My Covert Bodyguard

46: The Princess and Her Knight

two months later

"Cass, take the left corner," Niko commanded. Arms raised with gun in hand, I ran to the left corner of the building we were trying to seize and shielded myself from incoming bullets with the wall. 

"There's an enemy right across the wall from you Cass," Sandy told me through the comms.

"Got it." I said, and peeked out of the wall long enough to shoot at the enemy he mentioned.

"All clear in the lobby," Sandy said.

"We're moving forward." Trevor said, leading the group.

"I'll take the back," Lei said, and we all moved stealthily, alert with our weapons aimed at every direction. Bullets flew from everywhere as Lei and Trevor instructed where they were coming from. We approached the stairs, the last obstacle before our mission was complete.

"There are seven subjects upstairs, and a couple still around in the first floor," Sandy said, "they might sneak up on you guys so keep watch."

Lei and I put our backs to the stairs as we kept watch for people approaching us from behind. Just then I noticed movement from the side, and a man had climbed in from the balcony. His gun was aimed at Julianna, but I shot him before he could pull the trigger. He fell, paralyzed, and Julianna thanked me quietly before angrily shooting down a man who was running at us from the front. 

"Five people left." Sandy said, just as Niko took down a daring woman who tried throwing a grenade at us. Lei caught it in midair and hurtled it hundreds of feet away from us through the window where it exploded into smoke. At this point in the mission, the enemies usually start getting kind of crazy.

"Four." Niko said coyly.

Another man skidded to us—on a skateboard, with a gun that had 'Weed Nation' painted on in neon orange spray paint—and was shot by Trevor. 

"We should go skateboarding sometime, man!" Trevor called, and added as an afterthought, "three."

"Give me a smile, sexy thing!" A voice said from above us, and Julianna shot him right in the center of his heart without skipping a beat. 

"Tell me a joke first, Two!" She shouted.

A guy ran towards us, shrieking a war cry. His bullets were bouncing off anywhere but at us, causing insane noise but no actual damage. Lei's bullet pierced through the chaos into his chest. "One." She said quietly, but we all heard the excitement in her voice.

We finally approached the final room, and the final man was no where to be found. "Can you locate him?" I asked Sandy.

"No, it says he's in the kitchen, but he hasn't moved for the past ten minutes. I think he threw out his tracker earlier on."

"Let's split up, search the second floor individually." Niko said, and we all moved in different directions, as we stuck close to the walls and walked into each room with guns raised.

"Found his tracker—you were right Sandy." Trevor informed.

I slid into the master bedroom, and I found a slight woman, even thin in all her protective gear. I was just as surprised as she was when she saw the gun raised at her. She stood, shoulders raised high and a large grin evident even through her face mask.

"Well, will you look at that.  I have the honor to take down the entire team, and I get to shoot down the princess herself fir—" I didn't wait for her to finish the sentence as I shot her, not ten feet away, as she fell, paralyzed on the floor.

"Sorry, I don't like chit-chat during missions." I muttered, walking out of the room. "Zero."

My team came out and we met in the office of the second floor, where the red button was located. "Do the honors, princess." Niko winked, and I laughed at the term that had started to grow on me, and slammed on the red button.