“Well, well, well... What do we have here?” one of the goons said when he saw us, his voice muffled by the Hazmat suit.
“The boss said this kid might show up and try to ruin our fun,” another one replied. “But he didn't say anything about him showing up with three sexy women!”
“No, he didn't,” the first goon said. “It's a shame that we're gonna have to kill 'em all!”
Three of the four Southie Soldiers began walking toward us, slowly. The only one who didn't was standing where the security guard should've been, in front of the door leading to the back. He just stood there looking back and forth between us and the hallway leading downstairs to the vault. Though I couldn't be sure, I strongly suspected that Carter was down there.
I took a few steps toward the closest gang member who was coming at us. As he approached me, the goon raised the aerosol canister he had in his right hand. With a half-smile on his face, he pointed it right at mine. We continued walking toward each other until he was just a few feet away. He stopped walking and a blast of white mist shot out of the aerosol can, surrounding me in a poisonous cloud of carfentanyl.
Normally, I would've fallen to the ground and passed out within a few seconds. But, since I used the naloxone inhaler that Melissa gave me, nothing happened. Well, something happened: It made me sneeze.
“Ahhhhhhchooo!”
I looked the Hazmat-suit-wearing goon right in the eyes and smiled at him. Not a half-smile, not a smirk: A big, full, ear-to-ear smile. The look on his face was priceless. The weapon that he'd used to easily neutralize everyone in the bank had no effect on me whatsoever. His look was part confusion, part anger, and part fear. He looked down at the canister in his hand as I took another step toward him. Again, he raised it and sprayed me right in the face, point blank.
“Ahhhchooo!”
“What the...” the goon yelled. “How are you still standing? You should be on the ground!”
“You know,” I replied, “now that you mention it, so should you!”
I lunged at the gang member, tackling him to the floor. He landed on his back, right on the oxygen tank that was part of the Hazmat suit. I don't know if it was his back or something else but, the second we hit the floor, I heard a loud cracking sound followed by a surprisingly-feminine yell from such a large, masculine man.
“Ahhhhhhhhhyyyeeeeee!” he screamed.
The canister went flying out of his hand when we hit the ground. I landed on top, pinning him to the floor. He flailed his arms at me, trying to get me off him but I wasn't going anywhere. I dropped bomb after bomb on his face, punching him over and over again. Eventually, his arms went limp along with the rest of his body after I landed a knockout blow – and a few more after that for good measure.
The other two guys in Hazmat suits that were coming toward us stopped when they saw that the carfentanyl had no effect on me. They turned to each other, both with confused looks on their faces. The one near the doorway leading to the back looked down at the unconscious security guard, directly at his gun. I was still on top of the guy I'd knocked out and knew there was no way I could get to the gun before him.
The Southie Soldier near the door ran over to the security guard and took his gun out of the holster. I hopped up off the guy I'd knocked out and saw him start raising the gun to point it at me. There was no way I'd be able to get to him before he was able to fire off a round or two right into my chest. Fortunately, I had my girls with me.
Right before he raised the gun high enough to shoot me, a crossbow bolt came screaming through the air. It pierced the guy's hand and blood started pouring out of it. He dropped the gun and clutched at his hand with the other one.
“Owwwwwwwww!” he screamed.
As it turned out, getting shot through the hand was the least of his worries. The bolt not only tore through his flesh, it ripped through the protective glove covering it. Carfentanyl is deadly in very small amounts and there must have been enough of it still in the air to get into his suit through the hole in the glove. His eyes closed and he stumbled around for a moment before falling face first to the floor, landing on top of the security guard.
“Nice shot!” Krystal said.
“Bulls eye!” Kasie added.
The other two Hazmat-suit-wearing goons didn't know what to do. They stood in the middle of the bank, frozen solid. Their weapons were useless against us and they knew it. They also knew that the girls could easily take them out by penetrating their protective suits. If they came at me, the girls would shoot, stab, and slice them up. Amber, Kasie, and Krystal spread out behind me, weapons readied.
“What were you guys saying about killing us?” I asked, slowly walking toward them.
“We're just doing what we were told to do!” the one on the left replied, panic in his voice.
“Where's Carter?” I asked.
“Don't tell them anything,” the other one said, hitting the guy to his left in the arm.
The guy on the left looked to be at least ten years younger than the one on the right – maybe more. I could tell by the shakiness of his voice that he was scared. The one on the right didn't seem to be phased at all.
“Let's play a little game,” I suggested. “It's called You Talk or You Die. Who wants to go first?”
“Don't say a word, rookie,” the one on the right said to the other.
“Let's start with you,” I said to the one on the right. “Where's Carter, your leader?”
He didn't respond.
“I'll ask you again. It's an easy one, really. Where's Carter?”
He still didn't respond, but I didn't expect him to. I looked back at Kasie and winked. Live with someone long enough and you learn to communicate non-verbally quite well. She knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Last chance to answer the question,” I said. “Where is he? Where's Carter?”
