Caged Birds

The smoke still separated the Mercedes from the house, Milot and his man looked from the porch for any movement around the car. He didn't look long, as three more explosions, one after the other, went off inside the house.

Flustered, Milot opened the house door to hear his men yelling inside. Now the whole white house was filled with smoke, and things were catching fire everywhere. Milot, needed to get those girls.

In the smoke filled house Caleb yelled for Alexa and Tiara, banging on every door, coughing in the fog he created. "Tiaaaaraaa, Aleeeexaaaa!!" He heard Alexa, "Caleeeb!" The next room, he kicked open the door and grabbed Alexa who grabbed Tiara and he pulled them into the smoke, directly into ...someone.

Caleb barely raised his arm up before a gun hit his forearm and his head, it was Milot, the smoke would not stop him. Alexa and Tiara tried to protect Caleb, "No, leave him ALONE!" Milot pushed Alexa backward into Tiara as Caleb got up.

Caleb had one more M80..but Milot was standing right on top of him, with a gun. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Caleb saw something else, something that changed his plan, and instead of dealing with Milot, Caleb ran toward Alexa and Tiara and tackled them to the floor.

Alexa and Tiara (and Milot) had no idea what Caleb was doing. Caleb, now on top of his classmates shielded them and their vision, then said to them, "Close your eyes and don't open them." And with all of the mass his slim body had, he covered Alexa and Tiara so they couldn't see what he was saw.

And He Saw The Devil

Even on top of Alexa and Tiara Caleb didn'tturn away, he watched Milot look at him confused and then he watched Milot lose everything. Caleb could see Rica in the smoke filled house, now with a long black Rifle in her hand, and her seven inch bayonet affixed to it.

Milot heard his man yell out, and for a fraction of a moment Milot looked away from Caleb and toward the commotion. And Caleb watched what Rica did to him, in that fraction of a moment.

Three strikes, Three moves

Rica's first strike, a downward slice on Milot's gun hand with the rifle bayonet, damn near cutting his finger off, disarming him. Milot had no time to scream as Rica flipped her rifle and struck him in the face with Strongbow's steel butt stock.

The third move, her finishing move, Rica swung her rifle toward Milot's neck in a blinding motion. The move was so fast Caleb could hear the unmistakable woosh sound of the bayonet blade. The move so blinding he thought Rica missed. That is until the blood gushed from Milot's neck, and he gurgled on to the floor, until he was dead..choked on his own blood.

Rica's last move, so thoroughly drilled into her by Reyna and so thoroughly practiced that the move had a name: The Wind Slice...

As amazing as Rica was, she was nowhere near the level of the other woman that followed Rica in the house. This woman, had her own rifle and bayonet, and did to four men, effortlessly, what Rica did to one man.

And when Caleb saw the woman, he knew.  This is who his father hired, this was the woman his father called, The Devil, Reyna Rai.

Reyna's moves were impossible to track, impossible to predict. She glided into the middle of the four remaining men, thrust her rifle bayonet into one man's gut, dropped and spun 180, ripping the bayonet out of the first man and slicing the next man across his eyes, he screamed, and she didn'tstop moving.

The third man fired point blank at Reyna, "Fool!" she thought. Reyna was too fast, when she spun to avoid the shot she extended and swung the rifle, like a spear, and slashed down on his gun hand cutting his fingers off! YAAAAAAARRRH!!!!! she ignored his cries.

Still moving, Reyna thrust her rifle behind her back and hit the man behind her with her steel rifle butt cracking his skull. Still moving, she thrust her bayonet forward in front of her into the neck of the fingerless man, killing him.

Now, not to be undone by her student Rica, Reyna, without looking, swung her rifle behind her, and Caleb, again, heard the woosh sound...

The man behind Reyna grabbed his neck and gurgled. Reyna never turned around to see the man suffering, instead she  looked over and into the eyes of Caleb, who watched her. Reyna smiled at Caleb as her Wind Slice victim fell dead behind her. The Devil murdered three men, in less than five seconds.

The last man, blinded by the slashing of his eyes had enough! No longer armed he tried to run to the faint light of the front door. As he reached the front porch, two shots at less than twenty feet, one from Rica and one from Reyna, entered his back and blew his guts on the porch.

The rounds in both rifles were hollow points, designed to rip a hole in a man and tear out his internals. The last man died on the porch, on top of his own insides....This, is what Rifle Girls do.

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Say Nothing

The gunshots stopped and the fire in the house blazed out of control. Alexa and Tiara coughed from the smoke as Caleb lifted off of them. He could see the light from the door, then...a tap on his shoulder, he turned around, it was Rica and she whispered to him, "Stick to the plan!" Rica dropped a set of car keys on the floor next to him. He watched the keys fall and when he turned to see her again, she was gone.

