The Silver Shroud prowled into The Third Rail like a cat, not a stealthy one, the kind of cat that accidentally knocks over a lamp and pretends like he meant to do that. Piper was just trying to make herself seem smaller. As amusing as she found Allen's "Shroud," she didn't really want people to associate "Publick Occurrences" with his brand of tomfoolery.
The Shroud was on the hunt for Kendra, and word was that Whitechapel Charlie knew where she was.
"Hey, Blue Synagogue Joey," Shroud crowed happily "Just the man I wanted to see."
"It's White Chapel, and I don't serve nutters," Charlie said. If he had eyes, he would have rolled them.
"Good thing I'm not looking for a drink, although I will pay handsomely for a little bit of intel."
"Alright, I'll bite, whaddya need."
"Well Green Mosque Cory…"
"Whitechapel Charlie," The Mr Handy interrupted, sounding as exasperated as a machine can sound.
"Whatever," Shroud dismissed "There's a weird little name bouncing around in my head, 'Kendra,'" by this point most of the bar had stopped to listen in. Magnolia was still singing though.
"I don't see how that's my problem."
"The problem, Teal Temple, is that I'm terrible with names, so I only bother to remember the names of my friends, or the people I plan on killing. And to be honest I don't know which one Kendra is yet."
Nobody got around to answering, as at that moment, a group of heavily armed men arrived.
"You the Shroud?" The leader asked.
"You Kendra?" Shroud already knew the answer.
"Kendra's a women, do your research." The leader answered, "but she's not why we're here."
"Are you here to make friends?" Shroud asked hopefully, "Yellow Monastery, beer for my new buddies."
"A bounty's been put on your head, Shroud, and we're here to collect."
"Well that's no fun whatsoever."
It was almost boring for the Shroud. A couple crack shots, and the leader was dead. After that it was as easy the as falling of a log.
There were four people in the hit squad, including the leader. The leader was dead, another was shot in the leg, the third had his hand stabbed into a table (the knife even went through the wood), and the fourth shot himself in the foot and wisely pretended to be unconscious.
"So…" Shroud said approaching the man that had been stabbed into a table. "Who put a bounty on me?"
"I ain't telling you shit," The man protested.
"Listen,Tyler -"
"It's Tony."
"It's also not important." Shroud said gripping the combat knife, "Cause I only remember the names of people I kill, or my friends," Shroud turned to Whitechapel, "Ain't that right Black Church Chuck?"
"Listen to the nutter, Tony." Whitechapel interjected.
"If you tell me who put the hit out on me, not only will I let you live, but I'll give you some caps, as an 'I'm sorry'." Shroud offered.
"How much?"
"Less than the bounty, more than nothing."
Tony thought about the offer, he was smarter than he looked.
"His name is Sinjin."
"Know anything about him?"
"Only that he pays, and kills indiscriminately."
"Alright then," Shroud said, gripping the knife a little harder, "This is gonna hurt."
He pulled the knife out of the table before handing Tony enough caps to see a doctor, and then turned back to Whitechapel.
"So, where's Kendra?"
"Water Street Apartments," Whitechapel answered, sounding as sheepish as his programming would allow, "Careful, she travels with a full crew."
"See Whitechapel, I knew we could be friends," Shroud said.
"I don't know how I feel about that."
"Nobody does."
Piper followed Allen out of the third Rail.
"So, next stop Water Street Apartments?"
"I need to talk to Kent," Allen responded, suddenly very grim.
"Why?"
"This is about to get bad."
"Shroud, I d-d-didn't expect to see you." Kent stammered.
"We need to talk." Allen said, sitting down and taking off his hat and bandana.
"What about?" Kent asked.
"Both of you, actually." Allen reconsidered, looking at Piper.
"What's this about, Blue?" Piper asked, though she could probably guess.
"We've been killing members of the same gang," Allen explained. "AJ and Wayne, belonged to this guy Sinjin. Apparently he's noticed, since he put a bounty out on the Shroud."
"S-s-so?" Kent asked.
"I've dealt with this kind of situation once or twice, once the bounty's been put out, things only escalate from there."
"Are you saying you're scared?" Piper teased. Allen gave Piper a look of amusement and exasperation.
