Chapter
3 – Law Protectors of Differing Sides
Over the course of the night, most
of the city’s police force has been arresting and questioning people associated
with the vigilante group, For the People. Kurtis appears to be visibly angry
during the entire night, probably not because he’s tired, but because he knows
he’s helping people who are vigilantes. Meanwhile, Cole and Max are unbothered
by it all and are just happy to be bringing criminals to justice. On the side,
Kurtis keeps whispering to me to me to not completely trust the men of honor,
not even Max or anyone who may be associated with them. From my point of view, I
do want the police to protect all of the city without having to get another
group involved, if they are just neighborhood protectors or have ulterior
motives and may be committing crimes behind our backs, as Kurtis thinks. I’m
not the kind of person who can talk them into changing their mind, so all I can
do is play both sides until I’m forced to choose one, which I hope doesn’t
happen.
Nothing that the men of honor do is
illegal, nor do they seem to be up to anything. I trust that Max would tell us
if they did, since he has a high opinion of them, and they do give up their own
if the traitor goes against their code of honor that seems to match our shared
Catholic faith. By the end of the night, my squad sleeps at the office on
standby and awaits any possible, but nothing comes. We sleep from eight in the
morning until one in the afternoon, and none of the phones ring. Kurtis stayed
up the entire time, went out to get us breakfast, and after hearing that we
didn’t get any calls, decides to call police headquarters for an update on the
situation.
After Kurtis hangs up the phone, I
ask, “What did they say?”
“The operation was a success. Max’s
friends didn’t even get involved,” Kurtis says.
“I’m telling you they’re completely
trustworthy,” Max says. “If they weren’t, they’d lose business, and no one
would want their help.”
“Yeah? Well, they’re not going to
get a good review from me unless they continue to stay out of our way.”
Max agrees to disagree. I mention
to stop arguing before they start, and they agree so we can all enjoy our
breakfast in peace.
“The police will get a nice boost
in pay and honor from the government, and I think things will be peaceful for a
while, except for the idiots here and there that try to mess with the law,”
Kurtis says.
“I could use a vacation. I wish I
could go over to a country in Proavus, but all of that is controlled by the
Vorfahren, and I’d rather not make a mistake that lands me in one of their
camps, so I guess I’m going back to the beaches and amusement parks in the
Sunshine State,” Max says.
“It ain’t a bad place to be. My
family loves going there every year or every other year,” Kurtis says.
“I’m fine going to local places I
can drive to. After being shot out of the sky in the war, I never want to get
on a plane again,” Cole says.
“I’m with Cole. I like driving
places, even if the drive takes several hours,” I say.
“We should go together then,
Xander. We’ve worked together all this time, and have never hung out anywhere
together besides eating during or after work.”
“How about we make it a squad
vacation? I’ll front the bill for the place us and our families can stay at,”
Kurtis says.
“You serious?” Max asks.
“Why not? With the pay raise I
mentioned, it’ll be fine.”
Cole, Max, and I thank Kurtis and
plan our vacation. Before then, we still have a job to do, so we go about our
business for the next few days in a quiet city with little to nothing
happening. A Mediterranean festival is happening today, and the city is having
the men of honor speak at it as a way of thanking them for protecting their
community. Kurtis says this is all politics to push their pro-vigilante agenda
and to please them, since the men of honor also have many politicians in their
pocket. Regardless, my squad and several other police squads help out at the
Mediterranean festival to make sure nothing disturbs it.
Just like these past few days, it
looks like nothing is going to happen and everything goes to plan. Astorre goes
up on stage with his people to talk, and that’s when trouble starts. A group of
masked people steps out from the crowd, pulls out their guns, and aims them at
Astorre and his people. Seeing the threat in front of them, the men of honor
quickly react, pulling out their pistols, and a gunfight breaks out. We spring
into action as well, helping Astorre; however, more masked gunmen come out from
the crowd and start shooting others and throwing explosives and Molotovs into
several Mediterranean stores and restaurants, including the one where we
frequently meet Max’s friends. My squad goes over to Astorre, who has now taken
cover behind the stage, and has been wounded with them.
“Stay here and keep your head down!
I’ve already called EMTs for your wounded,” Kurtis says to Astorre.
“I’d agree with you, but I can’t,
not while they’re attacking my family and all my neighbors and destroying our
livelihoods,” Astorre says.
“You’re just going to get in our
way!”
“And you’re wasting your breath on
me, while others are suffering!”
While the two argue, I gun down
several of the criminals, who refuse to stop shooting people and destroying
their property.
“I thought we were supposed to protect
these people, not argue with each other, so stop arguing and do what you both
say your jobs are!” I angrily say, having had enough of them going back and
forth, even in this situation.
Kurtis looks at Astorre, who picks
up his pistol and makes sure it’s completely loaded before getting up and
joining the fight. Not wanting him to do anything, Kurtis backs up Astorre and
his people and tells us to protect them all. During the fighting, both Kurtis and
Astorre tell their respective men to try not to kill any of the criminals and
try to take them in alive for questioning.
“I never thought I’d see the day,”
Max says to himself as he watches Kurtis fight with the men of honor.
Both Kurtis and Astorre fight in
such a way that they’re both trying to throw themselves into danger to save the
lives of innocents and everyone around them without thinking for themselves.
They even pull and push each other aside to save the other from gunfire, explosions,
fire, and criminals with bats and knives. By the end, they’re back to back as if
they trust one another and moving in a way as if they practiced this all
before. The two come across one more criminal who is holding a mother and child
hostage. Before the criminal can make any demands, Kurtis and Astorre thankfully
land both their shots in the criminal’s head, killing her.
“Why did you shoot her in the head?”
Kurtis asks.
“Why did you?” Astorre shoots back.
“Some people deserve mercy only in
the form of death.”
“Agreed. If you have to hide behind
a mother and child for your own safety, you’re worse than scum.”
“Scum is the least thing she was. You
don’t know half of what that woman had on her record. I’ve arrested her before
in worse situations than this that involved children.”
Astorre and Kurtis look at one
another as if a bond of brotherhood has just been formed.
“It looks like all the criminals
are dead, injured, or being arrested. Let’s help out wherever else we can,” Max
says.
Astorre and Kurtis agree. My squad
and I arrest the injured criminals and help the ambulances take away the dead
ones, while Astorre and his men of honor help the injured civilians get to the
ambulances and console the families who have lost friends and loved ones. With
everything mostly done, we go back to Astorre, who looks over the destruction
that’s happened to the festival and his neighborhood.
Kurtis puts a hand on his shoulder and
says, “I’m sorry this happened to you. I promise you that justice will be
served.”
“I don’t need sympathy, Sergeant.
The grieving do. What I need is to do the next right thing,” Astorre says.
“…Alright. I see that there’s no
stopping you now, but I also see you’re better men than I thought you were. If
you need any help, you know who to call.”
“Thank you, sir. You know who to
call for the same. We are forever indebted to you for putting your lives on the
line for us.”
Kurtis and Astorre nod to each
other and shake hands. I thought Kurtis was going to rub it in Astorre’s face
that his actions against the opposing vigilantes caused this, but instead
Kurtis shows sympathy and understanding. Now, I hope it’s time we finally work
together instead of working in parallel, so that this criminal threat in the
city can finally be erased from it once and for all.
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