Butch parked the van two blocks away from Saliverri’s luxurious compound. A ten foot brick wall surrounded the grounds. The only gate, located at the front, led to the main drive. The driveway curved in front of the main house then onto the lesser houses and garage. Saliverri’s lieutenant lived with his family in the slightly smaller, less extravagant house to the east. The guard house sat in a corner. Oscillating security cameras observed the streets outside the grounds. Stationary cameras fixed upon the inner grounds. One guard patrolled the wall, one made rounds on the inner grounds, two guarded the gate, two, the main house, one monitored the cameras and they all stayed in constant radio contact. That was normal. Unfortunately, Saliverri had already begun gathering his forces to take down Mac, Butch, Sundance and Joe. More than thirty men armed themselves for Saliverri’s fight.
Sundance turned to Mac. “You got one minute,” he said.
Mac opened the rear door and ran off.
Mac ran full sprint across the two blocks to Saliverri’s mansion. He found the guard walking the back wall. Mac ran straight at him. The guard stopped to raise his weapon but Mac was already firing, his aim skewed by his speed and the silencer's end weight. He fired eight rounds to ensure the kill. The grouping was sloppy, but none of the bullets missed entirely. The first bullet hit the collar bone and the rest scattered over his body. He rattled like an electrocution victim with the impacts. He rasped and slumped to the ground. Mac popped two more rounds in him as he ran by. He also shot the three outside security cameras within twenty seconds and hopped the wall.
A gate guard walked towards the guard house talking into a radio. A man on the other end gave him instructions, “…the third box, I think. The sixth switch is for the outside cameras.”
Mac walked up behind the guard and shot him behind the ear. The radio screamed, “Oh shit! Oh shit!” The guard monitoring the cameras had evidently seen. Mac ran past the dead guard and heard the radio warn the other guards. Mac had to get to the front gate where the remaining guard controlled the only sub machine gun.
The spare house obstructed Mac's view to the gate. He rounded it to find the gate guard alert, but looking the wrong direction. Mac closed in on him as quick as possible. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a patrol guard come round the other side of the house and aim at Mac. Mac's response was automatic. He fired his first shot with incredible speed but wild inaccuracy. The guard panicked, allowing Mac to carefully aim his second shot. The bullet hit the patrol guard in the chest. Mac heard the dreadful clang of his 9mm slide locking into place. He was out of bullets.
He turned his attention to the guard with the sub machine gun. He was only twenty feet away now. The guard leveled his rifle.
Mac hurled his pistol at the guard. The top of the 9mm struck the guard on the bridge of his nose, shooting blood from his nostrils. The guard squeezed off a three-round burst, but it trailed upwards as his head flung back. Mac heard the bullets burn past his ear. Mac was on the guard before the pistol bounced off his face to the ground. Mac pushed the sub machine gun under the guard’s chin and blew the top of his head off. Saliverri’s soldiers poured out of the main house and the guard house. Mac slid around the dead body as it fell and switched the sub machine gun to full auto. While using the body as cover, he peppered Saliverri’s front door with controlled bursts. Two soldiers fell and the others grabbed cover, but the machine gun ammo was running low. A crash came behind him, but he didn’t look. He knew what it what it was.
Butch and Sundance bounced around the cab as the iron gate folded under the van’s wheels. Butch tried to provide cover fire from the driver’s side window but ended up shooting the upper story of Saliverri’s house, the dirt, a tree, the entryway stairs and at least one bullet flew off to the sky. He didn’t hit anyone, but it drew all attention away from Mac.
Joe loaned out some of his heavy artillery to the boys and got them some more adequate equipment: bullet proof vests with thicker Kevlar, a handful of grenades and all the ammo they could carry. Joe also supplied Sundance’s new favorite toy, a rocket launcher. Sundance hung out the passenger window with it slung on his shoulder. The gate finally rolled out from under the van and Sundance steadied the launcher.
When he pulled the trigger, he could feel the heat envelope him. The rocket hit headboard of the house door. It did less damage than Sundance had hoped. The rocket exploded mostly on the wall. Some structural damage caused the second floor corner room to collapse, but the house stayed mostly intact.
Butch drove past the main house and lined up the side door of the van with the front door of the guard house. Sundance opened fire on the door with his MP50 while Butch hopped in back. He slid open the door to reveal a mounted Browning machine gun. It was the best mounted Machine gun that Joe could find. It was the World War II model, M1919A4; primitive, but it could still hurl a bunch of lead.
Butch fired waves of bullets over the guard house. Guards would try to sneak out the side or climb out a window, but Sundance popped them with a couple of rounds. Butch fired for less than a minute and spent all his ammunition. The building looked lucky to be standing.
