Inverted And Overturned 'Z'

Oliver put the last piece of poster up on the wall and smoothed the surface with his hand. He stepped back and looked at it.

"That's another one down." he said glancing at Steve and Clair.

"It's been four days already and there's still no word yet." Clair sighed and glanced at the poster that depicted a huge circle with an inverted and overturned 'Z'.

Steve nodded solemnly. "True but you should realise that what we are doing is very bad…a very bad idea."

"It could be worse," Oliver shrugged lightly. "We can't just sit on our hands and wait for news about this group to surface. So far everyone we've asked privately has never seen the symbol."

"Even if they do they might not tell." Clair added.

"That's right," Oliver tersely acknowledged. He looked over at the opposite end of the road where a small group of people were walking about. The sun was slowly dimming and it was getting dark.

"We should return for today." Steve suggested.

"We can still do more rounds before calling it a day."

"This feels like spamming the whole street!" Oliver said in response to Clair's comment. All they had been doing for the past four days had been to put up posters after posters of the symbol on the uniform.

Clair had shown the uniform to the Oliver and Steve after they had told her everything they knew regarding Bobby's involvement with Oliver's 'kidnap'. After that Steve had taken the initiative to show the symbol around but it came back negative. It was only after they had tried all means that Oliver took it a step up. Steve had called him out for being mad and 'out of his nuts' when he suggested the idea of using posters. It was a way to get a lot of attention. Much like a wanted poster.

Oliver had managed to convince him that what they were doing was already dangerous to begin with and it would still lead to several accidents if there was an occasion. However, he insisted that it was worth it for him.

He was already in a spot where doing nothing was more dangerous than putting himself out there to be a target. He had to clear his name at all cost and he had to earn back his reputation.

Thinking about his reputation made Oliver cringe on the inside. No, not his reputation of being mostly drunk everyday but his reputation in everything else.

Clair didn't need much convincing. She was ready to put her hand into a hungry lion's mouth to take the meat inside. She was hell bent on finding out who had brutally murdered Bobby. The sight of his mangled flesh and dried up blood made her stomach turn in the worst possible ways.

Steve had naturally joined in. it was, to him, a nice way to see this to the end. He was already knee deep into the tsunami that was about to hit and he knew that when it happened, he would be at the very centre of it.

He had a guess that if this group had actually silenced Bobby because of the case of rape that Oliver was dragged in then it meant that the whole thing was perfectly staged and planned by someone who was presumably the leader of the organisation.

"Let's go then," Oliver rubbed his hands together. "I don't want to miss dinner."

"You never miss dinner, dude," Steve chuckled. "Besides you have a…"

"Don't even go there!" Oliver glared at Steve making him swallow the rest of his words. He turned to Clair who had already fished out two more posters and held them up.

She smiled. "Do you want to kill him or should I?"

"By all means, do the honour." Oliver gave her a slight bow.

Steve rolled his eyes and took the glue. "I'll see you for the funeral then."

The two chuckled and gave each other a high five. They moved into different alleys, ready to paste the last few posters they had for the day. Oliver checked his time and discovered that it was already 6p.m.

He patted the bag he carried on his back and moved along with large strides.

….

Meanwhile, as they left the last poster they had pasted on the wall, someone walked towards it and looked intently at the symbol for a while. He lifted his finger and traced the outline of the circle then he yanked the poster off the wall and crunched it with his hand.

He looked towards the direction the three people from earlier had disappeared to and then he began to move with hurried footsteps.

….

Oliver put the poster over the glue he smeared over the wall and patted it to make sure it stuck well. He took a last look at the poster then turned to place another one on the opposite wall.

It was at this point that he noticed someone at the other end of the alley. He wore a coat with a red cap. His hands were placed by his side and hidden by the coat. It seemed like he had put his hands into his pocket.

Oliver narrowed his eyes at him then looked away. He put the glue on the wall and lifted the poster to the wall but took to his heels. In the slightly dim alley he could make out the outline of a gun on the man's waist and he didn't need someone to tell him to run for his life.

The man broke into a run. He was faster and stronger by comparison and Oliver felt like he would be caught soon. The mere thought made his knees weak. 'Why isn't he shooting me?'

As he rushed towards the other end of the alley, two more men appeared each holding a rifle in hand. They smiled brightly at Oliver and he paused instinctively. He looked behind and noticed the other man rushing towards him as well.

He glanced back at the new comers and noticed that they had their shirt buttons left open and the inside shirt had a large circle which had a thick, inverted and overturned 'Z'. His mind froze and he turned around and rushed towards the first man that had chased after him.