The sun slowly rose from the horizon as everything slowly lit up. Watching from the balcony of a villa was Vicente. The cool air overwhelmed him in waves as he watched the sunrise from the direction of the arid desert. Bushes and small trees lay in the desert, surely providing momentary shade for those who live here. In the heat of the day, though, it would be hard to survive, even with the bare shade.

Vicente continued to admire the view as people behind him picked up dead bodies. On Vicente, old and new blood mixed and stained his luxury suit. He looked down at it and realized how ruined it was. He attempted to wipe a stain off his sleeve, only to see it smudge. While doing this, someone came out and spoke to him.

“It’s a nice view, jefe.”

Vicente stopped wiping and looked back at the view, taking it all in before responding.

“Yeah, breathtaking. No wonder Emilio chose this place to die.”

“…”

“What did you need, Armando?”

Armando continued to admire the view with Vicente for a moment before finally speaking his mind.

“I was going to ask you where the bodies were… But… But there’s a lot more on my mind.”

With a smile, Vicente responded.

“Speak what you think. You know I don’t mind criticism.”

Armando hesitated for a moment. Then he spoke.

“We’re down a lot of people. Surely, they’re all watching us closely. They might even be preparing to hit us from the back right now! I only ask, What exactly is your plan?”

Vicente stared in the far distance as a snake slithered softly. After a few feet, it stopped and bowed its head weakly. Then, it slowly collapsed onto the ground as life left its body. Moments later, it stopped moving entirely as the morning sun began to bake it. Watching this unfold, Vicente waited until its very last movement before responding.

“You don’t have to worry. I will admit that we are at the weakest we’ve ever been. However, I’ve already made a deal with those in the south. For now, at least, we should be fine to rebuild and develop our forces.”

Armando widened his eyes as he realized who he was speaking of.

“You mean!”

“Yes… Haha… Armando, do you want to know what the terms of our deal were?”

“If you are allowed to disclose them, then of course.”

Vicente’s smile widened as he thought about the decision he had made.

“You must know of this gang’s past. For five long years, we’ve been in constant worry of full warfare breaking out. Hell, I’m surprised we haven’t fully fought considering just how many clashes we’ve had.”

“Yeah, but what does that mean?”

“You do know who was our last leader, correct?”

“!!!”

“You get it, don’t you? About our past and what they wanted! Even they know he’s still alive!!”

“…”

“You see, in exchange for mutual protection between the both of us, I’ll serve him to them.”

Armando stayed silent while Vicente continued.

“That’s how we are going to ensure our survival. That’s why it is even more crucial that we find the mole covering for Francisco. Only then can we succeed!”

Behind them, a man walked onto the veranda during their conversation. Vicente turned to look at them and smiled. In his grasp was Emilio’s head.

It was incredibly fresh, with blood still dripping from the neck, directly where it was cut.

“Don’t you see it, Armando? We have taken the first step. Now, we are on the edge of the second. All until we reach the highest of highs, the tallest of peaks!

Vicente reached down and grabbed Emilio’s blood-soaked hair before bringing it up for him to see. He ensured it was truly his head, examining each eyelash before lifting it up to the sky. He turned and shielded himself from the harsh sun’s rays with his lone head. Then he spoke to all the men who watched.

“Now then… Let us instill fear in those who oppose us.”

Vicente turned and handed the head to a close aide. Then he walked through all of his men in the living room of the villa. Inside, blood found itself on every inch of the surface as bullet shells laid. Most of the bodies present had been taken out. However, there were still quite a few to be dealt with. It made no difference to Vicente, though, as he stepped on top of the murdered bodies to reach his goal. One body specifically twitched slightly before springing up and rushing towards Vicente. In his crazed gaze, hate and rage could be seen emanating from his being. No one was near him as the wounded man rushed him. In an instant, he pulled his gun up and aimed it directly at Vicente’s head. In sight of the gun, Vicente smiled as gunshots blasted through the wounded man. One through the leg and the other through the head. Before the wounded man could even pull the trigger, he was killed in two swift motions. Blood burst onto the walls as his eyes shook slightly before fading. Then he collapsed as his mind slowly diminished. In his final moments, he found himself staring at Vicente, who smiled at him pitifully. That was the last of his being.

In the corner of the room, sitting on a dark leather chair, was a skinny black-haired woman. In her hands, a gun was aimed directly at the now-dead man who nearly killed Vicente. She stood up and walked towards the body before putting one more bullet into his head. Vicente glanced at her before reprimanding all his men.

“This is a pathetic performance from you all.”

Vicente looked back towards the woman and thanked her.

“My thanks, Aurora.”

Aurora looked at Vicente lightly before leaving. Vicente did not seem to mind as he continued.

“Put a bullet in every man’s head to ensure their dead. I don’t want this to happen again. Understood?”

Every man there yelled of course as Vicente smiled. His men were finally starting to get back in shape.

—————————————————

Dust flew into the hot dry air as a Corvette sports car raged through the desert. Leaving the villa where Emilio was killed, Aurora sat inside Dust flew into the hot, dry air as a Corvette sports car raged through the desert. Leaving the villa where Emilio was killed, Aurora sat inside the driver seat as she continuously hit 80 mph on the dusty dirt path. The windows were rolled down as Aurora had on Ray Ban sunglasses. She trekked through the desert as the harsh sun beamed down on her. During this drive, her phone in the passenger seat buzzed as a message appeared. Noticing it, she grasped onto it as she both drove and peered at her phone. It was a message from Vicente that stated.

