Chapter 18 #2
“See, that’s the problem here,” he said, “and it’s the reason why you’re standing there with your hands up, and I’m standing here.
You stuffed shirts think that a guy like me, a guy from the street, couldn’t possibly think, couldn’t possibly plan.
A guy like me couldn’t possibly dominate the criminal underbelly of a huge city like this.
A guy like me couldn’t possibly put together a force that could unseat the damn military.
A guy like me couldn’t possibly spread out of the city to take over the whole damn state.
And a guy like me couldn’t possibly be looking ahead to see that as just the first step in a much larger plan. ”
Vin watched as cold horrid realization spread over the general’s face. It was the same harsh reality that he was feeling spread forth from his heart and gripped his spine, spreading icy tendrils of dread throughout his extremities.
Chainz was looking for a lot more than a simple power grab in the city.
He clearly had been planning for this day, the same as he and Sean had been.
Chainz knew, as they did, that modern society was balancing on paper-thin legs and that a reckoning was coming that would change the face of the world.
While Vin and Sean had dedicated themselves to survival, to ensuring their loved ones were taken care of and protected, Chainz had clearly seen an opportunity to dominate.
Vin had always known that Chainz was dangerous, that he was an underworld force to be reckoned with.
But he had never imagined that the gang leader had such plans in place or that he might unwittingly play right into them.
“Regardless,” the general said, trying to regain some control over the situation, “we are still surrendering ourselves into your custody. Before you entered this tent, I sent runners out to start the process of surrendering. My men and I are now prisoners of war, and I trust that you will treat us honorably and fairly.”
There was a long moment of silence that fell between them. Chainz had stopped grinning, and his face had gone blank. He stared ahead at the general, who, to his credit, never shrank, cowered, or withered under the intimidating stare of this giant of a man.
He could tell Chainz had thought long and hard about this moment for a long time.
He had envisioned what the power might feel like, to see high-ranking members of the elite military genuflecting before him.
Now, the moment had arrived, and Chainz seemed almost taken aback by it.
It was as though he were soaking it all in, reveling in his moment of ultimate victory.
The silence was deafening as it fell over the room.
The soldiers flanking the general seemed to shift nervously, their hands still settled on their weapons, awaiting a command.
Vin felt equally restless, keeping his gun trained on the uniformed threats in front of him.
However, he stole a glance over at Sean to see what state his old friend was in.
Sean didn’t seem nearly as bothered by these events and kept his face hard and void of any discomfort. Vin wondered if Sean was seriously okay with handing the keys to the state over to this man or if he was simply keeping himself focused on the task at hand.
The task at hand. Vin tried to remind himself that Chainz and his ambitions were not why they were there.
Deb and Jimmy were here, locked in a pen like animals.
They were put there under the orders of this man standing in front of them.
Vin tried to remind himself of that over and over again.
This man was the reason his ex-wife and child had been taken.
He was the architect of their suffering in this terrible place.
If anything had happened to them while under captivity, it was due to this man and the orders he had issued. The thought repeated itself in his head over and over again as the silence permeating off of Chainz filled the room.
He had expected the general to shrink and wither beneath the stare of this goliath, but he remained at attention, face blank, hands clasped behind his back as he stared straight ahead at the imposing figure who held his life and the lives of every soldier under his watch precariously over the fire.
“Prisoners of war,” Chainz said finally, letting his words spread out slowly and fill the space.
He sounded thoughtful as if he had never considered the option before.
He brought one massive hand up to stroke his thick and powerful jawline.
Then, a smirk spread across his face as his hand moved back down to his waist. “I’m not interested in prisoners. ”
Chainz drew his gun with much greater speed than Vin had thought possible.
One moment he was standing there, and in a flash, a pistol had appeared in his hand as if by magic.
The shot instantly rang out as soon as the weapon reached the appropriate height.
A bullet ripped out from the muzzle of the gun and tore into the forehead of the general, pushing through skin, skull, and the gray matter of his brain, plowing through every neural pathway and nerve ending that made a person who they were.
