Urban Blade: Long Road

Without another word, the Mexican stripped off her leather jacket and handed it to Taiken. The fluorescent street lamps revealed the many tattoos covering her arms and shoulders; the woman was inked the fuck up.

"You're shopping on your own amigo. Have fun."

She cracked a mischievous smile before ducking back towards the humvee. Roxy's blood ran cold when she saw the police cruiser pass by them, ain't no way in hell she was gonna wait for it to double back. Her hands sought her bag, which she promptly tore open to rummage. Laying her road atlas flat upon the seats of the humvee, she proceeded to find a Martin Luther King Boulevard, or perhaps a Rosa Parks Parkway - anything that could be affiliated with the black community. She scanned the roads in the area with an agitated expression, biting her lower lip and clenching her fists.

"Whaddaya know boys. looks like Vance was right. Martin Luther King Boulevard."

She pointed towards a street not too far from their current location, about two or three miles north. It would explain why there was a police cruiser passing through, probably making sure there weren't any crack deals taking place. Probably best that Roxy kept her pharmacy kit in her pack. Folding the map back up, Roxy tucked it back into her bag, shaking her head.

"We gotta wait for sniper boy to get back, in the mean time we gotta hijack a car."
 
Taiken took the jacket and put it on. By the looks of it, the thrift store was closed, which made this more or less challenging. "Alright, I'm going to try and pick the lock on the door to get in silently. If that doesn't work, then I'll have to just bust my way in. So be ready to get out of here fast in case someone hears. Don't wanna be around when the fuzz shows up."

The thought had just occured to him that he didn't really have anything that could help him pick the lock. Not even a bobby pin. Though perhaps one of the others had something. "Oh and uh, either of you got anything that might help pick the lock?"
 
Without a word, Vance pulled off his backpack and reached inside, then pulled out a small rectangular case. He handed it to Taiken, who looked at with a bit of curiosity before opening it to find that it was a lock picking kit. All the tool one could ever need to aid in the picking of a lock. What luck.

With a smile, Taiken closed the kit and slid it into his backpack, then nodded to the others before making his way hastily down the street to the thrift store. He did his best to keep to the dark spot and shadows as much as possible to keep out of sight. Once he reached the front door, he took a look through the glass to make sure that the store was indeed empty. And it was. No late night employees to be seen. All he needed to do was pick the lock and he could slip in unnoticed.

Kneeling to one knee, Taiken removed his backpack and pulled out the lock picking kit, then opened it up and pulled out the tools. His heart was pounding at this point, both with anxiety and excitement. He had picked locks before, but never to break into a store or something like that. As he inserted the picking tools into the lock, he began moving them about ever so slightly to try and get the tumblers to click. It took him a minute, but finally, the tumblers clicked into place and the lock was disabled. Taiken grinned as he turned the lock and opened the door. A sense of pride washed over him for a moment. Without a moment to spare, he put the tools back into the kit, put the kit back into his pack and entered the store, closing the door behind him in case anyone might drive by and see it.

It was dark inside, promting him to take out the flashlight from his backpack and turn it on, making sure never to point the light in the direction of any windows to minimize the chance of it being seen from outside. There was clothes everywhere, though not greatly organised. That didn't matter though. He wasn't there for anything special, just some clothes that fit. Quickly, he grabbed several T shirts in various adult sizes and stuffed them into his backpack. Once that was done, he did the same with several pairs of cargo pants, also taking a few belts just to be sure. Finding the rain coats took him a couple minutes, grabbing a few of those as well. As he started making for the door, he spotted a shelf with packs of socks stocked on it, and figured 'why the hell not?', and grabbed a pack. Before he could leave though, the cash register caught his eye. Perhaps he could get inside of it and find some cash?
 
They were taking too much time and patience was a thing that Roxy didn't care to cultivate. She dashed across the street - taking care to avoid the circles of yellow light on the street and the police cruiser - and halted at the door of the thrift store. Gently prying it open, she peered inside and whispered urgently, "C'mon, the cop's gonna be back here any second now."
 
As Taiken walked over to the cash register, he heard Roxy softly speaking to him from the front door. It made him made him jump in surprise, and immediately aim his flashlight at her to see. Once he realized it was her, he moved turned the flashlight back to the register and sighed in releif. "Yeah and you're not making it look any less suspicious by standing there in front of the door. Either get inside or get the fuck out of here, I'll be done in a minute." His voice was hushed, though not quite as much as Roxy's was.

