CLEANERS

Chapter 7: Urban Hunt

The convoy to Batangas never made it out of Manila.

Twenty minutes into the drive, Agent Fernandez's radio crackled with an emergency override: "All units, all units. Priority deployment, Metro Manila. Multiple civilian casualties reported. Coordinated attacks in progress."

Fernandez pulled over immediately, her expression grim as she listened to the tactical updates. "Change of plans," she announced to the team. "We're not going to Batangas anymore."

"What's happening?" Carmen asked from the passenger seat.

"Urban operation. Something's gone active in the city multiple locations, coordinated timing." Fernandez was already turning the vehicle around. "Command wants all available teams redirected to Manila incidents."

David's radio buzzed with assignment details. "Taguig district, residential compound. Three families attacked, perpetrators still on site."

As they drove through Manila's morning traffic, Denmar felt overwhelmed by the urban environment. The rice fields of San Roque had clear sightlines, predictable terrain, natural hiding spots. This maze of concrete and glass was completely different.

"Urban hunting is nothing like rural operations," Miguel explained, noticing the twins' obvious discomfort. "More civilians, more witnesses, vertical attack vectors, escape routes through buildings. One mistake and we have media attention, government oversight, mass panic."

"Plus the aswang behavior changes in cities," Carmen added. "They adapt to the environment use infrastructure, blend with human populations, exploit urban noise to mask their activities."

The compound was typical middle-class housing narrow alleys between buildings, multiple entry points, countless shadows. To the experienced agents, it was clearly dangerous terrain. To the twins, it just looked like a neighborhood.

"Thermal imaging shows movement in the adjacent structure," Miguel reported, checking his scanner as they approached on foot. "Four signatures, coordinated positioning."

"They're still here?" Marden asked, confused. "Why didn't they leave after feeding?"

"Because this is a trap," David replied grimly. "Urban aswang use feeding sites to ambush response teams. They've learned our response patterns."

They entered the compound through the main gate, weapons ready, the twins staying close behind the veterans as instructed. The crime scene was sickeningly familiar homes torn apart from inside, dark stains on concrete walls, families eliminated with surgical precision.

But even in this unfamiliar environment, the twins' survival instincts honed by their own family's massacre remained sharp.

Marden automatically positioned himself where he could see multiple approach routes, his head turning at sounds the others missed. "Movement in the second-floor windows," he muttered. "At least two of them, watching our entry pattern."

Denmar was analyzing the attack site with the same methodical approach he'd used in San Roque. "The claw marks are fresh, but the blood patterns suggest this happened hours ago. They stayed here deliberately."

"Good tactical read," Carmen noted approvingly. "They're using the scene as bait."

The crying started then a baby's wail that seemed to come from multiple directions. The experienced agents moved into defensive positions immediately, but the twins hesitated, their humanity warring with their training.

"That's how Tiyanak lure victims," Sofia explained, seeing their confused expressions. "They mimic infant distress calls to draw in potential prey."

But Denmar was already frowning, his analytical mind working. "The acoustic patterns are wrong. It's coming from three different locations, but the timing suggests coordination. They're using it as a tactical signal, not just bait."

Miguel looked impressed despite the circumstances. "Smart observation. You're reading the tactical signature."

The attack came from three directions simultaneously a coordinated assault that would have overwhelmed most civilian response teams.

Tiyanak dropped from second-story windows while others emerged from ground-level hiding spots. The creatures moved with inhuman speed and coordination, but the CLEANERS team was ready.

Carmen's blessed blade caught the first attacker mid-leap, the silver gleaming as it found its mark. David's modified firearm barked repeatedly, salt rounds forcing another creature back. Sofia moved with practiced efficiency, covering the team's flanks.

The twins, despite their inexperience with urban combat, found their survival instincts taking over.

When a Tiyanak lunged at Denmar from a blind spot, he didn't follow proper tactical protocol instead, he reacted with the desperate improvisation that had kept him alive from past experience, grabbing a piece of broken concrete and hurling it at the creature's face while rolling away from its claws.

Marden, seeing his brother in danger, ignored formation discipline entirely and charged the creature with his blessed knife not the controlled, trained approach the CLEANERS preferred, but the savage determination of someone who'd already lost everything once.

"They fight like survivors, not soldiers," David observed, providing covering fire as the twins struggled with their attacker.

"Sometimes that's better," Carmen replied, dispatching another Tiyanak with surgical precision. "Soldiers follow patterns. Survivors adapt."

The fight was brief but intense. When the last creature fell, the twins were breathing hard, their equipment in disarray, their tactical positioning completely wrong by CLEANERS standards.

But they were alive, and they'd contributed to the victory.

"Not bad for first urban deployment," Fernandez said, surveying the aftermath. "Though you both need serious work on formation discipline."

"We'll live with that," Marden replied, still gripping his weapon. "Better than following protocol and dying properly."

As they prepared to leave the scene, Miguel's scanner detected something troubling. "These weren't random attacks," he announced, studying his readings. "The coordination patterns, the tactical positioning they were testing our response capabilities."

"Testing for what?" Sofia asked.

"To see how we handle urban operations. They're learning our methods, our equipment, our team structures." Miguel's expression was grim. "This was reconnaissance."

Agent Fernandez's radio crackled again with updates from other incident locations. The news wasn't similar coordinated attacks across multiple districts, all with the same testing pattern, all designed to probe CLEANERS capabilities.

"They're preparing for something bigger," she said finally. "And now they know exactly how we respond to urban threats."

As they loaded back into their vehicles, Denmar couldn't shake the feeling that they'd just participated in the opening moves of a much larger conflict. The aswang weren't just getting bolder they were getting smarter.

And somewhere out there, something was coordinating their evolution from random predators into an organized threat that could challenge even the CLEANERS' urban capabilities.