This chapter operates in parallel with Chapter 61: Sleep of the Vigilante – Day 4 of my other story: Forsaken which should be read first . . .
The next day
Thursday, July 31st, 2014
The following takes place between Midnight and 1:00 A.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
Mindy just needed the damn crap to end; she was so exhausted.
It did not help that she was getting irritable and grumpy, either. She was starting to shout at Chloe, quite unreasonably and she instantly regretted it, each and every time she did shout at her friend. Chloe appeared to be suffering the same stress as Mindy, as she was sniping at Mindy too, over petty little things. Poor Joshua was the worst off as he got the crap from both of them. Mindy was actually surprised that the boy had not left the country, considering that he was facing a pair of hormonal bitches, like Mindy and Chloe.
Mindy had finally arrived at the stage where she thought that she was too tired to sleep, which really sounded stupid. But it was true, she could not sleep.
..._...
Mindy had been going through all the stuff that Marty had sent her; the stuff that came off that idiot's cell.
Annoyingly, she could not concentrate enough to make sense of it. Chloe tried to help, but Mindy told her where to go, none too politely. So, currently they were not talking; how shit could things get? They were supposed to be a team, but no, they were being immature and saying stupid things to each other. Thank God, Dave was not there to see their behaviour, Mindy thought as she heard something smash in a bedroom. She had the feeling that Chloe was feeling the stress too and needed to let off steam.
When Chloe got angry, she got fucking angry, but then, so did Mindy.
0:42 A.M.
Her cell rang.
Who the fuck was calling her, at that time in the fucking morning.
"What?" Mindy growled.
"Hey, growly girl!" Abby laughed.
"Oh, it's you Abby; what's up?" Mindy asked, trying to be polite.
It would not be fair to abuse Abby.
"Something is brewing in Central Park. You girls wanna investigate? You might need your assault rifles," Abby explained.
"How the hell, would you know what's happening in Central Park?" Mindy demanded, incredulously.
"As my hero, Alec Hardison, says: 'Age of the geek, baby!'" Abby replied.
"Funny! Send us what you have, and I'll apply leverage to get grumpy out of bed," Mindy responded, and she hung up the call.
Yeah, she watched Leverage, too.
0:49 A.M.
"Chloe! We need to suit up!" Mindy called, from outside her bedroom.
"I'm fucking coming!" was the, not too polite, response.
There also followed a stream of unprintable obscenities.
The following takes place between 1:00 A.M. and 2:00 A.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
1:02 A.M.
"So, what the fuck is happening now?" Chloe growled, looking thoroughly pissed off.
"What's got you all riled up? Tampon got stuck?" Mindy quipped.
Chloe looked like she was going to explode with rage.
"Calm down, Chloe! I was kidding and I'm sorry about earlier; you know I didn't mean it," Mindy apologised.
"I know, I just . . . I dunno, this is all so fucking shit; I wish it was over. We still friends?" Chloe asked hopefully.
"Forever!" Mindy replied, and she laughed. "God, that sounds lame!"
"It does, kinda," Chloe replied, laughing too.
"Hal called, something is happening in Central Park, apparently," Mindy explained.
"How...?"
"Don't ask. 'Age of the geek', apparently."
The following takes place between 2:00 A.M. and 3:00 A.M.
Central Park, New York City
2:00 A.M.
Something was happening, but what, they had no idea.
Hit Girl could see a lot of Police as well as some other people. It was dark, so they had brought their NVGs with them. Hit Girl had an H&K G36C with her. She and Dave were familiar with the weapon, but Chloe was not able to easily control the larger weapon, so Mindy had arranged training for her on the FN P90 Personal Defence Weapon or PDW. The weapon used the same rounds as Chloe's pistol and benefited from a fifty-round magazine. The weapon was lighter and shorter than the G36C. New York would be the first use of the weapon by Shadow, in action. One downside was the actual carrying of spare magazines which were physically larger than the magazines of most other weapons.
..._...
They were both seated astride the Ducati, parked under some trees.
"You ready?" Hit Girl asked.
"You really need to ask?" Shadow replied, with a chuckle.
She definitely sounded happier.
