A white 114 Hatteras Motor yacht floats in front of a jetty, the jetty surrounded by a forest. At the bow of the yacht, three Eastern European-looking men wielding Dragunov sniper rifles and dressed in military fatigues aim at an approaching black third-generation Ford Transit van. Driving down a crude dirt road, the van stops parallel to the yacht. Exiting the driver side door, a 50-something year-old Vietnamese man dressed in a dark green Vietnamese military officer uniform and black dress shoes, and a name tag that says 'Cao', surveys the yacht with steely brownish-green eyes. His face shows slight wrinkles, his neck is slightly short, his chin and cheeks are slightly round, and he is sporting short graying black hair. A CZ-75 pistol in his right hand, he approaches the rear of the van.
His other passenger, a Vietnamese man in his early 20s, sporting a shaved head and slight stubble and dressed in Vietnamese Army fatigues, climbs onto the driver seat and then out the driver side door, walking into cover behind the van. Cao unlocks the back of the van and lets the morning sun shine onto the four occupants inside.
Stepping out first, hands tied behind his back, an Eastern European-looking man with cheap, circular glasses, a bony face, and thin blonde hair tied into a ponytail, dressed in a white t-shirt and dark jeans, and wearing grey shoes, looks toward the yacht and smiles. The Vietnamese man pulls out a combat knife and removes Daniel Vaynshteyn's shackles. Vaynshteyn rubs his now freed wrists and walks toward the jetty, not saying a word to anyone else.
Stepping out next, hands also tied, a south Caucasian looking man with short black hair, the hair on his sides faded, slightly thick eyebrows, and dark chin stubble, dressed in a gray v-neck and black track pants, walking in orange tennis shoes, waits for his bindings to be removed. As the bindings are removed, he nods at Vaynshteyn and then waves at the people onboard the yacht.
Next, an Eastern European-looking man with a pointy chin, bushy black hair, chin stubble, and a mole on his nose, says "Nu shto, Kiril, Daniel (Well what, Kiril, Daniel)? Mi svobodni (We are free)?" Kiril smiles at Aydar and says "Mi svobodni".
As Aydar relishes in his release, the three Hotel Moscow men approach the jetty, awaiting their journey back to Roanapur. A Laotian man in his late 30s climbs out of the van, sporting bushy black hair, a green t-shirt, and grey faded jeans, walking in brown sneakers. The Vietnamese soldier removes the Laotian man's bindings and walks toward the driver seat. The Laotian man heaves a deep sigh and says in Vietnamese "Chung cuộc (Finally)." He rubs his wrists and turns toward the yacht. Smiling, he says in a Vietnamese accent "Hey Daniel. We are going on a yacht?"
The three Hotel Moscow henchmen ignore the Laotian man as the Vietnamese soldier walks to the back of the van, holding an AKM. As the Laotian turns around to face Cao and the Vietnamese soldier, Cao says in Vietnamese "You are not a part of this arrangement." A sinking feeling overcomes the Laotian man as the Vietnamese soldier raises his AKM at the Laotian. "Khoan đã (Wait)!" the Laotian yells as a bullet passes clean through his gut, exits out his back, and lodges into the grass, sending a spray of blood and flesh onto the bright green grass. A second shot passes through his chest as he flinches and stumbles backwards, in shock. Gasping for air, he shakes his head in fear as a final bullet lands in his forehead, killing him instantly.
Cao motions the soldier to the van and turns to the yacht. He waves the yacht away, as if to shoo it, and yells in a Vietnamese accent "We are heading out now!"
"We have our people back. Thank you Windmill. We will not forget it," the speaker on Zappala's black, disposable cell phone sounds off, as Rock smiles smugly to himself. Standing on a rotting jetty, the Lagoon right behind him, clear sunlight beaming over his head, Rock stares at the cell phone, the clock displaying '10:18 A.M.' He is dressed in his black and white plaid dress shirt, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. He turns around and faces the Lagoon, Marty and Revy standing on the nearby portside. Marty is dressed in Rock's 'Bad Motherfucker' t-shirt, jeans, and brown sneakers. Revy is dressed in her red and black striped tracksuit top and bottom and grayish green combat boots. Both of them are enjoying a smoke break, Revy's cigarette half done, Marty's still fresh.
"I got a phone call saying that the Russians were released, and that they won't forget what Windmill did for them," Rock says, satisfied with himself. Marty pumps his left fist and says "Beautiful. Fucking beautiful. You put a tear in the eye of this weary, sleep-deprived capobastone." Rock extends his arms out and says "It definitely is. I'm calling the general now."
Turning his attention back to Zappala's cell phone, Rock hurriedly and eagerly scrolls down the address book. Reaching Hiếu Văn Phạm's number, Rock dials. After a short pause, Rock says "Outside line. I am waiting." Hanging up the phone, Rock turns back to the Lagoon and asks "Revy, you sure that the place is perfect?" Revy walks toward the railing and leans on it, saying "Ask Tuyết if you want to know the details, it was her idea. But yeah, Tân Hịêp is like ten miles away from Rạch Giá and the recycling workshop. Place is outside the town itself, no civilians to worry about. I think she called it an abandoned hotel with a restaurant and laundry shop attached. A few floors, all stairs."
"Good. It will do," Rock replies, snapping his fingers in his enthusiasm. "So Marty, our pay was wired already?" Revy asks, tilting her head to Marty. Marty sighs and replies "Kinda hard to do any kind of wiring on a boat. Look, when this is done, I will wire it right in front of you and Dutch and everyone. You gotta give me some trust here." Interrupting, Rock says "Don't worry Revy. I believe our esteemed client is in no position to screw us over even if he wanted." Still looking at Revy, Marty points toward Rock, glances to make sure he was actually pointing at Rock, turns back to Revy, and says "See, couldn't have said it better myself."
After a short pause, Revy, scratching her neck, asks Marty "So…does Ngoc know that Marie may have put her boyfriend on dialysis?" Marty immediately sticks his left index finger upward, almost to cut Revy off, and says "No, and I really…REALLY…like it if you don't mention that again for the next 24 hours." Waving him off, Revy walks toward the front of the Lagoon, soaking in the bright sunlight, letting a gentle breeze sway the tips of her hair. She leans over the railing, resting her arms on top of the cold steel. Ash breaks off the tip of her cigarette, sprinkling onto the bluish-green water.
Zappala's phone rings. Rock waves the phone in the air and yells "I'm taking the call!" Pressing a button and then putting the phone to his ear, Rock says "We got confirmations that the Russians have been released. I assume you have the money. Yes? Good, good." He pauses, swallows saliva, and bluffs "Now, due to circumstances concerning the latest police chatter we are picking up, I must insist on a slight deviation of the hand off location. Yes? No, now that makes me nervous. Maybe I should put two bullets in Trung's skull and see if the sharks have an appetite. Yes? Good, now that I simplified things for you, perhaps we can proceed. Kiên Giang, the exchange is in Kiên Giang. I will specify exact location later. Await my call."
Rock quickly ends the call, checks to see that the call has ended, looks up to Marty, and says "I will stake my life that Hiếu Văn Phạm is sending his uniformed men to the recycling facility. That should give us a window. We take the van that Thinh left us and go straight to the abandoned hotel…perfect…this will actually work. Yes…yes…wow…go wake everyone up, tell them it's time."
