The following day
Tuesday, May 20th, 2014
[Archer Kill Count: 13]
The following takes place between 8:00 A.M. and 10:00 A.M.
West Ridge
Mindy felt like shit, when she heard about the two police officers. Marty did, too.
But it wasn't completely unexpected.
However, breakfast was a bit subdued that morning, nonetheless.
9:24 A.M.
It arrived.
Eisenhower's body armour.
It was a custom-made combat vest, based on the Special Forces Aerial Insertion Vest. The vest provided Threat Level IIIA ballistics protection, as well as protection against single and double-edged blades. It was dark blue in colour and protected Eisenhower's chest, sides and back. There was also a mask which protected her face, and head. The combat vest had a GPS tracker, so we could keep an eye on where Eisenhower went, if she was off pursuing somebody.
Mindy was excited and so was Eisenhower, once her armour was on. She instantly recognised that she was now her alter ego. Her behaviour was subtly different; she appeared more dangerous. Eisenhower was not the soft, loving Sophia.
Eisenhower was a completely different animal.
The following takes place between 10:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M.
West Ridge
They spent the morning training with Eisenhower and letting her get used to her new combat vest.
She looked really cool with the mask in place. One slight catch was that Eisenhower did not want the mask and vest removed. It took both Dave and Mindy to remove the vest and mask, then Sophia went off to sulk on the couch.
Chloe called, during a break at school, and said that she wanted to congratulate the team on the previous night. She was really impressed and said that the team's actions were all over the newspapers. Apparently, Chloe's Mom thought that the team were really cool; especially Kick-Ass. Chloe thought that was very funny.
"Come on, let's head down to the Safehouse," Dave suggested. "We can grab lunch on the way."
The following takes place between 12:00 P.M. and 2:00 P.M.
The Safehouse
They grabbed food from McDonald's on the way to the Safehouse.
At the Safehouse, Dave and Mindy sat down in the kitchen and they ate their burgers while discussing the activities for that evening. The intention was to head to Marquette Park and patrol that area. It was large and there was plenty of cover, plus there was the possibility that The Archer may turn up. So far, all of the deaths had occurred in or around a park. So far, Marquette Park had not been targeted.
They needed to draw the guy out and stop him, soon.
The following takes place between 2:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M.
The Safehouse
Dave returned from a trip to pick up a package.
It was from The Armourer and was quite large and very heavy. Inside, Dave and Mindy found several large plates, with attachments for hand grips and straps. They were ballistic plates, contained within a composite material, similar to our combat suits. There were two shields per set. Each shield was the same size, approximately ten by twelve inches in size, with bevelled upper corners, but the Type IV shield weighed in at three and a half kilos, while the Type III shield only weighed just over one and a half kilos. We had four of each shield.
The Armourer assured us that the Type III shield would stop a crossbow bolt, easily. He had included the heavier shields, just in case. Anyway, the shields would come in handy when fighting gunmen as it was a lot easier and cheaper to replace the shields than to repair the combat suits. They spent some time practising carrying the shields, to see how they would work in combat. The Type IV was too heavy for Mindy to carry, but Dave managed fine.
The only catch was knowing where and when to use the shields.
The following takes place between 4:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M.
The Safehouse
Dave and Mindy continued training all afternoon.
Until, however, they were interrupted by a call from Marcus. He had heard about the rescue of the two kids. He was extremely impressed by our actions and he made Mindy blush furiously, when he told her that he had never been so proud of anybody than he was of her, right at that moment. When Mindy was finally able to talk again, she told Marcus about the visit from the Commander of 12th District. Marcus explained about Jack knowing Mindy's father and that Jack had worked out who Hit Girl was, on his own.
Jack had come straight out with it, asked Marcus and Marcus' expression had answered Jack's question.
The following takes place between 6:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M.
The Safehouse
The time for training was over.
After a meal, they started gearing up. Sophia got very excited when we brought out her combat vest and mask, but she calmed down once the vest was fitted, along with the mask. Mindy called Murphy and advised him that they would be patrolling Marquette Park.
Murphy said that he would listen out for anything happening there and let us know as soon as he could.
6:41 P.M.
Chloe arrived.
"What are you doing here?" Mindy demanded, angrily.
"I'm coming to help," Chloe replied.
"No, you are not," Mindy replied, strongly.
"I am a member of Fusion and you need my help," Chloe replied indignantly.
"You are a thirteen-year-old girl. You are too young to be out there, at least this week," Mindy replied, knowing the response that she would receive.
"You hypocritical little bitch! How dare you say I'm too young! You've been doing this since you were five for God's sake!" Chloe yelled back.
"That has fuck all to do with this," Mindy retorted.
