Chapter 5: Streets of Rage

            It was only early morning, and it was already hot. Salvatore went amongst the cars and wished everyone good luck, as they began to drive away from the mansion. Once everyone was gone, he and his bodyguards looked to the front of the house.

Five men dressed in neat black suits and sunglasses stepped out together, side by side.  They were the Leone Clan's team of Hitmen. They were the Clan's symbol of power and dominance in Portland. They gleamed in Salvatore's eyes, and walked toward him, almost in slow motion, with the sun behind them, giving them the appearance of five phantom silhouettes.

Jack felt more alive than he had ever been in a long time. Here he was, at the top of the list of the Leone Clan's employees, and he had done it in such little time. He felt lightheaded, and he experienced every moment of this to the fullest. However, he knew the countdown to fate was up. He was about to fully delve into streets of rage, in the biggest turf war Liberty City had ever seen.

They stood, in front of their custom Sentinel, and remained side-by-side. Salvatore shook each persons hand and wished him good luck, as if he were a general sending his soldiers off to battle. Jack was the last of the five he came to.

"Jack," he shook his hand, "you do this for me, and you'll be a made man, anything you want. I trust you because you're a hard worker, and you risked your life for my daughter. No one in the Clan deserves to be one of The Hitmen more than you. Good luck, my boy." He patted Jack on the shoulder, and had a smile on his face that obviously hid his fear over what might happen that day.

The five Hitmen got into the Sentinel. Jack sat down in the driver's seat and readjusted his Uzi. Toni had given him the heavy and uncomfortable Uzi, with several large magazines weighing down Jack's jacket and belt. Jack knew the Hitmen driver always carried the Uzi.

Toni sat in the front and checked his handgun. He opened the glove compartment, and to Jack's amazement, there were about 10 handgun clips inside. The one who sat in the rear-right seat snapped his AK magazine in.  The one seated in the rear-center adjusted the scope of his large sniper rifle, which nearly touched the front windshield. The one in the rear-left carefully loaded his shotgun, deadly shell by deadly shell.

Jack started the car and drove away from Salvatore, who looked on at them from the front door. The security was tighter than it had ever been before around the mansion, so Jack had to carefully drive around bodyguards standing everywhere around the property. He got past the gates, and realized how much Portland had changed since the night before.

St. Mark's was empty, and it wasn't just because it was early in the morning. There were absolutely no cars on the road, and the only ones walking around were Mafia men with concealed weapons. It was what the meeting the night before had been about. Salvatore had told the Mafia to keep the people inside their homes, and to protect them in case of a Triad attack. Jack realized just how strange this was. Had this ever been done before? No. It seemed like Portland was under martial law of the Leone Clan for now.

Jack drove on, and a police car was parked to the side, and a Mafia man was talking with the officer. Suddenly, the officer got in his car and drove away. Jack knew the police were afraid too. They wouldn't get involved until they really needed to. No use wasting officers in a fight with the entire Italian Mafia. Jack wondered what it would come to if he had to choose between fighting with the police or the Leone's. No, it would never come to that

 Jack thought of everything he had been briefed on in the past few hours. Toni had devised a plan at getting the Triad warlords, because they were holding a meeting underground the Chinatown marketplace, and wouldn't dare to leave. The night before, Salvatore dispatched his men to watch the area where the warlords were, and to be sure they didnt get out. So far, neither side has fired a shot, but it was horrifyingly obvious it would come to killing soon.

The Hitmen were to drive to Chinatown, and reinforce the Mafia already there. In case the Triads came out of their hiding places all around the city, The Hitmen were assigned to go after the warlords at all costs. The Mafia roamed the streets, and the Triads hid in their homes. Sooner or later, someone was going to snap.

Jack pulled up to the front lines. Mafia cars and men were waiting a block from the fish market, where the Triad warlords hid underground. A slight advancement of the Mafia would trigger the Triads to come out fighting. They waited there for almost an hour, until Toni's pager hummed.

Do it. Do it now.

Toni picked up his walkie-talkie and called out to every Mafia man in the city, "This is it. The boss wants us to whack 'em now. Lets do it... Take 'em all out." He put down his walkie-talkie and cocked his handgun, "Drive, kid. Drive like our lives depend on it."

Jack put the gear into drive, and slammed on the accelerator. He sped right onto the narrow Chinatown street toward the fish market, where the warlords were hiding. The other Hitmen put their windows down, and the sunroof opened up. The sniper Hitman stood up and popped his head and rifle out from the sunroof. The tires screeched, as the Sentinel turned into the marketplace. Jack slowed down to avoid the food stands, and came to a stop near the garage where the warlords were hiding. The rest of the Mafia pulled up behind the Hitmen, and more Mafia cars came around the other end of the marketplace. The Triads were trapped.

"Turn on your radios," Toni said into his walkie-talkie, with his gun fixed on the parking garage entrance. "Just do it"

Jack followed suit, and all the Mafia cars turned on an operatic music station. It was played loud enough that the market place now echoed in Italian opera. Jack sensed a feeling of calmness Toni seemed to have when classic music was played. Toni had always been known to enjoy classic art and music. In addition to the peace it gave to Toni, it sent a signal to the Triads that the Mafia was there to do their business.

The rumbling of vehicles were heard from within the parking garage, and suddenly several Triad Fish Vans thundered out, crashing into Mafia cars waiting outside. Gunshots erupted everywhere, and more Triads and cars were bursting out from within the parking garage. Four Fish Vans in particular protected one blue car, and they pushed their way through a group of Mafia cars.

