Eliminating Scum from the City

CHAPTER 1

Recently retired from the military Special Forces, Anna Guthrie sighed as she read an account in the morning newspaper of two more rapes of women outside an outlying nightspot. The 36-year-old had only been in the city of 27,000 for ten days and was angry that the dough-faced realty agent had not told her about the Mason Gang. Had he done so she may have chosen another city in which to settle.

During that 10-day residency, Anna had read about eight rapes, two instances of arson, three businessmen being assaulted in their stores in front of terrified shoppers and store clerks and one abduction that had police baffled. The police chief was reported as saying, "We are doing all we can but no evidence points to the Mason Gang. Several eye-witness accounts of gang members being involved were in conflict."

Anna snorted: "Well, incarcerate the entire gang and then assess the situation over a month. I bet the city will be virtually crimeless."

Her neighbor Mrs Allen said, "We have rule of law here Anna; you're not in hostile territory in some foreign country attempting to impose martial law."

"No, your are correct of course and Mrs Allen I can say I felt safer in a few of those countries, surrounded by our troops, than I do in this city surrounded by cops hogtied by the law and smooth-talking attorneys attempting to bend the rules of justice to prevent clients from spending longer time behind bars."

"Well, thanks for the loan of your newspaper," said old Mrs Allen, picking up the newspaper that Anna had only just started to read it. "Bring back the old-time vigilantes I say."

As Anna picked up the two coffee cups after seeing off Mrs Allen, the word vigilantes kept sweeping through her mind repetitively, as if on ticker tape. That's it, she thought. Fight the scum privately and be unafraid of going beyond the law.

Later that morning, working out in the gym during the two hours it was closed to males, Anna thought about forming herself into a special force of one. If she recruited vigilantes she'd loose the ability to keep the lid on everything. It would be dangerous though. If the gang found her out she could be killed or if the police apprehended her during an illegal act she would land up doing time in the county jail. The prognosis was not encouraging but if she made Mohan City a safer place it would be worth it. She'd have no problem coming out of retirement because she'd not yet found a guy with highly perceived husband potential and so was marking time and beginning to yawn too frequently.

First Anna worked out her strategy built around two premises: swift reprisals and remaining difficult to detect.

That made her mode of transport easy: A motorcycle -- fast, sure footed on all terrain, quiet. Hmmm, usually such bikes were noisy.

Difficult to detect was easy: Operate only at night -- everything must be black.

Next morning Anna left in her gray battered pick up for the big city 600 miles away and returned with the motorcycle -- specially muffled -- and other supplies including sophisticated weapons and explosives purchased in cash deals done in dark alleys or sleazy bars. She waited until it was dark and then drove into Mohan to her home and stashed everything in the guest bedroom, not putting on the house lights until after she had finished that task.

Anna toured around the city next day visiting some of the reported rape scenes but learned nothing. There appeared to be no pattern. Back near her home Anna had her longish brown hair cut to a male style and after dark rode out on her motorcycle to learn to ride it thoroughly. She'd been trained in motorcycle riding on sealed and metal roads and in cross-country dirt bike riding. After a full workout she patted the fuel tank, declaring the bike a real beauty and money well spent. She slept on the ground beside it in a parkland wilderness and at daylight rode about the cycle tracks looking at areas beyond the track where she could hide the bike at least a half-mile in from the road.

She eventually found such a place across flood-strewn gravel on both sides of a stream that would help to cover her tire marks. Against a bank she found a depression rather than a cave behind some bushes and the next day she toiled for almost four hours with a shovel and two pails to carry off spoil while forming a much deeper 'garage'. A little farther on she dug in lateral shafts, still behind bushes, in which to store her four rifles, two handguns, two assault knives and explosives. There was no need for handcuffs or rope because Anna did not intend to take prisoners.

Anna's cover could be blown if she talked to anyone. So she planned to badly maim any gang member who pursued her or to kill any who found committing a crime.

The gang was relatively unsophisticated. Newspaper articles quoted police as saying the gang had twelve to twenty active members, a number of them 'seasonal itinerants' and some twenty wives, girlfriends, children and hangers on.