Marty nods and says "This works out and you all are getting a little executive bonus…just some added motivation." He turns to the door that leads to the interior of the Lagoon, pulls it open, and disappears into the ship. Revy, meanwhile, steps back to the portside of the Lagoon. She says "Nice line of bullshit. You got all that hostage talk from the cheap rental of the month?"
Extending his arms out, Rock says "You can't argue with the results." Revy knocks ash off her cigarette and says "Money talks and bullshit walks on thin ice. I'll vouch for the results when we actually get some." Slightly annoyed, Rock says "Revy, let me enjoy myself. Trust me here, this will work. I don't need to see the turn card to know I won." Revy lets out a forced laugh and says "It's the stuff beyond you that I have to trust…that's what's keeping me up."
Looking through thermal goggles, a 50-something year-old Vietnamese man dressed in a dark green Vietnamese military officer uniform and black dress shoes, and a name tag that says 'Cao', stares through a Generation 0 infrared handheld camera. The man, Colonel Vinh Thị Cao, aims the lens at a slightly washed out, gray colored, four floor, wooden building designed as a hotel with a laundromat on the first floor next to the front entrance, a Vietnamese restaurant and hall on the front entrance with large windows peering into the restaurant on the second floor, and hotel lodgings on the sides and upper floors of the building. A giant worn sign on the right side of the building says in Vietnamese lettering "Gia Long Cung Điện (Gia Long Palace)." Under the sign is a large, weathered portrait of the first Emperor of Vietnam, Gia Long, sporting his pointy beard and thick moustache, adorned in his Imperial attire, and glaring thoughtfully, almost disappointedly, at the weathered structure before him.
Next to him, Hiếu Văn Phạm dressed in his usual officer attire, asks in Vietnamese "How many?" Vinh Thi Cao puts the infrared camera down and says "Still five." General Phạm asks "Are you sure?" Colonel Cao turns the general and sarcastically says "Actually, I think I saw one of them grow wings and fly around." General Phạm sighs and motions for the camera. Colonel Cao shakes his head and says "The battery just died." The general glares at Cao and asks "What the? Just now?" Cao turns back to the hotel and says "Take the camera. Have fun staring at a black screen."
Growling in annoyance, General Phạm climbs to his feet, the two on a hill overlooking the highway, the town of Tân Hịêp in the nearby distance. Behind him, over thirty Vietnamese soldiers, mostly male, clean shaven, and in their 20s, lay prone against the grass, five green UAZ-452 military transport trucks behind them. The Vietnam People's Ground Forces soldiers all carry either AKMs, SKS-45 carbines, or RPKs. Two soldiers, one male in his in his early 20s, sporting a shaved head and slight stubble, the other female in her early 30s, inspect their Dragunov sniper rifles. They all are wearing dark green and light green camouflage uniforms and holding several pouches attached to a beige belt.
The general turns around to his force of 30 or so, points at a few scattered soldiers, and yells "Với tôi (With me)!" Three male soldiers carrying AKMs, a female soldier carrying an SKS-45, and a male soldier carrying an RPK, all climb to their feet and approach their commander. The general turns to the colonel and says "As we discussed, at my signal, send everyone."
Colonel Cao nods and says "Of course." He tosses the infrared camera to the side, and reaches for his CZ-75 hidden in the grass. As General Phạm and his entourage approach the entrance, a smile creeps onto Colonel Cao's face.
The five Vietnamese soldiers, led by the commanding officer Phạm, approach the sky-blue colored wooden double doors, and enter into a dilapidated, barely lit hotel lobby reception with a worn wooden desk in the far middle flanked by two once intricate wooden staircases leading to a platform above, that then leads to the 2nd floor. The entire floor and both staircases are adorned in red and white rose petal patterned carpets with a blood red color filling in the spaces. The walls have worn, slightly torn portrait-like wallpapers of French priest Pigneau de Behaine on the left and Empress Thừa Thiên on the right. A fallen brass chandelier rests in the middle, surrounded by glass fragments. Urine, garbage, and vomit stains swirl a foul cocktail of odors.
"I do not see any vagrants," the general blurts out, looking slightly unnerved. "Be alert. Only five of them here," the general commands to his rear guard. The five soldiers all slowly follow the general's lead, all of them aiming down their sights at perceived shadows and ambush spots. The general turns around and motions four soldiers to take the left staircase. The three AKM wielding soldiers and the SKS-45 wielding soldier divert to the staircase as the RPK wielding soldier moves in front of the general and proceeds up the staircase, with the general following. The six slowly climb up, listening for any sudden noises.
A glass wine bottle falls off the staircase and cracks on the carpet. "What was that?" the SKS-45 wielding soldier asks, as the four on the left staircase aim at the source of the noise. She looks up as the RPK wielding soldier says "Ignore it. That was me."
The six converge on the platform, and then head up another set of carpeted stairs to the second floor. Turning around, they discover a derelict dining hall full of worn dinner tables, some with dirty table cloth on them. Two doors flank on each side. On the opposite end is a dirty, worn cocktail bar with several shattered glass bottles on the shelves. Two opened doors on both sides of the bar reveal a brightly lit room behind it. The floor itself is laminated beige maple wood, now devoid of its luster. Several partially lit, small, glass, overhead chandeliers provide the dining hall with a little light. The walls are adorned with torn, faded, slightly scratched wall paintings of the landscapes of Saigon Citadel and Gia Long's palace in Hue, casting a discerning gloom on the barely lit dining hall. One of the AKM wielding soldiers checks the door on the near left, finding it locked. He turns around and shakes his head.
The soldiers proceed to check the remaining three doors, all finding them locked. The RPK wielding soldier notices a loud speaker in the far corner but quickly dismisses it. Hiếu Văn Phạm points at the AKM wielding soldiers and assigns one each to the locked side doors closest to the bar, the two soldiers moving into position by the bar, out of sight from those in the opposite room. The remaining AKM wielding soldier, the SKS-45 wielding soldier, and the RPK wielding soldier, all then move behind Hiếu Văn Phạm as the general draws a CZ-75 pistol from a holster. They follow the general into the open doorway on the right.
They step inside to find a manager's office with Rock, dressed as he was earlier, holding his M9 in his right hand, and Dutch, dressed in his dark green flak jacket, white undershirt, and dark green cargo pants and belt buckle attire, holding his Smith & Wesson 629 revolver. Both stand behind Trung Thanh Hoàng, gagged with duct tape, dressed in a dark gray sweater and black track pants, struggling to stay on his feet. Rock pulls Trung up by his sweater collar and presses the barrel of his M9 against the back of Trung's head, as Dutch lifts his revolver at the approaching Vietnamese delegation. Behind Rock, Dutch, and Trung is a dark brown, weathered, leather sofa. An empty bookcase lies on the wall to the right of Rock. On the opposite wall, facing the bookcase, is a wooden door, which the remaining AKM wielding soldier rests against. Opposite Rock, Dutch, and Trung, is a blank wall with a white board and a single red marker lying on a metal shelf attached to the white board. Aiming their guns, the SKS-45 soldier takes the general's right flank while the RPK soldier takes the general's left. The three stand in front of the white board and stare down Trung and his hostage takers. The general suddenly notices a slightly unhinged smirk on Rock's face.
After a tense few seconds, the general says "So you must be Windmill. I thought there were at least four of you. No matter, I came with enough men to handle the other two. So I would advise against doing anything profoundly stupid." Rock turns to Dutch, nods as he presses the barrel of his gun deeper into Trung's skull, as Trung mumbles in apprehension, and says "I specifically told you to bring two briefcases." Rock wraps his left hand around Trung's left shoulder and presses him closer. His pistol still pressing against Trung's head, Rock says "Their absence is making me nervous. Might cause my finger to slip."
