Survival is Crucial

Worn / Wander

The dried dirt ground below cracked and shivered as cars pass by on a busy highway, a few miles from here sat a small trailer, Tyche sitting down upon the steps, staring out into the empty and dry land before him as if reminiscing. Tyche's expression turns into a violent grimace as he stared up at the sun, his hand acting as a visor. Jack came out from the inside of the trailer, hand propped up against the doorway as he looked down upon Tyche, "What're you doin'?"

Tyche pressed his lips together, leaning back into the small steps he was sitting on, situating himself under a small roof hovering above the trailer door, "It's too hot out here..."

"Well, that's too bad, this was the best option after all. Being out in the middle of nowhere will always make it harder for a hunter to find its prey."

"Rather than knowing their environment beforehand, they have to go somewhere unfamiliar to them."

"Not really..." Jack sighed, "Don't worry... I f*****g hate the heat too."

One day before, back at the hospital with Nixon, a few minutes before Bull and Bal had met, a man wearing a skin-tight black shirt with baggy black pants stood in wait, hands in his pockets as he used one hand to slick back his dirty blond hair - he wore an expression that could send one into cardiac arrest out of fear, a scar coming from his chin and reaching his right cheekbone. He gnashed his teeth in impatience as he fiddled with whatever was in his pockets, attempting to crack his neck before quickly giving up as he watched two guards walk their way over to Nixon's room.

The man in black followed behind them before catching up, wrapping his arms around both of their shoulders, "Come with me." The guards attempted to retaliate, one of them going to elbow the man in the face while the other one goes to sweep the man off of his feet. The man in black fell backward, the elbow missing while the other guards assumed that they had successfully taken the man off of his feet before realizing shortly after that, they were also falling and that his arms were still wrapped around their necks.

The man in black brought in his knees, stomping both of his feet into the ground as he puts both guards into a guillotine. "You boys are coming with me."

Two guards, three witnesses had gone missing, four guards to go.

Three guards hung out around a vending machine, some nurses and the like sometimes stopping by to conversate with the guards. The man in black moved in, stopping in front of the guards, hands still in his pockets. "What's with the abundance of people in suits here?"

One of the guards made an uncomfortable expression while the other two chuckled, "A bit weird right, but it's necessary, someone of high priority is here after all."

"What do you mean?"

"We're guards," The guard who is talking with the man in black took off a pair of sunglasses he was wearing, "I'm Pyke." He brought out his hand, the man in black responding with a handshake.

"I'm Maxim... just Maxim." After shaking hands, the man in black distanced himself from Pyke.

"Your hands are calloused, what do you do?"

"Martial arts."

"Karate?" Pyke ran one of his fingers across his knuckles, "Your knuckles were calloused as well."

"Sort of, I also do warehouse work."

Pyke let out a whistle which transitioned to him chuckling to himself, "I used to do warehouse work."

"What are the other twos' names?" Maxim pointed to the others.

A young guard with light brown hair nodded with a smile, "I'm Vincent."

Another guard standing near Vincent with grey-colored eyes with a subtle tint of green in his hair spoke, "I'm Ray."

"Nice to meet you two." Maxim shook both of their hands before crossing from their side of the room they were one to a nearby hallway, wherein he propped himself against a railing,

"Quite the distance."

Maxim pressed his lips together, "Hold up," Maxim moved back to their side of the room, once again propping himself against a railing, almost sitting on it. "I was just seeing if there could be an easy arrangement here."

The sound of a gunshot went off, the guards' Maxim was talking to immediately going on alert after hearing it, unaware that it was Maxim the whole time, chucking a popper onto the floor. They were essentially lined up for him to take down.

Five guards, seven witnesses had gone missing, one to go.

Maxim made his way throughout the hospital, looking for the last guard until finally happening upon them exiting the restroom. The guard noticed Maxim approaching, spinning on the tips of his toes, he turned to Maxim.

The guard was already prepared for an attack, assuming perfectly that Maxim was an enemy, c*****g his leg back before whipping it out onto Maxim's head. Maxim moved in the direction of the kick before falling to the ground and transitioning into a Rabo de Arraia. The guard spun away as Maxim went back into a standing position, missing the kick. The guard wore a cold expression on his face and was clearly larger than the others, but not by much, "Didn't expect to come across a bounty hunter this soon."

Maxim furrowed his brow, pursing his lips.

'I didn't expect him to do Capoeira but alright... the confusing part is...' The guard looked Maxim up and down, 'He has a karate stance right now.'

Maxim's backfoot skidded across the ground, quickly switching his stance and using it to feint, the guard pulling back fully expecting to be hit before noticing what happened. The guard moved back into Maxim's range, getting hit in the face by a blur. 'What!?' The guard jumped back,  "What the hell?"

Maxim's front arm was situated close to his thigh, almost hanging limply as his back arm sat near his face. "Hitman style..." The guard mumbled to himself. Maxim lunged forward, lowering himself to the ground - the guard prepared himself, crouching, fully expecting Maxim to go for a takedown before he once again feinted, switching into a knee - with both hands, grabbing the back of the guard's head and using that momentum to slam his knee into the guard's face, breaking his nose. The guard attempted to pull away, once again being knee'd in the face once again, and again, and again, and again.

Blood poured onto the ground, leaving a stain on Maxim's pant leg as the guard fell to the ground. "That's all of them."