Chapter Text
“What a fucking mess.” Paul Carson cursed as he walked across the abandoned, dimly lit facility in stride.
There was a look of disgust on his face as he maneuvered his way around the blood and marred bodies on the floor. He was dressed in his typical attire: an expensive black jacket over a white designer shirt unbuttoned at the collar, pants and Italian shoes. The debonair man looked completely incongruous in the surroundings of the dilapidated building. He was flanked by an entourage of people that followed him closely, all on high alert with automatic machine guns aimed at the injured person, who was sitting against a wall. Cornered.
Standing in a clean spot, Paul stopped before the person within a safe distance. He could see the visible bullet holes in the person’s arm, shoulder and leg from here clearly. Thick, red blood trickling down like rivulet.
“I’m sorry you have to see this. You are supposed to be the first clean kill if Maryann here hadn’t miss the headshot.” Paul apologized to the person with sincerity in his voice.
“I don’t miss.” Maryann - a tall, gorgeous brunette in her late fifties - appeared and corrected him whilst holding the FN Ballista sniper rifle with both hands. “One half millimeter adjustment of my rifle scope would have her brain decorating this filthy floor. I’ve done my part of the job as promised. If you want her to die you can kill her yourself, Paul.” Maryann said as her eyes fixated on the disarmed person, the only person she had had trained - her apprentice - she refused to imbrue her hands in her blood.
Maryann’s face remained neutral and inscrutable as she watched her, if there was a slightest feeling of guilt or remorse, Maryann wasn’t showing it.
“Damn, you are tough.” Paul Carson moved a step back after seeing the person struggled to stand up, despite the fact that he was protected by six armed men. And she was disarmed.
Jane Campbell struggled to support her body against the wall then moved her head up, the mere motion caused the nausea so intense that it overpowered the physical pain that was coursing through her body, the dim light overhead was blinding her eyes, coupled with the constant ringing in her ears.
Concussion.
From her head slamming into the ground when she was taking the hits.
Stupid, she thought. She panted as the previous moments played back in her head.
“Status report.” Jane Campbell demanded, keeping her weapon trained on the building’s entrance.
“Heat signatures confirmed seven targets in total at the far end of the building,” Control replied, “the underground level is unclear, I’m unable to get a fixed reading. I can’t send in the drone without being made.”
“Is the information reliable?” Jane asked.
“Affirmative. The asset is in the building.” Control confirmed. “Team is in position and awaiting orders, Captain.”
“We secure the ground level then move in to neutralize the asset. No survivors. Go.” Jane said flatly. The last single word triggered all other five team members emerged from their covers and went into action, her team converged at the entrance in a short moment.
“Pop it.” She commanded calmly and a few seconds later the metal door popped open with a faint squeak. Jane could feel the familiar rush of adrenaline coursing through her body in anticipation of the kill.
The warehouse complex was a front owned by the Novak family, they were an up-and-coming gang in the city, until recently they started moving product without giving their cut. On the outside, it appeared to be an abandoned facility, but all illegal activities were conducted in the basement level, unseen. And according to the intel, they were transporting a considerably large amount of drugs tonight, large enough that Novak’s son was supervising the transportation personally. Which was precisely why her boss had ordered this hit.
“Fan out.” She whispered into the earpiece once the team got inside the building.
The facility was eerily quiet and empty, they could still make out the surroundings under the inadequate lighting but the place was not dark enough to use the night vision goggles. Jane felt the hair on her neck stood up as they moved further into the rear of the building.
“I’ve got moment here,” Max, one of the teammates suddenly whispered. Causing other members to freeze in mid-advancement and take cover.
“Same here,” Morgan, another teammate echoed.
“Control, how many in total?” Jane requested. This was supposed to be a blitz attack, she’d like to keep that element of surprise a bit longer until they secured the ground level first.
“Team, you’ve got more incoming to your —,” Control suddenly got cutoff.
“Contact!” Lee shouted as he squeezed the trigger at the armed enemies appeared out of nowhere. In a split second, a barrage of gunfire ensued.
