ZACK'S POV
"He's running late."
The young man pensively stared at the gaping entrance.
Clad in a dark old-fashioned suit, he gave off an air of quiet elegance.
His gaze was somber, his eyes carrying a subtle coldness to them.
The eyes of someone who had experienced the immeasurable weight of the harsh cruelty of the world at an incredibly tender age.
Zack stopped tapping his foot. The sound carried too far in an empty warehouse like this.
He checked the entrance. Then the street beyond it.
Nothing.
He frowned slightly, his gaze flickering to his wrist for a brief moment.
His fingers brushed the pocketwatch in his coat.
In the slums, being late didn't mean careless.
It meant dead or worse.
"Grayson," Zack said quietly. "We're moving."
The big man nodded once. "You heard him. Move Out."
Several bodies peeled away into the shadows at Zack's raised hand...three fingers, no hesitation.
They were part of Zack's crew.
Men who trusted him with their lives.
There was no point risking the lives of the rest of the men over a few rations.
Only Grayson stayed.
At the warehouse entrance, footsteps echoed.
The footfalls were fast and unmasked.
A short, balding man in a cheap black suit hurriedly strode towards them with his hands in his pockets. His beady black eyes shakily swept over them, then the rest of the warehouse.
Zack lowered his hand away from his coat.
"Zack..."
"Pete," Zack cut in. "You're late."
Pete laughed nervously, taking his hands out of his coat and rubbing them together. His eyes hurriedly flicked to the entrance.
"Road got messy," he said. "But I'm here. That's what counts, right?"
Despite his younger age, Pete knew better than to mess with him.
Grayson subtly stepped forward.
Pete's eyes darted to him for a split second.
The shorter man swallowed visibly, small beads of sweat forming on his brow.
Zack fixed him with a piercing gaze.
"Did you bring the goods?"
Pete chuckled nervously.
"About that, there was a slight change in plans at the last minute. But Crimson should be here with the merchandise in a short while. "
Crimson was the de facto leader of the Crimson Serpents gang.
Zack nodded nonchalantly, unbuttoning one of his cuffs.
"I see..."
Something was off.
Grayson was now level with Zack.
"You know, Pete, out of all the people down here, I thought you'd understand, seeing as well both grew up in the dumps," Zack spoke quietly.
Pete's eyes widened visibly.
"What are you going on about? The shipments just a little bit delayed. But Crimson is on his way here with it now. Get a grip, man."
Zack smiled wryly, throwing a furtive glance at Grayson.
He let out a weary sigh, tacitly unbuttoning his other cuff.
"I suppose it can't be helped then."
Pete flinched, just barely suppressing a twitch.
But this small detail didn't escape Zack's eye.
A subtle rhythmic humming cut through the silence.
In the quiet stillness of the morning, that particular sound did not belong.
Pete let out a quiet sigh, then suddenly grinned maniacally.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Zack,"
He offered him a short bow, then promptly tossed a small object at his feet.
Zack's eye twitched slightly.
"The black mark, huh. Damned serpents. Is this how you repay..."
A frightening realization crossed Zack's mind, his eyes widening in horror.
"Down!"
Everything happened fast after that.
A shower of bullets sprayed the spot where Grayson had stood just moments earlier.
The larger man had moved with an uncanny speed far surpassing his immense size.
A split second later, the air thrummed with current. The strong, overwhelming scent of ozone suddenly permeated the warehouse.
Zack felt every hair on his body simultaneously stand on end.
His eyes widened in horror.
"Damn it. Electric rounds. "
A horrendous crack rang through the air, the report of the large Axel rifles, the enforcers ripping through the warehouse.
The metallic scent of melting slugs wafted through the air.
Zack scrambled for cover, instinctively knowing that Grayson was right behind.
Without missing a beat, the larger man grabbed Pete.
The smaller man yelped, struggling against the giant's grip.
"Pleasure doing business with you," he rasped.
In the next moment, he hoisted the struggling man, throwing him into the line of fire like a literal meat shield.
Pete screamed, hurtling through the air with speed akin to a rag doll.
Several electric rounds slammed into his body mercilessly, embedding themselves in his body and discharging their violent charge on impact.
The enforcers could have stopped, but they didn't.
Pete froze, his body spasming violently in an endless cycle of agony.
His eyes bulged out of their sockets in shock and agony.
A split second later, his entire head exploded in a shower of blood and brains.
Zack grinned, then shook his head.
"Talk about ruthless. "
The Enforcers were merciless even when it came to their rats.
But that wasn't his concern.
For now, his main priority was making it out of the warehouse turned hellhole alive.
"Grayson!"
Several metallic shelves separated them.
The larger man turned, turned to him his eyes locking onto him with rapt attention.
Zack gestured with his fingers.
"Let's split up. Meet me at the tarot."
Grayson quietly nodded.
A small, round, blinking object rolled in between the two shelves, spinning around wildly.
His eyes narrowed then widened slightly when he saw it for what it truly was.
"Concussion round!"
The enforcers referred to them as pacifiers.
"I guess that means I've been a naughty child."
Zack was already instinctively moving before the small explosive came to a stop.
He lunged backwards, raising his arms to protect his ears from the blast that would inevitably follow.
A split second later, a massive blast of sound and heat threw him backwards.
"Shit!"
Zack staggered to his feet, his vision blurring.
Even with his ears protected, the rest of his body had taken damage.
Thankfully, the metallic shelves took the brunt of the blast.
He turned desperately, dashing toward the exit.
Almost right on cue, it exploded from the outside, and several enforcers dashed in.
Zack let out a forced chuckle, ducking behind the fallen shelves.
A barrage of electricity and cryogenic rounds slammed into the shelves and ground behind him.
"Well, there goes my plan A." He thought grimly.
Luckily, he still had a plan B.
"Let's try the sewers then. Bloody Grayson was right.'
He dashed forward, skidding g to a stop in front of an unassuming metallic tile.
With a groan, he strained, heaving it aside.
The tile moved, revealing the abandoned sewer system beneath.
Zack wrinkled his nose distastefully, hesitating for a brief moment. Several metallic rungs s.dwscwbded disappearing into the darkness below.
"Could this day get any worse...."
He cursed, then dove into the hole and latched onto the metallic rungs, speedily climbing up.
With a quiet grunt, he hoisted the cover back in place.
He paused, staring once more into the boundless darkness below.
"Bloody hell."
With a sigh, he quietly slid down into the sewers.