Unsophisticated they were. They resided in a box canyon with a high wall and gates at the entrance. The gates remained open during the day, the gang relying on a large poorly painted notice: 'Intruders will be shot' to keep people out. The gates were closed and guarded at nights and three cars loaded with police routinely drove in to search the compound whenever the gang was suspected of crimes.

In her first act of unlawful retribution, Anna hit hard. She entered through the gates mid --afternoon, conspicuously dressed in black and appearing male but remained undetected and holed up until late at night. She'd identified one loose dog and two chained ones and in the hour before midnight using bait lures managed to kill all three without disturbance. She then placed explosives on timers at the canyon water supply and on the swimming pool dam across the stream and after climbing over the wall placed smaller explosives on to wreck the huge gateposts. She'd just pulled out her motorcycle from cover and was riding away when the explosives went off sequentially.

That evening Anna went to watched TV with Mrs Allen while they drank gin. Mrs Allen was glad to have company and both oohed and aahed and the wrecked gates, dam and the completed destroy water intake and treatment system.

Gang leader Paul Mason was still absolutely livid, hours after the mayhem. He told the television reporter: "The police told my brother Arnold and me it's an expert job and enquiries are continuing but we have no rival gang. We think this is the work of the police or a federal agency."

It was the first time Anna had seen Paul Mason and she worked herself up so that it was hate on first sight. She decided to kill him without reason if necessary but didn't doubt there would be a reason.

Paul Mason then made her mouth curl when he said, "The kiddies here in our peaceful community are mourning over the loss of their pet dogs, ripped open with knives."

"Pet dogs -- or yeah?" she said. "I bet they were killer guard dogs."

"I was thinking exactly the same thing dear. It's a big blow to that awful gang...actually it appears rather symbolic because no one was killed."

"Well that's bound to change, would you think Mrs Allen?"

"Yes I do."

On the third night of her patrol Anna was unable to prevent a pillion passenger in gang jacket jump off and snatch a brief case from a guy walking towards the 'night teller' at a bank and then the thief being rapidly taken away behind the motorcyclist. The robbed man was a witness and another man and women across the street were watching. Had she intervened she would have given away her identity, ruining any chance of carrying on effectively.

On the fifth night Anna spotted two men dragging a woman from a vehicle stopped at a quiet lights-control intersection just after midnight and hid herself. By then they'd ripped off some of the woman's clothes and one of the guys had just dropped his trousers. Anna yelled in her megaphone -- you have been detected you rapists. I've called the police."

Anna hadn't of course but the guys decided to scamper, one leaving his trousers behind. As they sped over the intersection Anna shot out their back tire, using her infrared sight, and watched the unexpected result as the bike went down, both guys trapped under it by their right legs. They were store on the bike as it slid under an 18-wheeler amid horrible screams. She rode off almost silently over the crescent of the roadside bank of the cutting.

Anna yawned in the morning when handed her newspaper by Mrs Allen anxious to take it home for a leisurely read. "Oh look," she smiled pointing to the big front-page story with an over line: Late breaking news.

Mrs Allen leaned over and read the heading aloud, 'Mysterious Rifleman Sends Attempted Rapists to Gory Deaths'.

"Oh, the scum were crushed under the wheels of the big truck after their tire had been shot out. How on earth could the rifleman know that consequence?"

"Just uncanny luck I would think Mrs Allen."

The next two night patrols were fruitless. Anna knew she was taking a big risk riding around with a rifle, handgun and knife. She had the weapons concealed as well as she could but if she were stopped for any reason at a police checkpoint or even by a following police car she could be in deep shit.

On Saturday morning Mrs Allen hadn't arrived over and so wearing only her dark blue lacy top nightdress that was no much lower than her hips, Anna took the newspaper next door. She bowled in, to be confronted by a dishy black-haired guy with big shoulders and probably big in another place.

"Who are you?" he challenged.

"Er Anna, Mrs Allen's friend and neighbor."

He grunted and she saw his eyes were devouring her partly exposed breasts.

"Oh god," she wailed, tossing the newspaper at him and ran off, glad she'd pulled on panties when she'd left the bed to fetch the newspaper.

She'd calmed down brushing her hair and had dressed and put on make-up when there was a knock at the side door. Wondering whether to grab a handgun she looked out the window and saw it was the big guy.

