Two days later
Wednesday
Chicago 'L' Blue Line
This time out, there were three teams.
Team 'A' consisted of Murphy, Erika and Mindy. Team 'B' was made up of Dave, Fellowes and Josh. Team 'C' had Chloe, Ryan and Cathy.
Mindy's team was, at that point in time, on the Blue Line; Team 'B' was on the Pink Line while Team 'C' rode the Green Line. Marty was coordinating from Safehouse F.
The short break had been enormous fun for everyone and it had allowed the team to restart their mission, fresh and full of energy. Mindy was still getting it in the ear from Marcus about the name of her new boat, but she had rather expected that!
Marcus's exact words were, "You're getting me back for grounding you, all those years ago, aren't you!"
Early afternoon
Chicago 'L' Blue Line
There was no reason for Mindy doing it, but ultimately it had saved her life.
She had whipped the book that she had been reading up and to her left, at about the height of her neck. She jumped slightly as something hit the book with considerable force.
"Knife!" Mindy called into her concealed comms, as she stared at the very sharp knife that was partially embedded in her book.
"CPD, don't move!" Murphy bellowed, from across the carriage – his Glock pistol held out in front of him.
Mindy thought she saw a face – a girl's face, but only for an instant, as the attacker vanished out of the doorway with Murphy firing several shots in the girl's direction. Mindy rushed out of the nearest door, but saw no trace of the girl. Murphy came up to her, holstering his pistol.
"Well, you dodged that extremely well!" Murphy said.
"I did – pure damn luck," I commented and stared at the knife in the book.
"What were you reading?" Murphy asked looking at the book then sounding very surprised. "Shakespeare?"
Mindy smiled sheepishly and opened the book up to reveal a concealed gun catalogue.
"That's more like it!" Murphy laughed.
West Ridge
Mindy still felt a little shaken up and that had surprised her a bit.
Nevertheless, she tried to remember every detail of the face that she had seen. Murphy had seen the girl, too and between the two of them, they managed to get a good description together. What was even better was that this was the very first attack that had failed; somebody had survived – me, and I had Hit Girl and her reflexes to thank for it!
Still – that girl was out there and she was killing people – why? Nobody seemed to have any idea. The girl seemed young, too – teenaged maybe.
However, being teenaged did not mean that you could not kill people and Mindy was a prime example of that!
Mindy and Dave, along with Fellowes and Murphy, were certain that the girl would not attack again that day.
That fact was confirmed when the scenes of crime team had found blood at the Pulaski station. Murphy had winged her; so they now had a wounded killer out there. Mindy's practiced mind knew that wounded, desperate people often made mistakes. She also knew that a wounded criminal rarely walked into the Emergency Room to get gunshots treated.
Thanks to her Daddy, Mindy also knew the types of places that you could go to find medical treatment when you wanted to stay off the grid. Since moving to Chicago, she had compiled a list of such places, in case that kind of treatment was needed. Thankfully, though, the team had Doctor Cathy Bennett to help treat wounds and pull bullets out of Mindy – as she seemed to be the only person that was ever shot!
..._...
Mindy decided on taking Dave and Megan, so that they could look like a family to anybody observing their actions. However, she had insisted that Megan wear a stab vest; Megan had moaned as expected, but Mindy had insisted. Dave and Mindy were both armed with concealed weapons. A Glock 26 in Mindy's case and a larger Glock 19 for Dave – he could conceal a larger weapon, much more easily than Mindy could!
The three of them started near Pulaski, just as it was getting dark. Battle Guy and Mist were in Beast; they would be shadowing the trio, as they were out as ourselves. Jackal and Shadow were in reserve at Safehouse F, if required.
The first place was a small back street medical centre that most people avoided, unless they wanted to catch something nasty. The doctors there were all unlicenced, which was why they accepted criminals, who paid cash. In addition, the doctors were not about to report any bullet wounds, either!
The place was closed, but Dave and Mindy did a thorough sweep, thus ensuring that there was nobody on the premises. As Dave, Mindy and Megan moved onto the next place, they walked past a darkened alleyway where Beast was waiting, engine running, but lights off. Megan waved and the engine revved twice. Mindy smiled; it felt good to have backup.
..._...
"Hey gorgeous!" A voice slurred.
Mindy turned and found a man, obviously drunk.
