Chapter 2: New Allies
&
Feat. Liana Washington
Location: Remote Firing Range, North of Mayweather Campus, Upstate New York
Interacting with: Each Other (
@AbandonedIntel,
@Lasrever)
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Afternoon Amy kind of wondered what she was doing out here. It wasn’t like she was the biggest fan of the outdoors or anything, but honestly it had been the only place that came to mind. Well, except the training room but that was a place she wanted to avoid. She glanced at her leg for a second. It was recovering, and she could walk fine, but right now she still had to bandage the thing up. If she was honest with herself, it wasn’t the place that she was trying to stay away from. If Lucas figured she’d still be able to compete… It was safe to say that she didn’t want to run into him and risk going through round two.
But even with that worry on her mind, Amy knew she needed to do something with herself. So she’d brought herself out here, the morning of the day the Fear Fest was due to take place, early enough that she’d be able to get back in time to prepare. After all, she couldn’t very well miss the event after her encounter with Virgil - despite herself, she found that she looked forward to it. As she finally arrived at the firing range, a small smile appeared on her lips. While the training room was okay for basic stuff, this was somewhere that she could train with some real weapons. Abilities or not, she couldn’t go wrong improving her skills.
The firing range itself was a makeshift one, complete with old wooden tables, a few wooden chairs, as well as many a damaged mannequin beyond the ruined furniture. Remnants of paper and plastic targets remained nailed on the trees, some of which were right beside the mannequins that were filled with holes. Shells from various firearms lay across the ground, and though there were plenty of leaves surrounding the area, there was a dirt clearing that was maintained where the furniture was at. There were also some empty crates, as well as a hammer nearby. It appeared to be incredibly run down, but a sign on a tree revealed what it truly was, a ‘safe space’ for those who are ‘trigger happy’, which was essentially wordplay on the whole ‘triggered’ ordeal. Whatever this place was, it meant a lot to someone.
Amy was a little surprised at the atmosphere of the place as she looked around. It wasn’t exactly polished, that was for sure, but considering how isolated the place was she’d expected things to feel a bit lonelier. Not that she was complaining. If it hadn’t been for some of the decoration, being all the way out here by herself would have been kind of creepy. Someone had put a good amount of time into this place, but these things were here to be used so Amy figured they wouldn’t mind too much. With a yawn, she stretched lazily, mentally preparing herself to launch into a good training session. She hadn’t exactly done any shooting - honestly she wasn’t used to guns yet at all, though her powers no doubt meant she knew how to fire one. It just seemed smarter to practice everything possible.
A short distance away were the sounds of a particular vehicle, a
black Jeep Cherokee that was affectionately referred to often as the ‘innocuous Jeep Cherokee’ by the driver. Speeding down the paved road, the SUV made a hard right onto the dirt path that lead to the range. At the helm was none other than Carmen Chavana herself, and at her side was her comrade Liana Washington, an assassin that helped bail Carmen out during the events of the Witching Hour incident. The Cherokee raced through the woods, bouncing and moving along with the rough terrain it tore apart in its wake. The engine revved as Carmen twisted the steering wheel back and forth, drifting the four-wheel drive vehicle along a turn before speeding ahead.
“Ready to unwind a little?” Carmen asked with a smirk to her comrade-in-arms. “
Tired of the monotony of math class?” Liana simply stared forward.
“You know, you should actually pay attention in class once in a while, Carmen. You might actually learn something.” Liana turned to Carmen with a soft teasing smirk.
“You know, I won’t be there to help you when the exams come around.” Carmen rolled her eyes as she drove through the woods.
“It’s not like you really pay attention in math either. What the hell do you have use for that, anyway? Making stupid ass calculations for rangefinding and long-ranged shooting?” Liana sighed.
“Yeah, you got me there.” She leaned back.
“I don’t pay attention in that class either but I’m not trying to graduate here. I’m only here to make sure that my precious little Phoenix doesn’t get hurt by those… uh… Undead Pendejos.” Carmen was about to say something, but once she saw her shooting range, as well as Amy standing in it, she immediately slowed down and brought the Jeep to a halt.
“Woah… who’s that?” Carmen asked, not recognizing Amy from afar.
