Second Wind

Chapter 13: Preparation

"Okay, so let me get this straight. You tried to sneak into one of the places where the Pathfinder was actively making their drugs. You masked yourself as one of the gangsters in order to get inside, only for you to get exposed anyway. The one who's been facilitating this whole drug debacle has already found out who you are. You were forced to huff a new strain of meth that they've been trying to create in hopes that you would overdose and die, but somehow, you were able to break yourself free and interrogate the one who bound you up in the first place. And now, you know where the other drug manufacturing points are, as well as where they are stored. Did I do this recap right or did I miss anything?"

"Look, I know all this sounds stupid, but this was my experience over the last 10 hours. I don't know what the hell they're cooking there, but I just know that it'll hurt a lot of people if stuff like this goes out. It's already bad enough that there's so many drug addicts on the streets, many of which probably never wanted to be part of this in the first place, but this? This'll just put many people right into an early grave on the spot. I already know where I need to be from here on out - but I need to be careful with my approach. I can't afford to jump into this guns blazing. I'll need to figure a way to deal with this without risking getting into many fights..."

"Hmm...in that case, looks like you might have to start going into hiding again."

"As usual. I have some suggestions in mind, but I think I need to narrow it down before I ultimately decide on something definitive. I'm already so close to reaching my goal - all I have to do now is to be careful at this point. I'm sure that Lettie will be hunting me down so that she can stop me from causing any further destruction. Which means you gotta be careful as well, ya old geezer."

"Psh, you don't have to worry so much. I've been in a good number of shootouts myself, and hey, I'm still standing right here."

"I get that, but you know how these weirdos are. They'll probably surround you with an entire convoy."

"Hmm, that is true...but hey. I always have plans for every situation. It's what allowed me to stay alive for this long."

"Right. In that case, I think I'll need to start driving around the streets. There's some shops that I want to find, and if they're here, then maybe I can formulate a plan that way. For now, you'd best stay safe and on your feet."

"Psh, why are you telling me this? You're the one that needs to be vigilant here, my friend. Whether you like it or not, one section of the Pathfinder already knows who you are, which is never a good thing. It's likely that you have to deal with a few occasional ambushes, so keep your weapons on the ready, you got that?"

"As if you needed to advise me, pal."

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In an undetermined location, which was revealed to be a partially bombed home, Lettie would be seen pacing back and forth on the rubble-filled floor as she stared down at the ground, her arms crossed and her mind filled with unease. It was obvious that she was thinking about what the vigilante might do to her and the rest of her crew who were involved in the drugs. After spending a few moments aimlessly pacing about in hopes of distracting herself from her concern and paranoia-ridden mind, she came to a halt, remaining still and silent for a brief moment before letting out a groan and placing a hand to her head. Her mind seemed to have come to some sort of realization, realizing that she might need to let the others know about what she had learned.

With that in mind, she quickly pulled out her cellphone from her pocket, intending on dialing some numbers. After finding a certain name on her small list of contacts, she quickly made the call, placing the phone to her ear as she heard the phone ring for a few seconds. It was not long before someone finally picked up on the receiving end as a male voice spoke to Lettie.

"Well, I'll be damned...why're you calling me at this time? You know how busy I am, after all."

"Something's happened here in Brightmoor. I don't know how, and I don't know why, but I think everyone needs to know about this. And I think the boss needs to know about what's been going on here as well."

"Hm? Now this sounds interesting, tell me everything I need to know, and I'll let Kata and Hatyaara know about this."

"I think it's better that I let them know about it myself rather than having you call about it."

"Oh? How sweet of you."

"Don't try and change the context of this conversation, Matthew."

"Hey, you're the one trying to make something happen. Either way, it doesn't matter. What exactly is this issue that you're currently dealing with, anyway? Must be really bad if you had to call me about it."

"...you know that vigilante that the gang killed not too long ago?"

"Yeah, the one that died on the Davison Freeway...wait. Don't tell me what I think you're going to tell me."

"...yeah. She's somehow back."

"What?! Surely you're joking!"

"I swear, Matthew, I saw her myself! Even I'm wondering if what I just experienced was even real in the first place!"

"...damn, if what you're saying is true, then this is really bad. Okay, let the others know about this, but I don't think the boss should know about what's going on at Brightmoor."

"Uh, why, exactly?"