"Hey!" Dave bellowed, causing both Chloe and Mindy to turn and face him.
"Cut it the fuck out, both of you. Chloe is a member of Fusion, simple as that and she knows the risks, almost as well as we do. We go out as a team," Dave lectured. "You okay with that Mindy?"
"Okay, Chloe, I'm sorry!" Mindy said, smiling.
"Thanks," Chloe replied, and she looked at Eisenhower. "That armour looks cool."
"It does, doesn't it?" Mindy replied, and she started explaining to Chloe the specifications of the armour.
7:21 P.M.
"Guys, got a minute?" Chloe asked.
"Always," Mindy replied.
They sat down with Chloe in the briefing room.
"Go on," Mindy prompted.
"I watched that video, online, last night. I'm really sorry about your Dad, Mindy. That really was a shit way for him to die," Chloe said.
"Tell me about it; I watched the video live," Marty said. "Back then I didn't know about Dave being Kick-Ass and thankfully, I had never met Mindy or Hit Girl."
"You took a hell of a beating, Dave," Chloe said.
"I did, but at least twenty percent of the pain didn't register as I have a few fucked up nerve endings," Dave said, grimacing.
"I have to admit, Hit Girl was seriously scary back then, but she looked really cool at the end of the video," Marty commented.
"That was kinda the plan; I had a bad-ass reputation to uphold," Mindy said, smiling at Chloe. "Those D'Amico thugs; that is why Dave and I do this, people like that don't deserve to live. Anyway, cunt, am I not 'seriously scary' now?"
"To be honest, not so much. I now see you as soft and cuddly Mindy, not the vicious blood-thirsty assassin, Hit Girl," Marty explained.
"Thanks for letting me know more about you guys, it means a lot, knowing that you trust me. It also helps me understand what we do," Chloe said.
The following takes place between 8:00 P.M. and 10:00 P.M.
The Safehouse
Hit Girl attached a slip leash, opened the back of the SUV, and Eisenhower jumped straight in, no hesitation.
Kick-Ass was driving, and Shadow was in the back. Hit Girl climbed in and they headed out towards Marquette Park where they parked up nearby and walked into the park and started a patrol, parallel to Redfield Drive which circled the park.
The complete circle was two and a half miles.
9:20 P.M.
Marquette Park
They had been patrolling for about an hour.
They were also getting a very positive reaction, and many were impressed with Eisenhower. However, the peaceful night was soon ripped apart by a gunshot, followed by a scream. Hit Girl spun around, looking in the direction of the sound, but she could see nothing, so she grabbed her NVGs and scanned again.
"I see four men, running this way. One has a gun," Hit Girl advised the team. "Come on!"
Hit Girl ran in the direction of the men, with Eisenhower beside her. Shadow and Kick-Ass were right behind.
Kick-Ass was calling in the attack to Battle Guy, as they ran.
9:24 P.M.
The four men were in a loose group, the man at the front of the group had the gun and Hit Girl assumed he was the leader.
Fusion closed on the men, who were heading towards the main road, surrounding the park. They intercepted the men just as they rounded a corner and as the first man approached Hit Girl, she stepped out with Eisenhower. The men all skidded to a halt on the wet grass. Eisenhower barked once and the man in front, raised his pistol.
"Move, bitch!" the man ordered.
Hit Girl slipped the leash.
"Schwanz!" she growled.
Eisenhower shot forward and buried her snout into the man's groin.
"Fuck!" The man yelled, dropping the gun and falling to the ground backwards.
"Fuck me!" Shadow exclaimed. "That was fucking cool!"
"Thank you for that observation, Shadow," Kick-Ass said dryly, over the comms.
"Who's next?" Hit Girl asked, ignoring Shadow and Kick-Ass.
The other three men hesitated, before turning and trying to run. But not fast enough, as Kick-Ass and Shadow moved to block their escape.
"Please stay," Hit Girl snarled.
The men froze.
"Eisenhower, drop," Hit Girl ordered, and Eisenhower whined, but she let go of her mouthful, licking her lips in eager anticipation.
"Time for a walk, guys," Kick-Ass snarled.
Hit Girl called in the result to Battle Guy as they walked the men back towards where the attack had begun. The leader was having difficulty walking; shame. They could see the lights of an ambulance flashing a few hundred yards away, so they headed in that direction.
9:38 P.M.
Once they reached the scene of the attack, they found a woman being tended to by paramedics. The woman had been shot in the left shoulder. Two police officers came forward as we approached.
"Evening officers. Four for your care, plus this was their gun," Kick-Ass advised, handing over the pistol.