“I hope she ain’t a snitch.” She said as she stepped out of the vehicle, Liana doing the same before closing the doors and converging.
“Hey… uh… can I help you?” Carmen called out to Amy.
Amy had noticed the noise of the vehicle, but she’d figured it would just be someone passing by or something. Wasn’t as though many people had a reason to be here, from what she could tell about the place. Besides, there was a lot of stuff around here that kept diverting her focus, so it hadn’t really kept her attention for too long. The place was interesting, that was all. Still, she’d been so distracted that she hadn’t even really noticed the Jeep’s arrival, beyond registering that the noise had stopped.
So despite not exactly taking the most subtle approach in history, Carmen still managed to take Amy off-guard a little, something which showed as she quickly turned to look at the new arrival. If she had to guess, Amy would say that this was the person that had been looking after the firing range. Process of elimination really. Nothing indicated that more than one or two people ever showed up here. Still, if that was right then it was possible she’d be a bit overprotective so Amy laughed nervously before replying.
”I guess I could use a few pointers. Um, sorry about using your range, but I need to practice.” Carmen looked to Amy as she stepped closer, her arms crossed. Once Amy laughed nervously and asked for a few pointers, Carmen simply stepped closer in an intimidating manner. Not intentionally, however, but it would be moments before Carmen revealed why she was acting this way. She raised her hand and pointed at Amy.
“You look incredibly familiar…” Carmen said.
“Didn’t you help me out back at Delirium?” Carmen asked, her intimidating look not changing, simply because it was a look of both confusion and
where the hell did I last see you? “Amy… right?” Amy held back a sigh of relief, although she felt a little small in this situation. For a moment there, she’d thought she was in real trouble but this kind of question was easy to answer. Thinking back, she nodded after a couple of seconds pause.
”Yeah? Yeah, I think I might have helped you get in or something.” Amy looked slightly apologetic.
”You’ve got my name anyway.” With a shrug, she continued.
”You’re Carmen? At least, I think. My memory of that night’s a little bit blurry.” That was true, if a little embarrassing to admit, but Amy didn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest.
Glancing around, Amy noticed the car, as well as Liana, registering the presence of both of them with slight curiosity. Part of her wanted to ask about them, but a bigger part of her didn’t feel like asking any more questions right away. She smiled cheerfully, friendliness clear on her expression.
”So, uh, you been doing alright? I’ve not really seen you around much.” Carmen listened, and thought about it some more. Yep, this was definitely the girl that helped her get inside, before the fuckfest that ensued afterwards. Well, that’s a story for another time anyway… a horrifying experience that nearly sent Carmen to the afterlife a few years too soon. At that, Carmen gave a smile.
“Hey, thanks again.” She said with a soft smile.
“And don’t worry, it was a little difficult for me to remember as well. We had one hell of a night.” She chuckled.
“And yep! I’m Carmen, and this is my comrade-in-arms Liana. She’s got similar powers to me, and she’s here to help me out after I had a bad run in with some… bad folks, so to say.” Carmen explained, a little sheepishly. She lied about the part regarding Liana having powers, in fear that Amy might snitch on her in regards to bringing a non-powered individual into the school.
“I’ll tell you another time about what happened, but other than that… uh… yeah, I’ve been doing fine. Thanks for asking, hermana.” Carmen said with a soft pat to Amy’s shoulder.
Walking to the back of the Jeep with Liana at her side, she looked to Amy.
“So uh… you wanted to some practice with a few guns and gats, right?” She asked.
“After all, I think I did tell you that I was going to help you out some way or another in return when we were at Delirium.” She said as Liana opened up the back of the SUV, pulling out a few gun cases before letting Carmen carry some to the table in the clearing.
“Damn, these things are heavy as fuck.” Carmen chuckled as she put the cases onto the table, Liana putting the last of them on the other side. She turned to Amy.
“So… we got almost everything you want. Name what type, we have it. All of them are made by FN though so the scope might be a little limited.” ”I guess you did say you’d help me out…” With a slight grin, Amy thought over the decision. She didn’t want anything too large or unwieldy, so figured starting small would be the best bet.
