Fear and Fate(poly)(bxb)

Eighteen

The Northside Snakes do assassinations as well so it's important that we eliminate them. Their crimes are lower level and barely on our radar. We can make an example out of them to prevent others in the same market from springing up.

Von came back from his last assignment with a lot of new ideas. I'm surprised by the transparency. Nothing else surprises me anymore.

A fist comes flying my way and I move just out of reach. I grab the man's wrist and use it to slam him upside down. He lands with a loud thud but my bullet that follows is louder.

The next wave is two redheads. They both have guns and they're both aiming them at me. When they shoot I run and let them chase me. I fake one of the twins and get behind him. He's scrawny and I hold him against my chest as the other continues firing at me unknowingly. I use the weapon from my dying human shield and shoot his partner directly in the face. Chunks of skin and teeth paint the pavement.

The man is heavy when I throw his body off of mine. I'm spotted with blood that doesn't belong to me. We ended up behind an abandoned building.

Tin trash cans sit amongst litter in the alleyway. There's a black cable strung up from one place to the next. Footsteps approach me and I raise the gun before realizing who it is after a few paces.

Von enters the tight space next, muscles you can see through his clothing making the walkway even smaller. He scans over the dead bodies on the ground and his icy stare melts as his eyes meet mine. He takes a firm hold on my wrist. I follow him out and he lets go once I've fully caught up.

"Don't leave my side," Von tells me. "We only know the major gangs here: the Canaries and the Snakes. They aren't territorial so we never know how many other rats could be crawling around."

He leads me towards a building I remember L pointing out as their headquarters. He trusts me enough now not to have to do a full body inspection every time I fight. That and he's able to sense when I'm hurt, even showing up when I'm silently crying under my covers. Before we can get halfway there, L speaks through our in-ear radios.

"They fled. The building looks like it's been cleared out as well." L is flipping things over on the other line.

Von sucks his teeth. "Meet at the front," he calls.

Everyone responds confirming the message and soon all of us are walking from different directions toward the same destination. North Brookbottom is cleaner than the Southside. Yet, the crime is still the same. The streetlights flicker on us and the damp roads.

There's trash tucked away at the back of these filthy buildings. No a single soul loiters outside. It's totally empty aside from us, a true testament to how dangerous the area is. It just rained and the streets are still slick. Blood pools into the gutters when we kill.

The syndicate members crowd the building entrance one after the other with Seven being the last to arrive. There are four bullets with us as well that were tasked with leading the front and entering the Snake's headquarters first. They remain silent and mostly unscathed as our gang leader goes over the next steps.

"We've gotten rid of the ones here. Tomorrow we'll secure the area and head west," Von speaks with his tattooed hand still on the gun at his hip.

"This was easier than expected," Romero adds.

"We're not done yet," Von says. "It wasn't anything."

We're heading towards the parking garage when a black car pulls up beside us. The wheels come to a slow stop and time seems to follow. The window is only rolled down partially but I can see the barrel of a gun peaking through.