I'll Be The One
Chapter 6:
=Normal POV=
[Tuesday, 10/2/2018-8:45 pm]
[Archipelago; Arc Isle]
[Odin's Dragons Hideout]
Of all things the friends expected to happen tonight when they met up to discuss things; they did not forsee Hunter calling Flynn to hang out and then learning Hunter was already there. Hunter stood there now; his arms folded over his chest while holding his cell phone in the left hand.
"Hunter?" Seth asked.
"That's my name," Hunter replied. Tallon stood straight, looking right at Hunter now.
"How did you find this place?" Tallon demanded.
"Does that matter? I found it, and I'm here," Hunter remarked.
"What are you doing here?" Trevor inquired.
"I feel the real question is why are you all here? Hiding out in a location that is five or six miles underground and this center spot is the center of all the connecting tunnels on the mainland?" Hunter wondered.
"We asked you first," Drew said.
Hunter sighed as he walked forward, tapping a few things on his phone and sliding it across the table towards Tallon. "I came to warn you that there are people out there who want this particular group, Odin's Dragons, I believe they called it, taken out,"
"How do you know about Odin's Dragons?" Elijah questioned.
"I mean…I don't know if you remember or not but I'm the president's son; I'm well aware of the gangs known well around the islands…I didn't know it was you guys until one of those guys mentioned the fight last Friday all of you were present for that I stepped in on, and that the leader's name is Tallon Fury…" Hunter informed calmly.
"How did you get this information?" Avery looked at him firmly.
"Those guys didn't make any effort to hide outside of the school earlier. My class let out at 3 pm, I was standing at the gate and happened to overhear their conversation. As soon as I heard mentions of the fight that the random person jumped in on last Friday; I started recording. I was going to go to the police with it, given it sounds heavily of gang violence and activity…But elected to warn you instead," Hunter said.
"But how did you find this place, Hunter?" Tallon looked at him.
"If you must know…I used a program on my laptop to triangulate the location of Flynn's cell phone during my first call when I asked where he was around 7:30 pm. GPS lead me to Meade Hall, and then I pulled up the mainland interface and located the underground tunnels. I found the least suspicious one to slip into and came here. I watched from the shadows for about fifteen minutes before calling and making myself known," Hunter stated.
"You used a police-level program to track Flynn's cell? And then find the mainland's map interface?" Tallon asked.
"That's right," Hunter nodded.
"How in the name of Odin can you do all that? That's serious computer skill…" Harper wondered.
Hunter shrugged, leaning on the table. "How did you get in here though? It's crawling with guards…" Elijah questioned.
"And where are your bodyguards?" Madison asked.
"Bodyguards still think I'm at the apartment; I snuck out the window to come here. Slipping past your guards wasn't hard; I was in the shadows most of it. Staying quiet and hiding isn't hard for me as the president's son; it's how I avoid the paparazzi," Hunter said. "So…Are you going to tell me about all this stuff? It seems I'm not the only one with a big secret about my life," he remarked.
The others looked to Tallon, wondering what to do. Tallon sighed heavily, closing his eyes, and lowering his head a little. "Everyone back to work," Tallon ordered as others around them continued that things they were doing before Hunter made himself known. "This gang doesn't run itself…" he added.
"Yes, sir," a few replied. Tallon looked back up at Hunter, walking around to him.
"Come with me," Tallon stated, heading off as Hunter followed him.
"What about us?" Seth inquired.
"Help the others," Tallon stated.
"Right," Avery nodded as the group split off and Hunter continued to follow Tallon off into another room where there was some couches, chairs, small bar, and nice lighting. This appeared to be more of a hangout space, which Hunter new from research that gangs had to relax, talk, drunk, and do drugs. Hunter wasn't sure what all this was about; as an intruder; he figured that he would have been beaten down or killed.
Once inside the room; Tallon closed the door and continued forward towards the bar. "Have a seat, Hunter. Would you like anything to drink? Water, soda, beer perhaps?" Tallon asked nicely. Hunter sat down on one of the couches.
"I'd normally take alcohol, but it's late, and a school night…I'll do soda. Anything works; I'm not picky," Hunter replied as Tallong grabbed a can of cola from the fridge and walked it over to Hunter. "Thanks,"
"You're welcome," Tallon nodded as he sat down next to Hunter.
"You're…Not like, gonna kill me for finding your hideout and sneaking in, are you? I promise I won't say anything…" Hunter looked at Tallon questioningly.