"You know how she is. Yeah, we work for her, but you have to admit that she's a little...you know, cuckoo. I mean, have you seen how she's like when she's smiling?"

"...fair point. I'm almost certain she'll kill us all if we let her know about. Keep this between us, you got that?"

"You already know it."

"Alright, I need to call the others involving this. Ciao."

"Don't miss me too much, Lettie. Heh. Oh yeah, before I forget, where should we meet in order to discuss about it?"

"Hell if I know. But it should be somewhere neutral. Probably something beyond Detroit's borders."

"You do know that we're literally surrounded by gangs that are desperately trying to break into Detroit, right?"

"No, there's one particular spot within Detroit's region, and yet somehow, not a part of Detroit at all...I think you know where I'm talking about. You do know, right?"

"You talking about Highland Park? Damn, that place is a complete ghost town, though...the perfect place for us to meet up, then. Nice idea, Lettie. Alright, you give Kata and Hatyaara the scoop, I'll set up the spot. That sound good."

"Eh, works for me. Now get to work. I'm gonna call the others. We gotta make sure everyone's at the Park by at least 1 PM, noon at the earliest. You got that?"

"Ugh, you and your early times...how about you work during the day like the rest of us? Unless you're Kata, who never stops working...damn, that guy seriously needs an offer for retirement."

"You know how I prefer to work in the dark. It's when those addicts are asleep, and so they won't pester us."

"Huh, that somehow makes sense. Aight, I'm out. Don't keep yourself too busy."

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As planned, the four converged at Highland Park, with Lettie spotted inside a strip mall that had been abandoned a long time ago, leaving much of the building in ruin and disarray. Much of the place seemed untouched, but the shops had been ransacked and robbed - an indication of the many lootings that had occurred here after the mall had been deserted amidst the Pathfinder's violent rampage. Highland Park, along with its neighboring community, Hamtramck, had a rather strange situation with it being surrounded by Detroit, and yet, it was not classified as part of it, but rather part of something much bigger than the city itself - Wayne County. Because of this, Pathfinder activity was usually very low within these two particular communities, since there really was not many people to terrorize there in the first place - many within the two neighborhoods had abandoned their livelihoods during the collapse of the government, and the remainder were possibly killed during the Pathfinder's forced control over Detroit.

As Lettie continued pacing about, she soon heard three pairs of footsteps behind her, causing her to come to a halt as she glanced behind her to see who was approaching the woman. She ended up finding herself staring at two people - two men, one woman. Upon seeing them, she let out a relieved huff as she turned around to face them whilst folding their arms, addressing their presence once she had her attention wholly on the approaching group.

"Took you guys long enough."

Matthew, one of the three who was approaching her, was quick to give her a wave as he snickered soon after in response to her words before snapping back with a reply of his own.

"Hey, blame the roadblocks that we got all over the Interstate. It ain't easy to navigate through them, ya know."

Matthew was seen as a lanky black man who possessed a standard pair of black of eyes along with black hair. He did not have any wounds on him compared to someone like Fleurie or Lettie. He was revealed to be wearing a rather...interesting getup - he was wearing a pair of black rubber boots along with black trackpants. He was wearing a utility belt of sorts around his waist which held various kinds of unidentifiable items and equipment, and he also donned a pair of gloves which a few wires attached to the gloves' fingers and palms. For the upper part of his body, he wore a dark blue, buttoned and long-sleeved shirt before finally topping off his attire with some kind of small headset stuck to his left ear. A rather odd display, but he had this style for a reason.

The other two people, that being Kata and Hatyaara, were dressed a lot more normally, however.

Kata was wearing a checkered flannel shirt which consisted of green and black while also possessing simple black jeans. He also had a pair of black loafers on him as well, completing a rather simple outfit - the one thing that could be considered unique to Kata, however, was a hooded cloak that he had on him which shrouded the back of his physical form. At the moment, the hood was put down, allowing the others to see his face - he looked a lot different compared to Matthew, with him having much lighter skin. He also possessed a pair of blue eyes and black hair, and judging by his overall complexion, he looked to have a Greek background of sorts. He had a rather stockier build as well, almost comparable to Lettie or Fleurie if one were to compare between the three.