“I ain't saying shit,” he answered, then turned toward the guy to his left. “And if you say anything, I swear...”
Before he could finish his sentence, I snapped my fingers. A throwing star came whizzing past me, hitting the guy on the right in the neck. It put an end to his sentence and, a few seconds later, to him. He fell to his knees, clutching at his throat. I didn't know if he died from the ninja star or from the carfentanyl – and I really didn't care.
I turned to the guy on the left, the only remaining Southie Soldier who was still alive and conscious in the bank lobby. I took a step toward him and asked him the same question that I'd asked his associate.
“As you can see, your friend got the answer wrong and lost the game. Let's see if you're able to do better than him. Where's Carter?”
He didn't say anything right away. I could see that he was really scared. I saw him look down at his deceased friend with blood pooling under him from the neck wound. That guy wasn't going to talk and I knew it. That's why I asked him first. I knew that, if I killed him first, it would likely scare this guy into talking. And I was right.
“Please don't kill me,” he begged.
“Where's Carter?” I asked again.
“He's down in the vault,” he answered, his voice shaking.
“With how many men?” I asked.
“Eight,” he replied, nervously. “No, seven! I'm sorry, seven. Him and seven others. Eight total.”
“Wow, you're good at this game,” I said. “Last question: How'd Carter get into the vault? The bank manager is the only one with access and he isn't supposed to get in until ten this morning.”
“We picked him up at his house this morning and threw him in the van. Now, please, let me go.”
“Oh, I'm sorry,” I replied. “Did I say the game was called You Talk or You Die? My bad. It's actually called Whether You Talk Or Not, You Die.”
I snapped my fingers but nothing happened. I looked back at Kasie to see what the problem was.
“He answered all your questions,” she said. “You really want me to kill him?”
Skill Increase
[Social]Ruthlessness: 9/10 (+2)
“Not anymore I don't,” I replied to Kasie, then pointed down at the first thug that came at me, the one I'd knocked out. He had come to and was trying to get up to his feet. “I want you to kill him. Well, I want one of you to kill him. I don't care who. I know it's brutal, but it's necessary.”
“My turn to have some fun!” Krystal said with enthusiasm.
She casually clip-clopped her way over to him, raised her katana, and slashed him with it. The razor-sharp blade sliced right through the Hazmat suit. It didn't look like it hit him, just the suit. He knew what would happen when he inhaled the carfentanyl dust that was sure to get into the suit so he held his breath as long as he could. I was surprised by how long he was able to. He must've been a swimmer or something.
“Come on, girls,” I said, putting an arm around Krystal and the other around Amber. “Let's go get Carter.”
We started walking toward the door leading behind the counter. As we walked through it, we heard that last thug gasp for air and then fall to the ground.
23.
It was smart of Carter to abduct the bank manager from his home. Since Carter had been running around the city robbing banks, they were all on alert. No one would've expected the bank to get hit before the manager arrived, including me. Seeing how quickly the carfentanyl worked, I doubted that any of the employees were able to notify the police. We were most likely on our own. If Carter was going to be stopped, it would have to be by us.
Clip, clop, clip. Flip, flop, flip...
“You girls should take off your heels and flip flops,” I suggested. “Carter will hear you coming from a mile away.”
“But these heels complete my outfit,” Amber replied, jokingly.
“It's you that makes the outfit sexy,” I said. “Not the shoes. Now take them off.”
Amber and Krystal took off their shoes and Kasie kicked off her flip flops, leaving them in the hallway. We walked to the end where there was an elevator and the door to a staircase leading down into the basement.
“We should take the stairs,” I said, then reconsidered. “Actually, maybe we should split up. Krystal, come with me. We'll take the elevator. You two take the stairs.”
“Are you sure we should split up?” Kasie asked.
I wasn't. I didn't answer right away. After thinking about it for a minute, I decided to go with my initial instinct. If Carter had taken the elevator down to the floor with the vault, it was likely still on that floor. With everyone else in the bank out cold, there was no one to push the button. If Carter or his goons noticed that the elevator started going up, he'd know we were coming – or that someone was on their way.
“On second thought, no,” I replied. “We'll take the stairs – all of us. Follow me and try to be as quiet as possible.”
The girls followed me through the door and down the stairs. We went down several floors until we got to the bottom of the staircase and came to a thick metal door with no window.
“Ready your weapons,” I said. “There's no telling what we're going to find on the other side of this door.”
“We know what we're going to find,” Kasie replied. “Carter and seven of his guys.”
“Right, but we don't know if they're right behind this door or somewhere else down on this floor. Just be ready in case they are right behind this door.”
“Gotcha,” Kasie said and nodded.
I didn't know if I should open the door slowly and peek inside or throw it open and run through it. Both approaches had pros and cons, but I decided to open it just a crack and look inside.
“What do you see?” Krystal whispered.
“Nothing,” I replied, softly. “Just a hallway.”
