The December Hunt (Work in Progress)

Part 7. (Placeholder Title) (v.1.3)

Rick found a fire exit and pushed on the door. It didn't move. 

Feels like a fire code violation, Rick thought. He turned around and found Christmas sweater walking up behind him. "No luck?", he asked Rick. Rick shook his head. "You find anything?" he replied, walking past him down the hall. His eyes scanned for service entrances and ventilation shafts. 

Christmas sweater sighed and shook his head. "Plenty of locked doors and barred windows, if you're looking for those," he replied. He pulled at his collar and spoke in a serious tone. "I think we should work together. Watch each others' backs and all," he said. 

Rick turned his head slightly and looked closely at Christmas sweater. His eyes narrowed. They stood in silence for a brief moment.

"I'm Rick," he finally said.

"Hugo," Christmas sweater replied. "Perhaps we should--"

Hugo stopped mid-sentence as Carla, the blonde lady carrying the SMG, rounded the corner behind Rick and spotted them. 

Carla's eyes grew fierce and she barked at them. "Hands where I can see 'em!"

That's my line, Rick thought to himself, raising his hands into the air above his head. Hugo scowled and did the same. Hugo and Rick were standing in the casino foyer, with the casino floor entrance to their north and Carla down the hall to the east. The hallway continued around the corner to the north. Carla raised her gun and yelled loudly. "Hey Rodriguez, we got two stragglers over here! Put 'em in the mahjong room with the other hostages!"

A thin, Hispanic man with a goatee and a shaved head rounded the corner on the western hallway. "Good catch, chica," he yelled across the hall. He was wearing the same gun that Carla had, which was hanging from a strap off of his shoulder like a laptop bag. Rodriguez approached Hugo from behind, so that now as Hugo and Rick were standing face-to-face, they were surrounded by Rodriguez from the west and Carla from the east. 

Rodriguez approached Hugo from behind and pressed the gun to his back. Carla's eyes narrowed on a glint coming from Rick's hip. She barked at Rodriquez again. 

"Hey Rodriguez, check the guy wearing the long brown coat. I think he's packing."

If only, Rick thought to himself.

Rodriguez stepped around Hugo and pointed the gun barrel at Rick's stomach, which was facing him. He used his gun to push the sides of Rick's coat out of the way, revealing Rick's badge attached to his belt.

"He's a cop," Rodriguez stated matter-of-factly to Carla. "Nothing to worry about though, it's not a gun, it's a badge."

From where Hugo was standing, he could see Rodriguez, then Rick behind him, and then Carla behind Rick. Rodriguez stepped around Hugo again intending to usher them down the eastern hallway, where the mahjong room was, but as he stepped out from in front of Rick, Hugo saw Carla's eyes change. She muttered something under her breath and quickly raised her gun.

"Look out!" Hugo yelled.

Rodriguez spun around to see what was happening, but Rick and Hugo instinctively ducked. Carla's finger squeezed the trigger, and three bullets whizzed through the air over their heads. 

The sudden sound of gunfire caused Rodriguez to flinch, and in that instant where his guard was down, Hugo quickly raised his foot and made a sharp kick to the back of Rodriguez's right leg. He lost his balance and fell to his right knee, but he still managed to bring the machine gun around his left side and aim it at Hugo. Rick quickly moved in, swung his hand down onto the barrel of the gun, and pushed it downwards. The gun fired into the floor five times. Rick used his other hand and grabbed Rodriguez's hand that was holding the trigger, clenching it in an iron grip. 

While Rodriguez was struggling to regain control of the gun, Carla's gun clicked and stopped firing; her magazine was empty. Hugo grabbed the back of Rodriguez's neck in one hand and punched his windpipe with the other. Rodriguez let out a half-cough, half-snort and let go of the front of the gun. Rick tore Rodriguez's other hand off the trigger and pulled the gun away from him. Hugo pulled Rodriguez's head back and down to the floor and stomped on his face twice, knocking him out cold.

Carla had switched out her magazine and was ready to take another shot, but from the northern end of the hallway, someone came running in and tackled her legs. The person came in so fast and so low that it caused Carla to flip sideways over her assailant and land head-first on the tile floor, knocking her out. Rick watched as his mysterious ally stood up, and he realized it was the Japanese lady in the orange coat, the one from the blackjack table. 

Good thing she wore running shoes today, Rick thought to himself.

Hugo looked over to the eastern hallway and noticed Orange-coat lady. "Hey, you were sitting next to me at the blackjack table!", he exclaimed. Orange-coat lady was still leaned over with her hands on her thighs, panting from the physical exertion of flipping a 110-pound woman over her shoulder, but she brushed a loose hair out from in front of her face and nodded. He eyes landed on the gun in Rick's hands and her eyes grew wide in fear.

Rick noticed and opened up the left side of his coat, displaying the badge on his hip. "I'm a cop," he said.

"I hate cops," Orange-coat lady replied. "They never let me off with a warning for speeding."

Hugo laughed and said "Well, that's no surprise, considering how fast you were going!" He chuckled to himself as Rick and the lady stared at him. He noticed they weren't laughing and became silent. 

The lady took out her phone, turned on the front-facing camera, and knelt down in front of Carla, who was still breathing but not doing much else. The phone clicked and the flash went off, capturing the lady and Carla in the snapshot.

Rick spoke up. "You don't need to include your own face for police evidence," he said. "A regular photo would suffice."

The lady stood back up and laughed. "This isn't for the police," she said. "I hate cops." She clicked the small heart icon below her new photo to add it to her "Favorites" album. "This woman is a famous pop-star overseas. I'm a huge fan."

This time, Rick laughed. 

"Let's just get out of here," he finally said.

Hugo walked over to the lady and extended his hand. "Hugo," he said. "And this cop that you hate is Rick."

She put away her phone and shook his hand. "Kiyo," she said. "Short for Kiyozumi."

Maybe we should call you Zumi instead, because you're zoomin' around, Hugo thought to himself. He decided not to say that.

"Kiyo, take her gun, if you know how to use it," Rick said, turning to the casino floor entrance to the north. "It's got a full clip."

Kiyo shook her head, stepping over Carla. "Too heavy," she replied. She bounced on her toes a few times as if warming up for a track meet. "Hard to run while carrying a gun." 

Rick looked over at Hugo, who also shook his head. "I've never shot a man before, and I don't intend to. I'll leave the killing to the soldiers," he said.

Suit yourself, Rick thought to himself. "Take the clip out, at least," he told Hugo. "And take out the cartridge already loaded into the barrel, too." Hugo did as he was told.

Slinging his SMG over his shoulder, Rick stepped up to the casino floor doors and pushed them open, stepping back into the bright, colorful lights and the lingering smell of cigarettes and alcohol.