Lone

Lone

Chapter 1: Beginnings

As the smoke bellowed from a Cuban cigar, the smoke swiveled around the dark room. There was only a little light, and that was concentrated on the poker table.

“I’ll bet two Lamborghinis on this hand.”

The other man smiled.

“Two Porches.”

The first man was Big Anthony. He was a fat middle-aged man. But, if he knew that you were calling him that, you’d be dead by the next sunrise. When I say that this man had power, I mean it.

The second Italian’s name and identity do not matter. All that is necessary to know is that he was very rich, and had a passion for the games.

“Your go. Let’s see what you got.” said Big Anthony, in a pompous tone of voice.

“Okay…” The second man responded, holding his cards for Big Anthony to see. “Four nines.”

“Pretty good…” responded Big Anthony, monotonously. Big Anthony was known for his famous poker-face.

“How about you? What’s your hand?”

“Well…” Big Anthony flipped his hand over, in a showy fashion, “Flush.”

“Damn!” responded the second man, as he threw his cards on the table.

“Tonight just isn’t your night, now is it?” Big Anthony mocked, “Now hand over the keys!”

Now, this story has relatively nothing to do with Big Anthony. Big Anthony was very powerful, don’t get me wrong, but has very little to do with the story. Anyway, he had a legion of men, all willing to die for him. Of course, he had many enemies as well as multiple prices on his head. On this particular night he had stationed three of his most trusted guards a few rooms over, to assure that his poker game was not interrupted. But, Big Anthony wasn’t just afraid of his enemies in general. Just one.

“So…who the hell are we supposed to be keeping watch for?” asked one of the younger guards, who was standing up. All three of the guards were dressed in suits.

“I don’t know…some damn special person….” Answered the other young guard, who was standing.

“You mean Kaine?” asked the third guard. He was older than the other two, and knew his way around the city of New York. He was sitting on a crate, looking way less tense then the others.

“Yeah…I think that’s the kid’s name…” responded the second guard.

“Wait—he’s a kid? Then what’s so damn good about him?” asked the first guard.

“Are you really that stupid? Do you really not know about Kaine Tsuzuki?” asked the third guard, calmly. “God, you must have been living with your mom or something.”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?” yelled the first guard. He reached for his gun. But, even before he could do that, the third guard had pointed his in the first’s face, already cocked.

“Kaine Tsuzuki is a completely gang raised child. After his father left him at an early age, his mother had resorted to prostitution, and then got into the drug game. She died from an overdose, when Kaine was only 3 years old. As it turned out, she had accumulated many unpaid debts, and her only son was taken. Kaine was raised by a gang, thus was taught to use weaponry at an early age. When he was seven he would have probably been better than all of us with a pistol. He is now 14, and is feared throughout NYC. He isn’t afraid to kill anyone; even his partners.” The third guard put his gun away, still as cool as ever. The first guard relaxed.

“But why is he after the boss?” asked the second guard.

“I’m not even goin’ to answer tha—“ Suddenly there was a huge explosion, and the door got blown away. There was smoke everywhere, and all three guards aimed their guns for the door.

When the smoked cleared, they all lied eyes on me; Kaine Tsuzuki.

I was tall, I had black spiked hair, I was dressed in black clothing, and I was holding an uzi, with smoke rising from the barrel. Blood had stained my hands.

After the smoke cleared, I rushed into the room, kicked the second guard out of the way, and elbowed the first one in the stomach, then grabbed his head, and snapped his neck. I pointed my uzi at the chest of the third one, and filled it with holes. As soon as his body hit the floor, I walked back over to the second guard, who was just standing up.

I forcefully kicked him in the stomach, and walked over to where he fell.

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU—“ He yelled until he saw the gun pointed in his face. I grabbed the back of his head, and rammed it against the wall.

“Where is Big Anthony?” I asked.

“WHY SHOULD I TELL YOU?” He whined back. I rammed his head against the wall, and responded.

“SO I DON’T KILL YOU!” I yelled, pointing him towards the other corpses.

“He’s…he’s….” sputtered the second guard, “He’s in the third room over!”

