Ch2: To Protect a Heiress
Sorry about the week without an update, I was busy wrapping up" Broken Body & Mind" and working on my new project "RUSH". Enough excuses, here is chapter 2
"Mount up boys, the Heiress wants to go shopping!" Bryan yells at the three of us as he motions for Weiss to enter inside of the armored truck. We follow in suit and enter the truck. While Bryan gets into the driver's seat is Weiss riding in the right passenger seat beside him.
I look up at the two other guys sitting next to my right and left. Wonder how long they have worked for the SDC?
"How long have the two of you been working security for the Heiress?" I ask them, their helmets masking their expressions.
The larger one who had a large machine gun in his lap spoke first, "Names Jorge, I've worked for the Schnee Dust Company for nearly 2 years. The squirt next to me is named Corey, he doesn't talk much." Jorge motions towards the armored figure next to him who simply waves and loads 4 shells into what looks to be a shotgun.
"Is all of this protection really necessary?" I ask Jorge, curious if this was in reality all blown out of proportion and unneeded. "She just wants to go shopping, who the hell would want to hurt her?"
"The White Fang would love to grease the Heiress. They know it would really piss off her father, and the media would love reporting on it. That's why we are here. Get used to it, it's your job now." Jorge replied.
We felt the truck shake as Bryan turned the keys in the ignition, the engine roaring to life. Movement followed right after this. Guess we are leaving.
"You guys better not get too comfortable back there, it's only a 15 minute drive to the store the Heiress wants to go to." Bryan yelled back at us from the driver's seat. "So be ready to get out to provide protection. Jorge and Corey, the two of you will stay with the truck while the FNG and I guard Weiss while she purchases whatever it is she wants to buy."
"Um why is the newest person going to protect me, I would rather have Jorge be in there." Weiss whines.
"Heiress trust me, you will want Jorge to be with the truck, he is more experienced and should watch over it." Bryan replies as he continues to drive.
The truck grows silent after Bryan says this. It remains this way for what felt like forever until Jorge finally broke the silence. "Hey new guy, what kind of weapons are you packing, I see the assault rifle in your lap but what the hell is strapped to your back?" Shit, you forgot to tell them about Shadow.
"Oh, it is a bow staff with a blade attached to the end. I have had it for a while." I nervously respond. I knew it would be stupid to bring it, just wait for the tormenting to commence. Who brings a staff to a gun fight?
"Interesting choice for a weapon. You ever kill somebody with it?" Jorge asks, I could tell he was actually curious.
"I'd rather not answer your question, all you need to know is I know how to use it." I try to act sincere in my response.
"I understand. Honestly, I wouldn't tell you much about myself either." Jorge's helmet shifts to looking out the window beside him. "We are nearly there, get ready."
Sure enough, the truck comes to a stop and Corey and Jorge get out of the truck first, their guns locked and loaded. "Corey cover low, I'll watch the roofs." Jorge barks out as I join them outside of the truck. A large sign read: Vale Shopping Center: where you can find all of the latest fashions.
Bryan got out of the driver's seat and walked around to Weiss's side, opening the door for her as she took her time to get out of the truck. I can't believe we are babysitting a spoiled girl, who thinks she is a freakin princess.
"Devin! Get over here, we aren't going to sit in the open. Let's get inside so she can shop." Bryan has slung his sub machine gun over his shoulder as he escorted Weiss into the store. I followed behind them, taking one last look at the truck. Entering the store, I realized everyone in the store was staring at Weiss and our weapons. Great, we stand out way too much, I have a bad feeling about all of this security shit.
"Nobody panic, we are just security services protecting a VIP, you all can return to whatever it is you all were doing." Bryan attempts to settle the situation before people began to panic. Sure enough everybody got back to what they were doing. Wow, that actually worked. Maybe they are used to her coming in a lot.
Weiss immediately makes her way to an aisle full of high end dresses and apparel. Bryan and I follow her, looking around cautiously while remaining silent. "No one has the guts to try to get her while we are in here, it's the parking lot and getting to the truck that I'm worried about." Bryan mutters quietly to me as Weiss makes her way to a dressing room, 3 hangers in her grasp. "You stay here near the door, I'll make sure nobody follows her into the changing rooms." I nod and turn around towards the door.
Time passes by slowly. It probably only was 30 minutes, but it felt like hours. How long does it take to purchase a dress or two?
My mind numbing boredom is broken by a pat on my shoulder. I turn around to see Bryan stroking his beard with a grin on his face. "See, nothing bad happened, just a little bit of babysitting."
"How dare you! Comparing me to a child." A voice yells at Bryan.
The heiress comes up from behind him, two bags in hand, her face blush red. Hey, for once I didn't piss her off.
"I'm sorry Heiress, just wanted to clarify the simplicity of this assignment to the new guy. Stay behind me as we make our way to the truck." He waves his arms, a motion for me to open the door so we could make the short 50 meter walk to the truck. Weiss and Bryan behind me we walk to the truck, Jorge waving in an inviting nature to us.
"Took her long enough." Jokes Jorge as we approach the truck, about 30 meters away.
"GET BACK!" screams a voice I had never heard before. Suddenly the truck burst into an inferno. The blast knocking all of us to the ground. I attempt to push myself to my feet looking to my right to see Bryan shielding Weiss. "Get up, get up Devin!" I turn to my left to see that the voice belonged to Corey. "You goin' to sit there and die, or are you going to help us?" He began shooting towards the rooftops, pumping his shotgun with each shot.
