Kari knew by now that the last phone was only a couple hundred feet away. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed at this point. Brian had not given her much time at all to get to the next phone and she was already struggling to keep pace. She had noticed a homeless man cuddled up by the phone booth with a large green comforter.

By the time she had gotten within a hundred feet, she had noticed the man starting to stand up as the phone began to ring. He tossed the blanket down to the side and began to walk over to the booth.

Kari yelled out to him, “Don’t answer that!”

The command left him undeterred. He appeared to be uncoordinated and had started to stumble his way over towards the booth. Kari tried to tap into her second wind and try to beat him to it. After yelling out for him to stop, the homeless man lifted the phone and answered.

“Get out of here,” Kari shouted to him after giving the man a shove. He stumbled a couple feet to the side and barely caught himself. Kari pulled the phone to her ear and quickly said, “It’s me, I’m here.”

“Who was that?” Brian asked.

“Some homeless guy, give me a break!”

The line had gone silent and then to an empty dial tone. She slammed the handset back down into the receiver before letting out a load groan towards the man.

“Hey lady, you need to get an attitude adjustment,” the man said to her as her slurred his words. “You and your words, just killin’ the vibe.”

“Shut the hell up,” she snapped back at him. Just before she could reach for her radio, the phone started to ring again. Once again, she grabbed a hold of it and quickly muttered, “Kari.”

“Do you still have the money?” Brian’s voice buzzed through the phone.

“I have it all. I’m tired of your games, Brian. I want to talk to Isamu.”

“One more stop,” he said quickly. Kari took another deep breath before following it up with several quicker ones. She could barely hear his voice on the other end while her heart continued to beat in her ears. “Sounds like you’re out of breath. Lucky for you, my time is running thin and I want to get this over with. You have a train to catch, so get to the train stop.”

“Where?”

“Wellington Place, twelve minutes.”

The line clicked off again. She turned back towards the homeless man as he began to snuggle up under his comforter.

“You need to lay off the sauce,” she said while readjusting her pack. She had almost considered taking out a stack of money and throwing it to him but did not want to chance it. The money needed to be there whenever Brian had decided to poke his head in. She reached into her wallet and pulled out a couple of hundreds before tossing it to him. “Get a hotel or something, get off the street, it’s cold.”

The man snatched up the stack of money just as fast as he could return with praise. Kari started to make her way over towards the train stop. She had vaguely remembered the place and was confident that she would be able to make it with time to spare.

“He wants me to board a train,” Kari said into the earpiece. “Wellington Place, I don’t know the train number.”

“I know where that is. Looks like he’s been leading you in a circle,” Andrew replied. “I don’t know how I am going to be able to cover you. There are a few roads that intersect with it, so you need to keep on your toes.”

Easier said than done, she started to let her mind race. She could still feel the knife and extra pistol on her person. It was hardly soothing with the current condition and she found herself struggling to keep from panicking. The streetlights and passing vehicles had blurred while she grew restless. It had taken her a few minutes to get to the station.

Wellington Place was more of a middle-class area and had contained one of the many stops across the city. The city had contained a large above-ground railway that had been renovated numerous times over the last few years. Every hour, it would pass through the area and make a stop.

She had expected by now that one of Brian’s men would have tried to ambush. The constant thought of there being a gun waiting around the corner kept her together. At this hour, there had only been a handful of people waiting for the train past the turnstile. She had made her way past after depositing a couple bucks at the counter and went to take a seat at one of the benches nearby.

“Are you still there?” she said after barely catching her breath.

“I’m here,” Andrew returned swiftly. “I know what train he’s on, and it’s about to be nearby. Are you alone?”

“No, looks like there’s a few pedestrians.”

“He might do a hand off, but this game of cat and mouse really has me worried.”

“No shit,” she replied, taking another moment to try and get a few breaths in. By now, her shirt under the track suit had already been soaked in sweat. “I don’t trust this guy. I’m going to try and leave this thing running when I board.”

“Good call, I’m going silent.”

The earpiece had gone mute just before the night train could approach. In the distance, there was a screeching sound from the metal railing on the tracks starting to swell. The train had only contained four carts—three after ignoring the smaller conductor’s cart. As it came to a stop, she grabbed hold of the bag and began to walk towards the small line forming by the side.

At first glance, she figured there had to be at most ten people on board the train. The inside of the train had been illuminated by the interior lights—although every few seconds they would flicker on and off. She began stepping towards the entrance before getting a nudge from a man to her left. The feeling was familiar. She had enough guns pressed into her in her life to know she was already being held up.

“Go to the back,” the man said as he pressed a pistol into her side. “Now.”

Kari clenched the bag tight while starting to think of how to deal with this. She did not want to take a chance with having to gun him down and guess where the other shooters are. Isamu’s safety continuously lingered on her mind. The man started to guide her down the outside of the train towards the rear most cart. Once the two had boarded, she had scoped the inside of the cart to see that it was just them.

