Chapter 1 - A score to settle...

Pfft… The scorching hot sun burns on my back as my driver makes his way over the bumpy sand-roads. The open 4x4 isn’t really that comfortable like the commercial said a long time ago. Everywhere I look, I can see refugees going into the opposite direction of where we were going. At some point, we reached a bridge, and I looked down. Bad idea. We were up very high and I could see the large river below us. I sighed in relief once I realized we made it safe across the bridge. “This is it, Dakota…There’s no point of return now…” Then the driver started talking to me. He was a local and had a very thick accent… [br]
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Driver: What brings you to this poor country in the first place, my friend? [br]
Dakota: … Business. [br]
Driver: Whaha! You must be out of your mind to come here! You haven’t heard the news? [br]
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Dakota: I’m fully aware of it…[br]
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Driver: You see that little airplane there in the sky? That’s the last one out of this country, my friend. Seems like you’re stuck here now. I wish you the best of luck to survive. You’re gonna need it! *chuckles* [br]
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He kept on blabbering, but I ignored his stupid ramblings about the political situations and his stupid jokes. Instead, I opened my backpack and took out the folder which contained my objective. I had a score to settle. To take out Jason McMillan. Black panther, 6 foot 4, Renarian. Notorious arms-dealer. Has an army of mercenaries to back him up, as long as the price is right. He’ll witness how the inevitable civil war is fought with his weapons. Former business partner of mine… Also… He’s my ex-lover…[br]
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I’ve been here for five minutes in this very poor country and everything is crystal clear. Things are about to go very wrong. Two days ago, a revolution broke out in this country, and overthrew the government. But the revolution isn’t the reason why I’m here… Two hostile tribes called the Bakuba’s and the Shaigiya’s both has ideas to make this country live in prosperity and basically, couldn’t get along with each other. It’s been known for years that they blew each other’s brains out as a way to solve problems as the government didn’t do anything about it. Alas, corruption is every day routine, and the mercenaries and bounty hunters took advantage of that by stirring things up. Jason McMillan is one of those mercenaries. He sells weapons to both tribes, and because of that, genocides have been taken place. Jason was responsible for the genocides as well. He doesn’t care that this country is gonna rip itself apart. But he doesn’t care. And truth be told, I don’t care either. All I’m interested in is making money by doing the things I’m good at while I still could accomplish my objectives. My sources indicate that Jason’s been here for about 5 months, taking care of the competition with the only goal he cherishes. [br]
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As for me… My name’s Dakota. I’m 32 years old. A female hedgehog with short spiky quills, 2 earrings in my left ear and three piercings in my right ear. And my job…? I’m a mercenary. A gun for hire. People hire me to take care of problems that just don’t seem to go away. And like I mentioned before, Jason McMillan isn’t a stranger to me… [br]
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Years ago, I worked with Jason. We travelled around the planet, taking care of “business” which paid very good… Everything went rather well, and after travelling and took care of business together for more then a year, I fell in love with him… But our last assignment together… We were hired by the ultranationalists after the war was over in Sercia to assassinate the president… I was set up… And Jason’s gotten greedy… He stabbed me in the back… Literally… Then took off with my hit-fee and left me for dead… I was captured by the separatists in Sercia… They patched me up… Only to break me down again. For six months, I was captured and tortured by the separatists, who basically ruled the country. And I lost everything I could possibly ever loose… It’s something I’ll never forget… The scars will always remind me of that… And then one day, I was liberated… By an ICA agent… And he got me back to Renaria… [br]
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Things weren’t looking pretty for me once I got back in Renaria… I got arrested by the ICA, and they had enough evidence that most likely lead to a death sentence for me if I stood trial. And I bet that was coming. However… There was a way out… An ICA agent got compromised while watching Jason McMillan… And with compromised, I mean that he’s been killed. Money makes people talk, and that’s how the ICA agent was discovered. Ever since then, the ICA lost track of McMillan… So I was their only option… I knew the locations… I had my contacts… I know Jason’s way of handling business… He’s been on the ICA’s most wanted list for more then a decade… So if I could take care of this little problem of theirs, they could take care of a little problem mine. They would wipe my mark away and I would simply disappear again… But there’s one thing you need to keep in mind in my line of work… It’s something money can’t buy… And that’s respect. Fact was, I had none… People would probably don’t even know who I am, seeing as they all thought I died in Sercia, including Jason… But I’ll manage… I always did… And I will get my revenge… Either in this life, or the next…[br]