The general groans in annoyance "Oh spare me the theatrics. That bound and gagged spineless insect is not worth 20,000 in any currency. Neither are your lives. Now, taking hostages only work if they have any real worth to the party you are trying to extort. In my instance, his death would be only a bothering inconvenience. Coincidentally, so would yours. Now, I would rather have this idiot alive, and so I am giving you an offer. Surrender your weapons, stand trial, and I will make sure you avoid the needle. Otherwise, I will give the signal and my men will shoot you all down like the feral dogs you are."
As the three Vietnamese soldiers anxiously aim their guns at Rock and Dutch, Dutch replies "You took the effort to see us here, in person. Clearly, you want Trung alive more than you let on." General Phạm yawns in disinterest and replies "Sometimes, these operations require a personal touch." Dutch smirks and replies "Oh I very much agree." Returning to Rock, whom he addresses as if he himself was the boss of Windmill and Associates, General Phạm adds "We found the bodies of Mr. Zappala and his associates. I take it the discontinuance of your contract did not sit well. I must admit I will not miss that cocaine-addicted parasite. Felt that I required a shower every time we spoke. Now, while I do appreciate that loose end being tied up, there is still the matter of that grimy little pimp in Ho Chi Minh City. Which comes to the crux of my offer. Testify against Thinh Nguyễn, and I will promise comfortable prison quarters for you and your men. Fine food, alcohol…women can be arranged. You will be considered guests of the nation while we put Thinh Nguyễn in a coffin. Who knows, maybe even a release after ten years? Once you can be deported without a stir being caused, of course."
General Phạm then puts his arms behind his back and paces left to right and back, speaking "By the way, we already secured your little speedboat by Rạch Giá. The only way you will escape here, is under my escort, or in a bag. As far as I see, it's a simple choice. I can assure that Mr. Nguyễn will not live long enough to threaten you or any potential loved ones."
Rock turns to Dutch, who nods wordlessly, and then turns back to General Phạm. Rock pats Trung on the back several times with his free left hand, frowns and nods, shoves him a set forward, and yells at the very top of his lungs "DEAL!" as he blows Trung's brains out.
Blood and tissue sprays all over Rock's face and chest, as Trung's corpse falls to the ground, and as a shotgun round blasts diagonally upward through the door that the AKM wielding soldier was leaning against, punching through the upper part of his chest and neck, partially decapitating him and sending blood, tissue, and fabric into the air.
The soldier falls face forward, dead, as the SKS-45 wielding soldier looks right in terror, as the RPK wielding man pulls the trigger, and as the general's calm demeanor slowly morphs into horror as mutters "W-why?" A bullet from Dutch's revolver strikes the barrel of the RPK as a couple of shots fly harmlessly and barely over Rock's head, followed by another .357 revolver round that clears through both the soldier's chest and the white board, lodging into the wall and sending a spray of blood and clothing flying. As the RPK wielding soldier steps backwards in shock, a third .357 round punches right through his chin and out of his neck, killing him and sending him backwards, his head slamming against the white board, causing it to tip over.
As the female soldier turns around, a bullet from Rock's M9 strikes her left shoulder, causing her to misfire into the ceiling. Dutch fires two more bullets in succession, the first striking her right lung, causing her to twist to the right, the second entering through her left rib and drilling through her bowels. She drops face first and to the right, onto her rifle, yelling pain as she bleeds all over the floor.
The AKM wielding soldier on the door to the left of the manager's office, from Rock's perspective, gets up and prepares to run into the hallway, only for a burst of bullets to fly through the door and pepper the soldier, striking him in the left hand, right forearm, and pelvis. He loses his balance and falls on his right ribs, in shock. The door is then kicked down, as Revy, dressed as she was before, Heckler and Koch MP5A3 in her hands, unloads onto the wounded Vietnamese soldier, finishing him off. She spots the remaining soldier from across the bar and ducks back into cover behind a space between the doorway and the wall, as bullets zip into what seems to be a security room with a few broken TV monitors.
Suddenly, the door diagonally across from the door to the security room is kicked off its rotted hinges, as Marie, dressed as she was yesterday, aims with her right hand a MAC-10 submachine gun at the Vietnamese soldier crouching by the bar, a Colt 1903 Hammerless pistol in her left hand. Behind Marie is a hallway for a set of hotel rooms stretching to the other end of the building. The AKM wielding soldier overhears the door being kicked down and aims his rifle at Marie. As he prepares to open fire, Marie leaps forward and onto a dining table, the rotting table collapsing under her weight. She then rolls as bullets fly over, using the legs of another dining table in front of her for makeshift cover.
Marie quickly unloads nearly her entire magazine in full-auto fire, spraying bullets all over the bar counter, a few bullets flying harmlessly into the manager's office, causing Rock and Dutch to flinch. She hears a man groan in pain, climbs back up, and runs toward the bar, vaulting over it, her eyes glued to her left. She lands on her rear and sees the AKM wielding soldier lying on his back, bleeding from his left ear, aiming his rifle at the dining table that she used for cover. He dares to look left, and is rewarded with the last five bullets in Marie's MAC-10, shredding his head and upper chest, killing him.
Hiếu Văn Phạm drops his CZ-75 and frantically yells "You idiots have all killed yourselves! I have an entire platoon standing outside! Harm one hair on my head and your entire bloodlines will be wiped!" Rock, still engrossed in the game he is playing, still savoring the progress of his final maneuver, smirks, and says "I am sure Colonel Cao will send them exactly where they are needed." General Phạm freezes, stunned, tilts his head slightly, and mutters "W-what?"
Dutch walks toward the wounded female soldier that is now crawling toward the door, previously broken with a shotgun blast. As the door swings inward, revealing Ngoc, dressed in a sleeveless sky-blue corduroy vest, a black tank top under the vest, black and purple striped sweat pants, and light brown tennis shoes. Ngoc steps out and over the nearby corpse, Mossberg 500 in her hands. As she prepares to execute the last of Hiếu Văn Phạm's entourage, Dutch says "I got it. Go check the dining hall." Ngoc says "Alright," and kicks the dead soldier's AKM out of the dying woman's reach, and then moves into the dining hall. Marie yells "Did we get them all?" As Rock aims his M9 at the general, Dutch moves over to the dying soldier and puts a bullet into the back of her head, killing her. Marie responds to the gunshot "I take that as a yes."
Revy enters the manager's office, scans the damage done, and turns to Rock. She flinches at the sight of his face being covered in blood and bits of Trung's brain matter and skull. "What?" Rock asks as Revy stares at him. "Uh, your face?" Revy responds, circling her left index finger around her head for emphasis. Rock nods and says "Oh, yes, that. Does anyone have a napkin?" Glaring at the general, Revy asks "Is it time showtime?" Walking over to the general, he gives Revy a wink and says "Every set piece deserves a soundtrack." While Revy funnels out of the office and into the security room, Rock grabs onto Hiếu Văn Phạm's uniform, pulls his shirt out, and uses it as a makeshift towel, smearing it in blood. General Phạm squirms and recoils in revulsion as Dutch chuckles and says "That ain't sanitary." Revy, meanwhile, approaches a console by the monitors and reaches toward a small black button.
