The sun was setting over on the horizon with a strong red aura as dusk fell. The streets of Exumber were fairly quiet, with only a handful of individuals walking outside. Maileena looked at them from above through the shutters of the window in the motel room. Seeing them walking so casually and carefree made her envious of their freedom and lack of need to look over their shoulder. To be free and safe… that's all I wish for Vera and me.
She looked over at Demilan, who was sitting on his bed, holding his Skyla rifle. He aimed it around the room, squinting his eyes through its scope as if he was target practicing. She could notice that he had returned to himself by now. His motor skills seemed to have been fully restored, and his instincts, while a bit rusty, were still mostly intact. "How are you feeling?" she asked him.
"Much better," he said. "I think I'll need only one more day to get my reflexes together. I believe tomorrow we'll be able to hit the Godly Succubi." A pinch of fear filled her heart. As determined and eager as she was to get her revenge on Kleon Hanford and saving her sister, she feared of what would await her there. The Godly Succubi always had at least four armed men patrolling around the club at any time, and with the recent events, she worried that they might face a greater number of men.
An hour later, Winselt appeared in the room with his regular bundle of plastic bags at hand. Looking over at Demilan, he seemed pleased. "You look better," the scarred soldier said to his comrade.
"I am," Demilan said, rising from his bed to greet his old friend.
"Does that mean we're ready to do this?" a hint of eagerness appeared on Winselt's face. Demilan had told Maileena about how comfortable Winselt had always felt on the battlefield, despite what he's been through during the Tearful Rebellion.
"I think we are," Demilan replied. "Besides, I believe we've let this hang for too long already."
"Don’t be an idiot," Maileena couldn’t help but say. "If we were to attack them any earlier we would've died for sure. At least now we stand a chance."
"The girl's right, Demilan," Winselt said, tapping on his friend's shoulder. "Anyway, that's good, because I just so happened to have brought us something." He dropped his bags on the floor and burrowed his hand into one of them. He took out three earpieces. "We can use these to communicate during the hit." He handed one to each. Maileena held hers in her hand and examined it. It was small, shaped almost exactly like the inside of one's ear and had a skin-like color.
"I thought mob gangs were always using radio communication devices, not earpieces."
"First of all, Code Sanguinary is NOT a mob gang," Winselt seemed offended. For a second, Maileena had forgotten how much Blackburn and his men tried to distance themselves from the likes of other criminal organizations. "Secondly, they do use radio devices, but Code Sanguinary doesn’t."
"Since Blackburn has ties to gun manufacturers, he gets military-grade equipment, and he's the only one that does," Demilan explained. "That's why he's the only one in the gun trading business. These earpieces are just another one of the perks you get when you work for him."
"Other organizations can't afford to have them, as these things are usually expensive, so they prefer to spend their money on weapons only and settle for those lousy radio devices," Winselt said.
"I see," Maileena said, humbly. "So, does that means you took it from Blackburn?"
"Relax, they're not going to notice that these are gone." Winselt seemed casual and carefree. Winselt is risking a lot to help us, including his life and his place in Code Sanguinary. I doubt Blackburn and his stern attitude would let this slide if he were to know.
"Are you out of your mind?" Demilan berated him. "Take those back before he finds out! You've already done more than you should've." He threw the earpiece back to Winselt.
"Calm the fuck down," Winselt remained cool, as he tossed the earpiece back at Demilan. "You need all the help you can get if you want to save Telia."
Demilan looked down at the floor and sighed. "Thank you," He whispered hoarsely. Maileena knew that Demilan wasn’t used to this kind of help. As a person who has continually known suffer and pain during his recent years, she knew that he was eternally grateful that he had Winselt at his side at such an hour of need.
"Maileena," Winselt turned to her. "Did you construct any kind of plan for the attack yet? After all, you're the only one of us who actually knows how that place looks and built."
"I actually have an idea," she said. The thought of a plan had lingered in her mind for the past few days, and after much concentrating, she thought of something. As the three gathered around, she shared her thoughts with them. "There's a room in the back part of the club, where they keep all the underage girls of the VIP section. It's located in a corridor that's entirely hidden from the public eye, on the upper floor of the club." As she spoke of that room, she remembered the times she was kept in it, along with about a dozen other girls, half of which were only slightly older than her, while the other half much younger. "Kleon himself usually likes to escort the VIP clients to the secret corridor. He takes them to that room, which he likes to call the 'Showcase Room', and then the client picks a girl of his liking." She felt sick remembering that. Every time a client would show up there, every girl wished and hoped her dearest that he wouldn’t pick her, chanting and whispering to themselves prayers or pleads to God. Maileena was never one to pray or plead to anyone and simply kept her wishes to herself, knowing that it wouldn’t make a difference either way. "That room has a ventilation shaft leading to it. One time, one of the girls felt that she had enough and tried escaping through that shaft. It led her outside, but… she was eventually caught and received one hell of a beating before finding herself back in the Showcase Room." Maileena paused for a moment, almost as if she was taking a moment of silence for that poor girl. "We can reach that shaft using the emergency staircase behind the club and access the Showcase Room. There's even a chance we might find Vera there."
"And what happens after we get into that room?" Demilan asked.
"Actually, that shaft is pretty narrow, and only I would fit in there so I would be the only one going into that room," She said. A worrisome appearance took form on Demilan's face. "Once I'm in that room, I can try to ask the girls there where Vera and Telia are. With any luck, we might be able to pull this off without raising any alarms, as long as we stay in that hidden corridor and be sneaky."
