(Five) Bloodshed.

Rose looked up, the building in front of her was large, but not as grand as she was used to. She was looking at a restaurant, newly built as a base for one of the biggest gangs in the world. The building itself looked harmless enough and it was full of empty tables with red tablecloths and vases of flowers. 
The sea was just a few meters away, and the beach was full of scrap metal, worthless things that drifted in from the sea and driftwood. There were twelve tanned boys running across the beach, squealing and screaming with delight when they found something worth keeping. She smiled a lopsided smile as she watched one small boy try to lift a plank of wood that was clearly too heavy for him. He wouldn't give up until he shifted the wood somewhat. He collapsed to his knees and began searching for things in the sand.
"This is where is the meeting taking place?" She turned to Shadree, who had recently taken the place of her personal assistant.
"Yes, we were all invited to eat. And, as it is their building, we are allowed to take our weapons in with us." 
"Mhmm. They had better know that I'm not here to make friends." She nodded. She walked towards the building, her slinky black dress catching the last rays before the sun began to set. "Follow me then, boys." 
"She's so annoying." Shadree muttered under his breath, pushing his hair back behind his ears. He patted his pocket, checking that his Glock was still in there. 
"Tell me about it." Gabriel sighed, stomping after her. He didn't need to check his weapons, they were safely secured in holders strapped to his body.
Rose walked through the open doors, closely followed by Shadree and Gabriel. She smiled politely as the waiter showed them to a table by the window. There were six places laid out, but room enough for at least double that to sit with them. There were three men already seated opposite her; all between thirty and forty, with tanned skin and dark hair. 
"Excuse me," she smiled as she sat down, "I'm sorry."
"You're not late, Ms Newman." A man that was already seated smiled. His eyes were dark grey and Rose felt herself being repelled by his very presence. "We were actually expecting you later than this." 
"Good to know," Rose motioned for Shadree and Gabriel to take their places either side of her, "but I am always on time."
"Indeed." The man said, watching Gabriel as he sat down. A reptilian smile crossed his face, "I thought you'd be bringing your partners, not a bodyguard and assistant."
"These," Rose smiled sweetly, "are the two most trusted men in the company. And, since I am the sole owner, I have no need to bring partners." 
"Ah, excuse my ignorance. I meant no disrespect. My name is Davi Dias." 
"None taken." Gabriel nodded, looking the man in the eyes. "I'm Gabriel Price." "Gabriel Price? The name sounds familiar. I cannot place it though." Davi said, looking at Gabriel from the corner of his eye. "I wish I could remember where I had last heard it."
Gabriel shrugged and looked out of the window, ignoring Davi's curious stare. 
"I'm James Shadree." Shadree said, breaking the awkward tension. 
"It is nice to meet you at last, James." Davi smiled knowingly. "You are the man that we have been talking to, no?"
"Yes, I am." Shadree nodded quickly.  
"And they are?" Rose motioned to the men sitting either side of Lorenzo. 
"My brother, Thiago, and our business partner, Lorenzo Santello."
"Hello, Ms Newman, Mr Price and Mr Shadree." Lorenzo muttered with a thick Italian accent.
"Mr Santello, Mr Dias." Rose smiled, "Now, to business?" 
"Yes, yes..." Davi smiled, "First though, food. I assume you haven't eaten."
"No." Gabriel answered inelegantly.
"But, if it's not too much troubl-" Shadree began.
"Too much trouble?" Lorenzo laughed. "Boy, we are in a restaurant."
Gabriel chucked, making Rose kick him under the table. He grunted and rubbed his leg. "Ouch."
Rose smirked at him and turned her attention back to the men in front of her. 
"So, Mr Dias," she looked at Davi as she said this, "how is business?"
"Ah," he smiled, his eyes drawing Rose in, "it is good. We have taken control of the majority of the west coast." 
"Oh? That's a lot of dead biters." Gabriel said, finally beginning to take interest in the men in front of him. 
"Yeah, it is." Davi nodded. "Too many for us to count."
"I wouldn't say that." Gabriel smiled, spreading his fingers over the tablecloth, "There's always a way."
"I guess there is, but you never want to look at the victim too closely." Lorenzo said quietly, "It is disturbing."
Rose quietly looked at Lorenzo. Some of the sadness and pain that she had seen too much of from the men in the hospital that One-Eight-One owned echoed in his eyes. He'd seen someone close to him turn, and then killed them.
"Ah, here comes dinner." Davi smiled, breaking the heavy atmosphere. Several waiters bought various dishes of food to the table. White rice, brown rice, pork ribs, vegetables that Rose couldn't recognise, but that smelt absolutely delicious.  
"I hope you don't mind trying our national fare, Feijoada. This is beans, pork and beef." He pointed to the dishes being placed in front of them, "Help yourself to any side dishes."
"This is delicious." Shadree smiled, "Might have a new favourite meal."
"Stop being such a kissass." Gabriel muttered, "They're trying to kill you."
Suddenly, there was silence. Everyone stopped eating and looked at Gabriel. He shrugged and carried on picking at his food, disinterested in it. 
"I assure you, Mr Price, we're not trying to kill anyone."
"So," Gabriel looked up, "the sniper on that roof," he jerked his thumb up at the top of a three story building opposite them, "is just there for show."
"What sniper?" Shadree asked, alarmed.
"Where?" Davi asked slowly, not making any sudden movements. "Exactly." 
"Top of the roof, right hand side. Close to the edge. He's white." 
"Ah." Davi said, smiling slightly. "Not ours. I don't know whose sniper that is."
"Interesting." Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "Can anyone else hear that?"
Rose smiled, cocking her head to one side, "Ye-"
