Chapter 31: Chapter 31

What was real? What wasn’t? Who the hell was she supposed to trust? Not the board, that was for sure. Regular people were just sheep anyway. But then, what? What was left for her? Her subordinates wouldn’t ever know anything she didn’t. Was she supposed to take the words of some madman after her life, then? Whatever more could any of this mean?

(‘From what I’ve seen’, he says?)

What was he seeing? Had he been watching her, somehow? Opening her eyes, she turned quickly in a straight angle, studying the environment around her. The shining, spotless concrete of the flooring around her. The symmetrical, brightly painted school buildings, barely distinguishable from each other. But aside from her, and her carefree classmates in the distance, she could spot nobody else. Nobody.

She shifted her sight upwards, towards the top of the edifice she was currently leaning against. But there was nothing at the edge of the roof, either. Despite that, she still got the feeling she was being observed from somewhere, even at that moment. It had been unnerving her that whole morning.

Emily was sure he was there. Subject-R was hidden around there somewhere, biding his time, waiting for the right moment to strike. But would he be so crazy as to do it under daylight? In plain sight, for anyone to witness? She wanted to doubt it, but he’d seemed deranged enough for something like that.

(No. There’s no way…)

He’d seemed insane, alright, but not stupid enough to sacrifice everything to nab a single one of his ‘targets’.

Regardless, that would be his last day of hiding. She was sure of it. He knew he’d managed to wound her. Weaken her. He was surely going to exploit that. If in the end he decided to wait out until sunset, that night would undoubtedly be her last against him. Only one of them could remain in that city.

If she fell, someone from the Phantoms would soon replace her. The strongest would always lead. He’d told her he wanted to ‘negotiate’. He was trying to attain their leadership, no doubt. He wanted her gang for himself, likely to use it for similar goals to her own. That was the only possible reason an unknown, lone entity could ever approach a managing gang and attack it on their own like that.

She giggled a little. How crafty. A tiny, treacherous agent of chaos. In hindsight, maybe it wasn’t so bad. If she was going to die regardless, she’d rather do it now against an interesting opponent than much later, old and bedridden after a whole life of tedious failures and fuckups. Going out with a bang was the least she could ask for, wasn’t it?

She took out her new disposable and began to type. Laying it all out. Putting it on display so they all would be ready. No more games. No more charades. Today was a special day.

At 9:00 o’clock, they would search every nook and cranny of that damn city. She sent everyone an updated schematic of the city’s layout, heavily highlighting every abandoned warehouse, every underground hideout, every alley-made labyrinth in the Hoods, every half-finished landfill, every suspicious slum area, and any other area that he could possibly be using as a hideout. All usual business would be put on hold that night, and all efforts would be reorganized with the sole purpose of determining Subject-R’s location, capturing him before he could make any move. If anybody decided to disobey orders, slack off, or stray from the main objective so they could go off to ‘hunt some damn gypsies’ or any other excuse, they would be taken apart limb by limb and stored in a jar for a whole week. They had been sternly warned.

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Any significant instance of property damage would be handled by the board, justified in PR as requirement for ‘greater good’ like usual, and they had also informed her of Seagate City’s general border blockage that morning. The Task Force was just another added army of bums, much like the UDSD over here, but she wasn’t counting on them getting in the way too much, more so barricading a few lower roads and public spaces during the day just to make themselves feel important for a while. She had those kinds of people figured out.

That said, everything was getting right on track for her and the Phantoms. There would be no possible escape for that criminal.

She knew how he operated now. He needed space to move around. He was agile, but slightly stiff, and got tired easily. Were they to fill Seagate with great numbers, it would be too much for him to handle. Maneuvering would become impossible for him, and he would undoubtedly be forced to face them head on. He could trick a large number if they just ganged up on him, but past a certain number she was sure he wouldn’t be able to take them all out. While he did have allicin on him, he still hadn’t been able to kill any of them last night. He had flash grenades, poisoned blades, a vast array of firearms, and had still settled for playing around with her.

He was testing the waters because underneath the façade, he was weak.

He was…

He reminded her of…

She’d seen it a long time ago. Couldn’t quite get a hold of what it could be. Where that odd sense of unease came from…

Regardless, their plan was set. If he didn’t attack now, he would be done for, the moment the curfew started.

Her grin widened again. She was rather eager to see what his next move would be. There were only a few more hours left anyway.

To attain power in this world, one could only rely on their own strength. Only the strong persevered to tell their tale, only they got to choose their own past and future, the weak soon forgotten.

For that reason alone, Emily Griffith’s mind had been set. No matter what it took, in that world of blood and carnage, of peace and boredom, she would surely become the strongest.

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