Niko and Luis rounded the corner to see the man at the other end of the hall holding a grenade launcher. He immediately fired.
Niko and Luis turned for cover but there was none. They ducked and the grenade bounced into an open office.
Lucky, Luis said to himself.
Niko had ran and dived toward the elevator. He slapped the call button as the man fired again.
Luis, lying on the floor in the hallway, saw the grenade speed toward him. This wasn't good.
Then suddenly he had a realization. It was a grenade. The last one bounced into the office.
Luis scrambled to his knees and grabbed his gun by the muzzle. He swung the gun out like a baseball bat.
Niko watched Luis bat the grenade back toward the man. Nicely done, he said to himself. Then he called Luis, and the elevator opened.
Luis ran toward the elevator as the grenade exploded. He slid in and looked back, seeing the man come out of an office.
Damn.
The man fired again, but the elevator doors closed.
They heard the grenade hit the door and bounce back.
Niko pushed the door open button, and the doors reluctantly opened.
The man shouted something and fired yet again.
The grenade missed the opening and exploded outside of the elevators. Niko heard a ping as another elevator opened. Somehow the explosion had opened one of the doors – must have fried some of the circuitry, he thought.
The man shouted again and another grenade came at them. Once again, it hit the wall and bounced. Niko saw it dart to the side – toward the open elevator shaft.
The explosion rocked the elevator and Niko fired back, showering the man's position in bullets. The man fled.
Niko heard one of the cables snap. The elevator dropped a foot or so, and lurched to the side.
Niko was already climbing out as the elevator dropped again. He turned and threw his hand out for Luis to climb up to. Luis extended his hand as another cable snapped with an unnatural twang.
Niko jumped back as the elevator dropped a floor or two. Had he left his arm there, he would have lost his hand.
He crawled to the edge and looked down. The elevator hung there for a moment then the last cable gave way.
The elevator dropped, with nothing now to support it. Niko watched as it faded out of sight.
Then there came a loud metallic crash that jolted Niko as the elevator hit the shaft's pit a dozen floors below. Niko shook his head and grabbed his gun.
"Time to flush this rat."
Niko caught up with the man who now stood by the roof access, a gun pointed at Johnny.
He looked at Niko.
"Niko Bellic," he shook his head.
"It's over," Niko said.
"Perhaps," The man scoffed. "But not quite."
"Everyone knows," Johnny added. "All to control the city." He shook his head.
"Irrelevant." The man looked at Niko.
"Who are you?" Niko asked.
"Oh please," The man scoffed. "You don't know me. Not everything is connected, Niko. What, were you expecting me to be someone you knew? The world's bigger then a few criminals, you know."
"Either way, what goes around…"
The man sighed, almost a laugh. "I'd love to stay and chat, but if you don't mind, I have a helicopter to catch. It's a shame I couldn't have you on my team. But then I suppose I had the best one of you – that woman." He looks around. "Know this: She is not to be trusted. But then you know all about that don't you Niko?"
Niko's jaw clenched and the man carried on. "What? You believe her every word? She has you running around killing my men and you don't question it? Especially after–"
"I don't care. You sent those men to my home, to kill me, and you expect me to roll over and accept it? Your actions all have consequences."
"Lesson number one," Johnny said. "Remember Michael?"
The man scoffed. "Oh, the goody-two-shoes. Man couldn't understand the concept of a threat."
"So you just exterminated him, like a rodent?"
The man shrugged. "It's a cut-throat business. You don't expect to run around killing who you want and not have anyone do the same do you? Simpletons, both of you. At least your fag of a brother died like a man."
Johnny bit his lip. Niko gave Johnny a subtle nod. The man saw it. He stared at Niko and Johnny took his chance. He snatched at the gun.
"For Michael," Johnny said. He pulled the trigger.
The man fell, with a messy hole in his head. Blood splattered on the wall.
Johnny looked at Niko.
Is it over? Johnny wanted to ask.