Hit Girl watched the Police and the other men facing off. There were about twenty police officers, all in normal uniforms with stab-vests and armed only with pistols. The men confronting them were armed with bats, chains, and other assorted, but equally lethal instruments. A senior police officer was ordering the men to disperse. Hit Girl pulled on her NVG goggles and Shadow followed suit.
"Oh, fuck!" Shadow growled.
"'Oh, fuck', is right, Shadow," Hit Girl agreed.
It was a trap, plain and simple. D'Amico seemed to like his little traps – Hit Girl tried not to think about Dave and Marty almost being blown up the other night. Beyond the dozen or so men who were facing off against the police, there were another dozen or so men, all armed with assault rifles. D'Amico was really flexing his muscles and it was New York's turn.
Hit Girl called Marcus.
..._...
"What," Marcus said, when he answered.
He sounded wide awake. Just not very amused.
"You know about Central Park?" she asked, without any preamble.
"Oh, it's you. I do, minor disturbance; I'm on my way there now . . ." Marcus said, before he was cut off.
"It's a fucking trap! We're there now and I can see over a dozen men hidden in the trees. They're armed with assault rifles, Marcus," she explained rapidly.
"Oh my God! I'll contact the senior Officer on site; do what you can," Marcus said, before he hung up on his adopted daughter.
Hit Girl watched the men in the trees, carefully, periodically checking on the cops. She saw the senior police officer pause to listen to his radio and then his eyes went wide.
"Fall back!" he shouted. "It's a trap!"
2:09 A.M.
The Battle of Central Park began.
The first line of watchdogs burst forward after the retreating cops. Hit Girl turned to the men in the trees and she noticed that they had started to move forward. Some raised their rifles.
"Shadow, open fire," she directed, calmly.
Hit Girl started firing single aimed shots, towards the watchdogs armed with assault rifles. Shadow did the same, dropping them one by one. After four had been dropped, the rest dived for cover, returning fire, but only in the general direction of Hit Girl and Shadow.
"Shadow, we need to keep their attention on us," Hit Girl directed.
"Ooh, I just love being a target," Shadow replied, coolly.
Shadow showed herself slightly and she flashed the flashlight on her P90, attracting a hail of bullets in response.
"That was fun," Shadow commented, sarcastically, still firing on the watchdogs.
Every now and then, they would hear a scream as a watchdog went down, permanently.
..._...
Some of the Police officers had taken up refuge behind a concrete parapet while others opened fire on the watchdogs with assault rifles.
The watchdogs were now caught in a crossfire between Hit Girl with Shadow and the NYPD. Other officers were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the first line of watchdogs and having some success, especially when they were able to disarm one and turn the appropriated weapon against its former owner.
Hit Girl was sure that Dave was enjoying a nice peaceful night, unlike them.
2:21 A.M.
Damn!
D'Amico had sent reinforcements. Shadow and Hit Girl had to be careful as they had limited ammunition with them, so they both kept to short bursts. Thankfully, though, the reinforcements were not heavily armed and only numbered about fourteen. Hit Girl's plan to keep the guns pointed at them appeared to be working, but it was getting a bit annoying and fast.
Finally, the last man, armed with an assault rifle, went down hard with a scream.
2:29 A.M.
The final ten or so, watchdogs were now fighting hand-to-hand with us and the Police Officers.
Some of the police officers had realised that Hit Girl and Shadow were there, and they seemed glad of their assistance. At one stage, Hit Girl was fighting side-by-side with an NYPD sergeant, who shook her hand when they had defeated the pair of watchdogs who they had been fighting. Hit Girl waded in with the single Katana, which she was carrying, while Shadow used her bō-staff to devastating effect.
Shadow actually received cheers, from the massed police officers, who approved of both her movements and her slaughtering of watchdogs.
2:38 A.M.
It was all over, and that section of Central park now looked like a zombie movie set.
There were dead bodies everywhere; several with severed limbs. There were also two dead police officers and several wounded, some seriously. What concerned Hit Girl, was that the Watchdogs had appeared to sacrifice themselves. Was that sick cunt trying to run them down? They received a lot of thanks from the police officers. Without Hit Girl and her Shadow, they might all be dead as it was Hit Girl who had correctly identified that it was a trap before the trap could be sprung.
Shadow and Hit Girl were both exhausted, but pleased with the results.
