The moon hung low over Delhi, its pale glow smothered by drifting ash and the distant haze of fires. Inside the CGS base, the steel floodlights buzzed softly, illuminating barbed wire fences and armed watchtowers that loomed like silent sentinels.
Ayush sat in his narrow bunk, the Glock resting beside him. His fingers ran absentmindedly over the scars on his hands — each mark a memory of choices he could never take back. The last five years had carved him into something beyond human. Colder. Sharper. But tonight, the edges inside him felt restless.
A soft knock broke the silence. Ananya stepped in, her hair tied back, her eyes dark with unspoken worry. She carried a small cloth bag of ration bread and water, setting it down carefully before kneeling in front of him.
"You're leaving tonight, aren't you?" she whispered. Not a question. A quiet resignation.
Ayush looked at her, his jaw clenched. He wanted to lie — to promise safety, to promise a normal life they could never have. Instead, he reached out and cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing the edge of her jaw.
"I come back. I swear it," he said, voice low and heavy.
She caught his hand, gripping it tightly. "Every time you leave, you come back more distant. One day… I'm afraid I'll look at you and not find you anymore."
His forehead dropped against hers, his breath ragged. "I'm still me. Just… different battlefields."
She shook her head, tears gathering. "Don't forget who you are, Ayush… please."
Their lips met softly, a desperate, silent plea to hold onto something real in a world that had turned them into ghosts.
Meanwhile, in a hidden side room behind the main supply warehouse, Suraj traced lines across a dusty map. Leon leaned over it, armored vest strapped, helmet at his side. Kartik, breathing heavily, watched from a dark corner, hands clenched around a half-cleaned rifle. Shivam stood by the door, blade sharpened to a mirror edge, eyes flicking toward every faint sound outside.
The map was littered with markings — supply points, escape tunnels, guard rotations. A single red X marked the northern bridge.
"The convoy crashed there," Suraj said quietly. "Three armored trucks. Rumor is they carried sealed crates. Not just cash — vaccines, encrypted hard drives, trade contracts… real power. Whoever controls that cache controls negotiations with northern and southern survivor states."
Leon's eyes narrowed. "I thought we were after cash alone. Why wasn't I told about vaccines and data?"
Suraj shot him a cold look. "You don't need to know everything to do your job."
Leon stepped forward, voice low and dangerous. "Last time I trusted you to 'handle details,' you sold out half a refugee convoy for fuel. I won't make that mistake again."
The tension crackled. Kartik looked up, sweat beading on his forehead. "Stop… please. We can't splinter now."
Shivam stepped between them, pressing a hand to Leon's chest. "Save it for the real enemy. We're either together… or we die tonight."
Leon shoved past Suraj, picking up his helmet. "I go first. I scout. No one else."
Suraj scowled. "My scouts—"
Leon spun, eyes sharp as a blade. "Your scouts are loud and greedy. You want this mission to stay quiet? I go alone."
Suraj hesitated. Then, finally, he stepped back, raising both hands. "Fine. But if you betray us, Leon, I'll bury you myself."
Leon snorted, slipping his helmet on. "Get in line."
As Leon moved toward the outer gates, the base pulsed with mechanical life: guards shouting across towers, searchlights sweeping every corner, snipers tracking stray movements on the wall. He slipped between blind spots, every step rehearsed in his mind a thousand times.
Leon had learned the truth long ago: CGS was no ordinary survivor base. It was the BSA reborn — hidden beneath a new name, its strings now pulled by the Uncrowned King in Uttarakhand. The same man who once commanded him and Ayush, the same force that had betrayed them both.
Ayush had guessed as much. The strict protocols, the silent executions, the secret shipments — they all smelled like BSA. Tonight's mission wasn't just about crates. It was about finding out how far that old ghost had spread.
Back in the meeting room, Kartik sat trembling. His fingers tapped a broken helmet on the table, mind fracturing under the weight of memories.
"Are we really… are we really doing this?" he whispered, voice cracking.
Ayush knelt in front of him. "Kartik. Look at me."
Kartik's eyes flicked up, wide and haunted.
"We've survived everything. We've lost brothers, sisters, futures. We've been caged here for five years. Tonight is the first step to decide our fate — not theirs," Ayush said firmly.
Kartik's fingers finally relaxed. Slowly, he nodded, though his body still shook.
Nearby, Shivam cleaned his blade again and again, knuckles white. He thought of Riya, who was now stationed at the medical wing, tending to wounded guards. She had refused to join the mission — someone had to keep a lifeline inside, a place to return to if it all went wrong.
Suraj watched the group, his mind already racing ahead — mapping escape tunnels, counting ammo, calculating how many crates he could divert for his private empire. Yet under it all, even he felt the electric fear crawling across his skin.
Hours passed in tense silence.
Finally, the comm crackled to life on the table. Leon's voice came through, cold and sharp:
"Confirmed. Trucks intact. Minimum infected. Security presence minimal. Move now."
Suraj's mouth twitched into a razor-thin smile. "Finally."
Ayush stood up, slipping his Glock into the shoulder holster. His eyes swept across them one last time.
"No one acts alone. No gunshots unless absolutely necessary. We move as ghosts, we return as ghosts. Clear?"
"Clear," Shivam echoed, his voice low but firm.
"Clear," Kartik mumbled, nodding shakily.
Suraj gave a quick, curt nod. "No betrayal. No mercy."
Ayush turned toward the door. "Gear up. We take our future tonight."
Before leaving, Ayush returned to his room. Ananya sat curled on the edge of the bed, her arms wrapped around her knees. She looked up, her eyes red but defiant.
"You're really going," she said.
Ayush crossed the room in two strides, kneeling before her, pressing his forehead to her legs. "I come back. I promise."
Her fingers tangled in his hair, trembling. "If you turn into someone I don't know… I'll come find you and bring you back myself."
A small, tired laugh slipped from Ayush's lips. "You always do."
She leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. "Don't die out there."
His eyes rose to meet hers, warm and sharp all at once. "Not tonight."
Outside, the city waited — hollow temples, market skeletons, bloodied schoolyards echoing under the moonlight.
As they slipped past the gates, Suraj carried a hidden comm on his belt, Kartik gripped his rifle like a lifeline, and Shivam checked every shadow with predator's eyes.
Ayush led them forward, his silhouette steady against the cold wind.
Above them, CGS searchlights cut across the ruins like false stars, hunting for the lost and the rebellious.
But tonight, they wouldn't find ghosts.
Tonight, the game would begin again.