Chapter 12-Not so fortunate

Blake walked to the gas station with his hands inside his pockets and an ALIG strapped on his back. He heard a few sirens in the distance and sighed. -"It's been a while since I heard a police siren this early in the morning.."-He said to himself, smirking slightly. Upon entering the gas station Blake took a turn to the mini mart to get something to eat, he got greeted by the clerk, a young man with a newspaper covering his face.

-"Welcome to the mini mart"-He said, moving to the next page with his finger. As Blake walked around the isles the clerk took a gander at him, he shook from seeing the ALIG attached to his back. Blake ignored the clerk's staring and took a few groceries from the shelves, holding them with his right arm. Once he got everything he needed he walked back to the clerk to pay for his purchase.

-"Look I don't want any trouble, if you want the money go ahead and take it..I swear I won't call the cops!"-The clerk shook with fear once more, dropping the newspaper and rushing to get some bills out of the cash register.

-"I just came here for the food, I don't need you damn money"-Blake sighed, placing the groceries on the clerk's table. He started to feel a little dizzy, the need to sleep kicked in and he nearly slipped once seeing the entire store move around him.

-"A-are you okay sir?"-The clerk worried, passing the groceries through the scanner, noticing Blake's dizziness.-"I could order you a cab if you'd like, you don't look so good to walk home sir"-The clerk added, helping him get up.

-"That would be great, thanks"-Blake said, getting up and holding his head from the dizziness. -"I'm just really tired you know? I barely had any sleep"-Blake added.

-"It's alright, I'll call a cab to pick you up from here, it shouldn't take long"-The clerk replied, taking out his phone and calling a taxi service. Blake felt relieved that the guy didn't panic instantly and called the cops, not to mention it was rare for a simple civilian to help a criminal in any kind of situation.

Several minutes passed, Blake paid for the food and leaned on the register, waiting for the taxi to show up. As the minutes passed he felt his head pounding from lack of sleep, those minutes felt like long agonizing hours that didn't seem to end.

-"How long do I have to wait...I feel like I'm gonna pass out any minute"-He whispered to himself, looking at the clerk reading the newspaper again. Blake saw the front page and noticed the big title:"G king attempted to run over government official". G-kings, the kings of the road, loved to use their cars and vans to run over cops and innocent people for the heck of it, though their targets are usually politicians. Unlike the money loving Bloodroses, the G-kings cared more about cars and car parts of many sorts, rumors say that they are currently holding the largest stash of stolen cars and car parts.

Blake looked at the window and saw the taxi from the distance. -"About damn time"-He said, getting off the register and picking up his groceries with a plastic bag.

-"Thanks for shopping at the mini mart, please come again"-The clerk added, turning another page on the newspaper. -"No need to thank me, even criminals deserve a little help"-The clerk added as he continued to read through the newspaper, Blake smiled as he heard the clerk, walking out of the mini mart and to the taxi outside.

-"Took you long enough"-Blake said.

-"Ahem..No weapons inside the car, put them in the trunk"-The driver opened the window and noted him.

-"How come?"-Blake said, slightly angry.

-"New policy rules, you think I'm that dumb to let a criminal sit next to me with a gun? This cab doesn't move 'till all of your fire arms are in the trunk. Don't try and fool me as well, I won't hesitate to hurt you back. Now put those guns of yours back in the trunk or I'll just leave you here"-The driver answered, locking the car doors, not letting him in until all of his guns are in the trunk.

-"Fine, fine..Jesus"-Blake frowned, walking to the back of the cab and placing the pistol and ALIG in the trunk. -"Fucking policies..Can't I just take a cab without this bullcrap?"-He added.

-"I heard that. You better shut your mouth before I drive away from here"-The driver replied by yelling at Blake.

Blake sighed, closing the trunk and sitting in the back. -"To Canal street, make it snappy"-The driver nodded upon Blake's request and began to drive to the location. He kept looking at Blake's sitting position and frowning, he hated it when people sit like that in the back, like some uncivilized monster.

-"Do you have to sit like that?"-The driver asked, frowning at Blake.

-"I don't tell you how to drive, don't tell me how to sit"-Blake angered, flipping the driver off with his finger and relaxing in the back of the cab, grunting as he turned his head around. He felt his neck snapping slightly as his head moved, stretching the rest of his body and hearing more snapping noises.

-"We're here, that'll be 15 dollars"-The driver said, stopping at Blake's destination.

-"15?! What's with the high number?"-Blake replied, raising his brow.

-"Criminals pay extra now, also part of the new policy. Don't like it, don't use our services, plus your annoying behavior pisses me off"-The driver replied, reaching his hand to Blake to receive the money. Blake sighed, taking 15 dollars from his wallet and giving it to the driver, leaving the cab and walking to the apartment building.

