Dream City Ch. 12

Up ahead, Nick appeared, pointing his gauntlets in every direction. Slowly, I rose from behind the bench, locked and loaded.

"Hold it, Nick," I said.

"John boy," he said, putting his hands up. "You got me. I got a question, how are you going to disarm me?"

"I could blow your arms right off their sockets, but that would be too messy and a waste of good ammo."

"Sounds like you have a problem, Johnny."

"No," said Anton, appearing from my left, "I'm your fucking problem."

Nick and I took cover once the laser blasts came our way. I ran for it, but not before one shot nearly tore my earring off. I took cover behind the biggest tree I could find, firing right back as soon as Anton got close enough. He too took cover behind his own tree, leaving us exchanging fire back and forth. The trees we hid would suffer the most damage.

After reloading I came out in the open, firing my shots, keeping Anton pinned down. I took my leave before he had a shot at me, only to run into Nick, blasting his gauntlets right at me. I took a dive behind the closest bench I spotted, feeling those hot flames passing through the cracks. I came up blasting, getting Nick to take cover behind his own bench. I kept him pinned down before making another move from one tree to another.

Once again Anton made his move, shooting more trees full of holes. I fired right back, forcing the big man to jump out of the way of my incoming shots. I expected him to return fire until Nick decided to open his mouth, changing the outcome of our little shootout.

"What the fuck you doing, Anton?" He asked.

"The fuck does it look like I'm doing? That bitch is mine and I'm getting paid."

"Bullshit, I'm the one who's getting paid."

"Fuck off, Nick. That's my bitch and I'm taking what's mine."

"You ain't going nowhere with him."

"The fuck you gonna do, huh? How about I kill your ass right now?"

Anton and Nick were now pointing their weapons at each other, forgetting all about me. Soon the one remaining player joined in on the argument where things got heated up.

"None of you are getting him," said Zane. "I waited too long for this day to come, and you losers are getting shit."

"Fuck you, Zane," said Anton, "I have the guns. What do you have, fucking butter knives?"

"Both of you," said Nick, "can kiss my ass. John boy belongs to me, and if I have to burn you two fuckers to get to him then so be it."

"Why don't you try, motherfucker?"

"Don't tempt me, man."

As much as I wanted to see all three tear each other apart, I didn't have the time. The one way to deal with them was the old fashion way. Hopefully, they would agree to my idea and be done with it in a more civil manner.

"Ladies!" I yelled, stepping out in the open. "Ladies! Please, don't fight over me. There's plenty of me to go around. If you really want my ass, then let's do it the old fashion way like men. No weapons. No bitching. No bullshit. Sound good?"

They took their sweet time before finally agreeing with the idea.

"I got no problem with that," said Anton. "I don't need these babies to kick your ass."

"A fair fight?" Nick asked. "I'm down with that. I could use a good workout."

"Like men?" Zane asked. "Sounds like fun. I can always use my teeth to open up your jugular instead of a good old fashioned knife."

Anton and Nick removed their gauntlets, tossing them on the ground. Zane removed his coat full of knives. I removed the clip from my shotgun and the one slug in the chamber, tossing each aside.

"Now, who wants to go first?" I asked.

They all came charging at me. I started off with a swift kick into Nick's jaw, rolled out of the way before Anton got his hands on me, and a quick leg trip on Zane. Nick came at me while I was on the ground, but I flipped his ass over and onto the concrete. Anton rammed all of me into a tree like a linebacker charging a tackling dummy. That big hit nearly knocked the wind out of me.

A big right was set to smash my face in. My head went down, allowing Anton to hit the tree instead. The big man was in pain; possibly busted a few bones in his hand. It did give me the opportunity to kick the back of his leg and slam his head against the tree.

Zane tried again; this time I clotheslined his ass. Nick sucker punched me, making me drop to one knee. His knee came my way until I blocked the shot, driving a fist into his groin. I grabbed his hair, sending him crashing into Anton who was all fired up.