Colonel Cao yells "Nguyễn! You and your men go protect the front door! The rest, take the two entrances. We will flush them out!" Ten Vietnamese soldiers, seven men and three women, all wielding AKMs or SKS-45s, prepare to funnel into the laundromat, as nine Vietnamese soldiers, five men and four women, three of the men and one of the women wielding AKMs and the rest wielding RPKs, run toward a rear outdoor staircase leading to a balcony on the second floor. The remaining force, nine total, six men and three women, wielding a mix of AKMs, SKS-45s, and RPKs, crowd around the front entrance, as the two snipers crawl to a better vantage point on top of the hill.
As soon as the ten Vietnamese soldiers prepare to step into a laundry room, the room with four washing machines, four dryers, and a dimly lit set of stairs opposite the entrance, the loud speakers all over the building blast, at ear-splitting, volumes 'Ratamahatta' by Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura.
One male and one female soldier stumble into the laundry room, caught off guard by the sudden soundtrack. An errant step by the male soldier causes a spider web of tripwire to snap, as eight individual grenades come undone inside the eight machines.
As a third female soldier enters the laundry room, the explosion sends glass, pieces of metal, and shrapnel crisscrossing throughout the room, engulfing the room in smoke and sending the entering female soldier flying backwards, her guts hanging out of her belly, chunks of wood from the house flying with her. Her AKM rifle flying over the heads of her fellow soldiers. She gargles blood as a sharp pain registers in her head, her neck slashed open by shrapnel. Blood flows freely, as the soldier flickers in and out of consciousness, about to die. One of the male soldiers temporarily tends to the dying woman as the other six rush into the laundry room, finding it a mess of debris and broken glass, with two mangled corpses buried under the debris, one of the corpses missing an arm that has been blown to the side, the other without a leg from the lower bit of the thigh down. A couple of fingers tilt side to side on the edge of one of the dryers. The remaining soldier returns to his squad and shakes his head solemnly, as one of the other male soldiers points toward the staircase, the music too loud to communicate verbally.
The seven proceed to run up the stairs, when one of the male soldiers grabs the other by his shirt collar and gestures at his eyes, then at the ground, then simulating an explosion with his right hand. He harshly pats the man on the back as the other soldier nods and moves up the stairs at a slower pace.
"Biboca Garagem Favela. BIBOCA GARAGEM FAVELA! Fubango maloca bocada. FUBANGO MALOCA BOCADA!"
The stairs reach a turning point and then another set of steps. The seven soldiers reach the floor above the laundry room, only to find a spiral wooden staircase with white intricate handrails that have been weathered with age. The seven soldiers then move up the stairs. At the top, mostly hidden from view, Tuyết, dressed in a light green shirt and jeans, her Madsen M50 on the wooden floor next to her, places her right index finger on a tripwire. Hanging across her, hidden behind an alcove in the ceiling, is a cluster of three loosened M26 grenades hanging above the staircase, their safety pins slightly undone and tripwire tying the striker levers together. Tuyết peers down the on the seven and quietly counts their heads, her finger not leaving the proximity of the tripwire.
"PORRA!"
Tuyết pulls down on the wire, snapping it. The three M26 grenades bounce a few steps right in front of the lead soldier, who glares in horror as the striker levers come undone and the three green lemons bounce under his feet and down the stairs like runaway dominos. "Fuck me! Grenades!" the male soldier in front, SKS-45 in hand, yells out, as seven remaining soldiers realize what is happening.
"Um, dois, três, quarto!"
The three grenades detonate under the feet of the rear three soldiers, blowing the stairs off their hinges as limbs, broken guns, blood, guts, and sawdust rain down below, followed by the corpses of three male and one female Vietnamese Ground Forces personnel. The third soldier from the back of what is left of the squad yells in pain as shrapnel pierces his back and neck, the wooden step under his feet crumbling rapidly. His AKM falls out of his hands. As blood runs down his back and as the two soldiers in front run up the crumbling steps, the soldier in the back falls downward and hits his chin against the planks in front of him, before falling to the pit down below. Tuyết rises from her feet, aiming her Madsen M50 down the sights, and fires.
Two bullets hit the soldier in front in the heart and upper chest, causing him to drop his SKS-45, a third bullet hits the soldier in back in his left hand, followed a bullet to his AKM, causing the AKM wielding soldier to crack his trigger finger against the jolt of his gun. As the soldier in front takes his last gasp of sawdust and gun-smoke infused air, sliding backwards against the soldier in the back, almost pushing him off the giant gap that once were stairs, a bullet hits the now dead SKS-45 wielding soldier in the head, as Tuyết's aim rises up. Two bullets punch through the AKM holding soldier's upper chest, follow by a grazing shot against his left cheek, and then a finishing shot through the left side of his temple. The AKM wielding soldier's corpse leans against the handrail and falls through it, as the rotting stairs surrender under the weight of the two corpses and collapses with them. The two bodies strike the ground with a thud, accompanied by what once remained of the stairs. Tuyết aims her Madsen downward and sprays the corpses with bullets from afar, and then sighs and nods to herself.
Nine Vietnamese soldiers, five men and four women, three of the men and one of the women wielding AKMs and the rest wielding RPKs, all run across a hallway flanked by hotel rooms on their right and a blank wall with occasional windows on their left, the floor made of laminated beige maple wood and the walls plastered and painted forest green. At the very end of the hallway, the soldiers could see a wooden door with a few bullet holes in it. As they near the door, one of the men kicks through a tripwire attached to a hotel room door on their right, door 216. Door 216 then detonates, knocking off their feet all but the male RPK wielding soldier in back and the RPK wielding female soldier in front. Shrapnel lodged firmly into chests of one of the female RPK wielding soldiers and one of the male AKM wielding soldiers, the two yell in pain as they bleed out.
Out of nowhere, the door several meters behind them, door 214, is knocked off its hinges as Nicky Ippolito, dressed in a black and red striped tracksuit top and grey sweatpants, armed with a Steyr AUG bullpup assault rifle peeks out of cover and opens fire. As he pulls the trigger, Martin Zappala, dressed as he was before, armed with a Beretta 92, fires from a prone position under Ippolito. As the remaining soldiers, minus the two bleeding soldiers that are now flickering in and out of consciousness, climb up to their feet, the two 'Ndrangheta gangsters raining bullets in their general direction. A 5.56 round from the Steyr passes through the chest of the male RPK soldier closest to the gangsters, ricochets out, and lodges itself into a female soldier's left arm. As the male RPK wielding soldier jolts and gasps, a second shot cuts through his aorta, followed by another through his left lung. He drops his gun and tilts to the left, before crashing headfirst into the wall.
"Zé do caixão, zumbi, e lampião."
One of Marty's shots catches the female AKM wielding soldier in her left leg, followed by another into her thigh, causing her to yell in pain. Ippolito switches his attention to her and an AKM wielding male soldier to her right, gunning them down.
"Zé do caixão, zumbi, e lampião."
The remaining three RPK gunners, two female and one male, and the remaining male AKM rifleman, get their bearings and open fire at the doorway. A bullet barely grazes Ippolito's left knuckle, causing him to fall backwards over his boss. Marty quickly crawls to the back of the room, firing a few parting shots as bullets pass through the walls and over their heads, as Ippolito continues to shoot through the wall at a meticulous pace, just enough to discourage them from coming closer.
"Zé do caixão, zumbi, e lampião."
One lucky shot from Ippolito's Steyr AUG passes through plaster, ricochets, and pierces through one of the female RPK wielding soldier's crotch, causing her to yell in pain and fire haphazardly in Ippolito's general direction.
