Stand Alone

Stand Alone
She walked away five years ago, leaving behind a past she desperately tried to escape. Now, a familiar corridor calls her back to the shadows of Department 21. McKenzie Taylor, ex-recruit, former marine, and master of secrets, finds herself thrust into a high-stakes operation. Can she confront the ghosts of her past and navigate a world where trust is a luxury, or will this mission be her final stand?

The air in the long, sterile corridor hung heavy with the scent of stale disinfectant and forgotten ambition. It was exactly as McKenzie remembered: the light grey walls scarred with countless dirty marks, the once-white floor a tapestry of muddy footprints. Utterly deserted, it echoed with a silence that was both comforting and unsettling.

She walked with a practiced, almost silent grace, her fingers brushing against the cold, unforgiving surface of the wall. Each step was a memory, a phantom whisper of a life she’d left behind five years ago.

Her destination was the operations room, its heavy black door still emblazoned with the stark, familiar letters: “OP.” A brief hesitation, a flicker of doubt, then she pushed it open. The immediate click and whir of guns cocking, the sudden convergence of a dozen barrels on her chest, was a welcome, if dangerous, familiarity.