I opened the door all the way, slowly. The four of us crept through it, doing our best to make as little noise as possible. In front of me popped up:
Skill Increase
[Physical] Stealth: 6/10 (+1)
“Sweet,” I heard Krystal say under her breath.
“You just get a skill increase, too?” I asked.
“Yup,” she replied. “Sure did.”
We stood at the end of a long hallway. I carefully guided the stairway door shut, making sure it made as little noise as possible. Up on the right was the elevator. Besides the stairs and the elevator, there were no other doors. The hallway went down about a hundred feet, then turned to the left. We could hear voices and movement coming from behind the corner.
“That's gotta be them,” Amber whispered.
“Yup,” I replied. “Let's go. Keep your weapons ready and stay as quiet as you can until the last possible second.”
“Okay.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Sure.”
We started down the hallway with me in the lead. My heart began to beat hard and fast. Everything that'd happened to me over the previous few days flashed before my eyes. I thought about the fights I'd gotten into, the women I'd been with, and everything else. As crazy and scary as those days had been at times, they were easily the best days of my entire life. For the first time ever, I was truly living instead of letting my anxiety control me. Just as I'd vowed to tell Kasie how I felt about her when the simulation was over, I also vowed to stop letting fear get in the way of living life the way I wanted to.
As we got closer to the corner, the voices we heard got clearer. Now there was no doubt that it was Carter and his gang.
“Come on, hurry up!” we heard Carter say. “Put the rest of the money in the bags. We gotta get outta here soon. You, go push the elevator button and hold the door open for us.”
“Yes, boss,” we heard in a different voice.
Just as we were about to round the corner, a tall man in a Hazmat suit appeared. For a split second, he froze. I can't say I blamed him. He was probably expecting to see an empty hallway but, instead, saw me and the three barefoot beauties behind me.
“Hey boss!” he yelled. “There's a guy and three...”
Before he could finish what he was saying, a bolt whizzed through the air and went into his left eye, right through the Hazmat suit. The bolt pierced his eye, sticking out of the socket. Blood began pouring out of it and, within seconds, the mask part of his suit was all red. Unlike the goons upstairs where all the carfentanyl was released, this one didn't pass out once his protective suit was compromised. He did scream like the others, though.
“Arrrggghhh! I can't see. I can't see!”
I ran up to the guy with the bolt in his eye and easily dropped him to the ground. With his face mask covered in blood, he couldn't see me coming. I grabbed him by the legs and threw him off balance, tackling him to the floor. With one swift kick to the head, I knocked him out instantly.
After taking him out, I was able to see what was down the hallway around the corner. It opened up into a large room with the vault at the other end. The door to the vault was massive, maybe ten feet by ten feet. It was wide open and laying in front of it was who I assumed to be the bank manager. He didn't appear to be breathing but I wasn't sure.
Inside the vault, there were six guys in Hazmat suits and another standing just outside of it in the large room. The guys in the vault were loading massive stacks of cash and other valuables into big, black duffel bags. As I started walking into the room with the girls at my sides, I realized that the guy standing in the large room was Carter. He turned toward me and I could see an evil smile appear through his protective mask.
“I underestimated you,” Carter
said, his sinister voice muffled by the Hazmat suit. “Once I figured out that we're in some sort of game and started having fun, I knew that you'd try to stop me. I figured you'd be a minor inconvenience, but you're turning out to be a royal pain in my ass.”
“What you're doing isn't having fun,” I replied. “You've hurt a lot of people.”
“Sure, simulated people. They're not real. None of this is. It's all just part of our professor's research. That's why I'm having as much fun as possible before it's over.”
“Maybe. But how can you be one-hundred-percent certain it's not real? What if some of it's real? How do you know that your actions don't have real-world consequences?”
“Bro, look at you,” Carter said with a smirk. “You of all people should be able to tell that none of this is real. You've got three smokin' hotties surrounding you. I don't think I've ever seen you even talk to a girl before. If this was reality, none of them would even look at you. Well, maybe that fiery roommate of yours, but looking is just about all she'd do to you. You're surrounded by hot chicks and have been going around beating people up. If that doesn't tell you that this is all one-hundred-percent not real, I don't know what would. Don't forget who you really are – a scared, weak, pathetic loser.”
Carter was right. It hurt to admit it to myself, but he was. The only rational explanation for everything that'd happened that week was that I was in some sort of simulation. But, even if none of it was real, it was the greatest few days of my life. I got to experience a level of confidence I'd only dreamed about. I'd always wanted to be a guy who went after what he wanted with little fear of failure. A guy who actually made a difference. A guy who got all the girls. A guy who rose to the occasion and saved the day – and today was that day.
“Maybe none of this is real,” I replied. “But it certainly feels real. And it's gonna feel really good to put an end to you once and for all!”
I started walking toward Carter but stopped after just two steps. He pulled a gun out from behind his back and pointed it at me. I had no idea where he could've been keeping it since – to the best of my knowledge – Hazmat suits don't have built-in holsters. That hardly seemed to matter at the time, though.
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