"ZÉ DO CAIXÃO, ZUMBI, E LAMPIÃO!"
The other soldiers flee toward the door at the end of the hallway and burst through, as Ippolito peers once again around the doorframe, spotting the female RPK wielding soldier panting heavily in pain, resting her back against the wall. He quickly aims down his red dot sights and fires two shots into her upper chest, causing her to drop the RPK, stagger, and fall forward. Meanwhile, at the same time, the remaining two RPK gunners and the AKM wielding man find themselves in a dining hall, a few tables broken, two of their own dead by the bar counter, and the scent of urine, blood, and gunpowder in the air.
From behind the counter, Revy yells with her own soundtrack "HELLO TRENCHTOWN YOU FUCKS!" She leaps onto the bar counter and runs sideways across the bar counter, away from the three soldiers, firing her two Cutlasses.
"RATAMAHA-ATTATATA HELLO! RATAMAHA-ATTATATA HELLO!"
One of the bullets strike the male RPK gunner in the left shoulder, another in the female soldier's RPK's trigger, taking her right index finger with it, while a few sail inaccurately to the right. The female soldier drops her RPK and reaches for a CZ-75 in her side holster, as the other two open fire at Revy. Revy quickly thrusts herself back into cover as a few bullets barely zip over her head, taking a few strands of hair with them. "Fuck, that was dumb luck over there. Well, you two want to fucking do something?!" Revy yells as Ngoc and Marie nod to each other.
"VAMO DETON ESSA PORRA! EH?! PORRA!"
A shot from Ngoc's Mossberg sends the AKM wielding soldier backwards, him standing on his right leg as he falls toward the dining table behind him, crashing through it. Revy and Marie vault over the bar as Revy rejoins the action, Marie aiming her Colt 1903 with one hand. The two each pick a dining table to leap onto as a springboard into the middle of the dining hall. The RPK wielding man bleeding from his left shoulder opens fire on Ngoc, who ducks and falls completely on her back, as bullets fill the bar, one gashing her slightly raised right kneecap, causing her to groan. The RPK wielding man and the fingerless woman holding her CZ-75 in her unharmed left hand turn their attention on Revy and Marie, whom have met at the middle. The two then, nodding at each other without a word, run off in opposite directions, firing at the two closely clustered soldiers while they move.
Three shots pepper the RPK wielding man, one in the left elbow, another in his left thigh, and a third right into his upper chest, cutting through the carotid artery. He loses control of his feet and tumbles diagonally backwards and to the left, landing on his shoulder and beginning to lose consciousness as blood pools out. Two shots strike the female soldier in her gut, causing her to quickly fall to the ground in pain. She turns to have her back face Marie as she keeps her gut off the ground with her elbows, immediately receiving a shot to her left ribs. Groaning in pain, she carefully reaches for a grenade in a pouch attached to her beige belt and pulls it out of the pouch, waiting.
Enjoying a silent moment in the music, Revy yells "Fucker with the machine gun is dying, how's it on your end?!" Marie yawns and yells back "She still breathing!"
"Fucking hey! I was expecting a real shootout! Most of these morons couldn't even get past the first line!" Revy yells, walking toward the AKM wielding soldier's dead corpse, the corpse nestled between a broken dining table. She picks the AKM up and walks toward Marie, as Ngoc yells "We done?!" Revy removes the magazine, sees that it is still mostly full, and says, still staring at the magazine "Probably still a bunch trying their luck through the front door. Desperate stupid fucks planning on collecting some dipshit medal for their backstabbing politician in dress greens. I'm ready to get my fill." She cracks a sadistic smirk and reinserts the magazine into the AKM, as Marie casually walks toward Revy and asks "Should I put her out of her misery, or you just want to watch the life flicker out?"
Revy smirks at Marie and mutters under breath "Another one that likes to play with her food." The last remaining Vietnamese soldier turns onto her back and yells "Tôi vẫn chưa xong (I'm not finished yet)!" She raises an M26 grenade in the air with her left hand, about to throw it, the spoon falling through her grip. Marie immediately turns around and fires a shot from her pistol, striking the female soldier in the left armpit. As the grenade falls out of the soldier's hand, Marie immediately leaps face first away from the grenade, as Revy ducks and tries to turn around.
Shrapnel rips the soldier apart and flies harmlessly over Marie, the latter laying prone on the floor. A shard of shrapnel strikes Revy's AKM in the buttstock, sending wooden splits barely past and around Revy's ear as she flinches. The wooden floor starts to cave in as the music rapidly accelerates its increasing rhythm and volume. Wooden tables start getting sucked into a vortex as a mob of nine Vietnamese soldiers burst through the front door of the ground floor. The mob of nine, six men and three women, all holding a mix of either an AKM, an SKS-45, or an RPK, run several steps inside the abandoned restaurant when they notice wood and bloodied meat raining on and around the shattered chandelier, followed by dining tables.
"HELLO UPTOWN!"
The entirety of the second-floor dining hall rapidly caves in, dragging Revy and Marie into the vortex as Ngoc hurriedly and awkwardly vaults back behind the bar.
"HELLO MIDTOWN!"
Marie flails around the crumbling debris, while Revy, taking a plane of wooden floor along for the ride, aims down at the clustered group of nine soldiers and fires in midair. One bullet strikes a male SKS-45 wielding soldier in his chest, passes through his left lung and out the back, and lodges itself inside a male RPK wielding soldier's aorta, the burning hot shell casing bouncing off Revy's nose, making her flinch. Another bullet strikes a female AKM wielding soldier in her right thigh. Revy could only get a third shot off, the bullet passing barely under the legs of a male AKM wielding soldier, before she and Marie land hard against the wooden floor, Revy landing right behind the shattered chandelier, the plane of wood protecting her from broken glass. The two wounded male soldiers lose their footing and fall down, bleeding out, while the wounded female soldier leans against a SKS-45 wielding male soldier, in shock.
"HELLO DOWNTOWN!"
As the other six process what happened, and as three of the soldiers begin to raise their guns at Revy, and as more dining tables and the corpse of the male Vietnamese soldier shot by Ngoc rains down from above, the ground itself begins to cave in under the weight.
"HELLO TRENCHTOWN!"
The ground floor itself collapses, revealing a supply closet with several overturn metal shelves and a few large rats that called the place their home. The rats quickly scurry as the supply closet is filled with wood, glass, dead meat, Marie, Revy, and seven angry soldiers still able to shoot.
"HELLO!"
Revy and Marie descend on the remaining seven with fury. Revy switches the AKM to full-auto and adds more blood to the current odor cocktail of gunpowder and rat excrement, gunning down two female soldiers and four male soldiers, while Marie grabs a jagged shard of chandelier glass, the shard cutting into her hand as she grasps it, and pounces on the one female soldier left unscathed, violently slashing and stabbing from behind at the soldier's right ear, head, and neck. She completely slashes through her ear horizontally before digging into the right side of her neck, clawing the shard up to stretch the hole and push more blood out. As she works on her target, another female soldier, SKS-45 in her hand, bleeding from her right thigh and her gut, climbs to her knees and prepares to aim at Revy, oblivious to Marie hacking the other soldier apart. Revy quickly adjusts her AKM and pulls the trigger, only to learn that the bullets ran dry.