“Move in. Secure the ground level.” Jane ordered, stepping out from behind the cover of the beam and racing toward the enemies. Somehow, they were made.
She saw three more adversaries marched into view from around the far side of the building, Jane released the air in her lungs and squeezed the trigger, watching them dropped to the ground as her and her team fired. An instant later, another wave of attack from the enemies unleashed in a more concerted effort, and this time with enough firepower to pin her team down with a heavy assault. A shower of bullets rained down, sending bricks and rubble flying over them. In that blink of a moment, she glanced and saw a dozen of men - to her estimate. This was definitely more than seven targets.
“Fuck! Where did they all come from?” Ethan shouted next to Jane while they both crouched down below a shattered window.
“Ethan, Reese, I need you two provide covering fire, the rest of the team go in with me on my mark.” Jane shouted back. They needed to move in, to suppress the attack. There must be more of them in the basement.
In a well-coordinated fashion, Jane waited a few more seconds when Ethan and Reese brought their guns up to return fire, suppressing the enemies to duck for cover.
“Flank them.” She gave the hand gesture to other team members and they dashed behind the stacked crates and abandoned equipments in the facility, when they got close enough to have clear visual on their targets, they fired at them. The last man just had enough time to run for cover before Jane took him in the back of the head. After a brief of absolute silence as they expected more hostiles, they checked the surroundings again to make sure the place was secure.
“All clear.” Jane said, finally lowering her weapon.
Other members emerged from their covers, Ethan and Reese raced forward to join the team while they checked the fallen bodies. The placed smelled of gunpowder.
“Fuck, we just hit the jackpot, Captain. This is the asset, Novak’s son.” Morgan said, pointing the muzzle of his gun at the dead body.
They all walked over, staring down at the lifeless corpse, Jane squatted down to check the face of the dead body closely.
“Reese and Ethan go check the basement, the rest of you stay here to hold the facility. Lee, take a picture of Novak.” She ordered.
“Copy that.” They replied in unison.
Jane brought her hand up to the earpiece to contact Control, but there was still no response, only statics. She frowned at this. Maybe it was the interference or poor connection?
“The basement is clean, Captain. No drugs, no workers, nothing. Not even an ounce of powder here.” Reese said as he moved to join the team with Ethan after they finished sweeping the basement. “At least, we neutralized the asset.”
Jane frowned again, could it be a bad intel? She suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
“Let’s move out, try to contact Control again.” Jane said, dismissing the knot in her stomach.
Following her instructions, they moved quickly to the entrance. It was late, given the time of night and remote location, the attack went unnoticed.
“Control isn’t responding, Captain.” Max said as they stepped out of the building.
“Is he dozing off?” Lee chimed in next to Jane, “Booker, you are buying all the drinks tomorrow if you—,”
Jane looked at Lee when he suddenly stopped his banter, then she heard the familiar squishy sound - the sound when a bullet traveling through the flash and shattering the bones - she felt warm blood splashed against her face.
In that confused second, she saw Lee’s body slumped to the ground, half of his skull missing.
“Sniper! Get down! Get down!” Jane shouted as she lowered her body and sought for the cover.
In her peripheral vision, she saw the IR laser pointer aiming up and Reese was down before he could conceal himself.
“Control, send in the drone!” No response, “Booker! Come in! We need visual on that sniper’s location! Fuck!” Jane cursed when another shot fired.
“We are sitting ducks here, we need to get back to that building!” Morgan shouted to her behind the cover.
“When I tell you guys to run, you run!” Jane called out, reaching the phosphorus grenade from one of her utility pockets and tossed it to the open ground.
“Go, go, go!” She shouted to them, and immediately they ran back to the building when the sniper was temporarily blinded by the bright light.
Once they were inside, they shielded themselves behind a wall, blocking the sniper’s view. Jane let out a deep breath she didn’t know she was holding.
“Fuck! Lee and Reese are dead!” Max cursed in shock.
