"Owen, you're completely insane! You know it's a trap and you're still going in—"
In the corridor, Walker followed close behind Owen, whispering sharply. His voice was low enough not to travel far but loud enough for Owen to hear.
"Sorry, Walker. I know it's crazy. You don't have to follow me. No one will blame you. Just hide in a room somewhere—I can handle this alone."
Owen spoke calmly, not slowing down as he rushed toward the hostage room.
"Oh, shit. You're insane, and that makes me an idiot, because I'm not hiding either. I'm going with you…"
Walker cursed, but his feet remained loyal, keeping pace beside Owen.
"Ratatatat—"
A figure suddenly appeared up ahead. Owen raised his weapon and fired. The bullets struck the man's chest, knocking him to the ground. Judging by the lack of blood, the rounds had hit a bulletproof vest—he wasn't dead and was still struggling.
Owen moved swiftly, approaching with short, light steps. At the last moment, he kicked the weapon away from the downed man but kept his rifle trained on the corner ahead. No other enemies had emerged since he fired, meaning this one was likely alone.
He didn't break stride. Walker stayed close behind. As they passed the fallen man, Owen never shifted his aim. Walker, picking up on the rhythm, finished the downed enemy with a shot to the head. The two had developed a rough but effective chemistry. Owen had never trained Walker, but the guy seemed to just know what needed doing.
It was only a minor interruption—not enough to slow their momentum. Staz and the others were definitely still in pursuit, but that didn't matter now. The only thing on Owen's mind was reaching the hostages as fast as possible.
They pushed forward for some distance, disabling several surveillance cameras along the way. According to the map, the Yellow Room—where the hostages were held—was just up ahead. Owen and Walker moved cautiously, their steps nearly silent on the carpeted floor.
Now wasn't the time for rash moves. They slowed their pace near the corner. Owen raised a clenched fist—signal to stop—then glanced at Walker. Walker nodded and turned back to guard their rear.
Owen silently pulled out a scope mirror and carefully extended it past the wall's edge. But before he could get a clear view of the room, a barrage of gunfire erupted. Bullets peppered the wall, sending the mirror flying. Owen quickly yanked his arm back and took two steps away from the corner.
The corridor corner turned into a kill zone. Their enemies were clearly waiting for them, and they were spraying bullets like they cost nothing. Whether this was a trap set by Staz's men or just the guards in the hostage room, it didn't matter. There was no way they could break through under that kind of sustained fire. The corridor was too narrow—any advance meant certain injury or death.
During a brief lull, Owen stuck out his weapon and fired blindly to suppress the enemy, then quickly pulled back. As expected, the enemy responded with another burst of retaliatory fire.
Owen used the pause to reload and scan their surroundings, thinking rapidly.
"Walker, do what I just did—keep their attention. I'm going around from outside."
In a flash, Owen came up with a desperate plan. Under normal circumstances, it would've been impossible. But now, it just might work. He had noticed a terrace in the room behind them. From there, it was theoretically possible to jump over to the terrace connected to the hostage room. It was a bit of a distance, but nothing Owen couldn't handle. The only unknown was whether there were enemies inside. If so, they'd likely spot him the moment he landed.
Still, there was no better option. It was time to take a risk.
"Whether I make it or not depends on you holding their attention…"
He patted Walker on the shoulder, slung his rifle across his back, checked his pistol in its quick-draw holster, and headed for the terrace.
Once on the other side, he'd have very limited space. The room would be full of hostages, and in close quarters, a pistol was far more effective than a rifle. Plus, in bullet time, no one could outshoot Owen in close range.
Walker knew exactly what Owen was up to just from watching his prep. He took a deep breath and steeled himself. The gunfire from around the corner had begun to taper off—clearly the enemy had noticed something was wrong.
"Bang bang bang—"
Walker mimicked Owen, extending his arm and spraying fire at the corner. The enemy immediately responded with a hail of gunfire.
It worked. Walker gave Owen a silent "OK" gesture and shifted position, continuing his suppressive fire. His only goal was to keep the enemy fixated, to make them believe both of them were still entrenched in the corridor. Whether or not he hit anything didn't matter.
Meanwhile, Owen reached the terrace and vaulted over the ledge. The terrace of the hostage room was a short distance away. He climbed along the ledge, fingers gripping the stone rail tightly, and dragged himself to the edge of the hostage room's terrace.
At that very moment, the White House was surrounded on all sides—by military forces, media, and civilians. Owen happened to be on the side facing the front gate. Everything he did was caught on camera. He'd considered the exposure risk earlier, but at this point, stealth was irrelevant. Even if the enemy saw the broadcast, it was too late to stop him.
Inside the hostage room—
"Carter, go check it out."
A man who looked like a mid-level leader gave an order to one of the guards. There were three terrorists watching over the hostages. The gunfire outside had already drawn their attention to the door. But suddenly, the crowd outside the White House erupted. Camera flashes lit up the area like fireworks. The media buzzed excitedly, shouting and pointing their lenses at something near the terrace.
Something was happening. The leader sent Carter to investigate.
Carter turned at the command, adjusted his aim, pulled down his black mask, and headed toward the terrace door.
—
Outside, the media had gone wild.
Every major news outlet pointed their cameras at Owen. Cameramen were adjusting every lens, every angle, trying to get the best shot of the man dangling midair. But Owen, covered in soot from the smoke ducts, had a face blackened to the point that only his teeth and the whites of his eyes were visible. Through the lens, most viewers assumed he was African-American.
"Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, a Black man appears to be attempting to climb from one terrace to another. We're unsure of his identity, but I personally believe he isn't one of the terrorists. As far as we know, all the terrorists are masked. Wait—he's armed! Oh my God, could he be—"
The reporter paused mid-sentence as the hostage room's terrace door swung open. A masked terrorist stepped out, confused. At that moment, the "Black man" on the wall whipped out his pistol and fired twice. The enemy dropped instantly.
Owen launched himself over the ledge and disappeared into the terrace.
[A special discount will be available from December 30th until Three Kings' Day.]
[Use 37B44 to get 33% off all levels until January 6th]
[Unlock +20 Advanced Chapters on Patre on. com /Mutter]
[For every 50 Power Stones, 1 Bonus Chapter will be released]
[Thank you for reading!]