Second Wind

Chapter 12: Exposed

The feeling of unrestrained rage grew within Blake's conscience, and it festered so much that it was now something that she just could not ignore. Instead, this was a feeling that she began to embrace. With her mind filled with an unfathomable rage, she also finds herself completely overwhelmed by feeling of rejuvenation as well - it was hard for her to describe what she was currently feeling, but one thing was certain within her conscience.

She never felt this alive before.

She began pulling her arms and legs away from each other, with the vigilante immediately meeting great resistance due to the bindings on her wrists. The same could be said for her ankles as well. She wildly struggled in place as she attempted to break herself free from her restraints while the woman kept walking away from her. Sure, she could hear the struggling behind her, but she merely passed it off as some post-mortem spasms or something along those lines. She was not exactly the best when it came to medical stuff, and it clearly showed in her way of thinking. She was only really focused on the pharmaceutical stuff anyway.

Then came the screaming.

That was more than enough to make the woman stop as she looked over towards the side, seeing Blake struggle violently in place while she was busy trying to rid herself of her restraints. Sure, she could accept that she had somehow not overdosed and died on the spot, but she could not accept the fact that she seemed rather...unfazed. She was not struggling because the drug's influence commanded to - it did not seem that way. The vigilante looked to have been completely unaffected by what she had inhaled, much to her utter surprise. Because of this, she quickly approached her while Blake continued to wrestle with the ropes which bound her. Once she was basically standing a few meters away from the vigilante, the woman stared down at her as she reached into her pocket, seemingly ready to get this over with quickly while she still could.

"How are you even still here...you just refuse to back down, don't ya...?"

"You think...you can just deal with me that easily, huh...?"

As soon as Blake said those words, the sounds of snapping could be heard as Blake finally ripped off the ropes around her wrists and ankles, and when she freed herself from her bindings, she pulled herself back up to her feet, only for the woman to immediately retort by bringing out a pistol from her pocket and c*****g it at her, her finger already on the trigger as she took a step back in order to make some distance from the vigilante. Despite the lack of expression on her face, it was merely a way to mask her current state of slight concern, if not panic. She squinted her eyes as she gazed at Blake while she stood there, completely still like a statue so that the woman would not be provoked to take the shot. While Blake was now aware of her sudden burst of strength and fury, she still had enough intelligence to know that trying to rush her would mean certain death. With all things considered, the vigilante attempted to speak to her, trying to find a way to get herself out of this without having to risk a fight.

"You gotta think of what you're doing, girl. Think of all the lives you're ruining right now."

"Do you really think I care, you wench? This is what controls the city, dammit. This isn't just about the money. This is about the influence and power you get from it. It's what makes other gangs all over Michigan fear us. It's why this damn city hasn't been torched down to the ground yet. Because we're here."

"Just because you control this place doesn't mean you have to torture everyone here. Damn, don't your parents teach you any morals while you were growing up or something?"

That question in particular seemed to have angered the woman as she stared her down, gritting her teeth whilst displaying an undoubtedly irritated expression before closing her eyes with her emotions suddenly going through a quick change, momentarily letting her guard down as her finger slightly distanced itself away from the trigger while she spoke.

"...I wouldn't know how that would feel. Back when Detroit was still a chaotic mess, with everyone trying to kill each other for control, I lost my parents in the crossfire."

"...damn."

While Blake could understand her loss, she was certainly not phased by it - which probably explained why she immediately pounced on the woman's moment of emotional vulnerability, with the vigilante swiftly charging forward and disarming her as soon as she saw the opportunity to do so. The woman, who could not telegraph what the vigilante had plotted, ended up being caught off-guard as she was robbed of her firearm, and with the tides quickly shifting towards Blake, she instinctively took a step backward, away from the vigilante as she slightly raised her arms towards the air by her sides as a gesture of...'surrender'. All the woman could think of was how Blake had exploited her emotions, and this was something that greatly infuriated her as she voiced out what was on her mind.

"I should've known that something like this would've happened..."

