"That woman is gone!"

For a second, the room went still as they processed the words echoing through the room. Then, slowly, everyone’s eyes widened as their breaths hitched.

"Useless fucking Jung!" the orange-haired man seethed as he marched toward the door. He shoved the soldier aside, shouting, "What the fuck are you still waiting for? Gear up and don’t let her touch a fucking thing!"

Following behind him was the man with the large mole on his face, his eyes just as wide and unblinking.

But just as they stepped out and took a few steps, everyone stopped dead in their tracks and winced. A sharp frequency noise echoed throughout the ship, forcing everyone to cover their ears.

Then, the noise disappeared and was replaced by a person’s voice.

"Ahem, ahem!" came a woman’s voice. "Good evening, passengers. This is the newly appointed captain of the ship. Before anything else, welcome aboard. I hope you’re all having a good time."

Her short, light chuckle echoed briefly in the background.

"Anyway, the previous captain jumped off the ship, saying he wanted to take a bath. So, as the temporary captain in charge, I have a few announcements to make."

"First..." she paused. "Have you seen this movie called Titanic?" she asked, humming. "I’m asking because we’re far from any iceberg, but I promise you all, we will reach one. Eventually. Don’t worry, though. I’ll speed us up so we can find one in time."

She nodded while pressing random buttons on the navigation desk. "Third and lastly, uh... I’m definitely not making this announcement from the navigation deck. Don’t look for me here; you’ll be disappointed! I’m somewhere on the ship, hiding... waiting... ambushing. You all better be careful."

"Do you want a clue where I am?" she continued. "I’m somewhere very far... like, very far..."

Ashley continued her nonsense, giving "hints" about her whereabouts when, clearly, she needed to work on that.

"Be very careful, fellas," she warned. "This world... is mad, and the people in it are crazy! Goodness. Whenever I think about it, I shiver."

Meanwhile, everyone listening to her nonsense from every corner of the ship looked up.

"What the fuck are you still doing?!" the man leading the group shouted from the office. "Go fucking get her!"

The orange-haired man and the guy with the mole ground their teeth, eyes glinting at the woman who kept talking crap. It wasn’t the fact that she escaped instead of sleeping soundly inside the container that got to them.

It was the fact that this woman was lying through her teeth about her whereabouts when it was obvious to everyone that, to make this announcement, she had to be on the navigation deck.

"Get the psycho bitch!"

With that, all the men aboard began moving, weapons in hand and tension running high. There were only two things on their minds.

The first was to catch Ashley.

And the second was...

Useless fucking Jung!

*****

Meanwhile, Ashley turned off the microphone and stared at it with a chuckle. She ran her tongue along the side of her teeth, shaking her head before shrugging.

"Oh, well."

She looked around, smirking at the sight of people sprawled unconscious across the floor, including the captain of the ship and some soldiers aboard

Then, she marched toward the small monitor in the room, unbothered by the people who would be flocking to this place any second now.

As soon as she stood in front of one of the monitors, all she saw was a pixelated chat box that wasn’t supposed to be there.

It said:

[Omen: Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!!!] 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Ashley chuckled as she typed quickly.

[Ghost: I’ll be waiting.]

Once she sent that, Ashley ran her fingers across the keyboard until every exchange with Omen disappeared without a trace. Then, she reached for the phone she looted from the captain and checked it with a smile.

"We’ll see," she hummed, a glint flickering across her eyes as she glanced back at the locked entrance to the captain’s deck. "I hope that dude isn’t dead yet."

That dude... she meant that new lackey she got.

*

*

*

[Earlier]

"This one has the keys."

Ashley’s mouth parted into an o-shape. "Impressive."

Rus huffed and shook his head, disregarding how she could look so impressed while her entire body was chained up. He squatted down and reached into Jung’s pockets, checking for the keys to her chains.

Once he found them, he reached for the locks around her ankles.

"By the way, why are you here?" Ashley asked. "Weren’t you supposed to be with your friends?"

Rus scoffed and snapped his eyes toward her. "Do you think we’re the kind of people who hide behind a woman’s back?"

"Uh..." she blinked. "Yes."

"You —"

She pursed her lips and bit back her laughter. Meanwhile, Rus clicked his tongue in irritation and resumed undoing the locks. There were quite a few of them, as if they had chained up some massive wild animal.

"Instead of asking me why I’m here, you should be thanking me that I am," he said. "Otherwise, how are you going to unlock these things on your own?"

"I have my means." She shrugged, raising her brows when Rus glanced at her.

He scoffed and shook his head. However, even though he found that ridiculous and reckless, he didn’t question it. For many reasons, he had a feeling that, with or without him, she would’ve found a way to break free from the chains.

That first guy lying motionless beside her was proof enough.

As the chains around her feet came undone, Rus reached for her hands and tugged them closer. She flinched slightly at the brief roughness, but he said nothing as he figured out which key fit the restraints around her wrists.

Meanwhile, Ashley tilted her head to the side while studying him.

"Seriously, why are you here?"

"Why do you keep asking?" he snapped irritably, glaring at her. "I’m here because I would never stomach having a woman help us, let alone that woman supposedly being our captive."

"That’s exactly why I’m asking." She nodded, blinking slowly. "Do you know how many times I’ve killed you in my head while I was slurping that noodle?"

She paused.

"If those two came back a little later with that injured person you call Khan, you’d be the first one to go."

For a second, Rus tensed as he stared at the small smile on her face. It was genuine, yet it sent a shiver crawling down his spine.

Then, she added with that same smile, "It just so happened things got a little more interesting. So, you should thank... me? No, I guess you should thank these people instead. If not for them, there would’ve been no reason for you to be here, let alone still breathing."

At that moment, Rus realized that even when Khan was drifting in and out of consciousness, he had been right.

This woman... wasn’t helping them at all.

It may have looked like it, but that wasn’t the case. Telling them to go to Dominion, her dealing with the Knights Gang, and coming here... all of it served her personal interests.

As for them?

She wanted them alive for whatever twisted reason.

"Fuck," Rus breathed out, staring her straight in the eye. "We’re... fucking screwed."