Chapter Thirty-Six
Steven grabbed family photos out of the glass cases he had them. He put them into a backpack which also contained some food and water. He sighed and looked up and saw everyone else putting food and water into their bag. Alex, Catherine, Tank, Heath, and Carlos watched everyone preparing to leave. Tyler sat on the couch with an empty bag in front of him. Heath went over and helped Raquel get clothes into her bag. Leo and Sergio took the full bags out to Steven's pickup truck where they loaded the bags into the bed of the truck.
"I'm sorry." Alex said, looking at Steven. Steven looked over at him and sighed.
"Aren't we all?" Steven asked rhetorically. Colton filled a duffel bag with the guns he could find in the house. Their group was running low on ammo but with Carlos' guy, they could get some new guns at any time. Alex wrote down an address on a piece of paper and handed it to Steven.
"Go there when you all leave. It'll be alright for a day or two." Alex said. Steven nodded and zipped up his bag. He walked out, past Leo and Sergio and put his bag in the passenger seat. He got into the driver's seat and just sat there, even if they weren't leaving for another few hours.
"He's mad at us." Catherine said as her and Alex stepped into the doorway.
"He has a reason to be. But… he'll get over it." Alex said. Catherine nodded and the two walked back into the house.
Once Alex and Catherine were back in the house, Catherine looked over at Tank, Carlos, and Heath. She nodded her head and the three began to take the sticky bombs and stack them into different rooms of the house. Instead of them being lined up in the halls, they would be hidden in the rooms.
"Who is going to stay behind?" Catherine whispered to Alex. He stared ahead, zoning out as she asked the question. He knew he wasn't leaving with Steven and everyone else, but others were staying back with him. The people who were going to stay behind would then decide who stays in the house, and dies with it.
"I'll figure that out soon." Alex told her, putting an arm around her waist. The two watched everyone rush around the house, getting what they needed. Catherine put her head on Alex's shoulder and sighed, wishing it didn't have to be this way.
Jiao stood in his office, staring down at the workers he had slaving away in the warehouse. Some looked up at him, but once they realized he was watching, they immediately switched their focus back to working. Ping entered his office and he didn't move, continuing to intimidate the workers.
"Do you see the fear that strikes them when they see me?" Jiao asks as Ping walks up next to him.
"Yes I do sir." Ping said, nodding her head.
"That rat Robbie should be the same way. Yet, he never cowers in fear around me. He is too cocky. Too self assured." Jiao said.
"I see that as well sir." Ping said.
"Nothing is more concerning than a spineless fool that grows a spine." Jiao said. "I do not believe what he told me the other day. He had a part in killing Fang."
"Why do you say that?" Ping asked.
"Alex has showed that he is a ruthless fighter. He would not show mercy for somebody like Robbie. Either Robbie helped him, or he abandoned Fang. Both of which, are signs of betrayal." Jiao said.
"What do you want me to do sir? He can be dealt with easily." Ping said, standing up straight.
"I want you to hold the trials for my new Enforcer. Take some of the factory workers and make them into Triad soldiers. Only the scared but tough ones… those are the ones that will stay in line. They will keep loyal. I will deal with Robbie." Jiao said. Ping nodded and bowed before walking out of his office. Jiao put his hands behind his back and stared down at the many workers who slaved away.
"I will deal with more than just Robbie. I will run the criminal underground before I die." Jiao said to himself.
Alex and Smiles walk into a small bar in the middle of nowhere. Smiles knew about the place and that was where Maddog was going to meet the two. When they entered, he was sitting in a booth, a bottle of beer in his hand. Maddog looked over at the two and smirked. Alex nodded at him and Smiles was of course, smiling. Maddog got up to walk over to them but stopped in his tracks when he saw Triads walking into the bar behind Smiles and Alex.
"You mother fuckers." Maddog said, pulling out a pistol. Alex and Smiles turned around and saw the Triads taking over the bar, outnumbering the three by a great amount. The Triads walked right by Smiles and Alex and surrounded Maddog.
"Don't let him die." Alex whispered to Smiles, who nodded in return. Alex grabbed a Triad member and spun him around. Alex then punched the man across the face, knocking him to the ground.