”Let’s just start with a pistol. I guess.” Amy paused for a second, looking a little weirded out by the situation. It wasn’t actually either of the people, but one gun was unfamiliar enough. Never mind the armoury that Carmen and Liana apparently hauled around in the back of that Jeep. Oh well. Worst case scenario, it could always be put down as a learning experience.
Despite her internal confidence, it was pretty obvious from her expression and body language that Amy didn’t quite know what she was meant to be doing. Once she got her hands on a gun, it was likely she’d be competent, but she wasn’t sure how much getting used to it would take. No doubt it wouldn’t be too long once she was able to figure out a few things, but when it came to getting started she didn’t want to take chances with a dangerous weapon. Unlike martial arts techniques, there were a lot more ways it could go wrong. Realising that she was probably acting a little strange, Amy offered up an explanation with a slight smile.
”Sorry if I’m acting weird. It’s just, well, we don’t really have guns back home. This is more than a little new to me.” Both Liana and Carmen listened to Liana’s request, before Liana happily spoke up.
“I know just the thing to get you. Figured you were gonna go for that option anyway.” Liana gestured for Amy to follow her to the table.
“Over here.” Walking over to her end of the table, she opened up a smaller gun case, revealing an
FN Five Seven handgun, complete with ammunition, suppressors and several other accessories. Taking it out from the case, loading in a magazine and cocking the weapon, she handed it to Amy before pointing downrange.
“Aim for that mannequin over there. Don’t worry, the gun fires a small calibre, it’s relatively easy to shoot.” Taking notice of Amy’s awkwardness regarding the weapon, Liana gave a soft understanding smile before standing behind her.
“Here, you gotta stand like this with your feet apart.” She said, letting Amy spread her feet a little.
“Hold the gun with both hands, with your shoulders twisted just a little…” Liana continued to guide Amy into the right position.
“Get comfortable in your position for just a second.” Carmen interjected.
“Wait!” Carmen ran forward towards Amy, holding a pair of ear defenders and shooting glasses.
“Don’t forget to wear your protection. Don’t wanna shoot your fuckin’ eye out.” Carmen joked, handing the ear defenders and shooting glasses to Amy.
Liana looked to Carmen.
“Oh shit… yeah, forgot about that. I’m normally used to practicing without these… here, lemme see that for a second…” Liana said before gingerly taking the weapon out from Amy’s hands and placing it on the table.
“Remember, finger off the trigger, safety is always on until you shoot, and never point it at anything you don’t want to destroy.” Liana explained.
“Jesus I feel like fucking Dora the fucking Explorer right now.” “How the fuck do you think I feel? And I’m the one who speaks fucking Spanish!” Carmen laughed.
Amy smiled slightly at hearing the two joke - it helped lighten the mood, put her at ease a little. She had listened pretty carefully to what Liana told her, and as she looked over the weapon she felt relatively confident in what to do. There had been a few adjustments for her to make, but it did feel as though her ability worked fine with it - having someone else’s help was something she’d asked for more to reassure herself than anything. Taking Carmen’s advice, she put on the protective gear, then glanced back at the weapon.
”Okay, I’m pretty sure I got it. Think I can give it a try.” She spoke with a little more confidence and, after waiting for a couple of seconds, picked up the weapon again. Making sure to obey the safety rules, she walked over into her previous position to fire at the mannequin. Relaxing, she found herself more comfortable with using her powers now that her nervousness was somewhat gone. Shifting to the correct stance with relative ease, she relaxed and focused on her target. This wasn’t so bad after all.
When she took the initial shot, her aim - while not perfect - was better than it had any right to be for a first-timer, her powers allowing her to adjust instinctively both to taking the shot itself and to the recoil.. She’d aimed for the mannequin's torso, and sure enough that’s where she’d managed to hit. After a couple more shots she put the safety back on and lowered the gun, looking over her shoulder at the other two with the type of confident grin she normally wore.
”Thanks for the help, guys. That was actually… Kinda fun. Weird, but fun.” Both of them watched encouragingly as Amy took her shots. Seeing her take aim and stand in the optimal combat stance for pistols, they watched carefully and evaluated her. One she pulled the trigger, she actually landed her shot on a mannequin closer to them, and while it was somewhat close, it was still a good shot. Her follow up shots had somewhat decent grouping, which was actually pretty good for a first timer. After she turned the safety on and lowered the weapon, they both nodded approvingly, impressed.
