Galler walked down the stairs as quickly as possible. The Owernecker that had told him of the intruders already went toward the basement to start the search. He felt the weight of the shotgun he carried as he approached the basement door. It was much heavier than any pistol, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

Galler strolled down the hallway and saw the basement door open. The moron didn't shut it back when he went in. Any intruder could've left and no one would be the wiser. He had to reprimand him after everything was over, but first he had some people to kill.

He stood above the basement stairs and looked down into the deepest part of the mansion. It rank of mildew and must and the walls were broken from years of abuse. Someone of his caliber shouldn't even be going down into such a place. It was a great thing that he didn't even need to go down there at all. If he just waited up on the stairs, the Owerneckers could bring the intruders to him. If they managed to make it all the way here, he could blow them up before they made it up the stairs.

----------------------------------------

Relet led the way to the armory as they walked down the basement hallways. The armory was in a room at the top center of the basement and there weren't any Owernecker hotspots to pass to get there, so they moved quicker than before. He looked back at Helona and Kauss as they walked behind him with much less enthusiasm. Whatever promise Killian had broke, it affected them hard. As much as he wanted to know, it wasn't any of his business, so he led the way silently.

Kauss hated everything happening. He risked his life to come down there to save Killian so they could climb together. They get down there, and he took back his word and said he was going to stay to save those worthless people. They asked for everything that was happening to them now from the years of torture they placed on people. Killian was the one exception to them. He deserved much better than to be the leader of a fucking joke of a gang.

He still went along with saving them, however. He's already gone too far to stop now, and if he wasn't going to do it, Helona and Relet would. No matter what happened, he would hate the outcome. He wanted to get things done quickly, so when they arrived at the armory, he would grab whatever they needed and break them out right away. Anyone that would try to stop him, he'd kill without a second to think. Killian was coming with them, wether he liked it or not.

"Kauss, you alright?" Helona asked. She knew it was a dumb question, but getting him to talk was better than him wallowing in his own despair.

"Fine, just kinda pissed off."

He didn't have anything else to say since that was everything he was feeling. He knew what Helona was trying to pull, and it would normally work. She was trying to get him to blow off some steam before he did something stupid. He would usually let her get away with it, but he didn't need that at the moment. He needed to be angry, cause when he got angry there was nothing alive that would stop him from accomplishing what he wanted.

"There's the armory." Relet said pointing toward a door.

They ran up to it and Relet opened the door as wide as he could. He walked in as Helona and Kauss followed behind him. They gawked in awe at the line up of weaponry in a single room. There were three tables that was pushed up againt the back wall. Two more tables were along side each side wall, one table for each side.

On each table sat an enormous assortment of different types of guns and knives imaginable. Under the tables were rough black bags that made noises as if something was inside whenever someone touched them. Rifles, pistols, shotguns, and other types of guns piled on the table.

Kauss had no idea what some of the guns were, much less what they could do. He had only ever used a single pistol and would get all his bullets from Helona. He approached a table and spotted a massive serrated knife beside a bulky gun. He grabbed it and turned it sround inspecting the craftsmanship of such a weapon. He wished it wasn't so dusty so he could see his reflection on the steel.

"Why do y'all only use pistols if you have such a collection?" Kauss asked.

"They're very cumbersome and take a lot of time and energy to make." Helona answered him. "It's much easier to pull out a pistol and shoot than to take out an entire rifle. We only keep this stuff around for large scale gang wars rather than just walking around with them."

"Still." Kauss said grabbing the knife's sheath. He sheathed it and put it in his pocket for his own personal use.

They began gathering any gun that they could fit in a large bag and they used another, smaller bag for bullets. The first on the list was a shotgun. It had the power to blow off a lock completely, and if used on a person it could possibly amputate an entire body part instantly. Kauss winced as he learned that. He imagined his arm getting blown off by a single gunshot, and he couldn't possibly imagine the pain that must cause.

They were halfway through packing the bags when Helona heard someone speaking. She told Relet and Kauss, and they both stopped what they were doing. They listened as someone was walking down the hallway. It was a man and a woman, and from what they were saying it wasn't looking good for them.

"You think they're around here." The woman said.

"Maybe, but don't you just think that he was too drunk and was seeing things." The man responded.

"It was apparently an order from Galler either way so-." She stopped and so did there footsteps.

Kauss didn't have any clue what was happening. He held his ear so hard to the wall that he was facing completely toward the door. That was when he noticed the worst thing imaginable. The door wasn't shut. They had forgotten to shut the door since they were too busy gawking at and packing weapons. Kauss got the other's attention and pointed to the door.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

They were all on the same page about what to do. Tthey heard the Owerneckers trying their best to walk without making noise. Those two were obviously drunk and would constantly stumble and hit the wall, so it was easy to tell where they were going. They hid beside the door and waited for them to get close.

The stumbling and footsteps approached the door, and the dumbasses entered the room. They turned out to be so drunk that they forgot the first and most important etiquette of entering a room when there's a possible intruder. They forgot that they could just wait outside in a stalemate and buy out time.

Kauss grabbed the woman and pulled out his knife. He stabbed her in her chest and pushed her against a wall as the impact forced her to drop her gun. The man couldn't do anything since Relet shot him immediately, killing him on spot. Before the woman could scream out, Kauss took his gun and jammed the barrel in her mouth and fired. The back of her skull split open as blood sprayed the wall creating a mural of the horrors of death.

