Author's Notes
Hello! I realize how difficult it is to make 5k chapters now.
This one I felt was long overdue, even if it is just a few days after the first chapter. I really wanted to write this heist chapter. :D
Although, it's more of a quick combat chapter...
Anywho, Let us begin! These chapters will always be in third-person, unless a first-person view is necessary. Mkay?
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Raleigh lead Jack and Lila to the stairs and up one flight. Inside the large room were crates and boxes of every size and shape. Raleigh opened one. There was white dust inside small, clear plastic packets. He picked one up and tossed it to Jack, who caught it in the air.
"This here's cocaine. We smuggle the stuff as well as heroin and weed. Now, your job is to help pull off a trade with a guy downtown. He wants half a pound of the stuff, and it's worth about 900 bucks. Money went to shit after some time since the banks fell, so now some things are cheaper while some are more expensive."
Jack nodded. "All of these crates are filled with drugs?" Raleigh smiled. "No, some of them, have weapons or parts. Drugs isn't the only thing we deal in." He stood leaning against a box a few feet away. "Now, the reason I need you along is because these deals can be dangerous, not just to you but to the runner. It might be a junky just needing some high, it could be a rival gang ambush, might even be the cops. So, you're gonna be there to help protect our runner."
He stood back up and walked out of the room, gesturing to follow. Lila and Jack looked at each other before tagging along. They went down two more floors, to the one above the factory. Inside the well-lit room were beds and closets, all lined up. "This is the barracks. Our boys sleep and dress up here. The bathroom's at the other end, and the showers are right beside it. Now, I sent Reynolds to get me one of his runner boys. Reynolds is my drug manager, by the way."
As soon as Raleigh was done talking, the doors behind them opened. There was a man almost as tall as Raleigh, but thinner, wearing a black suit and tie. His face looked stern, and incompassionate. Beside him was a teen boy, around the same age as Jack, wearing an orange shirt and black shorts. He had messy brown hair, and a sharp nose.
The man beside him spoke. "Here he is, boss. This is Tommy, one of our runners and resident coward. Kid won't even bring a gun with him." The boy, Tommy, looked at his feet and mumbled. "I don't like them. They're loud and unwieldy." Raleigh patted Jack in the back. "Say hello to Tommy, Jack. He's the runner you are gonna help protect. I'm sending you, Chris, and Liam to keep Tommy safe."
Jack extended a hand and Tommy shook it. "Nice to meet you, Tommy." The other boy smiled lightly. "Nice to meet you, Jack. Lila." The girl simply nodded, her poker face back on. Raleigh clapped his hands and smiled. "Now that introductions are over, let Reynolds take you downstairs to the garage. The rest of the guys are already there."
Reynolds nodded and left the room, not giving Jack or Tommy time to hesitate. The boys followed him downstairs. They passed through the factory, with it's gloomy light and hideous smell. They went through a door at the other end of the factory. Inside was a garage that looked like it could hold a commercial plane inside it.
There was cars in all sorts of stages of repair, from empty husks to fully kitted out dragsters. Reynolds took them to a sleek black car in the corner, where two other men where waiting. "Jack, this is Chris;" he pointed to the shorter one, "And this is Liam." He pointed to the taller, brawnier one. "Say hello, Jack."
"Hi." He extended his hand and both men shook it. Liam spoke up. "Hello, kid. You're gonna help us keep Tommy safe, no?" Jack nodded, and Liam smiled. "Good. I heard Raleigh thinks you could be one of the best. Well soon find out, huh Chris?" The other man simply nodded. Liam hunched close to whisper in Jack's ear. "All business, he is. Don't let it get to you, though." He stood back and Reynolds spoke in a harsh voice.
"You two done chatting? Then please, enter the car. The stuff is loaded in the trunk. Don't fuck this up." With that, he left the garage, back towards the factory. Everyone got in, Chris in the driver's seat, Tommy riding shotgun. Jack sat in the back with Liam.
Chris revved up the car and someone opened the garage door. They drove down the streets for some time, taking turns here and there, until they stopped at a very dirty alley. There was a lanky man inside, leaning with half-lidded eyes against the wall.