Liana shrugged.
“I know the Five Seven ain’t for everybody. You can always try Carmen’s favorite sidearm… that one has a little more kick and power to it. And actually doesn’t look fugly.” She chuckled.
Carmen smiled and nodded to Amy.
“See what all of the ‘Ban All the Guns’ folks are missing out on? If they had a taste of this maybe they’d change their mind.” She walked up to Amy.
“Still, that was nice grouping, and you fucked the target up.” She patted her gently on the back encouragingly.
“Go ahead and empty the mag. Shoot for the targets farther away. Aim for the head if you like, and don’t get discouraged if you miss. We all miss sometimes. Not me though, because my powers and all, but Liana misses sometimes.” Liana rolled her eyes at Carmen with a sarcastic ‘Yeah’ look.
“Alright, what you need to is focus on your targets. Steady your aim, breathe.” Carmen said as she stood at Amy’s back, guiding her.
“You got around… eighteen?” She looked to Liana, to which Liana nodded.
“...eighteen rounds left in the gun, so shoot to your heart’s content.” ”It’s definitely pretty cool, I’ll give you that.” With a newfound level of quiet confidence, Amy cast her eye over the other targets. They were definitely a bit further away, but it seemed doable at least.
”Eighteen rounds, huh? Sounds good.” Saying that, she wasn’t quite confident enough to go straight for the head right away - it seemed like a better idea to just make sure she was aiming at the right place first. Okay, what had Carmen said? Focus, and steady her aim. As she did so, Amy started to tense up and hold her breath before remembering the last part of the advice - breathing was important in most situations, so she’d have to keep that in mind. Relaxing once more, she took a shot at one of the targets, aiming for the centre of the torso just to get used to the distance. The next few followed and made their mark.
With a slight grin, Amy decided she might as well try to have some fun with this as well. After all, she wasn’t missing the target so why not challenge herself a bit? She shifted her aim upwards, and aimed for a few head shots. The first went slightly wide - her aim must have shifted when she moved it higher, but she wasn’t too discouraged. Taking a moment to correct her aim, she fired a few more in fairly quick succession, a lot more successfully. Most of them made their mark, and when they did she couldn’t help but look a little proud of herself. Especially at her final shot, which - through a mixture of powers and actual ability - went right between the eyes.
”Yeah!” she cheered, before clicking the safety back on, remembering that Carmen and Liana were standing there and looking faintly embarrassed at her exclamation.
”I mean, uh, that was pretty cool.” Both Liana and Carmen watched Amy carefully as she aimed for her targets and fired. She watched as she landed on her target, the torso, just fine, before challenging herself with the head. Seeing how she missed, Carmen gave a soft reassuring nod just in case if Amy looked back to her, allowing her to try once again, and tried she did! The next shot landed on the mannequin’s face, and so did a large proportion out of many shots. The FN ammo was tearing up the mannequin’s head, and with one final shot, a hole tore open right in between the eyes. Liana cheered a little herself while Carmen gave an impressed nod.
Once Amy cheered, Liana gave a soft chuckle. Carmen on the other hand, simply gave Amy a pat on the back.
“Hey, that was incredibly good shooting, especially considering that this is your first time! You earned that yeah.” She said with a soft smile.
“What’s your superpower anyway?” She asked as she took the handgun from the table, examining it.
“Also do you want to continue shooting with this gun or do you want to move onto something bigger and better?” Carmen asked.
“Seriously though, that was fucking impressive.” Liana nodded.
“Yeah, really impressive. It’s almost as if you had a bit of experience with Five Sevens yourself…” Amy couldn’t help but grin a little bit, but shook her head at their compliments.
”It’s not really that impressive, honestly. One of my powers kind of gives me a helping hand with this stuff - weapons, tools and such. I have an idea how to use them right away, if that makes sense?” She shrugged.
”It’s kind of like I’m a really fast learner. Having you two helps as well.” She looked at Liana, noting her comment.
