Upon Collision

Chapter Six: Wear Our Masks

“Ghost…” Bob came across the headset attached to Frank’s helmet. “Cover me I’m going right in.”

Frank huffed and sucked his teeth. “Q4 don’t forget your rank. I give the orders. You’ll wait out here and OBSERVE. Don’t engage in combat until I tell you to. Tell P3 to cover me.”
Bob felt almost out of place the way Frank spoke to him. Why should he care what Frank says, he’s just some preppy high-school outcast. For crying out loud the kid is 17!

“Did you copy Q4? Now is not the time for thoughts, understand?”
“Uhh I copy. And yes I understand.” Bob answered skeptically.
“Good. Chippy-“
Bob went on to give P3 Frank’s orders while he contacted Chippy. “Get P2 to wait a little ways down the street to warn for cops. More than likely they’re gonna send someone out here eventually.”
“Alright G. Be safe.”
“Yeah bro.”

Frank tried hard not to think too much about what would happen next, he didn’t want to regret anything. Without warning, he revved his motorcycle and sped right into the garage hide-out of the druggies, through a window. It was a larger drop than he’d expected so he ended up having to ditch the bike to land in a pile of tires and old cloths.

“Oh no! It’s Ghost!” A man yelled and immediately about three of the appeared and begun to load out shot guns in his directions. He jumped and rolled behind an old car for cover. Turns out the car stored hundreds upon hundreds of white bags filled with marijuana and cocaine powder. Frank reached in his pocket and pulled out his trusty m9 and wasted no time in attaching it’s accessory- a silencer Chippy had bought for him last Christmas.

He crawled under the car, knowing it was a dumb move they wouldn’t expect him to make. As soon as he reached the other side of the car, he came face-to-foot with one of the drug dealers. A quick speculation told him that this one was a newbie, just here for look out, under false promises of a better life. They were gonna dump him like used tissue paper.

It almost hurt Frank’s heart, because he was no older than 15…but then again, almost. Right now, Frank was Ghost, P1. Ghost didn’t have a heart, and he was also gonna make shit go down. In one quick, strong movement, he reached out and grabbed the boys ankle and dragged him under the car, immediately shooting him upside the chin, straight through his head.

The boy dropped right to the floor, unbeknownst to the other druggies who cared little for the guy and who were also shooting blindly in all directions. Frank smirked and shook his head, nothing more than P3 hopping about the place and playing the fool with these idiots. P3 was the one who liked to have fun out-smarting his victims and having them running around the place, just playing right into his hands.

He reached out and grabbed the kid’s AR-15 and patted the corpse for extra magazines…not that he’d need it, but he may or may not have some fun in ‘target practice’ in a few seconds, depending on how good these guys could run.

When he noticed the majority had bunched closer to the ‘action’, he crawled from under the car and did a quick scope of the area. His bike was safe enough, it landed somewhere near a pile of cocaine that was already bagged. There was one drug dealer nearby his bike, another was stood on top the platform near the window he had bust through earlier, and other than that about 5 of them huddled closer together to P3, and no doubt about it, he was hopping and running all over the place, his curly ponytail bobbing up and down in the air as he ran.

He’d have to take care of the guy on the platform first. Taking advantage of P3’s distraction, Frank dashed across the small distance to the platform area, running behind the concrete mass instead of staying in open area, ditching the stairs for hoisting himself up on the edge, right behind the man who stood, oblivious to his impending death.

In smooth, unhesitating motions he pulled a knife out of his pocket and grabbed the man’s hair, yanking his head backwards and slicing his throat open, twisting the head to the side for good measure, then grabbed a nearby machete he spotted.

“One down; six more to go.”

A quick scope from crouch position on this new point of view told him that his next victim was not too far from where he was, actually checking out his bike and an exit.

“Oh hell no!” He took a running start and jumped right off, similar to the way entered the garage, this time landing plump on the shoulders of the now groaning man. “I gave NO ONE permission to take my bike.” P1 growled, now straddling the man who was lying flat on his back. He was now about to pummel the man’s face inside out with the blade, when his visor flew open without warning, giving the man a clear view of his face.