Kauss removed the knife from her chest and let her lifeless body sink toward the ground. Relet and Kauss quickly grabbed the bags and they realized right away they were going to make too much noise. They could no longer remain stealthy especially since people were aware of their break in.

"Helona," Kauss called to her. "You're going to have to protect us, okay."

She nodded as she took a combative stance. Her legs were slightly crouched, making herself much less likely to get hit. She squared her shoulders to properly fire her gun without hurting herself, and she walked with the same silence as a gentle breeze. She went ahead of them and inspected both sides of her before exiting. She left the room and waved them forward as she memorized the way to get to the prison rooms quickly if there were no interruptions.

They quickly moved from one hallway to the next with not too many people blocking their path. They passed by some, but Helona disposed of them quickly. The combination of surprise and their broken senses made it simple and easy to get to the prison rooms with little to no fights.

The weapons shaking aggrivated Kauss as he imagined Owerneckers hearing it and beelining their way to them. If too many people heard it then they could be surrounded in an instant. He couldn't fight back either since he needed both hands to carry all the weapons. They were much heavier than he expected and it was an inevitability that his arms would destroy him the next day.

The prison rooms weren't too far away and Kauss gasped with glee when he saw them approaching the hallway. No one was around and he couldn't hear anyone approaching either. They entered the prison room hallway and Kauss ran faster toward the door.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain at his side. He yelled out and dropped the bag of weapons he was carrying. He heard Relet and Helona yell at someone as more bullets fired. Another body dropped, then so did another. Kauss, through his pain, sat up and looked at what happened. Relet was on the ground holding his leg as blood seeped out of his pants. An Owernecker, the one that shot Kauss and Relet, lied dead at the hallway's entrance.

Kauss inspected his wound. He was shot above his hip and the hole burned anytime he touched near it. He had no clue if it did any internal damage or even if the bullet went out the other end. From the excessive pain in his back he was sure it did, and he was glad about it. If it was still lodged in his side he would need immediate surgery to get it out. He's been through procedures like that before and it wasn't a pleasant experiance.

Helona ran to Kauss as she tried to touch his wound to see how bad it was. When she lifted Kauss' shirt and saw the hole, she exhaled in relief. The bullet wound was far away from any major organs, so all they needed to do was get him patched up and he'd be fine.

"Stay here." Helona told him. "I'll get Killian and the others out."

Kauss searched through his bag. He pushed guns out of the way until he could find what he was looking for. He took out the shotgun that could supposedly blow off the lock of the cell. Helona reached for it, but Kauss moved it out of her reach. He grabbed onto the wall behind him and attempted to stand. The pain in his side was agonizing and he could only see red, but he'd be damned if he stopped here.

"Kauss what the hell are you doing!" Helona screamed at him and attempted to sit him back down. He brushed her hand away as he walked toward the door.

"I'm not going to let this stop me." Kauss said. "I still need to say something to him, and I can't dare say it to his face if I'm helpless on the ground."

Kauss opened the prison door and everyone looked at him. They didn't know what to think when they saw Kauss walk in bloody and sweating as he was carrying a shotgun. Killian had no idea what he was doing with a wound in his hip, and he didn't have the words to ask.

Kauss got close to the lock and pointed the barrel at the door. Pulling the trigger, the gun fired and the lock was completely broken. It fell off and the main man closest to the door opened it as wide as he could.

"The guns are in the hallway." Kauss muttered from under his breath.

Kauss was weak and on his last leg. The room was spinning and the red he saw soon turned to grey. He was about to pass out from the pain. Before he could fall, Killian and Fellipe grabbed him and held him up. They each grabbed a shoulder and wrapped it around them keeping him standing.

"You're a goddamn idiot." Fellipe scolded him.

"Yeah, whatever." Kauss said breathing heavily. "Killian," Killian looked at Kauss. "You're gonna climb that damn tower with us wether you like it or not."

They shared a glance that told a thousand words better than any oral communication could. Kauss grinned as they made their way to the door and Killian returned it back. They've been friends ever since they were kids and a stupid disagreement wasn't going to end it.

"Sure," Killian said. "We'll see."

The main men rummaged through the bags and took out the guns they liked best. They shouted and yelled ready to kill Galler and regain control of their gang. Kauss had no clue what was about to happen now. He was too busy trying to stay awake to wonder what could happen later.

He saw Helona attending to Relet as they exited, and when she saw him she speed walked to him with veins popping out of her head. He could only smile back as her anger carried over to him.

"You have no goddamn clue how worried I was." Helona said with two pistols in hand.

"We can do this later." Fellipe said. "Right now we just got to get out of the basement alive. You already made it harder by getting shot."

"We couldn't really control that." Kauss said. He immediately regretted saying that as he came down with a coughing fit.

"Shut up." Helona said still slightly angry amidst her worries.

She might not have cared if she died, but she sure did care if her did. Kauss was the same for both her and Killian. His own life was meaningless to him, and other people's lives weren't on his mind, but if those two died it would feel like he lost a part of himself. It also made him wonder if she truly meant what she said at the elevator. He could ask but it's not like she'd answer it honestly.

The main men saw an oppurtunity and ran down the basement hallway toward the stairs. With Owerneckers walking about it wouldn't be easy to fight back with their numbers, but since the Owerneckers were split up they had a chance. This was the final push to victory. Once this was all over, they could climb the tower.