10:00 AM- SAN PARO POLICE DEPARTMENT

Katy reported to work, noticing that as soon as the station opened to the public people started to rush in. Typical day in the SPPD, citizens come in daily to report in sights of criminal activity to make sure those crooks stay behind bars for a change. She had a struggle moving to her office as many started to push between the lines and the station quickly became cramped. Before finally getting a chance to sit down, Jessie called her from the other side of the station, she was standing next to the break room with a cup of water in her hands.

-"These criminals never stop popping up on the radar lately, those lines are the proof"-Jessie said once she greeted Katy with a smile. -"But hey, more criminals mean more jobs for us, so I'm not complaining"-Jessie added, smirking and sipping some water.

-"They deserve it, if they don't want to get caught and killed they shouldn't have joined a gang in the first place."-Katy replied.

-"Yep. It's a shame you didn't kill that guy from last night, it would have got you some extra money in your pocket"

-"Like always, he was weak, unable to realize that this is the real deal. Next time I won't be so merciful to him, even I have my limits to sympathy."-She angered, looking down with her arms crossed.

-"Well next time you could either arrest him and get a little extra cash out of it, or just end his life on the spot during a mission. It's not like criminals really have anything to live for except for money."-Jessie chuckled, Katy looked at her and smiled upon hearing her words. She then waved Jessie goodbye and left.

Katy decided to check on the bulletin board for any possible side missions she could do before getting called again. Most of the board was covered in "Wanted" posters and other events in the past month, nothing really caught up on her eye.

-"I hoped for something good today, oh well.. I guess this is going to be a rough week"-She muttered, still trying to find some kind of work to do.-"Hmm, I wonder if this guy ever appeared on the Wanted section."-She added, looking at the photos of various criminals still on the loose, none looked like the man she met last night. -"Strange, I always thought the crazy people end up here, no sign of that guy"-She said to herself, wondering how come he wasn't on the Wanted list.

Suddenly, she heard a mission call from the speakers above her, she smiled upon hearing the call. Finally some work- She said to herself, waiting to hear what is it this time.

-"An arson has been reported on the downtown area, report there immediately to investigate the scene."-As soon as Katy fully heard the message she rushed to her car alongside other enforcers going to theirs as well. Sure it wasn't the combat missions Katy is so proud doing , but after all these kinds of tasks always show up.

The enforcers arrived at the scene, later getting reports that the Arson in fact was in multiple areas in the district and not just this one. Katy got out of the car and noticed the completely burnt building, only the basic foundations of it still remained, but in a poor state. She noticed the wired fence surrounding the structure, most of it got slightly bent as it got into contact with the embers. The forensic team took their equipment and went inside to check it out, Katy followed them out of curiosity, seeing how the remaining enforcers covered any possible access points, to make sure the public won't dare to explore it. As she walked in, she noticed how the ground was covered with ashes, almost all of the objects that were inside the building were unrecognizable.

-"Why would someone just burn down this building for no reason, this doesn't look like it had anything important before it got burned down."-She said, looking around and noticing more traces of ashes and scorch marks on the walls.

-"Apparently the locals who live in this neighborhood claim this was an accident, but there are no signs of any specific appliances that would burn this entire building. Could be criminals again, let's hope they left some small traces of DNA somewhere"-One enforcer replied to Katy, covering his hands with white gloves and checking around the first floor. -"Why don't you try visiting the other targets, maybe they need your help over there, for now everything seems safe enough"-The enforcer added, turning around as soon as he finished talking, to make sure he didn't miss any important details.

Katy sighed, she usually preferred a little more action during her missions but it seemed like the seconds passed like hours, nothing unusual- just a regular task for an Enforcer. With no other choice, she drove to the other locations of the arson, hopefully to find something exciting. Once stopping the car near the other location, she noticed how most of the team was already packing and finishing the investigation. She got out of the car and walked to one of the forensic investigators to get some answers.

-"You're done already?!"-She said in a surprised tone, seeing how the rest are already leaving the scene.

-"Yep, we found the needed clues. Some idiot forgot his gun, with his fingerprints on it, the only interesting piece of evidence here. Judging by the looks of the gun, it was most likely a high ranked criminal, I never thought I'd get to see such a dumb move, but it's his problem now"-The forensic enforcer replied, mocking the criminal and even laughing about it a little.

-"So.. Is there anything I need to protect? I got sent here, but I can see nothing is left"-Katy asked, disappointed.

-"Nope, I doubt the rest will need your help. Hate to burst your bubble, but I think they sent you here for no reason really, sure we expected some crazy psycho to stop us on the way, but I guess it's just a simple arson and nothing more."

-"Crap, I guess I'll just go back to the station now. Unless the others need my help?"

-"I doubt it, I guess it was just a false alarm, have a nice day ma'am"-The enforcer tipped his hat gently, walking to his car and driving away.