In the reflections of the window, she could make out the person behind him as being much larger than her. His large body had nearly burst the seams of his two-piece suit while a ball of fat had hung off his chin. She winced after getting a good look and shook her head just before he pressed the gun into her back once more.

“Where’s Isamu?” Kari asked him while walking forward.

“Shut up and sit down.” The man snapped back. She carefully went to the nearest bench and plopped herself down while trying to keep the bag tight. The train began to shake. Lights on the inside began to flicker once more while it started to accelerate. The large man sat across from her with the pistol still pointed at her chest.

“Do you know how to use that?” Kari asked him.

“I know more about it than you.” He hesitantly said back, trying to keep his aim.

“How about dieting and not sitting around all day?”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

He started to squint his eyes to try and square her up, but Kari kept a firm stare. She did not know what to expect after this, but she always had a habit of poking the bear in a sticky situation. As the train started to reach top speed, the door connecting the carts ahead began to open up.

“Stand up slow.” The man ordered her.

Kari remained guarded while she made her way to her feet. At the end of the cart, she could see Brian and two more gunmen emerging from the doorway. He had been dressed in a designer coat with a button up shirt and khaki jeans like he had just left a club. His face cracked a smile, revealing a shimmering gold tooth among his faded yellow teeth.

“I didn’t think you were going to make it in time.” Brian called out to her. The three started to approach them with their hands on their sidearms.

“So much for a one on one,” Kari replied. The chubby man gave her a nudge with his pistol to try and guide her over to him. She looked over her shoulder and pointed her thumb at the man behind her and said, “Does this guy count as two? Hopefully you don't pay him double.”

Brian and the others started to laugh, only prompting the man behind Kari to shake his head. Instead of retaliating with words, he lifted his pistol and swung it into the center of Kari’s back. The sudden strike caused her to fall the floor, only being followed by more laughter as the men lit up. She had lost control for a moment while her face had slammed into the metal surface. After letting out a grunt, the man pressed his foot into her back once more before pointing his pistol towards her head.

“Just let me shoot her, I’ll dig the pit myself.” The chubby man barked over to him.

“No, we might be out all night in that case!” One of the men behind Brian called out, prompting the others to laugh.

“Shut up,” Brian interrupted them before they could carry out another round of laughter. He walked his way over towards her—each step letting out a loud thud as his boots collided with the metal floor. “I don’t even know where to begin with you.”

“Where’s Isamu?” Kari groaned.

“He’s far away by now. I didn’t think you would bring the money, so I wasn’t going to bring him.”

“You’re working with Kurisu, aren’t you?”

“Good observation,” Brian said as his eyes shot up. He waved his hand over towards the larger man, ordering him to lift Kari up to her feet. “I just wanted to make sure you were willing to go out of your way to save him, being that you killed his wife and all.”

She remained silent. Her legs had started to buckle as the man lifted her up to her feet. Brian shook his head and smiled after seeing some rage starting to bubble.

“If you want to kill me, you might as well do it now.” She hissed.

“We’ll get to that,” Brian replied as he reached out towards her face and over her right ear. She sighed and closed her eyes once Brian had pulled the earpiece off. He then reached over towards the bag and yanked it from her shoulder before taking a moment to look at the two items. “That’s pretty sneaky of you. I hope blondie is faster than a bullet, because I don’t think he’s going to catch up.”

“I played by your rules, asshole. You’re not going to go against your word, are you?”

“Like how you broke your oath and shot Joutoro? Blew his head clean off,” he said before making eye contact and lifting the earpiece. “That’s at least what you told me. Was it just like Isamu’s wife? Patty, that was her name, right? Where did you shoot her? Was it a clean kill or did she writhe in pain in her dying moments? That’s another one of your things, right?”

“Fuck you.”

Brian turned away from her and started to creep his way back towards the other two. He had unzipped the handbag and flipped the top open to see the few stacks of hundred dollar bills in pristine condition. The sight caused his face to light up, but his mood had immediately sunk after he reached his hand inside. He finally turned to her and turned the bag upside down. The contents inside crashed onto the floor, revealing an assortment of paperback novels that had been hidden beneath.

“Break her fucking neck.” Brian ordered the man.

Kari reached for the Glock under her coat and tried to draw it. Just as the weapon had been freed, the man behind her had grabbed hold of her hand and torqued her wrist, causing her to lose her grip. As the weapon fell, he swung his arm around and slammed it into Kari’s chin, causing her to fall again.

Once she had hit the ground, the man had dropped down on one knee so he could get in arms reach of her. His free hand clenched onto her neck while the lights overhead started to flicker. Kari felt his knee beginning to crush her ribs while the man started to move the barrel of his pistol towards her face. She could not reach for her Glock and immediately reached for the knife in her coat pocket.

