The Hitman and His Consort

XLVII - Footing

First Person P.O.V: VALENTIN HACKSAW

“Crash us into the bay,” I ordered.

There was no other choice for us in this situation. It’s not like helicopters could necessarily go in the water but that’s just another reason for us to go in there because there’s another helicopter tailing us and the cops can’t exactly follow us down there too, not at this speed they won’t.

“That place again?” Madeline asked, serving his usual violent reactions by asking a rhetorical question.

Arthur looked at me from her spot and raised a brow, “Do you think this will work?” she asked.

“No idea,” I replied,

Our pilot was starting to get fussy and I’m hearing him whine. His arms are also becoming stiff, like he was straining his muscles. I’m no expert, but is flying a damned helicopter that difficult? The others were also visibly bothered by the idea.

‘Damn it,’

“Forget the crashing part, bring us to the highway, is there any rope in sight?” I asked and Madeline looked around eagerly, obviously willing to do anything else than go into the water like he’s something made of paper.

“F*ck the rope, there’s a ladder here!” Madeline said as he grabbed one even from our cramped position, it’s not a small vehicle but I guess four people in this space is pushing it, maybe I could just stand on the landing skids.

“OI—Arthur! Valentin’s doing something stupid!” Madeline yelled,

Arthur turned around with a pissed-off expression that quickly turned horrified once she realized what I was doing, honestly, it’s easier than I thought it be. If anything, the loud gushing wind was what made the whole experience annoying, along with how my hair flew around. The temporary hair color wax was probably long gone now.

“HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” Arthur yelled from the inside, which was commendable. I could only imagine how many decibels that scream was worth to still remain coherent even under this specific situation,

“I’M NOT JUMPING OFF!” I replied,

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!” Arthur yelled back,

“I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING,” I argued, of course, that was a lie, this was a first for me but then again it’s not as hard as it looks, the vehicle even had handles on the outside probably for this purpose, we stole a SWAT helicopter after all.

“Hover us low enough to climb down to the road, preferably at a traffic spot!” I instructed the pilot and as the plan works out, the others are starting to understand the flow of the plan I’m trying to follow.

It took a while until we found a highway wide enough to let the helicopter hover low, the place if not road is not as congested as I wanted it to be but this will work, I didn’t even need to ask for Madeline to prep the ladder he found so we could descend, he just made sure it was secure enough before throwing it over so we could climb down.

‘Good for him’

I climbed down first, Madeline next, then Arthur. Inka threw Pierre over for me and Madeline to catch before getting down herself. It caused a commotion, of course, and the passersby were too immersed that they started filming with their phones and crowding over. Once the pilot knew that we were all gone, they just fled.

A reasonable decision of course.

“And now?” Inka yelled as she took Pierre off of my and Madeline’s arms, for someone who looked skin and bones he has some weight to him, perhaps because he’s carrying all the sins he’s committed throughout his lifetime.

“Now, pick a car,” I replied as I ran to the SUV that was stuck in this red light, do it like usual open the door, and pull the driver out, he made a lot of noise but what’s more deafening now is the nagging in my head that this mission better each its conclusion now or sooner because I don’t like being depended on for three whole hours, it’s overbearing.

“Hey what—“ the driver yelled, shoving my shoulder.

“Choose one, the car or your life?” I asked, aiming a gun at him with one hand and opening the back doors, for the others to climb onto, with the other. The man paused as he gulped and stepped back, taking his pick.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Madeline yelled from the inside once they all settle on their seats, sliding the windows down to make sure I heard his voice in full volume.

I nodded and hopped onto the driver’s seat, “Oh, sh*t—no, Arthur—switch with him!” Inka yelled, I couldn’t help but smile as I realized why her reaction was aggressive, Arthur, who was on the passenger seat, gave me a confused look,

“Why would I—“

She stopped on her words when we accelerated forward even though I’m not exactly sure where we’re headed, bumping a few cars as I did. With that amount of people in the crowd earlier who filmed the whole thing, I’ll end up compromising the situation in the clinic if I go back there now. Again, I’m pretty sure cops will come to pester us again and at this rate, we did enough to evoke their wrath to the point of determination.

They’ll be looking high and low to find us.

We need another traffic jam to join in and blend in a little, wait for this whole ordeal to settle a little before we can find a different hideout. I swerved a sharp right, hoping that the usually congested roads in this city would work their usual frustrating magic now. Have a little traffic work for the benefit of people for a change.

And I was thinking to myself too much that when I turned to look at the others, my ears were suddenly flooded with shouting.

“Are we still alive?!” - Inka

“Madeline, you’re sitting on Pierre’s head!” - Arthur

“I’ll sh*t on it if I could—WHY ARE WE GOING SO DAMN FAST?!” - Madeline

It seems that they’re okay. The route that I was hoping would be full remained true to its usual state, and I rushed in to muddle our stolen SUV into the swarming cars that always just fill this road for no scientific f*cking reason nor explanation.