"Psh...you were the one that let your guard down. If anything, you just made my job a whole lot easier. Now..."

She would leave her sentence hanging as she walked up to her, placing the pistol against the woman's forehead as she glared at her, all while bearing a gruesome smile on her face. It was so obvious that she was enjoying the change in fortune, especially after what had happened to her earlier.

"I could kill you right now, but..."

At that moment, she let out a scoff as she pulled the gun away from her, indicating that the vigilante was sparing her - however, before the woman could even react to what she did, Blake immediately knocked her down with one swift punch to the face, rendering her momentarily disoriented as she lost her balance, causing her to fall down to the side while the vigilante rushed up to her and kept her pinned to the ground, this time keeping the pistol right against her scalp as Blake began making her demands to her.

"You're pretty damn useful to me...there's a drug problem here that I need eradicating ASAP...in fact, there's a Pathfinder problem that I need eradicating ASAP...you know what I'm talking about, right?"

"D-Dammit...of course your urge to destroy the gang would still be around...do you even know what will happen should we fall? This entire city will be doomed...!"

"I'm not here to get fooled by anybody. Scum like you and those masked animals are already dooming this city to an eternity of suffering to begin with. Destroying families, ruining lives, spilling blood...and I'm expected to believe that things will get WORSE if you're gone? How about you quit the half-assed excuses and just accept your fate, huh?!"

"Ugh...how unsurprising...that you won't see the bigger picture."

"Don't try and test my patience. I'm just really tempted to blow your brains out right now, but if I do that, my job will be a lot more difficult. So here's what we're gonna do. You're gonna tell me where all of your drugs are stored in, and more importantly, you're going to tell me where the rest of your drugs are being manufactured in. Tell me what I want to know, and I'll let you go. No hard feelings. That sound good to ya? Or are you gonna pretend like you've been loyal to your gang since the day you were born?"

The woman remained silent, closing her eyes as she gritted her teeth - looks like she was at the complete mercy of the vigilante. She was not in a position to fight back as well, as any act other than compliance will result in getting shot to death. Because of this, she let out a defeated sigh as the woman gave her a nod, knowing that she was forced to help her for the time being.

"...fine."

Blake, having finally managed to break the woman's will, let out a relieved sigh as she pulled the gun away from her head before getting herself off her, allowing the woman to make herself stand upright once more, given how she could not do so due to the vigilante keeping her pinned down just mere moments ago. Once she got herself up on her feet, Blake continued keeping the pistol aimed at her, knowing that she needed to be ready in case of any sign of defection from the woman's end. Wanting to lower the tension of the situation for a bit, the vigilante posed a simple question to her.

"Got a name? I hate the lack of introductions."

The woman merely stared down at the ground in response to her question, spitting onto the ground soon afterward before looking back towards the vigilante with a hateful expression.

"I'm only here to help you...not talk to you. Don't even try and get more than what you've bargained for."

"Oh? Right, in that case..."

As soon as she said those words, she suddenly fired the gun in her hand towards the woman's general direction, causing her eyes to suddenly widen in an instant as she took a step back, almost as if to helplessly brace for the bullet that would hit her...

...only for the bullet to miss.

Turns out that Blake had purposefully fired the shot very close to the woman, but not directly at her. When the woman realized that she did not feel anything hit her, she glanced over to the side, attempting to process what had happened. While she was still locked in that relatively catatonic state of hers, the vigilante repeated her question once again.

"The name, buddy."

Now knowing that the vigilante would not hesitate to kill her on the spot if she wanted to, she was quick to comply as she told her what she wanted to know.

"T-The name's Lettie."

"Finally. About time you'd c***k. I'd tell you my name as well, but I forgot what my actual name was. Anyway, now that we're done with that...time to go back to business."

With that, the vigilante returned to aiming the firearm at Lettie as she posed one simple question.

"You already know what my questions are. Where are they?"

After a moment of silence shared between the two, the woman merely let out a huff as she shook her head side to side in disappointment before speaking up, telling her what Blake demanded to know.

