Waylaid Part I : Thieves in the night.

Chapter III

It was a Friday at work like any other Friday.  Except for how tired Gort felt the whole day.  The two hours of sleep he had managed to get the night before only made the night drag out more than usual.
Friday was Gort's payday.  He would normally pick up his check early before work in order to get it cashed before his shift started.  Today however, he didn't even bother.  His paycheck just seemed overly pathetic compared to the haul he and Leela had brought in the night before.
But after what felt like the longest day he could remember since the last time he had helped Keep a out on one of her half cocked adventures, he found himself waiting out the last few minutes of the night at the time clock once again.
As he stewed in his own thoughts, one of the lovely Half-Elfs interrupted his thoughts.  "So Gort."  She began with a smile that was more sly than usual.  "Who's the lucky girl?  Anyone we know?"
Gort's face took on a look of confusion.  "What?"
"You were obviously up all night last night for some reason.  So tell me.  Who is she?"  Her eyes looked so hungry for the tails of Gort's sexual conquests.
"What I do at night is none of your damn business!"  Gort said as gruffly as he could.
This only made her seem more interested.  "Come on.  You can tell me.  I won't judge you."  She pleaded.
Gort grunted.  "If you must know, I helped a friend move last night."  He failed to mention that he and that friend were moving money and not possessions.
The Half-Elf looked a little disappointed at Gort's confession.  "Oh...  Well...  Jolene and I are going to a party tomorrow night.  You could go with us.  Who knows, you might just find that special someone to keep you up at night."  She then took hold of Gort's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
He pulled his hand away from hers.  "No thanks.  I have plans already."  He lied.
"Okay.  But it's your loss."  She said, before clocking out.  Everyone else followed her lead.
When he left work, he made his way to Lorr's Bar and Grill, like normal.  Only tonight was one of the more unlucky nights for him.
A police car pulled up along side Gort while he walked and stopped.  Gort stopped as well and watched as the officer got out of his car.  It was an officer that stopped Gort regularly, so he should be more familiar with Gort, but he always stopped him as much as possible anyway.
"Where you headed?"  The officer asked, one hand was on his gun while the other hang loosely at his side.
"Just got off work."  Gort answered.  "Going to get myself a bite to eat and maybe a drink before heading home."  He was not really in the mood for this tonight.
"You should be familiar with the drill here.  Now empty your pockets out onto the hood of the car and step back."
"Is this really necessary?"  Fort asked.  He was pretty sure that other non Half-Ork races didn't have to put up with this kind of treatment.
"I'll ask the questions here."  The officer said while Gort emptied his pockets out onto the hood of the police car.
Another police car pulled up to make sure that the big dumb Half-Ork didn't try anything stupid.  The second officer got out of his car and watched Gort as the first one looked though Gort's belongings.
He looked at Gort's uncashed check, then opened Gort's wallet and took a look inside.  The officer took out Gort's I.D. and relayed the information on it over his radio.  Then he looked at Gort.  "Three hundred dollars is quite a bit for someone who hasn't even cashed his paycheck yet."
"Yeah, well...  I don't have many expenses."  Gort told him.
"Don't get smart with me you ugly..."  He was interrupted by his radio telling him that Gort was clean.  The officer put Gort's I.D. back in his wallet and sat it back down on the hood of the car.  "All right then.  You enjoy your night, and stay out of trouble."
"I'll do that."  Gort said as he collected his belongings from the hood of the car.  Neither officer said anything else.  They just got back into their cars and left.
'You take the good with the bad.'  Gort thought as he went about his way.  So the police harass him from time to time.  He had more money at home than they would make in many years to come.
When Gort arrived at Lorr's Bar and Grill, Leela was already there.  She had a half empty drink in her hand, and a mostly untouched plate of cheese fries in front of her.
Gort sat down at the bar beside Leela, and Lorr walked up to take his order.  "So what will it be tonight, Gorty?"
Gort grunted.  "Give me the same food, Lorr. But tonight I want your most expensive import."
"Living wealthy tonight, eh Gorty?"
Gort nodded at the Dwarf.  "Yeah.  And don't call me that."
The Dwarf smiled as he gave Gort his drink.  When he called Gort's order back to the cook Gort called out.  "Tell Frank not to skimp on the fries this time!"
He almost smiled when he heard Frank yelling back from the kitchen.  "I don't skimp on nothing!  Your lucky I even serve you at all!"
Lorr went back to where Gort and Leela were at the bar, and looked at Gort.  "So Lee here, tells me that you two had a great time last night."
"What all did she tell you?"  He asked.
