Clearing House

Now that Rudolph and Donald are back in the front office/reception area of the building, Rudolph shoves Donald to the floor. He’s served his purpose and so will now rejoin the other hostages. None of whom seem to have moved since Rudolph was last present. Except that is for the woman Lister had been choking to death, she is now back on her front, instead of on her knees as she had been previously.

It pleases Rudolph to see everyone being so cooperative. Not that it surprises him. They’ve seen a glimpse of what Lister is capable of and wouldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to be on the receiving end of it.

With the plan back on track though, Rudolph takes this time to check-in with Carl once more. Unlike Marcus, he is far more exposed to risk seeing as he is sat in an SUV at the roadside, even if that SUV is only just on the opposite side of the street from where he, Shen and Lister are.

“How’s it looking five?” Rudolph asks.

“Still clear one.” Carl returns almost immediately. It’s like he’d been waiting for the check-in.

“How much longer is it going to be?” Carl then asks without little pause. He sounds nervous and Rudolph can’t blame him. This job has already run on much longer than any of the others they’ve done. And on this job they haven’t even got to the point at which they have their hands on the prize either.

“You getting antsy five?” Lister mocks. The jest is in poor taste, but that’s no surprise to any of them as what Lister does tends to always be in poor taste. That’s why Rudolph tries to reassure Carl instead.

“We’re running behind five, but it’ll be fine. The coast is clear and we have the angles covered. Just take a few deep breaths. It’ll help.”

Rudolph is relieved to hear Carl take a deep inhale, which he holds for a few seconds before exhaling. It’s a process the wheelman repeats several times before finally admitting, “I feel better for that one. Thanks.”

“So you’re good now?” Rudolph queries. He has to be sure that Carl isn’t about to flip out and go into a panic attack. It would be uncharacteristic of the man and he doubts that Carl will, but he has to be sure.

“Yeah, all good one. All good.” Carl confirms sounding more like his usual self now.

Rudolph knows that is the end of the exchange. That is why he prepares to check-in with Marcus. Except Shen gets there first, physically, as he appears at Rudolph’s side and quietly states, “You need to see this.”

Rudolph glances at Shen who gestures for him to follow the shorter man by ways of a flick of his head.

“Four. Hold the fort.” Rudolph orders in the moments before he then departs with Shen for the backroom. He knows something is wrong, he just wonders what it could be now. There are no other obstacles, that he is aware of, which should be in their way. But as he steps into the now open vault, which is itself a relief to finally see open, his heart sinks.

At first Rudolph can’t believe his eyes, but then his brain catches up to the reality that the vault is empty. In response Rudolph blurts in frustration, “What the fuck is going on?”

Shen simply shrugs in response, but is surprised that none of the others have queried the uncharacteristic outburst from Rudolph.

The blond haired leader of the crew doesn’t get it. The vault should be full of money. Floor to ceiling stacks of the stuff should be neatly wrapped up in bundles, ready for transportation tomorrow. Its very reason why they’re hitting this clearing house today, seeing as the intel they’d procured categorically stated tomorrow would be collection day. No qualms, doubts, or amendments had raised their ugly head during that time, of months. Not that any of that changes the fact that the money isn’t here.

Rudolph can’t contain his rage, which is why he turns on his heels and storms back out into the reception/office space where the hostages are. As soon as he gets there he catches the end of an exchange between Lister and one of the hostages. Rudolph doesn’t hear the words that are exchanged but gets a brief view of Lister delivering a hard kick to the man as he lies defenceless and bound on the floor.

Immediately after that Lister shoves the suppressor on his assault rifle into the man’s back to emphasise his point.

Enraged, Rudolph roars, “What the fuck is going on?”

His outburst startles Lister who recoils in the moments before he says, “Nothing Rudolph. It’s dealt with.”

Shen curses at the mention of Rudolph’s name, while Rudolph himself simply stands there blinking in shock. Suddenly Lister realises what words have escaped from his mouth and tries to make amends. “Shit, sorry. I-I didn’t mean to. It was an accident.”