“Thanks,” I responded

“Now can you…let me go?” He asked

“Nope.” I said, smiling. I picked him up, held the gun to his head, and used him as a human shield.

“Royal Flush.” Big Anthony exclaimed happily, trying to contain his excitement. “Hand over your –“

Suddenly he was cut off by loud yelling.

“What the hell was that?” asked his opponent.

“Oh, nothing…it probably was just the—“ Suddenly the door was kicked open. I threw the guard’s body on the poker table, aimed, and viciously shot the guard. I then aimed my uzi at Big Anthony.

“Big Anthony…worth twenty grand…dead or alive…” I recited. I then looked straight into his eyes. “Which one?”

He didn’t answer, but I saw a glitter in his eye. I quickly turned around, and shot a guard who had been sneaking up on me from behind. I felt some metal against the back of my head.

“Drop your weapons, then tell me, which one?” I heard Big Anthony’s voice sneer. “Dead or alive?”

“I’ll choose…death.” I dropped my gun, and put my hands up.

“Good…good…now say your praye—“ I suddenly whipped around, and brought his arm over his head. I kicked him down, and heard a snap. He arm had broken, and I ripped the gun from his hand. I shot him four times in the heart, and once in the head.

“Death. For you.” I said, watching his corpse.
I pressed the green button with a half-open lock on the remote. My grey Porsche beeped twice, and the driver’s side door opened vertically. It had green neon lights underneath it, and a line of red going horizontally across the entire car. I had jacked it on a job a while back. It was a retired drug dealer’s car, which had been converted for police use.

I pulled out of the alley, from which I was hiding, and sped into the streets. As I continued along for a while, I stopped at a red light. A police car pulled up to my side. I made sure never to make eye contact with them, for I was one of their most wanted criminals.

Suddenly a voice came out of the stolen police radio system that I had installed in my car. “This is car 341 reporting a minor driving a grey Porsche. We are about to—“

“YOU IDIOT!” yelled another voice, “THAT’S KAINE!”

Suddenly, the lighted turned green, and I floored it. The Police sirens began to blare, as I raced through the New York streets. The gauge quickly changed from gear 4 to gear 6, as I slammed my foot on the accelerator.

“This is Car 341 again. We are in pursuit of a 2026 Grey Porsche. Requesting backup.” Said the first person’s voice calmly.

“SHUT UP!” yelled the second voice, “THIS IS 341 AND WE ARE IN PURSUIT OF KAINE. REQUESTING ALL UNITS BACKUP. ROAD BLOCK AT THE CORNER OF THIRTY-FIRST AND TWENTITH STREET.”

I smiled evilly.

“These coppers really hate me,” I said to myself, still smiling. In actuality, I was surprised they hadn’t ever changed the frequency they’ve been using for their radios.

As I continued to go faster, and faster, the road signs began to blur behind me. I pressed a button on the dashboard, and the GPS screen rolled down. I noticed that three coppers were now chasing me.

“This is gonna be good.” I thought to myself.

Right before I hit 31st and 20th I made a 180° turn, and floored right passed the three coppers on my tail. The other cops launched at full speed out of their hiding space, colliding with the other cars. I heard peoples’ screams throughout the audio system. I switched the volume to zero, and began to laugh, as a fire blazed strong, from the police cars.
“Why are you even going out with him?” asked one of her friends

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Why would you ever consider going out with Kaine? He never comes to school, he’s quiet, and my brother says that he kills people for money.” Responded another friend of hers.

“What redeeming qualities does he even have?” asked the first friend

She shook her head. “You people just don’t understand him. He’s really nice once you get to know him. He’s sweet and very caring.” She looked towards the setting sun, over her school. Francesca Lorenzo Battista was her name. Her friends were always telling her that I was a failure and she could do better. Only half of that was true; she could defiantly do better. They are always telling her that she should break up with me. They were especially shocked when she began to live with me. She was extremely attractive, athletic, and smart, and they all knew that.

“Where is he anyway? Didn’t you say that he was supposed to be picking you up at 4?” asked another one of her friends “He’s probably murdering someone else.”

Suddenly, she heard a click of a gun, and felt metal against the back of her head.

“What was that?” I asked sarcastically.