By now, the Hitmen were blazing their guns at the fish vans and the Triad foot soldiers. Jack took out his Uzi, and unloaded an entire clip into the engines of two Fish Vans. As he reloaded, the blue car had managed to make it through the insane shooting frenzy, and it sped off escorted by three Fish Vans.

"The warlords are in that blue car!" Toni yelled, while shooting at Triads who were using the cargo hold of the Fish Vans for cover, "Follow it! Now!"

Jack couldn't get through all the mayhem, so he spun a 180 degree turn to go around. They drove away from the shootout, and the Hitman with the Sniper Rifle was still shooting at things behind the car, as he stood half out of the sunroof.

Jack drove furiously, and sent the Sentinel tires screeching as he took a few turns. They looked around for the blue car, and could not find it anywhere. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Sniper yelled out the blue car was behind them. Jack looked through a rearview mirror and saw that the blue car was now pursuing the Sentinel!

The Hitmen shot behind them at the incoming blue car, as Jack hit the accelerator. A few bullets from the blue car had hit the Sentinel, but Jack knew it could take a considerable amount of damage, and the windows were bullet proof. He sped down the empty street, trying to find a way to a bigger road where he could turn the car around.

After about 5 minutes of incessant shooting and high-speed driving, Jack made it to a two-lane open road along-side the river. They were considerably far from the blue car by now, so Jack acted quickly, and turned the car around totally.

"What're you doin' kid?!" Toni yelled. "No fancy crap!"

"Trust me." Jack said, as he put the Sentinel in reverse.

The blue car was now coming at them, and the Sentinel was facing the blue car. Jack went full speed in reverse, and the Hitmen saw what he was doing. The two cars were now very close, and resumed shooting at each other furiously. Jack took out his Uzi and fired at the blue car as well.

It was a game of which car could withstand the most damage. Both cars faced each other at full speed, with guns blazing, and bullets were tearing each car up. Both had bulletproof windows, so it became difficult for Jack to see, since the windows were pumped full of bullet marks.

 The front wheels gave out on the Sentinel, so Jack put his Uzi away, and tried to keep the car stable. The front of the Sentinel was a mess, so sparks flew everywhere and twisted metal made loud, screeching sounds. However much the Sentinel was messed up, Jack focused on keeping it stable and at top speed in reverse. Likewise, the blue car's wheels also gave out, and it was smoking from the engine.

It became a game of whichever driver could keep control of their car, and the Triad driver lost. The blue car swerved onto the grass, and onto the riverside park. It flipped over and crashed into a tree a few inches from the river. It was totally flipped over, and smoke was everywhere around it. Jack marveled at how any car withstood the abuse the two cars just took.

Jack stopped the Sentinel, and thick, black smoke was also erupting from the engine. The Hitmen got out, and walked toward the blue car, with their weapons ready. Jack reloaded his Uzi, as the Sniper Hitman stopped, and took aim at the blue car, which was quite far from them. Two Triad warlords managed to escape the wreckage, and were about to jump into the river. The Sniper Hitman shot one in the back, and hit the other one in the leg as they jumped off. They neared the wreckage, and the AK Hitman unloaded a fury of bullets into the car and it exploded.

"Good job Hitmen," Toni said cheerily, as he went for his walkie-talkie, "This is Toni Cipriani. We need a pickup at the riverside near the train station."

A response came back, and Jack heard through the walkie-talkie that the shooting at the marketplace was still going on. Police sirens were heard everywhere, so the Hitmen waited anxiously for a Mafia car to pick them up before the police got there. Jack feared what might happen if the LCPD did arrive there first. Would he run? Surrender? ... Fight?

But neither came first. Instead, another Triad Fish Van came at them from around a Chinatown street corner. The Shotgun Hitman started firing immediately, and the others followed likewise. Sniper shot the wheels out, and the van went careening past the Hitmen. It stopped near the blue car's wreckage, only this time, the back doors of the fish van were kicked open, and several Triads came out with their weapons blazing.

The AK Hitman was hit, and the other Hitmen took insignificant cover behind nearby lampposts or benches. Jack swung over the cement bench, as bullets snapped at it. He lay down on the bench seat for cover, as he heard bullets hit the backside of it. The Shotgun Hitman spun around from his lamppost, and took out about three Triads at close range with a single shotgun blast.

One Triad who remained in the van took that opportunity to unload a mess of bullets into the Shotgun Hitman, and Toni, in a rage, fired at the Triad in the van. They began to have a long shootout.

Meanwhile, Jack focused on another Triad, who had gone around, and was now in perfect range of shooting Toni from the side. Jack stood up, aimed his Uzi at the Triad, took a deep breath, held it, and fired. The Triad fell dead.

I shot him... I killed him... he thought in shock.

Toni had also killed the Triad in the Van, but he turned and realized Jack had saved his life. Jack and Toni stood looking at each other, until Sniper yelled out another Fish Van was coming.

Sniper reloaded his gun, and took to his scope, and took out the driver of the van. This van crashed into a stoplight pole on a sidewalk from across the street, and Triads also came out the back. But two Mafia cars came out of nowhere, and laid waste to the Triads from out of the van. Sniper carried the AK Hitman, who was still alive, but coughing out blood. Toni and Jack looked over at the Shotgun Hitman's dead body.

Jack got into the Mafia car beside Toni, who looked as if he wanted to get back out there and fight some more. Everyone in the car remained silent, and focused only on avoiding the law enforcement that was now rounding up people by the dozens.

Jack's heart was beating so hard he could feel it pulse furiously in every vein in his body. He was sweating and hot in his suit because of the weather, but he felt deathly cold, and shivered uncontrollably. His hand felt tender from the intense force of the Uzi firing.