She leant against a wall in an alleyway, wearing a completely black outfit. It actually wasn’t her choice of undercover attire; the gang suggested it. That’s right, she got in. Earlier, she had found a hidden website of theirs, reading it through many times. The programming team had managed to hack it a little,revealing their location ect. They had also decided to let Kam assist her, acting undercover as her boyfriend. Her hair had been dyed to a simple Chinese Brown, and her skin had been tanned, to avoid being recognised. Standing in the dark alleyway, her heart was racing, but whether originated from the oncoming danger or the soft hand which held onto hers, she didn’t know. Kam stood next to her, looking down to give her a comforting smile. She smiled back, her stomach doing somersaults and her heart thumping hard in her chest. Was she ready for this?
“Who are you?” A man snapped from the shadows. He stepped forwards, showing himself to the couple. He was fat and ebony-skinned, with a round, dark and depressed face. He had fine, dark, chocolate brown hair and shadowed grey-green eyes. Hania jumped straight out of her skin, but Kam held her hand tighter. She sobered. Before they had ran over this part of their meeting a thousand times, Hania breaking down almost every time. She finally got it right, and with Kam by her side, she couldn’t go wrong.
“We’se being the bloomin’ Easter rabbits. Who do youse thinks we is?” she snarled back, sarcasm high in her voice. She was holding it together quite well. Kam refrained from smirking, knowing it was his turn to speak next.
“We’re waiting to meet Chrivae Kan.” He said, stepping forwards and holding onto Hania’s hand even tighter. He could feel her shaking a little. The man snorted, although seemed to approve of them. Nodding, he led the couple down further into the alleyway. The smell of rotten flesh and unwashed bodies hit them like a hammer, causing them to gag for a second. Composing themselves quickly, they drew in deep breaths of the fresh air behind them, before carrying on deeper into the foul-smelling pathway. Hania brought her free hand up to her nose, trying not to breath in the stench. Daring not to open her mouth, she hurried a little, walking just behind the man, Kam hastily following her. All sense of time vanished when the walked down a stairwell, the darkness relieving the trio of their sight and the hollow echoes of their footsteps drowning out all sound from above. Hania’s heartbeat quickened, all of her senses on high alert. A scream fled her mouth as the floor disappeared from beneath her foot. Even though their escort caught her before she really fell, she shook badly as she regained her balance on the cold, stone steps down towards the basement.
“Careful honey, are you okay?” came a concerned murmur from behind her. She nodded, her voice lost somewhere inside her. Not feeling up to finding it, she carried on, letting go of Kams hand and reaching out to touch her fingertips against the walls on either side of her. Tracing her fingertips against the rough stone of the walls, walking blindly down the stairwell. Kam slowly tripped behind her, keeping a close eye on her. Upon reaching the bottom of the steps, they stopped, breathing heavily.
“Bloomin’ ‘eck. ‘ow many o dem is youse sen’ing us doown?” Hania stuttered, leaning against the wall and panting. Kam, in considerably better shape than the exhausted girl, watched her with an amused expression on his face. The smell from their past location couldn’t reach them as badly, so their breathing was untroubled, yet they knew that the worst was yet to come. Hania took one deep breath, before standing up again and looked forwards towards a small light that was visible in the distance.
“We going that way, eh?” Kam guessed, resulting in an exhilarated giggle from Hania.
“Stealin’ sum o’ meh lingo, eh?” she chuckled, evidently recovered from her fatigue. Kam rolled his eyes, regarding their guide.
“I lead you no further. You make the rest of the way by yourselves. But,” he started, ducking his head down and concealing his dark eyes in shadow. “Keep your wits about you, otherwise you will die.” Hania drew in a sharp breath, feeling the weight of her dagger in her left pocket, and her shotgun in her right. She was going to have to use them after all. She had been in the city for three months, training and working up to this moment. Not that she knew exactly what she was actually doing; she was just to go with the flow. If the gang wanted something, she was to find out what and why. If the gang was planning something, she was to find out what and why. If anyone was to get in the way, she was not to hesitate to kill them. Two of the three months she spent training with her weapons. Her mother wouldn’t have approved, but she wasn’t there. Maybe it was better her mother didn’t come after all, then she wouldn’t see what her daughter was going through, risking her life.
“It’s alright, we’ll be okay. Chrivae Kan gave us the details. We can make our way through.” Kam broke into her train of thoughts. She felt a hand take hers again, and she smiled at Kam, nodding. The freezing cold air brushed past her, her black turtle-neck sweater not enough to keep out the bitter wind. The ‘being underground’ thing didn’t help the cold either; the stone around them seemed to radiate the brisk temperature. She grimaced, walking forwards unsteadily. Kam came up behind her and helped her, supporting her as they walked. Away from the man, they started to whisper.
“We’ve got to be careful now, we’re going straight into the enemy territory, chances are we’re going to be searched and we’ll have our weapons taken away from us if they find them. How concealed is your gun?” he whispered gently into her ear, his voice loud against the silence that surrounded them. Hania bit her lip, reaching her hand down to her pocket and pulling out the small shotgun. Kam frowned.
“I ain’t got any oder’ places ta’ put i’.” she hissed back, glaring at him. Her face went soft when he took the gun off her, hiding it in his own jeans pocket. She looked up at him, seeing his face crease in concentration.
