Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 144: Black Bear's Assault

With the collapse of social order, the new rules of survival were simple: the strong devour the weak.

Education, bank accounts—none of it measured status anymore.

What replaced them was raw, primitive violence.

Now, what mattered was whose fists were harder, whose weapons were deadlier, who was more vicious.

Women, physically disadvantaged from the start, had it worst. Their choices had narrowed to one: attach yourself to a man, or to a group of men.

Willing or not, there seemed to be no alternative.

The Five Brothers, led by Black Bear, were savagely cruel. The people around them lived in constant mortal terror.

The women serving them walked on eggshells. So did the men.

One wrong move, one careless word, and you could take a bullet to the head.

Black Bear sat in an armored Bentley, women on either side, laughing.

He didn't give No. 98 a second thought.

He'd cut through everything in his path without resistance. Even fully armed police had been destroyed by his crew. What could one villa do?

His arrogance was total.

"Boss, you want us to open fire?" Big Boy, one of the Five Brothers, stood at the car door, respectful.

"Bring me the bodyguard from this villa first. I have questions."

Harvey had sent Number Seven as part of the deal: one No. 98 insider to assist the assault.

Number Seven walked over, face white with fear, his insides in knots.

Number Four had been held back—Harvey wanted his inside man card available for deployment at the critical moment.

Without a card to play, Number Seven was on his own, standing in front of the most notorious killer in the region.

"...Right. The owner of No. 98 is a beautiful young woman. The stockpile inside is massive. They've got firearms—even the family doctor and the five-year-old girl each carry a gun.

"Before the disaster, she had over a dozen bodyguards buying 20,000 dollars' worth of supplies every day for three straight days. They filled dozens of chest freezers and still had overflow. The extra got stacked into storage rooms.

"The whole first floor, except for the dining room, kitchen, and bathroom, has been converted into storage. Plus three full warehouses in the courtyard. And a serious amount of diesel and gasoline.

"She traded diesel generators to Mr. Hancock for gold and jewelry. She also does business with a broker named Denton. I don't know exactly what they traded."

...

He spilled everything he knew, terrified that any gap would earn him a bullet on the spot.

Black Bear was very interested. Especially in one thing. "You got a picture of her? Show me."

He hadn't seen a new face he liked in a while. The current lineup was getting stale.

Number Seven fumbled through his phone, found a blurry candid he'd taken from a distance, and held it out.

Black Bear snatched the phone and tossed it. "How am I supposed to see anything from that far?"

Number Seven's face crumbled. "She's too alert. I had to shoot through glass, from a safe distance."

Black Bear's thick palm slapped idly against the bare skin of the woman beside him. It clearly hurt. She didn't flinch. She kept smiling.

"Sounds like you're scared of this woman. She that tough?"

Number Seven said it without hesitation. "She's fast, she shoots straight, she's strong, and she kills without blinking."

What had shocked him the most was watching her kick the 250-pound Number Four across a room.

He didn't want to think about what other skills she hadn't shown yet.

Black Bear burst out laughing. He was more interested than ever.

"I'm bored with lambs. Tonight, I get to try a spicy one. Let's see how tough she really is." He turned to his brothers with a grin.

Goldilocks jumped in. "Doesn't matter how tough she is. Nobody stands up to you, boss. If she tries, we've got a hundred ways to put her down."

Big Nose cracked his knuckles. "I want to see what kind of woman this is."

"The rules. The boss goes first. After that, the rest of us." Carp's grin was filthy.

Black Bear snapped his fingers. "Go."

...

On Black Bear's command, the mob surged toward No. 98.

They carried every kind of weapon—machetes, steel pipes, iron bars, rubber batons, wooden clubs, and kitchen cleavers. All close-range.