”Never actually shot at anything before though, you can be sure of that. I’ve lived in Scotland most of my life and those things aren’t exactly easy to get a hold of over there. Wouldn’t mind trying a couple more out though, it’s an experience. As for my powers...” she laughed a little before taking a second’s pause. Weighing up her options. Realistically, these two seemed pretty competent - and more importantly they seemed like they’d be the same way without whatever powers they had. That would make them pretty useful people to have on side, especially for Amy.
And, from what Amy remembered, Carmen at least didn’t seem that wrapped up in the school feud bullshit, which made her decision. It didn’t seem there was much to lose from being honest with these two, assuming Liana had the same attitude.
”Well, I already told you the learning thing, but that’s more of a secondary - my main one lets me shut off other people’s. I don’t spread it around much, but it works for me.” As she spoke, she looked at the two to try and gauge their reaction. It was a bit of a risk, but Amy was hopeful about her chances of it working out.
Both Liana and Carmen nodded with an
Ah… to Amy’s first statement regarding her powers. When it came to her having no experience with weapons, considering where she came from, Liana chuckled.
“Kinda figures, your accent kind of gave you away.” She joked, before listening with Carmen, kind of curious in regards to what her powers are.
When Amy answered her question, Carmen’s eyes widened a little with interest and intrigue.
“Hey, that’s- that’s actually pretty nice, and actually pretty damn useful. Considering with all of these idiots fighting each other over some stupid sorority… whatever, we could actually use someone with powers like yours, and hopefully bring an end to this bullshit.” Carmen said with a sigh.
“Fucking…” She shook her head.
“... whatever.” She looked back to Amy before putting her hands up.
“No offense if you’re like… involved in all of that, but I’ve seen what the elections did to this fucking country, I don’t like seeing it here either!” She sighed.
“Still, you can learn things and negate people’s powers, while it isn’t really cool, it’s like… incredibly useful.” Carmen explained, sitting on the table.
“As for my powers? I’ll show you after you squeeze a few rounds from this.” As Carmen spoke, she pulled out her favorite
FNX-45 Tactical pistol, complete with its own
RMR sight. Handing it to Amy with the handle facing her, Carmen gave a soft smile.
“Now don’t be fucking it up, this one’s my favorite. And keep in mind, this one packs a punch and bucks in your hands a bit, because it fires a larger and more powerful round.” She explained as she hopped off the table. If Amy took the weapon, her smile widened a little as she stood beside Amy and looked downrange.
“You know what to do, hermana. Fuck ‘em up!” Amy shrugged. The assessment of her powers was accurate, they definitely weren’t flashy but they got the job done, though sometimes she’d have preferred to do something a bit more exciting. Amy nodded slightly at the assessment of the school drama.
”I’m with you. With how powerful some of these people are...” Her expression darkened.
”Someone’s going to end up getting hurt or worse - if it hasn’t happened already. They need something to make them work together.” The last part was more to herself. While she didn’t mention it, Amy had started thinking of a plan to try and do that - but it wasn’t the safest, and whether it’d work seemed sketchy at best.
Deciding not to delve into that one any further, Amy took the gun and looked it over with a light laugh.
”Well then, I promise not to break anything.” She smiled as she took aim and fired. While she’d been warned about the recoil, it still caught her a little off-guard the first time. It took a few shots, but once she’d adjusted to it her aim returned to its previous form. This time she was clearly having a bit more fun with it, switching her aim between different parts of the target to see how accurately she could hit them. After her final shot, she smirked slightly as she turned to Carmen.
”You know, I think I might be getting the hang of this. How’s that for fucking things up?” She chuckled, gesturing towards the target that she’d just completely murdered. She looked over the gun for a second.
”You sure weren’t kidding when you said this thing packs more of a punch, though! I can see why you’re a fan. But enough about me…” She handed the gun back with a grin.
”I believe you mentioned a demonstration? I’m guessing yours might be a bit more impressive. Go ahead, I’m looking forward to it!” Carmen nodded, and while she was happy that Amy felt the same way about the situation, she saw her expression regarding the issue, to which she wanted it suppressed, and out of respect, Carmen never uttered a word about it. As much as she wanted to do follow up discussions on the issue and possibly recruit an ally for her mission, she figured she’d let Amy continue to have fun in comfort. Handing her the gun, she watched as she took aim, smirking a little.