“What the fuck just happened? They know we are here, they have a sniper waiting to take us out.” Ethan looked at Jane for answers.
“Something is wrong.” Jane replied as her mind raced in search of an answer, that bad feeling she had had returned. One thing she was certain - the intel was false. Her instincts told her this smelled too much of a setup.
“This is a fucking ambush. Booker sold us out!” Morgan exclaimed, he jumped to his own conclusion when Booker was unreachable through the comm.
“Now it’s not the time to play Sherlock Holmes.” Jane glared at him, she may or may not agree with Morgan about Booker, but they had more pressing matters at hand. For all she knew, there could be more men trying to surround this building if they hadn’t already done so, then they would be trapped in a kill zone.
“We need to find another exit and get to the van.” She ordered.
Immediately, Jane led Max, Morgan and Ethan to the rear of the facility, carefully avoiding windows from the sniper’s line of sight. The place was large but the layout was easy to navigate among the abandoned equipments. They paid no attention to the dead bodies lying on the floor and kept on moving. But before they were able to locate an alternative exit, a man suddenly stepped out from the shadows, Jane lowered her gun in time before she shot the man, she told her team to hold fire after she confirmed his identity.
“Paul?” She froze momentarily. Shocked.
In that split second when her mind was distracted, six more men appeared. Jane just had time to leap out of the way, to warn her teammates when the guns fired at them.
The floor reared up, smacking the back of her head and filling her with blackness. When her eyes were open, she wasn’t seeing right, everything was fuzzy and indistinct, she was badly injured with a concussion. And her teammates were all dead.
“Why?” Jane looked up at Paul Carson and asked, nausea enveloped her again as her face twisted in pain.
“It’s nothing personal, Jane.” Paul answered in his sincerest manner, “you see, when my dad decided to let me handle all the financials years ago, all I ever wanted is to expand our business and that’s exactly what I did. I washed our money clean, turning it into buildings, real estates, stock exchanges, and even pharmaceuticals. Our earnings have increased exponentially since then.” He paused as if he was expecting some kind of reaction from her. A recognition, perhaps. But Jane remained silent, waiting for his punch line.
“After the demonstration of my talent, you’d think he would trust me with his organization by now. I tried to persuade him to see things from my perspective, but we both know how that went. I, and especially my new partners can’t let that happen.” He said.
“So, you fed me and my team the false intel. I assume Booker is dead when we got cutoff.” Jane replied, her mind was groggy as she did her best to focus.
Looked like Morgan and her instincts were correct. This was an ambush, after all. But she was the ultimate target.
“No and yes. The intel was good. Dad agreed to eliminate Novak’s drug-ridden son to send a message when they violated the terms of our contract. The Novak family is growing fast. A little too fast. They needed to be knocked down a notch,” Paul Carson continued, “but I did inform Novak about the attack tonight. I was honestly hoping both of you would kill each other so I wouldn’t have to kill you myself, but I knew not to underestimate you.” He looked at Maryann and his henchmen, and was once again glad about his contingency plan.
One can never be too careful. Particularly Jane.
“Don’t hate me, Jane. My dad gave me no choice. I know you have no intention to take over his business. But I know the old man well, as long as you continue to exist, he’ll never give me the full control.” He moved in closer to have a better look of her pale face, blocking the overhead light that was blinding her vision. “Besides, you are an outsider.”
Jane smiled at Paul derisively and somehow wasn’t surprised, she couldn’t blame him for taking such extreme measure, either. She was an outsider, indeed.
Jane Campbell had been working for Paul’s father, Ed Carson for ten years now, he trusted her skillset and loyalty. But Paul was wrong about one thing. Ed Carson never wanted her to take over his business. He just wanted to prevent this partnership that Paul had worked so hard for from happening.
Ed Carson started his arms dealing business in his early 20’s. He’d made his fortune by supplying armaments both import and export. The distribution network he’d established with his charm and sharp intelligence made him later become one of the most prolific weapon dealers. For over decades, Ed Carson had expanded his organization with vast resources since its inception. Every other gang paid tribute to The Carsons for the privilege of doing business in this city. In return, the Carson family would provide safe passages through their docks, trading routes and as well as money laundering services.