"Thanks, Kick-Ass," one officer replied, cuffing the first man, while his partner grabbed the next.
A police van appeared quickly to take away all four men and within a few minutes, had driven off again.
"Thanks, Fusion," the first officer, his name tag read 'Hill', said as the ambulance drove off.
"We were glad to be able to. . ."
Hit Girl was cut off in mid-sentence as Hill fell to the ground.
[Archer Kill Count: 14]
The following takes place between 10:00 P.M. and Midnight
Marquette Park
Hit Girl looked down at the officer.
He was dead, with a crossbow bolt embedded in his head. Hit Girl grabbed her NVGs and looked around. The Archer could not have been very far away, and they could tell from which direction the bolt had come.
"There!" Hit Girl yelled, and she pointed to the east.
The Archer had made a mistake; the water would block his escape and force him to turn north or south.
"Battle Guy! We have The Archer in sight," Hit Girl called. "He just killed a Police Officer."
We all pulled shields off our backs. Shadow and Hit Girl carried the lighter Type III shields, while Kick-Ass had the Type IV shield. Kick-Ass and Shadow also put on their NVGs, to allow better vision.
"I have him!" Kick-Ass called.
"Me too!" Shadow added.
The Archer looked to be wearing woodland camouflage gear, making him difficult to see in the dark without NVGs. They could each make out his crossbow and he was feverishly trying to reload. He had not expected to be targeted so easily and so quickly. They ran hard in his direction, closing the gap considerably. Hit Girl skidded to a halt and she snapped off three rounds, causing The Archer to dive to the ground.
Then he came up on one knee and he aimed his crossbow.
10:16 P.M.
The bolt impacted Hit Girl's shield with considerable force, but did not penetrate.
One shot one kill? Not anymore.
Kick-Ass snapped off six rapid shots and they all heard a yell of pain from The Archer, before he ran. Kick-Ass must have hit him in the left arm, as the man made no effort to try and reload the crossbow which he cradled in his right arm. He was running to the north, towards the road. Hit Girl slipped Eisenhower's leash.
"Schwanz!" Hit Girl growled, and Eisenhower shot off into the darkness.
"Battle Guy! Track Eisenhower, she's chasing The Archer," Hit Girl advised.
10:21 P.M.
The chase was uneven.
Eisenhower closed on The Archer, who turned his head as he heard the snarling dog approach. The Archer wore a balaclava over his head, hiding his features, so no one had any idea if he was scared, or not. The dog closed and dived as the man turned around, brandishing a knife in his right hand, having slung his crossbow over his back. Eisenhower buried her snout into The Archer's groin, causing a loud scream of pain to be emitted. The Archer stabbed downwards with the knife, but the knife failed to penetrate the combat vest, however, it did cause Eisenhower pain. Despite the pain, Eisenhower never released her hold on the man's 'items'. Fusion caught up and Hit Girl placed the point of a Katana to The Archer's throat.
"Go ahead, make my day," she snarled.
The Archer stopped trying to stab Eisenhower and he dropped the knife.
"Oh, dear. Hit Girl's gone all Dirty Harry," Kick-Ass warned, over the comms.
"So, what; I like Dirty Harry films," Hit Girl growled in response. "Started watching them when I was eight."
"Figures," both Kick-Ass and Shadow said together.
"Battle Guy. The Archer has been taken," Hit Girl called, ignoring Kick-Ass and Shadow.
10:48 P.M.
The Archer was currently being seen to by a reluctant Paramedic and he was surrounded by a dozen, very angry, Police Officers.
The balaclava had been removed and underneath was a very nasty looking individual. He glared at his captors, viciously. They just glared back! None of the police officers challenged us. Many smiled and said thanks, for capturing The Archer.
Things were otherwise sombre, as the body of Officer Hill was being removed from the scene.
11:38 P.M.
The Safehouse
Fusion finally left the scene and they drove back to the Safehouse.
Their feelings were very mixed. The Archer was caught, but another police officer had died. Mindy was putting her weapons away, in the armoury, when she noticed Marty was looking very pensive. He was looking at the Glock 17 pistol that he had pulled out of the belt holster that he now wore every time he was in the Safehouse.
"What's up, Marty?" Mindy asked, once Dave and Chloe had gone upstairs.
"I know I told you that I never wanted to go out again, as a Hero, after the warehouse fight last year, but . . . I know I contribute with intel and comms, but I feel like I need to do more," Marty explained. "I sit safely, while you guys risk your lives each night."
"What you do is crucial to our activities, Marty, and I know you have courage, plenty of it. You want to be trained, fine, but don't rush into it, Marty," Hit Girl advised. "Believe me, you'll know when you're ready."
Updated: January 2018