Chapter 33: The Road Not Taken

The driver pulled in by the roadside and shut off the engine, turning in his seat to look behind him.

"This is the place, boss?" he asked. Usagi looked out the window at the warehouse. It was small and stood in between two other buildings on the side of the street. As well as that, it was fairly run down, likely due to age. But it would serve her needs well enough. Currently, they were in the outskirts of the city where very few gangs operated, if any. Nearby was what could only be described as a shanty town on the city's edge that even the cartels had abandoned long ago. It was a poor area and incredibly desolate. That was what she needed. She looked to the Wolf, who was sat beside her, for confirmation that this was definitely the right place. He nodded at her. They exited the vehicle and eight more Coterie enforcers also hopped out of the two cars that had followed them to accompany Usagi within in case of danger.

Wolf opened the door for her and they all stepped inside. It looked about as bad as they expected. Broken wood and glass littered the ground and they would be surprised if anyone had set foot in here in decades. It may have been used by some of the cartels at one point for storage, or possibly even the Japanese military when they were using the city as a naval base during the second World War. But they weren't truly alone in here, as Usagi would soon learn.

"How did you find it?" she asked while her men poked around this first room. There was a door to the right that lead into what they assumed was another storage room, and a second one at the back that was probably to a small office space.

"This is out of the way," Wolf explained. "None of the major gangs do business this far out and we can keep out of sight of anyone else. Just took some digging to make sure it was abandoned." The others continued to look around and make sure they were happy with everything. They knew there would be no bugs or cameras in here, but being overcautious was simply part and parcel of their existence, now. "There's something else," Wolf piped up when he saw Usagi reaching for the door into the other room. She opened the door as he was talking and immediately jumped on the spot, startled. The Coterie members all went for their guns but Wolf raised his hand to assure them everything was alright.

"This is the girl?" asked Ashur, turning on the spot to get a good look at her.

"She's younger than I remember," Andromeda added. Wolf slipped passed Usagi and entered the room to explain what was going on.

"I know you," Usagi said thoughtfully. Andromeda smirked.

"Good to see your memory's working fine. Wolf filled us in, told us you could use some help."

"I see." Obviously, she wasn't quite sure how to process this. It had been sprung on her all of a sudden, to be fair. But it was also possible she was embarrassed that Andromeda was here. If Wolf had explained everything, then she knew Rahul was dead and Usagi was going against his wishes to see her live a normal life away from crime. But if she was here offering to help, then she mustn't have cared too much. Usagi's eyes fell on the black man with her.

"I haven't met you before. Is he a friend of yours, Wolf?" Ashur and Wolf locked eyes for a moment. It wasn't the time or place to get into how they knew each other, so they settled for minimal explanation for the moment. If Usagi was really interested, they could tell her more another time.

"Yeah," Wolf told her. "He's a friend. They both need to lay low for a while, stay out of sight. And you need a couple of extra hands in case some skulls need to be cracked."

"I don't know what you told them, Wolf," Usagi began, "but I'm not in a position to recruit hitmen into the Coterie's ranks, financially or otherwise."

"That's not a problem," Ashur told her. "We're not doing this for money. Thing is…we've been drawing the wrong kind of attention recently. Being kept out of sight is payment enough and I'm told your Coterie can do that for us."

"We're going to move on eventually," Andromeda added, in case the young woman was unhappy with the idea of them sticking around. "But we've got to stay in the shadows for a while. And why would you turn down a couple of extra guns? We need each other right now."

The Coterie enforcers had been staying in the other room, but one of them stuck their head in the door.

"Uh…should we wait outside, boss?" he asked. They must have been feeling quite awkward while this conversation took place.

"No," Usagi told him. "Stay. This shouldn't take too much longer."

"Look," said the Wolf as he began to try and convince her this was a good idea. "They're good. Trust me. The way things are going…you're going to have more than a few enemies before you've built this empire. What harm would it do to have two more killers to call upon? Nobody's going to stand a chance against the three of us." Usagi came a little further into the room and looked out the broken windows to the street, her back to the three assassins.

