Chapter 7: Running Shark

April 25, 1981, Rocinha, Rio, Brazil

The helicopter flew over the scorching sun, as Raven and Wolf sat in silence. A slight muffling of Raven's radio, as he adjusted his prosthetic eye. Wolf over looked the Favela, as he was called on his radio.

"Wolf, you there?"

"Yeah, Viper. What's the situation?"

"Just helped Raven calibrate his eye for a new feature. Now, you're entering Rocinha, a very big Favela. A slum, to put it nicely."

"How big we talking here?"

"One of the biggest there is in Brazil. Nowadays, gangs are a big part of this place, so much that some have called PF's to help knock off others for a reward. We did a few jobs here, as you know and we came across this guy, Jack, as in jack of all trades. Not his real name, but they call him that because he'll take any job, others call him 'Land Shark' for his assassination jobs. He's a local, but he definitely doesn't seem like one. We heard he was currently passing 'cargo' through the country, for an unknown buyer as protection. It has be our man. More of our outer ops keep finding these 'deliveries' all over the globe. Not like the drugs, but supplies, weapons, and after what happened with… you know who, you need to find this guy. Raven has a photo but, Shouldn't be too hard, he likes to wander around."

"No problem, I have Raven as my overwatch."

"Right, good luck Wolf."

Wolf looked over to the window as the chopper set itself overhead. The dry arid spun itself as Wolf and Raven dropped down. Wolf adjusted the belt of knives as he set his pistol to his holster. He turned to Raven, who was in an all-black tactical vest, black fingerless gloves and his navy blue cloak, flapping in the wind. Raven nodded to Wolf, and they continued down. The massive crowd of people looked on with awkward stares as they both continued down the Favela, looking for their target.

The dust flew up as they went, Raven fixed the rifle on his back as they walked down the steep road. They over looked the area, looking at the expanding crowd.

"You see him?" Wolf questioned to Raven.

"Hold on." Raven put his hand by him as he clicked a button on his cybernetic eye. At a moment's notice, the eye whirred and zoomed in on the crowd. As Raven surveyed, he stopped at a particular point. "I think that's him." He said, handing the photograph of him. Wolf pulled his binoculars up to look. He glanced back at the photo.

"You sure?"

"Positive. My eyes… eye doesn't lie."

"Right, let's check it out."

They made it to him just as the man was about to walk away. He was as exact as the photo Raven had. He was of an athletic build, small patches of a scruffy beard showing, and slick black hair, shining in the glaring light. Raven gestured to Wolf about the man. The stepped up to the man, who casually talking to his friend, wearing what looked like paramilitary gear. They stepped up to him. The man turned, his face slowly turning into a mess of worry and fear.

"Você é o que eles chamam de… 'tubarão da terra'?" Wolf said calmly to him, a stern look on his face.

The man stays silent. He steps back, his breathing getting worse.

"Jack?" Raven stepped closer.

That was the trigger for him, the man started sprinting, Wolf taking chase. Raven jumped onto a roof to get a look overhead. He pulled the rifle from his back as he tried to keep up with the two runners. Wolf and the man sped across, the man jumping from a box onto a roof. Wolf quickly stepping behind him, the both sprinted across the roofs. Passing people, knocking and smashing shingles and pots as they carried on through the large area. The slid down a tin roof onto a building below. The man leaped down into an open skylight. Wolf, panting, jumped down behind him.

As he jumped down, he heard a click. He looked up to see the man. As if he moved slowly, he saw a glint in his hand. A double barrelled shotgun, sawed down so that the shells were sticking out. Instinctively, Wolf dived out of the way as the man fired, spraying pellets all over the empty room. Wolf took cover behind a wall, pulled out his gun and blindly fired. The man hid behind cover before taking off out the door. Wolf ran out as they reached the limits of the city. They kept sprinting until Wolf knocked him down. They crashed into the ground, but immediately stood up to take stances.

Wolf threw a jab and landed it straight into the man's face. He took back before he struck him, two punches into his stomach. Wolf coughed as he dodged another swing and drew his knife. Their arms clashed as the man blocked again and again, before Wolf slashed his forearm with his knife. He jerked back, and as Wolf went back to strike again. Two red shells stared him in the face.

Just as the man was about to pull the trigger, a shot was heard from the distance. The bullet pierced his hand, sending blood spraying. It splintered the wood handle of the shotgun as it flew out of his hand. He collapsed onto the ground, yelling in pain. Wolf turned to see his partner in the distance, clicking his eye and cocking his rifle. Wolf went down onto the man and pulled his hands behind him as Raven stepped down from the roof to meet them.

LD Interrogation room, the next day

The three sat in the gleaming room. Wolf sat down with the man, who ran his hand over his bloody bandages. Raven rested against the wall instead of being behind his usual glass window. Wolf tapped a cigarettes box and handed it over to the man.