I took my coat off, giving myself some breathing room. Zane came at me with fire in his eyes and hate in his soul. I stopped him cold, throwing my coat at him and delivering a quick blow toward his ugly mug. I tossed his carcass over one beat up bench that needed replacing.

The brawl was getting tiring; exhaustion began to take its toll on me. My plan was to get them tired and shift them back to the island. Unfortunately, they still have some fight left in them before one delivers the killing blow. Zane and Anton were down, but Nicky boy rose up throwing hard punches into my cheeks. I blocked one shot, giving him one head butt to his already damaged nose, leaving him reeling and wincing in pain.

"Still hurting, Nick?" I asked. "Well, you needed a nose job to repair your image anyway."

"You're a dead man," he said. "You know what? Fuck the bounty. All I want to do is roast your ass on an open fire."

"Come on, fire boy. After our dance is done you're going back to the island."

"Fuck you. Not happening."

"You sure you want to disappoint your cellmates? I bet you left a lot of them heartbroken."

Nick ran towards me where he happened to charge into a spinning kick, connecting his right cheek. He spun around, charging right into the edge of Zane's carving knife. Zane decided to throw the rules away and stick with what he did best. The knife buried deep in Nick's chest was ripped right off, causing him to fall to his knees, and surround himself in his own blood.

"Nice shot, Zane," I said.

"Enough of this bullshit," said Anton, putting one of his gauntlets back on.

I wasted no time taking cover, but Zane was not so lucky. Every shot delivered heavy damage all over his body; every organ, limb, and head were in complete ruin. Zane's corpse hit the concrete, with the hint of burnt flesh filling up my nostrils.

"I'm coming for you." said Anton. "I'm coming right after you, bitch. After I'm done with your punk ass, I'm getting paid and getting laid all night."

He had me pinned down right by the nearest tree. My weapon was out of reach and I was in deep shit. To make matters worse, despite the loss of blood, Nick crawled all the way towards his gauntlets. I had Anton in the front and Nick in the back. Outnumbered and outgunned left me with only one option to end this contest.

"Hey, Anton," I said. "Why are you and Nick fighting? I thought you two were very close. One question, who was the bitch in that relationship, you or him?"

"Keep talking," said Anton, approaching me step by step.

"Hey, Nick let me ask you this, which one of you dropped the soap the most times? Better yet, who looked better in lace?"

Nick could barely talk from the pain but I knew he was getting pissed off. He reached out to the one gauntlet, trying as hard as he could to put it back on.

"Hey, Anton," I continued, "who wore the knee pads in that relationship? Was it good for him than it was for you?"

"The one," he said, "who's going to be on their knees is you, bitch."

"Yo, Nick listen up. Anton told me you fuck like your mother. You know what that tells me? You're the bitch in that relationship. I should have known. With that red hair and smooth complexion, you must be the girl of his dreams."

I appeared right in the open getting the two numbnuts to attack one another. At the same time Anton fired his shots right into Nick's face and head. Nick let loose his flame thrower, engulfing Anton's entire body. While Nick laid as dead as Zane, Anton was a human fireball, screaming in searing pain. It all ended when he collapsed onto the concrete as the flames continued to consume his flesh.

After all that it was finally over and I was so exhausted I wanted to sleep. With these three out of the way I could now focus on my assignment, along with the people I was anxious to have a word with. It just so happens one of those people just happened to appear, once again pointing an Uzi at me.

"Please, don't move," said Otto.

"Well, look at you," I said, "just the scumbag I wanted to talk to."

"Stop, I will kill you."

"You better do it right this time, kid, and you better kill me because I will take your weapon and beat the living shit out of you."

"I won't miss. I can't miss."

"You know what you missed? Your latest fix. You're long overdo, aren't you?"

Along with that same pale look he had at the diner, Otto's hands shook like leaves on an autumn day.

"You can't shoot for shit," I said. "The only thing that needs shooting are your arms. You're feeling cold right now. Your veins feel like they're about to blow up."

"Shut up," he said, still pointing his weapon at me.

"It makes you crazy when you stop using. The temptation is too great."

"Shut up."