“Alrighty, hotshot. Be careful~” She teased, before letting Amy empty the mag again.
She watched as she fired the powerful handgun at the mannequin target, and while she missed a few times, she managed to keep her grouping in subsequent shots, and ended up tearing the thing apart with the powerful rounds. Once Amy finished, Liana looked to Amy.
“Damn… Carmen’s right, you’re incredibly useful.” Liana gave a soft chuckle.
“You should hang with us when you can, we’ll show you all kinds of goodies you can get yourself used to.” She smirked.
Carmen rolled her eyes at Liana, and even though Liana read her mind, she didn’t really want to rush things on Amy.
“Sorry, we’re just a little excited… considering that you… fucking murdered that thing!” Carmen laughed, pointing at the headless mannequin.
“Damn girl… that was some good shooting.” She said with a smile, and once she was handed her gun, she looked back up to Amy with sincere eyes.
“Now I’m gonna warn you… what you’re about to see might overshadow your accomplishments, and I want you to know that what we saw will remain with us.” She said with a soft, sincere smile.
“Just remember that, hermana.” She said with a soft smile, patting Amy on the shoulder before walking to the table.
Unloading the magazine from her .45 handgun, she loaded a fresh one and chambered it, disengaging the safety. Almost immediately, as she stood behind the table, she holstered her gun and remained there for just a second.
“Watch.” Carmen said softly.
“Liana, get ready to throw the can.” She said before looking forward towards the range.
In a split second, Carmen drew the tactical pistol from her holster
blood dragon style, allowing it to come to rest within her hands before she already fired the weapon. It was almost as if she had an aimbot installed into her mind, she aimed every split second, taking a shot at every single head within the range. BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! Not even a second to breathe or aim, just rapid successions of nearly impossibly quick headshots. She never stopped, and almost immediately, she turned right towards Liana and fired the last shot into the air, the slide locking back as a beer can exploded in midair, a can that Liana threw into the air. Right after that, Carmen reloaded her handgun
TF2 style, and immediately holstered her gun.
Carmen spread her arms.
“My power is super reflexes. Essentially it allows me to enable slow-mo for myself, and thus it allows me to quickly evaluate, correct, compensate and accurately hit my marks. This applies to shooting, hand-to-hand combat, driving, first aid and even the most simple of things, like taking exams or tests.” Carmen said, letting her arms fall to her side.
“The passive ability that comes with it is super senses. I can see better, hear better, smell better, taste better and touch better.” Carmen explained.
“Like your powers, they aren’t flashy or cool but… they are incredibly useful.” Carmen explained.
“Now just imagine, everything I just shot were all the heads of jihadi terrorists in Syria, or death squads within an oppressive regime.” Carmen gestured to all of the mannequins that had holes in their heads.
“Yep, I have the potential to help the people destroy entire organizations of evil with my powers alone.” Liana, however, never said a word.
Amy looked impressed at the display.
”You weren’t kidding. That was, uh, fast.” she nodded, trailing off as she looked over the range. While her own handiwork hadn’t been bad, it was definitely sloppy in comparison to that sort of showing. After a second, she glanced over at Liana.
”Sorry if this is rude or anything, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before today. While we’re on the subject of powers, um…” she shrugged, smiling a little nervously.
”Well, I guess I’m asking why you appeared at Mayweather all of a sudden.” Amy wasn’t really the most subtle person when it came to asking this sort of stuff, but her curiosity wouldn’t let her ignore it completely. Besides, it didn’t seem like there was much to lose from asking - worst case scenario she’d just not talk about it.
Carmen grinned, looking to Amy.
“Yep.” She simply answered before looking to the table.
“We have other weapons and stuff you can use, including knives, nightsticks, tasers…” She looked up to Amy.
“Just don’t use them on us. Well… you can try but you won’t succeed.” Once Liana was asked about her powers, and why she’s in Mayweather, Liana looked to Amy.
“Oh… uhh… I have similar powers to Carmen, and I’m shadowing her for the time being.” She lied, using the same lie that Carmen told Mayweather’s head staff in order to have Liana around with her. In all actuality, Liana was brought along with Carmen in order to significantly increase their chances of survival, as they have recently had a bad run in with a mafia, and can only see disaster ahead of them.
