Chapter Four: Mors Tua Vita Mea
Guns fire and the sounds echo off the concrete walls. Men wearing black ski masks dive behind a pile of crates and peek from around them. One pulls his friend down and they lean their backs on the crates.
"Those Dust Devil slime." One says. The other nods and stands, firing over the crate before ducking back down. He pants and a pink tongue flickers out of the mask's mouth. "What I would give..." Another stands and fires. He dusk down and sputters as a cloud of wood dust sprays him in the face. "Maybe this was a bad idea, guys." He says. "We're cornered." The first looks at him, his eyes glaring. "Look. They got our buds up there an' the Silent Serpents never leave their buds behind. No matter the cost. So let's jump out the moment there's a break in fire. We'll charge 'em an' massacre the bastards."
The two men look at one another and nod. "We're with you 'til the end, bud!" One says. The first nods. They all twist onto their toes and hands. They wait, staring at the crates in front of them. Splinters of wood fell on them as the bullets swarmed over their heads. The bullets stop and they jump out with a yell. "Strike! Strike! Strike!" They bellow, firing on a pile of crates on the other side of the basement. One smiles seeing that no one rises from behind to exchange fire. They come around and stop firing. Their eyes widen and they lower their guns.
Behind the crates were a pile of bodies. Their heads were gone and their backs were split open. What's more, the bodies were completely skinned. The men look down and step back with gasps, leaving bloody footprints. "Wha' the hell?" One says. He looks around and cocks his gun. "Somethin' is wrong here, guys." "What do you think happened?" Another asks. The first smirks. "I'm aimin' to find out." He looks at the other two. "Let's look around."
They wander off, keeping close together as they search the basement. "See anythin'?" One asks. The other two answer in unison, "nope." They hear a scream from above. They freeze and their eyes roll up. The scream lasted for a whole minute uninterrupted. The scream suddenly stops and the men all gaze at one another. One swallows. "Let's go up." He says.
"You crazy?" One of the men asks. "Whatever is goin' on up there is nothin' I want to do with." "You're goin' to abandon your team?" The first man asks. The other naws at his lip and looks up at the ceiling again. "I don't know." He says. "I got the feelin' that there ain't a team no more."
"You idiot!" The first man says. He goes to the iron steps and walks up. The other two men look at each other and follow. The three walk up the stairwell and come to a door marked with the number one. They open it and step into a hall. The men look around at the walls. They were smeared with blood. Red hand prints dotted the walls, only to slip down to the floor were a long trail of blood led to a door.
"That's it!" One says. "I'm outta here!" He turns and runs off. The first man reaches out to him. "Blitz!" He says. "Let 'im go." The other man says. He turns to the door and puts his gun in his belt. "I, for one, wanna see what's on the other side o' that door!" He pulls a rifle from over his shoulder and walks over to the door. The first man follows, keeping his gun aimed at the ground.
The second man looks back and nods. He kicks the door open and a scream deafens their ears. They both turn rapidly. "That sounded like Blitz!" The first man says. He runs off. The second man looks into the room, sneering before turning and following his friend. "Viper!" He calls. He looks around as he runs down the hall.
Viper runs through a maze of cubicles, looking around frantically. He hears his name and stops. "Dart? Blitz? Where are you two?" He yells. He hears a terrible wail and a shuddering cry, followed by a scream. "Help me!" "Blitz?" He calls. He runs in the direction of the voice. He comes to an office at the back. White light flashes from inside. The shadow of a large figure was splayed on the door's translucent window. Viper freezes. He waits. From inside the sound of tearing could be heard.
The light flashes again. He could see the figure holding something long and curved in his fist. Viper sneers and fires at the door, shattering the glass and firing where the figure stood. He grits his teeth, unleashing a full magazine of bullets into the room.
He stops and stares through the dark square where a pane of glass once was. All that was left of it were jagged pieces in the frame. Thunder rolled over his head as he steps closer. He peers through the door and into the room. He screams as something grabs his face and pulls him through.
Dart turns looking to where he heard the scream. "Blitz? Viper?" He calls. He runs to the stairwell and skips two steps at a time as he descended. He came to the first floor and back into the hall. He looks around heads down the hall. He hears the scream again and runs faster. He comes to the lobby, were he found a body lying draped on the reception desk. It, too, was decapitated and skinned.