“What?!” Panic stricken, he had even more of a drive to kill this man, as an extra bout of adrenaline sparked through his veins.
“Sh*t sorry man!”

“WHAT THE F*CK CHIPPY!” Frank screamed, now about to finish the struggling man off when a bunch of gunshots travelled his way. His visor flew back down mere seconds before he looked up out of reflex. “GOD DAMMIT!” Three men stood poised with shot guns, waiting on him.

P1 got up, taking back out his m9 and running as fast as he could to the other side of the garage. “Dammit, I’m sorry Frank. I pressed a wrong button.”

“Not f*cking now Chippy! Stop testing your sh*t when I’m on a job!”

“P1 please let me help!” Q4 begged, annoying the shit out of him.
“Fine! There are three men on my flank. Take em out.”

Not a beat was missed before Q4 emerged out of the shadows with an M16 in hand and an assault rifle strapped to his back, taking out one man immediately.
“P3, you and Q4 finish up here. I have some business to take care of.” Ghost called over the headset.
“What about?”
“Bold-face b*tch saw my face and he’s tryna steal my bike to escape.”

With that, he dashed right out of the garage, searching blindly in the night sky for his victim. It was times like these he wished he was as bold as P3. P3 never wore as mask, because he claimed that ‘whoever saw him was gonna be dean anyway so it wouldn’t matter’. If he did wear one, it was for the theatrics. Finally Frank found a corner that lead to the main road and he spotted the dark figure running through the night with his bike. He was about to break into a run, only to see two officers who were apparently staking out, push the guy off the bike and grab him, shoving him into a black van and driving off.

“Sh*t. P2 what’s your status!”

Silence.

“P2 what’s your status!” Once again nothing.

“Dammit! Chippy did you call in P2?”
“Her headset’s messed up man. Not getting any form of feedback.”
“Graa!” He screamed in frustration.

“Chippy follow that police vehicle.”
“Already on it. They’re headed down 5th street to the police station.”
Running to his bike, he hopped on and began the journey to the police station, which was a good ways from here. “Time?” He asked.

“9:51pm. You have at least an hour before he’s taken in for questioning.”
“How are you so sure they take him in right away?” P1 asked.
“Do you really think they’d give him enough time to make up shit?”

True story.

……………

P1 stayed a safe distance behind the police car, all the while thinking hard about how he’d be able to kill this man without too much hassle with the police. He could always just shoot the guy or break his neck..but no he wouldn’t get close enough for all that. He didn’t even need him dead, he just needed him to keep his mouth shut…keep his mouth shut, permanently. Like…paralysis.

He was about to take a short cut to the police station that Chippy had pointed out when he spotted some plants that looked familiar. Stopping this bike and picking a few leaves off the plant he held it up,

“Chippy?” P1 called, waiting patiently.
“Yeah I’m here.” He heard with a faint yawn.
“Run me a scan of this plant.”
“Coming right up…”

Within seconds a full Wikipedia page full of information on the plant he was seeing came up.
“Curare…I didn’t even know we had this sort of stuff in Jersey.” He pocketed enough of the bush and headed right down the short cut when he saw a 24-hour Pharmacy…how convenient.

……………

The voices were muffled from the distance between them. “Keep him in our spare cells for a while. I’ve already contacted chief, they’re on their way.” It was late and the night was dark. P1 hid his motorcycle in a corner along with his helmet and coat, but kept the gloves. He walked to a corner door and tried it…locked. He walked the perimeter of the building, scoping out security camera’s etc before coming to what looked like a janitor’s/back door.

He waited a few minutes, impatiently, until it finally creaked open to reveal and female janitor in blue scrubs, pushing a huge cart with cleaning supplies. He quickly ran up to her and chopped the back of her neck, rendering her unconscious and chucked the door with the cleaning cart.

“Phelange Thompson. Oh my..” He read the security pass/id. He quickly stripped her of the scrubs and the head tie and put them on himself as well as taking the pass.
Checking one last time for the needle that contained the deadly poison, P1 walked inside, hiding his face behind the large cleaning cart, stopping every now and then to dust something or pick up a dirty piece of thrash.