“Hello Kaine.” Said the first girl, in a tone full of despise.

“Sorry, I’m late, Fran.” I responded, completely ignoring the bitch, and putting my gun away.

“Where were you?” she asked

“Testing out the limits of my car..”

“Aren’t you, like, fourteen?” asked the other one of her friends

“Let’s go.” I put my arm around her, and we both walked around the corner.

She opened the passenger door, and sat inside. I put the key in the ignition, pumped the music, and began to drive.
After driving for about fifteen minutes we pulled into where we lived. The neon sign outside read “Ms. Pip’s XXX Nightclub”. Yes, we lived in the back of a strip club. Why? The rent is cheap, there are free shows, and it was secretly our gang’s hideout.

As we opened the door, we were greeted by the manager. He was an early-middle-aged man, thin, lean, and tall. He had a goatee, and was just beginning to bald.

“Hello Kaine.” Welcomed the manager.

“What’s up, Jim?” I responded

“Some of the customers have been complaining about an underage person such as yourself coming in here.”

“How much do you want this time?” asked Fran, in an annoyed tone of voice.

“$10 grand.” He responded

“WHAT!?” I yelled, “THAT’S ALL MOST DOUBLE THAT AMOUNT OF LAST TIME!” I reached for gun, about Fran held my arm back.

“Just put it on Vex’s tab.” She responded

“Okay. Thank you!” Jim responded, walking away.

“Fucking faggot…always asking for more money.” I muttered under my breath.

Vex was my information man. He reported all the people who have rewards on their heads.

“It’s all right. How much did you make on that last job?” Fran asked me, as we walked into the main room of the club.

“Only 20k.” I responded, as we continued to walk past the exotic dancers.

“I really hate this place.” Fran commented.

We walked to the far end of the club, and headed down a flight of stairs. When we finally reached the basement, we were met be a man who went by the name of “Slims”. He was a short, muscular, Hispanic, with an expertise in machinery.

“Yo Kaine! The new guns arrived from Japan today.”

“You serious?” I responded, running over to him.

“They’re nothing special. Just more. You seem to have a knack for breaking them…” Slims commented, putting a sniper rifle back in its case.

“Hey Slims…can you do me a favor? If you see Vex, tell him I’m in my room. I need to ask him ‘bout any new bounties.”

I walked back over to Fran, and we proceeded towards our room. It was small, but cozy. The bed took up most of the space, and so did the mirror-cabinet. The rest of the room was taken up by clothes thrown all over, and a safe in the corner. We walked inside, and closed the door.

“I hate it here, too.” I said, to Fran, as she took a seat on the bed. She was big for a thirteen year-old. She was wearing a tight cami, and a short miniskirt. She had short dirty-blonde hair, with blue eyes.

“No you don’t!” She said with a smile, “You love the dancers!”

I looked straight in her eyes. “Why would I love the dancers? There’s someone way more beautiful then those dancers…and she’s right in front of me.” We then began to passionately kiss.

“You used that one last night.” She said, laughing.

“It still worked…” I thought to myself, as we continued to kiss. I started to kiss her, going down her neck, until I proceeded to reach for her shirt…
About 40 minutes later, Vex knocked on the door. “Kaine…Kaine…hey Kaine, you in here?”

“Shit! It’s Vex!” I whispered, “Put the covers over you!”

“KAINE?” Vex yelled

“QUICK!” I whispered. “Come on in Vex!”

Vex opened the door, and saw that me and Fran were in bed.

“Am I….interrupting something?”

“No, no, jus throw me my pants.” I said. He lobbed them to me, and I got out of bed.

“You wanted to talk to me?” Vex asked, as I looked at myself in front of the mirror. Vex was a man in his late thirties, or maybe his early forties. His twin-brother was Jim. That’s how we got to have our hide-out in the strip club.

“Oh yeah.” I extended my hand. “I killed Big Anthony. Give me money.”

“Okay…here you go…” Vex said putting $1000 in my hand.

“I think there’s $19 grand more…” I responded. Vex wasn’t telling me something.

“I heard via the grape vine that you were taking advantage of my tab.” He answered frankly.

“Oh yeah….” I began rubbing my neck, awkwardly.

