Outlaw

Chapter 1: New Hood in Town

[Chicago, IL, USA; 11PM]

A black SUV took a sharp turn around a corner, the tires screeching as it drifted through, the driver trying not to roll the vehicle, otherwise they were done for.

"You think he's gone?", the one riding shotgun asked, looking into the mirror on his side, then to his friends in the back. "I think we lost him. I think we're good.", said the thug in the driver's side of the backseat, looking at the other three with a relieved smile.

The small group was suddenly blinded by a bright light on the car's right-hand side, and the loud whine of a smaller, yet powerful motor. There was another screech from outside their car, before something slammed into the side of them, briefly making the driver lose control, his knuckles white as he tried to steady the large vehicle.

They straightened out again, and looked through the mirrors and rear window to see a damaged motorbike laying in the street where they'd been hit. It took them slightly too long to notice a key detail.

Where's the rider?

Before any of them could even slightly begin to guess what was going on, the windshield shattered, and they were met with the sight of a man in a red helmet, brown jacket, and some kind of light body armor, pointing a pair of handguns at them.

"Holy shit!", the driver shouted, cutting the wheel to the side out of some bizarre fight-or-flight instinct, making the car swerve. Too late, the attacker dove in through the new opening made by the missing panel of glass, clocking the front passenger in the temple with the butt of his pistol.

He then came to a sudden stop in the back seat, sitting between the pair that were there first. He elbowed the one to his left in the nose, making the thug immediately cover it as it started to bleed.

"You guys run like you've got something to hide. How's about we have a quick chat?", the masked man said in a disturbingly calm tone, his voice modulated by tech in his helmet.

"The hell do you want, freak?", the one on his right asked defiantly, earning him a gun barrel to his nose as well. "Info. I basically just said it, don't make me repeat myself again...", he threatened.

"Or wha-", the other asked, pausing when he heard the click of the pistol's hammer being pulled back, as the gun was pointed right at his face. "That. Get it?", the masked man said, looking over at him. "First one to talk is the last one left alive, who's it gonna be?", he added.

The one on his other side laughed at that. "You actually think you scare us more than he-", he didn't finish as he was promptly shot in the head. "Wrong answer. Who's next?", the gunman said.

Glancing over his shoulder, the driver glared, then glanced at his partner in the passenger seat. "You!", he shouted, cutting the wheel, as the other one turned towards the mask with his weapon drawn.

The gunner got a shot off, ending the thug riding shotgun just as he pulled his own trigger to fire a short burst from his SMG. An instant later, the SUV went into a sideways roll, the two men and three corpses tumbling inside the hunk of metal as it flipped many times, before finally coming to a stop, resting on its flattened-in wheels.

The thug still laying oddly in the backseat, panted as his vision cleared up, looking around him in a daze. "R-Ricky? You good, man?", he asked his accomplice in front of him. The thug in question stirred a little, and raised his head. There wasn't a response, though, as he was immediately cut off by a gunshot to the head.

"Probably not. Which means you're tonight's winner, shitbag.", the gunman said as he turned towards the terrified thug, the eyes on his helmet illuminating the man's face, as the barrel of his handgun had just stopped smoking.