The following takes place between 3:00 A.M. and 4:00 A.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
3:45 A.M.
They finally stumbled into the Safehouse and collapsed onto the mat, completely exhausted.
And that was that.
The following takes place between 7:00 A.M. and 8:00 A.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
7:35 A.M.
Shadow could hear banging . . . a lot of banging.
She opened her eyes and she sat up slowly; her head was pounding.
The banging!
It was the door.
Reluctantly, she got up and staggered over to the door, heaving it open.
"Wow, now that is one hot sight for the morning," Joshua admitted. "Gets the blood flowing, I can tell you."
"Oh, it's you. Come in."
Joshua followed Chloe, or rather Shadow, into the Safehouse.
Although he could not see her face, she looked exhausted by the way she walked. On the mat was Hit Girl, lying on her back, fast asleep and Joshua could not resist checking her out; she looked very hot too. The suit accentuated all of her gentle curves, especially her hips and . . . get your mind out of the gutter, Josh!
"Have you two just got back from something?"
"Hours ago, yes; we must have just collapsed when we got back," Chloe explained, sitting down and pulling off her mask.
"That was you two, in Central Park?" Joshua asked rhetorically, knowing the answer.
"Yeah, it was," Chloe replied. "Now shut up and help me get outta this combat suit."
"Wow! Helping you get undressed; never thought you'd ever ask," Joshua quipped.
"I can ease those feelings with a swift kick in the balls, if you wish," Chloe growled.
"That's okay, thanks," the boy replied, helping Chloe pull off her gauntlets and boots.
Hit Girl started to stir, and she looked up.
"Oh, lover boy's back."
Mindy appeared as she pulled off her mask.
"Sleeping in this thing, is not a good idea," Mindy stated simply.
"Tell me about it," Chloe groaned.
"Your 'man slave' helping you get undressed? Just don't let him go too far," Mindy quipped.
"Don't worry Mindy, he goes 'too far', he'll damn well know about it," Chloe replied, glaring up at Joshua.
The following takes place between 8:00 A.M. and 9:00 A.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
8:22 A.M.
Both girls were now out of their combat suits.
They had showered and dressed. Which was a shame, Joshua thought, that last bit at least. Damn, where do those thoughts keep coming from? Mindy and Chloe explained what had happened earlier that morning, over breakfast. It actually sounded quite cool, he thought. He had read about some of the attack in the early morning papers and he had seen reports on the news.
"You guys really did well, from what I heard," he commented.
"Thanks kid," Mindy replied with a smile.
The following takes place between 9:00 A.M. and 10:00 A.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
9:03 A.M.
Joshua had gone back to the other Safehouse, leaving the two tired girls in peace.
It was actually good of him to come over to check on them; spoke something of his character, Mindy thought. He seemed genuinely concerned about the both of them, well, mainly Chloe of course. She thought that Chloe actually enjoyed having the boy help her to get undressed. Mindy decided that she was going yo have to keep an eye on those two. It had been a long morning, but fairly successful considering the alternatives.
Now, though, they had work to do and the downfall of the next D'Amico to plan.
The following takes place between 10:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
10:32 A.M.
Mindy had just put the cell down, after speaking with Dave.
She was really pissed to hear about Murphy and Fellowes; that really was fucking low.
But with D'Amico, anything was fucking possible.
The following takes place between 11:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M.
D'Amico Penthouse, New York City
11:02 A.M.
Ralph D'Amico had just got up and he had demanded to know what had been happening while he had slept.
"Let's start with Chicago, shall we?" D'Amico suggested, so calmly, it was actually frightening.
"Ah! Well, the two cops escaped . . . with the help of Kick-Ass," Rico explained, very carefully and from a suitable distance away.
"Did we lose any men?" D'Amico enquired. "I do hope not."
"One or two, Boss."
D'Amico indicated that Rico should elaborate.
"Maybe eight, Boss."
"'Maybe eight, Boss'," D'Amico mimicked, causing Rico to go pale.
"We haven't been able to find the two cops, nor their families," Rico muttered, watching D'Amico start to move past simmering and onto boiling point.
"Okay, you idiots have fucked up Chicago," D'Amico summed up, rubbing his temples and composing himself. "Now, you couldn't have fucked up New York, could you? That plan was so simple, even my nephew could have carried it out."
