Dead Men Have No Legacies: Stories of a Seasoned Bounty Hunter

Chapter 38

Since Gavin ran through a large entry port that led from the landing pad into the facility itself, Alannah and I had no choice but to follow after him.

"Guys, I am not okay with this," Boreas growled, "Not only has the facility before you been offline for years, maybe even decades, there's no way I can help you guys out. You're going in dark, Cylus."

I shrugged and switched the night vision of my helmet on. "I'll be fine, Boreas. Alannah's with me, so I'm not alone."

"Cylus is in good company–Shit, one minute," The area before us was illuminated when she managed to turn on a flashlight, "Sorry, it's kind of hard to see..."

"Hmm...You're not wrong," I mused, "However, it'll make sneaking up on Gavin difficult."

Alannah illuminated a path of blood that trailed ahead of us. "I don't think we'll have a hard time tracking him down. He was shot twice after all."

It took a lot of self-control on my part to stop a response from slipping past my lips. I never thought someone could look so goddamn sexy shooting someone in the leg. You put most people to shame, mijn sintel.

Instead, I choose my words carefully: "You shot to cripple, didn't you?"

"I tried to shoot his kneecap, but the bastard moved." she growled. "As far as I know, the bullet went into his thigh."

"Still a good shot." I mused, following the path of blood with my eyes. "This'll be easier than expected."

"We should still be careful." Alannah pointed out.

"Of course."

And so we continued to make our way through the abandoned mining facility. Through exploring the dark and damaged corridors, we happened upon voluminous chambers that had circular pits drilled straight down into the ground. A faint orange glow could be seen coming out of these pits, which made me more than a little uneasy.

"Is...Is this where the miners drilled?" Alannah mused, taking a step toward the pit.

I grabbed her hand and stopped her. "I don't want to know what fumes bubble up from those lava pits. Please, let's get moving."

She huffed, but thankfully followed my lead.

We found several other rooms containing equipment and minerals. Ignoring all of this, we continued to follow the trail of blood that meandered before us. Entering a cramped room full of crates, I noticed almost immediately that the trail ended here.

Without thinking, I shoved Alannah off to the side. White-hot pain blossomed in my chest a few moments later, confirming my worst fears.

We had been led into a trap.

"Damn you Cylus! I was going to take your friend out for you!" Gavin snapped, only to grunt in surprise when another shot rang out around us. Blood stained his torso, and I could tell he was running out of steam.

As expected, Alannah was back on her feet in a heartbeat. Judging by the fire in her eyes, she was more than a little enraged. Gavin aimed his weapon at her, but she closed the distance between them. Mirroring a move I would execute, she grabbed Gavin's wrist and forced him to aim up. Another shot rang out, causing sparks to fly.

After I was able to catch my breath, I drew my knife from its sheath and lobbed it at Gavin. The blade got him in the chest, resulting in him staggering away from Alannah. In response, the furious redhead drew her firearm and unloaded a full clip into the bastard, peppering him with bullet holes.

With a ragged laugh, Gavin fell to a kneeling position.

"I'm...Wanted alive, you idiot." he gurgled out, a stream of blood dripping out from one side of his mouth. "The...UTF will have. Your. Head."