10 Hero?

Tom and Gabriela laughed lightly as they drank the wine in their glasses. Tom had bit the bullet and got a rooftop reservation for both of them. Good food and wine combined with the warm starry night created a wonderful atmosphere. The initial stage was full of tension and awkwardness but they soon grew on each other and became as if they had known one another their whole life.

"How could he be so shameless?", Gabriela spoke in between her laughter spasms. "I wanted to know too", Tom shook his head. "The paint was obviously on his body but he claimed that he had shot himself to see whether it hurt. I had to pin him down and empty my entire cartridge all over his face before he gave up". Gabriela could only laugh all the more, her wine spilling on the table.

Tom leaned back in his chair with a big smile on his face. The plan was working perfectly. She was finally warming up to him. Tom made plans to give Alpha a huge hug but quickly destroyed the idea. 'I'd probably die if I did that. No, I'd definitely die', he shivered. Casting away those thoughts, he gazed kindly at the beautiful woman sitting across from him. Could this night get any better?

"Where the fuck are they, huh?! Answer me, old man!". Tom and Gabriela turned their heads to the source of the shout. A group of men shepherded an old waiter in their direction. They slowly stood up to get a better view of the situation. Gabriela's body shivered involuntarily; the voice sounded too familiar. 'Could it be? It can't! It shouldn't! He's supposed to be out of town!', her mind screamed at her. She unconsciously hid behind Tom as the group of men got closer.

The waiter was shoved aside and the identities of the men were revealed; it was Marquez and his boys. They, who were allegedly out of town, had crashed the date. Marquez was a tall man, taller than almost all of his subordinates, save for the muscle-head beside him. He wore a white T-shirt and blue jeans, his muscled arms covered in tattoos. He stared angrily at Gabriela who scaredly looked out from behind her cover.

"So this is what you do when I'm not around, huh? Go behind my back to fuck other men?!", Marquez bellowed. "You ungrateful slut! Have you forgotten who's paying for your sister's fees? Who picked you out from cleaning the gutters?!".

Gabriela shivered even more; what Marquez had said was true. Even though he was a horrible person, the fact didn't change that he helped her when she was in trying times. What she was doing now was showing ungratefulness. She bowed her head in shame. She just wanted to be happy.

Tom, on the other hand, was furiously communicating with Alpha on the hidden radio given to him. "Her boyfriend's back! How are we gonna get out of this? How did you not know this?", he furiously whispered into the microphone. "I did. I expected them to come and planned accordingly", Alpha replied monotonously. "You didn't think it was a good idea to get me involved?!". Tom was offended. "You wouldn't have agreed.". Tom paused. It was true. He probably wouldn't have agreed to a plan that could cause him or Gabriela injury. "So what now?", he inquired. "Follow my lead".

"Get your ass over here now!", Marquez raged. "And you white fucker... prepare yourself for hell. No one touches my girl". Gabriela's shivering got worse but she slowly walked out from behind Tom. Before she could leave his side, however, he placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her backwards. "Let me handle this okay?", he kindly advised, placing her behind once again.

Turning angrily to the fuming Marquez, he spoke in a slow tone. "You really wanna talk about who's trash here? Who the real bastard is?". His tone of voice was getting steadily higher. "How about you reveal to everyone here what actually happened to Gabriela's parents? Why she lost her jobs? HOW HER GRANDMOTHER DIED?!". Tom was screaming in anger as much as in shock. He wasn't expecting Alpha to drop such bombshells on him.

Gabriela looked in confusion at both Tom and Marquez. "What is he talking about Marquez? What happened to my Nanna? My parents?", she asked, feeling horror well up in her chest. "They died in a car accident. We both know that. And your Nanna was senile and old. She was bound to die", Marquez explained calmly. "Whatever this prick is trying to say is not true".

Gabriela turned back to Tom who gravely nodded at her. Stepping closer, he continued his words. "Is that so? Can you tell me where you were the night of the accident? Why you suddenly vanished that night which happened to be the gang initiation night?", his tone flatlining, "If I recall correctly, the prerequisites to join the gang is to take an innocent life. You thought it convenient to take two?"

