As I'm growing exhausted, Pico finally pulls up in his rusty makeshift truck.
"Hola, Z! Sorry for the wait. Had to drop off the babe, you understand, ah?"
"Yeah, I getcha. Erm, Zee?"
"Yeah, your nickname for your alias, Zsen, but just the first letter. You like it, huh?"
'Hmm... Yeah, I guess it has a nice ring to it.
"So where we going, Z?"
"Uh, anywhere I guess."
"So what's the deal, huh? Why you call me at one in the morning?"
"I'm not too sure myself. How are you holding up?"
"Hmm? Oh! You mean with drinking and dealing with that bitch, Mallory. I'm all good, Z. I didn't drink too much."
"..."
"You avoided my question, Z."
"Sorry... Lizzie is having some sort of breakdown. I had to give her some space."
"If you say so. I wouldn't wanna leave dat ass alone, amigo. She could be tryna get chu outa there to fuck some other mans, y'know."
"..."
"Erm, sorry. Didn't mean to bring negative energy. She wouldn't do anyone else if Zander couldn't pull."
"..."
"Shit, my bad again, Z. I'll, er... I'll drop it."
"Well, I've erm... We've done it together already."
*Eeerrk!*
Pico pulled the brakes to an immediate stop!
"What the hell was that?"
"You got her V-card, amigo?!"
He slaps my shoulder lightly.
"Mierda, hermano, no creía que pudieras conseguir algo."
"Huh?"
"Oh, erm... Means, eh, nice job, bro."
"Really? That long of a sentence to just say that?"
"Heh, yeah."
"Well, yeah. Tonight's just girl issues, I guess."
"Ey, we gonna stop by the crib so I can drop some things off."
"Alright."
...
"..."
"So, I have a question?"
"What's that, Z?"
"You liked Holly, right?"
"Eh... Yeah... I did."
"How could you move on so fast?"
"I didn't. I had my eyes on her but, it ain't like we were fucking. Nothing ever happened between us. Now I gotta live knowing I never told her how I felt."
"Oh... So, do you really like Vadice?"
"Of course. I didn't do it impulsively. I think you should keep quiet for the ride there, ah?"
"Yeah, sorry."
...
"Woah! Amigo, it just me, or is that smoke?"
"Yeah, a fire you think?"
"Woah woah, amigo... That shit toward my house!"
"What?! Oh no."
Pico steps on the pedal and speeds through a few red lights. He looks, understandably, concerned.
...
As we turn onto the street with the burning house, I can slowly hear loud rap music blasting from someone's car. Speaking of which, there are about seven or eight vehicles of varying models parked in front of this one-story house.
There are a ton of people stood by the vehicles with guns shooting into the house. They are all dressed in bright vibrant purple colors and most covered in tattoos. The guys either have no shirt or they are hooded. The women have revealing clothing and some even have their bare chest showing. All of them, however, wear some sort of mask, bandana, or even some have motorcycle helmets.
"No! ¡Madre! ¡Papá! Maldición, no! ¡Niños! Nathaniel, amigo, there are kids in there! Help me get them out of there, please!"
Pico looks to be in tears. Why would anyone do this?!
One of the guys turns toward us with one of the scariest and most angriest faces I've ever seen... He doesn't even seem to be trying to make that face, it just appears to be his normal look.
He looks a little different compared to the others. He has green cornrows, strong facial features, and green eyes. His attire looks to be a military uniform but, there's no way he'd be allowed in. He looks to have a fancy, silk-looking, purple vest with a poofy collar attached to it. It has the length of a trench coat but, it has no sleeves. He has a lot of abs showing as he has no shirt underneath. He's wearing the lower half of what looks to be the skin-tight suit and it's altered to be a tame dark purple color with a gold stripe along the sides. He looks very clean and rich, especially for a gangster, but, he's covered with tattoos on his entire torso and arms.
"Of course, but, what's going on?!"
"It's ma family in there! Come on, we can't waste time! Give me cover fire."
"What?!"
Pico rams the truck through a few of their vehicles and parks right at the side of the house.
*Glass Breaking!*
Fuck! They start shooting through my window! I get my primary gun out and start shooting.
*Molotov cocktail Explosion!*
"Shit! Pico!"
Pico comes out of the house through a hole in the wall that he tore down. He has two babies over his shoulders and a group of younger kids crying following him. He's leading them out through the backyard. He looks at me...
"Amigo, get out! The truck's on fire! Come after us!"
I crawl out through the driver's door-
"Ack!"
I got shot in the hip!
"Z, fuck! ¡Aquí, saca a tu hermano y hermana de aquí! Z, I'm coming!"
Pico grabs hold of my shoulders and drags me to the backyard. I shoot my gun in the area in front of me to make sure they stay away.