Rudolph however, doesn’t hear Lister’s attempts at an apology. Instead, it dawns on him that the man Lister had been having an altercation with was Donald. The very man Rudolph had been bee lining for before this exchange interrupted him. It doesn’t change the order that comes out of his mouth however. “Haul him to his feet four.” Rudolph spits angrily as he points to Donald.

Lister feels even worse for having blurted Rudolph’s name now that the leader of their crew has called Lister by his number, but quickly hauls the balding overweight man to his feet nonetheless.

As soon as Donald is on his feet Rudolph demands, “Where’s the money Donald?” As he asks the question through gritted teeth he presses the suppressor painfully into the man’s cheek. Niceties are gone now. They no longer have a place.

But Donald doesn’t give an answer. At first he simply laughs and then finally he states, “You’re all stupid, and dead. None of you are going to make it out of this alive.” Then the balding man returns to his loud cries of laughter, which now sounds more like a cruel cackle of damnation.

Shen quickly covers the ground and slams his fist into Donald’s gut while asking, “What does that mean?”

Donald expels air violently from his lungs as the wind is knocked out of him, almost causing him to begin choking. After a few moments however he manages to offer an answer to the question from Shen. “This is a mob clearing house, you numbskulls.” Then he chuckles twice while a wide smile sits across his fat face.

At the revelation Rudolph radios Marcus and demands, “Update two. How’s it looking out there?”

There is no response, so Rudolph queries again. “Two, what is your status?”

Rudolph feels panic writhing in his gut, but manages to keep it out of his voice as he speaks. He’d be impressed at any other time, but not right now. He doesn’t have the time to be impressed right now.

“We need to get out of here before the mobs goons arrive.” Shen advises casting glances between Lister and Rudolph, who is turned side on to him.

“What about the hostages? They know Rudolph’s name. We can’t just leave them…” Lister begins to reason before Carl butts in and interjects, “Dozen vehicles are converging. We need to go.”

Rudolph curses as Donald begins to howl with laughter once again. Lister can’t take anymore of the balding man’s taunts. That’s why to silence him Lister effortlessly snaps Donald’s neck.

Shen curses loudly and leaps back in response to the execution of the man, who was clearly a part of the mob.

The hostages themselves go into a frenzy of cries and screams of terror. They have clearly read the situation and decided they each of them will now lose their lives and they aren’t willing to go quietly. Perhaps they think it will be in a similar manner, not that it matters because Rudolph roars, “What the fuck are you doing four?”

“He wouldn’t shut up, and seeing as everyone here knows your name, they will all have to die.” Lister replies with little remorse for his actions, which he is now trying to provide reasoning for.

“You need to clear out. They’re getting close.” Carl says trying to hurry whatever exactly is going on inside that building along. He can only hear the events, so he realises he could be wrong about just how bad things are. Though, he doubts he is.

“Where’s the money?” Lister then asks only now realising that both Rudolph and Shen are empty handed.

“There isn’t any money. We’ve been played. This place has already been cleared. Looks like they knew we were coming.” Shen explains quickly, adding his own beliefs to fill in the gaps, as he waits for an order. If it takes too long he’ll make the decision himself and that’ll be to bug out, no looking back, no pause. If anyone stays behind then they’ll be left behind.

Lister, hearing that this job has all been for nothing, explodes with anger. He raises his assault rifle and prepares to unleash a hail of bullets upon the hostages. But Rudolph tackles the large man. He knocks him back and grabs hold of the long barrel of the assault rifle, which he jams up toward the ceiling above them.

“No. No more. We aren’t killing anymore hostages.” Rudolph spits as he stares unblinking into Lister’s brown eyes.

“They know your name. If we leave them alive they’ll make sure the mob knows it too.” Lister says hoping to reason with Rudolph that the execution of the hostages is the only option.