It took another thirty seconds to clear the guard house. Butch and Sundance found only a handful of survivors, none of which could fight. They came back out to find Mac missing again. Sundance looked down at his chest and said, "ow." He ran his fingers over a bullet that protruded from his vest.
"What, did you already get shot?" Butch asked.
"Yeah."
"Pussy."
"Maybe if you didn't get a giant steel fucking gate stuck under the van, I could've taken those guys out a little faster."
"You gonna live?"
"Yeah, it didn't go through the vest. Just hurts like a bitch," Sundance said while massaging his chest.
"I think I have some Scooby-do band-aids in the van. Y'know, if your boo-boo hurts too much."
"Fuck you! You got hit first in Tijuana."
"I ain't gonna kiss it better. Just so ya know."
"I have something for you to... Jesus Christ, nevermind! Can we go kill people now?"
* * * * *
Mike woke up on his back, unable to move. It seemed that the second floor had collapsed onto his desk. He should have worked at his own house today, he thought. His right arm was pinned under part of the ceiling. Also, his legs were pinned between the chair and the floor. This was one of the few times Mike appreciated Saliverri's extravagancies. Mike's hand crafted oak desk absorbed most of the impact from the ceiling and even held up part of it.
Gunfire was everywhere; inside the building, outside. Mike's ears were ringing but he got his bearings. He could hear Nick laughing like a Madman somewhere in the house. What the fuck was that maniac doing? The gunfire stopped and the laughing stopped. Mike hoped that someone killed Nick. At least something good would come of this. Whatever this was.
Mike heard two men walk in the gaping hole that used to be the front door. They were bickering about something. He listened closely, but could only make out a few words. One caught his attention, "Mac." Nick said he had run into Mac earlier. If Mac was here, then they would all surely die. He heard the men go up the main staircase and he decided to remain perfectly still until these guys were all gone.
* * * * *
Sundance took point up the stairs. He thought of how extravagant the house was. The wood was carved. Every piece of trim was etched and stained and expensive. Saliverri had those silly suits of medieval armor that Castles in movies had. Massive paintings lined the hallway in between marble pillars. Sundance almost felt bad for blowing up the entrance. He bet it was pretty.
Someone at the end of the hall moved. Both men ran to meet whoever it was with guns raised. It was Nick. Suspended in air, hung on a mounted golden candle holder. He had a gut shot. He would probably bleed out.
"Hi," Sundance said. "Mac's been looking for you."
"Guess he found you," Butch said.
Nick, it seemed could be as silent as Mac if he wanted. He didn't even look like he was in pain, though he had to be.
"Nothing to say?" Butch asked. "Well, I say we kill him."
"Why didn't Mac? Maybe we should leave him alive."
"But I really don't like this guy," Butch said then turned to Nick. "What do you say, Nick? What do you want, live or die?"
Nick decided to speak, "You should probably run for your lives, cause if I get—"
Blam.
Blam.
Butch cut him off by putting bullets through his kneecaps. Nick released a wet, gurgling scream that made Butch feel better. "That'll work," he said. "Let's go."
They walked past several bodies on the way to Saliverri's office. Sundance pushed open the office door to see Mac standing over a headless body in a chair. Mac waved. He was stuffing things into a duffel bag. He emptied the butts from Saliverri's gold trimmed alabaster ashtray and dropped it into the bag along with the ridiculous lighter. Mac stole his cigar cutter and all his cigars. He took Saliverri's titanium pens, silver money clip and lambskin wallet. In the center of the desk was a human head. Blood drained from the neck onto the solid oak and down to the floor. A bloody sword that belonged to a suit of armor lay alongside the head.
"Saliverri?" Butch asked and pointed at the head.
Mac nodded and went on stuffing the duffel bag.
"Ok."
"We found your friend hanging around out there," Sundance said.
Mac looked worried for a minute and stared at Sundance.
"Oh, we didn't kill him or anything. Just hurt him a little more."
Mac smiled and went back to packing. He found a gold letter opener.
The situation was awkward. Butch didn't know what to say now. This was one of the smoother jobs that he and Sundance had been on. Mac hardly needed their help. They were no longer in danger. Saliverri was dead, Mac had gotten his revenge. Butch watched Mac walk around the room and stuff things into the bag for a few minutes before Sundance spoke.
"Wanna come with us?" He asked.
Mac looked up, smiled and shook his head. The bag was stuffed as full as could be. Mac zipped it up and stood in front of Butch and Sundance. He clapped them on the arms and walked out the door. A few seconds later, they heard Nick scream.
"That was kinda easy," Sundance said.
"It was easy for me, you got shot."
"When you learn to drive, it will get easier to me," Sundance said, then paused. "Do we have enough to pay back Joe?"
"Not even fucking close. We're indentured servants for at least three more jobs."
Sundance sighed, "Let's go see Joe. I'm thirsty, anyway."
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