Eventually he came to a back room that was enclosed looking almost like a jail cell, which apparently it was. The dealer sat it a small chair with his hands hand-cuffed behind his back, his head hung over and looking worried.

Since the cell was adjacent to an office like room, P1 assumed there would be keys lying somewhere nearby. He quickly began to search a small desk that was sat in front of the cell. He kept his head down and hair covered, keeping him from suspicion of any officer that may pass by or the security cameras.

Once he found the keys, he flawlessly hid them away from the camera and went to the cells door. The small noise caused the dealer to look up. “You…”
“Shh…” P1 quieted. He looked around then offered a helpful smile, giving the impression that he came to help. Once inside the cell he tip-toed over to the prisoner with a sweet smile and a fake sympathetic personality. “I’m sorry about earlier. Just.. keep still and I may be able to take you away from here.”

The man nodded, unaware of his ulterior motives or what Frank truly meant by ‘here’. Pretending to play with the hand cuffs, He slyly pried the injection out of his pant pocket and held it the man’s head, but he wasn’t getting a proper area to inject.

“What did they do here…” He whispered, as the man couldn’t see. “Could you lead your head forward a little bit.” The man complied blindly, giving P1 a clear ‘shot’ to the back of his head. “Ok, this may hurt a tiny bit.” The foolish man nodded giving him permission. P1 stuck the needle deep into the soft area at the nape of his neck, slowly injecting as he pulled out.

“What the- Hey!” The man began to swear and yell at the pain. Once his job was done, P1 packed up and got the hell out of there, ditching the clothes and putting them back on Phelange, hoisting her body up to lead against the wall and the cleaning cart, so that when she came back to consciousness, it would seem as if she fell asleep on the job.

One last peek through a window showed P1 that the man’s jaw had already begun to lock up. The more the thrashed and move, the more his heart rate increased, and the faster the poison spread through his body. Eventually, if it was strong enough, it would paralyze his diaphragm, giving his lungs no room to expand and contract and he’d die of asphyxiation.

P1 replaced the helmet and coat, and pushed the motorcycle and little was down the road, before speeding off in the opposite direction that he came before take a different route to his apartment.

……………

Tuesday was passing quietly. Lunch was particularly awkward and Stephanie could tell something was wrong with both of them. Gerard was strangely quiet, worried and very thoughtful looking. Frank hadn’t caught much sleep, as per usual, and he was very much shaken by last night’s events. Frank observed the way Gerard would hesitate before he took a bite of food, often staring into the distance.

“What’s up guys?” Steph looked at them both with concern in her eyes.
“Oh nothing.” Frank answered curtly. Gerard apparently was too lost in his thoughts to even hear her.
“Gerard, sweetheart is everything ok?” Gerard flipped back to reality and stared her in the eyes, mildly taken aback.
“Oh yeah I’m…uhh I’m fine.” Frank wondered, was Gerard there last night when the last drug dealer died? Does he know what’s happening? He must know.

“Gerard…” Frank gave him a stern look. “Tell me what’s wrong.” Gerard put his fork on the table and turned in his seat to face Frank who was sitting next to him. Stephanie glanced up worriedly at Gerard then Frank.

Gerard looked deep into Frank’s eyes with knitted eyebrows, trying to read or see something that he didn’t even know he was looking for.

“Why is he here?” Gerard asked, looking annoyed and almost angrily at Frank.
“What?” Frank looked a little behind Gerard to see a rather content and comfortable looking Bob sitting next to Gerard, munching away at his food happily, before he looked up and noticedFrank watching him, smiling lightly and offering a small wave. Frank jumped slightly at the sight. How did he not notice Bob sitting there? How could one not notice Bob at all?! He’s huge!

“Dude...” Frank took a deep breath to calm himself instead of bursting out into a tantrum of profanities. “What…the f*ck?” He spoke softly to Bob. Stephanie’s spoon was lodged in her mouth with one hand gipping the end and she sat nonchalantly with a careless expression and a glare in Bob’s direction that could more or less be interpreted as ‘screw you’.