The four of them climbed out, and Liam opened the trunk. There was four pistols and one of the clear packets inside. Chris, Liam and Jack took a pistol, while Tommy only took the drugs. The two men put away their weapons, but since Jack didn't have a holster, he simply walked with it pointed at the ground.
The man in the alley stood up straight. "What's with the gun, kid? Don't trust me?" Jack made his best effort at a poker face, but he couldn't help but smile just a little. "No, I just didn't get a holster." The lanky man smiled and spoke to Liam. "What's up with the posse? It's just me, dude. All I needed was you, or the kid, and then boom, trade closed."
Liam smiled. "We both know how much of a backstabbing bitch you are, Vin. Now hand over the money." Vin made a mock hurt face. "Wounds hurt, Y'know. Fine, here's the dough." He tossed over a small briefcase full of cash. Chris counted the money while Liam and Vin talked. Jack and Tommy felt a bit awkward.
Once Chris had made sure everything was alright, he signaled to Tommy. The boy tossed Vin the bag, and the lanky man caught it mid-air. "I trust you, Li. Now skedaddle, before the fuzz shows up." The man nodded and everyone got back in the car.
It felt like the drive to the alley took longer than the drive back. They stopped in front of the garage, and Chris made a short call. The garage doors opened and they drove in. Once everyone was out of the car, a man walked up to meet them. He was about the same size and build as Chris.
"Good afternoon, men. I assume the run went fine?" Liam nodded. "Yep, Vin paid up and no-one was hurt." The man nodded, turning to Jack. "Good. I do believe we have not been properly introduced." The man extended a hand out to him. He shook it and spoke. "I don't think so, sir. My name is Jack. I'm the newbie." The man smiled. "Hello, Jack. My name is Daniels. I'm Raleigh's right-hand man, the chief. How are you?"
Jack answered after some time. "A bit confused. I still have some questions, but other than that I'm fine. The 'run' was a bit awkward though." Daniels made a weird face, as if feigning interest. "Really? Well, I'm sure you'll get used to it. Chris." He turned to the shorter man. "I'll take the cash. You will make me a report. Liam, I think Fergus is looking for you. Tommy, Reynolds needs your report for him."
He looked at them one at a time before stopping at Jack. "I believe Raleigh needed to speak with you, Jack." Without another word, he walked out the room. The two men plus Tommy walked hurriedly behind him, while Jack trudged along behind them, wondering what Raleigh might want.
He walked up the stairs to the top floor, where Raleigh's 'office' resides. It's pretty much just a big chair and a desk. Once at the top, Jack knocked on the door. The reply came from inside; "come in, Jack!" He opened the door and Raleigh was sitting in his big chair again, with his hands forming a ball in the center of his desk.
"Hello, again, boy! I hope nobody was hurt or injured?" Jack shook his head. "No, and it seemed like Liam even knew the guy we were selling to." Raleigh nodded. "Yes, he and Vin go way back. Now, though, I have another task for you." He pulled out a rolled up map from his desk drawer. Once he opened it, Jack noticed there were ten black circles and four red circles. Three of the red ones had black crosses in them, as well as one of the black ones with a red cross.
"The black areas are our safehouses, where we store goods and parts. The red ones are enemy safehouses. The ones that are crossed are ones which were destroyed or taken over. See, one of ours was destroyed a few weeks ago, and three of them from different gangs were discovered and taken over. See the one without a cross?"
Raleigh pointed at the area in question, and Jack nodded. "This one we discovered a few days ago. Your task will be to wipe out the entire place so we can claim it. You will go with five other men, fully armed. Think you can handle it?" Jack processed this for a few seconds. "You want me to kill other people?"
Raleigh frowned. "Not people, Jack. Terrorists, rival gang members, the evil bunch. We are some of the good gangs out there. We not only deal in drugs and black marketing, we help the people. We give money to charity, we help in the construction of vehicles, we are trying to bring the economy back. Never think that what you are doing is wrong if you are doing it for your family."