He lays me down in the grass.
"You can walk, amigo?"
"Argh! I don't think so. I can't feel my left leg."
"Fuck! Okay, you're gonna have to help me get you through the field back here, alright?"
"I'll try."
"Amigo, if I have to let go... Please forgive me. I have to think about the children first."
"Pico, I get it. But, if you could please get us the fuck out of here!"
...
We've made it about a half-mile away from the scene. Pico tried to call Mallory for support but, she has yet to show. We stop at this truck, it's one of his relatives. They pick me up and set me into the bed of the truck.
"Give me the bandages. Thank you. Go calm the kids down while I fix him up."
"Pico... What the fuck just happened?"
"It's hard to explain, amigo... Joshua! Where's Mama and Papa?"
A man approaches just enough to not see me. He's in tears...
"Fueron asesinados a tiros en la sala de estar."
"T-They... They were killed?"
Pico tries his hardest to hold back his tears and hiccups...
"Katia and Gilbert too, hermano."
"The little ones too?!"
Pico exclaims! He spawns out his primary guns, two uzis.
"Woah, Fabio! What you just do; where those come from?!"
"Take the kids as far away from here as possible, hermano. He and I will hold these bitches off, right Nathaniel?"
"Uhm, of course... I guess."
"Fabio, I cannot lose you too."
"I'll be fine, just hurry and leave!"
The guy collected the kids and gets them into the truck. He finally drives off through the field.
"Pico, what the hell is going on? You know we're already in shit for taking out our weapons; if we hurt anyone we could be arrested at the military!"
"They fucking killed my baby niece and nephew, Z. This is self-defense, amigo!"
"I know... But you know we aren't allowed to do this. We need to leave this to the cops."
"No... It's not that easy. These people kill cops without hesitation. Cops have tried to stop this gang for years now and it never does shit. We are poor and the cops just give up on us and drop the case after taking one or two of them in."
I see... Nothing's changing his mind. All I can do is make sure Pico is alive at the end of this. I refuse to kill anyone. I'm already on the verge of execution as it is.
...
We finally arrive behind the house. It's... It's completely ablaze! All of the trucks and cars are missing; the gang members all left.
I'm actually pretty relieved. Pico would've probably killed them all if he had the opportunity.
Mallory pulls up in the front and rushes toward us.
"What happened?!"
Slowly, I can hear distant sirens headed toward our direction.
"They murdered my family."
Pico says in a surprisingly calm voice.
"We should probably head out, Mallory."
"Yeah, hurry up and get in my car."
...
"Pico, you know the law. We can't attack them unless it's in self-defense and very minimal damage was done. You know we are especially limited to our interaction with civilians."
"Shut up, bitch. I know the law. I ain't letting no child killers away from this shit. You probably okay with killing children too, huh?"
Mallory begins to look shocked and pissed. However, her demeanor changes and she takes a deep breath.
"I'll take you to go after them."
"Huh? What do you mean, Mallory? We can't attack them, that's idiotic!"
"Hold on, hold on. Girl, you know where they are?"
Mallory grabs a folder lying on the dash and tossed it onto Pico's lap.
"What is this?"
"Kingston. Code, G2752737. He's the only member in the gang that also serves the military. Kingston seems to be pretty close with their leader, Isaac, better known by his alias, Goliath."
"Why you look him up? I did not tell you nothing of our situation, eh?"
"You didn't what?"
"I did not say nothing bout no gang."
"No, you didn't. We've been working with a couple of military soldiers who happen to be police authorities on taking down this gang. Kingston seems to be our best lead on any inside information. We are slowly getting it through to him that the consequences of his actions could be horrifically worse than what could happen to regular citizens, AKA, his gang members."
"Why don't you just take him down now and their leader would just come to us or something, right?"
Pico guffaws toward my question.
"That'd be the least effective option we have, Z237. It's not that simple at all. They wouldn't give two shits if he got arrested. We can drag them down with Kingston... Just a bit of physiological warfare."
"Amigo, these guys are violent and relentless. With our limitations and the police force being shit... Think about when this bitch was General. They have no heart or sympathy. They got only their objectives and agenda in mind, Z."
"..."
The awkward silence stays for a good while until we finally arrive where the gang who attacked us is. They are all pulled up here, definitely to regroup.
We stop a good distance away hidden by trees and bushes. I get out of the car with Pico and Mallory and we hide behind a bush to observe the gang. We can lightly make out what they're saying if we stay dead silent.
"We fucked those bitches up!"
"That's what they get fucking with us, right Kingston?"
"..."
"Kingston?"
"You dumbass."
"Huh? Whatchu mean? We fucking burned em hoes out. We did great."