After turning his attention back to the cash register, he pulled the lockpicking kit from his pack once again, and took out the tools. Time to work his magic on the small lock at the front of the register. It didn't take long for him to pick this one. A grin came over his face once again as he turned the lock and opened up the register. To his dismay however, there was no money to be found inside the register, and there was no time to go searching the store for it.

Taiken turned to the front door and slung his backpack onto his back, then made his way out, shutting the door behind him. His grin remained as he made his way back to the alley. Once there, he started distributing the clothes he had gathered to the others. It was time to get changed and get out of here.
 
She slid into the store like a snake, closing the door quietly with one hand. The woman kept her back to it, in case she needed to make a clean get away. With the meager light from the streets and Taiken's flashlight, it gave Roxy the illusion that they were in a Halloween store. She shuffled about nervously, her eyes moving from each corner of the room to find any security cameras. Relief flooded through her when they finally left.

While Taiken distributed the clothes, Roxy stood by the humvee shaking her head.

"No can do boys, we gotta find us a new ride." She looked sidelong at Vance and Taiken. "Any of you know how to hotwire a car?"
 
Taiken spoke hastily as he changed into his new clothes, trying to stay as dry as possible under the fire escape until he could finish and a rain coat on.

"I've never hotwired a car a before, but It shouldn't be to hard. I've worked with electronics and machinery for most of my life."

After a few minutes, he was changed into a black T shirt and cargo pants, with a navy blue rain coat. There was one last thing he had forgotten to do before they got a new car and left though. Taiken made his way back over to the humvee and opened the back door, then reached down to the sniper rifle and removed the electro-optical scope. It would likely come in handy later. As he slip the scope into his backpack, he pulled the lockpick kit out and looked to the others.

"Well, lets go see about getting us a new car."

After reaching the sidewalk, it was clear that the street didn't have a lot of cars parked along it. There were a few, but not many of them looked like the kind of car anyone would go out of their way to steal. After a few scans of the street, he spotted one that looked like it would do the trick, and made his way over to it, keeping low to hide behind it from anyone who might drive by. It was a black 2008 Ford Expedition SUV, and in pretty good shape by the looks of it. Taiken pulled out the tools from the lockpicking kit and took a quick look around to make sure the coast was clear before working on the lock. This time, the lock wasn't budging it seemed. It took several minutes before he was finally able to pick the lock and open the door. Once that was done, Taiken leaned into the car and started trying to hotwire the engine. Unfortunately, it didn't look as simple as he had previously though. Time was passing by, and with each minute, he found he was no closer to getting the car to start. After about 10 minutes of trying, he finally gave up and left the car, closing the door behind him and putting the lockpicking kit back into his pack. After making his way back to the others in the alley, he sighed heavily and broke the news.

"Well, it looks like I wasn't able to hotwire it afterall. I could keep trying, maybe get lucky with the wiring, or... I don't know really."

After a short pause, Taiken gestured to the humvee and spoke again.

"Can the guy even walk on his own? Cus I'm not carrying his ass."
 
Maybe they took too long. Maybe some insomniac neighbour heard the break-in. Maybe
William had been caught and had told them everything. But all the same the cops swooped in like the hand of a silent, irrefutable god.

In the rain they had mistaken the first squad car for a passing vehicle. But then it had slowed, its lights had lit up, and a single tone of the siren rung through the night. Two officers spilled from the vehicle, one in plain sight while the other took cover behind the car. "ON YOUR KNEES - NOW!"

Then the voice found echo at the other end of the alley. The second squad car had arrived unheard, creeping silently past the line of cafes and clubs on the south side. One cop was running out of sight to flatten himself to the wall, while the second kept behind the car, pistol raised. "HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE 'EM!"

There were more lights, splashing red and blue down the alley to the west. A third squad car was moving in.

"FUCK!" Vance cried, and turned to the humvee, snatching his bow and arrow from the passenger seat. Inside, Trent had fallen back into unconsciousness.

They were almost cornered...

...almost.


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Of all the luck, the cops had managed to find them here, and catch them off guard to boot. Taiken dashed to the humvee and swung the back door open, jumping inside and closing the door. The armored car would provide protection while he began reloading the sniper rifle and equipping the scope. As he frantically started dealing with the gun, he noticed Trent in the back seat, once again unconscious. Hell of a time for that to happen. Nothing he could do about it now though.

