Vain City (Pt. 6)

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Hello, guys! If you missed the previous parts of this series, you can find them here: Vain City Parts: one, two, three, four, five

Yusuf knew the terrain quite well, he had no problem manoeuvring comfortably. However, it was a different tale for Ibrahim. Speeding to avoid being identified by the dirty cop didn't exactly turn out well for him. He only managed to crash his own vehicle into a tree, hitting his head on the steering wheel. The impact threw him into a fit of concussion. The dark night coupled with the mild trauma he suffered made it difficult to see.

Yusuf, sighting the misfortune of the mysterious spy, stopped his own car and got down. With his right thumb sitting on the hammer of his Colt Python revolver, Yusuf approached the crashed car. An incapacitated Ibrahim glanced at the side mirror, his predator was drawing nearer but he was a prey, sapped of the strength to reach for his gun in the glove compartment.

Suddenly a deafening sound rocked the evening air. It was the sound a shotgun would make. An alarmed Yusuf halted, he looked around but saw no one else. A second shot went off again, this time from a different direction. It was enough warning for Yusuf. He scurried for cover before jumping into his car. At the sound of a third shot, he had sped off.

***

When Ibrahim came to, it was not in a crashed vehicle. Neither was it on a secluded road in the dark of the night. Instead, he woke up in a tent and to the sight of two middle-aged men sitting at an end of the tent, staring at him.

"Who are you? Where am I?" he asked, his eyes moving from the two men to explore his new environment.

"I think a 'thank you for saving my life' would have been more appropriate, cop," one of the men said. He was muscularly built with a sort of fierceness dancing in his eyes.

"Sorry, I was just taken aback," Ibrahim apologised, as he got himself up to a sitting position like the two men. "I'm a police officer and -"

"Yes, cop!" the second man interrupted him. "That is very obvious, and so is your poor driving skill."

The first man who spoke found that a bit hilarious and chuckled. Then the first man began to talk.

"We know you're the aide-de-camp of the new commissioner. We've been watching you for awhile."

A slight shiver ran down Ibrahim's spine. But that was it. He was confident that the men were not going to harm him. They could have let Yusuf do that if that was their aim in the first place. They wouldn't go through the trouble of saving him only to kill him again. That made no sense at all. Only psychopaths would do that. Or were they psychopaths?

"How... I mean, why have you been watching me?" he asked, a little confused of the right question word to use.

There was no response. Motioning for Ibrahim to do the same, the men stood up and walked outside the tent. Outside, the numerous tall trees and other several tents with armed young men lurking around made Ibrahim realise that he was in some sort of camp.

"See, cop, we're a group of young men sworn to rid this city of crime and men who perpetrate them," the first man said.

"So, you're vigilantes?" Ibrahim asked.

The two men nodded.

"You guys know it's wrong to take law into your own hands, ri--"

"Don't lecture us, cop!" the second man interrupted him again. "What choice do we have when the very police meant to protect this city aid and abet criminal masterminds?"

The first man gestured at his fellow to keep his calm. Leading the way, he led Ibrahim to a box truck covered with leaves at the end of the camp.

"We hijacked this from Bodey's men last week," the man said, pointing at the truck.

"Why, what's inside?" Ibrahim asked.

The second man opened the cargo area, revealing a large package of heroin. Ibrahim's eyes widened as the first man began to talk.

"So tell me, cop, what are we supposed to do when even the head of the police is allied with a notorious man like Bodey Deen, uh?"

Ibrahim was speechless.

"You see the entire police department of Vain City is rotten. I'm sure you suspect that yourself. Else you wouldn't be spying on a fellow cop," the second man added.

The first man began to speak again, "Like I said, cop, we've been watching you. And we know that your boss is committed towards wiping this city clean of crime just like us. This is why we want you to go and report all you've seen to him. If he wants to achieve his mission, he needs us."

"But how? I don't even know your name," Ibrahim said.

"I'm Zacky, and this is Noah, my younger brother," the first man said.

To be continued.