Unlike before, when entering Slough, there were borders. People could usually come in and out of the city as they liked, but Kai had set up a border so they could tell when others would come to attack them. This had worked, at least with the first waves of attacks, but now that the attacks were so brutal, there were only a few people that had been set up further out, keeping an eye on the vehicles that were coming in and out.
That was when several large buses were seen turning in; they were red in color and had a large feather imprint design on the side. It was quite clear who these people were, and the report was sent instantly.
When they entered the edge of the city where the large buildings had started, the buses spun to their side, blocking the road. As the doors opened, a flood of those dressed in dark red clothing came out from the vehicles.
With one of the buses in particular, slowly wearing a large red coat that dragged across the floor, with a furry white hood, was none other than Sin. As he exited, he looked around at the buildings, the broken glass in the shops, and more.
"Ah, it seems like this city has had quite the work done to them. It's hard to believe that this place even is a tier 2 city with all this mess around," Sin commented. "But that leaves the question to be asked, where is everyone? Isn't it a bit too quiet?"
Following off from the same bus as Sin were Sin's commanders, those that were the strongest in the Phoenix Gang: Glutton, Greed, and Garbo had exited, each of them with a focused look, ready for what was ahead of them.
Finally, two more had exited out of the bus, and that was Raven and Gil.
"What does it feel like to finally be home?" Sin asked.
"We've been here before, though," Gil commented.
"I think what Gil means is it doesn't feel like home. It's not the same place as when we left it permanently; everything's changed because of them," Raven added.
Sin looked to his right, in the distance he could see a fueling station, around 500 meters away from him. He twirled his hand in the air and flung it. In doing so, a ball of fire quickly hit the station. It had perfectly set it alight, and a few moments later after burning, there was a large explosion in the place.
"You two, find out what's going on; where are the people? I understand the gang members have run back and hunched up in their buildings or cities, but why does this whole place feel like a ghost town?" Sin ordered.
It would have made sense if he could see a number of bodies, but there was next to nothing. The Phoenix Gang spanned out, with Gil and Raven going further out. They had found a few Howlers members already beaten, killed by those that had come before them. There were some of those in the general public that seemed to be hurt as well, but still far too few people.
While waiting for the others to gather some news, Sin thought he had another idea, to bring those out that were in hiding, and that's when he decided to set off another explosion. It wasn't hard for him to do, and the loud bang was heard throughout the city. The dark smoke could be seen entering the sky, covering a certain part of the city, for everyone to see.
Those that were staying in the hotels and areas of Burnham and Cipen, they could see the smoke, and with it, they started to feel a slight dread. The city they lived in, the houses they paid for, the life that they had made, it was all going away. Even if they managed to survive this attack, how long would it take for them to rebuild it all, to get their lives back to the way it was?
"What is the Mayor doing, what are the police, the White Rose doing? The whole city is being overrun by gangs, and no one is doing anything!"
Due to the large number of people, there were around 10 or so people in each hotel room, staring out of their windows.
"This is what happens; haven't you heard? The police, the government authorities, all they are, in front of the gangs, is a simple clean-up crew. They will just pick up the leftovers to make it look like they're doing their job. The only ones that we can rely on for helping us, are the Howlers."
Many still remembered the generous things the Howlers had done for them, and even now on the way here, they had seen the fellow gang members risk their lives to protect them from getting hurt. They didn't have distaste or blame them for what was happening, at least not the majority. It just felt like, as soon as a place was having a taste of what those in the higher cities had, that someone was coming to crush them down and take it away.
Back in the streets of Slough, Raven and Gil had come back, and they had done with a report.
"It seems that the general public, as well as the Howlers gang, have moved to two areas," Raven replied. "Burnham and Cipen. Most of the gang in Burnham is located on a strip; it's a food street of sorts. They can fortify the areas quite easily for those coming in and out. Whereas Cipen, it's a bit larger of an area, barriers of cars have been set up, and the Howlers members are on the lookout."
Sin smiled upon learning of this news. "That's good, that means we don't have to go around the entire city trying to chase them out. Glutton, Greed, Garbo, you guys head to Burnham food street; as for you two, you're coming with me to Cipen. Also, don't get too involved just yet; let the other boys have some fun. They need to keep active; it's their first time fighting in a while."
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