"No, no. We're not going to kill you, Hunter. That's not what we do here," Tallon said in a relaxed tone and giving a half-smile.
"What do you do here? These tunnels are written to be unusable, or so I thought until I looked up the interface of the island and realized that the signal from Flynn's phone was coming from under Meade Hall, not inside of it," Hunter stated calmly, cracking the soda open and taking a sip.
"It's written that way, so no one comes down here and gets lost, as I'm sure you noticed; it's hard to navigate without a map or…Your ability to get the electronic interface of the island," Tallon said.
"Makes sense…Brilliant place to hideout, though. No wonder those other people have such a hard time finding your group…" Hunter complimented.
"I thought so when I started this operation," Tallon sat back.
"So, this is a gang?..." Hunter asked.
"We are known as one, but we aren't the kind you think," Tallon revealed calmly.
"Not the kind that works with weapons, drugs, and all kinds of gang rivalries and violence?" Hunter arched a brow.
"Okay, we work with all that, but not the way you think…" Tallon chuckled.
"Alright, I'll bite…" Hunter smiled.
"Odin's Dragons is a gang well-known to many others all around the Archipelago for their vast business and success in so little time. We have all the things gangs work with, but we're working to stop all gang activity by being an undercover group," Tallon explained.
"So…You're a cop?" Hunter inquired.
"Undercover, yes. So are Drew, Avery, Seth, Elijah, and Trevor. Madison, Flynn, Harper, Roxanne, and TJ are just friends, but they help us out by working here from the base when we're incognito to strike and remove another gang from the island with a huge bust," Tallon informed.
"How do they help?" Hunter asked.
"Flynn is good with computers. Harper works in the forensics of all kinds. Madison is a CNA, so she helps with minor injuries and what not. The twins are good at gathering intel as private investigators. Everyone else varies in the same types of jobs, but we work together to get information on other gangs; location, weapons, members, etc.," Tallon continued.
"And then you report it to the police who will break in and raid to get everyone off the map and behind bars," Hunter finished. "That's deceptive, sneaky, and ridiculously clever, Tallon," Hunter mentioned. "Gangs are a huge problem on the islands; this is a perfect way to stop it all,"
"Thanks. We've cleaned house quite a bit in the last, eighteen months ago or so," Tallon relaxed, smiling.
"I've heard the police efforts had taken down a lot of smaller gangs on other islands," Hunter nodded.
"Well, we've been working on the bigger groups for the last year or so, but they aren't like the small island ones; it's harder because they've seen the police activity increasing to bust gangs," Tallon sighed.
"Makes sense that they are cautious with who they trust," Hunter replied. "So all your weapons and drugs; it's just for show? You don't use them?"
"Well, we do often have to make trades, and protect ourselves if a meet up goes bad…All of us cops are armed with legal weapons, and we report any drugs or money to the director of police since he ordered this operation. Everything we trade comes back to us since we have to have a physical meeting to exchange it all. Once we get them where we want them; we have someone follow them and get a location; then the bust happens," Tallon replied.
"That's insane, and I assume mostly dangerous," Hunter said.
"It has its ups and downs, but we've never lost anyone, and our success rate is pretty high," Tallon shrugged.
"I can imagine it would be," Hunter said. "I'm sorry I barged in on such an extensive operation,"
"You didn't do any harm, Hunter; it's alright," Tallon assured. "It amazes me that you took so little information and managed to pull it off when gangs who have been around much longer than us never even get close,"
"When I heard those guys talking about taking people out; I was going to go to the police," Hunter admitted.
"Why didn't you?" Tallon inquired.
"Because the details of who they were going after started to click and…I didn't want to see Flynn and his friends get hurt over something I stepped in on to help them last Friday," Hunter looked at Tallon now. "I guess I started seeing them as friends in the last month and didn't want anything to happen,"
"As I said; you took very little information and managed to put together that your would-be friends were in danger, so you came to warn us. You slipped your trained secret service agents, located this place, and avoided all the guards, hiding out undetected until you revealed yourself. That's…Some serious skill, Hunter," Tallon complemented.
"Thanks," Hunter shrugged a little. "I've had a lot of practice escaping my bodyguards over the years, and I work with computers all the time,"
"And the way you fought last Friday; that wasn't your average instinctive defense fighting…" Seth said, entering the room with the others.