It was Leela that answered him.  "Just the real juicy parts, Gorty."
"Yeah.  Lee said you had a real lasting effect on the girlies last night."  Lorr couldn't help but chuckle as he said it.
Gort grunted and looked at Leela.  "Tell me Lee.  Just what type of lasting effects are we talking about?"  He was not really sure if he wanted to hear what she had to say or not.
"Well first there was the one you scared half to death, then taught the finer points of bondage to."  She started giggling, while Lorr chuckled even more.  "Then there was the other one that was so happy to see you that she threw up all over you."  Now she and the Dwarf were rolling with laughter.
Lorr was still chuckling at Gort's expense when he sat a plate that presumably had a burger on it buried somewhere under a mountain of French fries.  He then gave Gort another beer.  "This one's on the house for the ladies man here."
The other people in the bar were laughing quietly to things being said in their own private conversations.  But to Gort, it all seemed that the world was laughing at him.
Leela saw the look on his face and put her arm around him.  "Come on Gorty.  You know we love you."
Gort grunted.  "Yeah?  Well, I wish you would all start taking me for granted."  He dug his burger out from under the fries and took a big bite out of it.  "And don't call me that!"  He said with a mouth full of food.
Gort had finished his food, and had just started his third beer, when a group of men came into the bar.  They were all wearing black suits that immediately grabbed the whole bar's attention.
They were followed by a stern looking Half-Elf with short dark hair and a black business dress.  She was holding a young girl by the arm.  Both Leela's and Gort's eyes widened when they saw the girl.  It was the same girl they had tied up and deposited in the dumpster behind the Deathskull's hideout.
The girl pointed at Gort and Leela, "That's them."  She said and narrowed her eyes, which did nothing to hide her fear.
"Are you sure?"  The Half-Elf asked.
The girl just nodded her head.
"Everyone but these two leave this place now."  The Half-Elf commanded while giving Gort and Leela an icy glare.
The patrons of the bar started to protest the order, but the men in the suits quickly changed their minds for them.  They let Lorr stay behind his bar with an unhappy look on his face.  Within a minute the three of them were the only ones left with the new comers.
The Half-Elf turned to the girl, "You have just bought you and your friends some more time.  Now return to them, and let them know that I may have need of them to redeem themselves later."
The girl said nothing.  She just left as fast as she could.
Once the girl was gone, the Half-Elf turned to Lorr.  "Bartender.  I will have a glass of whatever swill you think passes for the finest wine you have here."
Lorr stared at her for a long moment.  Then with a snort, he got her her drink.  One of the black suited men took the drink from Lorr and passed it to the Half-Elf.
She sipped it and made a face of disgust.  "Repulsive."  She said as she handed the drink back to her subordinate, who in turn sat it down on the bar.  "But I would expect nothing less from a place such as this."
She waved a hand at Lorr, as if to dismiss him.  "You may leave bartender.  What happens next does not concern you."
Lorr did not budge an inch.  He just gave her a hate filled glare.
"Fine.  Stay if you must."  Her voice told them that she really could care less if Lorr stayed or left.  "I am Elisa, of the Rebirth Movement."
Gort and Leela had no change of expression at the Half-Elf's statement.  But Lord's eyes widened at hearing it.
Elisa pointed at Gort and Leela.  "Last night, the two of you burned down the Deathskull's little clubhouse."
"Told you you'd burn it down." Leela said to Gort not taking her eyes off the Half-Elf.
Gort grunted.  "Shut up Lee."
"Yes.  Shut up Lee."  Elisa said in a mocking tone.  "I could care less what you and the Deathskull's do to one another.  If it were not for the fact that they were holding something for me that just so happened to be in the building you burned down, I would not have to lower myself into coming to this wretched place to find the two of you."
"Look.  If this is about the money..."  Leela began, but Elisa cut her off.
"This has nothing to do with the money."  Her voice sounded both cold and deadly.  "They were holding some weapons for me.  The remains of which are now buried under tons of ruble."
Gort grunted.  Lorr groaned.  Leela just stared.
Just then, Frank came in from the kitchen to see why the bar had gotten so quiet.  In one fluid motion, one of Elisa's men pulled his gun and shot him through the head.
Both Gort and Lorr jumped, and Leela let out a scream.
Elisa glared at the man.  "Put that thing away, you idiot!"
When the man complied, Elisa turned a baleful face to the three friends.  Any chance of talking their way out of this situation had died with the cook.  "After I leave, wait five minutes, kill the three of them, then burn this dreadful place to the ground."  Without another word she was gone.
Left behind, the men in black suits watched their charges with the cold hint of murder in their eyes.
