Renegades

Strike one

-MC

Finally we had reached Mexico City. After two days of driving, no talking, and listening to the subtle news and music of the radio, we could rest up at a bar. Chernov always seemed fixated with his “war journal”, reading and tearing out various pages, probably so I couldn’t discover his secrets.

I got out of the car, slammed the door and stretched out my arms and legs. Oh how I feel so sweaty and unclean. I followed Chernov to the bar, called 'Barracuda'. It looked pretty smooth and modern, but we weren’t fussed about the quality of where to go.

“Glass of vodka for me and one for my friend please.” Chernov ordered hastily. “Here you go Gabriel, keep your brain going.”

I drank my glass quickly, and felt slightly refreshed. I asked Chernov, “So, why did you bring me here?”

“I wanted to give you a plan. Come, we sit over in the corner.”

I followed him again, and sat in the seat opposite his.

“Right, what I want you to do is this.” Chernov said, while laying out a newspaper and some classified blueprints.

“First of February, 1986… President Miguel Hurtado to make a public statement regarding economic values in Mexico. And what’s this? Plans to the presidential office? What is all this stuff for?” I questioned with caution.

“What we’re going to do, is kill the president, and you’re going to tell the public to surrender.”

“Wait wait wait! You want me to help you kill the president of Mexico? What’s the reason behind this?”

“I can’t really tell you right now, but you must comply with me otherwise you will get killed.”

“Well, I understand that, and seeing as I can’t really get anything out of you, I’ll just have to go with it.”

Soon enough, we finished our round of drinks and headed into the main region of the city. Chernov turned to me and gave me more information.

“We have two options, we can either storm the office, hopefully making it past the other guns in the hall, or we can take a stealthy approach, and take the president out from behind him. It’s your choice.”

“Well, do we even have guns? I remember us abandoning our weapons just outside the border of Mexico.” I reacted.

“Well, not yet, but I will assure you that I can get some.”

Chernov walked into the ammunition store next to us, and I followed him in. He put some more papers on the table and asked for two small submachine guns, both Uzis, with suppressors. It’s a definite choice of the stealth option that we’re going for. How did he manage to get all this money though? So many questions will be left unanswered. I hid the Uzi inside my coat, and we carried on to the designated location. Patrolmen where walking past, which made me feel edgy, but Chernov just kept walking like they were nothing. I suppose that they would be nothing to him, he’s been in a war and seen much worse than two lousy police workers. But that’s just a guess.

We were standing just behind the large building housing the president. It was slowly turning to 3 PM, the time of the broadcast.

“Alright, we have to get to Miguel fast. What’s your next idea?” I asked Chernov.

“We scale the building to the open window of course. See the footholds?” Chernov replied with his cunning analysis. I could see that we could easily climb to the large open window clearly showing the back of the president’s head. There were a few other agents in there with him, but that was as standard.

“It’s your time to shine Gabriel, I’ll keep watch outside. Before you go, here’s a small script to read out.” Chernov handed me the note with some shocking words on it, which I saved for later on.

I grabbed on to the wall, and started my ascent. I came close the window ledge, and carefully took a glance into the room. Surprisingly, no one was looking in my direction, so I had an opportunity. I slowly pulled out the Uzi, while trying to keep my balance, and prepared to aim at the furthest person in the room. I pushed the trigger down, which let out the fiery breath of the gun, and the bullets landed straight in the victim’s chest. Before the agent hit the ground, I snapped to the person next to him, shot him too, and leaped through the window to secure the president. The rest of the staff fled the room when I was closing in.

“Please forgive me for this, but I’m going to have to execute you now.” I whispered while adjusting the gun to his head.

“What… what have I done to deserve this?” He replied in nervous anger.

“Don’t ask me, I was just ordered to do the job.”

I closed my eyes and fired the next bullet into his brain. I pushed him out of his seat, and readied the cameras for the broadcast. When I got back to sit in his chair, the minute had passed 3 PM. Wait, the cameras were rolling already? I sweated anxiously, and read the note aloud.

“Today is the day that Mexico must change. I and my colleagues will lead this world into a new era of economy and prosperity, starting with this country of Mexico. You will all submit to us, because we are the new presidency, and there’s nothing that you can do now without a leader. Good will to all that are with us, and those who oppose us. Good bye.”

I got up after hearing sounds of shotgun blasts and aggressive shouting, and headed to the window. The sounds were getting closer, so I shot out the cameras knowing that I wouldn’t have time to turn them off manually. I climbed down the wall as fast as I could, and sprinted to the car that Chernov had driven here for a quick escape.

“Come on, get in now!” Chernov shouted with hurriedness.

I jumped and slid through the open window of the car, and Chernov put his foot down to speed off as fast as we could. Police teams ran outside of the disappearing building to watch us race into the distance.

“Do you know where we’re going now?” I asked, panicked.

“We’re going to a boat. The nearest port we find, we’re getting on the boat. Hopefully it will take us where I want to go next.”