Gone To Where?

***

—The Next Morning—

It was still quite early when every member of the Dionisio gang awoke to eat rations and prepare their horses to ride out. 

Those who had been injured the day before checked their wounds to ensure it would hold for the last planned assault and soon, they mounted their horses and followed the lead of Charles and Tony to turn the horses around and ride out of the Second base and toward the third. 

"So, Charles, Tony, what do we need to know about the third base?" Henry asked when they had already ridden for fifteen minutes. 

Tony grunted,

"Not much is different, to be honest. It's a den filled with low lives waiting to be gunned down."

Charles shook his head,

"Now, now, that's not being very honest," He said with a small laugh,

"We left this base for last on purpose. It used to be a Military Fort but was long abandoned with its structures worn down by the times. It's worse off than the Hadron Mansion we have made into our base but doesn't carry the stigma of a 'curse'."

Tony sniggered then but he continued from where Charles stopped,

"Although the structure has been damaged, it still used to be a Fort and hence, is very easy to defend and difficult to attack. 

The front 'gates' have already fallen into disrepair and will be open for us to just charge in but the Fort has many nooks and crannies our enemies can hide in while picking us off while we are in the open. 

There are also battlements and last time we scouted, we saw a bunch of newbie Langlot Gang members stationed there waiting to shoot. They are easy enough to handle from a distance and on horseback but that will alert the rest of the base instantly and make things difficult but since things will get difficult either way, it must still be done."

Charles stepped in then,

"There are no high grounds around the Fort. If anything, the Langlots have a high-ground advantage thanks to the Battlements. If we want to take the Fort, we must strike fast and strike hard. 

I suspect this is where Doran Langlot has been holed up. And that idiot, Colm O'Hearn. We kill them and the rest of their cronies and we can confidently claim we have annihilated the Langlots making us the only Gang in the countryside."

"Until another Gang takes the Langlot's place, of course," Stefan said with a small laugh. 

"True," Triss nodded with a smile, "It might even be the few survivors of the Langlot Gang that establish new ones to replace it."

The concept was not strange to Henry. In the countryside such as this where the influence of the law was minimal, the Gangs are the powers. In a sense at least. 

Angus Dionisio hardly seemed like the kind to care about intimidating an opposition to not 'rob on his turf' but Doran Langlot had been possessive like that. 

With the Langlot Gang in place and as strong an establishment, as Doran had made them to be, they squashed any competing Gang before it could excel. The Exception was the Dionisio Gang and that Exception was now gunning for his head. 

When Doran Langlot and his gang were inevitably disposed of, others would rise. Henry wondered if they would attempt to squash them but then shook his head when he remembered they were far more likely to get as far away from this Countryside as they could once this last bit of business was handled. 

They needed to stay ahead of potential powerful enemies to come. 

The ride was long but soon, Henry and the others could see the rundown fort in front of them, still looking like an imposing structure. 

Charles pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked through them at the Battlements. Henry grabbed his sniper rifle and looked through the scope to pick out two lookouts standing in separate battlements. 

'This seems… little,' he thought with a thoughtful frown. 

"Hmm, there was more the last time we were here," Charles grumbled while looking through the binoculars,

"Anyway, Henry shoot the lookouts."

Henry pulled the Rifle's bolt to set into place and with his eyes keen and his [Marksmanship] skill activated, he fired. 

He was almost sure he heard the 'Hmph' sound his victim made as he fell but he turned his weapon to the second lookout and fired as he had done the first. 

[Kill-Reward: 7 Exp]

[You have gained Skill Exp]

[Kill-Reward: 7 Exp]

[You have gained Skill Exp]

[You have received a bonus of 100 Exp]

Charles raised his Repaeater then and yelled,

"CHARGE!" 

The hooves of their horses hit the ground with heavy thuds as they made their way toward the Fort's damaged gates. Henry was eager to make his kills first so he didn't make Nyx keep pace with the other slower horses and outstripped them all in barely a second. 

He crossed into the Fort's grounds seconds later and only then pulled back Nyx's reins so that she reared on her hind legs while letting out gallant whinnies. Henry had his Repeater in hand and pointed it around for a Langlot to kill but there were none. 

Or more accurately, none left the covers of the Fort's rooms to try and attack him. 

"What— What's this?" Henry asked with a suspicious frown. 

He got down from Nyx's saddle just as the others crossed into the Fort and immediately noticed the eerie silence. 

"This is… different," Triss said. 

Everyone had gotten down from their horses now. Devon's heavy-footed boots sounded with a heavy thud and he let out a puff of air from his nostrils as his brown eyes looked all over the base. He sniffed a few times like he was trying to catch scents. It looked savage but proved effective,

"I smell four… maybe five." He said when he was done sniffing. 

"Not nearly enough to defend a base like this," Charles said with a frown, "This makes no sense."

"Agreed," Tony said with a nod. 

The last base they attacked also had its members out on a job and it was still better defended than this. Both Charles and Tony refused to believe the base they had saved for last could be so… empty and unfulfilling. 

In his deep, loud voice, Tony called out,

"We know you're here. Come out and surrender before we drag you out."

A minute of silence passed and then a very quick footstep sounded out followed by the cocking of a rifle. 

The barrel had just pointed toward the Gang through a suddenly open window when Henry raised his Repeater and fired two shots. One punctured the would-be attacker's neck and the other punctured his head. 

[Kill-Reward: 7 Exp]

[You have gained Skill Exp]

[You have received a bonus of 50 Exp]

Charles sniggered,

"You would be fools to assume you were faster or better shooters than my fellows with me. Come out now. This is the last time we will ask."

Slowly, the surviving four trudged out of the rooms with their rifles raised and their eyes glaring at Henry and the others with hate. 

Charles and Tony directed them to drop their rifles to the ground and fall to their knees with their hands behind their heads. 

"You are the only ones here?" Charles asked for confirmation. 

The four paused and then nodded slowly. 

"And the others? Where are they?" Tony asked. 

The four just glared without speaking. 

Devon stomped forward and struck his shotgun against the head of one of them like a club. 

*Bam!*

The struck gang member fell to the side with an ugly gash on the side of his head. That single hit had robbed him of all his strength and as he ate dirt, he knew the next strike could split his skull. 

"They left!" One of the uninjured ones yelled out. His defiant look was a bit tempered now as he feared to suffer the fate of his fellow. 

"This morning. Maybe an hour ago," said another. 

"To where?" Devon asked with a glare and his shotgun held tight to strike again. 

"You're— You're the Dionisio Gang… Aren't you?" Said the Langlot Gang member. 

"Answering my question with a question?" Devon asked in a rumbling tone as he moved to swing his club again,

"No, wait!" The Gang member said with his palms stretched out,

"They went to your base!"

"What?" 

"They spent the whole of last night planning it. They said they finally knew where you lot were holed up so they set out this morning to attack your base. 

The boss said— He said he was gonna burn it to the ground. 

And they didn't go alone."

"What does that mean?"

"There were visitors, ya see? Don't know where they came from but they're strong. Boss is working with them. They set out together."

Devon looked back at the others and they shared a look. 

"Visitors…" Triss let out a whisper and everyone had the same thought,

'Vykers!'