Hunter shook his head. "No, mixed martial arts. My Godfather is in the army, and he's trained me over the years to fight," Hunter said now.
"That was pretty cool," Avery smiled. "What you did for us, despite getting hauled off moments later,"
"I'm not one to stand around while something bad happens that I can help fix or stop," Hunter informed.
"But it wasn't your place, especially with your position as the president's son," Drew stated.
"My position as the First Son doesn't mean I can't be a good person and friend. Heck, my parents would fully expect it of me and probably get mad if I walked away from a situation I could have helped with. My bodyguards are…How do I put it? Extreme. Which is why I begged my dad to cut back security on me last Friday after the fight," Hunter mumbled.
"How did that go?" Flynn wondered.
"At first; he wouldn't budge…But my Godfather must have said something to him to make him change his mind because he came by later on to tell me that there would only be two guards per shift, and stationed on the grounds but not tailing my ass. And the extraction car is usually sitting three or so blocks away," Hunter stated.
"Isn't that the car that takes you everywhere?" TJ questioned.
"For now. Dad is finally letting me drive myself around," Hunter chuckled. "I've had my license since I was sixteen, but the only time I think I got to drive was…Probably the day I took the road test," he smiled.
"Nice. What kind of car are you getting?" Elijah inquired.
"Oh, I already have one. It needs all the legal requirements taken care of, and then some minor fixes like tired, tune-up, oil change," Hunter listed off. "I also have my bike, but that needs a lot of fixing and Dad said I couldn't use it if the weather doesn't permit me to,"
"Like bad storms?" Roxanne asked.
"Exactly," Hunter nodded.
"Well, I appreciate you stepping in to help my friends, Hunter. We were coming to assist, that's who Seth was calling for. When we saw your guards around; we stayed back because we can't afford to have our cover blown right now," Tallon mentioned.
"Understandable, and no problem. I'm glad I was able to help," Hunter smiled. "And don't worry about all this; I won't say anything. Going to the police wouldn't do much good anyway since you're working for them," he laughed a little.
"True that," Tallon replied.
"Alright; you got work to do so I'll head back home," Hunter finished his soda and got up, tossing the can in the recyclable. Hunter started pulling on his sweater and fixing the hood to get it over his head. The others looked at Tallon now, giving him a certain look that he understood and wasn't sure about their silent suggestion. Finally, the man gave in as Hunter about to flip his hood up.
"Wait, Hunter," Tallon stood up as Hunter faced him.
"Yeah?" Hunter inquired.
"How good are you with computers?" Drew asked now.
"Depends on what you need to be done," Hunter replied. "But if you want an overall answer; I'm currently going to school for Computer Engineering. I have my Bachelors in Computer and Mechanical Engineering so far, going for my Masters in Computer this year," he explained.
"That explains a lot," Flynn said. "As to why he was able to use such advanced programs and find protected and encrypted archives for the interface of the Archipelago Islands,"
"And the sneaking away from your guards and slipping past the security here is very impressive, Hunter," Tallon continued, looking at him.
"Thanks, I think," Hunter responded.
"Hunter, we'd like to extend the invitation for you to…Join us," Tallon said as Hunter's eyes widened.
"M-Me?" Hunter asked.
"Yes, you. You're skilled in observing, sneaking around, fighting, and computers. You're good at taking small bits of information and putting it together like pieces of a puzzle. We'd like for you to join Odin's Dragons; help us end all this gang stuff. And hey, while we work on that; we have this place to hang out as friends. After helping my friends in that fight, and now this, warning us of a possible ambush that could be deadly; you're an awesome friend, and we'd love to have you join us as friends and in the gang," Tallon smiled, his arm around Hunter's shoulders.
"Yeah, join us, Hunter," Madison said.
"Please?" the others hoped.
"I-I mean; it's a great offer, but I don't know if I have time to add one more thing in," Hunter admitted.
"What else do you have going on?" Trevor inquired.
"School, work, girlfriend, stuff with dad…" Hunter shrugged.
"Doesn't seem so bad," Drew chuckled.
"How many classes do you take?" Avery questioned.
"Well…Four, but split up through Monday and Friday, but I also work about six days a week, sometimes seven. I've got events with my dad now and then. And there's my girlfriend who I try to see at least once a week for a couple of hours," Hunter informed.
"How do you work that much, seven days a week?" Flynn asked.