"I'm not afraid. Not for myself." Allen stood up, "For now, I'm just some nutter with a gun, as long as that's the case, they'll come for me. But the more people I kill, the more likely they'll become afraid of me."
"That's good right?" Kent asked.
"It means they won't come after me directly." Allen explained, "They'll try to use my friends against me. I haven't made many of those, and fewer that they'll find out about. But Kent, you've made your support of the Shroud very clear. And Piper," Allen said turning, "My radius is about to get much more exciting."
"Eh," Piper said with a shrug, "could be worse."
"How exactly?" Allen asked.
"Could be raining."
"They won't t-t-take me alive, Shroud." Kent said confidently.
"You see," Allen started. "That's the exact opposite of what I want."
"What do you mean?" Kent inquired.
"Sinjin might use you to bait me, but if you cause too much trouble, he'll just kill you and use the 'revenge' angle," Allen explained, "I've seen something similar in Amsterdam in 2071."
"So what do I do?" Kent asked
"If he comes for you, cooperate, don't fight, don't talk back, don't try anything. Answer, truthfully, every question they ask you."
"But what about you?" Piper asked of Allen.
Kent objected, "I w-w-w-won't betray you, Shroud."
"I can handle Sinjin and his thugs. I can even rescue you, if it comes to that. But I can't bring back the dead, Kent." Allen answered.
"Fine."
"Great," Allen said, sighing with relief. "Now, I'm going to go take down Kendra. In the meantime, I have something I need you to do."
"Anything."
"Arrange a meeting with Hancock. He probably knows more about Sinjin."
"I can do that."
"If you want me going to war," Allen scowled, "then you're going to have to front me some Caps,"
"Why?" Hancock said with his trademark smirk, "Vigilante work not pay well?"
"Exactly," Allen said, leaning in, "This is going to be expensive,"
"Blue, this isn't about caps." Piper weighed in.
"I'm not asking for myself," Allen defended, "I truly don't have the resources."
"Well, Blue" Hancock interrupted, holding his hand out to Fahrenheit "I'll front you some Caps, but if you cheat me..."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Allen said, crossing his arms.
"Good," Hancock nodded, and handed Allen a pouch of caps, "Five Hundred sound good to you, Blue?"
"It's fine, and don't call me Blue." Allen snapped.
"OK, Shroud," Hancock quipped. "Wouldn't want to make you angry."
Allen and Piper left the old state house and made a beeline for "Kill or be Killed"
"I don't know how I feel about that guy," Piper commented.
"I love that guy," Allen said, finally letting his excitement show.
"Really, you seemed rather cold?" Piper said, doing a double take. Allen placed his order before responding, a 308 sniper rifle, and various chemicals Piper prayed weren't for drugs.
"Force of habit." Allen said with a shrug, making his way to a chemistry station in the back of the shop.
"Alright," Piper exclaimed "No more evasive answers, you are going," Piper stressed "to explain this one."
Allen looked at Piper, and not for the first time she cursed the bandanna on his face. It was hard to gauge expressions with half the face hidden.
"You're a smart girl," Allen said, a hint of amusement to his voice, "So I'm guessing you've figured out I was no ordinary soldier before the bombs."
"I gathered that much when you killed Kellogg when you were half dead."
"Are you going to let that go?"
"Eventually," Piper answered with a casual shrug.
"Well," Allen said, "I wasn't an actual soldier for very long, after a couple of years I was recruited by the CIA."
"So you were…" Piper said, making the "go on" motion with her hands.
"A spy, but not there was more to it than that." Allen said, starting to sound a little grimmer.
"Care to elaborate?" Piper asked, softer this time, she seemed to be realizing what she was stepping in.
"Let's just say I'm glad to have a job as simple and clear as 'find and kill murderers'." Allen went quiet. "It's been awhile since life has been that easy," he mumbled.
Piper definitely realized what she'd stepped in, because her next question was more casual.
"Watcha making?"
"Cryo grenades," Allen answered clearly embracing the change in topic "A sentimental favorite of mine."
"I didn't know you could get sentimental about explosives."
"Ain't life full of mysteries? Take two." Allen ordered.
"So what do we do now?" Piper asked, taking the said two grenades.
"I'll explain on the way." Allen answered.