Paul Carson was right. He had made everyone rich since he stepped in, just by sitting behind a desk with a computer. One of the many reasons why his father had sent him to the best law school, to study in law and finance. Ed Carson was a visionary, he knew precisely what future demanded. And he had groomed Paul for that one purpose: to be his successor one day. Nowadays, wars were not fight on the street no more. Instead, moving money without a trace was the weapon. You could sit behind a desk anywhere in the world and still bring down your enemies.
But if there was one thing that Ed Carson never believed in, it was partnership. The reason was simple as she remembered his exact words: Partnership is just like United Nations. The more members it has, the more arguments you can stir up, and the more futile and impotent it becomes.
Jane agreed to disagree. There were, of course, pros and cons when it comes to partnerships, but times change and we change with times. That was what she believed.
Except this time. This time, she agreed with Ed Carson without doubts.
Moving and funneling money in large amounts through the organization, they attract certain attention. Over a month ago, the family was approached by a private clique, to be more precise - the representatives of the richest people on this planet, the Oversight. Paul’s talent in business had caught their interest, the party wanted to form a mutual partnership. In exchange - they would offer significant resources that one could only dream of.
Ed Carson refused such offer. He didn’t trust these people, especially when these people wished to remain in the dark. Hence the representatives. It was part of the agreement that The Carsons only deal with their representatives, not the Oversight. However, Paul Carson had a different agenda, he was ambitious to jump at the opportunity and was fine with such unusual request, so long as he could bring his talent into full use.
After the meeting, no matter how persuasive Paul was, Ed would not form a partnership with them. These people were too powerful. Additionally, their inclination to keep their identities secret gave him bad vibes, the matter was now beyond lack of faith or trust at this point. In the end, Ed Carson resorted to a bit more extreme method in an attempt to stop this partnership. Leaving the organization to her should anything ill happens to him.
Fuck, Ed may as well signed her death warrant. She realized.
“Damn it, Paul. You are so focused on this partnership that you’re ignoring the potential threat. How can you fight an invisible enemy if one of them decided to turn on you?” Jane cursed through a hissed breath, how could he not see this?
“Every opportunity comes with a risk, Jane. I can always trace my own money, the numbers never lie, they will lead me to them. Besides, as long as I keep their money clean and untraceable. I don’t see why they would turn against me, I’m too useful to them.” He replied confidently and continued his pitch, “what they can offer here is real business expansion. I’m not talking about bribing dirty cops or city mayors. They can offer so much more, they’ve got half the Senate on a retainer and that’s not all of it. Imagine the potential growth, the power. We can go global.”
“You are being delusional. There is always a catch.” Jane disagreed when she heard the answer to that. It was power he truly sought, and the money was another benefit motivated by his endless greed.
“I don’t normally make empty promises, especially when I’m this committed to my cause.” Paul reached out to grab her chin, lifting her face up.
Her Chinese heritage was clearly predominant in her features and dark eyes, except around the jaw and nose. Her long, natural chestnut hair and fair skin were subtle clues pointing to other ancestry as well. Could be Russian or other Eastern European descent, but nobody knew. She was an orphan.
Such a beautiful face, he thought to himself. There were a lot of men died in her hand simply because they underestimated her due to her youthful looks. Human genes could be so unfair sometimes. It was a shame he had to end her. What a waste of such...beauty and talent.
“Why didn’t you choose me when I needed you the most, Jane? You’re like a sister to me.” Paul released his grip on her chin, stepped back with some reluctance.
For a moment, they stared at each other in still silence, as if to say goodbye.
“We found a dog in the back of the van, sir. What should I do?” One bearded man suddenly spoke after he walked in with a chocolate Labrador Retriever on the leash.
Jane’s face turned into horror. “No, not Dexter! Don’t kill him, he’s a great dog. Young, heathy and well trained. He could be of good use to you. Please, Paul!” She shouted desperately, the exertion left her panting for air.
