Number Nine kept his ear to the door and listened.
Six men.
Boots shifting against the hallway floor. Controlled breathing. The muted clicks of weapons being checked. They weren't rushing him. They weren't nervous. They knew he could hear them, and they were fine with that.
They weren't waiting for him to come out.They were waiting to force him out.
The man on the right shifted his weight. Just slightly. His knee popped.
Rookie.
The others stayed still. Disciplined. Trained. Military or contractors. It didn't matter. They all died the same way.
A faint metallic tap hit the doorframe.
Flashbang.
Nine turned his head and brought his forearm up, jaw clenched, body already dropping.
The detonation tore through the hallway. Light swallowed everything. Sound collapsed into a shrill, piercing whine. The walls shuddered. The door rattled in its frame.
They expected screaming. Blind fire. Panic.
They expected him standing there, stunned.
The door flew open.
The first man pushed through hard. Nine stepped forward and hurled his pistol straight into the man's face. Bone cracked. The man staggered, balance gone.
Nine caught the pistol as it fell and fired once.
The body dropped before it finished falling.
The second man was already raising his rifle. Nine closed the distance. Too close. A violent shove knocked the barrel wide. The man tried to recover.
Too slow.
Nine fired upward. One shot. The body collapsed.
Gunfire erupted from the hallway. Rounds punched into the wall where Nine's head had been a moment earlier. He shifted left, already moving.
The third man hesitated.
That was all it took.
Nine snapped his arm forward, the pistol slamming into the man's throat. Air vanished in a wet choke. Nine stepped in, caught the weapon, and fired.
Three bodies hit the floor.
The remaining men pulled back fast. One of them shouted into a radio.
Backup.
Nine exhaled slowly and rolled his shoulders.
Beyond them, he could hear more movement. Not rushed. Controlled. The real response was mobilizing now.
This wasn't about containment.
This was an execution.
Nine stepped over the bodies and reloaded as he moved.
He didn't smile.
Time to send an answer.