"Caleb!! We gotta get out of here!" Alexa yelled.

Caleb grabbed both of the girl's hands and pulled them through the smoke. They stumbled over the dead bodies and coughed themselves out the door. Caleb remembered the plan. He took the girls to the black Lincoln that they arrived in and started the engine. "Stick to the plan!" he yelled to himself.

Everything in that area was on fire now, the house, the Mercedes in the front, and still some remnants of his smoke bombs. Caleb made really good smoke bombs. He gunned the engine and took off down the dirt road.

"Where are we going?" Alexa asked.

"Just put on your seat belt!" Caleb shouted.

In the back seat Tiara shook so bad she needed Alexa's help with the buckle. Caleb knew he had to deal with their alibi (part of the plan) but right now the 12 year old had to man up and drive this giant car back to the North Bronx. Luckily the windows were black limo tint.

Alibi

Caleb and the girls made it back to the Bronx before 9 am. He drove the Lincoln back to the park entrance where they first ran into Tseka's goons. Rica's plan, park the Lincoln there, leave the key behind the driver's side front fender. Walk away. Caleb stuck to the plan.

Now the hard part, the alibi. Caleb's concern was keeping Alexa and, especially, Tiara quiet. The trio walked far away from the Lincoln, and Caleb figured they could head straight to school, typical boy.

"Let's go to my house, no one's home," said Alexa.

"We gotta get to school!" Caleb shot back.

“The way you look? Boy you smell like a burned down building!”

“Heh heh!” Tiara giggled at the both of them.

“That's right Tiara!  All of us, we going to my house, Caleb can spray some of my brother's cologne on him!” said Alexa.

“It won't help!” said Tiara.

“You guys are brutal” said Caleb, shaking his head, “I'll go back to my house, change and go to school...Alexa?”Caleb walked closed to Alexa but she knew what to say.

“Stop worrying, I know what you’re going to say, but I know who you are gangster boy. You're James Roman's son. And that's why those guys were after you, for what? Some kind of money?” said Alexa.

“It's complicated” he answered.

“Caleb, I'm messing with you, it's ok. My father's a District Attorney with the Bronx Criminal Court. I knew who you were when you transferred into school. And I do not need this getting back to my father..besides, who would believe us anyway? Better we keep this between us” she whispered in his ear, “You bad boy.”

“Heh,” he blushed, “But what about Tiara?”

Alexa hugged Tiara to show Caleb her trust with her freshman friend.

“Don't talk about me like I'm not here you crazy pyro! and nothing happened so there's nothing to talk about. Let's go Alexa!” Tiara barked.

“Walk ahead of me, niña, give me a second,” Alexa replied.

Tiara sucked her teeth and walked ahead. Alexa waited for Tiara to walk a little further before turning to Caleb.

“Don't worry about Tiara, if she opens her mouth I'll shut her up,” said Alexa.

“My fate is in your capable hands.”

“Heh,” Alexa pulled Caleb toward her and put her head on his chest. Caleb meekly accepted her affection, and Alexa whispered, “You bad boy. Now I really know I'm not your type.”

“ Your type?” he asked.

“I saw her,” said Alexa.

“You saw who?” Caleb replied with a confused look.

“Your girlfriend. Your type...I saw her kill that man that fought you in that house with her long, black, rifle,” She said hugging him tighter.

“Alexa, I don't know what you're talking about.”.

Haha, and that's why she’s so your type..and I'm not.” she held his hand “But right now she's not scared, not about this..but I'm really scared Caleb. But I gotta take care of Tiara..and I know that I won't be able to hug you like this.. not after we leave here. And maybe we'll never talk about any of this ever again..but.....I'll never forgive you for making all of this trouble you crazy boy!”

Caleb felt her tears in his chest. “Alexa..I never meant.”

Alexa pushed him away, wiping her tears with a smile. “It's okay, I won't bother you.”

But she lied. She grabbed him again and whispered, “Maybe just a little....You know, I seen what your scary ass girlfriend can do. And I imagine what she would do to me if she caught you and me like this... and you know what?”

“What?”

“It turns me on!”

“What?” He smiled. But Alexa bit his ear and pushed him away again. “Owww.”

“Boy! Go home and take a bath, you stink!” Alexa barked walking away from Caleb, “Come on Tiara, we gotta come up with an excuse why we late!”

With no more to say to Caleb, Alexa and Tiara stepped off discussing a late excuse. Caleb, still guarding them, watched the girls walk to a crowded avenue until he felt they were safe, and then he turned and ran home, remembering the smile on the face of The Devil.