Verona

13th January 1997

Cesar slouched against the phone booth, listening to the words of Wu Zi Mu.

"Man, I already told you that we need them in at least two weeks, we wanna get everything done as fast as we can."

He stood intently this time, rolling his eyes and breathing a short peeved breath.

"All right, I'll tell him."

"So?" Carl asked.

"Wu says he isn't getting any M16's until next month, as for nine mills...well we can go now for them."

"He realises it takes two hours to get there by car, right?"

"You know him Carl, he'll expect you to be there by plane."

Carl scraped his right foot across some sand. "We can go, but I've got my money in other places at the moment."

"What in?"

"Gang stuff."

"What type of gang stuff?" Cesar pressured him, "I need some figures, or some indication of how much you have."

He didn't specify, detracting the subject, "I have about ten grand left."

"Ten grand? What the fuck have you been spending it on esé?"

"800 large don't last you forever man."

"It should last longer than five years if you're 'investing' cholo!"

"I have no priorities unlike you Cesar, I thought about Kendl and Penny as soon as Sweet thought of this crazy idea. I can blow my money on clothes and cars if I want."

The Hispanic man looked at Carl, his head lowered slightly before being bright back up.

"Look, I'm sorry Carl but you gotta be better with that green, who knows what the future will bring. You're still young and you've got your family and Denise."

"Not young enough..." Carl hung on those words.

Sweet pulled up just on time, his battered sedan sounded out a honk, "Yo! Are we leaving or what?"

The two men got in the car, Carl sat on the back seat, pondering on his future.

Cesar gestured to the interstate, "We're going to San Fierro Seany Boy!"

"What for?"

"Woozie got some nines and some type of SMG."

"If you want to. Carl?"

Carl was too busy looking in a shop window. "Yeah?"

"San Fierro okay big boss?"

He laughed, "Sure. Be good to see that old bastard."

As the time passed, Carl looked at Mount Chilliad reflecting over his window. He could see a bright green hang-glider reach the clouds before dipping quickly, rising at the right moment to eclipse the sun. A banner hung nearby; '14th Annual Chilliad Challenge.' Carl competed once but lost at the last minute due to another couple of cyclists colliding commencing in his own crippling. It had been raining that year, it seemed so much better on this day, the event it claimed to be.

"You day-dreaming back there homie?" Cesar had called.

Carl suddenly looked away from the hand-glider. "Sorta."

"It's okay, soon be at Easter Basin and then we can meet him."

Sweet chipped in, "Yeah and the rest of the Mountain Cloud Boys. You packing?"

Cesar pulled out a glock and Carl took out a small pistol adding, "We won't need 'em Sweet."

"Probably, but you gotta wonder sometimes with these fools, them sneaky Chinese motherfuckers."

"Dude, they from Hong Kong I think."

"Ain't that the same? But whatever man, they'd still slit your throat if you give 'em a funny look."

Cesar pointed out the Basin and they cruised to the airport parking garages. "Since when were these under new construction? I was only here a couple of days ago."

Sweet cursed, then said, "I don't see no maintenance trucks."

"They're letting those cars through man, go for it." Cesar pointed again, rapidly.

"A'ight."

A couple of men in luminous vests stopped the car. "Uh, 'sir's'," the man used the term loosely, "you have to turn around. See this area is closed off."

"I didn't see you stopping those other cars." Sweet snapped.

"Where exactly are you headed?"

"None of your damn business, let us through."

"Can't do that I'm afraid sir."

"What do you mean?"

"Er, I mean you have to go to the basement level, the other floors are full."

"Fine."

Sweet took a right and curved closer into the bottom parking garage.

Carl was wary, "Sweet, you see his tattoos? He was no worker."

"Who knows man, he might be living clean now? Unlike us. I just want to get this over with."

The Greenwood stopped in a close space, only a few cars perpetuating the area. "See?" Sweet said. "We here." Carl rang Woozie.

Ten minutes later, a black Sentinel arrived, parked opposite and flashed its headlights, confirming Woozie was here and the deal was on. He staggered out to be aided by a henchman from one of the back seats.

"I'm fine! Honestly!" He was still smiling and the three Los Santos natives made their own way towards him. Carl spoke first as the driver stood near him. Woozie's back up sat on the car.

"Carl Johnson. Such a time since I've heard your voice with such vigour, such need and desperation," he laughed, "How have you been my boy?"

"Well, obviously you know what I'm here for."

"The handguns and the uzi."

"Well, yeah. But I wanted to talk too."

"Go right ahead, I'm all ears." He stood with his cane, Carl looked at the jet black suit and tie, a red shirt and polished shoes. Wu Zi Mu was still taking care of himself but Carl noticed he had got greyer around the temples since they saw last.

"We're planning a hit...on a bank in LS. Gonna be tough, you okay with this?"