Gort waited until he was sure the Half-Elf was long gone.  Then with a grunt, he grabbed Leela and volted over the bar.  Lorr was already through the door to the kitchen and Gort wasted no time following him.
Elisa's men were so stunned by the sudden action, it took them a moment to come to their senses.  "Stop them!"  One of them yelled.
Lorr had already crossed the kitchen and was breaking the knob off the deadbolt lock on the door that led to the alley behind his bar.  Gort sat Leela down then pushed a large metal shelf in front of the door to the bar.
When Gort turned around, Lorr and Leela had already went outside.  As Gort followed them he heard their pursuers break into the kitchen.  Lorr slammed the big metal door closed behind Gort and used his keys to lock the deadbolt.
Lorr turned from the door and pointed.  "My car's right over there!"  He yelled.
They ran over and got into Lorr's old car.  Lorr in the drivers seat, Leela in the passengers seat, with Gort in the back.
Lorr tried to start the car.  The engine however, made a choking sound and protested being started.
"Come on, Lorr.  This thing was a piece of shit long before I was even born."  Leela shouted at him.
"Shut up Lee!"  The Dwarf yelled at her.  Then tried to start the car again.  This time the engine roared to life.
Gort had been watching out the back window of the car and saw that their would-be killers were more organized now.  They had went out the front of the bar and had run around back to get at their escaping prey.  "Here they come!"  He shouted.
Lorr reached under his seat and pulled out a large handgun.  He handed it back to Gort.  "Here.  Discourage them."
Gort took the gun with a grunt.  But before he could use it the men in black suits had already opened fire on them.
Lorr threw the car into drive and hit the gas.  The car tore off down the alleyway knocking trash cans out of its way, and losing a side mirror to a dumpster.
When Lorr cleared the alleyway he cut the wheel hard to the right.  The car skidded sideways for a moment, and the back drivers side hit another car in the street.  Gort was slammed into the door in the back, while Leela was thrown into Lorr's shoulder.
The car stalled, and the engine died.  "Buckle up!"  The Dwarf yelled as he started the car once more.
"Great!  Either the Jack-Asses with the guns are going to shoot us, or Lorr is going to kill us in a massive car crash!"
Lorr didn't say anything, but Gort called up from the back.  "Hey guys!  Those people in the car we just hit..."
"What about them?"  Lorr cut him off.
He was answered by gun shots from the other car.  Lorr ground his teeth and stomped on the gas.  The other car had no trouble following Lorr's poor old car.
The rear window disappeared in a hail of bullets.  "For the love of the Gods, Gort!  Are you going to use that damn thing or just look at it?"
Gort grunted and aimed Lorr's gun over the backseat.  He aimed for the front tire on the passengers side of the other car, but just as he fired, Lorr jerked the car around another car that was in front of them.  Gort's shot was thrown off, and he only took out one of the other car's headlights.
"You want to keep it a bit more steady Lorr?"  Gort snapped.  The pause in the gun fire from the other car did nothing to make him feel any better.
"You want to drive, Gorty?"  The Dwarf asked.
"I wish somebody would."  Leela said breathlessly.  Her knuckles were turning white from the deathgrip  she had on the dashboard.
Gort took aim once more at a new target on the other car.  "Don't call me that."  He said as he fired the gun.  He was not actually sure if he had hit the driver of the car or not, but a big hole appeared in the windshield in front of his head.
The other car slowed down a little as it drifted into on coming traffic and hit a truck head-on.  Gort gave a satisfied grunt.  "You can slow down now Lorr."
"I ain't slowing down until we get to where we're going."
"That's fine Lorr.  But if the cops stop us now, we'll all be screwed."  The fact that they were no longer being chased did nothing to improve Gort's mood.
"Look Gorty.  I don't know if you figured this out or not, but the cops are not going to get involved with this.  That Half-Elf you two pissed off is not some run of the mill crime boss.  She's obviously connected.  So the cops won't get involved because she doesn't want them to get involved."  The Dwarf sighed.  "We'll talk about this when we get where we're going.  Now be quiet and let me drive."
"Hey Lorr."  Leela piped in.  "I think they torched your bar.  I can see the smoke from here."
Both Gort and Lorr yelled at her at the same time.  "Shut up Lee!"  They all remained silent for a long time after that.
Lorr drove the car hard, right out of town.  They had traveled for somewhere near to an hour when the silence was finally broken.  It was the car itself that broke the silence with a metallic pop and thud sound coming from the engine, accompanied with some thick black smoke.
"What happened?"  Leela asked.
"I don't know."  Lorr said.  Hopefully it can make it to where we're heading."