*Gunshot!*
Holy shit! Kingston just killed one of his own.
"Our target was Pico. And I don't know if you all noticed, but, Pico was never in that fucking building. There were kids in there being escorted out and for all we know... we probably killed some damn kids today! You tell me again how we did a good job; you tell me with a good conscience, we did a good job."
"..."
"As for you two, who told us he was there with his buddies; y'all will both be punished by Goliath. Don't expect a happy ending after all of this bullshit."
"Nah, but he was, man!"
"Yeah, yesterday. It was him and a couple of other big guys laughing it out, wasted."
"Enough! Let's head back, everyone."
...
"Well, Pico? Now's your chance."
"Nah, girl. Let's follow them to their little gang leader. I need to kill them all or die trying."
Mallory sighs in disappointment. What is Pico thinking? He's going to get himself killed.
"You know the rules, Pico. However, I will do as you ask. I owe you. But do know, I refuse to partake in any action with this gang."
"Yeah, whatever. I don't need you but to take me there."
Pico has a burning fire in his eyes to murder these people...
I don't...
I don't know what to do or say to stop him.
...
We arrive at this palace of a place. There are tons of walls and corners. The place seems to be sectioned by levels of floors. I have a bad feeling about this...
We exit the car and group up.
"Pico, you shouldn't do this."
"I have to... They killed my niece and nephew! Does that not click in yo mind?"
"I understand, but this isn't the way."
"Amigo, justice will never be done."
"P160, you know I will push to take this gang down. There are alternatives."
"None that I'm taking."
Pico begins to walk toward the building.
"Pico, wait! Please think about this. They'll arrest you and sentence you to something worse than death! And that's me assuming you even make it through the place. They could all kill you before you even get to Goliath or Kingston or anybody!"
"I... I know. You're welcome to join me, but you aren't changing my mind."
He walks away as we stare...
"Z237, hey. Go in there with him. Act like you have a plan to attack from the inside. Find a disguise or anything and stay hidden long enough for me to send in reinforcements."
"What? Reinforcements?"
"I've already alerted General of what's going on. He's gonna work with me on taking this gang down now with the FBI. We are gonna try to do this without P160 getting into any trouble but to do that... We really need your help."
"Oh... Yes, of course. We won't hurt a soul! You're genius for this."
"P160 is an amazing soldier. However, he doesn't make bright decisions. You're a good leader, he is not. If he makes it out of here without any bad charges, well, I know one day you'll be in a situation where he's offering some sort of idea and it's going to be up to you what happens. My advice when the time comes is to decline his idea no matter how good it sounds. He may not have bad intentions but he's very, erm... unfortunate, for a lack of a better word."
"Yeah, I getcha... Thanks for the confidence you have for me."
She chuckles...
"I don't nor would I ever. However, the unnatural drive and luck you have... It's almost destiny. Now, hurry up and catch up to him."
"Yes, sir!"
...
Damn, he got really far, but I've managed to catch up to him...
"Pico!"
"Hush, amigo!"
I approach Pico...
"They have a few guys guarding the entrance right around this corner. Let's take em out and get in through there."
Pico almost immediately follows through with his statement until I grabbed him.
"Hang on. I know I can't stop you, so, I decided I'll join you."
Pico grows a big smile and his eyes water.
"Gracias, amigo. That means a lot to me, ya know."
"Of course. I have a solid plan though. You think you can follow my lead?"
"Sure, Z. What's the plan?"
Wow, it didn't take that much to convince him.
"We use stealth. Hear me out, alright. We get a disguise or just stay away from any vision. Surely they don't have cameras; this is a gang, not a bank. Then once we are at a good spot... We bust out of hiding and blast them!"
He ponders for a minute...
"Hmm... Z, you're a genius."
"Alright just follow me."
I begin to pick up as many rocks around us as I could. Pico follows my lead and joins me in picking up rocks.
Once the two guards in front of the entrance aren't looking we lob all of the rock to the other side against a wall.
It works; the two guys are distracted and we slip by through the entrance.
As we walk inside, we notice crowds of gang members and random empty brick buildings with no doors or windows. We stay close to the shadow behind the tall walls. We aren't inside of a building; it seems like we crossed a fence but, in this case, a wall.
Nobody seems to really notice us yet. We follow the wall cluelessly roaming around till we reach a dead-end. It's just a empty house with an empty window-way in front of us.
"Z, we blasting em now? There's plenty of those child-killing bitches out there."
"Wait! No... I'm thinking we try and get to Goliath or Kingston."
"I don't know, Z. It doesn't really matter to me which ones we killing."
"Just trust me-"
"Hey! What are you two doing here?"
