exhausted, I've lost my way please take me anywhere
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"Guns and knives stick together," Vernon said, his grim voice echoing in the interior of the building. The walls had high ceilings, and the rooms were spacious and largely empty, with only a small amount of furniture scattered irregularly throughout. "You know who to cover. We'll scour the buildings one by one, and divide up into two for the upper and lower halves. If you're going into a place with bad reception, don't."
The racers had gathered inside at the entrance, to find the place seemingly deserted. It seemed like the clan was all keeping aboveground, or they hadn't bothered to send many to greet us. But then, they didn't need to. The gang was comprised mainly of criminals, but we were mostly racers, or at the most, drug dealers or extortionists. The clan was a family of trained killers.
"Taehyung, Jinyoung, take the top half," Vernon continued. His face was grim and bloodless—most of the racers looked exactly like they had before, as if they hadn't encountered anyone. Taehyung, however, was another story. His vest was gone, t-shirt half ripped so I could see a sliver of the tiger tattoo across his shoulder blade. "Ten, Jaebum, downstairs."
The momentary euphoria that had washed over me during the drive had ebbed like the tide, leaving me feeling even more distraught than before. Now the fear began to settle in, like crawling spiders over my bones, gooseflesh covering my arms.
Taeyong met my eyes, asking a silent question with his: are you alright? Physically, I was, and I knew he could see that as well, but there were some hidden scars I couldn't lie about. He must have understood, because his eyes narrowed in realization before I could speak.
"You go with Yeeun," Vernon spoke, and it took my shock-numbed brain a few seconds to register that he had been talking to me. His eyes didn't stay on me long, flitting away and skipping over to the others, as if he couldn't bear to keep his gaze still. There was a hidden jitteriness just under his skin, visible only in the tight muscles around his mouth and the way his knuckles protruded from his fisted hands. "Upstairs. And as for—"
"You're with me," Taeyong cut him off impatiently, and Vernon glanced at him in surprise. "If we're using the buddy system and she goes with the assassin, you're with me."
Vernon's eyes darkened in understanding, and he inclined his head. "All right," he muttered. "The ones who go upstairs, make your way down the floors. The ones who take the bottom half work your way upwards and meet them halfway. If we're all still alive, we'll recon."
"Tch," Taehyung said, sardonic. There was a cut running across his cheekbone and bruising around his lower lip, but his eyes burned like wildfire. "So pessimistic."
I didn't ask about Jun, knowing he was setting up a frame in the opposing building. Long-range shooting, I had been told. He was our sniper.
