Chapter 464: Fly Me To The Moon
"Psyche!"
Ashley sprinted as fast as she could before diving into a room, both hands clamped over her ears. Her back hit the wall hard.
BOOM!
Even after finding cover, the deafening explosion made her ears ring. She squeezed her eyes shut for only a moment—just long enough for the sharp ringing to fade. Once the last echoes subsided, she straightened.
Leaning against the broken doorway, Ashley peeked outside.
At the far end of the hallway, several shadows had come to a halt because of the explosion.
"What the—don’t stop! Move!" someone shouted.
Ashley pressed her back against the wall beside the shattered doorway. After taking a deep breath, she listened to the hurried footsteps rushing toward her.
When they were close enough, she stepped out.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The first row of soldiers charging toward her dropped before they could even process the woman who had suddenly emerged from one of the rooms.
The men behind them froze for a split second, stunned.
Then—
"Take her down!!"
Someone raised his rifle and opened fire. The others immediately followed.
At the same moment, Ashley darted into the opposite hallway and broke into another sprint.
"After her!" someone roared. "Don’t let her get away!"
The soldiers rushed after her, catching a glimpse of her disappearing around another corner.
Gunfire erupted again, trying to catch her or at least injure her. But alas, bullets chewed through the walls and floor as they chased her.
"Fuck!"
They already knew about the explosion.
They had seen the bodies scattered throughout the building. Yet they still believed a handful of armed men could accomplish what an entire unit had failed to do.
They were proven wrong.
The moment they rounded the next corner, she was gone.
"Where the hell—where is she?!"
The pursuing soldiers came to an abrupt stop in another hallway on a different floor.
They knew they had been close.
They should have caught her.
Instead...
All they found were the bodies of fallen soldiers scattered across the corridor.
Their eyes swept the hallway before settling on the broken emergency exit at the far end.
"Damn it!"
One of the soldiers stepped over the corpses, convinced she had escaped through the damaged fire exit.
As the group moved deeper into the hallway, none of them noticed a pair of eyes slowly opening beneath one of the bodies.
Ashley lay hidden underneath a corpse, while another body beside them concealed the rest of her.
In the darkness, covered almost entirely in blood, she blended in perfectly.
Ashley narrowed her eyes as she glanced at the last man who walked over her. When another soldier suddenly kicked the corpse lying on top of her, she immediately closed her eyes again.
Only after several seconds passed did she dare peek once more.
The man had already turned his attention elsewhere.
Ashley bit the inside of her cheek. She watched the group approach the emergency exit, now little more than a storage room filled with debris.
She already knew because she had checked it herself.
There was nowhere to run.
The soldiers advanced cautiously, rifles raised as they approached the doorway. They no longer took her lightly, thinking she was waiting inside for an ambush.
Meanwhile, Ashley slowly reached into the dead soldier’s pocket beside her.
Her fingers found a coiled rope fitted with a grappling hook.
She couldn’t help admitting it.
These soldiers were exceptionally well-equipped. Not only were their rifles military-grade, their equipment was too.
And thanks to them, Ashley was getting all sorts of ideas.
She carefully pulled the rope free while watching the soldiers pass.
Most of them had already reached the emergency exit.
Only the last man remained behind.
He didn’t follow the others. Instead, he stood watch, seemingly using them as bait in case Ashley tried to ambush the group.
Perfect.
Taking advantage of the opening, Ashley slowly slid out from beneath the corpse.
Tak.
Her heart skipped as she had pushed the body a little too hard. It rolled onto the floor with a soft thud.
Silence instantly swallowed the hallway, and the faint sound echoed far louder than it should have.
Every soldier froze at the sound. Then, the group near the emergency exit, as well as the lone man standing guard, slowly turned around.
Time seemed to grind to a halt as their eyes landed on a figure.
There was Ashley, still crouching beside the bodies.
She looked up, and they looked back.
For one suspended heartbeat, nobody moved.
"Shit," Ashley muttered, and every rifle snapped toward her.
At that exact moment, Ashley lunged at the nearest soldier while throwing the rope.
The grappling hook shot past the man’s shoulder and caught onto the metal frame of the shattered window behind him.
At the same time, Ashley wrapped the rope around the soldier’s neck in one swift, practiced motion.
"Ack—!"
Before he could react, the rope went taut as the hook locked firmly onto the window frame.
Still, Ashley didn’t stop. The instant she secured the noose, she threw herself out of the broken window.
She didn’t fall, though. Instead, she dangled just outside the building.
Her boots planted firmly against the exterior wall while one hand twisted tightly around the rope to support her weight.
BANG! BANG!
The soldiers instinctively fired, but their own comrade was within their line of fire. Hence, they halted.
"Ack...!"
The trapped soldier desperately clawed at the rope, digging into his throat. His face rapidly turned crimson as his legs kicked helplessly as the air left his lungs.
For the first time, the soldiers who believed they feared nothing felt something else.
Dread.
An all-consuming sense of dread washed over them as they finally met someone even more terrifying and more mad than their boss.
They could only watch as their comrade slowly strangled for dear life. His body had become an anchor, suspended from the window grille. Only then did they notice what they had overlooked earlier.
Half of the window grille had already been torn away.
Ashley had planned this.
They had simply been too focused on chasing her to notice.
One by one...
Their gazes drifted beyond their choking comrade. Then, outside the window, a rifle barrel was already waiting for them.
"Return fire!" someone screamed.
Gunfire exploded from both sides.
Ashley cut them down one after another. Within seconds, only one soldier remained standing.
Then, one final shot rang out.
The bullet pierced the choking soldier’s head, ending his already ended suffering.
And leaving the last survivor frozen in horror.