As the barrel of the SKS-45 aims down on Revy's head, a few bullets rain from above, one of the bullets striking the soldier in her right shoulder. Marie hears the shots, pulls the shard of glass out of the dead soldier's neck, and grabs the barrel of the SKS-45 with her left hand. She yanks the barrel to the right and crosses her right hand over her left, driving the shard into the soldier's right eye. As the soldier screeches, Marie continues to stab at her eye, drives the shard deep in her socket, and pushes her away as the soldier faints from rapid blood loss, collapsing on the debris ridden ground, seconds from death.
Revy and Marie pant heavily and smile at each other, Marie's clothes stained in blood, Revy's clothes peppered in sawdust. Marie tosses the glass shard away, blood from her hand dripping onto the ground, and awkwardly walks over to Revy, carefully stepping around broken wood and corpses. As Revy tosses the AKM to the side, Marie grabs Revy's left hand with her left hand and lifts her to her feet. Revy nods, almost silently saying thanks, and then hears Rock yell from above "You two alright?!"
Revy looks up and sees Rock's blood and brain matter coated head peering through the massive hole in the roof. She asks "Was that you shooting?" Rock extends his arms out and says "Center mass, like you taught me. I think." Revy slightly laughs and yells "You have really, really, shitty aim!"
Back in the manager's office, Hiếu Văn Phạm, his hands behind his head, kneels by the body of Trung, a pale, shocked look on his face. He is surrounded by Rock, Ngoc, and Dutch, the latter three all holding their respective guns. Outside, by the bar, Marie leans down the hole and whistles at the sight, while Revy coolly eyes Tuyết as the latter exits through a doorway, followed by Marty and Nicky. Nicky turns his hands upside down and points them at the hole, confused, as Marty says "Woah, some fucking show I missed." Revy glares at the three and nods her head toward the manager's office, saying "The asshole is inside."
Marty nods and cracks a wry smile, and then takes the lead, skipping through the doorway into the manager's office, stepping over the corpse of the soldier that Marie shot to death with her MAC-10. He waves his arms around, gesturing 'jazz hands', as he high steps into the manager's office, and then pauses in his tracks as he notices Rock's war face. Laughing nervously, he blurts out "Hey Rock, a real man eats his lady friend every day of the month, ey?" As a few snickers crack out, Dutch blankly says "I was looking forward to lunch."
Marty coolly smirks and snickers at Dutch, before turning to face the general with a highly exaggerated smile on his face, yelling "HEY! Hiếu! Hiếuy boy! It's been so long! A few days! You never called! You never wrote, I mean, you fuckers ain't so third world that you don't got postage!"
General Phạm glares coldly at Marty and says "It seems reports of your death have…" He turns to Rock and continues "...been exaggerated." Marty bursts into laughter and says "Well I'm a very exaggerated motherfucker." Phạm bites his lip, looks down on the floor, and then raises his eyes up to meet with Rock's, the latter enjoying his position of power. The general takes a deep breath and propositions "There has been more lies told between us then we first admitted. I recall you having a keen interest in the Eastern Europeans we held captive…Windmill. Well, I had a Georgian business associate of mine fabricate the call. The Eastern Europeans are still with us."
Marty snaps his fingers and walks back and forth, saying "Ah, so we are talking about the cloak and the dagger now, ey? About foolery, eh? How about you fooling…my people…poisoning MY people against me! Here, let me impart you some fucking advice. Listen here, my backstabbing friend. When you start playing with some Machiavelli, Art of War, spreading dysentery in group shit…you are only as good as…as…fuck what's the word…"
He starts snapping his fingers as if it helps to jog his memory "well…the point is…I suck at these fucking moments!" Everyone but the general starts laughing as the general swallows his saliva and mutters to himself. Calming down, Marty says "Okay, I got it. The point I'm trying to say…make, is that if you think you got all the strings on your fingers, remember that you don't got eyes in the back of your head. See, that's a good one. Now, what do we do with your sorry fucking ass?"
"I still have the Eastern Europeans!" Phạm yells out, playing one more hand. Rock smirks and says "No, you don't." "What? How…Colonel Cao? Where is he?!" the general interjects, confused, angry. Dutch smirks as well and says "Sounds like you don't have a knife-proof back."
Colonel Vinh Thị Cao walks through the doorway opposite the one Marty and company stepped through. He places his hands on his thighs, turns to the general, and slightly bows, smiling in a mocking manner, saying "Awaiting your orders." General Phạm rises like a man possessed and yells "You fucking traitor cunt!" Rock furls his brow and shouts "Now…did I give you permission to stand?!" General Phạm turns to Rock and stares him down, spitting to the side in contempt.
At this point, Revy slowly, almost stealthy, wanders into the manager's office, standing behind Ippolito. She looks in curiosity as to what the fuss is about.
The general grinds his teeth at the sight of Rock's M9, and then turns his attention to Colonel Cao. Puffing his cheeks in restrained anger, he asks in Vietnamese "How much money?" Colonel Cao quickly turns to Marty and, as a show of cooperation, says "He is asking me how much I was bought from you." Marty wipes sawdust off his knees and replies "Enough, my friend. Enough."
"Vinh, you sent our own people to die. Martin, is this the type of person you want to work with?" Hiếu Văn Phạm asks, attempting to find a way out. Vinh Cao counters and says "Your people, not mine. If you bothered to notice, most of the people we brought here were those loyal to you or the ones that I had my doubts on keeping quiet once this operation is over. Being that I am next in line, some house cleaning was in order."
General Phạm's lips curl as he asks "And you think that these snakes will keep their word? You think that a Canadian outsider like Martin wouldn't toss you aside at the earliest convenience, you naïve idiot?! And you! Windmill or whoever your name is! All of you 'independent contractors'! Martin Zappala personally wanted you all dead! Yes, YES! He did! All of you! Two of you at the house after Trung's kidnapping and the other two later! It was my idea but he endorsed it! He called me a genius for it! He said that when this is all over, all of you will be in caskets! I swear this on my eyes!"
Marty laughs, a tinge of nervousness in his laughter, which Dutch notices. Marty shakes his head and says "You're just bullshitting for oxygen, and it ain't working." Colonel Vinh Cao takes a step toward Phạm and says "It's not working, Senior Colonel." Marty nods in agreement for several seconds, before blurting "What?" "What what?" Vinh Cao asks. "What you said just now?" Marty asks, as Revy, Rock, Dutch, Ngoc, and Tuyết stare at the two going back and forth. "Uh, Senior Colonel?" Vinh Cao asks, unsure of what Marty wants. Marty extends his right arm out, indignant, his palm open, and points his arm at Hiếu Văn Phạm and yells "I thought this fuck was a Brigadier General!" Vinh Cao shakes her head and says "Such a rank doesn't exist in the Vietnamese Army. Probably some nonsense he spun to make himself look better." "Motherfucker!" Marty yells out. He turns to Senior Colonel Hiếu Văn Phạm and says "You stab me in the back, you fuck with my people, but this? This shit? This is the worst. I thought I was working with a fucking Patton here. This is like finding out that Santa ain't real!"
"Enough!" Hiếu Văn Phạm yells out. Finding that he has everyone's attention, he hurriedly says "You cannot kill me! I am a serious and very connected officer and politician. If you kill me Hanoi will kill you, all of you, and all of your families! You will be hunted down until the day each and every one of you will die!"
Rock starts pacing back and forth in front of Hiếu Văn Phạm and says "Actually, we don't wish to kill you. Well, okay, maybe not true. At the least, I think my colleague over there wouldn't mind sticking you in a pine box, right?" He nods at Revy, who replies with a bemused smile "Sure, I got a special place in hell that I stuff in all the little shits that fuck with me." Rock turns to Dutch and says "And you, boss?" Dutch shrugs his shoulders and says "Ain't hurting for ammo these days." Rock turns back to Hiếu Văn Phạm and says "See, there. However, as much some of us want to kill you, we are being paid quite handsomely by our client not to do that. Why? The floor is yours, Martin."