Dexter was a puppy used as bait dog in an underground dog fight when she saved him two years ago. The image of him being tied up, shivering in terror still vivid in her mind. This sadistic side of human nature disgusted her greatly, she killed the organizer to end the twisted game.
It was something of an irony to Jane that the skills she had learned was to kill, and she was working for an arms dealer. The only thing that kept her conscious clean at night was she knew all the people she’d killed were bad guys. So, no loosing sleep over it. On the contrary, she slept quite well. But not sweet Dexter.
“I’m disappointed you’d think of me like an uncivilized person. I have my limits, Jane. Rest assured, nothing bad will happen to him.” Paul turned and said to the man, “Dexter is my dog now, take him with me.”
“Thank you.” Jane murmured to him, watching the man petting the dog as Dexter licked his hand with affection. What a good boy.
“Time to die, my dear,” there was a hint of sadness in Paul’s voice as he tried his best to act unaffected.
He didn’t have a choice. He knew this was also a test from his new partners. A test for his commitment and loyalty. It had to be done.
Looking up into his blue eyes, Jane said with a wan smile, “not today, Paul.”
She closed her eyes tightly shut and covered her ears after a flash-bang rolled out of her hand, detonating in the center of the space.
“Get out!” Maryann shouted to everyone.
A sudden deafening bang from the explosion sent everyone covering their ears, as a burst of bright light filled them with temporary blindness before they could react timely, disorienting all their senses. Jane could feel the excruciating pain spreading through her body and filling her with splitting headache. The ringing in her ears intensified, she threw up when nausea returned again.
Jane peeled her eyes open, her vision distorted and blurred. She could see their indistinct forms trying to get up from the floor. She didn’t have much time, the affects of the stun grenade wouldn’t last long. But she could barely move her body. Fuck! Five minutes, that’s all I need.
Jane concentrated on her breathing, struggling to keep it slow and even. She moved both of her hands, took the only two autoinjectors of epinephrine out of her cargo pocket. Flipping the caps off, she gripped them side by side and shot the needles straight through the fabric of her pants into her outer thigh, holding them in place until a double click announced that the doses had administered.
Immediately, warmth surged through her, rolling up her stomach and chest, setting her mouth tingling. Her vision snapped into focus with a sudden heightened clarity. She’d pay for it later.
Gladly.
Standing up, Jane moved forward to pickup her gun off of the floor when the rest of them starting to recover from the affects of the stun grenade. She made her way towards the door and she heard Paul shouting to the men behind her.
“She cannot leave here alive!”
Running with an injured leg slowed her down significantly. Luckily, the van was only meters away, the sight of it urged her to ignore the pain, to move faster. When the moment she reached the van, her hopes were crushed - car keys were gone, all tires had been slashed - Paul made sure he was very thorough, shit!
Panting, she looked around for another vehicle, but her pursuers were catching up fast. She took a defensive position to fire but her aim wavered due to physical exertion, the adrenaline was starting to fade. She had to run and hide. Heading toward the woods, she stopped to catch her breath while hiding herself among the trees. However, her rest didn’t last long as she heard Dexter’s barking grew ever louder, apparently leading them to her position. She cursed again, part of Dexter’s training was to track down people, she just didn’t think it’d be used on her. For once, she regretted having him trained so well.
Jane discarded her automatic gun and started running again, with her blurred vision returned, she couldn’t even aim to shoot, it’d only slow her down. She followed her instincts, just kept on running, until she slipped and fell down a slope, the momentum sent her body rolling down the hill. Instinctively, she protected her head with both arms. Her falling finally came to a stop when her body landed at the bottom of the hill, slamming the back of her head, regardless.
For a moment, she was filled with blackness, then her eyes were seeing colors. A shooting pain laced its way from the top of her skull down through her teeth. Given her concussion just occurred moments ago, she was lucky that she’d survived the second-impact syndrome, if another slam to her head again, she’d be dead.
