"They’re coming, Lino," the man rasped, clutching a bleeding side. "The unit was compromised. Ares is moving the shipment tonight."
They thought it was a chase. Lino knew it was an extraction.
Lino looked at the car. It was a Frankenstein of engineering: a sleeper sedan packed with a nitrogen-cooled turbocharger and a front bumper forged from industrial-grade titanium, designed to flip armored transport trucks like toys. He didn't grab a gun. He grabbed a wrench. Lost.Bullet.2.2022.PL.WEB-DLx264-K83.mkv
"You’re never out when they’re using your tech to kill cops," the man replied, collapsing against a stack of reinforced tires.
Lino finally wiped his grease-stained hands on a rag. His eyes, cold as the steel frame of the car, drifted to a single, mangled bullet sitting on his workbench—the one that had nearly cost him everything a year ago. In this world, a bullet wasn't just lead; it was a signature. "I told you I was out," Lino said, his voice like gravel. "They’re coming, Lino," the man rasped, clutching a
The static on the radio was the only sound in the garage until the heavy iron doors groaned open. Lino didn’t look up from the engine of the reinforced Renault. He knew the gait of the man walking in—it was heavy, desperate, and smelled of burnt rubber.
He slammed the brakes, the specialized hydraulic system locking the rear wheels in a perfect 180-degree spin. As the lead SUV hurtled toward him, Lino engaged the pneumatic ram. The collision was a symphony of screeching metal. The SUV launched into the air, a two-ton bird of prey clipped mid-flight, while Lino’s car absorbed the shock through the custom dampeners he’d spent months perfecting. Lino knew it was an extraction
Three hours later, the highway was a blur of orange sodium lights. Lino pushed the stick into fifth, the engine screaming in a frequency that vibrated through his teeth. Behind him, three black SUVs—Ares’s clean-up crew—threaded through traffic with lethal precision.