Alright, here is the last part of the Paleto Bay score. There should be some upcoming chapters that aren't so heavily mission based. Also, sorry for the bit of a wait on this, I just got a new laptop and I'm still trying to get used to a smaller keyboard and all that setup stuff. Anyway, thanks so much for the response last chapter and I hope that this chapter is up to par. :)
Warning: Strong language, violence, and sexual situations. Rated the way it is for a reason.
In The Game
Chapter Two
"Uh, Frank?" Jen's voice shook slightly, her weapon in her hands and at the ready. Her worried gaze moved across the length of the bay, hearing the faint gunfire in the distance, as a few new boats started to arrive at the bay. It wasn't long before the bay started to fill up, police boats waiting like looming predators for the main attraction to arrive.
"We got some company," she muttered once the young man walked up to her, looking out at what she was staring at. He muttered a curse, Jen glancing back at him as he held a hand up to his ear piece.
"Eh, there's cops in the bay. You guys ain't gonna be able to get out this way," Franklin warned, pulling his hand away from his ear as he waited for a response on what to do.
"We aren't seriously going to try and push our way out through there, are we?" Jen asked, casting a worried glance towards the waiting boats, "I mean..."
"Eh, Mike'll know what to do," Franklin said, standing behind her with his arms crossed against his broad chest. Jen shot him another glance, anxiety written all over her face.
She had been doubting her agreement to the thing during her drive up to Blaine County, and it was now ever so present just what she had agreed to. She would need to cover these guys, which meant shooting at police and most likely killing a number of them. Sure, she had shot at people before, watched her brother finish them off, but he had always claimed after that it was either they or them.
They or them. Them or us.
"Hey, F," Michael's voice filtered in through both Franklin's and Jen's ear pieces, "we need another escape route. Can you find a vehicle? Something that might stand up to gunfire. There's some construction around the way."
Franklin stated his agreement, guesturing that Jen follow him as the two of them abandoned the boat the the waiting police boats. Jen jogged after Franklin, the pressure starting to get to her a little bit as she kept glancing around in paranoia, waiting for a whole swarm of police cars to start rolling up. The two of them managed to reach the construction site, Franklin pausing to glance around for anything that could be used as a vehicle.
"Alright, shit," Franklin said, starting to walk towards a bulldozer, the man pausing just outside it, "it's gonna be a tight squeeze, but we gotta get goin'."
"I've been crammed into smaller," Jen said, slightly out of breath as she almost seemed to prance around on her feet, hearing the gunfire and the occasional explosion off in the distance, "if you say we gotta go, we gotta go!"
Franklin pulled open the door to the bulldozer, getting into the seat inside as Jen shoved herself in behind him, crouched low. She managed to lower herself behind the seat as the bulldozer rumbled to life, Franklin pulling out of the construction site and onto the road. Jen glanced at the window behind her, her eyebrows furrowing.
"Did you want me to blow the back window?" she asked, "get any of the people you might have missed up front?"
"Nah, dog," Franklin said, "I got this. Save your bullets, judgin' from the noise, you're going to need them."
Jen nodded her head, noticing a few jeeps pulling out in front of Franklin, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of the soldiers that stepped out, opening fire on the bulldozer. For the most part, the bulldozer managed to hold it's own, the sound of bullets against metal shaking Jen slightly. She was starting to realize that if the army was stepping in, she would really need to save bullets. The bulldozer was a good pick, as cramped as it was inside, though they would need to ditch it eventually once the other members of the crew were picked up.
There was no way around this, Jen would most likely end up firing a few rounds. As Franklin pushed his way through the two jeeps, making his way towards another set of jeeps that just pulled up in front of him, a numbness that she had been waiting for finally set in. It was a same one that used to wash over her once the first shot of her brother's sniper rifle filled her ears, Jen steeling herself for whatever might be coming her way.
"You okay?" Michael asked, Franklin smashing his way through the next barrier of jeeps.
"We ain't dead yet," he replied, "I'm on my way."
It took a little while, but Franklin managed to reach where Trevor and Michael were waiting for him, decked up completely in body armour, moving sluggishly as Franklin pulled up, lowering the scoop of the bulldozer to allow the two of them to sit themselves down inside. Jen took a glance behind them, not really listening to what was being said, blood rushing in her ears.