His words sunk in, and Jack nodded. "Fine. I'll go, sir." Raleigh smiled. "Call me boss, Jack. Lila is waiting for you in the storage room. She'll tell you what to do and where to go." Jack nodded again and left the room, walking down the stairs. Behind him, Raleigh put the map back into his drawer and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it with an old zippo.
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Jack found Lila sitting on a crate in the storage room. When she heard him open the door, she stood up and walked up to him. "Did Raleigh tell you what you're going to do?" Jack nodded. "I'm going to help five other guys take over a safehouse." Lila nodded to herself and opened a couple of crates.
"These are some of the weapons crates. You need to choose two of them, a primary and a secondary. Then name them." Jack looked at her. "Name them? What for?" Lila smiled. "So you get attached to them. It will make you want to protect them, and thus you'll have to defend yourself better. You can't protect anyone else if you can't protect yourself."
Jack still looked skeptical, but he nodded anyway. He walked up to the crates. There was one filled with rifles, one for pistols, one for shotguns and one for machine guns. He found a light revolver like the one he had trained with for so long and picked it up. This one was different, it's grip a dark brown instead of black. He put it back, noticing something else that caught his eye.
There was a massive revolver, engravings all along it's silver barrel. The grip was black carbon fiber, and the cylinder had lines running diagonally through it, making it look like a screw or tornado. "This one." Lila nodded her approval. "That's a cool one. What will you name it?"
Jack recalled the many words his grandfather had taught him. The only time he could openly speak to someone was when his grandpa showed up. He would teach Jack every word he knew, and would play with him all day. After some thought, and a sudden burst of rage towards his parents, jack answered.
"Desecrator. The Desecrator." Lila was surprised. "What? Is that even a word?" Jack looked at her. "Yes. My grandfather taught it to me. Desecration. It's a verb, meaning to dig up or prophanize a grave," Lila nodded slowly. "Okay, weirdo. Choose another one." Jack nodded and walked to the machinegun crate.
He found the one he was looking for quickly. Jack pulled out a Thompson submachinegun from the crate. "This one." Lila seemed to approve and disapprove at the same time. "It's a good weapon, but are you sure? You've chosen ones you have been using for a long time. You need some variety."
Jack shook his head. "No, this one is fine. I'll call it... Shredder." He looked at Lila. She had turned around to open another crate, this one full of neatly stacked ammo boxes. She opened the one beside it too, one holding all sorts of magazines and drums.
"All the weapons are empty. I'll get you a sling and holster while you load up a drum. Jack nodded as Lila left to the very back of the room. He easily picked out the correct drum and ammunition type. He was halfway done loading when Lila came back.
"Here. I also got you an ammo belt for the revolver. We have no quickloaders for it, so you'll have to do it manually." Jack nodded as he worked. "That's fine. What ammo does it use?" Lila picked up a box from the many others.
"This one is weird. We took it from a jackass who thought he could cross us. I have to admit though, he was really good with guns. Your 'Desecrator' uses fifty cal, which is this massive fuckin' bullet." She took out a single round from the box. It was a half-inch wide, and as long as Jack's middle finger.
"The wack-job made the damn thing large enough to fit six of these big boys in that cylinder, which is why it's so damn huge. The recoil might be a problem, just a heads up. These things have serious kick." Jack nodded and took the bullet. Lila wasn't wrong, the gun was pretty bulky and heavy.
He opened the cylinder and fit the bullet inside one of the holes. He closed it and pulled back the hammer a little. "Wait, what the hell are you doing? You can't fire that thing in here! If you want to test it, then you'll have to go to the training room." Jack blushed a bit, embarrassed. "Sorry. I'll test it later. But I can already tell how heavy the hammer pull is."
Lila nodded. "Yeah. The guy also made a custom holster for the thing. If it wasn't for that, you'd have to carry it in your hand the whole time. Let's go to the training room." She walked towards the door, ammo boxes in hand. Jack picked up the Shredder and The Desecrator, as well as the sling, ammo belt and holster. He followed suit after he made sure nothing would fall.