Finally, it tore through skull and flesh and hair once more, all within a horrifying instant as the bullet ripped clean out through the other side of the general’s head.
The soldiers who flanked the general tried to raise their weapons to return fire, but Vin and Sean responded to the situation first. They unloaded their assault rifles, ripping into the bodies of the four sentries. Vin watched with regret as they crumpled to the floor.
“What the fuck?” Vin screamed in horror, even before the last soldier’s body hit the ground. He stormed up to Chainz, pointing a finger accusingly in his face. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“What I had to do,” Chainz replied, taking a step toward Vin and towering over him.
“They were surrendering,” Vin shouted back up into the giant’s face. “They were giving up, and you just…”
“Did what he had to do,” Sean chimed in from behind Chainz.
A long slow smile spread over the big man’s face, and Vin suddenly realized he was outnumbered. He gaped at Sean, looking past Chainz to shake his head at the man he thought he knew.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Sean?” Vin gaped in horror.
“Tell him, Sean,” Chainz said, still looking down at Vin. “I don’t got time to waste explaining myself to this fool.”
Chainz walked away toward the mouth of the tent, stalking out into the open air and leaving the two of them behind in the aftermath of his decision.
“Vin, calm down,” Sean said, holding up a hand as if to stop Vin from attacking him.
Vin, of course, had no desire to assault anyone.
He was just confused and feeling hurt and betrayed.
“He gunned down these people…we gunned down these people when they were surrendering,” Vin said, motioning toward the corpses leaking blood all over the ground within the command tent. “That’s a goddamn war crime!”
“There’s no such thing anymore!” Sean cried out in frustration. “I thought you got that! Look around, Vin. This is the world we’ve been waiting for all these years. The government noose around all of our necks gets cut, and we can finally truly be free!”
“Free?” Vin scoffed, looking around once more.
“You really think we’re gonna be free? You think that man out there is interested in freedom?
He’s only interested in domination. You’ve seen it just as many times as I have, Sean.
We know what despots look like. He’s gonna take over and be worse than the fucking government ever was. ”
“You don’t know that,” Sean said, shaking his head. “None of us do.”
“Oh, come on, Sean,” Vin said in disgust. “We’ve seen it enough times to know. How can you be so na?ve?”
“Because I don’t have a fucking choice, Vin!
” Sean screamed, marching up to Vin and standing less than a foot away from his face as he ranted.
“Because I have a wife and a son who were trapped in this nightmare city, and I had to make some hard decisions! I always have to make the hard decisions to provide for my family! It’s what a real man does! ”
Sean’s words sliced into Vin’s chest like a freshly sharpened blade. He could feel the accusation there, the hidden truth Sean was saying without actually saying.
“You got something you wanna say, Sean?” Vin growled, not backing down in the least. “If you need to unburden yourself, I suggest you do it.”
“Fine,” Sean said, his jaw clenching in anger.
“You walked out on the perfect woman, the perfect child, and the perfect life. I saw the damage that did to Deb. And I know you had your demons; I saw them years ago, and I saw them again rear up when we started this operation. But you coulda included her. You coulda let that woman help you, and there’s nothing she wouldn’t have done for you.
But instead, you ran away like a damn coward. ”
“I left because it was better for her in the long run,” Vin spat back. “It was better for Jimmy. Unstable as I was, that wasn’t a thing they needed to see.”
“And you just get to decide that for them?” Sean laughed humorlessly, shaking his head back and forth. “The all-powerful Vin just makes a decision, and everyone involved just has to live with it.”
“That ain’t what I’m saying,” Vin said back, trying to gain some control over this conversation. “And I still did right by them. I still took care of them.”
“Yeah,” Sean said with another barking laugh. “You sent money you got by dragging in dirtbag criminals.”
“That’s something,” Vin said defensively.
“It ain’t,” Sean replied harshly. “What she needed was you there in her life. What that baby needed was a father.”
“Well, my poor decisions seemed to work out just fine for you, Sean,” Vin said. “I figured you would be happy with what I’ve done.”