Chapter 26:

Song To Listen To:
Everybody Wants To Rule The World- Lorde


I sat in the middle of another gang meeting, this time with even more anxiousness than ever before. To me, before, everything seemed so set up, we did exactly the types of things you hear about in books or movies. Life here was too cartoony. But things were tensing up now, the smiles and laughs were gone. The hallowed out cheeks and cold eyes were present. The vulturious looks, hungry to place their filthy hands on something. The lights seemed dimmer, the sunlight duller. Each day the building grew more and more empty, the same people roamed, but in a more dead manner.

And as we now sat in cars, clothed in the history and dignity of our gang, the dead died. Everything went black and white. The leaves rustled and ran as far away as possible. The light hid behind buildings, daring to sneak a peek at us, for it dreaded our eyes. A counting beat from deep within, numbered our time. The wind blew, and the sky darkened. My clothes grew heavy on my back, the weight becoming unbearable.

And that's how I knew we were near.

It was an odium feeling when we dispersed. The few evaneced behind dangerous doors, while we waited. Ready at any moment to pull the trigger. What a vulgar job this is, tempting to pull the trigger.

The pressure was on, one faulty move, one inaccurate word leading into another death. Everyone was feeling it, I know. While we passed silent commands and nods through our positions in the trees and shadows, the look was clear. The only part not shielded by black, the eyes, stiff and strong while holding the look of fear and dread. The memories of childhood night games or nerd wars seemed so pathetic. Why try and hide, eager to shoot, when in reality it's the hardest and most gruesome thing to do? But I knew one person was feeling it more than anyone. Cause for the first time in a longest of times, he had something to lose.

We waited, ready, for hours.

Each breath seeming heavier and louder than the last. Each mimicking sound of the leaves seamed to be giving our cover away. The stillness seemed so dark, so fake. Who knows what was going on in the inside, all we knew was that at any moment, we all could be dead. Our bodies turned crippled from the anticipation, but I regret my words.

Then it came.

The madness. All hell had broken loose.

Two men stormed out, dragging along a body. A ground of gunsmen followed. They threw him down on the ground, stepped on his throat, pulling his limbs apart, until he was unless to them. One of the men pulled out a blade, ready to torture the victim before the killing. And my heart lost its beating, I knew the victim. Oh how badly I wanted to jump down there and stop them. And I knew everyone around me knew that too. My nearest colleagues shook their heads vigorously and silently, motionlessly, praying i wouldn't.
His muffled crys from deep down within. Every wince and cringed from the inflicted pain. It's so hard to watch the ones you love get hurt right before your eyes and have no ability to help them. It just tares you apart.

But with one blink of the eye, everything changed. The victim now held the other two down. The butt of his gun pointed directly at them. The groups of gunsmen had disappeared. Before following through with the loathing action, he caved his marking into the flesh of the men. Then the feared moment came. I cringed at the echo of bullets hitting its target. Followed by the thud of the fallen convic.

Rage.

It followed shortly after. The victim had retreated it the building. Letting the body's sit there to decay, seeing nobody was there to remove the waste. I could almost make out the shouts from within. Either that, or my mind was screaming at me. Both seemed very realistic.

And we were back to waiting, finger on the trigger of my large-caliber riffle. Others perched all around, their MK46's ready to be shot. Those were the people ready for action, ready for the ring of fire to be lit. However, those people were not one of us. But they sat, almost hidden in the night, but not quite. And it's odd, I am very capable of seeing the danger, right infront of us, looking me dead in the eyes, yet I can and will not do anything to stop it. I just have to wait for the blow to come. And hopefully it never would come.

But it did.

The man from my first mission stood and gun point. The victim aimed besides a thick man, both having guns in their hands. The man had an unmistakeable smile, eerie and out of place. Almost as if he knew something, and something he did.

Two bullets, one target.

The victim had been victimized again. The two man had pulled a stunt, and now the victim lay on ground, carvings still fresh, bullet holes even fresher. Everyone in the shadows started to panic. If we shot, a whole massacre would unfold before us. But if we didn't, our leader might as well be dead.

But I had learned all gang scenes are twisted. The victim had not quite given up yet. Swinging at the plump man, concaving his skull in with a bash to the concrete wall. Now a showdown awaited. The eerie and cold man, versus the victim. Batt he chaos didn't stop there, for then a few more competitors joined in on the action. These men, however, seemed to be twice the victims size and engaging in the battle.

All odds against the victim.

