Terms

The two hinged halves of the wooden gate were wide enough to easily fit large trucks, containers, and machines.

Nathan grabbed Marcus' attention by poking his shoulder. He pointed at the ground.

The problem was that there weren't any tracks in the ground from machines that would warrant that kind of gate. It was only there for appearance's sake. Marcus nodded as he understood what Nathan meant.

But there were still traces of cars entering and exiting regularly.

Something was clearly afoot.

"Do you think it's locked?"

"Shh." Marcus hushed Nathan. But he went up to the gate and gently pushed it. It slid open with a creaking sound. Marcus froze and stopped the gate. After a few tense moments of complete silence, he opened it just enough for him and Nathan to enter.

Nathan trailed behind Marcus as they sneaked through the gate and into the construction site. It was wrong to call it a construction site, though, since there were no signs of construction. The closest thing was the work lights spread out here and there to light up the yard and the large tent in the middle.

Some of them were lit up enough for Nathan and Marcus to see a path to the tent's wide entrance. They also saw the tire tracks leading there.

Marcus frowned. The tent was the biggest party tent he had ever seen. But it was smaller than a parking lot. He didn't understand why the cars were heading there.

Nathan and Marcus hugged the shadows as they made their way over to the entrance.

"...long do we have to stay on guard duty? This sucks, man."

"Dunno. Until the boss isn't pissed at our failure anymore, maybe."

"That could be forever, then. It's already been more than two weeks. The boss isn't going to let this go. Fuck that guy. Ah, that guy who interfered, not the boss."

"I know. But don't talk like that when anyone else is nearby."

"Yeah. Hey, where did that newcomer go?"

"Newcomer? Ah, the limping coward. No idea. I doubt he ran away, though."

"Heh."

Nathan frowned. He hadn't planned for Marcus to hear that conversation.

'Looks like I'll have to alter the plan a little.'

Marcus also frowned but for another reason. That conversation sounded familiar. But he was also worried. What could they be guarding?

Marcus wanted to find out. But he couldn't recklessly charge in. It also didn't seem like he could sneak in. There was no place to hide inside the tent. But if they had been guarding without anything happening for two weeks, the two guys inside the tent were bound to have let down their guard some time ago.

Marcus was considering his options, but before he could make a decision, Nathan grabbed a stone on the ground and strolled into the tent.

"H-hey—!"

Marcus reached out to grab Nathan's shoulder, but Nathan shrugged off Marcus' hand before raising his arm.

"You bastards! No wonder it took me so long to track you down when you were hiding all the way over here. Fuckers."

Nathan spat on the ground before hurtling the stone into the face of the one to the right. The one on the left followed the stone before turning to Nathan in shock. He instinctively pulled out a knife.

"You!"

Just like Nathan remembered the guys who harassed his parents, they remembered the guy who interfered with their plan and got them all arrested. They were let go almost as soon as they set foot in the station, but their failure earned their boss' ire.

"Fucking loser. You're blaming me when you attacked my parents?"

Nathan strode up to the guy, who tried to thrust with his knife. There was no way he would land a blow on Nathan.

Nathan twisted his torso slightly before grabbing the man's wrist and striking his lower arm with his knee. He grabbed the knife after letting go. In one fluid motion, he stabbed the guy in the neck.

Nathan pulled out the knife with a spray of blood. He was careful not to let any get on him or his clothes. He glanced at the guy who ate the stone for dinner. He was dead.

The stone struck the guy's nose hard enough to propel shards of bone into his brain.

'Lucky.'

"Y-you! What are you doing?!"

Marcus grabbed Nathan's shoulder and turned him around to make Nathan look at him.

"You agreed to follow my terms!"

Nathan tilted his head with a deceptively innocent smile.

"What terms?"

Marcus stiffened.

At first, he thought Nathan was pretending he hadn't made such a promise. But Marcus belatedly realized that he had never stated any terms. He hadn't asked Nathan not to kill anyone. He hadn't thought it was necessary. But it didn't change the fact that Nathan hadn't broken his promise.

"From—"

"Hold that thought. What's done is already done, and there are more hiding in there. Let's save the lecture for when you're not about to die, okay?"

Nathan smiled and pushed Marcus out of the way as a javelin hurtled through the air.

Marcus looked at where the javelin had pierced the tent's ceiling before turning to the direction it came from. He hadn't even noticed the tunnel entrance in the ground. He got an answer to where the cars had gone.

"It would have been nice if I caught that."

Nathan had his hand over his eyes as he looked toward the sky on the other side of the tent. The javelin had flown far.

"Don't worry. I have more."

The person who threw the javelin, a relatively short guy with stocky arms in a white tank top and jeans left the tunnel as he spoke.

Marcus slowly backed away as another javelin appeared in the man's hand. It was an awakener. Marcus didn't stand a chance. However, he also wouldn't stand a chance if he tried to run. 

If it weren't for Nathan, he would have already died.

Nathan smiled as he looked at the javelin thrower up and down with a gaze that unnerved the man.

"Perfect."