“What? Can’t a man eat in peace?” He asked innocently.
“Can’t a MAN find a job?” Frank retorted.
Gerard shifted uncomfortably between the both of them, so he slowly rose from his seat. “Uhh, I think I’ll go use the bathroom-“
“Sit down Gerard!”
“Sitting down.”He plopped right back down into the seat and began playing with his thumbs on the table top.

“This is ridiculous!” Stephanie sighed exasperatedly. “Bob, what the hell is your problem? Where do you come from? Why do you piss Frank off so much? What the actual hell! And I want answers.”

Bob looked very much amused, to Steph’s annoyance. “To which question?” He asked, promptly earning him a smack right on the cheek.
“Make a guess.” Stephanie bit out.

He raised a hand in surrender. “Fine. Problems…pshh I don’t have a single problem my dear.”Frank raised an amused eyebrow but stayed silent. “Umm, where I come from? I dunno, I just…appear you know? Like a magician. I have no place to call my home.”He laughed. Frank looked down in his lap, knowing the truth of that statement.

With the kind of lives they lived secretly, no place was home. They were trained and prepared to give up everything in an instant. They had no attachments, they cared for nothing. Yet, Frank despite all this, clung dearly to his friend Stephanie, the closest thing he had to a normal life. Maybe this is what Bob was craving as well? Something or someone to call family, to accept him.

“As to why I piss Frank off so much…” He turned and looked and Frank’s annoyed face. “I don’t piss him off. He’s angry with himself.” Bob shrugged and went back to eating.

That one sentence struck a nerve in Frank. He froze, no emotion playing across his face, but inside his mind was turmoil. He hated the life he lived, his job.

He hated that he never got to know his parents very well, and will never have the opportunity to. He hated that he knew to kill. He hated that no matter how tough and cold hearted he was, he couldn’t bring himself to defend himself against Wilder and his b*tches.

He hated that he couldn’t wear nicer shirts and brighter colors and had to stick with dull colors so that he doesn’t stand out. He hated the fact the he hated all these things about him. Whenever he was at school, he could pretend that he was a normal kid in high school, going through the motions like everyone else. But the presence of Bob served as a constant reminder, that no matter how hard he tried, his life will always be tainted with that grief and the demons he couldn’t shake.

Yes, he was in fact angry with himself.

Frank could feel the tears building up behind his eyes as he stared right at Bob. He could feel Stephanie’s and Gerard’s gazes and he foughtand bit at himself to hold it together, but he knew that no matter how hard he tried, the truth will always haunt him. He couldn’t stay here, he had to get away.

“…Frank…” He heard Stephanie whisper and that was it. He stood abruptly, grabbing his bag and walking away briskly, leaving his food on the table. Frank walked to the bleachers by the field. It was a good distance from the school’s classroom’s etc, and classes would begin in a few minutes anyhow, so it’d be a good time to be alone and think.

He put his earphones in his ears and walked right to the top of the bleaches and seated himself in the far corner. Dropping his bag on the ground next to his feet, Frank sunk deep into the crest of the old wooden corners, making himself comfortable. He pulled the hood of his jacket over his head, far into his face, just enough to cover his eyes. Before he got too comfortable, he pulled out a pack of Marlboros cigarettes and placed one between his lips before digging around for his lighter.

Having no luck, he reopened the pack and took out one of the five match sticks he always kept in there and scratched it against the scratch-pad he had cut out of an old matchbox and stuck to the side of the pack. He watched as a flame ignited the sulphur on the end of the stick, coughing briefly when he inhaled the gas. He watched the flame incinerate the small piece of wood for a bit before lighting his cigarette and taking a pull then resting the match on the concrete he sat on and watching it burn out.

It was only now that Frank realized the song he was listening to was not completely appropriate for his mood so he pulled out his cellphone and scrolled until he reached the song that he was singing in his mind almost the entire day.