Gabriela covered her mouth in horror. "N-no. No. No. Nonononononononononono. NO! You didn't. Tell me you didn't. TELL ME!", she screamed at Marquez, attempting to attack him. Tom held her back though. He, or rather, Alpha wasn't done.

"And her jobs? How the managers fired her for the most random of things?", he continued. "How she was unable to get employed anywhere other than the store that your gang ran?". His posture seemed straighter than before. "And her Nanna? Who sent those boys to silence her for threatening to get you arrested with the evidence that she found?". Tom felt disgusted as he reeled out the essay Alpha was transmitting to him.

Gabriela's legs faltered slightly and she leaned on the table beside her to stabilize herself. It was too much. Way too much. The undirected anger and buried pain and sorrow were rushing up to her once again. Her mind was a mess as she gazed upon the silent Marquez who denied none of the allegations that Tom made against him. She didn't even know what to feel, her heart was in a mess.

"Shall we talk about her sister?". Tom's voice was trembling horribly now. "The delays in her treatment to prolong the sickness? The killer you assigned nearby in case Gabriela acted up?". Gabriela raised her head suddenly in shock. 'This bastard... HOW DARE YOU' "HOW DARE YOU?!?!?!?!", She screamed attempting to attack him again, the tears and rage covering her face. Even Tom was finding it difficult to hold her back.

"You didn't do this because you loved her; you just wanted to use her", Tom was finally concluding the roller coaster. " You needed a suicider. The higher-ups would let you rise in ranks if you could take out their competitors. So you planned to use her to kill them all at once. You really make me sick".

Marquez clenched and unclenched his fists. Most of what was said was true. He had killed Gabriela's parents and planned to use her as a suicider. But along the line, he got some feelings for her. That was why he became the way he was; he valued the power he would get over her, so he behaved horribly to make her hate him. But one thing he couldn't understand. He had never sent out the hit on her Nanna. Not only would that be a waste of time to do, but even the evidence she was railing on about was just pictures of him with other women; she was senile, of course.

"So what if you did some spy work? You think that's gonna change anything?", Marquez said evilly. "You think you're gonna leave her on those legs? Or even alive". The boys behind him began to slowly encircle the couple. "And he's right Gabriela. There's a hitman with your sister. So I advise you to get your ass over here now!".

Gabriela had venom in her eyes but could only bow her head and try to walk towards him. Tom, however, blocked her. She looked up to see him smiling strangely. "Do you really think that I'd tell you what I know without taking precautions?", he laughed. "Go ahead, call him".

Marquez fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his phone. Punching in number, he listened attentively for a response. Nothing. "How'd you do it?", he asked slowly.

"I have friends in high places", Alpha said into the microphone on his collar. He had stationed himself at a rooftop opposite to where Tom and Gabriela had their date and where the showdown was occurring. He stood on the edge of the roof as he observed the goings-on with a pair of binoculars. Placing them down, he picked up the silenced sniper rifle beside him; it was a Dragunov Sniper Rifle, a semi-automatic sniper rifle, perfect to take down a group of people at long range.

Aiming down the sights, he continued his conversation with Tom until the crescendo was nigh. "As soon as the bullets start flying, grab Gabriela and hide beneath the table. Only come out when I tell you", he spoke into the microphone once again. Carefully aiming at Marquez, he let loose a shot into his forehead then quickly took down the musclehead beside him.

The gang had been standing in a semi-circle around the couple to block them off. Human psychology dictated that a human would move away from a present source of danger. As soon as blood flew out from Marquez's head, the gang moved backwards away from their bodies, thus causing more than one of them to be in line with Alpha's aiming. Before they could get their guns out, Alpha had let loose the entire magazine into their heads.

"Get out from under the table. Proceed down the fire emergency stairs that are in the top floors last corridor. There will be a car waiting to take you away there", Alpha said while dismantling the sniper and placing it in its case. He then disappeared into the shadows of the roof he was on.

Tom followed Alpha's instructions and guided the fearful Gabriela around the bodies on the roof and through the emergency exit. Getting to the alleyway, they saw a car parked there with a nervous-looking man behind the wheel. On seeing the couple he waved crazily at them. As soon as they were in, the engine was fired up and the car sped off into the night.