I’m burning three hairs tonight. Things got messy. They tend to do when I am around. But that is my role, making sure the job gets done and everyone makes it out, even when the initial plan fails. Hell, even if there wasn’t a plan in the first place!
I have been working with a new team this time. Open meeting for a job. Discord got the message from a contact and brought me in. Did the job sound solid? - A new Johnson no one’s ever heard of and no further information at all… Fuck, no! But I hadn’t paid my rent yet, and not even enough money left on the cred stick to pay for dinner. I might have delivered a pizza if that would have made some decent money.
The meeting was held at a bar called The Broken Neck. Probably named after the electric guitar hanging over the entrance, with it’s neck snapped in two. But what do I know.
As Discord entered with caution - checking for vibrations, or whatever it is he does with this weaponised tuning fork of his’- sword on my back, I just strode in as if I would own the place. There is no room for insecurities in my line of work.
The Johnson was easy enough to spot, which always makes me feel a bit tense. Either he doesn’t know how to keep a low profile, or he doesn’t have to.
Not showing my discomfort I walked over to his table, past his bodyguards - giving them a nod. Discord sat down first, face to face with Mr. Johnson.
Then the door opens again and in walks a guy - another elf. He must be around my age, I think, though that can be a bid hard to tell with us elves. The guy walks over to our table, both hands in the pockets of his pants that probably cost more than my whole wardrobe.
“You sure you are right here?”, Discord asks as the elf sits down.
“Well, this is about a job, right? That’s what I’m here for.” And just when I thought this couldn’t get worse, the door opens another time and in walks the ugliest, fattest elf I have ever seen! Huffing and puffing, squeezing past tables, yet still pumping into people and furniture alike, he makes his way right over to us. What a disgrace to my species. I hate being reduced to a pretty face, but striving for some level of grace and beauty is an ingrained part of our people and heritage. At least it should be, but I guess no one told him that! Out of breath he flops down next to us, and the meeting begins.
The job is straight forward. A package will arrive at 23:45 at a warehouse three hours from here. At the latest it will leave the warehouse again at 00:15. We have to go there and get it, before it gets a chance to. We get a good description of the crate that we are supposed to pick up, but we don’t ask what’s in it. All we need to know is how many of us are needed to carry it, and probably Discord can do it on his own.
Luckily, the fat elf, who introduces himself as Hunt0rKill0r69 turns out to be our driver. Neither Discord, nor I have a car. I assume Romeo - our Richie Rich - does, but he probably doesn’t want to get his back seats dirty with us.
It is 20:30 when the meeting concludes, so we have to leave quickly to get to the warehouse on time. What a team. Three elves and an Orc. I wonder how Discord feels about that. But if he has any thoughts on it, he doesn’t share them with us.
While in the car we study the map of the warehouse Mr. Johnson has organised for us. Discord calls his contact to find out a bit more about the place, but the guy says he needs at least until tomorrow to get the information. Useless. I too text Miri, just to make sure it isn’t one of theirs.
Gosh, Miri. Miri McCoy. She’s family. And yes, by that I do mean the Irish Mafia. How did I get ties to the Irish Mafia. It’s a long story, so let me cut it short by starting with: the foster care system in this city sucks! So what does a 14-year old boy do without a home to return to? Roaming the streets, getting into fights, stealing from Convenient stores and breaking into vending machines. I especially liked the one outside the Irish Pup that had actual dark Irish beer. It kept me fed and helped me not to care too much about the streets and the cold.
But, believe me, the owner of the vending machine did care, and one night caught me right in the act, even though she would probably have preferred to be in bed for the past two hours. I was lucky as hell that Mrs McCoy is probably the kindest person in the whole world. Was, I should say. She passed away last year. I still miss her.
As a ‘Punishment’ she gave me job at her Pub. I cleaned floors, carried boxed, waited tables and got paid. I also got to know her family. And with her family came The Family. I also got jobs with them. Sure, they still called me Long-Ear, Tree-hugger, Princess, but at least they paid well. And every now and then I even felt as if they were my family now.
Only after Mrs McCoy’s death, they too were all gone. All, but Miri. I think she’s only putting up with me because of her grandma, but that’s something, right? I guess most families work that way, but what do I know.
I didn’t hear anything back from Miri this time. I guess that’s fine. If it was theirs she would have taken the time to get back to me. And after all, how big are the chances?
With the little information we received, we created a plan. Discord was to sneak up the back side of the warehouse. We would park the car on the other side, leaving HuntOrKillOr there ready to go, while Romeo and I would cause a distraction. But first we were going to get close so we could watch the unpacking of the lorry, and then get started as soon as we had eyes on our package. We thought about staging a fight in the beginning, but then Romeo came up with the idea of hacking into the warehouse and taking over the conveyer band, making it go nuts. While mostly everyone would hurry inside to deal with the issue, I would quietly take out anyone left, then Discord comes along to fetch the crate, and off we go.
I have worked with teams before who really did the leg-work, learned everything there is to know about the job, came up with a solid plan, and that then sometimes even worked out.
