A Songbird's love

Chapter 15: Gunshots

We cautiously made our way around the mall, always taking a look around before advancing.
Just then, Teto froze in her step and grabbed my arm before we could cross the corner. I listened closely, and heard voices.
"You sure you saw him?"
"Yeah, man. Had his whole family here as well."
"So what's the plan?"
"The kids."
I didn't see many families around just now, then... the twins' family?
Were they targetting the twins?
What for?
They're not going to get to them, not on my watch.
"Want to kill them? Or knock them out?" Teto mouthed.
I don't want the twins seeing anything they don't have to. "Knock them out. You can finish them off later."
Teto waved a hand, "You may do the honours."
I understand why Teto would want me to shoot, she wanted to save up her bullets in case there was anything else. But I still wished she didn't.
I peeked around the corner. The men were walking really casually, they had no idea that assassins were after them. Well, too bad. They're going down.
I aimed for the man on the left's knee, and pulled the trigger. No sound came from my gun, I had placed a silencer on it. With a splatter of blood and a shout of pain, he went down. His partner was shocked and his reaction time was slow, he wasn't ready for the second bullet that flew from my gun. They were both still alive and breathing, just in terrible pain from their bleeding knees.
I signalled at Teto to stay with the family, then stepped up to the two men writhing in pain on the floor. I slammed the rear end of the gun into both their necks, knocking them out cold and bleeding on the floor. Who knows, maybe they'll bleed to death. The other assassins wouldn't have to come back for them.

"What are you doing?" A yell distracted me from the sight on the floor. I turned around to see a gun aimed at me a few meters away. Another man in the same bulky jacket pointed at the two on the floor, "What's up with them?"
I didn't bother replying his question. I just raised my gun and shot him in the knee. This one was stronger, as he went down he tried shooting. At the sound of the gun going off, I ducked on instinct, even though the bullet flew nowhere near me. Rin had let out a small scream, which made me anxious. The family wasn't used to gunshots, I want to get them out of here as soon as possible.
Rin's scream caught the man's attention though, and he peered at the family. His eyes widened and he glared at Fudo, "You. The Boss will get you for what you did. He will make you pay."
I glanced at Fudo, not understanding what was going on. From the look on Fudo's face, I could tell he knew what the man was talking about.
Teto leaned into the family and muttered something. Rin shut her eyes tight and wrapped her arms around her mother. Len looked away from where Teto was walking towards. Fudo couldn't stop staring at the man, his face really pale. Teto aimed her gun at the guy's head and without a word, pulled the trigger.
As the man's life bled out onto the smooth floor, I went to take Len's hand. He flinched a little, but relaxed when he realised it was me. Teto and I guided the family to the nearest exit.

We had managed to get out of the mall safely. There were no casualties, nothing physical anyways. Mentally, that's another thing to worry about. The earpiece crackled to life again, Songbird, you out yet?
Are there any left?
I muttered, "There's two unconscious on the first floor, they're probably bleeding to death. We killed one more after that."
Cake, there's still some left.
Teto glanced at me, then scanned the mall. She waved at me, "After this, I'll come find you. Send me your address."
I nodded, then wished her luck before she ran back into the mall. I watched as Teto skipped through the doors, saw her fire another shot at someone. Knowing her, she was probably humming a tune as she worked. She always does.
A tug on my sleeve and a sniffle brought me back to reality. Rin had tears streaming down her face, which startled me as I rushed to clean them off. She held me close as she finally broke down, I patted her back to calm her down, "It's okay, it's okay. It's over."
She looked up in the direction where Teto ran off, "Is your friend going to be okay without your help?"
"She'll be fine. There are others helping her."
Rin was staring into blank space now, so I said, "We should go home."
Fudo hurriedly agreed, frantically calling the driver. He was trying to be tough, but even he was shaken. Understandable. I was like that too, when I first saw my father kill someone. Mikuo was less bothered, recovering almost immediately. It took days until I had enough courage to hold a gun again.
The driver came really quickly, probably had not much traffic on the roads. I pulled Rin and Len along as their parents led the way to the car. Len was pretty frozen too, I wished I knew what he was thinking. I didn't dare look at him. He had seen me shoot three people without even batting an eye, did that scare him? Sure, I didn't kill them, but I had played a part. Is he going to avoid me now? He hasn't said a word.
I sighed, pushing the thoughts out of my mind. Keep my head clear now, worry later when I'm by myself. I'll give him some space though, I shouldn't talk to him until he wants to.
And Fudo. Something weird is going on. Before he died, the man had directed his words at Fudo. Were the gang members targetting him then? What did he do to upset gang members? A rich businessman like him wouldn't have any relation to a gang, right...?
Man, all this thinking is hurting my brain.