It took her a moment to register the vehicle behind them, her eyes widening as she found her voice.
"There's a fucking tank right behind you, F," she said, ducking down as the tank fired off a shot, exploding dangerously close to the bulldozer as it was nearing the exit of the area.
"I got it, homie," Franklin said, pulling out onto the main road.
"Go left!" Trevor instructed, "there's another tank coming from the right!"
"Eh, quite the disturbance you causin'!" Franklin said as he turned, avoiding the tank that appeared to his right.
"Well, you know me and Trevor," Michael said, "Wherever we go, drama follows."
"That's one way of puttin' it," Franklin said, turning towards a factory at the appearance of yet another tank, surrounding them from all possible areas of escape, forcing Franklin to pull up into the factory. He stopped the bulldozer as Michael and Trevor got out and started to move towards the factory, Franklin pushing open the door and jumping down, Jen following close behind.
"Alright, let's go inside. Regroup," Michael said, leading the four of them into the building, Jen keeping close to Franklin, her weapon up and aimed.
"F, use me as cover, I'm the one with the armour," Michael said as they got deeper into the factory, soldiers stepping out and opening fire, "J, you keep behind T. We got a train to catch!"
Jen raised her gun up, noticing another soldier stepping out behind a corner near her, gun aimed right at her. She quickly fired a couple shots at him, moving once he was down to behind some extra cover as Trevor was taking out some soldiers ahead of him.
"Eh, man, these guys are every-fucking-where!" Franklin exclaimed, keeping close behind Michael, Jen shooting another soldier that was getting too close, all the noise and movement starting to blur together for her. She needed to get out of there, all of them did, and the sooner the better.
"We punch through, we get clear!" Michael called back, rounding another corner, where more soldiers appeared. Jen heard Trevor cursing out some of the soldiers he was firing at, she joining in so that the two of them would be able to catch up. She pushed up ahead a little bit, managing to find cover behind a box across from Franklin.
As they cleared another room, a new voice filtered in through their ear pieces, Jen recognizing the other gunman's voice.
"Homies, I'm holding them, where you at?"
"Tanks herded us into a chicken factory," Michael replied, lumbering his way forward after he shot another soldier.
"Okay, I'll deal with all the ground troops I can!"
"Generic Goon did alright!" Trevor piped up, "that was a good hire."
"Yeah, if you don't surround yourself with wasters and meth heads, you gotta a chance of getting things done," Michael said, Jen moving back in behind Trevor as more soldiers came into the room, all the gunfire starting to sound like white noise. She had never been under so much gunfire before, it was taking most of her self restraint from slipping completely into panic mode, though it didn't help with the shakiness of her hands and her accuracy.
As she was starting to acknowledge that, the sound of a train broke through the sound of gunfire and shouting. She held onto that sound, letting hope cloud her judgement somewhat and allowed her to keep pushing through. They were nearly there.
"I jumped some fools heading towards the factory," the other gunman said as they approached another room, "holding most of them off, but few got through."
"I don't know where we'd be without you, bro. Probably on our backs," Michael said, pausing in the room that held the train platform, which he was climbing up onto, "T, G just jumped a team of them outside. We might be okay if we make it to the train platform. Just hold them back."
Jen managed to get some cover behind a box, noticing a few soldiers heading down towards him from the other side of the room. She acted almost numbly, opening fire on the nearest one, shooting until he was down before ducking back behind the box to reload. She kept that up, focusing on the area to her right, inching back slightly towards the train as the amount of soldiers coming into the room was thinning out.
"They're pulling back, bro!" G exclaimed, "The army is pulling back!"
"Alright!" Michael cheered, "Hey, you're a pro, man. As if there was ever any doubt. Slip out of town and call Lester when you're clear," he backed away towards the train as Trevor and Franklin did so as well, "We got a break, people. Let's catch a train!"
The four of them gathered at the edge of the platform, waiting for an open container, jumping at the nearest one. Jen managed to pull herself a little further into the car before Franklin followed in, Trevor and Michael landing on top of him as they managed to get on. Once everybody was in the train car, Michael started to cheer in relief.
"Fuckin' A!"
It took a minute or so before Jen managed to realize the change in situation. She sat with her back against the car, resting her arms on her knees as she let out a breath, resting her forehead on her arms as she felt her racing heart.
