Off the record

[Valkrae]

The faint sound of music penetrated the hazy mind of a man, laying face down on a bar counter. He could faintly hear himself groaning, and he attempted to lift his face up. He was immediately slammed back down onto the table, which elicited another very loud groan from the man. He opened his eyes a bit, to try and see who was slamming him into the bar counter. He saw a man, in about his mid 20s, standing beside him. The man wore a simple coat, and tattered pants. He seemed on edge, and kept glancing towards the door. There were other patrons in the bar, the man could hear them, but he could not see them.

"Are you sure no one followed you, Alex?" The man standing next to Robert said, looking back towards the door. He could see a gun in the man's waist belt. Another figure entered the hazy vision of the man, and helped the man up off of the table, spinning him around to face the room. "Even if I was, John, They won't find anything when they get here. We'll be done with this kid, and out of here in less than 10 minutes." The man most likely known as Alex said. Alex appeared to be a bit older, in his late 40s, and had a graying beard. "Isn't that right, Joseph?" Alex smiled as he leaned down to the man.

A sudden rush of memories hit Joseph like a tidal wave. He was gambling at a very shady bar, when he started to lose, and badly. He didn't have the money to pay off his debts, so he tried to sneak out. He was greeted by the two men that now had him handcuffed, and restrained to this barstool. "Joseph Dalton, compulsive gambler, and way behind on his debts to our little organization. We intend to reclaim our resources, one way or the other.." Alex said, leaning down into Joseph's face. The man smelled of tobacco, and alchohol. John turned to the door, walking over to it. He looked outside of it for a minute, unmoving. Alex drew what seemed to be a knife from his coat. "We're going to be taking your fingers first, as these things normally go.."

John slammed the door, and drew the pistol in his waistband. "Alex. We've got company. Get ready." He said, running and kicking a table over to provide cover. Alex tossed Joseph over the bar, and dived with him. The door was kicked open, and three men bursted in. One wore red sunglasses, and had a dark black beard, with a cigarette hanging out. The other two were twins. They had sandy blonde hair, and green eyes. The man with the beard drew a revolver and fired at John as he popped his head up. The two twins raised small arms pistols, and aimed at Alex, who was raising from the bar with a knife to Joseph's neck. The other men in the bar had ran for the backroom as soon as the shooting started, so it was just them inside of the bar by this point. John writhed on the floor with a gunshot wound in his shoulder.

Alex tensed, and shoved the knife farther into the skin on Joseph's throat. The twins lowered their pistols slightly, as Robert turned his revolver onto Alex. "Ye've got three choices in this situation, pal. Yah either drop my brother, and walk outta here with a bullet not lodged in your brain, Ya don't let him go, and I blow your brains all over that nice liquor cabinet, or we place this little situation out, you take my brother, and the cops hunt you down." He said, the revolver never wavering. Alex looked at the three men who now had him a gunpoint, still holding the knife to Joseph's neck. The distant sound of Police sirens could be heard wailing off in the distance. Alex hesitated, and then dropped the knife from Joseph's neck, looking at Robert. "There, Your brother is free, now let me wa-" The man never finished his sentence before Robert fired the revolver into the mans head. He dropped to the ground, twitching ever so lightly. Joseph hopped the bar, holding his neck, as the Twins moved to block the doorway with tabes. Robert made his way, slowly, over to the now very quiet John. Robert aimed the revolver at the mans head, before firing into John's head as well. Joseph watched at his older brother, and gulped. One of the twins shouted to Robert, "Door secure, Let's beat it!"

Robert nodded, grabbing his brother by the shoulder, and heading towards the back door. The twins followed suit, grabbing a few bottles of unbloodied liquor before actually leaving the building. Robert ran down the road, raising his head up as a helicopter passed overhead. The sound of sirens had now reached the bar. Robert, the twins, and Joseph all funneleddown an alleyway, and into an idling van. The van pulled out of the alley, and onto the road. Joseph had been shoved back into the back of the van by Robert. The driver was a woman with blonde hair, in a messy bun. She seemd very tired, and very pissed off. "I swear to god Joe, The next time you get kidnapped by these fucking guys, I'm going to let you get your own self out of it.." She snapped at Joseph, who sat in the back, his head down. Robert shook his head, lighting another cigarette, and rolling down the window a tiny bit. The Twins were busy going through the liqour they had stolen from the bar.

The van drove on, for what seemed like an hour, out of the giant city, and into the planet's country side.