Sink or Swim

Caught unawares, the enemy's forces were filled with lead in a matter of seconds.

Petals of red glided to the floor as flowers bloomed on the chests of many men.

Without any particular aim, the boys continued to shoot at their foes madly. It was either shoot or be shot.

Very quickly, the enemy quickly pulled out guns of their own and aimed with practiced precision. Before they could shoot, however, the more skilled Mike and Lukas shot them down until all that was left was the leader.

His mouth flapped open and shut like a fish.

'The hell just happened?'

All his men were shot down in an instant. How could anyone make this make sense to him?

No, more importantly, where did they get all those weapons from?!

"Brats! How dare!-" The man whipped out his on gun and pointed it at them.

"How dare you!"

*Bang*

"Aargh!"

The man stumbled back as a bullet shot forth like a streak of lightning and penetrated his knee.

As he struggled to get back up, he sensed a shadow looming over him. Lucas kicked the man back and stepped on him.

"Answer all my questions, and I'll set you free."

"Never! As if I'd tell you anything!-"

Lukas ground the heel of his shoe into the man's wound.

"You don't have a choice."

"Ha! You think you've won? When the others arrive, they'll make a mincemeat out of you all. Fools!"

Lukas smiled faintly, "So we can't make you talk?"

"No!"

"Wu Shen, you come with me."

Wu Shen and Lukas supported the old man and dragged him out.

On the way, Lukas smirked and opened his mouth,

"You see, old man... I noticed that your base is quite close to a very convenient dumping ground."

"You're never getting it out of me." The man answered resolutely.

"...Oh"

They continued at a steady pace until they reached a small river.

"Last chance. You tell me everything I want to hear, or you can experience what it feels like to be drowning in sh*t water."

The old man grit his teeth.

"Never."

"F*ck. You're actually so stubborn!"

Lukas pushed the man face down onto the riverbank and let him taste the rich soil.

"Let's not be too stubborn. Won't you tell me, hmm?"

The man made some movement so Lukas yanked at his hair and forced the man to look at him.

"What did you say?"

The old man opened his mouth slowly and spat a nasty dark substance at Lukas' clear face.

For a moment, Lukas was rendered speechless. He turned to Wu Shen with a look that said, 'Did he really just spit on me?'

Wu Shen could only nod and silently prayed for the old man's safety.

The man appeared to be pleased with his work. "Ha! You son of a-"

Lukas shoved the man into the river and watched him struggle.

"Ha ha ha. Serves you f*cking right!"

Wu Shen: ...

Wu Shen expressed that he had no idea his boss was this ruthless. It was best to follow his orders and get on his good side, otherwise, you'd find yourself drowning in a river contaminated with urine and sh*t.

Lukas turned around and walked away.

Wu Shen:...?

"Uh, are we gonna just leave him there?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Won't he be able to get out easily?"

Lukas stopped in his tracks. A murderous smile appeared on his face.

"Very good. Very smart."

Lukas pointed at the fist sized rocks on the path.

"Drown him."

"?"

"I said, drown the f*cker who did this," Lukas flicked his wrist and pointed at the gloop sliding down his face. "To my face!"

"Oh, oh."

Hesitatingly, Wu Shen began collecting the rocks in his arms and walked awkwardly near the edge of the riverbank.

"The hell are you doing? Throw them!"

"Ah, ok."

Wu Shen threw a rock which curved splendidly in the air and smacked the man right in the forehead.

"Ack!"

The man submerged for a few seconds before resurfacing.

"Are you trying to kill a person?! Get me out of here!" The man was using all his energy to paddle his legs.

"To be honest, old man, I don't even know how you haven't drowned yet." Wu Shen looked at the man with respect as he readied to toss another rock.

To the impatient Lukas who stood watching at the side, Wu Shen seemed to be taking way too long. He strode over and flared at him.

"Give me those." Lukas snatched the rocks from Wu Shen and began throwing the rocks with all his might at the man.

When he saw most of the rocks plunging into the water around the man, instead of at him, Lukas dropped the remaining stones at his feet and walked off.

Wu Shen looked at Lukas, then the old man, and back again before running to catch up with Lukas.

"We're just gonna leave him?"

"I don't care anymore. Unless," Lukas gave Wu Shen a side-glance, "You wanna finish him by yourself?"

"No need, no need." Wu Shen immediately refused. It was better to not kill a man when he didn't have to.

After a while of walking in silence, Lukas halted his steps.

"By the way,"

Wu Shen also stopped. "Huh?"

"What happened in the warehouse, I'm sorry for forcing you to... you know?" Lukas found that he felt more guilt over this than he usually would.

For a minute, Wu Shen was unable to understand what the blonde-haired man in front of him was referring to, but then it clicked.

"Yeah. I'm good." As his heart beat erratically from the memory, Wu Shen only barely managed to squeeze those words out his mouth. The face of terror the man had just before his death was something he would never forget.

The man had no weapon. He was barely a threat. What if he had a family? Did he really just tear a family apart? The children would be left all alone, their mother would commit suicide and-

"If-" Lukas snapped Wu Shen out of his thoughts.

"If you hated me for that, and if you blamed me for that," Lukas turned and looked Wu Shen in the eyes.

"I would understand."

Lukas continued to speak whilst maintaining eye contact.

"Because in the end, it was I who ordered you to do it."

Wu Shen's eyes widened for a moment before he answered,

"I can't do that." His hands clenched unknowingly. "If I do that, I would be ignoring my responsibilities for his death. In the end, it was my choice. In the end, it was my fault. I can't ignore that." Though his voice shook, his tone was resolute.

Lukas nodded.

"If that's what you want. However, you can end this at just one bad memory."

"What do you mean?"

"I forced you to stay on a whim. I'm saying that you should take this opportunity to leave."

Wu Shen smiled with self-loathing.

"I already swore I'd follow you. If I leave now, wouldn't that make me a man who broke his word?."

Lukas fell silent.

"But I forced you to, didn't I?"

"Yeah, well..."

They stood looking at each other awkwardly.

"To be honest, those words sounded cooler in my head. Looking at it now, it sounds stupid. Couldn't you have done your silent nod thing and ignored it? Seriously." Wu Shen scratched his head and his hand reached into his pocket.

"Oh!"

"What? You've thought of something cooler to say?" Lukas rolled his eyes.

"Not that! I'm gonna go somewhere. You go on ahead."

Lukas shrugged. "Sure."

Wu Shen ran in the direction they came from.

Lukas squinted at the figure that slowly faded from sight before continuing back to the warehouse.

The fear of pulling a trigger. The guilt that would haunt you for a lifetime.

With Mike, he didn't have to worry about such things, but the situation with Wu Shen made him realize that he would have to change his methods.

For the sake of the rest, perhaps it would be best, he thought, to ensure that a situation like this didn't arise again.