“WELL TELL YOUR CHEAP-ASSED BROTHER TO STOP EXTORTING MONEY FROM US!” Fran yelled.

I began to put my shirt on. “He’s never extorted money from me, and I live here…” said Vex, in an annoyed tone.

“THAT’S ‘CAUSE YOU’RE HIS FUCKING BROTHER!! IF YOU WE—“

“Calm down, Fran.” I interrupted, and put my arm around her. “Yo Vex, you got any got hits on people? We really need more money.”

“I was beginning to think you’d never ask.” He responded. “I’ve got an interesting one, for you.”

“How much does it pay?”

“$100 thou.”

“Who’s it on?”

“Well, that’s why it’s interesting. The person who called me wouldn’t tell me over the phone. Ever since the Global Hacker Crisis, he told me that he didn’t trust phones. He wants meet in person.”

“Where?”

“Merv’s Bar & Grill. It’s a shady place on the other side of town. He’ll be there at 11 PM.”

“Okay. Thanks Vex. Keep in touch, I might need your help.” Vex walked out of the room, and shut the door.

Fran put the covers down, and looked at me with her sad eyes.

“Awwww…can you still come to school tomorrow?” she asked, serenely. I picked my M9 Pistol up, cocked it, and looked at her. I pushed my gun aside, and held her hands.

“It’s hard though, the police sometimes come in, and then…”

“Just wear a disguise or something. I know you have at least one.”

“It’s gonna be a late night. But, I promise I’ll come tomorrow. With $100 grand in cash.” I responded to her.
I waved goodbye to Fran, and walked out the door.

“You shouldn’t keep promises you know you can’t keep.” Slims said, coming out of the darkness.

“How long have you been listening for?” I asked, feeling my gun.

“I only heard that part.” He assured me. “I came to give you your keys. I cleaned up your Porsche. Come on, we’ll make sure it’s running fine.” As we walked towards the garage, he continued to talk.

“You’ll be bored to death if you go to school, anyway.”

“Why? What are they learnin’?”

“Abut how it was before GHC happened.”

“Shit. Like I haven’t heard that story before.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” He responded, as we finally made it into the garage. “Here’s your car.” He wave towards a car-shaped object under a tarp. He ripped the tarp off.

“So…what the hell did you do to it?” I asked. “It looks exactly the same.”

“Look at the dash board.” He said with a smile. I opened the vertically-opening door, and peered at the dash.

“Nope. Nothing at all is different…except for…wait, what’s this red button?” I reached for the button before Slims stopped me.

“Don’t press that. I added some Nitrous Units to your engine.”

“When do you stop surprising me, Slims?” I asked, sitting in the driver’s seat. I shut the door.

“Now…about the bill…”

“Put it on Vex’s tab!” I yelled, as I sped out of the garage.
Damn. The Global Hacker Crisis. I can’t believe I have to hear about it again. The Global Hacker Crisis, or GHC, was an international terrorist attack that occurred in the year 2015.

In 2010, almost every Government in the world poured billions, even trillions, of dollars into a revamp of the internet. In the year 2007, a new plan for the Internet had been created. Rather then individual computers having IP Addresses, or Internet Protocol Addresses, each person would. Everyone on earth would own a small hard drive modem somewhere. Whenever someone would use a computer, they would enter their IPnAme, and connect to their hard drive modem, and they would have connectivity.

Computer prices would lower to around $50 US Dollars, for all the computer needed was a monitor, and a unit to receive transmissions from the external drive.

It took 3 years for this plan to materialize, and two years to complete. In 2013, the world had a year of success using the new system. Many poverty ridden countries had climbed to the top, due to their citizens gaining computer access.

The United States began to push for a new plan. Complete control threw the IPnAme system. By this, they meant that people could use their IPnAme for anything they needed. Cable TV, credit cards, cell phones, would be accessible through the IPnAme system. In 2014, this plan succeeded. Soon thereafter, everything was connected to the IPnAme system. Entire Governments were even connected.