"Você toma Jack?"
"…You got a light?" he replied, in his slight South American accent.

"Oh, so Marathon Man speaks English. Why don't we start from the beginning, maybe a little about yourself might loosen this dead silence" Wolf reached over to light his cigarette.

"Alright, as long you don't break out the tools." He laughed nervously before taking a drag of his smoke. "I was born in Rocinha and grew up with my mother, my father was a UN member, back when the place was beginning to build up. He had his way with her and took off. That mick bastard had as much of an impact on me as he did the city. All I've done in my life is taking care of me and my mother."

"What about those jobs, the assassinations?"

"Rocinha is my home, but it is home to crime as well. With the abysmal economy now, normal jobs won't cut it. Those jobs were mainly gangs bickering. The real jobs are in transporting cargo."

"That's why we wanted to talk to you. But you ran like a madman."

"Well, when you live in a place like that, you got to be light on your feet. I just thought you were sent by the last client, trying to knock me off."

"Why would you think that?"

"This guy was serious. He had his own guys with the cargo and as well as other hired muscle. His men never said much about him, kept calling him "The Commander" like he some sort of king. Hired muscle weren't allowed to even look at the cargo. Not to mention, over the last few weeks, the hired muscle have been picked off. I had to keep low and when you came, I-i panicked. You chased me down and you friend put a nice hole in my hand." He gestured to his bloody bandage

"Better your hand than your head…" Raven said calmly.

"You know anything about him and his dealings?" Wolf questioned.

"No. But, can I ask why you're interested in this man?"

"He's scum of the earth. He wanted me dead and I'm returning the favour, before he can cause any damage with this scheme."

"…Sounds like he's done some wrong to you." He stumbled, his hand and lip trembling.

"What's wrong?" Wolf inquired, noticing these movements. The man ran his hand over his head, beginning to breath heavy. He dropped his cigarette on the cold steel table. "He's…. some sick fuck. I…I didn't see the cargo, but I heard them talking, crying…."

"Wait, what are you talking about? What's he transporting?"

"People. He's smuggling people."

Wolf froze, his eyes widening. Raven picked himself up of the wall and stepped closer to the table. The man sounded as if he was about to burst into tears.

"Do you know where they were going with them?" Raven asked

"No, I only escorted until they were out of the favela. But with the killings, I couldn't say anything about it."

Wolf stood up off his chair and stared the man down. "I swear to you, I'm gonna put that bastard down before anything bad can happen. I'll give you the stay for the night. You wanna stay, you're more than welcome to help me take him out. If you want to leave, you take the first helicopter here back to Brazil."

"I'll help. Anything to put what they have in flames."

Wolf smiled. "Good. Raven, get one the men to show him a room." Wolf walked out the room. His smile quickly faded as he closed the bulkhead. He slammed his hands against the hallway. He yelled as lurched over, his mind clouded. All he could think was "Why? Why does he need people? What is he planning?"

Two days later…

The wind came hard over the waves as Jack and Wolf stood out at the target range. Wolf leaned down and opened a box, showing a collection of weapons. Jack slicked his hair back as he turned to Wolf.

"Hey, chefe, why are we out here? Wind is crazy up here."

"I wanna see you in action again," he pulled out a level action shotgun and tossed it to Jack. "And don't call me boss."

"What's this?"

"Model 1887. Shortened barrel and stock, 12 gauge rounds with a seven shell capacity. When you pulled that double barrel on me, I noticed you fired it one handed, despite how much you sawed off the barrel, you kept is steady despite the kickback. I find that quite impressive."

"Well… you have to keep any gun steady otherwise you look like an idiota who almost blows his legs off."

"Well, think you can handle that?"

Jack grabbed the shells from Wolf's hand and loaded them one by one. He turned and firmly stood in place. Then, one after the one, he fired the gun, catching a few of the targets. Still in his place, he swung the lever back with one hand and fired again until he ran out. He tossed the shotgun back at him.

"How's that, chefs."

"Nice shooting. Not to mention your speed, how fast are you?"

"I do a lot of running in my spare time. I can run 100 metres in about, 22 seconds."

"Pretty decent. Now, I have one more question…"

"What?"

Wolf stepped up to him, a fierce look in his eyes "Are you willing to put your life on the line, even if your face deep in the mud, as you watch your friends spilling his guts out? Even if you're riddled with bullets, are you willing to do what you need to do what you need to do, kill who you need to kill?"

Jack Smirked as he stepped back "…Anything to keep myself alive."

"Alright, welcome aboard." They firmly shook hands. "It will be tough, we want know what's ahead of us, for all we know… it could all come crashing down."

Jack smiled again. "Well, we just deal with that when we come to it."

"Right. I'll see you around… Running Shark."