She ripped the Kevlar vest open to allow more air into her lungs. Despite the exhaustion and pain, Jane dragged her body up, staggered her way through the woods.
She was loosing a lot of blood, even without the concussion she was only delaying her death if she didn’t stanch the flow of blood soon. She had imagined her death many times before, she knew that day would eventually come for her. And today might be that day, but dying like this was far from what she’d expected - covered in blood, sweat and dirt - How come this happened to her?
Jane asked herself as her life flashed before her eyes.
She was orphaned weeks after she was born. According to Miss Elizabeth - the keeper of the orphanage - she found her wrapped in a thick blanket on the door step on a freezing day in December, crying. There was no name or date of birth given, no letter as to why she was abandoned by the mother, just an embroidered blanket with a Chinese character - it translated as Blessing when she later mastered the language, hence her predominant Chinese heritage.
Miss Elizabeth never named her properly, just called her Jane Doe in hopes that the mother would regret after a clear head and may reclaim her back, that wasn’t unusual, especially when it comes to a newborn baby. But not in Jane’s case, and everyone started calling her Jane Doe ever since. Jane hated that name. Fortunately, Miss Elizabeth did her best to care for her.
As years went by, Jane watched every other kids got adopted, except her. She didn’t know why, others said she was too quiet, or too shy, perhaps. Didn’t know how to win their affection over the potential adopters. It wasn’t until she was ten years old, a foster home decided to take her in, and everyone was happy for Jane, including herself. But as it later turned out, that was the worst three years of her childhood life.
Her new foster home in Cleveland was far worse than she’d thought. They settled her in the basement, along with ten other kids. With only a handful of bunk beds, she had to sleep on a piece of mattress on the floor. But that wasn’t the worst of it yet. There was never enough food to feed every kid. Everyday she had to fight with other bigger boys for the leftovers and every time she ended up with more bruises due to her smaller size. Starving for a day or two was common to her, and on top of that, they had to do chores around the house. She was just another paycheck to the couple.
Trapped in that hellish house, watching cars go by from the playground across the street was the only thing that distracted her from the harsh reality, as she often wondered about other people’s lives. What does that man do for a living to own a Mercedes and three Land Rovers? She pondered, watching them eating at a roadside diner then walked back into the cars. A man in his early fifties walked across the street, stopped before her.
“What’s your name, little girl?” The man in black suit asked.
“Jane.” She answered.
“Jane what?” He asked again.
“Just Jane.” She replied defiantly.
“Ok, Jane. I’m Jack. Jack Campbell.” The man introduced himself to her, he smiled at her and continued, “how old are you?”
“I’m thirteen,” Jane said firmly, looking at him with earnest dark eyes. She looked small for her age.
“What if I say you have a chance few others will ever have. A chance to get what you want, to be strong,” the man said, “will you take that chance, Jane?”
She mulled his question over for a moment, nodded her head. The man then offered his hand to her and she took it, walking away with him.
“Are you going to hurt me?” Jane asked before he led her into the Mercedes.
“Yes, sometimes. But I promise you will be strong, and I will never lie to you.” He answered and opened the passenger door for her.
Jane looked back at that house, then got in the car and never looked back again.
“Who is this dirty kid, Jack?” Ed Carson asked as Jack sat next to him in the back seat of the Mercedes.
“My legacy, Ed.” Jack Campbell replied simply.
Jack Campbell had kept his promise, he never lied to her. Few days after she’d settled down - an isolated cabin in the woods - Jane had been hurt, beaten, and injured during her intensive training. She knew who he worked for and why she was here. Like he’d promised. He never lied.
Jack Campbell once was a member of the Delta Force, until his superior sent him on a fully deniable mission, to neutralize a high valued target. When the job was completed, they disavowed him to deny any involvement with the attack. The cohorts of the deceased target swore to seek revenge. Without the government funding and resources, Jack Campbell had nowhere to go.