"My three silencers," she said to herself. "That does have a nice ring to it. I have been lucky so far. The road ahead will be a bloody one, I always knew that. Perhaps it would be wise to avail of your services while I have the chance. As you said, Andromeda…we need each other." The blonde woman gave Wolf a look as if to emphasise how much Usagi had changed since she had last seen her. Wolf knew that better than anyone.

Usagi had her eyes closed as she was speaking and she did not notice the three cars that had lined up outside the warehouse. Before she spotted them, the windows all rolled down and several guns were pointed at the building. It was Ashur who noticed first, and his hand went to Usagi's back, shoving her to the ground.

"Get down!" he roared, dropping on his stomach to avoid being shot and keeping one hand on Usagi's back so she would not move. The shooting started before the other two could do anything to protect themselves and they were both sent crashing into the wall by the flurry of bullets that shredded through the warehouse's walls and windows. Immediately, the Coterie members that had been waiting in the other room hurried in and started to return fire. It was safe to assume the drivers outside had been killed. Although Usagi's people were doing their best to repel the attack, many of them were also killed and before long there were only three of them left. Realising they were going to meet the same fate as their friends if they kept this up, they were forced back into the other room to take cover. They had to trust that the Trinity would keep Usagi safe. Wolf and Andromeda were alive, but they had been badly wounded. The attackers managed to seize the right moment while the two assassins had been distracted, incapacitating them for the remainder of the fight. If not for Ashur, Usagi might be dead with her fallen followers.

The shooting continued for several minutes until finally the attackers ceased. Then, they exited their vehicles and prepared to enter the warehouse to finish the job. While Andromeda had managed to take her Remington Model 51 in hand and had been shooting at the attackers, she was holding one of the gunshot wounds in her abdomen with her free hand and she was losing blood. Wolf on the other hand never even managed to take his weapon from its holster. He was slumped against the wall, conscious but in a lot of pain. As the mystery men started to walk along the sidewalk towards the warehouse's entrance, Ashur saw an opportunity and came to his feet in a flash. He slipped the AMT Automag III out of its holster and aimed it out towards the strangers.

"Say hey to the devil for me," he growled, clenching the trigger several times and firing at one of the cars. The bullets managed to penetrate the gas tank and the car exploded, sending what remained of the windows flying into the room. Most importantly, at least half of the strangers had been killed and the rest were all but crippled on the side of the road. "Get in here and give me a hand!" Ashur called to the other room. The remaining Coterie members hurried in and went to Usagi, staying by her side and allowing the others to go first and make sure it was safe to leave. Two of the three wolves were in no condition to even walk, but Usagi was the priority. Ashur leaned down after holstering his gun and grabbed the collar of Wolf's jacket, lifting him into the air and throwing him over his shoulder. Then, he grabbed Andromeda's arm and held her upright to see how badly she needed assistance. "You able to walk on your own or do I need to throw you over my other shoulder?"

"I'm alright," she said, wincing as she did so.

"You're a lousy liar," he replied. "Throw your arm around me." She did as he told her and he grabbed her waist, holding her up as best he could.

They started to head into the other room so they could leave. Andromeda held her gun at the ready in case they needed to defend themselves, seeing as Ashur had his hands full. When they reached the door leading back outside, two more cars pulled up across the street and Andromeda aimed her gun at them, anticipating another fight. Luckily, the new arrivals had eyes only for the survivors of the explosion and several well-dressed black men exited with Vektor R4 assault rifles in hand and began firing. The wounded survivors who were attempting to regroup and decide if they should continue their attack or flee were all torn to shreds and the passenger side door of the first car that had pulled up opened. Ikemba, the leader of the ACR, stepped out and held his hands either side of his mouth.

"Now's your chance!" he called to the others, spotting them lingering in the doorway. "Hop in before more show up!" Left with few options, Ashur legged it across the street and helped Wolf and Andromeda into one of the cars. The Coterie returned to their own vehicles with Usagi, but they would follow the ACR. Ashur took a seat in Ikemba's car as soon as the ACR members that had been shooting returned to their vehicles and they all took off before any more enemies of the Coterie arrived.