"Hm? Oh, I'm the General Manager. I handle scheduling, food orders, inventory, workplace drama, organizing, different positions…I'm the guy that makes sure the business runs properly with little to no problems," Hunter said calmly.
"But how do you manage that work with school and everything else?" Harper blinked.
"I manage, which is why I say my time is scarce and your operation here; that takes a lot of time and effort. I don't know if I can commit to such a thing…As good as a cause as it is," Hunter admitted.
"Well, why don't you give it a try?" Tallon offered.
"Try?" Hunter arched a brow.
"Yeah? Do all your stuff, but hang out when you can. You can always do homework here, a lot of us do," Roxanne offered. "TJ and I attend Archia University for Business, owning and managing,"
"I'm in for Forensics," Harper smiled.
"Lawyer," Flynn stated.
"And you know the rest of us are cops, undercover for this thing…Come on; you'd be a great asset and friend to the team," Tallon said.
"I…Guess I can give it a shot. But, no promises. I can't be getting into a lot of the heavy stuff, though, because of who my dad is…" Hunter reminded softly.
"Don't worry about that. You're not a cop; you'd be here like Flynn, TJ, Roxy, Maddie, and Harper are. We wouldn't put you in a line of fire, Hunter. You'd be doing…Computer and Communications, maybe helping make plans or take part in next mission discussions," Tallon assured.
"Alright…That's fine then. I'll give things a chance, but I can't be here every night…" Hunter informed.
"No problem; we aren't either," Elijah chuckled.
"We come here for the gang things only, sometimes to hang out after a mission and celebrate when another group is taken down. We're underground, easier to party and not worry about noise complaints," Drew laughed a bit.
"Any other time, we'll go hit The Nest bar or hang at someone's apartment," Trevor nodded. "We all live in the same general area,"
"Yeah, Harper and I live in Dreki Apartments too; we're on the fifth floor," Drew informed.
"I'm in A10 right inside Dreki Apartments," Tallon revealed.
"We're all in Dreki Apartments," Flynn laughed.
"Everyone is on different floors for the most part," Avery smiled.
"That's pretty cool," Hunter checked the time, realizing it was already 9:30 pm; he'd been here about an hour and should be taking advantage of his night off to sleep. "Well, I should be getting back to the complex," he yawned. "Flynn can give you my number,"
"We're all leaving too. You probably shouldn't be walking back alone without your bodyguards," Tallon informed. "Come on; I'll give you a ride since I know Drew will be taking Harper and Flynn. Seth will have Madison. Avery and Trevor will travel together. Elijah will take Roxy and TJ," he offered.
"Thanks," Hunter nodded. The group left the hideout, moving together and coming out from a hidden wall on the Meade Hall, and it was in a shadowed corner where there were no cameras as Hunter learned; this was their obvious entry point. It turns out that all their vehicles were parked at the Park & Ride Mainland Transportation Center, which was only a five-minute walk from Meade Hall.
This transportation center provided trains and ferries to the other islands. The mainland was more or less a connector point if someone was coming from another island and going to the mainland, or using it as a transfer point to one of the others. The ferries took a while, but the monorail was fast; it could transport riders to their destinations within an hour and thirty minutes from point A to B, even with the middle transfer spot. Everything on the mainland did not take more than thirty minutes to get to any location. Getting to Tallon's car; it was about 9:45 pm as the others loaded up and headed out.
Tallon's car was all black with two seats; the driver and the passenger. Also; it seemed Tallon's care was a convertible-style, but the cover was up now due to the colder months. "Thank you, for the ride," Hunter said.
"No problem," Tallon smiled as he started the car. "At least we're both going to the same place,"
"Right, I find it hilarious that we all live in the same building," Hunter laughed a bit.
"It's a good building that's close to everything," Tallon informed.
"I've noticed," Hunter said, yawning again.
"You can recline the seat and rest if you want. We've got a fifteen-minute drive still," Tallon offered.
"I'm alright," Hunter said, smiling. "I'm…Honestly just happy that things are working out. I've never really had friends because of my status in life as the mayor's son, or now, the president's son. I never had time, or was always busy,"
"Well, you got friends now, Hunter. And trust me; we're not going anywhere," Tallon assured.
"I believe you. Thank you, Tallon," Hunter replied. Tallon nodded as the rest of the drive back to Dreki Apartments was mostly quiet because Hunter was exhausted; he wanted a shower, a snack, and to sleep before the next day began.