Rico did not dare speak.
"Who did you put in charge of the Central Park operation?"
"Dmitry, Boss," Rico replied, breathing a sigh of relief.
"I want to see him; he can make the report, himself."
"By your command!"
The following takes place between 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
12:32 P.M.
Mindy took a minute or two, to ponder how good old Uncle Ralph was feeling that morning.
He must be thoroughly pissed by that point in time. He should have received a, not so good, report from Chicago, concerning the failed abductions/murders. Not to mention a report concerning the intervention that morning, in Central Park. Mindy thought that right that minute, she would have given almost anything to see D'Amico's face right then; his minions would have been shitting themselves.
Those thoughts actually cheered Mindy up, quite a bit.
The following takes place between 2:00 P.M. and 3:00 P.M.
D'Amico Penthouse, New York City
2:15 P.M.
Dmitry had just given his report on the Central Park dèbacle.
They were just cleaning up the mess, right at that moment.
"Rico!"
Oh, shit!
"Yes, Boss!"
"Why was I not made aware of the presence of Hit Girl and that other slut, in New York?" D'Amico enquired, calmly.
"This morning was the first time that they made themselves known, Boss."
"So, even split up, Fusion is still capable of fucking up my operations!" D'Amico roared.
"Yes, Boss."
"Now, let's make it clear to everybody, how I feel, right now."
"By your command!"
The following takes place between 3:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M.
Safehouse A, New York City
3:05 P.M.
He must have fucked up somewhere and they'd followed him; it could not have been a coincidence.
The boy was more scared then, than he was when Hit Girl had been about to kill him.
Safehouse C, New York City
3:07 P.M.
The cell rang.
"Josh? Is that you?" Chloe asked, checking the incoming number.
"Yes."
It was almost a whisper, and did he sound frightened?
"Mindy, get over here now. I think Josh is in trouble," she called and Mindy ran over as Chloe put the cell on speaker and placed it on the table.
"Joshua, can you hear me," Mindy asked.
"Yes. They're here. D'Amico's men. At the Safehouse. I'm going to die."
"No, you're not, Joshua. You think you're gonna die, you're gonna die. Now, say to me: 'I'm not gonna die'," Mindy said.
There was no sound from Joshua.
"Joshua, say it!" Mindy yelled.
"I am not going to die," Josh mumbled.
"Say it, again," Mindy ordered.
"I am not going to die," Josh said, sounding a bit more sure of himself.
While Mindy was speaking with the boy, they were both stripping off their clothes and suiting up.
"Now, Joshua, are the men still outside?"
A pause.
"Yes, I can see them outside the main door, downstairs," Josh replied, sounding a little calmer.
"Right, then. Go into my old bedroom; the one that you use now. Close and bolt the door; it's armoured. Take weapons and your body armour. We'll be there soon, and we'll get you out, I promise," Mindy finished as she pulled on her mask.
3:18 P.M.
Joshua did exactly as Mindy told me.
He was now hiding in a corner of the bedroom with the door firmly bolted shut.
He had always wondered why the door had such large bolts on it.
The following takes place between 4:00 P.M. and 5:00 P.M.
Safehouse A, New York City
4:15 P.M.
Almost an hour had passed since he had last heard from Mindy or Chloe.
Ten minutes previously, he had heard banging on the main apartment door, followed by shouting.
"Hey, you little bastard, we're here to kill ya!"
A couple of minutes previously, the main door had been smashed open. Joshua had started to shake just then, very badly.
Where the fuck were those two bitches?
The men had been assaulting the bedroom door for the past minute or so. They had even used a shotgun.
Joshua sat there, cradling a Glock 17 and extra magazines in his lap.
4:21 P.M.
There was an almighty bang, and he heard glass shattering.
Some of the men were shouting and he could hear gunfire, yells, and screams. Damn, he could not stop crying; God, he was scared. There were more screams, yells, and thuds. Joshua could smell smoke; something was burning. He looked at the bed where all of his gear was packed, ready to go, in his pack.
If only he could get out of there in one piece.
4:31 P.M.
Smoke was coming around the edges of the door, and Joshua was staring to choke.
