45 Aftermath Of OneNight (Part 1)
Leaning against an alley wall sitting down, Gyun panted as the adrenaline rush that had kept him able to overwhelm Hound even after the injuries were beginning to fade.
Every time he had walked to this alley, pain shot had through his leg; he suspected a microfracture in his leg, his left arm's forearm had broken, and his shoulder had been dislocated. He could barely move the arm; his other arm's forearm was missing a chunk, and his ribs hurt. So much so that he felt light-headed every time he breathed in. Not even mentioning the massive concussion and the massive cut on the top of his head, he shouldn't even be able to stand right now.
It was a wonder he could stand; his hands shook from the adrenaline as he shakily typed on his phone after a few moments. Gyun wiped the blood that dripped from his hands onto the phone screen; he stared at the message for a moment before sending it; the phone screen's light illuminated his face.
Sighing, he slid up the alley wall, carefully calming his breath; footsteps echoed through the alley as fewer than a dozen figures approached him. They were carrying flashlights that illuminated the narrow alley and the dilapidated brick walls. He stepped into the shadows as the lights swept to where he was.
"Clear!"
"Find the money?!"
Voices bounced off the walls as the lights swept across the area; the figures were wearing suits, not the expensive kind but the type seen worn by gangsters. They seemed experienced, though not trained as they swept the area effectively not missing a spot but there were plenty of holes in their formation.
"Found it!"
"Really? Search to make sure it's all there!"
They swarmed the pair of duffel bags that sat behind the dumpster; unzipping the bag, there were cries of surprise as they exclaimed at the amount of money. Hanging from the fire escape a meter above their heads, Gyun watched them as he silently slid the knife out of his sheath.
Hanging from his legs, he hung upside down as he held the curved Karambit, waiting for an opportunity.
"Boss, we got the mo-!"
Dropping down, he slashed the entirety of the man who was speaking's neck rolling; He slashed the legs of the group as he fluidly moved through the group, utilizing the shot movement from wrestling as he stayed low.
Dodging a punch, he uppercutted the man's chin with the curved blade piercing the soft tissue beneath the chin. Tearing the blade out as the man screamed in agony, he spun as he slashed the thugs who were crowded together, making it hard to use their numbers.
But he was one-armed, his other arm hung uselessly left with only one arm he was grabbed from behind as one of the unidentified men flicked out a knife stabbing at him. Headbutting the man behind him he kicked forward while knocking the man back. Stabbing the blade deep into the man's leg, the grip on Gyun loosened, tearing himself free, stabbing into the man's abdomen several times before stabbing his throat.
A dull thud sounded as pain shot through his back; gritting his teeth he spun around, ducking under the second swing from the metal pipe; he slashed at the legs before kicking the man's neck with a beautiful kick with his injured leg. A sickening wet crunch could be heard as a small groan escaped from the attacker shortly before collapsing forward.
Stumbling back as his leg flared with sharp pain, he looked around him at all the unidentified men who'd come after the money had been subdued all of them were dead, except one; a man who had yet to die, and his leg had a deep slash across it preventing him from standing up.
Limping over to the man, he grimaced in pain as he squatted down to kill him Gyun's own breath was shaking as a wave of nausea and lightheadedness hit him like a wall. Slowly stabbing the blade into the man's neck, the blade sunk into the soft skin.
Gyun's instinct suddenly screamed at him rolling to the side as something pierced his side, the object pierced deeply. Kicking the ambusher back he stood up hastily, as he felt his back, his hand touched the handle of a knife plunged into his back. If he'd dodged a moment later it would have severed his spinal cord.
Leaving it in to slow the bleeding, Gyun gripped his karambit as he made eye contact with his attacker, a middle-aged woman wearing a white suit. The suit jacket hung from her shoulders as she shrugged it off. Her black shirt contrasted with her white pants, and multiple sheathes were attached to a shoulder holster repurposed for knives.
"Is that you Van Gogh? You look like shit," She taunted as she drew another knife from one of her sheathes, taking a step closer.
Stepping back to keep the distance, Gyun replied in a strained voice as he gritted his teeth through the pain, "Does the money matter more than your life?"
"Ye-" She stabbed forward midsentence. Gyun leaned back dodging the blade by less than a centimeter, but a second knife stabbed down into his leg from her other hand before he could get fully out of the way.
A cry of pain escaped Gyun's mouth; biting down on his lip so hard it bled, he grabbed her sleeve pulling her forward, kneeing her into the stomach. There was a groan from the woman as the air was knocked out of her body, but a slash from her knife to Gyun forced him back letting her go.
Coughing, the woman took a few steps back, "I guess Hound must've really fucked you up, you know when I got the call from him and he said he wanted someone dead for 2 million US dollars, I didn't believe him, especially when he said it was the legendary Van Gogh...but if you're like this it might actually be possible."
