Gunner's Paradise

The Last Straw 1.2

The other members of the council were then adjourned until further information or the capture had been done.

Mathinda was alone now inside the room. What to do about that girl? She sounds just like what the other gang in the area is looking for. Hmmm, no, that wouldn't work best for me. It would be best if all of them fight each other and I just clean them all up. She smiled wickedly to herself, yes I think that would be best. Besides, although they have far more weapons than us we have the advantage of guns here as it is a very scarce commodity; all we have to do is wait out the storm.

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The noise around them had made it easy for them to talk without having to worry about being heard. Henry was deep in conversation with a new homeless person from the moment he left the council meeting. He had his head covered over so he wouldn't be so easy to identify as a precaution. The conversation was so deep; he did not realize that he was being watched for the longest time and the changes that were happening around him. The old man that had given the information to the Council now lay in a ditch. He had begged for his life as Henry killed him and threw at his corpse the bread which he had sought. He had revealed all of the information to this person and some others; two of them had left to relay the information back to headquarters. The stench of the old man still lingered on him and he then wished that someone else had done the job.

This was what made him more and more want to leave this place but still, it was a small price to pay for Henry. He could almost taste his prize and his way out, his way to true freedom. As he came back to reality he realized that his surroundings had changed. Everything was quiet and as he looked around, he realized that he was surrounded. They both looked at each other in fright.

The man panicked and tried to fight to get himself away but was hit instantly with a makeshift spear that was thrust deeply inside his stomach. Blood gurgled from his mouth and in his last effort to struggle away; he fell back on himself and bled to death. Henry did not make any effort to run away. He still believed he could talk himself out of this situation. Nothing on his part had been revealed or so he thought as Mya came out to him from within the crowd.

She looked at him with a smile on her face. "What did I tell you before?"

Before he could think of a way to even respond to her taunt, she left him no room for negotiations. "Take him." She outstretched her arm in a command, "Place him with the others, and then we will have them all confess soon enough before we present them."

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Alexander was attended by another while he walked through the hallway until he came to a door flanked by two guards. He gave them a nod as they opened the door for him. Behind the door laid a naked man in a pool flanked by two beautiful women. On seeing him enter, the man signaled for the women to leave. They both passed Alexander. One held a smile on her face, the other just gave him a frown. He got up and sat down covering himself before sitting in one of the chairs and gave Alexander a signal to speak to him.

"The reports from our men at the school indicate that they found someone matching the description of the girl. We had questioned some of those we saw entering and dispose of them so evidence won't leak back to us."

"I see good work, Alexander. We have to get the jump there and find them before anyone else does. Send our men in that area with haste, and we must find that girl before that woman. Make sure they are all fully armed as she wouldn't be expecting to bump into us. Give them the order to kill if they have to."

"It's safer this way and it will put that woman in line; she will learn who calls the shots here."

"The girl's safety is the main priority. Once we have her, we rule this place, none of the other gangs will matter and we will show them the true power of the White Fist."

Alexander nodded his head "Understood, I will have the men move even more careful than usual." He signaled to the man with him and he went out to complete the instructions.

"There is one more thing I would like you to do for me. Send word to contact that man once again and let him play his part as well. He will be necessary for later on. We will need a check on all the guns and ammunition that we have available."

"When we deliver the girl, the injection of the cash flow will place us high above everyone else. They won't be able to catch up and since everyone is thinking this way, it will be a race to secure that girl, whoever captures her wins this city."

"Things have only been calm at this moment because of the three-way power struggle. If one attacks another, then the other gang can just swoop in. It kept the balances in place. However, now with these Swidley groups that encroach in our territory, it's making it difficult for us to collect the money. We don't have the manpower to deal with these pests. Any suggestion there?"

"It seems they are not only in our controlled area but also in the other factions as well. We can't tell if their all related to each other or just separate entities working independently of themselves. However, we do know that they are extremely sloppy and that they are bottom feeders at best."

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"Maybe we could also stage an uprising at that school. We already have a man there, let him take over and I don't mind having new fodder recruits for the upcoming war. It wouldn't be a bad thing." Alexander said.

"For the perfect game, all of the pieces must be in the correct place to score the checkmate," Lashley replied.