Demilan started shaking his head. "That won't work," he said. "It'd be dumb of us to think we can actually do this hit stealthily." Maileena knew it was more than just that. She could tell that even though he refrained from saying it, Demilan didn't like the idea of sending Maileena alone at first.
"That's right," Winselt agreed with him. "I wouldn’t count on stealth either. It's going to be nothing but a good old-fashioned gunfight." He pulled out one of his double-barreled pistols and aimed it at the wall, jokingly. "However… I think Maileena can take care of herself in there, Demilan, and her plan actually goes well with an idea I had in mind." He holstered his pistol back. "I want us to use Iren Eustis."
"Iren Eustis? The guy who runs the meat factory where the Code Sanguinary outpost is?" Maileena wondered.
"Yes," Winselt said. "Iren is a friend of Code Sanguinary and a frequent client of the Godly Succubi. While he'd never been a fan of the VIP section, he can get me in there with a single phone call to Kleon Hanford."
"You want to go into the VIP section as a client?" Maileena seemed shocked.
"Hear me out. If we all go in through the main door at once, we might make killing us a lot easier for them. Think about it, if all their guns are aimed at our direction, that'll be some heavy fire raining down on us. But, if we let Maileena take a bag of guns with her into the shaft and I'll get myself into the VIP section, I'll be able to get to the Showcase Room, where Maileena and my guns will be waiting for me. The two of us might be able to take out a few people before shit will hit the fan. By the time it goes loud, a few guys will already be dealt with and Demilan will enter through the main door. With Maileena and I on one side and Demilan on the other, we'll be able to divert their fire and split it. It'll be much easier to handle them that way."
Demilan and Maileena paused to think about Winselt's plan. Maileena bickered with herself about whether or not Winselt would actually be able to get himself into the VIP section. As she looked at Demilan, she knew that he was bickering with himself about the part where she would go in alone at first. Her eyes met his, and in a moment of telepathy, she tried channeling her burning desire to burn and destroy that club to the ground using sheer gaze. She didn’t know if he truly realized how strong her longing for retaliation was, but before long, Demilan broke the silence. "Alright," he said, to Maileena's consternation. "I guess it IS better than simply busting down the front doors together." He turned over to look at Maileena. He looked as if he wanted to say something, yet he refrained from saying it.
"Good," Winselt said. "Maileena, what can you tell us about the firepower we can expect?"
"Well, I can't know for sure," she explained. "I mean, Demilan and I had caused quite some trouble for Men of Midas. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of them placing some extra men there until we're dealt with." Winselt nodded in agreement. "Anyway, when I was there, there were usually four security guards in the club, all, of course, were members of the organization. Usually, Kleon would have two men patrol the area near the bar and tables, where most of the clients would be. Another one would be in the area of the private rooms and the last one would be in the VIP section."
"What about Kleon? Where would we find him?"
"Well, he has an office in the back section of the club, but he also loves to hang around the bar."
Winselt and Demilan looked at each other. "We're going to need some ammunition," Demilan said.
With a thrilling grin, Winselt reached for another one of his plastic bags. "Already took care of that," he said. He took out of the bag several loaded magazines for Demilan's Skyla rifle, as well as ones for his double-barreled pistols and a box of bullets to be hand-loaded into Maileena's revolver. After that, he reached into the bag again and took out a fist-sized round device and a small rod with a clickable button on top of it. His grin grew larger as he held the disc-shaped device.
"You brought a Dynadisc? Is that really necessary?" Demilan asked.
Maileena had never seen a Dynadisc before, yet she knew what it was. Dynadiscs were invented many years ago by the Alatarian military. They were explosive charges that were shaped like discs, with only half-a-inch in thickness. Their surface was sticky and could be attached to walls and doors. The rods were small and had a silver shade, with a small, black, clickable button at their top. They were used as a remote detonator.
"You never know when you're going to need a Dynadisc," Winselt said. "Be careful when you use that. It carries quite a punch." Another grin appeared on his face. Clearly, someone is eager to use this little toy.
"God, I sure hope you were careful when you took this from Blackburn's armory," Demilan said.
"Stop worrying," he said. "Anyway, I'm going to leave this stuff here. So… are we ready to do this?" he asked. Demilan nodded and so did Maileena. "Great," Winselt turned for the door. "If it's settled, I think I'll hit the nearest bar. I saw one not far from here. I'll see you tomorrow for the showdown." He left the room.
Maileena returned to look through the window shutters at the people walking below, and as the feeling of envy returned to overcome her, she felt Demilan's hand resting on her head, caressing her hair. "You're strong. You're fierce." He said. "If you think you can handle this, then I trust you. I won't hold you back anymore." His words meant a lot to her. So far, Demilan always had his moments of doubt when it came to Maileena's abilities, but at that moment, she felt like his equal, instead of just a stubborn girl who followed his around. "I'm still not entirely comfortable with the idea of you going into the Showcase Room alone, but… I know how scarred you are… and I know how scarred I am. We both want our loved ones back, and we both want revenge on those who hurt us, so I'm not going to stop you from doing what you feel is right." His words were as tender and warm as a father's hug to his daughter. "Just… be careful."
"I will," she said. "Thank you." She placed her hand over his, gently.
"Whatever happens, we'll know we're doing the right thing."
"We are. Because we're a good apple on a bad tree."
Demilan chuckled. "That's right, We're a good apple on a bad tree." Maileena smiled. She had long forgotten what it was like to have someone in your life guarding and protecting you. Her parents died when she was too young to remember them, and with Demilan in her life, for a time, she didn’t feel the need for a loving family beside her. It was as if some void in her was filled, one that even Vera could never fill. We are not rotten. We are a good apple on a bad tree. She kept telling herself.