Gyun's eyes glanced around the small alley as he responded, "Remind me who you are again?"
"Buying time, really?...tsk, I guess every man is the same; I'm Bun-" Leaping forward again with a surprise attack the woman stabbed forward with her pair of knives.
Gyun stepped back as the woman's head snapped back from a lighting fast flick of a kick and she collapsed onto the alley floor, falling onto one of her dead minions. After less than a moment she gasped for breath, rolling out of the way just in time as Gyun stabbed into the dead man's back where her head had just been.
Her nose was broken, pushed flat into her face, and blood poured down her face as she blocked a soccer kick, knocking her back she sliding across the alley floor.
-What the fuck was that just now? Did I go unconscious?-
She hurriedly stood up moving backward; the flashlights were the only thing that had brought light to the otherwise completely dark alleyway. Van Gogh stomped on the flashlights, smashing them as he approached her, and gradually the alleyway grew darker as his footsteps echoed within the alley walls.
Van Gogh limped forward destroying all the flashlights until only one was left; the look of pain on his face was gone now. His wild black hair that was soaked with sweat and blood stuck to his face, his hair tinted red as blood continually ran down his face and dripped from his chin onto the alley's ground. The sound of the dripping blood reverberated in her mind.
His violet eyes stared at her, his eyes full of so much hate as if she was his mortal enemy,
"You should've never answered that call." Stomping out the last flashlight she was surrounded by darkness.
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Groaning as he sat in the car, setting the duffel bags in the back of the car, fumbling with the keys; he didn't know which one would start it as he took the keys off the dead woman. Trying each key individually, it took him a minute to find the right key finally sliding the key into the ignition, his vision blurred as he started the car.
Driving onto the road, he felt like he was operating in a fog; his entire body hurt and his back was bleeding into the seats along with his leg. As he'd been forced to pull out the knife in his back to get into the car, the car was a black hellcat that seemed to have been modified. Its V8 motor roared as Gyun sped through the streets; he needed to stash the money at his storage unit before he went to a hospital.
After a few minutes, Gyun arrived at the storage, parking the Hellcat down the street from the lot as there was no parking space available.
Hobbling past the gates of the storage lot, he walked down the rows of storage units leaving behind a trail of blood as he eventually reached his storage unit.
Pressing the button to open the storage door, he took the duffel bags off his shoulder, tossing them into the storage unit as he pressed the button before heading back to the car. He cradled his broken arm, groaning in pain with each step; his bloodshot eyes were unfocused as his breathing became increasingly uneven.
His adrenaline was crashing, and the severity of his injuries was catching up to him as he passed the storage lots gate and made his way down the sidewalk to the car. His fractured leg gave out from underneath him, falling to the sidewalk suddenly amid a group of people there was panic.
Gyun could hear shouts as he collapsed to the ground rolling over onto his back, his vision faded in and out of consciousness. As his breathing became even more irregular, he stared up at the streetlight above him, someone rushed to his side. Yelling something that was inaudible to Gyun as he focused on the bright streetlight above him, he noticed the stars in the sky behind the streetlight.
Vomiting blood over himself as he lay unable to move on the street he felt someone apply pressure to his leg; fading in and out of consciousness, he forgot where he was. Glancing around confused he felt warm blood pool beneath him slowly soaking his shirt, he was in intense pain but strangely he didn't feel discomfort.
It felt familiar to him, glancing up at the person who was helping him they flashed their phone light in his eyes, squinting his eyes he turned away.
"Hey soldier, how long are you going to lay around?"
-What?-
Gyun reopened his eyes at the voice -Lee?-
Standing above him was a short man, he was in his 30s and had a serious face despite the friendly expression on his face.
"We have work to do soldier; we can't have you lazing around even after an injury like that...don't forget you have somewhere you have to be; we're waiting for you on the other side."
Gyun couldn't move his body as he stared from the ground of the sidewalk in a pool of his own blood, but he wanted to hug Lee. His sergeant and former squad leader in the Dreamwalker battalion who died in the 5th year of the war, Lee had taught him all the basics for outdoor survival.
He had been with Lee since the second year of the war, he was going to be Gyun's best man if he and Minhee were ever to get married. But that delusion was shattered when he was beheaded in a brief clash with the Spear Empress that wiped out a fellow squadron of Dreamwalkers.
-Lee don't leave- Gyun tried to speak but it came as a weak wheeze as he laid on the sidewalk, ambulance sirens sounding in the distance.
Lee stared at him before smiling "Well I'm sure a soldier like you will make it there soon anyway, we'll be waiting Gyun don't leave us waiting for too long"
Walking away through the crowd of people who gathered to watch as the paramedics arrived to move the collapsed Gyun. He could only watch, mumbling to himself as he lost consciousness as they loaded him into the ambulance.