Amy looked a little skeptical at Liana’s explanation.
”That sounds like a real coincidence to me. Guess it must just be one of those things.” She shrugged, before a slightly forced chuckle.
”Small world.” As she turned to look over the weapons on the table, it was apparent that she hadn’t quite bought the lie. It didn’t seem worth pushing things, though. If she really wanted to, Amy didn’t doubt she could get hold of some kind of information on at least one of them.
Hoping they wouldn’t pick up on it, she decided to change the subject. Unplanned subtlety wasn’t exactly her strong point so she just did the first thing she could think of and gestured towards the variety of weaponry on display.
”Well, you guys sure own a lot of weapons. I could probably spend days trying to get the hang of these. You’re not stocking up for anything too dangerous, right?” The question was delivered in a lighthearted way, Amy not really paying that much attention to what she’d actually asked.
Both Liana and Carmen listened to Amy’s reply a little awkwardly, but while Carmen seemed a little relieved (having bought Amy’s reply), Liana was still a bit skeptical. When Carmen turned around to Liana, Liana gestured to Carmen about her concerns by exaggerating her facial expressions, to which Carmen picked up on with a nod, Liana indicating that Amy didn’t buy it. However, when Amy started talking about their guns and asked if they were stocking up for anything serious, Carmen gulped.
“Uh… Amy? Can you keep a secret?” Carmen asked, looking to Amy with nearly pleading eyes.
“Because… let’s just say that we’re at a huge disadvantage and the secret is kind of the only thing keeping us alive right now...” Carmen explained, nearly cringing.
Amy’s expression changed to a look of concern on hearing Carmen’s tone, although her eyes stayed fixed on the table. Maybe that question had been a bit more on the nose than she’d expected it to, but if they told her what it was there might be some way for her to help them out. After a moment’s pause, she spoke seriously.
”I’ve kept plenty of them before.” Turning to look at them both, she sighed.
”Most people have a couple skeletons in their closet. It won’t be a problem.” Liana and Carmen looked to each other, seemingly thinking about it. Liana gave a soft nod to Carmen, to which Carmen sighed, looking to Amy.
“Liana doesn’t have any powers.” She said softly.
“She’s just my protection detail. See… around more than two weeks ago, we kind of had a run-in with the Harts… some superpower mafia of some sort, and I barely escaped with my life. My friends are in hiding, and Liana and I are sticking together for our own protection.” Carmen explained.
“We’re much safer here anyways, so if that secret’s revealed, we’ll get kicked out and we’ll end up sitting ducks.” Carmen explained, Liana nodding in agreement.
“Liana’s just… incredibly good is all.” Carmen didn’t want to reveal any further information, such as that of their past… she didn’t want to make Amy flip out and snitch on them.
Amy was silent for a good few seconds. The Harts. Seemed like they were involved in a lot of people’s lives lately. Speaking up, she sounded as though she’d come to a decision.
”I won’t do anything to put you two in danger. I’d be willing to help you out, if I can, but I need to know a couple things first. Firstly, which Hart - or Harts - was it? And secondly...” She trailed off, before continuing with a dangerous-sounding calm.
”How far are you willing to go if it becomes necessary to protect yourselves?” Carmen watch Amy’s reaction, and her heart nearly jumped out of her chest until she heard that Amy was on her side, to which Carmen, and by extension, Liana, gave out a sigh in relief, and smiled once Amy said that she was willing to help, but she needed to know what Hart she ran into.
“The fuck do I know… it was some girly bitch with some creepypasta voice and some big burly dude in a Taliban-styled torture chamber. I didn’t get their names because we were too busy running for our fucking lives and getting fucking shot at.” Carmen sighed.
At the second question, Liana walked over to the table and pulled out a larger gun case from under the stack of smaller ones. She then opened it up, revealing an
FN FS2000 assault rifle before pulling out another gun case, opening it up and revealing an
FN SCAR rifle with a grenade launcher mounted on it. Liana then gestured to the two military grade firearms and raised an eyebrow.