But suddenly, the man changed sides. After taking notice of the situation. They charged after the man, not going easy on him because of age. I would be lying if I said I wasn't fooled by them. Cause darling, I was.
After pummeling the older man, the men turned there attention towards the wounded victim. No hesitating to hurt him even more. Punches were thrown and blood was bled. It's times like this I wonder where the rest of them are. How many more remained inside? What was going on in there? And for the first time in hours, a voice was heard.

"What's your body count pussy?" The man snickered and stepped on the victim's back. "One?" He taunted and laughed as he circled the victims struggling body.

"Hundreds." The victim spat out blood.

That angered the large man. Resulting in many more rounds of punishment. And finally one of my questions had been answered. Two of our own helped up the victims and after pointing he butt of their guns at the men. Words were exchanged and the men rested in defeat. One of our own retreated with two large guards, escorting the two men away, painfully.

That was the last of the action I witnessed.

The dark sky started to lighten, bringing dangers of light. And as the early hours of the morning crept up on us, more problems occurred. The first delt with our hunger. Staying still in place for hours seemed to prove how long you could last without food or bathrooms. Only a person with a certain amount of finesse could stay alert for hours, in the shadows.

Soon enough we were called off.

Slipping out of our positions and into our vehicles miles away. We remained, waiting yet again, for people to arrive. They gradually made their way to our spots. Taking their time to stealthy ditch their marks and not become of anyone's interest. I made contact with two of the opposing sides. Taking notes as to who I saw, heading where, and the license of transportation.

Finally the victim arrived.

His body limping its way over, flopping himself into the car. One glance, that's all it took to know. We traded seats without communication. I knew he didn't want to talk, and frankly, I don't know how I would be able to respond if he did. I'm not exactly the best person to talk to when in a medically questionable state.

After returning home, he was immediately treated by our doctors. The real ones, that is. But before he was dragged away, the victim gave me one last look, of pure dullness. As if he couldn't even hold an emotion. He looked as if he was trying to cast a message but failed miserably

The victim tried to branch out, his susurrant voice not making it past the attendants. All that could be heard were their soothing voices trying to contain thw victim.

So we waited.

Finally a few of us were allowed to check on the injuried victim. Our small triumvirate divided into singles. The two ahead of me seemed unpleasant upon their return. So I suspected nothing good. And then second I was invited in, the victim turned awry. Our hands became contiguous after he stretched his arm out a great distance to be held. A diminutive but delightful and jovial gesture.

"He's been calling for you this whole time." The female nurse explained with an annoyed tone.

"All the bullets have been cut out, and everything has been treated and sealed up. Unfortunitly, I'm restricting him to limited mobility, he's seriously injuried. I don't know why he didn't get help sooner," I gulped, "but he will be fine. Bed rest for a day or two. Keep a close eye on him or I will." The doctor threatened.

I must say, he looked like something out of a magazine. A fine, extremely attractive, male model.
The victim must have noticed too because his grip on my hand tightened. "Thank you, erh- Dr. Zuhamerick."

"Of course. I will be stopping by every once in a while to check on him. Please don't shoot me when I do." I let out a little laugh, but he stood there, dead serious.

"We never do." The victim croaked out.

Moments later, after the doctor had excused himself, I felt relief for the first time in what seemed like ages. Of course I wish the victim was in better condition, but this is a gang after all, there's no mercy.

"You doubted me." The victim sibilated, finally acknowledging me directing.

I tried to act as if I didn't have any doubtsabiut the while situation, even when I did. "I wouldn't say I-"

"You did, I know you did." The victim cut me off. "You looked at me in the car with relief. Not pride or empathy, but with fucking relief." The victim raised his voice despite his brittle and weak deminor.

"Hold on, I did n-" I tried to defend myself.

"Paris don't you lie to me. They all told me you were considering shooting." The victims eyes turned ice cold. "Think I couldn't handle it? Cause let me be the first to fucking tell you, I could."

"I don't know what you're on-" I honestly couldn't believe how Harry was acting right now.

"This is fucking me Paris!" Harry stretched his arms out wide. "This is what you signed up for. "

"I know for a fact this is not what I signed up for. No, I signed up for the guy I was with the other night. Not this." I don't even know how to react to this.

"We'll you're gonna get this more often than you're gonna get that." Harry warned me.

"And I'm willing to take that right now." Right now that is.

"Then get over here." Harry demanded and practically forced me onto his cot.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Harry's prescribed medication. All sorts of drugs and pills were spiraled out, marking each doze. This monster was Harry on over drive, all insanities increased. Hopefully this would be the last I see of this side of him, I don't know how I could handle him if he wasn't on any medication. I feared the day I found out.

Notes

It may be very cursory and confusing because of the the lack of detail. But it was meant to stay sparing. You should be a little confused, so I hope you are.

Please tell me what you guys think!
Xoxo
-E