Post by Desert Flower on Aug 17, 2022 15:51:19 GMT -8
In all honesty, Maria had expected more resistance than she received. Only a handful of thugs had noticed her and they were easily put down. It appeared the bulk of them were more focused on the guard towers and spot lights which caused her to pause for a moment. That didn’t make sense surely they would be put together they were being attacked unless… unless they were expecting a more obvious attack. That must be it! They are expecting an attack from someone else or rather a big group of someone else. This might just work to Maria and Gabby’s favour. On the other hand, if another lot of baddies just randomly showed up things could get way more complicated. Best to keep going at full speed for the moment.
After just a few minutes of snooping around, Maria found a window about eight feet off the ground. No problem for someone in her shape. With a bit of a run and leap her hands found the bottom edge of the window seal and she pulled herself up slowly to peek inside. With all her gear weighing her down, it was a bit of a struggle but still vert doable. To her surprise, it appeared they had even more luck now she saw beyond the glass.
As far as Maria could tell when she silently exited the restroom, she was on the second floor. Assuming Gabriella was on the ground floor, she had to find her way down but from where she was standing in the pretty unremarkable, business like hallway, no stairs were in sight. She let out a small groan. The last thing she wanted was to be aimlessly wandering the halls of a building full of bad guys looking for an exit.
Annoyed, Maira pulled out her mobile again to send another message to Gabby, ‘Might take me a bit longer to find you than we thought. This place is a maze be careful.’
The hallway she was in was in only went in two directions, north and south and both ends ended in a solid wall. There were about half a dozen office doors, all closed now, running up and down the hall. Maria had to assume one of them led to stairway but it made no sense. Well, maybe one of the doors at either end was just made to look like a normal office door but was really a stairway entrance for aesthetic purposes?
Maria slowly approached the door at the far north end of the hallway. With one of her Glocks in her right hand she slowly turned the nob to the door with her left. She let out a small sigh. It wasn’t locked. She gave the door a little nudge and glanced inside. Nothing but a desk with a keyboard and two monitors set on top. Pushing the door all the way open, she carefully peered all around the office, weapon pointing forward. Sweat dripped from her face. Something wasn’t right. She could feel it. Her grip tightened on her Glock a hot second before someone attacked her from the back.
Luckily for her, just out of dumb luck, whatever had struck her glanced off her shoulder sending Maria stumbling further into to the room but she was still on her feet albeit with an very angry shoulder. She spun around to face her attacker and was just able to notice another swipe coming her was via her peripheral vision. She ducked and rolled to the right of her attacker. Now, she had a bit of an advantage.
Maria was now able to see who had attacked her. Chad! Chad with a rather large baseball bat to be specific. And since he missed with his last attack, the momentum had increased the distance between the two giving her some working space. She had to be careful, she didn’t want to kill the man as he had some very important information stored up in the wooden block he called a brain.
“Come on Chad. A bat? Really? What are you twelve?”
Chad wasn’t having any of Maria’s lip and charged forward swinging again. However, now that she was prepared, he was out of his league with Maria. She had enough time to holster her weapon, dodge his attack her brutally smash her knee into his ribs as his passed.
“Come on pretty boy. I expected more from you.”
Furious at Maria’s smug face but a bit more cautious now after having his ribs cracked, Chad sneered. “You stupid bitch. You have no idea who you are dealing with.”
Maria grinned, “Oh, you mean the clown’s crew and Roxy? I know all about that.” She made sure to say 'I' and not 'we' just in case they had not yet discovered Gabby yet.
Rubbing his side with one hand, Chad snipped, “You don’t know shit girl. Those are just minor payers. Chicken feed.”
Maria shook her head dismissively, “Yeah sure Chad.” She made sure to emphasize his name in an annoying tone. “You’re some type of criminal mastermind.”
To her surprise, Chad didn’t reply and remained tight-lipped. Interesting. Maybe there were more people involved but that really wasn’t her problem at the moment. “Look, I’m just here for Nikki. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about whatever devious plot you are up to. Just give her to me and I’ll be in my way.” This was a total bluff of course, but he didn't know that.
When she mentioned Nikki, the corners of Chad’s mouth twitched and then relaxed. It was fast and smooth but not that smooth and not out of Maria’s notice. Worried that Nikki was hurt, or worse, she had to dig deeper. It was time to not be nice.
With no notice or warning, Maria quickly drew her Glock and took a shot at Chad’s food, barely missing it. A hard coolness set into her voice, “The next one will take out you balls cabrón.”
Chad became stiff before returning to normal then dropped the bat and casually put his hands up, as if surrendering. “For some reason, I believe you.”
Maria didn’t trust him. It was too easy. Keeping her weapon pointed at him, she asked, “What are you up to Chad?”
“You don’t get it do you? Killing me isn’t going to change anything. You’re so wrong about this whole situation. It’s like your stumbling in the dark blindfolded and deaf.”
Chad’s last statement gave Maria pause as he stated it with just enough calmness and smugness it bothered her. He was serious. It was also too poetic for him. Something was definitely off.
“You know what Chad? You might be right.” With that she charged forward and pistol whipped Chad in the head knocking him out cold. He fell to the ground with a thud and soon had ties around his ankles and wrists. He wasn’t going anywhere for now.
