Chapter 38: The man with a mask

Meanwhile.

A tall man walked into his lair, followed by a large group of people. He was wearing a hat and a black trench coat. His boots sounds were resonating in the silent hallway. His silver hair shone in the dark hallway, giving the man a mysterious air. All the people behind him had a tattoo of a viper on their right arm. Each man was carrying a gun, while the man in the front led them to a huge room. After reaching the room, he sat on the only chair in the room, while the others remained standing.

There was dead silence. Everyone knew that the man sitting in front of them was angry, very very angry. His goal had not been reached, the virus had not been released. Not only that, now David Peters was arrested and the storage containers with the virus had been confiscated by the police. Everything was going in a downfall for him. He was emitting a lethal aura, making all the men tremble. They knew that the man in front of them was just like the poisonous snake imprinted on their arms, calm and deadly.

The man raised his head and gave a smile. Though his face was covered behind a mask, his smile was clearly visible. It was creepy, giving chills to the people in the room. Nobody had seen his face. Every time they had met him, he had worn a mask.

"So, David got caught." The man started. But nobody responded to him. They knew it was best to remain silent.

"Who caught him?" Again silence.

The masked man, suddenly, pulled out his gun and shot the person right in front of him and his brain exploded. The other people gasped in horror.

"When I ask a question, I expect an answer." The man replied calmly, adjusting his gun to his waistband.

"Master, it was the Intelligence." One of the men, who was daring enough, spoke.

The man eyes immediately darted to him and scanned him thoroughly.

"The Intelligence, you say. How did they find out about our plan?" He asked, looking at the man, who had spoken, right into his eyes.

"Someone from the Intelligence disguised themselves to get into the gang."

"So, you are saying the Intelligence somehow got into our gang, my gang?" The man nodded, bowing his head.

The masked man laughed out loud. But his laugh frightened his men even more. They knew it was an indication of a holocaust or a massacre. He was out for blood, a lot of blood. Everyone else in the room shivered thinking about the consequences.

"Hmm. The biggest gang in the world, the Vipers, have become so dumb that anybody can come and go as they wish." The masked man suddenly became serious. He looked at all the people bowing in front of him. He pulled out his gun again and shot the man to the far right. The man fell to the ground immediately.

"I didn't like his face." The masked man chuckled again, looking at his gun.

"So, now what do we do?" He asked, placing his right thumb and index finger under his chin.

"Master, we have to take care of David. He knows a lot about us." A man standing near the door suggested, in order to gain favors from his master. But his plan backfired. He was shot right in his heart.

"I don't like people dictating me. I give the orders, not the other way round." The man said, standing up. Everybody remained took a deep breath in fear.

"Why are you all quiet? Say something. I don't kill you for speaking." The man said placing his right hand on one of the men standing in front of him. The man stiffened at once. His master's hand weighed like a boulder on his shoulder. He relaxed only when his master walked forward, eventually retrieving back his hand.

"The guy was not wrong anyway." The man continued, pointing to the man whom he had just killed.

"David being alive is a threat to us. We need to get rid of him. But the problem is who is going to do it?"

A short, bald man stepped forward. "Master, I'll do it."

"Really?" The masked man pulled the bald guy to the front and made him sit on his chair. The man became uncomfortable at once. He was sitting on his master's chair, this was making him jittery.

The masked man bent his head and stared at the bald man, giving him no other choice other than to look at his eyes. His eyes were scary, just like the eyes of a snake.

"Really?" He asked again, this time his voice was merely a whisper.

The bald guy gulped loudly. No words could leave his mouth. He barely managed to nod out of nervousness.

"Speak."

"Yes Master. I'll do it."

"What if you can't?"

"Then I am ready to bear the consequences." The man replied swallowing a lump. He knew what the consequences were. His entire family would be killed. He wanted to thank the Gods in this aspect as he was an orphan. He had no family.

"Not acceptable." The masked man replied after pondering for a while. " I want somebody else to bear the consequences along with you. Who shall that be?" The man turned back to look at everyone staring at him with horrified expressions.

"You." He pointed to a random guy at the center. "I want you to ensure that this man will do his work, or else.." He didn't have to continue, everybody got the underlying warning. The man he had pointed to, cursed his bad luck.

"Now I also want someone to find out who the people from the Intelligence were who arrested that bastard. Whoever brings me the correct information first will be greatly rewarded." He then sat back on his chair that had been empty after the bald guy had scuttled away on receiving his orders.

"Now let's talk about the mission at hand. We will keep it on hold for a while. Let's wait till this issue settles. By then I'll get some more containers of the virus into the country. And this time I will plan everything. I can't trust dumb idiots like David anymore."

The masked man then got up and walked out with eight people following him. The remaining people could only sigh in relief for not getting killed by him. They were seriously lucky compared to the other three guys who had lost their lives.