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So now I’m here… On the continent of Ahtiambo, on the Aegina Islands… And that’s basically it in a nutshell…[br]
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Driver: We’re here. [br]
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That was the only thing that made me snap out of my daydream… The small town of Sangala… It’s been a while… I grabbed my backpack and got out of the 4x4, not looking at the driver or saying anything to him. I made my way on the familiar paths that I once walked… And it’s exactly how it used to be… This town is my birthplace… So many things have changed… The sandy roads used to be populated by kids playing, and now all I see are armed mercenaries with checkpoints on every corner of the roads. As I walk past them, I can feel that their looking at me, wondering who I am, and most important, what my business is here. I couldn’t help but to feel nervous as I walk past them, but I tried not to show it. Instead, I made my way to an old friend of mine… Iki is his name… He’s a meerkat, and another mercenary slash arms-dealer… And dangerous if he’s your enemy. And fracked up. Well, just a little. As I walked the paths, the scent of weed penetrated my nostrils. Once I recognized the warehouse, I saw a bunch of guys standing there, guarding the perimeter. And I saw a meerkat sitting in a chair with a bottle of beer, smoking a stickie. That’s definitely him… I couldn’t resist but to smile as I saw him again after so many years… I slowly walked up towards him but stayed my distance… Those other guys might be hostile towards me. And I was right. They look distrusting towards me, and held their fingers near the trigger as they continued to watch me. One of the guys poked Iki and nodded over to me. Then Iki noticed that I was standing there… And I just smiled at him…[br]
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Iki: Hello stranger!! Ahahahaha!![br]
Dakota: Hello Iki… *smiles* [br]
Iki: For fracks sake!! Get out of her bloody way!! Let her through!! She’s one of us, ya fracking twats!! [br]
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The guys lowered their weapons and I walked over to Iki. He greeted me with a big firm hug… And truth be told, I really missed him as well… [br]
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Iki: How you doing, luff…? [br]
Dakota: It’s been years…[br]
Iki: Indeed it has… Welcome home… [br]
Dakota: Thanks… *smiles* [br]
Iki: So what brings you to my humble establishment…? [br]
Dakota: I need to pack some heat… [br]
Iki: Then you’ve come to the right place… Follow me… [br]
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We entered the large warehouse while the other guys followed us. Everywhere I looked, I saw huge crates, an enormous ammo stock and a shootload of weapons… Knives, pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles, carbine rifles, bolt action rifles, SMG’s, semi automatic shotguns, pump action shotguns, handgrenades, flashbangs, flares and a lot of other types of weapons… It’s a mercenary’s wet dream… [br]
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Iki: See anything you like? [br]
Dakota: Plenty… *smiles* [br]
Iki: Have a look around… Omar!! Clean that shoot up in aisle six!! I don’t wanna see that vomit on the floor when I get back!! Make that motherfracking floor sparkle, you dick head!! [br]
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Dakota: …[br]
Iki: … *smiles*[br]
Dakota: … I’ll have the Falaster Steyr G26, the Bianchi Sig556 and the Glock 31. Also, I need a pistol holster, a tactical vest, and an assault rifle bandolier… [br]
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Iki: … And how are you gonna pay for these…? Hm…?[br]
Dakota: That wont be a problem… [br]
Iki: You do realize that money is worthless here, right…? [br]
Dakota: *pats Iki’s cheeks* Money isn’t a problem for you either, Iki… [br]
Iki: Hmm-mm… Right… I got something special, just for you. [br]
Dakota: I’m listening… [br]
Iki: The streetvalue of a Glock 31 is around… Hm… Five hundred dinar. Comes standard with a capacity clip which contains 17 bullets… [br]
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Dakota: … I know that … [br]
Iki: Then you should also be aware of the fact that you would throw your money away… But!! With the Iki special high capacity clip… [br]
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Dakota: How much? [br]
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Iki grabbed 2 boxes of ammo and a high capacity clip for the pistol. He slams it on the table and looked at me… [br]
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Iki: These!! And these…! Are on the house… [br]
Dakota: Why thank you… [br]
Iki: It’s great to have you back, luff… [br]
Dakota: It’s sure good to be home… [br]
Iki: *lights up a stickie* [br]
Dakota: Iki, you really need to stop using shoot… It’s bad for you… [br]
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Iki: It’s bad for me? No!! NO!!! Drugs are good, my dearest Dakota!! Drugs are our mates!! Fuuuuck!!! I'm getting on me own nerves!! Ahahahaha!! I saw me dad hit me mother, me mother hit me brother, me brother hit me sister, and me sister… …fracked me father!! So I suppose it's inevitable, really!! I mean, you'd have to be on drugs just to live in that madhouse, wouldn't you?!![br]
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Dakota: *shrugs* [br]
Iki: So… Who your after…? [br]
Dakota: Someone not worth to mention… Iki, please, I’m in a hurry, can we get on with this…? [br]
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Iki: Of course, luff… [br]