“It’s too late. We need to go.” Rudolph urges, hoping desperately that Lister will not go through with the slaughter, and that he has gotten through to him that they need to leave if they have any hopes of living past today.

“Cars are pulling up!” Carl blares into his mic.

“Come on four!” Shen screams adding his own two cents. He doesn’t want to leave Lister behind either, but they are out of time and need to go.

The combined effort of Rudolph and Shen seems to do the trick as Lister soon nods to confirm that he accepts that they need to go, hostages knowing Rudolph’s name or not.

Rudolph releases his hold on the much larger man, who is a good eleven centimetres taller him, in the moments before they turn and head for the front doors.

Shen reaches the doors first and bursts through them and out onto the street. As soon as he does he is cut down by a spray of bullets, which rip across his torso. His body collapses to the floor seconds later with Rudolph screaming obscenities.

Carl, seeing no other option and hoping that he can get the drop on the mob goons, springs from the SUV he’s been sat in all this time on the opposite side of the street with the engine idling. He has a submachine gun in his hands, but never gets to fire a single round as he is taken out by a single bullet to the head. The bullet was fired by the same man who took Marcus out following the short gunfight that claimed his life.

Carl’s body slams to the floor like a sack of potatoes. He was dead as soon as the bullet hit him and half his head is missing. Rudolph never sees Carl’s death, but Lister does as he emerges from the building already firing wildly in wide arcs.

The spray of ammunition forces the mob goons into cover. But their cover is weak flimsy car doors and many of the bullets pierce through the thin skin only to burrow deep into the soft flesh of the mob goons. A number of them collapse to the floor lifeless, while others scream in pain because of the wall of bullets hurled their way. But then the sniper fires again. His shot is perfectly placed and obliterates Lister’s left knee.

The large man roars in response to the wound afflicted upon him, while Rudolph slides into cover behind one of the overhangs wide steel supports. He is thankful they are here, but he realises his pistol won’t be much use out on this wide street. However, it’s the only weapon he’s got and it’s better than nothing, which is what Shen had had when he’d exited. It means that he gets the chance to toss a glance Lister’s way and see the clearly injured man duck awkwardly into cover of his own to avoid the bullets being spit in his direction.

“What the plan?” Lister queries looking weary.

Rudolph doesn’t have an answer. There is no plan. At no point did any of them expect to be so beautifully outmanoeuvred like they have been. It should have been a simple job. Like all the others had been simple jobs. But it’s obvious now that they’ve been tricked and that the mob used the lure of one final massive payday to draw them out so a trap could be sprung. Rudolph curses the arrogance of himself and the rest of his crew as he offers an honest response to Lister of, “Fight and hope.”

It’s a simple idea, but nothing more than that, an idea. Lister doubts it’ll be enough, especially as he is only going to slow Rudolph down with his wounded knee. And it is clear that Rudolph is unaware of the severity of Lister’s wound, which is why the large man offers a possible solution that might give the possibility of escape.

“There’s an alley down the side of this building. I spied it on the way in. It could be an avenue to escape down.”

“That could work.” Rudolph bellows over the roar of gunfire as he dares to pop out of cover and squeeze off a few shots from his pistol. They hit but do little to combat the mob goons who are ducked behind their vehicles, and not simply their vehicle doors, reloading.

As soon as Rudolph ducks back into cover Lister dares to peak around the corner. He uses the sight of his assault rifle and fires off bursts in quick succession before having to duck back into safety. A number of the bursts hit targets, but there are just too many mobsters for them to have any hopes of putting them all down. Plus Lister and Rudolph only have limited ammunition. The rest is in the back of the SUV on the far side of the street, next to where Carl’s dead body now lies. A massive almost black pool of blood encircles what used to be the man’s head.

“Can you make it?” Rudolph then queries before popping out of cover again to squeeze off four more rounds. Two of the bullets find their target and take them down for good, while the others embed themselves into the bodies of the mobsters’ sleek black sedans.

