Probably Maybe
Mercy didn't like being upside-down, she decided. She felt like her head was an overfilled water balloon. In fact, she was pretty sure there was very little difference. The funny thing about concussions is that sometimes you forget things. She wasn't sure how she ended up in a meat locker, suspended by a rope that tied her ankles together, but she knew it was probably bad.
She looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. She made note of the sides of beef and pork that hung beside her and of the blood that was on the floor. Considering that the meat looked well processed, she was guessing the pool of blood below her was mostly hers.
Mercy tightened her abs and forced herself up, grabbing her boots. Continuing her movement to not lose momentum, she pulled herself into a painful position that consisted of her spine screaming in agony and her fingers around the hook that held her aloft. With a grunt and a yell she willed every muscle in her body to help her. There was a popping noise somewhere in her shoulder as she slipped the rope off the hook.
"Oh, shit."
She fell in the pool of her blood and was sure she contributed more. Something else cracked in her back and she rolled onto her side. Pain shot through her bones and filled her eyes with colors. She held her breath so as not to scream. Her teeth were clamped tight and the taste of iron filled her mouth. She spat and cursed quietly as she forced herself off the ground.
A second assessment of the room found her a table with an assortment of weapons. She grabbed a cleaver and a meat hook. She might need them. The locker was, luckily, unlocked. The adjoining kitchen was empty. The dining area, not so much. Voices were nonchalantly speaking in Italian. A quick peek revealed two suits at a table, sharing a bottle of wine. One of them was wearing charcoal, the other one in tan. Another was at the front door and probably had a concealed pistol. Another had his back to her and was carrying a shotgun. Those two wore black.
These were the bad guys. Probably. Shotgun guy got the meat hook as she tossed the cleaver at the other goon. She bet the door guard shit his pants anyway as she caught the shotgun mid-fall. She wasted the him as soon as his recovered from the cleaver toss and faced held the two wine-drinkers at gunpoint. Before she could even speak she had received a set of car keys, a wad of twenties, and a few choice words. She knocked out the bigger of the two (tan suit) with the butt of the shotgun and left. On the way out she took the pistol from the guard with no face.
There was only one car worth over sixty-thousand dollars parked on the street and the car alarm proved her ownership. She tossed her new guns in the passenger seat and drove out a few miles. Some rifling got her enough coin to use a payphone and she dialed Ronan's number. No answer.
Her head still pounding, she pinched the bridge of her nose and was considering her options when the payphone rang.
"Hello?"
"Who is this?"
"It's Mercy."
"Redhead I saved from the bloodsucker? You didn't do anything stupid like go back, did you?"
She had to stop and think.
"Maybe."
"You're an idiot, I said we needed backup. We won't have Six until the morning."
"Six what?"
"Six. You know? Quiet guy? Shoots things?"
"Right. Whatever. Do we have a plan?"
"That depends, did you find the kid?"
"One sec." She pressed a button on the key. The trunk of the car popped open. Something small and boy shaped was terrified and gagged. "Yes?"
"Why is that a question? Whatever. Bring him to the safe house in the valley. I found his parents in the gutter. You'll have to give me some time to figure out what to do with him."
"See you in thirty."
---
Half an hour and several miles later she pulled into the driveway of a small, abandoned chapel. Ronan was waiting for her and was appalled by her appearance.
"You look like used tampon."
"Tell me we have running water."
"Hose in the back. Where's the kid?"
She tossed him the keys.
"You left him in the trunk!?"
---
"Kid's sucking down a hot cocoa and I got you a beer," Ronan said as he watched Mercy try to freeze herself to death with a hose.
"Good news is that he seems okay," he gave her a chance to respond, he wasn't surprised when she didn't. "The bad news is that's not the kid we were looking for."
She took the beer without a thanks and walked inside.
"Aren't you gonna put some clothes on?" He called after her.
"Kid's gotta see a girl in her skivvies sometime."
---
When Six finally arrived she was playing X-Box with the kid. She conceded the football game and left him there so she could join them. Ronan gave Six the lowdown on Romeo Giovanni, his goons, his ghouls, and his ghosts. He acted like this was old news t o Mercy, but she didn't remember much from the past few nights. Either too many blows to the head or too much alcohol. Maybe both.