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I put my backpack on the table and gave Iki his money. [br]
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Dakota: Unmarked bills, not traceable. [br]
Iki: Nice not doing business with you! Paper or plastic?! Ahahahahahaha!! Oh frack, I’m getting on own fracking nerves again… [br]
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And after that, I took the weapons and geared up. I nodded and smiled to Iki… And Iki looked with a serious expression at me… [br]
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Iki: If you’re not too busy some time… Come visit me… I might have something to do for you. [br]
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Dakota: I will. [br]
Iki: Also… A word of advice… Money doesn’t have any value here… But the right stones however… [br]
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Dakota: *nods* I know… I need to settle down first. [br]
Iki: There’s a safehouse you can use for a couple of weeks… It’s near the abandoned railyard, a couple of miles to the south of Tecala. You know where it is, right? There’s a checkpoint where my guys are stationed. I’ll inform my guys to let you through. [br]
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Dakota: Thanks… Take care, Iki. See ya soon. [br]
Iki: Bye love!! [br]
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And with that, I made my way out of the warehouse… It was getting dark, so I best be off then. I’ll hitch a ride… By hotwiring a car or something… [br]
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Iki: Say hello to loverboy for me!! Ahahahahahaha!!! frack, frack, frack, oh frack!! I’m fracking hallucinating!! Get a grip on yourself, ya damn crackhead!! This is just like the time with the talking squirrels!! Ahahahaha!! [br]
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Omar: Iki, calm down, you need to- [br]
Iki: I’M TRYING YOU frackING FAG!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh!!!![br]
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OK, this is shoot is real fracked up. Really, really fracked up. For fracks sake, I came down here for a business trip to close down a deal with the Roxxon Enterprises on behalf of the company I work with, Callahan Nordyne Incorporated. Everything went so well over the week, and I managed to close the deal. Roxxon Enterprises is now a client of Callahan Nordyne Incorporated. Not that it’s gonna make any difference now!! frack… I should’ve been home by now, next to my girlfriend… And I don’t know how I ended up in this shoot in the first place!! What the hell have I done to deserve this?! fracking hell… [br]
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I guess it all started two days ago. I was on my way to the airport to go home until the bus stopped. A few armed guys searched the bus, and then they picked someone out. Apparently, that was the guy they needed. He was taken outside, and they started to argue. And then all of a sudden, he was shot. So, was I scared shootless? Of course I was!! And well, everyone got taken out of the bus as they strip-searched it, going through all luggage and everything. Seems they found a few stowaways. But instead of shooting them, they threw a few Molotov cocktails which practically, made the bus explode. And well, we all ran away in different directions. I managed to get some of my stuff. A briefcase which contained the contracts and everything, but my luggage and clothes and… Shoes were on fire… I guess I somehow ended up in the poor districts, where drug gangs and stuff ruled the place. I didn’t had any of this on my way to Azania, the city metropolis where Roxxon Incorporated was in the business district… A very beautiful city, where I was in the rich districts, stayed in a luxury hotel and ate top notch food until it was time for me to go home… [br]
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I still tried to make my way back to the airport by foot. But everywhere I came, I saw heavily armed guys, patrolling the streets, checking documents of people who walked and everything. And sometimes, they opened fire to other people. I tried to stay as far away from it, but at some point, it was inevitable for me to get caught up with it. And that moment came when I reached the town of Tecala... There wasn’t really a way to avoid Tecala to get to the interstate, unless I wanted to imitate a mountain goat. So I took the most reasonable option. And it was something I did for the very first time. To try to sneak around them… But, as you can probably guess, that wasn’t a success… [br]
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Of course, I got noticed. All of a sudden, I felt someone placed a hand on my shoulders and asked me where I was going.. The guy had a foreign accent but didn’t really seem like a local… They asked me for my papers, but seeing as everything blew up, I had nothing. I told them I’m a Sales Manager working for Callahan Nordyne Incorporated, a banking and investment corporation with more then 5000 employees all over the globe. We had offices in Renaria, Buthainah, Alaine, Kalubya, Managua, Prajevitza, Sechenia, and San Samalia. [br]
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…[br]
