No Man's Land

A Serious Talk

Tim stared at Theo. ‘’So, Joseph Sharma. Nice name. It’s a pity it’s not yours.’’ He said, his expression changing from a smile to serious.

Theo’s face turned pale as he realised Tim was onto him, the latter suddenly grabbing Theo by the back of the head and slamming it down into the table then releasing his grip.

He grabbed the glasses Theo had been wearing and threw them over next to Archie, who stepped on them as glass slowly shattered.

‘’YOU’RE A FAKE. A FRAUD. DID YOU THINK I WOULDN’T FIND OUT IT WAS YOU? THE OTHER GANGS HAVE POSTERS OF YOU EVERYWHERE!” Shouted Tim.

‘’Listen Sir I-’’ before Theo could continue Nathan slapped him in the face.

‘’Let the boss continue, no interruptions’’ he ordered.

‘’So, Theo. What’s your game? Bloody uniform? Explain yourself.’’ Demanded Tim.

Theo’s mood turned from a worried innocent man to his normal personality once he knew the game was up.

‘’Okay, in the alleyway in the pub car park, I saw a worker of yours wearing a uniform and smoking, I presumed they were on their break. I approached and eventually shot him, causing blood to splatter onto his uniform. I put on his uniform and apron and put my clothes on him. I also put on his glasses and took his ID, which let me know his name was Joseph Sharma.’’ Explained Theo.

‘’I walked in here and told Frankie it was my first day, went into the kitchen and washed some plates, the men entered the restaurant and an employee told me the pin for the safe and to protect the money. This led to you meeting me, then today I did that job for you, alas here we are.’’ Theo said.

‘’Why? What is the reason for all of this? Tell me before I shoot you right here, right now.’’ Tim ordered.

‘’Well, I wanted to work my way up into your gang to gain your trust, so I could be your right hand man’’ lied Theo.

‘’Really? Well that was never going to work. Give me your gun Frankie as we discussed.’’ Demanded Tim.

Frankie complied and removed his pistol from his pocket, placing it on the table.

Tim grabbed it, aiming it straight at Theo’s face.

The latter stared Tim right in the eyes, as he pulled the trigger.

However, no bullet left the gun, as Frankie reached into his back pockets and grabbed the pistols he had taken off of Steven and Harold’s bodies, ripping them out and aiming them at the heads of Nathan and Archie.

‘’FRANKIE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Asked Tim furiously.

‘’The right thing’’ Frankie replied, shooting Nathan and Archie in the face.

Their bodies fell to the floor, Tim filled with shock.

Frankie then handed one of the guns to Theo, who pocketed it, Frankie pushing the other against Tim’s head.

‘’Put down the gun’’ Frankie ordered, Tim complying and throwing the unloaded gun on the floor.

The gang leader reached into his pocket for his own pistol but Frankie spotted it, ‘’don’t even think about it.’’

He threw his other gun onto the floor, now being completely vulnerable.

Frankie walked from Tim’s side to behind Theo and aimed the pistol in the middle of his boss's forehead.

‘’Why would you do this?” Asked Tim in a sad tone.

‘’When I received that text from you, telling me you, Nathan and Archie would be here waiting on Theo, that it would be my gun you used to kill him to make his death all the crueler since he had worked with me for a while, I prepared a plan.’’

‘’I stole two pistols from the bodies at the junkyard and pocketed them, they were just spares but in the car when Theo gave me back my own pistol I noticed it wasn’t loaded, when I saw that text I decided not to load it. To save Theo’s life. That brings us here.’’ Explained Frankie.

‘’Why. WHY?!’’ Asked an annoyed Tim.

‘’It might seem like a new concept to you but it’s called having a conscience. Theo has been nothing but nice to me and does what he’s told. He’s a useful worker for you.’’ Said Frankie.

‘’So, where do we go from here? What do you want me to do?” Asked Tim.

‘’You’re going to get rid of Archie and Nathan, what’s happened here doesn’t leave this room, you let Theo into your gang and prove himself further, he’s already protected the money and killed the five members of Barbara’s gang’’ ordered Frankie.

‘’Okay, I think I can do that’’ said Tim.

Theo chimed in, ‘’you’re also going to promote me to assistant manager, then on the gang side of things I have a big job in mind I can do for you.’’

‘’What would that be exactly?” Asked Tim.

‘’I will sneak into Sofia Kean’s gang, like I did yours. I will assist you and feed you information from the inside so you can always be one step ahead of her.’’ Said Theo.

Tim didn’t take a second to think, ‘’alright, deal’’ he said, shaking Theo’s hand.

‘’How do you expect to sneak in?” Asked Frankie.

‘’I think I have an idea, I’m heading out to a tailor now and I expect for my idea to be a reality when I return.’’ Said Theo.

‘’What exactly is this idea?’’ Asked Tim.

‘’Get the man who abandoned me yesterday in the kitchen here, the one who left through the back door and told me to protect the money. He’s a coward and useless. I'm going to kill him and take the body to Sofia, to show I’m loyal to her and against you.’’ Said Theo.

Around fifty minutes later, Theo returned to Hollyoaks in a taxi and a brand new black suit, with a nice dark red tie.

He walked inside of the restaurant, which was still not open despite it being used for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

At a table sat the man who abandoned Theo yesterday, his head in his hands but as Theo stepped inside he looked up.

‘’Please’’ the man begged. ‘’It was cowardly of me but-’’ Theo ignored him and walked into the kitchen, then out again.

He walked over to the man and revealed a knife from behind his back, Theo then shoved it into the man's shoulder, he pushed the chair he was sitting on onto the floor and continued to stab the man, this time in the chest slowly until he could see he was dead.

Blood was splattered on the floor and Theo rose up, dropping the knife. ‘’Where are Nathan and Archie?” He asked.

‘’In the dumpster outside at the back, I heard of a man around who gets rid of bodies and he’s bringing round his car to shove them in his boot and drop them off somewhere I didn’t ask about’’ explained Tim.

Theo nodded, guessing it was probably the same person Warren knew.

‘’Get the floor cleaned’’ Theo ordered, wanting to make the most of the time he had of Tim being slightly scared of him, as it wouldn’t last for long.

Theo walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bin bag, leaving the kitchen again and putting the man's body inside of it.

He then grabbed the bin bag by his feet, Frankie opening the front door for him to take him out of it.

Theo calmly dragged the bin bag throughout the village, until he arrived at the cafe where Sofia and some of her gang were inside.

He saw Sofia and dropped the bin bag on the floor, unzipping it, ‘’one of Tim Quinn’s men. I want to work for you.’’

‘’You were in the team that rescued a defector of mine, Theo, right? Why should I trust you?” She asked, the gang members aiming their pistols at Theo.

‘’I’m of very good use to you, I can sneak into Tim’s gang and feed you information from the inside, so you can remain one step ahead’’ said Theo.

‘’Alright, time to prove yourself’’ said Sofia.

Theo smiled, he could now feed each gang the other’s info to start an even bloody and violent war.