Chapter 10: Chapter 10 – Boom

A three-car convoy was rolling up to the little town where we set the trap. For a second, I thought maybe this wasn't our guys. Perhaps this was just a random group going back into Night City, and they just happened to use this road. No such luck. Once they got closer, Panam immediately recognized her Truck.

"They're rolling in. In my Thorn! You see 'er?"

The leading car was a heavily modified Thorton Mackinaw. Following behind it were two Archer Sidewinders. I laughed a little, thinking it looked like two baby ducks following a mama duck. A mama duck that's leading them straight into the maws of a waiting alligator. Aaaaand now I'm in a bad mood again.

"I see em. They're pulling up. Let's hit the light once they are out of the vehicles."

"Sounds good. Just let me know when you are going to do it."

The Mackinaw pulled in first and parked at the gas station, while the two Sidewinders drove further and parked near the entrance to the BD club. All the doors opened, and slowly seven total Shivs got out. Once they got out, they started grouping near one of the Sidewinders. They looked jumpy, and one was wondering where their buyer was.

"Where the hell is that sonuvabitch? You"

Checking that my connection to Panam was still secure, I let her know that I was about to power up the building.

"I think that's all of em. I'm hitting the lights now."

I pulled down the lever on the breaker box, and a whirling noise came from the generators behind me. First, the lights outside the club turned on. Purple arrows pointed to the front doors, and red "BD SHACK" signs gave the surrounding an ominous red glow. The sparks started flying from the electrical wires, and for a moment, I was scared that they would prematurely ignite the explosives inside. Luckily that didn't happen, and our little trick successfully pulled the attention of all our tangoes.

"I thought you said this place was deserted?"

"It was! No one's been here for months!"

"You call this place deserted? This look deserted to you? You, you, and you. Come with me. We're going inside and checking the place out!"

After that order, four Shivs went inside the BD club, and three remained outside. One of the three that remained outside was a sniper who got on top of the gas station's roof to provide overwatch for his buddies inside. The remaining two that didn't enter stayed on the road, probably to keep an eye on the cars and wait just in case a buyer appeared. They didn't all go in, but this was the best we would get.

I started scanning one of the two on the road using my new implants. After a moment, the name, known affiliation, threat level, and even bounty of the Shiv popped up in my vision. What also popped up was the quick hacks I had available. I chose the Ping option, highlighting all the Shivs in the group in red. 

Using my remaining ram, I told my system to keep track of the four inside the building. Anything I specifically tag with the cyberdeck after a ping will permanently show in my vision, like real-life wall hacks. This way, I'll know how many inside the building are dead after the explosion.

"Ok, Panam. It looks like the stragglers are staying outside. On my mark, I'm going to blow up the club. When that happens, can you take care of the marksman they got on the top of the gas station?"

"You got it. What about the other two?"

"After the explosion, they'll be too distracted to notice me sneaking behind them. I'll take care of 'em."

I got into a prone next to the stairs, shouldered my HJSH-18, and double-checked the safety selector was on semi-automatic. Using the magazine as a monopod, I stabilized the rifle and put my index finger on the trigger. I lined up the rear sight with the front and then lined up the front sight with a propane tank I placed on a table next to a window. I took up the slack in the two-stage trigger and felt a stop, which is the gun's way of telling me, 'any further and a bullet will leave this gun'.

"On my count. One... Two... Three... Now!"

I inhaled air into my lungs and focused back on the front sight. Once the front sight was crystal clear, I pushed past the wall in the trigger and felt a single recoil impulse move the gun into my body. The bullet shattered the window and hit the propane tank dead center, causing a small fireball to bloom out. Soon the tiny burst of orange was followed by a large *BOOM* and the entire first floor turning orange with flames. The pressure blew out the windows, and not a moment later, the same happened to the second floor.

The explosion covered Panam's shot, and the two on the road were too busy staring at the explosion to notice that their sniper buddy didn't have a head anymore. After confirming that the sniper was dead and that all my marks inside the building were gone, I snuck down from the roof I was on and got next to the road. Once there, I activated my optical camo and Sandevistan at the same time. The world around me gained a shade of blue, and everything slowed down. It was strangely peaceful, almost zen-like.

