Chapter 98: No one to rely on
The police station was currently busier than ever, receiving non-stop calls from residents living in a certain part of Slough. All of them reported that they could hear fights, moans and groans, with some even testifying to have seen teenagers in red and grey beat up others dressed in black on the street.
It didn’t take long for the police to figure out what was going on, but just like Gary had predicted, due to the scale of the gang war, they couldn’t respond immediately. The police force simply lacked the numbers to contain large-scale fighting like this.
Chief of Police Anton Millstun was in charge of the people’s safety. Right now he was sitting behind his desk, grabbing his head in frustration as he didn’t know how to deal with this situation.
“Those d.a.m.n White Rose agents! They’re only interested in their stupid Altered, yet when we have a situation like this on our hands, the only course of action they’re willing to take is to ‘let things play out’.” Anton complained, though more to himself than to Roo who was with him in the room. The rookie was nervously standing in the office waiting for his superior to give out orders.
“How is it possible for such a situation to break out without any prior signs? All our informants have been telling us was that the black colour gang have been getting into more fights with the red colour gang, but what does that have to do with the grey colour gang?
“We know the black colour gang is controlled by the Underdogs and that the Grey Elephants are behind the grey colour gang. We still have no clue who is behind the red colour gang. Could it be that the Grey Elephants found out before us and took over?” Anton spoke his thoughts out loud. It was one of his ticks and his subordinates had gotten used to it. They knew why he did so, in case anyone wanted to chime in on his thoughts.
‘“I don’t think it has always been the case, sir.” Roo spoke up. “I looked into them, just like you’ve asked, but while not as numerous, there have also been many incidents between the red and grey colour gangs, the last one dating only a few days ago.”
Learning this fact, Anton thought it could be one of two things. Either the Grey Elephants had approached the red colour gang’s backers to pull off this stunt to ma.s.sively p.i.s.s off the Underdogs, perhaps some retaliation for something yet to be determined… or there was an even bigger figure behind it all. Someone, who the Grey Elephants had no choice but to listen to.
“I just hope that none of those Kings are involved in any of this. If they are, then this town will become a battlefield before it’s all over.” Anton mumbled, before he stood up from his seat, ready to move out.
“We might not have enough hands to stop the colour gangs from fighting, but we can at least prevent them from going after the other areas. I want every available officer placing barriers around Chavley.
“Call in those who might have taken a day off, and maybe even those who have just retired for the day. Make sure that no one enters or gets out for the time being. As soon as things settle down, that’s when we will make our move, understand?”
Although Roo did understand he had a concerned look on his face and he could see it.
“Sir, does that mean we won’t be acting out on the reports? What about the public places being attacked? Or the request for ambulances? This is a colour gang war we’re talking about, not the big gangs!”
What Roo meant by this was the difference in crimes. The bigger gangs, such as the Underdogs and Grey Elephants, actually acted more like businesses. Of course they both laundered their illegally obtained money through their businesses, but even if the police knew that, it was impossible to catch them without evidence.
At some point, a tacit agreement seemed to have occurred between the two parties. The gangs tended to stay out of the way of the public, not causing them any trouble and the police didn’t try to make life hard for them.
However, while the big gangs seemed harmless at first glance, the same could not be said about the colour gangs. Those were filled with young frustrated teens and tweens that found it hard to get jobs, hoping to prove themselves out on the streets to rise in the ranks and get accepted into one of the bigger gangs.
In the past, when situations like this occurred, the colour gangs tended to get a bit wild, drunk on power, and would start to rob stores, plunder and steal from the civilians. They all felt like they were unstoppable in those moments.
“I’m afraid that will have to be a sacrifice we will have to make. Trying to save a few will just risk us getting dragged into this mess and the colour gangs spreading throughout the whole town.” Anton slammed the table. He didn’t like that this was the only choice they had, but with their limited power what else could they do?
“Roo, believe me, I wish it was different, but I have a feeling that this fight will push the Underdogs to act. If that’s the case this little war will be over far quicker than you might imagine. Let’s just hope they will be the only ones to come out… otherwise, I’m not sure what it would mean for Slough…”
——
Just as Anton had predicted, after the red and grey colour gangs managed to overwhelm the black colour gang on multiple fronts, they were starting to become a little wild. One group in particular was getting particularly crazy. They were full of mostly new recruits, one of them being none other than Gil.
The drop-out had just picked up a trash can from the side of the street, which he promptly dunked on a black colour gang member’s head, before kicking him on the ground. The others were impressed by the new member’s ruthlessness, who seemed to be even better at fighting than before.
‘I was a little worried about him after what happened last time, but it seems like it just gave him an extra push.’ The group leader thought.
There were around thirty-ish grey colour gang members causing rampage. They were attacking everyone on sight, no longer differentiating between black colour gang members and regular civilians and that’s when their group came across a certain twenty-four hour supermarket.
Its lights were still on, yet it appeared they were in the middle of closing the shutters down for safety. Seeing this, Gil picked up another large trash can and ran towards the supermarket.
‘That guy, he looked at me like I was a loser! I’ll show you who the real loser is!’ Gil thought, reaching the man and swinging the trash can. It reached the man before he could completely close the shutters. Gil didn’t stop there, as he lifted the can and began whacking the man again and again.
“Hey everyone, the store’s up for grabs!” Another member shouted, and soon the other members of the grey colour gang started to storm the supermarket store. Once Gil was done, he entered as well, leaving behind a no-longer moving man lying in a red puddle of blood.
Inside the supermarket, seeing what was going on, the employees were going crazy, and immediately ran towards the supply room to the back. Five of them had saved themselves, yet the last one, a frightened large woman, had slammed the door shut behind her, locking out three of her colleagues.
They banged on the door, again and again.
“Let us in, please they’ll kill us if you don’t!” One of the women begged from the other side.
“We can’t! They’ll get us too, just hide for now!” The large woman cried out, holding on to the door.
At the same time, the pet food aisle was emptier compared to the rest of the store. When stealing things pet food was somewhere on the bottom of the priority list for looters. Here, there were two female employees hiding out.
One looked to be a middle-aged woman, while the other looked to be a young university student. The university student had her head tucked into the middle-aged stomach, both were on the floor shaking, doing their best to be as quiet as possible.
“Calm down, it’s okay, we will be okay, the police will arrive and get us out of this place.” The older woman whispered to the other to calm her down. Still no matter what she did, the student was still scared, and honestly, she was as well. Based on the situation as an adult, and imagining the girl as her own kid, she knew she had to put on a brave act.
“They might come, but they’ll be a bit slow.” A male’s voice could be heard from above the two.
The middle-aged woman looked up at the person who spoke to them. A teenage boy who couldn’t have been much older than her son stood there, covered in blood. He walked forward towards the two females.
“What a couple of pretty looking girls. I should have joined a gang a long time ago. Out here, there are no rules.” Gil spoke, liking his lips, as he considered whether to start with the university student or the older woman, whose tag read ‘Maya’.