Blood In The Water

Chapter 5- Belly Of The Beast

Scotty ran in first, slipping along the shadows and cursing the stars for shining so brightly on his silvery suit. Blaring sirens and flashing lights bombarded the darkness of the allies and Scotty had to strain to hear Sam and Damien charge into the maze. Scotty took a shuddering breath and his eyes pierced through the night, he had seven minutes before the sun set for good. He glanced up at where Joel was pacing in the library, searching the mazes unable to see his members. "Get in and get out." Scotty breathed, adrenaline taking over his nerves as the sun set and he crept forward. "You there, stop in the name of the law!" Scotty froze only for a second as his back was pressed against the rough brick, cutting his vest. "What an odd name, your mother sure had a preference." He joked, spinning around and aiming his gun at the cop who pulled his own from his holster.

There was no anger in the young man's eyes, Scotty had been raised knowing cops were good, this one especially wouldn't shoot him. "Honestly, they could have called you Jeff but Law? Dude, I'm sorry." Scotty laughed, rolling his eyes and lowering am his arm as the cop shivered when he noticed his tattoos. "Put your hands where I can see them!" The cop ordered, Scotty laughed harder then his face turned stern, there wasn't time for this. "And you've got bad eyesight, can you see them now?" He asked as he lifted his gun and pulled the trigger once, then twice. The older man's eyes locked onto Scotty's but the heist man just bowed and turned his back before once more, bang.

The officer fell to the ground, clutching his stomach where Scotty had shot him, blood trickling between his lips. At the sound of shots, Scotty turned to face two more guards with their eyes blazing. "Do you have odd names too?" Scotty asked, tilting his head and lifting his gun between the two, licking his lips at the frightened twitch from both men. "Where did the shots come from?" Sam's voice crackled over the radio attached to Scotty's hip, the younger cursed under his breath. "Cover your ears if you don't want to hear more." He growled back, bang bang bang, he aimed at one of the cops and hit him where his shoulder met his neck. The second tried to grab his partner but was kicked away, forced roughly against the wall. Flipping his gun so that he held the barrel, he bashed the end against the cop's head. Sirens grew louder and Scotty looked around wildly, breathing hard as sweat stuck his hair to his forehead.

Scotty pulled a match from his pocket and ran it along the wall, infighting the flame that made shadows dance across his face. Two cars wheeled to a stop in front of him and the heist man smirked, nodding as four cops jumped into position. Their weapons pointed squarely at Scotty and their knees used as holders for the much larger guns. "Weren't you ever told not to play with fire? Gosh, they really are recruiting anyone these days, I suppose you have awkward names as well?" Scotty nodded to the other cops and their friends paused for a moment, their fingers righting on the trigger. Was that supposed to be scary? Anyone who came into these mazes had to be suicidal so what was the pointing in threatening to kill them? "Idiots." Scotty hissed as he spun the match between his fingers and blew it out, vanishing in the darkness. "Where'd he go? Find him!" The cops shouted wildly, not leaving their posts beside the cars as Scotty crept around them and pulled a disk from his pocket.

Pressing the red button on the side, Scotty stealthily attached each square to the cop cars, ducking back and covering his ears. One by one the bombs went off and the shrieks of cops being thrown against the wall filled the maze. "Now if you could please lower your voices for the convenience of the others, that would be fine." Scotty growled as he was lifted forcefully by one of the cops who gritted his teeth and held a hand at Scotty's color. The other was pressed against a long gash from his temple to the top of his nose and blood already coated his uniform. "Who are you?" The cop shouted, spit flying against Scotty who turned his head and made a face, offended. "Doesn't matter when you're dead. There's no happy greeting in hell, don't touch my throne when you get there though." Scotty warned, stepping hard on the officers foot, making him jump back and release the man. Scotty hit him along the side of his face and he doubled into himself, yelping in pain as Scotty jumped to his feet. Elbowing the cop in the back and kicking him against the wall, he took the gun from his holster.

Automatic firearms weren't illegal but it seemed cowardly to bring one on a harmless round with you, especially as a cop. Unless you were new to the position and unskilled, which meant you didn't have anything to fight for. "Hey, big problem!" Damien's high pitched voice crackled over the radio and Scotty's mind went blank as he spun away from the officer. Sliding down the alley and catching his breath as the radio blinked to life again, Scotty couldn't hide his distress. "We didn't realize Ranahan is a scary place." Damien finished out of breath too, Scotty slammed his fist against the wall, cringing at the blood cutting along his palm. Joel leapt up from his seat and jumped against the balcony, searching with wild eyes but unable to see his friends. Sam calmly lifted another bag of money into the cop car he'd stolen and looked around, everything beginning to spin.

Scotty took a breath and gritted his teeth as he took off again, shouting into the night and grabbing the next officer by the neck. Throwing him roughly against the ground, he pointed his gun at the younger boy. "Go, run and Go so I don't kill you." Scotty snapped, motioning his gun back the way he'd come and panting as the boy scrambled to his feet and dashed off. Going his own way, Scotty hardly heard the wail of sirens come to a stop with the blood pounding in his ears. "Brother, we're you caught?" Joel's voice was shaking over the radio and Scotty screamed in agony, he should have shot the kid when he had the chance.

Scotty flipped on his watch and tried to calm his racing heart as he searched for where Joel thought he'd been caught. "No, Damien!" He shouted into the mic, the blinking light that showed Damien surrounded by cops. "They say you were caught!" Sam yelled back, Scotty stood up quickly at the squeal of tires behind his audio. He spun in a circle and lifted the gun he'd stolen, the cops could mess with him all they wanted but not his brothers. "All of them, kill all of them." Scotty's voice was barely a growl over the radio but the silent breaking of Joel's rule was heard around the maze. Sam kicked the cops at his shoulders away and swung his match in a circle, catching fire to their clothes.

The guards rolled to the ground in an attempt to get the fire out but Sam peeled away, gasoline dousing them. Damien pulled his knife from his back pocket and grabbed the cop searching him by the back of the neck, kicking him until he keeled over. Stabbing him in the back and throwing him aside as he punched the glass window in the driver's seat. Grabbing the man inside by the collar, he pulled him through the shattered window, glass killing him. "Go, Scotty!" Damien shouted into his radio as he raced out the way he'd come and slid into Scotty's maze. His arms pumped at his sides as his long legs propelled him along the path of chaos the elder he caused. Sam slammed his car into anyone who crossed his path and pulled a fishtail out into the alley, flying forward as he hit a brick wall.

Lights lit up the sky and Joel's mind whirled until he couldn't hear himself think anymore, his heart hammering. Damien caught up with Scotty and grabbed him by the back to slow him down, earning an unintended punch. "Damien, I'm so sorry. I thought-" "I get it, run you moron!" Damien interrupted, slapping Scotty back before taking off and heaving himself onto the wall like a perched owl. "Go straight down and take a left, cops are waiting there. I'll meet you in a second." Damien instructed, pointing out his directions and glancing up at the apartment where he waved to Joel. From there, Scotty's leader looked like his supervising king but his heart was tearing with horror. Scotty grabbed Damien's ankle and held him in place as the you test attempted to jump down. "You're Coming with me, I'm not letting them take you." Scotty shouted, tears burning his eyes from the smoke and half of him wouldn't admit, fear. Joel would never forgive him if Damien died tonight and that crushed Scotty's soul. "You said to kill them all, no witnesses." Scotty's grip loosened and he nodded slowly, Damien would never put his brothers in a position without him. Scotty took a breath and begged that Damien wouldn't get hurt. He wouldn't let Joel end up like the ones he'd loved before, Damien or Sam either, never.