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I quickly used my time dilated eight seconds and snuck up behind the two remaining Shivs. Just a few seconds after my Sandevistan went away, my optical camo also used up all its juice. I appeared behind the survivors like a ghost that apparated to haunt its targets.

"Holy shit Jack, what the fuck just happened! This was supposed to be a fucking simple meetup!"

"Fuck this shit, Bob. I'm getting the fuck out of here."

Jack understandably got cold feet and turned around to leave the scene. The second he turned around, his eyes widened as he saw the barrel of my Overture revolver pointed right at his head. Bob soon followed, and they both froze at the sight of a stranger holding them hostage. I then cocked the hammer on my revolver to apply further intimidation.

"Hey, Chooms. Nice night we're having. A bit cold, though. I see that your friends over there are warming themselves up."

I'm not going to lie, I don't want to kill these guys if I don't have to, and I hope I can scare them into giving up. I know I just blew up four people, but I secretly hoped things didn't have to go any further. Panam, however, was not happy with me not ending their lives immediately.

"What the hell are you doing? Zero 'em now! If they live, they are going to come after you."

The Shivs must have noticed me being distracted by Panam and the slight tremble in my hands because Bob drew a pistol from his belt, and two bright flashes soon followed. The in my chest was immediate as I felt two thumps hit my body. My adrenaline spiked higher than I ever thought possible, and I pulled the trigger on my revolver, putting a sizeable half-inch hole right between Jacks's eyes.

My ears were ringing, and I was tunnel visioned on the last man standing. Before Bob could get any more shots in, I heard the sound of Panam's suppressed sniper and Bob's left knee disappearing and his calf disconnecting from his thighs. Bob then fell since he lost the support of one of his knees. He screamed in pain and let go of his pistol to grab his knee, trying to stop the bleeding.

I walked over to him and kicked him onto his back. The man looked up at me, opening his mouth and trying to say something. I couldn't hear him since blood had rushed to my ears, and I could still only hear that long ring. It didn't matter anyway since I got the message from his eyes. I finally understood the saying 'eyes are the window to the heart' because I could sense the fear emanating from those dark brown pupils.

I didn't care, however. I was so highly strung from being shot and so filled with anger that I pointed my Overture at the man's head and kept pulling the trigger, even after no more bullets were coming out. Once I finally realized that the man was dead, I lowered my pistol and stared at his swiss cheese head. I didn't break out of that trance until I felt a push from behind me. Turning around, I saw Panam, and all the details came rushing back into my head.

I was on a job with Panam. We killed everyone. I got shot. And I killed two guys. Once my brain appropriately booted up again, I could hear Panam's voice, slightly strained.

"Are you a fucking idiot? Why didn't you kill them immediately? Are you Ok? Let me check you for wounds."

Panam turned me around and started looking through my body. In a slightly grumpy mood, I batted away her arms and told her to back off.

"I'm fine! I'm... fine. Promise. I was wearing a vest, ok? Plates caught the bullets. Small caliber pistol didn't, so no damage done. Let's focus on the job. We need to find the shard for your car and get to the meeting."

I walked over to one of the smoldering corpses that fell out of the second window after an explosion. If memory serves, the chick with the shard to the Mackinaw was looking out of a window in the game. I flipped over the body and started looking through her jacket pockets. 

The Shiv's once tall mohawk was now charred, her face an unrecognizable mess. The smell of burnt flesh assaulted my nostrils, but I powered through it and found what we were looking for. Turning around, I waved over to Panam and gave her the shard.

"We got what we came here for. Let's go."

When the shard hit her hand, she grinned like a kid on Christmas that just gotten the toy they'd been asking for the whole year. The smile didn't last long, and she looked back at me.

"Not quite. Nash wasn't here, and he still owes me blood. I know where he is, but I'll need your help."

That's right. Nash. Guess my day isn't over yet.

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