Once there, Lila handed Jack five more rounds. "Here. Top it off." Jack took them after setting down what he was carrying. Once he had the weapon loaded, he carefully closed the cylinder. Aiming it at one of the targets, he pulled back on the trigger. It felt heavy, and he knew that he would have to brace himself so it didn't fly out of his hand.
Changing his stance slightly, he pushed the hammer down. It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, and he got ready for the kick. Jack pulled the trigger back slowly... and then the hammer flew back up.
The sudden and thunderous pop from the shot scared both Jack and Lila. The gun's barrel flew upwards, but Jack held on. The bullet flew through the air at an amazing speed, until it broke through the thin target. It almost blew it's whole head off, sending splinters everywhere. The bullet stopped after sinking a few inches in the thick concrete wall.
For a second the whole room was silent. Then Lila made a sound that resembled a laugh. Jack looked at her, and they both broke into a heavy fit of disbelieveing laughter. Raleigh walked through the door just as they started composing themselves. "I assume nobody was killed, then?" Jack swirled around.
"I, uhh... n-no, boss. We were just testing out my weapons." Raleigh nodded, a faint smile wiping the stern look on his face away. "Really? I'd love to see this. Carry on." He stood leaning against the wall and waited. Jack aimed the large weapon again and fired. This time the recoil was a bit more under hist control, but the sound it emitted made even Raleigh flinch.
"That's you're weapon? Jesus, I'd hoped you would use something more low-key, but I suppose it's fine. I could have one of the boys figure out a way to attach a sniper suppressor on that thing. What did you name it?" Jack puffed out his chest in pride. "The Desecrator." Raleigh nodded, satisfied. "Good. What else are you using?" Jack showed him the Thompson. "I guess that makes sense. The gig goes down tomorrow, so take a bath, change your clothes, get ready, and sleep well."
He turned around, opening the door. Before he left, he turned to look at Jack. "I'll need you to wake up at seven sharp. The boys will be waiting down in the garage until eight. Any later and they'll leave without you." He turned again and left, closing the door behind him.
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Jack found a note on the dresser when he woke up.
I sent your stuff to the dry cleaner's. This is all you'll need.
He wasn't sure who left it, but thought that it didn't matter anyways. Opening the dresser, he found it empty except for one sharp-looking tuxedo. There was a fedora hanging from a hook and a pair of black shoes at the bottom. He changed quickly, but was unsure as to whether or not try to put on the tie again. He chose against it, thinking that he could ask someone for help later.
Right now there was a job to be done.
He put the ammo belt on under the jacket in a cross fashion, hanging it from his right shoulder to his left hip. He loaded twenty-four bullets in, and hung the Thompson from the sling across his back. He put the holster on his brown tuxedo belt, and stored The Desecrator inside.
Once he was satisfied with the locations of everything, he left his room and walked out the hall and into the factory. Remembering where Reynolds had taken him earlier, he walked across the factory towards the garage. Before he left, Jack remembered to check the time on his clock; It read 7:42pm.
Once Jack entered the garage, he noticed how empty it looked. Other than some unfinished cars there was nothing there. He noticed one of the garage doors were open, and walked outside. He saw two black cars parked in front. There was seven people chatting about, all of them wearing fancy-looking tuxedos too.
When they noticed Jack, they stopped their conversations. One of the men was Liam. He walked over. "Hey, kid! You finally ready?" Jack nodded. "Yeah. I thought it was only going to be six people, not eight. Liam smiled. "Yeah, the boss and Daniels had a tiny argument. Daniels won, so now we're eight guys on the job."
Jack nodded. "Okay." He looked around a bit, and nobody moved. "Well, are we going or not?" The seven men roared with laughter, and started getting in the cars. Liam patted him on the back as he chuckled. "See the balls on this kid? He's a strong one for sure, eh?" The men agreed, still laughing. To jack, it seemed that they were laughing with him, and not at him, which was good.
The trip took twice as long as the last one, and they crossed a bridge this time. They stopped at an alley behind an old, run-down building. It looked like a large warehouse that was abandoned years ago. They all got out of the cars, Liam up front. He whispered to the troops.