Smiles grabbed one as well, taking the Triads pistol away, and then smacking the Triad across the face with it. The Triads had twenty men once Smiles and Alex took down two of them. The jukebox in the corner of the room began to play "My Way" by Frank Sinatra as Maddog fired his pistol, shooting one of the Triads in the chest.
"Don't shoot!" Alex yelled, punching one of the Triads in the back of the head. Smiles didn't agree with Alex as he cocked the pistol he took and fired it twice, taking down two more Triads. Maddog's pistol was knocked out of his hand but that didn't stop him from fighting. He was tackled onto a table, causing the table to break underneath him.
"I just started a war Alex!" Smiles yelled at Alex as he fired the pistol two more times, putting two bullets into a Triad soldier's chest. Alex kicked a Triad into the booth and then jumped on top of him. He punched him across the face a few times before seeing the soldier was knocked out.
"Why do you think I yelled don't shoot?" Alex asked as he picked up the downed Triad's gun. He fired it at the soldier on top of Maddog, killing the soldier. Maddog threw the man off of him and stood back up, only to be taken down by two more soldiers.
"Get these fucks off of me!" Maddog shouted. He punched one in the head only to be punched by the other one. Smiles threw his gun to the side and grabbed a Triad soldier who quickly punched Smiles in the stomach. He then threw Smiles over the bar, smashing glasses and bottles. One of the soldiers ran at Alex, ramming him into the wall. While pinned against the wall, Alex saw a Triad running towards him. Alex shot the Triad in the head and then shot the guy pinning him to the wall in the back three times.
"Eleven more." Alex said. He shot another in the neck and watched him drop to his knees as blood gushed out of his mouth. Five more men ran through the door and Alex sighed. He attempted to fire the pistol but it clicked, signaling it was out of ammo. He threw it to the side as he was tackled to the ground by one of the Triads.
"Was this a fucking trap?" Maddog yelled at the other two as he got the two Triads off of him. He pulled out a large hunting knife and stabbed it through the neck of one of the soldiers. The soldier quickly fell to their knees and Maddog pulled the knife out of his neck.
"Does it look like a fucking trap?!" Alex yelled back at him as he shoved the Triad off of him. Alex took the pistol from the Triad and then shot him in the face two times.
"Both of you shut up and kill them!" Smiles yelled as he stood up behind the counter. The bartender was taking cover behind there and handed Smiles a shotgun. Smiles smiled widely and cocked the shotgun. He climbed up onto the bar and began to fire the shotgun at the Triads running around. One fell, then a second, a third, until a total of five had fallen and began to bleed out.
Maddog pushed a Triad up against the wall and then slammed his knife through their head, pinning them to the wall. He left the soldier like that and turned around to be punched in the stomach. Maddog grabbed the Triad's pistol and then fired three times into the soldier's stomach. The man dropped to the ground and Maddog saw Alex being punched in the stomach and face by two different guys. Maddog aimed the gun and saw he had an opening to shoot each man and then Alex in the head if he really wanted. Smiles saw what he saw and then aimed the shotgun at Maddog.
"No." Smiles said. Maddog looked over at him and saw a Triad pop up in between them. Maddog shot him in the head while Smiles shot him in the back, causing blood to shoot out in both directions. Alex kicked both men away and then shot one in the head. His gun clicked again and he tossed it aside. The other Triad picked up a chair and swung it at Alex, hitting him over the head with it. The chair smashed to wooden pieces as Alex fell to the ground. Smiles immediately shot the Triad.
The last three men ran out of the bar, not wanting to die like everyone else had. Maddog dropped the pistol and stepped over the bodies as blood covered the floor of the bar. He took his knife out of the mans head, and the man fell into a booth, slumping over.
"Fuck you guys. One of you led them here, and nearly got me killed." Maddog said as he walked to the door. "Don't go asking to meet up again."
Smiles watched as Maddog left and Alex slowly got up. He rubbed his head and looked at Smiles who shook his head. "We gotta get the fuck outta here bro." Smiles said. Alex nodded and quickly got up, letting Smiles help him out of the bar. The bartender stood up and saw his bar ruined and sighed.
"Fuck me." he said.
Morgan, Connor, Alexa, Donny, and Boles sat around a meeting table right next to Morgan's office. Connor was leaning back in his seat, annoyed that they were having a meeting instead of going after the rest of Alex and his crew. Boles sat next to him, pissed off how an argument between Connor and himself let Catherine escape. He never felt more dumb than when he walked back to his car to see the door wide open and that his hostage was gone.
