Severance (Book 1: Rise Of Chaos)

Prologue

Frowning, Walter got closer, walking towards a small clearing in the forest of containers. As he did, his eyes widened, and he instinctively hid behind one of the containers. Looking around it, he saw again what he had seen. It was more than just some kids. There were at least ten men in total, most of them wearing business suits, and more than one of them wielding large guns.

Walter chewed on his bottom lip in fear. Had he just stumbled onto some kind of mob deal? If that was the case, why were they meeting out here? He had no idea what was going on, but he had to find out. Peeking his head out again, he surveyed all of the men in the group. Four of the men were meeting in the middle. They looked to be two leaders, each with a personal bodyguard of sorts.

One man had long, silver hair that was tied up in a ponytail, and wearing a black suit with a red tie, that contrasted harshly with his pale skin. He had a triumphant smirk on his face. The other was a man wearing a blue vest and a white shirt that was slightly hunched over with ratty brown hair. On his suit, Walter could see what appeared to be black marks, that looked strangely like burns. Their bodyguards, a female for the pale man, and a male for the burned man, both were holding guns and looked deadly serious.

The man with the silver hair reached out his hand, shaking the burned mans hand. "Well, Cobb, I'm glad that we could finally come to an agreement." The man named Cobb looked up at the silver-haired man and growled slightly. "I had to go through a lot of trouble to get this to ya, so you better pay up, mate." Cobb had a slightly British accent, and a gravelly voice, as a contrast to the silver-haired man, whose voice was as silky smooth as velvet.

Cobb snapped his fingers, and one of the men who had been standing behind him walked forwards. He was a holding some sort of case that was the size and shape of a subwoofer, and looked just as heavy. However, the man was carrying it like it was nothing. He placed it in front of the silver-haired man, who then frowned and looked at Cobb. "Is it intact?" He asked, and Cobb's scowl grew deeper. "Does it bloody well look like it?" He said, motioning to the burns on his skin and clothes.

The silver-haired man smirked and then nodded. "Touché. Constance, darling, would you be a dear?" He said to the woman in a suit standing next to him, and the woman picked up the case without saying a word, easily lifting it and carrying it over to the silver-haired mans side of the clearing. Cobb looked up at the man. "Where's my end of the deal? Or are you gonna skimp out on me again like last time?"

Raising his hands, the silver-haired man laughed. "Cobb, please, let's not let our past disagreements get in the way, hmm?" A man in a suit walked forwards, holding a briefcase. He opened it up in front of Cobb, and both he and Walter gasped when they saw what was inside. There looked to be over a hundred diamonds inside, well over a million dollars. Cobb looked up at the silver-haired man, and then laughed. "Well, Mr. Redwing, you certainly don't disappoint."

Smiling, the man called Redwing nodded and placed his hand on Cobb's shoulder. "I knew I could count on you." Walter was shaking in his boots as he hid behind the container. He had no idea what to do in a situation like this. Those years of training had completely been wiped from his mind. He should call for backup, but by the time they got here, they would be gone. He had to do something now. So, he did the most stupid thing he could think of.

Drawing his gun out of his holster for the first time ever since he became an officer, Walter stepped out from behind the crate and aimed his pistol at Redwing. "FREEZE! NYPD, hands in  the air!" He shouted as loud as he could, but his voice still cracked, and his gun was shaking in his hands as he aimed it at Redwing.