Katy let out a deep sigh, seeing how everyone left and the only thing surrounding the scene was the bright yellow police tape. With no other choice, she returned to her vehicle and drove back to the SPPD HQ.

-"Just by looking at you I can see you had a shitty job today"-Jessie said, seeing how Katy's brows lowered and her smile gone.

-"Yeah, good guess there. I can't believe I got there for no reason, sure the building looked kinda interesting, but other than that I didn't do anything.."

-"Did they catch someone?"

-"The only thing they caught was a few pieces of evidence, another guy's going to prison this week."

-"One less criminal in the outside world."

-"Wait. Didn't you get sent somewhere today?"

-"I came back a few minutes ago. It was a delivery missions with a little criminal interruption but nothing too serious."-Jessie sighed, cleaning off remaining pieces of rubble off her shoulders.

-"God this is gonna be a dry week. I want to find that guy from before, and get him behind bars before he commits more reckless crimes."

-"You could do it solo, but I wouldn't suggest it. It don't matter how much you think you can beat him alone, every criminal has a trick up his sleeve. I ended up losing some good friends, thinking they are such hotshots who can kill anyone in their way..No offence Katy, but both of us know that you can't just go there and beat him by yourself."-Jessie looked at Katy with a serious expression, the last thing she wanted was to lose another friend to a criminal. -"Just be a little careful"-She gave Katy a small pat on the head.

-"I'll go check for some other missions, maybe I'm gonna be lucky this time"- Katy walked to the bulletin board to hopefully find something useful.

Throughout her day Katy successfully finished 5 missions, 3 of them being with criminals and the other two were easy ones. Despite her 3 encounters with a random bunch of crooks, the same man she met before wasn't present there. 5 Might sound like a small number, but in fact, it's a very average amount of missions an enforcer might get per day. Each lasting from one hour to even three or four depending on the situation. It's pretty much a similar system to the criminal's way, however, Enforcers get paid the same wage and not a random number like most criminals earn per day.

Meanwhile, Blake was about to finish helping some of his teammates in delivering some illegal goods from the port, a new shipment arrived and as always, someone needs to pick it up. It wasn't as easy as it might seem, the goods were heavy and very fragile, if a Bloodrose ends up having butter fingers, he'll pay for the broken item with his own salary.

-"How much we getting for 'dis again?"-One of them asked, lifting a huge box and loading it into a truck.

-"I'd say about 100 dollars per box, unless one of you scrubs will break it"-Blake said, mocking his team and teasing them a little. Typical Blake behavior.

-"Oi fuck that, if one of 'em breaks I ain't paying for it. I gots more important stuff to spend 'dis money on"

-"On what? Hookers and beer?"-Blake laughed, the rest followed his laughter as they finished placing the remaining boxes in the truck.

-"Shut up asshole, ye acting like everything was served on a goddamn silver platter for ya, even if that's not true. Not by one bit it ain't. Ye were born as poor as anyone here, and ye still act like life is a goddamn fairy tale"

-"Or instead of getting angry like a little kid, learn to take a goddamn joke for once"-Blake continued to mock his teammate.-"Don't make me put a bullet between that empty shell you call a head"- Blake stepped forward and aimed a pistol on the man's head.

-"Is that the best you got? I've met children who are scarier than you!"-He mocked Blake back.

-"Hey stop fighting you two, we gotta deliver these goods. I hope you idiots didn't forget about it"-Another teammate interrupted the two, separating them from each other and shoving them to finish with the job.

Minutes after the team finished with the final touches, they headed back to the HQ and parked the truck in the underground parking lot.

-"I hope you didn't leave even a single scratch on what's inside"-Byron looked at the team of criminals and frowned lightly.

-"If anything does, I'm sure Blake will gladly volunteer to pay it back with his own paycheck"-The man from before stepped ahead.

-"Rodney Nelson, I thought you died yesterday"-Byron examined the man who stood in front of him.

-"Shoot. I pretended to die to make sure the cops wouldn't arrest me, I almost got caught last time too"-Rodney added.

-"Gee I wonder why"-Blake grunted, letting out a small laugh. -"He's weak as a stick, no cop would spend his energy on this little damsel in distress"-He added.

-"Now now Blake. I have to admit Rodney had his point back there, I'm sure you want to pay for any damages I'll find on the goods. And to think I considered promoting you, so much you need to learn.."-Byron smirked. -"Just to be sure that your lesson is learned, I'll be taking 100$ from your criminal account whether you like it or not. I hope you understand why I'm doing this."

-"B-But you don't even know if the goods are broken, what if they are fine?!"

-"Doesn't matter. Your money belongs to me one way or another when you think about it. Luckily for you, your paycheck is unaffected this time, but next time I won't be so merciful. We're criminals sure, but we still need to know basic manners now do we?"-Byron added, leaving the scene with the 100$ bill moving in his fingers.