Aurora stared at it as she squinted her eyes. A moment later, a “tch” slipped from her lips as she responded.

She threw the phone down and continued driving before it began buzzing again. A sigh departed from her mouth as she grabbed onto it again.

Aurora frowned before replying.

Then, she threw her phone onto the passenger seat, and dug into her pockets, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Carefully, she pulled one out before placing it in her mouth. Then, she grabbed a lighter from her cup holder and lit it before shooting smoke from her mouth. Finally, she turned the stereo on before continuing her long trek to Alejandro’s house.

Eleven hours later, she pulled into a relatively clean parking lot. Her car’s roaring engine silenced as she stepped out. On the horizon, the sun lowered as it became early evening. Although at this time of the day, it was still blazing hot, As she walked to Alejandro’s apartment, Aurora held a bag of fast food in her left hand. Minutes later, she found herself in front of the door of Alejandro’s apartment as she banged on the door. A short time passed while no one responded from the inside. Aurora took her sunglasses off and placed them in her pocket before banging on the door once more. Still, no one responded from the inside. Aurora contemplated for a minute before pulling her firearm out. She aimed it at the doorknob before a loud bang rang throughout the surroundings. On the floor, the doorknob rolled around as the apartment door slowly opened. Aurora went on guard before kicking the door open. At the next moment, she aimed into the seemingly empty apartment before stepping in. Her eyes darted around while her gun followed. In this way, she cleared the kitchen and living room of the apartment before walking towards one of the three bedrooms. Sweat formed on her forehead as she focused completely. With one hand, she clenched her gun, while with the other, she slowly turned the bedroom door knob. Seconds later, a small click rang through the apartment as the door opened. Aurora leaned down before realizing the possible situation that could be ensuing inside. She had no knowledge of the inside of the room, meaning she was in a foreign environment. Luckily, she encountered no adversaries while clearing the apartment. But that meant there was an even higher chance they were camping inside the bedroom, ready to shoot and kill. Not to mention, Aurora had no knowledge of the number of people possibly inside. In the end, she could do nothing but hope she was only facing one man.

Aurora readied herself to charge in before noticing something on the floor. Then she had an incredible idea. She leaned down and grabbed onto it before shouting loudly.

“Take this motherfucker!!!”

At the next moment, she threw the hard object into the room as one man shouted from the inside.

“Shit!”

Hearing that, Aurora rushed in, leaned down as she looked, and aimed toward the direction of the voice. With eyes as fast as lightning, she locked eyes on her target before getting ready to pull her gun’s trigger. While the man who was inside was looking towards the object Aurora had thrown, ready to dive down.

At that moment, though, Aurora got a good look at the man before realizing it was actually Alejandro! She immediately stopped herself from pulling the trigger as Alejandro noticed her. Immediately, Alejandro aimed his gun at her as she began rushing towards him, dropping her weapon in the process. At the next moment, Aurora was close enough to him and lunged herself at him. Before Alejandro could pull his trigger, she grasped onto the bottom of the gun and shoved it upwards as a blast echoed through the room. Next, with all the force her short body could produce, she shoved herself into Alejandro as they both plunged toward the bedroom wall. A loud thud ensued as Alejandro’s voice leaked out.

“Aughh!”

With Alejandro caught off guard, Aurora found herself with two choices. Either tell him he was with Vicente and hope he believed her, or beat the shit out of Alejandro until he understood. Without a second thought, she chose the ladder as she pulled her arm back and whipped up a punch. Instantly, Alejandro focused and noticed the oncoming hit, but before he could properly react, her fist pierced the air before making contact with Alejandro’s face.

She was not an inherently strong person; however, through training and sheer determination, she had surpassed most men in strength. In a flash, her singular punch completely jolted Alejandro’s head back, and he nearly passed out. Straight away, Alejandro pulled his arms up to block his head as he attempted to recover from the hit.

Unfortunately, before Alejandro could regain himself, Aurora continued punching him with a barrage of hits. Each punch burrowed deep into his body as it seemed to break his bones. Seeing this, Alejandro knew he had to defend his body as well. Pulling his defense down, Aurora read him and immediately pushed her fist toward his face. Without even realizing it, her punch moved at lightning speed as it smashed into his chin. This time, he could not remain conscious as the focus in his eyes scattered. Consequently, he flew backward and collapsed onto the ground face-first.

Standing, Aurora gasped for breath as buckets of sweat fell from her face. She gazed at Alejandro momentarily before kicking him lightly, ensuring he was knocked out. Then, she relaxed as exhaustion flooded her body.

For minutes, Aurora continued to look at Alejandro with a light smile on her face. In her eyes, he had exceeded her expectations. Most people would go down in one hit because of her sheer accuracy in hitting crucial points. However, it took two punches in the head and multiple in the body before he fell.

Sure, he was stupid, but at least he was tanky if not anything else.

She continued to smile as she dragged his body. Through the living room, she continuously pulled him until they arrived in the dining room. Then, she pulled him up and sat him in one of the dining room table chairs, waiting for him to wake.