“Do these give you a clue as to how far we would go?” She asked before picking up the FS2000, loading it up and readying the weapon.
“Hon… I may be powerless but I have a history of destroying entire crime groups on my own, so much to the point it would make Denzel Washington and Liam Neeson blush.” She said before squeezing off a few rounds, firing in a similar manner to how Carmen did, getting headshots in a quick succession before she stood in a relaxed position, lifting her rifle skyward.
Carmen looked to Liana before looking back to Amy.
“Yeah. I may not go as far as her but… we’ve done some horrible shit to horrible people in the past.” Carmen said softly.
“But only to horrible people. After our run in with the Harts, we wasted a whole lot of their… undead assholes that chased after us. I’m trying to get in contact with Gianna to hopefully get things settled... but when the shit hits the fan… we’ll be ready.” ”That settles it then.” Amy said calmly after seeing Liana’s shooting. She couldn’t figure out who they were talking about off the top of her head, but it would definitely be possible for her to find out. As for the things they’d done… Well, they didn’t really bother her. She knew all too well that you couldn’t fix a lot of things without someone getting their hands dirty. Somehow Amy got the feeling that the law would be a little less approving, but that wasn’t her problem.
”I can try to figure out who exactly it was for you. Past that…” Amy shrugged.
”Well, if you get yourselves in trouble and need my help then I’ll try and be there as soon as I can.” All this talk about the Harts had reminded Amy of someone, though. She checked the time on her phone before looking at Carmen and Liana apologetically.
”I’d normally stick around, but I have to go and get ready for this ‘Fear Fest’ thing. I sort of promised someone I’d go with him and it’s a long walk back to campus.” She smiled slightly, although it was obvious that she was more serious in talking to them now that she had been on arrival. She wasn’t sure whether to tell them who she was going with, but had decided against it right now. Neither of the people they’d described sounded like Virgil, so it wasn’t all that relevant.
Carmen nodded with a smile.
“I appreciate that, hermana. Same goes for you.” She said with a smirk.
“And if you ever need anything, whether it would be weapons, provisions, kush… feel free to holla.” Carmen said, patting Amy on the shoulder.
“Seriously though, I incredibly appreciate it.” She said softly, her tone a little more serious.
“After our run in with that bitch and her undead cronies, I’ve been getting the feeling that there’s bigger fish for us to get, and they already have eyes on us. Liana and I are trying to find a way to end this bullshit of a feud once and for all, and we’re gonna need all of the help we can get.” Carmen explained.
“Send some folks our way to this number…” She said, pulling out a pen and a pad, writing down a phone number before handing it to Amy.
“...we could use some friends in times like this.” She said before stepping back.
Once Amy announced that she had to leave, Liana nodded.
“Well don’t let us hold you up then!” Liana said with a smile.
“We’ll see you there.” Amy grinned, taking the number and pocketing it.
”I’ll make sure to remember that one. Never know when I might need it, right?” With a small laugh, she continued.
”I’ve got your backs, anyway. What you’re are doing is something I can definitely get behind. See you guys around.” Smiling, she turned to head down the path, giving the two a friendly wave as she walked. Well, that seemed like a couple of people on her side. Talk about a lucky coincidence. For now, though, Amy had a Fear Fest to prepare for.
Both Liana and Carmen waved Amy off before they both turned to each other.
“Shouldn’t we be preparing for the fear fest too?” Liana asked.
“And I suspect nothing too terrible is gonna happen anyway. If we stick together, that is.” “Let’s just take the Jeep with us just to be sure. We need an escape route just in case if bad guys show up there too.” Carmen said softly.
“Sukaina covered a whole lot of our tracks in regards to things. The only thing that they should know is my name and that I go to Mayweather. That’s it.” Carmen explained.
“Other than that, we should be fine.” Liana nodded.
“Alrighty.” She then changed into a combat stance.
“Ready?” Carmen stood opposite of Liana, raising up her fists.
“Ready to kick your ass once again? Let’s go, bitch!” She smirked, and once Liana threw her first punch, they began sparring for the time being.
NYC Suburbs → NYC Hood → Upstate New York Wooded Area
Each other (Hugo, Carmen, and Sylvia) 