"Of all the times they could have found us, it had to happen when one of us is out cold, and my only weapon is all but disassembled. Fucking great!" Taiken was talking to himself while frantically getting his gun ready.
 
It was when the cruiser slowed did Roxy know they were fucked. The woman spun on the spot, foot nearly slipping on the wet asphalt and dove back into the humvee. She spotted Vance and Taiken in a frenzy, hurriedly putting together their weapons and getting ready to open fire. From the sounds of the cops and the swirling lights, there had to be at least two cars. Goddamnit, they should have left with the humvee. Panicked hands sought her own weapons, her wide eyes finding Trent out cold. The three of them could handle four cops couldn't they? They were armed to the teeth, while the cops probably had their shitty government issued pistols.

Glancing east, to the side of their ride, Roxy noted that that the cops hadn't covered that alleyway. God knows where that would take them but it was worth a shot.

"Listen up, the cops ain't watching the east side. You two cover me while I try to bring back Trent. Once he's up, we're gonna haul ass outta here on foot. Start picking them off in the mean time."

With the smelling salts used up, Roxy decided to go with the unconventional route. Grasping Trent's shoulders, she shook him. "Wake up!"

... Nothing.
 


"We have to leave him!" Vance shouted, even as he pulled back the bowstring and sent an arrow northwards around the edge of the open door.

It struck the alley wall just short of the nearest officer, who dropped to one knee and opened up.

In the next moment four bullets tore around the humvee, striking windows, hull and glancing from alley walls.

Vance fell back behind the cover of the door, but he was exposed on the south side and struggling to reload.



 
She laid herself as flat as possible across the floor boards of the humvee, arms coming up to cover the back of her head. Bullets whizzed and rocoheted off the walls and the vehicle, making her cry out in alarm.

"I'm not leaving him here, he's our ticket out!"

The doctor didn't want to shake him awake, that didn't work the last time. She checked his wound, found the bandages to be in good condition and decided instead that perhaps the man wasn't getting enough air. Roxy pumped his chest, pinched his nose and breathed hard into his mouth.

"Trent, wake up, you gotta wake up."

The doctor continued once more with CPR, exhaling deeply with relief when she saw his eyelids flutter up.
 
Finally, his gun was ready to fire, and not a moment to soon. As he looked up and saw just what was going on around him, he started assessing the best course of action.

"Well if he's not gonna be getting up moving himself out of here, then someone needs to get this fuckin thing moving so we can get out of here with him in tow!"

Taiken reached up and opened the hatch on the roof of the humvee, then raised his gun through and followed by himself into the gunner's nest. He wasn't very keen on shooting police officers if he could help it. He wasn't yet pushed to that point. Instead, he aimed at the hood of the car to the south. A bigger target, and it would help keep them from following if he managed to take it out and they got the hell out of here. He took a moment to aim down the scope, and squeezed the trigger as he exhaled. The blast range out quite a bit louder than the police's pistols, and struck it's target near the center of the hood of the car, easily ripping through it.

He wasn't able to tell if he had damaged any of the internal parts of the car, but regardless, he planned to take another shot at it until he was sure it was disabled.

( South police car takes 7 damage. 27 remaining)
 
"WE NEED TO GO. NOW!" Vance's yell could be heard above the whizz of gunfire. He was by the side-door, ducking in and out as the fight unfolded. He sent another arrow northwards, through the windscreen of the car Taiken was targeting. It hit nothing, but threw off the shots of the two cops to the north.

Inside the vehicle, Trent's eyes rolled closed again. He was out, and Roxy's efforts seemed only to be exacerbate the wound in his chest.

Gunfire came from the south again. In the gunner's mount, Taiken had half-concealement, but even that afforded little defence against the marksmanship of the RCPD. One bullet skimmed his hair, causing him to flinch, and as he twisted the second tore into his arm. It struck just above the elbow, thudding into the muscle-meat, flecking his face with blood. The man dropped down inside the humvee, hissing in pain, and this allowed the two cops to the south to advance into the alley.

"STAND THE FUCK DOWN!" was the only cry amid the gunshots.

But there was no telling now if surrender was possible now.

[3 damage to Taiken]
 
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