After just a few minutes of snooping around, Maria found a window about eight feet off the ground. No problem for someone in her shape. With a bit of a run and leap her hands found the bottom edge of the window seal and she pulled herself up slowly to peek inside. With all her gear weighing her down, it was a bit of a struggle but still vert doable. To her surprise, it appeared they had even more luck now she saw beyond the glass.
The window belonged to a small restroom, probably designed for office workers originally and as it was summer, the window was even unlocked. In less than a minute her boots were safely on the tiled floor. She went to leave and then had to pause due to the power of suggestion. “Ah crap…”, she whispered. She had to piss.
A minute or so later, as she was pulling up her pants, her mobile buzzed. She reached into her inner jacket pocket and retrieved the phone and read the message from Gabby. ' I'm moving inside now. West entrance is clear.' As best as she could in combat gloves, Maria replied, ‘Grape. Heading your way.’ Maria quickly cursed and sent a follow up, 'I meant Great not Grape!'
As far as Maria could tell when she silently exited the restroom, she was on the second floor. Assuming Gabriella was on the ground floor, she had to find her way down but from where she was standing in the pretty unremarkable, business like hallway, no stairs were in sight. She let out a small groan. The last thing she wanted was to be aimlessly wandering the halls of a building full of bad guys looking for an exit.
Annoyed, Maira pulled out her mobile again to send another message to Gabby, ‘Might take me a bit longer to find you than we thought. This place is a maze be careful.’
The hallway she was in was in only went in two directions, north and south and both ends ended in a solid wall. There were about half a dozen office doors, all closed now, running up and down the hall. Maria had to assume one of them led to stairway but it made no sense. Well, maybe one of the doors at either end was just made to look like a normal office door but was really a stairway entrance for aesthetic purposes?
Maria slowly approached the door at the far north end of the hallway. With one of her Glocks in her right hand she slowly turned the nob to the door with her left. She let out a small sigh. It wasn’t locked. She gave the door a little nudge and glanced inside. Nothing but a desk with a keyboard and two monitors set on top. Pushing the door all the way open, she carefully peered all around the office, weapon pointing forward. Sweat dripped from her face. Something wasn’t right. She could feel it. Her grip tightened on her Glock a hot second before someone attacked her from the back.
Luckily for her, just out of dumb luck, whatever had struck her glanced off her shoulder sending Maria stumbling further into to the room but she was still on her feet albeit with an very angry shoulder. She spun around to face her attacker and was just able to notice another swipe coming her was via her peripheral vision. She ducked and rolled to the right of her attacker. Now, she had a bit of an advantage.
Maria was now able to see who had attacked her. Chad! Chad with a rather large baseball bat to be specific. And since he missed with his last attack, the momentum had increased the distance between the two giving her some working space. She had to be careful, she didn’t want to kill the man as he had some very important information stored up in the wooden block he called a brain.
“Come on Chad. A bat? Really? What are you twelve?”
Chad wasn’t having any of Maria’s lip and charged forward swinging again. However, now that she was prepared, he was out of his league with Maria. She had enough time to holster her weapon, dodge his attack her brutally smash her knee into his ribs as his passed.
“Come on pretty boy. I expected more from you.”
Furious at Maria’s smug face but a bit more cautious now after having his ribs cracked, Chad sneered. “You stupid bitch. You have no idea who you are dealing with.”
Maria grinned, “Oh, you mean the clown’s crew and Roxy? I know all about that.” She made sure to say 'I' and not 'we' just in case they had not yet discovered Gabby yet.
Rubbing his side with one hand, Chad snipped, “You don’t know shit girl. Those are just minor payers. Chicken feed.”
Maria shook her head dismissively, “Yeah sure Chad.” She made sure to emphasize his name in an annoying tone. “You’re some type of criminal mastermind.”
To her surprise, Chad didn’t reply and remained tight-lipped. Interesting. Maybe there were more people involved but that really wasn’t her problem at the moment. “Look, I’m just here for Nikki. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about whatever devious plot you are up to. Just give her to me and I’ll be in my way.” This was a total bluff of course, but he didn't know that.
When she mentioned Nikki, the corners of Chad’s mouth twitched and then relaxed. It was fast and smooth but not that smooth and not out of Maria’s notice. Worried that Nikki was hurt, or worse, she had to dig deeper. It was time to not be nice.
With no notice or warning, Maria quickly drew her Glock and took a shot at Chad’s food, barely missing it. A hard coolness set into her voice, “The next one will take out you balls cabrón.”
Chad became stiff before returning to normal then dropped the bat and casually put his hands up, as if surrendering. “For some reason, I believe you.”
Maria didn’t trust him. It was too easy. Keeping her weapon pointed at him, she asked, “What are you up to Chad?”
“You don’t get it do you? Killing me isn’t going to change anything. You’re so wrong about this whole situation. It’s like your stumbling in the dark blindfolded and deaf.”
Chad’s last statement gave Maria pause as he stated it with just enough calmness and smugness it bothered her. He was serious. It was also too poetic for him. Something was definitely off.
“You know what Chad? You might be right.” With that she charged forward and pistol whipped Chad in the head knocking him out cold. He fell to the ground with a thud and soon had ties around his ankles and wrists. He wasn’t going anywhere for now.
As fast as she possibly could, she whipped out her mobile yet again, she was worried about Gabby ‘We may have bigger problems than we know. I just had a short conversation with Chad. I think we stepped into something we weren’t expecting. Have you found the girl?'
[TAGGING GeneralXIV ]