ᴇᴍᴇʀᴀʟᴅ ᴘᴀʀᴋ.

XII

9:48 PM

Rodrigo's truck pulled up to a gated complex, stopping in front of a security guard blocking his route. The guard didn't seem to pay the truck any mind despite Rodrigo's headlights shining directly in his face.

Out of irritation, Rodrigo honked his horn at the guard. "Is he fucking blind or some shit?!"

"Aye!" Tony climbed through the sunroof. "You better move, big dawg!"

"Who are you here to see?" The guard asked loud enough for everyone in the truck to hear.

"Mora – who the fuck else?!" Tony responded.

"He never said anything about visitors..."

"Impromptu visit, nigga!" London rolled down the passenger window to spit out. "Let us through! Last warning!"

"Gotta wait for the go-ahead from Mora."

"My fucking God- Duck down, Tony." Alex stood up from her spot in the cargo bed just in time for Tony to dip back down inside the truck, all the while pulling a switchblade from her boot.

Without hesitation, she chucked the blade in the direction of the guard – the sheer velocity and the precision of Alex's throw landed the knife smack between the guard's eyebrows.

"...Oh, okay..." Mari muttered from the backseat as she watched the guard collapse on impact.

Alex hopped out of the cargo bed to retrieve her blade, but London caught her by the collar of her jacket as she passed her window. "Was it necessary?"

"Hey, it was either me practically ninja-starring the prick, or Rod running his ass over," Alex shrugged. "And I didn't see this man punching on the gas, so there you go."

"Well, how are we supposed to get in now?" Mari asked, looking out of the windshield. "The gate's still locked..."

"You let me worry about that," Alex turned to her, faking a smirk. "Just sit back there and look cute."

While Mari's insides twisted with cringe, Alex sauntered over to the guard's corpse and stepped on his neck as leverage to pull her blade out of his head. After cleaning the tip with the guard's shirt, she began looking around, her head swiveling in all directions.

"What're you looking for?" Rodrigo popped his head out from the driver's side window.

"Security panel." Almost as soon as Alex uttered her words, she found the panel in question off to the right of the guard's body. "Ouu, bingo...~"

She stared at the panel for a few seconds, her head slowly tilting while she twirled the blade in her hand. Then, on impulse, she slashed the panel, watching some sparks fly and a couple of buttons pop out of their places.

"That's one way to get them open, I guess..." Mari muttered.

"Sorta was expecting that from her..." Rodrigo huffed as he drove through the now-open gate Alex had kicked through. Once the truck made it completely through the gate, she climbed back inside the cargo bed.

The truck didn't have to get far, though, since Rodrigo could make out the silhouettes of a group of men waiting a ways down the driveway leading to the complex.