"Your body wants to quit but your brain tells you to keep going."

"I don't want to do this. I have no choice."

"Your choice is to stand down."

"I didn't want this. She trusted me."

"Who? Who trusted you? You're talking about Prudence, aren't you? You know where she is."

"The only real friend I had. She never gave up on me and I betrayed her. I don't want to kill anyone, but I have to."

His hands continued to shake and suddenly burst into tears. He was a pathetic little shit and revealed to me what I knew all along. Otto was about to spill it all until he was interrupted by a big tree branch smacking the back of his head, knocking him out cold. Once again, as I still live and breathe, an angel came to my aid.

"Sadie?" I said.

"I was just in the neighborhood."

"Didn't I tell you to go?"

"You're very welcome by the way. Didn't I tell you you'd be dead without me?"

"I don't remember. I wasn't paying attention."

I was so worn out I went down on my knees, trying to get as much air as I could back into my lungs.

"Johnny," said Sadie, rushing over to my side. "Are you all right?"

"I'm sorry if me and my friends played too rough, mom. I promise I'll clean up my room later."

"What am I going to do with you?"

"Do me a favor and get my coat and gun. They're...over there...somewhere. Don't mind the bodies."

Sadie had no trouble finding my things; handing me the shot gun and draped the coat over my shoulders.

"On your feet, soldier boy," she said, helping me up.

"Thanks. Now it's time we had our talk with Otto."

I put my coat on and my weapon away, catching Otto attempting to stand up in his druggie state, but I was there to lend him a hand. I grabbed a handful of his shirt, pinning him against the nearest lamppost, decorated in graffiti. I planted a couple of slaps just to keep his eyes open.

"Hey," I said, "hey, listen up. Before we were interrupted you were telling me something. Do you remember?"

"What?" Otto said, looking ready to go down again.

"You better answer him," said Sadie, "you fucking twat."

"Sadie? Is that you? I haven't seen you in a long time."

"Hey, focus," I said. "You were telling me about Prudence."

"She was my friend. My only friend."

"Where is she, you bastard?" Sadie demanded, ready to tear him a new one. "You tell me right now."

Otto continued crying like a pussy. He was holding back on details I needed to hear.

"The lady," I said, "asked you a question. Where is she? Is she alive?"

"She's alive," he answered, "I think she is."

"What do you mean you think? Where is she?"

"Sassy's. She's at Sassy's Grave."

"Sassy's Grave? What the hell is she doing there?"

"They wanted her someplace safe. I told them where and they made an arrangement with the owner to watch over her until it was time to pick her up."

"They, who?"

"Some guys I'd never seen. They said she had something."

"What?"

"I don't know. They promised they wouldn't kill her or me, and they paid me just for cooperating."

"Paid you? Drugs, right?"

"Yeah, something new from overseas they told me."

I was getting sick to my stomach just listening to the shit that came out of his mouth. For the moment I wanted to hand him over to Sadie; she looked more anxious to kill him than I did.

"And did they," I asked, "tell you to kill me?"

"Yeah, they said to kill you or I won't get anymore of their medicine."

"You miserable little shit," I said, "you sold out your friend. Your own friend for what, for smack?"

"I told you he was a bad influence," said Sadie. "She protected you all this time and this is how you pay her back? You're a disgrace to her and me. You always were."

I released Otto, letting him slide down the lamppost, crying and looking more pathetic than he had already. At least he told us the whereabouts of Prudence, effectively ending my search for her. Getting her out of that joint was the even tougher part.

"I'm only going to say this once, dickhead," I said, "I want you gone, as in leave the city and don't ever come back. If I see your face again, I'm gonna shoot you in the throat and blow your fucking head right off your shoulders. You understand?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Sadie and I left him alone, repeating himself over and over. Hopefully, he will do what I said and that'll be the end of it. In my line of work I have ran into junkies, but nothing compares to the piece of shit I spoke to. Selling your friends out for drugs was a new low in this city.

"We are going to get her, right?" Sadie asked.

"Yes, we are, but we're going to need some help."