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Then they all laughed at me for a moment, pulled a serious face and aimed their weapons at me while one of them searched my briefcase. I scared the living shoot out of myself and immediately raised my hands up in the air. They kept asking stuff, and I just answered what I know. I told them my name is Nick, that I’m a kangaroo, which was probably stating the obvious, that I’m 29 years old, that I’m a Sales Manager living in Veyska with my girlfriend, with two sport-cars, an SUV, a budgie, and a nice penthouse. After a moment, the guy puts everything back in my suitcase and closed it. They continued asking a lot of other stuff, but I simply didn’t know the answer to that. Then all of a sudden, I heard a massive explosion, and the guys were alert. They aimed at everything that moved, and at some point, I saw in the distance a figure running away. So they all shot at him, and I saw the figure falling down. And then they continued to ask if I was with Mc…McMi-… I can’t remember his name. So I shrugged and said I didn’t know the guy. And after that, they picked me up, threw me in a shed and locked the door. [br]
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A few hours passed by. I could see outside that it already turned dark. At some point, I heard a car stop. When I peeked through the wooden cracks of the shed. I saw this figure in a car, and by the sounds of her voice, I heard she was a female… She didn’t had any accents or something and spoke Renarian pretty fluently, so I presumed she’s Renarian, like me. What made her so special that she could pass through, and I couldn’t…? And then not long after that, the car drove off… [br]
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I woke up by the sound of gunshots. I must have dozed off a little. I looked at my watch and only and hour passed by. It sounded like firecrackers or something, with a groan every now and then. When I looked outside the window, I saw nothing because it was too dark to see. Two of the guys who asked me questions are dead. I could see them near the shed. Maybe someone found out about me and that I’m about to be rescued. At some point, I felt confident enough to say that I’m being rescued. So all I did was sitting down and grinning and holding on to my suitcase, waiting for someone to bust the door and take me to the airport. And I was right. The door got indeed busted in, and I saw someone who seemed to be a local yelling at me in a foreign language I didn’t know. He kept pointing at my suitcase, not knowing what he meant with that… I said “What? I can’t understand you!”. Ehm… He started to yell louder at me and I kept on yelling that I didn’t understand him. Then all of a sudden, he aimed his weapon at me. I didn’t hesitated for a moment there. I leaned back on my tail, and kicked his chest with all of my strength. He flew back quite a distance… I ran out of the door as fast as I could, back in the direction I came from. I thought I would be safe in the hills, and while I was running, I had a good view on a train-yard. I noticed two wagons were blown up, which was probably the explosion I heard earlier that day. Then I looked back, and I noticed I was being followed by these guys and that they started to shoot at me from a long distance… So I started running again… At some point, I reached a house on top of a hill. I wanted to bang on the door to let me in, but seeing as they were closing in, there wasn’t any time left for that… Instead, I saw a dumpster, quickly raised the lid, and jumped in there… At some point, I heard that they were closing in, and searched the place… They banged on the door of that little house, but no one answered it. So they busted in, by the sounds of it. I slowly opened the lid a little bit to see what was happening… A few moment later, they came out and they walked away… [br]
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And that’s where I am now… In a fracking dumpster… [br]
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I stayed in that dumpster for a while, as the unbearable smell penetrated my nostrils… At some point, I thought the coast was clear and that I could come out of it… So I opened the lid and got up… But as I stood up, I noticed I was staring at a barrel of a weapon… And a female hedgehog stood there, aiming her weapon at me… [br]
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Nick: Oh bloody frack, not agai-Aaargh!![br]
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She grabbed me by my collar, and violently pulled me out of the dumpster which tumbled over. She was way stronger then she looked… She yanked the briefcase out of my hands, kicked me in the back of my legs and forced me to kneel. It all happened so fast that I could hardly do anything… And I don’t think it was such a good idea to pull something in her presence… After all, she was the one with the guns… [br]
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Dakota: Who the hell are you? [br]
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I recognized that voice… The same voice of that Renarian woman when I was locked up in that shed… [br]
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Nick: Eeeeh… I, eh-[br]
Dakota: Did McMillan sent you? [br]
Nick: Oooh! So that was his name! McMillan! I forgot his name but the guys back at the checkpoint asked me the same thi-[br]
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All of a sudden, she kneed me in the back. I fell down on my stomach as she presses a knee in my back…[br]
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Nick: Whoa, whoa, whoa…!![br]
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Dakota: He sent you, didn’t he…? Don’t you think it’s a little convenient…? Hm…? First, he sends you to scout the place out… Blow up Iki’s shipment… Then the checkpoint got attacked by the Shaigiya’s’s… And then he sends you AND the Shaigiya’s to get rid of me…? [br]
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Nick: … Shaigiya’s? [br]