The following explosion ripped through the room; dust and bricks were blasted from the wall, or fell from the ceiling, and covered the tables. Gabriel pulled Rose off of her seat, under the table. He pushed her behind him, his back to the explosion. Shadree was already crouched next to Rose, his eyes shut and his hands covering his ears. He must've dived under the table before them and moved down, away from the noise. 
"Stay there." He muttered, waiting for the noise to stop. 
"I..." Rose stopped herself. She nodded and tapped Shadree on the shoulder, holding a finger to her lips. Shadree nodded, an understanding look in his eyes. Gabriel looked at them both and pointed to the men on the other side of the table; two were crouching just outside of the table, the other was standing. Gabriel shook his head and began rolling up his sleeves in the cramped space. The action was so absurd that Rose found herself stifling a giggle. 
"You have no right to be here." Davi said, loudly and clearly to the cause of the destruction. Gabriel turned around and looked at the makeshift entrance. At least twenty men in full riot gear, shields and everything, had just broken through the wall. They rushed in, lined up against the walls and began advancing; kicking chairs and tables out of their way. 
Davi, outraged by their mistreatment of his restaurant, started screaming and swearing. Thiago grabbed his arm; slowly standing up behind his brother, Thiago managed to keep Davi in place. 
Gabriel watched carefully as one man raised his gun. He knew what was going to happen before it did. A spray of bullets was released, a sudden heavy thud sounded behind him. Davi and Thiago were dead, or if not dead, they were fatally wounded.
That's when Gabriel finally decided. He stood up, not even bothering to get out from underneath the table. He picked it up over his head and threw it at the line of advancing men. It caught one man in the chest and he fell to the floor, knocked down by the weight. Gabriel looked down at his arm, the metal glinted.
"The augs!" Shadree gasped, realising what Gabriel was about to do. "He's going to use the weaponry!"
Rose looked at him, then back to Gabriel. Gabriel pulled his arm up and before anyone of the advancing line could stop him, a throwing knife was lodged in the throat of the man that shot Davi and Thiago. Gabriel grinned to himself, watching the man die. 
One of the men to the far right of Gabriel's sight raised his gun. Split seconds before the bullets were fired, Gabriel cocked his arm back, pieces of his forearm displacing themselves, almost at some subconcious order. A small glint of light grew from near his elbow, almost two feet in length. The darkness of appriatus was lost in the shadows,but the light gleaming from the edge helped give the item a rectangular shape, driving his arm forward, puncturing the chest of his enemy. He ducked under the gun and pushed the dead man to the floor; bullets sprayed the walls as the men in gear around him tried to shoot him. 
Gabriel dived behind a table; it wouldn't last long, but it was good cover for now. The guns were only good for short bursts of intensity, while Gabriel's knives were good for long periods of calm killing. A huge grin crossed his face as he looked down at his arm, the blade was electric blue. Rode had said the glasses would tie in and boy was she right. 
The bullets stopped, the last echo sounding. The men, with their backs to Rose, Lorenzo and Shadree, waited for Gabriel to emerge. He didn't. Rose bit her lip and began looking for a way out.
"Check him." One man, in a different shade of black to the rest, pointed at a small man on the far left side of the line. The thug approached the table and knelt down beside Gabriel's prone form. He shook his head. There was a collective sigh of relief as the men turned back to their target. 
Gabriel smiled and opened his eyes. He could see into the mask that his opponent was wearing, the man's eyes were filled with fear. Gabriel pushed his blade into the man's stomach with a quick movement, slicing through the body armour as though it wasn't even there.
He beheaded the two closest men with a sweep of his arm, stabbed another in the chest with a flick of his wrist. The blood pooled on the floor around the dead and dying victims. 
Rose watched transfixed as his lightning quick transformation brought him from strong and silent, to deadly, efficient, and violent. 
"NanoCeramic composite blades, disassemble and reassemble, forming a heat treated, razor sharp fighting weapon." Shadree muttered, "I never thought we'd make it work."
"That. Is. Amazing." Rose laughed, quickly covering her mouth and watching the man in front of her pace around the, now nearly empty, restaurant floor.
"Here fishy, fishy, fishy." Gabriel crooned, walking towards the three remaining men. "Here fishy." 
"What is he doing?!" Shadree mouthed, his eyes almost popping out of his head.
"I don't know!" Rose muttered with glee, looking at the destruction that had occurred. 
The scene was grim. Blood covered Gabriel's suit and the men's body armour. 
Gabriel was fighting three men; all the same size as him, each holding a semi-automatic machine gun. All three were advancing slowly. 
"They are huge, dangerous men that would kill for money. And he's not fighting them properly!" 
"Oh come on," Rose grinned, leaning forwards over his back , "they're not even a challenge."
"Not even a challenge?!" Shadree squarked. "He'll get himself killed!"
"Na," Rose shook her head, a massive smile on her face, quite inappropriate for the setting, "this is Price we're talking about. He'll win."
"He's going to die." Shadree insisted.
"I heard that!" Gabriel shouted over his shoulder. One of the men lunged at him, but with a gentle flick of Gabriel's wrist, he was dead. 
"See?" Rose laughed, "He's awesome."
"I like these augs." Gabriel grinned, "Oh yes I do."

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

This was a amazing chapter. I like the description of the restaurant and the food. The ending made the chapter a very good one. No weakness in this outstanding chapter.
Coyote