Melody was an uncomplicated girl. She did not know much of her parents, whom Jason spoke of as being wonderful people, but she did know how to survive. Quite a simple task, for a simple girl. Jason had taken her to school here when she had been younger, as the first five grades were free, and then she had learned medical knowledge from self-taught doctor in the area. Jason trusted that man, if only a little. Not like she was worried all that much. Her brother did his best to protect her, and she respected him for that. Sometimes she wanted to be free, to go outside the house they lived in, but then when she did, she remembered what outside was like.
Dusty, filthy land. She was on the street currently, as a matter of fact. But this time, she had an agenda. Jason asked for some more ammunition for his gun, which he seemed to go through so fast that there never seemed to be any in the house. He may be an expert marksman with the handgun, but he still ran out, all too quickly. So much money wasted on a tool of carnage.
Melody made her way across the street to the empty side. There were a few houses in between her place and Mr. Dragger. The old merchant\/arms dealer was an even closer friend to Jason than anyone she had ever known. And even though they were good friends, Mr. Dragger knew how to sell. Jason often came home from the man's place of business having spent everything he had on something or other, and she was determined not to do the same.
She now stood in front of the door to the merchant's store. The steel door had been designed to repel attacks from heavy small arms fire, grenades and gas attacks. Or at least that's what Jason had told her. She decided to knock on the door. There was a bar near the top that slid open. A pair of eyes glared out of the view hole, looked down, and stared her down, as if the eyes were looking into her being.
"I am not a charity! Now go, before I open this door and come after you." Melody jumped backwards.
This outburst struck something inside of her, and she was motivated to speak, the words coming out in one breath, as if saying them fast enough would guarantee salvation. "Death sends his regards."
The eyes above her grew wide, like she had actually had an impact on him. "I hope you know what you're doing. Come inside, before someone catches you." The eyes disappeared from their spot at the slit, and the door opened.
Melody found herself staring down a much older man, one who looked to be in his forties or early fifties, with a medium length, scraggly beard, and a somewhat wrinkled face. The older merchant carried a cane, which she assumed was for much more than support of a medical nature. The man had a small amount of hair upon his head, mostly gray hair by now. He stepped aside, and waved the young girl in. Once inside, she turned to him as he closed the door.
"Mr. Dragger, sir?"
"What? I have important business to attend to; I have no time for inquiries. So hurry it up!" He sounded quite grumpy.
Melody decided upon a much more solemn tone. "I require some..." She fumbled for the word Jason had told her, "... Nine millimeter ammunition?"
"Do you need it or not?" He demanded, still standing near the doorway.
"I do. My brother runs out of it too quickly to replenish--"
"Melody, I presume?" The tone of his voice changed from annoyed to serious.
"Y-yes, Mr. Dragger." He had surprised her with his godlike voice.
"Well, come sit down then! I have some in the back here!" Mr. Dragger showed her to a pair of dilapidated looking chairs that were to her right. Once seated, Dragger spoke.
"So? How much do you want? I've heard a lot about you."
Melody was not interested in being around this peddler of death any longer than needed. "Just a couple cases, that should fulfill my needs."
"That's more than Jason buys! You must be looking for quite a fight, eh?" the old man stood, and walked away from the chairs, behind a curtain. Melody could hear whistling and some form of shuffling against wood. "I have my workbench back here; I know I left a few cases somewhere... Oh! There it is!" Dragger returned with two hand-crafted boxes that looked heavy. "Feel free to take a look inside."
Melody did not hesitate to open the container. Inside, she found something quite unlike what she was looking for. Even though she had never seen what Jason loaded into his weapon, she expected it to be some horrible thing, to be able to take the lives of people so effortlessly. Yet all it seemed to be was a bunch of metal pieces, rounded on one side, and flat on the other. How could something so simple and primitive looking cause so much pain and strife?
"Everything seems in order. How much?"
"How much you got? Mr. Dragger smiled.
So that's how he does it. "Not much... about twenty Debts."
"Sounds good enough to me!" Mr. Dragger reached his hardened hands out for the money. Melody handed it over. "Here are your boxes then. Care to stay a while?" Presently there was a knock on the door. Dragger turned. "Never mind then. You will have to excuse me, but I must tend to another client. Please use the back door to see yourself out. Just past my workbench." He paused for a second to address the door. "And tell your brother I said hello."
Melody strode down the hallway as Dragger turned to the entrance to speak with his next business deal.
The street behind the shop appeared to be no different than the space out front. Except for the crowd. People were everywhere, standing around, waking from one place to another, going home, or to work. Earning money, selling materials, buying necessities. This is what Melody relished. Life at its peak.
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Mellisa Koff was pissed off. She was one of the best marksmen of her day, and she had been forced to waste two whole handfuls worth of ammunition on one sole target. And he still wasn't dead. So she switched objectives. Right now it was more of a revenge-motivated operation, as her client wanted Jason. But she knew another chance would not arise. Her only option was to sit here, on this roof instead, and take something more precious than his own life.
So she clutched her 30-06 Springfield close to her breast, a special weapon, as she did not know of more than two. Aiming down the sights, she could see her new target admiring the street below.
How naive. Mellisa watched Jason's sister twist and turn in the crowd, and waited for an opening. The dry desert wind pushed against her silken red hair, causing her to stop so she could hold it down again. She aimed once more, and pressed her finger down...