Pico takes out his two uzi's but we are immediately disarmed by Kingston! He uses a metal decorated staff to knock the guns out of Pico's hands and suddenly guns are pointed at us from all angles besides the wall.
All of these people stare at us as though they were lunatics. Each of them taunts us and looks at us as though they haven't eaten in years and we're their next meal!
"Take them to Goliath!"
"Pico, follow my lead."
I whisper to Pico hoping he doesn't grow impulsive on his thoughts.
.......
Lots of chanting and psychotic screaming fill the air as a crowd of these people follows us to the top floor.
I have a bad feeling about all of this...
"Goliath. Found these two wondering amongst us."
"Huh, Pico. I thought you'd be a bit smarter with your actions after our warning. Unless you here to pay us what you owe."
Pico spits to his feet...
"You fuckers ain't getting shit except my lead!"
"..."
"Argh!"
Within an instant, I'm grabbed by Goliath as he points a gun to my head. Pico spawns his Uzi's out as Kingston spawns a big Deagle pointed straight toward Pico's head. All of the gang members begin to get riled up. Fuck! This situation is so fucked!
"Try anything, Pico, and he gets it. You're easily outnumbered."
Pico looks to him... then to me. He despawns his Uzi's.
"Ahh... I knew something was special with you. You have the same powers as Kingston."
Kingston begins to look a tiny bit uncomfortable.
"Now, listen. You got two choices... You join our family and your friend here will leave, never to show his face again 'round these parts... Or we could kill you both."
"Pico, don't be stupid!"
Pico gives a tame yet angered look.
"..."
"You let him go... Just know I ain't joining your child-murdering crew."
Goliath sighs...
*Bang!*
"Ack!"
I... I-I can't breathe! He shot me through my neck!
Fuck!
Kingston grabs Pico but hasn't shot him yet. Goliath laughs with a snicker...
"You should've listened. You ain't too bright, are ya? You should've taken the warning. Now, I'm thinking we burn you with your friend over there in ditch somewheres nobody gon be looking in. Sounds like a good way to go for a little thieving mole like yourself."
I feel so weak...
My vision slowly fades...
I... I can't die. Not like this...
.......
"Ugh."
What... What's going on? I slowly open my eyes. I'm still so weak, but I'm alive!
Pico has me lying down in front of him with my head held up with his arm. He got me bandaged up, but I hear lots of moaning and groaning in pain.
I look over and see Lizzie completely fucking up the gang members with only her hands. With bodies surrounding her, the gang members are still charging at her. One swings a huge knife at Lizzie. Lizzie dodges with ease, grabs his armed arm, and flips him behind her onto another gang member! The next guy comes up with a gun! She quickly evades and knocks the gun out of his hands. She throws a couple of combos and knocks the guy out cold.
She seems to be at ease and completely comfortable... Wait, is that... Kingston?! Kingston is also fighting with his staff... But, he's fighting his own members.
"P-Pico... What... What happened."
"Just rest, Z. We got backup."
Wait... Was Pico injured? He sounds like he's hurt...
Eventually, the gang members stopped coming. Soldiers in our skin-suit armor started showing up all around and began to haul the unconscious bodies to jail. They were able to take them out with no casualties!
Lizzie rushes over to Pico and me. She looks pissed.
"You two are fucking idiots."
Lizzie strikes Pico straight in the face!
"You'll stop dragging Nathaniel with you to this kind of shit if you know what's best for you. I'm sick of you endangering him."
Lizzie picks me up with my arm around her shoulders to help me walk.
"Zander's coming for you, Pico."
She leads me to this military vehicle I haven't seen before just outside the building. She sets me in the bed of the vehicle and she pulls out a med-kit for more bandages and healing crystals.
"Are you feeling okay, Nathaniel?"
"Uhm, yeah. I think so. It... It's hard to speak... or breathe."
"Mallory caught me up on the situation... It's horrible what happened to Pico. His whole family was basically murdered. All he has now is his younger siblings, his older brother, and his nieces and nephews."
"Why were they after him; do you know?"
"Well... He was just one of many families they gave, quote on quote, life insurance. They acted like they protected people, but in reality, if you didn't pay for their... services, they would murder you and your family. With Pico, however, they weren't trying to kill his family because they paid. It was just Pico."
"What the hell. Why would they do shit like that?"
"I don't know. Money. Just... Pico is going through a lot mentally and he probably feels like it's his fault. So take it easy on him."
"Yeah... Uhm, what about you?"
"Huh?"
"How are you feeling?"
"Oh... Erm, I'm fine. I just had an attack. It's over now. I'm sorry I lashed out on you like that."
"It's okay. I don't know what would've happened to Pico had I not been here for him."
"True. Let's get you fixed up and get going, alright? I want to relax and get some sleep."
"Yeah... That sounds nice."