Rudolph wonders if the vehicles are armour-plated in any way, but quickly pushes the thought aside. Such a thing is not important now. What is important is trying to get out of this alive.

“Yeah, the wound looks worse than it is.” Lister answers with a lie.

“Ok.” Rudolph shouts as Lister fires off bursts of his weapon, which once they are finished allow him to add, “On the count of three we make a break for it. You go first, I’ll cover.”

“No. I’ll cover you. You go first on your count.” Lister argues, refusing point-blank to be the one to be covered by Rudolph.

Lister knows he isn’t going to make it. His knee is too damaged for him to have any hope of making it. And that is not a good reason for Rudolph to lose his life.

“Are you sure?” Rudolph queries after having finished loosing off another short volley of shots.

“Yes. You go first. I’ll follow.” Lister says making it clear there is no way he will accept being the one to fall back first.

Rudolph doesn’t like it, but seeing as they are having to fight for their lives and as he has nearly been clipped by several bullets while popping out from cover, he is inclined not to argue until they are both clear of this disaster. That doesn’t mean he has to like it however, as he doesn’t.

“Fine. On three.” Rudolph says begrudgingly before pausing. Both men are in cover now. “One, two…three!” Rudolph screams and on cue he breaks from cover, heading for the alley.

However, Lister doesn’t simply pop out to provide covering fire. Instead, he simply steps out of cover entirely. His action has the desired effect as the mobsters all turn their attention toward him.

Rudolph, having glanced over his shoulder, catches sight of the sacrifice Lister is makes. He screams in horror at the top of his lungs in response to it. But his screams are too late, the bullets have already shredded Lister’s body, and continue to do so even after it has collapsed to the stone slabs, motionless.

Rudolph, paralysed by shock, is suddenly hit twice. One bullet tears through his right shoulder, while the other pierces his left leg.

Unsurprisingly, Rudolph goes down hard soon after the impacts. Though, the only responses Rudolph offers in recognition to the wounds that have been inflicted upon him are simple grunts of pain.

Then Rudolph realises that he is still in the open and that means he is still in serious danger of losing his life. So he awkwardly drags his wounded body as fast as he can the rest of the short distance he still has to cross. As he pulls himself along he curses loudly. Though, his curses are lost under the gunfire that is still being haphazardly fired in his general direction. The echoes of the weapon discharges reverberate off the buildings as he checks, now that he is in the alley and some cover once again, his ammo count.

Rudolph sighs in frustration to find that his ammunition is dangerously low. It is at this point that Rudolph becomes sure that he is going to die. It hadn’t fully hit him until this moment, but now that it has he isn’t surprised. That is why he decides the best thing he can do is try and take down as many of them as he can and have death be on his own terms.

He manages to scramble to his feet; using the wall of the building they had been trying to rob, as a brace to aid him in his effort. He can’t run. He can barely stand and there is no way he can crawl away, hoping to survive. The mob goons would catch him long before he’d manage to cover any significant distance. That is why he takes several deep breathes and then steps out from cover. A searing pain bursts up from his wounded left leg.

Just as he steps out of cover however, three of the mobsters appear at the alley’s entrance. Rudolph pulls the trigger of his weapon and keeps pulling it until he is sure the men aren’t getting up ever again. Then the sniper fires for a third and final time. Rudolph doesn’t know what has taken him so long. Not that it matters.

The bullet punches through Rudolph’s chest. The impact so forceful that it throws him off his feet in the fractions of a second before gravity takes over and brings him crashing to the concrete alley floor.

If Rudolph had the ability to, he believes he’d feel winded. Instead, he feels very little he realises as he stares up at the azure sky and the thin wispy clouds that are dotted about the otherwise unbroken canvas which they drift serenely across of.

That is where Rudolph remains as he watches the beauty of the sky, while the last shreds of life bleed out of his body until he is dead. His eyes left to stare glossy and frozen at the heavens above.