Unfortunately, in 2015 a large group of terrorists, hacked into the French Government. In just a few short hours they had access to millions of peoples’ lives, personal information, and money. But, they weren’t interested in that. After several more hours of hacking they had gained access to over 50 nuclear explosives, and had immediately began randomly launching them at different locations.

Every country in the world was hit hard by this attack. The countries that didn’t fall from the economic hit, fell from nuclear radiation.

After 8 years of recovery from damages and nuclear radiation, the world is finally beginning to return to normal. Of course, there are a few whack jobs, which are paranoid of hackers. This isn’t that unreasonable. Most countries had no funds left to upgrade their systems to a more hacker-proof one, but people still had to rely on it for financial coverage.

I have no clue why they are teaching kids this; everyone already knows it by heart.
As I pull into the parking lot, it is beginning to steadily rain. From the outside, Merv’s Bar & Grill, doesn’t look half bad. But, as I open the door the smell of cigars, cheap whisky, and a slight off-set of marijuana smoke, practically knocks me back. I make my way through the smoke, and take a seat at the bar.

I look at my watch. It is only 10:30.

“What’ll it be, mac?” asks the bartender.

“I’ll have a Manhattan.” I respond.

“Wait-a-minute…you’re not 21 are you?” He asks. I take out my fake ID and show it to him, calmly.

“This is defiantly a fake.” He responds.

“The name is real.” I respond, with a grin.

“Let’s see here….Kaine…oh! Oh, Kaine. Of course, my apologies for the mistake. You wanted a Manhattan? Have one on the house!” He says, as he quickly begins to make one.

“I knew you’d see it my way. I forgive your incompetence.” I say, looking away. A police man opens the door, and walks inside. As our eyes meet, he pretends to trip, and covers his badge.

“Something isn’t right here.” I say to myself.

“Tell me about it,” the bartender responds, handing me the drink. “A few hours ago they came in dragging two young men into that back room.”

“Who were they draggin’?”

“Some punks or something. Police usually don’t come here often. Somethin’ must be up.”
“You’re late. We’ve been waiting on you.” A man says.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where are the two young men?” The police man asks.

“Right here.” Responds another police man, waving his arms towards two men, tied to chairs.

“What the hell do you want with us?” asks one of the men

“You two both know members of two of the most powerful gangs in the city. We need their help in killing someone.” Responds the cop, who was late.

“Why should we help you?” The second man yells.

“We are both fighting a common enemy. Kaine Tsuzuki, worth 250 thousand, for various murders, robberies, and property damage.” The cop recited, with an evil smile. “Help us and we’ll let you both go free and never bother you again.”

“What do we have to do?” The first man asks.

“Get both of your gang connections to ambush Kaine when he goes into the train yard. We are sending someone to trick him into going there. All you need to do is tell your contacts to send men, to kill him.”

The two men looked at each other for about a split second.

“It’s a deal.” The first one responds.

“Good, good.” The cop answers, looking at his watch. “It’s eleven. Our man should be coming in the bar right about now…”

The police’s plan was damned-near perfect. Fool Kaine into going to the train yard, where as the two gangs will ambush him. This will kill him, and the police can cover it up and make it appear as a gang-war.
“Another one.” I tell the bartender.

“Are you sure? This will be your fifth…”

“Just do it.” I respond.

“Are you…Mr. Tsuzuki?” I turn around to face an old man, wearing a trench coat.

“Yah. I take it that you’re my information man. Who am I after?” The old man takes a seat, and orders a Gin and tonic. He then continues to tell me.

“His name is John H’tims. The man you will kill; he is an Indonesian drug dealer. He’s an immigrant from Asia. He raped, then killed my daughter. He is supposedly completing a deal tonight at the old train yard. This is the chance for revenge. Murder him, and I’ll pay you 100 grand.”

“When will he be there?”

“Midnight.”

“When can I get the money?”

“As soon as you kill him, call me. I’ll be waiting here. Where should I deliver the money?”

“Put it into Vex’s tab for me. Ahhhh…thanks barkeep.” I respond, chugging my last Manhattan.
The time on my watch was just hitting twelve, as I pulled into the old train yard. I hid my car between two abandoned train cars and locked it. As I loaded my M6 Pistol, I realized that something just didn’t seem right. If John H'tims was afraid to use the phone at first, then why was he not afraid now?