"Right, boys, be chill. This one is gonna be quiet until we fire the first shot, alright? Everyone be careful not to hurt each other. I'll lead team A, and Ford will lead team B. My team will head up front while Ford's team enters from behind. Got it?" Everyone, including Jack, nodded. "Good. Let's go in and wipe out this nest of rats."
He turned and walked towards the front door, his weapon drawn. Everybody followed suit, drawing their weapons and walking behind Liam in a single-file line. Jack had his Shredder out, loaded and ready. Liam stopped in front of the door and stared at everyone, giving them an 'Are you ready?' look.
Everyone nodded, and Liam kicked the door in. Everyone streamed in, screaming and shooting. Three of the enemy mafia men were downed before they could react. The rest of them struggled to draw their own guns, but where shot before they could try to defend themselves.
There was a thin steel wall between the front room and the back room, and you could hear more muffled gunshots and angry yelling. More targets entered from different rooms in the warehouse. Jack was firing in bursts, so as to not hurt his own guys. Bullets were flying everywhere, and the men took cover behind machinery and crate bunches.
They kept firing, and yelling, until at last the final man was shot down. The silence in the warehouse was defeaning. Everyone's ears were ringing from the constant gunfire. No-one on their side had gotten hurt badly, only the occasional graze here and there.
Liam stood up straight and walked towards the door that divided the warehouse in two, Jack behind him . He pushed it open and called for Ford. "Hey, we have a problem! Richard's been shot!" Liam and Jack ran through the door, finding Ford's men crouched around a bleeding figure.
"How bad is it?" Ford replied grimly. "Not good. If we can move him carefully, and drive fast enough, we could probably patch him up back at HQ" Liam shook his head. "He'll never make it like this. We need to get him to a hospital, quick." Jack stood back up. "Then what are we waiting for? C'mon, hurry! We need to get him in the car!"
He ran towards the back door, pushing it all the way open. The guys didn't hesitate, picking up Richard and bringing him along. Jack asked Ford for the keys, and he tossed them at him. Once Jack had gotten the doors open, Liam and another guy got in. Ford sat in the driver's seat and Jack rode shotgun.
Liam turned to the rest of the men. "Search the place. Once you're done, take the other car to HQ. Give Daniels the report, even the part about Richard getting shot. We'll see you guys back home." He raised the window and gestured Ford to drive. He backed up and drove off, with the tires screeching as he did.
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
It took them almost two minutes to arrive at the hospital, but to Jack it felt like an hour had passed. It turns out that Richard was shot three times, once on the left leg and once on the right shoulder, as well as once to the left above his stomach.
He hadn't been bleeding heavily, but that only made Liam more nervous. "His blood's piling up on the inside, I'm sure of it. It'll cause a lot of damage if it doesn't get treated right away." Nobody else said a word during the entire ride, except for Richard.
"Eyyy... what's... fucker got me in the knee... just need some band-aids..." Jack looked at him from the rear view mirror. "No, Richard. Band-aids don't fix bullet holes." Richard had blacked out from blood loss by the time they arrived at the hospital. Hurrying him inside, they ignored the scared civilian's stares. Nurses and doctors showed up to help.
"What happened?" Liam wasted no time. "Shot, needs help. Thigh, shoulder, chest. We will pay once he's stable. For god's sake, help him!" Two nurses showed up with a stretcher, and they all helped heave Richard on. Before the gang could follow them, a doctor spoke up, placing is hand in the way. "Well take care of him." Liam stared at him for a few moments before nodding, and backing down.
A nurse lead them to the waiting room, where they stayed for almost two hours before the doctor came back. He closed the door and threw the lock, making sure nobody else was present. He turned to the men and Jack. "Alright, which gang are you guys with? Saxon's? Courtney's?" Ford shook his head. "Raleigh's."
The doctor nodded. "Figures. He'll be fine, for the most part, but it would be dangerous for him to go out again within at least two months." Liam nodded. "We'll be sure to tell the boss not to overwork him." It seemed weird to Jack that they were talking about this so openly.
