EPISODE 09: Operation Raw Thunder 02 (Patreon)

Nakano tightened her hold around the shank in her hand. It was a wooden stake, fashioned from the remains of a broken chair, crudely sharpened by repeatedly scraping it against a concrete wall and a short rope wrapped around the handle for extra grip.

For a second she had to stop and wonder if she was meant to kill a vampire and glanced sideways over her shoulder to study her target: Crimson hair, dark skin and toned body. God’s prototype for war.

But Nakano was a survivor and fully understood the number one rule of the game - never bite the hand that feeds.

Two tours of duty in the Middle East did not kill her. Neither did PTSD, opioid addiction, or the gauntlet of thugs and blades she had to wade through for the Chilsung-Pa Syndicate. Now, with eight months in the Pit and bodycount of twenty-one, she had no intention of stopping.

Samantha on the other hand was new blood. A martial artist of ill repute who climbed the ladder of the underground cage fighting scene almost as fast as she fell off it, clearly into the wrong side of the law, while leaving a trail of cold bodies in her wake. A deal gone bad. A debt that could not be paid. A name that had to be erased.

And just like Nakano, she knew she had to get on the Warden’s good side. Do the thing, get rewarded. A hot meal. A few easy fights. Another week in hell.

So whether their mark was a vampire or not - if the Warden wanted her dead, she would be dead before nightfall.

(To be continued ...)