Suddenly, the ceiling above him collapsed and he saw that a door was hanging open. He stared up into the daylight.
"You coming or what?" Shadow asked.
"No; he looks too comfortable," Hit Girl said with a smirk.
Joshua threw up his pack which Hit Girl caught and then passed to Shadow. The boy quickly jumped onto the bed and he climbed out, through the hole.
4:38 P.M.
"The men?" he asked.
"Dead," Hit Girl replied, looking down into the hole. "So much for Safehouse A."
"I'm sorry, I really am," Joshua tried.
"Safehouse A did its job; it kept you safe. Now let's go, before the authorities turn up."
The following takes place between 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
5:55 P.M.
They took an insanely long route home, just in case.
Shadow stayed in an alley, not far from the smoking remains of Safehouse A, while Hit Girl took Josh back to Safehouse C. Then she went back for Shadow, who was getting very bored by the time Hit Girl had returned for her. The longer route home was to ensure that nobody had followed them.
Mindy decided that she was running out of Safehouses.
The following takes place between 6:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
6:20 P.M.
"Chloe, I am getting a little sick and tired of him apologising; sort him out, before I do," Mindy growled, walking over to the kitchen.
"Josh, it wasn't your fault. Well, it may have been; but that doesn't matter. All that matters, is that you are alive, okay?" Chloe said.
Josh nodded, slowly. All he had done since they had returned to the Safehouse, was apologise for losing Mindy's other Safehouse. He was really shaken up, so most of the reaction had just been shock. Chloe had helped him to get cleaned up, from all the smoke, but he had just sat on the couch, staring into nothing. Chloe had ended up sitting next to him and letting him cuddle into her. Mindy appeared to be enjoy it and she kept smirking when she walked past which just made Chloe blush. The bitch was doing it on purpose. Chloe finally persuaded Joshua to go for a shower as he stank of smoke. Going after those D'Amico goons had felt good, especially as they knew that we were there to save Joshua's life. The next catch was getting Mindy to rest. She was restless, probably all the caffeine combined with the adrenalin.
Mindy had been a little nuts when she had fought the men at the Safehouse.
The following takes place between 7:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
7:33 P.M.
Chloe made the call while Mindy was in the shower.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Dave."
"Chloe! How ya doing, kid?"
"Okay, I guess . . . just a bit tired," Chloe replied.
"What's wrong, Chloe, and don't lie to me?"
"I'm worried about . . . you know who. She's exhausted, but she refuses to admit it and I'm just worried about her," Chloe admitted.
"Oh, I know exactly what you mean," Dave replied. "Admitting she's exhausted, would be admitting failure, and Hit Girl does not admit failure, not readily at least. Mindy's like the fucking Energizer Bunny, sometimes; hope you can keep up kid, 'cause it's gonna be a wild ride. But seriously, let me know if she tries anything stupid, 'cause she might. Exhaustion has almost killed her before; exert yourself and take charge if necessary - it won't be easy."
"Thanks, Dave," Chloe said, feeling a little better. "Please don't tell Mindy I called you."
"Our secret," Dave promised before the call was dropped.
"Who was that on the phone?" Mindy asked, coming out of the bathroom and drying her hair.
"Abby – nothing special."
The following takes place between 8:00 P.M. and 9:00 P.M.
D'Amico Penthouse, New York City
8:07 P.M.
"Not quite the expected result, but still a result," D'Amico commented.
"Nobody survived, Boss, and we are certain that the boy died in the fire," Rico reported.
"Good, very good. Make sure the man who provided that information is rewarded," D'Amico ordered.
"By your command!"
The following takes place between 9:00 P.M. and 10:00 P.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
9:09 P.M.
"Marcus calm down; everything is fine," Mindy insisted.
"I found out about the Safehouse and I feared the worst," Marcus explained.
"D'Amico went after Joshua. How he found out, I don't know," Mindy replied. "Doesn't matter; the Safehouse did its job and Joshua is safe."
"I'm glad; I really am," Marcus said. "Stay safe, kids."
Author's Note: For those in Europe, who don't know about the 'Energizer Bunny', it's the same as the 'Duracell Bunny'.
You are advised to read Chapter 14: Sleep of The Vigilante - Day 5 of Feral next . . .
Updated: January 2018