Finally getting to my feet I notice movement on the rooftops and take aim with my assault rifle. I pull the trigger as I make my way to the wreckage. "Devin, grab a hold of Weiss and move her inside. We will cover you!" Screams Bryan as he escorts her to me. Jorge begins to unload on the rooftops, shooting at figures hiding behind cover. Don't mess this up Devin.
"I hope you know what you're doing!" Weiss scolds me as I notice her outfit is torn in different places. I simply nod and put my arm on her shoulder as we sprint towards the closest building.
"Are you okay?" I question her, finally noticing various cuts and bruises on her arms and legs.
"Yes, I'm fine! Just deal with whoever is outside!" Her tone raises as does her temper.
"I'm afraid I can't do that Weiss, Bryan ordered me to stay in here and protect you." I motion for her to hide behind a counter in the department store we were in as I looked out the large window in the front of the store. Corey, Jorge, and Bryan were still engaged with whoever was shooting down at the wrecked truck from the roof. They need to get inside, they are too exposed in the open.
Just as the thought left my mind Bryan reloaded his gun and began to order the other two to follow him. "Follow me into the store, cover each other! We need to regroup and wait for another ride out of here, or the police to show up." They all made their way into the store, sprinting to its large glass door which Jorge lowered his shoulder and broke through.
"Was that really necessary big guy?" Bryan questions Jorge as he takes aim out towards the parking lot.
"No, but it just felt like the cool thing to do." Jorge begins to load another belt of dust infused bullets into his gun. Just as he began to reload, the shooting from outside stopped. What the hell is going on?
"Don't let your guard down, whoever the hell attacked us is still out there!" Bryan looked at all of us, making sure we understood the situation we were in. Corey made his way to the front door, well what was left of it, with his shotgun loaded and aimed out in front of him.
"Guys, I think it's clear, nobody is even out..." His words were cut short by the crackle of a single gunshot, followed by a pink mist emitting from his neck. His body collapsed to the ground, near the entrance to the door, like a ragdoll.
"Contact!" Jorge began to unload into the parking lot as about a dozen figures in white and black armor with a wolf and scratch mark logo begin to fire into the store.
"Weiss lay on the floor behind the counter, STAY LOW!" I yell at her as I take aim and pull the trigger to my gun as its volley of bullets take the helmet off of one of the attackers.
"Cover me I'm going for Corey! There aren't that many of them left!" Jorge was right about the latter as he sprinted towards Corey. Such speed for a big guy.
He grabs Corey by the collar and drags him, quickly, back behind the counter and resumes shooting at the 2 or 3 attackers still left. It didn't take that long for the last few to drop to the ground dead.
Bryan turned around and focused on Corey who was still conscious but gargling on blood and reaching for his neck.
"Don't worry squirt, I got you." Jorge places his hands on the wound and begins to apply pressure as Bryan pulls out a phone.
"We need a ride out of here, our truck got attacked but I think we got them. We have one in critical condition and everybody else is a little banged up." Bryan nods as he talks with whoever is on the other side of the conversation. "Yea yea yea, whatever just send the police or somebody soon, our guy might not make it." He looked down at Corey who was still making a nasty gargling noise.
"Devin, take off his fucking helmet! He needs better access to oxygen." Bryan then bends down next to Weiss and attempts to calm her down as her eyes began to tear up. I reach for Corey's helmet and twist it to the side before removing it. Revealing a face that couldn't be much older than my own. His facial expression was one of agony and pain. His short blonde hair had helmet hair as I threw the helmet aside.
"Don't worry man. You are gonna make it, you hear me?" Jorge begins to apply more pressure to the single wound to Corey's neck.
"Did the shot go straight through his neck?" I question Jorge, wondering how serious the wound was.
"I think so, I can feel the entry and exit wounds with my hands. Devin try to calm him down, his heavy, quick breaths are causing his blood to flow rapidly out of the wound." Jorge motions for me to kneel down next to Corey.
"Hey man don't worry everything is going to be okay" I tell him with false confidence. Anybody who has taken a basic first aid course knows that this wound is fatal.
Suddenly blood begins to start forming near the edge of his mouth and the gargling stops. "He is choking on his own blood! Lift him up off the ground so it can drain, I'm going to continue to apply pressure." Jorge's tone of his voice changed to one of panic as we did so. After a few coughs the gargling resumed.
"Trust me when I say it's better to hear that than nothing at all." Jorge tells me as Corey's eyes begin to roll back.
"Hey guys I'm going to move Weiss into the back, I don't want her to see any more of this." Bryan stands up and leads the Heiress back into a storage room, leaving Jorge, myself, and a dying Corey near the entrance. Great, now we are all alone.
Corey's eyes finally roll back as the gargling stops. "No! No god dammit Corey don't you fucking die! You better not die on me!" Jorge begins to hit Corey's chest with his free hand, attempting to knock the life back into him. Then a deep gasp of air comes from Corey's mouth as he retrains his eyes on us, they were eyes of panic. Why the hell does he look all panicked? Earlier it was a look of pain.
BANG. I turned around to see Jorge grasping at his chest, a katana piercing through his lower abdomen. "What?" Jorge mutters as he grits his teeth. I suddenly realize why Corey had a look of panic on his eyes as someone or something pulls the blade out of Jorge and kicks him so he falls face first onto Corey. Behind him was now a figure brandishing a gun blade, a smooth trench coat and an animalistic looking mask.
"Well, what do we have here?" the voice mutters as I un-holster my bow staff.
Sorry about the wait, was busy with the Destiny Beta and writing an article for it for a website. That along with writing 4 additional chapters for my other Story "RUSH" didn't help either. But expect a follow up chapter soon. Felt I would pull a Monty, Miles and Kerry and leave you all with a cliff hanger.