I pulled the handbrakes up and got off, “Follow me,” I ordered again and this time it was Madeline who was carrying Pierre over his shoulder, Inka probably got tired of carrying him on hers, and I’m tired of carrying the responsibility for this team as a f*cking consequence for leading this mission in the first place.

I wish I just did this whole thing alone, at least I only have Arthur to worry about.

We ran on foot until we found our next ride, a taxi. Of course. I flagged an oncoming cab, holstering my gun, and pointed at Pierre’s unconscious body. The taxi immediately stopped in front of us.

It was an elderly man with a full mustache and a goatee that resembled a certain fast-food mascot, “The hospital?!” he asked as he opened the doors himself,

“No, just bring us home, we have a personal doctor,” I answered, taking my seat on the passenger side, Inka, Madeline, and Arthur sat beside each other on the back seat as Pierre’s body lay on top of their laps. I’d hate to be there. I gave the driver the address to my house, and he sped up, wasting no second and doing all he could to get us to my house as soon as possible.

Props to him, he looks like a genuinely good guy. I’ll have to kill him but now I don’t want to, what if this same guy helps us in our future escapes too? Maybe I should keep a number of gullible and clueless cab drivers at a constant all-time high for this sole purpose.

‘Is what I would think if I cared about what happens to the future, but I don’t,’

To no one surprise, we arrive home pretty quickly and the others got off quickly, I was about to pull out my gun but before I could pull it completely out, he raised his hand and shook his head.

“No, son, don’t bother, just help your friend and be careful next time, alright?” he said and, without another word, this man sped away. I turned to the others, checking if they had a clue about what just happened,

Madeline shrugged, “Maybe he thought you were reaching for your wallet but didn’t let you pay,” he guessed, and Inka nodded.

“He probably did it out of the kindness of his heart or something, now that that’s over with, can we get inside now? We’re still pretty much being hunted,” she added, and Arthur nodded to me and gestured to lead the way.

‘I cannot f*cking believe that a man just got away from imminent death by being kind, that’s such bullsh*t,’

I thought as I led them through the gates, up the ascending driveway, and through the oak doors.

I led them in and everyone collapsed on the couches in the lounge. Myself included and not long after the doors slammed shut; I heard the unusually soft footsteps of my mother. She’s always busy so it’d be normal to see her around the house fully dressed in a somewhat corporate-ish attire that I personally think is too much considering her age. The only time she wears slippers or flip-flops is—f*ck.

“Valya? Is that you?” she called out, peeking over the stairs and, as I thought, clad in her night robe,

I sighed, “Yes, mom, don’t come out here,” I replied. She remained in her spot as she gazed over our group.

“Ah… you have guests,” she replied, tugging her night robe tighter around her, sooner than later, much to my dismay, followed my father in the same get-up.

‘Had to be today of all days,’

“What’s going on son, we're in the middle of making you another siblin—oh, why’s... there people in our house?” Dad asked, frozen in the same spot that mom is, only difference is mom was more than eager to get out of there now that she’s realized that we realized what just happened.

Right in front of ‘guests’, as she called them earlier.

“Gab, let’s get dressed first,” my mother hissed as she climbed back up the stairs,

“Are you sure—" dad argued, like it was the proper time and place, giving my group a double-take like we were just initially a figment of his imagination,

“Damn it, Gabriel! Move and get dressed!” mom yelled, louder and sharper this time. That seemed enough to convince him and a loud, awkward silence filled the air of the lounge when they left.

I shut my eyes tight, pinching the bridge of my nose. They can’t just be like any other married couple and grow to hate each other. No, they have to be absolute literal lovebirds. I’m sick of it. I wouldn’t have minded if they weren’t so brazen in showcasing their disgusting display of affection, like it’s a competition against everyone else.

“Your parents sure love each other, huh?”

“For f*ck’s sake, Madeline, I will cut your tongue if you talk more about it,” I warned.

I heard Arthur chuckle, “Hey, don’t be embarrassed, I wish I had parents like those, right Mads,” she said and the brother in question hummed in agreement,

“Also, I know I’ve been here twice but your house is real nice,” Madeline commented,

“Right? Nice, clean, huge, and not occupied by parents stuck in a loveless marriage, one would say it’s perfect,” Arthur followed, making Madeline chuckle.

“It’s a big mistake you brought us here Valya, now we know where you live, we’ll break-in in the middle of the night and steal your food,” Inka joked as she rested her feet on Pierre’s back who’s now settled on the floor.

I smiled, not helping but to chuckle at the scene. It made me feel something weird in my chest that sent faint shivers throughout my body, which was confusing because, for some reason, I actually feel warm.

I just hope I didn't contract any ailment or disease in the aftermath of this tedious mission.