The doctor sighed tiredly. "You mob gangs are all the same. You say something and do the complete opposite. I'm tired of having to lie to the police about some of my patients. I won't tattle, but this is the last time I let you in, Okay?" Ford nodded. "We understand, doctor. What's the bill?" The doctor sighed again.
"It's always about money, isn't it? Six hundred fifty dollars. Three surgeries aren't cheap." Ford nodded again, and took out his wallet. After a few moments, he came up with a pristine credit card. "Can I pay with this?" The doctor nodded. "I'll go get the machine thing." He turned around and left again.
They sat there for a few minutes, everyone with sullen faces. Even Jack, who didn't know Richard personally. The doctors returned with the card reading machine, and Ford payed for Richard's surgeries. Then, a nurse walked in. "He's ready to see guests." All at once, the three men and the boy stood up. The nurse opened the door all the way to let them through.
She guided them to Richard's room. It was a moderately small white room, with some long lamps hanging from the ceiling. Richard was in a hospital robe, bandages covering his wounded spots. They were tinged with red, but at least they weren't blood soaked.
"Hey, guys. How're you doing?" His words were only lightly slurred, and his eyes seemed focused enough. "How are we?" Ford spoke. "Damn, Rich, you are the dumbest motherfucker I've ever met." Even as he spoke these words, Jack could see his smile. A faint one tugged at Richard's lips. "Heh. Thanks, Ford." Liam walked up to His bed, standing beside Ford. "You alright, Rich?" Richard's smile widened. "Yep. Never better. Just a bit drowsy is all." He looked at the other man. "C'mere, Tyler." The man walked up to Richard.
The three of them had a rather long conversation, which made Jack feel left out. He slowly wandered to the door, but before he could exit, he heard Richard murmur his name. "Where's the kid? Jack?" He turned to look at The wounded man. "I'm here, Richard." The man waved him over, and smiled.
"You can call me Rich. If it weren't for you, I'd probably still be bleeding out since these three bozos have the reaction time of a drunk bear." Jack smiled again. "I never thought I'd live to see a drunk bear." The men laughed along with Jack. Right then, a nurse came along.
"I'm sorry, but Richard here needs some rest. I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You may come back tomorrow... as long as you loose the outfits. Makes the other patients nervous. Okay?" The men nodded and everyone said their goodbyes before leaving. They got into the car and Ford drove them away.
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Raleigh looked like was having an inner war of emotions. When they arrived at the garage, he had a stern face, but a lighthearted smile on his lips. "Should I brace myself for the worst?" His voice was playful, but his eyes told a different story. Liam stepped up. "Richard will be fine within a couple months, or so we were told. Did the rest of the guys give you the report?" Raleigh nodded.
"Yes, they said you had them search the place. They secured it before heading back, making sure no one could claim it before we did." Liam nodded. Raleigh turned to look at Daniels, who was standing beside him the whole time. "Send out some of your best bouncers to claim the outpost."
Daniels nodded and left. Raleigh turned back to the three men. "Ford, I'll need a report from you about Richard's situation. The rest of you, go to your rooms. You earned some rest." They nodded and everybody left the room. Jack walked calmly towards his room, with his head in the clouds.
He entered and started changing his clothes. There was some grime and a little blood on the tuxedo, but it looked fine other than that. His dresser had been replenished while he was out, and he put on some comfortable clothes and a sweatshirt. He noticed that his nightstand had books now, too. He combed through the selection, and found one he liked.
He read the book while laying on his bed. Eventually, his eyelids grew too heavy, and he fell asleep, the book still gripped in his hands. He dreamed, or remembered, times with his family. The few instances he made his parents laugh, the times his grandfather played with him on the yard...
Every memory he had was happy, with not a single sour grape in the bunch.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Some More Author's Notes
There, another 5k chapter has been finished. This is mentally exhausting.
I hope everyone enjoyed it, thank you for your time, And good day!
~ LeMafiaKreb
P.S, if you like Minecraft, then maybe you should read my main fanfic, Knock-On-Wood
Please do so, and leave reviews. It makes me want to write, and that helps. :)