The Crimson Virus: The Betrayal

The storm hammered against the night, rain pelting down like a waterfall sheet as the team pushed toward extraction. The compound descended into chaos around them, every passing second more and more perilous as it grew increasingly tough to keep their enemy in front of them. Mercer’s forces were closing; Reynolds knew their time was now, or risk everything falling over into chaos with this entire op.

“Keep moving!” Hayes yelled, her voice barely audible over the thunder.  The plan had been simple: infiltrate, extract the intel, and get out. Now, it was a desperate race for survival.

He took the lead, thinking only of the mission. He could not think of failure at this point. Not now that they were so close. The blueprints for the new weapon had confirmed his worst fears. This was no ordinary biological weapon. This was a weapon that could mutate in real time, adapt to its environment, and even resist known countermeasures. If it were unleashed, there would be no stopping it.

But the closer they got to the exfil point, the more trouble their instincts told them. This was not even a good firefight; this was a scavenger hunt – anything might be lurking behind a tree, in a shadow.

“Something’s not right,” Reynolds whispered to himself.

Hayes looked at him, her eyes narrowing. “What do you mean?”

Reynolds hesitated. “It’s too easy. They should’ve been all over us by now. I don’t think we’re being followed—they’re letting us go.”

Hayes stopped in her tracks, her hand on her weapon. “Letting us go? Why?”

Before Reynolds could answer, the sound of footsteps echoed from the darkness ahead. It was too late to retreat. They were surrounded.

“Down!” Reynolds shouted, as he hit the deck, pulling Hayes and the rest of the team behind a nearby stack of crates. The air was heavy with wet earth and fear as they crouched there, weapons ready, waiting for whatever came next.

Footsteps grew louder and then, out of the shadows, emerged a figure Reynolds never expected to see: Captain Leo Grant, his former mentor. He had been part of the team for years and was a respected leader. However, standing before them, he was nothing but a shadow of the man that Reynolds had looked up to once.

“Grant? What in the hell are you doing here?” Reynolds asked, his voice shaking with disbelief.

Grant didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stepped forward, his eyes cold and unreadable. “I’m doing my job, Marcus.”

Reynolds felt the ground shift beneath his feet. “Your job? With them? You’re working with Mercer?”

Grant’s lips curled into a smile, but there was no warmth in it—only contempt. “It’s not about Mercer, Marcus. It’s about the bigger picture. The Crimson Virus… the new one. It’s the key to shaping the future. A new world order, where power is in the hands of those who control the virus.”

Reynolds’s heart dropped. “You’re insane.”

Grant’s smile faded. “No, Marcus. I’m not insane. I’m a realist. The world needs change, and the virus is the tool to make that happen. The current system is broken, and only chaos can rebuild it.”

“You’re willing to destroy everything for that?” Hayes’s voice was sharp, filled with disbelief.

Grant’s eyes passed over her and for a brief instant, recognition flared up, but that was gone instantly. “Sacrifices have to be made. You won’t understand.”

Reynolds’s mind churned. Grant had always been faithful, had always had that sense of responsibility. What could have changed him? How was he so comprehensively manipulated? He could never again trust this former mentor—he had crossed that line, and there was no going back.

“I won’t let you,” Reynolds said bluntly, tensing his grasp on his pistol.

Grant’s eyes turned opaque, and between them, sparks of tension sparked. “No choice, Marcus. You are too dangerous; you know far too much stuff. I didn’t want things to go so far.”

In a split second after he finished talking, the whole world seemed to break loose in chaos. Bullets were bursting in the night air as Reynolds and Hayes returned fire, pushing their way through the storm of bullets. The team scattered, every member moving in precision to take out their attackers. But Grant was already making his way towards the building, his back against Reynolds and his team.

“After him!” Reynolds shouted above the din.

Through alleyways and the bleakness of abandoned buildings, they ran after Grant. But now it was much more than just stopping Mercer. This was a fight to live.