As I sneaked through a hallway, it gradually brought me into the open yard. There were different various train and train track parts lying everywhere, in all sizes. The actual yard was surrounded in a maze of wooden boxes. As I continued along, gun drawn, I set eyes upon a single man. He appeared to be confused.

“Stupid old man. He never told me what the guy looked like.” I thought to myself. Suddenly, someone yelled at him.

“Get the fuck over here, Tom! Kaine will be coming here any time now!” Tom looked towards the boxes, and quickly took cover.

“How did they know I’d be coming here?” I thought to myself. “It doesn’t matter. They are my enemy.”

I reached into my pocket, and pulled out a grenade. I ripped the pin out of it, and threw it towards the boxes.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?” I heard a voice yell

“IT’S A GRENADE! RUN!” The explosive detonated, and I rushed in.

I pulled a man out of the fire, and held my gun up to his head.

“Don’t move or make noise.” I ordered. “You might make this out alive.”

I held him up to my chest as I continued to walk through the yard. There were no other guards. We continued on, until we moved onto the train tracks.

I easily brushed three guards off, and stopped. I was now on the middle of the tracks. I heard a noise.

“Remember us Kaine?” asked a voice. I turned around, and was facing approximately 40 armed men.

“You killed our leaders, and many of our men.” Another man said.

“An ambush, huh.” I thought to myself looking around. “Could this possibly be my last living day?”

“BUT YOU DIDN’T CARE! AS LONG AS YOU GOT PAID FOR IT!” yelled a third man.

I reached into my pocket, and pulled out anther grenade slowly. I sneakily hid it in my human shield’s back pocket.

“ISN’T THAT RIGHT!?” The first man yelled.

My legs began to shake. I looked to my left and saw a sniper train. In the past 20 years, the United States widely began developing sniper trains. They moved like a bullet train, but without the noise.

“Yes.” I yelled back, calmly. “AND I’D DO IT AGAIN!!”

The train was about ten feet away from me. I ripped the pin out of the grenade, and kicked the man towards the gunmen. They all began to fire as the train passed right in front of me. I heard an explosion and many men’s helpless cries.

I ran past the train, and hid behind some old boxes.

“HOW THE HELL DID I LET THIS HAPPEN?” I thought to myself angrily. I breathed deeply, and assessed the situation.

“Should I run away? I could easily—“

Then another voice in the back of my head cut in, as it usually did. “NO. Show them that you’re stronger then them!”

“But you’re grossly outnumbered…”

“Shut up! Look to your right! There is an unsuspecting guard! Kill him and take his weapons.”

I sneaked over the unsuspecting man, I quickly pulled a him back, and snapped his neck. I stole his gun and some ammunition. He was carrying an M-16 on him. When I returned back towards the spot where I took the man, I heard some other guards talking.

“Where the hell did that Kaine kid go?” I heard a man ask.

“Hey! Wait-a-minute! Where’d Tom go to? He was just here a second ago—“ At this I jumped out, with my gun flaring.

After I had killed around ten people, I heard a huge explosion. One of my bullets must’ve hit a gasoline tank, because a fire had began to break out.

“YOU WON’T ESCAPE THIS TIME, KAINE!” yelled a man, as he began to fire at me.

I jumped out of the way, and crouched behind a box.

I ceased firing, for a second. I knew this man. “I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!” I yelled. I had killed him. His name was Vincint DeCaprio, and he was worth a pitiful 10 grand.

“ALL THAT DID WAS GIVE ME A SCAR!” He yelled back, as he reloaded his gun.

As I continued returning fire, I heard a sound of a light metal object hitting the ground. I looked to my left, only to see a grenade sans pin. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I picked it up and threw it back. In mid-air it exploded, I then stood up, and ran out into the middle of the tracks, to better examine my enemies. There were nearly 23 or 24 people still firing. Suddenly my legs began to shake, harder, and more uncontrollable than before.

Did I get shot? No. Was I afraid? No. I looked to my right, and saw a sniper train, speeding in my direction, three feet away from me.

The clock at in the train station stroked 12:30 when the train hit me, killing me upon impact.