Dakota: Don’t play dumb with me… I’m on the fracking edge here… I would have shot your face off the moment you came out of that dumpster if it wasn’t for me needing some information… [br]
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Nick: What information?!! I’m just a Sales Manager!! Leave me alone already. for fracks sake!! For the last two days I’ve been threatened with guns to my face!! I don’t know anything!! [br]
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Dakota: Uh-huh… Right… [br]
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She got off of me and took a look in my suitcase, while she still aimed at me. After she thoroughly searched every compartment in the suitcase, she finally came to the conclusion that I’m not who she thought I was… [br]
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Dakota: Just who are you? [br]
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Nick: I told you, I’m a Sales Manager. I work at Callahan Nordyne Incorporated… I closed a deal with Roxxon Enterprises and now their a client of ours… Check my suitcase if you don’t believe me. And now I’m here, being threatened by a chick with a gun. [br]
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Then she checked my suitcase for a while and carefully inspects every letter I had in there while she still aimed her weapon at me and looked at me every now and then…[br]
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Dakota: … [br]
Nick: Look, things aren’t kosher here and I know that. For the last 2 days, I see a lot of people with guns and shooting and asking me stuff. I don’t belong here. I don’t know what’s happening here, what your business is here, and quite honestly, I don’t care. All I want is to get to the airport as soon as possible and go home… [br]
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Dakota: You do realize that the airports are closed at this moment? [br]
Nick: … What…?!! [br]
Dakota: The government fell, a civil war is about to start, economy is a load of shoot and people aren’t afraid to die for their believes. And besides, they occupied the airports and blocked the harbours… You wouldn’t survive long enough just to get there, and especially you. [br]
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Nick: … No… No…!! Noo!! Noooo!! [br]
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At that point, she slapped me in the face… [br]
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Dakota: Will you keep you’re fracking voice down…?! The Shaigiya’s might still be out there…! [br]
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Nick: What am I gonna do now…? What AM I gonna do now…?! [br]
Dakota: You’re on your own. Good luck. Now get your shoot and leave. [br]
Nick: B-B-But I can’t go out there on my own…! Like you said, I wouldn’t survive…! You can’t do that to me…! [br]
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Dakota: … Eh, yes I can. First of, I don’t know you. Second, I don’t know if I could trust you. Third, and most importantly, you can compromise my presence… And you already saw me. So you’re either killed out there, or you’ll be killed by me. I don’t mind. But you can still betray me if I let you go. So I think it’s best to put a bullet through you’re head right now. [br]
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Nick: *sighs* [br]
Dakota: It’s your call. [br]
Nick: No, please, don’t… I got a girlfriend back home and… A budgie and… Gaaah… Please… Don’t kill me… I beg you, don’t… I got so much to live for… [br]
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Dakota: … [br]
Nick: Please… [br]
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Apparently, my pleadings and begging’s were helping. She looked at me for a while and lowered her weapon. I think my sparkly eyes and good looks were the reason for that. I can’t blame her. [br]
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Dakota: … You can stay for the night. But I want you gone before dawn, you got that? [br]
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Nick: Yeah, yeah, sure…! Whatever you say…! [br]
Dakota: Get your @$$ inside… [br]
Nick: … You know… Thanks… Thanks for like… Not putting a bullet through my he- [br]
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Dakota: Move it… [br]
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So I got inside… The place wasn’t really that big… There was only a bed, a chair and a radio… And that’s it… I didn’t mind… I flopped down on the bed and sighed in relief… [br]
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Nick: Aaaaaaaaaah… A bed… Finally… I’m exhausted… I never realized how good a bed can be… [br]
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Dakota: Oh hell no. That’s my bed. Get the hell off of it. [br]
Nick: … Then where do I sleep? [br]
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Dakota: On the ground, or in the chair, or on the roof, or in the middle of a Shaigiya camp, for all I care…!! I don’t give a shoot…!! But if you don’t get out of that bed right now, I swear I’ll fracking shoot you off of it…! [br]
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Nick: … ‘Kay… [br]
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So I sat down in the chair while she flopped down on her bed. She closed her eyes while I still looked around… [br]
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Nick: So eh… [br]
Dakota: Goodnight. [br]
Nick: … What are you doing here in the first place…? [br]
Dakota: I SAID goodnight… [br]
Nick: … [br]
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Just my luck… What the hell have I just done…? [br]
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