Six took it all in without saying a word. When Ronan finished Six sat back, lit a cigarette, took two good drags and eyed Mercy, who was still in her lingerie.
"When?"
"Soon as she puts some clothes on," Ronan answered.
Mercy smiled.
---
It was Guido's first day working for his uncle Jimmy and it was his lucky day. Some dame came running out of the alley crying about how she was almost raped. Then she passed out in his arms. Guido brought her into the back room and lay down on one of the couches. He took a good, long look at her body and admired how well boy-shorts fit her. It was the last good thing he saw before a man in a long coat burst in, pointed a six-shooter at him, and put a bullet in the head he should have been using instead of the little one.
---
Ronan came in behind Six.
"I don't see how that was better than just busting the door down," said Six.
"They use reinforced doors and three locks. You don't put a cardboard door on a brothel full of children, Six. Getting in was the hard part," Ronan stated as he made sure that his safety was off. Mercy took a gun from their newly ventilated friend and looked up at Six who was staring at the door.
"This door doesn't even have a handle on it, much less a lock," he said.
Ronan looked at Mercy disappointed. She sighed.
"I said they probably have tighter security."
"You just wanted to run around in your underwear."
"Maybe," she smirked. The door to the alley closed without warning and all the lights went out.
"Looks like they know we're here," Ronan said. "Let's rock."
The trio made their way room to room and cleaned out every asshole decided that child prostitution was okay by them. Suits, perverts, and some ghouls who took more than a natural number of bullets to kill. Three floors and a dozen rooms worth of shit, scum, and worthless excuses for human beings. They liberated limbs from client and employee alike. They freed children from the depraved and organs from the profiteers. They destroyed evil and avenged innocence.
No foul thing survived, but amongst them, Romeo Giovanni was not. When they got to his office it was empty. The paper records were smoldering in a filing cabinet that had been lit with a cigar. A hospital blood bag had been ripped open, its contents smeared on the wall: I'LL LIVE FOREVER! YOU WON'T!
Frustration welled up inside Mercy and she threw a chair out a window.
"FUCKING VAMPIRES!" She screamed. When she regained composure they climbed teh final set of stairs to the roof. Awaiting them there were three pigeon coops each with children in them.
"Think our boy is in there?" Ronan asked Mercy.
"Maybe."
She looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. She made note of the sides of beef and pork that hung beside her and of the blood that was on the floor. Considering that the meat looked well processed, she was guessing the pool of blood below her was mostly hers.
Mercy tightened her abs and forced herself up, grabbing her boots. Continuing her movement to not lose momentum, she pulled herself into a painful position that consisted of her spine screaming in agony and her fingers around the hook that held her aloft. With a grunt and a yell she willed every muscle in her body to help her. There was a popping noise somewhere in her shoulder as she slipped the rope off the hook.
"Oh, shit."
She fell in the pool of her blood and was sure she contributed more. Something else cracked in her back and she rolled onto her side. Pain shot through her bones and filled her eyes with colors. She held her breath so as not to scream. Her teeth were clamped tight and the taste of iron filled her mouth. She spat and cursed quietly as she forced herself off the ground.
A second assessment of the room found her a table with an assortment of weapons. She grabbed a cleaver and a meat hook. She might need them. The locker was, luckily, unlocked. The adjoining kitchen was empty. The dining area, not so much. Voices were nonchalantly speaking in Italian. A quick peek revealed two suits at a table, sharing a bottle of wine. One of them was wearing charcoal, the other one in tan. Another was at the front door and probably had a concealed pistol. Another had his back to her and was carrying a shotgun. Those two wore black.
These were the bad guys. Probably. Shotgun guy got the meat hook as she tossed the cleaver at the other goon. She bet the door guard shit his pants anyway as she caught the shotgun mid-fall. She wasted the him as soon as his recovered from the cleaver toss and faced held the two wine-drinkers at gunpoint. Before she could even speak she had received a set of car keys, a wad of twenties, and a few choice words. She knocked out the bigger of the two (tan suit) with the butt of the shotgun and left. On the way out she took the pistol from the guard with no face.
There was only one car worth over sixty-thousand dollars parked on the street and the car alarm proved her ownership. She tossed her new guns in the passenger seat and drove out a few miles. Some rifling got her enough coin to use a payphone and she dialed Ronan's number. No answer.
