Chapter 4

“Emergency deployment! Dual-bomb crisis at the downtown Meridian Center! Assemble immediately!”

Without giving Robert another glance, I turned on my heel and charged into the gear room.

As I pulled on my blast suit, I caught Vivian out of the corner of my eye stepping into the newly issued top-grade gear.

That suit was not only lightweight, but also lined with premium shock-absorption materials.

My old suit, however, was heavy, stifling, and the comms inside the helmet hummed with frequent, ear-splitting static.

I pulled my gaze away, silently grabbed my equipment kit, and was the first to sprint onto the truck.

The floor plans sent from command center revealed two active bombs.

One was structurally complex, strapped to the main pillar in the first-floor atrium.

The other was simple, placed in the wide-open underground parking garage.

Robert stared at the schematics, issuing orders without a second of hesitation:

“Vivian, I’m heading to the garage with you. Handle this well, and I’ll petition for your fast-track promotion.

“Emily, you take the atrium. The crowd has already been evacuated.”

The moment the words left his mouth, even the SWAT commander standing beside us couldn’t help but frown.

“The bomb in the atrium is extremely complex. Shouldn’t you deploy both technicians to collaborate there?”

“Unnecessary,” Robert cut in flatly. “Emily is our veteran. I trust her to handle the situation. Vivian needs field experience—the garage is perfect for her.”

Listening to him defending his decision, I pulled my helmet on without an ounce of expression.

The bomb was strapped to the central load-bearing pillar of the atrium, an intricate web of interwoven wires where a single misstep meant instant detonation.

Holding my breath, I inspected every detail with precision.

Sweat poured down my forehead, stinging my eyes, yet now the least of my worries. Finally I managed to unlock the exact sequence to cut the wires.

Just as I was about to make the first cut, Vivian’s shrill scream tore through the comms:

“Ah! Captain, I… I think I clipped the wrong wire!”

At that exact second, the bomb before my eyes emitted a piercing buzz.

The anti-tamper link connecting the two devices triggered, and the countdown instantly plummeted to its final three minutes!

Three minutes was nowhere near enough time to disarm a bomb this complex.

“What the hell did you just do?” the SWAT commander barked in fury.

“I don’t know… my hand slipped. Captain, I’m terrified—I can’t feel my legs. Help me…”

Robert’s voice was calm:

“Stop crying. Keep your blast suit secure. I’m pulling you out!”

In that moment, my whole world went silent.

All that remained was the relentless, rhythmic ticking of the countdown in my ears.

I scrambled to rush out, only for a falling piece of steel rebar to collapse, pinning me to the floor.

“Robert,” I gritted through tightly clenched teeth. “I’ve fallen. This old blast suit is too heavy, and with my injured wrist, I can’t push myself up…”

Over the earpiece, however, came Robert’s impatient voice.

“This is no time for your jealous act! Vivian’s paralyzed with fear and can’t stand up.

“You’re a battle-tested veteran—drop the weakling act.”

With that, he switched to our private comms channel, lowering his voice to placate me:

“Once I carry her out to safety, I’ll come right back for you. We’re in this together, you and me. Hang in there!”

In this together?

Coming from his mouth, what a joke those words proved to be.

“Don’t bother.”

I spoke those final words with eerie calm, then switched off both the comms and the tracking locator inside my helmet.

As the countdown struck zero, a deafening explosion echoed through the sky above the mall.

Outside the perimeter tape, Robert used every ounce of his strength to drag Vivian into the safe zone.

The instant the roar of the blast hit his ears, he whipped his head around, every drop of color draining from his face.

“Emily!”