“You two, get the door.” Brian called out to the other men. Before he had turned back, Kari had drawn the knife from her pocket as the lights had flickered off. The chubby man suddenly wrenched in pain as he felt the blade pierce through his neck. Blood began to stream out while he reached up try and pull the blade from his body. At the same time, Kari bent her leg closer to retrieve the snub nose revolver that had managed to hang on during the entire run.

There were two quick pops from the weapon as Kari pulled the trigger. The man let out a final groan as the bullets ripped through his chest, causing his body to roll to the floor. Brian drew his weapon and tried firing blindly into through the flickering lights. A wave of bullets travelled up and down the car as Kari and Brian exchanged fire. In the battle, one of the men and the power box located near the door had been struck by the last few rounds in Kari's revolver.

There was an explosion of blood as the first man had been struck through the back of the head. The power box let out a quick burst of smoke before the lights inside of the cart had gone out. As the bullets continued to fly, Kari had retrieved her Glock and tried to dash away to take cover behind behind a large metal panel adjacent to the exit.

“Don’t let her leave!” Brian shouted through the darkness. The last remaining henchmen drew his pistol and started to fire in small bursts towards Kari as he approached her.

“I’m gonna kill you, you fucking bitch!” the man screamed over the constant gunfire.

Kari had tried to queeze as close to the wall as she could. The continued volley of bullets kept her from being able to move. After a few more shots, she had heard a loud pop as one of the round grazed her right arm. After letting out a quick scream, she started to glide down the side of the cart. Just before she could return fire, she had noticed Andrew’s beat up Bronto coming up on the road to the right.

The chaos had started to spiral out of control. After a few moments, the windows facing the car had shattered as a round of rapid-fire shots from Andrew’s UZI began to fly through. Kari tried to get as low as possible. Brian clenched his ears and tried following suit to avoid the incoming fire. The last gunman had ended up taking a burst to the torso and had dropped dead instantly. Once the shooting had come to an end, Brian rose to his feet and tried to return fire towards the Bronto.

Kari clenched onto her wounded arm and only began to writhe as the pain continued. She had taken notice of the emergency brake cable and began to think of some way to put an end to this. All at once, she rose to her feet and unloaded what she had towards Brian. With the streetlights on the outside occasionally illuminating his position, she managed to aim towards his hip and send a round directly into it.

Brian screamed as the bullet had punctured his right thigh and lost his balance for just a moment. In that time, Kari finally grabbed a hold of the emergency brake cable and pulled it as hard as possible. The train jerked, causing her to tip forward while Brian had been knocked off his feet—causing his head had struck one of the metal benches on the way down.

The metal on the tracks let out a screech while the train started to rapidly decelerate. Everybody on board had been thrown around the inside while the train had finally came to a stop halfway inside of a large tunnel. Brian had been dizzy from the impact, but managed to get his focus back to try and make his way towards the exit.

“I’m not done with you!” Kari screamed to him. Brian battled with one of the exits and forced the door open only to see Andrew already on foot running towards him. After a quick gasp, he started to hobble his way towards the tunnel. He reached for his last magazine to reload, but had frozen up after turning back to see Andrew and Kari already closing in.

“Don’t try it,” Andrew shouted over to him. “Just drop the weapon and tell us what you know!”

“They’ll kill me!” Brian exclaimed as he started to load the pistol one final time. Just as he slapped the magazine into place, Kari had already closed the distance and jumped towards him to deliver a kick square in his back. The force had smacked him into the gravel below.

“That’s enough,” Kari groaned. She had circled around to keep him from trying to get any further. "Tell us where Isamu is!"

“They’re going to get all of you,” Brian muttered. He pushed himself off the bed of gravel before lifting his pistol and pressing it against his chin. “You’re all dead.”

“Don’t do it!” she screamed.

“Come on Brian, you’re not going to end it all like this,” Andrew called out. He lifted his hand towards Brian, offering it to him as he lowered his pistol. “They’re not going to be to able to get through us. Just tell us where Isamu is.”

Brian pulled back on the hammer of his double action pistol and gritted his teeth. Before he could say another word, he pulled the trigger. The top of his head burst into a cloud of blood and pulverized bone before he slumped to the ground.

“Damn it,” Kari screamed after feeling a few droplets splash across her face. “That was our lead!”

“Calm down,” Andrew replied after finally holstering his weapon. “We need to get out of here.”

“Search him, we need every hint we can get right now.”

“Go get the handbag and get in the car,” he said to her before bending down to Brian’s corpse. After patting down his clothes, he had retrieved his wallet and then reached over towards his other pocket. He reached inside and retrieved a small flip phone. “Here’s the hint we need, let’s go.”