“If everything blows up, I’ll give it to you.” he said quietly, looking down and carrying on walking down the dark corridor. She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes in gratitude. Having two guns might be risking his life. She watched him walk for a little while, before hastily following. Their journey was slow and unnerving, yet they did not stop, finally making it to the light. It was a doorway, engulfed in the white glow of the bright lamps and torches inside. They paused at the opening to the room, peering in conspicuously. Men were scattered across the vast area, a couple of bodies littering the floor. One, podgy bloke stood in the middle, watching the door with an outraged look on his face. The couple felt their blood leave their faces, their eyes widening. Hania swallowed nervously. She took a deep breath, before stepping confidently into the light.
“When dose youse blokes wan’ us te’ star’? Eh?” she exclaimed in a loud, courageous voice. Everyone jumped out of their skin, turning to regard their new arrival. Some even pulled out guns and pointed them at her. She chuckled alot more confidently than she felt, standing straight with her arms crossed. Kam stepped out beside her, and put an arm around her waist, his hand shaking a little.
“My, my, my, there is no need for guns.” he retorted lightly, standing at an angle where everyone in the room could see him. Apart from the dead guys of course... He started a head count of the alive people, figuring there to be about twelve, rather strong looking men with weapons surrounding them. Hania looking expectantly at each of the men whilst the plump man in the center grinned menacingly.
“Men, lay down your guns and welcome our guests.” he said, walking over to an old, shoddy table and sitting himself down on a chair of similar, poor condition. A noticeable creak echoed around the room as the chair winced under his weight.
“Welcome friends, I am the head honcho here; Chrivae Kan.” he introduced with a curious bow of his head. His long, silky dark brown hair was cropped short and looked generally unkempt, which reflected the cold chill which hung deep in his coal black eyes. He was undeniably rotund with a round, bland face and pale olive skin which seemed darker and slightly sickly in the malformed light around them. The closest three of Chrivae’s subordinates advanced on the blonde undercover agent and his brunette companion. The minions’ fine, straight hair all seemed light to medium brown in colour and their eyes were generally green or black, all dark and completely clear of emotion. Their height ranged from 5' to 6' and their builds outweighed most commoners by far. Their skin looked from light to medium brown, and they had oval faces, all looking altogether similar in appearance. A wash of incomprehension shook Hania as they urged her forwards to stand by their leader. She walked forwards with her head held high. Kam started to walk to join her, but he was pushed back with barrel of a shotgun. Hania turned back, gasping as another man knocked Kam’s back and shoving him onto his knees. Hania’s shotgun fell out of his pocket and clattered to the floor. In a flash, the front of his shirt was grasped by the closest follower and he was lifted up from the ground. He sharply drew in breath, staring up at his attacker with fearful eyes. Hania growled, going red with fury.
“Hai! Let ‘im go. Youse guyse thin’in’ dat we ain’t cooming doon ‘ere wi’out arms?” she snarled, running and picking up the discarded gun. She pocketed it and glared at the man holding Kam. Frozen by Hania’s outburst, Kam waited for their reaction. A chuckle came from behind them and Chrivae called for Kam to be put down, gently.
“You’re very right, miss. I wouldn’t have let anyone join without handling their own gun.” he commented, stepping up behind them. Kam was dropped to the floor clumsily, regardless of Chrivae’s orders, and he took a couple of deeper breaths before standing again. Hania leapt to his assistance, putting his arm around her shoulder to steady him. His ankle had been twisted in his fall. She growled at Kam’s assailant, before turning to Chrivae.
“Youse shoul’ be makin’ ‘im seys sorrez, ain’t cha.” she growled, looking up at Kam. “Youse alright, yeah?”
“Sure, sure. I’m fine, don’t worrez about me.” he said, cringing when he said ‘worrez’. He was picking up her accent, and it was driving him mad. Along with the twisted ankle, he wasn’t a happy bunny. He looked up at Chrivae with an apologetic look.
“Don’t listen to her, I’m fine. I should have informed you about the guns, but I wasn’t sure if I could trust you.” he said. Chrivae raised one eyebrow, before giving a hearty cackle.
“Eh, you’re alright kid. I think you’ll get on well here. First though,” the man started, turning around to one of his subordinates. He murmured something inaudible, and Hania took the chance to thank Kam.
“Youse din’t need to take dat fe’ mese.” she retorted quietly, watching Chrivae from the corner of her eye. Kam smiled.
“I wouldn’t want to see you take on that.” he argued back with an amused look on his face. She turned back to look at the man who picked up Kam and she grimaced.
“I’se can be takin’ dat on anydayse.” she fibbed in her defence, smiling as well. They both chuckled, but still when Chrivae returned with a device in his hand.
“A small council estate not far from here. It’s full of illegal immigrants and needs cleaning out.” he said grimly, and Hania went pale. He was holding a bomb. Kam was the first to answer. He stepped forwards, ignoring the pain from his ankle, and took the mechanical mess out of Chrivae’s hand, nodding.
“This one thing, and we’re in?” he asked, feeling Hania’s eyes bore into his back. Chrivae smiled and nodded. Kam nodded back, turning to Hania.
“I know where the council estate is. Any specific time?” he asked Chrivae, with his back to him.
“Tonight.” the one word answer came, and everyone went still, waiting for their answer. Kam smiled, Hania following suit.
“Then say goodbye to the illegal immigrants.” he announced coldly, winking at Hania. A little shocked at his acted spite, she couldn’t form an answer on her lips.