"...the other manufacturing spot is at the Citadel of Praise. And for the two storage spots, you need to find the old Commission Building along with the White Factory."

"Anything else I need to know?"

"...gangsters. A lot of them. Those places in particular will be heavily guarded. For you to take them all on by your own will be suicide. I'm sure you know that."

"I'm aware. As much as I want to shoot all of your men down without any care in the world, I know that's not the most practical approach. Which is why I plan on doing something else."

"Which is?"

"Psh, am I supposed to tell you?"

With that, she lowered her firearm down as she let out a scoff before giving Lettie some parting words.

"You know, I was really considering just shooting you down on the spot, but I guess I can't see myself doing that, especially after promising you that I won't finish you off if you gave me the info I need. But know that this won't be the last time you'll see me, believe me when I say that. I suggest getting yourself ready for the worst to come."

"...you think you can threaten me? You're all alone. We're an entire legion. You may already know where we operate, but we'll make sure that you won't even live to see yourself step even an inch into our territory."

When Lettie attempted to snap back at Blake with a threat of her own, she was met only with ridicule as the vigilante laughed in response to her attempts to intimidate her, leaving the woman rather confused, if not frustrated. In fact, it was enough to make her call out the vigilante on her lack of concern involving the threat that she had received.

"What's so funny?!"

"I don't think you realize just how serious I am involving all this. When I say I'll tear everything down, I'm tearing everything down. And that includes you. In due time, when I see you again, I won't hesitate to take the shot and finish you off myself. I'll do that to you, I'll do that to your men, and I'll do that to your precious boss. When I'm done in this city, not even a trace of the Pathfinder must be left behind. Not even a TRACE!"

"You really are as stubborn as a mule...if you really think that getting rid of us will save this city, then you can continue with your delusions. But know that now we have a reason to stop you in your tracks. The Pathfinder's control over Detroit needs to stay strong, and your existence is threatening that control."

"Ugh, you sound like a complete politician...how about you come at me right now, huh?!"

Blake was quick to bluntly taunt Lettie as the vigilante smacked her hands against her chest - a gesture for invitation for the woman to attack her if she felt like doing so. However, Lettie was not keen on falling for her provocation as she let out a huff before turning away from her, intending on diffusing the situation immediately. The vigilante, wanting to keep to her word, kept her firearm down. To shoot her down in this scenario would be something rather cowardly, which was something that she wanted to actively avoid. As the woman began to leave the vicinity, she stopped moving after a few steps forward before glancing over at Blake and repeating her warning to her in an attempt to shake her will in the dying moments of their heated conversation.

"You already know what will happen if you try and go up against us, right? You will live your entire life in nothing but paranoia and fear...in due time, we will stop you for good. I don't think, I know it will happen."

Blake merely raised an eyebrow upon hearing Lettie's words before cracking a smile and letting out a snicker between her teeth before snapping back at her with words of her own.

"Really now? If you think it'll happen, just try and stop me when the time arrives. I just know that things will turn out horribly for you and your stupid motley crew. And I'll say that to anyone that tries to go up against me. So how about you buzz off and figure out how to wipe me off the map before I change my mind and blast a hole between your eyes?"

Lettie, not wanting to carry on with this conversation any longer, ultimately decided to take her leave as she leaves Blake behind. The vigilante could only stand there and stare as she watched her enter a car that was parked at the side of a road next to the field that Blake was currently on. Once the car took off and was out of sight, the vigilante momentarily looked down at the ground as she tried to collect her thoughts and steady her mind. It was clear that while she was still very much okay, she was also very winded due to the effects of the drug that she had forcibly inhaled. She began rummaging through her pockets while her mind began racing, an indication of her rage-powered adrenaline beginning to subside with the whole situation having cooled down considerably.

After what felt like eons in her conscience, she finally pulled out a cellphone from her left pocket as she powered it on, attempting to seek out the locations of the areas that Lettie had told her of. It took a bit of time for her to find the places that she was looking for, but in due time, after managing to record her targets' coordinates, she let out a tired huff as she took one good look at where she currently was on her GPS application - Eliza Howell Park. Well, what was left of the park, anyway.

