The sun slowly rose from the horizon as everything slowly lit up. Watching from the balcony of a villa was Vicente. The cool air overwhelmed him in waves as he watched the sunrise from the direction of the arid desert. Bushes and small trees lay in the desert, surely providing momentary shade for those who live here. In the heat of the day, though, it would be hard to survive, even with the bare shade.

Vicente continued to admire the view as people behind him picked up dead bodies. On Vicente, old and new blood mixed and stained his luxury suit. He looked down at it and realized how ruined it was. He attempted to wipe a stain off his sleeve, only to see it smudge. While doing this, someone came out and spoke to him.

“It’s a nice view, jefe.”

Vicente stopped wiping and looked back at the view, taking it all in before responding.

“Yeah, breathtaking. No wonder Emilio chose this place to die.”

“…”

“What did you need, Armando?”

Armando continued to admire the view with Vicente for a moment before finally speaking his mind.

“I was going to ask you where the bodies were… But… But there’s a lot more on my mind.”

With a smile, Vicente responded.

“Speak what you think. You know I don’t mind criticism.”

Armando hesitated for a moment. Then he spoke.

“We’re down a lot of people. Surely, they’re all watching us closely. They might even be preparing to hit us from the back right now! I only ask, What exactly is your plan?”

Vicente stared in the far distance as a snake slithered softly. After a few feet, it stopped and bowed its head weakly. Then, it slowly collapsed onto the ground as life left its body. Moments later, it stopped moving entirely as the morning sun began to bake it. Watching this unfold, Vicente waited until its very last movement before responding.

“You don’t have to worry. I will admit that we are at the weakest we’ve ever been. However, I’ve already made a deal with those in the south. For now, at least, we should be fine to rebuild and develop our forces.”

Armando widened his eyes as he realized who he was speaking of.

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“You mean!”

“Yes… Haha… Armando, do you want to know what the terms of our deal were?”

“If you are allowed to disclose them, then of course.”

Vicente’s smile widened as he thought about the decision he had made.

“You must know of this gang’s past. For five long years, we’ve been in constant worry of full warfare breaking out. Hell, I’m surprised we haven’t fully fought considering just how many clashes we’ve had.”

“Yeah, but what does that mean?”

“You do know who was our last leader, correct?”

“!!!”

“You get it, don’t you? About our past and what they wanted! Even they know he’s still alive!!”

“…”

“You see, in exchange for mutual protection between the both of us, I’ll serve him to them.”

Armando stayed silent while Vicente continued.

“That’s how we are going to ensure our survival. That’s why it is even more crucial that we find the mole covering for Francisco. Only then can we succeed!”

Behind them, a man walked onto the veranda during their conversation. Vicente turned to look at them and smiled. In his grasp was Emilio’s head.

It was incredibly fresh, with blood still dripping from the neck, directly where it was cut.

“Don’t you see it, Armando? We have taken the first step. Now, we are on the edge of the second. All until we reach the highest of highs, the tallest of peaks!

Vicente reached down and grabbed Emilio’s blood-soaked hair before bringing it up for him to see. He ensured it was truly his head, examining each eyelash before lifting it up to the sky. He turned and shielded himself from the harsh sun’s rays with his lone head. Then he spoke to all the men who watched.

“Now then… Let us instill fear in those who oppose us.”

Vicente turned and handed the head to a close aide. Then he walked through all of his men in the living room of the villa. Inside, blood found itself on every inch of the surface as bullet shells laid. Most of the bodies present had been taken out. However, there were still quite a few to be dealt with. It made no difference to Vicente, though, as he stepped on top of the murdered bodies to reach his goal. One body specifically twitched slightly before springing up and rushing towards Vicente. In his crazed gaze, hate and rage could be seen emanating from his being. No one was near him as the wounded man rushed him. In an instant, he pulled his gun up and aimed it directly at Vicente’s head. In sight of the gun, Vicente smiled as gunshots blasted through the wounded man. One through the leg and the other through the head. Before the wounded man could even pull the trigger, he was killed in two swift motions. Blood burst onto the walls as his eyes shook slightly before fading. Then he collapsed as his mind slowly diminished. In his final moments, he found himself staring at Vicente, who smiled at him pitifully. That was the last of his being.

In the corner of the room, sitting on a dark leather chair, was a skinny black-haired woman. In her hands, a gun was aimed directly at the now-dead man who nearly killed Vicente. She stood up and walked towards the body before putting one more bullet into his head. Vicente glanced at her before reprimanding all his men.

“This is a pathetic performance from you all.”

Vicente looked back towards the woman and thanked her.

“My thanks, Aurora.”

Aurora looked at Vicente lightly before leaving. Vicente did not seem to mind as he continued.

“Put a bullet in every man’s head to ensure their dead. I don’t want this to happen again. Understood?”

Every man there yelled of course as Vicente smiled. His men were finally starting to get back in shape.

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