What Nightmares are Made of (10)

Frederick Arthur

"Sonny! It's too rough up here! I know what the Lees told you, but you have to turn back."

"You think I'm gonna leave my one and only brother to die?! Fuck no! I'm gonna try and rush 'em."

"Godammit, bro, I'm telling you it's a suicide mission! They're all over the place and we're trapped. Back the fuck off!"

Sonny hangs up the phone with Shorter, and looks at you with a determined face, "Shorter's always been bull headed and lion hearted. Fuck that, we gotta do somethin'." You hear the gunfire within a short distance; they're trapped in one of the Chinatown safe houses which have been abandoned by the general public a long time ago. You can't see too much given that it's night, but what you can see are the bullet sparks from multiple firearms.

"I got these guys up at the front; you try to make your way inside, got it?" Sonny tells you as he's driving towards the mass crowd of shooters.

"Got it."

"Be careful, Lotus. May luck be on your side."

"This is not luck; fate is on my side. We will come out on top if it's the last thing I do."

Sonny felt a rise of energy when you say that, "Let's bring the fire."

He accelerates the car, and gets noticed by the shooters. They start shooting at the car and the bullets riddle the car with holes on the body and the windshield. You and Sonny duck to protect yourselves from the incoming fire which made Sonny drift the car sideways into the crowd killing a few shooters. He hits a large cement divider that stops the car completely; you both get out of the car and start shooting at the nearest shooters taking them down one by one. Sonny manages to get a few more where this firefight is now manageable for him so you can separate and find Shorter, "Go now!"

You bum rush into the safe house knocking off henchmen as you go. Bullets whiz by your ears which are driving you crazy; hearing this as well as trying to hear footsteps and other noises is taking some getting used to. On the first floor there were some guys that were focused on some of Shorter's men on the other side which gave you a way to sneak upstairs undetected. You are quiet for right now as to not bring attention to yourself. Along the hallway you hear shuffling in one of the rooms as if someone was dragging their feet. You slowly sneak towards the door and hear a gun being reloaded; not giving them a chance to act you reveal yourself gun loaded and ready to fire, and the unsuspecting person also points their gun at you...

"Lotus, baby, is that you?"

"Shorter."

One of Arthur's henchmen sees you in the hallway and gets one shot off hitting your left shoulder. You go into shock and hit the floor; Shorter tries to quickly reach over to you using as much adrenaline as he can muster to bring you into the room and secure you. He holds you in his arms and is shaking you to keep you awake.

"Lotus, Lotus, look at me. You're gonna be alright. He just hit your arm. You're OK. Please don't pass out on me. I can't protect us both. Baby? Can you hear me? It's me, Shorter!"

2 henchmen hear Shorter and try to get into the room, but Shorter's accuracy hits them both dead in the chest. He hears more henchmen coming, and is now in a panic. You could hardly hear anything before and now your senses are coming back to you because of the adrenaline. You look into Shorter's eyes, see how nervous he is, and tell yourself, "I'm OK. I'm OK. I gotta keep going for Shorter. He needs me. I won't give up now." You manage to get up and prepare yourself for this firefight again knowing you will not fail. Using what you have learned from Blanca you dodge and shoot the incoming horde until some of Shorter's men comes to help out. You also hear Sing's flying dragon fang being swung around now so he must be close. Arthur's henchmen have pinpointed where Shorter is and all are now en route to attack all together. You hear orders being said sporadically through the hallway from both Arthur and Shorter's men.