Hatyaara possessed a slimmer and more flexible figure compared to the rest of the group, and while she was dark-skinned like Matthew, she had a lighter shade of brown instead. She wore a tank top like Lettie, with the only difference being that she was wearing a brown variant of it instead of an army green one. She was also wearing a pair of black tights which basically clung onto her legs. There was also a belt around her waist, which allowed her to store a set of throwing knives on the side of her waist along with a standard pistol on her other side. She had a whip latched on her back, and to top it all off, she was wearing a simple pair of loafers, with the color of the shoes being a dark shade of blue.

Once the trio finally got close enough to Lettie, they stopped themselves in place before Matthew kickstarted the entire conversation with one question directed towards everyone around him.

"Alright, I'm sure everyone knows why we're here, right?"

"Lettie, are you sure about all this? Because honestly, all this just sounds rather...overdramatic."

"I'm not here to spout lies, Kata. I know what I saw. I'm not going to lie about anything like this. Besides, if anything, Hatyaara is the one that prefers to pull pranks on us."

"Hey, why do you have to call me out like that? It's not my fault I'm the only one that prefers to live life unlike you guys."

"Okay, enough tangents. If that vigilante really did come back from the dead, then one thing is for certain - we cannot let Fleurie know about this. She's already pretty detached from everything at the moment, and if she were to find out that someone she killed is back, she won't allow us to live for even a second."

"I don't even know why she's like that, honestly. Does she even know that not everyone can do everything perfectly? Hell, I'm certain that she's messed up before, but I don't see her trying to shoot herself in the head for being jittery."

"Eh, that's what double standards are, I guess."

"Hey, can you guys not badmouth our leader? We're only here because of her, you know."

"Psh, more like still alive because of her. I don't think there's anyone within the Pathfinder who actually joined the gang because they wanted to. Maybe a select few volunteered to join the gang's ranks because they find joy in murder, but not everyone is like that. Which even includes us, to a certain extent."

"Fair point...but I honestly don't know what else to do other than this. I guess it's just become part of our nature."

"Can't argue with that...but that's enough of that. We need to figure out a way to deal with this vigilante."

"I remember when she kept me pinned down and at her mercy...she told me that she would not rest until everything involving the Pathfinder is destroyed. I can't help but feel slightly unnerved by her words...I know I shouldn't think about it too much, but...you know how it is. It just bothers me. Wouldn't you guys get bothered if you heard something like this."

"Hard for me to say, seeing how we haven't actually seen the vigilante in action yet. Well, I know you have, Lettie, but that's besides the point. Either way, I'd highly advise caution against this new adversary."

"Jeez, lighten up, Kata. Always dark and brooding with these things. She's only one person you know, I'm sure it won't be a problem at all. Maybe Lettie just underestimated her at the time, that's all. This time, I'm sure that she'll be ready for the worst now."

"Hmph, thanks for the ever-so-motivating words, Hatyaara."

"Don't mention it, hehe..."

"Either way, just keep yourself vigilant. If things go south, make sure to let us know, but more importantly, keep all this between us. I'm only guessing, but I have this feeling that she won't be just done with the drugs. She'll want to go for everything."

"Yikes. All the more reason for me to start upping security in Warrendale, I guess."

"Eh, I don't really have anything to do back at my spot. There's already so many people there to begin with."

"...I'll need to see what's going on in Brightmoor so that I can gauge who I'm up against. Lettie, just carry on with your operations as usual. As for me, I'll send in a team of spies over to the neighborhood so that you have a few extra pairs of eyes to work with."

"Damn, I really appreciate the help, Kata - but you can keep the help to yourself. I think I can handle this on my own."

"I was not making an offer. I'm TELLING you what I'm going to do."

It was safe to say that Lettie was left silenced by Kata's words, but knowing that she needed at least some assistance to work with due to her lack of knowledge involving the vigilante, she could only stare down at the ground as she gave him a defeated nod.

"...fine."

"Damn, Lettie, don't beat yourself over the head about this. He's literally just helping you out."

"...it makes me feel weak, dammit."

"Ugh, you and your thought process...there really is no helping you on that department."

"Anyways, we should head back to our posts. We can't afford to bring any unnecessary attention towards us. Just do your jobs, and Lettie, if you find that vigilante, don't take any chances and shoot her dead if you're able to."

"You already know it."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Lettie. Consider it a gut feeling of mine! And uh...I guess I'm always right in that regard, right?"