------
Ryan Novak heard the shots, both of them. He had been at the scene of the first shooting when the second round of noises went off. There was no time to waste, he jumped from the second story, into a roll upon hitting the ground, and emerged into a sprint, heading towards the commotion. He knew all of Redford's ins and outs, from the brick homes to the wood, the gated entrances to the sewers that smugglers used to get merchandise in. The Reform took him in, and the promise he showed to them was what brought him here. He was an Agent, the top agent, to be exact, and this was his city. So these shootings were personal.
Now he was back in the chase mindset. He dodged over, under and around the various people and buildings, Making sure everything was going well on his way there. There was no operation going on in that area that required any shooting of any kind; He would know because he orchestrated them. There was not much that stood between him and the target area now, so he relayed his coordinates before coming onto the scene.
"Agent One, Reporting in shots fired twelve down from baseline, repeat, twelve down from baseline. Redirect R.S. team three to provide support." Ryan waited for a response, holding the communicator that was attached to his belt in a death grip as he rammed civilians out of his way. No response. Ryan dropped the device back into its place, and withdrew his MA-12 blast rifle from its place at his back. People saw the weapon, and even though he wore the patch of Security, they began scattering in fear. There were no more gunshots from ahead, and Ryan feared the worst. He turned the corner.
One single hole was bored into the sandy ground, and one lone, headless body lay on the ground nearby. Blood covered the street. Ryan leaned closer to obtain a better look at the deceased, and was lucky enough not to have his head blasted off by the same shooter.
At least they are still here. Good... Ryan waited for a few second before charging forward to a low wall that was sticking up out of the ground. Bullets lined the area behind him, and he could feel the bullets lodge themselves into the wall. Obviously this form of cover would disappear quite quickly if he did not find something else fast.
Ryan took aim and fired at where he suspected the gunshots were coming from. His bullets fell low of the target, and damaged the side of the building. Then to add further destruction, they exploded, using years of technology engineered by men left to tarry day and night in the basement of the main tower, to send a compact charge to oblivion. The area surrounding the explosion was reduced to rubble, while the building itself was weakened significantly. A few more well placed shots would bring down the whole thing... but that was bad for business. Ryan wished to take his opponent into custody without wasting someone's home in the process.
"Hey! Reform Security Three here! Ten down from baseline, one off right. Moving down!"
Ryan roared into the comm. "Hurry, dammit! And watch your back."
Bullets impacted against the other side of the wall. The aggressor was trying to punch through, and they were succeeding.
"Eleven south!"
Ryan turned and fired again, aiming higher. Pieces of stone exploded off the top, most likely sending shrapnel into the shooter's face. The bullets shattered upon impact. More rounds came at him, and Ryan ducked back behind the wall. This time, he was unlucky. Holes appeared in the wall, and drilled themselves into the ground.
Then Ryan heard gunshots behind him. Fearing the worst, He turned, rifle at the ready...
"Team Three has arrived! Go get 'em, Ryan!"
Five Reform Security soldiers took up positions at differing spots behind him, taking cover in a staggered arrowhead formation. They began providing continuous suppressing fire.
Ryan vaulted over the low wall as the sniper fire became distracted with his new friends. H would have to hurry, because he could hear the gunfire dying behind him.
But it wasn't the sniper that was doing the killing.
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Jason had heard the shots from a while away, confirming his fears. If they wanted his sister, they would only have to lure her out of Dragger's home. Knowing him, all it would take would be a knock on the door and a promise of business.
He was underequipped, she was away from home, and he was away from her. The perfect time to strike, if he were on the other end. So Jason bolted off in that direction, hoping that they had missed. Multiple shots soon afterwards soon gave him more hope.
It did not look good either way. When he arrived, the headless corpse caused him to fear for the worst. Jason's anger flared, causing him to become reckless. Normally he would have let Security take care of such an operation, but he wanted the shooter's head now, and they would try to stop him.
So he started from behind, putting his blade through the back soldiers head at the base of the skull. Then he retrieved the rifle off of the body and proceeded to eradicate the other men, dropping them one at a time, until the last remained. In a blind rage, Jason swung the butt of the rifle down on the last man, crushing his brain under the weapon, and breaking the wood stock.
Jason wanted his attacker alive first, and then they could die. It perturbed him that these men had to die to achieve his goal, as it was men like these that had rescued him and his sister in the first place. But right now, he had no cares. It was time to find the killer of his last real friend.
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Mellisa knew that her time was running thin. She could see Jason standing in the street, looking for her. Then she saw him turn, and it looked as if he had spotted her. She was taken aback as he ran towards the building. She knew the Agent was already on his way to see her, but Jason would kill them both if she fought back. She could try to escape using the roof, but there was no time. Indeed, the only choice seemed to be to get arrested.
Sounds great, she thought, just great. She watched as the Agent kicked down the door, rifle in hand. She raised her hands, and he made her turn. Just one more thing...
"We need to hurry. You are in great danger."
"That's what you think."
"There is a man more dangerous than both of us coming up those stairs right now, and if we don't leave he will kill us both!"
The look on his stern face became serious. "Get going then."
Mellisa turned, and they jumped off the building to the street below.
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Jason watched them run.