“She is everywhere I go, everyone I see. The winter’s gone and I still can’t sleep.” He closed his eyes and took another drag of the cigarette, snuggling into the corners of the bleachers as he willed himself to become numb.

“Take my heart as you’re leaving, I don’t need it anymore. This is the memory, this is the curse of having too much time to think about it. It’s killing me. This is the last time this is my forgiveness, this is endless.”

Frank allowed the music to wash over him and let his guards down. He thought about everything, especially Stephanie. He used to force himself to not spend too much time with her so that he wouldn’t get attached, but ever since Gerard came, he found himself wondering what he’d do without her. That was another thing. Gerard.

Gerard was his enemy, no matter how he looked at it. But could he, for the sake of having a partially normal life, let Gerard be his friend? Could he, when he was not some A ranked and highly wanted killer, trust Gerard? Even just a little? Frank smirked and huffed air out his nose, cracking his eyes slightly to watch the smoke pool from his nostrils.

What was he even thinking? ...being friends with the very man that wanted him dead. But did Gerard want Ghost dead, or did the Government just want to arrest him? He gave up on trying to find the answer, seeing as that would only wind him up, completely defeating the purpose of his skipping class to come out here.

Frank almost forgot about his cigarette, which thankfully didn’t burn out. He took another long drag and savored the poison in his lungs before slowly letting it out through both his nostrils and lips. The action burned slightly, as he didn’t smoke in a while. He only did it once in a while. The job he had didn’t permit him to smoke.

The song came to a close, prompting Frank to pause the media player and relax in the silence. He thought about nothing, just sat in silence, just listening to the sounds of nature through the silicon of his ear buds. Heard a slight pitter patter on the steps, and didn’t even bother opening his eyes, or getting up, or moving at all. Before long, he felt the slight moisture on his cheeks followed by larger drops of water, and before he knew it, he was being drenched in rain.

A strong, cold breeze blew and chilled his knees through the hole in his jeans. He didn’t bother doing anything about it though, he just sat through the torture, and strangely enough he was enjoying the empty, numb feeling that pulsated through his veins. He loved this feeling of not feeling at all. Ironic huh?

Frank had no idea how much time passed since he sat on the bleachers, but the rain had stopped and the sun came out, effectively raising the scent of wet rain on asphalt. He sighed and thought to make a move, but it was as if his body was asleep even though his mind was awake. That is how exhausted he was, to the point that he entered sleep paralysis.

A warm hand on his shoulder forced him wide awake though. Without warning or much sight, Frank grabbed the hand that touched his shoulder with force and sprung to his feet and grabbed lower down the persons arm, willing his eyes to adjust to the sudden change in contrast as well as his head to balance out. But none of this worked because Frank was falling backwards off the bleachers, not knowing what was going on.

“Whoa!” The same hand he had grabbed strengthened its hold on Frank’s arm while another reached around his shoulder and pulled him back to his feet before sitting him on the bleachers. Frank however didn’t calm down, and immediately kicked out, successfully landing whoever it was that held him, in the chin, causing them to yelp in pain.

“Oh God! Frank it’s just me Gerard!” Frank rubbed his eyes a bit to rid them of the purple, blue and black splotches that plagued his vision, before they adjusted and focused on the brown haired boy who sat across from him on the bleachers rubbing his tibia. “What the hell man?! Did you like watch a Jackie Chan movie or something before you fell asleep?! Damn!”
Frank giggled a little, before getting serious. “Sorry man. Didn’t know it was you.”

Gerard’s jaw fell open in disbelief of Frank’s behavior towards his damaged leg. He sighed. “Whatever. You okay bro? You weren’t in the evening classes and Steph and I weren’t finding you. We were gonna check here next, but her mom came to pick her up so she had to leave.”
“Oh..” was all Frank could say. He stared into the distance as another wind blew, chilling him through his soaked clothes. He shivered slightly as goose bumps rose throughout his entire body, making his shudder and squint his eyes.