Her head still pounding, she pinched the bridge of her nose and was considering her options when the payphone rang.
"Hello?"
"Who is this?"
"It's Mercy."
"Redhead I saved from the bloodsucker? You didn't do anything stupid like go back, did you?"
She had to stop and think.
"Maybe."
"You're an idiot, I said we needed backup. We won't have Six until the morning."
"Six what?"
"Six. You know? Quiet guy? Shoots things?"
"Right. Whatever. Do we have a plan?"
"That depends, did you find the kid?"
"One sec." She pressed a button on the key. The trunk of the car popped open. Something small and boy shaped was terrified and gagged. "Yes?"
"Why is that a question? Whatever. Bring him to the safe house in the valley. I found his parents in the gutter. You'll have to give me some time to figure out what to do with him."
"See you in thirty."
---
Half an hour and several miles later she pulled into the driveway of a small, abandoned chapel. Ronan was waiting for her and was appalled by her appearance.
"You look like used tampon."
"Tell me we have running water."
"Hose in the back. Where's the kid?"
She tossed him the keys.
"You left him in the trunk!?"
---
"Kid's sucking down a hot cocoa and I got you a beer," Ronan said as he watched Mercy try to freeze herself to death with a hose.
"Good news is that he seems okay," he gave her a chance to respond, he wasn't surprised when she didn't. "The bad news is that's not the kid we were looking for."
She took the beer without a thanks and walked inside.
"Aren't you gonna put some clothes on?" He called after her.
"Kid's gotta see a girl in her skivvies sometime."
---
When Six finally arrived she was playing X-Box with the kid. She conceded the football game and left him there so she could join them. Ronan gave Six the lowdown on Romeo Giovanni, his goons, his ghouls, and his ghosts. He acted like this was old news t o Mercy, but she didn't remember much from the past few nights. Either too many blows to the head or too much alcohol. Maybe both.
Six took it all in without saying a word. When Ronan finished Six sat back, lit a cigarette, took two good drags and eyed Mercy, who was still in her lingerie.
"When?"
"Soon as she puts some clothes on," Ronan answered.
Mercy smiled.
---
It was Guido's first day working for his uncle Jimmy and it was his lucky day. Some dame came running out of the alley crying about how she was almost raped. Then she passed out in his arms. Guido brought her into the back room and lay down on one of the couches. He took a good, long look at her body and admired how well boy-shorts fit her. It was the last good thing he saw before a man in a long coat burst in, pointed a six-shooter at him, and put a bullet in the head he should have been using instead of the little one.
---
Ronan came in behind Six.
"I don't see how that was better than just busting the door down," said Six.
"They use reinforced doors and three locks. You don't put a cardboard door on a brothel full of children, Six. Getting in was the hard part," Ronan stated as he made sure that his safety was off. Mercy took a gun from their newly ventilated friend and looked up at Six who was staring at the door.
"This door doesn't even have a handle on it, much less a lock," he said.
Ronan looked at Mercy disappointed. She sighed.
"I said they probably have tighter security."
"You just wanted to run around in your underwear."
"Maybe," she smirked. The door to the alley closed without warning and all the lights went out.
"Looks like they know we're here," Ronan said. "Let's rock."
The trio made their way room to room and cleaned out every asshole decided that child prostitution was okay by them. Suits, perverts, and some ghouls who took more than a natural number of bullets to kill. Three floors and a dozen rooms worth of shit, scum, and worthless excuses for human beings. They liberated limbs from client and employee alike. They freed children from the depraved and organs from the profiteers. They destroyed evil and avenged innocence.
No foul thing survived, but amongst them, Romeo Giovanni was not. When they got to his office it was empty. The paper records were smoldering in a filing cabinet that had been lit with a cigar. A hospital blood bag had been ripped open, its contents smeared on the wall: I'LL LIVE FOREVER! YOU WON'T!
Frustration welled up inside Mercy and she threw a chair out a window.
"FUCKING VAMPIRES!" She screamed. When she regained composure they climbed teh final set of stairs to the roof. Awaiting them there were three pigeon coops each with children in them.
"Think our boy is in there?" Ronan asked Mercy.
"Maybe."
posted by Nathan at 7:54 PM
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