"You know I trust your judgement. I've had incompetent people cut into chunks but you've never been one for incompetence have you?"

"No sir, listen, I just want to know if it's cool with you about the guns. I don't want you or your men getting tied to this. If one of us doesn't make it, they'll no doubt look into it."

Woozie sighed, "Carl, you won't get caught because you never do, you're a good soldier and a trustworthy ally. I could never thank you enough for getting my beloved San Fierro back for me."

"I know you appreciate it. I'm just concerned about the empire we built. I just want to retire on the back of it and run the Grove and all of it from the sidelines, same as Sweet wants and same way you have."

He laughed again, "I would hardly call this the 'sidelines.' In all honesty though I only give you the shares to get the fresh air and some feeling of a heartbeat."

Carl turned his head to see his companions holding their hands behind their backs, clutching guns. He also noticed two silver Patriots drive speedily into the car park. "Wu..."

"Yes?"

"Get back to your cars...Everyone get ready!" Woozie's henchmen pulled him back as Carl pulled out his 9mm. He waited for the cars to try and take the shots. Sweet tugged his black t-shirt downwards as if preparing himself, handling his skull cap the same way. Cesar rolled over to the car, waiting just as patiently. Woozie's men pulled AK's from the trunk to the front, aiming down the sights. "Fuck, c'mon..." Carl whispered.

The two Patriots braked in the middle of the path they were on, in between two opposing pillars. The heavily tattooed man showed he was a gang member and stuck a pump action shotgun out of his window.

"Aryans man!" Carl yelled.

As if in slow motion, both sides took pot shots at one another, Carl kept missing the man with the shotgun by inches as tires were popped and the cars were chipped of paintwork and bodywork. Sweet could see the rivals get out of the other side of the vehicles. One Aryan aimed down his sight at the Mountain Cloud Boys, two assault rifle rounds caught their driver, killing him instantly. Wu Zi managed to pinpoint and the ensuing round collided him in the chest with the familiar Desert Eagle blast.

"Wu Zi!" Carl called over the noise. "You go, we got these fucks!"

"What?"

"Shit..." he said to himself. "Running out man." Cesar opened the back door of the Greenwood, pulling two full clips from a chair pocket. "Got your back man," he said."

One of Woozie's henchmen took two others out before he made his way to the drivers seat. Five Aryans took aim at him, Carl shot one in the shin, Sweet hit another in the heart. Cesar put his head up and fired twice towards the downed gangster, taking him out.

"Three left!" As Sweet shouted this, Woozie managed to smash a Patriot windshield as his last partner used an uzi to spray another, "You got him boss," the loyal Cloud member lied to him.

Knowing it was inevitable they would be massacred eventually, the Aryan with the shotgun was covered by his co-worker as he made his way towards a parked Landstalker. It wasn't long before that man's co-worker killed the last Mountain Cloud member in the car park. Carl ran over to Woozie in a rare moment of silence, "Wu, I'm gonna take cover here to protect you."

"Luck is on our side Carl," he said as the hidden Aryan man fired a shot towards him from afar, it struck Wu Zi Mu on the right side of his body, still making him collapse to the concrete with force. Sweet fired his Tech-9 at the opposer, felling the heavily tattooed man.

"Woozie!" Carl dropped his pistol and saw the colour draining from his face, "Carl...ow! Shit this hurts!" Carl took his hoodie off, putting pressure on the wound as he saw the last Aryan run away only to be chased down and kicked in by Sweet and Cesar, executed with the glock.

Cordite lingered in the air for what seemed with hours. A minute had passed before Sweet and Cesar helped Woozie into the back of the Greenwood, he cried out in pain as they placed him down.

"Those damned construction workers, it was them man, it was all them!"

"Carl, me and Cees will try and get rid of their bodies. Stay here." The pair ran towards each body and began piling them into the Patriots.

"Wu...hang on. We'll get you back to Chinatown...we'll get you patched up and...and you'll be fine and this will all be a bad memory. C'mon man, stay with me!" Carl could feel himself shaking with every word.

"Relax," Woozie spoke clearly to him. "It's a flesh wound."

"They might have got a lung...shit, shit, shit..."

Cesar got a canister of petrol from the trunk of the Mountain Cloud's car, happy to see it. They set fire to the Patriots and the Sentinel, including the bodies from each side. Flames erupted as an alarm went off. Sweet and Cesar ran back, the former calling, "Carl, quick, start the engine, we gotta go."

Doing as he was told, Cesar stayed with Woozie with the back, Sweet scanning for other hostiles. Police cars zoomed past them on the street as they made it closer to Chinatown, Sweet was still vigilant as people were running towards what they could see. A small plume of smoke billowing from the airport. Each person in the car kept silent as Woozie passed out, bloodied and exhausted.