“Dude, were you out here this whole time?” Gerard asked, glancing at the grey patch of dry concrete in the corner by Frank’s book bag where he previously sat, in stark contrast with the brownish wet ground surrounding the school grounds.
Frank shrugged his shoulders in response. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Frank you must be freezing!” Gerard reached out a hand and touched Frank soaked hoodie then his cold, pale face. “Take off your sweater, you might catch a cold.” Frank cocked on eyebrow, wondering why Gerard worried so much if he caught a cold.
He shrugged again. “So?”

Gerard shook his head. “Frank, take off the hoodie or else I’ll take it off for you.” He said in what Frank imagined a father would sound like. This thought sent a pang of sadness right through his heart. As in, he literally felt his heart hurt. He no longer cared what was going on, so he shrugged, again.

“Go ahead. I’m not gonna take it off.” He folded his arms like a little kid, making Gerard giggle and reach for his hoodie before pulling it over his head. Frank however, kept his arms folded, making Gerard have to pause and unfold his arms, pinning them above his head and finally pulling off the sleeves of the hoodie.

All of a sudden Frank felt exposed. He felt warmer, yet freezing. It was hard to describe, and not having his hoodie made him feel vulnerable. He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered, not only from the temperature, but from his weakness.

He continued to look out into the distance ignoring the world around him, jumping slightly when he felt the warmth of another jacket being wrapped around him. He looked up to see Gerard in just a white t-shirt, arms out-stretch, displaying strong toned biceps, as they wrapped his warm, black leather jacket around Frank’s shivering frame.

Frank couldn’t help but let his jaw drop open to this act of kindness. He stared wide-eyed at Gerard’s bright face and cheeky smile, making Gerard giggle. He then looked back at the jacket around his shoulders, it was slightly too big for him, yet so comfortable.

Gerard giggled again. “Oh look it fits perfectly.” He joked. Frank just stared at him with wide, innocent eyes and once again Gerard faced him with a bright smile.
“What? Hasn’t your dad ever given you his oversized jackets to wear when you were little?”

Frank looked back down at the jacket, once more feeling hurt that his dad wasn’t there to give him oversized jackets when he was smaller, and if he was, Frank couldn’t remember. He just shook his head.
“Maybe. He wasn’t really there.” He stated simply. Gerard’s face changed to that of sympathy.
“Oh I’m sorry Frank, I didn’t know.” Gerard said worriedly. Frank just smiled warmly.
“S’okay.” A moment of awkward silence followed before Gerard smiled again.

“You know you can put on the jacket right?” Frank giggled and put it on, pulling it closer around his body, inhaling the scent of coffee and cologne.
“Thanks Gerard.” Gerard nodded in acknowledgement. His phone rang and his pulled it out of his pocket.

“Hello?...Uh yeah I’m still at school….Umm..wait what?..Now?” Gerard moved the phone from his ear to groan in frustration before replacing it. “Yeah, sure….Yeah..Yesssss. Okay, bye.” He hung up the call and faced Frank. “I gotta go. Got called in to work.”

Frank nodded in understanding. “No problem.” He went to shrug off the jacket, but Gerard stopped him.

“It’s okay Frank. You can keep it.” He said before turning and walking down the bleachers. “See ya tomorrow Pansy.”
“Thanks Little Red!” Frank called, smiling to himself as he watched Gerard from the distance, hopping into his car and driving off.

At that moment his phone buzzed with a message from Chippy.

“See ya at the apartment in 10. =) Chippy.” It read. Chippy’s way of saying ‘Get your ass over here within 10 minutes.’ Frank sighed and grabbed his stuff, pausing to pull the jacket closer to his body before heading on his way to Chippy’s apartment.

Notes

Here you go everybody. Sorry i didn't post last week, i was sick really badly. Couldn't stay awake for more than an hour and i had exams the whole time..Ugghh i failed so bad. But hope you liked this chapter. It's hella long so be appreciative of my efforts. *stern face*. lol. Well you know what to do. *does danisnotonfire's sexy end screen dance* SUBSCRIBE! VOTE! RATE! AND PLEEEAASE COMMENT! tHaNk YoU! ^_^
~xXSleepingBulletsXx