"Yo, Jen, you alright?" Franklin asked, taking a seat down beside her as Michael and Trevor started to remove the armour they were wearing.
"Yeah...Yeah, I'm good," she said, letting out a breathless chuckle, "never been through something like that before. Just need a minute..."
It was an hour or so before the train finally stopped, the four criminals sitting in the car for a while before Michael gave a go ahead to get up. A flashlight beam landed on Trevor as he stood up, a man appearing around to look into the open box.
"Yo," he started, though backed up slightly when Trevor made to lunge at him, "Easy! Easy! I'm a friendly! Agent Sanchez."
"Ah, our very own corrupt G-man in training," Michael said, Jen glancing over at him as she stood, growing steadily more confused about the agent that was standing before them.
"You gotta be careful, buddy, alright?" Trevor said, "Because they are looking around these trains for illegals. And if you're mistaken," he paused, bending at the knees and made finger pistols, mimicking gunshots, "you'll be shot, amigo."
"Very amusing," Agent Sanchez said, backing up as Franklin hopped off the train, carrying two duffel bags full of cash as he walked towards the waiting car.
"Here, if you're expecting these two to bring you up, you're gonna be disappointed, homie," he said, placing the bags down in the open trunk. Jen hopped off the train, hanging back a little bit with her arms crossed.
"Right back at you," the agent said, walking towards the trunk, "that the money?"
"Everything we got," Michael said, walking towards the agent as she opened one duffel bag.
"Okay..." he said as he pulled out four rather small bundles of money, starting to toss them at the four people in the area, "here's your cut! Considering present scrutiny on public worker remuneration, this is a big win."
"Oh yeah, it's a huge fucking win. Woo!" Trevor said after looking at the stack in his hands, sarcasm heavy in his voice.
"Monstrous," Franklin chimed in.
Jen looked at the other three and their annoyed expressions, taking note of the sarcasm. Hell, she wasn't complaining, the money she held in her hands was probably the most she had seen in her lifetime. Which, judging from the reactions of the other three, was probably saying something.
"I'm out," Sanchez said, shutting the trunk of the car, "Agent Haines'll get in touch with you once Operation Save the World's a go. Get your crew together, okay?"
He got into the car, driving off and left the four of them standing beside the stopped train.
"Fucking punk," Trevor said after he left.
"Alright," Michael said, turning to look at them, "we should probably split up, they're gonna be looking for a four."
"Oh, the blood we spill for the security of this country," Trevor said, starting to walk towards a truck that was sitting across from them, "Come on, Franklin."
Franklin looked back at Michael, giving him a fist bump, "Man, I'll holler at you, homie," he said, then looked over at Jen, "Yo, thanks for the help, J. Good luck with everythin'."
"You too," Jen said awkwardly, watching as Franklin got into the truck with Trevor, the two of them driving off, leaving Jen and Michael standing beside the train.
"Hey, you did alright," Michael said after a few moments, Jen giving him a smile as she chuckled.
"Yeah? I thought I was pretty much dead back in that factory," she said, crossing her arms.
"Nah, for your first time out, you weren't that bad," Michael said, "especially with that much heat."
"Yeah..." Jen started, "Look, feel free to tell me to fuck off if this is out of line, but what is with the federal agents?"
"Ah, that's some shit I got into," Michael said, "It doesn't involve you, so I wouldn't bother yourself with it."
"If you say so..." Jen said, watching as he got on the sole ATV, Michael pausing to look back at her.
"Good luck, kid," he said, "You got payed much less than you should've, but..."
"It's enough," Jen finished with a nod, "thanks."
She watched as Michael drove off in the direction that Trevor and Franklin took off in. Jen let out a sigh, kicking the dirt under her shoe slightly.
Might as well make my way back, she thought to herself, starting to walk, could have left me the fucking ATV, but...
As she started her walk towards the nearest highway, Jen thought about getting back to Los Santos with her newly acquired money. She hadn't counted any of it yet, but she had a feeling that it would be enough for her to buy her own place and support herself for a bit. Still, the thought of returning back to that lifestyle, the Los Santos bar scene, it left her feeling...odd.
She'd just helped rob a bank. That was something she would need to sit on for a while.