"Yes."

"You've dressed and put on paint." he accused.

"If that's what you see, yes."

"Aunt Alice wants you to join us for breakfast."

"Why?"

Big guy shuffled his feet. "So I can ask you something."

"Yes, I'll date you tonight, it's Saturday."

"Oh great. You won't need to come to breakfast."

Anna smiled. "Perhaps Aunt Alice would enjoy presiding over two young people."

"Oh yeah, mom likes doing that."

"What, when you walk out from the bedroom with the latest babe."

"Yeah, how...Oh fuck."

"You have to be quick around me Gavin."

"Gavin? It's Scott Marple."

Anna took him by the arm and said, "Come along Scott; I promise to be gentle with you.

"What about locking you door?"

"My house is bugged. If I hear the alarm sound I'll go over an half kill any intruder unless it's a kid and then it will be a smacked butt."

"You? You are almost petite...you couldn't hurt a..."

Scott found himself on his back on the small strip of grass, Anna's foot across his throat.

"What the fuck?"

She helped him to his feet, brushed off grass and said he really should try not to swear in front of a lady.

"You a lady?"

They exchanged grins and went inside.

Anna and Scott arrived on Anna's porch just before midnight, both weaving slightly. She lifted a loose floorboard at the side and disabled the alarm system.

"You have an alarm system so don't bother locking your doors?"

"Yes, it's a very sophisticated alarm system. Get inside and you won't be able to outwit it. Not locking the doors means they're not forced open although in another house I had the intruder actually break the glass and cut himself badly when reaching for the lock; he simply assumed the door would be locked."

"It's exciting being around you Anna. Um, Aunt Alice could be peeping through the shades."

"Does it matter Scott? She'll already know what horny younger people do."

"Oh right. I should have though that although I'm not sure if that would have made any difference to the way I think."

"Um, probably not. Usually difference results from action and by that I mean bigger action that just looking through shades."

"I get what you mean Anna, I think."

They stripped off in the bedroom and Scott was all over her tits like a hungry dog.

"Scott, Scott. Slow down. This is not a race -- no none else is after my tits and pussy."

"I know that. It's just some women change their minds on a whim."

"I don't have whims."

Scott said why wasn't that a surprise to him.

He slowed down and Anna slipped to her knees and after slurping him just the once cooed, "Oh, isn't this such a pet."

Scott swelled with pride. Anna encircled his cock with her fingers and half way up opened her hand a little and pushed her finger nails into the back of his cock. He groaned and as her nails bit into the sensitive spot just below his helmet Scott watched horrified as he ejaculated straight into her face.

"Yikes!" he yelled. "Sorry."

Anna giggled. She then sank her mouth over his shaft leaving Scott to wipe away the cum on her face.

"Ohmigod Anna," he muttered. "How am I going to handle you?"

Actually he handled Anna to her satisfaction. She allowed him to go during the night but demanded he get his butt back to her after lunch when his aunt usually had a long nap. That worked out very well and after late dinner at Anna's place Scott sadly drove off to his home 150 miles away. Anna let some tears go and Mrs Allen wrapped her skinny arms around Anna and happily cried with her. Finally Mrs Allen asked, "Why are you crying dear, you know he's coming back in three weeks?"

"Three weeks is such a long time."

"Oh my," said Mrs Allen.

CHAPTER 2

Every night the following week Anna conducted her nightly patrols. She spotted nothing untoward, noting the gang members on motorcycles now rode in threes or fours or drove in cars at three or four to a vehicle. Ah, so the gang was on the defensive and had suspended crime.

The gang being defensive opened the way for her to mount an offensive so late Saturday afternoon she parked her pick-up out of sight from the highway and hidden from surveillance from the air; that was no easy task. She then began the trek through difficult terrain, arriving at the canyon rim just on dark. She almost peed herself when she heard a voice, not far to her left and obviously on a radio, "It's all clear everywhere in sight. Have a great party."

They had posted a fucking sentry! Anna had that pee, grinning at the enterprise of the brainless wonders and congratulating herself from coming in softly as trained although expecting no resistance.