Hiếu Văn Phạm turns his attention to Marty, the latter saying "See, this is what I think happened. I think a bunch of People's Liberation Army spooks decided to run buck wild in south Vietnam. Pulled some strings, got a lot of people wasted, made the secret police look like idiots. And you and Cao cornered the assholes here, and went in to neutralize. You, my fuck, got kneecapped during this all, and out of loyalty and duty to his senior commander, Vinh Cao delays sending in the dragnet on the 'Chinese' to get you to the hospital. Hanoi slaps a medal on you, maybe a bullshit fake promotion, and then you retire. You take whatever pension or shit you got, take your bonus and your new medal, and you go to that retirement villa you got lined up in Malaysia, take your entire family with you, and never fucking come back here again. You got that?!"
"And if I refuse?" Hiếu Văn Phạm asks, defiantly, almost steaming with rage. With a fake surprised look, Marty says "Oh. Oh! If you refuse? If you refuse…if you refuse, listen closely now. It's what, almost 4:30 now? January 10th, the eighth was a Thursday so today is Saturday. Usually around this time, according to Vinh Cao here, your wife is picking your younger daughter up from ballet classes. Teenager, now has her hair in a ponytail, goes to the high school across from some big carpet emporium? It's Saturday so I think black pudding is for dinner."
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Hiếu Văn Phạm yells out, as his normally collected façade crumbles once again. Turning his back to the senior colonel, Martin Zappala says "Skip a single detail from what I said, and I'll wipe the Phạms off the face of the map. And believe what I say, I'll get to your family before Hanoi gets to me. Is that a game you want to play?!"
Phạm's face twitches in rage, as he glares wordlessly, the fingers on his right hand splayed, his hand shaking slightly. Marty takes it as a promise of cooperation. Satisfied in the victory, he says "Remember, we got to sell this. WE…got to sell this story, which means you need to get ruffed up a bit. It won't look right otherwise, given that Vinh Cao came inside last. Now, 'Windmill', since this was your idea, and I kinda got some tension here, some sign that you really want to give this 'senior colonel' a piece of 'the Rock', so, I let you have the honors. Kneecap the cocksucker."
Senior colonel Phạm stares at Rock with an enraged look on his face. Rock raises his M9 to Phạm, a bemused look on his face. It unnerves Revy and Dutch, the latter muttering "What the hell happened?" Looking down at Phạm, Rock lowers his pistol and says "It is funny, really. You remind me of someone. The way you talk, your choice of words. Honestly, it's more because of how much this situation we are in right now, me with a pistol in hand, you theoretically on your knees, that reminds me of a job we worked for him. We were hired, well…I specifically was assigned the job of pulling a few unwanted elements out of the city I live in without creating too much of a fuss. Suffice to say, this wasn't the first time I put together a few smoke bombs and some mirrors for a magic show. To tell you the truth…" Rock cracks a wry smile and grips tightly on his M9, as Dutch stares on, growing more concerned.
"To tell you the truth, I created a scheme that achieved the goal of getting the unwanted elements out, but I set it up in such a way that, by incredible luck, most of the people involved came out alive. It was my attempt to show him up, really. To prove it could be done." Rock trails off, almost out of instinct reaching into his left pocket. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes, and then decides to put it back in, saying "I pulled it off. Both of the key individuals came out alive, though one was left wheelchair bound, nothing could have been helped about that. I thought I earned their gratitude. I instead earned a congratulation that I finally fit in my new home, and a few broken ribs in my chest, courtesy of some kind of fake bullet. I…I understand now. We are very much alike." Rock raises the M9 at Phạm as Marty asks with a look of worry "What the hell are you talking about?"
Phạm's left eye twitches. He takes a step forward as he speaks "Alike…you think…we are alike? Who the fuck do you think you are?! I am a commissioned officer, a man of respect! You are some…trash long disposed by society long ago! You are vultures, all of you! Feasting on each other's carrion, you are bottom feeders! You'd rape your own mothers for money! You'd cut each other's throats if it was convenient for you!" Marty darts an incredulous look and interrupts "Hold on, you saying we are out throwing each other to the wolves? You got some fucking balls to say…"
Phạm interrupts "Because you are all scum! Scum, fit to be composted! You peddle poison and murder innocent people! And you, Cao, worst of all, our own people, you sent them to die. You, a show-dog rutting with flea-bitten feral mutts. I protect a nation! You should be all on your knees kissing my ass!" Revy simply spits on the ground in annoyed disinterest, as Rock's left eye twitches, his ears burn red, and his M9 shakes in rage. Dutch notices Rock's change in demeaner, and speaks under his breath "Hell's going on?"
Aiming his pistol at the senior colonel, Rock says "Someone, somewhere on this planet, stole my victory. They stole my thunder. I was going to win on two counts, win big, and win in style, and like a thief in the night, they stole my win away. I…was undermined. You, are not taking that away from me…" Phạm laughs incredulously and shouts "You…win?! You win nothing! You fight for nothing, you live for nothing, you ARE NOTHING! Fifty years from now, my impact will linger, my contributions to this nation will matter! You?! No one knows your name now! And no one ever will! When you die, it will be as if you never existed! Like an insect crushed under my boot!"
His aim shifts from Phạm's left knee to right above his groin. Boiling in rage, Rock steadies his hand, takes several steps forward to close the distance, and says "Blanks, rubber bullets, silver bullets. This one is made of simple lead." Phạm looks on, indignant, refusing to move. Realizing what he is doing, Revy yells "Rock don't be fucking stup…"
BANG*
The bullet lodges itself in the bottom of Phạm's large intestine, right above his penis. It drills deep but fails to penetrate through the back. Blood sprays onto Rock's shoes as he slowly falls backward, grasping onto his wound with both hands, in shock, his knees bending. Marty places both hands on his head in complete shock and boiling anger as Ngoc and Ippolito aim their weapons at Rock. Vinh Cao glares at Rock in confusion while Tuyết cracks a bemused smirk. Revy, caught midsentence, simply blinks, as Dutch hurriedly walks to Rock and grabs his right wrist, yelling "What the fuck are you doing?!"
"You stupid fuck!" Marty yells out as Dutch pulls Rock's arm behind his back and disarms him. Vinh Cao tends to Phạm, the latter in shock, as Rock yells "You want to make this believable?! No one shoots themselves in the gut! He'll live!" "And you ever heard of infections, Emperor Brainlessito?! People die from that shit!" Marty yells out, boiling in rage. Indignant, Rock yells "All the more reason why you, Colonel Cao, should move fast and get us to the van! I'll keep Phạm up while someone could hold Cao 'hostage'!"
"I make the decisions here!" Dutch yells out, taking control of the situation "Ippolito! You carry Phạm! Revy! You pretend to hold Cao hostage! Rock! You stay as far out of my fucking sight for both of our good!"
