Primal Gambit

Chapter 60: Unexpected Attendees

The callous whisper of silenced weapons reverberated just beyond the perimeter of the warehouse. Scarab's mercenaries were taking potshots at the rapidly approaching vehicle. The unexpected attendees made their vile entrance known to all, columns of fire manifesting into black smoke in the air. Grog and Gruel roared from the roll-cage like primal beasts as Drexel hung outwards, nearly decapitated with each raised piece of debris that the jeep spun past. The off-roading tires clenched the broken asphalt beneath with horrid risk, the wheels spinning faster than the ground she bounded over. With one hand Drexel held onto the bars; from the other hung a submachine gun that spewed rounds at anything beyond the grill.

Convulsing violently in his hand, the fierce weapon vomited 30 rounds from its belly before clicking dry, at which point the chop shopper lifted himself back upright and reloaded with malicious intent. If he hadn't already contacted the trained mercenaries that fired back with precise aim and training, he surely would with his next hail of gunfire. Rounds whizzed by their heads at a dangerous proximity – the skidding jeep was like target practice for the mercenary veterans, who were only able to discharge their weapons on the rarest occasions.

"Steal the driver!" Scarab howled into his shoulder-mounted radio before lifting the precision rifle to his single unscathed eye.

The only light came from the fires that shouted magma onto the world surrounding the jeep – the mercenaries were shrouded in the darkness, just how Scarab had hoped. They were an invisible threat and the leader intended to exploit the dark cover of night. His men would sustain minimal casualties if they held their ground and remained calm. In the heat of the crossfire, however, the mercenary had lost Darwin's position. Like a ghost, the puppeteer disappeared.

Inside the warehouse tensions rose as steadily as they had outside. Confusion and false aggression plagued them all as they realized how Darwin had manipulated each one of them. No matter the reasons that brought them together, the two stateside men blamed their foreign counterpart for everything he had done to unravel their everyday lives.

Shuke sat between them, the idol of their undoing – the icon of their ruin. He squirmed in the chair, unable to break free of the restraints. His lips parted as far as they could, muffled screams emitting as the horrors outside breached closer. He wondered what would happen if he were captured by the feral chop shoppers, began to weigh his options as far as whose ownership he would rather be in the most. In his mind, each scenario played out more heinously than the last. The captive hadn't spent enough time under the watchful eye of the Siberian to understand just how cruel he could be. A silenced man at the end of his rope, his mouth had been sewn shut for far too long. Shuke's position in the contract would be revealed to all the contenders soon enough.

Amid the accusations cussed towards one another, Valerie yelled so loud that even her echoes were stronger than the shouting men:

"What's going to happen to Shuke?" Everyone stopped and stared, shocked that none of them, in their fueled hate, had even spared a thought as to the fate of the man they were all after. Doerrman and Vikhr still had their weapons trained on one another, ready to pull their triggers at any moment.

"I – I don't know. Where did Darwin go? Or is it something else he'll keep us in the dark about?" Renault growled.

"And why did he leave us here without reason? Surely he would have taken the professor back. If for nothing else, he'll still bring in some money for Marcotte." Doerrman whispered, worried that the mastermind was nearby – listening to their every chilling word.

"He can't be alone." Vikhr warned.

Slowly their shooters began to relax, gradually lowering to their sides. Doerrman and Vikhr realized they were not each other's enemy, despite all that had transpired between them. They had remained acquaintances until Darwin cast his harrowing shadow over them all.