The only thing she could see around her was grass - acres of it. There were a few trees scattered about, but that was about it. The whole place was barren, completely devoid of life...it was rather unnerving. Sure, she never noticed it at first, but that was only because she was occupied with Lettie. But now that she was gone...she could really feel the unsettling nature of this place. All the more reason for her to get out of here as soon as possible - the problem was that she really did not know where to go. She looked up at the sky, noticing that it was somewhat dark out with some hints of sunlight evident in the mix, and when she momentarily shifted her attention towards her phone to check the time, she realized that it was quite early in the morning - about 7 AM.

She looked to be at a loss on what to do, but she was certain that she would have to execute her plan on dealing with the drug supply points and storage units later - she was not in the best state at the moment. After a few moments of thinking, she ultimately decided to find her way back to the bar. She had enough knowledge of Brightmoor's streets to ensure that she could get there without losing her sense of direction in the process.

Not wanting to waste time, she quickly got a move on - get the bike, return to the bar. Should be easy enough.

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Her scouting of Brightmoor proved to be very fruitful, as she was able to make her way back to her vehicle after 30 minutes of walking had went by. When she arrived at the alley where she parked her motorcycle in, she took a quick peek at the Grace Refuge Chapel, wanting to see if anything had happened there - while the building was still intact, the doors were left open, implying that everyone had packed up, evacuated the grounds and took off. Choosing to investigate the church some other time, she made her way back to her motorcycle before mounting it and powering it on, and just like that, she quickly blazed down the mostly empty alley, wanting to get to the bar as soon as possible.

She was quick to get to her destination, with the journey barely taking five minutes. By the time she arrived, she noticed that the bar was still closed, which was easily indicated by the shutters evident behind the entrance door. When she took one good look at the operating hours which were displayed on the glass pane which represented the door, she soon learned that she needed to wait until 10 AM for the bartender to show up and get the bar functional again. While she was very much irritated about this revelation, she knew that she could not do anything about it - after all, it was partially her fault for being too lazy to read the bar's operating hours, despite her being a literal regular customer there.

Although she wanted to spend that time to scout and investigate the locations that she had learned about from Lettie, she found herself incredibly fatigued - she had to deal with an overdose, a drug trip that she was not prepared for at all, and considering the lack of sleep that she had been getting over the past few weeks, it was clear that sleepiness was going to be inevitable. Because of this, she turned away from the entrance door before leaning against it and slinking down to the ground, keeping herself suspended in a sitting position as she eventually passed out on the spot once her eyes closed themselves shut.

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After three hours had passed, the bartender was seen driving down the alley where the bar was situated in. He was driving a simple scooter - a fitting vehicle for someone like him and of his somewhat advanced age. When he noticed someone up against the door, he came to a stop just a few meters away from the building before getting off his ride and approaching the vigilante, who was still asleep, and thus, unaware of the bartender's presence. Upon realizing that it was Blake when he took a closer look at the figure, he grabbed onto her shoulders before lightly shaking her in place in order to wake her up.

"Wake up, dammit..."

Sure enough, the shaking was enough to make the vigilante stir as her eyes flickered open, and when she noticed the bartender right in front of her, it was more than sufficient to shock her awake as she quickly pulled herself back up to her feet, causing the bartender to let go of her shoulders in the process. With Blake now fully conscious, she quickly wiped some drool that was coming off the side of her mouth before speaking to the bartender in a rather irritated manner. All the bartender could do was just stare at her in disbelief while she began speaking to him.

"Took you long enough..."

"...how long have you been waiting here, exactly?"

"Uh...I think it must've been hours. I don't really recall..."

"Didn't I tell you to get some sleep? Now look at you...you look terrible. What even happened to you?"

"I'll tell you what you need to know, but first, open up the bar. I'm sweating like a sinner in church right now..."

"...right."