Exiting the hotel/restaurant through the front, Revy keeps her Cutlass pressed against Cao's neck, the latter with his hands raised as two snipers aim their rifles at Revy and the others. Ippolito carries Pham on his right shoulder as Dutch aims his revolver at Phạm's head. Solid feces seem to poke out of his gut, filling the air around him with a strong, horrible stench. They are then followed by Marty, Marie, Ngoc, Tuyết, and lastly Rock. Vinh Cao yells out in Vietnamese "Mạc! Get the van! Tạ! Radio for an ambulance!" The female sniper drops her rifle and runs back to a van, jumping into the driver seat, while the male sniper reaches for a PRC-77 portable radio. The female driver quickly drives the UAZ-452 van closer to the road as Ippolito lets the senior colonel fall off his shoulder and onto the grass, back first. Cao says "You can stop," and waits for Revy to slowly holster her Cutlass. He then runs to Phạm and presses on his wound, his hands becoming stained in a mix of blood and shit.
As the female sniper runs to assist Cao, Tuyết jumps into the driver seat, with Ippolito taking the front side passenger seat. The rest funnel into the back of the van, the back having two black leather benches on opposite sides. Ngoc takes the spot right behind Tuyết's seat, followed by Rock and then Revy. Marty takes the spot behind Ippolito's seat, followed by Dutch and then Marie. Marie pulls the van doors shut as Tuyết slams on the gas and takes a turn right onto a sparse highway, known as QL-80.
As the group drive southwest bound toward the water, Rock mutters, a content look on his face, looking at the floor "Benny is going to pick us up with the Lagoon, everything else is elementary." "YOU STUPID FUCKING IDIOT FUCK!" Marty yells out, still boiling with rage. Thrashing his hands around, having a conniption, he yells "He fucked me worse than he fucked you! What was your fucking deal with him?! I say shoot him in the knee, you shoot him in the cocksucking knee! Not go off the fucking reservation! I don't give a rat's asshole what happened on some job you did or whatever the fuck! If that twat croaks, I'm out of millions of dollars you Jap retard!"
Rock looks up toward Marty and says almost indifferently "Just because I saw Vinh Cao as the missing link doesn't mean I automatically trusted him. It's hard to die from an open gut if help comes quick enough. This way, even if Vinh Cao wanted to double cross us, he had to focus on Hiếu Văn Phạm's bleeding. Would give us time to escape."
Calming down enough to stop flailing his arms, Marty angrily asks "And how the fuck you know that the bullet won't kill him?! Tell me what medical university you graduated from, dickface! He had turds crawling out of his guts, do you think human beings are fine with turds rubbing on major organs?! Who the fuck told you this was a good idea?!" Rock shrugs his shoulders and turns to Revy, the latter trying not to be noticed. He says "Revy, you said a bullet to the gut takes several hours to kill. You said you knew from experience." Marty and Dutch turn to Revy, Dutch himself repressing a torrent of rage. Revy slightly grimaces and says "Yeah, usually. I don't know, bullet wounds vary. From the shit I been in, I'd say four, maybe five hours is how long it takes to bleed out from that kind of entry. It all depends on the person and shit. For the record, Dutch, I had no idea he was going to pull this shit. This something I went over like a week ago, in a completely unrelated context. Look, don't blame me here."
"See?" Rock motions his right hand at Revy, while staring at Marty. He doesn't notice Dutch practically shaking in anger. Marty himself still furious, he yells "Usually?! Fucking usually?! If that twat bites it I'm going to blame a few certain morons in this car, fucking believe that! And don't even think about asking for the pay wired now! Until senior colonel fuckface stabilizes in the hospital, I'm not wiring you dick! Moron here thinks it's funny to play slots with the lives of people that actually matter!"
Rock cracks a bemused smile and says "Wouldn't be the first time I did that." At his limit Dutch stands up, his head bowed forward as the van roof is too short. He coldly speaks "I gave you a lot of leeway and a lot of rope with this. Everything was fine until your goddamn pride and your ego got in the way!" Marie nudges away from Dutch as Ngoc glares in apprehension. Ippolito turns around to make sure everything is okay, as Marty slightly opens his mouth and nudges away. Revy buries her face in her right hand, shaking her head.
Rock, too absorbed in his victory to take Dutch as seriously as he should, says "I don't see what the problem is. My plan worked fine. Hiếu Văn Phạm will probably be fine." "Probably?" Dutch hovers on that word. His eyebrows twitch. He curls his right hand into a fist and reaches for Rock's chin with his left hand, grabbing it, his entire hand engulfing Rock's face from under his chin to his eyes. Dutch squeezes tightly, almost ready to crush Rock's chin in his giant hand. He yells "Probably?! Motherfucker, you are costing me money!" He slides his left hand down to Rock's neck, pulls his head toward him, and drives his right fist into Rock's nose, breaking it.
Marty quickly turns to Ippolito and asks "Want to put some action on this?" Ippolito replies "I know who you picking so I'm going to need 75 to 1 odds for this." Dutch drives his right fist in Rock's face again, breaking his nose in multiple places. He starts wailing on Rock's cheeks, causing them to swell up, yelling "We were this close to finally putting this to bed, and you had to pull us back into the fire over some fucking end zone celebration?!"
As Dutch continues to wail away on Rock, Revy shouts "Dutch!" He pauses from giving Rock the beating of his life by coldly speaking "What?" Grimacing, and carefully choosing her words, Revy says "You made your point, Dutch. Lay off. He got shot in the helmet back in Vũng Tàu." Dutch heaves a deep sigh and yells "I know, this is nothing! This is…" he strikes Rock's face again "is for getting into one of his philosophical…" once more "pontifications, while on the…" once more "fucking job!" He gives Rock one last punch and lets his grip go, letting Rock crumble onto the van floor, dazed, his face a swollen mess. His left eye socket swells into a reddish-purple hue as his nostrils bleed steadily.
Dutch returns to his seat and stews in silence. Revy climbs off her seat, kneels down, and tends to Rock, yelling "Anyone got a fucking napkin or towel or something?!" As Rock hazily looks at the roof of the van, feeling the bumps along the highway, he watches Marie's head tower over him. She says "You don't look too good." After a few seconds, she reaches into a back pocket for a packet of tissues, handing them to Revy.
Rock, partially stunned, winces as Revy dabs the blood on his nose. His entire face aches. He tries to open his mouth, and then checks his jaw, to see if it's been broken. Revy angrily speaks "Don't blow your fucking nose, or your eye's gonna swell and you'll like Sloth from 'The Goonies'." She takes occasional angry glances at Dutch, who stares off into nothing, indifferent. Rock trails his thoughts away to Balalaika putting a gun to his head in a Tokyo parking lot, to Fabiola firing a fake bullet that left him sidelined with broken ribs, to Luca Cavalcanti carving his chest, to the new Roanapur chief of police driving him and Revy. To thoughts of old Tokyo, and the South China Sea, and the Gulf of Thailand, and his dreams, and his nightmares. To Roanapur. To the torpedo boat.
His thoughts drift to his meeting with Chang by the piers. To him tossing the duffel bag full of American $20 notes as payment for his work in getting Roberta out of Roanapur. To the slight, salty breeze, the harsh stench of Chang's cigarettes, the rough feel of the wooden ledge he and Rock leaned against.
"But if you want to understand the difference between good and evil…you will have to think long and hard about it, Rock."
Rock places his hands on his chests, sticking them under his black and white plaid dress shirt. He rubs his finger tips against the medical tape wrapped around his abdomen. Turning to face Dutch, as Revy lodges a tissue up Rock's own bleeding left nostril, Rock glares at Dutch and clenches his left fist, unnoticed by all except for Revy and Marie. He quietly sneers at Dutch, boiling in rage, muttering under his breath, quiet enough for only Revy to hear "I was supposed to win."