It was then that Ed Carson offered to help. In exchange, Jack would provide his expertise to the family. After being used by the people he trusted, only then to be discarded like a piece of trash, Jack accepted the offer. Besides, Ed Carson was a man who had his own codes, he only sells weapons, nothing else. If others wanted to do business in his city, they give him their cut. Ed doesn’t judge what lines of businesses they are in, as long as it isn’t human trafficking. Ed abhorred such inhuman cruelty. That was also part of the reason why Jack had decided to take the job, better be a mercenary than dead, he thought.
After years of working for Ed Carson, they seemed to share the same ideological values as they grew to trust one another with respect. To Ed Carson, Jack Campbell wasn’t just a mere mercenary anymore, he was a trusted family friend as well.
When Jane first moved in, she disliked Jack’s strict rules and training methods. Sometimes, he would drag her out of bed in the middle of the night to practice target shooting; or he would make her run in the snow with only shorts and T-shirt. If the weather was severe, then more extreme training guaranteed. Along with other lessons like counter-interrogation skills, beating sessions, close-encounter hand-to-hand combat, weapons training, and foreign languages. And more.
Before bedtime, Jack would make her read literature books and study homework. To her it was worse than the harsh training she’d endured. But no matter how much she complained, the thought of leaving this place never occurred to her.
Here, she at least got to have hot meals and a warm bed. And she was getting stronger each day.
For years, Jack had trained her the way he was trained in the army, he’d taught her everything he knew.
Later, there came a second teacher Maryann, she was a good shot, an exceptional sniper. Jane’s marksmanship was already excellent compared to others, but Maryann could make her guns dance.
Each month, she would take Jane to the city for a week to teach her shootings. But most importantly, Maryann was also there to guide her through her puberty.
Jack was very good at what he did, but as a man, there were things about women he was not very good at. He was never married, no kids. And perhaps that’s why he took her in.
Jane didn’t know what Jack saw in her as there were bigger and stronger kids in the playground on that day. It could be hatred, rage, or maybe anger, she wasn’t sure. In the end, she was glad that he’d chosen her.
As a way to show her appreciation, the year when she turned eighteen, she decided to take his last name, Campbell. Now, Jane Campbell.
At the age of twenty, Jack had nothing left to teach her. And in that same year, Jane stepped in, took over his captain role of the strike team - a team composed of mercenaries either dishonorably discharged or specially trained for the job - after Jack passed away from cancer.
Despite her gender and young age, they followed her instructions with the same respect. As long as the money was good enough, they had no problem with calling her Captain. And Ed Carson always pays his people handsomely to keep their loyalties.
All in all, Jane pretty much grew up with the Carson family, as Jack would often take her to all the important meetings and missions to gain real-life experience. Field trips, he called them. So, every year on Thanksgiving and Christmas, Ed would invite her to the family dinner after Jack died.
Ten years, that’s how long she had been working for them.
Out of all enemies, she never once thought Paul Carson would want her dead. And she didn’t even see it coming.
Jane smiled bitterly. With the last adrenaline rush faded, she could feel her strength slipping away. She commanded herself to keep moving, one foot in front of the other, but she couldn’t move, it felt like she’d walked into a wall. A dead end. Strangely, the path ahead was clear, nothing was blocking her. She stopped walking, taking the chance to get some rest. But Jack’s voice spoke in her head.
Keep moving, Jane. He said.
Jane listened, moving her foot to take another step, then gave up when she couldn’t go forward.
Jane, you can’t stop, you need to keep moving. Jack Campbell spoke again, urgently.
I know, but I can’t! Jane shouted back in her mind and groaned.
The invisible wall felt so warm, so comfortable that she thought she was hallucinating, she wanted to close her eyes for a minute.
“Just one minute.” Jane murmured, she was so tired, so drained.
Then Jack’s voice in her head faded into a whisper, and he disappeared when the wall began to move away from her. She felt her whole world turned upside down as she reached out to grab a hold of him.
“No. Don’t leave me. Come back,” Jane called out to Jack Campbell, “please, don’t leave me...”
Then, the black void suddenly consumed her.