Lettie remained silent in response to Hatyaara's attempt to boost her spirits, though she ultimately let out a small chuckle as she gave Hatyaara an approving nod whilst cracking a small grin.

"...yeah, I guess."

"Ayo, hold on a moment, am I seeing this girl smiling? Is it the end of the world already?"

"Shut up, Matthew."

"Ugh, talk about buzzkill, Lettie..."

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Back in Brightmoor, while the four leaders were conversing with each other involving her presence in the neighborhood, Blake looked to be on the lookout for something that she hoped to procure - as to what they were, it was uncertain. It was something that she has not told anyone about, not even the bartender. As she drove around the streets, she soon realized that she was unable to find what she sought despite her many rounds on the roads - because of this, she came to a halt by the sidewalk, staring down at the ground as she tried to think of what she should do.

Her mind was filled with questions as she tried to think about where she could find what she was looking for - it definitely was not here in Brightmoor, so she knew that she needed to look elsewhere. Knowing that she had to consult someone for help involving her predicament, she ultimately decided to tell the bartender about her plan involving the drug problems here in the neighborhood, and because of this, she quickly made her way back to the bar, hoping to confront him.

By the time she was back at the building, it was already just past mid-day, implying that she had continuously drove around on the streets for almost more than two hours straight. The bartender was there at his usual spot, and when he spotted the vigilante along with her somewhat tired and downtrodden expression, he knew something was up as he turned towards his shelves to prepare a drink for her while she walked towards her usual seating spot before taking her seat on the stool. Once she seated herself, the bartender was quick to pose a question to the vigilante as he was concocting the beverage for her.

"I'm assuming your search has come up empty."

"...yep. I've accepted the fact that this neighborhood doesn't have what I'm looking for."

"And what exactly are you looking for? You haven't told me about that."

"...explosives. I'm looking for explosives. And I'm not talking about thinkgs like fireworks. I'm talking about-"

"Bombs, grenades and dynamites?"

"...yeah, actually. Pretty easy guess, huh?"

"It was obvious, really. I'm assuming you want to use them to bomb the buildings where the drugs are made and stored, correct?"

"Bingo. But I don't know where to find them...it's easy to find a shop with firearms, but explosives...now that's tough. I've been trying to find the shops that I want on my phone as well, but my results seem to come up empty. I don't really know what to do...sure, I could just go the simple route and just barge in myself, but that is basically suicide..."

"Hmm...I do recall one particular place. The Tactical Ground over at Saint Clair."

"You mean the shores at the very east of the city?"

"Correct. It looks like a standard weapons store, but trust me, there's more than meets the eye with that store in particular. I don't know if that place is still operational, but it's definitely worth taking a look over there."

"Hm...I guess it is worth a shot. Where exactly is the store, anyway?"

"I can't really recall the accurate location of the place, but you could always find the name of the store on your phone to seek out its coordinates. From there, you can figure out where to go from here. What I am certain of is that it's near the Gaffke Park."

"Right. in that case, I think I should pay that store a visit."

"A wise choice, but you should rest a little. Made a drink for ya."

"Psh, you're too kind, geezer."

With that, the bartender finished up his concoction before pouring it into a martini glass as he then served it to Blake, who was quick to take a sip from it once she received the drink. In an instant, she let out a huff as her entire body momentarily shivered in response to what she had tasted - it was something that she was quick to express as she spoke to the bartender.

"Damn, you really outdid yourself for this one...actually, I feel like you outdo yourself all the time whenever you make a new drink."

"Ehehe...that's what years of bartending does, I guess. Hope you reach your destination safely - who knows what dangers will be waiting for you beyond this neighborhood's borders."

"Jeez, you really gotta stop worrying about me so much, my dude. I've been through a thousand hells, and I'll keep going through a thousand more. Big deal! I'll always come out alive at the end of it all anyway."

"Oh, know...but there's nothing wrong in me being concerned for my regular customer, you know."

"Hm, I guess so."

With that, Blake quickly finished up her drink before getting off her chair and turning around, beginning to make her way towards the door. Once she swung it open, she went through the door before glancing over at the bartender through the window pane, giving him a thumbs-up as a form of providing assurance that she would be okay. Once that was out of the way, she got on her bike before immediately hitting the streets.

Saint Clair awaited her.