"Really! Now is not a good time," She growled.
"For a girl like you, any time's a good time!" The drunk man continued and he reached out to grab Mindy's arm.
Then the man screamed.
"Now is not a good time – take the fucking hint!" Dave growled as he twisted the man's arm with a single hand.
"Sorry man – I really am –!"
"Beat it asshole!" Megan growled at the man, who turned and fled as soon as Dave let go of him.
"He has good taste!" Dave quipped with a smile.
"I can't help looking gorgeous!" Mindy replied seductively.
"Jeez – get a fucking room!" Megan growled and wandered off ahead.
..._...
The next place was as much of a shithole as the first, with equally dodgy doctors, but this one was different – it seemed to be open. Mindy headed for the main entrance, but when she got there, she found the door locked. Mindy peered through the glass and could see evidence that they were open, but nobody was visible.
"This sucks," Mindy said over the comms, for all to hear.
Then, just as she was going to call it, something caught her eye. There, to the right of the reception desk. It was a foot – somebody was lying on the floor. Maybe not, altogether unusual, in a place like that, but right now – it just seemed out of place.
"Something's off here. We need support – Fusion move in," Mindy called and then turned to Megan. "Get into cover and stay there!"
Megan nodded and dived behind a dumpster at the side of the building. Mindy turned as she heard Beast pull up behind them and a minute later, felt Battle Guy come up beside her and push something into her hands – it was her Hit Girl mask. Dave was being given his Kick-Ass mask by Mist, who was then pointed to the dumpster where Megan received her own, Wildcat mask. The team did not take any risks with their personal and secret identities. Kick-Ass and Battle Guy went around back, while Mist and Hit Girl went in the front door – Hit Girl had picked the cheap shitty lock, in a second!
Inside the medical centre
Hit Girl went in with her pistol up. Mist was beside her with her Walther up and ready. Down by the reception desk, Hit Girl found a woman bound and with tape over her mouth, but she was alive. Hit Girl eased off the tape and cut her bindings, while Mist kept watch.
"Keep calm, help is on the way," Hit Girl growled. "Is somebody here?
The woman nodded hesitantly. A little disconcerted about being quizzed by a masked vigilante.
"Where?"
The woman pointed at a door and Hit Girl indicated that she should leave and the woman did not need telling twice! Mist had the armour, so she went first. She pushed open the door and found herself in a passageway. She carefully checked out each end of the passageway and once all was clear she waved Hit Girl through. All chatter was kept to an absolute minimum for stealth. Once in the passageway, both girls could hear voices coming from the other side of a door, about halfway down the passageway and to the right.
Hit Girl waved Mist forward.
"Battle Guy, Kick-Ass – we have a target, we are breaching!" Hit Girl called over the comms.
"Copy that, we're covering the rear!" Kick-Ass replied.
..._...
Hit Girl indicated for Mist to go first, with her armour.
Mist kicked in the door and as the two vigilantes entered, they saw two people. A man, who was obviously a doctor, was administering to a woman, who sat on a gurney and was holding a gun on the doctor.
The woman opened fire on the intruders, as Mist ran forwards and pushed the doctor to the floor and safety, while Hit Girl rolled and returned fire with her Glock 26. The woman's bullets had not penetrated Mist's armour. Hit Girl's shots missed, as the woman fired at the glass of a window, which shattered and she dived out. Hit Girl ran for the same window, calling a warning over the comms.
"She's running!"
Outside the medical centre
"She's running!"
Wildcat's head snapped up on hearing Hit Girl's voice. She had heard the gunfire, from where she was hiding. In response she ran out, opened the tailgate of Beast, and grabbed a Glock 26 pistol and a magazine from the storage racks. Wildcat inserted the magazine into the grip of the pistol and racked back the slide. Then after shutting up Beast, she ran back towards the dumpster. However, on the way, she saw a woman running towards her. The woman had a pistol in her hand, so Wildcat came to a quick decision and raised her pistol.
"Stop!" Wildcat growled. Her voice being electronically altered and amplified by the mask, as well as transmitted over the open comms.
"Wildcat, no!" She heard Hit Girl call, over the comms, as the woman turned towards me.
Wildcat started shooting, just as she felt sharp pains in her thigh, stomach and arm. Then she collapsed to the ground and sank into blackness.