Part 2 (Stilwater, April 08, 2011)

Artemis, Dice, Chaz, and Mongrel exited the back door of the Saints Hideout, a rundown building whose main floor seemed to have been a church or mission at one time. Outside, Lucia was flirting with a young white guy that Dice didn't know. Lucia seemed intent on outdoing Shaundi's nearly exhaustive list of exes. The boy, a newly canonized Saint, was helping two other Saints, Bert and Dennis, unload bags of cement from the back of Bert's pickup. There were also tarps from Kempr a local scaffolding company, some two by fours, and various types of assorted tools.

Dice had heard that the boss and Gat had plans to finish remodeling the Hideout. There was a rumor that in addition to more stripper poles and new furniture there would be a working elevator installed in the building. She was all for that as she was tired of walking up three levels of sub-basements just to get to the ground floor.

As they passed the Saints unloading the pickup, Lucia waved and gave a thumbs up. Dice replied in kind. Lucia pointed to the unknown Saint behind his back and smiled. Dice returned the smile and noticed the bruising the boy had on his shoulders and upper arms from his recent canonizing. She glanced at their own initiate, Chaz, who bore similar bruises on his right cheek and lower left arm.

The newest member of their four man crew, Chaz was a young Cuban, barely eighteen making him two years younger than Dice and the youngest member of the crew. He was also short – five foot five - though, aggravatingly, still taller than she was - and scrawny. She figured a strong enough wind could come down and just carry him away if it wanted. Shortly after his own canonizing, Chaz started growing a goatee, presumably to make himself look older. It was a pathetic attempt as the short stubble on his chin was being outpaced by the short stubble he had on his (usually) shaved head.

The four approached Artemis's car, a tricked out Stiletto convertible - a solid late 1970s model sedan. Artemis had painted it two-tone with Saints Purple and Tobias White. The trim was done in Bay Yellow giving one the impression that the car had 'gold' highlights. The Stiletto's bumpers, body, frame and the white gold accented deep dish tires were all specially reinforced. The car wasn't a tank, but it could survive more than a little punishment.

Artemis walked to the trunk and opened it. He flicked the locks on the large black case he kept there and started passing out guns. To Chaz he handed a Vice 9 with three clips. The gleam in Chaz's eyes could have lit up a room – this was probably the first time he got to handle a gun while travelling with the Saints – maybe the first time ever. Mongrel received an NR4 with three clips. Dice got an NR4 as well. She would have preferred an SKR-9 Threat with hollow points but SMGs weren't allowed on this job. Artemis offered her three clips.

"No thanks, Artemis," she puffed out her chest while taking only two clips from him. "I've been practicing and won't need that much ammo." She took only two clips from him.

"Oh, really?" Artemis cocked an eyebrow. "You finally learn to shoot straight?" He sounded skeptical.

Dice made like she was going to punch him in the arm, but held off. She smirked, "You're just lucky I got respect for you." It may have sounded like a joke, but it wasn't.

Artemis, whose real name was William 'Willie' Brown was a good looking young black man, twenty-three years of age. He stood just shy of six feet and, like now, usually wore his hair in tight cornrows. Artemis had joined the Saints at the same time as Dice. Both were part of the large group of eager wannabes Johnny Gat first brought in when the Boss awoke from her coma and returned to Stilwater… when she started rebuilding the Saints. The two were canonized that day and had been loyal members of the Saints since.

Normally, Artemis and Dice would share control of their four man crew; both had seniority. However, Dice grudgingly admitted to herself, she did have a bit of an anger issue and giving orders wasn't her forte – or taking them truth be told – so she let Artemis run their crew. He was a planner and always kept his cool. Besides it gave her more freedom that way.

As to his comment about her learning to shoot straight, Dice let that one go. She was a decent enough shot, but not like Artemis. He took his gang name from the Greek goddess of the hunt, because he was that good. Out of the black case he retrieved a modified pair of gleaming GDHC.50s. On the streets these were his signature weapons. He loaded a clip into each and slid a third one into his jacket's inside pocket. Each pistol held eight rounds, sixteen total, and when Artemis went on 'the hunt' there was a good chance there'd wind up being sixteen bodies.

Holstering his guns, Artemis next handed out the melee weapons. Chaz and Mongrel each got a bat. Mongrel raised an eyebrow. Artemis noted his look. "No Dog's Bone for you today, friend," he said referring to Mongrel's signature weapon. "I told you Pierce doesn't want'em dead."

"They wouldn't be dead," Mongrel protested, "just seriously maimed." Now it was Artemis who raised an eyebrow. Mongrel let it drop.

Finally Artemis handed Dice a dark pink crowbar. She squealed with delight.

"You remembered to bring her!" Dice exclaimed cradling the crowbar like a beloved pet.

"Only the best for Lil Sister," he told her.

"Don't call me that," she complained.

"I told you," explained Artemis, a smile forming on his lips, "you're younger than me and we're like family, so you're my Lil Sister." Dice stared at him waiting for the eventual punch line she hated. "And of course you're definitely shorter than just about anyone I have ever… OW!" The last was said as Dice punched him hard. Still, he laughed.

"Just be glad I didn't use this on your sorry punk-ass!" she exclaimed, holding up her crowbar. "Baby has a nasty bite." Dice smiled showing off her teeth.

"C'mon," protested Chaz. "Let's do something. Watching paint dry is more interesting than this." He was eager to cause some havoc.

"Calm down, son," Artemis said, closing his trunk. "You get to ride up front with me."

"Really!" Chaz cried, his voice several octaves higher than he wanted it to be. Clearing his throat and lowering his voice he mumbled, "That's cool." He ran up and got into the front passenger seat.

"There are some rules about Clementine you need to know first, though," stated Artemis as he walked up to the driver's seat. Dice and Mongrel exchanged here we go again looks and both sighed. The top was down, so they hopped into the back seat, Dice behind Artemis and Mongrel behind Chaz. "First, no spitting on the floor – I will fuck you up for that. Second, no bleeding in the car if you can help it."

"Let's go already!" complained Dice who had heard 'The Rules of Clementine' at least a half dozen times. Artemis gave her a hard look in the rear view mirror. "The boss wants this over with tonight, right?" she questioned, trying to use logic to head off the argument before it began. "You want to be the one to tell her we spent all night talking?"

Artemis held her look for a moment then started the engine. She grinned despite her best attempt not to. "This logic shit might be worth it," she thought, but quickly dismissed the idea. "Nah…"

The Stiletto sped off the parking lot and moved onto the streets. Dice smiled wide. She glanced at Mongrel who showed her a rare smirk – he didn't smile much. She leaned forward and let the wind whip through her hair. This was gonna be fun…