"It's been a long while my friend since we have been alone, you don't have to be so stiff," Lashley said. "Here, let me pour you some wine, and let's reminisce."

"Yeah it has been a long while, it's just that I have gotten accustomed to this and I understand my role," Alexander said.

Alexander took a seat as Lashley passed him a glass with a large grin on his face. He took a big sip and then choked on it. Lashley laughed then nodded his head, "the best stuff in the city," he smiled. "You still can't hold your drinks down Alexander as usual."

"No, but I'm assuming I will be having a lot of time soon in the future to do all my practicing," Alexander responded.

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It took a long while before they made it to the area of their destination; Mark sipped some water as he glanced over the street.

Mark had his men spread out over the last spotted area for the children; he did this as not to draw any level of suspicion. People here only responded to bribery. He waved some money at them once he believed they had any information worth telling and now he knew that some kids stayed at an apartment with a man. On arriving at the location, he gave the building a glance around. It didn't seem like where he would expect those kids to be but he had to go with it regardless. He gave an order for his men to position themselves in such a way that the people inside couldn't escape and then he casually walked towards the door. He wanted to give the element of surprise to them and catch the kids off guard. He could hear noise coming from inside and he gave the door a loud knock. Having received no response, he knocked again; still nothing. He signaled to the other guy next to him and he kicked the door; once, twice before it swung open.

They pulled out their guns and entered the house cautiously. There were traces of someone being there; a wet towel, kid stuff: a girl maybe. Before he could take the time to fully study anything in detail, a gunshot rang out from outside. He heard one of his men cursing in frantic screams as he heard a barrage of bullets that seem to be coming from different angles outside. He left the apartment to peer down over the balcony as a bullet whizzed past his head. He turned to see a man with a semi-auto handgun aimed at him who had just climbed up the stairs. He was barely able to react to the first shot, firing blindly without much time to aim. The bullet somehow managed to connect with the man's chest and he ducked himself instinctively back into the apartment.

He was positioned at the door and he turned his gun to face the stairs and continued firing blindly. There was no response and he repeated this just in case.

The other two men with him rushed out of the apartment using the fire as cover, rotating shots at the wall. No other person was there, the shooting downstairs was still going on.

One guy guarded the stairs and the next started taking single shots from the top of the apartment.

What the hell was happening? Mark thought as he looked down again to see that his men were being attacked by about five men that he could see. They didn't really have that much ammunition and he knew this couldn't last. The best thing would be to fall back but to where he didn't know or how much the enemy knew of their strength or position.

He watched one of the attacking men fall, after being hit from above as the directions of the gunshots changed from just below to atop as well.

"Damn!" he shouted.

He heard another attacker fall but so too did one of his men.

That was the last one downstairs and he heard the sudden shout of the gunner positioned by the steps as he started to come under fire. He watched him take a few shots in return.

Mark pulled himself back into the house and was about to call for the other guy to do the same but it was too late. A bullet found its mark in his head as he was running back and two men ran past him firing at Mark.

Mark got hit in the arm; he cringed in pain but manage to get himself inside the house as one man tried to enter. Mark managed to shoot him in the head but the last guy that followed shot Mark in the stomach, sending him falling back on the floor of the living room. Mark fired a shot as he fell and watched the other guy slowly dropped to the ground.

Damn, Mark thought. Damn this didn't go the way I thought it would. I am not so bad. I can survive this and make it back to the school; he tried to reassure himself as the pain from his shoulder and stomach kicked in.

After ten minutes Mark managed to get himself up. He used his shirt to suppress the bleeding in his stomach by pressing against the gunshot wound. Struggling to walk, He had to hold on to the side of the wall to get himself around. He knew he couldn't stay here much longer; more men might be on their way and he wasn't sure if any of his men were still alive.

He slowly walked out of the apartment holding his side. He took his time and moved forward gradually. One of the apartment doors opened slowly.

A man smoking a cigarette casually stepped out as though he didn't hear any of the gunfire in the area. Mark looked him over and saw behind him three kids, yes they were the children he was after. He could not mistake Natalya's face. He went to draw his gun but felt instead his body crashing down to the floor as he slumped over.