This run did certainly not go like that!
We were all getting into position, Discord on the other side of the warehouse, Hunt0rKill0r in his car, just a few meters down the wall, and Romeo and I were sneaking up to the lorry-access were we expected the crate to be delivered any minute now. Or at least, I was sneaking…
I was close enough already to overhear two guys next to the entrance talk about last nights game, as Romeo makes a racket behind me, that even the guards in the next warehouse must have heard. I sigh and get my SMG ready as one of them hisses: “Did you just hear that?” But we are saved this time by the sound of the lorry arriving. The guys get busy preparing, and I sigh again, in relieve this time. It is not that I think I couldn’t handle two guards, but I don’t exactly enjoy killing innocent warehouse workers who are just doing their job.
A minute later the lorry is parked right were we expected it to be. Always nice when a part of the plan works out perfectly. They start unpacking, and there goes the rest of our plan. For some reason all of us had expected there to be single crates and packages that would neatly be unloaded one by one, and no one of us thought about the possibility of them being tied and packed into bigger units that made it necessary to unload them with a forklift. But exactly that was what happened. As we watched them taking the first pallet inside to unwrap and sort it there, we quickly revised our plan. We were sure the crate was still in the car, since that pallet we’d seen being unloaded had only included some other boxes. We needed to take the lorry! But also the driver hadn’t gotten out of the damn drivers cabin, so we had to get there faster than he would get spooked and decide to drive off. Also, I still have no idea what exactly happened over at Discords, but suddenly the alarm went off, and - as I learned just a moment later - he had three security guard coming his way. Summed up, everything went south. And this is when my role in a run really comes into play.
First, I stepped in front of the warehouse opening next to the lorry to give Romeo cover, who headed for the divers cabin. A bullet flying past his head he got in with the diver. For a moment there I hoped the guy in the car would’t draw a gun, because I don’t think Romeo had one. But instead of wondering about Romeo, I now had to focus on the guy out here with me who I knew had a gun. A machine gun, to be more precise. I fired a burst at him, then another. “Don’t let Romeo drive off with the truck. We don’t know him.”, Discords words rang inside my ears. So I just got in.
I am fast. The well paid jobs of my teenage years afforded me a synaptic booster, and not just the cheap basic model. So before the security guard got a chance to shoot at me, I jumped into the back of the lorry and took cover. I fired another burst at him, this time he fired back. I dodged, and ended it with another set of bursts from my HK Urban Combat.
“Help over here!”, Discord yelled inside my earbud.
I couldn’t make out exactly were he was, but there were two more security guards in my line of sight, over at Discords side of the building, quite far away, and not easy from my position, but still doable. Also at this moment I heard the drivers door slam shut and someone running away, most likely the driver. I guess he did not have a gun. And somehow Romeo also did not have to use his. I kind of envy him about that.
While I was getting into a gunfight with the two guards, the lorry started to move. It made it even harder for them to hit me, despite one of them taking some kind of combat drug right at the start of our encounter. Do these things work that fast? I have never tried them.
While I’m taking cover behind some pallets, bullets fly by me ear, just for a moment I allow myself to think about Nathaniel. The way he feels, smells, tastes,… But there is also no room for sentimentality in my line of work. Let alone a civilian boyfriend.
So I get a grip and focus back on the fight. In the end they both go down. I am unharmed.
Discord also dealt with one guard successfully and managed to run back to where we had dropped him off. From there Kill0r picked him up again, and right as we are leaving the premise an explosion goes off at another warehouse close by. It seems we are not the only team doing a job tonight, but who knows, in this city there always seems to be some shit going on.
So a little later we all meet up a few streets over. I had had some time to find our cate and we can quickly unpack it, get it into our car, and bring it back to the Johnson in The Broken Neck.
We got our money, and I was finally able to transfer the credits for my rent on the way home. Just in time before this asshole of a landlord tries to throw me out of my place again. I have never not paid at some point yet!
Tonight I have killed three people, so I am burning three of my hair in a bowl with cheap incense and dried dead flowers, in the early morning hours…
My mom told me about our elvish heritage and culture. Also about the Five Paths, but we didn’t follow any of them. Unscientific nonsense, I believe she called it. She still taught me about conservation of energy, that everything is connected and that I need to honour life. That if I take one, I have to give something back of myself. If I don’t, the universe will choose itself what it takes to make up for it.
I have had a lot to give back in recent years, so mostly I choose hair, cut from my head, or sometimes just out of my hair brush… Yes, I have become neglectful. But if someone really deserves it, I might still give a drop of my blood…
So, now, is there going to be a another run with this team? Probably not. Discord of course I will meet again. He is my best chance of finally figuring out what happened to my mother. I dreamt about her again last night. She appeared outside my window as a still burning zombie, like she is in most of my dreams.
Actually, it might do me some good to have a real person to talk to about all that shit now. Maybe not the nightmares, but you know, the rest of it.
The sun has finally come up. I guess I will go get some sleep now.