Chapter 11

~EMF, Worcester~

Taylor cracked his fist and neck for the umpteenth time, moving up and down and stopping a moment to glance at the monitor.

“Boss, you might want to drink some water. I am sure that the Italian men will deliver our goods safe and sound,” Hyde said to reduce the tension in the room.

“You are sure?” Taylor scoffed, “Do you even know who we are working with? These men can switch sides any moment, just give them more than they were offered,” He glared at his assistant who only shut his mouth, noting his opinion wasn't needed.

Nony hacker typed fast on the keyboard, whole time his face was protected in the guy Fawkes mask, with his eyes fixed on the monitor.

“How close are we?” Taylor asked, sounding breathless.

“Our goods will arrive shortly,” Nony hacker announced as the sounds of keyboard clicking filled the room.

“Perfect!” Taylor moved to stand beside him, looking at the screen that displayed a moving red dot in the middle of a large map.

“How many are they?” Nony hacker asked.

“Uncountable, but we will make a record once they arrive.” Taylor answered.

“You and your assistant will make the count, right?”

“You too, fucker. They are too many for only the both of us.”

Nony hacker stopped typing and faced Taylor.

“Let me draw a line right here. I am not leaving this room unless there's an attack or some sort of police ambush. My job is the computer, you get that?” Nony hacker asked for confirmation.

Taylor glared at the man who has somehow managed to press his crazy button since his arrival to Worcester.

“Got that,” he said, mimicking the sound of a pig because he thought the anonymous hacker sounded like a piglet.

They can't do this business without Nony hacker, even though there are tons of hackers in the world. For the type of business they do, Nony hacker is the optimal resort. They either agree to his terms or step down.

Worst part, Nony hacker knows their utmost secret.

A car horn blared outside the building,

Inside the building, Taylor pulled out a duffel bag and brought out two masks and two pairs of thick leather black gloves.

He threw the pair and a mask to his assistant who started putting them on.

Taylor was ready and pulled on the mask, looking at his reflection on the other blackout screen.

“Here we go...” his voice was robotic, altered by the hard mask.

******

******

~Unit 5, Chicago prison~

“You said it was only my picture you saw, right?” Lewis asked while leaning on the steel bars and staring up at the first floor. A cold midnight stare.

It was evening time, and dinner time. The dinner bell went off two minutes, inmates were chatting as they walked in pairs towards the unit gate. Those who were not interested in the nauseated food they provided, remained in their cells. Some were hanging around in the open hall below and others were leaning on the railings.

It was noisy and rowdy, the smell of cigarettes and rain lingered in the air, it hadn't been long it drizzled.

“See, I know I shouldn't have blabbered about the picture thing. You must not say it to someone else, please,” Nash said with a sullen face.

He was preparing for dinner but since he mentioned the picture thing to Lewis, his mind has not been at rest.

Lewis threw him a glance and nodded.

“I got you Nash, you have nothing to worry about.”

Nash picked his belt and fastened it round the loops before leaving the room.

Lewis smiled, this is now between him and Chun Li now.

Inside the dining hall, they served them a plate of steamed veggies and chocolate muffins.

An inmate stomped on his vegetables, crushing it with his feet.

“Fuck you all! Do we look like horses?!” he yelled in gritted teeth.

Another squashed his cherry tomato on the windowpane, the red juice staining and dripping to the floor.

“Monsters! I will kill everyone soon!”

“We are real men, we deserve good food!”

“Take this shit away!” an inmate poured the vegetables on the dining table.

The hall was messy, someone sent an alarm and soon, five guards walked in carrying their baton including warden Lee.

Warden Lee blew his whistle, sending inmates back to their chairs. Absolute tranquility took over.

“If I see any of you leaving your tables without finishing the food, your dirty ass will meet my whip!” he warned.

They had seated but the noise still lingered on.

“What else are you gonna do, huh?”

The whole room turned to see Chun Li rising from his seat, behind him were about six of his hefty followers trailing him.

They cracked their fists and neck.

“Inmate 55, step back to your seat, now!” warden Lee barked, raising his baton.

Chun Li smirked and stepped into his face. He carried the plate of vegetables and raised it to his eyeshot.

Warden Lee scrunched his nose.

“See what they serve us to eat. We are fucking men with bloody hands, killed lots of people. We drink beers and smoke, serve us what real men eat!”

“Yes, serve us what real men eat!”

“Serve us what real men eat!”

The inmates chorused together.

Warden Lee stepped back to burst into a mocking laugh

“You call yourselves real men?” he cackled again, “Inmates 55 go back to your seats with your beetlebrains!”

Chun Li thinned his lips, “You called for this, officer Lee.”

Then he stomped his boot on the concrete floor and his followers charged out. They broke chairs and mounted the tables, tearing their blue vest and spattering the meals on the floor.

Officer Lee blew his whistle to send in more guards to help with the chaos but it was a futile effort as more damages had been made.

Lewis sat peacefully on his chair while others were fighting one or two guards at the same time.

He picked the carrot and nibbled it as he watched Warden Lee hitting the colossal Chun Li with his baton. Chun Li punched him on the rib and took hold of his baton as warden Lee dropped to the floor clutching his rib.

Watching these two bastards popped an idea to his head and he smirked to himself. Dropping the carrot he made his way to warden Lee and squatted.

Lewis rubbed on his shoulder.

“Hey, do you need some help?”

Warden Lee was coughing out blood.

“Get me a fucking tissue, I'm gonna send this cuckoo to hell!” he yelled as more blood poured out of his nostrils and mouth.

Chun Li had fisted him real bad, Lewis tsked inwardly.

“I see, you need some help,” he held him under the arm and started bringing him up to his feet.

Warden Lee tightened his face to the searing pain that exploded his body.

“I said get me some tissues!”

“I think you need to fall on my neck at the moment.” Lewis caressed his hard cheek.

“Seeing you in this condition hurts me so much. Just let this slide and return to your room. Chun Li is a beast,” Lewis's voice has dropped low.

Worry creased his face as he let warden Lee fall on his shoulder. He could feel his breath fanning his neck and tickling the skin there. Bile churned in his stomach.

Lewis rubbed his back and patted him gently, thanks heavens no attention was on them as everyone seemed busy defeating their opponents.

“It's okay.” warden Lee stood straight and squared his shoulder.

He glared at Lewis, “Now go grab me a tissue roll.”

Lewis smiled, “Sure,” he said before leaving.

He made his way around the hall to the exit and sighted Chun Li twisting a guard's neck. Lewis scanned around him, making sure that no one was watching. Warden Lee has returned back to stopping the fight or rather piling up more broken bodies.

Lewis brought out something from his pocket. He carefully looked around again before sliding the cellphone into Chun Li's back pocket, then exited the hall.