She crept into position and could see the guy outlined against the stars near the edge of the rim. She thought of shouting "Boo' and watching him walk out into space in fright.. From now on every guy she cornered she would send back to base mutilated to scare the shit out of his evil colleagues.

The guy lit a cigarette and began smoking it. Anna crept behind the tree he was sitting against and whispered "Smoking is bad for one's health." She tapped on the side of the tree and when the guy looked around to find what was making the noise she thudded her knife butt into his forehead. Anna then stripped him and used her knife on the head of his cock, making it so ugly that no woman would ever want it near him. The blood would stop on it's own accord before long, she reckoned. She then cut the guy's clothes into strips and bound and gagged him securely, rubbed some dirt into his wound on his dick and bound that. She placed him face down and finished off tying him to the tree as when he regained conscious he could thrash around so much he could have tumbled over the 70 to 80 foot cliff.

He moaned so she said loudly, "Oh Mr Sentry. I had to cut you open to deliver your baby. Goodness me, I found triplets."

But he remained groaning without wakening.

Anna watched the antics of the partygoers and when the last of the children were taken off to bed she pulled her long barrel rifle out of its bag, set up the tripod and with the aid of a pencil torch adjusted the sights to her satisfaction. There was no wind -- just darkness and distance to figure out. It was fortunate the gang had built the dwellings in the narrowest part of the canyon.

Anna had gang leader Paul Mason in her sights several times and resisted the urge to kill him. Then at last she had his brother in her sights; Arnold was her planned target. When everything was right and he was standing on the porch holding a beer tankard, she shot him through the left hip and although he'd twisted and doubled up in the impact, she waiting patiently for him to straighten up almost by reflex, and that occurred. She then put a second round through that other hip, almost hearing bone fragmenting, or so she imagined. Anna heard her victim's screams above the booming echo of the rifle fire.

Using a compass and larger torch once she was well clear of the rim, Anna shuffled down the slope that was devoid of tracks. After an hour when a police helicopter went over the area in a search pattern with searchlight, she stopped in a grove of larger trees and bedded down for the night. An hour after dawn Anna reached her vehicle. She had the choice of moving away from the area and approaching the city on the far side or driving straight back home. She decided the police and gang members would have believed the rifle shots came from the rim and would have found the disabled sentry. So she drove away from the scene, circled the city and entered it on Cullen Creek Road to the south. She spotted police vehicles; some stationary on the way home but no notice was taken of her, as she was now in a loud floral dress and older woman's hat, scarcely the look of a near deadly assassin. Anna packed away her small arsenal in a steel waterproof box in the trench in her overgrown garden and pulled the carpet of weeds back over the trench.

Scott called and they had a long conversation. Later Mrs Allen arrived back with the morning newspaper with reports and the co-leader of the gang Arnold Mason had almost died from loss of blood and it was likely he'd be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

"There's a murderer out there," Paul Mason was reported as saying to a reporter. "It's someone who is out to get us one by one. My innocent brother was home with his family having a quiet drink when all hell broke lose. It's a civic disgrace that the police are failing to act effectively and what is the mayor doing about this?"

The mayor was quoted. "We can't condone what's going on in this vendetta against the gang but..."

The reporter asked but what? The mayor said that's all he wished to say.

Mrs Allen pointed to another story about the mutilation of the sentry on guard at the gang headquarters.

Anna felt the hair on the back of her neck rise when the reporter claimed the police were considering the theory that the assassin could be a gay or a female because the sentry's penis had been horribly mutilated.

"Oh, the poor asshole," Mrs Allen crowed. "Now this bit about it possibly being a woman. You are out of the house a lot and were in the military."

"Yes Mrs Allen. I please guilty, it was me," Anna said sweating.

"You, going up against evil like that? Oh give me a break love."

They laughed and Mrs Allen invited Anna over for 'a bite of lunch'.

When Anna was filling up at a gas station, the woman who was taking her money said, "We all feel safer around here now. Most of that bad-ass gang has dispersed. Just the main leader and his three lieutenants fill up here now. But they don't go out much except to see the guy in the hospital."

The hospital. Of course. Anna thought perhaps she could spring a trap to take out Paul Mason at the hospital.