The sound that followed was not a command.
It was a shot.
The leader's head snapped sideways as if yanked by an invisible hand, his body folding before the echo finished rolling through the square, knees buckling, his rifle slipping from his fingers as he hit the frozen concrete hard and did not move again.
For half a second, no one understood what they were seeing.
Then the compound exploded.
"Leader's down!"
"Find the shooter!"
Gunfire erupted from windows, doorways, and blind corners between the buildings, uneven and frantic, shots slamming into concrete and metal as glass shattered and raiders shouted over one another, some diving behind people and walls, others firing blindly down snow-choked alleys thick with smoke and confusion.
"Return fire!"
"Move, move!"
Iyisha was grabbed violently.
Hands tore her from the line, dragging her across the open ground toward a vehicle that roared to life, its engine screaming as bodies rushed it from every direction.