The sound of glass cracking comes from behind him. He freezes. He smiles and grips his rifle. He turns and his eyes become almost completely white. He screams as he fires his rifle.
--
An officer waits at the entrance of a large office building. A car pulls up and a man in a long tan trench coat steps out. He jogs up the stood and meets the officer. "What's the fuss?" The officer nods over his shoulder. "There was a gang fight in here last night." He explains. The man's lips curl in disgust. He looks up at the police tape crossed over the front doors. "You got them detained?" He asks.
The officer shakes his head. "The condition they're in, they won't be going anywhere." He says. The man gives him a look. The officer waves a hand as he turns. "Please follow me, sir."
The two open the doors and pass two guards as they enter the lobby. The man in the coat stops in his tracks. "Good heavens!" He exclaims. The officer nods. "They're all like that." He says. "There was no need of autopsy. As you can see it's a clear cut case of massacre." "Don't say cut..." The man moans, bringing a hand over his eyes.
He goes over to a leather chair by the wall and slumps in it. He gazes at the scene once more. "What in name of Hell happened here?" He asks. The officer joins him on the seat. He laces his fingers and leans his elbows on his knees. Leaning forward, he sighs. "We did a search of the building. Higher up we found two bound women and three bound men. The women were spared. We're questioning them at Head Quarters now." He looks up as if to heaven. "But the rest were killed." He gestures to the lobby floor. "Like our friends here. Every body we found in this place has had their spines and heads removed and has been skinned alive. we even found a room full of them down the hall. It's likely that both gangs were wiped out."
The officer looks at the man. "What do you think of it? The force is stymied over this. We can't think of one solution as to who did it. How could two whole gangs be killed off in one night?" The man pulls out a red and white handkerchief from his pocket and dabs at his face. "It seems to me a third party is involved. Maybe even a fourth. I've heard of gangs getting revenge, but exact revenge -- never. No, these two sides were attacked by another group, who...you know...the two other groups."
"Are you sure?" The officer asks. The man looks at him. He heaves a large sigh. "Why would both sides do exactly the same to the other? How could two whole gangs be killed off with only two bound women left?" The officer nods and looks down. The man wipes his neck and puts his handkerchief back. "Well. Let's get a report together. Have the whole police force be on the lookout for more of these killings. Whoever is doing it won't plan to stop."
"What do you mean?" The officer asks. The man in the coat looks at him again. "This is the third genocide in this state. Each are exactly the same." He says. The officer's mouth sags. The man pulls at his coat. "I tell you: it wears out a man to see such carnage so many times in one life." With that, he walks off.
--
Dr. Brown takes his coat off a peg in the wall and shoulders it. "Good bye daddy." A girl says, standing on her toes to hug him about the waist. Dr. Brown kneels and kisses the girl on the cheek. "Good bye, Christie. Be good for your mother, you hear?"
The girl nods and hugs him about the neck. He chuckles and hugs her back. He stands and walks out the door, waving as he closes it again. He smiles and strides down his walkway, across the lawn of a large house. He reached for the handle of a taxi cab's door and stops. He looks up at the sky and smiles. With a deep breath he closes his eyes. He then opens the door and sits down inside the taxi. "West 64th street." He says. The taxi driver nods and pulls into the street.
Dr. Brown leans back and and closes his eyes. There came a chirping from his coat. He looks down and searches through the bundle of rich cashmere and pulls out a cellphone. He flips it open and brings it to his cheek. "Hello?" He asks. He freezes. He slams the seat beside him, causing the driver to flinch. "What?" He barks. He fumes for a second before hanging up.
"Turn this cab around. Immediately." He says. The driver looks at him through the mirror. "I'm sorry sir, but..." Seeing Dr. Brown's eyes, cold and intense, he nods. "Yes sir." He turns the wheel and crosses the other side of the road. Cars honk and screech to a halt. The driver backs the cab onto the other side and then drives off.
"How could this happen?" Dr. Brown growls through his teeth. "After all my work. After all my planning!" He looks up to the clouds outside the window. He raises his fist and and yells something, which never made it through the glass.