallow cuts, bruises, nothing serious.
But he had no idea where Min-ji was.
Seo-jin clenched his fists.
He couldn't go back to the yard — too exposed.
He couldn't reach Min-ji through the comms either — static filled the channel, fragments of broken messages.
They had been well and truly separated.
**
He moved carefully through the ruins, staying low.
Every shadow looked like an enemy.
Every gust of wind felt like a threat.
He found an abandoned storefront, the windows shattered, the interior stripped bare.
Inside, he found a battered map pinned to the wall.
Old city layouts, half-burned.
Useful.
He traced a route with his finger — alternate paths back toward Lotus, away from known patrol routes.
Slow. Dangerous. But possible.
Seo-jin pocketed the map and slipped back into the streets.
**
Hours passed in a haze of silent movement.
He scavenged supplies when he could — half-empty bottles of water, a cracked ration bar.
He fought once — an isolated Crimson Shield scout who spotted him near a collapsed bridge.
The fight was messy, brutal.
Seo-jin won.
But it left him more drained than before.
As evening fell, the fog thickened again, swallowing the broken skyline.
He found shelter in the shell of an overturned freight car, too exhausted to keep moving for the moment.
He sat with his back against the metal, knees pulled to his chest, head resting against the cold wall.
Alone.
Not broken.
Not yet.
**
The sound woke him.
Soft. Cautious.
Footsteps.
He tensed immediately, senses sharpening.
A shadow moved outside the freight car.
He held his breath.
The figure paused.
Then — a whisper.
"Seo-jin?"
His heart nearly stopped.
"Min-ji?" he rasped.
She slipped inside a moment later, her silhouette familiar even in the gloom.
Scraped. Bloody. Breathing hard.
Alive.
She collapsed next to him without ceremony, dropping her pack with a heavy thud.
"Thought I lost you," she muttered.
Seo-jin let out a shaky breath, tension he hadn't even realized he was holding draining away.
"You almost did," he said quietly.