"We need to discuss a strategy for handling this." Morgan said to her most trusted members. Connor rolled his eyes while Alexa seemed ready to follow whatever Morgan was going to say.
"Talk. Talk. Talk. That's all we fucking do." Connor said. "We are barely getting any men from Merryweather anymore because we let them all die. Get your head out of your ass Morgan. We need to attack."
"He's right. Waiting won't get us anywhere." Boles said.
"How successful have we been so far when listening to you Connor?" Morgan asked rhetorically.
"I've been doing my job. I got rid of one of our problems. What about Alexa though?" Connor asked with a wicked smirk.
"What about Alexa?" Alexa asked back.
"The cops were on you, and then you disappeared for days. What if there are police swarming the building right now? She could even have a wire. She could've bugged your office Morgan. Did no one consider that?" Connor asked. Boles and Donny looked at Alexa questioningly, unsure of if they could trust her now. Morgan just seemed more annoyed with Connor's outburst.
"I say we let Sergeant Jonathan Boles take whatever men we can gather and launch an attack on Steven's house. That is where they are all at right? We don't kill them all but we eliminate a majority of the threat. Case closed." Connor said, smacking his hand on the table. He stood up and walked out of the room. Boles smirked and followed him out while Morgan sat there, silently steaming.
"I'm gonna give more money to Merryweather for more men." Morgan said, looking straight ahead. She got up and quietly left but Alexa and Donny both knew she was furious.
Carlos was sitting outside Steven's house as the others started to get ready to leave. His eyes were closed and he had his hands folded in his lap. Lately had had begin to pray. Not for anything in particular, just because he wanted to. He used to when he started out with the Aztecas, but working with murders changed him. Alex, Catherine, and the others killed people, but they did it for a reason. The Aztecas killed people because they wanted to. Carlos wanted everyone to get out of this unscathed. He wanted everyone safe.
"Amen." Carlos whispered to himself and he opened his eyes. He saw Leo standing in the bed of the pickup truck, looking off in the distance. Catherine was there with him, pointing at something. Carlos stood up and looked where they were looking.
"Is that…?" Leo asked. Carlos took off running down the street, a smile spreading across his face. The person he saw took a few more steps before dropping to their knees. Once Carlos reached them he dropped to his knees as well and began to laugh and cry at the same time.
"Miss me?" Sarah asked, smiling herself and letting tears roll down her cheeks. Carlos put his hands on either side of her face and pulled her into him. The two kissed and began to hold each other.
"I didn't know when I'd see you again." Carlos said when he finally backed away from Sarah.
"Me neither." Sarah said having a handful of his hair in her hands. The two stood up together and began to walk towards everyone else. Carlos put his arm around her waist and helped the extremely tired Sarah onto the back of the pickup truck. She hugged Catherine and Leo and said hello to everyone else who was there. She introduced herself to Raquel, Sergio, and Tyler and reintroduced herself to Steven.
Alex walked out of the house as Steven began to drive. Catherine waved to him and he blew her a kiss as the truck left. A yellow car took its spot and the trunk to it opened right away. Smiles stepped out from the driver's seat and went to the trunk, pulling out a body. Alex had a black eye forming from the bar fight he had early. Seeing Smiles reminded him of the fight and he remembered the chair getting smashed over his head.
"That him?" Colton asked walking outside with Tank, Heath, and Jensen. Alex nodded and Smiles pulled a bag off of the body's head. Colton, Alex, Tank, and Jensen walked forward towards the two.
"He wants to talk to you guys." Smiles said with a shrug. Alex, Colton, Jensen, and Tank looked down at Clarence who was tied up. His face was badly bruised and his chest was deeply scared due to the iron being pressed into it. Clarence's face also had burn marks from the cigarettes that were pressed into him.
"We're listening." Colton said. Clarence looked up at him, his eyes looking lifeless.
"I want to help you. I'm with you guys. Please." Clarence said, trying not to break down. He was in this mess because of Boles and he wanted revenge. Alex, Colton, Tank, and Jensen all looked at each other. Alex then looked at Smiles and nodded.